cyber status updates.

"If you have to think about whether you love someone or not, then the answer is no. When you love someone you just know." -- Janice Markowitz

Sooo... I finally updated my relationship status on facebook and myspace. I guess this means our relationship is legit (at least to the rest of the cyber world).


Also, lately it seems like I've been doing a lot of congratulating, so why stop now? Congratulations to my friends Raphael and Mike, both of whom got married this past month (not to each other).

And lastly, although I'll be apartment hunting in D.C., if I was home this Saturday at 7 P.M. I'd probably try to catch NBC's new show i do! -- supposedly the ultimate lavish wedding planning guide. And since it's sponsored by my favorite bridal website (theknot.com), I don't doubt it will be quite entertaining/informative.

"Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth." -- Psalm 26:2-3

sim city.

"One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art." -- Oscar Wilde

Congrats to Maris and Ryan on their recent engagement! And belated congratulations to my room mate Faaiza and her fiance Zack, who recently got engaged as well. It makes me ridiculously happy to see my friends getting engaged. Seriously.

To further lighten up this dreary Wednesday, I thought I'd mention my new favorite thing: the very sims-like "dress your wedding" feature by David's Bridal (log-in using alphonse.katrina@gmail.com, password = guest). While some of the options for accessories and facial/body features are limited (definitely not up to Nintendo mii standards), it is definitely a fun way to waste a few minutes (or more). Viola:


And while I plan to have my bridesmaids in cocktail length dresses (summery, right?), I haven't decided much beyond that, so don't necessarily expect a real-life version of this. As for the guys, let it be known that Al did their dressing. Fashion designing at its finest.

And speaking of new favorite things... this website I stumbled upon, style me pretty, happens to be one of them.

"My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest" -- Isaiah 32:18

they call me mellow yellooooow.

"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most." -- John Ruskin

Happy June! Lately I've been getting some questions about what colors our bridal party will be wearing. Surprisingly, unlike many girls hoping for a happy ending, I never got around to constructing a picture-perfect wedding in my head. So perhaps disappointingly, for a while my response to such questions was simply, "I don't know." Even up until now Al and I (but mostly just me) have been flip-flopping between different color options. When we were initially planning on a fall wedding I started thinking of long gowns and deep, rich colors -- like a plum or a royal blue. But once we decided we were most likely going to do a summer afternoon wedding instead, we thought it would be more appropriate to do something light and fresh. So without further ado, I'm pleased to announce that we've made some sort of decision: our bridal party will likely be wearing some sort of yellow (this was actually Al's suggestion :) ). And surprisingly this was the one color that I said I wouldn't use when I started doing this whole wedding planning thing back in February. I pretty sure this change of heart had more to do with inspiration from some of the wedding websites I've visited and less to do with the fact that yellow is the "in color" this season... but I cannot say so with certainty.


So alas, I am quite excited about having a warm weather wedding. And for now, it will be yellow-y, but stay tuned... that still may change.

"In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." -- 2 Timothy 2:20-21

wife wants a farmer.

"All poetry is an ordered voice, one who tries to tell you a vision in the unvisionary language of farm, city, and love" -- Paul Engle

As two suburbanites verging on city dwellers, you might say that Al and I are not exactly the rural type. This news might come as a surprise to anyone who witnessed this spectacle this past weekend:


Yes, my future hubby helped plant corn, pick onions, and drive a tractor. Sadly, these are things I was doing when I was short, bald, and barely walking:


And while I don't think we'll be leaving our urban living any time soon, Al makes a pretty good farmer in training. With all this talk of farming and farm living, it's at least worth mentioning the new t.v. show, "Farmer Wants a Wife." It seems you can make a reality show about just about any thing these days. There seem to be two sorts of wedding-geared reality shows out there: 1) those geared towards finding "the one" (think The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Flavor of Love, Rock of Love...), and 2) those geared towards capturing the chaos/bliss of wedding planning (think Bridezillas, airing this Sunday). I'm sure I'll have more to say about such shows another day, but for now, I speak for myself and say that I don't need a farmer or a city boy, just the boy I have, just the way he is.

Also, expect more wedding planning details soon...

"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." -- James 5:7-8

made of HONOR

"Bless you, my darling, and remember you are always in the heart - oh tucked so close there is no chance of escape - of your sister." -- Katherine Mansfield

First of all Happy Memorial Day. Remembering all the amazing people who have served or who continue to serve our country, I wanted to say a special thank you to two of my favorite officers in training: my cousins, Ashley and Nathan.

I planned on composing a very interesting/applicable blog entry this afternoon about a topic that I was going to come up with some time in the last few hours, but instead I was busy helping my baby sister do some last minute packing for her three month visit to Uganda. And while my sister is flying somewhere over the Atlantic right now, I am lying in my bed quite exhausted from all the running around we did in the past 24 hours. So alas, no thoughtful entry today. Instead, since I was talking about my sister, I thought it an appropriate time to introduce my Maid of Honor! Yes, my sister has the privilege/burden of being my MoH... how lucky that my best friend happens to be my kin?! Apparently the MoH has a lot of responsibilities, but I am confident my sister is up to the task. One such task happens to be serving as my "emotional lifeboat" (according to theknot.com). That being said, I hope I don't go too crazy while she's gone. To say the least, she will be missed, but I'm sure she'll be having a ball while doing her part to eradicate malaria in Africa.

And congrats again to my cousin Rachael, who got married over the weekend.

"Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother.'" -- Mark 3:34-35

he puts the AL in alleykat

"I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance, A church filled with family and friends. I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for, He said one that would make me his wife." -- Author Unknown

As if you didn't already know, there are a lot of websites and magazines devoted to brides-to-be like me! I was just browsing one such site with resources for brides in the New York/New Jersey area and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the reception venue that Alphonse and I are looking at (Nanina's in the Park) is the number one featured reception location in the area, according to the site! The discovery made me all the more excited about my wedding.

On a slightly less sunshine-y note, according to theknot.com the second most common bridal mistake is "reading aloud to your fiance from bridal magazines." Apparently guys really don't care what kind of flowers I carry or if my dress is white, off-white, or off-off-white. Who knew?! While I haven't yet reached the "reading from magazines" level of annoying-ness, I do confess to quite often bringing wedding plans into our everyday discussion. And despite historic evidence to the contrary, I am quite happy to share that Alphonse has surprisingly been quite involved in this whole process. In the beginning he said: "Let me handle the music and you can take care of the rest." Since then, however, he has given his input about every aspect of the wedding that we've planned so far. Apparently this is sort of a big deal to him, too... and I'm not going to complain about that at all. We keep each other appropriately sane/silly. :) .

And congrats to my cousin Rachael who is getting married tomorrow! Sadly this means we're getting old, but luckily nothing beats a wedding and a three-day weekend. :) . And early well wishes for Memorial Day.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." -- Philippians 4:6

all in a year.

"In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee/ In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife. / In five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes / How do you measure a year in the life?" -- 'Seasons of Love' from RENT

Annual review. That was the two word title of the meeting that I had with my boss this morning evaluating my performance over the past year. The meeting was over in about 15 minutes and the day progressed as usual. In the afternoon I visited my friend Peter at Columbia and saw the campus set up for tomorrow's commencement ceremony and as I stood there I felt like it was just yesterday that I was sitting in those seats in front of alma mater. And now, it's evening time and I'm sitting in my empty apartment on this rainy Tuesday mentally packing things up for my move when my year-long lease is up in a month. I'm not sure if it's the weather or the visit to campus or my evaluation this morning, but I'm suddenly feeling very nostalgic. It's hard to believe it's been a year since I graduated and started working full-time.. time flies so quickly. A few highlights of the past year include: graduation, starting work, my first apartment, getting engaged, getting in to medical school. And surprisingly (to me), all this talk of the past makes me really excited about the future-- and all the known and unknown things it holds. Just a few minutes ago Al told me, "I keep telling all my friends how excited I am to marry you. I think they just don't get how much fun we have... I know we're gonna have a blast." I definitely agree. So cheers to 2007, 2008, 2009 and beyond. Hopefully every annual review I have is this enjoyable.

525,600 minutes ago

And since we're talking about time (sorta) I wanted to mention that I've stumbled upon so many "wedding planning countdowns" over the past few months, and with our August 2009 wedding plans well underway, we are by most accounts ahead of schedule! Go team alleykat.

"And I'll say to myself, 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.' " -- Luke 12:19