Mike and I had a very hectic few days this week. Thanks to the bad weather last week we had rescheduled to do engagement photos on Tuesday and were still planning to do bridals Monday. I didn't think I was going to be so stressed out for doing the photo shooting that I was looking forward to the most. I had invited a friend to spend the night Sunday since I didn't have to work the next day and figured I could sleep in a little and we could do a Supernatural girl's night. I fell asleep shortly after 10:00pm but woke up because she was still wide awake watching Supernatural at 2:30am. I finally managed to get to sleep sometime after five, and then woke up half an hour before the alarm went of at 8:00am so Victoria could get ready for me to take her down to work. So I was pretty tired. I was really relieved that I didn't have to really worry about hair or make-up because Sue and Tina had said they could do it for me, which took a lot of stress off my shoulders. So all I had to worry about was getting down to The Old Meeting House to pick out our decorations, and then he would follow me home where I could get my dress and accessories then he'd take me to Sue's parent's house where I was meeting Tina and Sue for hair and make-up and where they were going to help me change into my dress. The lady who helped us at The Old Meeting House was very curt and acted as if she really didn't want to be helping us. It made me very irritated but I didn't say anything about it. Mike and I showed her the cake we wanted and decided to go with the buttercream frosting instead of the fondant, were told we need to bring the 6yds of ribbon in by last week of October, then talked to her about the ceremony since we wanted to have a back up plan. We need to do a rehearsal sometime earlier that week - so we want to try for the Monday before since I usually have those off. After we finished there Mike followed me home, I ran upstairs and grabbed my dress bag and the bag with my slip and veil and took it back downstairs where Mike and I got it situated in the car. We left around 2:10pm so we got there fairly early. We talked in the car - I was excited to see him in his tux and he was excited to see me in my dress. As the time got closer to three I reluctantly took of the protection amulet I've worn 24/7 with only a few rare occasions where I took it off and gave it to Mike so I wouldn't loose it. I told him not to loose it either so he hung it from his rearview mirror. I felt very naked with it off - he laughed when I told him that. Sue got there right before three so I followed her to Tina's, who lives right next door to Sue's parents, and Mike went home to change and then to go grab the flowers. Sue and Tina got to work right away, curling my hair and then doing the pull-overs that gave it the effect I loved so much when Sue and I experimented that day. Tina asked me what I wanted in make-up, and as I so rarely wear it I had no idea. I told her to just do what she thought would be best. Sue had a lesson she had to go teach so she had to leave before I was all the way ready, but Tina had no problems helping me into my dress without messing up my hair or smudging my make-up. The vail kept getting in my face so I couldn't see my feet to do up my buckles so Tina had to help me with my shoes. I was ready just after 4:00pm. I knew the flowers wouldn't be ready until 4:30 so I figured Mike would be around to pick me up at quarter to five or so since the flower shop wasn't that far. Unfortunately my phone died so for the next hour and fifteen minutes I was borrowing Tina's phone trying to get a hold of Mike and Sydney. Mike was stuck in horrible traffic then got lost twice on his way to pick me up so I tried to tell Sydney we were running late, but could remember her number. In desperation I called my mom and Melinda. Mom gave me the number to the place where she took her car to get fixed and I couldn't get a hold of Melinda so I left her a message to call me back. I then remembered I had Sydney's number in an e-mail from when Melinda sent me wedding information. So we pulled up my e-mail account and I was able to call Sydney and leave her a message telling her we were running late and to call Mike's phone when she got the message. Just then Melinda called me back on Tina's phone telling me she called Mike's phone and gave him the number and Mike pulled up in front of the house. Sue and Tina hurried me out to the car - I felt like Cinderella trying to race to her coach before it turned back into a pumpkin. Mike got lost three times trying to find Memory Grove, but we managed to make it there a little after 6:00pm. Sydney was outside of her car waiting for us. I was shocked to see she had her foot and lower leg in a bootie - she told us she broke her leg taking pictures for someone. She'd stepped in a whole and had twisted her body so as not to break her camera by landing on it and had instead broken her foot. So she was really dog dodo conscious as we started in to Memory Grove because it is a dog park and people don't pick up after their dogs like they should - she especially didn't want to step in it with her boot because she always steps in some when she goes up there. Mike and I had a great time doing pictures. I loved the way the flowers turned out. I was worried that the crystals in the roses wouldn't look the way I wanted but they were perfect. After we finished pictures Mike and I stopped by his place to show his parents how we looked and how the flowers turned out - sort of a sneak peek kind of thing. Arla's eyes bulged when she saw us and she jumped up from the couch where she'd been watching TV with Albert. All she kept saying was how beautiful I looked. I thanked her for the flowers, they were exactly what I wanted. Albert kept saying I looked really really nice in my dress. I learned later that all Arla talked about that night was how beautiful I looked, and that was what she talked about most of Tuesday as well. On our way back to my house we decided to stop and see Melinda and Brent if they were still up. I called and Melinda said they wanted to see us so we stopped by. Melinda and Brent were both in their pajamas but were so excited to see us in our wedding clothes. They said they both really liked the flowers. Then Melinda discovered an icky earwig on my dress so I flicked it onto the floor. Brent got a kleenx and crushed it. I hate earwigs. We let them head back to bed and left so we could show my parents and then change so we could go to bed. Mom kept telling us we looked like the toppers on the wedding cake, and she was tearing up a bit. Dad took lots of pictures with me just seperate and with both Mike and I together. After that Mike helped me with my shoes, mom took my bouquet and hung it up to dry, and I took off my vail and walked Mike to the door. We were both so tired. After he left I went right up where mom helped me out of my dress and undid my bra for me - even though it feels like a corset and not a bra, and I got into some pajamas. Then I talked to her about how Mike and I might be moving to Florida next spring got some dinner and went to bed. I will post the exciting and very funny adventures of our engagement photos later. :)
This week has been a little bit easier, and crazier in ways. Mike and I had scheduled to get engagement photos done on Monday evening, but I got a call early Monday morning from our photographer Sydney. She said the weather was supposed to be bad and she was worried that if we went through with them our photos wouldn't look very nice. She wanted to see if I would be willing to reschedule. At the time the rest of our week was pretty much booked so I asked her if we could try for the 22nd of September. She was fine with that and we decided to play the rest of the day by ear. If the weather permitted we'd still do pictures that day. Around 1:30pm I told her we'd just plan on the 22nd because the skies were just getting darker and darker. It's a good thing we did too because not long after that the clouds finally opened up and we had a heavy downpour. Things didn't work out with our other wedding plans as well this week. Tuesday I was running for the bathroom every twenty minutes so I had to call up Ramey (who we'd made an appointment with to go look at invitations) and reschedule with her because there was no way I was going to make it. Mike stayed at home trying to work on homework and get it finished for his class on Wednesday. On Thursday after I got home from work I invited Mike over for our Supernatural night, and he told me he wanted to talk to me about some school related things. It turns out that he learned that ITT-Tech has cancelled his major so he will no longer be able to get his bachelor's there. They said if they got enough people to sign up for it they'd pick it up one last time but Mike said that the possibilities of that happening are slim. Most of his classmates are looking at their other options now. Mike told me that he'd been looking into schools in Florida. We won't know until March for sure, but he wanted to know how I felt moving to Florida next spring. I was a little surprised that we would be moving out of Utah so soon. I had expected a little bit more time here, but I knew we'd probably be moving eventually. In fact Florida was one of the places I knew were in the possibilites pile. I told him that I didn't see any sense in looking further into the houses we had liked in Eagle Mountain if we might be moving to Florida next year and he agreed. He had already talked to his mom about letting us move into the main house downtown until we know what is going on. She told us we might as well because she isn't having any luck trying to sell it. So for now Mike and I are planning on moving into the main house and will be looking further into Florida, just in case things don't work out here. Besides being a little anxious about not knowing anyone down there, and leaving friends and family behind I know that this is happening for a reason. Nothing happens for no reason - there is a purpose behind everything. So we will look on the bright side of things. I think that the dogs will enjoy the warm weather, I know I certainly will no more snow! :) Mike really enjoyed Florida when he lived there before and he knows the area well so he can help me get to know Florida better since I've only been there once, and after the honeymoon twice. We decided to skip the cruise to the Caribbean Islands for our honeymoon and instead are going to Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studios. Mike is very excited - he signed us up for a backstage tour with the dolphins. He has wanted to do something like this since he's seen our vacation photos from July where I was in the pool with the beluga whales.
Well if today wasn't enough to put me off getting married nothing is. Mike and I have been having problems getting his temple clearance so we can get married in the temple, so we decided to go ahead and set up a back up plan, just in case things don't work out for us. We figured we could always get sealed next year, even though neither of us want a civil wedding. But it's better to be safe than sorry, if the clearance does come through for us we are planning on having a ring ceremony so friends who can't come to the temple can be there. Well, Mike agreed to call The Old Meeting House today while I was at work, which I was sent home after a few hours because the holiday this week had cut back on our already low mail volumes thanks to the economy being the way it is right now. So I took my paycheck down to the bank, depoisted all of towards my car, picked up some dog food and went home, I figured it was going to be a good day. Mom and I had been talking about getting a back up plan in case we couldn't get clearance so I told her we were planning on doing it - and if his clearance came through we'd just turn the wedding ceremony to a ring ceremony. But a few minutes later I got a text from Mike saying to call him asap. So I called him and he said that The Old Meeting House had booked us for the wrong day, November 5. Not only that but they had booked someone else on our day. I was very angry when I called The Old Meeting House back and after a long heated conversation with the girl on the phone, she said that they were only booked from 2-4 that day and she could have the decorations changed for us in an hour and a half. She kept insisting that we said November 5, and we had never said that. We had booked this and put down a deposit on this day in July, as well as confirming our date when we went in to look at invitations in the middle of August. So neither of us were very happy. But since we are still able to do our ceremony at 6:00pm with about an hour to do pictures before the reception starts we calmed down a little. I'm glad we are only doing this once. I think being engaged and planning a wedding are highly over rated. Can't wait for it all to be taken care of and over with.
Ok I'm a little behind on getting the post up this week, it's been a little busy the past couple of days. But day five of our vacation was our last real vacation day. Mom and I had made plans to go to the San Diego Zoo since it is supposed to be one of the best zoos in the world. I was a little worn down from Sea World the day before and not sleeping well so I wasn't as thrilled as I normally would be going to the zoo. We got there a little before two and got our tickets, on the way into the zoo we saw that they too had a backstage tour. Mom asked me if I wanted to do it, and I told her only if she'd do it with me. She relented, some what reluctantly, and we signed on. We had to head back to the area because the tour was actually starting soon. So while we were waiting we looked at the giant anteater and her baby on her back and took pictures of each other with our backstage tour badges on. The tour started soon after we got there. First thing we got to see was a little hedgehog, they brought this out while we were filling in a little quiz to see how many famous logo animals we knew. We got most of them, but some we didn't have a clue. Mom's knowledge helped a lot. After we got to touch the hedgehog we were introduced to their little cheetah cub, who was only going to be there for the summer, since she is being relocated this fall. We watched her chase one of her balls and bounce around on the props they had on the small stage for her. We were able to get up really close to her, mere inches away, but were asked not to touch since they didn't want her used to too many people. Her long tail would often whip out, and came close to touching a couple of the other people on the tour since there weren't that many, but everyone kept their distance. Mom thought she was really pretty. 
After that they took us back to the rhinos. We all got to take a bit of grain and carrot and each had a turn to feed them. Mom even did it, but she wasn't happy when she got slobbered on. The rhinos had been rolling in the dirt to help keep them cool so even their top lips were dirty. Mom wanted to see what they felt like so she petted the side of one of their faces. She said that if anyone needs lotion, they do. We got to scrub them with brushes after that, one of them really likes that and we were told that he even rolls on his back so we can do his tummy properly, but he didn't do that for us. Then we gave them showers with the hose, they liked this a lot too since it was really warm. 
We washed our hands in the buckets just along the fence and followed our tour guides through the park back to the kangaroo exibit, there we were joined with the Make A Wish Foundation kids. They brought out an emu for us to see. She has actually been on several TV talk shows, and has met a lot of celebrities. We each got to go up and pet her. She didn't really feel like a bird because she didn't feel feathery. In fact her wings are very oily, it was really interesting. Mom kept telling her how pretty she was, and how she could easily see her wearing mascarra with her long eyelashes. 
Then they brought out a couple of young kangaroos. We got to pet the female, but her brother hasn't had enough interactions with strangers so he was kept away, which is probably a good thing because he got in a fight with his trainers, kicking and clawing at them as they tried to put him away. The female was really soft though, and we all got to feed her a bit of carrot as well as she walked past our feet. 
They took us back to the main area after that where we were given a lunch and got to watch a show of many different animals that they brought out. They had ocelots, a full grown cheetah, an animal that looked like part bear and part cat - but is actually closer to the meerkat and mongoose, but I can't remember its name, and an Arctic wolf. We were told a lot of interesting things, most of which I already knew. But I loved the show anyway, we even got to howl with the wolf, and I really enjoyed that.
After that we went exploring, we took the tour bus so we could see most of the park, and it was included with our backstage tour price. Then we went on the skyride to get across the park where we looked at most of the deer, zebras, polar bears, Asian cats, and then went to the elephant odyssey which was really cool. It started off with fossils of a bunch of animals buried in the earth or on display, and then a whole wall of what the pictures looked like. Mom wouldn't stand by the wall for me to take a picture so I just took a picture of the wall. 
After that we grabbed the bus to the bird show because mom wanted to see it. Since we had reserved seating, another bonus of the backstage tour, we went and looked at all the big cats like the cougar,lions, black leopard, bobcat, and snow leopards. I didn't get to see the tigers so I was a little disappointed, but mom was really happy we got to see the bird show. We also got to see the hyenas since they were down there as well. I've always thought it interesting that hyenas have the strongest bite per square inch of any land mammal. Over six hundred pounds per square inch. And their stomach acid is so strong the can devour everything on a carcas including the hair, horns, hooves, and bone. They are like the garbage disposals of Africa. 
After the bird show it was time to go home. But when we got in the car it wouldn't start. Mom swore a lot as she cleaned the battery a little, and with a little coaxing, and a lot of praying, the car started. We got to Paul and Angela's and told them about our day. Angela said that the girls would be jealous because mom and I do all the fun stuff at the parks, where they only do the normal. Paul looked at mom's car the next morning, found the problem and told mom how to fix it. But we left around 11:30am or so on Wednesday and came back to Utah. I had a great time on the vacation with mom, it was so much fun.
Ok I'm going to have another shot at this post. On the fouth day we woke up early because we were going to get off the ship and we needed to be out of our rooms by 8:30am. Mom woke me up around 7:40 or so and I was in and out of the shower and had my hair done long before she was even close to being ready. So she sent me down to try and find our pirate picture, even though I couldn't and then she sent me to the main theater to wait for her and wait for our number to be called so we could leave. I entertained myself by playing solitare, which I had to end short because our number was 11 and it was called fairly fast. After we got off the ship we dragged our suitcases back to the car and got out the map as we had already planned on going to Sea World that day. We waved good-bye to the ship as we passed it. It was sad to leave, I'm especially going to miss our cruise director Stu. He was so funny that morning, getting on the overhead and whispering into it for us to wake up. He was really cute - Mom and I both really enjoyed him. It didn't take us long to get to Sea World from the dock. Maybe twenty minutes or so. Mom bought our tickets and got us the backstage tour and we were informed upon buying the tickets that we would get to see the baby dolphins so we were excited about that. When we got inside the gates I saw the other backstage tours where you actually got to interact with the animals and I signed up for the Arctic Adventure Tour and finished signing up just in time to join our group for the backstage tour. Our tour guide took us back to see the dolphins and their babies first. One was less then a week old and it was so cute. The moms were teaching their calves how to swim and how to come up for air. Then we got to see the eels, some rescued sea lions, and then he took us back to see their flamingos and the endangered parrots they have there. They take their flamingos out for a walk every morning - so that was quite fun to learn about - all of the flamingos at the park were nesting, and we got to see a few chicks as well, some of them only a couple of days old. 
After that we stopped at the pizza place to have lunch. I was quite entertained by a little duck that kept wandering about snatching up pieces of breadstick that people were dropping for it. 
We decided to go to the Shamu show first, which was really neat. Despite some annoying lady who kept standing up in front of me and the people on the bench in front of us leaving in the middle, after talking the whole time they'd been there. But it was fun to watch the killer whales do flips and give their trainers rides. 
We had to rush to the sea lion show after that and made it with a few minutes to spare, just long enough to see one of the "crew" members entertain the audience with quite a collection of old TV show theme songs while he put on different costumes and wigs. My favorites were Batman and Sponge Bob Squarepants, just because all the kids knew that one well so they screamed it really loud. The sea lion show was probably my favorite show of all the shows we saw that day. They were so funny, and very entertaining. I didn't stop laughing the whole time, and the little otter they had helping was so cute. They did all kinds of shows too - from Superman to American Idol, to a cooking show, to Survivor. It was a lot of fun. 
We went to the shark encounter after that - I had fun standing in front of the great white shark jaws because it looks like I'm being eaten. Mom did too - although she said she felt like she was being eaten by jaws. We went to the penguins after that and they were so fun to watch, they look like they are flying under water they are so funny. 
After the penguins we decided to go see the clydesdales horses. They are the biggest horses I've ever seen in my life. I didn't even come up to their shoulders. I got to pet them and have my picture taken with them, but mom didn't want to. By that time it was getting close to when I needed to be at the Arctic giftshop to sign in and get ready for my tour. So mom and I went over and I signed in and pretty soon had to leave mom behind while I went backstage with our tour guide. We went to see the walrus first and that thing was so big. His head was huge - I don't think I imagined it to be that big, but it was like three or four times the size of my head. The trainer had him roar and everyone but me jumped, I kind of laughed at that. Then we got to feed him fish one at a time and then he'd kiss us as a thank you on the hand. I got a hicky from him - my hand was pink for three days. We also got to touch his whiskers and they are really rough, I hadn't expected that. 
Then we got to see where the polar bears sleep, we couldn't go in because only 18 specially trained trainers are even allowed to go back there, if you aren't trained you aren't allowed because polar bears will eat anything, humans included. We watched while one of the trainers went back and got the male to stand on his back feet - he was easily nine feet tall and his paws were the size of dinner plates, he was huge. They took us over to the side and passed around some polar bear fur for us to feel, showed us the size of their skull because they had one over there, showed us the length of their teeth and talked a little bit more about what makes a polar bear so special it was really interesting. 
Then it was time to get suited up and join the trainers in the pool for the beluga whale experience. We got in the pool and were split into two groups because there were eight of us. One of the first things we did was got kissed by a beluga whale on the cheek, then we had them dance, sing, shake our hand, roll onto their backs so we could hold their tails, pulled them onto the ledge then pushed them back into the pool, got in a water fight - which I lost badly, and had them wave. It was so fun and the beluga whales were so cute. They look like giant marshmallow men with beady black eyes. And for their size they are surprisingly gentle - it was an experience I'll never forget and one I'm so happy I took. Mike was quite jealous :). 
After I got out and showered Mom and I went to the dolphin show and that was a lot of fun to watch as well. There was a woman there that was supposedly the mother of this little boy and the wife to the little boy's dad but it turned out she was a trainer. She was pretty clumsy - falling off her bench. One of the other trainers couldn't stop laughing, I guess that wasn't part of the act. We later discovered that she was a trainer when she "fell" into the pool and was "rescued" by one of the dolphins. But it was a trainer so that was hoax. But the show was fun anyway - I loved the dolphins. After that we decided to get some dinner and head back to Paul's. I was tired and it had been a long day for both of us. When we got down to Paul's and I told him about my adventure with the beluga whales the first thing he said was..."Do you know how many germs and bacteria are in that pool?" When I told him I'd had a shower he seemed more at ease with the fact I was sitting on his couch. I went to bed soon after that, started a movie on my iPod and was asleep before it even began - lights on and everything.
I just spent the last two hours working on today's blog and then my internet connection stopped working and closed on me. Grrr...I'll try and regather my thoughts for what I wrote about day four and post it within the next few days. :P
