We wanted our wedding invitations to reflect our theme: relaxed, fun, and personal. Instead of opting for the usual (and might I add, expensive) wedding invitations, I did them myself. All it took was patience, some creativity with Photoshop, $100, and an excellent printing expert from Staples.

Our wedding is being held in our hometown, St. Louis. But we love to travel and wanted to show our guests some of our adventures. Our invitations include several photographs– from our half-marathons in Las Vegas and Virginia Beach, to vacations in Alaska and Mexico, and historic excursions to Mount Vernon and Harpers Ferry.

On back, the information is easy to understand. We’re even renting a trolley and inviting our guests to arrive early for a quick tour through Forest Park. It’s much more than the standard black and white invitation with the ribbon at the top. And it’s easier to read– especially for our older guests (and people like me who already need reading glasses).

Breaking with tradition: We are not sending return envelopes. Our guests can RSVP online, or call us on our cell phones. Not only is it more convenient, but it helps save the environment. (Not to mention it saved us $50 in extra postage).

I designed the invitations to fit the dimensions of a FedEx Office (formally Kinkos) postcard (5.5 x 8.5). But when I went there to have them printed up, they looked horrible. First, I went to an office location that only had one professional printing machine. I knew I was in trouble when the guy started kicking the paper tray.

I traveled down the road a few more miles to a large FedEx Office location. The staff was nice, but the quality was the same. I bought 100 envelopes, and then I went to Staples.

The printing specialist was incredible. He knew all the differences in paper. I recommend printing off a test sheet. I was able to go home and tweak the photos that looked too dark.

By now, you’re probably thinking this was soooo easy and that I did everything right. Not at all! I’m super-late getting the invitations out (thanks to two blizzards in the Washington, DC area). And after I had all 100 invitations printed, I noticed there was a huge error. I wrote down the wrong time for the reception and there was no easy fix. I’d have to get them reprinted. I was so upset– I just paid $200 for the invitations!

Now, I’m going to praise Staples. When I found the error, I corrected it. I also noticed I could fit two invitations on one piece of regular-sized paper if I reformatted the page. I went back with a corrected version and while I waited for the new prints, I told the printing expert what happened.

To my surprise, he took back the copies that were wrong. And because I had fit two invitations on each sheet, my new bill was only $100. My mistake actually saved me $100. And postage cost $44 for 100 invitations.

Total cost for invitations and postage: $144. I feel like I pressed that “Easy Button.”

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When I met Patrick six years ago, we both had iPaqs. On that first day, we beamed each other our personal information. Soon, we were sneaking out to lunch together, instant messaging, and talking on the phone. One of our first conversations lasted more than eight hours. We stayed up all night chatting.

Three months into our relationship, I knew he was the one and I was ready to marry him. But we had a long-distance relationship and we didn’t want to have a long-distance marriage. So, we decided to wait a while.

I was still in college when we met and I took two internships far away. When I left, Patrick got me roses. I drove them all the way down to Dallas, where I lived in a hotel for a couple of months. And then I moved to Washington, DC, for four months. Patrick visited me each month. We relied on instant messaging and even web cams (no sound and with a five-minute delay) to “talk.”

When I moved back home, I got surgery on both my feet. I couldn’t walk for nearly a month. Patrick would carry me and my wheelchair up the stairs icy and snowy stairs, and then up several flights of stairs to our third-story apartment. The first time I stood up without my foot braces, my ankles gave out. Patrick caught me as I fell. We spent a month together, but then I moved back to Southern Illinois.

As I began anchoring a morning show two hours away from Patrick, he remained supportive. We saw each other every weekend. I never wanted to leave on Sunday night. Sometimes it would be 10, 11, or even past midnight before I’d drive down. A few times I stayed up and drove straight to work. I never wanted to leave his arms.

We even bought a house together in Valley Park. We spent weekends together painting the basement, making shelves, tiling our kitchen, and creating an oasis in the back yard. We had parties and even had my entire family over for Christmas. A little more than a year later, being apart began taking its toll.

Then, Patrick got a job offer in Washington, DC. We saw this as our opportunity to be together. We had a couple weeks to make our decision. We secretly flew to the District and made arrangements to move. In one week we had a going away party, massive garage sale, put our house up for sale, and packed nearly everything we owned into a moving truck and drove across the country with our cats.

It took me a few months to find a job, but Patrick supported me. He even supported my decision to freelance instead of taking a stable minimum-wage job. He knew I wanted to follow my dream and it paid off. We now work at the same company and occasionally even car pool.

We could spend 24-hours a day together, and it wouldn’t be long enough. He is my best friend and he still makes my heart melt. When Patrick asked me to marry him, he said, “We’ve been through everything together.” I believe that. I believe we will continue to go through good times, bad, and even sad times. But together we’ll continue to be strong. I can’t wait for the future!

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What an great night! @mikeneumann organized a tweetup at Spider Kelly’s in Clarendon– and I got to meet a lot of tweeple I’ve been following on Twitter: @newmediajim @tvmediaag and @geosteph (We started following each other during the Elton John/Billy Joel concert at Nats Stadium). New to my tweet list are @bentdog @fireton– great tweeting you guys!!! And one of my best twitter gal-pals: @putitaway.

BTW– we had half price burgers (delish!) and fries for the whole table. I can’t wait for the next one!

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My mommy came to visit me! Patrick went home to St. Louis for his Easter, and my mom flew here. I hadn’t seen her since December. The first thing I did is make a huge dinner. Mom and I had taco night, complete with “Spicy,” and “Hot” plates, and my famous home-made guac. Here’s what we did the rest of the weekend:

Saturday: In the morning we went to the Capital Crescent Trail so I could run three miles. Then we went to the Dancing Crab! (See the photos!)

Sunday: We went to Georgetown and strolled around the shops. We ate at Martin’s and went to a vintage store (where I got a flapper dress). 

Monday: We went to the Capital Crescent Trail earlly in the morning. My mom took her sketchpad and I ran eight miles. After that, Mom insisted I get some things done. So we went to Saturn to get my oil changed. After that we went back to the apartment and packed up. At the airport, we ate at Friday’s. I was sad to see my mom have to go home, but I really enjoyed spending a few days with her.

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My good friend Angie Goff (@ohmygoff) celebrated her birthday at the Four Seasons in NW DC Tuesday. I think this was her 14th party of the week (all birthday celebrations)– just kidding. (Here’s Angie’s blog and pics from her party!) But when you have thousands of friends like Angie does, you have to share the love.

Kristin Fisher (@kristinfisher) and I went together and hung out with the WUSA9 gang. I also caught up with and met new friends. It was great talking with Mark Drapeau (@cheeky_geeky) and John-Michael Scott (@xylus). I was also introduced to the exciting world of nano-technology by Marlowe Epstein (@marlowemayfield ).

Check out our party pics:

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I did it! I ran 5 miles without stopping. I met with my friend Suzie Giampetroni early Saturday morning at the Barnes and Noble in Bethesda. We did some quick stretching and then took off on the Capital Crescent Trail. It was packed. There were runners, walkers, bikers, people on skates, skateboards, and lots of kids. It was the perfect day to be out.

I started off nice and easy. I was able to have a conversation with Suzie while we ran. The first mile flew by. I enjoyed looking at all the beautiful homes (and dreaming of winning the lottery so I could buy one). At the one mile mark, we hit the bridge over River Road. It wasn’t too steep, but once I crossed over I was out of breath. Luckily, it didn’t take me too long to recover.

In the past when I’ve run, I could never hold a conversation. I’d have to shout one-word commands. Not now. It’s because I paced myself. Well, I kept up with Suzie who did awesome at pacing. I’m surprised we did a steady run and still made 11-minute miles. I used to sprint for eight to 10 minutes and then walk two minutes. But I’d rather keep going. If I can train myself to run the way Suzie does (and the way Angie ran last week), then I’ll do wonderfully at the Cherry Blossom Race.

We both had our MP3 players. I eventually turned mine off after I remembered the Cherry Blossom Race prohibits headphones. It wasn’t bad. After all, I had someone to talk with.

While we ran, bikes and faster runners passed us. No biggie. We just moved as close as we could to the side of the trail. Then, a rude biker approached. She didn’t say “left,” nor did she ring a bike bell to let us know she was there. Suzie and I were already as far over as we could get and still run side by side. The biker came really close as if she was going to scrape Suzie’s side. She said in a very hateful voice, “You could get over more!” Wow– what a crab! Obviously, the Capital Crescent Trail is not a place to go if you want a path to yourself. Suzie and I just laughed it off.

When we turned around at two and a half miles in, I was surprised. I wanted to keep going. It just didn’t feel like it took us very long to get there. I kept talking to Suzie and I think I may have talked too much. It became hard to breath steady. I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t hyperventilate, so I breathed in my nose deeply and then blew the air out my mouth. I made an agonizing sound each time, just because I couldn’t catch my breath. It was like this for about a mile or so. Finally, we had a half mile left.

I was still breathing heavy. And then my right side began to cramp up. I ran through the pain and soon the pain went away. I kept saying to myself aloud, almost there. When we finally made it, we both put our hands in the air. I immedietly went to a drinking fountain and gulped down water until I got my breath back.

I was a bit dizzy, but just kept remembering to breath. We stretched and cooled down. Then we went to Cosi. I had my favorite. A hummus veggie sandwich. It’s under 400 calories. I like it with wheat bread because it gives it more of a flavor. As a side, I had carrots.

Afterward, I went home and changed for work. I ended up doing a story about the wonderful weather (temperatures reached in the 70s today) and I went back to the Capital Crescent Trail for the live shot. I talked with a couple who ran six miles while pushing their son (27 pounds) in a stroller. Truly incredible. And inspiring. I’m looking forward to getting back on the trail next Saturday for a six-miler. We may even try a different trail this time.

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