Greetings from the friendly skies! Bo and I are currently en route to Bermuda by way of our first Jet Blue experience! Hopefully their friendly customer service is just the first taste of how great the experience will be. This week, I plan to blog at least once a day about our Bermuda adventures. But, in case I have too much fun with Nemo and friends or the mopeds, I have lined up some fabulous guest posts!
Hello Healthy, Happier Bear readers! My name is Heather and I blog at Hangry Pants and for The Knot. This post is entitled, "Planning a Wedding & Still Having a Life (And Friends), but it could be entitled How to Move, Get a New Job, Buy a House, Get a Dog, Have a Boyfriend, etc. and Still Have a Life (And Friends) because what I’ve learned in the eleven months I’ve been engaged applies, I think, to a lot of life events where we think nothing else could possibly be bigger/more stressful/more amazing than this.
Last June I got engaged, and since then I’ve gotten a new job, house hunted, tried to maintain some kind of life and plan a wedding.
- Single Task: Getting multiple things done at once is absolutely awesome, but I find if I am actively trying to do two things at once I make more mistakes, forget things, and end up having redo something. I’ve learned to fight the urge to multitask and really DO one thing at one time. For example, if I’m trying to blog, blogging is the only active thing I’m doing. I might have the T.V. or music on in the background, but my brain and hands do one thing.
- Have Dates to Discuss: I have an involved groom, but I learned early on that unlike me, he can only handle wedding information in small doses at one time. At first, the following occurred a lot: Me, "Mark, do you want a cake?" Mark: "No, I want lunch." Me, "No! I mean at the wedding." Yeah I guess even an involved groom is not a mind reader. What we ended up doing is having Wedding Dates to talk about what needs to done and make decisions. It’s fun!
- Have Dates for Fun: On the other hand, I think it’s important to have times when we are not discussing the wedding, otherwise, it becomes this event that takes over our lives. The weather is nice no, so we’ve been going on nightly walks after dinner where we try not to talk about the wedding.
- Ask for Help: People will want to help you. Often, they do not know what to do to help, so if you feel comfortable doing so ask them to do a specific thing for you. For example, my mom is totally in charge of ceremony music.
- But Listen To Your Gut: Everyone you know who has ever done what you are about to do will want to tell you just what you should and shouldn’t do. I always listen politely, tell them I will consider it and move on. Some people have really good information to share, and others are just bossy. You know the difference, so trust your gut.
- Have other Interests: I signed up for a half marathon about a month before my wedding just so I would have something else to do! It’s important to me to maintain a sense of normalcy here. People warn me in a scary way about the stresses of being a bride, but I refuse to let a happy time turn me blue! Whatever it is you love, squeeze it in; make time for your hobbies, yourself and the people in your life. Talk about other things. Continue to be an interesting person!
- Smile: Whatever it is, a stressful time or a happy time, it’s temporary. Experience it all and smile!
*Don’t forget to enter my health & beauty giveaway!
