Two can play at this game.

She started it.
So lady's and gent's. I present my sister. The face of evil

I write this as Rachelle is watching Project Runway, so what better a time to get a few thoughts down. Let's see what's changed? Well I was 'told' we're now having ushers which at first we weren't and then we were and then weren't. I love how fluid decisions are in this whole process. So anyway, I think its great cause we got to incorporate 2 more of my friends in the process. That being Ken Salvatore (Kinsey's husband) and Jason Moy. I'd go into how I know these guys but really its a long boring story. Let's leave it at they're both good friends of mine and Rachelle loves them equally and we're both extremely happy that they're involved. But now they have to work!! HA! What's sad is that we have so many friends and family we still want to get involved but there's only so many spots. Rachelle shot down my idea of having a 20 person bridal party.

Rachelle did a psuedo roll call and it looks like everyone is starting to book at the hotels. Really puts things in perspective as how close this day is coming. Of course how could I forget with Rachelle reminding constantly on how many days we have left. Its exciting to think that all this is gonna come together real soon. Then I look out the window see the 6inches of snow on the ground and I instantly remember, oh yeah, there's still plenty of time.

So this is the only thing I'll say about this because I promised Rachelle I'd shut up about it but our registry is up and on the main website. As the primary cook in this household I'm really exited about a lot of the things she registered for. I say 'she' because I opted out of helping with the registry which as far as I'm concerned is a good thing, but of course now I have no right to comment. Honestly though there's a only a few things on the registry I don't agree with. I said my peace, it started a big broo-ha-ha and we've decided to agree to disagree. But like I said 90% of the registry looks cool with me and I'm excited at the prospect of getting some new 'toys'. I'm a boy and do love new toys.

I don't get showers and I don't mean the ones that involve water, soap and shampoo. I mean bridal showers (or baby showers). I've been to two. The 2nd of which was a couple's shower which was fun mostly because I got drunk with Rachelle's cousins which essentially dulled the pain of boredom but the full fledged one was well...'interesting'. I know what you're thinking. "Andro, why did you go to a bridal shower". Honestly I didn't want to go but I did it in support of the groom who last minute asked me. My favorite take away from the experience was watching the groom hold up a set of towels he and his future wife got and then pretend like this was the coolest thing he'd ever gotten. Classic.

Anyway, I bring this all up because my mom and sister are throwing Rach a shower in February. My mom invited me and I immediately laughed that notion off. You can't pay me to be there..seriously. I know as the groom its my 'responsibility' to show up at the end and help bring home gifts but that's the extent of my appearance I promise. Its not that I don't want to be a good sport but I think we'll all agree that that's a women thing and I don't think I can handle that much estrogen.

Speaking of high doses of estrogen. For said bridal shower, Rachelle of course invited her mom, her maid of honor/cousin (Tine), her cousin's mom (Aunt J), and her sister-in-law (Christine). I expected nothingless. What I didn't expect was that they would ALL be staying at our 2-bedroom condo. 5 women + our dog = CHAOS! Needless to say I will not be staying at my place that weekend. I think I'm a bit too old to be crashing slumber parties and I can already hear the incessant giggling. I'm sure the girls will have a great time, I just fear I'll come home to a dog covered in bows and nail polish.

One last thing before I sign off. This is non-wedding related but infinitely more exciting. I'M GONNA BE AN UNCLE!! I've known for a while but was sworn to secrecy but my sister Mae and her husband Brett will be welcoming their first child this spring. This is such a wonderful blessing for our family and Rachelle and I are so excited to welcome a new addition. If you see my mom, ask her about it. I guarantee you won't see a woman smile as brightly as she does when she talks about being a Lola. I won't say anymore because I don't want to steal anymore of Mae's thunder. However if you want to hear more about it here's the link to her blog where I'm sure she'll be happy to keep you informed.

http://brettandmae.blogspot.com/

That's all from me. Hope everyone is doing well and I'll chat with you soon.

-D

First Impressions

So, despite Rachelle's skeptism, I've decided to start a blog giving everyone another point of view into our wedding plans. Now before you ask why, let me clarify. The intent of this blog is not to give myself a forum for which to vent and complain about every little step of the process leading up to July 19, 2008. I know Rachelle is worried I'm gonna contradict her decisions but in reality no one is more aware of my choice to give her full creative control then me (some will call it laziness, others the smartest choice I could have made..you be the judge). This is merely to give you insight into my thoughts, paranoia, happiness, worry and joy regarding this whole event.

I'll attempt to send out updates once a week or as needed, so check in regularly and don't forget to check into the main website www.rachelle-andro.com for wedding updates as things are changing almost daily. If you feel so inclined feel free to comment, it is a blog after all (Carol, yes our 24x7 tech support agreement does cover technical issues that will no doubt involve your funny attempts to comment. You know the #). Also, be aware I'm a computer engineer, not an English major. If you have problems with my grammar then I'll show you where to dangle your participle. And I apologize for my long-windedness (not really, but its just the way my mind works)

And away we go...

I made my first trip to Bayfield this past weekend. It took about 8.5 hours to get up there and it was ~400 miles. Not bad, but there were points in the drive where I had wished my Ipod had some new music on it. So like many of you (mostly on my side of the family) when I learned that we were getting married in Bayfield, WI, I was like "I have to drive how far?!!?" Yeah, I admit its not the most convenient spot in the world. From Chicago, it can easily take 9-10 hours if you don't plan around the traffic and the closet major airport is Duluth (still 2 hours away). But after my first trip up there I will say this. I can't imagine getting married anywhere else. Bayfield is a postcard, seriously I have pictures to prove it. The scenery is absolutely breathe taking and the people are some of the nicest I've ever met. The town itself is full of cute artsy shops that I'm sure the girls will enjoy and there were at least 4 bars stocked with beer for the boys. You can walk to just about everything and there's plenty to do for everyone. To the west of Bayfield are the famed Northwoods filled with hiking trails and off road tracks. To the East are the Apostle Islands and Lake Superior for those with more nautical urges. So you can sail, fish, golf, hike, shop, drink....I'm sure I'm missing a lot.

With that said there are moments that are a struggle. Those who know me know that I'm pretty well assimilated into big city living. I'm addicted to the Internet (get your minds out of the gutter), my cell phone is more critical to my well being then my pinky toe, I get confused when I don't hear sirens constantly, I worry about vagrants rummaging through my garbage not bears, the nearest grocery store isn't 10 miles away and when I want to eat out all I have to ask is what type of food I want to eat and there's about 100 places within spitting distance that serve that type of food. So yeah, there was a bit of an adjustment for me. My cell phone stopped working somewhere around Wassau, WI (take note Sprint customers, cause Rachelle's Cingular phone was 'kinda' fine). Surprisingly I was able to check my email once we got into Aunt J and Uncle Tim's place on the Island (don't tell anyone but the Madeline Island Yacht club has a really weak encryption key). Basically things move a lot slower then I'm used to up there.

Nonetheless, we got a lot done on our little mini-trip. I really think Rachelle is doing a great job with this wedding planning and I'm not just saying that cause I know she's gonna read this. Personally if I had to do everything she's doing and coordinate every little detail of this event I'd probably have shot someone by now. Its amazing to me all the little things that you have to consider when planning an event like this and I will fully admit I'm not cut out for it. But while up at Bayfield I finally got to be involved in the stuff I care about. Specifically I tried the cake and I sampled the dinner we're gonna serve. Fret not people, I've got this part under control. The cake can only be described one way. OMFG!!! For those who don't know what this means (Carol), trust me its good. I'm not gonna blow any surprises and tell you what kind of cake(s) but trust me when I say to save room for it. Which is gonna be hard, especially for the meat lovers out there, cause I tried the prime rib we're serving and if the portion was as large as I got then you're in for a world of hurt. Let's just say I wasn't able to finish it and I've put down a few steaks in my time. For those not red meat inclined we'll also be serving some local fare in the form of a trout and yes its pretty good too. My mom is gonna be pretty happy (she likey her fishes).

Anyway, (as you can tell) I'm really starting to get excited about this whole event but we still have a long way to go and I know a lot can change between now and then and a lot has. We had a bridesmaid drop in the last week, but not for any type of negative reason. Rachelle's college friend Julie is studying in Oxford which in itself is a big deal. She's doing a similar type of accelerated program that Rachelle went through while she was in studying there and apparently its pretty grueling. So she dropped not for any ill will but for the simple reason that she didn't want to commit to coming only to have to her school work get in the way. Rachelle and I totally understand still hope she can make it. What's cool, is this change does allow Rachelle to do something we both hoped she could do, but do to a bridal party #'s game, couldn't. And that was make our good friend Kinsey involved in the wedding. Kinsey is actually a good friend of mine (that Rachelle utterly adores and will continue to claim is HER Friend) who I met through my best friend Jackie as they both used to work together. She's now married to another of my good friends, Ken, and through the years they've both gotten to know me pretty well. This is why when I first introduced Rachelle to them, Kinsey was quite adamant that she loved her and that if I screwed this up she was gonna kill me. So as Rachelle and my relationship grew so did their friendship and these days its rare to see Rachelle and I go out without seeing Ken and Kinsey and our other good friends Jason and Michelle nearby (with the boys usually talking about football and the girls debating Britney Spears' latest faux pas). But that's the story for those who noticed change and I wanted to clarify that it had nothing to do with any social drama.

So if you've gotten this far in this blog you're probably thinking "he wasn't kidding when he said he was long winded". I promise you other posts won't be this long but I'm currently sitting on one of my boring conference calls and it was rant or surf the web. Not to mention its my first post so I have a lot to say. But I digress. We're both really excited about the upcoming wedding and we're all hoping you can come. If you do attend please consider extending your trip and take in all that Bayfield and the surrounding areas have to offer, you won't regret it. But the bottom line is that if you all mean a lot to Rachelle and I and this event wouldn't be complete without you.

Till next time...

-D