Mrs. Di Ricco

 It'll be difficult for me to completely abandon my maiden name... if we're honest (which I tend to ALWAYS try to be) I believe that until my name is officially changed (hurry up Marriage Certificate!!!) I will possibly always feel like a Morris as that was the name I was born with and proudly carried for 36 years! LOL

But right now, I get to play that fun game of waiting for the county and other higher leaders to submit the document so that I can officially begin the fun process of changing my ID card, Social Security Account, etc. I've never been a HUGELY patient individual, but I'm officially a married woman and I would LOVE for the appropriate people to recognize that and aid me in adjusting my identification forms.

Understandably, this is probably something that I should have potentially begun BEFORE my wedding, but a bride essentially has a gazillion other things on her mind before her one and only wedding... am I right?! So, I hesitated when I went to pick up my prescription today because when I notify the pharmacists of my name to retrieve my prescription I knew that I had to use my maiden name because the world is not aware of my NEW legal name yet... ARGH!!

Adjusted Wedding

 Alright, so we've been hitting snag after snag for our planned wedding👎 So, initially the chapel was planning to work with us in various ways, but that's definitely no longer a possibility AND the woman who was intending on completing the marriage ceremony wherever it ended up being located, is also now unavailable. BUT, this bride is and was determined to simply enjoy her engagement and not get bogged down by these little dilemmas. Fortunately, I've got a crew of people (my wedding-planning aids) who have been absolutely determined to ensure that this bride remains happy and relatively carefree. So, thank you God for providing me with these fabulous people AND thank you to these 5 women who've remained determined to experience and witness a happy bride!! So, our FINAL (hopefully - I DO NOT want any more changes in plans!!!!) wedding location is the groom's aunt's backyard. 

God has been blessing me because (amongst all of the chaos and negotiating of plans) her house actually provides me with a location where the bride can actually attempt to relax a smidgen and we won't have to worry about breaking any of the new laws that require SMALL gatherings because our initial wedding ceremony will be quite tiny. The groom's family and the bride's family will be in attendance and our wedding party (the bride's 2 bridesmaids -who happen to be HIS sister and MY sister and the groom's 2 groomsmen - his best man, who will obviously bring his wife with him (who the bride TRULY adores!!!)) and his other groomsman who both the bride and groom have come to fully enjoy.

Lastly, considering that the officiant from our initial chapel location won't be able to attend, the bride's brother has chosen to become the officiant for his sister's wedding. This is quite fabulous, on many levels, but also

because it keeps the wedding guest count at that same small number. The bride has been able to remain excited about her upcoming wedding because of all of the effort that those closest to her and the groom have put forth in desiring that this bride will still have her "dream wedding".

The groom's family has offered up their house to be used for the rehearsal dinner (considering that most restaurants are closed down to the larger dining options at the moment) fortunately most things have remained joyous and positive despite the current pandemic. A wedding will still be occuring on our desired date this year and we are simply considering a larger celebration (potentially on our 1 year anniverary) when all of the bride's family will hopefully be able to attend AND the groom's additional desired guests who unfortunately won't be able to attend a wedding in 2020.

But here's to looking forward to an extremely memorable day and an even more memorable beginning to a new married life!! Prayers and thoughts are ALWAYS welcome and please feel free to share any and all thoughts/advice/suggestions because ALL positive energy is grandly welcome!!!

This wedding WILL happen!!

So, it appears that the world seems to be against my happiness?! So Charlie (my groom, obviously) and I have chosen the date for our wedding but even the chapel which we'd reserved is questionable regarding whether the chapel location will be open for the service... so we're looking into backup plans...

Maybe we'll choose a picturesque bluff above the ocean to officially "tie the knot", it's all being investigated. BUT, it's become apparent to our families that the coast has meaning for us (considering that he proposed on the coast while his girlfriend (me) was taking pictures of the beautiful ocean) so we'll begin looking into a slightly different initial location for our ceremony...

The other unfortunate side effect of this pandemic is that the restaurant that was catering our wedding meal is still determined to provide us with food, but we'd been considering more of a buffet style meal and now all of the meals will need to be INDIVIDUALLY packaged. We can and will handle this, but our wedding appears to be taking some additional minor changes... For one, the bride's mother's family is now questionable regarding their appearance at the ceremony (which is understandable, EXCEPT that the bride's cousin's son was scheduled to be our adorable ring bearer -SAD!)

But We're determined to have faith that our wedding (which will be CONSIDERABLY smaller - basically just immediate family and wedding party) will still hold unforgettable memories and be enjoyed by everyone in attendance!! The positive (WHAT?! THERE'S A POSITIVE?!) aspect of our altered wedding is that NOW we are strongly considering having a wedding celebration one year from our official wedding, in which all of our initial 52 guests will hopefully be capable of attending and celebrating this brand new couple and where the wedding reception might officially be held and where hopefully all of the cancelled/altered/removed aspects of our initial wedding might hopefully be returned and EVERYONE that is important to the bride and groom will be gathered together to celebrate this momentous occasion?!

So, your prayers and thoughts are ALWAYS welcome as we focus on having a memorable/unforgettable wedding and plan to share quality time with our treasured guests ASAP...

Wedding Update

Hello everyone!!! (if anyone actually reads this...?) So, I've been stressing a little (mostly ANNOYED that the coronavirus (Covid-19) decided to choose THIS year - the year that I've FINALLY become ecstatic about being a bride and becoming a wife - to make it's unfortunate appearance in our world- BOOO!!!) so I've obviously got wedding planning apps and all of that and my mom and bridesmaids were PHENOMENAL in helping me find my very own wedding dress and they've actually also already found and chosen their respective bridesmaid dresses, so fortunately this is one of those moments when I'm extremely grateful that I've been so organized (with the help/aid of others) and have managed to handle the majority of my wedding with excitement thus far!!

So, today (in one of my apps- (TheKnot actually) I was reading a little blurb essentially called the COVID-19 Resource Center and it was providing everyone with tips regarding marriages planned for 2020. I was expecting to hear/read the worst, even though my dad affirmed yesterday that Charlie and I would still be getting married in September (just potentially to a smaller list of guests *tear*) I've been praying about it all and simply trying to maintain a positive spirit regarding the entire situation, but apologies now, however I've decided to wait until I found the perfect guy for me, which I've done, and now it feels as though the world is trying to play some cruel joke on me - like, HAHA, you've waited this long and now we're infesting the world with a cruel pandemic! Not funny world, not even remotely funny!!!!

However, I was able to breathe a little easier when reading this "blurb" about weddings in 2020 because it appears that while they suggest postponing the majority of pre-planned weddings (especially those initially planned for this spring) but when I got to the section regarding "How to Adjust Your Wedding Timeline Due to COVID-19" where they claim to have "done the math for you" So I began browsing for my September date... the site suggested that "there is no need to panic at this time" and "if you've scheduled a weekend fall date, then know that you're in a good place". Hallelujah!! I'll still be realistic about it all... who knows if this virus will be gone by then, but as my dad has recently assured my groom (Charlie) and I that our wedding will still be happening it simply might have to look slightly different.

So, I'm still planning on becoming a married woman towards the end of September (which I'm completely ECSTATIC about) there might simply need to be a few little "adjustments" made before that date officially arrives. I'm ecstatic about my wedding and especially about my new family (in-laws and whatnot- I mean the groom's sister is actually one of my bridesmaids!!!) but everyone's thoughts and prayers would be appreciated amidst this chaotic time so that this bride (me) can simply enjoy my "courtship" (period post-engagement and before wedding) COMPLETELY regardless of potentially having to have a virtual bridal shower, or whatnot. Blessed to have my sister and his sister standing beside me during this planning process!! Please feel free to share your thoughts/opinions/suggestions because ALL are welcome and appreciated!!

I'm getting married!!!

Foreign Money

So, hopefully this little story from today might bring about a smile or two from the greater world?!

So, a few weeks ago my parents were helping me clean up my place (clean out a lot of my hoarding tendencies?!) before my marriage and we located a Russian ruble! This was momentarily exciting, so my mom suggested that I bring it down to the bank to deposit it into my account. I'd put it aside in my wallet, not really paying much attention to it, but now that I'm on my own form of "lockdown" I noticed it lying in my wallet, so I took the walk down to the bank to take care of business...

The banker was extremely friendly and was very willing to help. She looked down at my foreign money and politely asked me where it was from. Well one thing that I didn't lose from my traumatic accident was the ability to read the Russian alphabet! So, I smiled and told her that it was Russian. She typed into her computer and told me that unfortunately they don't accept Russian rubles at the bank, but smiled and told me to go to Travelex in San Mateo, whenever they're open...

So, when I got home I tried looking up Travelex, but then while I was on Google, I simply searched how many US dollars the Russian ruble was worth... LOL!!!! I started silently laughing at myself when I learned that my 5 Russian rubles were worth $0.064!!! 😱 So, that's my funny story for today March 24, 2020. Guess my adorable little nieces Collette and Amelia will have some more foreign money to play with... I was tempted to laminate it before I sent it to them, but even that would cost more than they money is actually worth!!

My true hope is that Collette and Amelia will realize that THIS money was actually acquired and potentially spent by their aunt Jamie while she was in the Peace Corps, but that's unlikely, so WHATEVER!! Have fun cuties!!

SERIOUSLY?!

So, I'm finally getting married and I'm quite ECSTATIC about it all and then I'm sorry, but what has to happen in MY year?!

This bride did not give the coronavirus (COVID-19) permission to crash my year!!!! But, clearly it wasn't listening to my demands/requirements!!! ARGH!! So, you best be believing me when I claim that I intend to bombard God with my frustrations and pray that the coronavirus says (a VERY welcome) goodbye BEFORE September 26!!!

All thoughts/comments/concerns are welcome, I'm certain that practically the entire world is suffering through this same situation. I believe the key is to remain gracious and respect that everyone is dealing with the exact same situation and no person stands above these catastrophic health concerns (not even other countries because this disease came from a different country, so unfortunately it appears to be world-spread).

**tears of frustration/concern**

Our Engagement Photos

We had our engagement photos taken on Sunday... such an absolute blessing to meet our wedding photographer(Dana Muse) before my "special day"!!!

Dana Muse has agreed to be our wedding photographer and we met with her last weekend when she took these engagement photos... SHE WAS AN ABSOLUTE PLEASURE and I'm excited that she'll be our wedding photographer because she was excellent at what she does and a genuine thrill to be around. (Felt like a photographer wasn't even present)

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!

Well hello everyone! I'm not certain who is even following this blog, but I've got some pretty exciting news to share!!😁 On December 27, 2019 Charlie took me on a drive to Pescadero (which is where my former personal trainer Jen had suggested we visit some day). As we were driving along Highway 1 by the coast, at one point he saw a pretty view of the coast just off the highway so he pulled his car over on the side of the highway. I got SO excited to capture the beautiful views of the coast that I just began snapping a few images from my phone, Meanwhile, Charlie was simply standing behind me... At one point I turned around to smile at him and he was on the ground. I dismissively asked him if he was ok, to which he replied that yup, he was fine. So, I turned back around and continued taking photos. When I glanced back his direction a second time he was on the ground again and I was concerned... UNTIL I realized that he was down on one knee!!

 So, after a couple of minutes of excited bliss, we continued on our way to Pescadero. Once we arrived in downtown Pescadero, (where I was in such an excited bubble) we asked someone if they would take a couple of pictures of us...

So, it's been a couple of months and  I'M ECSTATIC!! We've already chosen the location where we'll be married and we've determined our wedding party (bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girls, ring bearer, etc.) This is my first attempt at updating people about my current life situation... We had our engagement photos taken this past weekend by our wedding photographer (who happens to be friends with Charlie's mom/family) and it was SO EXCITING to meet my wedding photographer for the first time!! God seems to be looking out for me recently because (unfortunately) I had essentially given up on the idea of a marriage because I figured that I was now an overly complicated package (what with my fabulous traumatic brain injury and all). But, God sent me Charlie and I feel like a quite happy and content individual at the moment!!

I will probably post some of our engagement photos later, but this is my first attempt at advising the world of my happiness and of my fabulous engagement!!!