M is for Merry Freaking Christmas!

Hello! I know I know it has been way to long. And to be honest after not blogging for 6+ months it can be intimidating coming back. Like where do you start, do I write a quick summary for the past months, pretend no time has passed etc? So I picked the first option, quick summary of this spring, summer and fall and small look into whats to come.

The last time I blogged I was in the final countdown until Italy. Since then as any and all of my blog readers now know, we got engaged! Woo hoo :) Since then we have been busy planning the wedding, this past summer we picked a venue and date. I was told once that planning a wedding is a lot of work but to be honest I never really took that to heart until we started this process. You might call Adam and I diva's but we have already been fired once by a wedding coordinator. Yes you read that right we were fired. Its kind of a blessing in disguise since that process lead us to the coordinator that we have now who is the most amazing person inside and out. Who knew that requesting a break down of the budget and a structured plan were so out of the question? Apparently a lot of people in the wedding industry (our first coordinator included) don't adhere to things like budgets and structured planning, we got the impression she wanted a blank check. Being that both Adam and I are engineers and my dad is a CPA, we speak and work in excel spread sheets, which she was not digging. Anyways, after she walked away from us we found a new coordinator who is not only half the first ones price but has helped us stay well (if not below) our budget and is constantly helping us set up appointments, emailing vendors etc, which helped both of us keep our sanity. Aside from the coordinator fiasco the planning process has been a lot of fun, I'm very excited to become Amanda Sofia Lupinacci.....ok I will admit I can't wait to ditch Amanda Sofia Simens purely because of the initials.....I've been an ASS long enough ;) jk.

Aside from wedding planning we have also been dealing with the return of my Dad's illness. In late October my dad returned for colon surgery. As with any surgery there comes risk and unfortunately just a few days after what appeared to be a successful surgery, he experienced complications that lead to emergency surgery. I'm happy to say that the emergency surgery went well however it has left him very weak and he will need another surgery in January to fix everything from complications. I think that the most difficult part of this whole experience is having to watch someone you love go through so much and not having the ability to take that pain away. We are there for him, we are supportive, but at the end of the day when he just wants to feel normal, I can't give that to him and thats really all I want to do. I do think that in a way this has brought the whole family closer and that has helped give him the strength and encouragement he needs to push through this. I also do really appreciate all the support of love that my friends and family have given me over the past few months. It really does help to be surrounded by people that are there for you no matter what.


As the holidays approach I am very excited to spend my first Christmas with both my family and Adam. Christmas is one of ....ok scracth that it IS my favorite holiday, and merging both families, the Lupinaccis and Simens is very exciting. It does make me wish that both families were not a plane ride away but do I realize how fortunate we are that, that plane ride is only 1 hour and not like 10. More to come.....if anyone has blog topic suggestions please let me know!! Otherwise I might end up rambeling about wedding flowers jk.