Wednesday, May 27, 2009

I'm MARRIED! =)

After 11 months of wedding planning, on May 16th, I finally married my best friend :)

The wedding was everything I dreamed it would be, and more! It was such a fun day. Even though our flowers were the wrong color, I realized that if that was the worst that could happen, I was okay with it! Everything else was perfect. 200+ friends and family came to celebrate with us! Now that the wedding is over, it seems very strange to sit at home with nothing to do :) The wedding planning, moving, working, and homework had taken over my life..and now that I still have a few more days off of work, we are completely moved into our house, I've spent a lot of time relaxing and enjoying the beginning of married life :)

Our honeymoon was great! We went on a Caribbean cruise and it was awesome. It was also pretty cheap compared to other options we looked into, which is always a plus! I got A LOT of sun, and ended up peeling pretty bad when I got home, but it was totally worth it. The weather was great, and the views were even better! And not to mention the meals that were all included...24/7 all you can eat buffets, room service, and the most elegant dinners I have ever had! I dont think I have ever eaten so much! I'm pretty sure I gained back a few of the 17 pounds I had lost before the wedding, but it was totally worth it!

So far married life is good! Our house definitely feels like home now that we have everything unpacked and decorated. (thanks to having 2 1/2 weeks off of work!) I'm glad we moved when we did, because it was great to come home to OUR home :)

I'll post pictures later. I'm getting really anxious to see our professional wedding photos! :) :)

Monday, May 11, 2009

Less than a week to go!!

I cant believe it...in less than a week, I will be MARRIED!! How crazy is that?! We will have a new house, wedding, and honeymoon, all in less than a month! Crazy. Of course I'm on a break at work right now (1:41 am) planning out my next few days of craziness before the big day. All of the last minute wedding stuff with papers for school and boxes to unpack is enough to make my head spin! I'm surprisingly calm though, concidering. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm freaking out yet, and prior to that, I honestly dont think it had really set in yet! Derek is excited, which is enough to keep a smile on my face. Although at the beginning he wasnt always the most helpful ;) He is now asking what he can do to help, and constantly reminding me how excited he is to finally say I'm his wife :) He is such a sweetheart.

Anyway...this will probably be my last post until we get back from our honeymoon! I just hope the weather shapes up a bit by then! Pray for no rain!!! So far its looking like rain most of the week but there is still plenty of time for that to change!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

We've moved!!! =)

I realize it's been a very long time since I've had a chance to update this...

The biggest news is that Derek and I are officially first time homeowners! We closed on our house on Thursday and did most of the moving on Friday. It has been so exciting! ...and exhausting! I was just bummed that on top of all of the moving, I have to work 12 hour night shifts all weekend. Boo. I'm so anxious to get everything unpacked and decorated!!! I will finally be able to have color on my walls, and can actually hang things and decorate however I want! :) Its still so crazy to think that this is OUR home. I never thought I'd own a house this nice! Especially not as my first home. All of the years of renting and saving money sure has paid off! Derek of course is already planning what kind of deck to build, and what accessories to put in the bathroom and laundry room downstairs. He is so thrilled to be able to do this for us...and even though he has big dreams, its great to see things falling in place for us :) I cant wait to get married now!!!!

The wedding is 2 weeks away from yesterday!!! Holy cow! Once we get all settled in, I'll feel much better. Then I can just focus on all of the last minute wedding stuff. I have a bunch of little things to do..and I cant wait to start crossing everything off my list! I keep looking at my calendar and seeing that the wedding really isnt far away...and then a much needed vacation! Derek and I have never been on a vacation just the two of us, so we are SO excited for the honeymoon! At this point it really doesnt matter where we go...just as long as we can get away for awhile...and a little sun wouldnt hurt! :)

Everything is falling into place...I couldnt ask for anything more! :)

Friday, April 3, 2009

April is going to be a very busy month!

Ugh I am ready for this month to be over, and it just started! So much to do and so little time!
My Spring break is officially over. Classes start again on Saturday. I'm only taking one class this time though, so that should be much easier for me to handle with my busy schedule. With the economy the way it is and with hiring holds/job cuts, etc, I dont want to take any risks and am hoping to get my 4 year degree as soon as I can. If that means taking classes with everything else I have going on, I'll do it. Tuition reimbursement is a great thing, and I want to take advantage of it while I can!

Only 6 weeks to go until the wedding...Yikes! Its coming quick! Now is the time where we need to hurry up and get all of the last minute things done...and of course Derek and I are working opposite shifts so we never see each other. This makes it very difficult to get anything done. If he didnt want to be involved in certain things it wouldnt be a big deal, but some things I just cant do on my own. And it makes it even more difficult when he doesnt even know his work schedule for next week yet. I have my schedule 8 weeks in advance and always know what shifts I work on weekends, etc. so it's quite frustrating when you have deadlines and everyone is calling to meet with us about certain things and we have to keep putting it off until Derek knows his schedule. I cant wait until he is able to choose the shift he wants to work and we wont have to deal with working opposite shifts anymore! Life will be much simpler then!

I suppose I better get something done. Hoping to get the cake figured out today and a few other things. I wish I could just hire someone to do all of this for me...haha!

Friday, March 27, 2009

Our Future Home!








We were able to walk through our future home this week! So here are some pictures just for you Andrea! :) We close on April 30th.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

We're homeowners!!!

I'm so excited to announce that Derek and I are homeowners!!! I was very nervous to go through the process again after what happened the first time, but we knew if we didnt act fast, the house would be gone! To our surprise, we were faced with another offer on this house as well, and had to make some big decisions in order to get it in the end. And we ended up getting the house...BARELY! Our realtor wasnt able to tell us what the other people offered, but she told us it was very close and had we offered anything less, it wouldnt have been ours. Oofda. The other people who put an offer on it have been through this process 3 times now... and Derek and I decided if we lost this house too, we were going to put off looking for a house altogether. This process is a lot more stressful and exhausting than I expected. We are so glad its over!!!

The house is brand new, and the basement is unfinished, which is what Derek originally wanted. He used to work in construction, so he is very excited to finish the house and we can make it our own this way. My dad is also excited I think, as he and Derek discussed all of the options we have of finishing it! Great bonding time for Derek and Dad :)
Right now there are 2 bedrooms and 1 bath, and when its finished there will be 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We have a decent sized yard, and a three car garage as well. All of the appliances are stainless steel, and its all brand new obviously, since the house has never been lived in! We will have to put some money into it, but since there is plenty of space for the two of us, we wouldnt have to do anything for a while. I have a feeling Derek wont be able to wait long though!

Anyway, we are excited and I couldnt wait to share the news! We are closing a lot earlier than we hoped to, but we will make it work. Talk about a busy couple of months...as if I wasnt busy enough already!!! I will be more than ready for a vacation after all of this is over! :)

Saturday, March 7, 2009

It can only get better from here

Go figure, after a super stressful couple of weeks, I ended up getting sick. It never fails.

I'm slowly recovering now. I was so congested and my throat was so swollen that I could barely talk. I of course had to miss work too, so I'm hoping to pick up shifts after my crazy busy week of classes this week. If I dont make up those days, I can pretty much kiss my honeymoon goodbye, because I wont have enough PTO. :( Ugh.

For those of you who havent heard yet, we didnt end up getting our "perfect" house. Another couple put an offer on it, and offered the full asking price. We were shocked, and are still quite bummed about it. Since then we've looked at many more houses and just cant find anything that compares. Now Derek keeps looking further and further out of town...which is not at all what I had in mind. I know it wasnt meant to be, and it just means something better will come out of it... hopefully we'll see what that is very soon!

School is busy as always, and I missed class this week too so I'm trying to play catch up. Pretty difficult when you're not feeling well and you have only a few short days to put together a huge 20-30 minute presentation. Hopefully Ill feel 100% better in the morning and it will all go smoothly. One can only hope.

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail yesterday. Dereks brother and sister in law knew I'd been stressed out the past couple of weeks, so they sent me a gift certificate for an entire day at the spa! It literally includes everything you would go to a spa for: 30 minute full body massage, pedicure, manicure, 30 minute facial, along with getting my hair colored and styled, and my makeup done!! Holy cow! Talk about a day of pampering. Hopefully Derek and I can have a date night or something after. Im definitely looking forward to that! I guess having a massage therapist in the family will come in handy! :)

Thats all for now... I cant sleep since Ive been sleeping most of the day, so I figured I'd vent a little...