April 15th has come and gone, and I’m happy to report no blood has been shed and no one cried in my office this year. Immediately after tax day, Josh and I headed home to Houston to tour some venues, and we think we’ve made good progress so far on the research…the infuriating thing is that we haven’t actually booked anything yet!! Josh’s mantra for this whole thing is to work on the big decisions first (venue, food, budget) and then work down to the small things (bubbles or confetti, favor boxes or bags). I’ve been trying really hard to adhere to his advice, but it’s just so difficult. All the little details are what makes a wedding (in my opinion at least) and I can’t help but get excited about place card holders and what accessories my bridesmaids will be wearing. Of course, I still don’t have my dress (pretty big) or our venue or caterers (very big) but we do have a guest book (small/medium) and a box in which to put our favors (very small). I think in other words, Josh is saying we need to start with the most expensive things and work our way down. It’s certainly possible to spend our entire budget on centerpieces and flowers and custom made everything, so I can understand his reasoning…but I don’t have to like it!

I am getting very excited about my cruise at the end of May. I am so going to need a vacation by then…in fact, I could use a vacation now. Emily and I have a lot to celebrate since she just got accepted into graduate school and will be returning to the student way of life very soon. I have two trips lined up for this summer, plus I need to go home to Katy a few times to work out wedding details. So much to do.

I’ve been loving my pilates lessons, and I’m going to start mat classes tomorrow morning at 7am. I really am looking forward to getting back into the habit of working out twice a week, and I am so in love with pilates. As much as I loved yoga (and still love my practice) pilates isn’t trying to be more than it is. I always feel like I’m getting a great workout, and really focusing on myself instead of worrying about my place in the universe. I even treated myself to some new workout clothes just to celebrate my new love of pilates. I can’t afford to be totally clad in lululemon just quite yet, but maybe someday when I’m a rich stay at home housewife and have nothing to do but do pilates and cook gourmet food all day. What a nice dream!

Anyway, now that life has slowed down a bit, I should be able to post on a slightly more regular basis. Depending on your outlook, than can be either a good or bad thing. Let’s just assume it’s good for now.

6 more blessed days to go until April 15th! So exciting. The past few weeks have been hectic, crazy and at times perfectly enjoyable.

Two weekends ago, Josh and I ventured to New Orleans to see our friends Ralph & Jenny get married. It was an ordeal to get there, but once we were there we had a really great time, even without power! I’d never been to New Orleans without being accompanied by the entire Taylor Band, Choir & Orchestra, so it was a pretty nice feeling to be able to be a grown up in a very grown up city!

We got to go to Pat O’Brien’s (twice) walk up and down Bourbon Street, eat biegnets have drinks in the Carousel Bar at the Monetleon and I even got to have a custom blended perfume made at the Bourbon French Perfume Shop. It’s a beautiful scent that I’ll be wearing on my wedding day! It was a really fun weekend, and I really can’t wait to go back…only next time hopefully our travel arrangements will go better and there will be power in the hotels.

The other news is that Josh and I have a few appointments set up to check out wedding venues. We’re going the weekend after April 15th (I’m wasting no time) and hopefully by the end of the month we’ll have a date and location. I’ll feel much better once that’s settled, then I can start working on all the other details…like my dress!

Other than that, things have been going as well as can be expected. Josh and I have been trying to get out and do some geocaching on the weekends while the weather is nice, and we’ve found some really nice areas around town. Austin really does have some beautiful parks. I’ve attempted to plant some flowers out on our patio. Well I should say that I’ve successfully planted flowers, but I’m not really counting on being able to keep them alive. Usually I try herbs, and since that’s never worked out in the past I tried some flowers this year. I really need to improve my gardening abilities!

Josh and I also saw Fast and Furious at the Alamo Drafthouse. Now, this movie (or the original at least) has a bit of sentimental value to us, as it was one of the first movies Josh and I saw when we first started dating. Yes, we’ve been dating so long that they are already remaking movies we saw in the theater! That’s a little bit of Kathryn & Josh trivia for the day.

Also, I should mention that if you haven’t filed your taxes yet, you probably want to get started on that.