Wedding Planning

Now that it is less than a year away, I really need to get to figuring out this wedding! Just thinking about it makes me stressed but I am trying to stay positive about the whole experience.

Thanks to Val and Sam for both suggesting the General Potter Farm as a possible venue that is closer to town than other places I'd found and liked! I like what I see so far! As I expected with it being less than a year away, Saturdays are pretty much all booked, so wherever it is held, the wedding will have to be on a Friday or Sunday in June. I've gotten in contact with a couple places, so hopefully soon I will be able to let you know the date and location that we've settled on!

I'm more and more thinking I don't want a white dress. Still light and flowing, but not wedding-gown-white. That's pretty much all I've come up with so far. We'll see what happens when I see what is out there; maybe I will love something white and shiny. Also actually looking for and finding a dress is maybe the part I'm least looking forward to.

As for ceremony/reception business, I think it doesn't make sense to not have any sort of ceremony at all. It would be weird to just start the reception like any other party. So I think we'll have a short vow renewal type ceremony. Nothing too official or serious, just a time to acknowledge our marriage in a way that wasn't possible back in March. Then we can party! Thanks to Emma for really helping me figure this out! 

As for colors I think I've decided on green, ivory, magenta, and maybe bits of gold. I don't want a lot of magenta, mostly just in the flowers (as peonies only come in a limited range of colors anyway). 

At first I really did not want a summer wedding, but midsummer can be a really nice time. In Finland, Midsummer (juhannus in Finnish) is probably the second-biggest celebration after Christmas, and it's a really nice time of year. Maybe I can get some inspiration from there, though I don't know if a giant bonfire (kokko) will exactly be allowed at the reception location. Can you say after-party?!

I'm also trying to think of cool ways to personalize our wedding. Using pictures isn't really an option since we won't have had an engagement (or any other) photo session. I think we can have some fun with table favors and other creative touches here and there. Kyle is sort of known for the hats he sometimes wears, so maybe we'll take the royal-wedding/Kentucky-derby approach (but more toned down and less...crazy) and suggest that guests sport some fun yet classy hats to shade themselves from the summer sun. The Pittsburgh Penguins should also probably be involved somehow. Perhaps a Penguins grooms cake?

- From the desk of Mrs. Sarah McPherson

Baby Apollo and the Pittsburgh Penguins

Apollo is what we're going to name our first son. Not that there is a son in the works, nor will there be for at least a few years, but we've got the name ready. Kyle likes the middle name "Danger," but don't worry, I shut that idea down pretty quickly.

Last night Kyle and I were talking about the things we want to do in the next 4 or 5 years before babies. Places we want to go, adventures we want to take, etc. As much as I like to think about the future and plan things, this is not something I've much thought about, because there are more immediate plans left to be made (work, school, life), and it is very hard to plan much in advance with the military always threatening to swoop in and forcibly change them for us. But, as Kyle pointed out, it is still good to have some rough ideas of what we would like to do if the opportunity is there. I know for sure that I would like to go back to Finland and show Kyle around. Even before we were dating I always thought Kyle would really like Finland and wanted him to be there with me. Trees, lakes, boats, saunas, sausage, beer, relaxing and adventuring in the outdoors; all good things. Another thing I want to do is kayak. All the time. I went once a few years ago with some friends, and I've hardly done it again since, but it is something I would do every day if I could.

Today it was in the 70s and sunny, a real Pittsburgh rarity, and everyone was out and about taking advantage. I had work and meetings through the afternoon, but I got to sit out on the porch at my friends house for a while afterwards. Last year all through spring we would do work or not do work in the sun at Schenley Plaza and when the sun started to go down we'd retreat to someones house to watch the Pens play.

Today was also the last game for the Penguins before playoffs begin. They won 5-2, though the outcome of the game didn't matter much. Wait, Sarah is writing about a sports team?
Yep.
Since moving to Pittsburgh, Kyle has made sure to impart as much knowledge as he can and I can retain about Pittsburgh sports- at least the important ones, the Steelers and the Penguins, and our school football team, the Panthers (we have a mutual dislike for baseball, and the Pirates are terrible, so it works out well).You'd think after four years in marching band I'd know how football works, but I didn't. Kyle taught me, I asked questions, and I have a comfortable respect and appreciation for the Steelers. But what nobody could have predicted was how much I have come to truly love the Pittsburgh Penguins. I love them. I love the sport. It is quick and always moving and there are fights. It doesn't hurt that Pens captain Sydney Crosby also led Team Canada to a gold medal victory at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics (the Olympics and Canada are also two things I love).  In the last year and few months I've gotten to know the Penguins team by watching them play, and being good friends with a few fans has helped in learning who is who, what teams to hate, and the rules of the game. We went to a Penguins vs. Flyers game in the fall, and got to see some of the players practicing up close after a failed blood donation attempt at the Consol Energy Center. The Penguins have had a rough year, with several injuries taking star players out of the lineup. But the thing about the Penguins is that even so, they have been successful. Other players have stepped up, showing how much of a collectively strong team they are, and just how much talent they possess. Sure they make you worry, yell, and wish Fleury would just stay in the damn goal, but they are wonderful, and I hope they do well in the playoffs.

Go Pens!

-From the desk of Mrs. Sarah McPherson