I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Bored! Ok, so its 1:05 p.m.....I have FOUR HOURS until I can go home and I am so bored. Maybe, just maybe, I will one day have a job that I LOVE and don't get bored at so easily!!! One would think there would be enough to do to keep me busy, but nope, nadda, NOTHING!!! CRAZINESS!!! One of these days I am going to win the lottery and then I can spend all my time volunteering somewhere that I LOVE! Not sure where I would go, but it would definitely be somewhere with children! Maybe I could go to the local children's hospitals and read them stories and play games with them!

So, today marks 18 months that John and I have been dating...and get this...he realized it before I did! Crazy! Whats crazier is that in just 73 days we will be getting married! I hope the next few weeks FLY by! I am so ready for the wedding to come and go and let us get on with the rest of our lives. Well, after the honeymoon of course ;) ;). Whenever life gets crazy with wedding projects, I just stop and think about how wonderful its going to be to board that cruise ship and think about nothing but relaxing for 7 days! :) :) I have never been on a real vacation like that and just can't wait!!!!!! I have finally agreed to go swimming with the Sting Rays with John. We made a compromise...I would swim with the sting rays, if he would do a couples massage with me! :) Sounds like a good compromise to me!!!

So we have a shower this weekend. I am SOOO excited about this shower. Amazingly enough, the theme has managed to stay a surprise. I'm impressed my sister has managed to keep it to herself ;). I'm excited because 1) Its a male/female shower so John will get to be there with me and 2) because I will get to see some people that I haven't seen in awhile! Everyone that I have talked to about this shower says its the best idea ever and that the invitation was the greatest. My curiosity is running WILD! But, I know in the long run I will be very glad that I didn't know about it ahead of time. But, boy is my mind a running...you'd be surprised with some of the ideas I have thought it could be.

Ok, well I bet you have more important things to do then sit here and read my babble. SO, be sure to leave me some lovin!

Have a fabulous day! :)

Hey! Its been awhile since I posted, and since I'm home from work today, I figure I'll post. I woke up this morning with a migraine...I HATE those things!! Its gone for the most part, but its still there. Oh well, maybe I'll get some things done around the house today. I have GOT to do some laundry and clean up a bit!!

Anyway, I wanted to share some pictures with you. Briana is FABULOUS...check out what she did. Below you will see a picture of what my cake topper looked like before. (Well, except for the white heart thing behind it. I didn't take a picture myself of the before, and I could NOT find a picture anywhere online of just the dancing couple. But, thats what it was...just the dancing couple...but notice the color of her roses...PINK). Well, Briana took mine home and turned her roses to RED to match mine! It turned out FABULOUSLY! I can't wait to see it on the cake!! Thanks Briana! :)

Ok, now I'm off to find some lunch and rest!!

Ok, now for some shower pictures...here's a teaser...and to see all the rest just go here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AYtWLlozZsn2Q

Ok, you guys are in for a treat today! Below are the pictures of the flowers at "show time". Basically the pictures below are what the flowers would look like at the time the wedding starts. What do you think?? Also, there is a picture of what we're thinking about doing for the programs...do you think the bow is too much? Would love to hear some opinions!

Have a fabulous day!

Ok....This post is going to be short and sweet, but I need to make a record of what the flowers look like on day 2. The white has opened up a little more then I would have liked at this point, but I also didn't pull off any of the outer petals like I should have, so I think they will be ok. The REAL test will be how they look at this time tomorrow night. The shower last night was fabulous....I'll post some pictures from that soon. We played the game where you make a wedding dress out of Toilet Paper, and so I have some cute pictures of me and Julie and my sister and one of John's great aunts all decked out in TP! We had a wonderful time!! Hope all is well for all of you!

Have a fabulous day!

Good Afternoon! So far, today has been an excellent productive day! I decided to take today off work because I really needed some ME time! I am feeling MUCH better!! On top of sleeping til I was ready to get up (which happened at 7:45...dang this getting older!) I have managed to time activate all of the wedding projects left to do, clean house, do some laundry and play with flowers. My mom is doing the wedding flowers, and we found this online site to order from that came highly recommended. SO, I ordered their "wedding test bunch" and they arrived today. Their test bunch is 25 roses of mulitple different colors and their 3 different sizes. Now, they say that it will take 2 days for them to fully open up (after having to be shipped), so lets see what happened. I have taken off all their leaves and thorns (and don't think you can do this without gloves...I got caught on the FIRST rose I picked up, so I quickly found gloves) and have trimmed the stems to allow water into them. So, I guess only time will tell. The first picture is a collective picture of all the roses. The second picture is of the white rose we are leaning towards at this moment. The third picture is of the 4 we're thinking about...the 2 on the left are the ones we're thinking about. The last picture is the red rose we're leaning towards. (John and I will have red roses, everyone else will have white roses). Not sure why the red one has a funny glow to it, but it is a VERY pretty color in person!!! Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Have a fabulous day!

Sometimes I just wanna SCREAM!!!!!

So last night we were working on the wedding invitations...as we were finishing the LAST one John realized that the zip code on the RSVP was incorrect. Ok, so that in itself is not a HUGE problem...print some labels and slap them on the RSVPs. However, we had already SEALED EVERY invitation. So, now we have to open all the envelopes, fix the RSVP card then address a new envelope. Well, we have spent 3 months working on these invitations and have hand addressed all 160 of them! We ordered new envelopes, but they won't be here until NEXT thursday. The problem is we really wanted the invitations to be in the mail on October 1. I know this is a little early, but there is good reason for this. First, the wedding is on a weekend that is quite popular for holiday parties, so it was highly suggested that we DO send them out early. Secondly, the food for our reception is being very generously provided for us by members of our church. I feel like its only fair of us to give them at LEAST a month's notice of how many people we expect to be there so that they can budget for the amount of food they will need to buy. SO, we have an RSVP date of 11/1/05, so that there is some time for the stragglers to send in their RSVP. So, in order for us to give people adequate amount of time to RSVP, we were instructed to send the invitations out 1 month prior to the RSVP date. SO, when we get our new envelopes in next thursday, we will have exactly 9 days to address all 160 of them again! ARGH!!!

So, our solution to this is either clear labels or printing on the envelopes. Now I understand that this is not exactly proper, but what's a girl to do?? I have a list about 123 miles long of other things to do in the next 86 days, re-addressing envelopes is not going to fit in there. So, how many people will ACTUALLY notice that it is printed on the envelope or even that a label was used. AND if they do notice, will people REALLY care?

BUT, what frustrates me the most is people telling me to "calm down" like I'm some little child or something. You can't tell me if you were in my shoes that you wouldn't be upset. Its not like I'm going postal or anything, just very frustrated and very upset with myself for not catching the mistake. However, this is a rather big deal to ME and no one has the right to tell me it shouldn't be or to calm down. Its one thing to try and offer suggestions and offer to help, but to tell me to calm down is like telling me that I'm not allowed to feel the way I do. Even worse then that is the response "Why didn't you check them before you started?" DUH! Everyone makes mistakes people....don't rub it in. Its a pretty simple one to make too. The RSVPs were printed shortly after I moved to my new house. The zip code that is on there is my old zip and its only 1 digit off from the new zip. So, even if it is a stupid mistake on our part, people shouldn't rub it in your face! Come on people have a little bit of compassion!!!

Ok, well now that I've got that out of my system, maybe I can respond calmly to anyone else that wants to respond is such a rude way. Now its back to work so that I can get some things accomplished. I actually have a "to-do" list for today...imagine that!

My sister trips me out! She's on the phone right now and I tell you what she is TOOO funny! I told her new boyfriend about the "perfect man" paper she wrote a couple of years ago. Remember that paper??? Now her new boyfriend wants to read it. Too bad I can't find it. I told him it had something about the perfect man feeding her grapes, and so last night as they were leaving to go get dinner he said "should I just go get some grapes?" He is a TRIP! I like this guy...he's such a good influence on my sister and she is definitely happier then I've ever seen her!! Yay for her!

Ok, I really MUST get back to work... I'm feeling much better now, thanks for letting me vent!Hope you have a fabulous day! :)

Ok, well I'm bored while waiting on John to get back with dinner...good ol' Taco Bell...way to stick to that diet Jen! ;) So I thought I would get on here and add some more pictures....Ok so there is only one real picture....Becky the others are for you...if you're bored while you're working those late hours...just take some ideas from those pictures and see what you can do ;). maybe one day I'll play with it enough to figure out how to line it up a little better. For now...my dinner has arrived and I'm going to go eat!

have a fabulous day!

Well I FINALLY have a few moments to sit down and catch my breath!! I'm attempting with adding a picture today, and so you get a bad picture of a picture. This is the latest picture of me and John. His parents had a coupon for a free 10x13 from the Apex EMS, and they gave it to us, so this is what we got. I LOVE the frame though, it looks perfect in our new little office. Sorry its such a bad picture, but it was the only thing around worth taking a picture up and I was too lazy to get up and go find something more interesting. I still don't think it looks like me inthe picture, I think I'm still getting used to the contact look. Anyway, if I'm feeling adventurous I'll add some more pictures later.

This has been one crazy crazy week! I can NOT WAIT for all this wedding planning stuff to be over with. I know I know, I should enjoy the process, blah blah blah. I am just so ready to get on with the rest of our lives. I want to be able to come home in the evening and we can spend some time enjoying each other, without thinking about all the billion things that I still have left to do. I just need to get organized again. Make a new list of all the little projects to be done, and then plan them out. That way I won't feel so overwhelmed. Thats the plan for tonight....make a new timeline for the next 12 weeks. Thats right...only 12 more weeks until I'm a married woman! How crazy is that!

On an exciting note...my first shower is Friday night. This is what I lovingly refer to as the "older" shower. While there are still a good number of people close to my age that will be there, there will also be a lot of older ladies. All of John's Great Aunts were invited, if that gives you any idea by what I mean when I say older lady. ;) None the less....things are starting to be bought off our registry. Yes I know I'm a cheater....but its just so dern exciting! The crystal wine glasses we picked out and 2 place settings of our china have been bought. So, we might not be able to have a dinner party for 12, but at least the 2 of us can sit down to a very nice fancy dinner!

The next shower will be on October 2nd. I got my invitation in the mail to this yesterday, and mine has been carefully doctored to say SURPRISE theme instead of giving me the details of the shower. Now I love surprises, but the suspense is going to drive me batty!! Especially, when my mother opens the invitation WHILE ON THE PHONE WITH ME and says "ohhh how nice. I've never heard of something like this before but you're going to love it!!!" I am SOOO excited about this shower.

The lingerie shower is in November...and I'll admit I'm a little frightened about this one, but excited all at the same time. Lets just say that my sister has a cake pan that if any man saw us cut a cake that looks like this he would probably be in physical pain. ;) My daddy was SHOCKED to hear that my sister owned a cake pan like this, and refused to let her bake his birthday cake this year. None the less I am VERY excited about this shower too. Who wouldn't want to have all kinds of fun lingerie to take on their honeymoon. (Now if only I could stick to this diet and not look like a beached whale in the lingerie).

Ok, well its been nice to sit here and dream about the showers. They give me something to look forward to in the midst of all this crazy planning. Pray for me as I am trying to keep sane so that I don't drive John insane!! For now, I must go and begin my work on the wedding timeline. The invitations go out in just a couple of weeks...so keep an eye out for that! :)

Have a fabulous day!!

Today has been a GOOD day, but now my head is spinning. We met with our reception coordinator today and BOY do we have a LOT of stuff to figure out. Of course, everyone keeps telling me that I am ahead of the game and adequately prepared, but I'm beginning to think its not true. I still have to think about who's going to get everything back to working order before Sunday morning church. Cause I tell you one thing, John and I are NOT sticking around for that! ;) I think we'll have more important things to be worrying about. The limo is scheduled to pick us up at 8, so at least its not going to run real late so hopefully people won't be at the church too late that night. I think we have enough help it shouldn't take too long. Hopefully the people I have in mind to head up different projects will agree to help! The out pouring of love and support from our church has been absolutely wonderful! There are about 20 ladies that have offered to buy, cook, serve and clean up the food for the reception. That in itself is a HUGE blessing!!! Plus, another lady has offered to host a BM lunch the day before. Plus, another lady has offered to bring lunch to the church on the wedding day for me and the girls as we're getting ready. God has blessed us in so many ways with this wedding, I have never felt more like I am exactly where he wants me to be! Its such an amazing feeling!

Anyway, I think I needed this to help me put things in perspective. God is in control and taking care of everything. I'm just gonna go to bed and rest and relax and not stress over everything that is left to do.

Hope you have a fabulous day!

It has been a VERY long, yet productive day. John is slowing moving his things in, and today it was the desk. Fortunately this is the biggest thing he's bringing, because there is NO MORE ROOM in this tiny apartment. We have spent all day rearranging and now we have a 2 desk office. We have both computers set up on wireless internet, so its kind of weird to be sitting here, with John right behind me and we're both typing. Hopefully we won't both be typing a lot at the same time, it might cause me to go insane!!!

We also rearranged the living room and boxed up all of the wedding stuff. I was sick and tired of feeling like I was living in a wedding warehouse instead of a home. So, now everything is in boxes in a corner in my bedroom....but only for 3 months! :)

Thats right folks....3 months from today I will be a married woman!! On the one hand I can't believe its only 3 months....on the other hand.....WHEN WILL IT EVER GET HERE!?!?!!!! But, we have a lot of projects to do to keep us busy until then. But, hopefully its not so much that we'll go crazy. The first wedding shower is Friday night and I'm beginning to get a little nervous but VERY excited. I peaked at the registry again today...people are actually starting to buy things. WOO HOO! :)

Ok, well I have a few more things to clean up before bed, so I'd better get off of here.

Have a fabulous day! :)

Well, I am at home for the afternoon fighting yet another sinus infection. I wish they could figure out what is causing these dern things, but I guess that is what the appointment on Friday is for. We'll see. I did go into work this morning and it was CRAZY! We finally rescheduled the workshop that was supposed to be next week, so things started rolling. The only problem is the rescheduled workshop is for the week of my honeymoon. John told my boss she was just gonna have to find a way to survive without me! He's too funny! My boss said she would never even consider asking me to come to the workshop. I will admit, I'm a little dissappointed the workshop is not going to be next week. The hotel where the workshop was scheduled at is right on the Cape Fear River and I hear its a beautiful place. Plus, I just don't get to go to the beach enough, and even though this would have been for work, I still could have gone for a walk on the beach at night. Oh well, there is a reason for everything. Lets just hope the Governor doesn't extend the no travel rule through October, then we'll really have a mess on our hands if we have to reschedule the Hickory workshop.

Ok, well I think that staring at this computer screen is making my headache worse, so I am just going to go lay down for a bit.

Have a fabulous day!

Yup! I finally gave in to the blog. Now I can post comments on others and maybe people will comment back on mine. I was bad and went ahead and used my married name to sign up for this. But, the wedding is like 95 days away, why do something where I'll have to change it later. On that note, wedding plans are coming along fabulously! We are getting more and more excited and can not wait for the big day to come! Our honeymoon cruise was canceled due to the hurricane. We were supposed to catch a ship in New Orleans. Carnival has donated 3 of their ships to aid with the hurricane relief. But, we got another cruise lined up and for an excellent deal. Carnival was way too nice and gave us a $200 dollar credit, so we were able to upgrade to a longer cruise, on a larger, newer ship for no additional cost. The ship we're going on is amazing. It is 18 stories tall, almost as long as 4 football fields, they have 4 swimming pools (including a water slide that is over 200 feet), 22 bars and lounges, and so much more...plus 24 hour room service is all included! :) We had a little bit of trouble with our airplane tickets though. They seemed to think that they would be able to fly us to NO by December. They eventually came to the realization that while they might physically be able to land us in NO, the city will be in no condition to accept tourists. FINALLY, they offered to change our plane tickets. I feel guilty that we are ending up with a nicer honeymoon while there are so many people suffering.

Anyway, enough about that. I should probably actually get some work done today since I was gone for 2 hours this morning to go to the doctor. Yes, I have ANOTHER sinus infection! BAH HUMBUG! The doctor says to me this morning "You're like clockwork..every April and September you have a sinus infection." SO, he has scheduled me for one of those nasty skin allergy test things this Friday. I am NOT looking forward to that, but maybe they will eventually figure out what is causing all these infections.

Ok, I really am going to get off of here and get back to work. We were supposed to have a workshop next week in Wilmington. But, the governor has restricted all state employee travel due to the gas situation, so we are having to figure out when to reschedule it and then I have the fun task of contacting all 150 of the participants and telling them no need to travel next week. Hopefully most of them will be able to transfer to the new dates and we won't have to refund them all of their money. I guess we'll see!

Have a fabulous day! :)