We have the best friends and family

Although most people gave us money in cards at the wedding, a few of our friends and family took a gander at our Target.com registry and decided they wanted us to have some funzy stuff we put on there. I'm glad we got some kitchen stuff and some money. Actually, a lot of money. Dustin and I are still ridiculously blown away by how generous everyone was.

We counted all the money on our hotel bed after the party and with every card we actually just felt more and more guilty. We're not used to people giving us money like that so it was a bit overwhelming. We would open a card, see the money or check and go, "Oh my goodness! WHY???" I guess people like us a lot more than we thought. But we are beyond grateful and never could imagine that we would've gotten as much money as we did. Thank you so much everyone!

One of the few things we've bought with the money so far are the lovely orange Rachel Ray cookware set. It was on sale too! Then I had to re-organize my cupboards so that I have cookware in this one and bake ware in the one below.

We also have some cast iron skillet that aren't pictured cause they're waiting to Dustin to season them and make them all prettiful.

Dustin's grandma got us a crock pot!! I'm very excited to start using this, you have no idea! It even came with a few recipes that I wanna try asap!

Love love love this! Brittany got it for us over 2 months ago but we haven't even hung it up yet. We tend to procrastinate. I put a battery in it though.

We also got some awesomely cute bowls and spoons for ice cream from my friend Jessica. Oh, and I think she also got me those amazing cookie cutters. I made heart shaped biscuits the other day! And then Kelly got me the cool beans cake decorating set that I'm worshipping right now.

And lets not forget the incredibly sweet video Dustin's family had made for us. Even if there is a picture of Brittany & Brianna in it that has nothing to do with me. We watched it when we got home. And of course, the book our Idahomies had made for us that made me ALMOST cry. Oh, how I miss those fools and all the fun we had!

Hooray for friends!!

Tara's Wedding Tips & Things You Should Be Aware Of

-First off, don't attempt to plan a wedding that is all the way on the other side of the world. It just makes life that much more difficult.

-If you don't have boobs, don't expect any dress to fit right and totally don't expect any bra to stay up.

-Have a backup best man because your first choice may decide to ruin your life when he tells you a week before the wedding that he may not be able to make it. Then tell you 6 days before the wedding that he's totally gunna be there because it's your special day and he really needs to be there for you. And THEN he'll tell you 5 days before the wedding, that he wasn't able to find any plane tickets in his price range and (surprise surprise) he actually cannot make it to the wedding.

-Expect most people to be late to the wedding and even totally miss the whole dang ceremony.

-People will assume you know what your doing and will want you to tell them what to do and where to go. Appoint your mother-in-law to take control of such things. She handles large groups better.

-If you have people flying in from outta town, make sure they know what they are getting themselves into. Maybe send them some travel books beforehand. Or find a youtube video of people driving in New York.

-If you decide to have a day of sight seeing with both families, be sure to bring a friend along to keep you partially sane. Make sure her name is Kelly Braun.

-Expect chaos no matter what.

-Write things down. Make lots of lists of things to do, people to call and things you still need to pay for. It helps. A LOT.

-Don't kid yourself with the idea of a "bride diet". You'll start restricting sugar and then totally cave and eat more desserts than you ever have in your life. Just don't bother.

-Arrange to have an all night open bar at your wedding. Your guests will adore you for it. Plus, you'll need it.

-There will be at least one thing you'll regret or be disappointed about when you think back on your wedding day.

-Be prepared for your flower girl to have stage fright and almost back out of her duties.

-Heh...duties....

-Don't get your makeup professionally done unless you honestly suck at that kinda thing. Just go to a Sephora and buy Urban Decay's Eye Potion, Smashbox's Photo Finish, Benefit's Benetint, and a few Sephora brand eyeshadows and you're set. Then cry cause you just spent hundreds of dollars in one shot.

-Take multiple breaks from planning and go to a few BBQs and bars. Also, go see Star Trek. I insist.

-People won't RSVP because they are THAT damn lazy and want to ruin your life.

-As the big day draws near you will start to really lose your mind. You will hate everyone and think that everyone is out to get you and ruin your wedding on purpose. You will begin to compose a list of all the family and friends that are adding to the stress, and how you will kill them. Then you will laugh manically at the thought as your husband(fiance) tries to rub the knots out of your back.

-You will break down at least once. And it will not be cute.

-Buy the Bridal Bargains books. Oprah likes them and so does Tara.

-Buy an accordion folder to put all your important papers in.

-Expect members of your bridal party to not hear a word you say. Ever. You will have to repeat things over and over and over.

-Maybe avoid putting people with ADD in your bridal party.

-Appoint one of your ginger sisters to help you go to the bathroom without her knowing beforehand. Then walk over to where she's sitting and announce that she needs to hold your dress up while you pee. She'll be ever so grateful.

-Expect peeps that RSVPeed (hehe) to not show up. But don't be mad because they'll have valid excuses such as, "My grandfather just passed away" or "I was in the hospital with pneumonia".

-Your British "Spare Dad" will make everyone nearly cry with his amazingly personal and heartfelt speech during the ceremony. Hold it together girl!

-You will step on your wedding dress too many times to count. Other people will step on it as well and you will yell at them no matter who they are.

-Wedding day is actually Sigh of Relief day. Once the ceremony is over all you gots to think about is having fun and drinking vodka cranberries.

-Day after wedding day feels weird. You'll have nothing to think about. Your brain will actually be empty. You'll wake up feeling refreshed and awesome for the first time in over a year. Your muscles and joints will miraculously be healed. Your head will stop throbbing for the first time in a week. You won't hate people anymore. Life is good again.

I totally suck

I've been obsessed with this blog since starting and couldn't get through a week without posting at least 4 or 5 times. All that has changed since I landed here in New York two weeks ago. I have been busy with wedding plans and seeing friends and family.

I've also been too lazy to post. It never seemed like the right time. I have so much to write about and don't even know where to start. My brain has been all over the place since getting here and my anxiety and stress is through the roof. Things will get better once Dustin gets here in 6 days. He's good at calming me down just by being in the same room as me. I've been counting down the days until his arrival since I walked away from him at the Okinawa airport to go through security.

My flight here wasn't too bad. The first two went perfectly well and my neighbor sitting next to me from Tokyo to Washington D.C. was a delight. Thank goodness. But once I got to Washington D.C. all that changed. They cancelled my flight and I had to spend the night there. I was fine with this since I was deliriously tired from not sleeping for about 30 hours. When Dustin called me at the Sheraton later that night I kept telling him that I wasn't even tired and that I was thinking about going down to the 24 hour gym downstairs. He assured me that I was actually tired and needed to sleep. He turned out to be right. I was asleep as soon as I laid down.

The lame thing was, the flight from D.C. to NY was only 30 freakin' minutes long!! Lame.

Wedding plans are almost complete but until it's over I will not be calm. This wedding business is just too much for me. After this week I will feel a lot better since the seating chart will be handed in along with the final payment for the Astoria World Manor. Then we will be poor. But at least I'll be able to finally breathe. Maybe I'll even get excited for the wedding. Maybe not.

I'm more excited to see family. And to observe how my family and Dustin's family interact. I will be spying on them from a nearby bush.

New York better get ready!

So I leave tomorrow for New York and I am a complete ball of anxiety. I haven't been able to sleep too well in days because I am so afraid of what will happen to me when I'm away from Dustin. We haven't been a single day apart in over 2 years and I don't know if I can function without him. I may forget how to feed or dress myself properly. It's all very pathetic.

I've come to depend on him far too much. He's my number one source of entertainment! Thank goodness I have things to do and a lot of people to see when I get there. Otherwise I'd sit in bed all day and eventually become a vegetable. I know I'll probably be distracted all day by friends, family and the single fact that I'm back in the place I grew up in. It'll probably just have trouble going to sleep at night. But what else is new?

Despite all of this I am BEYOND excited to go back to New York. Especially since this will be the longest visit there since I moved in with Dustin over 3 years ago. Plus, I don't know the next chance I'll get to visit again. It's way too dang expensive to fly from Japan to NY. Don't do it. Unless you have to be a bride or a groom in a wedding there. Then you should probably show up.

I should be packing right now but I really don't want to. I started packing yesterday but got to a point where my suitcase was stuffed and I hadn't even packed my shoes or bathroom stuffs! Then I had a mini freak out party and walked away. I'm gunna have to take some stuff out and have Dustin bring it with him when he flies over on the 22nd. I always over pack but this time that's not the case. I actually counted exactly the right amount of clothing for a 6 week trip. Dustin suggested that I pack two weeks worth of clothes and just wash them and wear them 3 times.

I think he's losing his mind.

Wedding plans are....flowing. I guess. There are way too many bumps in the road for my liking. I will seriously never plan another wedding ever again. My kids can elope for all I care. I can honestly say that I HATE planning this wedding. No fun whatsoever. And people keep asking me if I have butterflies and if I'm all excited to get married. Uh...no. I'm stressed. I'm anxious because I have stage fright and I'm gunna stutter during my vows like there's no tomorrow. I'm excited for the reception party so I can finally eat what I want and dance like a maniac.

But getting married?? We're already married. And I didn't have butterflies the first time. I had stage fright and there was only like 8 people there! This time there's gunna be about 100 and I really don't know how I'm gunna handle everyone looking at me. Stupid Dustin doesn't have to walk down the aisle. He's so lucky. And THEN there's that first dance that's gunna be just awful. I would appreciate it if nobody watched that atrocity. We slow dance like we're in middle school. Lots of spinning around and stepping on toes. You will get dizzy just watching. And your feet will hurt.

I am looking forward to:
-Seeing the little sibs!!!
-Hanging with my Nana on the set of We Own The Night (more on that later)
-Being in Queens with my best friend since I was two, Jennifer
-Having real NY pizza
-Going to a mall since they don't have any here :(
-Visiting Green Street
-Cooking for younger bro, Dustyloo
-Chilling in Long Island with the cousinsssssss

Those things I'm the most excited for. And notice that they have nothing to do with the wedding. If I think about the wedding I start to dread my trip. And then I wanna eat cake but can't because of this stupid diet of trying to be healthy so I can still fit into my dress. Lame.

So the next time I post I will be in Queens! I plan on taking a lot of pictures on the way over. I have a layover in Tokyo for a few hours that I'm pretty physched for. Hopefully I don't get too lost.

And I don't know, maybe Dustin will feel the need to post about how he terribly misses his "Sweetie" (that would be me) and how he's forgotten how take care of himself without me being there. But probably not.

You've all awaken the Groomzilla!

It's come to our attention that pretty much NO ONE noticed the little note in their invitation envelope that gave info on our gift registry. I'm sure if you guys look now, you'll see it in there. This is what it says if you can't find it:

"Due to the fact that we now live in Japan, we will not be accepting gifts at the wedding. We are registered at Target.com, so if you would like to have something sent to our address from there you can do that. Or, you may also donate to Tara & Dustin's Honeymoon/New Sofa fund."

Raise your hand if you didn't see this note. I knew it. I knew we should've made them bigger. And now grandmas are trying to get us comforter sets and crock pots. I'm sorry but if anyone brings a gift to the wedding we can't take it. We just won't have the room.If you go to Target.com and click on Club Wedd and then search for either Tara or Dustin Santillan, you will find our registry and it will send all the gifts to our house. That way Dustin will be less angry and frustrated. He's having a total groomzilla moment with this whole thing. Maybe because he's the one that had to print and cut about 100 of these little cards.

Pay closer attention to things people!

Thank you.

Is it bad when...

I'm agreeing with all the brides' reactions on Bridezilla?? Sometimes they freak out over something and I just think to myself, "If that happened to me on MY wedding day I'd punch that person in the face. I don't care if she is a five year old flower girl. I'd punch that bitch and then kick her out the door!"

It's their wedding day. They're allowed to have 1 or 57 meltdowns. People need to cooperate and help the bride out so that she has a minimum of 10 freak out parties a day! Get these ladies some booze or something! Horse tranquilizers! Anything! Geez. People just don't get the stress we're under.

That being said, guess whose gunna have a flask of vodka with her at all times leading up to her wedding day???

I'll give you a hint: The flask has the name "Tara" engraved on it.

RSVP deadline

It was technically today but I live in a world of procrastinators so I wasn't stupid enough to think only 40 people were coming to my wedding. I have a feeling some Goshenites will be just sending me a myspace message to tell me they're going. Silly bitches. As long as I get all the responces before I leave for New York, I'm not gunna sweat it. But on May 6th I gots to meet with my banquet manager and tell him the exact number of people going and all the food choices. If I get any responces after that I just may have to kill someone.

On another note, my friend Kelly totally made my day when I got her RSVP in the mail last week. I knew it was from her before I even opened it because this is what the envelope looked like:

If you know Kelly you understand why my RSVP would come back to me looking like this:

Then I couldn't get my lame ass camera to focus again. But the card says, "Yay I'm excited!". Only Kelly would think to draw pictures on a wedding rsvp card. God, I can't wait to see her and punch her in the mouth.

Wedding Invitation Fiasco

Ok, so maybe I'm overreacting just a tad but it really doesnt feel like it when I think about everything I've been through to get my wedding invitations out. It got to a point where I totally had a freak out party two days ago while Dustin was at work so that when he got home I ran into his arms completely sobbing and blubbering, "I'M DONE! I DONT EVER WANNA GET MARRIED!! I DONT EVEN CARE ANYMORE! I HATE WEDDINGS!"

He then laughed at me. I think hes just used to me being so dang dramatic all the flippin' time. But heres how I got to this point....

When we decided to have the big wedding in NY we knew we had to be realistic about it. Which meant being cheap. I'm ok with cheap as long as it doesnt look cheap. And white trash. And ugly. All of which my invitations turned out to be. But more on that later.

At first we were going to give my ginger sister the task of making our invites because shes the artsy sort and we would buy the kit for her and everything. She was all for it too. We changed our minds when we realized we would have to either send her all the addresses or she would have to send us all the invites for us to mail out. Too complicated for us. Then we decided to make them on our own computer...without an actual kit. I dont know how we were gunna do that but we changed our minds about spending money on a kit. One very important thing we needed also...a printer. Hooray. So we got super nerd Mark to come to Boise and tell us which printer to buy. While in Best Buy he informs us that the best way to approach the whole wedding invite thing is to get Microsoft Publisher to make everything and then put it on one of those portable computer file doo-hickeys (this is why we needed Mark) and then bring it to Fed-Ex Kinkos to print it. Problem solved.

Not so much. We made everything on the computer. I wanted to get it all printed out before we moved to Okinawa so that I only had to worry about getting addresses and mailing them when we got settled in. Dustin didnt want them to take up room in our suitcases. He won this one because I was preoccupied with the move and trying to control my hives. Thankyouverymuch. What we didnt think about was the fact that there may be no Fed-Ex Kinkos on the island. Luckily, we found two. One Camp Foster and one on Kadena AB. Awesome. It took us foreverrrrrrr to actually go to the one on Kadena and show them what we wanted. We did that in early January. We didnt get everything printed out until about 2 weeks ago. Basically the guy there was the biggest moron in the world and shouldnt have been working there if he had no friggin idea what an invitation looked like. And they advertised in big letters that one of their main things was WEDDING INVITATIONS! Whats the deal??

Anyways...we eventually got them. Great. They look like poop. The invite and the RSVP cards are ivory while the envelopes are pure white. The font had to be shrunk to fit so you can barely read them. Sorry guys but at this point I didnt really give a shit anymore. I just wanted them mailed out. Oh, I forgot to mention that the invitations and rsvps were printed on giant sheets of paper so that there were a few of them on one piece. Which means, Dustin has been staying at work on his breaks and using their giant cutty thingy to cut out the 88 invites and 88 rsvps. Hes still not done. Heres the best part too. We couldnt find envelopes big enough to fit everything. Isnt that wonderful? So I had to order some from amazon.com and that took about a week.

But then I had almost everything. The envelopes where here. They were stamped, addressed, filled and sealed. I spent about an hour on Tuesday doing that to about half of them. Thats how many actual invitations I had cut out. I put them in a nice neat pile where Dustin would find them and be able to mail them out the next day. Then I went on the computer. As I was researching potential parks for pictures I realized something.

I HAD FORGOTTEN TO PUT THE DIRECTIONALS INTO THE ENVELOPES.

Then I had my breakdown.

But you'll be glad to hear that Dustin came home and saved the day. We went to the BX, found little baby envelopes (so cute!), and put the directionals in those. So half of my friends and family are getting two envelopes in the mail. Just to make my wedding invitations that more ghetto. Seriously...they look so bad. And I dont even care. I really don't. I cant wait until this wedding business is over with.

Word to the wise....dont try to plan a wedding from the other side of the world. It just may kill you.

Also, the RSVP date is April 6th since I made those back in October. Try to get your rsvps in at least by the 26th. AT THE LATEST. I need to have them all before I head over to NY that same week. I dont expect them to be on time though. Its our fault that that date is right around the corner. Sorry again.

*shrug* I'm done with weddings.