the little things

i goofed.

i am so stinkin out of it, i totally goofed on my own wedding countdown! we actually have 78 days left [soon to be 77!] until the big day, not 88 like i said below! geeesh! this is crazy!! and in case you're wondering, i didn't fib on my last post from earlier, i really haven't scrapped in a  loooong while! i did this one a couple weeks ago when i was missing nate. i lovvvve the song, "here without you" by 3 doors down?? [i think that's who sings it?!], this 12x12 layout, not so much, but it definitely helped relieve some stress at the time!
had SUCH a blast with mom tonight!! had some Panera Bread for dinner, then a yummy strawberry milkshake at Coldstone..it was mom's first time there [that's 2 new girls goin there in a week! i should get commission! ;)], then to Babies R' Us for a gift..love that store & all the fun stuff & the BABIES!! *lol* then to Old Navy where I got some tops & a pair of PJ pants & some khaki's..which i have to return b/c the girl overcharged me & didn't give me the sale price...hmff! i love spending time with mom, LOVE it!! such a great night. k, i'm to watch some DVR recorded shows, like A Baby Story..Bringing Home Baby,Oprah..haha..then it's off to bed cuz we have an early morning ahead of us tomorrow! Have a good weekend everyone!

busy.

It’s been a while!  Hafta make this short & sweet as I wanted to update, but haven’t had much time [and still don’t!] to say hey & say that things have been busy! Good busy, tho! 88 days until we’re married [wooot!!], 1^st bridal shower tomorrow in

Findlay

, can ya say nerrrvous?! Getting used to nate’s schedule. Lovin my nate. aslan is super crazy & we love him all the time!  We have crazy neighbors. I’m ready to buy a house now! haha.  one of my favorite co-worker’s last day is today. She’s leaving me. L it’s FRIDAY!! And payday. Yeyyy! Mom’s coming over tonight while nate’s at work. We’re going out to dinner & doing a little shopping for nate’s cousin whose baby shower is Sunday, that we can’t attend. So excited to spend time with mom! Work is busy. Planning this wedding is busy. I haven’t scrapped in I don’t know how long. I’m feeling majorly behind in my scrapping & the scrapping world! Nate surprised me with a beautiful past.present.future. necklace last week, as an early birthday gift, cuz he just couldn’t wait! *lol*  it’s exactly what I wanted & I wear it everyday!!! I love it! I can’t wait to wear it on our wedding day.

I am completely addicted to these darn shows that I had never been exposed to until this new apartment: a wedding story, a baby story, bringing home baby, big spender, The Hills, project runway, anything rachel ray, anything Food Network, and looove me some Miami Ink! Gee, maybe that’s why I don’t get online like I used to?! Haha.

Dad came to hang with me Monday night. Had a really good time, surprisingly. Actually enjoyed spending time together!  Hung out with jana last week. Went to a yummy restaurant & coldstone creamery. Mmm.  Busy weekends. Saw You, Me & Dupree last Friday night for a very much needed date night, after dinner at our fave chinese restaurant!  Wedding planning. We send invites out in TWO weeks!!! Ahhhh!! The madness! I cannot believe how quick this day is approaching! So exciting!

Anyways, gotta get back to work!  Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

12 X 12 love.

while nate is sleeping, [he didn't get home until after 5 this morning. blahhh] i decided to update this thang! i srapped last night while home by myself. did 2 more 12 X12's. the digi photos aren't the greatest, so please forgive. a 12 X 12 scanner will be on my Christmas wish list this year! :) this has been a prety cruddy weekend. just trudging through. since i did all my cleaning this morning, I think I will finish addressing the invitations & maybe finish up the scrap/guestbook. I need to start on dinner before Nate has to leave in 3 short hours. So much for spending any time with him today. sigh. Making mom's Shrimp Fettuccini. mmmm. such a simple recipe for wat I like to call a "serious" dish! ;) haha. it HAS to be simple for me to make it! *lol* Hope everyone's weekend is going great!

another day, another dollar.

for being totally bummed & exhausted all week, it's been busy & it's finally friday tomorrow! not that that exactly means much for me these days, as i have no nate to run home to. not on friday or saturday nights anymore, anyways. or monday thru thurs nights either. yeah. this working 10.5 hr days, 6 days a week crap is for the birds! 
i get up at 7 [it used to be 6:30, but why get up that early, when it only takes 22 minutes even for em to get ready?! *lol*], head to work by 7:30...work til 4:30, get home at 5...all the while..Nate's schedule is...go to work at 4:30 pm, call me while i'm on my way home from work, work 5-3:30 a.m. home by 4 a.m. see me for 10 minutes, sleep until i say goodbye for work, he sleeps til noonish & yeah. that's that. Monday thru Saturday. blahhhh.
but, another day, another dollar.
i'm anxious for nate's first paycheck next week! it'll be heaven! haha. too bad most goes right towards bills. all the new bills and my car payment. ack.
aslan goes for the big SNIP & declaw next thursday! awww. poor guy! $197 to do both. he'll be gone for 3 days. :(
so, this week has been quite entertaining.
monday night, my mom, phil, and grandparents came up to see me. we hung out at the pad for a bit, then went for icecream & to the grocery store, where gram purchased us a Swiffer! rock on! *lol*  i LOVED having them here! it made me happy that they all liked what we had done with the place & i didn't think mom would get off our bed! *lol*
aslan loves his grandma! :) he also loves the laundry basket. yeah. totally did laundry sunday night, had the basket on the living room floor..in hopped the furbaby! where he stayed for over an hour! ha.

  tuesday night, i scrapped for the 1st & a half time in a long time. i say 1st & a half cuz i finished a LO i had started weeks before we moved. i'll post those sometime. and then had a surprise. 4 of my friends sopped by to see me & the new place! it was so nice having more guests! even tho i hadn't got to sweep or clean up like i had planned. oh well. good times!

                         last night, megan came to stay over!! we had such a blast! she bought me chick-fil-a [YUM!] & starbucks! we had a really good time chatting & goofing around. i love that girl! she's precious & growing up so freakin fast!!  after we got home, we changed into PJ's & made choc. chip cookies! too. much. fun. !!! good cookies. mmm. after the baking fast, we chilled out. chatted on the phone with some people who called. argh! ;) then
                                   watched some tv...the Hills on MTV..we loved it!! all while rubbing & scratching backs...we used to do that ALL the time back in the day!! i loved it, it was relaxing!
i miss her so much.
went to bed about 11ish, nate got off an hour early..he was home by 3! we got to talk & catch up for over an hour! it was so nice.  then, tonight, i decided to go straight to mom's...as Megan picked up her dress for the wedding [i totally forgot my camera! dOh!]...it was so great hanging out with them, except i was tired. majorly hungry & had a headache!  i am not feeling megan's dress yet. it has the little sequin things on the top...it's uber ugly! i am so sad. i don';t know what to do. i'm hoping it'll grow on me. she likes it, i guess that's what matters.  she also tried on another one of the other BM's dresses [the styles of the 6 bridemaids dresses are different than megan's]...and i hated the burnt orange buttons that ran allllll down the back...but when she had it on, i LOVED it!! i am stoked about their dresses, now lets just hope i feel that way about Megan's soon!
after the bridal shop, we went to my church, which i miss soooo much, so mom could do the prayer list. we peeped in all the rooms i haven't got to see well yet. LOVE MY NEW CHURCH!! i need to take some photos soon, it's gorgeous! also, mapped out a little better the steps at the altar..how to arrange my people & such. craziness! we get married in THREE MONTHS TOMORROW!!! 92 days!!! ahhh!!
after the church, we headed to Walmart. by this point i am uber impatient & goofy/cranky! mom found some supa cute clothes she's needed for a while. while i gave her a hard time, i absolutely loved being with her & megan..and megan's new "friend" JB/John, whatever. nice kid, but lose the fro, dude. *lol*
anywhoo...hadn't eaten meat at all all day. was starrrrrving by this point. grabbed some lunchables,frozen suff for nate to eat,chips,baggies,a shirt [non food, i know, but too cute to pass up! haha],cheese & some sausage biscuits for breakfast tomorrow. YUM!  ate stuff on the way home. deeelicious! haha.
heard from handsome hubby-to-be in the car with mom. he's beyond precious. love him.
glad tomorrow is payday. friday. day to clean & catch up. maybe scrap. finish my grocery list for saturday with my honey!!
hope everyone has a great weekend. this will also be a weekend to get crackin on finishing addressing the envelopes for the invitations!! brought all kinds of stuff home from mom's for the wedding i had stored there. so, now that we only have 3 months left & everything BIG is BOOKED [!!!], it's time to get crackin!
laters taters! :)
OHHHH!! and a bonus share tonight!! just for my ever fabulous, jilly!! this is in our living room: the right side of our tv stand [the one i fell in love with at target!], with the candles from JoAnn's on sale in Findlay for like 2 bucks each that match the most awesome bowl EVER, from Jill!! i LOVE that bowl! seriously! she got it for Nate & I for Christmas & it couldn't be more perfect! what should i put in it??! and the bowl is on the DVD stand that has tons of DVDs on it, that my ever-so- OCD fiance alphabetized !! *lol* more apartment photos to come!
 

so much for waiting!

Meet Aslan!  Our first furbaby together!  Is he not sweetness?!  He was totally unplanned for yesterday as Nate & I went back to my hometown for the bank & such..had lunch at our fave chinese place, Wild Ginger & decided to check out the pet store.  They had kittens up for adoption, Nate suggested going to the Humane Society first. We went. I knew it would be a big mistake! There were a few we really liked. We knew we wanted either gray or orange. Spotted Aslan [who was appropriately named Downy at the shelter] in this huge cage all by himself. He seriously looked like an orange lion! i LOVED it, but wasn't too sure about all that fur! Found another orange one..way less fluffy..sweet cat. and another one that was gray,white,stripes..she was super sweet, but not uber cute.  no kittens, which was okay. We contemplated a lot over the other orange cat, Felix & then Downy.  We filled out an application..thought we had decided on Felix.  Just before we left, I couldn't NOT get "Downy," he was just wayyy too cute chasing the fly around in cage & i loved how calm he was. We left as we waited for the landlord to call the shelter back with permission to have one.  Went back to mom & Phil's. chilled for about 15 minutes & got a call we were approved! So exciting!  we drove right back to Humane Society...and paid the $45 for him & scooped him up & took him home! He was so good on the  45 minute drive home.  He chilled in the back seat, even between Nate & I for a while & then finally on my lap.
When we brought him home he was kinda antsy. Wandered around the place..and made his resting spot under our bed! *lol*  We left him there while we went to WalMart to pick up his necessities.
He was still shy & trying to hide, but when forced, loved being with Nate & I! haha.
We left to go to the Orrville Firew orks..picked up our friend Mindy, had a blast!! Ate a gyro,fried cheese & drank lots of lemonade! And the firewo rks were goo d too! :) That first pic is SOOO us!! Nate, chillin, Me, cheesin real big, like a dOrk! and Min, well...being Min! haha.

Nate & I finally arrived home about 12:30 a.m. I was anxious to see how Aslan had held up. When we walked in the door, he was a NEW cat! a much more CHILL cat!  So freakin friendly & lovey..purring & lovin up on us!  I even checked his litter box, he totally used it!! No accidents, no messes, nothing! I LOVE MY CAT!! :) he hopped right up on the bed with Nate & I..too cute! He loves lightly headbutting us, giving us kisses, rubbining all his fur right in our faces!  We're in love!

Anywhoo. He needs to get fixed ASAP & declawed.  Luckily, he hasn't scratched on anything, but Nate & I lightly [haha!] yet...but we don't want him to, so a declaw is definitely in order!

Be sure to see lots of photos & scrap pages in the future!!
Hope everyone is having a great weekend, I'm off to snack on some perogies! YUM!

this is home now.

The past few days have been so busy, so filled with boxes, stuff, people,etc!  We are loving our new place. it's nice having most things put away & such .  It's a small space, which isn't good for a couple who has A LOT of stuff! *lol* but, we made do!

We had a great 4^th of July..we went to the parade, only to get soaked with rain half way thru. But, before it was so nice walking to the carnival for fries & a fried cheese with mom & phil!  Annnd I drank iced tea for the 1^st time in 3 ½ years!! It was good!  I loved being with them again. I miss them sooo much.

After the rain, we headed back to my [old :(] house to have hotdogs with the family.  It was bittersweet, packing some more of my stuff. The feeling there just wasn't the same, even after only 2 days of being gone. I miss Craemer.  He was stoked to see me..i can't wait for him to come visit us!

Mom even surprised us with a big box ful l of baking/cooking goodies!! Sugar, spices,etc. complete with a recipe book full of my favorite mom & grandma's handwritten recipes!! It made me cry. a lot. that woman is awesome.

I must also mention how much I'm loving our new bed. Our new mattress. Pillowtop. Ahhh. Just sooo stinkin comfy. I melt into everytime I lay on it!

Yesterday was my last day off. Nate & I kept super busy in the morning, while I organized my scrap space & unpacked the last of the boxes, he hung up shelves & some frames for me. It's feeling more & more like home, now.  We already had our first "problem" tho.  A majorly leaky bathroom sink. It ruined our toilet paper! *lol*  within 10 minutes from the service call, the maint. man was at our door, with another copy of our key for me, ready to repair!  We ended up getting a new sink out of the deal. Nice. Phil & my grandpa stopped by to drop my book shelf & dry sink off.  Grandpa approved of the new place, which is always a good thing. 

                                                  <----also noticed during this move how much we love picture frames! ha.

        Yesterday was also Nate & I's 10 months! It's only been 10 months??! The craziness of it all!

We celebrated by going to Ruby Tuesday's. YUM. The thing about our new town is they have a TON of restaurants. I believe Nate said they have the most  per capita in the

US

? It's crazy how many places they have to eat! I love Ruby Tuesdays. I think it may even be a new favorite for me right now. YUM. We also exchanged some DVD's we no longer needed & dropped some stuff off at Goodwill.  After dinner, we went to the pet store. Big mistake. They had kittens. Cute kittens. But we need to watch our money right now, so we held off & will hopefully be getting our own fur baby next month or so! Yeyyy! He already has a name & everything & we don't even know the thing! Haha.

                                                                            It's different living on my own. Nate's pretty used to it. I'm not. But, I think I'm dealing pretty well & I've been really accepting to change. I'm going to hate it next week when Nate starts his job...and we barely see each other. It's not going to be much fun.

anywhoo..take a look around! top photo: one of my favorite signs..above our toilet of all places! haha. 2nd & 3rd photos: mom's recipe book. one of the best gifts i've ever received. 4th photo: our plantation bed!! i LOVE this bed. loooove it!! [the comforter won't be staying long [hopefully!] i hope to get my polkie comforter soon! hehe! we're going with a green[not lime, but not hunter] & light robin eggs blue theme. the frames! 5th,6th & 7th photos: my scrap corner! [and the ugly, yet super, super comfy couch that was FREE!] it looks sooo messy, but i think it's just all that good stuff goin on! haha 8th photo: our sink! with dirty dishes! *lol* i LOVE that shelf nate's mom gave us. i thought it fit perfect above the sink..love me some candles & one of my fave photos of my honey & i! :) 9th photo: the "window" between my scrap space & our kitchen. LOVE this part of our home. :)  the candles won't be staying like that forever tho. i want ones that match our green & orange kitchen! we still have lots of photos to hang here. 10th photo: just some details in our bedroom. my primitive draer unit that houses my votives..a yummy lantern candle holder from Yankee..and tealight holders from Nate's grandma! my dresser will soon be sanded down & painted white for a more primitive look.

The great thing about where  we live is this:    

 Yep. strangers going thru the dumpsters out back!  I love it!  Tuesday morning this weird looking couple pulled up and loaded a few of nate's pieces into their car! THAT was hysterical!  And these people came over last night & decided to load both water heater tanks AND the refrigerator [without the door s, mind you!] into their tiny truck! This is different for me too. Haha.  I'm a country girl. Not used to call the cars. Fast food places right out the drive, the people...it's all a big change!

I miss megan. And craemer. And weekday mornings with mom & phil. I miss not paying for groceries. Or not doing laundry. I miss coming & going. I miss our backyard. I miss central air [even tho our place stays pretty cool]. I just miss home. But, this is home now. I'm where I'm supposed to be. And everyone has been sooo great  about all this. Mom & phil especially. And megan of course!

 I just  can't wait to be married & it will all be RIGHT, living together & stuff.

Sp eaking of the wedding, the girls' dresses just came in yesterday!!! I'm sooo excited!

We have 1OO days to go!! Ohmygosh! I still have so much  to  d  o! Yikes!  

we're in!

it has been a LONG day..long weekend for that matter...as we went to drag racing ALL day yesterday, camped, slept for only a few hours & got up bright & early to head home & load up MOST of our stuff!!  we've been moving all day. with the help of our amazing families, we managed to get 95% moved in & about half unpacked!  i have to work tomorrow, but Nate will be here for the mattress delivery guys and such..and then it's 2 more days off for me to organize the computer, bedroom & scrap area!! i'm excited!

no photos yet, as none of our computer extras are set up yet, except the kick booty high speed internet [i've been a dial-up girl since day one..blah! *lol*] we went grocery shopping tonight & to pick up a few organizational items...love it!

i am really pleased with our new home. this is all realllly different tho. i miss my family like crazy.  seeing my mom & Megan cry is extremely hard for me.  and reading a blog entry from Megan just made me bawl. i miss her so much. i miss them all. <ok. i'm totally crying right now, typing this! blahhhh!> this is hard. it is different, it is change. which i do not handle well, but I have the man who I am going to be with forever with me & that makes me smile.

i will try to post photos just as soon as possible! on a side note; we get married in 103 days!!! and we got out first shower gifts already! some Pampered Chef stuff from Nate's grandma, 2 pots & pans, a dish towel & utensils from a family friend & some cash! yesssh! hehe! Must. Write.ThankYous. :)

Hope everyone has a great week & a GREAT 4th of July Tuesday! I get to be with my family & watch a parade..oh, and eat a gyro! mmm! what could be better?! hehe!