Much to be GRATEFUL for..........

This Christmas season snuck up on me this year. I literally could not mentally wrap my brain around the fact that it was Christmas!!! Maybe with all the big things that just happened in my life; new job, first house, graduating, etc. I'm not sure, but I know I'm still in disbelief that this year is almost over. Honestly this year was one of the best I've ever had. I have so much to be grateful for:::

My family and fiance...no pictures on the computer of my whole family...picture coming soon after the wedding...

GOD, I know he should be number one, but to be honest this is in no particular order because I am just so grateful for all I have and all I have is given by HIM.

Our new HOUSE. It is all I ever wanted and  more. I'm so excited to continue making this house our home and improving all the little things I dream of.

My JOB! I am extremely fortunate to have a job to begin with and to have a job in a field that is pretty much never going anywhere. I mean people always need medical care.

My adorable PUPPY that has taught me even more patience than I thought I had, and to really cherish the sound of a hound dog's bark....I'm ready for another hound dog...my mascot.

Now with 2012 in the very near future ;-) I have my bridal shower(s) to look forward to, my bachelorette getaway to Savannah/Tybee Island, GA and of course our WEDDING!!!

 The Church

Savannah....very pretty.

We also changed our honeymoon to Eufaula, AL due to the fact that I didn't realize the cost of where we wanted to go (2012 Kentucky Derby package) was per person, not couple :-/ but we've planned that for 2013 for our 1st Year Anniversary giving us a year to save up our $3,000 Plus a week relaxing on Lake Eufaula fishing and wandering around a historical sleepy ole Southern town has me completely excited...and when we are going is when the azaleas and dogwoods are in bloom as well!!! 

Eufaula Pilgrimage

Dogwoods in bloom

Azaleas

Lazy Day...

Unfortunately I have not kept my blog updated as I previously mentioned...however I've been a little distracted with the usual...school, work, wedding, and house stuff...

I completed my AA this semester, just finished my finals...thank goodness. Now I've got to decide what I want to go back for next fall. I can't decide between Health Business Administration, Agribusiness Management or Social Work. But at least for now I have a job until I decide...

And thankfully I have the next 2 1/2 months to get the rest of my wedding planning, itineraries, decorations, etc done....

During this next 2 1/2 months I also need to start picking up some overtime to help with wedding expenses and the honeymoon. Even though I am adamantly opposed to overtime, I guess an extra day each week for 6 weeks won't be too bad.

I have to admit I have a new obsession that I am really starting to enjoy with my fiance. Hunting...I love camo of course. I love the quietness. And I love that after the wedding and honeymoon I'll be buying myself something like this....

 oh and this....

That's right, next summer/fall I'm going to be looking for a horse!!! And working on the exterior of our new home as well..here are a few inspirations I've found.


Boxwoods are green, hardy all year round, you can shape them into nice clean lines, let them grow up for privacy or to hide the bottom of your house ;-) and you can put flowers in front of them in a flower bed...

Camellia's are also very hardy if kept from frost and we already have one planted from the previous owners.

Gardenias, smell great and are super pretty.

Guess that's a good enough update for now. Night <3

It's OK...

It's OK that I spent WAY too much money today shopping for the house...I get paid tomorrow.

It's OK that I still haven't finished unpacking completely, I still need a new desk and bookcases to unpack all my "office" and school crap. 

It's OK that everything is not perfect in our house yet, the yard isn't exactly the way I want it, the walls are not the perfect colors for me, and the kitchen floor isn't what I wanted, but I'm HAPPY. I LOVE it here, and things worth having take time.

It's OK that I still have so much to do for the wedding 03/31/2012

~finish centerpeices

~buy the rest of my linens and plates, utensils, etc...

~Oh and pay for the church, reception venue, etc...but it is reserved! 

It's OK that I work ALL this weekend, four nights in a row and that I am going to be exhausted on Tuesday and want to sleep all the way until I go back to work Wednesday night!

It's OK that I suck at keeping up with blogging, but  I am going to make a conscious effort to do better now...

And it's OK that I have not bought one single present yet....

Finally...

I admit it. I am a horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE blogger.


It's been over 2 months since I blogged. 


However, I think I have a good excuse....or two.


1) Started my new job. Was on days for about 2 1/2 months, orientation/training, etc. Now I'm on nights. Only one week down so far on nights, which is 3 days and it's been good. Hope it works out.


2) We bought "the house". 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room and family room, BIG kitchen with an island (oohh lala...) laundry room, 2 car carport, master bathroom with 2 sinks, shower and a garden tub BUT the best part!!! 4.86 acres!! Only 20 minutes from work, property taxes ridiculously lower than the county we were previously residing in. And we are HAPPY. It needs some fixing up here and there, but it takes time and we are loving every minute of it. Even our first mortgage payment.


Thanksgiving has come and gone, now we are going to prepare for Christmas. We are getting our first LIVE tree together, something we both always had growing up.


We sent out our save-the-dates and I've recently been slapped with the reality of how fast our wedding is coming up and how much that still needs to be done....


But it will all work out...and with this little update I will say that's all for now and pics and more news to come, hopefully sooner than later...as well as our most recent engagement/pictures for our reception pictures to come...even though that probably made no sense what so ever. 

Friday Confessional

I confess::: I have not blogged in over 2 weeks!! I admit I have been horrible at keeping this thing up. However I have started my new job at the hospital here. And so far, I love it. I've made it through training and am almost done with my orientation on the floors and am moving on into the ICUs soon!!! Where the excitement is! And we have also been negotiating on a house we love. We are awaiting our appraisal and inspection now.

I confess::: I am praying and hoping everything works out and we get this house. I am ready to have a yard

(5 acres) and a bigger kitchen plus decorating! 

I confess::: I am so excited to watch the Tennessee Volunteers do good this season! As a real true die hard fan, I love my team through the wins and losses, the good, the bad and the ugly! I love the BIG ORANGE!

I confess::: I'm drooling at the fact that September 9th is payday! I have not had an actual paycheck in like months! I love making money, even if I pay bills with it. There is just something about feeling like I've accomplished something. I just put 80 hours in the past two weeks! And I love it. Plus I'm excited for some money and to have benefits finally. All that school finally paid off!

I confess::: I'm super excited to start my 3 12 hour shifts a week next week! I'll have some time off to work on school...finally.

I confess::: So far, I have taken this online class that I'm taking this semester, really lightly. I need to really buckle down. This is why I hate online classes. There's no set time for class or a feeling of needing to know something so you don't look stupid in front of your peers when your professors ask a question in class...I slack off way too much!

Anyways! There's my confessions! Hopefully I'll post more often now that I only work 3 days a week!

Terrific Tuesday!!!

Today has been a wonderful day so far. I officially have a job at the hospital here AND I'm doing home visits for a diagnostic medical testing company! I went to sign up for benefits today and got my badge! Then I decided to surprise my darling fiance and showed up at his work with my badge in hand. He was ecstatic and more importantly so proud. When someone tells you that they're proud of you, it means the world to you. I'm such a lucky and BLESSED woman. 
We are also in the process of figuring out this whole home buying game. It is frustrating and confusing at times....we're just hoping that everything goes the way we hope and we get our house that we love.
I'm having such a good day today that even this did not upset me nearly as much as it normally would::

My adorable little Callie escaped out of her crate while I was out!!! How could I be mad at this face any way even after all the good news I got??

In wedding news:: Yesterday my fiance and I bought almost all of our flowers that we had left to purchase, except for hydrangeas. Micheal's only had dark colored hydrangeas for fall so my wonderful super MOH went to Hobby Lobby near her and bought some for us to choose from!! And they're 50% off!!! Here's an idea of our centerpieces but with green and cream hydrangeas. 

Now something that has not been a happy time right now. My best friend of over 10 years lost her cousin this weekend. This young lady was only 16 and lost her life to an infection cause by an amoeba. I'm attaching a link so you can educate yourself on this life threatening organism that lives in our swimming holes, rivers, lakes and ponds. Please be careful this summer while enjoying the water.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amoeba-Awarness-In-honor-of-Courtney-Nash/205825276142211

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving that my precious kitty Amaya made it out of her surgery today safe and sound. And I can not wait to get her home tomorrow (Amaya's on the right)

I'm loving that I got to go to lunch with my wonderful MOH today and go see The Help, which btw I loved!

I'm loving that I'm going to look at houses tomorrow with my wonderful fiance. And I'm hoping we love our #1 favorite we have picked out and we possibly get to make an offer.....maybe.

 I'm loving that I got a call yesterday from HR at the hospital and have a date for a pre-employment appointment and hospital orientation.

I'm loving that this Saturday August 13th is 7 years we've been together!!! And we get married in 7 months!

 I'm loving that my bridesmaids, MOH and I are getting together next week and visiting one of them so she can show us her new house and all her wedding stuff!!!

All in all I'm loving my life!! Everything is going wonderful right now and I'm so happy.

Wedding Updates & an Awesome Weekend

This weekend was by far one of the best in awhile. Friday night we visited David's brother and his fiance, my awesome future sister-in-law for dinner and some quality time. They fed us some delicious steak, potatoes, shrimp, salad and asparagus!!! I can not wait until we get a house and can invite our family over! Our apartment is just so small and we only have one couch!! Which is why we are looking at some houses this week possibly...all outside of town within a 20 min drive to the hospital and David's work. All with some property and already fenced, which is very important. Since fencing can be such a large expense it would be great to already have it. I'm super excited and praying that if we find a place we can find someone to sublease our apartment. 

Then Saturday we went to visit David's Dad. And coincidentally they were cooking steak for dinner too! So we had steak, potatoes, and lima beans (which by the way is my favorite veggie!!). We also went and signed the contract for our reception venue and took lots of pictures to make it easier to have an idea of how to decorate and table arrangements. And we secured a date and time and rooms for our rehearsal. Then we played Yahtzee until 3 am and drank lots of.....drinks. ;-)

 Sunday we woke up and had a fantastic breakfast waiting for us thanks to Davids' Dad's girlfriend....then we visited David's Nana and Papa and got to meet his new little cousin, who by the way was absolutely the most adorable baby. Then we took our tails home and caught up on Falling Skies which is one of the best shows on right now, but is now over for a year!!! :-(

 Then we had left over steak (3 nights in a row), eggs, and toast for dinner...
So all in all this weekend was wonderful...I love being with family and David. I have a feeling this week may be one of my last weeks to really try to enjoy before I hopefully get offered a job and start getting really busy. So I'm taking this opportunity to really start finishing up on wedding planning. I want to make a list of all the DIY things I need to do and all the items I need to do them. It shouldn't be too hard and in a weird way I'm kind of excited to do it..at least until I start it then I will get frustrated over something stupid. And tomorrow is my first home visit to see a patient!!! Hopefully I get one or two more visits this week. And I'm going to see The Help Wednesday with my wonderful MOH and my poor kitty Amaya is getting declawed Wednesday..... :'( So this week will keep me busy with plenty of down time Friday I'm sure...

I'm going to be using some of theses as inspirations when I make my list...since I'm talking about it.. :-D