The Close of a Chapter

It's OFFICIAL. I no longer live in Apartment 8B1. Kinda sad, kinda EXCITING... it's a mixture of many emotions.

Yesterday while I was at work, Sam and Mom moved the couches, entertainment center, bed, bedside tables, and dresser, so when I got home last night - this is what it looked like. (Look at poor Dash in the back.. hehehe)

So I realize I never posted a picture of what the living room looked like BEFORE (hopefully I actually took one... hmmm...) but here's the post with pictures from when I moved in!

This afternoon I will give it one more good sweep (because I'm 99% sure I left my robe hanging on the back of the bedroom door... how we missed this, I do not know) and then it's time to turn in the key and shut the door on the chapter of living alone. I'm SOOOO glad that I made the decision to move out last fall - I do not regret one minute of it. But I'm super excited to have a week with my family and then on to my NEW FAMILY:

Suck it Up!

Did I tell you we got a vacuum?? Well, we did! We used the WONDERFUL Sears gift card we received from the hostesses at the Red Bank Shower last month!



Also, I have really REALLY great friends at work. The past two days, they have helped me put together 16 bags of... well, it's kind of a surprise. THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP!!!!

Lessons Learned While Planning a Wedding

This is not a comprehensive list and will probably be added to over the next month or so (once I've ACTUALLY had a wedding and all...)


(And these, of course, are my personal opinions/experiences, so it's not the same for everyone!)

1. You will stress out. You may tell everyone that everything is perfect and all going very smoothly, and even if it is - you will stress out. It may not be much. It may not be for long. But it will happen.
2. You don't need 5 months to plan. :)
3. Guys don't want to/shouldn't be involved in all the details. Girlfriends (and moms/future MILs) do.
4. When your guy DOES have an opinion - listen.
5. Register for things you never think you'll get and let others BLOW YOU AWAY with amazing generosity.
6. Force yourself to write thank you notes as soon after an event as possible.
7. When you get gifts, write EVERYTHING down. Full names, every piece of the gift, what day you got it, if and when you've sent the thank you - you think you'll remember but you won't.
8. Same thing for invitations (which obviously comes first.. thank yous are just on my mind) - make sure you have: # of people, first/last names, kids names, who knows them (Guins/Millers), address, if you've addressed their invite, when you sent their invite, if they can come or not, what showers they are invited to, what gift (if any) did they give, if you've sent a thank you. (If you need a template, honey - just ask.)
9. Multi-task whenever possible. Address invitations/write thank you's while watching TV or a movie.
10. Spend quality, non-wedding-related time with your hubby-to-be. (He will thank you for it.)

All for now... check back or comment with your own advice!

Internet Gadgets

I'm discovering a use for some of the internet gadgets I've had access to for a while! I use gmail (ah-mazing - if you're on it, let me know yours so we can gchat) but I'm just now starting to use the calendar feature. I have a personal and a work calendar and I even downloaded a sync application that syncs it up with my Outlook at work. That way, if I'm checking my personal email at night and think - "oh gosh - what time is that meeting tomorrow?" it will show up on my gmail calendar. So that's cool.

Then there are also tasks. Now, I'm not about to give up my love for a good 'ol fashioned piece of paper, but the task bar is pretty sweet. I've decided I like to check things off digitally just about as much as I like to cross them off on paper. And dude, I've got a LOT going on in the next TWO WEEKS!!! so I will need all the help I can get to keep it organized.

Twitter... oh, Twitter. I forget about you (as Kasey pointed out last month- haha!) I probably won't give any kind of regular updates, but it IS pretty cool to know what people are up to. Not in a creepy stalker kind of way. Because that's not what Twitter is, right? (Oh, and I narcissistically love my profile picture on there. Thanks Becca!)

Oh yeah, and www.theknot.com but that's a given at this moment in time. I have about 20 things left to check off, so hopefully I will get it all taken care of!

That's all for now.

What are your online LIFE SAVERS and gadgets?

Movin' On Up

I am a procrastinator (you are just learning all kinds of things about me this week!). Luckily, I have a friend who likes to GET THINGS DONE and likes to help little 'ol me.

I have been very unmotivated to pack up my things to take over to the new house (where Jason has been living since February) - mostly because I was overwhelmed with the amount of JUNK I have accumulated in 9 (okay, 10) months. Em volunteered to come help me last night and I thought to myself, "Okay, if we can get the kitchen packed up, I will be a happy camper." Emily, however, came with even higher expectations. "If you left and let me do my thing, I could have your whole apartment packed before you got back," said Emily. Okay, okay. We can think about packing other stuff, but let's not get crazy.

We didn't remember to take a bunch of before pictures, but here is a shot of my sunroom full of packed and ready to go boxes.



And right as she was leaving I said "Let's get a picture!" Don't we look lovely. Hey - we just packed up 2/3s of my apartment for crying out loud! (And I say "we" very loosely...)



THANKS EM!!! YOU'RE A LIFE SAVER!!!!!

Adventures in Cooking

I'm not a great cook. I have great intentions, but I just haven't had much practice yet. Luckily my soon-to-be-hubby just likes food, so I'm in the clear for now while I fine-tune my skills.

One thing I have yet to learn is when to start cooking one thing while you're cooking another so that they get done at the same time. Mostly, you just need common sense, something that I often lack.

Take last night for example. While putting crushed cracker crumbs on the chicken breasts to put in the oven (which at this point I hadn't even turned on to preheat... oh my...), I went ahead and boiled the water and put in noodles for macaroni and cheese.


(I'll leave a good long pause there for you to think about that one.)


So after 6 minutes, the noodles were done.
And the oven hadn't finished preheating.
Then I put the chicken in the oven for 45 minutes...
And the mac & cheese waited it's turn... chilling out, we'll say.
Then we ate.
And it wasn't great.

The end - for now.

What I Hate...

I hate grocery shopping. Well, let's say, I hate grocery shopping after work. When I'm tired. And I hate grocery shopping when it's crowded. And I hate grocery shopping when I don't have a plan.

Well, yesterday Jason and I went shopping (did I tell you he hates it too?... probably b/c I take forever...) and I HAD A PLAN. I had made out a grocery list and have planned to make TWO REAL MEALS this week, rather than just "scrounging" around for dinner. And with a plan, guess what? We spent less time there and less money on all the stuff!! I also had written out my list in the order of the store... which was SUPER helpful! I've always made fun of my mom for that (sorry Mom) but we just buzzed right through and could skip aisles we knew we didn't need to go down.

Then when I got back to my apartment (which I am leaving in 10 days!!) I went ahead and cut up all the strawberries and put them in a Lock & Lock, and cut up lettuce, cucumbers, and other salad things so that this morning I could just grab them and go!

Yummmm... is it lunchtime yet??

A Picture's Worth 1,000 Words

Spring 2004:



Summer 2009:

See If You Can Guess....

See if you can guess THREE songs that I downloaded last night to play at the reception!!

Jason and I opted for the iPod reception vs. a DJ, band, etc. due to the cheapskate factor that has surrounded our relationship. :) Gotta love us.

So last night I downloaded 40-50 songs to play at the reception and I want to see if you can guess just THREE of the songs I downloaded. No, there's no special prize - last time I tried to do that, I never gave the prize out. (Sorry, Alex - I'll take you out to lunch sometime. :) )

I'd love to hear your guesses!! And if you think of something I forgot, that will help too!

Oh, and Emily G. can't win. Sorry friend - you're too involved. :)

EDIT: We are not having a dance floor or anything at the wedding, so these are just fun, in the background songs. Just FYI!! (Although, we will be SO EXCITED if people dance on their own!)

175 posts and 25 days!

Okay, so those two numbers have nothing to do with each other:

1.) This is my 175 POST!
2.) There are 25 days until the BIG DAY!!!

Obviously, I'm a TINY bit more excited about one of them over the other... but I'll let you figure out which one.

I have a bunch of pictures from the Signal Crest shower this past weekend, but I haven't had a chance to upload them on here. They are on Facebook so check them out there!

Twenty-five days. 25. Seriously - 2 and 5. WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Time for an Update!

There really haven't been too many exciting/important things going on in the past 2 weeks or so, but since we are only TWENTY-NINE days away from the BIG DAY, I thought I would update you anyway!

• I am 2/3rds of the way done with the RBBC shower thank yous. (Yeesh, it takes a loooong time.)
• Tomorrow is the Signal Crest Shower!!!!! (which is why I feel the pressing need to finish all the RBBC ones by tonight!)
• We got 3000 labels with our monogram on them for something super sweet for the reception.
• We bought 980 plates, 900 forks, 800 cups, and like 1000 napkins at Sam's on Tuesday. :) Hopefully we will be able to take back some of that after the wedding... but who knows? - we may need it all!
• I didn't move home for the month of July, because I found out my lease wasn't up on July 3rd as I thought it was, but instead July 31st! Which is good/bad/annoying... but it is what it is.
• Last week we booked all our cruise excursions - CAN'T WAIT!!
• Yesterday we got all new windows!!! (Well, not the three main front windows yet.. post to follow.)
• Yesterday we got our new BEDROOM FURNITURE!! And it's beeeeeeeautiful.
• Tomorrow we're getting our new MATTRESS!! And it's soooooooft. :)
• My nails look awesome.
• I'm sure there are a million other things...

I will post pictures from the shower next week!

ONE MONTH!!!!!!!!

AHHH!!!! Only ONE?!?!? YAY!!!!!!

List Queen

I'm the kind of person who has a list at all times. I am most well known for doing something that wasn't originally on the list, and adding it just so I can cross it off.

I love that feeling!