2 weeks to go.

Yikes! But there's too much other stuff going on for me to freak out about only the wedding. However, I did have a bad dream that it was the day of the wedding and my dress still was not done. Fun times.

Wedding Dress
I'm kinda freaked out by this. Friends are just about horrified that I have no idea what the dress looks like. Unfortunately, nobody down there seems to be able to send me a picture. A little frustrating, but oh well. Mrs. Crumly keeps telling me that it looks really pretty, but I'm terrified that her idea of pretty and mine might not match up. Too much watching "Say Yes to the Dress." What she has described to me doesn't sound entirely horrible, but not exactly how I imagined either. Apparently there are little flowers in the lace? And there are flowers that line up straight in the front even though it's an asymmetrical design? Yikes. I'm scared.

First Dance
Yubo simply has not had the time or energy to rehearse with me. I really want this completely choreographed before we fly down so that all we do in L.A. is polish. I told him that I can't seem to get my pride out of the way on this one. If it's not up to the standard that I'm hoping, I may not be comfortable doing it at all. I know.... that's really dumb of me. But I'm going to have quite a few people from high school and college that remember when I was something like a "dancer." Ugh. We'll see if I can get over myself in time. (But I saw a video of myself dancing for The Well and was horrified that I looked so bad.)

The Kids
I've been struggling to find boarding for Ellie and Tifa that we can afford. This will be the longest we've ever been away from them. I wanted to keep them here at home so it's not quite a horrible experience for them. Our vet assistant has not returned my email or phone call, and the total cost of boarding at the place we usually go to will be over $900.

Alex has offered to help for a week, but I pretty much turned her down. She's got so much stuff going on and hardly has any down time for herself. I remember she told me once that one of the reasons her cat doesn't live with her is because she's not home enough.

Carol let me know that she might be able to visit the house every other day, which is pretty much all we need. I'm REALLY hoping it'll work out for her. Otherwise I don't know what to do. Every other friend we have that would be willing to help is either allergic to cats, super duper busy, or lives too far away.

Prepping for the trip
I already hate traveling. This is probably going to be the worst for me. We're going to be away for so long that I have to make absolutely sure that everything is taken care of during our absence. I already scheduled a hold on our mail. I need to make sure all the dishes are washed and put away. I need to make sure all the trash is taken out. Laundry needs to be done so we have all the clothes needed to pack. I'm probably going to find a way to move the litter boxes out of the closet and close off the bedroom from the cats. I don't want to come home to find Tifa so upset that she soaks the entire bed in her urine.

But if Carol visits, I'll feel better about the house and the cats being safe. She can make the house still look lived in.

And of course, I have to figure out the best way to pack. I don't know why, but Yubo insists on bring at least 5 pairs of jeans. I'm gonna try my darnedest to talk him out of it because his jeans take up a lot of room. Also, he's probably going to be in board shorts most of the time in Hawaii. I don't care if he wants variety to wear in L.A. I don't want to have to worry about that much luggage. We are, however, considering shipping our luggage to the resort in Kauai because of that 7hr layover we have in Honolulu. Don't want luggage getting lost, and don't want to have to lug it all around. We'll try to just have super light carry-ons that we can easily take to the beach if we can't get on an earlier flight during that layover.

Lack of Communication
I can't help but be a little frustrated that people simply don't respond as quickly or as frequently as I would like them to. It makes me nervous that things won't happen correctly or in time simply because they don't know what's going on.

I'm huge on keeping people informed. And I'm pretty big on making sure that the people I'm trying to inform are actually getting informed. LoL. I need feedback. Well, I need people to respond like I do. =P

When setting appointments, I will especially repeat date, time and location to be absolutely sure that we're all on the same page. It might get redundant, but at least I know that there won't be any confusion.

Anyhow, lately I've been trying to finalize the guest list. I've been a little irritated that I would, say, FB message someone because I haven't received their RSVP yet. I see that they had recent FB activity, but still have not replied to my message. Or they'll reply once, and I'll ask for further clarification (like if they're going to bring a guest), and I don't get a response. So I guess all that's left to me is to assume that a lack of response means that they are not coming to the wedding, or that there are no additional guests. I would just hate for anyone to be turned away if there isn't enough room. =/

Whose wedding is this?

I don't know if I'm being tested in some way, but I get the feeling I should stop voicing what I do and do not want at our wedding/reception because the universe seems to be giving me the opposite to deal with.

I'm really only looking at two things right now: the first dance, and entertainment at the reception.

First Dance.
I wanted Yubo's mom to choreograph our first dance because of her ballet and modern background. I knew that I definitely did not want a standard ballroom-type first dance. I had Yubo ask her for something more lyrical/contemporary. I mean, that was why I didn't pick a 3/4 time song.

And so she choreographed a waltz. Wait... what? Yeah, it had a few lifts and stuff, but when she started teaching it to us, I didn't know what to do with myself. There was also a lot of pulling away and then pulling close together in a super sappy corny way. SO not how Yubo and I are in our relationship.

My other bit of grief was that it was not complete. There were gaps in the choreography, so we still had to find ways to get from one moment to the next. She had left a lot of open spaces for us to just enjoy dancing with each other. My take on that is we can enjoy free-style dancing all we want for the whole rest of the night. For the first dance, I wanted to make sure it looked good. I guess I'm being super selfish in wanting to feel like I'm a dancer again. =/

I was able to tell her that, although I thought what she choreographed was nice, it was nothing that I was hoping for. She let me know that she didn't entirely understand what I meant when I wanted something more lyrical. So after Day 1 of learning, we both spent the night listening to the song again to come up with more ideas.

Managed to get the dance to something a little closer to what I had in mind, and now the rest is left up to me to choreograph.

Reception Entertainment.
I was originally thinking to have our friends perform little bits of stuff for us since so many of our friends sing, dance, and act. But then we got scared that the rest of the guests might think it was open mic, so we decided to let that idea go.

I figured that, because Yubo and I both have performance backgrounds, any sort of performance that would happen would need to be pretty darn good. No singing out of tune... stuff like that.

So we got my cousin to DJ, and were just going to pick out some good Cambodian and Chinese songs for him to play for us to dance to, and he could set up whatever American background music.

My mom called me earlier today to tell me to "fire" my cousin because it turns out he didn't have enough equipment. What? He was telling me he could bring extra speakers if we need it. My mom explains to me that he had asked my dad to bring the TV and CD player. Oh. Ok.

.....TV???

Yeah. My dad wants karaoke. Karaoke was pretty much the number one thing I did not want at the reception. In my head, it's cheesy and tacky, and most people don't sing karaoke until they've had a few drinks. And I was quite adamant to my dad that I did not want anyone using my wedding as an excuse to get drunk. And he assured me that no one would..... but now karaoke?

So I freaked out. Called Archie to get her opinion on things, and she agreed with me. She also told me that she wouldn't be comfortable going up to sing after an old Chinese person singing old Chinese songs (no Jay Chou here, folks). Good point.

Then I called Mr.Crumly to get his take on it. He actually helped me figure out an option to make this work. My mom says that I actually don't have to be there the whole night. With that in mind, Mr.Crumly said we can probably push the karaoke to much later in the night where I'll only have to deal with a few songs until we can take our cue to leave. That way, if people want to get piss drunk and sing bad karaoke, it can happen when I'm not there. Sounds like a good plan to me!

I think I'll wait to run that idea by Yubo to see what he thinks before approaching my dad with the topic.

Yay for good friends!

Just a little quickie update.

My darling girl Alex has been struggling with her health and all sorts of financial complications. Because of that, I felt that it was much more important for her to focus on getting healthy. So a week or so ago I had to find a replacement bridesmaid.

The first (and only) person that popped into my head was my best girl friend back in junior high and into high school. We actually grew pretty far apart as I got more involved in show choir and she with the clubs she was involved in. She developed closer relationships with people I didn't know so well, but I somehow managed to keep her in my life somewhat.

I must admit that I was quite amazed that she said yes to being a bridesmaid so last minute. She has her life going on, and we really don't ever talk. But I guess I always felt she would be one of those friends that would always be there, even if we only connected once every year or so. Neat, huh?

I feel so blessed knowing that I have a friend like her still. She is just on a whole other level than I am, so it's humbling to have someone like her as a constant in my life.

All of my bridesmaids (including Alex, even though she can't be there) are so incredible. It astounds me that they could associate themselves with me. God truly has surrounded me with amazing people, even if they're a few states away (or across the country). I just feel so honored to know them.

Yubo's song.

A long time ago, I came across Yubo still in bed wrapped up in his cream-colored comforter, with a brown throw bunched up by his feet.

He was so rolled up in the blanket that I said he was like a burrito (especially since the comforter was about the color of a tortilla). And when I draped the brown throw over him, it looked like it could be sauce. So he then became a burrito with sauce.

I started calling him Yuborrito, or just burrito for short.

A friend of ours was fussing with his middle name, Yutaka. He likes to call him yukata, but one night it turned into "you taco." And so Yuborrito evolved into a tacorito.

Late one night, I sang this song to him (to the tune of "Only You" and with a very strange accent).

Only you can make a burrito
Only you can make a spicy sauce
Only you and you alone can be a taco too
You're my dream come true
My one and tacorito.

Yes, I know that last line doesn't make any sense, but it fit the syllables. I suppose it could be "My only tacorito," but this was funnier.

So here's how I actually pronounce the words:
only joo can'de make a burrito
only joo can'de make a spicy sauce ("spicy sauce" sang in a sort of Cartman voice)
only joo and joo alone can'de be a taco too
you're my dream come true
my one and tacorito ("tacorito" sang in a very strange way that I can't really describe with words)

If you're lost, you may need to hear me sing the song, but that probably won't ever happen because it's my special song just for Yubo. LoL.

T minus 31 Days.

Bouquets
My mom got put in charge of the bm bouquets after having Edith do a demo for her. Their bouquets are going to be all white (and perhaps some green leaves) using white peonies and stephanotis. Their holders will be wrapped with a red satin ribbon that will hopefully not clash with the red of their dresses.
My bouquet was originally a cascading design done by Edith using white gardenias and pink cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, I ended up having to redo it. A lot of the pieces fell out and I couldn't figure out how to put them back in the right places. Also, my mom thought it was too big for me and made me look wider when I was holding it. Instead of trying to recreate the cascade, I ended up making it a round design with the gardenias and framed them by bending the cherry blossom branches to create a sort of halo behind the gardenias. Really sucks though because I know Edith spent a lot of time and energy on it, and I can't bring myself to tell her that I had to redo it. She was just so busy with another April bride that I didn't want to bother her. It also seemed like she really didn't care to work with fake flowers.

Bridesmaids Dresses.
Dresses have arrived. Now we all just need to get alterations done. It's been a struggle to meet with Alex to give her the dress. I may just need to drop it off to her some night and have her figure out alterations herself.

Centerpieces.
We finally decided on a design based on something that Yubo and I saw in Michael's. It's in something more like a glass bowl with moss and river rocks with a big lotus and two branches of cherry blossoms. It'll look really nice. My mom's been having a little trouble finding the lotus though.

Ceremony details.
We're going in for our final premarital session with Pastor Wayne on Thursday. We'll get to then talk about the details of the ceremony... what happens in what order and all that stuff. We have the music picked out for the more obvious first part of the ceremony, and now we get to wait to see how much more music we need to choose for the rest of it.

We also need to decide if we're gonna do the unity candle or sand or whatever.

I have my portion of the vows written. Yubo needs to write his so I can send them to Akemi to get translated.

We still need to memorize the song we're going to sing.

First Dance and Song.
Yubo's younger brother was awesome enough to re-record the song we want to use for our first dance. He's supposed to get the track completely done before Yubo's parents come up this weekend. The reason why they're coming up is so Yubo's mom can teach us our first dance. I think the dance will be more traditional than I was hoping, but oh well.

Bachelor/Bachelorette Party.
I'm not planning to have a bachelorette party of any sort (because I'm boring like that), and for quite a long time I was under the impression that he wasn't going to do anything special either. WELL, there has been much miscommunication over this whole thing, and it has created quite a bit of drama.

So, this all started when I was telling someone that the rehearsal was going to be on the Thursday before at 6p. His reaction told me that he didn't know that (even though I was pretty darn sure that I told him). He then told me that was when his guys wanted to "kidnap" him for his party. I thought there would still be plenty of time for his party, so I didn't understand what the problem was. It wasn't until a while later that he broke it to me that they wanted to take him to Vegas. OH. Well then. Most people know just how much I hate Vegas. But Yubo was actually really looking forward to going, and he had simply assumed that the rehearsal was on Friday, the day before the wedding, as it's done at most other churches. (This is why it's bad to assume, guys, especially when it comes to schedule details for your wedding.)

Since this whole thing happened a few months ago, there's still tension whenever we have to talk about it. He's set on trying to reschedule the rehearsal to make things work for his Vegas trip and seems to refuse to figure out something else to do if we can't reschedule.

We had a talk over breakfast today that he was making it seem like there was absolutely no other thing to do but go to Vegas, and if he couldn't go he'd be upset. I pointed out to him that the way he was reacting to possibly not being able to go to Vegas would taint the whole experience of the wedding. I don't want to take any fun away from him, but I don't understand why he can't have a Plan B (or Plan C, really) that doesn't require a 6hr drive. The more details he was giving me about what they planned for the Vegas trip, the more I thought it was a bad idea. But I told him that whenever he leaves for whatever it is they end up doing, I have nothing else to do but to trust that he will arrive right on time at 9am at my parents' house well-rested, sober, teeth brushed, tux clean, etc etc, and ready to endure the ridiculously long day that Saturday will be.

Invitations.
Invitations have been sent. FINALLY! So everyone that I had on my list with a complete address had their invitation put into the mail yesterday. And of course, suddenly Yubo is all, "Oh, did you get one out to so-and-so?" and I'm like, "No, because you never gave me their address," and he's like, "Oh, I have their address in an e-mail."

Anyway, even those super last minute ones got sent out... and I'm expecting to suddenly find more people that were supposed to get an invite that didn't give me their address. I may just end up adding them to the Evite I have set up. =P But I do have, like 14 more stamps that I can use... and we have extra invites that we can give to people that might want to keep one for whatever reason. Apparently some people actually do that. Not a surprise though. I still have Eric's invite to his wedding reception.

Flights and Hotel Reservations.
So I booked our flights through cheaptickets.com. Bad idea, I'm starting to think. Our itinerary has changed three times, once for each flight. Now we have, like, a 7hr layover in Honolulu instead of just hanging out for 3hrs before heading off to Lihue. Bah. We're gonna try to see if we can hop onto an earlier flight when we get there, but I'm gonna try to get us to pack super duper light so we don't have to fuss with luggage for 7hrs if we want to hit the beach or something else while we wait.
Most of our hotel reservations are through timeshare accounts. We have two nights at an Anaheim resort for Saturday and Sunday night using our WorldMark account. The week in Kauai is a gift to us from Yubo's parents using their timeshare. Then I got us two nights in Honolulu using our WorldMark. Just need to find a cheap room for one night in Honolulu, unless the room we're on the waiting list for comes through. Man... I'm so glad we got our WorldMark account.

Bridal Gown.
I still don't know what my gown looks like. I will not have an idea until I go in for some sort of fitting on April 1st. Yup! Just 9 days before the wedding. Yikes!
I'm really hoping that it looks good. My Plan B is to rent, so I'm really hoping I don't have to.

Favors.
Another area of tension between me and my parents. Sort of. We all wanted to do something a little different. My dad came up with the idea to give address books, since nearly everyone uses weddings as a sort of reunion. So in case there are some people that don't use their cell phones or smart phones or whatever to store all their contact information, they can use the address book we give them.

More miscommunication. I thought my dad was going to China to get one specially made for me with a nice red cover. What he came back with was something that was brown and grey with uneven stitching between the two mismatched colors and "My Friends Address Book" printed on in an uneven flakey gold. When my mom showed me, I was gonna start crying.

We finally got to where they're gonna order different ones that are just black with gold print, something that people won't be embarrassed to have in their possession.

The latest snag is what kind of pen to pair with it. I was originally going to get a personalized pen,
but my mom was convinced that no one would use a pen that had our names on it. I disagreed, but found some that could come blank. My dad, of course, had his own idea of what would work. His choice happened to be something that's probably ridiculously cheap. It was a pack of pens that were different colors, but were a good size in proportion to the address book. I found something that is plastic but looks metal, sleek design that looks good and professional, but might be a little too big for the address book. I told my sister that people probably wouldn't care about the size of the pen because they won't always have it paired with the address book, so she's trying to sell my dad on my choice.


And that's about all I can think of right now. It's really coming together. Just a little frustrating that so many things are so last minute.