The Forgotten Blog

So if you check on our blog from time to time, you've probably noticed that it's been quite some time since we've posted anything. We've been way too busy getting everything lined up for the big day -- it's less than three weeks away! Things seem to be coming together as they should, but between work, raising our hairy children, trying to get in shape for the wedding, attempting to learn how to dance and pulling together all the wedding details, our dear little blog has been quite neglected!

We've came to find that one of the biggest stresses of wedding planning (besides a never-ending to-do checklist and budgeting!) is trying to make sure that we get what we want out of our day without offending anyone. It sounds simple on the surface, but it gets oh-so-complicated when you get in the thick of it! One element of the wedding that I have given some thought to was the idea of having a dollar dance at the reception. Is it tacky? Is it all in good fun? Opinions vary pretty widely. As a guest at past weddings, I never thought dollar dances seemed tacky and always had fun giving the bride or groom a few bucks for the chance to goof around and dance with them for a bit. But once we started talking about our reception, I got a little worried that guests might think it seemed like we were a money-grubbing bride and groom! And while weddings aren't cheap for the couple, we certainly know that guests are absorbing expenses to join us on our big day too!

So we thought we might come up with a bit of a compromise - we'd love to get to dance with our guests but don't want ya'll to think we want your money! As some of you may know, both of our families have been affected by Alzheimer's and we have raised money for the Alzheimer's Association in the past. What you might not know is that Dan and I were REALLY LUCKY and were the grand prize winners of the QUASH Sweepstakes in Indianapolis this year. The money we won was a HUGE help for us to be able to plan our wedding without having a lot of extra stress over the budget. So, we're thinking we'll do what we can to repay the Alzheimer's Association and do a dollar dance but give all the money to the organization.

What do you think? Does it a charity dollar dance sound like a good idea to you?

We Came, We Saw, We QUASHed

Dan and I had a great weekend. Today, we went to a Catholic marriage preparation retreat...some parts were awesome, some were mediocre. Overall, we came away with some new knowledge and more insight into what we need to work on for a successful future together.

Yesterday was a ton of fun. For the second year, we ran all over downtown Indy to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association during the Quest to Unravel Alzheimer's Scavenger Hunt (QUASH). For 2.5 hours, we followed clues across downtown and went everywhere from the Scottish Rite Cathedral to the Slippery Noodle to the Eiteljorg Museum. I think we logged about 4.5 miles. We didn't come anywhere close to winning-- and we didn't expect to because we knew from experience that some of the other teams are serious competitors. For us, it gave us a chance to raise money and awareness for a disease that has affected both of our families and spend a day cooperating and having fun together. If you would like to help, it's not too late -- you can still contribute to our Alzheimer's fundraising efforts by visiting my personal QUASH page or Dan's.


Pre-QUASH excitement:

Dan in post-QUASH exhaustion mode: