I am my mother's daughter and Sandy Keith is known for her lists. Ross and I have followed suit and now we are a family of list makers. It is no surprise that there is a to-do list for the wedding and for the move to FL. Here is where we stand on the ol to-do lists....
Wedding:
Lauren came up this past weekend and was fitted for her bridesmaid dress. Whitney will get fitted this Saturday. Their dresses should come in June/July.
Lauren and I also searched for shoes on Saturday. Lauren is the only one who needs shoes because I want the girls to wear shoes that Lauren had us wear in her wedding. We went to 3 different stores looking for shoes that you could find everywhere last year. The are satin, peep toe, with ruffles. We finally found them but the store and online didn't have the 7 1/2 that Lauren needed. Lauren then had a brilliant idea to wear shoes from one of her other bridesmaids. We only wore those shoes that day and they are in good shape. With that idea, I instantly saved $50. Saturday was a success! Lauren got fitted and we figured out the shoe situation. Check and check!
With the money I saved on shoes, I spent it (and a little bit more) on my wedding jewelry. I had an idea of what I wanted to wear with my dress and couldn't find anything I really loved. I searched on Etsy and I found it! I found the most perfect pearl cluster stud earring. It is beyond Southern; think Greek pearls but ten fold better! I also found the most lovely pearl bracelet that is both delicate and timeless. I happily checked off finding my wedding jewelry from the to-do list Sunday night!
Florida:
The to-do list is pretty short for Florida. Mainly because some days it is overwhelming to think about and process. The two biggest issues are finding housing and for me to find a job. In terms of housing, Jace met with one of his law school professors who graduated with his Ph.D. from UF recently. The professor encouraged Jace to look on Craiglist for housing. This sounded extremely shady to me. However, Jace found an apartment and we have been in communication with the owner. She seems to be extremely nice. The pictures look nice, it is close to campus, close to shopping (Wal-Mart, Publix),and is on several bus routes. (Jace and I plan on taking one car with us to FL and we plan on using public transportation during the week). The only downfall to the apartment is the size. It is only 600 square feet and we probably won't have room for his kitchen table.
Jace emailed the owner and he is going to tour the apartment this Saturday. God Bless Jace. He is making the 10 hour drive to Gainesville this weekend by himself. This is only his second time in Gainesville and he hopes to get better acclimated with the area. He is also going to look at least one other complex that the law school recommended. I pray that after his visit, we can cross off housing on the Florida to do list.
Just trying to make progress, one check mark at a time!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Blog2Print
Yesterday I received one of the best things I have ever ordered!
I have been reading Megan's blog, Tis So Sweet, for quite some time now and she posted about a website that will publish your blog for you! The company is Blog2Print. She said it was super easy and she loved the product. I checked it out and she was right! I uploaded my blog, filled out a few questions, submitted my credit card information and done!
When I started blogging in Jan. 2012 I knew right away that I wanted to preserve my posts some way. I wanted to remember 2012 and all the highs and lows that it brought my way. I wanted to remember our engagement, holidays, funny stories, frustrating days, etc.
My Mom scrapbooks and I greatly appreciate her time and effort she takes in preserving moments in our lives. I don't mind being crafty but scrapbooking isn't my thing. I am getting better about bringing my camera with me but it often times stays in my purse and I never get a picture. However, I am much better at blogging. Blog2Print printed my blog posts and all the pictures from posts in a soft cover book.
I ended the year with 83 posts and I couldn't be more proud. Blogging is extremely fun to me and lets me get my thoughts down. It allows me to stay connected with friends from near and far. I will continue to publish my blog at the end of each year. I know it will be treasured years down the road.
Hope y'all have a good weekend!
I have been reading Megan's blog, Tis So Sweet, for quite some time now and she posted about a website that will publish your blog for you! The company is Blog2Print. She said it was super easy and she loved the product. I checked it out and she was right! I uploaded my blog, filled out a few questions, submitted my credit card information and done!
When I started blogging in Jan. 2012 I knew right away that I wanted to preserve my posts some way. I wanted to remember 2012 and all the highs and lows that it brought my way. I wanted to remember our engagement, holidays, funny stories, frustrating days, etc.
My Mom scrapbooks and I greatly appreciate her time and effort she takes in preserving moments in our lives. I don't mind being crafty but scrapbooking isn't my thing. I am getting better about bringing my camera with me but it often times stays in my purse and I never get a picture. However, I am much better at blogging. Blog2Print printed my blog posts and all the pictures from posts in a soft cover book.
I ended the year with 83 posts and I couldn't be more proud. Blogging is extremely fun to me and lets me get my thoughts down. It allows me to stay connected with friends from near and far. I will continue to publish my blog at the end of each year. I know it will be treasured years down the road.
Hope y'all have a good weekend!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Valentine's Day
I am a day late but Happy Valentine's Day. I hope everyone felt the love and had a great day.
Jace and I don't make a big fuss about Valentine's Day for several reasons.The main reason why is because we can't physically spend the day together. Plus, yesterday he flew to Kansas City for a Moot Court competition. Since he would be traveling early on Thursday he thought it would be a good idea if I opened my Valentine's Day card from him on Wednesday, so we celebrated on the 13th. The card was perfect and the words (Hallmark's and his) were very sweet. He opened his card earlier in the week--I guess he couldn't wait!
I love flowers but not necessarily on Valentine's Day. One year in undergrad Jace sent me flowers. I had to work the front desk that night and my shift began at 4 PM. When I got off at 8, the flowers had wilted. I knew he had spent a pretty penny for the arrangement and told him to surprise me on a random day with flowers. So now, we just do cards.
Next year will be our first year to actually get to experience Valentine's Day together and I plan on taking out all the stops. I could easily see myself going wild and turning it into Christmas, complete with decorations and lots of little gifts! Oh the ideas I pinned from Pinterest!
Before I left for work, I gave Teak a card and a small box of chocolates. She had given me a chocolate bar that was in the shape of a dollar bill worth 1 billion dollars. This was appropriate for my financial woes earlier on Tuesday. I thought that was the end of our celebration and I was fine with our small gifts. But when I got home yesterday from the gym, she said we should go out to dinner for Valentine's Day! I was excited and flatter that my Valentine wanted to take us out. We went to Ol' Charley's and it was good. I enjoyed sharing a meal out with my Teak. We came home, put on our pj's, and watched Idol. It was a wonderful evening: quiet and simple, but sweet. The Teak is the best!
Hope y'all enjoyed the day!
Jace and I don't make a big fuss about Valentine's Day for several reasons.The main reason why is because we can't physically spend the day together. Plus, yesterday he flew to Kansas City for a Moot Court competition. Since he would be traveling early on Thursday he thought it would be a good idea if I opened my Valentine's Day card from him on Wednesday, so we celebrated on the 13th. The card was perfect and the words (Hallmark's and his) were very sweet. He opened his card earlier in the week--I guess he couldn't wait!
I love flowers but not necessarily on Valentine's Day. One year in undergrad Jace sent me flowers. I had to work the front desk that night and my shift began at 4 PM. When I got off at 8, the flowers had wilted. I knew he had spent a pretty penny for the arrangement and told him to surprise me on a random day with flowers. So now, we just do cards.
Next year will be our first year to actually get to experience Valentine's Day together and I plan on taking out all the stops. I could easily see myself going wild and turning it into Christmas, complete with decorations and lots of little gifts! Oh the ideas I pinned from Pinterest!
Before I left for work, I gave Teak a card and a small box of chocolates. She had given me a chocolate bar that was in the shape of a dollar bill worth 1 billion dollars. This was appropriate for my financial woes earlier on Tuesday. I thought that was the end of our celebration and I was fine with our small gifts. But when I got home yesterday from the gym, she said we should go out to dinner for Valentine's Day! I was excited and flatter that my Valentine wanted to take us out. We went to Ol' Charley's and it was good. I enjoyed sharing a meal out with my Teak. We came home, put on our pj's, and watched Idol. It was a wonderful evening: quiet and simple, but sweet. The Teak is the best!
Hope y'all enjoyed the day!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Fat Tuesday
Tomorrow is Mardi Gras which can only mean one thing. Today is Fat Tuesday and most people are stuffing their face in King Cake and walking around with way too many cheap beaded necklaces. People vow to give up chocolate and that today will be the last day they will be on Facebook for 40 days.
My Tuesday didn't start out with a baby in my cake or strands of beads. Instead I woke up to a pending charge on my credit card for $413 that I didn't make. Sheer panic came over me. I have tried so hard to not put anything on my credit card this year. I know for every dollar I put on my credit card that is one less dollar I will have to spend next month. I had a ton of transactions from last Friday because I got my federal income tax return. I had a plan for my tax income and wanted to purchase 4 wedding gifts, a rain jacket for San Francisco, and the rest I put into savings. However, all of those purchases were made on my debit card, not credit card.
So this morning for some reason, I decided to check my bank account to see if the transactions had cleared and if I had received my state income tax return. This is where I saw the credit card balance! I ran to the bank after I got out of a morning meeting and was instructed to call Card Services. After waiting, transferred, waiting some more I finally got to talk to someone. Apparently I went to some doctor around the first of this month. Y'all I am healthy as an ox and haven't been to the dr. So if the charge does go through, Visa will credit my account, close the account, and issue me a new card. Wonderful.
The meeting I sat in on this morning just broke my heart. I will present to this audience in 2 weeks and wanted to get a feel for the audience. The audience is actively looking for jobs. Many have been unemployed for several months, some for years. They are educated professionals with skills galore. However, they for whatever reason have found themselves without a job. UK Alumni Association and the Fayette Co. Extension office have partnered together to offer Job Club. Job Club is a wonderful resource here in Lexington and what they are doing is blessing many people. It just broke my heart that so many are without a job and yet they keep trying each day and seemed optimistic.
The rest of work was a blur and I found myself yearning to get to the gym to get away from the phone and email. I was ready to jack up the volume, run, and zone out for away. My girl Beyonce, the Rolling Stones, and a little Kayne got me through 3.1 miles. I was feeling good and ready to settle into a good game between UK and UF.
I get home and the Teak said I had several packages. I knew it was probably my rain jacket from Dick's. Well it was my rain jacket but I got 2 other huge winter jackets. All three totaled around $700. My rain jacket was around $100 and my banking account hadn't been credited for any. I did the honest thing by returning the two jackets that I didn't order. The customer service people were very friendly and told me it was a shipping slip mess up. Now I just hope my account doesn't get credited for $700.
I hate to write negative posts but today felt like I got a big ol' FAT serving of Tuesday. Now where is my King cake?
My Tuesday didn't start out with a baby in my cake or strands of beads. Instead I woke up to a pending charge on my credit card for $413 that I didn't make. Sheer panic came over me. I have tried so hard to not put anything on my credit card this year. I know for every dollar I put on my credit card that is one less dollar I will have to spend next month. I had a ton of transactions from last Friday because I got my federal income tax return. I had a plan for my tax income and wanted to purchase 4 wedding gifts, a rain jacket for San Francisco, and the rest I put into savings. However, all of those purchases were made on my debit card, not credit card.
So this morning for some reason, I decided to check my bank account to see if the transactions had cleared and if I had received my state income tax return. This is where I saw the credit card balance! I ran to the bank after I got out of a morning meeting and was instructed to call Card Services. After waiting, transferred, waiting some more I finally got to talk to someone. Apparently I went to some doctor around the first of this month. Y'all I am healthy as an ox and haven't been to the dr. So if the charge does go through, Visa will credit my account, close the account, and issue me a new card. Wonderful.
The meeting I sat in on this morning just broke my heart. I will present to this audience in 2 weeks and wanted to get a feel for the audience. The audience is actively looking for jobs. Many have been unemployed for several months, some for years. They are educated professionals with skills galore. However, they for whatever reason have found themselves without a job. UK Alumni Association and the Fayette Co. Extension office have partnered together to offer Job Club. Job Club is a wonderful resource here in Lexington and what they are doing is blessing many people. It just broke my heart that so many are without a job and yet they keep trying each day and seemed optimistic.
The rest of work was a blur and I found myself yearning to get to the gym to get away from the phone and email. I was ready to jack up the volume, run, and zone out for away. My girl Beyonce, the Rolling Stones, and a little Kayne got me through 3.1 miles. I was feeling good and ready to settle into a good game between UK and UF.
I get home and the Teak said I had several packages. I knew it was probably my rain jacket from Dick's. Well it was my rain jacket but I got 2 other huge winter jackets. All three totaled around $700. My rain jacket was around $100 and my banking account hadn't been credited for any. I did the honest thing by returning the two jackets that I didn't order. The customer service people were very friendly and told me it was a shipping slip mess up. Now I just hope my account doesn't get credited for $700.
I hate to write negative posts but today felt like I got a big ol' FAT serving of Tuesday. Now where is my King cake?
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Let's catch up!
Hi friends! I sat down the other night to write and started writing but didn't want to bore you with my every day routine. Some days are just normal days, nothing spectacular.
Though I haven't blogged in over two weeks there has been a few things to happen in this life of mine.
One week ago Mr. Stamper turned 28!!! I still don't know how this can be. I remember his 21st birthday and I feel like we have turned around twice and now someone is close to the big 3-0! Two days later, I turned 26. I may be 26 but I feel like I am still 20. I don't know if it is because I work on campus and am surrounded by undergrads or what. I thought that by 25 I would have life figured out and know what I want. Instead, I am still figuring out life and the more time passes the less I think I know. I hear that all changes later in life and it is ok to be sassy and say what is really on your mind! Does that happen at 27?
We are slowly progressing on Florida living. We are open to any and all apartments that we can find. We have to have a dishwasher, washer, and dryer--those are our sticking points. As well as somewhere that is safe, close to UF, and doesn't have a ton of undergrads living there as well. We search for apartments when we have down time and have found several that are on the short list. We haven't made any decisions yet and we still have time, but once we do decide if will be a huge relief knowing we have a place to lay our heads at night.
In terms of wedding plans, I am trying to knock a few things off the to-do list each week. I got my wedding shoes in this week, I treated myself to a new rain jacket for San Fran, and Aunt Karen and I talked about the menu for the shower. The girls are coming up in two weeks to get fitted for their dresses! I feel like we are making progress and things are coming along. We are less than 6 months away!
I have been in a reading slump for over a year now. I want to read books, opened them up, read a chapter or two and let it set. I can't stand not finishing a book and really do enjoy curling up with a good book. Lauren got me out of my slump when she gave me a gift card to Joseph Beth's for my birthday. The very next day I bought a new devotional and then maybe my new favorite book, The Sparkly Green Earrings. The book is written by blogger, Big Mama. I stumbled upon her blog while reading Kelly's Korner. Y'all I have laughed so hard that I had to take my glasses off and wipe the tears away! It is that good. It is all about motherhood and the trials and joys of raising a child. Even though I am not a mama yet, I yearn to be one (in about five years!) Big Mama is very honest about her experience in motherhood; she describes it in a way that you want to love your babies and hold them close but also lets you feel normal when you want to escape to a hotel room by yourself! It is by far one of the funniest books I have read and I will reread when little Stampers are running around!
Speaking of birthday gifts, Mom got me an Ipod shuffle for my birthday. I had an outdated Ipod from 2005 and it finally died the other day. I wanted to listen to something when I ran and Mom bought it for me. Jace got me $25 in ITunes and Friday night I set out to download songs. Y'all I may be from the generation that can work computers, troubleshoot, and be a technology whiz. But honey, I am the biggest technology laggard there is. Jace Stamper is a close second. It took the better half of the night for me to get the songs onto my Ipod. I might have told Jace that we needed to have a kid so they could figure this out for me! He assured me that I could do it sans kid! I finally figured it out and what a help it was! I had downloaded a few Beyoncé songs and y'all my speed picked up and I thought for a split second, this running deal isn't so bad after all! Here's to hoping that Beyoncé keeps me moving!
Hope y'all are doing well!
Though I haven't blogged in over two weeks there has been a few things to happen in this life of mine.
One week ago Mr. Stamper turned 28!!! I still don't know how this can be. I remember his 21st birthday and I feel like we have turned around twice and now someone is close to the big 3-0! Two days later, I turned 26. I may be 26 but I feel like I am still 20. I don't know if it is because I work on campus and am surrounded by undergrads or what. I thought that by 25 I would have life figured out and know what I want. Instead, I am still figuring out life and the more time passes the less I think I know. I hear that all changes later in life and it is ok to be sassy and say what is really on your mind! Does that happen at 27?
We are slowly progressing on Florida living. We are open to any and all apartments that we can find. We have to have a dishwasher, washer, and dryer--those are our sticking points. As well as somewhere that is safe, close to UF, and doesn't have a ton of undergrads living there as well. We search for apartments when we have down time and have found several that are on the short list. We haven't made any decisions yet and we still have time, but once we do decide if will be a huge relief knowing we have a place to lay our heads at night.
In terms of wedding plans, I am trying to knock a few things off the to-do list each week. I got my wedding shoes in this week, I treated myself to a new rain jacket for San Fran, and Aunt Karen and I talked about the menu for the shower. The girls are coming up in two weeks to get fitted for their dresses! I feel like we are making progress and things are coming along. We are less than 6 months away!
I have been in a reading slump for over a year now. I want to read books, opened them up, read a chapter or two and let it set. I can't stand not finishing a book and really do enjoy curling up with a good book. Lauren got me out of my slump when she gave me a gift card to Joseph Beth's for my birthday. The very next day I bought a new devotional and then maybe my new favorite book, The Sparkly Green Earrings. The book is written by blogger, Big Mama. I stumbled upon her blog while reading Kelly's Korner. Y'all I have laughed so hard that I had to take my glasses off and wipe the tears away! It is that good. It is all about motherhood and the trials and joys of raising a child. Even though I am not a mama yet, I yearn to be one (in about five years!) Big Mama is very honest about her experience in motherhood; she describes it in a way that you want to love your babies and hold them close but also lets you feel normal when you want to escape to a hotel room by yourself! It is by far one of the funniest books I have read and I will reread when little Stampers are running around!
Speaking of birthday gifts, Mom got me an Ipod shuffle for my birthday. I had an outdated Ipod from 2005 and it finally died the other day. I wanted to listen to something when I ran and Mom bought it for me. Jace got me $25 in ITunes and Friday night I set out to download songs. Y'all I may be from the generation that can work computers, troubleshoot, and be a technology whiz. But honey, I am the biggest technology laggard there is. Jace Stamper is a close second. It took the better half of the night for me to get the songs onto my Ipod. I might have told Jace that we needed to have a kid so they could figure this out for me! He assured me that I could do it sans kid! I finally figured it out and what a help it was! I had downloaded a few Beyoncé songs and y'all my speed picked up and I thought for a split second, this running deal isn't so bad after all! Here's to hoping that Beyoncé keeps me moving!
Hope y'all are doing well!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)