After a minor melt-down last night regarding our wedding location, M finally emailed around and we are currently this close to having something nailed down.  We are just waiting for a few more answers but we hope to have something booked TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I’m only slightly excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀

I also closed on my townhouse today, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was a pretty painless experience.  I would have preferred the buyer not to be there but oh well.  M came to pick me up from work and take me to closing.  I had decided that I would like to do something nice for the new owner since nothing was done for me.  I grabbed a card, wrote a little note and then made M stop by the grocery on the way to closing.  I picked up a bottle of champagne and we stopped by the house.  I left the champagne, card and a couple of champagne flutes on the counter.  We said good-bye to the house and were off to close.  It only took about 10 minutes and we were done.

I am soooo excited that M and I have finally settled on a location and date.  Currently the date we are looking at has a 4pm wedding time slot.  I think this is pretty much the latest time you can get on almost all of the islands although I’ve heard rumors of a 5 pm ceremony but apparently those are saved for the super duper expensive wedding packages, which we will NOT be purchasing.  Although my ideal would be around 6ish, I can deal with 4.  The time was really the make or break deal.  I know people do it but why oh why would you want to get married at 11 am?  That boggles my mind.  I’m not a huge fan of afternoon receptions but I can’t even fathom what you would do all day after that.  Granted you could literally wear your dress all day.  I think I prefer the drama of night, and well not being in the smoldering sun all day in a wedding dress.

Today has really been a good day so far and I am looking forward to booking our wedding.  Since it seems to be a pretty big day I told M we should have a date night tonight.  We go out but mostly we are with friends so it will be nice to have a “date” that is just us.  Plus I think I could use a nice glass of wine 🙂

Cheers!

Today has been a pretty good day so far.  We had our office breakfast this morning and thankfully I didn’t stuff myself to the point of misery today.  The pastries turned out really good and everyone seemed to like them.  On a side note, me learning to make pastry will probably be a bad thing 🙂

Anyway, I finally got around to renewing my car registration that is due July 1.  I was trying to renew online but it continued to say I needed an inspection.  HELLO, my car is brand new.  So I decided to call and make sure I really didn’t need an inspection.  After about 5 minutes of automated hell I finally got through to an agent.  The lady on the phone informed me I did NOT need an inspection this year, woo hoo!  And she updated my account so I could renew online.  Well as I was about to renew I noticed “Specialty Tags” oh yeah!  I knew the Auburn alumni group had been working on getting enough pre-orders to get Auburn tags.  I think last fall they finally hit the minimum number and now Auburn tags are available in North Carolina.  I figured since I didn’t have to pay for an inspection I could afford the extra $25.00 for the specialty tag.  I am SUPER excited to finally have an Auburn tag again.This is what my new tag will look like, YAY!!!!

I am having a really good hair day today so I think that is also contributing to my delightful mood.

And in a totally unrelated note:

Dear Verizon,

It has been over 2 weeks since I ordered my new phone.  If you could please update my order and send my phone I would really appreciated it.  KTHX!

Over the weekend I finally hit 1000, well 1004 and when I looked.  I just want to say YAY!

M and I were pretty productive this weekend.   The original plan had been to clean my house on Saturday and then head to the pool for a little sun but since the USA soccer game was on that afternoon my pool time would be cut short.  I decided to clean our house and we could clean mine on Sunday.  So Saturday morning was spent cleaning.  I have to say it is nice to have a clean house.  We may still have boxes around but just knowing the main parts are clean is nice.  It was funny because I’d been cleaning upstairs, M went up and came back down and was like “wow the bedroom looks huge!”  Well, it is when there aren’t things thrown everywhere.  :)  Now if we could ever get this wedding over we could buy some actual bedroom furniture.  I would love to not use tv trays as bedside tables.  🙂

Sunday M and I got up ready for the England soccer game.  After that we could head to my house to clean.  Well we didn’t bother watching the end of the game as Germany pretty much had it in the bag.  M and I headed to the house and began cleaning.  I mainly wanted to make sure the floors were vacuumed and mopped and the bathroom was clean.  After a good bit of sweat we were finally done.  The house was clean and EMPTY!!!!  :)  We headed across the street for our last pool jaunt.  It turned out to be quite an exciting trip.  M was standing next to the skimmer when I looked down and saw this weird “bug” looking thing.  Upon a further glance I realized it was not a bug but a HUGE ASS spider.  Yes that is the actual scientific spider name.  Not only was it HUGE but it was covered in babies, EWWWWWWWW!  The pool boy finally came and we told him about the spider.  He was quite brave and managed to get her and about 999,980 of her babies out of the pool.  Not long after the spider incident a large group showed up and M and I decided we were done with the pool.

After a quick shower we ran to the grocery store.  I love it when we literally have NO food.  We needed to go and since my office is having a group breakfast on Tuesday I needed to pick up a few things so I could make some pastries.  The recipe is a jam kalachy but according to M they turned into jam tarts.   Whatever they are they are quite delicious.  I made the pastry dough yesterday afternoon and last night decided I should probably make a few just to make sure they were good.  I grabbed some dough, rolled it out, cut it, filled with jam and put them in the oven.  The first batch was not very attractive but they were yummy.  I will make the rest tonight.  I’m not sure what it is about baking that I love.  I only like cooking but I love to bake.  Maybe because most things I bake turn out pretty well.  If only I had my kitchen aide mixer I would be in business.  I am pretty sure my hamilton beach mixer doesn’t have much longer to live or maybe I should stop torturing it. :)  Anyway I am pretty happy my tarts turned out so tasty plus the pastry recipe is super simple.  If the ones from tonight look nice I will take a few pics and post.

What a day!  Most of the morning/afternoon was spent trying to look busy during our outage.  Thankfully I don’t have the necessary tools to answer the customer care lines.  Unfortunately everyone else in my office does.  I feel bad that they just spent the majority of their day taking calls.  At least I was able get all of our work completed.  This has left me with not much to do this afternoon.  I did manage to post my new save the date (better Kris) idea on the knot this morning.  And it looks like my original idea is OUT!  M and I will have to take some pics this weekend for me to be able to make our new ones.

Speaking of, M had the day off today.  I’ve been b!tching for a while about the glass shower doors.  I kept waiting for a few hours alone in the house so I could remove them, or try.  :)  But M beat me too it today.  Finally the shower doors are DOWN!!!!!!!!!!  I am pretty excited.  I can’t wait to see my beautiful shower curtain flowing in the nice gentle shower breeze.  I have a feeling one member of the family may not like the shower doors being gone.  Julio loves to sit on the counter while M or I are in the shower.  I still can’t figure out why he is fascinated with water.  But I am pretty excited to see what he will do now that I am finally able to take a bath.  It will be the largest “water holder” he has ever seen.  It should be hilarious hopefully.  Maybe he will take up swimming. 🙂

I chatted with my mom this morning for a few minutes and it seems they are moving to OK.  I don’t have the specifics yet but apparently my dad got a good offer and he will take it.  Hopefully this is a very good thing and will work out for them.

Now it is time for Beer Friday……we’ve found the cooler if only we could get the beer!

So everything seems to be falling into place.  M and I ran by the house last night to check out the handyman’s work.  Everything looked good.  He even fixed a few things  that we were going to leave.  Guess I forgot a few items he could check off ;)  Oh well.  We also managed to get the rest of the stuff in the car and throw away the rest of the trash that was left.  We will make one final trip this weekend to do a little cleaning and we are DONE!

Last night as we were watching So You Think You Can Dance, M’s guilty pleasure ;), I decided I wanted to get busy and start putting things in their place.  I managed to hang 2 candle holders, move another picture, move a few baskets, change a lamp or two and that was about it.  M laughed at me when I finally sat back down and asked what I’d been doing.  I know it doesn’t seem like much but it’s a little and it’s a start.  Our bonus room looks like my house threw up down there.  And honestly I don’t really know where to start.  I am moving into his house and I haven’t really claimed my areas yet.  I don’t have MY space yet, if that makes sense.  I’ve lived alone for so long now that I am used to moving and putting stuff where I want it.  Now I have to consider someone else.  Not that it’s a bad thing.  M hasn’t said anything and he has been very good at helping make room for me.  I guess I don’t want to just come in and take over because I know how I would feel if it were the other way around.   I would be super annoyed with someone just putting stuff where ever.  🙂

It also seems as though things are going to work out for my parents to move to OK.  I talked to my dad this morning while they were waiting on their flight and he said they were just waiting for the offer.  A lot of things have happened this year and I think them moving might not be such a bad thing.  I feel like M and I are our own little almost family.  (One day I will actually explain that.)  But I think it might be good for mom and dad to spread their wings.  Funny how it seems the roles have changed.  The only downside to this is the fact that eventually M and I will have to go to OK.  Not a trip I am really looking forward too.

And on one wedding related note I have found another DIY project for myself.  Unfortunately I can’t do this while I am trying to avoid working.  I will have to do it at the house since it involves tools.  Now I just need a trip to Target and Lowe’s or Michael’s.  I’ll post pics when I have finished.

Last night I started round 2 of Save the Date.  I still need pics of M and I so I can only do so much until I get these.  I feel like I have been all crafty lately.  I also finished spray painting the little bistro table and chairs that are now on the deck.  I’ve had this set for a while and the sun and rain and snow have finally taken a toll on the metal.  The paint was chipping and it just looked pretty sad.  The other weekend while M and I were at Lowe’s I decided to pick up some spray paint and make the set look better.  I picked up some blue paint and one afternoon last week I decided to start painting.  One can down and I decided I probably needed more paint.  So yesterday, after braving the heat, I finished up what I had started.  I’m not sure how good the new paint job looks.  We didn’t bring it upstairs until last night.  But I mean it has to look better right?

This week has been super slow, if I haven’t stated that already.  :)  Yesterday I decided it was time to make a monogram for M and I’s wedding.  What I need a monogram for, I have no idea but well all the knotties have one and since I’ve become a lemming, I made one too.  Our system was down for a while yesterday so I figured that was a good opportunity to play around with paint and see what I could come up with.  What’s funny, is I could NOT come up with an idea for this.  I’d played around with it on and off for a few days with no luck.  Then as I was doodling on some postie notes I finally figured out my design.  I opened paint and everything came together quite nicely.  I’ve tweaked it a few times but I think this will be my final design.  I also think that I could use this for other non-wedding related items too.  Again, we will see if I actually use this but hey, I have it now right? 🙂

So here is my famous monogram. I do plan add an actual date when we have one but this is it for now.  Happy Wednesday!

I feared this might happen since M and I have almost a year til we get married.  I have entirely too much time on my hands to think about things.  This means I have tons of time to rethink my ideas and change them.  This week my obsession has become the Save the Dates, again.  I know, they are already done, just waiting for a time and location.  However a recent discovery has me rethinking my original idea.  Why?  Because as I was browsing through a few planning bio sites, what did I find?  Another bride has a Save the Date/Monogram that looks almost EXACTLY like mine.  Okay so I used a website for my idea.  That’s fine, maybe she did too.  But it gets weirder.  Not only are these very similar to mine, she is also getting married in St. Lucia at the Sandals Grande.  You have GOT to be kidding me! (No M and I have not decided on a place but this is definitely a front-runner.)

I showed M this girl’s site and he was like “well I’m sure no idea is going to be completely different from everyone.”  Okay, I get his point, but seriously this borders on down right creepy.  I know she didn’t copy my idea and I’m sure she’s had her idea alot longer then I’ve had mine since her wedding is a month or so away.  But there are other similarities including colors and patterns.  Too weird.

Last night as I lay in bed waiting to fall asleep I decided on another STD (save the date) idea.  This one will allow me to use my photography skills.  It includes a beach pic from Topsail, where M and I met, plus it will/should help with my tripod and timer skills.  I would like to take all the pics for the new STD.  Plus I think I’ve decided that I would like our STD to include a pic of M and I.  I know everyone wants our picture on their fridge 😉

This morning I played around with paint and publisher working on a mock up design for my new idea.  And just let me say, the mock up is AWFUL!  But the concept itself is pretty good.  Again this is not original by any means.  I’ve seen many STD’s with something similar.  But I bet not many will be able to say that all the pics are kellysuzanne originals. :)  Hopefully this weekend I will be able to get M to have a photo session at the house.  I will need a few pictures of us.  Now let’s hope my photography skills can pull off a few decent pictures to use.

Last week M’s company was informed there would be some staffing changes soon, yep layoffs again.  Then a few days later he was told that he could be one of the people getting laid off but no one would really know anything until Monday.  This meant that most of last week we got to sit and wonder what Monday would bring.  Well finally we know.  He made the cut.  This is a relief but it also makes both of us aware that he may not be safe next go round.  I feel changes are coming soon.

There are actually several things going on today.  First off, my dad has an interview in OK.  So he and mom flew out this morning, headed to see what their futures might be.  Considering what my dad has told me it sounds like this will be very promising, so I will cross my fingers for them.  (And for those wondering I am now speaking to my mom again.  We worked a few things out and hopefully the prospect of a job will bring changes too.)

I got a call from my mom earlier while they were in Dallas for their lay over to OK City, to say my grandmother had had a fall.  Mom said she didn’t know much but my grandmother was being taken to the hospital.  As it is, she is currently in a retirement community so there are always people around.  Even though we are not very close with our extended family I messaged my cousin on FB just to check and make sure things were okay.  He said as far as he knew she was okay but was complaining about pain in her knee and shoulder.  I guess I will find out more when my dad talks to his brother.

Anyway it’s been a pretty busy Monday and it’s barely noon.  Plus the handyman FINALLY emailed this morning to say he would be at the house today working, YAY!!!!!  This is great news.  M and I were at the house most of the weekend, painting baseboards and packing the remainder of “crap”.  :)  There are still about 27 lamps (or 5)  left that we will need to get and a few more boxes of junk.  At one point during the move  M said I didn’t have THAT much stuff.  I think he’s changed his mind 😉

Hello Monday thanks for the kick in the ass!

Work was pretty slow this morning.  This lead to a full blown bridal moment.  :)  Almost all of the girls on theknot.com message boards have planning bios.  These are websites they have created in order to document various wedding related items.  They include everything from who we are, how we met, to dresses, colors, locations and everything in between.  I figured between the blog and the wedding page I created I wouldn’t need a planning bio.

Well I was wrong.  As I browsed the DIY boards yesterday and saw all the amazing DIY stuff people are doing, the more I really wanted to do this whole planning bio thing.  And well I actually set up an account a few weeks ago ;)  So with not much to do as far as actual work, I began working on my site.  It includes all of the above items.  How helpful this will really be is beyond me but I think it will be fun to update and more importantly I think it will be awesome to look back at and see what I did and what I might have wanted to do.  I’m also hoping this will keep me on track a little and help me better organize my ideas.  Some of the things I’ve run across are very cool and could be used for different things, not just weddings.  Maybe one day I will use it more as a craft site.  Who knows.  Right now I’ve already got more sites then I know what to do with. 🙂

M has been made aware of this site.  He has also been warned my dress is ON there.  I trust him enough to know that he won’t ruin the surprise of seeing my dress before hand.  But I also didn’t make it super easy to see.  For those of you who would like to check out this site here is the link, http://mattandkellyswedding.weebly.com/.

I hope you enjoy looking at my ideas so far.  I know I will add more stuff.  Mostly ideas of things I like and might want use in the future but for now it is related to things I have done or will do.

Happy Friday!

I promise this post should be better then yesterday’s.  🙂

I feel like I really should include more wedding related items since this is the “we are getting married” blog right now.  But all 5 of my readers have seen all my ideas so far.  This brings me to flip flops.  How, I know you are wondering.  Well a few days ago, while lurking on theknot.com boards I ran across a post about wedding shoes (or flip flops) and this girl said she wrote about the shoes she wanted on her blog and someone from the company saw her post and “gifted” her the shoes.  OMG you have got to be kidding.  How does that work?  So this lead to an immediate interest in her blog.  Just a regular blogspot blog.  Nothing special.  So how in the world did she end up with free shoes?  Well if I could ever find the shoes of my dreams maybe someone will “gift” me some shoes.  🙂

Anyway, since I bought my dress and will have a pink sash (M you are not reading this) I’ve decided I MUST MUST MUST have hot pink flip flops to wear under my dress.  There is only one small problem, I can’t find hot pink flip flops.  I know what I want.  Basically I want my gold metallic flip flops in pink.  I think they would be adorable in bright pink metallic with rhinestones.  Nothing extremely fancy, just a nice wedge heel and some sparkley things on them.  I thought about DIY’ing it but again, pink flip flops are not easy to find.  I feel like I only have another month or so to find the flip flops of my dreams or I might be screwed.  Since we are getting married next May I worry that things like flip flops won’t quite be out.  Plus I really need to have my shoes when I do my dress fitting.  So what is a girl to do?  I guess I should start looking at designer sites and stalk down the “perfect” pair of shoes and then post it all over my blog in hopes it will be seen.  Who knows.

If anyone should run across hot pink metallic, please I wear a size 6 or S.  🙂