kellygrrrl

ladies - I'm here!! and I have PAGES of things to tell you, but the internet connection is a bit in and out inside the rooms. our wedding was last night. I'm so happy with everything, and we had to improvise some of the biggest elements. it just goes to show that no matter how coordinated things are, chaos happens as soon as the photogs show up. ha! I can't wait to tell you all about it. few quick notes. freeze dried rose petals are NOT ALLOWED IN MEXICO!!!!!! girls who have brought them in before have been lucky. the dog sniffed them out immediately in customs, and they took them from us. in the end, it was ok because the later your ceremony time is, the more the wind is blowing in from the sea, and I think we would've had a petal tornado if we put those 120 cups out at 5:30pm. it would've been crazy!! also, it's ABSOLUTELY too windy for sky lanterns. we tried one and almost burned down the condo complex where we had the reception (Wicky's). hillarious story, but when they say it's too windy, believe them. after a few dips into the roof, the lantern crash landed into the pool, so everything was ok, but it did everything but rise gracefully into the sky. the wind will affect your hair, too. the salon does a great job at sticking it down, but if you like a little height, be clear with them. mine was so flat, we ended up teasing and pinning the bangs up later. saw another girl and her entire entourage in there, they're churning out weddings left and right. I wouldn't doubt their ability to handle hair/makeup. ok, I'll write more later. sooo glad we're here until friday!! finally starting to relax. : )

ps - it hadn't even occurred to me about the weather. fingers crossed!! : )

Denielle - awesome! I saw your thing on FB, too - the one that interviewed you both and your TA. congratulations!! I cannot believe that we leave TOMORROW. meanwhile, our mortgage broker is pushing to get the paperwork in today (45 days out), I purchased a refrig/washer/dryer on clearance that can't be delivered to the new house yet (but has to go SOMEWHERE, like today), and the starfish from the forum was lost and is in the process of being overnighted. oh and I have to go pick up a cake cutting set after 9pm tonight and get my nails done (shellac) at 4pm. AND I HAD 1.5 YEARS TO PLAN!!! it's so crazy, but I'm sure everything will work out. ONE MORE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (seriously, leaving the office, like now ; ) ,

we leave on wednesday (wednesday??!) and packed all our OOT things, along with freeze-dried rose petals, biodegradable wish lanterns and starfish for a wedding coordinator in need, in a U-Haul Large box, which is the max combined size that American Airlines allows (<62 inches combined length, width, height). it weighs in at 41 lbs, so we're under the weight restriction as well. I'm so happy that this stuff will all be given away! it is FINALLY leaving our small apartment. : ) I also plan to send most of the wedding stuff back with my mom. we may even swap suitcases and have her take the larger one home. it will be nice. meanwhile, my aunt and uncle have already arrived at the resort, and we've selected our suite through online check-in. I wish we were leaving tomorrow. ONE MORE DAY!!!!!!!!!! : ) -kelly

the blood work thing is so that Mexico recognizes it as legal, which we would only need if we put down our actual wedding date there. my solution is to write some other day when we were in the states on the certificate, even if we sign it in Mexico, to have it legally recognized in the US. it sounds too easy to be true, but that's all it really is, right? you apply for the certificate, wait, and then get married with someone who the state recognizes as ordanied and sign the certificate saying that's what happened. fingers crossed it all works out (either way, no big deal, we'll just go see the JP after we get back).

we have a friend marrying us in Mexico, and to our surprise, he became ordained. so I think all we have to do is put a different date on the marriage certificate (one where we we're in the US), and we should be good to go. we're picking up our marriage certificate tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping I'll have more clarity then.

hey ladies - I made it!! or close enough, anyways. ; ) we leave for our wedding in 9 days, so I'll still keep active, but I went ahead and compiled some before and afters so I could get my free t-shirt (see: http://www.beachbody.com/text/products/programs/insanity/popup/tshirt.html). as a bonus, I heard back from them the very next day, and it should be here in time for the wedding! yay!! : ) I wanted to post some more before and afters here in hopes that they encourage future brides to try it out. I'm a HUGE advocate and am really excited by the results. last time I stopped around 6 weeks, and by continuing through month two, I ended up losing two inches off my waist and hips and dropped about 5 lbs overall. I also went from a size 4 to a size 2 (hence the wedding dress no longer fitting issues ; ). good problem to have! hope everyone is still doing well. I'll check in from time to time to see how things are going. KEEP PUSHING!! : ) had to toss in a few gratuitous muscle shots. FI enjoyed taking these. ; )

oh yay - love this pic! congrats, jbmarch! : ) I can't believe it has been a year already. I leave in less than two weeks!! : )

GOOD PLAN! : ) haha, fluff me up. I love it. : )

na, the dress didn't cost that much to begin with, so after $125 for just a front hem (three layer chiffon/silk - who knew?!), I'm done paying for alterations. I'll just have to eat more. : ) initially I hated pure cardio because it was straight through, but as soon as I realized that you did each exercise only once, it became my new favorite. I didn't think of the timing until now in month two. it's the shortest DVD at 45 mins, whereas the others are an hour long. also, it changes the warm up on the third time through so you go back to the month one warmup. definitely a relief as you contemplate an HOUR of jumping push-ups and the like. weight loss be darned, I'm foraging ahead. I had a piece of pizza over the weekend, as well as a doughnut for breakfast and took two days off in a row (the most since I started Insanity), so hopefully that's counterbalancing the sweat. ; ) next step is to eat more of the healthy foods instead. two more weeks to go (3.5 until the wedding)!!! -kelly

hi ladies - my on-site coordinator has just been assigned, and she's Denys Madrigal. has anyone worked with her previously? any info? thanks! -kelly

jamie - congrats! I'm so glad it's working for you. and 7 lbs is AMAZING!! you must be able to feel/see the difference. I think net/net, I've only lost 4 - 5 lbs total, but I'm hoping that's more due to the muscle gain. I was trying on my dress this weekend with different strapless bras and noticed it didn't feel tight anymore. in fact, my mom commented that I couldn't lose any more weight or it wouldn't fit. I've got 2 weeks of Insanity left, but I think I'm going to relax it a bit, maybe rotate in some more P90X - I just don't want to get smaller. I'm not sure that would happen anyway because my measurements have been about the same since mid-March. I'm just slightly bummed because this was the point where I fell off the wagon the first time I did Insanity, and I was determined to finish strong. I've got just under 4 weeks to the actual wedding day (3.5 wks until we leave), so I'll try to devise something to do in the meantime. any suggestions? -kelly

hey mimi - I think it's a great idea to start slowly. just try the warm up. don't go at Shawn T's pace (I still don't), just pick something that's comfortable for you. when we started, both me and my FI were sore for a good 4 - 5 days. unless you run or keep in shape regularly, you just don't have the muscles in your lower legs to support all that jumping around. but only in the short term. ; ) for me, the meal plan was pretty easy. just try to eat the staples. if you eat breads/cereal/oatmeal, make sure they're whole grain. I've gotten so used to it that now when I eat white bread, I get gas. : X stick to low fat, high protein foods. you can tailor the plan to what you like, and there's lots of stuff that isn't mentioned like SOUPS which are AWESOME for veggies. and garden burgers. if you look around, you can find lots of other things to eat. lean protein + veggie is always a good idea for dinner. FI and I also bought the P90X protein bars and the results and recovery formula. I really liked both (the P90X bar peanut butter flavor is best, and the results and recovery formula tastes like a creamsicle, no joke!) I can't say the same for Shakeology. no matter what I blended it with, I had to choke it down. yeeesh. the first time I did Insanity, I didn't really follow the meal plan. I'd still eat regular peanut butter and Subway sandwiches (on white bread!) for lunch. this time, I've stayed much closer to the meal plan. overall, I'm not sure there's a huge difference, but it's been good learning, and I'm starting to enjoy the healthy food. for me, as silly as it sounds, checking off that box in the calendar was all the motivation I needed (in addition to thinking, 'swimsuit. family. XX days. swimsuit. family. XX days.') ha! I think once you get into it, it's pretty easy to keep going. you just feel good and want to keep that feeling. the workout becomes its own motivation. let us know how you do and if you start early. again, you can pick any month one DVD and just do the warm up and stretch to see how it goes and get your legs ready. good luck!

thanks so much for the kind words, ladies. month two, week two and still going strong! hang in there, everyone. : ) and scxT - isn't it crazy when you do Insanity after being off for awhile?? doing it last year vs this year was great perspective. I bet you'll get back in shape even faster because your body already knows the moves. you just gotta get your muscles caught up. ; ) Quote: Originally Posted by Jamie5280 Welcome~~~ It is intense, but it will be well worth it! I know I just feel a lot more heart healthy too! I can totally see a difference!!! you look soooo amazing!!! You are doing such a great job!!! Keep it up!!!!

hey ladies - wanted to post a couple before and after shots showing progress over the first 5 weeks. I'm just finishing the first week of month two, and it's going well! much better than the first time I did it, I think because I really relaxed in week 5 and returned to it renewed and committed to making it through month two. now I realize these shots will likely not help me win any biggest loser competitions - the difference is subtle. I've lost 1"+ in the major places and am hoping for continued progress in the waist/hips/thighs in month two. also, I've done only Insanity this week but am missing P90X. I think the weights helped lean out the muscles a bit more, whereas Insanity has a tendency to build them. oh, and I heard on Dr. Oz this week that, "Fat on the thighs is not metabolically active and is being stored for future use." he was pushing this white kidney bean extract to help block starches, and although I'm not into all the supplements, it's definitely food for thought. how's everyone else doing??

is anyone else slightly panicked? I'm not questioning the marriage or the guy, it's more everything that's gone into all the planning and preparation. I've been working on the wedding for over a year and a half. I tried on my dress at the seamstress' and realized that the next time I'd be wearing it was THE day. I felt a little terrified. am I just a perfectionist, or is anyone else feeling this way?

for us (wedding in May), the resort didn't sell out until pretty recently, and that's largely how it went last year. but I absolutely agree with JessicaAnne's suggestion about being prepared with held reservations well in advance. I was stunned when she wrote that the resort was sold out (it pushed our last two couples into booking ASAP). I think being filled that early is unusual, but it does happen. TA Wendy is on here, so you can message her directly. she often comments in this forum. congrats on booking your date! we've been planning for 18+ months, and I can honestly say that in the beginning, it was FOREVER away, but as we've gotten closer, the time has gone exponentially faster. : ) -kelly

bailey, I think the common misconception is that destination weddings are easier. if you've spent any amount of time on this forum, you'll know they're much, MUCH more difficult. in addition to never really knowing who's coming, everything has to be coordinated remotely, and there are so many hoops to jump through with the legalization of the ceremony, resort policies, etc, etc, etc. that's not to mention communication challenges. I know it'll be worth it, but it's definitely not the easy way out. we only have 11 people going, including us. and while I'm disappointed the number isn't closer to 25, I couldn't get married without my family there (they make up the guests, no one from FI's side is coming). honestly, I think it's better for you to elope than hope that the four people make it (and others decide to come). I've been hoping for 1.5 yrs that more would join our wedding, but even after all the communication (STD, invitation, RSVP reminder), we had about 30 non-responders. it was WAY frustrating. those who said they'd come in the beginning either made good on their word or backed out a few months later. as for the others, I never heard from them. if there's no one you're super-close with and HAVE to have there, I recommend saving yourself all the stress and hassle by eloping. I'd only call the people who said they'd come and wouldn't worry about the others (unless you want to send an email or postcard - I relied on Facebook messages because they were the easiest way to get in touch with everyone). SAVE YOURSELF NOW!! : ) oh, and the coolest AHR idea I saw was sending a wedding announcement combined with AHR details (see http://www.weddingpaperdivas.com/product/7336/wedding_announcement_postcards_filigree_collage.html). hopefully that way you'll still get some gifts! : ) good luck with everything. -kelly

you'll need heels for the fitting if the hem is in question.

that's cool! I never realized that bubba offered a personalization option. looks like either way (Etsy or PS Print), labels and letters are about $1 each. with 40 days out, I'm at the 'pull out the credit card' stage. ; ) I also saw on here (other threads) that brides have made beaded name bracelets and used stick-on letters from craft stores - just make sure you get the weatherproof letters. you could always use paint markers if you have great writing. and I like the engraving idea, but it's pretty $$$. good luck!