Lisella's Wishbook: design inspiration 3/16

Lisella

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 8, 2007
Messages
190
I thought it was about time I posted something about myself and upcoming plans. I’ve been lurking and doing some posting for the past few months. I did ask a bunch of questions when I first came on here but haven’t gotten into too many details since. I try to be kind of a "private" person on the internet, but also fun, silly and knowledgable so I decided to throw a little caution to the wind in doing this.

I don’t want to start a planning journal yet because I don’t have an official date (my guestimate for one is at least 18 – 21 months away). I very much enjoy reading all of the planning journals here and feel that they are a great way to get to know the people here. So I figured I’d start a little wishbook type blog – kind of a place I can tell my story, record my wedding wishes, organize my thoughts, ask questions, get some ideas, and then maybe you all can get to know me a little.

So, What’s My Story?
Well, I could write a novel but I will try to keep it as simple as possible. My name is Lisa and I live in the Boston area. I’ve lived here all my life. I am not a first timer when it comes to weddings and I am embarrassed to say that I am not a second timer either :eek: .

My DF, John and I have been part of the same circle of friends since about 1982/1983. I first met him when I was about 15 and he was about 19 (yes, do the math - I am kind of old). Of course we didn’t catch each other’s interest at that point because of the age difference (although years later he tells me that he thought I was a cute kid LOL). We’ve attended each other’s weddings, been part of watching each other’s families grow and have been friends ever since.

So I was a teenage mom - married my 2nd day of my senior year in high school with my first son being born about 5 months later. I had my second son 17 months after that. The marriage did not last long. Unfortunately I was a naïve kid in a very unhealthy situation (unhealthy for me & the boys). Thinking I learned a very tough life lesson, and being a scared timid young mom, I ended up head over heels into another very unhealthy marriage by the time I was 22 (what happened to the spunky, smart little spitfire Lisa I used to be?).

A couple of years into the second marriage (1992), I finally learned a lot about myself, got my act together, got strong and moved on with my life. Around this same time, John’s marriage also fell apart. We began spending lots of time talking. We were both going through so much. Over that time we made a very special connection and have been together ever since.

We have been living together since 1993. We are best friends & soul mates. Our children are now mostly grown (my DS’s are 22 & 21 and John’s DD’s are 23 & 18 – we also help raise my DNephew who is 15). Like most people growing up and old together, we have dealt with our share of challenges, heartaches, sickness, loss, tragedies and joy. But through it all, we have had each other. We have never questioned our love – it has just always “been” (does that make sense)? He has been my rock through some awful events, and he tells me I am still the love of his life.

Sometimes we think, why we didn’t get together years earlier…how did we miss the chemistry? But we don’t like to dwell as we cannot change the past. We figure we had life lessons to learn and stuff to go through before we were ready to come together. Those things made us stronger and wiser – and they could have helped us be more prepared to deal with some of the tragedies we’ve dealt with together…and possibly handled much better than we would have without those previous lessons.

So that is where my Wishbook will begin. If you are still interested – stay tuned for the next installment: “Why Aren’t We Married Yet?”
 
Great start. My Mom married her high school boyfriend 8 years ago. He is husband # 4 for her. As much as I love my dad, my stepfather is the best thing that ever happened for my mom. I don't worry about her nearly as much as I did before they got together.
 
Great, sweet story... can't wait for the next installment!

popcorn::
 
Welcome and have fun planning. Looking forward to reading more. DH and I met early in college in 1982 and didn't get married until 1990 and we will be celebrating 18 years this year.WELCOME!
 

I thought it was about time I posted something about myself and upcoming plans. I’ve been lurking and doing some posting for the past few months. I did ask a bunch of questions when I first came on here but haven’t gotten into too many details since. I try to be kind of a "private" person on the internet, but also fun, silly and knowledgable so I decided to throw a little caution to the wind in doing this.

I don’t want to start a planning journal yet because I don’t have an official date (my guestimate for one is at least 18 – 21 months away). I very much enjoy reading all of the planning journals here and feel that they are a great way to get to know the people here. So I figured I’d start a little wishbook type blog – kind of a place I can tell my story, record my wedding wishes, organize my thoughts, ask questions, get some ideas, and then maybe you all can get to know me a little.

So, What’s My Story?
Well, I could write a novel but I will try to keep it as simple as possible. My name is Lisa and I live in the Boston area. I’ve lived here all my life. I am not a first timer when it comes to weddings and I am embarrassed to say that I am not a second timer either :eek: .

My DF, John and I have been part of the same circle of friends since about 1982/1983. I first met him when I was about 15 and he was about 19 (yes, do the math - I am kind of old). Of course we didn’t catch each other’s interest at that point because of the age difference (although years later he tells me that he thought I was a cute kid LOL). We’ve attended each other’s weddings, been part of watching each other’s families grow and have been friends ever since.

So I was a teenage mom - married my 2nd day of my senior year in high school with my first son being born about 5 months later. I had my second son 17 months after that. The marriage did not last long. Unfortunately I was a naïve kid in a very unhealthy situation (unhealthy for me & the boys). Thinking I learned a very tough life lesson, and being a scared timid young mom, I ended up head over heels into another very unhealthy marriage by the time I was 22 (what happened to the spunky, smart little spitfire Lisa I used to be?).

A couple of years into the second marriage (1992), I finally learned a lot about myself, got my act together, got strong and moved on with my life. Around this same time, John’s marriage also fell apart. We began spending lots of time talking. We were both going through so much. Over that time we made a very special connection and have been together ever since.

We have been living together since 1993. We are best friends & soul mates. Our children are now mostly grown (my DS’s are 22 & 21 and John’s DD’s are 23 & 18 – we also help raise my DNephew who is 15). Like most people growing up and old together, we have dealt with our share of challenges, heartaches, sickness, loss, tragedies and joy. But through it all, we have had each other. We have never questioned our love – it has just always “been” (does that make sense)? He has been my rock through some awful events, and he tells me I am still the love of his life.

Sometimes we think, why we didn’t get together years earlier…how did we miss the chemistry? But we don’t like to dwell as we cannot change the past. We figure we had life lessons to learn and stuff to go through before we were ready to come together. Those things made us stronger and wiser – and they could have helped us be more prepared to deal with some of the tragedies we’ve dealt with together…and possibly handled much better than we would have without those previous lessons.

So that is where my Wishbook will begin. If you are still interested – stay tuned for the next installment: “Why Aren’t We Married Yet?”

If it makes you feel any better I don't officially have everything booked yet but I find that having a pj and being able to write down ideas and see them is a good way to organize thoughts and ideas. It helps a lot.
 
Welcome and have fun as you start to dream about your event! Everyone here is so friendly and supportive, so it is really nice just to start bouncing ideas off of other Disney brides! :sunny:

Looking forward to hearing more about your story!
 
lovely story! i can't wait to read your next installment (and you're NOT old, not even 5 years older than my df...).
 
Thank you so much for all the kind words. I am going to do my best to be a good blogger and respond to everyone - but please forgive me if my life gets a bit busy and I don't keep up. LOL - my first disclaimer...

Great start. My Mom married her high school boyfriend 8 years ago. He is husband # 4 for her. As much as I love my dad, my stepfather is the best thing that ever happened for my mom. I don't worry about her nearly as much as I did before they got together.

Thanks for the words of encouragement!

lurkyloo said:
Great, sweet story... can't wait for the next installment!

Thanks - there's more...believe me. I'm working on keeping it as short and sweet as I possibly can :rotfl:

padisneyfour said:
Welcome and have fun planning. Looking forward to reading more. DH and I met early in college in 1982 and didn't get married until 1990 and we will be celebrating 18 years this year.WELCOME!

Congrats on 18 years! Its funny because DF & I have made so many friends and acquaintances over the years that just assume we are married. Then again there are even more that are just as excited as I am that we are going to finally make it official :woohoo:

oneyodafan said:
Wonderful start!

Thanks! I hope you'll continue on with me...

pink_tink8i8 said:
If it makes you feel any better I don't officially have everything booked yet but I find that having a pj and being able to write down ideas and see them is a good way to organize thoughts and ideas. It helps a lot.

I believe it! Thanks for the advice. I'm looking forward to getting all of this craziness in my head a little organized. I call it the "Wedding Monster".

keenercam said:
Welcome and have fun as you start to dream about your event! Everyone here is so friendly and supportive, so it is really nice just to start bouncing ideas off of other Disney brides!

Looking forward to hearing more about your story!

I agree - so far all of the people I have chatted with here are very nice. And so many creative & great ideas, too!

caryndisneydiva said:
lovely story! i can't wait to read your next installment (and you're NOT old, not even 5 years older than my df...).

You are too sweet caryn! I always say I am aging on paper only. My heart & my head are still young - sometimes it is hard to convince my body of this fact, but I manage.

I am working on my next installment and hope to have it posted by tomorrow night.
 
From one Lisa to another! :welcome: to Planning Central. :rotfl:

I will enjoy reading your PJ. Very nice story. When you find the right one, you just know it!:love:
 
Although I said I was going to try to keep this short and sweet - here goes the next installment...

Why Aren’t We Married Yet?
Hmm, legal matters, cold feet, legal matters, money, legal matters, life, legal matters…

When my second marriage ended, having no money to hire a lawyer for an immediate divorce (which would have been ideal), it was just so much easier to walk away from it all and not have to deal with the ex or the ugly situation. There were no children of the marriage so there were no custody or support arrangements to be made; there was no property to divide, definitely no assets and fortunately no bills to split. Fear also played a factor which made it much easier to put on the back burner.

Things were different for DF. He did have some of those things to work out, so fortunately for him he was divorced rather soon after his split.

In the beginning of our relationship, neither one of us was looking for a serious long term commitment. Its not that we weren’t looking for one, we just never really expected to fall in love either so we just kind of let things happen. In our early time together we always said we would never marry again as I am sure many recent divorcees often say. But the whole time we just grew closer and closer.

Of course as the relationship grew, we knew that we would like to eventually marry. As time went on and life got so busy with our kids and money was tough to come by, paying for a divorce lawyer was not on our radar. And so my divorce (or lack of one) would kind of loom over my head for years. DF never ever pressured me about it because he knew exactly why it was not happening.

I did attempt to handle it myself on more than one occasion, but having no cooperation from the ex will not get you very far in this state without a lawyer. The lovely ex even started the whole process himself back around 2001. I even signed every divorce document known to man (or so it seemed) at his lawyer’s office and was told I was just waiting for a court date. So I waited and waited and waited. Needless to say the case was put on hold because someone either did not want to let go or wanted to be a nuisance or I think maybe a combination of both. It was all very frustrating.

I finally saved up some money & worked with my own lawyer for a few years…did I say someone did not want to cooperate? Why did he not cooperate? I know I mentioned there was nothing to fight over, nothing to divide, nothing…just some signatures to officially end something that ended about 15 years earlier!! But finally on Valentine’s Day of 2007, I walked into court with my lawyer and came out a free woman – woo hoo! Of course in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts I wouldn’t be truly free for 120 days, but it was done. I cannot even put into words the weight that was lifted off of my shoulders.

So there was nothing else to keep DF & I from making it official anymore. But we didn’t want to rush into anything (almost 15 years together is almost rushing, right?) But seriously, we want to do it right. And of course, I want to be proposed to ;) .

Coming up: More Surprises for Valentine’s Day!
 
Life can get in the way per se, but in the end it will all be worth IT! Looking forward to reading more....:goodvibes
 
Oooooh....subscribing to this one!! What a great story!! I'm always drawn to people with a history like this...my DH and I have a long history too! One of these days, I will get around to maybe doing a "wishbook" as you have done. Although we're married, I'm planning a VR at WDW for our 10 year anniversary. I thought that it was too soon to start something like this, but maybe not! Thanks for the inspiration!!

Can't wait to follow along with your plans!!
 
Life can get in the way per se, but in the end it will all be worth IT! Looking forward to reading more....:goodvibes

Oh, there will be more :rotfl:

scarlett873 said:
Oooooh....subscribing to this one!! What a great story!! I'm always drawn to people with a history like this...my DH and I have a long history too! One of these days, I will get around to maybe doing a "wishbook" as you have done. Although we're married, I'm planning a VR at WDW for our 10 year anniversary. I thought that it was too soon to start something like this, but maybe not! Thanks for the inspiration!!

Can't wait to follow along with your plans!!

Thanks for joining in! I definitely have history LOL. A VR sounds wonderful. I still feel like its kind of early that I started this, but I couldn't help it. The other PJ's are so addicting plus I've been doing a lot of planning in my head so I figured it would be much easier to kind of contain those thoughts and ideas in a journal. I started keeping a private one on my PC but thought it might be more fun to share with others. I'll be watching for yours!
 
Sorry to hear that your divorce took so long but at least it's all done with and you can finally move on. I know you haven't officially been proposed to yet but do you have any ideas of what you would like for your wedding?
 
pink_tink8i8 said:
Sorry to hear that your divorce took so long but at least it's all done with and you can finally move on. I know you haven't officially been proposed to yet but do you have any ideas of what you would like for your wedding?

Oh, I have been officially proposed to...that will come in the next installment or 2. We just haven't set an official date yet - but we are close.
 
did I miss that somewhere? maybe I should stop reading pjs at 2 am :rotfl:
my DF and I haven't actually set a date yet either but I can't wait to read your next installments!
 
did I miss that somewhere? maybe I should stop reading pjs at 2 am :rotfl:
my DF and I haven't actually set a date yet either but I can't wait to read your next installments!

Its ok, I don't think you missed it - I may not have mentioned it in here yet.

Next installment on board...
 
More Surprises for Valentine's Day...

Valentine’s Day last year turned out to be even more special. I’m going to back track a little so you can understand the full story a little better.

In 2006, I went to Disney for the first time in my life. There I was, all grown up, experiencing the castle and the magic and feeling like a little girl whose dreams were coming true :cloud9:. It was wonderful. Now, I did not go with the whole family. I went with DF’s DD, and a daughter of my friend along with our dancing school (they were both students there at the time).

I have been dancing since I was a little girl. I still take classes at the same school and I also help teach a few. In 2006, we took the group to Disney to perform in the Magic Music Days program. It was such a great experience for the kids and a great experience for me, too.

DF was more than welcome to come but we knew that he would have been miserable. He cannot stand the heat nor can he handle big crowds without being the grumpiest guy in the world. Our trip was in the end of June, so heat and crowds were definitely going to be a factor. To add to that, neither of us likes to fly at all, so it was easy to talk ourselves out of going (which I actually almost did myself…anything to avoid getting on the plane).

The weather was so hot. It was some of the most intense heat I have ever had to deal with in my life. And busy? Oh my, was it busy. We (me and my 2 companions) were very fortunate that we had our own personal tour guide. My sister lives about 40 miles outside of Disney, has annual passes, visits very frequently, she’s what we call a Disney freak around here. She was more than happy to join us during our visit and thankfully for her, we were able to have the best Disney experience possible in the hot crowded environment. She made sure we got to ride the best rides and experience as much magic as possible. She rocks!

That experience was all it took to get me hooked on Disney. It also began my quest to get John to the World!

Around January of ’07 I really began the challenge of convincing him that we should go there together. It was not easy. I had to sell Disney to him and convince him that if we went at the right time, we could have a great time. Never having experienced Disney, he was convinced that not being a “ride” person that there would be nothing to do there (he thought of it like a typical amusement park where you wait in line for rides, play a few games, and buy overpriced carnival food). It should have been easy to convince him that there was so much more to do as I am also not a “ride” person either and I had a wonderful time.

I dropped Disney hints any chance I could get. I drew Hidden Mickeys and left them around the house. The Disney TV commercials were blitzing the shows we were watching and I got excited every time I saw one. I taped the Modern Marvels show on Disney that runs on the History Channel – he loves that channel – trying to convince him that he could experience it first hand. I even left him a Tinkerbell party invitation in his truck asking him to come with me to Disney World. I was a crazy person!

Fast forward to Valentine’s Day. It was already a great day with getting the divorce so I did not expect what I was in store for. When I got home from court, I walked in the door to a dozen roses waiting for me on the kitchen table. They were so pretty. My DF left a note that said he’d be back soon, to please wait for him before I took off to work. This was not a problem – I wanted to celebrate the events of the morning with him anyway.

He came home soon after that with a very special present for me. He gave me a beautiful sparkly ivory Cinderella Valentine’s Day card, with a little blank Tinkerbell card with a special note inside. The note said that he accepted my invitation. I was a bit overwhelmed and my emotions were running high so everything was not clicking at that point. So I unwrapped the gift – a Disney scrapbook (another scrapper here). And inside the book was a note that said “book the trip.” It finally all hit me, Happy Valentine’s Day - we were going to Disney!

We left on April 30th and had the best time ever. In all of our years together, we had never been on a trip alone and this turned out to be the perfect get away for us. The crowds were perfect, the weather did get a bit hot as there was an early heat wave but for the most part it was tolerable, and we had the most amazing time. He is not as hooked on Disney as I am by any means, but we are working on getting back in December of this year!

Next up – the proposal…
 
I think I finally figured out how to add some pics (sorry they are so big). I have a few from our trip last May to share.

Here we are at the Rockin' Rollercoaster...did I mention that we are big Aerosmith fans?
DisneyPhotoImage72.jpg


Here we are at my house :rotfl2: I mean the castle...one of my favorite places in the whole wide world!
DisneyPhotoImage57.jpg


Animal Kingdom with our Grumpy shirts on...they were a big hit...
DisneyPhotoImage51.jpg


And here we are at Epcot with Mickey & Minnie:
DisneyPhotoImage40.jpg


FYI - DF is a tattoo artist, can you tell?
 












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