Ryan and I moved into our condo in 2005 and didn’t know what to do with all the space as it was twice the size of our previous apartment. Fast forward to a couple years ago and we had squeezed every bit of space we could out of the condo. Then Emma came along and holy crap, why does a 12 pounder need SO MUCH STUFF? Plus, my in-laws are overly generous and offered to move in with us for the next year to take care of Emma once I go back to work. Such a lifesaver but that means that the guest bedroom / office that had become my storage room has to be emptied (it currently isn’t so my poor mother has been climbing the Mount Everest of boxes to get to the guest room). Due to the fact that I was in and out of the hospital (okay, mostly because hanging out with my mom and kid is way more fun than cleaning out our house), I have been slacking on the cleaning front. But no more. Today was clean out my closet and the guest bedroom closet day. The clothes went pretty fast (I am 33 years old and overweight, there is no reason to keep the size small bright red corset top in my closet) but then I stumbled upon the boxes of mementos from my 2006 wedding and had to stop to take a trip down memory lane.
1. My older sister’s wedding planner to use as an example for my own planning. Um… I should probably return that to her!
2. Save the dates!
3. I’m a little anal…. and this was pre-iphone. I was going to be gone for 3.5 weeks, flying from NY to Hawaii and then to Barbados for a cruise before returning home. I needed to prepare a foul-proof packing list. And I’m anal. The irony is that we lost our bags for half of our honeymoon so this photo packing list was useless after week one.
4. I may not have loved having Dubya as our President but I most certainly was not going to get married and not invite the POTUS! I may or may not have ordered Emma’s birth announcements specifically so that I can get a congratulatory card from the Obamas. Here’s where you can send your invites / announcements.
5. I may or may not have been more excited to get a response back from Mickey and Minnie that I was to get one back from the White House. Here’s more info on writing to my favorite mice!
6. Ah 2006, when printed photos were still the norm. I found hundred of pics leading up to the big day like our wedding rehearsal. Also, filed under – Sonja pats herself on the back for a job well done in cleaning out her closet – the dress in this picture has made it to the goodwill pile. The fact that I haven’t worn it since 2006 may point to my hoarder tendancies. But I also am giving away the gown that I wore to the ROTC ball in 1998 – so compared to that this wasn’t so bad.
1. My cousins took me out to celebrate my last week as a single lady and sent me a cute invite to boot.
2. I forgot about that night. I think this might be why.
3. My cousins are awesome.
4. I made out-of-town bags for my out-of-town guests and enclosed pre-stamped / pre-addressed postcards in them. I got some of them back. Totally forgot about these as well.
5. Advice from the guests we asked them to provide at the reception. But the best advice didn’t come on these cards. It came the next day when Ryan and I went down to see my family at the brunch my mom had thrown for them. My two uncles (two of the nicest guys around) cornered us and told Ryan that if he ever hurt me they would be there. They smiled and said, “don’t think of it as a threat… think of it as a promise.” I laughed. Ryan STILL does not laugh.
6. How organized is my cousin?! She sent me a bunch of pictures from the week leading up to the wedding and the wedding itself. And she labeled them too. They are also pretty great shots – which impressed me considering I know that in 2006 she had not yet embraced cameras that showed you your picture as soon as you took it.
1. I have no idea what this was for. But it sure looks like my sister’s writing. Too sweet.
2. I maybe should have put our church’s Certificate of Marriage in a better spot than tossed in a box in the back of the guest room / office / storage room.
3. Pamphlets from our time in Barbados for our honeymoon and my date book from the year leading up to my wedding. Apparently on April 26th I had my dress altered.
4. So these pictures were tossed in with everything else from my wedding and time stamped as being from August 2006. I have no idea who these people are. I guess we got their prints by mistake and I never checked what we received back from Snapfish.
5. Pepsi used to be my client. This was over 5 years ago and yet even this past Sunday when I went out for lunch to a place that I KNOW only serves Coke products I asked for diet pepsi and waited for them to correct me. Old habits die hard.
6. Presented without comment…. because really what else is needed.
Hawaii Girl Stories 