With the arrival of my mom yesterday, and the impending arrival of other guests starting in just a few hours…I am not going to have the time or energy to post to The Little Goat. I’m signing off for now, and will be back when the family has left, and I have a new last name. So I leave you with a kitten in formal wear, and if you want to watch my favorite of the Muppet Studios Videos, click here. (It won’t let me embed)

After this past weekend, I know the path my life is taking is the right one, and I’ll tell you why.
Our bachelorette/bachelor weekends just came and went (I still don’t think its fair we only get one), and we met up Sunday night, exchanged stories, and I knew that I was making the right choice.

There is nothing wrong with guys going to strip clubs for their party. What is wrong is when the groom to be does some shady stuff, and makes questionable decisions. None of that was even an issue, as Mick’s friends (my friends) all rarely left their Lake Tahoe house, and just sat around with the group of dudes, rarely even SEEING a girl, let alone a naked one.

I’m sure I know many things about his weekend that I shouldn’t. But all of them are so ridiculous, that they just made me laugh, and not throw a fit. Thats just not the type of guy he is.

On my own bachelorette weekend in Calistoga, I had a conversation with a guy outside one of the bars we had visited. OK, so it wasn’t so much a conversation as it was me screaming at him and making sure he did NOT follow us back to hang out. He essentially asked me if I was tired of having guys come on to me and try to hook up while we were in Calistoga. Keep in mind I was wearing a bedazzled veil, and a sash that said Bachelorette. No questions as to the fact that I was getting married. I replied and said that hadn’t really happened, seeing as though I was a BRIDE. He proceeded to go on about that being a perfect excuse for a “One Last Hurrah”.

I just about lost it on him. How dare he even insinuate something like that. Who DOES that? I get that a strip club may be the way that men get around that notion. Check out some boobs that aren’t your fiance’s before you get married. But to actually hook up with someone because you are soon to be married? Because you will soon have a ball and chain? I dont get it. If I WANTED to cheat on my fiance, why would I wait till 3 weeks before we got married? Is that a sign that its a good idea that you are getting married? Does it show that you are ready? I don’t think so. If you even have the desire to cheat….DON’T GET MARRIED. The frustrating part was that this wasn’t the first I’d heard of something like this. I even know some guys/girls who have witnessed this actually happening, and let it go as a rite of passage.

What I do know, is that if anything like that had happened at his Bachelor party…and my friends there let him do it…I’d be down a lot more friends. However…that would NEVER happen, and thats why I’m marrying him, and thats why I call those guys friends.

A few photos from my weekend in Calistoga. I didn’t take a ton, but I still have to upload a few of my own. These were stolen from other people.

Check it out. Super last minute a few days ago, I saw Tinna had participated in an Alphabet Walk, with the letter K, and I wanted to see if I could be a part of it. This Alphabet Walk is the brainchild of One Sydney Road. Basically, everyone has a letter, and they get to take photos of stuff using that letter as inspiration. How cool to participate in a group blog thingy, and get to use my camera skills in the process. Only problem was that I didn’t have a ton of preparation time, and my camera only came out with me today. So I took advantage of a Walk that I needed to take for work today.

I went through the streets of downtown San Francisco, on the way to a conference, and this is what I found. How convienent that I was assigned the letter ‘W’ and I happened to walk by the hotel bearing that very name!!

The 'W' Hotel

The 'W' Parking Garage

the sign directing me West

found it

Make sure you check out all of the other participants in the Alphabet Walk!

Its weird living up north..in an apartment..without a backyard…with no friends who have pools..and where its so foggy that we cant ever see fireworks anyway.

Its one of the main things I miss about southern california. If YOU didn’t have a pool, you knew someone who did. Someone was always BBQing, there were parties growing up at friends of families houses, there were parties on the (sunny) beaches when I was in school in SD. Since I moved to the bay almost 7 years ago…the 4th of July has kind of fallen by the wayside, and not been as important to people up here. It’s never been about the actual holiday for me…I just heart BBQ’s, eating outside, fireworks, and warmth.

I have tried to go and see fireworks  2 times since I moved here…it was always too foggy, and couldn’t see anything. A few years I have gone to High Sierra Music Festival, which is where I’m heading this holiday for a few days as well. Last year we went to Austin.

Its funny though because I think mentally, I’m always preparing for a day where I can have the BBQs, pools, and fireworks again. Even in our registry, we registered for outdoor silverware and condiment caddies. We initially registered for outdoor acrylic plates as well, but Crate & Barrel stopped carrying the ones we wanted. I don’t even have a patio, much less a backyard…but I think I’m preparing for the 4th. For a 4th of July in the future.

I want lemonade in a pitcher of ice. I want cupcakes frosted to look like the American Flag. I want kids running around and swimming. I want families of friends coming over to eat ribs that we have been cooking all day. I want to eat a burger, hot dog AND a rib…just because its all there, and thats what people do at BBQs. I remember when it was all about the party, and that stuff didnt really matter. I’m ready for it now. I guess first things first…and I need to get out of this apartment.

image by Heather Kennedy

A 7 day cruise to Mexico.

After much deliberation, threads on Facebook with many good words of wisdom, back and forths about All-inclusive resorts in Costa Rica, doing it on our own in Belize, even a 45 minute call with a booking agent today trying to sort out a trip to Hawaii…we finally made up our collective minds, and booked a cruise to Mexico.

The reasons are the following:

a) I love cruises, and Mick has never been on one

b) I love the idea of already having most of the trip payed for…with the exception of excursions and booze.

c) The cost was the deciding factor. With the debt that will no doubt follow the wedding…the last thing I want to do is drop a bunch of money we dont have on a trip that wasn’t our first choice. I believe I mentioned it before, but our original plan, Thailand, was thwarted by civil unrest in the country. Now we can save for THAT trip…maybe for our 1 year anniversary.

d) C’mon…it’s Mexico!!

We will be porting in Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerta Vallarta, and I can’t wait!

As Mick said…we have our whole life to vacation, and hit up the other locations that we had considered…this choice just makes sense now.

Soooo..Hooray for honeymoon cruises!!

(added bonus, we will also be on the cruise for my birthday. Thats twice the celebration!)

You all see it? Can you see the changes? Its my new blog thanks to Splendid Sparrow. Have a look around. Let me know what you think!! I still have to adjust the widget placements, and tweak some stuff…but I love it!

well, not really. If you consider choosing where we go for our honeymoon a tough decision. Its a fun one, but important none the less…especially considering you only get one (hopefully).

Our original plan was as follows. Get away for a little weekend after the honeymoon, maybe head to Sea Ranch or somewhere cute. Then save money and head to Thailand, when its not the rainy season, around February or March. However, we are currently re-thinking this plan, especially with all of the drama going on in Thailand. Sure we could just stay on the beaches…but I want to go where the culture is. I want to head to Chang Mai, and Bangkok, and see all I can. Especially if I’m paying for a trip out there. So…plans are changing.

I have asked many friends for advice as to where THEY went and think we should go..and the responses have been great. Aruba, Barbados, Jamaica, Tahiti, Bora Bora, the options seem limitless. We are getting married in August, and now it looks like we aren’t going to wait till next year to go. We might actually just head out the week of my birthday in September. Sooner than later sounds good to me!! But, the Caribbean is rainy season during that time. Apparently Barbados and Aruba are slightly off the hurricane belt, so those are considerations.  There is also the Mexican Riviera, but those locations are in the Gulf, and with the current state of oil in the Gulf, not sure that’s an ideal location either.

However, I’ve always wanted to head to Costa Rica. Not on the Gulf side, not hurricane season, and we found a lovely all inclusive hotel that includes food, drink, all non-motor water sports, and more!! This site ResortVacationsToGo.com is pretty rad. I think that this is where we are leaning. Its too bad we didn’t think of this a little earlier, as I would have used one of the registry sites like Honeyfund or something similar and registered for a honeymoon. Looks like we are on our own. I am now in love with the idea of going on a honeymoon soon after the wedding…and enjoying the new wedded bliss. Why wait!

So this post isn’t mine. I didn’t write it. It was written by a blogger that I don’t know, and likewise, I have contributed a blog entry to someone elses blog out there in blogland as well. You can find links to all of the participating blogs here.  Today’s post is part of the Blog Share. It’s interesting participating in these blog shares, as the topics usually stray from the theme of the hosting blog. The below post is a perfect example. Enjoy.

I don’t write about religion on my blog. I am religious. It’s not cool to say this, but I like being religious. My faith makes me put other people first. It makes me think about what I can do to be a better person and what I can do to make the world a better place. It keeps me humble. It keeps me grounded.

I don’t take most of the Bible literally, and yet, I realize my religious beliefs are unrealistic and maybe a little bit crazy. The story of Jesus isn’t exactly the most believable, sensible story. I know that, but I still believe.

I don’t care if other people are religious or not. I don’t care if they are religious but believe in a different religion than I do. The ultimate thing, really the only thing that matters, is to try to be a good person. Unfortunately it seems to me that other people care that I’m religious. And they think that because I’m religious, they are smarter than me. It’s stupid, but one of the reasons I don’t write about religion on my blog is that I can’t stand the comments from people who think they’re smart because they’re not religious. When I read other posts about religion, there are almost always comments about how stupid religion is, how religion is only for weak or ignorant people, how they are so much smarter because they figured out that all religion is a lie. I don’t know. I don’t think I’m an idiot because I’m Catholic, and I really don’t appreciate that attitude.

After writing a big boring thing about how I don’t want anyone picking on my religion, I have to admit that I’m struggling with being Catholic right now. I still like my faith. I like going to my church because I really like my priest and my parish. At the same time, I don’t want to be affiliated with a bureaucracy that has protected child molesters and that teaches that homosexuality is wrong. Can I help to change the Catholic Church from within it? Do I need to leave the Church? I don’t know what the right thing to do is. I know there are hardcore Catholics who think that if you don’t agree with everything the bureaucracy does, then you aren’t really Catholic. Personally, I disagree. I’m afraid that if all the people like me leave the Church, then it will never change.

After the success of the last blog share I chose to participate in, I decided to jump in on this opportunity that Bright Yellow World brought to me as well. On Monday, the author on my blog won’t be me. In fact, some of my writing will be somewhere else floating around as well. The beauty of the blog share is everything is anonymous. You don’t know who wrote on mine, and you won’t know where my writings are. Pretty cool way to speak your mind and not have to deal with the repercussions.

Below are the participants in this blog share. Feel free to have a look around their blogs prior to Monday, but definitely check them out on Monday. There will be a lot of good stuff (so I hear).

A Little Coffee With My Cream and Sugar
And You Know What Else
Another Bloody Mary
Bright Yellow World
Cake or Death
Dispatches from the Failed Mommies Club
Feel Me Don’t You
Heidikins
Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men
Kirida
Malfeasance
My 33 People
Nothing Is Easier Than Self-Deceit
Postcards from Inania
Rediscovering Me
Snow Covered Hills
Tales of a tree-hugging 2L
The Gay White North
The Little Goat
The Opposite of Classy

Upon checking out the new and shiny Bright Yellow World, I have been inspired. I have been having some blog woes as of late. I cant update my wordpress…my code is wonky..and I’m not a computer expert. I’ve been toying with the idea of paying to have a blog redesign, and since the folks at Splendid Sparrow did such a great job with Abby’s blog…I went for it. You only live once right?

She has sent me some thoughts and ideas for me to ponder thus far…but I am eagerly awaiting a new shiny blog that I can call my own. A blog where all I have to do is push a button…and viola! an update occurs.

So stay tuned my devoted few. Change…she is a coming.