I really should pay attention to this blog if I'm going to bother to have it. Life has been NUTS. David and I both finished the semester strong. I got 2 - As and a B (Calculus II....grrrr!), but some folks barely passed so I should not complain. I've gone back and forth on getting out of the service or staying in......I'm a fickle one....I KNOW! Poor David has to live with me changing my mind every other second......but today.....today is a FABULOUS DAY! I applied for several positions and got a call last week about a civil service/guard technician position. They asked me to do the phone interview ASAP as the position had been vacant for some time. To make a long story, short, I interviewed this morning and he called me this afternoon to offer me the position.....ummm yayyyyyy! I could not be happier....but holy crap...there is SO MUCH to do! Things to pack....an apartment to find....aaaagh!!!! Off I go....I gotta find someplace to rest my head!!

Life and all that jazz

Life is crazy...but we already know this don't we? I'm not so great at updating this blog but a friend emailed me tonight and said she couldn't leave comments. Hmmm....it says they are enabled. Try again Julie and let me know if it's still not working and I'll get with the computer geniuses to find out what the issue is.

I am ever so busy with work, school and work and school. Did I mention work and school are keeping me busy? LOL! Who has time to plan for a wedding.. I did sort of teach myself how to sew again. It is the first time I've sewn something since I was about 13 years old. Thanks to my sister-in-law who let me borrow her sewing machine I got my 30 foot aisle runner sewn on Saturday. I took the entire day to do it (MISTAKE -- made for a long Sunday of work and homework to do!). I am glad to have it out of the way though. The humorous part was watching me try to thread the thing. It's a good thing she gave me the owners manual with it because I would have NEVER figured it out otherwise Now I just have to find some time to paint it.

Off to bed I go.....Mondays are typically crazy busy and we all know that I am not the most pleasant person w/ little sleep...Ta ta!

P.S. We got our engagement photos back from our photographer. If I forgot to send you the link please email me and I'll forward the link and password to you. They turned out FABULOUS!

What a week!!

What a week it has been!! We've been in MS since Sunday -- we had a TON to finalize this week for the wedding. I think I understand why people hire wedding coordinators. Aaah for us non-rich folk....we get the luxury of doing it ourselves. Maybe in the end it will make me appreciate it more...lol.

Today is our last day....and we get on the road in the AM to head back north. And all I can say is YAYYYY! I love to come to MS and all but there NO PLACE like your own bed, your own living room, your own everything. I miss my stuff. I don't miss the schoolwork I will be catching up on ALL DAY Sunday but hey I guess you can't have it all right. We ended our day today with engagement photos with the most fabulous photographer in the world. Check her out here. No one told me how hard it would be to act intimate with David with a huge ole lense staring you down...haha! She said she thought the photos would be fabulous (well she is taking them I hope they are!). We'll email those close to us the link once she has doctored and uploaded them for us. Honestly....we really could not have picked a better photographer if we had tried. She is wonderful -- if you're ever planning a wedding in the MS/LA/AL area (or anywhere....she WILL travel) ...look her up. And she is not overly priced. We are paying 3300 -- this includes engagement photos, 6 hours of photography on our wedding day, a graphi (italian made) coffee table book with 60 of our fav photos and a 16x20 canvas print framed AND all of the copyrights to both our wedding and engagement photos. Not bad at all I'd say. We looked at some photographers that started at 5K. While I was not willing to skimp on a photographer since in the end all we will have are memories and photos....I also didn't want to spend two arms and legs to have good photography. I will reiterate again....it was TRULY a perfect fit for us.

Anyhow, we're headed home tomorrow.....much less money in our pockets but we had a great week. Back to the grind for us....bleeeegh!

It's official!

We're going to St. Lucia for our honeymoon!! Yayyyy!!!

Not that there was ever doubt that we were going, but today I purchased the airline tickets for our 7 days in paradise. We absolutely cannot wait....for both wedding and honeymoon.

School is just nuts. I have always like Math -- call me crazy -- but I'm in this Calculus II class now and my professor......argh...my professor. Before I say something unprofessional I'll just say again.....ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!! Music class is a breeze and Management Info Systems isn't too bad (albeit VERY time consuming!!).....which is another reason I'll be glad for August to get here. My leave of absence starts then so I can concentrate solely on school for the next year. I don't know how anyone is a full time student and works full time....I really do think I'd shoot myself if I had to do this long term. I just am trying to keep everything in perspective....it's a means to an end....but it sure feels lousy in the short term. I need SLEEP!!

More Wedding Stuff

Holy cow....August is coming fast....much faster than I anticipated. I sure thought I was on top of things but between work being an absolute NIGHTMARE and my school load increasing tenfold there doesn't seem to be enough minutes in the day to worry about wedding details. Funny I should say that because it didn't seem like I was that behind in my last blog post.

Anyway, we are headed back down to MS next month to finalize LOTS of things....minister, flowers, cakes, music lists...blah blah blah....you get the drift. Either way...while we are there we are getting our engagement photos done. It came as part of the package with our photographer....so you know what that means....it means SHOPPING baby!!!! Of course, NONE of the clothes in my closet will do....no siree...ha!

We went shopping today and here are the two outfits, courtesy of Jcrew.


Here is outfit number 1....Jackie Cardigan, Silk Cami and White Capris (and a long necklace I won't post here)








And Outfit Number 2....a cute dress and a cardigan






I simply LOVE Jcrew and their clothing line.....Banana Republic used to completely be my favorite but JCrew is slowly but surely taking over. Typically I will not buy anything from them unless it's on sale but I made the exception this time. I think it's the first time I've ever bought something full price.....it was.....well painful...good thing it's cute!!

A little bit of baking....

For those of you who know me well you know there is NOTHING I love more than sweet stuff. I mean surely my middle name should have been sugar. I could live off hostess cupcakes and reese's....I mean it! Ha! Of course, as I've gotten older I've had to give up some of the sugar. My girlfriend's would be irritated that I could sit down and eat an entire box of cookies (in high school) and wouldn't gain an ounce. Nowadays if I even think about eating that much sugar I'd probably gain 5lbs just for thinking about it..

I have found a small passion in baking. I was never a big fan of cooking...maybe that was a result of not being close with my mother growing up (she did all of the cooking) although as I get older I find myself enjoying trying new dishes/cooking dinner. Who would have thought?! Anyway, I was in the mood to bake this week but school/work schedules seem to get in the way of baking on the fly....so I had to put it off until this morning....and what did I make?!

I made Maple-Pecan Muffins (courtesy of The Wednesday Chef) and Banana Nut Bread courtesy of my late Grandma Miller . Oh did I mention we like pecans too?! Rarely do I bake something that doesn't have some sort of nut in it....maybe because I'm nutty? LOL...ok that was a lame attempt at a joke...nevermind me.

Anyhow, if you're into the whole baking thing or just the cooking thing....check out the Wednesday Chef's Blog -- the woman is a genius...err fantastic cook/baker. I have borrowed more than one recipe from her and have rarely been disappointed. I haven't tried those Maple-Pecan Muffins just yet.....I'm impatiently waiting for them to cool down....they look divine though.... The banana bread I've been eating for my entire life....mine still never tastes quite like Grandma's but it's a damn close substitute if I can't have her here to bake it for me. Happy Baking y'all!

**Edited to add: Tried the muffins....very v. good...I didn't think it had a huge maple flavor (and I love maple) so I drizzled real maple syrup over the muffin and that made it fabulous!!

A Snow Day.....

Well sort of anyhow. Here in OK they are more like "Ice" days. I seriously need more Mondays like today -- we got released from work at 1130 and then my evening college class was canceled too...um Yayyyyyy! Who could ask for more? Not me! :-)

On a not so fabulous note, Oklahomans do NOT know how to drive in this weather. I'm no expert by any means but when some idiot blows by me going 60mph in this stuff I just shake my head. He'll be the guy rear-ending some innocent family who was driving appropriately. I was sliding all over the place and I was driving 25mph. There will be two things that I most definitely will not miss when I leave this place....the drivers and the friekin WIND. OK should rename themselves as "The Windy State" because it's windy as hell here!