Dreamers take a hands on approach

Handfasting ceremony

Or maybe just all the dreamers I know do. 

That's why when it comes to planning the wedding, I'm taking on much of the responsibility.  It isn't simply that it is cheaper to do it myself, it's also that there's a sense of pride that comes from knowing I arranged the flowers with love, or poured the candles with love, or even braided the handfasting cords with love and cook for the reception with love.

That's something else about dreamers...it's all about the love.

Sure, there may be times that the money is tight, but there is love in spades.  Spades, I tell you!  And with that much love, I don't worry how the day will turn out.  I don't worry whether everyone will have a fun wedding weekend.  I don't worry if the food will be good.  (Trust me, I know food.)

So, no worried about the love or my ability to make things pretty.  There are a few little concerns that there will be time enough to accomplish everything I'd like to.  I shouldn't worry about that.  I have yet to miss a deadline.  It will all come together.  It will be beautiful.  It will be relaxing.  And there will be loads of updates.  Dreamers can't help but share.

It's finally ours!

Some of you may have questioned my absence from the blogosphere yesterday. And I can explain.

I was in Charleston. Buying the boat.

Yes, she's finally ours. I drove the last payment down at the butt crack of dawn yesterday morning. I had forgotten how early 5:30am really was until I had to get up and get ready. The plan was to be on the road by 7am.

And I was!

I drove down and back by myself. I hated that. And I loved it.

Sure, it's more fun to have someone to share the drive with. It's more fun to have someone to talk to without wearing down the battery. It's more fun in general having someone to laugh and joke with about the entire experience.

Instead, all I had was the GPS. She has no sense of humor. She didn't laugh at a single one of my jokes. She was very serious and direct the entire trip. And she'd say stupid stuff like...

'You have arrived at your destination.'

Only I clearly hadn't. And sure enough, I'd scoot down an alley and across a parking lot and bam...there I was. Stinkin' GPS.

Or there were times she'd try to trick me. I can read. And the sign pointed to the left to register and title the boats. It was in English and had pictures. I got it. Oh, but the GPS was all...

'Turn around. Take a left on Fort Johnson Drive.'

Ha! I was already there. So I turned her off to shut her up.

Luckily, there are no laws about talking on cell phones while driving in North or South Carolina. That's why I called my mother, Pippi, Laura, Spring, Holly (who apparently has a new number she failed to give me), Rachel, my ex-husband, Sam's Dad, and my neighbor Priscilla. Good thing it was fully charged before I left the house.

Ah, but the sailboat, my dream...

It's ours. And with any luck, we'll be on it this weekend. We can start leaving things on it, like the grill and our blankets. We won't have to haul as much each trip. Just because they have those convenient totes doesn't mean I want to use them.

And we'll start getting games for the evenings and when rain forces us below deck. It's bound to happen. And I can't wait to weather that first storm...from the safety of the marina.

So much to look forward to. Our adventure is just beginning. It's bound to be big. And since it's paid for, no one can take it away from us.

It's like a dream come true

We have had so many projects in the works for so long. Sometimes it's easy to forget to move forward or maybe figure out how to move forward. We get bogged down with so many other details.

Like...

We have a company. And getting our own jobs has been a challenge. We have been so busy with sub-contracting jobs that it's easy to get content with that and forget that we have our own hopes and dreams and goals.

So we had a really important meeting on Sunday. We were called last week by a very important family in the community that represents the entire Jewish community. And they wanted to offer us an opportunity to advertise with them. Oh, and the beauty of it is that we would be the only home remodelers in the directory...for both North and South Carolina.

We definitely want to take advantage of that opportunity. We need to make sure that we have our own business coming in. We can't simply rely on other companies to supply us. And since we have income coming in from other areas, this is the best time to invest some of that money in advertising and self-promotion.

I feel really good about the direction we're taking. I feel really good about the changes that we're implementing. Business is good. And we are working our butts off to keep it that way.

Then, from there, we went to Jared's Jewelers. Want to know why?

We're getting married. Eventually. And we needed to buy wedding bands. So we did. Yup. We ordered wedding bands.

Can you believe it?

And the best part was that it was his idea, not mine.

Sam: I think we should go pick out wedding bands.

me: Okay.

Sam's going to be wearing a lovely tungsten carbide ring. It has a comfort fit band. And the design is tribal and perfect. It's precisely the ring I wanted for him. So we ordered it.

And then he picked one for me. It's white gold. And it's etched with a fantastic criss-cross design. We have a protection plan on it so that the salt water from our boat life doesn't ruin it.

We climbed into the car and I thought I was being remarkably calm and cool about the entire experience.

Sam: I know you want to about dance out of your skin right now.

me: Nah. I'm good.

But I had to turn my head and pretend to stare at something out the window so that he couldn't see me beaming. Thank goodness he was wearing sunglasses, the glow would have been blinding.

Thirty-two days. That's how long I have to wait for them to be ready. That's all.

And I have to admit...dream come true. I don't know when we'll make it to Key West to seal the deal, but it doesn't matter. We're on the way.

Dreamers hope

That's what we do.

We hope. And we keep on hoping. We find that little fire inside, that small spark, and we nourish it.

It isn't always easy.

There are those out there who would like to kill our dreams. There are those who have forgotten how to dream, how to hope for a different life, something better than merely existing. And so they try to keep us dreamers grounded. They try to blow out our flame.

Never let that happen.

Want some hope? Okay...here it is.

Life can be better. It can be everything you dream it to be. Just dream it and do it. Make it happen. Expect to hit some stumbling blocks, but work through them. Evaluate the dream, then dream some more.

I'm living my biggest dream ever. Right now. Even though life isn't perfect...it's coming around. I'm about to have every little thing I've wanted. I really am. You know what I want...ask me. I'm getting it.

And it all started with the simple swing.

We went to Lowe's the other weekend. Sam surprised me.

Sam: Design a swing set. I'll build it for you.

He knows how much it means to me. He promised me a swing set so very long ago. Worrying over whether or not we could keep the house prevented any building from taking place. Worrying if we were going to make it prevented any building from taking place. Lack of money... Well, you get the idea.

Only things are different now. We are building my swingset. He says he'll even swing with me. I can't wait.

And there's more. With me, there always is. It will have to wait for another day...another post. For now...just dream.

What's your biggest dream? Share it with me. You should never dream alone.