Bridal Show Picture

It looks like I forgot to post the picture of my booth. Oops.

Here you go! I wish I had more pictures, but I was so busy and then so ready to go home that it just didnt' happen. Maybe next time. :)

Let's Say Thanks

Just found out about this a bit ago. Go to www.letssaythanks.com and send a card to one of those brave individuals who are out there keeping us safe so we can enjoy silly radio contests, bridal shows and anniversarys (which, by the way, did we mention ours is in a few days - the ticker is almost done ticking at the bottom of the page!). :)

Will I Be the First Elevator Pitch Idol?

If you're willing to get out there and vote for me, it's possible! :) So, I discovered yesterday, as I mentioned, that my little radio appearance, which I've also learned wasn't live (this may be helpful next time I do this), was an entry into an American Idol-like contest....which means that although the judges have a say in the final outcome, you can make a big difference as far as my chances for winning!

The original airing of my first attempt will occur on August 12 at 7p.m. EST/4p.m. PST (I'm going to guess those of you in the central and mountain time zones are good with math and can figure out when it's on in your neck of the woods!). You can listen to it via live feed or via the radio by finding a station close to you or if you can't make either of those work, you can listen to it via a previously recorded thing here beginning Monday, August 14. Now here's the deal, though - whatever way you listen, you have to help me out by going to www.startupnation.com and signing up to be a community member so you can vote for me prior to August 20 so I make it to the next round!

What's in it for you, you say? Well, first the warm fuzzies that come from helping me out. :) Second, if you've ever thought of starting your own business or even have one now, you'll gain access to a wealth of information on a variety of business related topics (this site has been great for me while starting up my little ol' business!). Third, you'll have my undying gratitude.

I'm not exactly sure what the prize is for this contest yet, but the added exposure being on the show can have for my business is priceless. :) Hope you all have a great weekend!

The Bridal Show....

Well, it's finally time for me to let you know how the bridal show went last weekend (and we'll throw in a few other choice tidbits, too).

We'll start off kind of backwards. I learned today that the elevator pitch I gave last Friday (I think I told you about it) is an entry into an American Idol style elevator pitch contest at www.startupnation.com. You all have to go sign up on the site for membership and vote for me! :) Also, they apparently pre-record shows. The one I recorded will air on 8/12 and you can find where/when at www.startupnation.com/radio. I'll give more details as I get 'em! :)

Mark and I went to see the Broadway musical "Rent" on Tuesday night. Interesting....that's all I'll say because there are many people who are fans of it. We weren't really...we left halfway through. Since we'd won the tickets, we didn't feel to guilty about leaving especially since I had to be up early the next day. At any rate, it was nice to go and do something together so we're not complaining too much.

Another couple of details, I now have a partial business website (still under construction in many ways!) and I'm advertising on two online wedding planning sites - Wedplan and Wedding Solutions. If you're feeling like taking a peak, please do....for the ad sites, you'll need to give a zip code of 94541 in the consultant/coordinator section (or on Wedding Solutions alone, the financial services section) to find me. I'll be pretty easy to spot in both cases once you get there. Please let me know what you think! :)

And, now a little info about the bridal show - it was great! I received 85 entries for my bridal emergency kit and newlywed financial planning package gift certificate. They will all be receiving the first edition of my newsletter as well as a quick phone call to follow-up and answer any quesstions they might have about planning their wedding, using my services, etc. In preparation for this task, I just signed us up for long distance today. We've pretty much always just used our cell phones for this purpose, but now we're going to go way over our minutes if we adopt that strategy!

Now as far as logistics, we did have some frustration over the business cards and magnets I ordered not showing up on time. And, then, there were the brochures which were folded backwards. I'm not feeling too confident in the abilities of Kinkos, my friends. Luckily, I had Mark to help me refold enough brochures for the show. And, at least I won't even need to contemplate whether or not I need business cards, magnets or brochures for the next.

At any rate, overall things went well...so much so that I'm signed up for the show in January as well. If you're interested, there's a picture of my booth which you can see by clicking here. There was a great response to the newlywed financial planning as well. In fact, I may be doing a workshop at the next bridal show One of the ladies who works for the show loved the service and thought it would be perfect as a workshop. This same person also was in disbelief when I told her this was my first show ever. There's a compliment if I've ever heard one! :)

The show was also an excellent networking opportunity. I met with tons of great photographers, venues, videographers and even a muscian who I may work for part-time managing the business side of his wedding performances in exchange for access to all of his bridal leads and expertise in the business. I tell you, some people gave me "the look" when they heard I was a CPA and MBA, but most, were absolutely on board. I have so many appointments I need to schedule now with vendors as well as people I need to call back.

It was also a great time to check out the competition. There were two other wedding consultants there. One was right on the other side of the curtain from me. I actually picked up her information and I have to tell you, I don't know how she lives with the rates she's charging! They are about a third of mine...but then, the services she offers aren't as inclusive. She also may not be trying to tap into the affluent market as I am.

I also have several people who seemed quite interested in discussing my services with me further. One was a mom who was checking things out for her daughter. She adored my booth. I hope to hear from them soon...which I will or they'll hear from me. For the most part, the people who were interested in my services signed up for the bride's emergency kit. So, I have their contact information... I had another couple who wants a destination wedding - they want to take a cruise and stop at a port with a mission and get married and then continue on their way. Another is looking for someone to just step in on the day and handle things (they have the planning under control since the groom is an event producer). I could go on, but you get the idea that I was well-received...and it gave me some great confidence.

So, I'm looking forward to the next one on August 6 and I'm thinking it should be a lot less hectic than this one. I need to get another emergency kit put together as well as some door prizes. I may also do some little "favors" to get people to stop by my booth. Anyone want to suggest something inexpensive that I could put together in the next week? I had a suggestion of bobby pins in tulle, but I'm not sure I'm interested in that. If I had tons of time or tons of friends to put to work, I would love to do some fizzy bath bombs like I did for Christmas, but I'm not sure I have the stamina to make 300-500 of those by myself. If anyone would like to volunteer, feel free to come on over and help out with that! :)

So, more details on a lot of things....to come! Hope all is well with all of you!

He Passed!

Yes, dear friends and family, it is official! Mr. Mark is one step closer to being Dr. Mark - how cool is that?! :)

We just saw his scores this morning and we are both on cloud nine. The only thing that tempers the joy is that some of Mark's classmates didn't fare as well...

Today's the big day for taping the Startup Nation elevator pitch segment. :) I'm doing my best to run through "my lines" so that I'm ready to wow Jeff, Rich and the rest of the gang.

And, today is countdown to bridal fair day, too. Lots of little things need to be wrapped up like buying some photo frames creating some signs and checking in on our web site prospects (unfortunately, there may be an issue with transferring the domain name....*sigh*) so it may not be up in time for the show participants, but I'm hopeful. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Change in Format

As you all know, I have been busy getting Winsome Events up and running full speed. As a result, my "free time" is limited and as such I won't be able to post hear nearly as often as I might like to (for there are tons of interesting things going on with Mark and I!). I discussed at some point in the past that I might eventually give up on my trying to write everything here in third person story format and today's the day that I've decided to do it. :) It's so much easier to write from first person perspective than it is to write from third person and it's a bit more personal so welcome to the new and improved format. :)

As I am writing this, Mark is attending to his last three clinic entrance exams. I decided to stay here at the school (I had to rush over with his lab jacket without which he would have not been able to take the test!) since he expected that he'd be finished in an hour or less. I am in no way dressed in a manner that makes me want to be in public, but sometimes necessity requires that we let our prissy inhibitions go and save our mate! At any rate, hopefully Mark will bounce back into the Student Services lounge soon. If not, at least I have blogging to keep me occupied.

There are so many things going on with me and the business lately. I met with a really great photographer (I think I mentioned this) his week and she generously offered to provide as many pictures as I'd like for my website. We love Lucie - have a look at her website at www.luciexyz.com. We plan to take her up on her offer, but we're hoping that a majority of the pictures will actually come from friends. So many of you had beautiful weddings and we'd love to share a little bit of your day with the world. Of course we will give your photographer credit. If you'd like to part of our weddings on parade showcase, please email me. :)

Speaking of the website, my designer is working hard to have something up and running by tomorrow. I'm excited! It will incorporate the design scheme that you had a taste of a few posts ago. As soon as it's up and running, I'll be sure to let you all know. We wanted to have at least something in the interim to let brides that meet me at the bridal show on Saturday and Sunday see.

Ah the bridal show....it's coming along. I finished printing a ton of entry forms today. I'm hopeful that I won't be printing tons of them on Saturday evening. :) I plan to stop by Longs today to get a few picture frames that I saw and really liked, although, I just remembered that Bed Bath and Beyond has fabulous frames as do places like Macy's and the like so I'm going to go check those out to help with drawing attention to my little space.

I am fearful that my business cards may not arrive on time. I am surely hopeful that this is not the case, but if so, I at least have 2500 brochures with my contact information that will be finished tomorrow evening. I also have a thousand of those cool little magnets that have a business card on them to hand out. to some of the people. They were kind of an accidental purchase, but they'll be useful in the long run, I'm sure! I am not getting to use the nice business cards that I had made this time around due to issues with printing. I'm not sure what happened, but no one was printing out a nice product. It was very distressing to say the least. Lucie, the dear photographer that we adore, has an excellent printer who she's going to refer me to.

In more bridal show news, I am scheduled to exhibit at another at the Hilton in Pleasanton on August 6. I'm hopeful that this one will be a little less hectic in the preparation phase, but perhaps not. At least I won't have to find table decorations, make brochures or anything of that sort. I just have to have them printed and that is pretty easy. Did I mention that my brochures will be pink? :) My biggest challenge will again be the business cards. I'm hoping they won't be too much of a challenge, though.

I will be the only consultant at this particular bridal faire and I will be one of the first people that brides see. This is good in some ways and not so good in others, perhaps. They'll see me first before their minds have been clouded by countless photographers, caterers and the like, but they'll soon have their minds clouded and will forget all about me! I plan to offer a drawing of some sort (perhaps another bride's emergency kit like I'm doing at the current fair) to encourage them to sign up for my newsletter so that I can remind them of me and what I have to offer them. Then again, I'm a pretty memorable consultant (and the only one at this show). With any luck the layout will be such that they see me on their way out, too....so perhaps being first and last will be a benefit. :)

In other non-bridal show news, I am planning to sign up with a Business Network International group this next week. I attended one of their meetings yesterday and really enjoyed the exuberance of the group. They are all engery-filled fun people. This particular group has several people who are an excellent match for my wedding consulting business including a hair and make-up artist, a florist, and even another party planner who specializes in upscale non-wedding events.

Finally, I will be on a national radio show tomorrow afternoon/evening (depending on where you are in the country). If you've heard of me speak of Startup Nation (Is! You still need to tell me your community name so I can introduce you there!), that is the show I'll be on. If not, it's great for those of us who are starting our own business ventures. I would highly recommend you check out startupnation.com. At any rate, I've been invited to give an elevator pitch - a one minute opportunity (while you're on an elevator of course) to create buzz about your business in the hopes of obtaining outside funding. I'm very excited about this opportunity and have the perfect pitch...I just need to memorize it! They have a podcast of their latest show on their website every week so I'll be sure to let you know where to find it and listen to me pitch "the boys" and get some feedback on my content and style. I'm excited about the opportunity to gain some national exposure for my planning services - especially the newlywed financial planning services which I am trademarking. Wish me luck!

Hmmm...Mark's still not back yet and I've run out of things to say (amazing, I know!). So, we'll call this good for today and go see if there are any emails that I need to attend to. Hope you're all doing well and keeping as cool as possible.

The Week in Review...

As you can probably guess, things are hoppin' here in Roccoland...hence, posting is very infrequent, but we're trying to at least get you an update on a weekly basis here. This one could be a long one since we've had a lot happen...and we've spent a lot of money, too!!

First of all, MeLissa discovered that she could indeed still exhibit at the Santa Clara Wedding Faire on July 22 and 23! Very exciting stuff we have to tell you! This particular show has approximately 3000 people venture through the numerous booths. MeLissa is looking forward to her first *big* opportunity to tell the world about her cool new services....especially the financial planning for newlyweds. She's been busy getting all her materials together including a giveaway gift perfect for any bride - an emergency kit. The kit has almost everything any bride might need on her wedding day. From baby powder (perfect for covering a stain on a white wedding dress) to a little bit of chocolate (a surefire cure for any moment of stress!), this gift is sure to be a hit! We'll be sure to let you know how it goes once all is said and done!

Another important happening was that Mark took his clinic entrance practical exam. He did very well and only has to retake 3 sections next week. He's got lots of company - only 2 of his classmates made it through unscathed. Since he passed all of the things that he was a bit worried about and only made mistakes that were "silly" in things he knows very well, we're pretty sure he'll be donning that white lab coat very soon! The retest is this week!

In preparation for MeLissa's bridal show, we went through quite a process to find a company to print her business cards (which are quite fabulous if she does say so herself!). We finally found that Kinko's would do it and that an actual human being would look at it. Yea! :) We figure we'll have them run off several copies of MeLissa's wedding and financial services information as well...

We also have some additional good news as a result of our trip to the bridal show last week. It may even make up for losing her wallet last week. So, first of all, she's going to have lunch with a photographer she met at the show last week. Her name is Lucie and she has some very neat features to her service including providing a few "min-photo books" to her clients as part of their photography package. We love Lucie! And, to top it all off, MeLissa had entered a contest to win free laser hair removal and won. Can you say bye by shaving? She can't wait! :)

This entry seems to be all about MeLissa. Since Mark is in class most of the day, and since you know who ends up writing this blog, it's a little slanted...we suppose you all don't mind too much. Starting a new business is an exciting thing!

At any rate, MeLissa also had her first meeting with the two other co-directors for the East Bay Networking Group for the Association of Bridal Consultants. She'll be working with two talented ladies who are full of great ideas. All three of us are looking forward to making things fun and exciting for members of the ABC who live and work here in the East Bay. Now her challenge is to create a list of potential sites for them to have their first function...while trying to keep up with her bridal show preparations. It should make for some very exciting days!

If this isn't enough excitement for you, we also got our half a cow yesterday....yummy! We enjoyed our first meal last night and it was so gooood. ;) We won't be short on beef any time soon...and the best part is that we didn't have to drive to far to get it since the people we bought it from were heading our way. :)

Finally, before we give you a preview of what the next week holds in store for us, we went last night to Best Buy and found a laptop that can help both MeLissa and Mark out. It will ultimately be MeLissa's business machine, but since Mark needs something to type his notes into, we're going to let him have the use of it for a while here. It's a great machine and we're looking forward to using it! :) After we made our purchase, we took a little trip to Santana Row (since we were there to buy the computer - our typical store was out of the ones we wanted) and enjoyed live music and some Ben and Jerry's treats. Yum!

So, with respect to the following week, MeLissa will be doing a lot of bridal show preparation as you can imagine. Mark will be doing his pre-clinic test and will be at school. Then next weekend, we'll both hop on over to the show and see if we can make some impressions. Exciting stuff! We hope you're all doing well! Until next time...

Our Weekend!

We had a pretty good weekend, but it wasn't perfect. Everything was peachy keen until we found out that MeLissa lost her wallet in San Jose - bummer! That kind of put a bit of a damper on things.

But, let's not focus on the unhappy things shall we? Rather, let's discuss all the good stuff that happened beginning with the fact that the Winsome Events stationery is done! Done, done, done! Woo Hoo. It's very nice and we'll probably share it with you eventually, but for now, hopefully you'll enjoy a peak at her new logo. Pretty in pink...just like the wallet we're not going to mention anymore. ;)

So, this weekend was pretty nifty in that we visited the Before-I-Do bridal show in San Jose. While there we met quite a few great vendors...one of whom MeLissa plans to form a lasting partnership with. We'll be discussing that more in the future probably. We also learned that there is another bridal show in a couple of weeks. MeLissa is going to try to get herself in as an exhibitor...it's down to the wire, but they might just go for it, and if so, it will be an excellent way to meet some potential clients and let them know how she can make their day (and hopefully their marriage!) a pleasant affair with as few hassles and financial squabbles as possible.

In conjunction with this outing, we visited a diner called Peggy Sue's (the last place we saw the wallet we're not mentioning) for a superb strawberry shake and rootbeer float refresher. They were super good. :) We also just wandered around San Jose a little bit.

Today, Mark started back to school. He's pretty excited since (once he's passed one more test), he'll be able to start helping patients. That's pretty exciting!

MeLissa was a busy bee today, too. She is writing up her business plan (it's in her head but she'd like to have it on paper!) and she also set up an arrangement to advertise on Wedding Solutions' website for the next year - now we just need that website which is coming, we assure you - it will be here before you know it and it will be wonderful! As soon as it's available for viewing, you can be sure that you'll be invited.

Another piece of very exciting news - our half cow is ready! We're terribly excited about all yummy beef we'll be eating very soon. We'll probably be taking a bit of a road trip this weekend using the GPS (nicknamed the "precious" by Mark) so we won't get lost. Then we'll bring it home and put it in the trusty freezer we bought last weekend. And, then, the fun begins...we're going to be eating around 300 pounds of cow over the next year - when can we expect you for dinner?

The Final Colorado Pictures (and some other interesting tidbits!)

Here's the last set of Colorado pictures - yea! :) I think I may have figured out what has to be done to get more than a few pics in a post, too...so this may have been a good lesson for future trips! Onto the remaining photos:


We'll start out with a few scenic shots (some of which are slanted, but given that Mark took them, we know you'll agree it just adds to the beauty of the photo...very photojournalistic, don't you agree?





These photos are primarily of our trip to Colorado Springs from Canon City via Hwy 50 and then Hwy 115 on our last day in Colorado. They aren't really in order, but they're all beautiful in their own way. The more "prairie"-looking shots are on Hwy 50...




































MeLissa loves the look of red clay with tons of greenery. It's probably why the Garden of the Gods (which we were unable to visit this trip) is one of her favorites places. Speaking of the Garden of the Gods, that was the location of our engagement photo shoot.



We had some truly lovely scenery...you can see one of the pictures here (at what used to be the welcome message on our site). And, speaking of our engagement, today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day that Mark made MeLissa get up much to early so that the ring he'd been holding onto wouldn't burn a big hole in his pocket! You can read all about how romantic it was as well as how we became a couple here.


More scenery...









Here's a shot of General Palmer on his trusty steed in Downtown Colorado Springs. What you can't see is that people drive around it every day....it's kind of a nuisance, but he'd sure be missed if they ever moved him (and they've thought about it on several occasions!)




Here's a shot across from the Souper Salad where we had lunch twice. You can see (if you look closely) the mall behind the pine trees. :)








Last but certainly not least (just ask her!) here's Pixie experiencing the bliss of some kitty love after "mom and dad" were gone for so long. She's one happy kitty in that picture. :)

Colorado Pictures - Part II

In the much awaited (well, okay, it's only been a couple of minutes probably) sequel to our 1st set of Colorado pictures, you'll notice, perhaps, a recurring theme...a lot of them were taken while we were driving. In most cases, Mark did the photo taking (which we do realize is probably best and which explains why many of the photos are crooked...he did his best without being able to see what he was taking a picture of). There are a couple, which we aren't sharing where MeLissa tried...they're pretty funny....especially the one of Mark's nose in close-up. Nevertheless, we figure we'll show you those photos you might actually want to see...so on with the show already!
First up - the promise picture of Doug and Leah from our wedding. See, she's a cutie. We likes her.








Scenic views on the way home from Denver and Castle Rock









More scenery...this is why we love Colorado...when you're stuck in traffic, you have pretty things to look at.








MeLissa driving...as usual (and wearing a CSU-Pueblo Alumni shirt...a very nice addition to the wardrobe - Thanks Laura!








Mark's photo of himself...reminiscent of The Fonze...don't you think?






Okay - this is annoying...blogger isn't going for more pictures...so one more post or two and I'll get the rest of the good ones up. Patience is a virtue, right? ;)

Colorado Pictures - Part I

Here's our solution to blogger being a pain and not letting us post pictures in the post. Buggers.

Here's Mark the last night of our trip eating the last of the allergy-causing gelato.









Here's Chris at dinner our first night in Colorado. We went for the uber-classy Village Inn just so we could enjoy one last meal in the "Non-Smoking section that has more smoke in it than the Smoking section which is all of 20 feet away." We're not going to miss it when we come back for Christmas (God willing) and we don't have to answer the question "smoking or non?" (Colorado has been smoke-free for 3 days folks!)




Here's Mark, Laura and MeLissa at the CSU-Pueblo Alumni office.







Here's a picture of "The Doug" from our shopping trip to Whole Foods. We have a picture of "The Leah" but it doesn't do her justice so we're keeping it to ourselves. Perhaps in part two we'll put up one from our wedding of her...






Here's the lovely velociraptor we drove by every time we returned to Christopher's house in Canon...he's ferocious.








View from the cute house with baggage that we saw in Canon City. Perty, eh?








Mom at the house with baggage.








Dad at the house with too much baggage.









Grandma








Mark and Christopher







More to come in Part II (blogger won't let us add anymore to this post).

Our Adventure to Lovely Colorado...and what we've been up to since.

:P Blogger is yet again preventing the upload of pictures so another post with the pretties will be forthcoming. Grr.
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We had a wonderful time in Colorado visiting family and friends. Our only complaint about our trip? It was, as usual, much to short. We missed a few people and so we'll just have to come back and do it again. ;) We were in Colorado from June 20 through June 27, but we have some pre- and post-trip photos we think you'll also enjoy including this one of Mark enjoying the last of the allergy-causing gelato. We think it was the marscarpone flavor.

And now, on to the trip - we flew out Tuesday morning. Our flight was a bit late and MeLissa wasn't feeling so well. We made it to Phoenix for our lay over and MeLissa went out to see what our next gate was. Denver, Denver, Denver she was saying as she looked for it. She found the gate and since we had a 20 minute window to make our next flight we started hot-footing it. We made it to what MeLissa thought was the correct gate and then she realized we were next door to the appropriate one. We maneuvered over and the flight attendant said they'd start boarding for Denver. Has anyone yet caught on that we were in the wrong place?

Yep. We were supposed to be flying to Colorado Springs. We tried, but we didn't make it to the right gate in time. Ooops. We had to go stand-by for our next flight. Thankfully, we made it on that flight and didn't have to wait for the next one which would have been arriving pretty late. During our wait, we decided we should eat something. Silly us, though, we didn't actually bring much food with us so we had to go through the torture of finding something - anything - that MeLissa could eat.

This food foraging was no easy task (surprise, surprise!). We know you're all just amazed about that one. ;) MeLissa bought Mark a sandwich from Quizzno's. And, then, after searching high and low, she found Nachoes with "normal" (rather than processed) cheese at the Fox Sports bar in the airport. MeLissa did her usual grilling of the waitress and was assured that there was no garlic on the grilled chicken. So she ordered them. Naturally, when they arrived (as is frequently the case), MeLissa immediately smelled garlic, but she was hungry so she ate them knowing that that next flight was not going to be a fun time. And, it wasn't. Nausea and an allergic reaction...not a good combo, friends.

We finally made it to Colorado where MeLissa handsome little brother, Christopher, (dressed in his dress whites which we really should have gotten a better picture of - darn it all!) was waiting at the airport to pick us up. He took us to his house where we began to settle in.

Anyhow, we hung out and then went to dinner and came home and watched Wedding Crashers. Very funny flick....and perfect for MeLissa, right? We watched another, Just Like Heaven, a couple of nights later and it is one of MeLissa's favorites now.

We think it was the first night that MeLissa also took the ASVAB just for kicks. Chris been pretty frustrated with the potential recruits lately. He had one person get an 8. You need a 35 to get into the Navy. These are not hard questions folks. We're talking basic vocabulary, paying attention and math skills for the most part. At any rate, MeLissa took the test late at night when tired and scored a 90. She qualifies for nuclear stuff. Very cool. ;) Chris had other setbacks that week as far as recruiting went. He had two guys ready to go in and then one came down with gall stones and the other's father wouldn't sign the consent form. We felt pretty bad for the guy. He is seriously missing his ship!

The next day (Wednesday) we went to Pueblo to visit people from MeLissa's college including Laura in the Alumni office who kindly gave MeLissa an Alumni T-shirt, sticker and bandana. Then we had a nice visit and dinner at a Mexican restaurant with some of MeLissa's friends - Amy and Doug. They had just had a baby a couple of days before. Little Nathan and his big sister Olivia came along for dinner, too!

The other activity for the day was outfitting the brother's kitchen with a bunch of useful stuff like baking dishes, mixing bowls, etc. He was a happy camper when he saw all that....especially the grilling tools!

On Thursday, we went to Colorado Springs (so much for MeLissa not having to drive all over during this trip - she did almost every day) and visited an Optometrist that specializes in low vision aids just to see if there was something he could recommend for Mark. Unfortunately, there wasn't, but we're looking forward to networking with him when we get back. The interesting thing about this doctor is that he is actually losing his vision. He is legally blind like Mark, but just like Mark he hasn't let that stop him. In fact, he just won Optometrist of the Year in Colorado...how's that for inspiration folks?

We then had lunch with Marilyn at Mimi's Cafe (yum, yum, yum!). Before lunch, MeLissa found a couple of really cute purses for $10 total. Gotta love it. We then made a visit to Pat, another friend of ours. Finally, we visited Aunt Jo and Uncle Clyde. They had some koi living in a water fountain and were a little grumpy that raccoons were coming to feast. Mark tells the story well - be sure to ask him about it! He definitely found humor in that first meeting!

The next day, we headed back up to Colorado Springs for another day of fun. My youngest brother, Doug, and his adorable girlfriend, Leah (whom we also don't have a great picture of other than from our wedding), came with us. We took a tour of the north end of Colorado Springs which is much further north than it used to be and visited a coffee shop owned by one of our friends for a little Italian Soda (he actually provided these for our wedding). We also made a stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory to pick up some caramel apples - one of our favorite treats! We then stopped by Whole Foods and grabbed stuff for dinner and our BBQ the next day. We ate dinner and sent them on their way.

On Saturday MeLissa's family came up from Lamar and we had a little BBQ and Christmas in June. It was fun getting to open Christmas and wedding presents that they'd been saving for us. We roasted a chicken on the grill and made pasta salad, cucumber salad, zucchini and other goodies to accompany it. It was an attempt to show MeLissa's dear family that despite her allergies, she's hardly starving! :) It was a great day - we even went on a little drive and found this cute little homestead (which we've since learned comes with some unwanted baggage).

On Sunday, we headed to Denver to see MeLissa's buddy Laura and her mom. We bummed around Park Meadows mall (one of MeLissa's favorites!) and then after a bit we returned to Colorado Springs (with a stop at the outlet mall in Castle Rock where we partook of some Rocky Mountain Chocolate factory goodies) to see another set of friends, Buck and Lyndsay, who'd just had a baby boy, Ridge. Apparently boys are "in" this year. ;) It took us a while to get there since traffic was pretty bad due to a couple of accidents on the highway. We made use of our time by snapping various shots of beautiful Colorado (and the top of the car, noses, fingers, etc. - Mark was taking photos and it yielded some amusing things). :) We stayed at Buck and Lyndsays pretty late and then drove back to Canon City in a really icky rain storm. It was a little scary...but we made it okay. We were sure tired when we got there.

On Monday were back in Colorado Springs again (as you can see, MeLissa's goal to minimize travel all over pretty much was a bust). We visited with a few people on this day. First, we visited with a chiropractor (Dr. Scott) that Mark considers one of his mentors. Then, we caught a glimpse of Brent, a friend who handles graduation stationery and what not for most of the southeastern part of Colorado. Then we took a little visit out to Peyton, Colorado to see Sarah who was the MOH in our wedding. She, too, had a new baby boy - Bryson. What's different about her story is that they were expecting a girl! Apparently Bryson is a trickster (or very modest) and did a great job of hiding a very important part of his anatomy during ultrasounds and what not. He and his brother Carsen were fun to watch and it was nice visiting with Sarah in their new home.

Then was the best part of the day - we had dinner with MeLissa's parents. This was our solution to keep grandma from totally going nuts on Saturday (she was quite eager to get home!). We enjoyed a nice long talk after and got home pretty late, but it was worth it.

We came back to California the next day after lunch with Pat. She gave us a lovely pillow (that MeLissa thinks she might try to make a few more of) as a belated-wedding present. With respect to the trip home, things were a bit tense at times (late flights and such), but everything worked out okay and we made it home, if a little late. We're not too sure we'll be flying US Airways again after all the fiascos, though...

When we came home, we found Pixie pacing the floors as usual. She gets to be a bit neurotic when we're gone, but thankfully, our sweet friend Bonnie had volunteered to visit her and feed her daily while we were away. Bonnie was rewarded with an assortment of Rocky Mountain Chocolates (what else?!) and our gratitude. Pixie was rewarded with a lot of petting from Mark. According to Mark she's gotten all the petting she's going to get for the next 3 months. ;)

One of the most exciting things that has happened since we returned is MeLissa now has a business card. It has a couple of little tweaks that need to be taken care of but that is it. It is just perfect for the image she wants to portray and will really make a great website design, too, with minor modifications. We're very excited about that and we'll share at some point.

This weekend, we were very productive (it's not over yet, but we were!). Yesterday we bought a GPS system (which MeLissa then proceeded to show how much she needed by getting lost twice in the next two hours) and a freezer for the half of a cow that should be coming to stay with us (cut and ready to eat - yum!) in the next week or so. We were pretty fortunate on the freezer (we didn't do too poorly with the GPS either) because we found a clearance model at Home Depot.

The only issue was that they couldn't deliver it. You had to haul it yourself using one of their rental trucks (or your own if you had it, but we don't!) and so we did that. This provided MeLissa's first opportunity to demonstrate that the GPS unit was a good buy. We made it home, unloaded the freezer with the help of Ladarrin our newest neighbor (who's earned himself a good steak). We were very fortunate that he came out when he did because the dolly we'd bought to get the freezer out of the truck had a flat tire. This wasn't the only fiasco related to the freezer, though. Before that, we'd realized we'd left our "clicker" in the Saturn and therefore had to wait for someone to open the gate to our community and, since MeLissa doesn't have a key to the house on her keychain (she just uses the clicker usually), we were going to have to leave it in the driveway. Silly gooses that we are.

On our way to returning the truck was when we got lost the first time (not much but a little) and then, when we were coming home was the second. We figure there will be a lot less of that with MeLissa's new toy which we figured we'd better get her since she's going to be driving all over for the wedding and event business.

We hope you enjoyed this dissertation about our trip and what's been going on since. We'll try to be a little more timely in posting things in the future. :)

Picture Recap - Last Day at Work...

We haven't yet shared the pictures of MeLissa's last day at the office (June 15, 2006) so here goes. Next up will be a recap complete with pictures of our trip to Colorado. On to the photo show!

First up, here's what MeLissa saw as she walked from the parking lot into the office every morning. It really was a pretty nice building. The shame is that we don't have a picture of the courtyard area...very pretty place that. A fountain, lots of flowers and all the squirrels you could ever desire (to look at not to eat) for those of you who know that one gets to the cafeteria via the courtyard.

On her last day, MeLissa's coworkers treated her to lunch at Sweet Tomaotes (a salad bar buffet place). In this picture you see (from left to right) Diane, Regina, MeLissa (of course!), Mina and Amy. Roger was behind the camera...

That afternoon, the tax team treated her to a little farewell party complete with cake she shouldn't have eaten, but did. It was pretty good cake...perhaps because she hadn't had a piece of cake for almost a year! Here's a picture with most of the team - Amy, Regina, Mark (MeLissa's boss!), Spiro, Regina-2, MeLissa, Laurie and the elusive (at lunch) Roger! This time Gary, the VP was behind the camera and several other camera shy people opted to not jump in the photo.

So, there you have it - a few of the best photos from MeLissa's last day as an employee of someone other than herself!

A Tribute to Uncle Bob and Aunt Ruth...

Sad news in Roccoland today. We just learned that around 1ish Colorado-time, MeLissa Aunt Ruth and Uncle Bob died in a fatal car accident. Rather than lament their passing, we're going to celebrate their lives with happy memories and stories. And, to do so, MeLissa's popping back into first person because it's just weird to write in the third about your beloved aunt and uncle.

These two people whom I spent more time with as a child than most children have a chance to spend time with are dear to me despite their flaws. I won't say that sometimes I was very frustrated over those flaws, but despite them, they loved me and they were people I could count on if ever in need. They were so good to my family, too. I don't remember ever feeling anything but acceptance and love from them and I appreciate that so much.

When I was young, I remember they lived in a house on a street which I can not remember (Parmenter maybe?), but I remember the house and would recognize it should I ever drive by. My aunt and uncle let me come stay and play with them. My aunt taught me how to macrame. I believe it was she who helped me finish my first plant hanger... I also remember baking cookies and even finding a snake (of which I was deathly afraid - just a garter snake, but still!) with her.

I remember that when my family fell on difficult times (when weren't times difficult actually?), they graciously accepted us as guests for Thanksgiving. I remember my aunt's pumpkin roll...a dream come true of a dessert that we could never get enogh of. And then, there was that mocha cinnamon cake. Can you say to die for? We never left hungry when we came to visit my aunt and uncle...

When I left for college, I remember the sweetness of my Aunt Ruth. She corresponded with me for a while to help me feel closer to home. I still have some of the letter, I think...

As I got older, I rarely saw them...only when I came home to visit if they happened to stop in at my father's appliance store to visit. We also were able to see them for a short time at our home-town reception for our wedding in Lamar the day after the wedding. That was the last time I saw them.

My heart is heavy knowing I'll have to wait until I go to heaven to see them again. The circumstances of their passing are not clear so I also feel sad that we have no guarantee that they died quickly and without suffering. All that we know is my uncle was thrown from the truck and it rolled. In their memory, I ask you to be cautious when driving, slow down and wear your seatbelt at all times. Do it not only for yourself, but your family.

Enjoy the fluffy clouds and sunshine and labor no more dear Aunt Ruth and Uncle Bob - you will be missed by many. Thanks for your kindness and the fond memories you leave behind.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to both of our dads - Larry and Mike! We hope you are enjoying your little giftie. Say it with us now - "Michael Savage is the bomb!"

We find ourselves on a bright sunny morning this Father's Day looking forward to seeing at least one of "the dads" in just a few days. We don't have a whole lot planned. We'll probably clean the garage out and perhaps make a run to Home Despot to buy a water pan for one of MeLissa's plants. Pixie is hiding under the quilting table, unaware that in a couple of short days she'll be left here to fend for herself. Well, not exactly, the lovely Bonnie has graciously agreed to keep Pixerella entertained and fed while we're away. MeLissa needs to write up the customary instructions which will include this time around, plant watering instructions lest we return to a balcony of dying beauties. We're hopeful she won't mind. :)

In other news, Mark passed his clinic entrance exam. We're terribly proud of him and glad that very soon he'll be able to take over MeLissa's care...there's one less medical expense to take care of (which is good because those COBRA premiums for our health insurance coverage are going to be murder we have a feeling).

Speaking of which, MeLissa made it safely through her last day of work at Safeway! Her coworkers and her boss celebrated her new cubicle-free life with lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (similar to Souper Salad for those of you familiar with that chain). Her coworkers enjoyed actually seeing her eat something since at pretty much every function she's been to at the company, she couldn't eat anything except maybe a piece of fruit. That afternoon, they also threw a farewell party complete with cake that MeLissa wasn't supposed to eat, but did much to the joy of her friends and coworkers. And, as usual, there are pictures, but blogger isn't cooperating so you'll have to wait to see them.

She is now a bonafide self-employed individual and it feels so good. She can't wait to make her mark on the wedding and event market - watch out subpar coordinators, consultants and planners, she's here to party like it's 1999. Ha ha! Seriously, though, she's very happy to finally do something that makes getting up in the morning a joy instead of something she just has to do.

This weekend we've kept busy primarily with cleaning and organizing things so that when we return "home" from Colorado we won't have to come home to a messy house (a major pet peeve of MeLissa's). Stay tuned for more details. :)

We have pictures - finally!

Of course they don't seem to wish to go into the post about Felisia and Kenneth's wedding so we've put them in their own. We're a flexible bunch here (and persistent!).

Here's MeLissa in her utterly fabulous dress and shoes...












Here's the guestbook table - decorate by MeLissa...



















Here's the gift table - decorated by (you guessed it!) MeLissa:










Here's what the tables looked like (MeLissa can only take partial credit for decorating here):












Here's a picture of the a cocktail table with used glasses from guests (MeLissa thought it was a pretty picture with all the colors and, of course, Martini glasses which she adores!). They served fruity cocktails made with Italian soda syrups and vodka.









Much as we'd love to tell you more, that seems to be all that Blogger is willing to post. It's a good sampling of some of the best decor pictures so we'll go with that. Hope you enjoyed them!

Haunted by a Dowl

A quote from Mark this morning: "Sometimes if you listen quietly, you can hear the sounds - the sounds of the dowl."

Yes, we dear friends and family, have a dowl at our house. Not familiar with the dowl are you? Pull up a chair and acquaint yourself....

The dowl is half dove and half owl. It came into existence many moons ago, but was only recently discovered by us. We originally thought we had an owl at our house. It said "hoo hoo" every morning and frequently in the evening also. We thought it was cool, but we never saw him. Then one day, while at work, MeLissa heard the familiar call, looked up and saw a dove in a tree...no owls in sight. She relayed this to Mark who wouldn't hear of it. He insisted we have an owl. Not really much fun to squabble about a bird (though in the days of Robin, we have done so) and so we just let it be...until one day, MeLissa heard the faint call of the "owl" outside the house, looked up and saw a dove...just like the one she saw at work. Mark still wouldn't hear of it and so we compromised as any happily married couple would and began referring to our little friend as the dowl. Perhaps if you visit us, you too will have the calming experience (or the frustration if our friend decides to coo or hoo at a much too early hour!).

In other news, today is MeLissa's last day at work and Mark's last day of finals! He's retaking his clinic entrance. They snipered him with a bunch of radiology questions he wasn't expecting and didn't study for. No worries, we're sure he'll ace it this time around! In preparation for his test, we did a bit of studying this morning and, in the process, made Pixie a little confused and a bit silly. MeLissa's watch happened to catch the sun and create a reflection on the ceiling that caught the eye of the dear Pixie cat. She was quite frustrated that she couldn't reach it. Throughout our short study session, as the light moved in response to MeLissa turning a page or whatever, Pixie chased and cavorted as best as she could. We think we need to find her laser light pen again...

This evening, rather than celebrating like we probably should (we will eventually, but there's bills to pay and less income to pay them with right at the moment!), we're going to visit the pet store. Pixie needs a new litter box (this is exciting isn't it - not everything can be as intriguing as the dowl, you know!) to prevent her from pottying outside of it. For some reason, she is having an issue understanding that she needs to get her little booty fully into the box, lately. We're very glad we have a plastic mat up next to her box to prevent her from ruining the carpet. At least she actually tries to use the box...

We hope you all have a great weekend if we don't make it back to post again. We're heading to Colorado this coming Tuesday so it will probably be a bit calm around here for a while... :)

Monday Amusements

For those (read Christopher and Douglas!) who were completely and totally addicted to Nintendo in their younger years, this will bring back wonderful (or painful perhaps) memories. Enjoy (and then come back and tell us what you've heard!)

A Wedding Story...

Note: There are pictures to go with this post, but blogger won't let me post them. So, as is often the case, I will add them when I can. :)
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Yesterday was a very exciting day for MeLissa! She helped coordinate a wedding reception for somewhere around 300 people! The reception celebrated the marriage of Felisia and her beau Kenneth - a truly beautiful couple!

This was a great experience for MeLissa in so many ways. Now that she's approaching her last week in the corporate world and will be coordinating weddings full-time, she is very excited for opportunities to gain experience. This was a wonderful opportunity to practice her skills, gain confidence and see what her new career will truly be like. She loved every minute of it even if she did come home with a very achy body (um, yeah, Mark's going to have to start cracking the whip on her a little bit more!).

Her first task actually was accomplished a couple of days prior. She needed to find the perfect ensemble that would allow her to work while blending in with the guests. She and her friend Loan found just the right one at Macy's. Its brown iridescent fabric was sure to be a hit (and the fact that it was on sale made it a great buy)! The only problem? Now she needed a pair of shoes as well. The girls found a cute pair of sandals by Ecco that matched vey well. She planned to wear the pearl accessories she wore to her own wedding to complete the ensemble.

On Saturday morning, MeLissa arrived at the Oakland City Center Rotunda venue to find that there was a bit of confusion surrounding how many tables were to be set up and where to put them. After much discussion between the head coordinator and the vendue coordinator, the tables were placed and everyone (the head coordiator, MeLissa and another assistant coordinator and various wedding party members and relatives) got to work on setting up the room. MeLissa began with folding napkins. Soon, she had trained half a dozen bridal party members on how to do the task and they were all doing great - it didn't take long before all the napkins were folded and ready for the tables. We did some additional decorating and then MeLissa was asked by the head coordinator to take care of the cocktail reception area.

MeLissa was happy to take on this challenge. She set up the guest book table and the gift table and added the finishing touches to the cocktail rounds (including using a little "magic" to ensure that the lampshades would stay in place even if a table was jostled. She even finished the set up of several manequins which displayed dresses worn by women important to the bride and groom. As you can see, she has a flair for table decor, though, she did make a few adjustments after the first picture was taken and she learned that the crystal lamp was destined for the bride and groom's table. :)

At about 3:30 that afternoon, MeLissa rushed home to finally eat something and get dressed for the main event. She attended to her toilette, donned her fabulous dress and had a quick bite to eat. Shortly thereafter, she was rushing out the door to the reception where she quickly jumped into her role as an authority figure and made sure that everything was flawless and ready for the bride and groom's arrival!

As the evening went on, she kept busy greeting guests and ensuring they had everything they needed to enjoy themselves. We must mention that one of the guests was noneother than one of her previous bosses (from PG&E). Mark was having a grand ol' time dancing and enjoying the show (we don't have a picture, but there was even an arial acrobat to entertain the guests!). We have some rather amusing photos and video of Mark shaking his groove thang, but we're not sharing! :)

MeLissa took this as an opportunity to shine during the evening and made a great impression on the venue's coordinator and the bride's mother who is also a wedding coordinator. Both of these fine ladies are looking forward to helping MeLissa launch her career and have offered their assistance whereever possible. One significant bit of help from Zina, the bride's mother, is that she's promised to give MeLissa a few pictures from the wedding to use in her portfolio. This is very thrilling indeed.

MeLissa also was able to make some other great connections through the wedding experience. She now knows a great band, a terrific DJ, and a marvelous massage therapist (for when Mark's unavailable, of course!). She's also soon to receive information about the catering company (owned by the bride's cousin and wonderful!), a potential client and a potential assistant. Most of these professionals thought MeLissa did an awesome job and are hoping to send clients her way.

Today, we slept in to let MeLissa recover from her late night (she was in bed by about 3) and then awoke and did some chiro-studying. We also made our way down to Fry's (an electronics store) where we purchased a new camera MeLissa can use to take pictures of decor elements that come out a bit better than the ones she has here (we're sure you noticed that many of these are a bit dark!). We actually took a tip from Mark's brother and bought the camera he has. It's a nice compact camera that's waterproof up to 10 ft. and shock proof when dropped from 5 feet or less. In the process, MeLissa was able to provide a few cards to the employee that helped her who was very excited about her service. She's actually going to have to order so more temporary cards because she's running low! :)

We hope you had a great weekend, too! Only 4 more workdays until MeLissa is her own boss!

Extra! Extra!

This breaking news just in!!

Mark and MeLissa will be coming to Colorado in a matter of weeks! Prepare yourselves for the thrill of a lifetime!

We're very excited to let you all know that we'll be gracing MeLissa's home state beginning June 20 and continuing through June 27. We're hoping we'll be able to visit as many of our friends and family members as we possibly can. One slight logistical problem is that we need a/some volunteer(s) to fetch us from the airport (Colo. Springs) on Tuesday June 20 in the morning and keep us occupied until MeLissa's brother Christopher (the Navy recruiter) comes and picks us to shuttle us to his house in Canon City where we'll be spending most of our nights. Friends in Pueblo - your time has come! :)

Anyone who is willing to visit us in Pueblo, we'd really appreciate it. We're hoping to do as little driving as possible to avoid putting tons of miles on Christopher's car. We'd love it if we could get a big bunch of you together for a potluck or an ice cream social on Saturday the 24th in Canon (or in Pueblo or Colorado Springs if someone would like to volunteer their backyard or suggest a good park or other location) - anybody game for an impromptu and fun gathering? If so, let us know (and Jenny, you and Craig are invited if you're interested just FYI) so we can work out logisitics. We're okay with multiple gatherings if that works out better, but let's space them out shall we? Oh, and lest you feel slighted dear Denver and further north friends, we could probably be talked into a Sunday afternoon "thing" if you'd like to help MeLissa work out details for a gathering of your own. :)

For those who can't make it to one of our little "group meetings," we're going to see what we can do about making visits in Colorado Springs and Denver (probably somewhere near Park Meadows) and possibly even Lamar (we're really hoping to talk the parents in to coming to see us to avoid that driving thing). Whatever our final plans, we're looking forward to seeing you all (or as many of you as we can) very soon! Stay tuned for updates...