A Doggie, A Mouse, and some Expensive Paper

Sophie:  Cutest Boxer Ever Steal-er of Hearts

Allow me to take a short break from my wedding planning...

Today is Sophie's third birthday!  It's kinda hard to believe that three years ago today, as I had just gone into escrow on my new home, an adorable little Boxer puppy was entering this world who would change my life forever just three months later.

Sophie at 3 months; look at those eyes!!

I remember my tennis instructor Juan telling me that his mom had a brand new litter of Boxer puppies, and my response was something like, "Whoa, slow down and let me get into my house first!"  He knew I wanted to get a Boxer one day, and he also knew that I was buying a house with a yard for that very purpose.  Three months later, after I'd been in my house for less than 2 months, he brought it up again.  "We've got 3 left!" (out of a huge litter of twelve!)  "Is one of them a girl?"  "Yes, and you will fall in love with her like I did!"  My good friend and tennis partner Danielle was no help as she encouraged me to consider it.  Before I knew it, Juan had tagged me in the above picture of her, and oh, those sweet eyes immediately captured my attention and stole my heart!

Long story short, Juan drove her up from Mexicali where she was born so we could meet, and the rest is history.

I can't believe she was so LITTLE!

Those of you who know me well know how much I love this dog.  She's my baby girl and I will do anything to protect her.  She is absolutely the sweetest (and cutest!) Boxer ever and quickly finds her way into the heart of everyone she meets.  Her favorite game is chase and she will do anything for chicken.  I am so thankful God brought her into my life, and I pray that we continue to enjoy each other for many more years.  And she's VERY excited that she gets to keep Mr. Matthew, who is now known as Daddy.

A Date with my Fiance and a Mouse at the Happiest Place on Earth
As I was going along planning our wedding, I discovered that the 100,000+ Hilton points I thought I had were no longer on my account.  This quickly sent me into a tiny panic attack because we were planning on using those points for our wedding night at our favorite San Diego hotel.  A call to customer service resulted in planning a trip to Disneyland!  They agreed to reinstate my points if I "stayed 'n paid" for one night within the next 6 months...DONE!

The day after Labor Day is historically the BEST day to go to any amusement park in California (especially my FAVORITE place!) because all the kids have gone back to school by then.  So Matthew and I drove up the night before (on that Monday), stayed at the Hilton Anaheim, and got upgraded to a top-of-the-building Disney View room!! (possibly because I noted in the reservation that we were recently engaged - hee hee).  The World of Color show had just started as we got to the room.  It was very cool to watch it from above!  The next morning, I was excited to see Space Mountain from the floor-to-ceiling window! Awesome!!

Our day was filled with fun and laughter, and a little bit of running around...despite the unusual heat and humidity of the day.  It was so hot, in fact, that we rode Splash Mountain well before noon so we could cool off:

Breaking with tradition, we rode Star Tours first, and afterwards Matthew had some fun building his own light saber:

Because we are planning to come back during our mini honeymoon in November, we bought Annual Passes - it was only $5 more when you combined our ticket prices for this time and next time, so why not?!  

WOO-HOO!!!

After we got our passes, we kinda relaxed and didn't feel so rushed to "make the most out of our day so we'd get our money's worth."  So we spent about half the day over at Disney's California Adventure, a park Matthew had never been to until then.  I think he was sold when we ventured upstairs at the Vineyard place and enjoyed a cool glass of wine in the shade above the park.

The highlight of our trip had to be Cars Land at CA Adventure.  Matthew & I love the Cars movie, and entering the park was like walking right into the film!  The longest line we waited in all day was for the Radiator Springs Racers, and it was actually worth it!

Here's a panoramic shot of the ride that Matthew took while we ate lunch nearby:

We also had fun walking through Luigi's Casa della Tires:

After another water ride (the Grizzly Run), and some frolicking around a "forest" sponsored by the Wilderness Explorers troop of which Russell is a member (hee hee), we headed back to Disneyland for a couple of rides and some shopping before the park closed.  OF COURSE we had to end the day on the best ride ever:

After all of the fun we had, we dragged our tired bodies back to the car and drove home... ugh!  For all future trips, we will definitely stay overnight and drive home the next day, like we've done before.  Having to work the next day was also a tough one.   The good news:  I got my Hilton points back!!

"Only $0.60/card..."
As if everything else about wedding planning didn't give me enough sticker shock, I got another dose as I started the task of ordering our wedding invitations.  I've gotta hand it to the marketing teams of these websites.  "Only $0.60/card" sounds great!  So I excitedly clicked "Customize" and started to go through the little wizard.  I couldn't believe all the little things these companies want to charge you for - lined envelopes, return address printing, multiple colors, etc.  The first time I went through this exercise, the final cost was over $500 - for PAPER?!!  

So we looked at some other designs, I went back to the drawing board, and the order was finally placed last week.  Phew!  I think I stressed over that one item on my checklist for well over a month.  Once they arrive, I'll be able to relax for a little bit before it's time to work on some of the details of our special day, which is very quickly coming up on 60 days in the countdown... yikes!

Other wedding planning stuff:  
1.  I had my first gown fitting (as mentioned in my previous post), and I got a great compliment from the seamstress!  "You better not lose anymore weight!"  Hah!  That truly made my day, until I got the bill for the alterations to take in the gown :-\  Actually, from what Heather said, it's a very good price for what I'm getting done, which is the bustle and the taking-in of the dress.  Fortunately it doesn't need to be hemmed.

2.  I think I've settled on a reception centerpiece and will probably make it a DIY project (meaning, my out of town bridesmaids will have something to do for the wedding when they arrive that week...wink, wink).

Well, thank you for reading!  Until next time...please keep both Matthew and me in your prayers as we prepare to work Cursillo weekends in October, just a month before our wedding.  

We've certainly got our hands full between now and the "Big Day" and we definitely don't need any distractions or obstacles from that ugly, annoying little dude with the horns and pitchfork. 

Cheers!