Oddity of the Moment

New for Facebook relationship statuses: way TMI

Okay, look. What is this? How many different relationship statuses can FB come up with that are "legitimate" for enough people that they become necessary? 

UM.

Frankly, you're either single, dating, or married. 

Yeah, engaged. But it's almost unnecessary. It's just so everyone can get excited and hear "all the news."

If it's complicated, the world doesn't want to know.

If it's open, is it be open enough that everyone needs to know it's not stable?

If I were widowed, I wouldn't give a crap what FB thinks of it. 

Separated... so are you single or married? And what's the difference between that and divorced?

And, really, divorced is not a very nice label.

What is the difference between a civil union and a domestic partnership?

...does it matter? Both of them generally mean you live together without being married.

I'm just really surprised at the direction the world is going, that's all. This is sort of a rant. I hope I don't offend anyone.. I love you all. I accept whatever choices you want to make and still think you're an awesome person. 

But Facebook is kinda screwy sometimes. 

And it came to pass...

...that Tifa had a birthday, became a chalk monster, and got things done. Whoot!
Want to see?

On Thursday, Michael gave me an early birthday present (via my awesome mother in-law).

He bought me anemones. They're the flowers I'm using in our wedding, which I had never seen before! They were lovely in person, much better than on google. So pretty! (: 

Also on Thursday, my parental in-laws made me a homemade spice cake. It was wonderful, except the fabulous frosting overpowered the cake structure and it came slowly down. I have never heard Laurie laugh so hard before. She couldn't compose herself enough to catch the cake as it eventually tore apart and made for the countertop. Hilarious fun. It still tasted amazing. (:

Haha. Love the upright candles.

On Saturday, my best friends came together with me to go to the Holi Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork. We got absolutely covered in scented, (yeah, scented like crap) colored chalk. This is my photo. The white balance is completely shot by all the color. For good photos, click here and be friends with Ashley Imlay.

This afternoon, I drove up to meet Jamers in Logan to plan for a wedding sign-in album. (This is a lie, we actually just love each other and wanted to hang out for hours on end.) We planned it on iPhoto, which is actually a really fun process. See photo of me planning my invites on said program. 

Score of the day: a half gallon of Aggie Bull Tracks, only $5. Love.

Later today, I finally bought the ties for the brothers/fathers at my wedding. WHEW! For those of you who have never planned a wedding, this is actually a bigger deal than it seems. We had this huge discussion over red/green... stripes/paisley/silk... price/bulk deals... ugh. And now, it is done! Yeees. Want to see?

I was asking the guy shopping in the tie shop for advice on his "style" for ties. After a lengthly conversation, I learned he was from France and flying home that night. Go figure. I wonder if he'd like the choice I made...
PS: They come in CUUUTE little boys clip ons for Micah (my nephew). Oh so cute. (:

Tonight, after a painful and drawn-out life of service, my face wash finally ran out. *sniffle* It lasted for over a year, and deserves serious credit.

Yes, I do look like that at night. It could be a lot worse.
See photo to the right and slightly above this one for example.

And now you're officially caught up on the life of me. 

Wait, no.

Michael comes on Thursday night! I miss him dearly. Love him. (: 

Okay, now you're caught up. 

Loves!

Artists whom I Love

Planning a wedding is hilarious, and somewhat messed up from time to time. 

Because it's not really me planning my wedding, it's "the family". So far, mostly my mother, Mel, and Kristina. Don't get me wrong, please, I love having their help. They are so uber talented, and you'll see their work when you come to the reception. It's beautiful.
The hilarious part is that I tried to plan my own wedding in the beginning. Like, I was shopping and picking everything out, renting the places I wanted to be, etc. Then there was a slow takeover and usurping of power/opinions/planning duties. I found that no matter what I did, it was likely I wouldn't be planning my own wedding. So I stopped trying. And, really, a lot more work got done.
Our current status is somewhere in between trying to plan and complete abstinence from it. Aka: The things that are important to me, I make sure they happen. The things that aren't, I let "the family" kick trash and do amazing things. They really are good at it.

(Side note! Ashley Imlay is coming (flying.. jealous) up here tomorrow to go to the Festival of Colors with me and I am so excited! Yaay!)

(Impatiently) What does this have to do with the blog title, Tifa?
The quirks of planning your wedding are ingrained traditions. Aka: There are certain people we normally hire for weddings, and you can't choose anyone else. You can try, but it's likely yours won't be as awesome/talented/economical as ours.

Over time I have found peace with their choices and mine, and the wedding will be happening, I promise. I have to tell about some of them. Because they're awesome, and they've featured in the past few days.

Ze Photos:
Russ Dixon

Russ was actually my choice.. though he technically counts as a family tradition because Jamie used him before me. But it's all good. I got a lot of crap for choosing him above free/family photographers, but any complaints were silenced when we got our engagement photos back after the photoshoot. You can see why: he rocks. And I love him. So excited for next week's wedding shoot! (:


Ze flowers: (I wanted to get... zhose flowhers for you. Name the movie please?)
Johnny Ashworth, Traces Inc.
Unfortunately, Joni does not have a website.. but you can read the reviews, if you want... XD
The shop is kind of fun, though. I got a misplaced email from them listing all their different brands of heirloom tomato seeds that will be available for purchase this year. There were a ton.

Joni is a tradition in our family (and for good reason). She did Mel's wedding 14 years ago, Jamie's 1 year ago, and probably more that I don't know about. I love her. (: Want to see what she's doing for me?

1) A white anenome boquet 

Technically two.. photos and wedding day.

2) Michael's boutonniere.. ah, it's so pretty!!

3) My hairpiece.. she made it. She made it. Wow.. for my wedding hair. Like? (:
This is like a rough draft, don't judge too harshly.

While we're on the topic of

Wedding Hair:

Jarom Mair

Currently Jarom is at Salon Lydia.. but this is the third time he's moved in ten years. (Read his review?)

Jarom is a tradition I was set on. He's done my mother, Mel, Jame, Tara, Livia (she's nine...), and I for about 15 years. We follow him when he moves, we bring him toffee at Christmas, and we love him dearly. He's more of a misplaced brother. (He informed me that I didn't have his permission to get married, but agreed to forgive me later... toffee was involved.)
If I had a stalker photo of Jarom, I would post it. He's 30...4? 34? He's very opinionated, and won't let you do anything stupid to your hair, even if you beg... which I have. He's waking up at 6am for me.. because Russ likes early photos.. sorry. I love you Jarom. 

If any of you ever want the most tastefully lovely haircut ever, you should call him. 

and many more. But I believe this has gone long, anyway. I love these people, and really would recommend them to anyone. I hope Tara has a slightly easier job of planning her wedding, though. 

Attempting to Be Sans Michael

love.sick
adjective
in love, or missing the person one loves, so much so that one is unable to act normally


Derivatives: lovesickness, noun

I have a serious case of lovesickness. I sincerely hope it's not contagious. It's potent enough that we'd probably all be screwed.

Michael and I have been engaged since January 5th/8th/15th, depending on how you score it. I'd say the 5th. That's 2 months and 19 days.
Holy cow. Sorry, I just had a moment. That's a long time. Anyway...
Excruciatingly long days, and we have spent 26 of them together. That's less than 1/3.
And can I just say, I don't act normally anymore. Like.. I'm dying. Inside. A lot. I frequently cry when we say goodbye. "I miss you" has become my most frequent phrase, even dominating over "I love you" sometimes. I pour over pictures of him and I, and usually end up staring at them. Yes, I'm dying.
Yes. I love him.
But I really can't take this for much longer.
It's a good thing we're getting married in >2 months.
(No, I didn't figure those days by myself.)

PS: Isn't he so freaking adorable?! We Google Video chatted tonight. I loved it. I actually got to see him [sort of]. He bought his wedding band (YAY!) and I got to see it. I used my characteristic gestures to tell him hilarious stories. Yes! I think this will probably happen more often.

Attempting to be sans Michael, and failing happily.

Procrastination and a Lemon Meringue Pie

I think this is a post of things to do.. things I want/have/need to do. That makes the next post on things done. Maybe you'll like it more? Find out.



Most every night I get an urge to go running the next morning.
Those who don't know me well would think this a pretty okay/normal thing to feel.
The rest of you, no mental support calls, please. I'll explain.

This is a serious step for me.. above all, I am not sporty. This is a fun distinction. I'm athletic, but not sporty. I like hiking, swimming (not the sport), and things that are physically challenging without being sports. Really, sports are such sadness. They bring back memories of 7th-10th grade PE (I quit after 10th). The athletes all stretch and warm-up, preparing to kick everyone else's trash in [insert sport here] for the third time this week. Everyone else just tries (flails, mostly), sometimes succeeding, but never enough to count for anything compared with all the wonderful athletes who are well-trained and actually enjoy doing this. No. I do NOT enjoy doing this.  I would rather ditch and do my homework in restitution. Thanks for the offer, though.

But, if I could run, that would rock.
Because people say running starts the moment you forget you're on a run. So it's like being active without all the suffering (at least once you get into it). That's the plan, my friends. Run without suffering. Eventually.

Unfortunately, I woke up this morning and there was snow on the ground.. like fresh snow.. like anti-run snow. So the starting day has been postponed. Honestly, I'm not that sad. I was having this awesome dream about Michael and exploring Lake Powell that I was quite sad to leave when the alarm demanded my attention.


But, it brings to mind the other things I want to do [that I've been putting off for who knows how long...], like:

Write Austin. The poor kid wrote me in January and has asked several friends to bug me into writing him back. I love you, Ipson, for your unreasonable patience.
Write Derek. Once again, January. And I'm getting married, too. Wow. My poor friends.
Write Chris. This is just because he's in freaking Russia. Chris and I have a no-writing unless warranted agreement. (:
Journal. When you go through the biggest changes in your life in the period of about 3 months and miss 2-ish months of journaling, you're in trouble. Especially when the finace kicks your trash in writing down your story. Dang.
Make my father a lemon meringue pie. (2 tries on that spelling..haha) Dad has this inside joke he makes with himself where "no one" ever makes him a lemon meringue pie. Said pie is his favorite, but, frankly, things in his house are rarely made from scratch. "No one" has frequently bought him this pie, but constructing it from nothing is another matter. Kind of a Tiffany matter. So that's the goal... due tomorrow.
Figure out a way to convey how much I love Michael, and tell him. Everyone, Michael is really good at showing love and taking care of me.. especially considering he's 2,000 miles away. Every day, I get to figure out how to even try to compare. But I'm getting there. You will see. Um, maybe you won't. It's likely to go straight to Michael and never hit the blog. Sorry.
Get my in-laws to give me their addresses for our announcements. The invites come in next week, and they go out pretty much asap... except I have to print labels for them..which I can't do without addresses.. and our families all have duplicates with each other... but I can't compare until I have something to compare. I'm working on it.
Get rid of a pesky face issue.. which will remain unnamed. Dang it.
Write a blog. Check. One down.
and, finally...
Convince Cody and Ashley to come to the Festival of Colors with me. Just saying... (:

P.S. Three letters down. Yay!

Mildly embarrassing moment: Chris is NOT, in fact, in Russia yet. He's in the MTC. 

Yet another reason not to write incorrect, yet hilarious, things in pen.

I shouldn't have covered the stamps. They're animal shelter cats. (: 

(But I bet the ones on the stamps are either dead or adopted.. just saying.)

The Life I Love to Figure Out

Lately, I've stopped feeling like I'm leading my life. Honestly, there's enough going on that I'm just "going with the flow". My future is so mind-boggling that the present is constantly just trying to catch up with its presence in my mind. Almost humorous, really.
My poor present. Sometimes it gets lost in the mix. I really want to write letters.. to my missionaries and my love. And I will.. I think. The thought just slips away once I start figuring out the future, instead of getting done. We'll see how that works out.

The most current occupation of my mind: ze invites!!! (: 

Want to see? 

This is almost entirely accurate/finished. And that's saying something. Put two incredibly picky/opinionated people like Michael and I together with the world wide web, millions of options, companies, formats, prices (gah!), and 300+ photos to choose from. It's just a recipe for nitpicking and overly extensive researching. But, hey. I figured it out.

Love the company. They're great. Love the invite, inserts, photos, colors, wordage, etc. And it will all be done soon. That's the best part. (insert sigh of relief)
As long as you're not a stalker internet reader that I don't know, you'll be seeing this soon. Do you like? (:

__________________________________________________

Adventures of the past week, also known as Spring Break. A very relative concept to me... school-less as I am at current, but not a relative concept for Michael (who is very school-full..ha.. at this moment). He flew out Wednesday night (and my night I mean almost Thursday morning.. it's all good) and stayed for 11 days. 10 1/2.. whatever. I love him. And we had serious adventures. 

By adventures I mean car issues. 

Tuesday:

(Driving to St. G)

T: Should we fill up on gas here? We have about 1/4 tank.

M: Nah. We'll be fine/fill up later. 

(Later, M clicks button that tells you the mileage left on the current tank.)

Mileage: 18

T and M:  (0.o)   ...craaaaaaap.

(Racking moments where the mileage clicks down... 7..6..5....4..)

(Random exit of providence.. with a sign that says Gas: .7 miles ---->)

T and M: *high five* 4 miles left and only .7 to go. Score.

Not.

T and M drive down a lonely road towards nowhere (also known as Kanosh-more than .7 miles away) while the mileage clicks down.. 4...3...2...1...

T puts head between knees and refuses to watch as the mileage makes its final click to 0

T and M pray fiercely and stop breathing

Mazda continues.. somehow.. for another 4 miles in to nowhere (Kanosh) where the Sinclair awaits the no-longer-breathing T and M

We fill up on gas. 

T doesn't speak for about a half hour in shock. M laughs nervously for a half hour in shock. They survive. 

Later, the TPMS (Tire pressure monitor system) light turns on. T and M check the tires and decide to ignore it, that's normal for the Mazda and the tires are fine. They make it to St. G.

Wednesday: 

T and M want to hike Red Cliffs.

They drive to Red Cliffs, and don't make it. Mazda decides the TPMS was right, and has a flat tire.

Insert super macho M who changes the tire (with much difficulty... something about cranking, corroded tires, kicking said corroded tire harder than should be physically possible while T braces the other side of the car, finally getting tire off... etc.) 

T and M drive to nearest insurance provider for said tire.. because the tire is new. Like spanking new. Yay warranty.

Said insurance provider doesn't provide "roadside assistance" insurance and therefore doesn't owe Mazda a new tire. But they're nice and give us a used one to get to SLC (where we'd get a new one). 

T and M [try to] drive home.

TPMS turns on.

T: No. No. NO. *drives home anyway*

T and M arrive home to find the same tire flat [AGAIN]. 

T: *slight wimper*

M: *hits head against nearby car*

Thursday:

Insurance company comes to fix the tire. It has a leaky sealing, and is remedied. 

T and M really hope this is the end.

Frankly, so does the Mazda.

T and M attempt [again] to go hiking at Red Cliffs and have a good time.

T gets sweet scratches (well deserved).

M gets down the mountain a different way and wades through sharp rocks and deep chilly water to get back to T. 

It all works. 

Amidst the sadness and struggle, we still love each other. And we're getting married. (: 

But that was really lame to deal with. 

We discovered when T gets frustrated she breathes deep and hard and is silent. M laughs to relieve the tension, and tries to make T feel better. Sweet of him.

Both eat cookies and Doritos to relieve stress. 

(They were really good.)