Kutschbach Christmas

I wanted to take a minute to wish all my bloggers a very Merry Christmas! I hope the reason for the season was within your hearts :-)

I have to admit, I’m a bit nostalgic this holiday season! I seem to be seeing things in a whole new light this year. Naturally it’s very evident in my mind that this is my “last” Christmas as Maggie Kutschbach with just my family and traditions. Next year I’ll have a husband and another whole family with new traditions to incorporate into the mix. I look forward to it but at the same time I feel a little sad too! My mom kept saying, “You better be here next year!” – when in reality I have NO idea where I’ll be! Patrick and I have never discussed what we will do about holidays but I guess like every other couple we will take turns splitting them each year.  So this year I tried to take it all in and enjoy it as much as possible!

As you can probably guess, Patrick and I did not get to spend the holiday together. He had practice Christmas morning then boarded a plane to Kansas City. Football players don’t get Christmas off! I am going to head down to see him for New Years though. I’ll be on a plane home all New Years day but it will be worth it to get to see him and ring in 2011 with him! He’ll also be on a plane New Years day, only heading to Indianapolis instead of Pittsburgh.

Every Christmas Eve since I can remember we have gone to my Godmother, Lois’ house. It’s an open house and anyone and everyone shows up! After food, drinks and plenty of laughs we always head to the late night mass. Growing up it was at Midnight but as of recently it has been changed to 10:00pm. I always enjoy this mass because it starts off in candlelight and it is so beautiful! After mass I always open one Christmas gift.

Yesterday, I opened one of my favorite gifts, a Shannon Crystal 4-way cake plate! I have to laugh, a few short years ago I would have HATED something like this ha-ha! Now, it was wonderful :-) My mom and I found it last week while Christmas shopping and I fell in love with it!! It can be a classic cake plate, a cookie tray, a punch/salad bowl or a veggie and dip stand all with the turn of the pieces! It’s beautiful!

On Christmas morning I woke up and went to my parent’s house to open the rest of my presents. As a child I woke up SO early all by myself. These days I have to admit, I need the alarm clock to get me out of bed ha-ha! I actually got my favorite gift this year (besides the iPad of course!!) twice! My sister Katie bought it for me as well as my mom. Both of them knew I wanted it so badly!

That’s right, I got my bridal robe from Victoria’s Secret!! I love it! I will take the second back and perhaps get the rest of my wedding night garb?! ;-)

After opening my gifts we headed up to the Sweeney house for the annual breakfast! Since Katie and Ted added so many family members to the family we now go to them each Christmas morning. It is so special seeing the kids so excited about Santa and Christmas in general! They are what it’s all about! I’m the baby of the family so it is amazing to see what Christmas is like through the eyes of a child :-) After playing with all the new toys and a delicious breakfast I actually fit in a little Christmas nap-a-roo! When I awoke I got ready and headed to my parents house for our grab-bag and dinner.

My family started the grab-bag tradition this year. Because of the wedding, everyone thought it would be best to just buy for the kids. So to stay festive all adults drew names and bought one present (minus Mom and Dad…they are always very generous!) I had my sister Kristy and I bought her a perfume set. My mom had me and bought me a gorgeous Wilton Armentale serving tray! Wilton is my new obsession since registering for the wedding! I love this serve ware! Not only is it beautiful, but you can also put it in the oven on a grill or in the freezer! I didn’t register for this piece but I absolutely love it!

Dinner was great. We had turkey and it was really good. We were kinda expecting ham which brought up the discussion of what do others eat on Christmas? Feel free to post what you ate below! My mom ALWAYS adds a scratch-off ticket at each place setting of the table. I was this year’s big winner! $10 – yeah!!! A new holiday tradition, Mom added in some wine this year…hilarious! She asked my sister Katie what kind she should get and Katie said Pinot Grigio. Katie laughed and said our mom would probably never remember what it was called, and that she might as well have called it “Penis Grape” lol! We quizzed mom at dinner and she called it “Pina Grina” – hilarious!!  

After dinner and some dancing and laughs my nostalgic self drove downtown to keep with my holiday tradition of seeing the Macy’s windows. I’m a bit sentimental over them! 2 years ago I actually took Patrick to see them and after we shared our first kiss!! It was sad not having him there this year but I took pictures to share with him – so I may as well share with you as well! Usually the windows are very extravagant but this year they were toned down a bit. Neat note about them, each one was made out of just paper!!! It was based on the “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” story…

I went on to explore the rest of downtown Pittsburgh and it's beautiful Christmas spirit :-) I loved seeing my city all light up! If I'm not here next year I will miss it SO much!!

Sunday morning, the day after Christmas, I woke up early and went ornament shopping with my parents. I've done this with my parents since I was a little, little girl! My parents are big collectors of Hallmark ornaments and it looks as though their addiction has stemmed down to me...Check out my first collection!

From left to right we have the Grizwald's house all lit up (LOVE Christmas Vacation!), The 2010 Snowflake, Our Christmas (for Patrick and I to journal about this holiday season), Merry Christ-Moose (I loved her little red high heel shoes!!), Airplane (for my newly licensed pilot!!), a mixer, cupcakes, and a single cupcake (all for my kitchen tree!) and Patrick's old teammate Troy Polamolu. I'm happy with them and I hope Patrick likes them as well!!

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Please be festive and safe as you ring in 2011 next weekend!

Talk to you again next year :-)

Bridal Binge...

I've come the the realization that I, Maggie Kutschbach (soon-to-be Bailey!) am partaking in a "Bridal Binge"...As I mentioned in the last blog, I have been a huge slack-ass when it comes to dieting and exercise, well my streak has continued and you know what? I don't like it. Not a single bit!

Every weekend I'm guilty of doing the same thing...I tell myself, this is my final weekend of freedom eating! I'm kinda embarrassed to admit this, but I'm totally guilty of binge eating to prepare for my diet to start on "Monday". (I know I'm not the only one out there who has done this!!!) Gosh, I eat all of my favorite things, just over-indulge in them, anything my heart desires! Then comes Monday...Sometimes I have a strong Monday which leads to a good week, but often times I have a bad Monday and then the whole week is a goner...I need to leave this frame of mind!!! It's terrible! I'm so guilty of making excuses and being just plain lazy.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because in a way it's the ultimate wake up call to myself. I'm 90 days away from my wedding!! 3 months exactly from the day I've dreamed about since I knew what a wedding was! I'm marrying the man of my dreams who is in tip-top shape. I need to get myself in the same spot because he deserves that! We will look back on these wedding pictures forever and I don't want to regret a thing.

So as I sit here eating the last of my Black Forest Gummy Bears (they are now gone and they were good! lol) - I'm making a vow to myself that I am getting serious!!! There is no more, "I'll start on Monday" or "I'll do it after the New Year" - I'm going to start now! At 8:00 pm on a Sunday night!

Now I want to let ya'll know, I'm not fishing for compliments here, I don't need ya'll to say "but you look fine the way you are". I know I look fine, but I don't want to look just "fine" on my wedding day. I want to look stellar, wonderful, fit, amazing and beautiful all rolled into one! Basically I want to look the best I've ever looked! I know I'm fine the way I am and I know my fiance loves me just the way I am. I'm not getting serious about this for anyone other then me. I want to be able to look the mirror and know my hard work has paid off. So it begins now.

Tonight I vow (and I take all my vows seriously!!) to try to do all of the following...

• Drink no more pop...I've been so bad drinking Coke and Mountain Dew...unnecessary calories that are doing nothing for me!
• Not eat after 8:00 pm...eating after that is doing me no favors at all.
• Incorporate more natural foods into my diet like fruits and veggies instead of processed foods.
• Stop making excuses and do some sort of exercise every day - whether it's crunches on my bedroom floor or a full-blown sweat-fest at the gym...no excuses!
• Start cooking for myself again...eating out isn't what's best for me. When I cook it I know what goes into it and I need to get back to this.
• Fight the temptations for cravings of certain foods. I need to get strict and start telling myself "No!"

This post has pumped me up!!! I'm refreshed and excited and ready to get healthy! Not tomorrow on Monday, not on January, 1st, 2011, but now, on December 19th, 2010! So I'm going to hit my bedroom floor with some crunches and squat kicks, I owe it to myself after my weekend of Chips and Guac, Cheesecake, Cheddar and Sour Cream Chips, Gummy Bears, Coke, Mountain Dew...Ugh! It's not easy admitting all of that! From now on I'm going to think to myself, would I eat this in front of someone I was trying to impress? Would I chow down like this if I had others watching me do so? I know its not going to be easy, and I'm sure I'll stumble at times, but tonight I'm vowing to try my hardest to make these crucial changes to better myself :-)

So to wrap, here are some videos I used as an inspiration to myself...maybe they can help you as well! Enjoy and I'll be in touch again soon!

< 100 Days To Go!

With 96 days left until the wedding I found it fitting to give an update on how all the plans are going :-) I've finally found myself in a calm spot after getting caught in what felt like a downward spiral. They say when it rains it pours and so is the case with wedding planning! I swear not just one thing can go wrong at a time - it has to be a long and drawn out chain of events. Finally all feels right again (thankfully!) and that could be because I got a surprise last-minute visit from my fiance!

Patrick was in town this past weekend and it was SO wonderful to get to see him and spend some quality time with him. It is SO hard to be away from him and I think at times it takes a toll on both of us and almost turns us against each other. We're your average couple and we fight like your average couple. We don't have a relationship that is always sunshine and roses...but then again who does?! I must say when disagreements arise, fighting from a distance is the absolute worst. Patrick and I have always been the type that hugs it out after a blowout (I'll never forget - one of our first big fights...he showed up on my doorstep after we reconsiled, just for a hug!) and obviously we no longer get to do that, which isn't easy. We now have to settle for the swap of a funny youtube video - hey, whatever works right?!

But anyhow, no more negative talking! We had an amazing weekend I plan to dish all about it :-)

So Patrick got in late Friday night. He had requested that I "have food" so I decided to go old-school and take him to my favorite college pizza place "Hometown Pizza" in Moon Township. After some nostalgic pizza for me, and just sub-par for him, we headed home to get some rest.

Saturday morning I awoke to a present being placed in front of me. As I unwrapped the purple wrapping paper I found Patrick's #57 Titans jersey before my eyes! (Excuse the all-natural look, I told you I was woken up to the present! lol)

Something hard was wrapped inside of the jersey and I placed it on the floor and gave my fiance a big hug and kiss! I had been waiting for this jersey for about 2 months now! All of the wives, fiances and girlfriends in Teneessee wear their mans jersey and I always felt so left out because I haven't had one! I knew it was coming because Patrick told me he ordered it Week 5 of the season...I just didn't know when it was coming! I was thrilled that it was finally here though! After hugs and kisses Patrick said "So what else did you get?" I looked at the floor where I placed the other gift and said "a book", and picked up the leather book as Patrick asked "What kind of book?" I about had a cow when I realized that in my hands was my very own iPad! Haha!

It was so cute, as I fired it up I found a special message...

Patrick took it upon himself to download all of his songs and games and some cool new apps to my iPad so it was all ready to go for me! So sweet!! :-)

After playing around with it for a little while we got ready for our first appointment of the weekend. Part of the stress I had been under was the fact that the invitations I had bought had no inside envelopes. Unfortunately there was no fixing this problem and I had to start from scratch and pick new ones. Because Patrick was coming in this weekend we decided to choose together. We selected a beautiful classic set that I am very excited about! I have to say I love that Patrick and I agree on a lot of the design elements of our wedding. I'm really into classic beauty and fortunately he is too which makes for easy decision-making! :-) I also love that he is actually into helping me pick stuff out and has an opinion!

After selecting the invitations we went back to the house and watched "License To Wed" - haha! If you haven't seen it, you definitely should! After the movie we got ready and went to The Capital Grille for some dinner with my sister Katie and her husband Ted. It was delicious as always!!! Mmmm!

Saturday night all of my closest friends from high school were getting together for a girls night and I had to make an appearece! After dinner Patrick and I stopped to say hello :-) He was a trooper as he was the only guy there for awhile - haha! The girls had fun taking pictures and designed what they say should be our first Christmas card - haha!

Sunday was an exciting day! A jeweler that Patrick heard about from some former teammates came by the house to show us some wedding rings :-D I tell you what, I felt like I was on the Bachelor/Bachelorette having diamonds brought to my house! The jeweler came in with a bulletproof case and set them out on the table for us...it was a pretty cool experience! We think we found the rings we want which is pretty cool and it also takes a lot of pressure off the to-do list!

We spent the rest of the day cuddling up in front of the TV watching football. It was a little bittersweet watching the Steelers together on TV...something we've never done before. I'm glad Pittsburgh is doing so well though and am excited they are in the playoffs!! Unfortunately, it doesn't look as though the Titans are going to be joining them there. Between their overextended losing streak and the success of the other teams in their division they are pretty-much out of the runnings. It stinks because they were doing so well the first half of the season! On the positive side though, this means Patrick will be back sooner than we previously expected which is so exciting for me!

Sunday night we met Patrick's Pittsburgh family, Dave, Ella and Carissa at Patron's for some dinner. Patron's is our spot! It's our favorite resturant to go to together in Pittsburgh. They have the best Mexican food in Pittsburgh, hands down! Patrick says it's the closest to Texas as he can get in Pittsburgh - haha! While there we asked if they could accomodate us for our rehersal dinner. They told us they would shut down the restaurant for us which was exciting news! When Patrick first requested Patron's for our rehersal dinner I was a little hesitant because there isn't a private room for parties. Now knowing that we can have the entire restaurant - that put me more at ease. I sampled a fish dish - which we will have to have as our rehersal dinner falls on a Friday night in Lent (I'm Catholic and must have fish on Friday's during Lent) and it was yummy! Words can't express how excited I am to know the rehersal dinner is out of the way...it's been more stressful then the actual wedding!!!

Other big developments...We sent out our save-the-dates and released our wedding website. If you didn't have a chance to check it out you can do so now... http://www.mywedding.com/kutschbachbailey/.

Our flower girls also have their dresses selected. I went to Alfred Angelo with my sister and her three girls and they fell in love with the most princess-like dress they had! Our fourth flowergirl, Patrick's cousin, Caila, went this weekend to try it on. She called me from the shop and brought a tear to my eye when she said "I feel like the Bride!" - that comment stole my heart away! All four girls are going to look like they walked out of a fairytail! They are going to be the show-stoppers!

Some of the small details of the wedding are also falling into place. I feel like I am right on track which is an awesome thing! Now I just need to worry about taking care of ME! I've not been as vigilant on the workouts as I need to be, but all this is going to change! January 3rd this bride-to-be joins boot-camp!!! Monday through Friday at 6 AM myself and my bridesmaid Jordy will be pushing ourselves to the max!! Start praying for me now - as I KNOW I'm going to need all the prayers I can get haha! To further maximize my workouts my fiance told me he is joining my gym and we will go nightly. This is just what the bride-to-be ordered! I need someone to crack the whip and keep my rear in gear!! I'm already warning ya'll - it's not going to be pretty! I will probably be a huge crabby-pants so expect the rants lol!

Well that is all the news I have for now! Thanks for stopping by :-)

XOXO