It's my party, I'll change my mind if I want to!

So, after talking to my Bee and asking him a few questions, I have come to realize he wants a "bigger" wedding than he had originally thought he did. ;) His guest list for the ceremony, which was supposed to be just family, was already at 25. Add to that my side and well, 50 people are coming. That's not even inviting the people who might not be close enough to be family, but are people we want at least at the Reception.

We calculated the tab if we did it ceremony, dinner out, limo bus, party at a bar, reception/luncheon the next day versus rent a hall, ceremony and reception with dinner and alcohol, but do it all one night and in one place. It's about the same. Plus, I'll get my first dance AND my daddy-daughter dance :) Woot!

- I am foregoing the traditional "here comes the bride" for an acoustic version of Mike's and my Song, which is "Free" by Zach Brown Band (just typing that, makes me misty eyed!). Hopefully, his brother will be playing it on his acoustic guitar...

- My colors are Black and yellow. For several reasons...but mainly because we are HUGE Steelers fans ;) However, I am not going to make my girls buy a specific dress. They can buy their own dress from anywhere they like. It just has to be black, or yellow. Or both.

-He is going to ask Little Man to be his best man (!!!!) and they are going to have matching tux's.

- I am catering it myself. We will have burgers, hot dogs, brats, Wings from our favorite wing place, potato salad ect. We are fancy.

- I got a great deal on alcohol. A friend of ours owns a little store in town. He is giving us 20% off on beer, 10% off on wine, for every $100 in beer we buy, we will get a free bag of ice. Also, any wine left over, he will buy back!

-My Cake Topper!!!










- Our friend's son is making the cake (he does great work!) He is giving us a deal too!

- A friend DJ's too. He said he'd hook us up on the 1's and 2's ;)

That's about it for now!

Not even 24 hours...

So, I haven't been a bride to be even 24 hours and I already am having my first bout with drama.

Sigh....

Here's the thing, My sister's boyfriend is a good guy. I mean, I don't know him that well, and quite frankly, he is not the type of person I would find myself befriending if it weren't for my sister dating him and all. Then again, I love my sister to death, but if she weren't my sister, we probably wouldn't run in the same circles either. Nothing negative in that, just different personalities. Different likes. Etc.

Anyway, SHE likes the occasional adult beverage from time to time. However, she is on a lot of medication that doesn't mix with alcohol, so drinking needs to be a planned affair and when she does drink, she is a real light weight and like one drink does her in. If she has two, she is down for the night. HE on the other hand, is a recovering alcoholic with 10 years sobriety. It pretty much works out for them because she doesn't drink very often. However, as of late, he has pretty much forbid her to drink. At all. He doesn't like the taste of it on her or the smell of it. Nor does he like to watch her drink. Personally, I get it. I don't hold that against him. He needs to be concerned with his sobriety. He used to be ok with her coming to my house, by herself, having a drink or two, and then spending the night so he doesn't see it/smell it/taste it. Now, that's not even good enough. He has a right to feel the way he does. However, forbidding people from doing stuff when in a relationship with them, in my book, is the first step in a downward spiral.

The big contention here is that the current plan for 12/31/2012 is for me to get married at around 6pm. Then, everyone at the wedding ceremony is then invited out to dinner with us somewhere. Then, after dinner, Bee and I are going to have a party bus. On this party bus there will be partying. Hence, the term party bus. It is also New Years Eve. My friends and family don't need much of an excuse to party, but I am giving them two huge ones. Then, we are taking said party bus out to a bar...or three...on New Years Eve...needless to say, he is not comfortable with being around all that. I understand. I get it. And if he wants to leave and go home, I would not be offended in the slightest. However, the problem lies in the fact he does not want my sister to be involved in it either. He wants her to go home with him after the dinner.



Now, here is where I DO have a problem. This is my  wedding. My  day. My family has waited a very long time for this. They are ecstatic. They want to be a part of every bit of it. This is going to be my only wedding, and it will only happen this one time. My sister is always wanting to hang out with me and my friends, and this is the one time that I actually truly want her there. I don't think she should be denied the opportunity to hang out and celebrate with me. She's upset and he goes back and forth between trying to make her feel guilty for choosing "alcohol" over him, and being all martyr like and saying "Fine! I'll GO! But I don't feel comfortable being around all that!" 


She is torn. She doesn't want to upset him, make him feel uncomfortable, test his sobriety, but she also wants to be a part of things with me. That is what it boils down to, really. She would love to drink with everyone, but it's not about that. She just wants to be a part of it. Hell, she doesn't have to drink. I probably won't be (I am still planning on trying to get pregnant starting in September, so I could be pregnant and not able to drink either).

I told her this. She needs to be there for my ceremony. I also want her there at the following day's reception. The in between? Well, I'd be nice if she was there, but I wouldn't hold it against her if she decided to go with him.

Well, if that's the worst of it, we should be good. However, we still have 5 more months to go. Hahaha!

I like to bunch all of my life events into one 6 month period!

Ya'll, I've been on Hiatus.

I know, what else is new, right?

Well, it's Summer. And We're busy. And, I could blog every day but I think ya'll would get sick of hearing "So, we had football for Bee today. Then, Football for C....oh, and Little Man had football today, too!" So, I decided to take a little unplanned break.

There has been some noteworthy things, though...

J graduated. Yes, she made it! I spent 3 hours in a gymnasium where the temperature inside was roughly that of the sub-artic (and my hoodie was in the car :(  ). Then, I planned, bought for, prepared, cleaned and carried out a graduation party for her as well. It just so happened to fall on the only day of the year thus far where we reached temperatures that were damn near the surface of the sun (it made it to 104 that day....oh, and did I mention my house is 109 years old...and they didn't have central air back then. Nor, did they made a house that could have central air installed down the road.)

C broke her arm. Yeah. That's what I said. Want to know how? Well, I'll tell you. She spent a week with her grandparents. That really should be all I have to say, but I'll go on. Anyway, they thought it was hilarious to watch my kid, who is smack dab in the middle of football training camp for her 7th grade middle school team, which is filled with coaches and players who have never seen her play and are skeptical about a girl playing, climb a tree. Better yet, climb 15ft into a tree. Then, she fell out of it. They told her she was fine, and after a day or two of her complaining, they put a brace on it (that was for the wrong arm) that they had laying around and told her she'd be fine. Didn't call us. Didn't tell us. In fact, she was home from their house for like 3 hours before we even noticed it (we had people over and she came in and asked to go ride her bike and play and we said sure...) Yeah. Broken arm. I was PISSED. Needless to say, she is fine now and her football team loves her...but still. My kids always seem to come home injured from there....

Bee's team is in the top 5! :) So, yay for that!

Oh, and I have some news.....

Because I think it's super awesome and fun to try and shove all my live events into one six month period of time...

Bee and I are going to start trying to have a baby in September!!

and if that isn't enough...

We are getting married on 12/31/2012 !!!!!!!

The current plan is a small ceremony with just immediate family and best friends (BFF Rose's lovey is going to be doing the ceremony) then, go out to dinner after. Then, get a party bus and go out on the town to celebrate for New Years Eve (and to celebrate our marriage, of course) and then New Years Day, have a Family Friendly Reception.

Yeah...I'm going to be a busy girl... but then again...what else  is new?! ;)

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

So we have had a looong and busy weekend :) Friday night we had soccer practice, and Saturday we had our soccer game for little man. Saturday night we hung out with friends, and then Sunday we got up and drove to PA to see Bee's family for their annual Pig roast. WHAT A GREAT TIME! My kids never ran so hard for so long. We are already being begged to be able to come back next year. The kids are begging us too ;) Then, today we had another cookout/birthday party/candle party when we got home. I had a blast. The kids and Bee did too! So glad I took Tuesday off! :)

Bridge in PA



Same bridge

View from what used to be the backyard to the home Bee grew up in (He moved when he was 15 because his house was distroyed by a flood)

C about to go jet skiing for the first time

J's first time going too!

View from Bee's cousin's second floor deck (They live next door to where Bee grew up)

View from the same deck, but up into town

Dock

Bee's house used to sit here...

Bee's cousin Marcie, and I

Me and my favorite guy!

C's award ceremony

C was reconized and awarded tonight for getting a 3.6 + (She had all 3.8's) all 4 quarters! Way to go, C!!!

New!

My New Hair

I have blond streaks and violet streaks...you just can't see it in the picture...

Pictorial Weekend

While our weekend wasn't as "exotic" as last weekend, we still had a great time! We stayed close to home which was a blessing because starting in just 2 weeks, we will be away every other weekend again.

Friday, we started our evening with soccer. Bee was not feeling well, AT ALL, so I made him stay home and I went and coached solo. However, there is a family who's wee ones play on our team who's older brother plays soccer for the local college, and he ended up helping me. Yay! Ha! After practice, we came home to Grandma Bee and chili dogs! We spent time with Grandma Bee because she is going on a road trip to Georgia and then Florida, and then North Carolina on the way home and we wouldn't be seeing her until JUNE :) We ended the evening hanging out and watching tv. C apparently, had a long day and couldn't make it through the program we were watching. Neither could Ms. Kitty.

Saturday morning, we got up, got dressed, and ran out the door. We had pictures first...which is always fun. However, unlike football and basketball, they went pretty well and were organized.

Then, it was time to play our game. We played the Grey thunder wolves. We figured we had a shot because it was warm that day and we were their 2nd game, back to back of a double header. Not so much. They beat us 4-0. I just want ONE goal...just one. I don't even care if we win, but I would like our team NOT to lose in a shut-out every game! haha :) The kids had fun, which always, is what counts.

After the game, the wee ones headed off with their grandparents *gag*, and I went to Bee's practice. It was a hard hitting, high spirited one too. I just hope they can fine tune things a bit more before the season starts. We were supposed to have a game, but the team we were going to play, folded and no one else wanted to come play us. I am actually kind of glad because Saturday was a bad juju day for football. Several teams in our league had games that day. Two teams, at two different games had players go down with spinal injuries. Both left the fields in an ambulance. Another team, playing in a benefit game (that we played in last year) had a player get hit on a punt return. He went down, and will never get up again. He died right there on the field in front of his wife and 3 kids. It was a very very very sad day in football. 

I'll take a heated and spirited practice with my goofy guys any day.

Mike inviting the team to our house for a party and talking about upcoming practices. Ren is impersonating him and Tate is showing us we are #1 :)

I can't stop thinking about that player's wife and kids. Or, the player who hit him and caused him to go down. It was a completely legal hit, but it will change his life forever....

Saturday night, we were free. Well, J had prom, but other than that, we were free. I was supposed to have a candle party, but it got rescheduled and he had an open night. Bee and I grabbed lunch at 5 guys burgers, and then headed home to help J get ready for prom. She looked beautiful and her date looked handsome. Even if he does look like he could be in a movie with Tim Burton. ;) After pictures, they left and we decided to invite over some friends. The kids came home around 7:30 and we sat around the bon fire until the wee hours with a bunch of our friends. Bee cooked hot dogs, the kids ran around like banshee's and everyone had a good time. 

On Sunday, I had told Bee that all I wanted for Mother's day was to sleep in, and to have him hang my Barn Stars. He obliged, but at 7:30 I was awake. Despite the fact we were drinking then night before and did not get to bed until roughly 2am. However, my internal clock feels the need to wake me. That, and even though it's 7:30am, the birds who sit in the tree outside my open window feel the need to squawk incessantly and the sun comes up on that side of the house making it look like it's noon outside. Not to mention, a geriatric dog who only wants ME to feed her and ME to walk her. She is used to breakfast by 6:45 during the week, so by 7:30 she is almost an hour over due and OHMYGOD, she is going to starve to death. I did manage to go back to sleep and doze off and on until 8:30. Meh. 

I got up, and my Bee pulled me into the chair with him and we cuddled and watched TV for awhile. Ms. Kitty even came and joined us, which is a real treat for Bee. He wants her to cuddle and sleep with him but she never has any interest. Yesterday, she fell asleep on him. All peaceful like. Well, actually, I think she looks like the minion hell dogs from Ghostbusters...

   

                                        

Whatever..

Then our friends, the Jones's came over for a visit. I got to spend time with this little guy...which, let's be honest, it worth being jealous over ;)

After that, my Bee finally  hung my barn stars in the living room. I am a huge fan of how they look. Now, I just want to get another set and put them on the other side of the wall :)

After that, him and C and little man disappeared. I went out back to discover this...

They were playing roller hockey. It's a good thing too. C was getting huffy and whiny because she wanted to play, or do something. She is at an age still where she expects Bee and I to entertain her. She must has asked him 23487237 times yesterday if Bee would:

• Go to the CFC (community rec center) with her and play basketball (it was closed anyway)
• go outside and play basketball
• go outside and roller blade with her
• take her to Target to walk around
• take her to Walmart and walk around
• Take her to the movies
• Take her to CiCi's (even though they went there yesterday with the grandparents)
• watch a movie and have popcorn (This was after we watched a movie with her earlier...and Bee is not a fan of movies)
• If Bee would ride bikes with her
• take her on a motorcycle ride
• go on a walk
• take her for custard

and then she would start back and one, and work her way down. I keep trying to explain to her she is young, with boundless energy. We are not. Him more so than I. We are her parents. We are not responsible for keeping her entertained. Go outside and play, or call a friend over. Also, we are not made of money, and we want to enjoy one last day of REST before the week starts up and the season of no free time. I remember being there. I remember just wanting to do stuff with my parents. I was mad they wanted to just sit in the house all the time while I wanted to go out and explore with them...

Anyway, we sat around and watched TV together (they played some video games together too) and I made popcorn. Then we all headed off to bed. It was a very nice weekend all in all :) 

ps- right before bed, little man came to me and said, "Oh! I forgot your card!" and handed me a homemade card he made and got C, J, and Bee to sign for me for mothers day. Bless his heart ;)

I need to hit my goal

Ok, so I'm going to just put this out there to any readers I may have left...

I NEED to make my goal.

No, I won't lose my business or go to jail or anything silly like that, but if I can hit $1000 in sales by Friday the 19th, I will be super happy because I will have made my second quick start company sponsored goal. I will be rewarded with $150 in FREE products which I want, badly, so that I can have more stuff to show my people when I do parties, which will end up making me more in sales and commission, which helps my family.

ANYWAY

I am $180.00 away from reaching that goal. I am *this* close. I had a party scheduled for Saturday that would have let me achieve that goal, however, they have had to re-schedule for a date that is after my deadline. I have been pounding the pavement trying to book parties and drum up business. Everyone wants to help, but they are busy and can't hold parties until June. I am ok with this, and will gladly take the parties, but for now...I still want to reach my goal. Therefore, I am holding a raffle of sorts. I need to sell $180 worth of candles. OR 10 of the 26oz candles. (With shipping and tax, they come out to about $21-$22 a piece). If I make my goal, I will pick one name randomly from my pool of buyers that helped me achieve my goal and the winner will receive a candle of their choice extra, and $50 American Dollars. Would any of you, people of the intertubes,  be interested in  helping me out?? I Promise, you will LOVE your candle. If not, let me know. Seriously, I will buy it back and return your money, OR let you pick out something else of equal or lesser value.

We have candles for kids (which count towards my goal) where 100% of the proceeds go to local children in need (in YOUR area). There are three fun scents! Root Beer, Baby Powder, and Coconut lime carousel!

We have yellow Support The Troops Candles that smell just like warm apple crisp! 10% of the proceeds from each of THOSE candles goes to "Operation Home Front" which helps soldiers and their families.

Then, there is the over 80 true-to-form scents in all different shapes and sizes if the above two don't sound like your thing.

We also have scent pods and pod warmers. The deal for May is pick from 5 of our best selling pod warmers and get it along with our three best selling pods (clean sheets, sugar cookie, and ginger lime) for $42. That's a GREAT deal considering the warmers alone are $40 :)

PLEASE HELP ME??

If you are in the Cleveland, Ohio area, you can email me at joymariebauer@gmail.com and I can take cash/check/MO/CC and deliver it to you. If not, you can go to my website www.mygc.com/joybauer and order directly from my website. It will ship directly to you. It will be swell :) Right before you finish checking out, it will ask you if your order is part of a party order. Please put party #5505809 in the box. That way I will know who to put in the raffle! :)


Thanks, people of the intertubes!!!

That's mine!

Mother's day