anniversary

/ænə'vзsəri/ n. 1 the yearly recurrence of the date of a past event. 2 the celebration of such a date.

I can hardly believe that it’s been more than twelve months since I last posted on the blog. It’s going to be impossible to summarise everything that’s happened over the past year, so this post will have to do as a quick run-down. Then I’ll have to start afresh … and with good reason! Hopefully I’ll be able to get back into the swing of more frequent, regular updates.

The wedding day was perfect in every way. Weather, atmosphere, food, events … We couldn’t have asked for anything more.

The honeymoon was great. We spent most of the time sleeping, eating, swimming, and generally relaxing on one of the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji, and at Jervis Bay on the NSW south coast.

After we got back, I moved in with Rachel.

Around June or July 2011 we found out she was pregnant! Since then, our lives have been a long string of obstetrician appointments, prenatal classes, the occasional baby shower … and frequent kicks in Rachel’s ribs! Because we figured there wouldn’t be much time for holidays in the upcoming twelve months, we decided to take a “babymoon” holiday to Tasmania. We spent about ten days driving round the island, and it was fantastic ... I’ve wanted to visit Tassie for a very long time!

Just a couple of weekends ago, we marked our first wedding anniversary, and spent two days going back over all the things we’d seen and done on the day. It was a great trip down memory lane … even if the weather was a little bit different! It was grey and drizzly just about the whole weekend! We commented to each other about how blessed we were back in 2011 with such a fantastic day.

It’s been a great year; a great journey.

Something tells me the adventure is just beginning…

countdown

/'kaυntdaυn/, n. 1 the period of time for preparation before the launching of a missile or rocket, or before the start of any other operation or undertaking. 2 the calling out of the passing minutes or seconds of this period as they pass. 3 a counting in reverse to mark the passage of time, or the preparations taken, before the start of an operation or undertaking.

There is less than a month ’til the wedding date.

Over the Christmas period, Rachel and I were busy with Church and family stuff, and so the time went by really quickly during the holidays. It was a nice, relaxing break, but I think now things are going to get gradually more and more hectic as the time goes on.

We had a quiet New Year’s Eve; we celebrated by having dinner at Rachel’s house, playing Scrabble, watching DVDs, and then watching the fireworks on TV. I think we should definitely go into the city next year for the real thing! (All I have to do now is convince Rachel that the 14-hour campout is worth it!)

On New Year’s Day, Rachel and I drove up to the Blue Mountains with Mum and Dad, and met Heather and Don for a lunch at the reception venue, as a way of trying out some of the food, checking out the view (because some of us hadn’t been able to see it before because of the fog around), and seeing whether the revolving floor causes seasickness! It won’t be a problem for most people, but if you’re prone to seasickness, you might want to bring your Travacalm! All in all, it was a successful day, and the place definitely gets the tick of approval. It was hot, though, and we’re resigning ourselves to the fact that the weather is completely unpredictable in the Mountains, and we may have anything from snow to bushfire; heatwave to chilly mist. It’s an exciting time.

Mum and Dad helped me look for some table decorations today, but we didn’t quite find what we were looking for. I’ll have to do a bit more scouting around. As soon as the cake shop opens again, I’ll be able to organise that, and we’ve got final confirmation of our numbers (128 people in total) so I can work on getting bonbonnieres sorted out.

I also have to start packing up things at my place, seeing as I’ll be moving in with Rachel very shortly. As I’ve been on holidays, and all I’ve done is watch The West Wing and sleep in, I’ll need to get a bit more organised in that regard. Some of my books and CDs and DVDs have already made the move.

The honeymoon is mostly paid for, so it’s really only little bits and pieces that need doing.

My main worry at the moment is whether I’m going to need root canal treatment before the wedding, and how much it’s going to cost...

statistics

/stə'tιstιks/, n. 1 numerical facts, such as those about people, the weather, or business conditions. Statistics are collected and classified systematically. 2 the science of collecting and using such facts.

When we sent out our invitations, I had in mind the idea that there’d be a fairly big response the first week or so afterward, then a lull, then a sudden influx of people responding close to the RSVP date.

Turns out I was pretty wrong. There were a fair few replies straight away, but since then, we’ve had an average of two or three envelopes steadily every day. I’m surprised, and I feel like I’ve learned something important.

Being the organised bloke I am, I took a look through Rachel’s bridal magazines and came up with a list of all the things we’re likely to need to organise, and put them all into a spreadsheet on my computer. After a bit of fiddling round (I’m no Excel expert), I managed to plug in a few little formulae to help keep track of things. It’s thrown out a few funny little numbers I’ve noticed. At the moment, there are only two days until the official RSVP date. So far, we’ve had about 55% of people respond. Belinda said to me, “People don’t RSVP any more.” I didn’t think that was true, but it seems that way. There are still a couple of days to go, though.

The other thing that I’ve really noticed is that at the moment, about one-third of our total budget is going towards the reception.

I’m not really a mathematician, but these little curiosities have been interesting. It’s also been a real help keeping track of the things we need to organise and plan.

Rachel’s dress has arrived, and she’s going for a fitting this week, I believe! She was looking around for shoes to wear to the fitting, but wasn’t able to find anything she fancied. We’ve started to have a little more contact with the reception place, and are getting a little more involved with the finer details of the honeymoon.

What with Christmas approaching (and the humid, summery, Sydney days) the time is going to go really quickly, and then there’ll only be “one month to go” before we know it!