Why I Love My Fiance: Reason #5,235,298

Remember my inspiration for our programs??

Look what we have!

Ours are a bit bigger and squared -- 8.5 x 8.5, and the corners are rounded, though it's a bit hard to tell from this picture. Tom, despite having a bunch of other important things to take care of, spent the day armed with a hot glue gun and glue 100 of these together. Tonight and tomorrow, I'll be trying ribbons around the stems.

Teamwork, I tell ya -- it's glorious!

He Did It!

First, he did this:



Then, he got this:



...and ended up here:



Three must be his lucky number...In his 3rd collegiate track season, Thomas threw 16.33', shattering his previous PR (and school record) of 6.08'. Jumping up from 11th to 7th in the nation, Tom won his 3rd All-American title in the Men's Outdoor Shot Put. With these three titles to his name, Tom is tied with one other athlete at his university to have the most career All-American titles, and he still has another year left next year (which means the possibility of 4 more titles!).

I am just absolutely bursting with pride and happiness for Tom. I've seen firsthand all the work that he's put into the last 6 months of track (and the 4 months of training prior). He spends an estimated 15 hours a week practicing, 10+ hours a week lifting weights, and another 5-6 hours a week running and doing other drills at a separate training facility. I can't even begin to count the number of times he's come home caked in mud and sweat, only to find a layer of sunburn underneath. He works so unbelievably hard, is so constant, unwavering and diligent --- I've never met another person with the determination he demonstrates.

I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm not happy track season is over. I squealed out loud when he told me he was taking off the summer at the gym! It's just nice to have him around more. There have been a few rough spots this year, trying to balance our time together, his time practicing, his time competing, and then trying to fit everything else (school, work, family, etc.) in. But, weekends like this make everything make sense again. They make all the time apart, the 6+ hours I spend at a track meet, the strain of having another major priority in his life, all of it, worth it.

Who knows what the future will hold for us...this weekend alone he's had people approaching him about job and training opportunities...but the one thing I do know is that I'm happy to just be with him, chasing dreams together. :)

And thus endeth my sappiness. Sorry, but there has to be one of these posts every once in a while.

Good Luck, Thomas!

At 4 am this morning, my dear boy departed on an 8 hour journey to Marietta, Ohio.

What's in Ohio, you ask?

NCAA Division III Outdoor Track Nationals, you see.

Again, despite the odds stacked against him, Tom qualified for Nationals in the shot put. They took the top 15 from the nation, and Tom is going in ranked 11th. To get his 3rd All-American title this year, he'll need to jump to 8th place.

I like to tease Tom and call him a procrastinator. He didn't qualify once for shot put until the very last meet on his VERY last throw. Talk about a last chance! As in his nature, this throw shattered the existing the school record.

He competes on Saturday, so we'll be unfortunately waiting on pins and needles until then. I believe that if he captures another title, he'll be the first three-time All-American in the history of his college.

I am so VERY proud of him! I can't wait to report back to you all on Monday with updates! :)

The Sparkle is Starting to Fade...

This week, I did the unimaginable.

I deleted almost ALL of the wedding blogs I read daily from my Google Reader.

Why? I don't know. I guess you could say that I'm over them. I've found myself scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, and not really stopping to look at any of the pictures or read the stories. The 2 blogs I have continued to subscribe to are my always wonderful A Practical Wedding and the fabulously funny blog, I Hate Planning My Wedding. Unfortunately, her wedding was back in February, and there are no updates, so I'll probably delete that one soon, too.

I've really begun feeling very "Meh" about the planning and the details. I feel that I have everything under control, and actually get slightly annoyed when people ask if I'm stressed out. All of our big decisions feel great, and we don't regret a single one. I still feel very confident in all of our vendors to deliver what we've agreed upon, and deliver it well. I know that if any issues arise the day of, they all have the experience and practicality to fix it how they see best. Because of this feeling of implicit trust, my stress has really been at a minimum. The most stressful part for both Tom and I was the guest list, and that really has nothing to do with any of our vendors.

It's not that I'm not excited for the wedding, because let me tell you, I am SUPER excited, it's just that I'm not dwelling on all the different facets of it anymore. It's a pretty great feeling, knowing that I can now devote my time and energy into other arenas of my life (including my insane craft list!). As Tom and I begin the preparations to move, and he moves into yet another season of track, we've realized that the whole point to this wedding is beginning life the day after.

We've been doing some serious thinking and discussing this week about all the possibilities in the future for us. A lot of our conversations center around money, as many couples' do. With Tom planning on becoming a professional athlete once he graduates, our future priorities are a bit different than other people. For example, every important (and sometimes not-so-important) decision we make centers around our big potential move in a year. Tom has an opportunity to be coached by an Olympian, and that's certainly not something we'd ever give up. But, it does change where we'd thought we'd be in five years.

When I start thinking about all that we discuss, and how well we know each other, I am always amazed at how similar we think. Before it was even said aloud, we were both on the same page concerning Tom's Olympic dream. I knew I'd do anything to make it happen, he knew that he wouldn't let me give up everything to make it happen. We've come to such a great place of calmness and trust within our relationship, I can't imagine it being any other way.

So I guess the sparkle of wedding planning isn't really gone, it's just transferred to another place in our relationship. And I think I like it a lot better...

Fabric Swatches - The Finale

Remember when I professed my love for swatches?

Look what my swatches turned into!!



Yay! Our ties our finished! In less than a week, no less. They're being shipped from NY today or tomorrow, so I should have them soon! I should also have our wedding rings in this week, too! It's all so very exciting!!!!!

PS - Videos of Tom to come later...he hogged the computer all night last night so I couldn't upload them :(

I'm Officially Marrying an All-American!

Hi everyone! There will be no photos/videos, because as I alluded to yesterday, Tom was in charge of bringing the dock, which he forgot. :(

Gotta forgive the boy, though, because, well, he took 5th OVERALL in the weight throw!!

I'll probably post Sunday morning with the videos of his throws, plus all the pictures of him on the All-American podium receiving his award!

Today, at 3:30 EST, he'll be throwing the shot put. He's definitely more relaxed today than he was yesterday, so today should be another good one!

More later! :)

Shoes Make a Heart Happy

I love shoes.

Even though you will find me wearing flip-flops on any given day, including winter, I still love (and collect!) shoes. What did I bring back from Germany? Wine, nutcrackers and shoes. Red peep toe stilettos, to be exact.

So it's of no surprise that I'm taking the task of finding my wedding shoes pretty seriously. Pretty seriously, indeed.

Every time I enter a store, I head to the shoe section and peruse the selection. Saturday's trip to the mall was no different. I was actually about to pass a store up when my mom convinced me to look inside.

I'd been searching for shoes like these, but in blue:




And what did I find? This exact shoe in the perfect blue! With an original price of $59.99, these shoes became destined for my wedding when I found out they were marked down to $19.99. Score!

I love love LOVE them! :)

Again, just one more example of how waiting can bring good things into your life. Had I purchased the $60 shoes and paid another $15 to dye them, I'd be out an extra $50, run the possibility of the dye bleeding if the grass was wet that morning, and not be completely satisfied anyway.

In other Tom news, I won't be posting tomorrow, since I'll be heading up to Terre Haute, IN for Nationals. As it stands, Tom is still ranked #7 nationally, in both events. If he finishes within the top 8 (out of 14), he'll be honored with the title of All-American! I'll be taking video and pictures, and hope to post his results in the evening. (He's in charge of packing the camera and the dock, so if I don't post, you'll know why...). This whole experience is still very surreal. He's been waiting for this moment for four years. I know he'll be splendid and turn out the performance of his life! :)

Be back tomorrow evening with updates!

And the Results Are In...

Before you watch the videos, please note that the order is screwed up. I know this, but since I don't have the files on this computer, Blogger isn't letting me switch the order. So, read the first part, watch the second video. Then, read the second part and watch the first video. Got it? Good!

Saturday was possibly one of the longest meets I have ever been to, and I've been to a lot of meets.

During the warm-up for the guys' weight throw, a guy broke a crossbar off of the throwing cage, and for safety reasons, we had to wait until they could fix it. So, for an hour and a half, we sat and waited. And waited. And waited some more.

In the meantime, Tom, who had been up all night with a fever and cough, was doing his best to rest and quell his queasiness. When he woke up that morning, the first thing he said to me was "I can't even lift my head off the pillow. How am I going to throw?"

Eventually they fixed the crossbar, and Tom mustered up the strength to do this:



Not only did this throw (coming in at 17.43 meters) place Tom in the lead, it also broke every existing conference record and secured him 7th place nationally. Yep, nationally. Like, all 50 states nationally. How cool is that?

Since he was in the lead by over 2 meters (almost 7 feet!), his coach had him sit out through finals so he could conserve his strength. The poor guy was so sick that he was running to the bathroom in between events and throwing up... :(

But, he somehow managed to do this:




This throw, in shot put, measured at 16.00 meters. Again, this was enough to place him in 1st, break all existing conferences records, and place him in 7th place nationally. Too funny, isn't it?

In weight throw, Tom and his teammates placed 1st, 2nd, and 4th. In shot put, they placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. At the end of the meet, in addition to receiving his medals, Tom was also named Men's Field Athlete of the Meet.

To me, it's unbelievable that despite how sick he was (and he was pretty dang sick, people), he was able to make this his best meet EVER. I guess it really shows you how important mind over matter is.

And it really shows the mettle that this kid's made out of.

I am bursting with pride, and just so happy he's made it to this point. I am extremely lucky (despite my complaints at times!) to be sharing this journey with him...

Oh, and I promise, back to wedding stuff the rest of this week. I have some exciting stuff! :)

A Tom-Filled Weekend! (And An Honest Story.)

Last weekend I didn't get to see very much of Tom, which is why I am super excited for this weekend with him!


(My good-lookin' boy!)

Tonight we're going on a "we really don't like fighting the crowds and prices on Valentine's Day, so we're going to dinner two weeks later" date. We're going to Meson Sabika, hands down my favorite tapas restaurant, and a former venue choice for our wedding. I absolutely LOVE the food at this place, and Tom enjoys it, too, even though the portions are small. This is the place where I first discovered bacon-wrapped dates, which was probably one of the greatest days of my life! ;) I just cannot stress enough how delicious all of their food (and their sangria!) is. If you're in the Naperville, IL area, check it out!!

On Saturday, Tom is competing in the conference meet for indoor track. I believe he's ranked #1 in the weight throw and #2 in the shot...or maybe #1 in both? I lose track, sorry!

So, I'll be making the drive northward to Kenosha to cheer him on! This meet is definitely a long time in coming, and it should be amazing.

For those of you who don't know his background, 2 years ago, Tom dislocated his ankle at track practice. It was no regular dislocation, and I'll spare you all the gory details. I received a phone call at 8 am saying that he was in an ambulance on his way to the hospital, and that emergency surgery was imminent. It took me exactly 14 minutes to pack my stuff, load my car, and pick up a very brave friend before I could set out on the 3 hour drive to him. I arrived at the hospital just as he was coming out of recovery. His injury was so severe that for several days after, we still had no idea whether or not he would ever be able to play sports again. Tom was told to keep his weight off his ankle for two months. He was on bed rest for a week, which was a lifetime for him. He was diligent in doing therapy and exercises, and two months later, Tom was not only walking on his ankle, but running and throwing shot put again.

Watching Tom go from being a record-setting athlete to a hospital patient who couldn't stand up on his own was one of the hardest periods of our relationship. I wanted to help him, but didn't know how. He wanted help, but didn't know how much. It was a turning point in our relationship, too, though. The night of his surgery, I stayed with him at the hospital. It was that night that we decided that we both wanted more out of our relationship --- that we needed to be together, especially through the rough times.

You obviously all know how that part of our story turned out. And as for Tom, he continues physical therapy and a variety of other treatments on his ankle to this day. And after two years of recovery, Tom has begun reclaiming all the records he set that season, and has become a force to be reckoned with. He took the time to strengthen the parts of his body where he was weak, he optimized his technique, and learned to channel his emotions and control his mind. His future is bright; he has one more season in track, and the possibility of training professionally once he graduates.

Tomorrow marks a full circle for him---a day he has been training for for years. And I couldn't be prouder to sit and cheer him on!

Good luck Thomas!

Gee, Thanks Uncle Sam!

Most people, for good reason, don't enjoy doing their taxes. I for one, am a big fan.

Using my handy-dandy software, I can usually crank out my return and Tom's in less than a few hours, start to finish. So what does this have to do with weddings, you ask? Two words: the refund.

Because I'm not too interested in actually figuring out my correct withholdings, I usually end up with a fairly sizable refund. And because I don't know how much I owe every year, I just pretend like I don't have any money coming back, which makes it that much sweeter when it does. Last year, my refund came just in time to use during my fabulous trip to Ireland with my younger sister and maid of honor. Our travel recap is here.

This year, my refund came just as I was eyeing plane tickets for our honeymoon. As with every decision for the wedding thus far, the honeymoon choice was fraught with indecision. I asked Tom for a list of places he'd like to visit, and was greeted with this: Australia, Italy, Greece, or Scotland. I flatly told him Australia wasn't an option, as airfare is usually $2,000 a person, and you need to have plenty of time to travel across the globe. Thus began our inquisition into Europe. We entertained two main itineraries: Scotland, London, Paris or Rome, Venice, Florence. I even went so far as to purchase a Best of Italy guidebook.

And then my friend Kayak showed up. (Best airfare search engine EVER!) I wanted to assure myself that I hadn't cut down Tom's idea too quickly, so I did a rough search for airfare to Sydney, Australia. Imagine my surprise when I found that a 7-day trip was cheaper than a 7-day trip to Italy. In that instant, I knew there was no turning back. As a sucker for the unique, I knew that this would be the perfect honeymoon: exotic without being strange, touristy without being too busy, relaxing without having nothing to do, and the best part, fulfilling Tom's dream vacation.

All the pieces began falling into place. My boss said I could take my 10 days of vacation straight, the airfare price kept dropping, our hotel rewards card could get us 4 free nights at a 5 star resort, and the US dollar vs. the Australian dollar kept getting stronger.

So when my refund showed up in my bank account on Friday, and my Yapta account emailed me to let me know that airfare prices had dropped AGAIN, I bought the tickets.

We'll be leaving on Monday, the day after the wedding. I'm sure it will be crazy, but well worth it. We fly from Chicago to San Francisco, then board a 14-hour flight to the land of Oz. On arrival Wednesday morning, we'll find ourselves with this view:

Sydney Opera House @ Sydney Harbor

and this view:

Sydney Harbor Bridge

And we'll see a few of these guys:

Koalas!

We'll spend our time in Sydney visiting all the above, including a trip to a wildlife sanctuary to feed some kangaroos, a day trip to the Blue Mountains, and a trip to Hunter Valley, Australia's wine region. We'll also visit the Sydney Olympic Park (Tom's pick!), Darling Harbour, the Rocks, and Manly Beach.

After a few days, we'll fly to the north coast to the Great Barrier Reef for the rest of the trip. We'll be staying at this hotel:

Yep --- it's built on the water! It's actually a pool, but for some reason, they call them "lagoons." Apparently they want to sound more exotic.

We'll spend a day out on a boat in the Great Barrier Reef snorkeling, possibly scuba diving, and picnicking on a private island. Like this one:

I'm totally hoping to see some turtles and nemo fish. And hoping to not see any jellyfish or sharks. Or maybe to see them, just from afar.

Then, we'll take a hike through the Daintree Rainforest, and view these:

I am so unbelievably excited for this trip, and you can imagine how giddy Tom is! All in all, we'll be spending 9 days in Oz, and another 2 just flying. But with $1,000 airfare and everything else at roughly 60% (because of the exchange rate), it just seemed the perfect time to travel.

While I was totally in love with the thought of honeymooning in Italy (cliche, no?) or London/Paris, this trip just seems so much more fitting. So thanks again, IRS!

In Light of Valentine's Day...

...let's discuss our proposal.

There's always a lot of proposal discussion around Valentine's Day, even though I think it's all a bit cliche (but I'm not here to judge...). But, our story is both sweet and funny, so I thought I'd share:

Tom proposed in April 2007. While I knew it was coming, I was not exactly sure where or when it was going to happen. We were having a lazy Saturday, just bumming about and watching movies. When Tom asked me if I wanted to take a walk outside, I looked at him like he was crazy. I promptly told him no, I really didn't want to go anywhere. (Little did I know I was botching his entire plan). He left to go to the bathroom, where I could have SWORE I heard him talking on his phone. I thought it was strange, but I ignored it. When he came back, he asked again to go on a walk. I again gave him the side-eye. I saw him start to fumble through his stuff, but again, thought nothing of it. He then said to me, "I bought you something." This was the first time that I knew something was up --- he never buys me things without a reason. Ever. As he started to walk over, I noticed a book in his hands. Still not really putting two and two together, I continued to look at him quizzically. At that point, he bent on one knee, and I finally realized what was happening. I opened up the book, and he had written a poem (which I promptly memorized but won't repeat for fear of tarnishing his "manliness"). I flipped the page and found my ring (my beautiful, glorious ring), sitting perfectly in the book, like it would in a ring box. In pure storybook form, he then asked me to marry him, I said yes, and he slipped the ring on my finger.

Have any of you gotten ill yet? I'm sorry. I know it's sappy. But what did you expect?

What my dear boy had done for me, I still cannot wrap my mind around. He purchased a book (Just Like Heaven), which had two hands creating a heart on the cover, several days previous. He then sat for several hours, gluing each page together to create "the box." On top of that, he glued cardstock, then carved through 300 glued pages to create the slit for the ring to sit in. The proposal he planned (that I botched) was to take place outside at one of the most picturesque spots on my campus. He had even contacted one of my friends to hide out and take pictures, because he knew how much I love pictures. (That's who he was on the phone with in the bathroom, by the way. He was explaining to her that I would not cooperate). Like I said, he is such a sweet boy.

Coincidentally, I had received flowers that week from a friend, so I was able to use those for some pictures. Below is my absolute favorite!!



It would have looked so good, if it wasn't for the money in the background. Hahaha.

Oh well. So there you have it --- our sweet, funny, botched proposal!

Registry Success!

Well, we did it. We survived the challenge of registering!

I'm pretty proud of both of us and our compromising skills, as we both have a tendency to be stubborn. But, we didn't get into any arguments or squabbles, and we didn't find it to be all that difficult. Tiring, absolutely. Difficult, not really.

It was a bit overwhelming, to say the least, but I was armed with our checklist and Tom was armed with a scan gun, and we slowly conquered every single aisle of Bed, Bath and Beyond. At one point, Tom even told me that he was, gasp!, having fun.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Okay, well this is actually Tom's pick. Surprise, surprise. He was so tired once we got to the end that he took a seat in this while I picked out the towels. He then proceeded to put this on the list because he enjoyed it so much.


Oh yeah, this has Tom written all over it, too. He picked the toothbrush holder as a gag of sorts, and told me I couldn't delete it. It's a good thing BB&B has a great return policy...


Our shower curtain. I love it. And then I just realized that I picked out both blue and green towels. Ugh. Now I have to switch the green to the chocolate. It never ends, does it?

A vegetable peeler. Tom picked this one, too. I told him if I don't like it, he's going to be responsible for all the peeling...


The potato masher. We couldn't get the normal one to scan right, so we picked the "smooth" masher. It scanned on the first try, so we went with it.


One set of our dish towels/potholders. The color is wasabi. You better believe we walked around the store repeating "wasabi" like Mushu from Mulan. Wasabi!

Le sigh. My "nice" tablecloth. Turns out it's now on clearance and I have to delete it. Ugh. I really liked it.

My teapot. It's simple, but I really like it. I also picked out the matching sugar, creamer and gravy boat. I love that stupid gravy boat.

Our dishes. They're a really pretty color in person...

Our "formal" flatware. It's hard to see, but the outline is actually gold. Rather than registering for china, I'm actually lucky enough to inherit my grandmother's wedding china, which has a gold rim. In the meantime, I'm free to borrow my mother's china, which is silver. I figured this was a happy medium.

Ahhh, yum. My mixer. Tom picked out the color --- "apple green." I'm afraid the color will look outdated in a few years, similar to the avocado greens and harvest golds of the '70's, but Tom didn't care. He liked it.

So there you have it. A quick peek into our registry. If you'd like to look at our other poor choices, feel free to peruse BB&B...

More Congratulations to Thomas!

This weekend, Tom unexpectedly qualified for Nationals in the shot put!

As you may recall, two weeks ago, I posted about his qualification for the weight throw. As that is where he has been focusing much of his energy, he was pleasantly surprised on Saturday when he reclaimed the school record (it had previously been his before his injury) and became a double-qualifier. It is just so satisfying to watch his years of hard work come to fruition!!

Thankfully he has this weekend off (so we're going to register!!), so his body will be able to slightly rest and next weekend, he'll be throwing even stronger! Maybe I'll even be a diligent fiance and take some pictures and report back to you...

In terms of wedding-ness, my recent lack of posts has probably alerted you to the fact that I'm taking it easy on that front. Our contracts are officially signed for the ceremony and reception sites, as well as for the photographer. Ditto with the florist and the linen specialist. I've pretty much finalized the wording for the invitations, and should start figuring out the formatting soon. Eventually, we'll finalize the menu, but that's not much of a priority right now. Our next big task will be finding the right apartment (which has proven to be pretty difficult, actually) and coordinating the big Spring move with Tom's trips in May to outdoor Nationals (19-23) and Colorado (24-31)...

Our Giant Trip to Target: The Game Plan

One of the things I've most been looking forward to in the whole planning process is registering for gifts. It's not because I'm greedy, but simply because I can't wait to pick out things for our house. I've probably spent way too many hours poring over Target's Home Design Event (there's still 30% off, people!) to not be excited.

But, I've always had a secret dread about registering, because I thought that Tom would absolutely hate it, and therefore, make it quite the ordeal. So imagine my surprise when the following conversation ensued:

Me: "So apparently some of my family members would like us to register so they can start buying us gifts."
Tom: "Oh, really?"
Me: "Really. I know you don't have much time, but maybe we can take a few hours on a Sunday and knock out some of the big stuff, and then I'll go back and pick out the kitchen stuff."
Tom: "Well, I was thinking we could go next Saturday. I have the whole day off, so we could spend it at the store and maybe checking out more apartments."
Me: "What? Did I hear you correctly?"
Tom: "Well, yeah. I have the day off, let's go to Target."
Me: [blinks eyes in disbelief.] "Umm, okay."
Tom: "I still get to pick out the vacuum, right?"

Considering we are starting from scratch, with our only possessions being a bed set, a bookcase, a desk, and Christmas decorations, Tom and I have a lot of stuff to pick out. Naturally, I've mapped out a game plan. I have domain over pretty much everything kitchen, dining and accessory. Tom gets to pick out all the electronics and small appliances, except for the coffeemaker, which is totally mine! Then, we'll attempt to come to a consensus over bedding and linens.

If I left the bedding decision up to him, this is what he would pick out:

If it was left completely up to me, I'd go for something more feminine like this, but with lots of colorful toss pillows:

I have a feeling that we'll end up with something like this:

It has clean lines, fairly neutral colors, will match our existing bedroom set, but has enough stylish touches for me to be satisfied.

Sadly, one of things I'm most excited for is our flatware. I've had my heart set on this pattern for quite a while, and am soooo glad that Target still carries it:

Tortola by Oneida

And when it comes to dishes, I'm pretty undecided. I want something traditional, since we'll have these for many years before we replace them, but I would like something a bit more stylish than Corelle.

So I've found these, but I'm nervous I'll get bored of the color quickly:

And of course, Tom's vacuum. He's been drooling over this Dyson since we got engaged, practically. When I pointed out Dyson's newer, bigger and more powerful vacuum, Tom said it wasn't good enough because it was purple.

At least he's putting thought into it...

Medals & Petals: A Weekend Summary

So the medals part of this might be a little misleading, but I couldn't find anything else that rhymed, so bear with me.

I'd first like to issue a very hearty and happy congratulations to Tom, as he became a National Qualifier in the weight throw this weekend. This was his team's first official meet of the season, and he threw far enough to hit the provisional mark. He is the first athlete in the history of Aurora Track and Field to qualify for Nationals at the first meet. He's currently ranked 3rd in the nation!! There's a difference between the provisional mark and the automatic qualifying mark, so maybe I'll explain that more another day, but for now, we are all so excited and proud of Tom for all he's accomplished. And to think that almost 2 years ago he was in emergency surgery and not able to walk for 3 months! It's amazing where some determination and a lot of hard work can get you!!

On to the petals part: Yesterday I met with our florist to review arrangements, bouquets, etc. Right now, all the bouquets, boutonnieres, corsages and flower girl wands are decided and done for. She's also making us a fantastic card holder that I'll be able to post pictures of soon, along with some sort of arrangement for the seating card holder/area thingamajig. When the weather's warmer, we'll be taking a trek down to Wilder Park to see what decor, if any, is needed. I know there is a permanent arch, but it's usually grown over with ivy, so we'll have to suss it all out.

Overall, a very satisfying weekend for both of us!

My Own Personal Olympian...

Most of you, especially those of you who have known Tom since high school, have seen the dramatic difference in his physical stature over the past five years. It's really been the last two years, however, that have made a dramatic impact onto his physique. Ever since the accident with his ankle in Feb. '07, Tom has been forced to rely on his upper body. This has brought about major changes in the way he competes, trains and practices. As such, he's been garnering much more attention from coaches and trainers.

As a component to his training program, Tom has launched a blog where he interacts with other throwers, weight lifters, and fitness enthusiasts. In a recent post, Tom reveals his career aspirations. And let me tell you, they're pretty amazing. In addition to finding a personal coach and trainer, Tom plans on competing in the professional circuit from 2011-2016. Below is an excerpt from his blog:

"Ultimately in a perfect world ( we all know how that never happens) I would like to end my career representing the USA at the 2016 games in front of my hometown of Chicago."

So there you have it, folks. The normally quiet, modest Tom has revealed his ultimate goals. And I could not be more proud. :-)

If you have some time, head on over to his blogs. Weight lifting exercises and run-on sentences aside, he occasionally posts some pretty sweet and profound thoughts about us and the wedding...