Spending and Saving

A few weeks ago Michael and I set a very lofty goal of how much money we'd like to save by the end of 2007; however, it feels like everytime we turn around more money flies out of our pockets. Between all of the weddings, upcoming graduations, birthdays and holidays, I'm feeling that we are further behind than when we set the goal. And whereas I've always lived within my means and not carried a bunch of debt, I've also not been the worlds biggest saver and I'm hoping the next year will turn that behaviour around.

This year I've tried to be careful in my holiday shopping, although its my favorite holiday and I always go overboard, its just something that simply cannot be helped. I have been scouring stores and online looking for good deals on great gifts to try to stretch the dollar a little bit further. I've been sort of disappointed in the sales so far. I realize that after black Friday there aren't so many sales to be had for a short while, but I want to get the shopping D-O-N-E. There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a big stack of beautifully wrapped presents and knowing there are 20 days until Christmas and you don't have to go back into the crowded, crazy, overheated mall anymore before the holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving

This will be my first Thanksgiving away from members of my own family. I've not always been with my parents on Thanksgiving, but I've had aunts, uncles and cousins around if my parents weren't. This afternoon Michael and I are driving to Newberry, MI to spend Thanksgiving with his family and I'm a little homesick. Our family doesn't have many Thanksgiving traditions, but there are things that are commonplace (foods, location, etc) that won't be this year and I'm feeling a little out of sorts. I wish I could infuse some of my family traditions into his, but that isn't easy to do, so I'll just have to hold off and hope we are around my family next year.

This weekend should be very busy with Thanksgiving tomorrow, our second wedding reception on Saturday and a baby shower for one of Michael's cousins on Sunday. Between all of that and driving 6 hours each way, we should be plenty tired by the time we get back late Sunday night!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family and friends who sometimes seem so far away in distance, but you are never far away from my heart and thoughts. I love you all!

Overdue

Congratulations to my brother Sam and his wife Samantha on their marriage in Las Vegas! Michael and I had a fun weekend and enjoyed being on the other side of a wedding...the side where its all about enjoyment of the day (no planning, no pictures, no worries). Best wishes and luck to you in your future together. We love you! A few pictures of the fun weekend:

Mike and I at Caesars Palace

Aurora, the best flower girl in the world

Sam #1, taking photos

Sam #2, what an awesome bride

Ouch

I was jogging/walking through the rain to the gas station next to my work to pick up some wheat thins to go along with my lunch and I slipped in a combination of slippery rubber shoes, slick asphalt, on the way down I scraped both my palms, my right knee and elbow and somehow managed to twist my right ankle. I stumbled the last 5 or 6 steps into the gas station, looked down, and saw what appeared to be a tennis ball underneath my skin on my right ankle. I went to the ER right away and after x-rays they said it wasn't broken, but it was a level 2 sprain, which is where the ligaments overstretch or tear, so I'll be out of commission and hobbling around for a few weeks at least. The picture is of the comparison of my bad leg to my good leg, after icing and keeping it up for the last 2 days. It's swollen and black and blue all the way from the side of my ankle to my heel. Its about 500 times better than it was.

A Sad Goodbye

Last night we sadly had to put my cat Chico to sleep. He has been fighting diabetes for over a year and we've tried everything to make him stable and better, but we came home yesterday and he was very, very ill and after talking to the vet we decided to let him go, although its hands down the hardest thing I've done. I'm gonna miss you Chico-baby.

Comfy

Last night I slept on our brand new bed, with brand new sheets, duvet and duvet cover. It was the most cloud-like sleeping experience I've ever had and I was sad to have to wake up an hour early to get breakfast for a meeting at work this morning. I would have much rather snuggled in for that hour and enjoyed the comfort that is my new bedroom. Pictures coming shortly.

White Stuff

It's snowed a little today, and frankly, I'm not ready for it!

Watch your step

Last night I was walking out of our office and Ballard was hiding underneath a sheet that was falling off of our spare bed onto the ground. I didn't know he was there and firmly stepped on him and I was pretty sure that I had killed him, because I stepped on him HARD. He seemed fine, but I was afraid that I hurt him internally, so we took him to the ER vet and after an exam, x-ray and 2 hours we were told he was o.k. I felt horrible, but I'm happy he is o.k.

Halloween

Tonight will be a pretty uneventful Halloween. No costume parties or trick-or-treaters visiting us, but the night is turning out to be beautiful weather for the kids. I remember some Halloween's as a child when it was freezing and snowing, and like a dumbass I decided on some not-so-warm costume choices...more than once.

Happy Halloween!

Our First Big Married Purchase

We've been shopping like crazy for the last two weeks, but yesterday we made our first big married purchase. After much conversation, we decided to bite the bullet and buy a new matteress. Let me just say, there was nothing wrong with our old mattress, it was queen sized pillow-top, comfortable and easy to sleep on; however, after spending our wedding night on a beautiful king sized mattress with a foam support layer on top, our bed just didn't seem quite so great anymore.

We also purchased a very modern platform bed that is much different from anything we currently own. Two weeks ago at Crate and Barrel I bought an ivory duvet cover with a chocolate paisley pattern on it (in King size, in hopes of an upcoming purchase), and with the new bed, sheets and curtains I've now purchased to coordinate, the room is going to look great. I can't wait for the bed to arrive on Thursday!

It's Official

Michael and I are married and it feels awesome. After 8 months of planning, we pulled of a fun and memorable 8-hour celebration. I had mentally prepared myself for things that would go wrong, but I can honestly say, that if anything did, Mike and I either didn't notice or care. The ceremony was personal, and I managed to not cry (I was afraid of sounding like a blubbering idiot), the reception space was gorgeous, and it was awesome to be surrounded by everyone we love.

To all of you who traveled from both near and far, thank you, thank you, thank you. You made our day special with your presence, and we sincerely hope that you enjoyed your stay in Fargo.

I am starting to get pictures e-mailed to me, and as soon as I have some, I'll post them here.

I'm here

I arrived in Fargo on Sunday afternoon, although after carrying my wedding dress through both the Detroit and Minneapolis airports, I was a little tired, and my arms were a little sore. Who knew a dress could weigh so much!!

I spend yesterday running around town picking up miscellaneous items that I needed for the wedding, and of course, stopped by all 3 Dakots Boys Ranch stores to pick up bags and bags full of new clothes. I can never get over how cheap their stuff is, I must have bought about 5 skirs, 1 purse, 2 blazers, 5-6 sweaters, 5 shirts for Michael, 2 bathrobes, 4 pairs of pajamas and other miscellaneous items (all new) for under a hundread dollars. The value just can't be beat!

Today my cousin Jerica (also a bridesmaid) is going to come over and hang out and run some more errands before we head out for a Chinese food lunch...yum! I am getting so anxious for everyone to get into town this week, there are so many people I haven't seen since Christmas, or even before and that in itself is enough to make this week awesome, let alone the wedding.

The weather here has gotten a little colder than originally expected (read: 37 degrees right now); however, it appears as though it won't rain on the 'big day', but they the S-word has gotten thrown around quite a bit for a possible flurry or two tonight. Bundle up!

Our Newest Addition

Just because we have so much time on our hands, we've added a new addition to our family.

His name is Ballard and he is 8 weeks old today!

If you're expecting a package...

...I'm sorry. I'm behind on everything because of the wedding. Laundry, getting my car washed, and sending out packages. I have three sitting on my kitchen table that need to be sent, I just can't seem to get around to it. So Heather, Kelli and Melissa, I promise they'll be in the mail soon! It doesn't mean I love you or think about you any less. At this point, I'm beyond belated...I'm just late!

1 month

I can't believe the wedding is only a month away...the last 7 months have flown by, and what used to seem so far off, is now right around the corner. Most of the plans are made, although I do have quite a few projects I'm working on which is helping me stay busy and not too nervous about the big day.

Our pastor asked us to mail him some general information about our families and more detailed info about ourselves including our hobbies and why we love the other person. We've known about this task for months but wasn't one that had to be done in a hurry. Last night I told Michael he had to complete it today so that I could send it off. He e-mailed it to me at work and I almost cried...he's not a many of many descriptive words (for instance, when asked why he loves me, he often replies "because I do"). So today I opened up an e-mail with a bunch of reasons and they were awesome to read.

Today at work about 20 of us delivered meals to senior citizens around town for United Way. Myself and two other co-workers delivered to 9 people and it was a wonderful experience, the people delivering the meals are often the only people the seniors see all day and they were so nice and wanted to chat. I definitely think it's something I will do again.

Book Club

I responded last week to an ad on Craigslist for a new book club looking for members. I received an evite from the coordinator to her house to introduce ourselves and pick out a book. I thought this was a tad big strange, only because I thought we could have picked a book and then met to discuss; however, I really don't have any social life in Ann Arbor, so I went.

When I got there I walked into a room of 7 girls who were awesome, in the same boat I was in and 3 1/2 hours later I walked out with renewed hope for living in the Midwest. These girls were all different from one another, different careers, backgrounds, etc, but we all felt instantly comfortable and talked up a storm.

I can't wait to get to know them better!

Happy B-Day!

Happy 29th Birthday Heather! I hope you had a great day (despite having to work). May the last year of your 20's be filled with great times, good friends and wonderful memories!

A Spot

About 5 months ago I got a dark spot on my bottom lip. I had an appointment with my dermatologist for something else and I pointed it out to her. I told her it has started with a little zit-like bump that I picked at and then when it healed the dark spot was there with a white ring around it. She said it looked fine and was probably trauma from me picking at it. The spot started to lighten and last week it looked like it was almost gone.

Well driving to work on Wednesday I looked in the mirror and noticed that it was back to its old dark self, and then on Thursday it was all white and raised. So of course I called the dermatologist who is booked for 2 weeks, but my wedding is in 6 weeks and I don't really want something crazy on my lip!

Let's just say hours have been spent searching the web for "white dot" "lip" and "lip cancer" and anything else I can obsess about, because thats what I do best when I'm not feeling well. I always work the smallest problem up into some crazy thing in my head only to find out its something small.

Feeling Better

Chico seems to have recovered from his recent episode, although the weekend was long and very tiring getting him to this place. Each day we had to give him insulin twice, fluids under his skin twice, an appetite stimulant pill twice, a painkiller liquid twice, a antibiotic pill once, and feeding him with a syringe every two hours during the day.

With all of that I didn't get a thing done that I wanted to, but at least he is better! So that means this weekend will be filled many projects, although we will get to take a break on Saturday to go to the University of Michigan vs. Vanderbilt football game at the 'Big House'. I'm excited, not because I love football, because I don't, rather that football in Ann Arbor is an institution and I drive by the Big House every day, and I've always wanted to go inside.

On that note: GO BLUE!

Back to the vet

Last night after Mike and I got home we noticed Chico hadn't ate or drank anything. We drove to the store and got a syringe and a bottle of Ensure. After dinner I started giving him the Ensure with the syringe in order to get something in his stomach. I didn't get very much in him, but I hoped it might urge him to eat.

This morning I woke up and walked into the kitchen and Chico was laying there by his water dish. I petted him and went to add more food to the dish and he walked up and rubbed against my leg, which he normally does when he's hungry. He just walked over and looked at both his food and water and went and layed back down. So back to the vet we went and ran some bloodwork and other tests. The vet prescibed an appetite stimulant because sometimes the painkillers they give will make them stop eating, which is bad for cats because they develop other serious problems quickly if they don't eat. She also told us to blend together wet cat food and warm water and feed him through a syringe.

When we got back home we gave him the pill and some fluids under his skin and then I went to work blending together the cat food. The smell was absolutely awful, and he didn't like eating it very well, but hopefully it will make him feel a little better and he'll start eating on his own.