Words To Live By...

1. Be Impeccable With My Word
2. Don't Make Assumptions
3. Don't Take Things Personally
4. Always Do My Best

I am  going to work on this every day by saying this out loud so it becomes a daily reminder as well as read the book "The Four Agreements" every month to instill this philosophy and hopefully to become the person I want to be and not the person that the outside world wants me to be.

My Current Goal...

I am currently working on learning the Open Source Content Management System Drupal.  So, I've decided to start publishing my photos on this new web site I am creating with Drupal.  Last week I researched different themes and this week I've been reading the documentation on Drupal and I bought my first domain name that is just for me!

I am very excited about my new learning experience and here's why:

1. Learning a new tool to add to my skill sets
2. Publishing my photos that I want to share
3. Finally having my very own web site (usually I am building a web site for some one else)
4. It's fun to learn new things

So, stay tuned and I will definitely let you know when I publish my web site as soon as it's up and ready to go!

Name Change Process...

So, this isn't the first time I've had to legally change my name but it sure is more complicated!

You would be amazed at the long laundry list of to do's I have to change my name!

Here's what I have come up with so far:

1. Social Security Card - This is the very first thing you have to change in order to do the rest.
2. IRS - The Social Security office notifies the IRS.  Alright one less notification for me! 
3. License - I am really looking forward to going to the DMV, not!
4. Car registration - Yes your name has to match on both your drivers license and your registration!
5. Passport - Ugh! I didn't have one back during the first round and I've only had this a little over a  year!
6. Voter Registration - Your identity is attached to everything!
7. Post Office - To make sure you get your mail.
8. Employer - If I had one I would ;)
9. Banks - Better have access to the money!
   
10. Credit Cards - You might get carded using your credit card and if your id doesn't match no shopping for you!
    
11. Loans - Keeping that credit history alive with the new name.
    
12. Utility Companies - Gotta pay those bills!
13. Retirement Plans - Yes, I am at that stage in my life and it's weird to think when I got married the first time I just changed my social security card, license, and notified my employer!  Things have changed for me!
14. Professional Organizations - This is important if you belong to one.  I don't believe I do.
15. Doctors - I've had mine for a long time so this will be like telling friends!
    
16. Insurance Companies (Health, Car, Home, Renters etc...) - One less off of my list, Eric is taking care of all of this.
17. Memberships - I have to contact the gym, oh yeah I also have to start going again!
18. Clients and Colleagues - This is a big one but the internet is helping me out with this!
19. Email Account or Accounts - I have already created my personal and job hunting accounts with the new name.  So, currently I am checking 4 email accounts to make sure I don't miss anything!
20. Facebook - Did this on the wedding day!  It was a great way to announce it to everyone and Facebook does a really nice job to make it easy for you to update this without too much frustration!
21. Linkedin - I just recently changed this because I wasn't sure how to approach it.  To make sure people still recognize me I currently have my old name and my new name.  One day I will drop the old all together but I thought I would take a phased approach on this one!

I think that covers everything!  You've got the people aspect, government, work, financial, identification, bills, and on-line on the list to make sure you've covered all of your bases.  I liked it better when I had 3 items to take care of but this is the world we live in and I am older this time around so it would make sense that I had more to take care of!

Here's a link to the list and more on line resources.

Planning Our Wedding...

Here's how we went about the planning of the wedding:

1. Location - Choose the location and get the deposit squared away.  We looked at several locations around the North Lake side of Tahoe but found that Commons Beach in Tahoe City was everything we needed.
2. Date - Select the date for your wedding. Now most people choose a date and then make the plans.  It was important to us to find the location so we could choose a date. 
3. Rings - Our rings came from Ultra Diamond and they are fabulous!  Our favorite person at the store in Milpitas is Tabby.  She is wonderful to work with!
4. Food - Discuss what kind of food you want at the reception and find a caterer (We started off with picnic theme and decided on a bbq theme was what we really wanted.  The Crest Cafe and Catering was our choice and they were fabulous).
5. Wardrobe - For us it we wanted simple and elegant and that's exactly what we got! The Mens Warehouse was great!  The staff was very knowledgeable and helpful!  Thanks EmmaClaude! David's Bridal was also very helpful.  The assistant there was also knowledgeable and helpful and I was able to find a dress that day!.
6. Cake and Refreshments -  We had our favorite chocolate cake and added sunflowers as decorations and the refreshments were beer, wine, soda, water, and coffee.
7. Photographer - This was difficult to decide on but we were very pleased with Kevin Klein! It is very important to get a good photographer who will be able to capture the moment without being a part of the moment. We love Kevin's style and really enjoyed his company.
8. Flower Arrangements  -  and the bouquet were simple but exactly what we had in mind. Amazingly I ended up ordering the flowers and my bouquet from Safeway!  They did an excellent job and they were beautiful!
9. Officiant - This was actually the hardest part for us because we are not religous but we are spiritual. I did research on the web and found Nance Liekham and it all worked out and she was very spiritual and supportive.
10. Gifts for the guests - We gave each of the flower arrangements to the ladies that attended and I was very proud that they were able to take a piece of the wedding home with them!

We didn't have a wedding coordinator.  We did the research, the interviewing, and the coordination ourselves.  We even dropped off the cakes, the drinks, and flower arrangements off at the park before the wedding.  We saved a lot of money by using the normal day to day resources and we are very proud of it!

So, I guess my point is that your wedding day is a celebration of your relationship and it should be fun, representation of the both of you, and it doesn't have to break the bank to make it happen!

Our Wedding...

Eric and I got married on 09/19/09! We did it in 6 weeks and lived to tell about it!

The wedding was everything we wanted it to be. In Tahoe near the lake, friends & family (19 including us), great food, wonderful drink, and most importantly a ceremony that celebrated our relationship!

We were married at Commons Beach in Tahoe City, California. It is a great little town in Tahoe and the Commons Beach park has a wonderful amphitheater area that has stone seating and the lake is the back drop amongst some trees. Next to this private area is the barbeque area where we had the reception. It is set up with wonderful wooden benches and looks out across the park and the lake. It was a wonderful place to eat and socialize!

Our officiant Nance Leikhim was great! She was a spiritual guide that was able to convey the words of our ceremony that really did represent the way we feel. We were very lucky to find her and appreciate her time and we are thankful she helped us celebrate our day. Nance thank you!

The Crest Cafe and Catering provided the food and reception service! They are spectacular! Lisa was a joy to work with and very patient with all of my questions! The food was delicious and the presentation was beautiful! Kyle was spectacular behind the grill and Lisa was on top of everything from the set up to the cake cutting! The menu was just what we wanted and we couldn't have been happier! Lisa and Kyle Thank you for all of your wonderful effort and the great food!

Kevin Klein was our photographer and he is the best! He is talented and able to be a part of the moment without actually interrupting the moment! He is a local Tahoe photographer and he is very talented and a joy to work with! Thank you Kevin!

I am very proud of us for being able to have the wedding we wanted, stay within our budget and enjoy our day with our friends and family!

Here are some pics we've posted on Facebook that family members took for us.