Here's the update...

Ok, so it’s been a week since I last had a chance to blog and I really don’t have much time now but I figure I just need to take a few minutes to blog and then it will be done. Soooo, I left off last Monday when we were still packing. On Tuesday afternoon we closed on the house which was such a great feeling! We met Karen and David at our house and unloaded the first load of the U-Haul then we went back to the apartment and loaded up the U-haul again and finished at about 12:30am. We got some sleep and we were up at 6:00am on Wednesday morning to drive out to the house, unload the U-haul, and then Ryan had to go return the U-haul that morning. While he was gone Dish Network came to hook up our tv’s. They were there for about two and a half hours so once Ryan got back I took my shower and got ready and as soon as they left Ryan took his shower and got ready and then we headed over to his parent’s house to get married!!!!!!

We wanted the ceremony part to be very small and personal so it was just Ryan, me, Libby, Ryan’s mom, Ryan’s dad, Ryan’s niece (who was spending the night with his parents keeping Libby company since she was spending the night there, too), and the person who performed our ceremony. We got there and I took Libby back to get her ready and then it was time for our ceremony. Ryan LOVES bagpipes. Absolutely loves them. So, his parents played a cd that had the wedding march played on bagpipes for Libby and I to walk in to that music. Ryan loved it and it was a very nice surprise for him. We went through the ceremony and then the vows. After we said our vows to each other Ryan got down on his knee and he and Libby said vows to each other and then he presented Libby with a necklace that had a ring charm on it so she got a ring that day, too! :-) She was very surprised and loved her necklace with her ring charm on it. She had been saying all along that WE were getting married so he wanted to make sure to give her a ring during the ceremony and we thought that was the best way to present her a ring because then you don’t have to worry about her outgrowing it. :-) Then we exchanged rings and that was it – we were married!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His dad did take some pictures but I don’t know if it was the angle he was at or what but neither Ryan nor I liked any of the pictures that came from our ceremony. :-( That really stinks…but we are looking forward to getting some nice pictures from our reception in two weeks so maybe I’ll have pictures to post in a couple of weeks. After the ceremony we had lunch and then had “wedding cake” that his mom made and decorated with our monogram on top. How sweet! :-) After that Libby stayed with his parents because she was spending the night again and we left to go enjoy our day.

Wednesday was our first night in our new house and I loved waking up there on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, we had to wake up to get ready for work…we both had to work Thursday and Friday. Over the weekend we moved “odds and ends” from the apartment over to the house and made a complete disaster area of the house because of all the boxes everywhere. I have two more nights to make it through all of our boxes that are completely covering our dining room floor because our furniture is being delivered on Thursday morning and I have to have the space cleared out so that they can put the dining room table in the dining room. I still have LOTS of work left but we are making it there. Both bathrooms are done, I finished Libby’s room last night, I finished the majority of the guest room last night, and the kitchen is pretty much done. Now we are just waiting for our couches and dining room table to be delivered on Thursday and I can get those rooms finished and then the only thing that will be left will be our bedroom. Our bedroom furniture won’t arrive for about two more weeks so until then we don’t have a headboard, footboard or dresser but as soon as those are delivered in a few weeks it will really start to feel like a home. There are lots of things we want/need but Ryan’s mom keeps telling me to wait to see what we receive as presents at our reception…it’s easy to wait because we don’t have extra money to spend on things like curtains right now but at the same time it’s hard to not be able to finish everything, you know?? I CAN’T WAIT to have everything settled, everything in the right spot, curtains hung, pictures hung, nothing else to do but sit back, relax , and admire my new house!

I know this was a long post, but lots has been going on the last week and I keep getting asked for updates so there you go! :-)

I hate packing - Part II

Still packing. Ugh. And if you look around it barely looks like we've packed anything at all - even though our U-haul is filled with our first load. Tomorrow is when we close on the house!!!! After the closing and after I get off of work we are going straight out to the house to start unloading (with some help from Karen and David!). We'll unload the truck with their help and then Ryan and I will come back to the apartment and load what is left. Right now it doesn't seem that the packing/moving process will ever end. I suppose I shouldn't complain too much - in the end we will be in our new house!! Oh, and we found out today that our house was never actually lived in before like we previously thought. We knew that it looked awfully clean and awfully new with no signs that it had ever been lived in before and today we found out that is because it was a model house so it was just used as a walk-through house. Not bad, eh? :-)

I hate packing!

We packed for hours last night then we got a few hours of sleep and then this morning we were back up packing again. Ugh. We packed and packed and packed. I can't stand that we've been packing non-stop and it still looks like we haven't even put a dent in our items that needed to be packed! We have to finish packing tomorrow night after work (yikes!) because Tuesday night we have to take the U-haul over to our house and unload it. We are hoping to be able to do it in just two trips. The truck is due back Wednesday morning at 9:30am so however many trips it takes they all have to be done Tuesday night but we are hoping that it can all be done in just two trips.

Libby is going to be spending Tuesday night with Ryan's parents so that she doesn't have to be totally bored while we load and unload the truck and make trips between the apartment and the house. That also will work out well that she can spend the day with Ryan's mom on Wednesday while we get some things moved around on Wednesday morning and wait for Dish Network to come get us all hooked up.

Just three more nights in the apartment and then we'll be in our new house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The bright spot of my day today was meeting my friend Kristina for coffee this afternoon. We haven't had a chance to see each other much lately so it was great to see her and catch up. She was unable to come to my shower last weekend so she brought me a gift today when I saw her. She got us a session with a photographer to go out and have our pictures taken - and we have a credit to get some prints!!! How amazing!! I'm super excited to get this done...I just have to somehow talk Ryan into getting his picture taken. :-) He hates having his picture taken but this is something that he is just going to have to do! :-)

Great girls day...

Today I left at 9:00 to head to Jacksonville...Debs treated me to a fun girl's day in honor of me getting married next week! :-) I got to her house at 10:30 and we left soon after to start our day. We ran a couple of errands and then headed over to a tea room on the beach for tea and lunch. The tea was delicious and the food was absolutely yummy! I really enjoyed it!!!

After that we went into a couple of shops and then headed over to my hair appointment. I was FINALLY getting my hair cut. It had been about eight months since my last trim so it was definitely time for a trim. Debs made me an appointment with the girl who cuts her hair. She is also the same girl who styled my updo for Debbie's wedding a few weeks ago and she did an amazing job so Debs made an appointment for me to go to her to get my hair trimmed. She actually took a ton of hair off. I looked down at the ground and saw the mound of hair and I was actually afraid to look at my hair but when you look at me I still have plenty of length - she took a lot out of the middle to really lighten up my overly thick hair and now it feels so much better!!!!! From my hair appointment we went to the Lemon Bar on the beach for some frozen drinks. She had to twist my arm pretty hard for that. ;-) It was 102 degrees outside this afternoon (literally - and that was without the heat index factored in) so a frozen adult beverage was definitely necessary! :-) After that we made a quick stop in Wal-Mart (which any special occassion for me has to include a trip to Wal-Mart!) :-) When we were finished we went back to her house and I looed at the absolutely beautiful pictures from her wedding and then it was time for me to head home.

I got home and had dinner and then started packing up Libby's room. I have it about 1/2 packed but honestly I don't know how much more packing I'll do in there. It looks like a lot is still left but that is because everything in her closet is still hanging and I have a strong feeling I'm just going to take everything down and lay it across my backseat and not worry with taking it all down, packing it, and then unpacking it on Tuesday when we move everything to the new house.

I'm soooo jealous!

Today is Friday and at Libby's summer day-camp that means that it's Carnival day in the morning, followed by snowcones, and then in the afternoon they go swimming. While she is enjoying her day doing that I have to work. Ugh. I so want to play carnival games, get prizes, have snowcones and then go swimming!! :-)

Today I hit the jackpot when it came to boxes (I hate moving - you become absolutely obsessed with boxes!). I filled up my trunk and front seat with boxes and then on the way home I stopped by Karen's work where she and her mom had boxes waiting for me. Woo hoo! Now I have absolutely no excuse...I have to start packing. Yes, I said start. We start moving Tuesday afternoon after the closing on the house and I haven't packed a single thing. Nothing. As organized as I am you would think that I would have started packing three weeks ago (I actually considered it...it just never happened). Nope. My excuse was that I didn't have boxes but now I have boxes and I DON'T WANT TO PACK. I hate packing. Seriously hate it. Oh well, at least it's an awesome reward at the end of it...we'll be in our new house!!!!! I can't wait to get all settled in. I am sooo excited for next week!! :-)

License

Today Ryan and I went to get our marriage license! We are officially licensed to be wed! :-) Next week is going to be such a crazy hectic week but we are so excited! We'll be married and in our new house all at once!!! I am soooooo not looking forward to the actual move but I am definitely looking foward to being in our new house. :-)

Our busy Saturday

So, as I said in my blog earlier today, we started the day with my bridal shower which was very nice. Then later this afternoon Libby and I went out shopping to find her dress to wear for the reception. As we were driving it started POURING down rain. Raining so hard you couldn't see past your windshield! I happen to glance in the rearview mirror at my beautiful daughter sitting in the backseat and this is what I see...

Obviously, it was raining pretty hard. Libby was apprently expecting a flood and I guess felt the need to prepare early. :-)

After shopping in just about every single store that we could think of we ended up in JCPenney where we found her dress! :-) I found one that was brown and cream and tried to talk her into picking that dress but she didn't want anything to do with it. Right next to it was a cream dress that she informed me would make her feel like a princess. Does she know how to work a situation or what?? The dress is a tad big in the shoulder straps but Karen's mom should be able to fix that for us with no problem. The best news? Her dress was 50% off. Now that's what I like!

We headed over to their shoe department and found a perfect pair of shoes. Of course Libby didn't like those. The pair that I loved that would have matched the dress perfectly were cream and clear. The pair right next to them were the ones that Libby set her heart on, though. They were exactly the same but the ones that she liked were silver and clear. On her cream dress there is a band of silver "jewels" (which I honestly didn't care for the cream and silver mix) so the silver shoes did match...I just really didn't like the look of a cream dress and silver shoes - even if they did match the accessories attached to the dress. But, of course, Libby was determined to get the shoes she wanted. Gone is the day that I get to pick out clothes for her. :-( She absolutely loved the shoes...they were silver, had a little butterfly on them, and they were "high heels". I then pointed out who made the shoes and that's why they became the perfect pair of shoes for Libby. They are made my Sam and Libby. :-)

My shower!

Today some of my lovely friends gathered to shower me with their friendship and love (and gifts!) to celebrate my upcoming marriage to my wonderful Ryan! :-) We met for lunch and I opened gifts and we chatted and we ate and it was great! It was a nice afternoon. Thanks ladies! :-)

Libby's last day of school

Well we've been very busy lately - just not with anything newsworthy. :-) However, yesterday was Libby's last day of 1st grade...I now have a 2nd grader!!!! Insane! I switched my day to volunteer in her class to Friday so that I could enjoy her last day of 1st grade with her. I kept wanting to cry...it's so hard to believe that she is growing up so fast. Not to mention that this was her last day at Littlewood and her last day seeing her friends since we'll be moving this summer. The class was so sweet...they all presented me with little cards that they made for me and they gave me a dozen of the most fragrant roses I've ever smelled. It was a party day in class since it was the last day so they had tons of fun. Near the end of the day they packed up all of their stuff and then cleaned their tables with shaving cream - which was a mess! :-)

When it was time for the final bell Libby said bye to her friends, gave her teacher a big hug, and walked out of the door to become an official 2nd grader!

Last night Libby had some more fun planned. Our Build-A-Bear had a Hawaiian Cruise party so we met Libby's friend Riley there. The girls had a lot of fun playing shuffleboard (that was their favorite game to play - which was surprising to me!), they made tissue flowers, they had relay races to see who could dress their bears in a box of swimwear and accessories the fastest (Libby won!), and some other games. Libby had so much fun! They brought their own Build-A-Bears to the party but they got to leave with a new bathing suit, towel, sandals, and sunglasses all for their Build A-Bear and they also got a beach towel for the children. So, they left with all sorts of loot.

We got home at about 8:45pm and Libby stayed up playing some Wii games with Ryan. They both had a lot to celebrate...in addition to it being Libby's last day of school yesterday we found out that Ryan is the Employee of the Month for his bank! Out of 1,200 employees throughout Florida and Georgia it was my Ryan who was picked as the Employee of the Month!! :-)