Because we're getting married in a Catholic church, we have to fill our various forms and also participate in pre-marital counseling.
Being in Korea has complicated things, of course. Luckily we've been speaking through email to the deacon at our parish and have had a lot of our questions answered that way. When it was time to fill out the "Pre-Marital Investigation Form", things got a bit hectic. Our church advised that we try to fill out the form here in Korea with a local priest because this is what's normally done. After I scoured the internet for weeks looking for English speaking parishes in Daejeon, I only had one contact me back, and they weren't sure what that form was.
Considering the form should be done 3-4 months before the wedding, we had to come up with another solution. That's when our deacon recommended a Skype call. We're so fortunate that he was familiar with the internet-calling system and we set up an "appointment" with him last night.
Because the form should be filled out separately by each of us, I left the room and Matt answered the questions first. 15 Minutes later it was my turn, and then we wrapped up a bit with the deacon before signing off. In a few words, the entire experience was painless! The form contains mostly basic information about us, our parents, our religions, baptism dates, etc. Then there are a few questions asking about your will to marry and if there is anyone pressuring or forcing you to get married. He also asked a few questions like "will you love him unconditionally forever?" and it made me feel like I was reciting vows!
So now that the initial form is complete, the next step is the survey. Usually this is done as part of counseling, but since we're not coming home until 3 weeks before the wedding, the deacon will scan the forms and send them to us to fill out separately. When we're finished, we'll scan them back, he will take a look at them and then when we're in Maine we'll have the actual counseling session with him regarding the results. Basically it's a 100+ question "test" asking you various questions about everything under the sun: your beliefs, your views on children, on work, on sex, on finances, on politics, etc. I guess it's somewhat like a compatibility test, haha. After the priest looks over the results from both of us he can focus on the questions that we might have disagreed on. That way we are aware of some things we might need to communicate more openly about being and during our marriage. Sounds like a wonderful way to start off a marriage :)
After we "pass" that test, it's all systems go!
Just 7 weeks until we're home in Maine <3
June 08, 2012
June 05, 2012
Sweaty Face
I just realized I haven't been talking much about exercise and diet. A quick update: I've been exercising as much as I can and the diet has started. I am bringing in my own lunch to school now which is low-carb, usually salads and lettuce wraps. Things are going good!
New problem though: it's freakin' HOT now.
Evidence post workout:
It's been in the eighties every day here which means our apartment (which you think would be cool because it's practically a basement) is a furnace of trapped heat! This makes my workouts a lot more painful. I suppose it's time to turn on the AC, even though we're trying to wait as long as we can. Even though it's cheap here, I don't do well with artificial cold air, makes me sick. Whatever! I can't win in this scenario, I just gotta roll with the punches!
Korean Memorial Day tomorrow. We were planning on getting things done around the house, but we've since nixed those plans and are heading to the beach! Yeah!
New problem though: it's freakin' HOT now.
Evidence post workout:
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| me pulling the Korean kiss photo routine |
Korean Memorial Day tomorrow. We were planning on getting things done around the house, but we've since nixed those plans and are heading to the beach! Yeah!
June 04, 2012
Ribbon Wands, Check!
Feeling accomplished today after checking off a ton of things from our checklist. This weekend was another "wedding weekend" and we did a lot! The trend continued today since I only had 2 classes.
I was able to order the ribbon and dowels for our ribbons wands:
Hopefully with a little blood sweat and tears, they will eventually turn out to look something like this:
The materials will be shipped to Heather's house and stored until we're home to put everything together. We just need a few eyelet screws and we're good to go!
The ribbon wands will be used as we exit the church, in lieu of confetti or rice. Fortunately we're not making one for every guest, just around 75, for those who want to stand in front and wave them. That way it is cheaper, and less work for us! Besides, not everyone will want to participate in the wand waving or be close enough to wave them at us as we walk by.
Can't wait to go home and make these, along with all of our other crafty projects ^^
This weekend we accomplished:
> a TON more cranes. We are now up to almost 400. That is quite an acheivement considering at the beginning of last week we had 119! We are almost half way, and are feeling very confident about the progress. We need to finish by the end of June so we can spend July poking small holes in them for stringing.
> Designed tags for the mason jars (for people to write their names on), and also designed stickers for the trail mix favor baggies.
>Created a cute puzzle for our wedding program for guests to do while they're waiting for the ceremony to begin. Now we're just waiting on finalizing readings and songs and the program will be ready for printing!
>We created post it tabs for guests so that we can start to figure out the seating chart. Of course we can't do this until everyone has RSVPed, but we have started to think about family and those who we know are coming.
>We set up a Skype meeting with the deacon so that we can finish the Marriage Investigation Form.
I was able to order the ribbon and dowels for our ribbons wands:
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| We ordered 3 colors: the royal blue, the light blue and white |
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| dowels from Jo Ann Fabrics |
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| just envision our colors instead ^^ |
The ribbon wands will be used as we exit the church, in lieu of confetti or rice. Fortunately we're not making one for every guest, just around 75, for those who want to stand in front and wave them. That way it is cheaper, and less work for us! Besides, not everyone will want to participate in the wand waving or be close enough to wave them at us as we walk by.
Can't wait to go home and make these, along with all of our other crafty projects ^^
This weekend we accomplished:
> a TON more cranes. We are now up to almost 400. That is quite an acheivement considering at the beginning of last week we had 119! We are almost half way, and are feeling very confident about the progress. We need to finish by the end of June so we can spend July poking small holes in them for stringing.
> Designed tags for the mason jars (for people to write their names on), and also designed stickers for the trail mix favor baggies.
>Created a cute puzzle for our wedding program for guests to do while they're waiting for the ceremony to begin. Now we're just waiting on finalizing readings and songs and the program will be ready for printing!
>We created post it tabs for guests so that we can start to figure out the seating chart. Of course we can't do this until everyone has RSVPed, but we have started to think about family and those who we know are coming.
>We set up a Skype meeting with the deacon so that we can finish the Marriage Investigation Form.
June 01, 2012
Bling Bling!
Look what arrived in Durham, Maine yesterday!!
So shiny and sparkly!!! Can't wait to get home and try them on!
So shiny and sparkly!!! Can't wait to get home and try them on!
Creative Fun
I love how every wedding is different, depending on the direction the bride and groom want to take. Some couples focus on lots of tradition, and so the wedding is focused on dances and cake cutting and any cultural customs. Other couples focus on a theme, designing a modern, or vintage, or victorian style wedding. Other couples tend to focus on the simplicity of a wedding ceremony, while others go elaborate. Some weddings are causal, some are black tie. I am so thankful that where I grew up (America), every wedding is truly different, and that even if you attend a wedding every weekend for a summer, you won't be experiencing the same thing twice.
I think if I were to categorize Matt and my wedding, I would say that it is focused on us as a couple, and the crafts, projects and little touches that we're putting into our special day that speak to us and are unique to our situation.
Here is an example of one of the small projects we're doing to add a little personal touch to the reception:
I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but our tables are not going to be numbered but instead are going to be places we've traveled together. We're going to print the guest seating tags and hang them from twine near the entrance to the tent.At each table is going to be a picture of us at that specific place A few weeks ago, Matt and I came up with the idea to create little icons as well, to use on the tags. Do we need them? Heck no. It's definitely not a "must do" project, but in fact I've had a lot of fun with this. It has allowed me to get in touch with my creative/artistic side. It's not much, but it has been so therapeutic drawing these! We came up with 19 icons to represent each place. Can you guess which places these icons represent??
I am almost finished the 19th icon, now I just have to scan, adjust the colors, and make mock-up tags!
I think if I were to categorize Matt and my wedding, I would say that it is focused on us as a couple, and the crafts, projects and little touches that we're putting into our special day that speak to us and are unique to our situation.
Here is an example of one of the small projects we're doing to add a little personal touch to the reception:
I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but our tables are not going to be numbered but instead are going to be places we've traveled together. We're going to print the guest seating tags and hang them from twine near the entrance to the tent.At each table is going to be a picture of us at that specific place A few weeks ago, Matt and I came up with the idea to create little icons as well, to use on the tags. Do we need them? Heck no. It's definitely not a "must do" project, but in fact I've had a lot of fun with this. It has allowed me to get in touch with my creative/artistic side. It's not much, but it has been so therapeutic drawing these! We came up with 19 icons to represent each place. Can you guess which places these icons represent??
I am almost finished the 19th icon, now I just have to scan, adjust the colors, and make mock-up tags!
May 31, 2012
Kickin' it into High Gear
So now that our wonderfully relaxing 3-day weekend is over, we're ready to kick into high gear! We have 8.5 weeks to go until we're home in Maine (yes that's just 57 days away!) and just 11.5 weeks until the big day. So, that's basically 8 weeks left in Korea to get all the projects done that we've assigned as "do while here" as opposed to "do in Maine".
After a bit of crane-ing last night (count as of right now: 220), Matt and I hashed out a more detailed list of everything we need to get done here. It amounts to about 12 projects, some big and some small. With only 8 weeks left we're designating a few projects each week that we need to tackle in order to get it all done in time. The pressure is on but we're feeling re-energized and ready to go!
I know at some point we'll get burnt out, so the way I see it we should try to get as much done now while we're in a motivated and productive mood than leave it until later when we just want to throw the towel in!
Here are just some of the things we'll be working on while in Korea:
1. Folding 1000 cranes (duh) and then sticking a needle through them to prepare them for stringing
2. Finishing the final touches on the ceremony program and printing them here.
3. Designing and printing seating cards
4. Designing and printing tags for the mason jars (for people to write their names on)
5. finalizing the ceremony readings and music
6. finalizing the cute poems/sayings that we're having at various tables around the reception
Along with the projects, we've both being doing well with exercise and I've started a diet this week. I've been bringing my own lunch to school (salads, sandwiches sans bread, etc.) and have cancelled the school lunch fee for the next two months. That way I won't tempt myself with white rice and salty soups and fried meat!
After a bit of crane-ing last night (count as of right now: 220), Matt and I hashed out a more detailed list of everything we need to get done here. It amounts to about 12 projects, some big and some small. With only 8 weeks left we're designating a few projects each week that we need to tackle in order to get it all done in time. The pressure is on but we're feeling re-energized and ready to go!
I know at some point we'll get burnt out, so the way I see it we should try to get as much done now while we're in a motivated and productive mood than leave it until later when we just want to throw the towel in!
Here are just some of the things we'll be working on while in Korea:
1. Folding 1000 cranes (duh) and then sticking a needle through them to prepare them for stringing
2. Finishing the final touches on the ceremony program and printing them here.
3. Designing and printing seating cards
4. Designing and printing tags for the mason jars (for people to write their names on)
5. finalizing the ceremony readings and music
6. finalizing the cute poems/sayings that we're having at various tables around the reception
Along with the projects, we've both being doing well with exercise and I've started a diet this week. I've been bringing my own lunch to school (salads, sandwiches sans bread, etc.) and have cancelled the school lunch fee for the next two months. That way I won't tempt myself with white rice and salty soups and fried meat!
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| crane-in' at my desk ^^ |
May 29, 2012
Destress: Camping for the long weekend
While we were planning to pack in a lot of hiking and sightseeing into this 3 day weekend, Matt and I instead found ourselves hanging around our absolutely beautiful campsite and doing nothing but relaxing, swimming and meditating. It a few words: it was just what we needed.
We drove down early Saturday morning to Jirisan National Park, the largest and oldest park in Korea. While it boasts of having 12 campgrounds, we chose a small, walk-in campground in hopes of having some peace and quiet. We knew we didn't want a car camping experience with hundreds if not thousands of Koreans!
What we arrived at was a small sliver of paradise: a 20-tent campground located across a small suspension bridge on the other side of a river littered with human sized boulders. The facilities were great, the campground was crowded, but not disgustingly so, and the sites even had platforms!
We nestled into a corner sight against the forest with the bubbling river below.
When we weren't listening to music, meditating on the rocks, swimming in the frigid water or napping, we were off exploring Daewonsa Temple, a temple in the mountains of the park a mile or so up a long and twisted road. It was Buddha's Birthday after all, and we wanted to pay our respects and pay for a lantern and a prayer:
Sunday night we took a drive around the countryside on the outskirts of the park:
With stress-free minds we returned back to work today, ready to take on the world! :)
We drove down early Saturday morning to Jirisan National Park, the largest and oldest park in Korea. While it boasts of having 12 campgrounds, we chose a small, walk-in campground in hopes of having some peace and quiet. We knew we didn't want a car camping experience with hundreds if not thousands of Koreans!
What we arrived at was a small sliver of paradise: a 20-tent campground located across a small suspension bridge on the other side of a river littered with human sized boulders. The facilities were great, the campground was crowded, but not disgustingly so, and the sites even had platforms!
We nestled into a corner sight against the forest with the bubbling river below.
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| our set-up |
When we weren't listening to music, meditating on the rocks, swimming in the frigid water or napping, we were off exploring Daewonsa Temple, a temple in the mountains of the park a mile or so up a long and twisted road. It was Buddha's Birthday after all, and we wanted to pay our respects and pay for a lantern and a prayer:
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| our lantern: for a happy marriage and world peace :) |
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| praying |
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| us at the national treasure pagoda |
Sunday night we took a drive around the countryside on the outskirts of the park:
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| rural Korea |
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| rice paddies |
With stress-free minds we returned back to work today, ready to take on the world! :)
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