Deep Breaths

Two Weeks and Counting

So... we're down to two weeks before the big day. I think maybe we should change the title of this blog from "Deep Breaths" to "Our Lungs are Aching for Air." Any anxiety I feel at the moment has nothing to do with being married, and everything to do with wondering how in the world we're going to finish getting all the details taken care of. As most of the men in the audience know, being a groom basically means being dragged around for several months by a group of women who ask for your opinion on things that you don't really care about (like, "Which guestbook do you think is prettier?") and assume that they don't need to ask your opinion on the things that you actually would like some input on (like, "Would you rather go shopping all day tomorrow or do something a little less torturous?") ;-) And it seems that the list of little details that simply must be considered never actually gets any smaller. Again, my advice to you all (and I cannot stress this enough) is to elope. It's so much less stressful.

Having gotten that off my chest, I must admit that, now that a few things are finally taking shape, I think we're going to have a beautiful ceremony. Leia and I have prepared a slideshow with pictures of us as a couple interspersed with some of our favorite quotes about love and marriage, which will run as guests are entering the church. We have a unique unity ritual planned involving the mixing of brightly colored water instead of the traditional candle thing. The back garden of the church is going to be all lit up and decorated with flowers for our receiving line. I think it will be a beautiful day... I just can't wait for it to get here!

At the moment, Leia is out having another fitting with her wedding dress and picking up her custom-made wedding shoes. I love seeing how excited she gets about being a bride.. it's very cute. I don't really get the same thrill about being stuck in a tuxedo for eight or ten hours, but at least I can enjoy her excitement.

Now for a quick rundown of some of the highlights since the last time we posted (I know, I know... it' s been awhile).

* Last Friday we finished our series of lessons with the youth group, and then last night we all went out for a food and fellowship night in downtown Nicosia. We're currently trying to determine whether we have enough interest to go ahead with our plans for youth camp in July. Because there's so little time between our honeymoon and the camp, we have to start planning lessons now if we're going to pull it together in time. At first it seemed like there weren't enough kids who could make it, but after talking with them last night it looks a bit more positive.

* Some time last week (Thursday maybe? The days are all blurring together at this point) we went to the beach for a few hours so Leia could work on her wedding-day tan. We went swimming together for the first time, which was quite fun, although by the time I could finally get my chest wet, poor Leia was treading water for dear life. :-) Anyway, that was a very fun day.

* Last night we had a terrible tragedy. A dog got into our back garden through a gate that had been inadvertently left open by someone who was doing some work around here yesterday and killed one of our kittens, and mauled another one (who may or may not survive). I was on the phone at the time, and I heard Soula and Leia screaming. Leia had chased after the dog with a garden chair to scare him off, and by the time I got to the back of the house she was crying and trembling and hyperventilating. Needless to say, it was a terrible scene, and it really upset me to see her so shaken. I stayed with her last night until she fell asleep, and fortunately she didn't have any nightmares or anything.

So as you can clearly see, never a dull moment. We are both really worn out right now and basically just can't wait to be married and enjoy a couple weeks of much-needed rest.

It's been great to see s0 many recent updates from our other blogger friends (Sean and Laura, Ben, Emily, Amber). Good job guys. Now you can start leaving hints in your posts about how John and Leia's blog never gets updated. ;-) We really miss all of our family and friends and are so excited about seeing so many of you soon. From what we've been told, our Cleveland reception is going to be lovely, and we really want to thank all of those who have been donating their time and expertise to make that day special for us.

See you in a few days. In the meantime, comment away. Thanks for all the kind words and prayers. You all really keep us going.

–John

posted by John and Leia @ 1:54 AM