As the youngest lady on the housekeeping staff at BMCR, I often say "I'm getting old" to the response "just wait!"
Today, I am the oldest I have ever been.
I think that's pretty darn old.
I want to share with you a tradition that me and my absolute best friend Sara used to hold. At 11:59 the night before your birthday, you take a picture of how you used to be. Then, at 12:00 midnight you take a picture of the new (and older) you! This year I completely forgot about the tradition and it made me sad. But I thought that I would share with you some pictures that bring back fond memories for me :)
Look very closely...this is Jude and I graduating from Roberts Wesleyan College on May 7, 2011
So, I get this question a lot
"I though you graduated? Why are you still taking classes?"
Well, we did "graduate" as in walk across a stage and receive an empty envelope with 500 other students. BUT we were really scheduled to come back for a 3rd semester. At 15grand a semester, that was not going to happen- so we chose to split that third semester into 2 summers. We completed classes last summer and we had a few left for this summer. Just enough in order to not need to come back for another semester (less than a full time student) but enough to walk for graduation (under 12 credits). I like to call them "clean up credits" because they were all intro classes that I left until last.
So, I have already completed one class and this upcoming Friday I will have completed all of my classes at RWC. Send me that degree in the mail baby!! Then I can fully enjoy the summer <3
Here's to all of us over achievers.
Words for the wise: NEVER schedule classes over your wedding because your professor might refuse to let you turn in your work early :) Thank you Intro to Music
We went to Cape May, NJ and stayed at the Mason Cottage :) It was beautiful and the breakfast was the bomb!! We chilled on the beach, walked around the shops, ate practically every meal at George's, and I tried to take Jude to Wildwood to the boardwalk. Unfortunately, it was right before Memorial Day weekend so everything was closed :( Oh, did I mention that we went to the Zoo? It was only for 4 days, but it was a great little vacation.
Credit to the groomsmen and bridesmaids
the only proof of the bikini I am willing to give you
Hanging at the zoo!
I have no idea what this owl was doing, but it was making weird noise
Camel
Blue and white peacock!!
Our hermit crab mason from Wildwood!
Well, there you have it :)
Now we are back at Blue Mountain Christian Retreat very much enjoying our time with close friends and of course our students!! Come visit us or if you want to send us snail mail, inbox me on facebook for the address :)
Two days after the wedding I took the big plunge...
Chop chop off with the hair!!
I have gotten a lot of comments like, "why did you do it? your hair was so beautiful!"
Point taken, my hair was pretty decent (I can't be the only one who sees the hidden "it doesn't look as beautiful now"...girls are good at turning compliments into complaints, aren't we? I don't think anyone really meant it this way, but my mind does wonder...)
BUT in order to make my hair look that decent, it took A LOT of work. It got to the point where that work was not optional. It took at least 20min to brush, and if I skipped a day of brushing, I had to reserve 45min the next day (yes, even when wet). My hair is just so thick that it became a pain in the tuckus. So, chop chop.
One thing I love about my short hair: It takes about 10 minutes to get ready in the morning (and about 1/4 of the product!)
One thing that's not-so-great about my hair: I can't put it up. Now, I did this on purpose to force me to do my hair more often, but now those "so tired I just want to put my hair up days" are bye bye.
One thing that I was not expecting about my short hair: NO CURL!! One of the other reasons I cut my hair was because all of a sudden it wasn't curly anymore. I would have thought that by cutting it, it would have gotten rid of the weight and made it curly again but no. Strange, I know. I have heard it in the wind that every 7 years your hair changes- well I'm 22 so that'll explain it. Now that it's short, if I let it dry on its own its just as frizzy, but only has a little wave. If I put mousse in then it gets more wave, but most days I just run the straightener through it and let that be that.
Jude is off at a conference in Rochester (with the people I miss and love dearly!!! coughSaraBerkemeiercoughcough) and so what do girls do when they're all alone? Get pretty. I don't know why we do it, but I know its fun. So, here are some self portraits from the photobooth of my BEAUTIFUL short hair.
Ok, thats all about my hair. Check back shortly for pictures from our honeymoon *gasp* and a note about graduation :)
It’s been about three weeks (ok, its closer to four) since the wedding and this blog has been silent. Between getting married, honeymooning, enjoying marriage, moving 3 times, and taking classes I have neglected this beloved blog. No more.
I was SO thrilled to see all of the friends and family that made it to the wedding. For those of you who were not there, here is a little bit about our day :)
Wedding and Reception: Springside Inn Auburn, NY
Officient: Dr. Rev. J. Lee Simmons
Maid of Honor: Sara Berkemeier (the Great)
Bridesmaids: Catherine Joseph and Raychel Marie Pozza
Best Man: John Church (JJ)
Groomsmen: Irvin Thevaranjan, Matthew Brubaker, and Ezekiel Goodfellow
Photographer:Pamela Carol Bratcher and her assistant Greg Hollar. You can see the sneak peak of our pictures here!
Honeymoon: We mini-mooned in Cape May, NJ, which was BEAUTIFUL!! We spent time on the beach, shopping, eating at Georges, and just relaxing (oh, and I dragged Jude to the zoo)
Another honeymoon?: We will be going to Jamaica later this year (just booked the tickets yippee!!!) Thanks to everyone who voted for us in the Liberty Travel Contest!! We owe it all to you!!
Favorite part of the day: Can I pick two? My first is seeing Jude at the end of the aisle. His face was priceless and I was SO happy!!! My second would be my dance with my Dad. We don’t dance together…ever. So I was surprised when he starts cutting a rug and dancing like a pro!! The look on his face was hilarious and I loved every second!
Funniest part of the day: Probably watching all the crazy dancing
Favorite Unique pieces: We made mostly everything. I was particularly fond of the photo station, our guestbook (thanks to Pamela Bratcher!), and my brooch Bouquet. Jude helped me re-do it a few days before the wedding and he saved the whole thing
Best Splurge?: The photography most definitely. Worth every cent!
If you could change anything, what would it be?: Having Jude’s family there. Some Brides say that they wouldn’t change anything because it was perfect, but there was no way our wedding was going to be perfect without them. We missed them dearly (and miss them now!) and can’t wait to see them again
Favorite thing about being married?: Jude doesn’t have to send me a “good morning” text anymore :) There are a lot of things that are my favorite, but just having Jude there is a blessing
Advice: Forget your timeline. Ok, maybe don’t throw it out the window, but don’t be afraid to be late to dinner so that you can take more pictures. The day goes too fast so slow down
Ok thats all for now :) See you, say tomorrow?
P.s. if you really like candid shots, check out my mom's album
So Raychel Pozza's birthday is TODAY and every year it kinda gets forgotten (guilty two years in a row).
Not this year!!! Her great friends planned a surprise party for last saturday and she was totally shocked.
Raychel is not only beautiful, fun loving, and outgoing, but has been an incredible encouragement in my life and an amazing friend. Everyone should wish her a happy birthday as she turns 20!! The big TWO-OLD!
In honor of Raychel, I made her a headband which I found here. Every summer she has worn a headband almost everyday and I would like to stick to this tradition, so I crafted her this nautical knot headband. It was easy, quick, and fun to make. You can try it yourself (but not before wishing her a happy birthday!!)!
A friend of mine (an AMAZING friend of mine) named Amanda wrote a post today that was inspiring to me. You should read it here :)
For those of you who have not heard, Jude and I will be heading to Blue Mountain Christian Retreat after the wedding to start work. I say work with the fondest of terms, because its really more like fun and family. Honestly and Truly.
This will be my fourth summer at the Mountain. WOW!!
Blue Mountain really has changed my life. My students are incredible, my coworkers have become my family, and it has now become more like a home to me than anything else.
Summer 08
The first summer I went to the mountain as a counselor my life was in turmoil and it was the friends I found there that helped me to learn who I was and find peace. That was a crazy summer and I would count it as one of the best summers of my entire life!!! My roommate was a blessing and that was also the summer I met Raychel Pozza, who is now one of my Bridesmaids. Let's not forget that's when I met Bekks and the Billets and Jose..and well everyone else because as it turns out, most of my coworkers now were my students the first year I was there!!
Staff Baptisms 2009
Karl Coke Week 2009
My second summer was just as amazing and I had a new co-counselor to mix it up. That summer I spent most of my time flirting with my now fiance and getting to know myself (and my friends) better. I would also count it as one of the best summers of my life!
Staff Picture 2010
LAST SUMMER was DEFINITELY the best summer of all. I lived with 5 WONDERFUL girls!! 4 of them were once my students and I LOVEEEEEEEEE them so much!!!!!!!! They are Godly women full of joy and laughter and good times! Not to mention love and support in all situations. They are family. Along with the rest of the team. Some of the team last summer had been there during my second summer, which only added to the family feel. There is no place I would rather be (in PA) than at home at the mountain.
So what does this year hold?? Most of the same team is coming back and Jude will be joining us along with the wonderful Lauren Stump. There may be another surprise team member and I'm so stoked to get to know them.
Last fall, the main building of Blue Mountain burnt down. It was tragic, but now they are rebuilding and we will rise from the ashes stronger than before (literally).
It has been an iconic year for the mountain and I think this summer will be INCREDIBLE!!! With that said, I CANNOT WAIT to see everyone, play uno, run from bears, stay at the Billets until someone falls asleep on the couch, come up with crazy lessons, watch preschoolers run off stage, and craft it up until my fingers are glued together.
Some of you are laughing and saying "No! I already graduated this weekend" (darn Elim grads)
I am not laughing.
But perhaps I should be. I am graduating! This Saturday! For the second time in a year. It's an accomplishment! An incredible accomplishment!!
It will be a little awkward walking across stage with many people I do not know and who do not know me (yay for being a Sr. transfer student!). I will willingly admit that I wish I was graduating again with my same wonderful fantastic amazing group of friends as last year, but alas times change.
And here I am, entering adulthood.
In this one month I will be graduating (again), filing immigration paperwork with Homeland security (not for the faint of heart, trust me), getting married, changing my name (duh), and moving into my first "us" apartment (even if its temporary). I will pay my first car insurance bill, school bill, grocery bill, and every bill this side of the mississippi (with Jude's money ;) of course).
With all that being said, I just want to say that if I become annoying, please punch me. Ok, maybe don't punch me, but at least shout a little "hey you're being annoying!"
You see, as the wedding gets closer I feel like thats all people ask about and all I care about and all I want to talk about. Not Cool. If I become one of those annoying girls who ONLY talks about their wedding day, I have failed. If, however, I talk about my amazing Fiance until your ears bleed, too bad! My wedding will be one day but my soon to be husband will be...well...forever (until I die).
Well, that's it on this spontaneous post. Finals week will do that to ya.
Fair Warning: This blog contains personal material!
A few blog posts ago I wrote about my personal goal to get into a bikini for my honeymoon. I started last semester at 135lbs
I started this semester at 130lbs, and I now weigh..
125 lbs!
Now, this is not mission accomplished by any means of the phrase. Although my body composition may be deemed acceptable for a bikini, I would still feel incredibly uncomfortable in one.
Why? It has come to my attention that unless I looks like the women on the fitness channel, I probably won't be satisfied.
Red flag.
That's not healthy. Last week it came to my attention that maybe I wasn't going about this the right way. I mean I lost 10lbs since the engagement, that's amazing! But it doesn't feel amazing. So I came up with a list of encouraging differences I've noticed, such as dropping a whole pants size and seeing my hip bones again. But I became concerned about eating enough or eating enough of each food group. In the past (like way past, a good 6 years past) I had limited my eating to what I would consider a disorder. I looked good, but I wasn't healthy. It's funny because I can still hear my dad saying "she never eats!" That situation will not happen again!
I checked in my with my amazing nutritionist sister and she said I have a healthy diet (YES!!!) and perhaps I just need to cross train. I'm in the gym about 5 times a week including Taekwon-Do and I just started weights. I probably won't ever look like Jillian Michaels, but hey who cares (ok, I care).
I think there's a difference between the whole "you're beautiful just the way you are" and being the best you that you can be. I know that I'm beautiful just the way I am and Jude tells me that EVERYDAY because he's amazing (and its true :D ) I'm on a journey really to see what I can be.
Can you imagine that I went from being in the gym NEVER to being down there multiple times a week?
I remember I had shared with a friend that I had been trying to lose weight and his response was, "I don't know why you girls always do this to yourselves. Just buy a bigger dress!"
The dress already fits. It made me think, what's this all about anyway?
Well, I said all that to say that maybe I should change my goal. My new goal is not "let's get skinny." It's more like "let's be the best me I can be." That means being healthy first. Everything else will fall into place!! It doesn't mean I'm going back to junk food or getting out of the gym, its just a different way of thinking and it makes all the difference.
Sunday night around 1am we received an email from Liberty travel with our official prize letter (oddly addressed to a Jude and Julianne Wallis....our last name is Singh people, Singh) stating that our destination will be (drum roll please)...
ANTIGUA!!
YIPPEE!! I was so excited because that is where we wanted to go! We were so happy that it wasn't Jamaica because we would feel a little uneasy on the Island having known missionaries doing work there. Don't get me wrong, we would still LOVE Jamaica, but it wasn't our first choice.
But then, there was a problem. Apparently there were no openings on the Island of Antigua. My dreams dashed, I sighed and hoped the travel agent could figure something out.
5 hours later (after a few lost hours of sleep) we received another email from Liberty Travel.
There was a mistake and our actual prize is to JAMAICA!!
Ironic, but still lovely. We still have to choose a resort and choose when we would like to go. We are thinking about going either in August or around Christmas. It may be possible to go right after the wedding, but we would feel rushed. With school, wedding, and then work starting 5 days later, we would actually like a vacation and not an obligation. We're hoping instead to head down to the shore for a few days just to relax before spending the summer at Blue Mountain Christian Retreat.
Thank you again to everyone who voted :D
We will keep you updated on exactly where and when we will be traveling to this BLESSING!!
Just because I've been silent on here doesn't mean a million things havent happened!
First, I've been holding off on this post because I wanted to be able to have information to share about......dun dun dun...
WINNING THE HONEYMOON!!!
YES WE WON!! We came in third and truly and honestly it wouldn't have been possible if everyone hadn't rallied, bullied, and harassed every person they knew :) We couldn't have done this without you and we will be sending back MANY postcards! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Now, as for the information, we really don't have much even though it was almost 3 weeks ago. We came in third place, so the first two winners need to choose their destinations. First place will choose between Antigua, Jamaica, and St. Lucia, then second place will choose from the remaining and we will receive whichever destination is left. We are NOT complaining because this is AMAZING!! Wherever we end up, it will be a 4 day/3night all inclusive stay at a Sandals resort, including airfare :)
They should be getting to us this week or next about our destination and hooking us up with a travel agent :D
That being said, I am FREAKING OUT about everything that is left before the wedding!! We mostly have small tasks left, but things like finishing my bouquet, coming up with a scheme for the head table, buying the gifts, and working on Jude's immigration stuff is driving me nuts. Not to mention I am officially enrolled to begin class the Monday after graduation and attend school through the wedding and honeymoon. Jude is doing the same.
Are we doing too much? YES WE ARE. I have no doubts that perhaps our schedule was not made with the greatest of wisdom, but it was a sacrifice we were willing to make to finish our education. Once we receive our degrees (BA in Religion and Philosophy) we would like to take a semester off to find work and a place to live and such.
Jude has recently found a passion to become a dentist and I am thrilled!! I was hoping to go back to school for nursing (I still might) but perhaps I will become a dental assistant/hygienist and we will work together. If this IS the Lord's will, then we will have an amazing skill set for the Kingdom of God to go to the places where many are without healthcare, hope, love, and Jesus. Please keep us in prayer because we are on one wild adventure!!
I also had a fantastic bridal shower on Sunday and would like to say THANK YOU!! once I get some pictures, I will post some :)
I promise that as things progress I will continue to update.
45 days until I'm Mrs. Singh <3
p.s. if you ever go tanning and the lady tries to convince you to use lotion...don't listen...otherwise you will have trouble sitting for the next 3 days :(
As the wedding plans are coming closer to the details and all the little things I can stress over, I've been thinking about what I would do if I could do it all over again.
Would I opt for a fall wedding? With oranges and pinks? Inside? Would I want roses instead of sunflowers?
I think it's important to remember that whatever the occasion, the season matters a lot. If you change the season, you might have to change your whole theme. Summer is a popular time for weddings, but I love fall weddings and even winter weddings because they're unique. Do what YOU love.
On that note, some brides have the experience where they get to pick everything in their wedding. Maybe this leaves them with a "dream wedding"-everything THEY ever wanted since they were 6. This has not been my experience and I'm happy with it. I have not gotten my way on everything and Jude has made a lot of decisions. It's still going to be magnificent and I will love it just the way it is.
On my travels, I have found some things that I LOVE but have not fit into my theme. Unfortunately, once you start with a theme there are things that are bound to be left out. I'm a fan of themes because things work nicely and frankly polka dots and damask shouldn't go together. pick one. I want to share these super cute things so that you can delight in them with me!!
I hope that lately I haven't let you down with my rants about life. I have indeed been busy crafting and (Drum roll please!!) I want to share some of the results!! Now, I wish that I could share ALL of it, but we have keep the element of surprise for those attending the wedding. This means, unfortunately for you, that you only get to see little tidbits.
We've decided to go with kinda a garden theme, since the ceremony will be outside and our colors are green, yellow, and pale orange.
Over break we accomplished the following:
Finished the Invitations, Rsvp cards, directions, addressing the envelopes and mailing them!!
We put together the favor boxes, the outside wrappers, and filled the goodies for the inside
We stamped napkins for the cocktail hour
I finished the cake topper!
I began my brooch bouquet!
I had my first hair trial
We began a new project of "string lanterns"
I bought new shoes :)
Here are some pictures of our progress!!
This is my cat Cinnamon "helping" with the crafts
Hopefully you enjoyed the sneek peek!!
If you live in the Rochester Area, please CHECK US OUT ON TOMORROW NIGHT'S NEWS!!! How exciting!!! 10NBC has chosen to feature our engagement video and the contest we have entered to win a honeymoon :)
They're not the only ones cool and kind enough to feature us! This week my long time friend Julie Romano featured me on her adorable blog! She is an absolutely amazing seamstress as well as fashion extrodinare. Check her out here, you're sure to love her :)
Lastly, now that I found some new shoes, I am selling my old ones! They are discontinued Michelangelo dye-able white satin shoes, size 7.5 in style Gisele. If you are interested, please contact me or check them out on ebay :)
