A couple weeks ago I visited my doctor for my yearly check up. During the examination, I mentioned to him that I had been gaining a few extra pounds these past couple of months, as well as a few other annoying body problems that I had a hard time accounting for. He mentioned to me that it could very well be a thyroid problem, and blood was drawn. He told me that he would be in touch with me in a few days, to tell me the outcome of the test.

The next coupe of days were a little hectic for me, as I was busy with not only work, but finding out all that I could about the thyroid (mainly hypothyroidism, which is responsible for lack of energy, depression, weight gain, hair loss, dry skin, etc.). Before I knew it, I had identified nearly all of these symptoms in me. Dry skin? Have you seen my hands lately? Lack of energy? How much sleep does a person need? Weight gain? I just broke the zipper on my third pair of pants this month, hello!   

I talked with my family about this possible outcome, talked to my fiancé Matt, and looked for ways to treat it, naturally or with pills. Friday came and went, and I spent nearly the whole weekend in bed, relaxing and taking naps periodically because, frankly, I had a condition.

Can you guess what happened next? Wait, let me share with you the message I got from my doctor this past Monday:

“Hello Amy, this is Dr. ****. I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you Friday, I’ve been busy and I know you have too with your wedding and everything. Well, I did get the results back from your blood work, and everything looks completely normal. Not a thing wrong. If you have any other questions, just call my office, but otherwise everything is fine with you.”

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Now that it’s a little over two months until the end of my single days, that also means another big era will soon be concluding: the journey of “Catholic Bride.”

Does this mean that I will be hanging up my hat (if I had one), closing up my laptop (if the one I used to have wasn't stolen) and disappearing from your lives? Absolutely not!

Whether you commented on my writing over the past year, or merely dropped in from time to time to check out what shenanigans I got myself into next, your presence has been dutifully felt. Thank you all for your prayers, inner encouragement and overall help as I began a journey that scared me as much as it filled me with joy.

So, let’s think together about what my blog could possibly be about now. I have some ideas that I’m hoping you all may be able to help me decide on. If none of them appeal to you, feel free to drop me a comment below and suggest whatever your heart desires!

The oblivious chef: While I do work in a catering business, I’m mostly known as a “Sous Chef,” meaning that I prepare the food rather than actually cook it. This blog would be about my journey on learning the basics of cooking, and –

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A long time ago I had mentioned to you how I had found my wedding dress and bought it, thus crossing off one more wedding task. Well, it’s been more than a year since I bought the dress, and it doesn’t fit me any more. It's too small.

OK, you can stop laughing at me.

I’ve had a lot of time to consider my options. After thinking things through, I have decided that instead of spending money on altering my dress (which actually doesn't seem to fit my body type any more), I’m going to buy a different one. I actually found one at Miss Ruby’s in downtown Milwaukee that I really, really like, and will fit me just wonderfully. While it isn’t as grand as the first one, at least I can breathe in it, and move around better. It is actually a bridesmaid dress in ivory (soon to be brides, this is a great money-saving tip for you! I only paid $260!). 

So, if you are getting married, or know of someone who is, and haven’t found “the” dress yet, feel free to consider buying mine. I’m willing to let it go for nearly $300 less than I paid for it. It's a beautiful, antique but modern dress in ivory that I wish I could still fit into. 

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So, I would have finished the Insanity workout if I hadn’t sprained my ankle. As it was, Shaun T. kept telling me to breathe through the pain and keep going with the exercises, but I guess my pain was a little too intense for me. I only got through the first week before I had to quite completely, before I did some serious damage (Future note: try not to fast-forward through that part about visiting a doctor before starting any exercise plan, like I did).

So, in about three months, I will be running around crazily as I frantically try to finish the rest of the wedding tasks, knowing that only two days remain before my beloved and I are joined as one. To tell you the truth, it still has yet to hit me that this is the last year I’ll be a single girl. While of course I’ll miss that part of my life, I know that there is much more out there for me in the future.

One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is making a “bucket list,” or a list of things to accomplish in life before I die. When I was younger, I was always making a list of things I wanted in life: To graduate high school, college, leave the country for a good amount of time, take a road trip, etc. Now that I’ve crossed most of them off my list, I think I need something else to accomplish. Such as:

• Hold on to Matt while he drives a Vespa in Italy
• Run a 5K (believe me, three miles would be a huge accomplishment)
• Have 6-pack abs
• Celebrate Oktoberfest in Germany 
• Learn to salsa dance (this is tentative)
• Have lots of happy, healthy babies
• Own a home in a place where I want to spend all my time in the backyard
• Take Matt to Table Mountain and show him my favorite place to eat a packed lunch
• Become an expert at rock climbing

While many of these entries seem pretty far-fetched, I can't help but look back to all the things I have accomplished in my life so far. Honestly, who would have thought that I would one day be looking out at Cape Point, the most south-western point of the African continent?  (See me in green below)

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It occurred to me at Mass yesterday that, while I have a specific work-out/diet plan ready for me, I have yet to think about how I’m going to get my spiritual life kicked up a notch. While taking random walks and doing stomach crunches when it occurs to me doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t exactly get me the results I’m looking for. The same goes for my Catholic faith: if I want a strong relationship with God, I better have a plan to get it into high gear (have you figured it out yet that I’m now doing the “Insanity” work-out? “High gear,” “Kick it up a notch”?)

So, for week one, I’m planning on starting off slow, and try to keep God as a constant on my mind by reciting “The Angelus” three times daily. Care to join me? Print the page and keep it near to your heart (or in my case, my work computer).

(Recited at 6:00 am, noon, and 6:00 pm)

"The Angelus"

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:

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Remember that time months ago that I made that promise about keeping you all updated on my exercise progress? Well, I failed that miserably, but I have so far been keeping up with my exercise routine and healthy eating quite well (after a brief vacation, in which I have no one to blame for but myself). So far, I’ve been doing cardio and walking, and cut out soda/juice, candy and other such “goodies.” However, I will soon be upping the ante with a 60-day routine of “Insanity.”

Today I got a hold of one of the DVD’s, and almost passed out during the warm-up exercise (not really, but you get my drift). So within the next week or so, I will begin a strict exercise routine that will get me in shape, and hopefully get me ready for a lifetime of good health. Basically, I just want to look decent in a bathing suit again, and not get winded climbing stairs.

As I’ve been concentrating on my new lifestyle, it’s only natural that I’ve become more aware of other parts of my life that I need to work on, i.e. my faith life. In addition to using resources available to help me become more bodily active, I need to start using all the resources that the Catholic Church makes available to us all the time, such as confession, Eucharistic adoration, and all those daily masses that I have the tendency to forget.

It’s funny how hard it can be sometimes to follow through with something you know will help you in the long run. Deep down, I know that if I just walk this one extra block, it will help me go farther the next time I go out. I also know that if I just go to confession this week, it will be help make my time in the confessional shorter the next week (less to confess and all that jazz). Even saying a simple rosary during my walk is a great time to make some time for God.

Oh so this is why I’m a Catholic … not because I’m so good, but because I need so much work … why do I always learn the hard way?

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Since Matt has moved into my soon-to-be-home, we’ve been having quite a time decorating, buying furniture and just making it a comfortable place for the two of us. Hanging out with one another has been great, especially since my living situation at my parent’s house has changed.

Because my younger brother Tommy moved back home to my parent’s house, I gave up my bedroom for him, and moved into my younger sister Anne’s room (yes, we’re still nice to each other, but barely). Obviously, we didn’t have enough room to combine both my and Anne’s things, so as of the past three or four months, most of my clothes and all other things are now at the apartment. Basically, all I have at my parent’s house now is a pullout bed and a laundry basket of clothes that I switch every week.

So, right now I’m in this kind of weird, transitional period.  I’m aware of the commitment I’ve made to remain with my parents until Matt and I are married, but until then I’m basically living out of a suitcase. Not only that, but it really is hard to go back and forth – from one place to the next – every single day. So, I mean, Matt and I are going to be getting married anyway, and I have pretty much all my things there already …

No, relax. I’m not moving in with him just yet. When we made the decision to maintain separate addresses until marriage, I knew that it would be a hard agreement to keep. I’m only now beginning to understand just how hard it is, though. Honestly, I love my Catholic faith, but dang, how hard is it sometimes?

Especially when you’ve got a sister who WILL NOT LEAVE HER BEDROOM, CAN ONLY WATCH HER KINDS OF SHOWS, AND COMPLAINS THAT YOU ARE MESSY, WHEN WE ALL KNOW SHE DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER CLEANING OUT A DRESSER DRAWER FOR ME TO PUT MY CLOTHES IN, IN THE FIRST PLACE.

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What I learned when Paulene and Roger came to visit:

1)    Matt is more like his mom than his dad

2)    I really do need to take naps to function normally

3)    My wedding rehearsal bouquet will consist of different colored paper roses, made by Matt’s mother

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Guess where I am?

I’m in a huge building, surrounded by things I never really thought existed. The lights are blinding, the items expensive, and I’m pretty sure my headache is only going to get worse by the time I finally find my way out of here. Two kinds of people surround me: the kind that are incredibly helpful and opinionated, and the kind that are indifferent and standoffish, eager to move out of the way when we meet.

Have an idea now? I’m registering for wedding gifts.

No one said it would be this difficult. I figured I would take the little register “gun,” run around the store for about 20 minutes, marking anything I wanted, and then just leave. Not at this store, you don’t!

At this store, you take the time to really think about how these items (bath towels, silver serving dishes, china and glassware) will look in your home. How many guests do you expect to have over at your house for entertaining within the next few years? That looks like a nice color tablecloth, but see how it makes the china plate look dirty? That wine glass is far too big for the dinner table!

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This past weekend Matt and I finally got the opportunity to buy some much needed living room furniture. For only $275, we bought two full couches, a chair and ottoman, in great condition. Not only that, but they were also in the same color fabric as our dinning room set was (a hand-me-down from my older sister Marya).

Now, I knew that getting the furniture was going to be tricky, because we live on the second floor of a medium-sized duplex. However, I had no idea what kind of ordeal we would soon be going through.

We pulled up to the furniture place (name withheld because I’m embarrassed), and as a soon as I again clapped eyes on that great looking furniture, I felt a knot begin to form in the pit of my stomach. A knot that only got bigger the closer we came to the front of our apartment.

Can you guess why? Yes, I suddenly came to the realization that, while the furniture was in great condition, totally comfortable and everything, none of this was going to matter if we couldn’t fit it through the door.

So, after nearly an hour of pushing, prodding, taking apart the legs and eventually sawing off the top of the stairwell (yes, I’m serious), we now have room to entertain more than four people (myself and Matt included).  

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