How to Buy a Home. . .

Yet more wedding stuff

2008-09-05T22:03:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention that I ordered my favors! In a few days I will have 125 ice-cream scoops in my house. (We're big on ice cream so it's perfect.) I may dress them up a bit with some personalized ribbon.

I also ordered a few more sample invitations. I can't wait to get them. I'm glad we changed to wine instead of chocolate. I feel like I have so many more decorating options. I also feel like it's a little fancier. The invitations are fancy.

Teeth and Dresses Part II

2008-09-04T21:54:00.000-04:00

BTW-the wisdom teeth removal went OK. He's still recovering, but the pain is easing a bit. I won't get into the other details. Believe me, you don't want to hear it. Unless you're pre-med or into gross horror movies. I did leave him for an hour after the surgery to go with my maid of honor to pick/order her dress!!. I'm so glad that decision is made. But now I'm stressed because I have to get the other girls there to order theirs. I know this is bad to say, but I kind of regret asking the third girl. It's just a little awkward because of the money situation. There is none and I really don't want to have to put up my own money. All the wedding stuff is adding up. And I really want to save the money for the honeymoon. Hawaii. We've pretty much decided that's it. I just need the fiance to call the travel agent so we can book it!!

Saving the date

2008-09-03T21:43:00.000-04:00

So the save the dates went out last week and arrived in mailboxes on Friday. On Saturday I got a message from an old friend that I haven't spoken to in a while. I invited her, even though we don't talk much anymore, because she was one of my best friends for most of my life. Just not in the last six years. She said that she put it on her calendar and that she's excited to come. That made me really happy. I just wish I could see her and catch up with her before that.

The new 90210

2008-09-02T21:35:00.003-04:00

I don't like it. I am watching it because I was a huge fan of the original show. I think I might watch one or two more episodes just to find out what happened to all of the original characters. But I think a reunion show would have been a better idea. I don't really have an interest in these new characters. Although on the plus side, at least they look like they belong in high school.

Teeth and Dresses

2008-08-27T08:05:00.001-04:00

My fiance is having his wisdom teeth out tomorrow. I'm nervous because I think he's going under general anesthesia. Although after the lump removal surgery last March this should be a piece of cake. I took the day off to drive him and stay with him. Then I found out that my maid of honor will be around that day and we really need to try on her dress one more time and order it. Like yesterday. We've been trying to coordinate this for a few weeks. Is it totally terrible of me to leave him home alone for an hour or so? I would meet her about 5 hours after the surgery and I did tell her I'd see how he's feeling. Of course if he's really sick or something I wouldn't go. But my fiance is a little annoyed that I plan this either way. It's not like I'm leaving him to go out just for fun. This is something that needs to get done and can only get done because I happen to be off from work. Any other Thursday I'm at work until 8pm. What do you think? Is it totally insensitive of me to go order the maid of honor's dress?

Limos

2008-08-26T19:05:00.001-04:00

A few posts back I mentioned I was waiting for the limo company to call me back. I was sick and afraid I left the wrong call back number. Well I didn't. They eventually called back. But couldn't schedule an appointment, as they wanted me to call when the tentative appointment date got closer to make sure the vehicles were on site. Well I did that and the cars weren't there. So we decided on the following week. Same thing. Told me to call the day before. I called two days before. Never heard back. Now this is a company a friend has used several time and comes highly recommended. But I just have a bad feeling about this. I think I'm gonna have to explore other options.

Wedding Stuff Update

2008-08-25T23:04:00.000-04:00

Save the dates are out of my hands. I gave them to my future in laws, they offered to mail them for us.

I booked a videographer! I'm really happy with him. I'm so excited and relieved that that's booked!

8 in 8/08

2008-08-24T22:57:00.003-04:00

Happy anniversary to us! Today is our 8 year anniversary. It was nice. And relaxing. We ordered dinner in, watched a movie, and completely unrelated I organized all our vacation photos. Friday and Saturday were exhausting. There were card games, his birthday, cupcakes made from scratch, and his company picnic. And we're both running on little sleep because our darling kitty keeps us up at night. If he's in the bedroom he jumps on my head and his feet. Outside the bedroom he meows at the door for hours and pulls up the rug. Its a no win situation.

to-do

2008-08-19T18:34:00.001-04:00

I seriously don't know why I have such a hard time keeping up on this. I have a lot of topics -including the dreams-that I want to post. But I guess there's just really not enough time. There's not enough time for anything. There's about a million things I want to do. For starters cleaning the house. I've been saying this for a month. It's such a mess. I also want to clean all the windows and make sure all the screens are patched. It's gonna be cool enough to sleep with them open soon, but because of the daddy long leg spider infestation out back I refuse to open them. I haven't been out on the balcony all summer. What a waste of good space. But you seriously see at least one every time you're out there (usually more). The last straw was when my was crawling on my arm. Ugh!! And we thought having our balcony face the woods would be nice. Ok, I got a little off topic with that. Also on my to-do list is redoing the garden in the front. It's just about time to dig up the impatients and start planting the mums. Fall is coming!! I would also like to get the car washed (I still have gift certificates from 2 Christmas's ago-and my mom buys me more every year). I would really like to get the bridal dresses ordered. Among other wedding stuff. Oh well writing it out helps. Now I can prioritize.

Wedding stuff

2008-08-18T19:42:00.005-04:00

The sore throat from last week took a turn for the worse. Actually it turned to bronchitis. Annoyingly, I had to take Friday off from work. I hate to take a Friday off. And now that means that I can't take this Tuesday off, which I wanted to do to go dress shopping. Ugh. And I just remembered I still haven't gotten the second half of my fiance's birthday present yet. It's Saturday and I'm running out of time.

He's also running out of time. Apparently he has neglected to ask one of his groomsmen if he wants to be in the wedding party. He's on the phone with him right now, but prefers to ask him in person. Who knows when that will be. They saw each other every Sunday morning for the last three months when they played softball, but that ended last weekend. We asked everyone else months ago. Fiance doesn't grasp the importance of asking everyone around the same time. Although I doubt the friend is the kind of guy who will feel slighted. My bigger concern is that I can't send out the save the dates yet because they have our wedding website on it. On the website is a picture of everyone in the wedding party. I think it would be more inappropriate for him to find out he's in the wedding from the website than asking him over the phone. Regardless, the save the dates are going out by the end of the week.

The limo company did call me back last week. We had an appointment for Wednesday, but my mom (in charge of the videographer) set up an appointment for the same day (and yes she knew about the limo appt, but deemed video more important). So I don't know when we're gonna do the limo. Also don't know when we're gonna do the dresses. And that's what I think is most important at this point.

Update: My fiance is now in the shower talking to his friend on speaker phone. Seriously? And that's not inappropriate?

Progress (sorta)

2008-08-13T17:41:00.002-04:00

I re-started the wedding planning today. I took a hiatus (not on purpose-just laziness). I hadn't done anything major in the past two months. I know that because on the eve of the 8 and 7 month mark I had nightmares about the wedding. And everything that went wrong in the dream was stuff that I hadn't booked yet. I will have to elaborate on the dreams in another post. I still haven't taken care of the things I dreamt about.

I called the limo company a friend recommended. I got a quote and tried to set up an appointment to sign a contract. He told me that the woman that books appointments would call me back in an hour. That was almost 7 hours ago and I haven't heard from her. I'm hoping I didn't give the wrong phone number. I've been in a cold/sore throat induced haze all day. I also talked to my MOH to arrange a time for her to come out again next week to try on the dresses one more time before deciding on a final. I can not wait until that is done!

I then delegated a little to the fiance. I'm waiting for addresses of work people he wants to send save the dates to. I also gave him the job of calling a travel agent (apparently his dad has one) so we can book our honeymoon!!. I also delegated the videographer to my mother. After finally calling (after 5 days) she found out they're on vacation until Monday. Ugh. I just want things done. But we've waited all this time, what's one more week?

Trouble

2008-08-12T20:30:00.005-04:00

My troublemaker:

Yes he actually got into the top rack of the dishwasher and started chewing it. He bites EVERYTHING! My computer wire, the color swatches for the bridesmaid dresses, the save the dates, the light switch, the list goes on.

This is the bathroom floor, dotted with carpet fibers from the living room. I don't think he's being malicious. I think he just wants to know what's under the rug.

(Update: I gave in and took Excedrin at 11:30 this morning. I was at work and had a lot to do and simply couldn't take the pain anymore. The headache went away rather quickly. Although I'm afraid I'm getting a sore throat. It's not really a surprise. The fiance is sick and I don't think the "pillow barrier" I built in the bed was enough to keep his germs away. )

checking in

2008-08-11T22:22:00.002-04:00

Don't worry I'm not neglecting this again (yet). I just have a bad headache, so I'm trying to stay off the computer. I'm trying really hard not to take any Advil or Excedrin. I think I've taken that everyday for the last two weeks. Which may explain why I was so sick over the weekend. More on the weekend next time. Bye

I'm Back

2008-08-08T20:48:00.006-04:00

But with a different agenda. I think I'm going to start documenting the wedding planning. Because it's been a little difficult and there are days where I've needed to vent and seek other's opinions. And at other times it's been fun and I want share!

So let me bring you up to date in the planning process. We have a church, a reception site, a photographer, a DJ (which I'm a little worried about, because he's the one vendor I'm not familiar with), and that might be about it. I'm starting to stress that we have so little done because it's less than 7 months away! I'm working on the save the dates and want to have them sent out by the end of the month. I'm making my own. I used a business card template, threw on a fancy picture of me and FI (fiance-getting used to the abbreviations on the message boards), attached it to a magnet and voila, cute save the date magnets!

The biggest stressor of the moment is the bridal party dresses. At first I really wanted browns with a pink ribbon. I quickly changed to brown with a champagne ribbon. I finally got some of the girls together last week and we went to try on dresses. I picked the color truffle and we all decided on a dress. I was ready to put in the order until I saw it in truffle. Truffle had a purple tinge and definitely didn't look brown But that was the closest thing they had to brown. So instead I went back to square one and started looking in alternate shops. A real headache because I cannot find anything I love. In the right colors. So yesterday I totally changed my mind again and decided I am going to change the color theme to wine and champagne (that sounds appropriate for my alcoholic family. JK) But now my headache is: do I put the MOH (maid of honor) in a champagne dress with a wine sash and the others in a wine dress with a champagne sash, or have them all wear a wine dress and only have the MOH wear a sash? Things got worse when I went to the bridal shop and asked the girl if i was possible to add a sash to the dress I picked out. Her answer was I don't know, I would need to try it on. That was helpful. I guess I'll have to go back with my MOH and ask her opinion. Any other thoughts would be appreciated. I think I'll go post on the message boards I just found on the knot. Very helpful!

I'm going to try not to think about it for the rest of the evening. Ever since I changed birth control two months ago (I had to switch to generic as I couldn't afford the $50 every month and my health insurance doesn't cover it) I've been getting horrible cramps. It lays me up for two days every month. I never experienced this before-it's horrible. But only on these two days do I think it's not worth the extra $30 in my pocket every month. And I actually get less headaches on the new one, so I guess it evens out. Sorry if that was TMI! But the point was I don't feel like doing much.

It's been a while

2008-07-19T20:07:00.003-04:00

I've been letting this fall to the wayside. Most days I don't have the time or energy to do it, and I don't feel like I have too many interesting topics to chat about. Every once in a while something comes up, but I don't necessarily feel the urge to blog. Before I moved into my own place, writing had become a habit. Now that my routine has changed it's no longer habit. And although I'm glad that I documented my whole buying a home process, I'm not sure that anyone else is. Which means I might as well have been writing in my diary. I do enjoy writing, but I'm no longer sure this is the right outlet for it. So I guess we'll see. If you don't see me in the next couple of days/weeks, I think that may be it for a while. Of course if I knew I had readers who were interested in how living with a boy is going, or how the wedding plans are coming, or just a general interest in my life for some bizarre reason . . .then maybe.

Tonight

2008-06-11T17:49:00.003-04:00

We're meeting with apotential photographer tonight. I'm not really in the mood to go anywhere right now. I'd much rather stay home and play with this little one.

Army Wives

2008-06-09T21:19:00.002-04:00

Does anybody else watch this show? The second season premiere was last night and I have to say it was one of the saddest tv shows I have ever watched on tv. I was sobbing during the last ten minutes. I had trouble sleeping and even this morning it was still effecting me. I know it's not real, but some people do live this life. And experience these things. The writing and ideas of last night's episode were wonderful; however, I'm not sure I could watch the next episode. The show was too sad. And I'm not sure I want to be that depressed every Sunday night.

PS: We got our kitten on Saturday. He's a handful. More details to come.

Our adoption application was approved!

2008-06-04T21:47:00.002-04:00

Our application for a kitten that is. We get to take him home Saturday! Still waiting to make sure nothing goes wrong between now and then, so I'm not going to talk too much about him. I did go out and purchase a litter box this evening. Still have to get food, a dish, some toys, and maybe a bed. Not sure about the bed, cause I know if I buy one he'll sleep anywhere but.

Kittens

2008-06-02T18:15:00.003-04:00

We went to a local shelter yesterday and played with all the kittens. SO cute!! So we filled out a lengthy application and are waiting for them to check some of our personal references. I'd post a picture of the little guy we have our eye on, but I don't want to jinx anything.

Pets

2008-05-29T21:39:00.002-04:00

I think I may be closer to getting a cat. I'm wearing down the fiance. Not that it took too much convincing.

The other night

2008-05-27T20:27:00.004-04:00

If you're one of the two people that read my blog the other day, you know that I took down the previous post. I wrote that while a bit annoyed (and five boys were sitting at my dining room table playing poker game that was never ending). After they finally did leave, a big fight ensued. After two hours of arguing and crying, I came to the conclusion that this really is what I want. I can't imagine my life differently. It also helped that my fiance did see some of my points and agreed to make a few changes. So that's the story for now. And for good.

Something New

2008-05-22T21:45:00.006-04:00

As you may or may not remember last year I became obsessed with Special K Chocolaty Delight Cereal. It was prior to vacation and I was on a health food kick. I figured the chocolaty cereal would, as the commercial says, satisfy the chocolate craving. It does. I continue to be obsessed with it and can eat multiple bowls a day (not so healthy I know). I try to limit the two bowls to Fridays only. Anyway I am back on a health food kick (ordered a wedding dress, gotta stay in shape!!) I'm doing ok (although let's face it-I have 9 1/2 months left, I'll get more serious as it gets closer). I've cut out a lot of the fast food (have I mentioned before how much weight you'll gain living with a boy?) and have been eating a lot more fruit and veggies. I do have a bit of an ice-cream addiction, which gets worse in the summer. But my latest finding is Edy's fat-free vanilla frozen yogurt. It's really good. Especially with blackberries, or kiwis, or strawberries, or any other fruit that happens to be on sale. It definitely curbs a lot of the ice cream cravings. So tonight I decided to try something new. Cereal and the frozen yogurt together. Not my best idea.

The pantry

2008-05-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

After three months, we've finally started putting food into the cabinets. Prior to this, everything (and I mean everything but the coffee and my morning cereal, was in the pantry. It was messy, non functional, and really dirty as we hadn't painted since the previous owners left. So this weekend, with the help of my dad, we're redoing the pantry. A fresh coat of paint and new shelves. (Side note: speaking of coming to mutual decisions yesterday, my fiance wants to paint the closet blue. Blue! He's like a typical little boy who wants everything blue. He really doesn't have much experience in the decorating (or do-it-yourself) type stuff. But regardless, this has to be a battle. It's like he needs to have is input in everything, even though he really doesn't know what he's talking about. Have I mentioned he's like this with the wedding planning too? But back to the paint. I managed to convince him a neutral color was best. Especially when I told him my dad had a left over gallon, which would be free compared to buying blue paint at the store.) Anyway, back to the pantry. In preparation for my dad to put up the shelves, I've been spackling and sanding all week. The previous owners left many (big) holes in the wall. After sanding yesterday I was literally covered in the dust. I took the headband that had been in my hair out and you could see exactly where it had been. The rest of my hair looked gray. And now I'm nervous because every time I blow my nose, plaster is coming out. Sorry that's probably a little gross, but it won't stop. I'm worried that I breathed too much in.

Adjusting

2008-05-21T22:01:00.002-04:00

These posts get fewer and fewer each month. Maybe it isn't that there isn't enough time. Maybe it's that there's been a change in my routine and this isn't really a big part of it anymore. It's kind of been forgotten. It's not a main focus anymore. I was thinking about it tonight as I realize it was memorial day weekend last year that we started looking at houses. I can't believe it's been a year! That was an exciting (and impatient time). How is it that the excitement of living in my own place with my fiance has worn off already? Maybe it hasn't worn off, but it just comes and goes. It was such a change for us. Dating for 7 1/2 years before living together. We were established in our own routine and now it's totally changed. It definitely continues to be a adjustment. Everyday. I wonder if it would have been better if I had lived on my own before living with him. That way I could get all my decorating issues and such out. It's difficult knowing that pretty much every serious decision I make, he has to agree to as well. I guess that's part of a relationship though. You would hope that the person you've chosen to spend your life with wants to make the same decisions as you. Like getting a cat. Which my fiance still refuses to let me do. ARGH!

Boredom

2008-05-09T17:11:00.002-04:00

Blah. I'm bored. A professor (I can no longer remember of what or even which one) once said that there was no such thin as boredom. Only depression. It's not that there's a lack of things to do but a lack of interest to do them. Which I guess is partly true at the moment. I'm not depressed but I just don't feel like doing anything. Actually I don't feel like writing anything. I'm just in a blah mood. At least it's Friday.