So, I am sad to say that on our way home from my in-laws (that's very strange to say....ha) last night, we hit an opossum in the middle of the road!!! ACK! Oh my it was awful. All I could think was, what in the world were you thinking, hanging out in the middle of the road like that?? Also, it saw us coming and waited until the last minute to turn around right into our back tire. *tear* Poor thing. N looks at me and for the next mile and a half tries to console my breaking heart, until we make the big turn in the road and he says, "Well, at least we were doing our part for possom control." *gasp*
*sigh*
{k}
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Best Friend...
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The 4-1-1
I thought I would start this off by giving you the 4-1-1.... So much has changed over the past year, in fact, 2011 proved to be the most thrilling year of my life, so far. I cannot begin to imagine how any other year could be better but here's the recap. Its funny that at the end of each year, when I get ready to put up a new calendar, I always pull the old one off the wall and look through it. I flip through the marked up pages and reminisce over the things that happened last January, which only seemed like yesterday. Someone once told me, actually a lot of people have told me this: "You think that time is flying now?? Just wait, it goes even faster the older you get." Yeah, well I didn't fully realize how much faster but now I think I get it. I'm sitting here today, thinking about how it was just literally yesterday, last Sunday --how does that happen? Anyway, so here goes. Here is the list of things that happened over the year:
1. January started with me trying to plan a wedding. That said wedding happened on 9/24/11. Great day, could not have been better. I say "trying" because when you have dated someone for 8 years and then suddenly you are engaged, you have to try.... the things I thought I'd do or wanted to do, vanish into thin air and I had to start over and get input from my other half. ha! Went to wedding show at the end of Jan with 3 of my friends. Good times. Very overwhelming.
2. February- can't remember much about this month. Nathan probably wouldn't be happy about this considering that its his birth month but, sorry babe, nothing comes to mind.
3. March -- took a week vacation to Florida to visit Nathan's grandmother and celebrate her 80th birthday. It was a lot of fun and we made many memories that week. However, we have resolved not to travel as tightly packed as we did, again. Try to picture 6 adults packed literally like sardines inside a Chevy Tahoe with luggage for 6 people, food for a road trip, more electronic equipment than was necessary, a Verizon MIFI (which allowed 4 computers to be running and accessing the internet simultaneously), pillows, shoes, backpacks, drinks etc. We were so packed in the car that the person sitting in the 3rd row of seats could not touch their feet to the floor. There was even a car top carrier!!! Think we packed too much?? Just try to visualize this for 13 hours.....While we were there we squeezed in a day of Kennedy Space Center and Disney World. Disney was fun however a nice Florida spring rainstorm popped up on us just as we were leaving. Talk about being soaked. On the way back home at the end of the week, we stopped outside Atlanta, ok- well actually it was realllllly outside Atlanta- closer to Alabama than Atlanta-- for the Tough Mudder Obstacle Course Race. Nathan was competing along with his friend, who we met at the course. The course was out in the middle of nowhere, and I mean N-O-W-H-E-R-E. Like, a mile to the car which was parked in a cow pasture. We had to buy rain boots before we went out to the course because a monsoon had descended on the area. At the end of the race, which was about 5 hours and 14 miles long, we all had mud in places we didn't think existed. Poor Nathan looked like he'd been through a meat grinder. Five more hours of driving and we were back home. Another big event that happened in March: I left my job at the bank after 7 years. The time had come, the door opened for me to move to another job and thereby allowed me to do some things in my life that I wouldn't have been able to do had I stayed. Its been a good transition and now I can't believe its been almost a year!
4.April was beautiful and warm. Don't remember much about this month except that we won an engagement picture shoot with a local photographer. We went downtown and spent the afternoon having our picture taken. All I can remember about this is that I laughed the whole way through the session. I found it funny that we had never had our picture "formally" taken by anyone and there we were. Nathan didn't think it was funny and thought I was crazy but our pictures turned out great.
5. May, oh May.... drawing a blank ... o.m.g. how could I forget?? Sampson joined Nathan's family! Sampson is the most lovable, cute Akita around. He came home on May 1 and its been a crazy ride, since. He is now (as of this week) 110 pounds and still growing! Oh also, I found my wedding dress. Ok, this is probably the biggest deal of anything that happened because I could not find a dress. Probably tried on 50-60 dresses and couldn't find the one that just felt right. And yes, I cried. I swore, I wouldn't but I did... The emotion... *sigh* ok....on with the next month.
6. June-- not remembering so much about June other than at the end of the month we met up with our friends J & S from PA and ate dinner with them. Thursday night we went to a "gender reveal" party for our friends C & J -- The Cake was BLUE! :)
7. July was hot. Every July is hot here.. yuck. Went to visit my family in PA over July 4. Little sis came into town, we made enough shish-kabobs to feed the neighborhood and played with sparklers into the night. Lots of fun. The following weekend we had our "official" engagement pictures taken at our local park. Sampson joined us for a playful time. Much fun and our lovely photographer did a great job!! Love, love, love her.
8. August- waited for my dress to come in. It was rushed from California and was supposed to come in halfway through August. Got a call a few days later telling me that the dress wasn't going to come in until 2 weeks before the wedding!!! YIKES... tried not to freak out too much. What was I going to do?? Sit and wait and hope it came in earlier... and yes, it did. It came in weeks earlier than anticipated and holy cow was I happy. Got wedding invitations sent out.
9. September (WEDDING MONTH)!! During all of the months, especially Sept-- I was busily making decorations for the wedding etc. Painting, gluing, sewing etc. Made all of the bouquets and boutonnieres with a good friend. Nathan's parents had a dinner for us on the 23rd. Great food from Carrabas and great company. Good time was had by all. Rain went away at just the right time. Yard was a little bit mushy but it was ok. Saturday, I woke up to a thunderstorm. Pouring rain! UGH! Not what I wanted to wake up to on the day of our wedding! Went to my hair and makeup appointment with my mom and sister and to my dismay noticed that a huge black walnut had fallen out of a tree so high I didn't realize it was there, and smashed the windshield of our car. AHH!! Not the best start of the day. Went back to the hotel and hung out with my sister until it was time to get ready for pictures. Thankfully the rain had subsided and it was cloudy but not hot.
Put my dress on and found that even after 2 fittings it didn't fit!!!! Looking back, that was the only almost-meltdown moment. Thankfully my wonderful sis was there to wave a hotel towel in my face to keep the tears from coming. Also, am so glad that my mom knew how to sew and quickly sent my dad to the fabric store right around the corner. He came back with the most monstrous safety pins I've ever seen and low and behold my dress was held up by huge safety pins. There was more cleavage than I was comfortable with but what was I going to do. Got to pictures late, forgot to change into my shoes after the pictures and ended up wearing the most bright blue flip-flops you've ever seen. Good times, good times. After the wedding, which was perfect, we were chauffeured to the Marriott at the airport nearby. Unloaded the luggage, discovered that I'd left my good camera at home on the couch. Got up the next morning and flew 9 hours to Hawaii. WONDERFUL time. We're still talking about it.
10. October- Closed on our house on the 21st. Forgot to mention that sometime during July we started looking for a house. Well we found it and closed on the 21st. Love our house. Moved in 2 days with the help of a close friend and wonderful in-laws that helped. Nathan's mom came over and helped put up curtains and move boxes.
11. November. We had Thanksgiving at our house. I cooked. It was so much fun. Can't wait to do it again.
12. December. Put up Christmas Tree. Lounged around. Wrapped presents. Went to PA for Christmas with my family. Got back from the trip, went to the NC State bowl game in Charlotte. Out til 2 am. Very Tired.... Next night got together with a newly engaged couple that we are so excited for. Babysat the next night and then Friday got sick... yuck. I've discovered that's what happens when you go and go and go and don't get very much sleep. Lesson learned for 2012.
So, there you have it. The 4-1-1 on 2011. My hope is that 2012 will be documented in much more detail.
Much love friends!
- k
1. January started with me trying to plan a wedding. That said wedding happened on 9/24/11. Great day, could not have been better. I say "trying" because when you have dated someone for 8 years and then suddenly you are engaged, you have to try.... the things I thought I'd do or wanted to do, vanish into thin air and I had to start over and get input from my other half. ha! Went to wedding show at the end of Jan with 3 of my friends. Good times. Very overwhelming.
2. February- can't remember much about this month. Nathan probably wouldn't be happy about this considering that its his birth month but, sorry babe, nothing comes to mind.
3. March -- took a week vacation to Florida to visit Nathan's grandmother and celebrate her 80th birthday. It was a lot of fun and we made many memories that week. However, we have resolved not to travel as tightly packed as we did, again. Try to picture 6 adults packed literally like sardines inside a Chevy Tahoe with luggage for 6 people, food for a road trip, more electronic equipment than was necessary, a Verizon MIFI (which allowed 4 computers to be running and accessing the internet simultaneously), pillows, shoes, backpacks, drinks etc. We were so packed in the car that the person sitting in the 3rd row of seats could not touch their feet to the floor. There was even a car top carrier!!! Think we packed too much?? Just try to visualize this for 13 hours.....While we were there we squeezed in a day of Kennedy Space Center and Disney World. Disney was fun however a nice Florida spring rainstorm popped up on us just as we were leaving. Talk about being soaked. On the way back home at the end of the week, we stopped outside Atlanta, ok- well actually it was realllllly outside Atlanta- closer to Alabama than Atlanta-- for the Tough Mudder Obstacle Course Race. Nathan was competing along with his friend, who we met at the course. The course was out in the middle of nowhere, and I mean N-O-W-H-E-R-E. Like, a mile to the car which was parked in a cow pasture. We had to buy rain boots before we went out to the course because a monsoon had descended on the area. At the end of the race, which was about 5 hours and 14 miles long, we all had mud in places we didn't think existed. Poor Nathan looked like he'd been through a meat grinder. Five more hours of driving and we were back home. Another big event that happened in March: I left my job at the bank after 7 years. The time had come, the door opened for me to move to another job and thereby allowed me to do some things in my life that I wouldn't have been able to do had I stayed. Its been a good transition and now I can't believe its been almost a year!
4.April was beautiful and warm. Don't remember much about this month except that we won an engagement picture shoot with a local photographer. We went downtown and spent the afternoon having our picture taken. All I can remember about this is that I laughed the whole way through the session. I found it funny that we had never had our picture "formally" taken by anyone and there we were. Nathan didn't think it was funny and thought I was crazy but our pictures turned out great.
5. May, oh May.... drawing a blank ... o.m.g. how could I forget?? Sampson joined Nathan's family! Sampson is the most lovable, cute Akita around. He came home on May 1 and its been a crazy ride, since. He is now (as of this week) 110 pounds and still growing! Oh also, I found my wedding dress. Ok, this is probably the biggest deal of anything that happened because I could not find a dress. Probably tried on 50-60 dresses and couldn't find the one that just felt right. And yes, I cried. I swore, I wouldn't but I did... The emotion... *sigh* ok....on with the next month.
6. June-- not remembering so much about June other than at the end of the month we met up with our friends J & S from PA and ate dinner with them. Thursday night we went to a "gender reveal" party for our friends C & J -- The Cake was BLUE! :)
7. July was hot. Every July is hot here.. yuck. Went to visit my family in PA over July 4. Little sis came into town, we made enough shish-kabobs to feed the neighborhood and played with sparklers into the night. Lots of fun. The following weekend we had our "official" engagement pictures taken at our local park. Sampson joined us for a playful time. Much fun and our lovely photographer did a great job!! Love, love, love her.
8. August- waited for my dress to come in. It was rushed from California and was supposed to come in halfway through August. Got a call a few days later telling me that the dress wasn't going to come in until 2 weeks before the wedding!!! YIKES... tried not to freak out too much. What was I going to do?? Sit and wait and hope it came in earlier... and yes, it did. It came in weeks earlier than anticipated and holy cow was I happy. Got wedding invitations sent out.
9. September (WEDDING MONTH)!! During all of the months, especially Sept-- I was busily making decorations for the wedding etc. Painting, gluing, sewing etc. Made all of the bouquets and boutonnieres with a good friend. Nathan's parents had a dinner for us on the 23rd. Great food from Carrabas and great company. Good time was had by all. Rain went away at just the right time. Yard was a little bit mushy but it was ok. Saturday, I woke up to a thunderstorm. Pouring rain! UGH! Not what I wanted to wake up to on the day of our wedding! Went to my hair and makeup appointment with my mom and sister and to my dismay noticed that a huge black walnut had fallen out of a tree so high I didn't realize it was there, and smashed the windshield of our car. AHH!! Not the best start of the day. Went back to the hotel and hung out with my sister until it was time to get ready for pictures. Thankfully the rain had subsided and it was cloudy but not hot.
Put my dress on and found that even after 2 fittings it didn't fit!!!! Looking back, that was the only almost-meltdown moment. Thankfully my wonderful sis was there to wave a hotel towel in my face to keep the tears from coming. Also, am so glad that my mom knew how to sew and quickly sent my dad to the fabric store right around the corner. He came back with the most monstrous safety pins I've ever seen and low and behold my dress was held up by huge safety pins. There was more cleavage than I was comfortable with but what was I going to do. Got to pictures late, forgot to change into my shoes after the pictures and ended up wearing the most bright blue flip-flops you've ever seen. Good times, good times. After the wedding, which was perfect, we were chauffeured to the Marriott at the airport nearby. Unloaded the luggage, discovered that I'd left my good camera at home on the couch. Got up the next morning and flew 9 hours to Hawaii. WONDERFUL time. We're still talking about it.
10. October- Closed on our house on the 21st. Forgot to mention that sometime during July we started looking for a house. Well we found it and closed on the 21st. Love our house. Moved in 2 days with the help of a close friend and wonderful in-laws that helped. Nathan's mom came over and helped put up curtains and move boxes.
11. November. We had Thanksgiving at our house. I cooked. It was so much fun. Can't wait to do it again.
12. December. Put up Christmas Tree. Lounged around. Wrapped presents. Went to PA for Christmas with my family. Got back from the trip, went to the NC State bowl game in Charlotte. Out til 2 am. Very Tired.... Next night got together with a newly engaged couple that we are so excited for. Babysat the next night and then Friday got sick... yuck. I've discovered that's what happens when you go and go and go and don't get very much sleep. Lesson learned for 2012.
So, there you have it. The 4-1-1 on 2011. My hope is that 2012 will be documented in much more detail.
Much love friends!
- k
Hello, Highway...
Everybody hopes
That maybe somewhere down this road
We'd finally find that place where we belong
That place where we're complete
The one that occupies our dreams
That place we're lucky to call our home
Well, I have arrived
And I can't keep this inside
So I raise my hands
And shout Your name
To praise You with my song
My dream's at hand
I've found my place
The place where I belong
Everybody tries
To find the purpose for their life
In hopes that one more day is justified
But once you truly see
The very reason why you breathe
It becomes so much more than getting by
Well, I have arrived
And I can't keep this inside
-Mercy Me [Where I Belong]
That maybe somewhere down this road
We'd finally find that place where we belong
That place where we're complete
The one that occupies our dreams
That place we're lucky to call our home
Well, I have arrived
And I can't keep this inside
So I raise my hands
And shout Your name
To praise You with my song
My dream's at hand
I've found my place
The place where I belong
Everybody tries
To find the purpose for their life
In hopes that one more day is justified
But once you truly see
The very reason why you breathe
It becomes so much more than getting by
Well, I have arrived
And I can't keep this inside
-Mercy Me [Where I Belong]
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