Catholic Weddings

Wednesday chit chat

Hey there!  How's everyone's week going?  Mine's been stressful!!!  I'm really looking forward to the end of lent and the beginning of the Easter season, though!  Does anyone have special traditions for Holy Week?  What about Easter? 

 

«1

Re: Wednesday chit chat

  • I'm really looking forward to confession tonight, stations on Friday and my stepdad is coming into the church at the Saturday Vigil so I'm really excited about that!
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers Lilypie Pregnancy tickers
  • Shawna, that's exciting!

    We don't have a lot planned.  My aunt is coming to town, and she's quite the gardener, so she's going to help me landscape our front yard.  Sunday some friends of ours invited us over for lunch.  They asked us to bring some kind of potato side, so I've got to figure out what to do.

    We're also trying to figure out godparents.  I think we've decided on my cousin and her husband.  They'll be great role models for LO, I just hope they'll have the opportunity to be involved throughout her life.  H had two sets of godparents and I don't think he saw them very often... they definitely don't know him very well.
    Anniversary

    image

    image

  • Professor- We just figured out our LO's godparents too.  I can really be a tough decision!
    Daisypath Anniversary tickers Lilypie Pregnancy tickers
  • My week has been a bit crazy, too... lots of working late and early morning doctor appts lately.  I finally broke down and started seeing a physical therapist for tension headaches and that's been helpful so far :-)  We'll be doing the Triduum thing starting tomorrow night and then Easter vigil at my parents' parish on Saturday night and Easter lunch at my husbands' grandparents on Sunday!  Definitely looking forward to Easter...
  • edited March 2013
    It's been somewhat of a crazy week for me too, we had another showing of our condo (which is great) but it's hectic trying to make sure the place stays clean and then figure out who has to come home and take our dogs out during the showing.  Beyond that, we've been house hunting and just aren't finding anything that fits what we'd like.  More prayers to Sts. Joseph and Anthony are needed I guess! :)

    We aren't traveling anywhere for Easter this year since we have plans in town for Saturday night, so we'll just cook a meal at home.  I think it will be nice to spend the holiday with just the two of us, I just have to figure out what I want to cook!  Probably a ham (since we already have one from H's parents), potatoes of some kind, a vegetable, and maybe homemade rolls.  I might try to attempt a baked brie for an appetizer, we've ordered that several times eating out and it's so good, would love to be able to make it!
  • Thinking ahead to choosing godparents, it might be tough for us.  Both my H's oldest brother and his wife, and my older sister and her husband, aren't practicing Catholics (Lutheran and Episcopalian, respectively).  I have a feeling that they'll both expect to be asked, especially H's brother/SIL since we are each a godparent for one of their kids.  I think my sister and her husband will be much more understanding about not being chosen since they're not Catholic, but I"m sure there might some hurt feelings somewhere.  It's tough having so many siblings, I feel like no matter what we do we'll leave someone out!
  • Shawna and Prof -- picking godparents seems so hard!   So many people see it as being less about the faith or more about who's your favorite person .

     

  • One thing I am pretty committed to is making sure we're picking people who will stick around.  I know too many people who really don't know their god parents.  H has never met his godmother (well, since he's been able to walk and talk, at least).  My sister is in the same situation.  I think that's really sad. 

     

  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:484d0150-96f3-49f7-bebb-87c17e1f7dc9">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]Shawna and Prof -- picking godparents seems so hard!   So many people see it as being less about the faith or more about who's your favorite person .
    Posted by Resa77[/QUOTE]

    <div>My parents chose all couples who were their friends versus siblings... which I thought was normal until my husband thought it was weird that we didn't have immediate family members as godparents!  I think we'll probably go the same route once we reach that point... </div>
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:7e93b6f0-b72e-46d7-8883-e9aca8abd2ef">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]It's been somewhat of a crazy week for me too, we had another showing of our condo (which is great) but it's hectic trying to make sure the place stays clean and then figure out who has to come home and take our dogs out during the showing.  Beyond that, we've been house hunting and just aren't finding anything that fits what we'd like.  More prayers to Sts. Joseph and Anthony are needed I guess! :) 
    Posted by erin5286[/QUOTE]<div>
    </div><div>We've been in the middle of house-hunting, too!  Well... technically townhouse hunting :-)  It's been a bit slow in the area we're looking for the last couple months and most places that have just gone up are overpriced and likely wouldn't appraise for what they're listing at right now!  I can't imagine how tough it would be to simultaneously be showing our place of residence, too... luckily, we're just in an apartment and my husband is working from home right now and can keep it tidied up.  Is the market in NoDak pretty competitive with the oil boom?  I suppose it depends on the area you're in...

    </div>
  • my mom arrives tomorrow and we are going to holy thursday mass togetheer tomorrow night.

    i am hoping to get friday off....

    saturay we may go into boston for the day, then vigil at 8pm!
  • H gets Friday off from work, so we decided to just use some of our vacation days and visit his family for Easter (since we spent Christmas with mine). Still trying to work out the whole splitting holidays thing which can be challenging when everyone lives at least a 4+ hour drive or plane ride away.

    So I am excited to visit with H's family and friends and really just have a break from work since we are staying until Wednesday. I think H's family likes to go to the Easter Vigil mass and then the extended family all gets together Sunday afternoon. I am an only child so I am used to holidays with just my parents and I, so the whole extended family get together will be a new experience for me. We are talking around 60 people or so on just H's mom's side. H's grandmother who is 95 now has multiple great- great- grandkids. So it will be a lot of family!
    image
  • Hey Erin, my fianc and I are considering buying a condo to start out, give me your honest opinion...are they hard to resell I suppose it depends on the area any advice you can offer?
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:484d0150-96f3-49f7-bebb-87c17e1f7dc9">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]Shawna and Prof -- picking godparents seems so hard!   So many people see it as being less about the faith or more about who's your favorite person .
    Posted by Resa77[/QUOTE]

    <div>Yeah, this has been our biggest problem.  A Lutheran friend of mine mentioned sort of in passing while she was pregnant that she and her husband had been considering H and me for godparents.  She actually said, "I don't think it means the same thing for Lutherans as it does for Catholics."  I wanted to be like, "So why do you want us?!"  They ended up never officially asking us, so it never came up, but it was so weird.</div><div>
    </div><div>We're somewhat limited on the "friend" front, as well, because we just don't know that many Catholics, married or not.  I've been trying to get involved with some of the groups at our church, so hopefully we'll be able to branch out a bit more.</div><div>
    </div><div>They're having a pep assembly right now, and much as I love our student athletes, I'm really tempted to just go curl up in the break room for a nap instead.</div>
    Anniversary

    image

    image

  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:94a09c0d-bee4-4863-82f7-0a9b46f6bf12">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: Wednesday chit chat : We've been in the middle of house-hunting, too!  Well... technically townhouse hunting :-)  It's been a bit slow in the area we're looking for the last couple months and most places that have just gone up are overpriced and likely wouldn't appraise for what they're listing at right now!  I can't imagine how tough it would be to simultaneously be showing our place of residence, too... luckily, we're just in an apartment and my husband is working from home right now and can keep it tidied up.  Is the market in NoDak pretty competitive with the oil boom?  I suppose it depends on the area you're in...
    Posted by newlyseliski[/QUOTE]

    I think there's a lot more of that in the western part, and is even going as far west as Bismarck.  Lots of houses that were worth almost nothing a few years ago are now selling/renting for a ton of money. I've heard that a lot of people who move up for the oil work will have their family living in Bismarck since it's a better environment/bigger town, and just commute, so even Bismarck is seeing some effects even though there isn't oil work going on there.  All the way over in Fargo I don't think the market is affected that much by it though.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:3ab1c82c-d200-4b2a-8669-b126ccd5642f">Re:Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hey Erin, my fianc and I are considering buying a condo to start out, give me your honest opinion...are they hard to resell I suppose it depends on the area any advice you can offer?
    Posted by Ambybambi1125[/QUOTE]

    <div>Are you thinking condo or townhome?  I think end-unit townhomes/condos tend to have the best re-sale feasibility in the Twin Cities right now from what I've noticed compared to condos (I'm thinking condos as units in an apartment building).  A lot of townhomes we've looked at are legally condo units according to their property info which can affect financing options.  Depending on the area of the cities you're looking in, 2BR townhomes can be super-reasonably priced and pretty comparable to renting!  I'm most looking forward to having an attached garage instead of parking outside at our apartment :-)  Good luck with your hunt!</div>
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:f70e4487-0797-4f0f-aae5-78a740477d58">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: Wednesday chit chat : I think there's a lot more of that in the western part, and is even going as far west as Bismarck.  Lots of houses that were worth almost nothing a few years ago are now selling/renting for a ton of money. I've heard that a lot of people who move up for the oil work will have their family living in Bismarck since it's a better environment/bigger town, and just commute, so even Bismarck is seeing some effects even though there isn't oil work going on there.  All the way over in Fargo I don't think the market is affected that much by it though.
    Posted by erin5286[/QUOTE]

    <div>Ahhh, good!  Fargo is probably safe from the madness for now :-)  My sister's fiance lives in Bismarck right now and he was lucky enough to get a 2br apartment in town which apparently are nearly impossible to get when you don't know someone.  He said that they're building $400k condos across the street from his apartment... for NoDak, that just seems insane!!!</div>
  • I knew right away that my sister would be the Godmother because she is a practicing catholic and strong in her faith, but our choices for the Godfather were somewhat limited.  We just figured out who it would be this weekend lol

    Daisypath Anniversary tickers Lilypie Pregnancy tickers
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:3ab1c82c-d200-4b2a-8669-b126ccd5642f">Re:Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hey Erin, my fianc and I are considering buying a condo to start out, give me your honest opinion...are they hard to resell I suppose it depends on the area any advice you can offer?
    Posted by Ambybambi1125[/QUOTE]

    Hard to say - I know they were pretty hard to sell especially a few years ago when the market wasn't as good, some banks aren't wanting to get into financing for condos.  I think it really depends on your area too, for us the downtown area isn't real large so there isn't a lot of inventory, therefore it'll be easier to sell ours since we aren't competing against a ton of places.

    I don't have a lot of advice, other than ask to see the financials for the condo association to make sure it's solid and that there wouldn't be any big repairs coming up that you'd have to shell out for.  Also I'd consider how long you plan to live there, to decide whether it's really worth it to get a mortgage rather than just seeing if you could rent for a few years.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:b27819c6-f09b-456c-9d4c-379f47cab1d4">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]I knew right away that my sister would be the Godmother because she is a practicing catholic and strong in her faith, but our choices for the Godfather were somewhat limited.  We just figured out who it would be this weekend lol
    Posted by shawna127[/QUOTE]

    <div>
    </div><div>DH is hoping we can broaden our godparent horizons to our friends, which basically means we need to start building more relationships with practicing Catholics.  My cousin and I are the only members of our side of the family who are Catholic, so I think that she and her husband are a pretty good choice.</div>
    Anniversary

    image

    image

  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:44ce945c-16e8-443c-9efe-96af6afb66c0">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: Wednesday chit chat : Ahhh, good!  Fargo is probably safe from the madness for now :-)  My sister's fiance lives in Bismarck right now and he was lucky enough to get a 2br apartment in town which apparently are nearly impossible to get when you don't know someone.  He said that they're building $400k condos across the street from his apartment... for NoDak, that just seems insane!!!
    Posted by newlyseliski[/QUOTE]

    Yeah, the housing in Bismarck is getting crazy, especially for renting.  Some of H's brothers live there, and I swear I see new apartment buildings going up everywhere every time we visit.  The $400K condos seem a little excessive, but there's several in the downtown Fargo area that are even $500K and above.  However those are huge and in a gorgeous old historic building, so I can totally see where the pricetag comes from!
  • itzMSitzMS member
    First Answer First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:3ab1c82c-d200-4b2a-8669-b126ccd5642f">Re:Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]Hey Erin, my fianc and I are considering buying a condo to start out, give me your honest opinion...are they hard to resell I suppose it depends on the area any advice you can offer?
    Posted by Ambybambi1125[/QUOTE]

    I know you didn't ask me...but my first place was a condo and I lived there for over 5 years. I ended up taking a loss when I sold it in 2010, and I live within walking distance of a major university in my state. I was positive when I bought it that it would retain value...but with all of the foreclosed single family homes selling for just as cheap (if not cheaper), most buyers were going that route.


    Now that DH & I have our own home, I can't believe I didn't get a house to begin with. Sharing walls in the condo was very challenging. After all, I OWNED the place, but had to be concerned about noise and disturbing neighbors (or their noise disturbed me).

    Also, having to get a majority of owners in the association to agree on roofing/siding/windows/landscaping/snow removal was a PITA!
  • Ok all good advice, I think we will steer clear of the condo scenario and continue to save for a house.
  • Just my two cents (as someone who works in the industry) on condos: the main reason people say they're hard to resell is because there are some pretty stringent guidelines lenders follow in order to finance in a condo community.  There can't be delinquent dues, there has to be a reserves budget, all the management agreement, amenity agreements, etc, have to be in order.  Plus, if there are too many investors (as in, non owner-occupied condos), lenders will stop financing in the community. So you could buy in a fine community, but 5 years later there's a 60% investor concentration and now no one but cash buyers can buy your condo. That limits your pool of potential buyers, and therefore frequently lowers the value.  Plus, it can take longer to sell if you have to wait for a cash buyer.  And even if your condo is approved for financing, some people won't buy a condo for fear that 5 years later it won't be approved.  

    That all being said, condos can be a great investment.  Particularly now when the market isn't too high in most areas, you could get one for a good price. 

     

  • I can't really weigh in on the other topics, so I'll just talk about how excited I am for the rest of the week:

    I'm on spring break right now and my FI's and my anniversary is tomorrow (4 years!), so I'm having a good week. We have all sorts of fun stuff planned for the weekend because of that, including attending Good Friday mass at a Cathedral in the next diocee over. It's in a town we were going to visit anyway, and when we found out that's where the cathedral was, we got super excited to go to mass there. Then we have all sorts of meals and two egg hunts for Easter. I'm interested to see how his family's turns out since it's usually outside and we still have a ton of snow on the ground...
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:89edbd7a-54a0-4aec-8d5f-a60cfe774366">Re:Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]Ok all good advice, I think we will steer clear of the condo scenario and continue to save for a house.
    Posted by Ambybambi1125[/QUOTE]

    <div>That's probably a good plan :-)  We'd totally go the house route if my husband wasn't still in school!  Just make sure you get into a place with reasonable rent so you can save up more of your take-home pay towards a DP... rent is so high right now in the Twin Cities!  If we had renewed our lease in our current apartment, our rent would have gone up another $30/month and we're in a place that's comparatively reasonable to other properties around here.</div>
  • I'm a total weirdo because I actually really want a townhouse instead of a SF.  I don't want a big yard, and I don't want a ton of space.  I don't mind the shared walls, because I grew up in such a big family that noise doesn't bother me.  I live on the downstairs level of my condo (I rent), and I really don't care when I can hear my neighbors' TVs, footsteps, voices, etc. 

     

  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:5a51af2f-74a3-46e3-9e46-1c22e89dfa86">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]I'm a total weirdo because I actually really want a townhouse instead of a SF.  I don't want a big yard, and I don't want a ton of space.  I don't mind the shared walls, because I grew up in such a big family that noise doesn't bother me.  I live on the downstairs level of my condo (I rent), and I really don't care when I can hear my neighbors' TVs, footsteps, voices, etc. 
    Posted by Resa77[/QUOTE]

    See, I cannot WAIT to have a big yard (or at least medium sized), much more space, and to not have to share walls/hallways/driveway with anyone!  I totally get where you're coming from with being used to noise from a family, but somehow it was less annoying when it was my family members, and much worse from random neighbors/strangers!  Plus, growing up, even though we shared bedrooms for several years, we had a pretty good size house and we lived in the country, so plenty of room to run and yell outside.  I'd love to live outside of town someday, but I doubt H and I will ever get to that.
  • itzMSitzMS member
    First Answer First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:5a51af2f-74a3-46e3-9e46-1c22e89dfa86">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]I'm a total weirdo because I actually really want a townhouse instead of a SF.  I don't want a big yard, and I don't want a ton of space.  I don't mind the shared walls, because I grew up in such a big family that noise doesn't bother me.  I live on the downstairs level of my condo (I rent), and I really don't care when I can hear my neighbors' TVs, footsteps, voices, etc. 
    Posted by Resa77[/QUOTE]

    The daily living noise isn't necessarily so bad. It's...you know...those things that go "bump" in the night...<img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" title="Wink" />

    TMI for this chick!
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_wednesday-chit-chat-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:8c3c6f3c-199c-43fe-baf8-6207cf085fb6Post:5a51af2f-74a3-46e3-9e46-1c22e89dfa86">Re: Wednesday chit chat</a>:
    [QUOTE]I'm a total weirdo because I actually really want a townhouse instead of a SF.  I don't want a big yard, and I don't want a ton of space.  I don't mind the shared walls, because I grew up in such a big family that noise doesn't bother me.  I live on the downstairs level of my condo (I rent), and I really don't care when I can hear my neighbors' TVs, footsteps, voices, etc. 
    Posted by Resa77[/QUOTE]

    <div>Yeah.. I grew up on 22 acres in Northern Arkansas.  I needs my space.</div>
    Anniversary

    image

    image

This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards