Matt & Molly, July 2010

The Fiance and I had the honor of attending the wedding of some very old friends in July.  I met Matt around the same time that I met The Fiance, as freshmen at Mizzou. He and Molly met in grad school and are that sort of couple that just make you happy to be around them.  They are so incredibly happy and in love, it's contagious.

The wedding took place in Peoria, IL - Molly's hometown.  

Yep, they tailgated before the ceremony.  It was one of those weddings.

I have never seen Molly to not look beautiful, but she was especially gorgeous on her wedding day.

This made The Fiance wish he was still Catholic.

The groomsmen serenaded Molly with a glorious rendition of "You've Lost that Loving Feeling."  It was epic.

The dance floor was packed all night.  It was fantastic to see old friends, and it was just so much fun!  Since many of the same people are invited to (and a couple of the guys are in) our wedding, we have high hopes that ours will be just as awesome.

And The Fiance got schmammered.  Also epic.

He gets giggly.

Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs!

Tagged with Hotness.

Jenni of AZ in August was kind enough to bestow upon me Helper of the Bride's HOT Bride award earlier this week.  Unlike other blog awards where you get to list fun facts or something about yourself, this one asks for 7 bits of bridal advice.  Me likey.

HOT Bride Award

So here's my advice.
1. There ceremony is about you and your fiance, the reception is about everyone else.
2.  Themes and styles and trends will change, but etiquette never goes out of style.
3.  Tradition is not a 4-letter word.
4.  It's ok to do something "trendy" or something "last year."  Chances are, none of your guests read as many wedding blogs as you do, so they don't know.
5.  Buy a dress that makes you feel beautiful, and not too early.
6.  Bridesmaids are not photo props or wedding planners, they are your friends and family.  Act in such a way that they will continue to be after the wedding.
7.  "We" comes before "I" in wedding for a reason.

I am passing the award on to the following fab blogs that I read regulary:
1. Beer Budget Bride's Musings
2.  Chocolate Lover's Confessions
3.  Eyes Open, Feet First
4.  I'm Gonna Marry You Someday
5.  Lover's Waltz
6.  Office Bride
7.  XOXO, B

Happy reading!

Bacon Horseradish Dip

I sometimes fancy myself a food blogger, if you dimly recall.  Today's recipe (which will hopefully become a more common occurrence going forward) comes from about a billion years ago, when we acquired a new crockpot when one of The Fiance's friends decided to postpone their wedding and we returned the gift for store-credit.  Now, that might sound like a bummer, but don't worry, they're getting hitched this year.

Bacon Horseradish Dip

3 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (12 oz)
1 cup half-and-half
1/3 cup chopped green onions
3 T prepared horseradish
1 T Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp course-ground pepper
12 slices center-cut bacon, crisp-cooked, cooled and finely crumbled

Combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese, onion, horseradish, Worcestershire, garlic, and pepper.  Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours or on high-heat for 2-2 1/2 hours, stirring once halfway through cooking.   Stir in bacon.  Serve with toasted bagel slices. Adapted from BH&G Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes

I love love loved this.  The Fiance was less-than-sold.  He isn't as in love with horseradish as I am.  So that left us with an excess of dip.  I championed through most of it, but eventually got tired of it.  I'd definitely make it again though!

Enjoy!

Book Report: Eat, Pray, Love

source

Or rather, just Eat, since that's as far as I made it before throwing in the towel.  I went into this book with high hopes, since seemingly everyone I talked to just raved about it.  What with the new movie out based on the book, I was excited to jump right in.  I liked the first few stories.  It was compelling and interesting ... but then Liz, the narrator, moved to Italy.  I lost her somewhere around her 10 thousandth description of Roman pasta and/or gelato.  Being a food-centric person, I was surprised to find myself intensely bored by all of it.  And I've been to Rome, I know what she's talking about, and yet still.  Instead of this enlightening, soul-searching literary experience, all I got was "blah blah blah I'm so lonely, blah blah blah pastries are yummy."

I gave up on it, and normally it takes me a lot to abandon a book part-way through.  I've read Heart of Darkness and Anna Karenina cover-to-cover, for Pete's sake, I can read anything.  But not this.  Emphatic thumbs down.  What I expected to be a 21st Century woman's Fear of Flying (which is by far one of the best pieces of feminist literature ever, go read it immediately), yet all I got was a craving for bruschetta.

Oh well.  Life is too short to read crappy books.

On to the next thing on the shelf ...

Another highly touted novel.  Hope this one lives up to expectations, since I already own the second one in the trilogy, so I feel an obligation to read both.

Thank you, Vaughn Walker.

Progress in California.  Prop 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, has been over-turned by a federal judge.  It was deemed unconstitutional, and it is likely that the case will make it's way to the US Supreme Court.

One month from the day we will take our vows, The Fiance and I are beyond thrilled to celebrate our marriage with our friends and family, but it would not be a stretch to say that we sometimes take that privilege for granted.  We hope that someday very soon all loving couples will be able to legally join in marriage.  Hopefully someday soon every couple will be able to take this right for granted.

In the meantime, here is a fantastic editorial by Keith Oberman.

Found via Miss Stripes.

10 Ways to Make Your Marriage Divorceproof

Stumbled across this article on MSN, by the very funny Samantha Bee and Jason Jones, of Daily Show fame.  Very light-hearted, good advice!  Enjoy!

10 Ways to Make Your Marriage Divorceproof

What advice would you add to the list?