The bride looks so calm...

Can we all just cross our fingers that my groom doesn't do this???

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a huge animal lover, and it makes me CRAZY to hear about laws enacted to profile any breed of dog. If you've ever decided that any one breed of dog can be nothing but bad (and I maintain there are no bad dogs, only bad owners who MAKE their dogs bad), you need to watch the video here: http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2012/05/pit-bull-pulls-unconscious-owner-from-path-of-oncoming-train/

Then, if you've never gotten to know a pit bull personally (or a rottweiler, german shepherd, doberman, etc), I urge you to drive right over to the Humane Society and meet one for yourself.  I am more than confident you'll find them to be every bit as sweet and loving and gentle as any dog you've ever met. 

Please feel free to pass this page on to anyone you think could use some assistance in their opinions about dog breeds.  :)

Whatcha think? :D

The other day a friend of mine told me about her best friend's first visit to a bridal shop after she'd been proposed to.  She and her fiance hadn't set a date yet, but she thought it would be good to go try on some dresses and get an idea of what style she'd want, etc.  The bridal shop employee told her she'd be allowed to try on one dress, but then she'd need to come back when she was serious. 

I can tell you with no uncertainty that if a shop that stood to make a LOT of money off of me ever treated me like THEY were in charge of any part of my wedding, not only would they get a big fat piece of my mind, but they'd get a sum total of zero dollars from me.  But surely treating future brides poorly isn't common, right?

Hmm.

Last night I went into a jewelry store. The ring my fiance put on my finger last weekend is too big for me, but he told me it was for "until we can get a 'proper engagement ring.'  Now, I know this particular ring has a special personal meaning to him and his family, so although it's not the specific ring we talked about, I am thrilled and honored to have it on my finger. All that said, because of the specialness (is that a word?) of the ring, I told him I wasn't sure we should rush to get it resized to fit my finger, especially if there was any chance we'd be getting a different ring, and he agreed. Which brings us to the aforementioned jewelry store.

I asked the "nice" lady for a ring guard.  Pretty simple request, right?  She immediately said she wasn't allowed to put a ring guard on it, that it would have to be done by a manager (who was, of course, not available) and that I was wasting my time anyway and should just resize the ring like I'd have to do eventually. I explained that the ring had some personal meaning and we weren't ready to cut it yet, and she raised her voice with me and said, "you're going to have to do it anyway, you might as well do it now, and the jeweler will be here Friday."  I tried again to explain the sentimentality of the ring and she said, "well, it's yours now, isn't it???"

I walked out of that store without a ring guard. And with the certainty that any future jewelry purchases will come from any store other than that one.

Did this kind of thing happen to you when you were planning your wedding?  Share your experiences and how you handled them in the comments!

I was bad about updating this weekend while I was in Nashville for the St Jude Country Music Marathon and 1/2 Marathon.  But it was SO. AMAZING.

Friday night I went to a pasta party put on by St Jude for people who raised money for the cause, like I did.  Jo Dee Messina played and I got to talk to her afterwards.  We even exchanged phone numbers! (WHAT?! Crazy!)

Saturday morning I was up at 4:30am to get over to the starting line, take photos, etc.  It took until almost 7:45 for my corral to actually get to the starting line and finish the race.  We were among 32,000 participants!

I had trained over the last few months, including a 13.5 mile walk a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't prepared for the hills, the heat and the humidity. It was almost 80 degrees, 90% humidity, and ohmigawd the HILLS.  By mile 10, I was sick of all the well-meaning people on the side of the road cheering, "it's all down hill from here!" as I was walking up yet ANOTHER hill.  By mile 11, every part of my body hurt and I was just repeating "one foot in front of the other", knowing I only had 2 more miles to go and I couldn't stop. 

By the time I got down the final chute to the finish line, I was hoping my legs would just go ahead and fall off. But I saw my boyfriend standing there on the other side of the finish line with a bouquet of roses and I thought how sweet it was that he, after running the half marathon himself, thought to get me roses to celebrate this big accomplishment. I hugged him and thanked him for the beautiful flowers and was about to ask where the closest place was to sit down when he said, "That's not all."

I said "what do you mean, 'that's not all?' and as he dropped down to one knee I said, "what are you doing? what...?!" He fumbled a small white box out of his pocket, and while crowds of friends and strangers alike cheered, he asked me to marry him!

I said yes!

(And then I asked where the closest place was to sit down.)

Later Saturday night, while waving my new bling in front of everyone, we went to the post-race concert featuring Gloriana and Rodney Atkins.  SO fun!

Sunday, my fiance (OMG!) and I were among a group of people invited to John Rich's house for brunch because we raised so much money for St Jude. His house is AMAZING! He put on a small show, let us look around his house, fed us some great food, and was very hospitable.  His wife was very sweet, and when she heard the finish line proposal story, she insisted on meeting us.

This was by far the most unforgettable weekend of my entire life. Maybe next year you'll join me! Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but it was a major accomplishment and I want you to have one like it. I can't promise you'll get diamonds at the end!

Until a couple of years ago, I was 100 pounds overweight, and would never have considered doing anything even remotely athletic.  Even after losing the weight, walking a 5K was about all the charity "racing" I had in me.  But I've always been a huge supporter of the St Jude Children's Research Hospital (and I can't even wait 'til our next radiothon!) and when I was given the opportunity to walk 13.1 miles in the Country St Jude Music Marathon and Half Marathon in Nashville this weekend, I surprised myself by agreeing to do it. I made that promise in January.

Now it's go time.  As of 7am Saturday, April 28th, I'll be walking a half marathon.  13.1 miles.  I've been training, of course.  The first time I did 9 miles I thought I was gonna die at around mile 7.5.  But I didn't.  After that, 11 miles was tough but manageable.  And a couple weeks ago I did a practice 13.1 miles and proved I could do it without ending up in the fetal position, crying. 

So I'm gonna try to post pics throughout the weekend on my Facebook page ("like" it please!) and I will check back here as often as I can, so if you'd be so kind as to cheer me on in the comments, I'd SO appreciate it!  I won't be here Monday, but on Tuesday I'll fill you in on how I did.  I expect to rock it.  :)

Jess

I'm kind of intrigued... the movie would be about Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon.  Taylor Swift would play Joni Mitchell.  Here's the story:

http://www.bob949.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104651&article=10070099

What do you think?