Life Lately, June 6

The last four months or so can be summed up in this picture:

Honestly, Sarah's "spirited" nature has been kicked up a notch (or 50?) since late January/early February, and I'm clinging to the idea that if two is hard three is easy????

Robert got ordained in April, and we had a ton of family in to celebrate with us.  It was a great weekend!

Sarah and I have been able to go to Silver Dollar City a few times this year, and Robert is bummed that he hasn't been included in a single one of those trips.  I think Sarah has now ridden everything she's tall enough to ride, and I'd say the ladybugs are her favorite.  It's one of two rides that she's allowed to ride by herself.

I went on my annual weekend trip with Robert's mom, grandma, and sister, and Robert and Sarah survived!

This year we went to Tulsa, and my favorite part was our stop at Ree Drummond's Merc.  The food was tasty, and the line was long but worth it for special occasion.

My dear friend Leigha got married on May 5, and I got to be a part of it! It was a special day!

For about a year I've wanted to paint our garage door, so Mother's Day seemed like a perfect time to cash in on that request!  It only took one coat and Robert agrees that it looks much better now.

On May 20th Robert and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary!  Wow!

Sarah loves chips - a girl after my own heart.

On May 22nd Pepaw passed away.  I could spend a whole day listing his positive attributes and reliving fond memories and attempting to express the love that our family shared, but that wouldn't do him justice, so I'll just say that Pepaw loved God and devoted his life to Him.  I look forward to seeing him again one day.

Sarah started preschool and couldn't be more excited!  This summer she's going on Wednesday mornings from 9:00-12:00.

Robert had a work meeting in Hannibal (4 hours away), and Sarah and I tagged along.  We slept remarkably well in the hotel, and Sarah and I enjoyed swimming and eating lunch at a cafe.  She ate off all the icing from her cupcake and the server brought her more, so it's basically her new favorite restaurant.

We have put so much hard work into our yard, and it's a lot of fun to check on it and see how it's progressing.  Our lilies were looking really good last week!

We went to a Springfield Cardinals game since Yadi was in town.  Sarah caught a shirt, and Robert participated in musical chairs and won a shirt.  We lasted for about half of the game and had a lot of fun!

Sarah and I picked strawberries with friends and even got Robert to try one!

I was in another wedding yesterday!  Tiffani and Matt got married, and it was a great day!  Sarah sat through the whole service and loved the cupcakes at the reception.

When Sarah says something I really want to remember I try to type it up in my phone really quick, so here are the endearing things she's said the last couple of months.  It's quite a bit, but the grandparents love this kind of thing, right? :)

April 3 - Sarah was asking about our wedding rings. I explained what they mean and told her maybe one day she’ll marry a nice man. “I hope I get to marry Santa!”

4 - She saw the moon, but it was faint since it was day time. I talked about how the moon goes away during the day and comes out at night. She asked me if it sleeps. I told her that's kinda right. She asked me if the moon has a blanket and bed when he sleeps. ️

May - She came out from nap to say, “I just needed to let you know that I love you. Do you love me too?”

Am I allergic to pokey trees? I don’t feel very affectionate towards pokey trees.

I have to have a babysitter because I’m not allowed to stay home alone. 

S: We need to sit in the car and die. R:  No, we don’t want to do that. Dying is a bad thing. S: But Jesus died, and that was good. 

9 - Sometimes big girls get out of bed to kiss their mommy

11 - My strength wants to go pee pee, but my brain won’t let me.

12 - Holding two receipts. “If you give me 100 bucks I’ll let you pick which one you can have."

23 - Nana, did you know that I’m a child?

26 - I hope Jesus comes back for us soon 

30 - First day of preschool - Preschool was good! When I picked her up she said, “You came back! I was wondering if you would!” Then when we got in the car she said, “I wish I could go to preschool every day!” The teachers’ names are Miss Michelle and Miss Elizabeth. She used the potty twice and told me one time she zipped up her pants by herself, and the other time Miss Elizabeth helped. She met a boy named Skyler and a girl named Cora. They learned about the letters C and M and played a lot. She got goldfish crackers for snack and ate a big lunch that I packed - string cheese, half a PBJ sandwich, mandarin oranges, and half a pouch. She had a good time!

(Frustrated with stickers) "For pity’s sake!"

31 - Knock Knock

Who’s there?

Sarah!

Sarah who?

Sarah Varner!

Knock knock

Who’s there?

Nobody!

Nobody who?

Just kidding! It’s Sarah!

You’re a sweetie pie. I’m a sweetie pie. Mittens is a sweetie pie. What’s a sweetie pie?

Jim and Taylor's Wedding

The last five days were filled with happiness and tons of fun.  Robert and I had the privilege of flying to Missouri to watch my brother marry his best friend.  What a great celebration!  We originally met Taylor over Christmas break, and it has definitely been a bummer to live so far away during their dating and engagement, but we know we will have many many years to continue to get to know Taylor even better.  Did I mention they met on a blind date?  How cool is that!

We left bright and early Wednesday morning.  Please tell me we aren't the only people who always take off super early and return unbelievably late.  We were flying , with Mittens which definitely had me on edge.  We had done our homework: called and reserved a spot, double checked the dimension requirements online.  We got the the check-in counter and the worker said the kennel was too big.  Uhh, what?  She kinda just looked at us like "Sorry, not sorry."  She also commented on Mittens being a huge cat.  Mittens took that to heart and was very self-conscious as she prides herself on maintaining a petite kitty cat frame.  Thankfully, another worker came by and said everything was just fine.  Next came security.  Robert had to take Mitts out of her kennel which we had expected.  We made it through just fine.  Mittens was fine as long as we weren't moving around a ton.  She likes stability and predictability.  She might have been meowing on the airplane, but the engine was so loud that we couldn't hear it.  We made it one piece.  Definitely don't want to do that again any time soon.  We are so thankful that my parents will be fostering her these next few months.  Mittens took in all the new sights and sounds very cautiously.  New sounds: garage door, storm door, recliner, piano (we have a keyboard), sliding closet doors.  She's super ed excited about all the new hiding locations.  Her fave spot is under Dad's side of the bed.  She also loves all of the squirrels and groundhogs.  In NC she was used to hunting cardinals, skinks, and rabbits.  I will say that she hated having so many people around, and she was shedding like no other due to the stress, but I think she's adjusting more now that it's just my parents.

My grandparents, aunt, and cousins flew in from Philly.  They had delay after delay and ended up getting in an entire day late.  We also had aunts, uncles, and cousins come in from Colorado and Texas.  Robert's dad even came in from Alabama.  It was quite the reunion!

I wish we could have had just another day or two so we didn't have to feel as rushed to see all the family and friends that we wanted to see.  We did, however, get to meet up with a few friends: 3 G's with Dee Dee, Leigha got to come along to get my hair cut, catching up with Emily and Tiffani and church.  We also got to spend a morning with Robert's dad at Stockton Lake.  It was great!

Now, to the wedding.  We went to the church on Thursday to help with some decorating.  Taylor was definitely blessed to have tons of friends and family who were ready and willing to help, and everything turned out great!  The rehearsal was on Friday, and we ended with a delicious meal at Boone's BBQ.  On Saturday I woke up and headed to Leigha's house.  They're family has been such a blessing to my family.  Leigha did my hair, and Olivia and Rita joined us so we could all chat while Robert and Greg chatted over coffee.  Perf!  The weather was rather overcast, but it turned out so perfectly - it just rained during the drive from the pictures to the ceremony.  And as our photography said on our wedding day, overcast days make for the best pictures, so they have that working for them. :)  The ceremony site was very pretty.  It was Stonegate Chapel in Branson.  After the ceremony we headed to King's Way Church in Mount Vernon.  The food was delicious, the company was nice, and the dancing was fun.  And now I have a new sister and a very happy married brother.

The Big Day

Sunday, May 20, 2012 was a perfect day.  All of our hard work and planning definitely paid off.  Let me rewind to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner the evening before.  The rehearsal was complete in our goal time of one hour.  After that we headed to The Tea Garden for a delicious dinner: choice of prime rib or stuffed chicken breast, asparagus, carrots, rolls, and heart-shaped strawberry meringues.  Yum!

On Sunday I headed over to the Keeling Accounting conference room at 8:45 to start getting ready.  At 9:00 I got my hair done while the bridesmaids got their makeup done.  Lori did such a great job on my hair!  It stayed out of my face but still looked feminine and soft.  At 10:00 the bridesmaids and I switched.  They curled their hair while I got my makeup done.

At 11:00 Robert and I started couple's pictures.  The weather forecast had been showing rain for Sunday all week.  The chance ranged from 10-60%.  Well...it didn't rain, and overcast days are the perfect natural environment for wonderful pictures.  So happy!  It was cloudy, about 75 degrees, and a little breezy.

At 11:30 the wedding party joined us for some pictures.  I stayed in one spot the whole time while various arrangements of the wedding party joined me.  I would highly recommend this because it saves time since you don't have to fluff your dress several times.

At 12:00 we took pictures with our family (parents, siblings, and grandparents).  After that we stopped for lunch which Serina so graciously provided.

The wedding started at two o'clock sharp.  The grandparents and parents' seating went off without a hitch thanks to our wonderful ushers, Jim and Sam.  Nobody tripped. hehe  The sound system worked great!  We didn't mess up our vows.  It lasted 24 minutes (Our goal was 20-30).  We had 250 of our wonderful friends and family there.  We couldn't have asked for a better day.

The reception was at Citizens Memorial Hospital's community rooms.  My aunts outdid themselves with decorating the ceremony and reception sites, by the way.  Anyway, we heard the food was great although we didn't really get a chance to enjoy it.  We had fruit trays (strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, grapes, pineapple), vegetable trays (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes, celery, peppers, and dip), iced tea and water, and cupcakes (chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, and strawberry).

The reception lasted about an hour and twenty minutes - our goal was 1-2 hours so it was perfect.  We ran out to people throwing birdseed at us.  We had chosen birdseed because it was 1) cheap and 2) might as well help out the birds.  However, I would highly suggest NOT doing that.  It's probably the one thing I didn't like about our wedding.  It got stuck in our hair which wasn't exactly pleasant.  Also, since I was kind of sweaty it stuck to my skin.  But the worst part was that Robert had a piece stuck in his ear for two days.  I could see it but couldn't reach it.  So glad we didn't have to start out our marriage with Robert getting an ear infection on our honeymoon.

Lasts

Add this to the lasts: Volunteered in the nursery for the last time Sunday - Robert and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time in the nursery with those cute kiddos.  Maybe we'll get to do something like that at our new church.

Last Sunday School social - We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the park after church.  Again, maybe we'll do something like that at our new church.

Went to my good friend/former suitemate's senior piano recital on Monday.  So good!

Double date in Springfield with a classmate.  We went to Maria's...not as good as El Rodeo.

Yesterday we made these gorgeous pillowcases.  ilovethemsomuch.  Jim had some unattractive but very comfortable pillows so we used them.  We bought fabric and lace at Margie Pearl's.  Robert picked the fabric.  I picked the lace.  Can I just say yet again that I love that Robert can get into this kind of stuff with me?  He's the best.  The wonderful Kim gave us a sewing tutorial.  Wowie wow wow!  I'm so pleased!

Now, for a story about the sale of the century.  Robert and I returned some items at JCP for a total of $100 credited to our bank account.  Cha ching!  But that's just the beginning.  We won a raffle but we didn't actually like any of the items.  We returned all of the items to Target and got a $45 gift card.  Not too bad for only having paid $5 for the raffle.  Anyway, we're registered at Bed Bath & Beyond so I looked at our registry and found similar products at Target and then deleted them from out BB&B registry.  We got a Swiffer with free wet and dry mops - plus it was $1 off, salt and pepper shakers, dust ruffle, and welcome mat.  We ended up paying $2.57 out of pocket.  Not too shabby.  Now here comes the big kahuna.  We had a BB&B in store credit of about $12.50 plus a $5 off coupon.  Last night I was looking at our registry to see what we could buy for essentially $17.50 so we wouldn't have to pay anything out of pocket.  While online I realized that Noritake is running a special.  Noritake is the brand of our dishes (place settings, platter, serving bowls).  For every $150 of Noritake items you buy you get a $25 BB&B gift card.  Well, we already have all of our Noritake dishes, but the deal just started yesterday.  I decided to go for it and ask a salesperson if I could still get the deal.  So we went to BB&B to use our in-store credit and coupon.  We got two glass oil bottles (we'll use one for oil and one for dish soap) and a hot pad.  Grand total out of pocket: a penny.  I was so proud of myself!  We went to customer service.  I told them about the dishes and said I would even be willing to return all of them and buy them again in order to get the gift cards.  The worker asked the store manager and got it approved for her to just give me the deal, but of course it couldn't just be that easy.  Apparently after our items were purchased they went on sale so it made everything more complicated.  Also, we were $2 away from getting an additional $25 gift card.  We even thought about buying a cheap Noritake item in order to get the extra $25, but the worker decided to give it to us anyway.  Every item needed a "turn key" which I learned means another associate has to come and turn the key in order to approve it.  Duh.  It was a pain and took 30 minutes, but gosh darn it, it was worth it.  75 bucks, baby.  Once we get another 20% off coupon we'll use that and our gift cards to buy our bread machine for free.  YESSSS!!!  This is what gets me excited - saving money!  If I let myself I know I could totally become one of those extreme couponers.  Must resist!

I'll leave you with a precious drawing we received yesterday.

March Madness

I got to pick up my bridesmaids' dresses on February 27!  Each girl has the same fabric (chiffon), color (corn flower), and length (knee), but they each got to choose the style.  Each girl has a different strap: strapless (one girl has a sweetheart neckline, and the other is straight across), one strap, halter, spaghetti straps.  I'm so happy with the dresses!

Robert's team won an intramural basketball game!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had an appointment with my hematologist.  I have exciting news to report: My blood counts are normal for the first time in two years!!!

I've started the interviews for my capstone project.  I'd say I have done about 10 and have 5 to go.  The interviews have all gone well, but transcribing them is super boring.

I got to babysit my two favorite eight year old kids for a week.  Luke and Zoe are SO awesome!  On my last day Luke even asked me to live with them in Phoenix. :)

We had our first wedding shower!  Robert came, and his mom, sister, and grandma were able to come to town as well.  We got everything that we had registered for at Roweton's, and we got about 1/4 of the things we've registered for at Bed Bath & Beyond.  Robert still has a tool shower, and I still have a spice shower hosted by Memaw, a personal shower hosted by Elise and Kelsey, and a college friend shower hosted by Tarah and Tiffani.

We celebrated two years of dating on March 13 by going out for dessert after my class.

Robert got a peanut butter cup cupcake, and I got a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting.

On Friday we got to celebrate Holly and Michael's wedding.  Robert was the wedding singer.  He did such a great job!

Love is in the Air

Robert and I had a absolutely splendid Valentine's Day together.  I was rather bummed out due to the fact that I had class on VD.  How is it that every cool thing the past 8 months has fallen on a night that I had class?  It was unavoidable in June since there was a 6 out of 7 chance that a holiday or special day would fall on a school night i.e. Robert's birthday.  Then in the fall there was less of a chance (3 out of 7), but it still happened i.e. my birthday.  Now with just a 1 out of 7 chance it's still happening i.e. Valentine's day and still to come - our two year anniversary.  Aww well.  It turned out great!  Robert made me breakfast - chocolate chip pancakes, cheesy eggs, bacon, and orange juice.  Yum! He also brought beautiful flowers and a heartfelt card.  Later in the day I got a letter from Drury stating that I'm all set to graduate in May!  Robert and I left for Springfield right after his class.  We spoiled ourselves by using a 20% off coupons and two $25 gift cards to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy a 17 piece Pyrex set off of our registry.  Did I mention we got all of our dishes last week?  8 place settings, 1 platter, 2 serving bowls, and 2 vegetable bowls!!!  While I was in class Robert went to the chiropractor.  More on that later.

It's official!

Notice the details in the bouquet.  Also, that Valentine is from my favorite two year old.

Gorgeous!

 

 

 

 After class we went to Avanzare.  I had been there for Valentine's Day a few years ago and loved it.  I went with my parents and another married couple.  Talk about the 5th wheel!  It was great to go back with my Valentine.  I ordered the same thing I had gotten the other time because I remembered loving it.  It didn't let me down.

Yum!

Robert loved his dish as well.

Jim has so graciously offered his house for Robert's man shower. hehe  Here's the invitation that inspired the invitation I made.  It's going to be a "shower," but to make it less girly we're titling it "Burgers, brats, and basketball."  They'll have the "shower" during the NCAA Final Four so they can have dinner and watch a game or two.  This will be a chance for Robert to get the tools so he can be a handyman. 

Lastly, Bolivar High School had an alumni basketball game last weekend.  It was graduates of even years vs. graduates of odd years.  Jim and I both graduated in even years (2004 and 2008).  The even year time won.  Duh!  Jim was a stud and scored multiple times and even got a dunk!

The Final Chapter

I'm well into my last semester of graduate school.  It's still pretty hard to believe.  The other day I mentioned speech I had given on the Apple cult.  I told Robert I gave the speech last spring, and he didn't believe me at first.  He thought it was just last semester.  It's crazy to think of how much has happened since this time last year.  Let's take a look back:

• Graduated college
• Started graduate school
• I finished my first semester of grad school
• I got a new car
• Robert spent two and a half weeks in Africa
• Robert go a new car
• I finished my second semester of grad school
• We got engaged
• Robert started his senior year of college
• Robert and I went to Alabama
• I finished my third semester of graduate school
• Robert and I went to Pennsylvania
• Robert and I started our last semester at SBU and Drury

I know most of those milestones have to do with school which isn't super fun, but it's still very exciting.  Obviously the most exciting part was getting engaged.  I can't believe we've been engaged for nearly six months.

Let's look forward a bit.  Here's what's happening in the next four months:

• I'll graduate from Drury
• Robert will graduate from SBU
• We'll get married
• We'll move to North Carolina
• I'll find a full-time job.  Robert will find a part-time job
• Robert will start graduate school
• Then I'll take the world's longest nap

Thinking about everything that will be happening in the next few months can certainly feel overwhelming at times.  I don't know if it's the right approach or not, but I try not to think about it much.  Well, mostly I don't think about having to find a job.  Don't get me wrong, I'm looking for jobs, but I'm really trying not to freak out about it.  I've come to terms with the fact that we might not have jobs when we move, and that's okay.  We have enough saved up to last a few months, and God always has and always will provide.

On January 19 we took Chad and Natalie out to dinner at El Rodeo to say good bye to them.  Chad and Natalie are our old married friends.  Chad and Robert met their freshman year of college.  Chad and Natalie got married in June and lived just down the street from me.  They moved to Colorado, and I know they'll do great things, but we miss them dearly. 

I'm taking three classes this semester.

1. Ethics and corporate communication - Online, 16 weeks.  Basically each week I do the reading assignment, view a PowerPoint, answer questions Dr. Gilstrap has posted on Blackboard, comment on other people's answers, find a blog post that deals with an issue we've read about that week, comment on the blogpost, take a screenshot of my comment, and post it to Blackboard.  The big project for the class is a research paper.  As part of it I have to turn in an annotated bibliography before spring break.  I had to do one of these for introduction to graduate studies in June.  I have to find 25 sources, cite them in APA, and right an abstract for each article.  After spring break I'll use those sources to right a research paper.  I'm supposed to take a case and explain why I think it is ethical or unethical by apply it to a certain ethics theory.  My plan is discuss disclosure as it relates to interpersonal communication ethics in a relationship in which one of the partners is HIV positive. 
2. Advanced organizational research - 16 weeks, seated in person.  This class is my capstone.  We have a reading assignment each week, go in for a lecture, and then actually do the thing we've just learned about.  So my project is organizational identification in a university setting.  I'll be interviewing 15+ marketing and public relations communication professionals at colleges and universities in Missouri.  I'll be looking to find how they identify with the organization and how they foster identification for others.  I'll record the interviews, transcribe them, look for themes, and type up a formal paper.  The goal is to get it published in an academic journal, but Dr. Gilstrap has informed up this is very difficult to do.  We'll see.
3. Leadership and management - Second half of the semester, 8 weeks, online and seated in person.  I don't know much about this class yet since it starts after spring break.  I do know that it's taught by Dr. Gilstrap (all three classes are with him).  I also know that when we meet it's from 5:20-9:00.  Usually classes meet from 5:20-8:00.

We bought the stamps for our wedding invitations.  We're doing postcards because a. it's cheaper to mail them and b. for those of you who tend to not open mail immediately (you know who you are), you can read the invite without having to open an envelop.  We knew that postcard stamps were going up at the end of January so we waited to buy them so we wouldn't have to add on penny stamps.  We went in last week and said we'd like 145 postcard stamps.  I asked if there were cute ones like flowers or hearts.  The postmistress said there's only one type of postcard stamps.  I figured that was okay because I remembered the previous postcard stamp being a white bird with a blue background.  Semi-neutral.  She came back with Hawaiian t-shirt stamps that say "Aloha" on them.  Seriously?  First of all, we aren't going to Hawaii on our honeymoon, but I guarantee that's what several people will automatically assume.  Second, if you're only going to give America one option why not go with something a little bit more low key?  I asked if we could go to another post office or come back in a few weeks to get something different.  She said no.  It's like that at every post office, and the picture isn't changing until the price goes up again.  What are the odds?  Thankfully, I've been able to mostly just think of it as ridiculous and humorous.

Bolivar has a new doughnut shop - Sunrise Sugar Shack.  Delicious!  I went there with my former suitemate Laura, and it was great!  I got a sausage roll and a sour cream doughnut.  Since then, Robert brought me a red velvet cake doughnut, and it was great as well!  I would definitely recommend it.

I finished my winter project for school on Tuesday.  I can't remember if I told you about it or not, but it was a project for the accelerated program over January.  We didn't get any credit hours for it which is lame, but the bright side is that meant I didn't get charged for it either.  We did a organizational culture analysis/communication audit for a non-profit in Springfield.  My main part was conducting four interviews - CEO and three directors.  We also sent out an online survey to all of the employees.  Tuesday we present in front of the CEO, directors, and two Drury professors.  It went so well, and it feels great to be finished with that!

I went to Dr. Leo again on Tuesday.  I had called Friday, and the secretary said I wouldn't have to do lab work.  So what happens when I get there Tuesday?  The lab lady came in to take my blood.  I told her I wasn't supposed to get blood work down.  She told me differently.  I wouldn't have cared, but I have such a difficult time with blood work.  Apparently I'm a mess because the lab workers always say stuff like, "You have really deep veins," "Let me get some warm blankets to try to get your blood pumping," "Are you nervous?"  Well, I wasn't nervous until you pushed the needle in and out ten times.  So it only took this lady two different tries.  On the first try she pushed the needle in and out for ten minutes and didn't get anything.  She moved down a couple of inches and got blood after five minutes.  For some of you this would be a nightmare.  For me it was a miracle.  I thought I was actually supposed to see Dr. Leo but I got the physician's assistant.  She is totally fine, but I don't like thinking I'm going to see the doctor, and then not actually seeing him.  Side note:  I pay a $30 co-pay for regular doctor's visit and a $45 co-pay for specialists.  That means a $45 co-pay for Dr. Leo, but if I'm seeing someone who isn't even a doctor shouldn't my co-pay be less than $30?  Ugh.  Anyway, she said my white blood cell count has gone up which is great, but it still isn't in the "normal range."  Thankfully, it's only a tenth of a point less than the lowest part of the "normal range."  There's something else that's a little off.  I can't remember if it's my lymphocytes or monocytes, but that's nothing new.  When I first started getting frequent blood work ten components were either too high or too low, so this is definitely an improvement.  The PA told me this should be a good indicator that my iron levels are up.  Yay!  It takes a couple of days for the iron results so she just called me yesterday.  My iron counts are lower than before.  For women, normal is 65-165.  In November my count was 32.  Now it's 26.  I don't understand.  I'm upset because she got my hopes up.  I'm upset because I'm taking my medicine and trying to eat more iron-rich food.  I'm upset because the six weeks of IV treatments didn't last for long at all.  I'm upset because I have been feeling awful for the past few days so I know the test result isn't just a fluke.  I wish it was, but I've been light-headed, tired, dizzy, and out of it for about three days. 

On a much happier note I have my wedding dress fitting tomorrow.  Mom was the only one that came shopping with me back in August.  At first I thought I didn't want anyone else to see my dress until the big day, but I've decided that it would be a really cool bonding experience to have my mom, dad, and brother come with me tomorrow.  I'm so pumped!  Also, Monday afternoon my mom and I are meeting with my 18 co-hostess (!!!) to plan the details for our March 10th wedding shower.  Holla!

Birthdays Galore

Since I last wrote, we've celebrated approximately ten family birthdays: Dad's, Robert's dad's, Amanda's, mine (although it isn't for a few more days), Robert's cousin Ian, Robert's Grandpa, Robert's uncle's, and my mom's birthday.  It's been CRAZY but super fun!  We combined Labor Day with birthday celebrations for Dad, Amanda, and me.  Robert barbecued steak and chicken, Jim made homemade ice cream, we ate outside in the perfect weather, played croquet, and shared fond memories from years past.  Side note: One of my presents included our FIRST wedding registry present: Our rolling pen.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!
Robert and I went to KC for Bethany's wedding this weekend.  I didn't snag any pictures of the ceremony because I wanted to actually soak in the moment without being obsessed about taking pictures, but here's one a lady offered to take of Robert and me at the reception:

I'm all about coordinating my ensemble with Robert's apparel.

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed having an extra day off from school yesterday.  Since I never have class on Fridays and Wednesdays, having Monday off gave me six days off in a row.

1. August 22 - Drury starts, 4 days til... DONE
2. August 26 - Mom's birthday, 8 days til...DONE
3. September 3 - Bethany gets married, 2 days til...  JUST 4 MORE DAYS
4. September 5 - Dad's birthday AND Labor Day, 3 days til...
5. September 8 - My birthday, 34 days til...
6. October 12 - Organizational Communication ends, 2 days til...
7. October 14-23 - Fall break, 1 day til...
8. October 24 - Organizational Change starts, 6 days til...
9. October 30 - Saints game in St. Louis, 1 day til...
10. October 31 - Halloween, 22 days til...
11. November 22-26 - Alabama for Thanksgiving break, 18 days til...
12. December 14 - Organizational Change ends, 1 day til...
13. December 15 - Public Relations ends...18 days til
14. December 19  January 2- Winter project begins...15 days til
15. January 17 - Spring semester starts...10 days til
16. January 13 January 27- Winter project ends... 49 days til
17. Mary 16-26 - Pennsylvania for spring break...11 days til...
18. April 6 - Good Friday off...1 day til
19. April 7 - Jim's birthday...1 day til
20. April 8 - Easter...29 days til
21. May 7-12 - Finals...3 days til
22. May 10 - Graduation rehearsal...1 day til
23. May 11 - School ends...1 day til
24. May 12 - My graduation...7 days til
25. May 19 - Robert's graduation...1 day til
26. May 20 - Our wedding!

Planning

The last 4 days have consisted of extreme planning.  As most of you know, I am a planner.  I enjoy: writing things down in my planner calendar, doing things efficiently, not procrastinating, marking things off my to do list, and working before playing.  That's exactly what I've done the past few days.  My goal was to get ahead of the game so I can take it easy with wedding planning once school starts.  We all know how overwhelmed with summer school I was.  I know the fall semester won't be as crazy since I'll take three classes in fifteen weeks instead of four classes in nine weeks, but I still can't imagine planning a wedding in my non-existent spare time.  Here's what I've done so far: book the wedding site and bride's room, booked the reception site, bought my wedding dress, bought my garter, bought the guest book and fancy pen, picked my bridesmaids (Leigha [MoH], Kelsey, Elise, Tiffani, and Tarah), booked a cake baker, determined my colors (dusty blue, khaki, and ivory), insured my ring, bought Robert's wedding band (simple 10k white gold band, 6mm wide), created a wedding website, booked a videographer, decided on a florist (Flower Patch and More) and flower type (blue hydrangeas), set up registry (Bed Bath & Beyond.  We'll register at Roweton's Home Center later, too.), asked Pepaw to be the officiant, booked Michael to play the piano, got Matt to run the sound, got FBC's outdoor sound system, decided on outfits for bridesmaids (dusty blue dresses by Forever Yours in chiffon), decided on guys' outfits (khaki pants, khaki vest, dusty blue shirt, ivory or blue tie, brown shoes, brown belt), ordered invitations, scheduled makeup for bridesmaids and me, and did lots of brainstorming.  Whew!  I need a nap.
Today I got a bad surprise:  I've been going along thinking school starts Thursday, August 25.  Well, apparently I wasn't the only person who thought this because we got an email today basically saying, "School starts August 22, not the 25th.  Sorry for the confusion."  It sure is nice to find out A WEEK IN ADVANCE.  What the heck, Drury?  Glad I'm not out of the country with a return flight August 24 or something.  Can you imagine how stressful that would be?  Holy cow!  So of course I got a pit in my stomach instantly.  With all the happiness of getting engaged I hadn't thought about school the past few days.  It was really nice, but all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks.  Can I get some motivation and inspiration for a new school year, please?  This is me motivating myself: 4 classes down.  5 classes, a "project, and a "capstone" to go.  I'm definitely more than a third of the way done.  Also (since I'm a planner) I've written down the milestones that come along the way between now and THE BIG DAY:

1. August 22 - Drury starts, 4 days til...
2. August 26 - Mom's birthday, 8 days til...
3. September 3 - Bethany gets married, 2 days til...
4. September 5 - Dad's birthday AND Labor Day, 3 days til...
5. September 8 - My birthday, 34 days til...
6. October 12 - Organizational Communication ends, 2 days til...
7. October 14-23 - Fall break, 1 day til...
8. October 24 - Organizational Change starts, 6 days til...
9. October 30 - Saints game in St. Louis, 1 day til...
10. October 31 - Halloween, 22 days til...
11. November 22-26 - Alabama for Thanksgiving break, 18 days til...
12. December 14 - Organizational Change ends, 1 day til...
13. December 15 - Public Relations ends...4 days til
14. December 19 - Winter project begins...25 days til
15. January 13 - Winter project ends...4 days til
16. January 17 - Spring semester starts...59 days til
17. Mary 16-26 - Pennsylvania for spring break...11 days til...
18. April 6 - Good Friday off...1 day til
19. April 7 - Jim's birthday...1 day til
20. April 8 - Easter...29 days til
21. May 7-12 - Finals...3 days til
22. May 10 - Graduation rehearsal...1 day til
23. May 11 - School ends...1 day til
24. May 12 - My graduation...7 days til
25. May 19 - Robert's graduation...1 day til
26. May 20 - Our wedding!

Breaking it into milestones really helps me.  Sure, there will be little meetings, assignments, projects, and other things along the way, but I have these big, good things to look forward to.  Thinking about it in little increments like "11 days til..." really helps me.  We need to work on something fun and good during the 59 days between the spring semester starting and spring break.  I can handle the other increments, but 59 days is a long time!  Sometimes, May seems so far away, but then I try to remember what I was doing nine months ago.  That would have been November - I was going to the Chiefs game in KC with my parents, Robert, and his parents and sister.  I was enjoying Thanksgiving break and getting excited that I was almost finished with the semester.  It seems like that was only yesterday.  That encourages me that the next nine months will continue to fly by.  Sometimes each individual day drags on, but then you reflect, and nine months have flown by.  
On a side note, I'm almost finished with my summer babysitting gigs.  I have one loooong day next week (Thursday) where I'll babysit for a family from 8:00-5:00.  After that, babysitting will be drastically reduced.  In the fall I'll babysit about seven hours a week, and in the spring I'll be babysitting ZERO hours a week!!!  I've decided not earning money during that time frame (January-May) will be worth it.  I can always pick up some random jobs if needed, but I hope to use that extra time to study, plan the wedding, and keep my sanity.  Robert will be working 10-20 hours a week at church in the fall and spring so that will compensate for it.  Thought: Maybe Robert could be the Jan term RA so he could be close to me and work full-time at church in January.  A lot of times I can get very focused on earning money.  It's not so much that I'm have the mindset of "Gimme more money," but I want to feel as though I'm working as hard as possible.  I constantly have to remind myself that God will provide, and He also doesn't want me to take control of the situation.  Such a hard balance - working hard but not becoming controlling.