The Next Bride to Be? Probably Not.

Beautiful bridal bouquet that won't bring any good luck to anyone

Fairbury, IL - A recent study has shown that the lucky "single lady" who catches the bridal bouquet during the traditional "catch the bridal bouquet" activity at every single American wedding is not necessarily the next girl among the group to get engaged.  Actually, she's usually not the next one to get engaged.  This news, after many years of believing the contrary, has some women confused, disappointed, and even angry.

Jana Williams of Morton, Illinois recently caught the bouquet shown above during a wedding in central Illinois.  She said that she jockeyed for position and "boxed out" several eager bridesmaids for her chance at imminent engagement.

"I really thought that if I caught it, that meant for sure that I'd be the next one to get a ring.  I was all pumped up too!  With that Beyonce song in the background, it was amazing when the bouquet landed in my arms.  Hopefully, I didn't hurt anyone in that mosh pit.  I just wanted the bouquet!"

Ms. Williams isn't alone.  The unfortunate news has caught many women secretly hoping to be engaged by surprise across the country.  Ladies, take heart in the fact that if he likes it, he'll most likely put a ring on it.  But it won't have anything to do with some other girl's flowers you caught at some other wedding.

The CEO Said "No!"

As you all may have noticed, I haven't posted any pictures or updated at all regarding my promised trip to Eindhoven, Holland.  That is partially due to the fact that my trip got canceled, and partially due to...  Actually, it's 100% due to the fact that my trip got canceled.  After reviewing the list of people who the company had planned to send to The Netherlands (which is the same country as "Holland" in case any of you were confused - kind of like Canada and "America's Hat"), the CEO decided that they didn't need as many people as was initially thought.

My co-worker, Eric Lisle, got the nod and is currently overseas.  Why did they cancel my trip and not his trip, you ask?  Mainly because my plane ticket was $600 more expensive, but keep in mind that they already decided that they didn't need as many people as they had planned to send.  I've gotten over it, despite the decision to outline some positives and negatives of not going to Holland (seen below).


Negatives:
-  I had already begun studying Dutch quite intently.  I know how to say "September," "rainy," and "black pepper" thanks to the Dutch app that I have since deleted from my iPhone.  Dutch pronunciation is really strange - I think I'll stick to Spanish and Japanese.

- I had already contacted everyone I know who had lived in the Netherlands, been to the Netherlands, thought about going to the Netherlands, has a Dutch sounding name, or who had seen a Van Gogh painting at some point.  They were a big help in preparing me for my non-existent trip.

- With regards to money, I added (and have since removed) a $5.99 feature to my iPhone plan that allowed me to make calls while overseas for only $0.99/minute.  And I canceled a wedding photography gig this weekend that would have paid me $300.  My company now owes me a trip to Holland and $305.99.

- I spent a couple hours (on and off) packing on Thursday night, as well as a couple hours (on and off) unpacking last night.  If time is money, then my company continues to rack up the debt.

- Finally, I didn't get to go to Holland and rub elbows with the CEO, the COO, and lots of Dutch people.

Positives:

- I get to watch the Blackhawks-Sharks Western Conference Final playoff series.  You might think this isn't a big deal.  You might say, "Why are you even thinking about hockey if you've got the opportunity to go to The Netherlands?"  On the first point, you're wrong.  It is a big deal.  On the second point, it's not like I would turn down the trip to watch hockey, but now that I'm not going, I DO get to watch it.

- My fantasy baseball teams won't be neglected.

- I get to spend two weekends with my girlfriend, who unknown to me has her own blog.  We wouldn't have seen each other for 6 weeks if I would have left!

- I'll get to attend the 4 golf lessons I would have missed while i was in Einhoven.  So far my 6-iron has really improved, but my woods still need lots of work.

In summary, the difference between going to The Netherlands and not going can be summed up in the below pictures.  Instead of taking pictures of Amsterdam like the one on the left, I end up taking pictures of my ingenious idea to heat up my poptart on my beverage warmer.  Oh well - I guess I'll have to wait till the next "opportunity of a lifetime" rolls around...

 

Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum - Eindhoven, The Netherlands

I just found out that I'll be leaving for Eindhoven, The Netherlands this Saturday to assist with some shipping/distribution issues that my company is having at the facility there.  A co-worker and I will be there for two weeks, returning May 29.  Eindhoven is home to the main European distribution center for my company.  They are experiencing a "huge" backlog due to the recent volcano situation among other things.  I don't have many more details at this time.

I do know that I'll be bringing along my new Nikon D300 and a couple lenses to take some (hopefully) amazing pictures.  My coworker and I are planning to take the train to Amsterdam sometime during our stay in the Netherlands - most likely during the one full weekend that we are there.  I will have a computer and my iPhone with me (which I will switch to "Airplane Mode" and use only when I'm connected to free Wi-Fi), so I'll be able to blog and keep everyone updated.  I'll probably post some pictures on my blog, but they will all link to my Flickr account here - Fourth_Photography.  Keep an eye on my Twitter account for timely and concise updates too if you're interested.

P.S. - Sorry I've been lacking in the blog posts.  Many other things have been grabbing my attention, and I have not been dedicated to sitting down and writing anything.  Sometimes I feel like I need to write something revolutionary or hilarious every time I post.  Not true.  Keep checking back, as upcoming posts should be more frequent (and interesting while I'm in Holland).