we did. we're the best. all you other's can go home now.

Cara and I are now married and this blog, therefore, as a computer would say, DOES NOT COMPUTE.

So we have created a joint blog about our married life together.

Please refer to it for my future crazy ramblings and her "oh so sweet" approach to making me a meatloaf. Or a pie. Whatever it is a wife should be doing.

Oh Snap!

http://lovebandaids.blogspot.com/

day one of wedding weekend completed

we did it. well, the first day at least. it all happened so fast that i can't even imagine how fast tomorrow will come and soon go.

today was filled with a lot of stress, driving, running errands, some good wedding ceremony practice, an amazing taco dinner with great people and a strong storm, a little light help getting the reception room together and maybe i had time in there somewhere to have 20 minutes in the whirlpool bathtub in my private suite.

and now i'm sitting in my fiance's private suite, waiting to her to freshen up so we can practice our dance for tomorrow night.

and while i sit here, waiting, her dress is directly across the room from me, hanging very elegantly in a thick white bag.

i can't wait to see her in it.

now, time for a few dances and then bed!

tomorrow... i get to be married to the most amazing person i've ever met.

Coming to you live...

Hey there. I know I haven't treated you the best recently, blog peeps. I didn't post these past few weeks as much as I probably should have. Let me try to change that this weekend.

"But KJ," you say, "won't you be too busy with all the wedding stuff to blog this weekend."

Well this is where my wonderful fiance comes into play. This morning we exchanged wedding gifts and I am happy to say that I am writing to you from my brand new Mac Book Pro.

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful person so close to me in this life and I can't wait to be married to her.

I'll be able to bring my new computer with me on the go and blog at various times this weekend.

As for now, I have a list of things I need to finish up before heading to the hotel this afternoon.

Mr. Almost Married's Fancy Suit has Arrived!

I just received an e-mail saying that my fancy suit has arrived and is ready for pick-up!

I am really excited to get there and try it all on!

Tee hee!

Giggle!

i are the champions

I ask you...

Who Didn't Believe I Could Do It?

Well I did it. I achieved my 2nd goal AND THEN SOME.

239 pounds is where I stand today with 5 days left before the wedding. And I can honestly say that I did not expect to reach such a milestone at this point when I started this weight-loss venture.

It's been an incredible experience so far. Eating better and running outside like crazy. Speaking of running, I hit a personal record this past Saturday with a 6 mile non-stop run.

So I'll end this post the only way I know how:

Take it away, Freddy

Fact: I have the most beautiful fiancée in the history of the universe.

2 pounds in 2 days: Rock the Vote

After a I reached my 20 pound goal ahead of schedule, I went ahead and pronounced that I could lose an additional 10 pounds by the Monday prior to the wedding.

So here I stand. I weighed myself this morning and came in at 242.

Two days before my last goal and two pounds to go.

I added a poll on the right side of my blog page, just above the Wedding Weight Watch section. Hop on over like a bunny and make your pick.

Do I have what it takes to drop 2 pounds in 2 days or will I simply give up, black out and wake up at a chinese restaurant with a bucket of crab rangoon?

ROCK THE VOTE!

12 Days: heavy is the head that eats the crayons

So, ok. We have 12 days left till the wedding and we have a HEFTY HEFTY HEFTY list of items left to tackle.

Time to hit it hard!

17 Days

I'm gonna continue the hair metal trend as far as that decade and it's skillful lyrics will allow me.

In honor of 17 days left to go, here is another great hair metal classic, "Seventeen"

Winger - Seventeen (YouTube)

I saw sparks fly, from the corner of my eye
And when I turned, it was love at first sight
I said please excuse me, I didn't catch your name
Oh it'd be a shame not to see you again
And just when I thought she was comin' to my door
She whispered sweet and brought me to the floor, she said
I'm only seventeen, but I'll show you love like you've never seen
She's only seventeen, daddy says she's too young, but she's old enough for me
Come to my place, we can talk it over, oh everything going down in your head
She said take it easy, I need some time, time to work it out, to make you mine
And just when I thought she was comin' to my door
She whispered sweet and brought me to the floor, she said
I'm only seventeen, you ain't seen love, ain't seen nothing like me
She's only seventeen, seventeen
(Solo)
Such a bad girl, loves to work me overtime
Feels good (ha), dancin' close to the borderline
She's a magic mountain, she's a leather glove
Oh she's my soul, it must be love
She's only seventeen, still she gives me love, like I've never seen
She's only seventeen, daddy says she's too young, but she's old enough for me
She's everything I need, daddy says she's too young
But she's old enough, old enough for me

18 Days (a day late)

So I missed posting this yesterday, but it is too good to pass up. In honor of yesterday having been 18 days till the wedding, here is the hair metal classic "18 and Life:

Skid Row - 18 and Life (YouTube)

Ricky was a young boy, He had a heart of stone.
Lived 9 to 5 and worked his fingers to the bone.
Just barely got out of school, came from the edge of town.
Fought like a switchblade so no one could take him down.
He had no money, oooh no good at home.
He walked the streets a soldier and he fought the world alone
And now it's

18 and life You got it
18 and life you know
Your crime is time and it's
18 and life to go
(repeat above)

Tequila in his heartbeat, His veins burned gasoline.
It kept his motor running but it never kept him clean.
They say he loved adventure, "Ricky's the wild one."
He married trouble and had a courtship with a gun.
Bang Bang Shoot 'em up, The party never ends.
You can't think of dying when the bottle's your best friend
And now it's

chorus

"Accidents will happen" they all heard Ricky say
He fired his six-shot to the wind that blew a child away.

RSVP Slackers: Saturday Edition

Well kids, we had a few more moth's that were slow to the flame this past weekend.

Jordan and Cierra: My good friend since elementary school and his wife. So what is the excuse? Too busy having been married for a year to check a little box and put a pre-paid postage thing in the mail?

I so forth then with do state that you both have to drunkenly stumble over to IHOP after the reception and demand the best seat in the house. Proceed to order nothing but a plate of fresh fruit and then stare at it.

Steve, Sandee, Wade: My uncle, aunt and cousin from Indianapolis. What's up guys? It's not like one of your daughter's is getting married two weeks after my wedding? I'm sure you are totally free to lollygag around, picking daises and not responding to RSVP's on time.

Therefore you all will have to shout a cheer from the following selection each time after Cara and I kiss at the reception: "Go Bears!" "Go Illini!" "Go Cubs!"

THE GROOM HAS SPOKEN!!!

19 Days

RSVP Slackers: Day One

Gather around kids, Uncle KJ has his first batch of people who missed the RSVP deadline.

Here are the RSVP's we got in yesterday (1 day late):

Rita and Paul: Cara's cousin Rita and her fiancée. What up, guys? Too busy planning your own wedding to send stuff in on time? Think that just because you guys are cool and are gonna have an awesome winter wedding that you can sit in the back of the class?

You both will now be leading everyone in the Macarena at our reception.

Renee Arnett: Cara's cousin and Rita's sister. Renee, no words can describe the hurt you have caused me by being a day late. Well, except for the words I just typed. Yeah I think those sum it all.

You will now be forced to slap the butt of whoever is closest to you anytime Cara and I kiss at the reception.

Bill, Nancy and Will Arnett: Cara's Uncle, Aunt and cousin (also are Rita and Renee's parents). Well well well. We rounded out the set, didn't we. The Bill and Nancy Arnett clan stuck together as a family and made it a complete set for being a day late.

I therefore state that you three will have to cross arms with each other anytime you want to take a drink during the reception.

Carmella and Devin: Cara's college friend and her boyfriend. Really, Carmella? Really? YOU were late with your RSVP?

You and Devin have to dance to every song at the reception. Even the anniversary dance and the sad, but sure to happen, last call dance.

We got a few other RSVP's in the mail, but I won't be including them as they are not coming. I shall never speak their names again! Unless they send us a wedding gift, then I shall speak their names again.

24 days

Répondez s'il vous plaît....today

Today is the deadline for our guests to let us know if they are totally awesome or plan on having major surgery that results in a direct conflict of celebrating our special day with us. Which, just so you know, is only an excuse as far as you can throw it. And last time I checked, you can't throw words. Simmer on that for a while.

Now I'm no mathematician and not since that one time in 2003 did I ever claim to be, but I think we are at around 72% for the total number of people we expected would come.

It's been pretty exciting to get home every day and check the mailbox for little pink envelopes of delight.

Yesterday I received a declined card from my friend Smokey who lives in Las Vegas. I knew he probably wasn't coming because of the distance, but it sure was nice to see his RSVP card come back and the line of congrats he gave us.

I think that has been part of the fun of this whole RSVP process. Being able to open the envelopes, touch the cards and see who is coming or not. I love seeing everyone's handwriting. It is such a personal thing that is associated with each particular individual and something that I feel is lost in this digital age.

So now what? 72% isn't 100%. Doesn't wedding tradition show that there will be a good number of RSVP's coming in the mail after our deadline?

My promise to you, the reader:

For every RSVP that comes in after today's deadline, I will reserve a special daily post to poke fun at those people. I will spare no one and probably lose position in a few will's and Christmas card lists for it.

One Month Until I Have a Wife!!!

Isn't she pretty?

We are now at one-month to go.

I know I have been totally lacking in posting blogs and updates. I apologize for this. Between work and getting things together for the wedding, I just haven't had time.

With apologies to Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, here is a short list of post's I hope to be making in the final month:

• Cara's ring story
• Geneva Sights and Sounds (continue the series that currently only has one post)
• Bachelor Party
• Cara's Bachelorette Party (a.k.a. my night alone playing video games and eating take-out chinese)
• Our wedding vow's, betrothal and the reading
• Wedding Weight-Loss 2nd Goal Achieved (hopefully)
• And many many more! (or at least a few)

Minimoon Booked!

It is now official. Cara and I have a trip booked for after our wedding.

Here is the catch, everything about the trip is going to be a surprise for Cara. She won't know until we get in the car to go.

So the catch on the catch.... none of you get to know either! Mwhahahahaha!

here is a special note/clue: it is just a minimoon and we are just going somewhere for a few days. nothing too big and fancy until the honeymoon next early spring.

21: Dealer Wins

Victory! Mission Accomplished! Well Done! Congrats! Boo-yah!

Today we mark an important day in the illustrious history that is my life. Today we celebrate that I achieved my goal weight a meaty two months ahead of schedule.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the people who helped make this happen:

- The Team China coaching staff from the Bejing Olympics. Much like making a 14 year old look 16, you guys pulled together and helped me slim down with nothing but a box of cap'n crunch cereal and water torture. Thank you.

- Guy Fieri, Paula Dean and other assorted delusional hefties from the Food Network. You guys kept showing me what would happen to me if I continued to eat the fat-infused, grease trap food that "ya'll" keep shoveling down your throats. And even after you all are long gone from some form of heart disease related demise within the next few years I will tell your tale and speak your praise over how you helped me achieve this.

- Ian Somerhalder from "LOST" and "The Vampire Diaries." Ian, you might have been the most important person of all. Your ability to be suave as both a plane crash survivor (until you crashed in that other plane that had already landed on the island... how ironic and stupid was it!) and as a vampire on the CW network has shown me that I too can achieve great things. You sir are what all modern men should be compared to. For that, and for increasing the chances of getting to kiss my fiancé after she watches you on TV, I thank you.

With still about a month and a half to go before the wedding the question now is where can I go from here? How about we shoot for a bigger goal now? 240 by August 9th, 2010. That is 9 more pounds. But I think I need a catch-phrase for this new goal. Something like in an infomercial that I can say to you all and if you were a studio audience you would shout back. So let's try it out.

I'm KJ and I'm going to lose 9 more pounds by August 9th, 2010, because...

I can do it and so are you!

Mr. Fancy Pants Orders a Fancy Pants Suit

Yesterday day I picked out my tuxedo for the wedding. It will look like this, minus the vest. Oh yeah, that's right, I'm going sans vest for this.

Attention!!!

Everyone, please listen! I have the most urgent news. Set down your children and stop sharpening your collection of Lord of the Ring knifes...

I just saw that the bedding portion of our registry is now discounted at almost half-off at Macy's!!!

Stop whatever you are doing and investigate this!!! I cannot solicit gifts, but I can come damn close.

Clicking on this link may be the best decision you ever make in your life!

The Waiting Game

Cara and I are waiting.

Well, we are waiting on lots of things right now. Final invitation decisions, formal attire decisions, ceremony music. The list goes on for a while.

But what I am referring to, are our engagement pictures. We had a photo session with the wonderful Steve Koo almost two weeks ago and the preview pictures are suppose to be up within 1-2 weeks after the shoot. This Friday is the 2 week point. So we are waiting. And checking. And refreshing web pages. And following twitter accounts. And just waiting.

We're really just excited to start seeing some fulfillment of this wedding planning and engagement extravaganza. We have been engaged for almost 14 months and have been doing a lot of planning.

It will just be nice to see the pictures.

But for now, we are just waiting.

The Belgian's Would Have Been Pissed

Wow..... THAT was a close call. I can't believe this much time has passed and we didn't notice before. I'm not sure married life would have survived if this error has continued on.

I'm talking, of course, about the horrifying and sudden realization today that we had not registered for a waffle maker.

Let me calm you down and assure you that we have since added an awesome waffle maker to our registry at Target (cough - click here - cough).

You see, Cara and I love us some waffles. Many weekend mornings are spent with me making us waffles and Cara brewing the coffee. It's become a thing for us. We alternate between the weekend waffle breakfast with eggs and turkey bacon breakfast and the occasional weekend breakfast where I eat cereal alone because Cara sleeps in like crazy and I get, to quote the philosophers of the east coast, wicked hungry.

So fear not my blog-onia friends. Wait, is that the correct statement if I am referring to this as a country? Blog-onia? How about Blogistan. Or The United States of Whatever I Want to Call it Because It's My Blog Suckers!!!

Yeah, I like that last one. But for the sake of time let's just continue to use the "regular" terms and call it a blog.

I will now finish my work day day-dreaming of making waffles in a fancy kitchen while Cara and Sadie play and laugh in slow motion.

Also, I have robot strength in this dream.

Bling Rings: Part 1

Yesterday Cara and I finished a task that took longer then it should have. We ordered our wedding bands. It took almost two whole weeks to order them, not for a lack of trying, but because the designer I went with for Cara's engagement ring does not have a vast amount of jewelers in the area carry the brand.

But let's back track some before all I talk about is Cara's ring and the journey to purchase the band.

I am an interesting breed of man when it comes to the ring I want. I really like a classic and stylish look. Case in point, my ultimate wedding tuxedo would be the Cary Grant Tuxedo from Hugo Boss. But that is another story all together.

Classic, to me, is what I am going to call "silver." There are many ways to better call that metal: white gold, palladium, not-yellow. You get the point. But I call them all "silver."

So I wanted a silver band. And a few months after we became engaged we strolled around to a few jewelers to try on men's wedding bands. I quickly locked in on the Scott Kay Collection. It was classic, it felt comfortable on my hand and it would look good with me dressed up or dressed down.

Fast-forward almost a year later. Wedding plans are in high gear. The concept of having a heavy dose of valium administered to me for the week leading up to the wedding is gaining more steam. Item's have started to be grabbed up on our gift registry in preparation for upcoming showers and the big day.

And now, in the midst of it all, it is time to get our wedding-band-groove-buying-style-of-dance and weekend activities on.

I was up first. The lead-off hitter. First to bat. The over-developed freshmen girl who gets asked to prom before the senior girls. The guy who has to get in the pool first and tell his friends what the water feels like. The... ok, you get the picture.

I knew that I wanted the Scott Kay Collection ring, but we (obviously) were going to get to a store and have me try it on again before any financial commitments were going to be made.

The great news is that there is a Jared's Jewelers (he went to Jared's!) just under five minutes from our place. This is one of the only jeweler's around that carry the ring I wanted. So we stopped in one fine day and found out that this particular Jared's did not carry the ring nor the brand.

So we had to trek down route 59 in Aurora/Naperville. If you are not familiar with route 59 in Aurora/Naperville, let me quickly give you the info:

1. every store you need to get to
2. everyone trying to get there at the same time
3. did i mention this is all just one road

Basically, it is just really boring to drive down because it is just one long road and it can sometimes be frustrating because it can cluster up real fast.

Lucky us, our adventure on it wasn't that bad. We got to the Jared's on route 59 and I went in, tried on the ring, had a few minutes of thinking and then we made the purchase. It will arrive sometime next week, fresh from the designer.

I put that last part in bold to give you a comparative approach when I have finished telling the story of how involved a process it was to get Cara's wedding band ordered.

It is so much of a process that I honestly don't have the effort to detail it all right now. I started to, but I just can't. I need coffee and some finger stretches before I tackle it. So I am breaking this post into two seperate ones.

Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion to our story as I'll later present to you,

"Bling Rings: Part 2 - The Search for Curlie's Gold"

or, if you don't like that...

"2 Fast 2 Blingious"

"Bling 2: Collector's Fee"

"The Bling Files: I Want to Bling"

Legally Blinged"

"Illinois Smith and the Kingdom Of The Bling Skull"

"Bling Hard"

Superbling IV: The Quest for More Bling"

Geneva Love: Glory Be To Graham's

What you see before you is quite possibly one of my favorite things for Cara and I to do as a couple in Geneva. A Green Mint Chip Milkshake from Graham's on 3rd street in Geneva.

Let me explain the glory that is Graham's ice cream. This stuff is made fresh daily and once you have your first experience there is no going back. Oh and they top it off with shaved chocolate and whipped cream.

• Graham's Ice Cream and Chocolates: Two locations within a block of each other offers everything from fresh ice cream to chocolate items you can watch being made. In summertime they have acoustic acts play outside and everyone sits in comfy chairs and eats their desserts. Very relaxing stuff.

Geneva has been our home for just over two years now and there is a lot of great little things for couples to do here. I plan to blog about the various parts of our little slice of the world that Cara and I love. Pretty much a small list of great memories and things that we love to do in our neck of the Fox Valley.

Next in my Geneva Love series: jewelery

3 Months

Today is May 14th. Three months until August 14th. 92 days to be exact.

Because I Care

If you haven't figured it out yet, I like to write. Nothing jazzes me more then cranking the creativity dial to 11 and bringing something out of nothing.

In this regard, I also like to write poems. However, I have not written one in over four years. Last night that changed. Cara and I had a discussion over wedding plans and, as I know is essentially tradition and custom, we did not fully understand what the other was saying.

So I went and wrote a poem to her. Something to show my feelings and emotions in a fancy lad sort of way.

Here is my poem to Cara:

it is my crime because i care
to wonder how you'll wear your hair
to think and wonder about your style
a gorgeous white dress and you down the aisle

it is my crime to think of why
to ask who will make sure the flower's aren't dry
to research the seasons and know the tradition
to always be mindful of our wedding day mission

it is my crime to ask who
who in your life will walk down there with you
to bring you to the alter, your hand meeting mine
to have that feeling, knowing everything's fine

it is my crime because i am me
a lover of you and all that your bring
knowing your love and what it does to me
i can't be content to just let this all be

it is my crime to want this shared dream
to plan it together, our hips at the seam
it is my crime because i love you so much
soon my wife, our lives will touch

together we'll do this and then our vows
to hold and to cherish as far the law allows
planning this with you means the world to me
it is my crime, a life sentence for you and me

Minimoon Tournament: The Final Four

Behold, our mighty final four minimoon destinations!!!

I'll be blogging tomorrow to expand on these picks... and how we "moved a few things around" to end up this way.

The poorly thought out fashion plans of a man

The other day Cara mentioned something that I had never thought about. She said I should get a new set of clothes to wear for the wedding showers. This really caught me off guard as I thought my wide assortment of generic polo shirts and worn-out button down's were the way to go.

We looked a little bit for new stuff at Kohl's this past weekend whilst (oh yeah, whilst) on our plate adventure and I didn't really see much of anything different then what I had.

So I started to think of a look I could go for. I tried thinking of someone in popular culture whose fashion sent a good statement that I could embody. Then it came to me. A man who oozed awesomeness with whatever he wore. Let it be written, this can only be...

Ricardo M.F. Montalban.

Ricardo, although no longer with us, left a big bulge in the pants that are men's fashion.

Let's look at a few options I now have for my attire for the two wedding showers, in accordance with Ricardo Montalban:

OPTION #1:

This first look says it all, sort of a "I'm a business sort of guy but I know how to take it easy." This stylish number would work well for the Paris wedding shower as it will be hosted outdoors in early June.

OPTION #2:

The Fantasy Island apparel. From the white shoes to the ethnic mini-me dude this outfit is perfect for the Geneva wedding shower, which is being hosted in a nice restaurant. The all-white ensemble lets the crowd know who the groom and how damn classy he is. The ethnic mini-me can act as a buffer to hold off unwanted conversations or for impromptu games of keep away.

OPTION #3:

Khan... KHAN!!!

Yes! This is it! Ricardo Montalban as Khan in Star Trek from the 1980's! This outfit is the perfect tri-fecta! Paris wedding shower, check! Geneva wedding shower, check! Wedding day attire, oh yeah that is a sweet check!

I have to order this outfit on Amazon now. Mission accomplished. Just no one tell Cara.

Plates

Cara and I recently spend a lot of time deciding on what plates set to register for. It got me thinking about what the world must seem like to the plates, bowls and silverware in our life...

Plates.

They have a pretty thankless job in our daily routines. They get locked away in cabinets, in the dark and with only their fellow plate companions to comfort them in what I am sure is a constant state of horror alway's wondering when the next form of torture will come.

We, at our leisure, throw open the doors and quickly scan around for our next victim. We think carefully about this because we already know the form of torture to come and need the perfect plate for the job.

So we find what we need, pull it out of the cabinet and place it on the table. To them I'm sure this could be similar to an operating table. They look to their side and see the instruments of unimaginable horror. A side dish of steaming veggies to scorch the surface, a helping of garlic mashed potatoes to silence the screams. And to top it off, a hot slab of dead animal meat to really mess with their heads.

We then take our tools and scrape against their skin, pushing and pulling the instruments of unimaginable horror all over the victim's body.

And what do we do when we are finished? Well if you are as sick and demented as we are, chances are you leave the plate in a pit with no chance of escape. A shallow grave to him, a kitchen sink to us. Here he sits, for days on end at times. His body scarred with the brutality of what had happened.

And just when he thought, he prayed, he hoped for death... he is picked up and placed in a box. It's dark, he looks around and can see fellow victims. The bowls, the spoons, the cookie sheets. All mangled with their experience. Suddenly the door closes and switch is flipped. The box is dark and quickly filling with scolding hot water. I'm sure at this point the plate's heart is beating harder and harder. His thought's racing around. He wonder's what this new form of torture is, thinks of the saucer plates he will be leaving behind, wondering if the coffee cup he loves is doomed to the same fate.

The water and soap are churning faster and faster at this point. Digging deeper into his wounds, pounding against his body. And then the water drains and he holds out a faint hope that this demonic ride is at its end. But then he feels it start to come over him. The steam is building up more and more. It suffocates everything around him, clings to the water left of him and pulls it off with a slow force.

The door opens back up and a wave of fresh air and light hits him. He is grabbed and inspected end over end. Surely this is to ensure that this latest form of torture was successful.

The cabinet door opens back up and he is placed in his old spot. The door closes and he wonders...

What does this all mean? Why was he put through such hell for days on end if only to be placed back in his dark tomb.

But all he can do is sit and wait. And pray. Wondering when his turn will come again.

Wedding Weight Watch induces hypnotic flashback to high school.

I have accomplished something that I am pretty impressed with myself over. No, it wasn't that I was able to spring out of bed at 5:20 this morning when my alarm goes off (truth be told I usually wake up before my alarm and slowly work my way to the shower).

The truth is that I have now entered a lower numbering association with my weight. The glorious 250's. Now, this is great for me in a few different ways. The first being that it means I am just 9 pounds away from my target wedding weight with around 3 1/2 months to spare. The second is a throwback to the glory days that were high school.

You see, I have not been in the 250's club since those glory days of gel-filled hair, Limp Bizkit, Will Smith and before the movie world knew who Harry Potter was. The late 90's.

I finished high school in the 250's range and spent the next few years succumbing to the freshmen 15. Problem was, is that since I spent almost 7 years in undergrad that meant a few extra years to enhance the art of the freshmen 15. I pushed the limits of human capability and by 2003 I entered into a dark time for my weight. I was in the sad-sack club that is the 280's.

this is me circa 2004 I believe

XXL became a label I had to constantly associate myself with. I'm sure my pack-a-day of cigarettes didn't help any (I know I know, but hey, I've been off the smokes for almost 4 years now).

So I spent the next few years living la vida college. Cheap beer, even cheaper vodka, wing night specials and late hours were the norm. There was also the year I spent living above what I still consider to be the world's best Chinese restaurant, "Empire." Sadly, I realized that eating Gereral Tso Chicken with Fried Rice EVERY DAY was not cool.

Over the next few year's I spent going up and down 5, 10, 15 or so pounds. I never topped my ceiling weight of 280, but after a while 270 became the norm.

Enter present time. I finally have a solid reason to meet a weight-loss deadline. I get to marry my best friend! That has been a huge motivational tool for me.

And so you may ask (or you may not ask, but you're going to get the answer anyway) of how I am doing this.

Well let me first state that It's not some special hollywood diet. No atkin's, zone, slim fast, 19th century leech method or anything like that.

I started by not pushing myself so hard to get to the gym every day and to work so hard at the gym everday. All I was doing was getting annoyed at spending so much time at the gym (and around those guys who wear hat's while they pump iron, have huge arms and tiny legs). This annoyance and push all the time just kept leading to more food intake.

I'd snack when I came home and after the gym. It was not working.

So I set a standard.

• Go to the gym at least twice a week.
• Have a good cardio and maybe some weight lifting as well.
• Eat three squares a day
• No more bad snacking (a handful of veggies is alright)
• Drink lots-o-water (H20 is the way to go)
• Reduce the stress level (work, home and life)

And here I sit, on this cheap computer chair in my cube at work at 259. I'm excited to continue towards my goal of 250 and then see where I can go from there.

Here is a current shot of me at 8:30AM Central Time on Monday morning. I really tried to take a picture that didn't look all MySpace/Facebook but had a hard time since taking a picture of yourself at work can look really weird to people walking by.

Minimoon Tournament: The Elite Eight

Minimoon Tournament: The Sweet 16

Minimoon Tournament: Round 1 Updates

Here is breakdown of each region that has completed its first round of games along with a full bracket picture at the bottom:

Please note that only four regions have completed first round games so far.

The Penguin Suit Adventures: Episode I: Hopscotch Players Unite

We are at least a month away from going into a place and sifting through catalog's with different tuxedos, but I thought I'd just throw some stuff out here.

What it won't be:

I really hate the bow-tie look.

Minimoon Tournament: Selection Monday

The field of 32 hopefuls is set. Who will emerge victorious? Will it be a powerhouse pick or will this be Cinderella's time to dance?

I could have scanned all night...

We finally started one of the most amazing parts of wedding planning. The sweet pie that is the gift registry. We had been planning on starting it during the spring and finally had the chance (and free time) to head over to Bed Bath and Beyond (hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge) to start the process.

After we parked the car and starting walking into the store, I thought in my head about what this process would be like. Of course I'd seen versions of how it's done in the movies, but not having been married before, I was alone to dream of it anyway I desired. At first, everything was happening just as I had imagined. We walked in and went over to customer service. Cara proudly announced that we were here to start a gift registry. But that's when things got different. The customer service person directed us over to an open office just to the right of the store entrance, an office with purple painted walls, a desk with two guest chairs on the outside and a good amount of fine china on display.

We have been in this particular Bed, Bath and Beyond countless times before and I swear to you I've never seen this purple office before. I began to get my bearings. I'm in Geneva, right? This is the store I think I'm in, right? As we walked over to this purple office, currently vacant as they called their wedding representative over the loud speaker, I thought that the man from the Twilight Zone was going to step out at any moment and declare to me: "You're traveling to a world you didn't know existed. In a world with a purple office you never saw before. You have now crossed over to... the gift registry zone." And cue the theme music.

So we sat there, waiting for the mysterious wedding rep to swoop down on us. And that's when the weird darkness, the feeling of uncertainty, the knowledge that I had not been aware of this visually apparent purple office before this trip... all of that faded away and the sun was shining again. The rep greeted us warmly and sat down (editor's note: I have forgotten her name as I am horrible with names. She will henceforth be known as "the rep").

The rep had a great, upbeat personality and an amazing approach to customer service. You see, I have certain feeling (it's like a mini-philosophy) on customer service. Any job where you have to wear your name on your clothing for all the world to see is a job where you can find the best customer service people. This is above any good encounter with a call center person you might have had, because even though you get to hear their name, they can hide behind a phone. An in-person, name on chest, face to face customer service associate. These are the best people at customer service. They cannot hide from you and they know it. Their face and their name are right there in front of you. So, if you treat them good, most of the time they will return the favor.

Wow, I went down a different path there for a bit. Back on track...

The rep helped us get our information put into the computer and gave us some great information and tips on registering. She then asked us what we wanted to accomplish today. We locked in on cookware and kitchen items. She walked us over and stayed there for a while, informing us on different products, asking about our needs, who does most of the cooking (me) and just about every question she could ask. She was absolutely invaluable to us. She even broke into the cutlery case when her keys didn't work so that we could handle the knifes. A potential move against what I'm sure is a company policy against breaking into things and giving sharp objects to customers. Thankfully my thirst for human blood was at a lull and I didn't feel the need for a slaughter.

Anyways, we spent the next hour or so walking around, judging, touching, discussing and scanning. I forgot to mention how awesome my fiancée is, because she made me the official scanning gun holder and shooter. I liked that.

We did end up leaving before we really wanted to, mostly because I was intent on watching the Final Four games that were starting in a little over an hour and we still had to do our grocery shopping at Meijer.

Up next in this gift registering adventure? Well, everything else. All we did was register for cookware and a few kitchen items. But let me say one more thing, the cookie sheets we registered for our amazing. They are dark and heavy. Very manly. I feel like if I bake cookies on them I need to infuse them with diesel and present them with the verbal adrenaline of a Monster Truck Show commercial.

Minimoon Tournament!

Ok, first things first. Honeymoons are expensive. Well, really nice honeymoons are expensive and Cara and I both want to have a great, fantastic time in some tropical location. Problem is the amount of cash flow we currently don't have. So, after MONTHS and I do mean MONTHS of long talks and the occasional hurt feelings, we have a plan:

Right after the wedding we will take the cult favorite "mini-moon." This is a time for us to take a few days to relax somewhere within striking distance and for a modest price.

Then, next spring we hatch the mother of all honeymoons! Ok, maybe not that big, but hopefully a great one that we will both really enjoy.

So, the question came about as to how will we determine where to take our Minimoon. Given the current fever of March Madness and NCAA Basketball we have designed a tournament bracket of locations.

Our bracket features 8 regions, each with 4 hotels. We will then compare every aspect from cost to things to do and eliminate the losers until we find the best Minimoon money (editor's note: our money) can buy!

I'm not sure how much disclosure Cara wants everyone to have with this right now, so I will limit it to just letting you all know our 8 regions (as depicted in the picture above).

NASHVILLE

FLORIDA

WISCONSIN

MICHIGAN

SOUTH CAROLINA

NORTH CAROLINA (as noted by the One Tree Hill logo)

THE SOUTH COAST (as noted by the Chik Fil A logo)

THE MIDWEST

Each of these regions will "host" four hotels for us to pit against each other.

In short, this is probably the most fun anyone every had planning this type of vacation!

DJ Jazzy Jeff was not available

We did it! Another major vendor decision made! The other week we had a visit to Music By Design in Geneva, actually just a few blocks from our apartment. They made us feel nice and comfortable not only with our decision and their ability to provide great music and sound for our reception, but with their presentation.

I think that was an aspect that Cara didn't even pay attention to, whereas I did. It's not that she overlooked it by any bad means, no. She actually is very assertive when it comes to vendors and communicating with them, so she sticks more with the "brass tax" of their talk rather then how they talked.

I, on the other hand, being a guy who spent many a credit hours in my various communication classes in college, liked how handled the little things. The two gentlemen (yes, gentlemen) we met with wore ties. It was 6pm at night and I'm sure they had been dressed like this all day, but it didn't show. They treated us like we were the first, last and only thing for their day. It was just really a quality factor. They also had a nice presentation room. Nothing too fancy, but enough to make us feel comfortable.

All that we have to do now is give them a deposit and sign the contract. Thankfully that is coming out of someone else's portion of the wedding budget. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled for all the help we are getting on all fronts, but wow I am ready to not be spending money like this.

Up next, finding the perfect flower from the best florist! ... or finding an old ladies garden that we could steal some from.

The Proposal Video

After I proposed on April 9th of 2009, I made a video about that day as well as a brief recap of our first few years together.

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPUpv2AK4bE

We booked a place to be married in and it wasn't a van down by the river!

Oh yes, we have booked a church for the wedding. We are just under six months to go and figured it was probably about time.

We looked at the options with a number of places, but most of them had crazy rules or were crazy expensive. We feel really lucky to have come across and booked such a lovely place. We met today with Rev. Daly and if want she will be the one to marry us! She was a great person and was very helpful and warming. It really made us feel at ease and ready to sign on the line.

When we walked into the sanctuary my eyes first looked up and got the towering pipes that were along the back wall. Secondly, I saw where Cara and I will stand. I envisioned us there, holding hands and making such a great commitment together. It just felt right and this there was no better place then here for us to do it.

Rev. Daly then showed us the church gardens, which, are going to look amazing in mid-August and be a great place for some pictures.

After we signed the papers and said goodbye to Rev. Daly, Cara and I walked back into the sanctuary. I walked right up to where I will stand and she stayed back at the door. I looked at her in her red coat (the same she wore when I proposed) and I saw the pews seated with our family and friends. I looked at the glass windows in the back and knew that this is where I will see her come first, before she starts down the aisle. It was really great.

Soon enough I'll see here in that dress and I in my suit. I'll get to wear a ring to symbolize our love. And I'll get to love her everyday, as I do now, but with a deeper bond. We'll be married, and this is where it will happen. My dreams come true on August 14th.

Cara, I love you.

Pic-O-The Day

This was at Emily and Mike's wedding in Graylake, Illinois (I believe). Should have been around April, 2008. A year before I proposed!

Date, consider yourself saved

We did it! We're the best around! Congrats to us! It finally happened!

We mailed our "Save The Date's" this past weekend. We meant to do it a few weeks back but we had a hard time finalizing exactly how we wanted to present them. It came down to the classic battle of man versus woman. She had a multitude of ideas for how to approach the act of the presentation of the thing. My approach was simple: take it, stuff it in the envelope and bid it farewell.

Thankfully we did not use my approach. It took Cara, Shannon (Maid of Honor), some pizza, a trip to Michael's Craft Store to buy a set of pens that we didn't use and a long trip to Kinko's (where it smelled horribly of farts and wouldn't go away)...but we did it.

I'm happy with what we ended up with. It's nothing super fancy, just simple and elegant.

Elegance? We gots it? Yes we do.

Cara Arnett: Established in 1985 and currently celebrating 25 years of awesomeness!

Here is a picture of us in Breckenridge, Colorado from a few years back:

Today my wonderful fiance turns 25! The quarter century club, the mid-2o's, the half-way point to 30, the year after 24. Anyway you look at it, it's 25. Now, don't get me wrong, turning 25 is a great milestone, but her birthday this year makes me think of (and partially fear) our wedding.

We are both now officially the age we will be for our wedding. And that might scare me a bit. It's not that I'm scared or worried about being married, it's just that through it all I am still a guy and guy's tend to get jittery throughout this whole process at certain times. And right now, for me, it's the fact that we are at our respective wedding ages. 25 and 27. Although mine is somewhat of a stretch, seeing as how I'll be 28 just under two months after we are married.

Last night we crossed the T's and dotted the lower case J's on our passport applications as well as found a church that we seem to really like. It's slightly out in the country portion of west St. Charles, but it looks amazing and should be in mid-August.

But tonight we put our wedding plans on hold as I take Cara to Naperville to celebrate her 25th! It should be an awesome time.

Dogs and Cats, Living Together...Mass Hysteria!

First, I want to link to Cara's recent blog about the earthquake because I think it's pretty funny:

http://whippedcreamwedding.blogspot.com/2010/02/earth-what.html


Secondly, I have to quote Ghostbusters in light of both the snow storm and earthquake.

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats, living together... mass hysteria!



Now, let me first say that I lived in central Illinois for 25 years and now in northern Illinois for two. In the 25 years in central Illinois I experienced one earthquake and it was in the late 80's. I've been up north for two years and have already been through two!

Now, granted, these are all mild rumblings that at the most knocked some dvd's off the top of the TV and made the dog bark. It's quite amazing how the human brain can analyze and create a theory on the situation in an instant. I woke up to the sound and shaking and immediately thought Cara's blood sugar was low and she had fallen into a wall while trying to get to the kitchen. For anyone who gets low blood sugar (but especially for person's with diabetes) it can really cause them to be very disorientated. Sometimes they can't even respond to you. I've been through that once with her and have never been more scared.

To quickly tell that story, we were in North Carolina on vacation and our first morning there she wasn't responding to me when I tried to wake her up. She could look at me, but couldn't focus or talk. My heart started to race as I tossed the room looking for anyone to jump her glucose level. A granola bar (not the best option) was all we had, so I started feeding it to her. I think I ended up getting her a regular soda (one of the best options in a pinch) after that.

Blood sugar (glucose) levels are a funny thing. You can plan and adjust to them all you want, but really, sometimes crazy things happen. All you can do is be prepared to handle them when they do.

So this is what I thought was happening right when I woke up. I jumped out of bed and flipped the lights on. Sadie started to run to the front door and bark thinking someone was there. I saw Cara on the floor next to the bed. To me, this fell in line with what I had thought was happening.

I went down to her and kept calling her name. She responded fine and was fine. Apparently, she had a hard time sleeping on the bed last night and decided to give the floor a try. She felt the quake as well, but wasn't woken so strongly by it as I was.

Having gone from sound asleep to awake, confused and full of adrenaline in just a few seconds takes a while to come down from. About a half-hour later I was back asleep, a good hour before my 5:30 alarm goes off.

So while today's top stories in northern Illinois may involve all the snow and the small quake, my top story to report and to maintain is just how lucky I am to have such a great girl in my life.

I can't wait to take her out for her birthday tomorrow!

Oh to look of rich mahogany

So, we are just a few days away from the magical half year mark. That means just over six months until I get a Mrs. Now, she's still unclear on what her last name will be, but we'll leave that for another post.

The half year mark is time to focus. Not on florists or table centerpieces. No, those things involve my other half as the project manager and I in an consulting role with random moments of illusions of being a co-manager in this.

Nope. My current focus (aside from finding a place for us to actually get married), is the of the health and vain variety. First and foremost I just need to push myself harder at the gym..... and at going to the gym. No problem. I can do that. Secondly, I need to eat better (blah blah blah everyone says that).

For the vain part, I just started tanning. Oh yes, I signed up for it at my gym and now wear the goofy goggles and specify a certain number of minutes to lay in a tube of really bright lights. Now I could say "well I just want to get a little color before the honeymoon," because that's most everyone else's excuse who is doing this before they get married. Not this guy. I'm doing this because I've recently become way to white for my own good. I'm pretty sure it's starting to effect my personality as I've recently started missing certain things like zebra pants.

As far as my skin is concerned I've always been one of those awesome people. Awesome because I tan like crazy without effort and hardly ever burn. But I've found that when you leave college and get a real job, you don't get to be outside during the day very much. And that for two years now has left me looking like Stay Puft:

Now I don't plan on getting real tan or abusing it. I'm pretty aware of skin cancer risks, advanced aging and want none of it. Plus I don't want to look like this dude (even though he has a sweet tie):

And I'll end this on a sad note. My fiance, the poor, poor girl. She is some form of translucent that they can't even see to identify. She tans and is who got me into this crazy game.

Magneto will be pleased

Our Save The Date magnets came today! Well, technically they came to Cara's work via FedEx. But I get to see them in just under two hours. I'm pretty excited. Although since I'm currently battling a cold/flu bug It's been hard to get really excited about anything.

So this weekend we will be addressing, stuffing and mailing out these special little reminders to individuals we consider important. So basically, if here in a few weeks you haven't received a magnet from us, you were not a part of our main list. But don't worry, you could be a part of that amazing group of players to come off the bench if a spot opens!

And just remember, if you are on the secondary list, it's not that your not important....it's that someone else is more important.

Our photog just won an awesome award!

From Steve Koo's website:

"I’ve got lots of news to share! First, Steve Koo Photography has been awarded the 2010 WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards for Photography. The Bride’s Choice Awards is given to the top five percent of the more than 100,000 vendors in the WeddingWire community. The WeddingWire network includes WeddingWire.com and Martha Stewart Weddings. Steve Koo Photography also made the list of Project Wedding’s Top 25 Wedding Photographers in Chicago. Thank you to all of my clients who took the time to rate my work so highly; it really means a lot to me!"




I'm really excited for Steve and that we chose such a talented photographer. I know both Cara and I are really looking forward to working with him!

The Cheese Stands Alone

Two words: Bridal Shower

I can almost assure you that there is no other set of words in the english language that every man in America has a strong feeling on. Not even "super bowl" can match it for the decisive feelings it can give any man. It makes their blood run cold and their spines curve.

This is nothing against the brides out there, but sweet sassa-frass you need to stop pretending that it is for both of you. This, and this alone, is the most heated wedding topic that my bride-to-be and I have gotten into.

You see, the thing of it is that it is full of irony. I'm led to believe that we are going to have a party thrown for us where we eat food, socialize with friends and family and receive some gifts. But here's the pickle: the only dill in the room is me. No other men allowed. No family men, no friends that are men. Me and an unkindness of ravens (one tree hill reference, holler!).

This deeply disturbs me and, gulp, honestly makes the wedding feel like its less for me and more for her. Not that any other man on this planet has ever felt that like....except for every man at every wedding since Jesus turned himself into a never ending supply of crackers and wine for saucy church-goers to have it.

No, I'm forced to accept my fate. That, as much as this is 2010 and we're equal and forward thinking and whatever, that there are some things that most women still want. To feel pretty, to put on a dress once in a while and make men go hubba hubba, to wear a beautiful white dress at their wedding... and to have a gala of a social with their female family and friends to gush over it all it.

And who am I in this? Am I the poor sap who sits through it all, already accepting that this is part of what being married will be like? A little bit. But really, I'm the poor sap who hopelessly loves a girl who is more stubborn about so many things in life then anyone i've every known. And the sick part is, that's part of the attraction.

To wrap this up, let me go through the five stages of grief, as noted in the Kubler-Ross model. The italic quotes have not been altered, but i'll right my blurb under them:

1. Denial — "I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not to me."

This is when I believed that some sort of compromise could happen.


2. Anger — "Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?"; "Who is to blame?"

And here is where I realized that I just got hood-winked.


3. Bargaining — "Just let me live to see my children graduate."; "I'll do anything for a few more years."; "I will give my life savings if..."

Here is where I first bargained to have my dad and future father-in-law present. And then I presented the idea of a groom shower, which almost without a beat in between was shot down.


4. Depression — "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm going to die . . . What's the point?"; "I miss my loved one, why go on?"

Annnnnd here I am writing this post.


5. Acceptance — "It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it."

The cheese stands alone



It should be said, in the end of his post here, that I truly love my bride-to-be and this last line should act as a disclaimer and protect me from any verbal, emotional or physical backlash that may come my way as a result of writing this.

Steve Koo for me and you!

Awesome photographer to capture your special day in a way that will have your emotions bursting years down the road when you look at the pictures and how amazingly beautiful they are: Check!!!

Such a sigh of relief and joy that we not only found a photographer, but one who seems pretty awesome and has a great take on how to capture a wedding from start to finish.


Now if we could only figure out where to actually get married. :)

Week 4 Weigh Watch

267

I've been really trying to do a lot more at the gym. Lately i've been concentrating on at least 40 minutes on the eliptical at resistance 10, one weight exercise, tons of crunches and then a mile on the treadmill. So far, so good.

Week 3 Weight Watch

268.

I'm a few days late posting this. But this was my weight during my official Monday morning weigh in at 5:40 in the morning.

Save The Date

Last night we recieved our first draft of our Save The Date's. This is a project that is near and dear to me, as Cara has granted me project manager status. At first, I really wanted something funny and cute as our STD's (editor's note: the Save The Date abbreviation [STD] is not in any way flattering to itself or anyone who use's it).

Anyways, I know our invitations are going to be all serious and stuffed with girly goodness, so I saw this as a great oppurtunity to showcase our couple personality. I had some great STD concepts. I must emphasize that I am referring to the Save The Date's and not some form of "super crabs" that the kids will totally be scratching themselves over.

But after a lot of thought and discussion with the future Mrs., I decided to try to whip up something on photoshop. A real rough look at what it might shape up to be. Cara really liked it and I passed it along to my best man, who happens to be a hella awesome graphic designer with jedi-like skills.

So last night he sent us the first draft. It looks real good. It's like my version is how the girl looks when you get the bar and his is what she looks like after you've been drinking for hours and it's last call. That's not to say his is an ugly whore who just seems like a good option at the time. No, his is truly awesome. We're going to see if we want to fine tune anything about before we commit to it.

It's January 4th. I feel like August 14th is just around the corner. My stomach just dropped.

Week 2 Weight Watch (up 1 pound)

Wow. Sooo this wasn't how I wanted this to go. The goal is to drop, not add the pounds. I blame all the awesome food of New Year's Eve. It was a great and big selection of buffalo wild wings and sushi. I ate a great amount and obviously paid for it. I actually crept up to 273 the day after NYE, but then did a complete self butt kicking at the gym and in my eating habits ever since.

It's really dissapointing to have gained a pound, overall, since last week. Especially since this past summer my weight was a steady 265ish. Damn you, winter and your cold heart!

Photographer found? Excitement upcoming?

Ok, a major vendor selection may be upcoming. We met with a photographer today and had a great time. He has amazing pictures and really works with the couple on what they want out of their special day. We're going to take a day or two to think it over before signing any contracts, but it's looking good!

Another benefit of meeting with the photographer today was that it was in Oak Park. He lives in Chicago and we wanted to meet half-way. Cara and I really like the Oak Park area. It's that borderline mix between suburbs and city life with a great splash of scenery and architecture that just makes you smile.

Tonight we are going to our bi-weekly bowling league. We never have been a part of anything like this before and we're really enjoying it. Although, Cara doesn't really enjoy all the Sunday evenings it takes up, or as she call's that time frame, "prime real estate."

Aside from that, things seem to really be moving along. The next big thing we want to get done this month is to pick a place to get married at. She came up with a great list of 5 or 6 places to look at and I'm really looking forward to seeing what is right for us.

Tomorrow I will be posting my Week 2 weigh in result. I'll be honest, it's not looking good. I've cut back on the bad foods and random eating, but New Year's Eve brought on a big selection of buffalo wings and sushi. You read that right. And it was awesome. All of that and I might have the flu. But I have been to the gym the past 3 days straight (aside from today). I've been running at least 2-3 miles on the treadmill and yesterday I did an extra 6 1/2 miles on the bike. Still, with all of the variables considered, my weight still remains up. It's frustrating, but I'm not letting it get in my way. I will lose this weight. There is no other option.

Toodles.