Time for Geritol?

Getting older is a stealthy process. It's not an quick change like cutting your hair or getting a tan. It quietly sneaks up on you day by day, year by year, until one day you look in the mirror and gasp "when did that happen?"

Now I still feel young, in fact sometimes it takes me back a bit to realize I'm an a adult. In some ways I still think of myself as a young whipper-snapper romping through high school and college with the rest of the gang, but maybe a wiser version of that self. The other night, however, I had a harrowing experience that made me face head on the fact that I'm "getting older." Brace yourselves, I found a true bright white hair.

This was no little sprout of a hair either; rather this hair was a good 6 inches long. I just stared at it for several minutes wondering "where did that come from?" and "how did I, my hairdresser, and Nate not see that?" Obviously this little guy had been around for a while. This isn't meant to sound like "woe is me," I actually laughed about it for a while since obviously this was inevitable and apparently 26 is no longer a spring chicken. It got me thinking, however, about what the things to come, the person I'm going to be (or at least hope to be), the adventures Nate and I will have as we get old and wrinkly together, and most importantly....dye or not to dye, that is the question. Right now I'm thinking not and that I'll make the attempt to age gracefully. Sure that could all change several years down the road when I'm facing more than one white hair, after all we know he will be back for revenge and he's bringing back up. Over the years though I've lost interest in "artificial enhancement." I don't like fake nails, fake tans, or fake hair. Not that there's anything wrong with those things for those of you who do, I just don't like it for me. I don't have the patience to devote the time and money to the constant up keep. So I'm content and embrace nails that aren't all perfectly the same shape, white skin and hair that's a slightly different color at the roots and the end. Who knows maybe I'm over analyzing this and Nate will be right, it's planning the wedding that's giving me grey hair.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

If I didn't say it enough THANK YOU! everyone for your comments and suggestions for caterers. It's been a big help. For those of you who posted your email address for me to contact you to get mailing addresses, I have removed your comment. Not that I didn't love your comments (it actually pained me a little to hit 'delete') I just didn't want your email addresses floating around for anyone to see, I care about you that much. This just means that you will have to come back from time to time and leave more comments. See how I worked that? :) Hopefully by now you got my email back to you and we're officially now in contact.

HELP!

Alright everyone I need some help. We are having some trouble finding a caterer for our wedding reception and I'm curious if any one has some recommendations. We've tried about 5 or 6 caterers and so far are coming up empty. The professional catering companies haven't returned our calls and the individuals referred by friends all have sold their business and don't do it any longer. We have a few last things to try but my mom almost feels like we're getting prompted to do the food ourselves, which for me is the last thing I wanted to do. We've had a number of people offer to help out that evening with serving but I always wanted my reception to be an event where friends and family could come and have fun, not be put to work. I'm so greatful that we have so many people that are willing to help, and maybe I shouldn't turn down their offer/opportunity to do service but it just seems like such a large task for us to take on ourselves. Add to that the stress of coordinating, preparing, storing the food and renting equipment to keep it warm and I'm really just dreading going down the DIY road. All the rest of the planning has gone remarkable smoothe and I guess it was just too good to think we weren't going to have any hiccups. This really is the last big thing we have to nail down and I'm so surprised it's been this difficult.

We're Here!

That's right I've entered the world of blogging. A while back I observed that in this digital age, blogging appears to be a new rite of passage. I've had a number of friends encourage me to start a blog but I abstained because it seemed like the correct order of things was get married, have kids, start a blog (ok the order of the last two could be switched). I really didn't think that people would want to read the tales of my singlehood, I mean seriously who wants to hear about bad dates and roommates. So I've been lurking in the shadows, "blog-stalking" you all (yes I'm probably one of those annoynmous people you've felt following you) reveling in your fun stories and wistfully waiting for the day when I could join you, but now I'm out in the open, ready to face the blog head on. No I don't have any kids, and I'm not married yet (so I'm still officially a Jackson not a Matthews), but I am ENGAGED! Yay! Most of you have already heard the news but there are a number of you out there who haven't, mostly because I have lost contact with you over the years. Hopefully we'll be able remedy that now.
I've heard through the grapevine that it can sometimes be hard to keep posts interesting with out kids and the cute stories that come from watching them grow up. Even Nate recently asked me what I would blog about and my answer was "I don't know." So I'll try my best to keep things interesting and maybe flex my writing muscles as they've waned a little since graduating college (working with numbers all day will do that to you). It will also take me a little bit of time to get the page all jazzed up and learn the tips/tricks but have patience I will get there. Don't tell anyone but I have some slow time at work to fill. :)