Rainy Wedding Day

With all of the nasty rain we've been having this week, I've begun to think about the very real potential of a soggy wedding day for Shawn and I this September. Yes, we chose to have a wedding on the coast in the middle of hurricane season. (and NOT the hockey team that Shawn so loves.)

Thankfully,  even though our wedding ceremony and reception have the feel of outdoors, both are fully covered - so even if it does rain cats and dogs ... it'll just add a sense of romance - the kind of romance that includes love all around you, candles flickering and drizzle hitting a tin roof. (Plus, our venue Boone Hall Plantation, is where that wonderfully memorable scene from the Notebook was filmed - the one where Noah and Ally embrace in the pouring rain ... be still my heart.)

If it's going to rain on a girl's wedding day, it makes things so much better if it's the same rain at the same location of a storm in a Hollywood romance.

Just to make myself feel better I bought some adorable rain-boots like these below (shot by our wedding photographer at another one of her weddings). My purple boots will help me to embrace the day - regardless of weather. (but no, they will not make an appearance if the weather is fine ... I have some sassy high heels that are much preferred :)

Even if it's bright and sunny, I'll be taking my purple boots on our honeymoon to Ireland where they are SURE to get some use. :)

Happy Springtime!!!

It's officially Springtime! Beautiful flowers, baby animals, warm weather. 

God is good. 

Baseball Season

Oh how I love baseball season!!! - not because I'm a sports freak (I would really rather watch a romantic movie any day) ... but because it signals the end of Hockey season. I won't have to sit through another 3 hour block of time watching the 'Canes play until after Shawn and I return home from our honeymoon (wonderful timing, right?) ... ahhh sweet sweet baseball season, welcome back my friend. I prefer you in the beautiful weather with dip n dots and hot dogs to sitting on the couch bored out of my mind for the 3rd night in a week, sulking over the gray winter months that keep me indoors.

To mark this fabulous transition, we went out to see a baseball game in Winston-Salem with Mike and Danielle ... nice weather, happy people, dance- numbers and free t-shirts (not that I actually managed to snag a t-shirt, but the opportunity was there!), and a big WIN for the home team = happy Perry.

Two Birds - One Stone!

Since I've been trying to save costs in my wedding planning, I have been looking to find ways to incorporate decor items that I plan on using at my wedding in our apartment and vis versa. Since the wedding is a reflection of us anyway, many of the items I have around the house (globes, vintage photos, aged books, bronze keys) are going to be used at the wedding in some form or another. It also goes a long way in allowing me to feel less guilty pouring money into stuff for the wedding if I remind myself that I can reuse some of it around the house. One of my favorite examples is my new picture frame!

I painted it a lighter version of the beautiful teal that I'm using at the wedding and put in one of our engagement pictures. Love it!

Sigh of Relief

The end of March marked the end to one and a half years of stress and worry over my M.A. comprehensive exams. All of our time spent studying history since we entered the program was tested on a single day, with four typed papers, each of which took 90 minutes. Needless to say, my classmates and I had dreaded what we called "Comps" ever since we were first told they would be a requirement to graduate.

Whenever I would work on wedding planning, I always had this dark little cloud called Comps that would remind me not to get too excited - that there was still a big hurdle in my way before I could sit back, relax and enjoy being a bride. When we sat down at the computers in our campus lab on the morning of the exam, I couldn't believe how anxious I was to open the manilla envelope with the questions I would have to answer. (We had to prepare to answer virtually any question on American History that our professors could throw at us, and not just answer it but to develop a 6-8 page paper about it from memory!)

I had already finished my first paper on "How radical was the American Revolution? Consider the point of view of revolutionaries and disenfranchised groups, and explain how historians have disagreed over time" and was half way through with my second paper on "How has academic theory and architectural history intersected (or not) with applied historic preservation? What are the historical and historiographical roots of intersection and/or division between academics and preservationists?" when ....

THE POWER. WENT. OUT.

Can you believe it?! We had prepared for literally almost YEARS for this exam and nearly halfway through the power in our computer lab went out. For a split-second we all (about 30 of us) sat in darkness, as gasps broke what had been a constant sound of typing. In the end, about half the class had lost their papers (campus computer labs delete all files when restarted) - thank the good Lord I was given the foresight to email myself a copy just in case something happened! *Whew!* It was traumatic to say the least, but when I walked out those doors I was a free woman!! :) Hooray!!!

I still have my big paper to work on, and a presentation at the end of April but I feel so relieved to be finished with that exam. :) I've already ordered my rehearsal dinner gown to celebrate! Now it's off to Charleston on Friday to try on the wedding gown I ordered for the first time! No more sample try-ons! This time she's all mine! I can't wait!

Wedding shoes!

I grapple with showing off my wedding details or keeping them all a secret, and then I realized that I can count the number of people that read this blog on one hand ... so I figure, it's safe.

My new wedding shoes arrived in the mail today from the wonderful Zappos.com. And by new, I mean the most recent of three completely different pairs that I've ordered since I got engaged last March. Of all 3 these are the most comfortable and pose the least amount of threat of being horrible out-dated and hideous in 5 years. Luckily, I have time to decide .... Zappos has a 365 day return policy ... swoon.

The iPhone camera does them little justice, but in general they are fabulously sparkly and surprisingly comfortable (who am I kidding, they aren't flip flops) ... and will look just DIVINE when I add a pop of purple feathers to the front of them.

I fell in love with the hearts on the soles, they are actually the no slip-grips inlaid in the shoe! Tooooo cute. It brought joy to my day which has been filled with studying for my big comprehensive exams on the 26th. Right now they're sitting on top of my giant stack of textbooks, reminding me that not only is there a light at the end of the tunnel, but there are some seriously fab shoes waiting for me to wear them when I'm finished with school and am ready to marry my hunny!

God Winks

There is a book out there called "When God Winks" ... and it explains all of those little joys, serendipitous meetings, and unfathomable coincidences as little reminders that this big 'ol scary world is also filled with the love of God. The author, Squire Rushnell explains that these "GodWinks" are swift answers to prayers at just the right moment, even if those prayers have gone unsaid. Rushnell puts it this way:


A godwink is what some people would call a coincidence, an answered prayer, or simply an experience where you'd say, "Wow, what are the odds of that!" Think about when you were a kid and someone you loved gave you a little wink across the dining room table...Mom or Dad or Grandma. You didn't say "What do you mean by that?" You knew. It meant: "Hey kid, I'm thinking about you right now." That's what a godwink is too: a message of reassurance from above, directly to you, out of six billion people on the planet, saying "Hey kid...I'm thinking of you! Keep the faith! You're never alone."


I like to think that these same types of experiences can also be longer then the brief and fleeting happiness of getting the front row parking spot, or being late for your plane, which has also been delayed. Sometimes, they last for longer periods of pure joy. We can all think of those times we've had, when nothing was going wrong, everyone was healthy and our cups runneth over. Perhaps it was a wedding day, a particularly amazing weekend with the family, seeing a child born or moving into the perfect little home with a man you love.

A year ago today, Shawn and I enjoyed one of those times - in Charleston on our engagement weekend. Despite a weekend rainstorm that threatened overhead the whole weekend, the rain held off and Shawn proposed to me on Middleton Plantation, beneath the giant oak tree. It was wonderful and it seemed an entire world away from all the fuss of real life. Eating breakfast with Shawn the following morning overlooking a river and spending the morning playing with a baby sheep who was all to willing to let us pet her was one of my most prized memories. More GodWinks in the year to come? Yes, please! :)

Happiness

I can't help but grin whenever I look at this adorable picture, and so I thought I would share it. Enjoy the sweet happiness of puppy love. 

The Job Hunt

Since graduation is officially only 65 days away, I've been on a pretty fierce job hunt in the last few weeks.  Last year I couldn't WAIT to graduate because it meant:

- graduating with Masters
- getting a real job
- moving to a new city
- buying a house
- finishing the planning for my September wedding!
- get married
- begin life


Now that the time is so close, that picture seems to be changing.

After calling 32 preservation organizations, I have spoken with:


6 people who encouraged me in my search, but told me they didn't have any jobs.
3 rude secretaries. 
10 answering machines.
2 directors who had full out discussions with me on the future of preservation.
7 people who tell me there are "no jobs" but ask for my resume.
1 person tell me it's okay to wait tables.
1 person who suggested a different field entirely.
2 foundations who had potential jobs and liked my resume, but lost funding.


Now it seems the outlook may look something like this:
- graduate with Masters
- work retail job
- continue living in small 500 square foot apartment
- volunteer at Preservation organization
- get married
- find part time preservation job

All in all, the second version isn't bad at all now that I see it written out. It just seems like if I can't get a job with my new degree before the wedding, I don't really feel like a responsible adult! I want to feel like the last 2 years were worth the effort and stress and being turned away so many times it is flat out disheartening. At what point am I supposed to give up on finding a paid preservation job and try to find ANY job.

 In the long run, everyone has encouraged me that even though it may take awhile, I'll find something eventually. Until then, I'll focus on finishing my degree and getting my name out there.

... and if I have to stay in this tiny apartment, I WILL be painting a wall or two, I don't care what Shawn says.

Breakaway

When I graduated high school, the following song was played at our ceremony:

"Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly.
I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky.
Make a wish, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away.
Out of the darkness and into the sun.
But I won't forget all the ones that I love.
I'll take a risk, take a chance,
Make a change, and break away

Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get onboard a fast train
Travel on a jetplane
Far away
And break away."


I loved the song, but it took on new resonance when I returned back to Fayetteville this past weekend to speak at my old High School. To begin the weekend, I met an old friend for a 1:30pm lunch and we didn't leave till nearly 6pm. Our Smithfield's teas where refilled numerous times, and we spoke about everything from weddings and marriages to children years down the road. I remember having the same conversations with her when we were in 7th grade, and now our "husbands" aren't unnamed, faceless men - they're real, honest, hardworking, godfearin', friendly blokes who have committed their lives to us.


I wrote a few weeks ago about the pulls of a hometown, the things I miss and the memorable qualities of where I'm from. This week, I was reminded of how far many of us have come, and the amazing things that came to us because we took a risk and left for the unknown. 


When I stood in front of the high school students who now sit in the desks I once sat in, I was suddenly reminded of how blessed I've been to have made such a smooth transition between student and professional. I remember how scary and yet exciting leaving all of those things behind to pursue college was. It's eerily similar to the way life feels now, as I sit on the brink of graduation throwing myself out into the dark unknown of my future career. I can't wait to see how things will turn out, I know God has a plan for it all! In the mean time, it's fun to think of all the possibilities that might be! :) Here's to hoping my future employer finds me sooner rather than later!!! 


"Anything is possible, if the future is unknown."