Congratulations Mom & Jim!!!

My mom recently met the man of her dreams and they were married yesterday at the First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, MI. I wish I could have been there and I wish I had a better picture of the two of them and more time to write about their wonderful story, but I'm hoping that my mom will take time to write on her blog about everything once she returns from her weekend honeymoon! Congratulations Mom & Jim - I love you and hope for only more wonderful days to come!!!!


(Mom, Jim, Me, Alex)

Keep Calm & Carry On

Click on the image to order this poster.

I originally found this poster on the Oh Happy Day Blog, and it was such a good reminder for me. Here I sit in the Washington, DC area - checking my emails- thankful that some people took the time to resend after seeing my blog, but also fretting over how many emails I probably never received over the last few days, and how many people may think I'm some awful person for never responding. Pair this with the normal amount of performance anxiety I feel when getting ready for a wedding (this Saturday), and you have the makings of a girl on the verge of crazy. Don't worry, I won't go crazy... I only feel that way.

I'm also looking ahead at my calendar and seeing how little time I'll be in the office over the next few weeks, as well as how many projects are currently in progress and need to finished. Without even trying, the simple knowledge of these things creates stress for me. Stress is a fear response triggered by the brain which can affect the entire body. Heightened blood pressure, skin break-outs, adverse eating habits, sleeplessness, moodiness, and a generally agitated state of being are all caused by stress. Since stress is created by fear - I have to remind myself how big my fears really are. A fear of someone thinking I'm an awful person because I haven't responded to their email, because I never received their email, because my email was on the fritz - while it may be a big fear in my mind, how big is it in real life? Will someone really end up thinking I'm an awful person? Even if they do think I'm an awful person, do I have any control over that? Not likely. So why do I worry about it? Why do I let it stress me out? Why do I fear that which I cannot control? No one is served well by my stress or anxiety, especially not me. Anxiety, stress, and fear can all be quite paralyzing and can prevent someone from moving forward and making progress, so I have to remind myself in times like this to simply Keep Calm & Carry On.

On a positive note... I can't WAIT to share all of the exciting things I've been working on!! There are sooo many cool things which I simply have not had time to share yet (and have not been able to upload, due to spotty internet service.) If you're still reading this, thank you so much for being an eye and ear to my life... I sincerely appreciate just knowing that you're out there supporting me in even the smallest of ways. ;-)

Email Trouble

I just found out that I hadn't received a few emails that were sent to info at anneruthmann.com. If you have sent an email to that address in the last few days and I have not responded, please resend your email to [removed for spam]@gmail.com. I changed the email addy on my website until I can get the issue resolved. Thank you for your patience & understanding!