Five

5 Things I Want to Share:

1.  Last week due to my overall abandonment of my laundry I decided to try on some pants that I hadn't for a while on a whim.  I had no idea they would fit.  Get this - I have been a size 9 or 11 for at least four years now.  Sometimes an 8.  These were a SIZE SIX! Woohoo!! Score! (and they were work pants - and that in itself should be an extra excitement because they are higher waisted and tighter on the bum so more of a challenge).

2. I had my makeup and hair trials and they went great.  I switched the people I'm working with last minute due to some disagreements and snarki-ness on their part, and I'm glad I did.  The two girls I have now are fantastic and I know they will help us look beautiful on the big day!

3. Speaking of the big day, 53 days to go.  Oh. My. God.  I just showed Dan the calendar - we are almost done February...then we have the month of March, and then just about two weeks.  That's it.  It's so close!

4. I have such mixed feelings about paying for this wedding.  I have always been very independent financially and have paid for everything of my own since I was in highschool (but didn't start paying rent until after college).  So to say that we are paying for it all ourselves is exciting to me because I feel a great deal of pride knowing that we are doing it on our own.  I also want to whine every time I see the Google Doc I have made with every expense that we have put towards this wedding (literally - EVERY expense down to the last penny).  When all is said and done, I'm so happy that 1) We are only getting married once because it's not cheap! lol and 2) We are doing it together. 

5. The smartest thing we could have ever done is Honeyfund!  The bridal shower gifts helped pay a HUGE chunk of our honeymoon already! That combined with a generous gift from our awesome brother in law/sister and law and a gift from my grandmother we have made serious headway with our honeymoon balance.  It's great! On the days that I am overwhelmed about what we still have to do or anxious about who is judging how we are doing our wedding (I try as hard as I can to not care, but easier said than done), I just picture us on the beaches of St. Thomas and St. John! I am sooooo excited for our first vacation as Mr. and Mrs.! 

I hope all of you have been staying warm and dry with this insane weather!

Stoked!

I've realized how much I use "awesome," "excited," and "super" in my speech/writing.  I tell my students all the time to broaden their vocabulary, so I thought I would!

Hence the title..

Courtesy of Urban Dictionary - Thought this was fitting :)

So before I chose stoked, I had excited in mind and when I went to find a picture from Google, I loved the combination of them all!  So I took a screen shot instead. 

Haha I love this!
*note - I know the little girl in red is in there twice, but that's ok.  She's just REALLY excited.

So anyways, I'm stoked/excited/thrilled/pumped/happy* BECAUSE
We booked 2 photographers and a Dj last night!! 

Thanks to a fantastic recommendation from my future sis-in-law (shout-out to E! woo woo!) we found The Pros, a company that hosts several services including photo, video, dj, and photobooths.  Score! Their prices are absolutely unbelievably cheap, their reviews are are off the charts, and they had a showcase last night that included demonstration of services/products with prizes.  Sounds too good to be true, right? So far I'm really impressed.  I got TWO photographers (the main one has won awards for the State and is the best in the company!) and a Dj who told me she would make sure everyone left with a smile on our day! She was the only dj to have us do the cupid shuffle last night! She actually got us up and moving and she was hilarious! Perfect!

Ok so I need to go to bed and don't want to write too much more, but here are the major things left:

*Rings - haven't thought much about these yet
*Officiant - working on it 
*Dress Shopping - scheduled!
*Tasting - choosing menu 
*Tasting - choosing cupcake flavors -- MMmmm
*Engagement Photos - working on it! 


:) Have a great night/morning! Happy Weekend!


*Ok, just one more screen shot of urban dictionary - when I looked up happy. Bah ha!

Wedding To-Do Lists

First let's start off with what I have gotten done, so that I won't feel as overwhelmed! I have gotten some things out of the way, which is good.  I'm not anywhere close to being completely planned, but hey! It's a start.

Done:

• Chose bridal party - I have 7 and he has 4; we have a ring bearer and a flower girl.  We are trying to figure out a way to incorporate Codden (our dog) but we're not sure yet.
• Chose wedding colors - shades of purple and gray
• Chose venue for reception and ceremony - Overhills Mansion
• We discussed our budget together (we = Dan and I)
• Chose our photographer for our engagement photos (My co-worker offered his services for free! Woo!)
• Started researching and contacting possible vendors for flowers, hair/make-up, and photography
• Set a maximum guest list number - 100 
• Set up excel for guest list with contact information
• Created a Wedding binder
• Started looking at wedding dresses online to get an idea
• Started thinking about what the reception decor would look like
• Researched some bakeries in the area for cupcakes

I would like to get these things done within the next couple weeks:

• Finalize the guest list with Dan
• Finish adding the contact information to the guest list in excel
• Meet with a possible florist about pricing
• Find some more possible photographers and set a budget for photography
• Finalize the centerpiece design
• Finalize who is doing the cupcakes/put a deposit down
• Find invitations/save the dates that I like and set a budget for that

In the next month or two:

• Go wedding dress shopping ... oh god! I am not looking forward to seeing what size I would be right now.  I've been losing weight lately so I should be at least a little smaller by then but we shall see. I know it's weird but as much as I love to be around people I'm a little apprehensive to have a ton of girls/moms with me too.  Call me crazy but I also kind-of want my dress to be a bit of a surprise for everyone.  I don't want it to be passed around via cell phone before the big day so that everyone knows what it looks like. Maybe I can be stealthy and take one or two friends and then just tell everyone else the shape of it? Let them know I want it to be a surprise...?
• Get color swatches for my bridesmaids so they can keep their eye out for possible dresses in those colors.

I have a lot to do, but I also feel like I'm getting a lot done.  Other than major decisions, Dan is pretty awesome about leaving most of the planning to me.  Because I'm neurotic and need opinions I ask him about everything anyways, but he always says ok to it all anyways.  :) He trusts me.  Not to get too mushy, but the other day he said something along the lines of 'I'm just glad I get you. Everything else doesn't really matter.'  So sweet...and so true! At the end of the day, it's a celebration of deciding to be together forever and having some fun while doing so.

Oh boy!

(It would be 2014 for us - which THANK GOODNESS that's the case, because I don't like odd numbers!)

I was trying to get a free trial for something for school the other day and needed to create a new email for it

So, I figured why not? I'm going to have a new last name next year, so why not go ahead and make an email address with the new name?

I know it's so silly, but seeing the new last name in my email address is so exciting!

I made sure to email Dan asking him if it was weird to see my first name and his last name together.  He said he did a double take when he first saw the email.

Although I'm sad to see my last name go, I'm excited for what having a new name means.  It means we will officially be family and that when we have kids one day we will all be connected by name.  It's a merging of our families into one.

Corny, I know.  But so exciting! 

:)

Lots of Updating to do...

I'm a list lover, so let's make this post list-alicious :)

Bf Update:

• D and I are still doing well, living together.  However, this house is much too small for us.  We need our own office space.  If he scoots his chair back, he runs into me.  Hopefully the next place we move into will have more room for us.
• We're about to go to Puerto Rico tomorrow for a week! We're really excited.  I had to go to the Minute Clinic this morning and it turns out what I thought was just my usual allergies, is a sinus infection that I've had for a little while. Yuck! At least I have some meds to help me get over it, to take with me on our trip.

Thirty-One Update

• I LOVE this company!
• I am going to the national conference in Atlanta this Summer and I'm so excited about it! I'm a bit terrified of travelling by myself and sharing a room with 3 people that I have only communicated with online, but I'm still so excited!  I also think it's crazy that I'll be in Atlanta in August (holy hotness) but that's ok.
• I just earned two incentives! I earned the March incentive and also my Startswell for having 3 parties within my first thirty days as a consultant. 



This is what I got for the March incentive - I LOVE that giant rolling tote! Perfect for travel!



This is my startswell incentive that I got - skirt purse with fitted skirt, thread swatches, catalogs, and nail files.

School Update:

• Report cards are due the day after we get back from Spring Break! Ugh, whose idea was that?!  Well to make sure that I didn't have anything to stress about when I get back, I did them a week in advance.  It was a lot of work, but completely worth it!  I'm glad that's out of the way. 
• I can't believe that when I get back, it'll be 4th quarter already! This year has flown by!
• I got hired again for Summer School :) I'm excited, I love teaching in the Summer - more pay, less kids, and I'm done at 1pm! Sweet!
• So apparently not enough people have signed up for my Master's program, so they have moved the start date from this Summer to this Fall hoping that more people will sign up.  Either way, it looks like it's still a go.  I really hope so, because I'm really interested in this program and I really need to start my master's degree sooner than later.
• We just went on an awesome field trip to the Newseum in DC.  If you've never been before, you should definitely go! It's awesome.  I keep meaning to go back when I'm not chaperoning/teaching so I can actually focus more on the exhibits instead of the kids.

I am loving the weather lately! Flip flops are officially in full swing! Yessssss.

Anyways, have a great week! When I return, I'll have lots of pictures from Puerto Rico!

PR here we come!

We bought our tickets and hotel reservations last week for Puerto Rico.  April cannot come sooner!

I can't wait!  I'm really excited to have a fun vacation to look forward to :)

What you learn living together...

from here

You can't really anticipate what it will be like to live with a significant other until actually doing it...

Here's what I THOUGHT would be a challenge:

• Laundry - we both do this very differently
• Seeing too much of each other
• Learning gross/weird facts about each other that we didn't know before
• Having issues sharing the bathroom in the morning
• Grocery shopping - we eat very differently from each other (different foods and different portions)

Here's what has actually happened (so far, since it's only been a little over a month)

• Laundry - we do laundry separately and it's fine.  I usually do mine randomly throughout the week and sometimes on the weekend.  He does his on the weekend.  No problem!
• Turns out our schedules don't match up really well, so with the exception of bedtime we actually haven't been seeing enough of each other!  We actually miss seeing each other sometimes, because our schedules are so busy/opposite. Weird!
• We haven't learned anything crazy that we didn't already know!
• We have a few shared food items that we can get together, and in the mean time we just keep a running list on the fridge so that when one person goes, they can get what the other wants too.  And then it's the other person's turn next time. 

Things that I have learned...

• My time frame of putting things away is very skewed from his time frame... I like to have things put away right when I see it or think about it...he's more of a I'll put it away sometime this week kinda guy.  Which is probably not too far from other guys' habits.
• We use alarm clocks in very different ways!  I set 6 alarms and turn them off each time so I can get a few more minutes of sleep in between each alarm.  For some reason it's gratifying for me to fall back asleep each time.  I always think of Steve Byrne talking about how he loves sleep so much.  D is a two alarm kinda guy.  One at a really early time.  And then an hour later, another.  He gets up right away on the second.  Way different than me waking up every 7-10 minutes six times!
• Our t.v. preferences could not be more different!  With the exception of Storage Wars, anything food related, and anything on the Home channel we pretty much don't have anything in common, t.v. wise.  He is all about sports, sports, and sports!  I love watching college football from time to time, but after a while, I get tired of it.  He could watch it all day, every day...and pretty much does (and not just college...professional too! and other sports)  I wholeheartedly admit that I'm addicted to reality t.v.  I enjoy the ridiculous drama of the housewives shows, the Kardashians, and True Life.  I watch Grey's anatomy every Thursday (and have been since college) and I also watch Glee when it's on.  I have just recently gotten into "Once Upon a Time" too on abc. 

It's amazing what you learn in a month!  Although there have been (and will be) some challenges, I know that we made the right choice with taking this big step.  I do look forward to coming home every day, and even on days where I don't see him much it's nice to know that he's next to me at night and there in the morning when I wake up...well, when I wake up the first time of my six alarms that is! :)

Have you learned anything crazy or surprising after first living with a significant other?

Easily Excited

Starting my day off with one of these babies...

turns an ordinarily ok day into a fantastic day!

I tried it for the first time this morning and LOVED it!  (I usually just stick with pumpkin spice lattes this time of the year).

:) Simple pleasures. <3

Birthday Weekend Post

*I wrote this while we still didn't have cable :)

Birthday Weekend


Friday-


Everyone at school wished me a Happy Birthday all day long, including my students. I felt very loved! My co-worker got my some beautiful sun-flowers, while another got my favorite snickerdoodle cupcakes from this awesome Cupcake Bakery down the street from my school. A student of mine got me a half dozen cupcakes from the same place too! (She got me 2 red velvet, 2 cookies and cream, and two key limes). One of my homeroom students brought in some Halloween cookies for me. Another homeroom student gave me a Starbucks giftcard (the parents of this student brought me a pumpkin spice latte in the middle of the day, the day before). A student from my math class got me a Coach wristlet! No joke! I was shocked!




Red Velvet <3

 So I ate a snickerdoodle cupcake during lunch and enjoyed every single bite of it (pretty sure I moaned a bit, that’s how awesomely scrumptious those things are). Right after school ended, I got ready for my Happy Hour at Howl at the Moon in Baltimore, which is a dueling piano bar. I re-curled my hair and painted my nails at school, before leaving. When I got to the bar, my friend Kelly was waiting outside. We both went in, and were shortly joined by four of my co-workers. As the night went on, I had a total somewhere around 18 people or so that came. It was soooo much fun!

However, if you’re easily embarrassed, you should be warned that Howl at the Moon is not the place you want to go to on your birthday! Within the first hour of being there, they asked if it’s anyone’s birthday or not, and of course my whole section of friends made it very clear that it was. The entire bar, yelled “Get on stage, Jess!” When I got on stage, they had me place my hands on the piano facing away from the bar of people and shake my bum while they played music! Thankfully, I had two friends who went with me! It was a bit embarrassing, but funny. Later on, my old roommate put a song request in, with another request: to put the birthday girl Jess on the piano as they played. She told me she did this, and I was really hoping they wouldn’t see it or ignore it…NOPE! They asked me to get on the piano. They gave me a stuffed black cat, and started singing about something that rhymes with…mussy. It was pretty raunchy, but it was amusing nonetheless. Although I didn’t appreciate the longggg time I was up there in front of the entire bar, I think I was a pretty good sport about it and made the most fun out of it.


The night went on for a bit, and I was there for around 5 hours or so. I was happy to have a mix of people all in one place: some family (cousins) came, my sister and some mutual friends of ours, my co-workers, my guy, my friends and their hubbies, etc. It was a really great way to spend my birthday. Dan and I left after a while, and started walking to our cars. When I almost reached my car, I got a text message that I had won some crazy prize from the bar and reached “rockstar status.” My sister grabbed it for me, since I had just left. She said it was some pass that would make it so I never had to pay a cover again at that bar, and I could skip the line when I get there every time as well. Sweet!


Later that night, I uploaded my steps** from my pedometer to the internet for the last time for my school competition. I was in the lead last night at 11:30pm (it ended at midnight) so I’m pretty sure that I won, but I’m not totally sure. I’ll keep you updated.

** I TOTALLY WON THE CHALLENGE! OHHH YEAAAA **

Also, I should mention that when I came home, I came home to some beautiful flowers from my awesome boyfriend! :)

Saturday-

We woke up, got showered and ate some breakfast and left the house to go to… TIFFANY’s!!! Although it took some major deciding, I decided on a beautiful heart pendant necklace. It’s super sparkly and feminine and awesome and I LOVE it! Dan wanted me to experience it all with him, and also make sure that I get something I really wanted, so he decided to take me with him, as opposed to surprising me with something he had picked out. Then we met up with his brother and sister-in-law to help them move some couches. We spent some time with them for a bit, and of course we had to stay long enough so that we could see our special K. :) We left there, came back here and then took a two hour nap. So far, so good! What a great day! 

What a great weekend! (I didn't go back to write about Sunday, and now I forget, so Friday and Saturday is all you get!)

We Moved!

*Pictures of our house and moving process to come...

This past weekend, we moved into our new house. :) With the help of some awesome friends/family and a U-HAUL truck we were able to move the majority of our belongings to the new place.  We had to get some more the next day too.  Oh man, the amount of steps I got this weekend was insane! I am kicking my step competition's butt this week!

Dan's mom was a huge help on Sunday by helping me get the kitchen all together.  I took off Monday and got my closet/clothes all organized and together.  Since then, I have been trying to do a little bit each night.  I still have three boxes or so to unpack and put away.  Then it's just deciding where to put the boxes.... (a lot of them we recycled, but some of them are the plastic kind that you keep).

I'm most excited about our kitchen right now, because we put up all of our fun kitchen art...again, I have pictures to come soon.  I'm exciting about what the living room will be like soon...a good friend is giving us a loveseat for free! Woo! We just need to get a cover for it and I think it'll match our room perfectly!  We needed some more seating, so I'm really pleased about it, and thankful for such generous friends!

Here's what the loveseat looks like:

We already have a big couch that has a dark brown cover on it.  So a beige loveseat would go great with the color scheme that we want.  :)

So it's October...here's my list of why it's such a fantastic month:

1. My birthday is this month!  It's the 7th, which is this Friday :)
2. It's the month of our anniversary!  The 21st :)  In 16 days it will be 4 years for us! 
3. I love dressing up for Halloween, both at school and with friends at home
4. Although I am not a fan of cold weather, I love to watch the leaves change.  I also love those perfect fall days...cool outside with the sun shining down still.  Beautiful!
5. If it's October, that means we're getting closer to my other favorite holidays...Thanksgiving and Christmas! Woo! (and breaks off of school, of course!)

Is anyone else excited that it's October??

Long time, no blog

Ok so here are some updates:

*My school system has this pedometer program that is free and can give you gift cards/prizes based on how many steps you take during the day.  This program + my natural competitiveness has really kick started my working out this week.  My first day logging, I had 7,000 steps.  The second day, I had over 20,000!  Yesterday I had over 16,000.  It's awesome because it's great motivation and it's nice to see my progress throughout the day.

*School has started and so far I love my class.  I have two "nudges" that can be annoying, but I knew that going into this year, so not a huge deal.  I have at least one of those kids every year, so it's nothing new for me.

*Dan and I move into our new place on October 1st! I can't wait! We have been shopping a lot for it, trying to find decorative pieces (like art for the wall) as well as some furniture.  We haven't had much luck with the furniture, unless you count this sweet wine rack we got from IKEA. 

*I tried some cupcakes from Kupcakes & Co. in Elkridge during my lunch break last week and they were AWESOME.  A close second to Georgetown cupcake!  My favorite was the snickerdoodle cupcake that was cinnamon flavored with a buttercream frosting! YUM!

*I splurged and bought myself a Chi hair straightener as an early birthday gift.  I have wanted one for a long time! I had been using my roommates for a year, and when hers finally died, we found a great deal online so I took it and got one.  To top it off, it came with free gifts!  Elf makeup, a cool-down cover for the straightener, and a round hairbrush! Sweet!

*Here's one of the art pieces that I just bought for our house:

:)

Apparently the one thing we always agree on: Wine! ...and wine related products.  Gotta start somewhere, right?

Have a great weekend!

My favs from Beth's Wedding

These are some of my favorite photos from Beth and Jeremy's Wedding.  It was such a fun day! :) These pictures make me smile and laugh every time I see them!

Our first piece of art!

"Virginia Tech Love" by ArtSharkDesigns at Etsy

So we picked out a piece of art together! For the first time EVER! Yes! Our first buy for our house that we will be moving into in October.

I'm going to get a black frame for it.  I'm SO excited!  If you didn't know, it's a picture of a couple walking on the campus of Virginia Tech.  I love how the picture is mostly black and white with just a splash of color and I love that it incorporates Vtech since we spent a large part of our relationship in Blacksburg when Dan was going to school there.  I'm so excited about this and can't wait to hang it up! :)

These boots are made for walking...and shopping

Ok so the other night I went looking for a one piece bathing suit.  I have been meaning to get back into swimming because I love it and it's a fun workout.  But I only have two piece bathing suits, and those don't work well when you're actually trying to swim.  So first I tried Ross, and they didn't have a single bathing suit out at all! I happened to pass by the shoe section and scored some really cute brown suede boots (on the left above) for 20 bucks! (And with no sales tax since it was no sales tax week!).  I have been looking for some cute brown boots! On the way out of the store, I remember thinking how funny it is that now all 3 pairs of boots that I own are suede...

This is ironic because after Ross I went to Target to look there (they didn't have anything for me as far as a good swimming suit went either) and found some cute brown leather-looking boots! (on the right above)  I almost didn't get them because I really don't need to be spending money on boots, but the Fall is coming sooner than I think, and I know that I will get a lot of use out of them for work and such.  So I got them. 

Can you blame me for being such a sucker?! They're so cute!

New Home!

So we finally found a home that we are definitely going to move into! It's a rental, it's in Columbia and it has (almost) all of the things that we were looking for:

*In Columbia
*Close to work for me
*Close to main roads for Dan
*2 bedrooms
*1.5 bathrooms
*Safe and friendly neighborhood
*Pet-friendly

Extra Bonuses:
*The lady who is renting it to us is a teacher and favored us because I am one too!  She even went down in price by $100 a month! Woo!
*She pays Columbia taxes on the house, so we get a huge discount on the Columbia Association! This is awesome, because I'm already a member and love it, and now we can even go to the pools with the new membership.  Sweet!
*Walking distance to the mall...this could be dangerous for me!  (But it's still awesome!)

This is the front of the house :)

So our move in date is October 1st.  It's a little farther away than I wanted, but it'll be worth the wait! Plus, Dan will save a lot of money by staying with his parents for two months, which is great.

I'm so excited!! :)

"You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." **

**-John Lennon

So something you should know about me, if you don't already:  I have crazy dreams all the time, and usually remember them quite clearly.  When I was in highschool I wrote them down.  I still have them all on my computer.  It's fun to go back and read them.  I think dreams are so fascinating and I really do think that there is some kind of meaning in them somewhere.  Maybe the meaning isn't always so black and white and obvious, but I truly believe it's there.

So last night I had a dream...

I dreamt  that I was in the kitchen making creme brulee on the stove.  I was waiting for the water to boil so I could put the cream in it.  (I have NO flipping clue as to how to make it, but apparently in my dream this was the first step).  My grandfather was in the kitchen as well playing cards right next to the stove, so he kept giving me updates on whether or not the water was boiling.  While I was waiting I was on my computer checking my emails.  I got an email from Dan saying that he doesn't want us to be together anymore because "it just doesn't feel right anymore with us."  I was soooo angry about this!  I don't remember what happened with the dessert, but I do know that I was making it for my friend Jen's wedding, which was the next day.  So not only was I pissed that he broke up with me in an email, but he broke up with me the day before my friend's wedding so I would be date-less!  I remember walking past my parents to use their master bathroom.  Even though I had obviously been crying and was red in the face, they didn't notice me as I walked by.  The dream pretty much ended with me trying to think of how to yell at Dan. 

Now I don't know how to interpret the breaking up part, because honestly we couldn't be better.  He's moving back to Maryland, we're going to live together, and our 4 year anniversary is coming up.  I was curious was some of those dream dictionaries would say about a break-up in a dream and was intrigued by what it said:

To dream that your boyfriend or girlfriend is breaking up with you, indicates that your relationship is moving to the next level. In a way, it is an end to something; you are leaving some past behind. At the same time, it is the start of something new or better. It is important to remember that such a dream is not an omen that the relationship is not working out. As a relationship evolves and grows, it also changes.

Isn't that crazy?  It's true, our relationship is about to change! In big ways!

Ok, another part of the dream that I found interesting is the fact that my parents didn't notice that I was crying and upset.  To me, this is very obvious and just means that my parents don't understand how I feel all the time.  Um, DUH!  I'm pretty sure all of us have felt at one time or another that our parents don't get us or listen to us.  This part of the dream wasn't so surprising to me.

Do you ever have any crazy dreams?* 

Do you think they have meaning?

*I'm expecting that my two good friends that are preggo are going to definitely say yes to this! :)

Back to Maryland

I have been a bit MIA from my blog recently, because I was at the beach for a little over a week with Dan.  While he was at work, I helped him out a little by doing some packing and getting some boxes for him.  I also did some classroom shopping at TAPS (Teacher and Parent Store - there's not one in MD) and got some fantastic polka dot decorations for my room that I'm super excited about.  I also had a fair amount of beach time, which also meant I got a lot of reading done. :)

Currently, I'm reading "Handle with Care" by Jodi Picoult.

It's about a young girl who has Osteogenesis imperfecta, which is a bone disease where her bones can break very easily.  It talks about her life and each chapter is told by a different chartacter's point of view.  So far, I like it a lot.  I've read some of Jodi's work before, and I think she's a great writer.  She is always very well researched on the subject at hand, and it's always very hard to put her books down, which I love.  It was definitely a great beach read.

So even though I went on antibiotics and finished them last Monday, all of my symptoms including coughing, sore throat, and swollen tonsils came back this past Saturday.  Awesome.  So I called my doctor and she prescribed a stronger antibiotic that I will be taking for a longer period.  Man, I hope it works this time!  I hate being sick! And especially during my favorite season!

The countdowns begin:

18 days left until I return to school to start getting my classroom ready.

22 days until I get to meet some of my students at the open house

25 days until the first day of school

I'm excited that I have a lot to look forward between now and then:

• Hanging out with a friend from Florida around town this weekend and possible laser tagging! Woo!
• Possibly signing a lease pretty soon with Dan
• Jen's wedding next weekend (I'm a bridesmaid)
• Happy Hour with my team from work next week
• Sleeping in as much as possible
• Hearing about Dan's first day at his new job!
• Getting my hair done (I lovvvveeee doing that!)
• Going to a wedding in New York for a family member of Dan's

I know that these next 18 days will probably go by much faster than I want them to, but I'm going to make the most out of them and enjoy my freedom while I can!

Finally, we're not on pause!

So for just about four years, Dan and I have been in a long distance relationship.  Recently, he found out that he got a job in DC and will be moving back to Maryland very soon.

WOOOOOHOOOOOOO

I finally feel like my life is not on pause anymore, waiting for him to come back! Yessss!

So since the minute he found out (and to be honest before then because I'm a planner) we've been looking for places to live.  We started out looking everywhere and then narrowed it down to Laurel or Columbia, for the simple fact that they're both near major highways for commuting and they're both places that we're familiar with and know very well. 

We've mostly been looking in Columbia the past couple of days.  Yesterday I went to 3 house showings.  The first one was a no-go right off the bat, because it was set up like an apartment with people above which is what we really don't want.  The agent who showed it to me was my old boss from the gym when I worked there in highschool. RANDOM!

The second place looked good on the outside, but had dirty walls, really outdated carpet, and a not very impressive layout.  I was a bit grossed out by it, to be honest.

The third place I liked a lot.  With the exception of the pink carpet (whatup B and J! does that remind you of your place at all??) in the basement, it had what we were looking for: at least 1.5 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, a lot of space, an outdoor space for Codden, and it was within our budget.  I asked for an application and quickly sent all the pictures I had taken to Dan when I got home.  When I mentioned the street name to my father, he said he had heard about a lot of crime there.  Well I was curious, and checked online. YUP!  There was a shooting there in April of this year, where someone got murdered!  HOLY crap.  Many reviews said that people in the neighborhood didn't feel safe and that there were robberies all the time.  There was a car stolen recently too! Um, NO THANKS! So needless to say, we gave up on that one.

Today, Dan emailed me a listing he had found on craigslist of a cute town house in Columbia.  I emailed the girl and booked a showing.  It was AWESOME!  Minus the lack of extra storage, it has multiple bathrooms, it's in a great and safe neighborhood, and dun dun dun....LOTS OF CLOSET SPACE! Yessssssssss.

I emailed that girl about the house, so we shall see what happens.  I really hope we get it.  It's a tad bit over what we originally wanted to pay, but I really think it's been the best one that we've seen/read about/looked at and it's in such a good spot. 

Either way, I'm just thrilled about the notion of living with Dan!  Although living with a boy is a bit daunting because I've never done it before, I'm excited to have boyfriend time every day instead of just a couple weekends a month!  I'm excited to have Codden all the time too! (Dan's dog)  So no matter what happens, I'm just happy that we're moving forward (and in!) with our lives and although the next month is going to be hectic and crazy with the moving and unpacking, I couldn't be more happier about it all!

Jen's Bachelorette Party

Jen's Bachelorette Party - Dewey Beach - July 9, 2011

Here are 2 of the posters that I made for one of the hotel rooms :)

Being Silly!

Ladies in Pink!

"Jen-pardy"

Team Minowitz

Team Va-geniuses

We love Jen!

A Whole Lotta Pink Going on that night!

So our next door hotel neighbor is the wife of a guy we went to high school.  Small world!!

 

 

So it was a really fun day!  We had some beach time during the afternoon before we got ready for the night.  We played "Jen-pardy" in our rooms for a while and pre-gamed and then went out to the Rusty Rudder for the night.  There was an awesome cover band called Kristen and the Noise and they were AWESOME!  It pretty much made our night.  They sang great songs that everyone could sing along to, including some Third Eyed Blind, Sublime, Bruno Mars, etc.  After the bar, we went to a place to eat because our Bride to Be insisted on getting some french fries, her go-to food while drinking (no wonder we've gotten along all these years!)

I had a blast!  Now I'm torn!  I love the easy-goingness and relaxation of Beth's bachelorette (staying in a cabin in an out of the way town, going shopping, eating lunch, going in the hottub, watching movies with good friends) and I also love the singing and dancing part of Jen's!  What the heck will I do whenever I get hitched?  I wonder how I could mix those...singing and dancing on the couch while watching a movie?? lol. 

I don't really like the idea behind a bachelorette party, meaning the whole idea of you have to live it up and go crazy because your singlehood is dying.  I also don't prefer the idea of darebooks or getting the bride-to-be to do stupid flirting with other men things either.  I do however, like the idea of just having a fun girls night out.  Although...I've always liked the idea of a joint bachelor/bachelorette party too.  The idea of marriage is togetherness...so why not be together while having fun?   Who knows! We shall see, I have a while to decide considering I'm not even engaged yet.

What do you think makes a great bachelorette party?