Wedding stuff

Well, I went to my first ever bridal expo and....it kind of sucked. Maybe I should have dragged along a girlfriend or somebody, but a few are out of town and others have kids (and husbands) at home that need to be taken care of. And my two bestest friends live out of state, as do my mom, sister and future mother-in-law. I didn't even bother inviting D -- shows for women are not his bag, baby.

So I drive myself over to the venue and it is PACKED. I managed to grab one of the last real parking spaces and then after checking in zip on over to a photographer I must have for this wedding. (There are aspects of this wedding that I will do myself and really work the budget angle, but photography, food and booze are not on that list). We have friends and family that are amazing photographers, but I really want everyone to be able to enjoy themselves at the wedding and not have to "work."

The photo guy has like 15 women around his booth so I make the rounds of the other tables. And let me tell you, if a bride does not have a date picked these vendors will try to blow you off until you do. I couldn't believe it! How can I make any decisions if I don't have info? And I had a lady ignore me in favor of another girl who was wearing a big honking rock of an engagement ring. Figures I guess. So the two vendors I really wanted to talk to were just swamped and I walked out of there 45 minutes later without connecting with either. So disappointing. And during the car ride home I started to freak out about not having a date or location set. I'm really rethinking my attendance at another bridal show tomorrow.

Besides, we're planning on heading south and checking out a few wedding venues: the Inn at Tern Lake in Moose Pass, the Seward Windsong Lodge in Seward and the Kenai Princess Lodge in Cooper Landing. Drift will come too and we'll try to fit in a nice hike while we're down on the Kenai Peninsula.

Oh I almost forgot, we bought MY RING last night!!! Well, technically I purchased it with D's blessing and credit card -- thanks honey! We also got my wedding band too. They will both arrive via FedEx next Tuesday - so I'll probably need to stay home for a bit so I can sign for the package. And because you know that I cannot buy anything full-price, we managed to knock the total price down over $400! Oh man, I cannot even explain how excited I am to finally have my engagment ring on its way!

Summer is long gone

Starting Tuesday, the weather has turned COLD! Termination dust landed on the mountains Monday, which was the first day of Autumn (oh the irony). A friend of D's says that we can expect snow (the kind that sticks around) on the ground a month from our first termination dust sighting.

The past two mornings I've been using my autostart (one push of a button on my keychain and the car turns on from inside the house -- it's warm when I get in and drive away!) Blows my mind that the temperature is below freezing at night. My car said 35 degrees!

All my scarves are coming out of storage now, along with the gloves and hats!

Postive thought for today

Canoeing Bonnie Lake

D brought his canoe along on Saturday and we took a nice paddle around Bonnie Lake towards the end of the day. This was an ideal location for a cabin - about 90 minutes from Anchorage and so very quiet. Although we did hear someone playing Taps on a trumpet at around 7 p.m. The gnats and no-see-ums were pretty awful around shore but dissipated on the water.

The little dock and "boat launch" at the lake. Supposedly there is a horsepower restriction for this waterway but we saw somebody with a pretty large motor fishing for trout.

We turned around and there was Drift, up to his chest in the water already. He's gotten into a bad habit of looking for rocks and dunking his head underwater to retrieve them. Having a rockhound is a bad thing -- nobody wants their puppy to choke on a stone.

Along one edge of the lake is a small stream that a beaver has dammed up twice. If you enlarge the photo it's a little more visible.

It was way gorgeous out that evening -- a flat lake means mirror-like photos.

One day we'll really live the Alaskan dream and own a cabin of our own.

It's worth it

While on our Saturday outdoor excursion, I told D that it really just hit me that this is the last year I will be using my last name. After we get married I will be taking D's last name, and apparently everybody and their dog needs to be notified of it: banks, utilities, social security, DMV, my employer (oh god, a new email address for all my work contacts and vendors to learn), credit card companies, investment houses, insurance, doctors, passport agency, voting division, post office, accountant, etc.

I've had my last name for 32 years now and I kinda like it. It's my identity. People know me professionally and personally by this name.

My face must have been sporting that "head-exploding-imminent" look, because D asked, "is it worth it?"  And you know what? It is totally and completely worth it. We're going to be husband and wife -- a family unit -- and someday kids will come along and we will all have the same last name. Legally and in our hearts.

(But I can't totally let go of my original last name -- so I'd like to bestow it on one of our kids as his/her middle name someday. It seems like the right thing to do.)

Heading north

A bit of a gloomy day as we set out for a Saturday trip up north. D scouted a couple places for next year's moose hunt and I made my first viist to Lake Louise. We had a really good meal at the Lake Louise Lodge. French dip was on the menu and since I am currently on a mission to sample all the french dips of Alaska I had to try it. Theirs was very good -- either #1 or #2 so far (I have to try the meal at Rumrunners in downtown Anchorage again to be sure).

This was at some point near Chickaloon or Sutton, I think -- the Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) camp is a few miles away.

The autumn colors are out with a vengeance. People think I'm kidding when I say Alaska has exactly one month of fall. Our leaves change and fall in the blink of an eye. This morning we even have termination dust (snow) on the very tippy tops of the Chugach Range.

Later in the day D stopped and made a makeshift "redneck range" in a deserted area off the highway. He test fired his gun and let me try out this less-powerful bolt action rifle. FUN!

D is a patient teacher and showed me a few hunting positions -- I couldn't keep the barrel from moving around, so I needed to be sitting or leaning against something to keep everything steady. The target was about 100 yards away and I wasn't holding out much hope for a direct hit.

But lookie here, an almost bullseye on one of my first two shots!!! I was way proud of myself.

More fall foliage.

The fireweed has all petered out and winter is weeks away.