Office Love

I may prefer the love of Jim and Pam to the love in Song of Solomon. Maybe because if Tim compared my breasts to deer heads I'd be seriously creeped out (not that he would ever make such a comparison, as he hates deer, but you get what I'm saying). Like many of you I was eagerly (fearfully?) awaiting the season premiere of The Office, and I honestly could not have been more pleased. I like how they shot it almost like a second pilot, with Andy establishing himself as the new manager and learning how to support his team. The staff was won over and so was I! Of course, this pales in comparison to the introduction of the new Jim and Pam storyline (Eeeeee new baby!). Here are two of many reasons why they are my favorite TV couple:

1) They make marriage cool.

Marriages are notoriously portrayed in television to be at best cumbersome and at worst expendable. In many shows, the staple couple either gets together early and constantly breaks up (Ross and Rachel) or the writers take the entire series to put them together (The Nanny). To see a television couple actually get married, start a family, and stay together is rare in the world of the half hour comedy.

Jim and Pam have certainly not had a perfect marriage, but their pretend marriage expresses the qualities that real marriages should be built on: family, mutual appreciation, trust, a sense of understanding, and a sincere friendship. That's just a few elements. Didn't you want to cry when Pam found that list? I'm not going to lie, I welled up a bit. So hats off, Jim and Pam, for making marriage decently fun and not at all cheesy.

2) I can actually relate.

A "Jim and Pam" love is completely attainable, unlike many unrealistic and superficial movie/TV romances (*cough* Twilight). I'm not saying Tim and I have exactly the same story, but it is similar (he liked me, I was with someone else, he waited, we became friends, then best friends, he told me how he felt, I said no, we stayed friends, I changed my mind, and in a nutshell here we are!).

I never consciously thought that the guy I was with had to be everything that Jim was, but I knew I wanted someone like Jim; a guy who was my buddy, who was gentle but funny, who thought I was the coolest even though I'm super lame, and a guy who just "got" me and liked me the way I was. Tim and I are definitely not perfect, but one thing I can say with full conviction is that I have always (always!) known in my head and felt in my heart that he likes me exactly the way I am.

Here's to my Jim Halpert, and here's to finding yours. :)

c h e e s e

This isn't a post post, I just had a spontaneous fit of madly-in-lovedness with my fiancé brought on by these lyrics. Enjoy (or cringe).

When I Say I Do

Matthew West

There must be a God, I believe it's true.
'Cause I can see His love, when I look at you.
And He must have a plan for this crazy life.
Because He brought you here and placed you by my side.

chorus:
And I have never been so sure of anything before,
Like I am in this moment here with you
Now 'for better or for worse' are so much more than only words
And I pray every day will be the proof
That I mean what I say when I say 'I do'
Yeah I mean what I say when I say 'I do'

You see these hands you hold, will always hold you up
When the strength you have just ain't strong enough
And what tomorrow brings, only time will tell
But I will stand by you in sickness and in health

'Cause I have never been so sure of anything before
Like I am in this moment here with you
And now 'for better or for worse'
Are so much more than only words
And I pray every day will be the proof
That I mean what I say when I say 'I do'
Yeah I mean what I say when I say

Take my hand and take this ring
And know that I will always love you through anything.

And as the years march on like a beating heart
I will live these words 'til death do us part'

'Cause I have never been so sure of anything before
Like I am in this moment here with you
And now 'for better or for worse'
Are so much more than only words
And I pray every day will be the proof
That I mean what I say when I say 'I do'
Yeah I mean what I say when I say 'I do'

Call Me Kate Middleton

For obvious reasons. In case anyone was wondering, so far my your-ring-looks-like-Diana/Kate's-ring! comment count is fourish, which isn't so horrendous. While I understand that most brides would probably be aghast at the insinuation that their ring looks in the least like someone else's, I am pretty zen about it. Here's why.

1) We are all unique... just like everyone else.

There are no original ideas; there are original takes on the same ideas. My birthday is in September, like millions of other peoples'. I have always loved my birthstone so I told Tim that I was completely open to a sapphire ring if that was also in his vision. (I picked out many different rings -diamonds, sapphires, antique, solitaire, three stone, ten stone, etc.- and I left the choice to my fiancé, who I can honestly say knew me much better than I knew myself, and made the perfect choice. :)) I would not presume to think that I am the first person born in September (or whenever) to think about the sapphire option.

2) We are all trend-followers... just accept it.

Do you follow the year's most popular baby names list, scroll to number one and cry "That's it! I'm going to give my baby the same name as everyone else!"? Of course not. Most people go somewhere in the middle/bottom area and choose something that will give their child a unique edge. Then their year comes around and, wouldn't you know that just about every other baby has the same one-of-a-kind moniker. In fact, the only people I've seen succeed at unique naming are celebrities (and God help Fifi Trixibelle in school) and my mother. And if Blythe became a trendy name I would probably cry. But that's a tangent...

We are not our own generation unto ourselves, so when we are thinking something it stands to reason that most people our age are thinking the same way about the same things. You can apply this theory to engagement rings. Just like all weddings are tacky (and someone WILL think your wedding is tacky... embrace that now), all weddings are trendy. Fashion becomes fashion for a reason, and I could say that I considered a sapphire ring far before gemstone rings were en vouge, but I'm sure that Jessica, Penelope, and Diana said the same thing.

3) Size Matters

Like many of my bridal sisters, I went with my nearly-betrothed to look at (all diamond) rings before our engagement. And -unfortunately for said nearly-betrothed- the bigger they got, the happier I was. Shallow? Fine, judge me, but I honestly didn't think something small (or even modestly large) looked awesome on my finger. Since I'm certainly not blind to the budget I embraced the diamond-alternative center stone pretty early in our ring search. Sure enough, for the same price that would have gleaned less-than-my-ideal diamond, I got a trés magnifique 2 carat sapphire. It's rather wonderfully huge and it has so many facets that it looks like an ocean when the light hits it; cue the blissful sigh. And speaking of money, did you know that Princess Di's gargantuan sapphire ring only cost $60,000? I know I know, that's actually an insane amount of money, but think about the fact that she was marrying a prince, could get whatever ring she wanted, and that even Bennifer's diamond ring cost $1,000,000 (throwbaaaack here). Diana got an impressive ring for a -by celebrity standards- modest sum. So in short, when you want to go big or go home... get an awesome gemstone and save money while you're at it!

4) Dissing the Diamond Drama

Do you inspect the 4 c's of your friend's (or Facebook frenemy's) engagement ring? Well, those more keen toward negative thoughts might automatically assume that those who go the gemstone route cannot afford a diamond, or hate diamonds just for the sake of being unique. First of all, I love diamonds. In fact, I love them so much that my ring has 32 little sparklers AND my big blue center stone. (See girls? You really can have it all!) I have to say that I thought this reason would be my biggest soapbox, but in fact it's been my smallest. I've received no negative feedback on my ring (to my face anyway), and you know who I have to thank for it? Jessica, Penelope, and Diana. Yes, this trend has made my ring super cool to everyone and, while I might not have cared because my one-and-only did such an amazing job, it is still fun to have everyone gush like w h o a when they see it.

So do not be afraid of my taking any offense; make all the Kate Middleton comments you'd like. Some may think I'm Trendy McFollowface... but I'm a Trendy McFollowface who's getting married. ;)

...

TITLE PREVIEW: My SuperMOH (do-do-do-doooooooo)

[committed]

Welcome to blog number 2! Not that blog number 1 was too impressive, but I'm notoriously noncommittal about journaling, writing... you know. On that note, it's a little ironic that I recommit to blogging now that I've entered into the b i g g e s t commitment ever, or at least agreed to. (Though actually, I had to write "yes" on the proposal plate... and we signed our names... gosh are we married now?) Anyway, I've been a bride (squeal) for about 48 hours now, and I have a whole lot of opinions beginning to work their way into my brain and out through my typing fingers. I have no desire to write about corsages or ribbons or lace... I mean I guess that might happen eventually... but I'm thinking more philosophically about the whole thing as of now. So here on my new blog I'm hoping to share my deep thoughts about the tough things -and yes, some light things too- that go into making a wedding... OUR wedding. For real, Tim is my best friend (and my first choice for maid of honor, but he said he was busy that day...) and I fall in love with him all over again knowing he's just as excited about our day as I am. Wish me happy planning and happy blogging; June 16 is only 9 months away! :)

...


PREVIEW: Next post title... Call me Kate Middleton