Prayer and Support

This past week has been weird. And that's putting it lightly. I was super busy at work with this being the last weekend before school starts, while battling a cold. Friday my dear Puma got in a wreck and his car it out of commission for a while. And during all this we are praising God. Thank you, God, for keeping my fiancé safe in what could have been a fatal incident, and thank you for blessing me with the job I now have and the strength to handle the busy weekend even while sick. 

With that said.

Oh. My. Gravy. 53 days! Sewing isn't completed but it is coming along on schedule. The only iffy item being my Puma's jacket :-/

Finished another project today. I won't tell you what it is but I will give you an upclose view. Guess it right and I'll post the full pic!

My wonderful future mother-in-law sent out shower invites this week. I am so grateful and thankful that she organized a coed wedding shower for Puma and I. We are really looking forward to it. 

There's the current update. Back to chocolate gears and crafting. 

~Lion

Bragging Rights

So I wanted to spend this post bragging on my amazing fiancé and to set straight a few misconceptions about our wedding. 

My wonderful fiancé, "Puma," (aka Victor) has been my planning and DIY partner. We bounce ideas off of each other and spend a good portion of our together time accomplishing tasks for the wedding. He is working his tail off and putting in so much effort. He even dowloaded craft store apps to his phone so we can double our purchasing power. When I have to work on the weekend, he'll pass time at the apartment working on a project. Crafts sticks, painting, cutting, fabric cutting and burning, computer stuffs, etc. There are also the non-tangible things he does as well. Praying for us, praising, encouraging, loving. He is the one by my side. 

Before we became engaged, we decided that this was going to be our endeavor. No maid of honor. No best man. We do  have groomsmen and bridesmaids, but no one assigned the responsibility of helping us. We wanted to do this: the trial, error, success, disagreements, fights, negotiations, compromise, solutions. All us. We figured it would be a good way to skip over that fluffy barrier the hides potential fights and disputes until after the wedding. We know marriage isn't easy. It's not some magical happy ending. It is work. Hard work. We want every opportunity to figure out how to work together. We are going to be partners for the rest of our lives. This skill is kind of important. 

Unfortunately, he has not been given enough credit. Tiger (aka D) has been my crafting buddy and roommate the past couple of years. People have assumed she's my maid of honor and the crafting co-conspirator for this. I love her dearly and this is not meant to offend- but she isn't. It hurts me everytime I hear about someone seeking her out for answers to the wedding. She has a general idea, but the details are not all known to her. Steampunk is not a genre well known to her either. Let me repeat: I love her dearly. But the concepts and ideas I get from her are not exactly where we are heading. 

With that said! If you have been invites to our wedding and have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Puma or I. We would love to hear your excitement, plans, questions, etc.  

For a while now I thought no one had been interested outside of the wedding party. Discovered it's because no one is coming to me, but I hear about them going to her in a much delayed informing due to a slip in conversation. 

One of those happened again last night. And yes, I had a good cry before bed. But I had a Puma praying for me. Because he is a wonderful man and such a blessing. I couldn't have asked for a better partner than him. 

Victor! Puma! I love you so very much and cannot wait to have the honor and privilege of being your wife! <3

~Lion

Less than two months!

Been praying a lot, Puma and I. Unfortunately I am not skilled or trained well enough anymore to keep my emotions in check. That is why God has blessed me with such an amazing husband-to-be. He listens to my venting, holds me when I need it, and once I'm done he offers reason. We pray to God, discuss with each other how each situation needs to be handled, then support and praise. It's hard. 

With that said: Oh. My. Gravy! Two months until I get to marry this amazing man. This blessing that has turned in to my best friend. Just. Wow. 

Gears are being made in batches. They are turning out wonderfully. 

I finally worked out that part of my depression was still trying to cling to a small wedding. Even to the point of excluding my family. This has been remedied. My amazing sister in law is now a bridesmaid, and my brother a groomsman. My other brother will be escorting one of Puma's grandmothers. And we found a solution to my lack of grandparents creating an empty row: the amazing H family! Their trio of amazing daughters are our banner bearer, ringholder, and flower girl. That's right, a girl is being the ring holder, booyah. 

We have accomplished a ton. But we still have a ton to do. 

Climbing out of the valley

So as of my last post, I was feeling pretty crummy. My amazing Puma has been so supportive: prayer, encouragement, listening ear and willing shoulder to cry on, constant support, even silence when necessary and harsh truth when called for. I honestly don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing man.

Updates!

The Tiger roommate and I created my bodyform the other week. Oh. My. Gravy. That was hilarious. One old shirt, two rolls of duct tape, and a wire hanger later. She rocks.

Mock vest is done and adjusted to fit Puma perfectly. The final vest has been cut and is being pieces together. I am so flipping excited, the colors are amazing.

Trying to get meeting dates scheduled with the coordinator.

Decision made about apartment and paperwork started.

Bridal shower went off smoothly. I'll get more in to that later.

Thanks for checking in.

~Lion

And the depression kicks in

So, just over three months out and the depression kicks in. We finished all the invitations and dropped them off at the Post Office Sunday night. I totally did not consider that the invitation was too large or was over an ounce. The lot got sent back, some of them with postage due stamps. That was the straw that broke my back.

I had already been battling feeling down from the time we started our guest list. My idea of the perfect wedding? Only close friends and family that we see and encounter in our daily lives. Well, that didn't last long. The list doubled in size as we added on people who we were asked to. Extended family, people I have never heard of before, once-was-friends and aquaintances who heard it through the grapevine and informed us how much they were looking forward to invitations... I fight crying over that fact every few days. I try to let it go and be reassured that even though I will be uncomfortable, my guests will be having a blast playing catch-up and hitting on their barly-known dates. Some days I want to say forget it all and do one of two things- give the ring back (that only lasts for a second) or elope. Unfortunately both of those options are out. My mother would never forgive me and neither will my future MIL.

Then the bridal party. Sigh. We tried to be lax in dress code, giving a fee rules and lettinf them find what was comfortable. Now it's just getting costumey with one of the maids wanting fairesque makeup. I'm doing my best to be polite and diplomatic, but inside I am screaming. To top that off? One of the maids was selected basically for family politic reasons.

Also, we are three months out and I still havent gotten any solid answers from the church other than the date being confirmed.

And then! I keep getting the push from other people on how I should be doing things. How to decorate, what to do with the cake, etc.

But yeah, the envelopes today and as I was trying to ask for clarification but was repeatedly being talked over finally broke me. Today was supposed to be a day off of work loaded with fun DIY projects. I'm curled up in bed having a pity party instead. Anybody needs me just look for the buried, sobbing mess clutching her stuffed lion.

~Lion

Invitations!

So, today was a really good day.

This morning Puma and I worked tech for the church service. We personally love it.  It will be the last time we will get to work on the team together at the same time. At the end of the month, Puma will be stepping down from his paid position as Video and Audio tech for the church.  I am just a volunteer.  We may work together again as volunteers, but the likely-hood is less now.

After church was noms, and working on the documents for our invitations.  Then...to the print shop!

It took an hour or two to have all the pages printed up, and then using their paper cutters (which were so amazing) to trim everything down.  Everything nice and smooth, even, no fluffies or areas to sand.

Combined it was 20 pages color printed for the maps with three on each page, 30 for the invite with two on each page, reply cards were four a page for a total of 15 pages (and the machine was being weird, we had to get an employee...more on that later), and then 8 pages for the SteamPunk description, with eight on each page.  A total of 73 pages printed on cardstock. We bought a package of cardstock from Wal-Mart for about six bucks, and the printing color and black & white took $17.10.  With all the other bits and pieces to put on (scrapbook paper, gears and buttons, ribbons, stamps) we're looking at spending no more than $100 on the invitations. That's below budget!

Now before you go all bug-eyed, let me say we are creating 60 invites, and in the cost I am including postage for sending them out -and- prestamping the envelops for the reply cards. Double postage. So...we're doing pretty awesome.

Leave us some comments and words of encouragement. The more we know people are reading, the more we shall post.  With pictures even.

~Lion

Hiatus Update

So, for anyone who may be checking in here (if there is anyone), you have noticed we have not updated in two months.  We apologize for that.  The Lion maintains the blog, and work had gotten crazy. And now currently Lion is without a job, so prep and job hunting  are my current goals since I no longer have to prep for a classroom.

We have completed the garters, the teal flowers, and our SendOffs.  So cute! And the molds came in for the gears, etc. So excited!