Wedding Dress Shopping, Food Tasting, and November.

Some good things have happened since my last post. One of the best things is that I bought my wedding dress. Of course I can't show you a picture of the one I actually got, but this is a picture of me in my second choice dress, just to give you an idea:

Reminder: this is NOT the dress I bought!!

The whole dress shopping experience was surreal. It started on a Saturday morning at a place called Marra's Bridal Boutique in Oceanside. My mom and my sisters Gina and Suzanne came with me, and we were treated like royalty the entire time. I tried on - I don't know - 20 dresses? And we were never rushed at all. Some of the dresses were awful. Some of them were okay. Some of them were good. Then we found one that we thought was The One. But then I tried on another dress that everyone liked more. I also tried on veils. None of it seemed real.

Right after that appointment I had another one at David's Bridal. For that one, my mom, my sisters Gina and Melissa, Patrick's mom, and my future sister-in-law Jen were in attendance. I tried on a lot more dresses, most of which were good but the customer service there left something to be desired compared to my experience at Marra's. Ultimately, I ended up with one favorite dress at each store. And the entire experience was utterly exhausting. I think I took a three hour nap that afternoon. 

In the end I chose the dress from Marra's. Most of the people I showed the pictures to voted for that one, and part of me just felt better about giving my money to a family-owned bridal boutique than a major corporation that didn't even help me try on the 50 pound dresses - she just pulled the dresses for me. And at one point during my appointment, she started helping someone else! Anyway.

So the following Saturday I went back to Marra's, this time with Gina, Melissa, Jen, and my friends Michelle and Annemarie. Melissa and Jen, who had also seen the David's Bridal dress, both said they liked the Marra's dress better. Annemarie and Michelle gave the thumbs up too. I also bought a veil. 

Now I just have to get the dress fitted. Unfortunately I still have 10 months left to do that.

On Sunday Patrick and I went to a food tasting at Stewart Manor Country Club, where we're having our wedding reception. Stewart Manor is another example of a place that is perhaps a bit smaller but won my business with exceptional customer service. I got to view this lovely floral piece during the food tasting:

Which got me (even more) excited for our October wedding.

November sped by between Thanksgiving and a random trip to Williamsburg with Patrick and his brother. History gives me perspective. Writing my own history gives me perspective too. That's why this blog isn't pointless, even if no one reads it! :)

Good Things and God Things.

This weekend was full of good stuff and God stuff.

1) After a little bit of a late start to the weekend (I did some overtime at work to add to the wedding fund), Patrick and I headed over to my future sister-in-law's sister's house to do some pumpkin carving. And drink pumpkin beers. Because at this time of year you can never have too much pumpkin. 

Basically, we turned these:

Into these:

And I also go to play with a baby. So overall, very good night.


2. The next morning, Saturday, I woke up at 5:30 am. Yes, 5:30 am. I headed over to the Mascolo residence to carpool with Michelle & Annemarie to the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception. There was this event called the Long Island Catholic Women's Conference that a few of my friends had helped organize, and we knew a bunch of other people that were going too. It was a nice day at a beautiful place, and I got to see a lot of awesome people, and take a break from life for a bit, and think about God and things. So yeah.

3. After that awesomeness, I was very exhausted and very tempted to go home and go to sleep. But my friend Charlie, who is basically one of the most awesome people in the universe, was having a birthday party in Brooklyn. 

Something strange happens when you get into a long term relationship. You get lazy. It suddenly seems so much more appealing to stay in on a Saturday night and watch Netflix instead of getting dressed up and traveling into the city or whatever. But I'm realizing now that maybe we should make more of an effort to do just that while we still can, while we're still young. The wedding is a year away, and we want to start having kids not long after that, and then there will be no more late night trips into Brooklyn.

So, we went. And I'm really glad we did. There's something you get out of actual socialization and conversation with new people that you just can't get out of Netflix. Another bonus is that Charlie's group of friends are pretty much all Catholic, and "cool" Catholics. There's nothing like talking to a girl who basically resembles a tall model in a hipster wardrobe, but is also wearing a religious bracelet and is telling you about the year of missionary work she did in Brazil. Or the cute couple relaying how awesome a trip to the Cloisters was. Or the trendy girls who launched their own legit magazine (Verily magazine) because publications like Cosmo are trashy. The Catholic young adult scene in New York City is so amazing I wouldn't even believe it existed if I didn't see it myself. 

Also, there was a bocce ball court in the middle of the bar (Union Hall). And the bathroom was co-ed. So there was that.

4. This morning I discovered that I am no longer capable of having more than two beers without succumbing to a major hangover. This is unfortunate. But, I had to get out of bed eventually because at 2 pm Patrick and I were scheduled to see a house in Melville again that we saw last week, this time with Patrick's parents. I fell in love with the house a little bit more, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. There's already another "interested party" trying to outbid us. This. Is. Stressful.

5. Had another youth group meeting tonight. The topic was love. The teens were awesome. Chatting with the other core members after was awesome too. The more I experience in life the more I understand why God wants us to live a certain way. I feel like if I had lived up to that "ideal," I would have saved me from having so many painful memories and baggage. But living in 2013 makes being Catholic very hard for so many reasons. (Not that it was ever easy, now that I think about it. Pretty much all of the 12 apostles got tortured and killed.)

I'm going to leave you all with this quote from the incredible C.S. Lewis displayed in a nifty little graphic by the chicks at Verily magazine:

Prominent Peace & Patience.

A sad truth about running is that if you don't do it for a week, it's really hard to start again. Before tonight, I hadn't run in almost two weeks mostly thanks to a cold. (Can't really run if you can't breathe, right?) Also, it's been getting colder, and darker earlier, two things that make the act of running not as appealing. 

I forced myself out the door tonight anyway, even though the sky threatened rain and sunset was scheduled in another 11 minutes. Only got in 2.7 something miles. Better than nothing though, right?

I need to stop running so much anyway and start doing more workout DVDs and cross training if I'm going to tone up for the wedding. Today's wedding dresses demand prominent collar bones. It's a fact.

Came across this on the internet the other day:

I find it interesting because if anything, I tend to get depressed sometimes, while Patrick tends to get anxious. We need to learn how to just meet in the middle. Two words popping up in my prayers lately are peace and patience. (I like how that sentence was unintentionally alliterate.)

Also! I am blinder this week than I was last week because I have been proofing calendar PDFs nonstop at work. My eyes were literally hurting by the end of each work day. I wonder if editors and writers are doomed to have poor eyesight from staring at computer screens all day.

In other news, I finally upgraded to ioS7 and now I feel like I have a new phone. (I'm sure my phone screen isn't helping with my vision, either.)

Gotta go. My eyes hurt.

Days Like Yesterday.

Yesterday was one of those days that initially didn't seem like much but turned out to be unexpectedly chock full of awesome. Originally we were going to go upstate, but after a week of me getting sick and then me getting him sick and then us both being sick, we didn't feel up to the travel. 

So the morning was just the right amount of lazy, tea and oatmeal and two episodes of Parenthood on Netflix. Not just any episodes - the season finale of season 3 and the season premiere of season 4. Finales and premieres are just better. They try harder. Though this show is amazing enough on its own. I love my family of course, but I wish I could somehow be part of the Braverman family too.

If you haven't watched it yet, I suggest you find your way to a Netflix account and do so.

After that escapism, Patrick and I went to a couple of open houses of - surprise surprise - two more houses that won't work for us. The first one advertised three bedrooms but in reality only had two. The second had a kitchen on all three floors. 

But THEN. It was time for one of my favorite events of the year: going to Hicks to see Otto and get a pumpkin! This has been part of my Halloween tradition since before I can even remember.

Of course going yesterday made me think of how much better it will be when I have a kid someday (hopefully) to share it all with. 

After Hicks we went for a walk at Stillwell to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather and fall foliage.

As we were leaving we spontaneously pulled into a carnival just to buy zeppoles.

Then we spontaneously went to Bed Bath and Beyond to find some ideas for the registry. Got dinner at Mario's in Plainview, then met my brother and some friends for drinks at The Black Sheep Ale House in my hometown. 

Today will be decidedly more hectic. I have press releases to write for work, a youth group meeting to prepare for and execute, more open houses to visit, and a million other things to do. And yet somehow it's almost noon and I haven't done any of it. How does this happen?

I've been so antsy for time to go faster because I really want the wedding to get here already. But something tells me that I need to just relax and appreciate the days like yesterday.

I've liked October since before it was trendy to like October.

Yes, it is October first. For some reason October suddenly seems to be the favorite month of 90% of my Facebook friends. I mean, it is a month of awesome. But I'm wondering when loving fall became such a cliché.

Now that it's October, my wedding almost seems like it's in the foreseeable future. Almost. Not quite. Still over a year away. Next October.

Things to do this month:

1) Wedding dress shopping with my sisters, mom, and future mom-in-law.
2) Mail out Save the Dates.
3) Set up a wedding registry. (Bed, Bath, and Beyond maybe?)
4) Finalize the wedding party.
5) Schedule a food tasting at our wedding reception venue.
6) Visit Hicks nursery, see Otto the ghost, and get pumpkins.
7) Figure out an awesome Halloween costume.
8) Do as much fall-y fun stuff as possible.
9) Stop working so much Do lots of pay-per-piece work so that I can afford a wedding dress.
10) Be patient.

Plus about a million other things. That's all that's making it on the list before bedtime, though.

Like I Do.

In my last post I wrote that running makes me feel strong and healthy and lucky. Since then I've realized that I feel the same way about my faith. I know this world is increasingly anti-Catholic and godless. But I find that the more I learn about Catholicism, the more sense it makes.

But I'm not going to go into all that now. It's a Monday and I'm tired, especially after after a busy weekend full of youth group stuff. Since 2010, I've been a core member for Life Teen at Our Lady of Mercy in Hicksville. This basically means that I help plan and run youth group meetings and events for teenagers. 

On Friday night was the first Holy Hour and Dodgeball event of the new school year. This entailed cramming into St. Ignatius church with hundreds of other people, mostly young adults. The guys who run this thing are no joke. At this point I've had a ton of holy hour/adoration experiences, but they really do it best. The atmosphere, the music, the talks... at my first one, years ago, I was skeptical. Now I look forward to it each month. As I grow older I find myself praying more and more, an experience that is typically one-sided. But it's only in the environment of this holy hour that I've ever felt as though I know what He's trying to say back.

And this was followed by pumpkin beers and wings at Buffalo Wild Wings with a group of awesome young adults who happen to love God like I do. 

Even though I didn't get home until well after midnight, I was up bright and early Saturday morning to road trip with Kevin and Theresa to Life Teen training in Pennsylvania. The day featured talks, breakout sessions, mass, food, good people, and general awesomeness. My faith has taken me to places I never would have been otherwise, like an Indian reservation in Montana and concrete houses in Mexico and this random little church in Pennsylvania.

Then, yesterday, was the Life Teen kickoff for the new school year. Dozens of teenagers, ice breakers, skits, food, prayer, fire pits, s'mores. Chatting with Annemarie and Michelle, fellow core members, afterwards about wedding stuff. 

It's hard for me to blog about this, actually. I do have a lot of friends now that are Catholic and are into youth ministry and God and all of that, and they've given me the confidence to be more open about my faith. But I know a majority of the world out there is anti-Catholic. If they read this, they won't understand. They'll think I'm weird. They'll think I'm crazy. They might even think I'm hypocritical because I've been far from perfect in my life. (Let's just forget the college years, shall we?)

Maybe that's why it's important for me to write it. Because you can believe in God and be normal. Your life can be average in all other ways. I've met enough people now to believe that. People who have jobs and hobbies and interests like everyone else does. They also happen to be practicing Catholics as well.  And they're some of the best people I've ever met.

I'll delve into this deeper another day. There is so much more to this than even I know. It's overwhelming and daunting and scary and incredible. And maybe that's why I love it.

Why I Run.

It's been a busy week, starting with running 13.1 miles through the streets of Philadelphia.

Me and my friend Kathleen with our free post-race alcoholic beverages.

New bling.

This was the first race where I thought about/prayed for specific people during each mile. And I do think it made a difference, even though I finished three minutes slower than my PR. My official finishing time was 2:15:42, which I'm satisfied with.

I know most of you are probably wondering, why the HELL would someone voluntarily run for two hours straight? (Or five hours, if you count my marathons.) 

It's kind of hard to explain. I like the feeling of being a runner more than I like the actual act of running. I love knowing that I CAN do it. I love finishing. I love being able to run farther and faster. When I first started, running more than a mile seemed impossible. Now I know that it isn't.

Running makes me feel strong and healthy and lucky. It helps me stay disciplined and in shape. I hope to continue doing it as long as possible.

The running community is also great. Every time I run a race I love being part of something bigger than myself, part of a group of people running toward the same goal. For most races, that goal is just the finish line. For a lot of races, like the ones I run with Team in Training, runners are supporting a charity, raising money and awareness for a good cause. How many sports can you say that about? Most of the runners I've met are truly amazing people.

Anyway. I almost threw up the first time I ran a mile. Now I've run three marathons and a bunch of half marathons. And if I can do it, so can you. Yeah, I know you're thinking, ha. That's impossible. But don't forget that that's what I thought too. But it's not, and I have the medals to prove it.

Mile by Mile.

Leaving in few or Philadelphia to run the Philly Rock and Roll Half Marathon tomorrow. I'm psyched, but I don't feel QUITE as well trained as I would hope to be. Someone suggested that I assign a special intention to think/pray about during each mile. Here goes:

Mile 1. Patrick, my fiancé and best friend, and our future together.
Mile 2. My parents, for randomly deciding to have me 11 years after having five kids.
Mile 3. My siblings, all six of them.
Mile 4. Peace in Syria, and safety at events like marathons.
Mile 5. My in-laws: the ones I have through my siblings, and my future ones: Jen & the Murphys.
Mile 6. My nieces and nephews. All 10 of them.
Mile 7. My bridal party and other close friends I’ve had over the years.
Mile 8. Capuchin Youth and Family Ministries, all of the amazing people I’ve met through it (especially Father Fred!), and the future of the organization.
Mile 9. Our Lady of Mercy LifeTeen, all of the amazing people I’ve met through it, and the future of the group.
Mile 10. Team in Training, all of the amazing people I’ve met through it, and the future of the organization.
Mile 11. New Paltz, the town that has shaped who I am as a writer so much. Especially my writing professors and the New Paltz Youth Center.
Mile 12 is for my sister Gina.
Mile 13 will be for anyone who likes this post :)
The last tenth of a mile will be for Patrick, again.

I'm supposed to leave in half an hour, so I guess now is a good time to start packing. After I finish my tea, of course.

Commute.

Anyone who really knows me knows how much I hate Hempstead Turnpike. For those of you who are not familiar with this wretched pathway, it’s basically the ugliest street on Long Island. Completely commercialized and concrete. Very little greenery. Also apparently quite a death trap for pedestrians. During rush hour, it could take six hours to travel roughly a quarter mile. At least that’s what it’s feels like.

Also, despite being three lanes wide each direction, there’s simply not enough space for all of the cars that need to be on it for one reason or another. During my drive home it’s just a mess of cars trying to merge onto Hempstead Turnpike from the parkway, and cars trying to cut people off so that they can get on the parkway, and cars desperately trying to make a U-Turn even though no one seems to want to give an inch to let them in. Me included. (Hey, it took me 20 minutes to get that inch!)

I realized today, as my car crawled along at a pace of a millimeter an hour, that sometimes my brain feels sort of like Hempstead Turnpike. On an average day I have a million thoughts fighting for space in my head, coming and going, when I can really travel one path at a time. And in the end it sometimes just results in ideas just not getting the space they need to go anywhere. Sometimes a life can feel a little too much like a traffic jam, especially when I’m stuck at behind a wheel or behind a cubicle. 

When you’re forced to be still, though, you notice things that you wouldn’t otherwise. You can witness the leaves literally starting to fall from the trees. You take note of how the clouds reflect in the tall glass windows of your office building. You realize that these are annoying vehicles surrounding you and stalling you are driven by actual people, separate yet connected, traveling on the same path as you, at least for a little while.

I prayed an entire rosary and wrote an entire blog post in my head before I even hit Newbridge Road. I also realized that I've been engaged only four months, even though it feels like four years, and I still have thirteen months left of engagement to go. Meanwhile, I am the most impatient person in the world (as you can probably tell due to my hate of traffic).

Yet. As with every commute home. I just have to have faith that I'll get there eventually. And try to enjoy the ride as much as possible along the way.

We've All Got to Start Somewhere.

Hello world. This is me:

Probably feeling very lame about taking a selfie and loathing the word "selfie."

ANYWAY. Ever have one of those days where you were like, "what the hell, I'm going to start a blog"? I did. Today.

My name is Diana Christine Caporaso and I used to blog back in the day when blogs were called "online journals." (Why did they change that anyway?)

EXPLANATION TIME! 

About the title of this blog. In case you were wondering. Sneakers Stories Salvation? But why?

1. I'm a fan of alliteration.
2. They allude to three of the things that I'm most passionate about in my life: Running, writing, and God.
3. I think that pretty much explains it.  

MY LIFE RIGHT NOW, BY THE NUMBERS 

401: The number of days until I cease to be just Diana Christine Caporaso and become Diana Christine Caporaso Murphy.

13.1: The number of miles I will be running this weekend at the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Philadelphia.

3: The number of years I have volunteered as a core member with Our Lady of Mercy Lifeteen in Hicksville. Youth ministry = amazing awesomeness and I'm not afraid to say it. Year four is about to start in the next couple of weeks.

20: The number of pounds I want to lose before my wedding next year.

5,972: The number of times during an average work day that I want to stab myself in the eye I ask myself why I'm wasting a majority of my life behind a cubicle.

Okay, that's enough numbers for now. I'm a writer, anyway. I do better with words.

Goodbye for now, world.