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!

crane-in' at my desk ^^

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.

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:

our lantern: for a happy marriage and world peace :)

praying

us at the national treasure pagoda

Sunday night we took a drive around the countryside on the outskirts of the park:

rural Korea

rice paddies

With stress-free minds we returned back to work today, ready to take on the world! :)

My Life in Google Docs

So this is a shameless plug for how incredibly awesome Google Docs is. Sorry, Microsoft Excel, but you're too difficult, have too many buttons, and your spreadsheets can't be shared and worked on by two people simultaneously!

Google Docs has been a Godsend with all of this wedding planning. I have made more spreadsheets in the past few months than I have in my entire life. To be clear though, I always hated making spreadsheets, so maybe in my past life (re: before the awesomeness that is google docs) I probably would have been doing anything in my power not to make them.

But alas, Google has made it so easy for Matt and I to make and update lists and share ideas. Not only has it been helpful between us as a couple, but Matt's sister Heather created a spreadsheet for all of the wedding projects which is updated by a few of us across the globe!

to do lists

projects

Along with the to-do spreadsheets and the project shopping lists, we also made an RSVP spreadsheet for when they start rolling in this week!

As each guest replies we will keep track of whether they are attending, how many are in their party, whether or not they want vegetarian meals, etc.

Thanks to Google Docs, my life is a whole lot easier!

"ringing" in the weekend!

After a few hiccups, we were able to finally order our rings last night!

I have been eying my wedding band for a while now, knowing that I wanted a band lined with small diamonds to accent my solitaire ring. I actually remember trying one on at the mall with my mom when I was home---16 months ago-- days after getting engaged! Like I said, it wasn't hard for me to decide that this is what I wanted:

French cut pave set wedding band. I wanted my band to be a little smaller in width than my engagement ring and to be more delicate, and this ring is the thinnest possible option they have with the pave set diamonds. My hands are very small and my fingers are pretty chubby, so I thought a bigger ring would look weird. I can't WAIT until I go home and get to try it on for size! 

Matt's ring was also a fairly easy decision. We did some research on groom's rings since neither of us knew anything about them. After much searching, Matt realized he just wanted a basic, comfort fit band in white gold to match my set. After a few trips to get his finger sized, we were good to go and ordered this ring to go with mine:

Heather, Matt's sister, will be receiving them in the mail, keeping them safe and more importantly taking pictures and showing us what they look like!!

ETA is May 31st.

 Next week is filled with awesomeness:

-it's a 4 day week since we have Monday off for Buddha's birthday (thanks, Buddha!)
-The invitations will arrive in Maine Tuesday or Wednesday and maybe even get to guests by Friday
-The rings will arrive next Thursday!

Inivites: Check!

After literally MONTHS of working on the invitations, they have left the coop and are now en route to the USA:

It's strange not having them laying around the living room!

They were shipped to my mom who will then put the gorgeous cherry blossom stamps on them and mail them out locally (because she's awesome like that!).

There is only one Fed Ex location in Daejeon, and although it cost us a pretty penny, it's worth it to get the tracking and priority mail. Can you imagine if these were lost or damaged?

ETA is Tuesday or Wednesday since it's a 3 day holiday weekend. Hopefully guests will start receiving the invites as early as next Friday, and you know what that means: I can post detailed pics soon after!

It's a Girl!

Last night we went to bed in anticipation for an early morning phone call from Matt's sister, Heather. She had a check up appointment yesterday and found out that she's having a little baby girl! Her name will be June Ann, named after their grandmother. So cute!

We are more than thrilled at the news! While everyone (including us) thought it was going to be a boy, we are ecstatic that June will be joining the family in mid-October.

Congrats to Heather! I can't wait to be an aunt, and Matt is pretty excited about being an uncle and setting up the crib in August when we're home. Time to start shopping for cute little dresses here in Korea!

Just another reason why we're so blessed, and why 2012 is turning out to be quite the amazing year for us!!

Inviting the Prez

It's no secret that I am very fond of our current president. Think what you want about whether or not he's done a good job, the man has overcome a lot of obstacles and is quite frankly amazing. He has been such an inspiration to me, and pictures of him with his family, pictures of him smiling and laughing with little kids, oh-my-god I can't help but smile and be happy myself. I saw him speak in Bangor when I was up at the University of Maine in 2008 when he was campaigning. I met (and shook hands with) Hillary Clinton on the same day as well, but just being in the same room as Obama made my head spin. The amount of positive energy coming from that crowd and that man you could almost reach out and grab.

So of course it's natural that I invite him to my wedding ^^

1600 Pennsylvania Ave, please!

 I heard that if you send a wedding invitation to the president, the secretary's office that deals with letters will mail you back a congratulation letter. Yip Yip!

Now if he'd only take some time out of his busy schedule to head up to Maine with the fam, that would be awesome sauce, haha.