The Newly Wedded Mrs. Lindsay of Green

It's a good thing blogging isn't my job, because my work ethic would be seriously questioned. :) To say the least, everything "extracurricular" in my life was put on hold when wedding planning went into full swing—around the end of January (and also, oddly, the time I bought my dress, did that make it official!?). But, August 6th came and went like any normal day does, and on the other side, I am calling myself Mrs. Green. It feels pretty freaking awesome to be married. Another awesome feeling? NO WEDDING PLANNING! Aside from a batch of Thank You notes, waiting for our pictures and video and planning our honeymoon, life after wedding is blissfully dull.

Our special day was just beautiful. It was so surreal that everything that I planned came together to make a wonderful day that I'll remember forever. Our colors were dark green and bright yellow, to represent the Oregon Ducks and the college were we met and fell in love. Aside from our family, we had people from all periods of our lives—Sisters and Malta High, the U of O, and Chicago. Our ceremony was held on the first tee of Laguna Seca Golf Ranch in Monterey, and our reception was inside the restaurant there—Balesteri's. The flowers, the arch and chair cover rentals, the food, our choreographed dance and everything that I had spent countless hours planning for months had finally come together! And I really did enjoy every minute of it!

There were a few hitches—the biggest being that the videographer got stuck in traffic coming from San Jose and missed the ceremony, but luckily I have a family that is religious about bringing video cameras with them everywhere, so our ceremony did get recorded. It's a good thing, because I was on a cloud the whole time and need to be able to watch it again to really take it in, I think. But, all wedding days have their hitches and I was so glad that for the most part, everything went as it should. We even go to extend the fun a bit by celebrating with another reception in my husband's hometown of Malta, Montana. It was great to visit with his family and see the people who couldn't make it all the way to Cali for the wedding. I am sharing some pics below taken by Steven's family. Hopefully we'll have the professional ones soon! I'll be sure to post everything on Facebook once I get the chance.

Mr. and Mrs. Steven Green!

Our crazy, beautiful wedding party.

My husband and I at the reception in Malta, Montana the weekend after our wedding (how cool is that cake?).

And so, now I'm a newlywed-- the newly wedded Mrs. Lindsay Kelly Green. It doesn't really seem like much has changed, but I get super excited every time I think about it. Marriage is going to be an adventure, the next step in our lives! We'll have our very first adventure as a married couple when we head to Hawaii on the 3rd of September for our Honeymoon! It feels so weird going to back to normal life after that humongous occasion, so I am so glad Steve could get some time off to head out for a whole week! We're going to Oahu for three days and Maui for three days and I plan to enjoy every minute!

So, hopefully I'll have more time now to blog with some frequency, and share all the hopes, dreams, struggles and experiences that newly wedded life throws at me. Onward… :)

A Routine for 2011

I can’t remember a time since college that I had been soooo busy. When I look back to my last blog and realize it was after Thanksgiving, I am dumbfounded at how long ago that was. Let’s recap the holidays and adventures I had just before and after:

Early December is a blur. I am not entirely even sure what I did. I know a two weekends were spent in Monterey getting a quote for flowers and making cookies. Another was spent in LA with my cousins and aunt for wedding and bridesmaid dress shopping. Major props to my cousin who has already ordered her wedding dress. I wish I could get that together, but now that things have calmed down, wedding planning should resume in full force.

For Christmas, I flew up to Oregon to spend it with my family. It was really odd not to be in Monterey and have tons of snow on the ground, but we had a really nice little Christmas with just the four of us. I saw some friends and caught up on old times, and got to spend some lazy days hanging out with the fam. Highlights of some gifts – an awesome wireless printer, first dance lessons for our wedding and an Xbox kinect, which I am in LOVE with. The Dance Central game is so fun and a really good workout as well.

I flew back down to go to work for two days that week following Christmas, and then was off until the 3rd. My parents came down to Monterey a few days later to visit. Mom and I went dress shopping, and I am really hoping I am one-step closer to finding the ONE. I’ve been in and out of so many dress shops that they are all starting to run together, but I think I have narrowed it down enough to where I am prepared to choose. I have a few more appointments and go-backs, but I am making a decision by the end of this month. I just HAVE to.

We also celebrated my 26th Birthday, which was on December 29th, by going to dinner and having Fro-Yo afterward. New Years came WAY too quickly and we celebrated at my aunt’s house. It was great to ring in the New Year with the family around.

If all that vacation time wasn’t enough, Steve and I flew to Arizona on January 6th, to attend the BCS National Championship game that following Monday. I am so, so, so sad to say that the Oregon Ducks didn’t win, but I think that we are both happy we went. We had a good time exploring, visiting friends, taking in the festivities and even hiking Camelback Mountain…which I am still tired from.

Next week will mark my first full week of work in a little under a month. I am going to have some SERIOUS vacation withdrawal. With Steve starting work at the firm next Wednesday, I imagine that our vacationing days are going to be over for a while. That really is okay with me, because it’s time that we settled into a routine—a process that I think was interrupted with the holidays and all that came after them. Losing weight, working out, eating better are all the list for the next months, and I’m going to try to force myself to make good choices and stay motivated so I can keep my self esteem up and give myself enough energy for the necessary wedding planning (and look the best I can in my engagement and wedding pictures).

So- Happy New Year! Here’s to establishing a healthy routine and making 2011 the best year yet.