Engagement Pictures!!

We took them on Saturday and although I have not seen them yet, I am very excited!! It was cold and snowy, it even started snowing as we took them. Cheers to Rose for getting soaked for our sake... but hopefully not sick! Thanks also are in order for Gillian- for helping me pick out good make up when she should have been making pies. I think Rose took about 3000 pictures, so hopefully there will be a ton that are lovable!
I also found some wonderful dresses shopping on Friday with my mom! Another real trooper (as is anyone who is willing to mess around with dozens of dresses which weigh a ton a piece and have to go on a hanger a certain way... thanks again Gillian). I will visit them again over Christmas break to decide... anyone who is "home" is welcome to come!
Some common questions I have had when it comes to dresses include whether the dress will be "white" and whether it will be a traditional wedding dress, or something very simple and understated instead, since this is not my first wedding (gasp!). Traditionally, brides wear a white dress, which is supposed to date back to the marriage of Victoria and Albert. These days, it is acceptable for an encore bride to wear whatever she wants... so the answer to both is that I am getting whatever I want! (Emily Post be damned!) I have, however, been leaning more toward ivory, because it is more flattering on me than WHITE white...
I will probably not wear a veil. Last time I just grabbed one from a craft store the night before anyway. Perhaps that will appease all ye etiquette junkies!

What's in a Name?

I like my name. I think I have pretty much decided to keep it, or perhaps hyphenate. I have been doing some reading (OK... for the past 2 minutes) about views on this, and they all came from people who "put the K in Klassy". I have an aversion to the use of the letter "K" where it does not belong, so I will not be taking the advice of these people.

If my last name was "Turner-Nasca", then people could still call me "Turner" or "Nasca" and not be wrong. If we had children (b's), the b's would not have to have a hyphenated name, they could just be Nasca, and I would have the same name as they have, as well as my own. Although I have had some students with hyphenated last names, and it is not as cumbersome as you would think. BUT- what do they do when they get married? Add another name? Do the names continue to grow with each new generation until it is more convenient to read someone's DNA sequence than their last name? (This has already occurred in Hollywood)

It is not too important to me that the b's have the last name Turner... I just want it for me. I will be getting married in the middle of the school year, so what would I do upon returning, make all the students call me by a new name? Also, as the future Turner family historian I feel like my name should actually be "Turner". Not like its Kennedy or anything. I just like it.
Also, I have gone through the whole name change thing, and it definitely is more than just a change in name, its a change in identity.

Fifteen percent of surnames originated as occupations, so perhaps my last name should just be "Teacher". A "turner" refers to someone who works with a lathe, turning wood. I have also read that it has a Latin origin, but nothing specific. Chaz took Latin, and so did Cutes, so maybe I will ask. If you google Turner, the first thing you get it Turner Broadcasting.

Nasca apparently comes from a Sicilian word for nose, specifically a "turned-up" or a "snub" nose! If you google Nasca, the first thing that comes up is an "Association of Clubs, Events, Services and others related to the Swinger / Lifestyle Community"! On the other hand, "Nazca" is the name of an oceanic tectonic plate, which would be a very cool thing to share a name with. It is a convergent boundary/subduction zone, though, which would not be my first choice...

I have a while to make this decision, but I am leaning toward becoming Erica Marie Turner-Nasca. I will have the same last name as Kip!