One Year Ago...

One Year Ago..

I moved to North Carolina

to live with my friend, Melissa.

My plan: To live away from home for one year then move back to Massachusetts.

Dad said, "you're going to stop being friends with Melissa and meet a guy."

My response, "Dad, not a chance."

And look where we are. 

Melissa hasn't talked to me (in a civil manner) since July!

I've been married for almost three months!

So. Instead of moving back to Massachusetts

I'm a wife, a puppy-mommy and a step-mom!

woah.

 My first outing in North Carolina.

Bojangles!

(ps. taking the weekend off from blogging again! Guest blogging will happen on Sunday....be sure to check that out! If you are interested in being a guest blogger, please e-mail me fsc200408@yahoo.com)

And Now: The Living Room!

You guys are probably getting sick of my boring posts, but I'm just really proud of our apartment and how much time (and love) we have put into everything. I promise..regular postings will be happening again soon!

Danny picked out our couches (I think it's because he wanted a comfy "gaming chair." Yes ladies, my husband is a nerd!) We both picked out the curtains, but he spent HOURS hanging (and re-hanging) three curtain rods before we decided on one we like. I also love the small touches in the room (pictures, books, lots of art, and inspirtational quotes like "God makes happy endings. So if it's not happy, then it's not the end.")

Painting by Kenny Glenn who even signed the back for Danny!

Playing a silly game in "his" chair

Oh, and like I said before..there's always something going wrong at the apartment. Today while changing my candles I broke glass all over the place and cut my hand. And our brand new microwave doesn't work. I threw away the box without testing it first because, well..how often does something like this happen?! Someday, hopefully soon, everything will be perfect!

Teaser

Entertainment Center (and yes, sometimes I watch Oprah!)

 Party at our place!

A Well Needed Break

Moving in is not fun. I repeat NOT FUN! I'm a pack-rat with no skills for putting together furniture. Night one, putting together our monstrosity of a TV stand...I ended up just handing things to Danny so he could put it together. An hour and a half later..it was together, with the TV on top of it. Thank God that's over! Today, putting together my baker's rack...it's not level and not steady..I pushed it to the side for Danny to take care of tonight. Another annoyance..trying to set up wireless internet, I'm apparently retarded and can't read simple directions. Someone help me!

We have no couch and no dining room table. We found a table we like..but oh, guess what..no longer in stock! We will be very busy getting everything for the next few days!

The good news, everything is basically in it's spot (or is ready for the baker's rack to be set up!) Now, I just have to clean up the mess of boxes!

Moving: Day One

And I think it was the day Danny realized his wife is a nerd and will document everything..from my door not being closed all the way to showing off our new GPS. The picture of my door didn't come out..but here's our new GPS!

We knew where we were going..we just wanted to play with the new toy!

When I moved from Carrboro into Danny's Mom's house, I put everything in storage. While planning the wedding, we got tons of gifts, my room at his Mom's QUICKLY became my second storage unit. Now, I have a corner at Katie's house with everything from Kohls, and a room full of things I didn't want to put in storage. 

Yesterday, his Mom got her room back...today Katie will get hers back!

We filled up a 17 foot Uhaul by ourselves (ok with a little help from his step-dad) and today Katie will help us unload into our own place!

Uhaul has tons of signage in their trucks, probably not to provide entertainment...but they obviously don't know me! Two hours of reading these ridiculous signs made me laugh..including the one that reminded passengers "only one person per seat belt!"

   

And finally, a shot of us..after a hour at the Uhaul shop, two hours driving, too much food at his Moms..and two hours of moving things into the truck. Oh and no makeup..I look HOT!

Ten More

This is post number 90...ten more til the big 1-0-0! Like I said before, hoping to make that the big wedding post!

I have so much to do. Laundry, cleaning, packing (to go home and to move,) making sure everyone RSVP's for the wedding (two weeks til they have to be in...and I'm growing impatient!) I have the hotel tasting next week, I need to make table arrangements, maybe figure something out for a rehearsal (I don't even know when half the wedding party...including the groom..will be getting into Boston!) I have to make goodie bag for out of town guests. I have so so much to do!

The girls are (of course) having a Bachelorette party..bowling in Boston. Sounds lame, but totally not. I have wanted to go to Lucky Strike FOREVER! Remember in 40 Year Old Virgin when the girls are having the "wigging out" party..I want to do that!

I suspect a bridal shower. But I have no idea when or what to expect. How does someone even plan that. I generally don't run ALL my plans by people..so what if I have plans! EEK!

I can't wait til we move into our apartment. I can't wait to get a job. I applied at a few places online today, we'll see how that goes. Since I don't drive, I need to be a little picky, but luckly..I like to walk and I have my bike. So..we'll see!

Happy Happy!

I have so many things to be happy about...
1) This weekend is Valentine's Day. Our first one together. I really hope he doesn't actually buy anything for me though. I'd so much rather get all dressed up and go out to eat. And if he does buy me something, I hope it's not a box of chocolate...unless of course it's the chocolate strawberries or truffles from Godiva. We went to the store last weekend and I could feel my waist expanding just looking at them. I don't care though...they just look so so delicious!

2) I have a huge notebook with our budget and I'm DONE touching it. Seriously, I too EVERYTHING into account (with of course, saving money too.) If all goes according to plan, we will have no problem paying rent, utilities, cell phones, going on trips, date nights, grocery shopping...yada-yada-yada. You get the drift. I'm a worry wart and need to have a plan. And this plan includes me getting my license (ew) and having a job that pays minimum wage (hopefully I find something more, but if not..we will be able to make it work.) Getting another degree might have to wait a little longer..but oh well. Maybe I can find something that I can use my History degree for.

3) We will be in our apartment buy April 1st! I can't wait to have our own place and get all my stuff out of storage. I miss my huge wardrobe and cookbooks! It drives me nuts!

4) We are putting our car on the road Tuesday! YAY!

5) Our wedding is a month away!

Hope everyone has a great Valentines Day..even if your not physically with your guy right now..find a small way to celebrate and make it special. Or watch sappy movies and eat Ben and Jerrys..either way, have a great weekend!

WOOO!!!!!

Moving to Jacksonville on April 1st!!! Sending in our deposit RIGHT NOW!!!!!

Cabin Fever

I don't know how someone can stay in a house for a full week with no excitement at all. The highlight of my week so far has been watching LOST and texting Ashley during the entire thing. If I were home in Massachusetts, we would have had dinner and watched it together.

Other than my exciting three hour viewing of LOST, I have done zip-nadda-NOTHING. It's starting to get painful.

Now, you might be wondering what I would be doing if I were still in Massachusetts. WORKING, hanging out with friends/mom, PLUS I'd have all my stuff to keep me busy. But living in limbo leaves me totally and completly bored ALL THE TIME (Friday 6pm - Sunday 6pm, I'm happy as a clam!)

Less than 6 weeks until we are married. Hopefully soon we will have a place to live in Jacksonville. I can't wait to start working, making friends and having fun again!

Sidenote, me and the girls have been getting weird comments from some strange lady who likes to make her opinions a little too clear. I'm not sure about the other girls, but she totally offended me. Saying that I need to buy a cooking book and learn how to budget. Hi, I can't cook because I lack a KITCHEN...OH, wait...I LACK A HOUSE TO HAVE A KITCHEN. Butttttttt give me the stove and I'll whip a meal for you and all your friends. And a budget? Seriously? I'm pretty sure I still have the very first dollar I have ever made. Yes, I worry about money...BUT I ALSO WORRY ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD, BEING FIVE MINUTES LATE FOR SOMETHING, AND OTHER THINGS THAT I CAN NOT CONTROL. I worry about EVERYTHING. So, lady-with-no-life...please, give me a break..I'm not in the mood for your crap.

Jacksonville Lovin'

I have been in Jacksonville all week, my first time since either November or December. I came down because I wanted to meet Vogt's fiance, Samantha. We have been hanging out in the hotel all week, mostly doing nothing. The first day we were SO bored, we WALKED two miles to Walmart...because there was nothing better to do. Other than that, not a damn thing.

I do love seeing Danny everyday though. We, of course, went to our favorite diner one night. I love it because its so friggin' cheap. And then we went to a Mexican place, which was delish. And last night we went to Ihop. My question is...how many pancakes can one person eat on the unlimited deal? Keep in mind, it also comes with 2 eggs and hashbrowns. I had two pancakes. I don't think I could handle more than that! HOWEVER! It's like Chinese food, I was hungry two hours later, wishing for more pancakes.

We drove by the apartments that we applied to. They look really nice. However, there isn't really much within walking distance for me to work at. There is a CVS, Food Lion and a pizza place. Honestly, anything will do for the time being, until I get my license. We just need money and I really don't care where it comes from!

Speaking of money. Last night we walked around Target and I got a little depressed. All the spring/vacation clothes are out and this is the first year I don't have a vacation planned. Three years ago it was St. Thomas, then Aruba and last year was Jamaica (and many other awesome vacations before I moved.) But as of right now I have no vacations planned this year. Hopefully that changes. Hmm...maybe I can come up with something good for my tax money!

Right now Samantha is on the phone with Vogt. He failed room inspection last night and can't leave this weekend. Which means she doesnt' have a ride back home to Delaware. UGH. I would not be happy if I were in her shoes!

No real plans for this weekend. Buying our car this weekend and probably just hanging out attempting to save money...which needs to happen!

We have been approved for an apartment! Now we are on the waiting list..3 people are ahead of us. Please please have one for us SOON!

Cars, Houses and Other Things We Can't Afford

We need to buy a car. We need a place to live. I need a job, a license, and to stop worrying about everything! I think my worries are fair and make sense...I think wanting a place to live that we can afford is a fair thing to worry about. However, the only thing we can really afford is in the scary part of town. Thank God Katie has visited the apartments before and is forbiding us to live there! Now once we get a place all we need is furniture. HAHA!

Everything for the wedding is coming together! The girls dresses should be in in a month, my dress will be done being alterted next week. The girls have their shoes, and I have their presents. Me and Danny bought our rings and all of our vendors are set up! We invited 110 people, and in a week 35 people have said they are coming.

My only fear (still) is not being able to fit into my dress. And since starting birth control, I feel like my boobs have gotten huge..but I think it's in my mind. However, today I'm headed out to replenish my Slim-Fast supply and maybe get some metabolism pills or something. Has anyone ever used Slimquick?

Perfect

Since September 18th I have spent a grand total of five hours at my own house. The house I pay $365 a month, plus utilities, to live in. I'd say this is a colossal waste of money. You live and you learn.

The first week out of the house I spent with Danny's sister, which completely through off my eating and sleeping schedule. I'm not sure if I'll ever recover.

This past week I spent in Jacksonville at Katie's house. We ate...A LOT. O'Charley's, Olive Garden, lots of home cooking, Pancho Villas, and the Seafood Festival! And me and Danny discovered we have a new favorite ice cream..Hazelnuts covered in Nutella. OH. MY. GOD.

I spent my days with Katie's dogs, Cowboy and Taber, who might look sweet and innocent..but after a few days I realized they were cookie thefts! Good news though, give a dog a high dose of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies..they WILL survive it.

Dinners were awesome, I made my famous cheese stuffed meatloaf, a pork tenderloin stuffed with cherries, raisins and cornbread, and pizzas! Katie made a yummy taco salad. And Danny showed off his sandwich making skills! I love eating dinner with other people, and making dinners together makes me happy and reminds me of being home!

Now I'm back in Carrboro, but only for tonight and tomorrow..and then I'm headed to Boston for two weeks! I have some news to tell my parents..and the next weekend we'll be telling Danny's mom. OH BOY!

Update

*I'm 99.9% positive I can move out of the house I share with my two roommates.
*I'm 100% positive I can move in with Danny's Mom for a few months.

Things I'm concerned about: In Carrboro the public transportation is right outside my door. I have no idea how the busses in Cary work. I need my license, but in order to get it I'm pretty sure I need proof that I'm a North Carolina citizen. Which I'm not. And if I do the citizen thing..I lose my Massachusetts health benefits. Then I think, well..maybe if I go back to Boston for a little bit, I can work at the old place, get my license, save up some money to eventually move in. But I'm SO afraid that things would change between us. Obviously the pessimist in me is writing today.

I know these are things me and Danny need to talk about, but every time I try to bring them up my eyes fill up with tears and I decide not to do it.

It's even more frustrating because I don't even REALLY know if we could get a place together. He says yes because he has joint custody of his son. But for some reason I feel like once I decide to stay down here something will happen that I don't have a place to live..and then I'll just end up in Boston again.

I know plenty of other girls do the long-distance thing, dating a Marine practically guarantees long-distance at some point, but if I'm already down here..why not just stay??

This is the one and only time in my life I have wished I got my license when I turned 16!

Another Weekend in Jacksonville

And it was another great weekend. A 2 1/2 hour car ride is EASILY a 7 hour adventure on public transportation. Friday started with two local busses and then the Greyhound bus..I was finally in Jacksonville around 6:30. Just in time for Mexican and a margarita. Then we hit up a local bar with fellow USMC girlfriend blogger, Katie. It was probably the strangest bar I have ever been in, totally decked out in Marines paraphernalia.

Saturday was a busy day. I was sad Saturday morning when I found out that the Dunkin Donuts doesn't have pumpkin coffee. I'm craving the taste as fall SO bad. Then I helped Danny write a letter, which was HARD. I'm used to writing term papers, not professional letters to the military! Then we spent the whole day helping Katie move into her new house..which I'm totally in love with. It makes me want a house so bad. If Danny stays in North Carolina we are going to look into it.

After a long day of moving Katie in, we went to our favorite place ever...the Olive Garden. We were there FOREVER..lots of salad, pasta, bread sticks, TWO bottles of wine, and pumpkin cheesecake. It was great. We talked about everyyyyyything. I love that there are no awkward conversation topics for us, we can talk about anything.

We went back to the barracks for some fun with the guys. Had a few beers and decided to head back to Danny's room. The Staff Sergeant caught us going into his room so we left and decided we would try again in a couple hours. I swear when we went back the Sergeant was waiting for us. It's not so much what he said, they are just so intimidating in their uniforms! So, we left and got a hotel room for the night. Then came the phone calls..Staff Sergeant, Sergeant, Lieutenant. I was pretty intoxicated, I had myself convinced I would end up in jail before the night was over. Over dramatic!

Sunday was a great day. We went down to Wilmington to see the USS North Carolina. We toured the entire ship, read every little piece of information, and had a great time! I stayed at Katie's last night and was SO sad when Danny had to leave. I hate when weekends come to an end. Luckily, I do get to see him every weekend..so I know I really can't complain.

This week is going to be great..besides trying to get out of my own house for good...I'm going to spend the week with Danny's sister. We are going to have fuuuuun!

It's Moving Day!

That's right - I'm moving today! Finally! After a summer of apartment hunting, and then several weeks of packing when my health was good enough, the big day has finally arrived! Our apartment is covered in boxes, my hubby is catching one last nap on the futon (which is on the floor since the frame is disassembled), and I'm enjoying my last few minutes on-line before the insanity begins! Woohoo!

Only sad part about all this? My beads are packed up! *cries* Ok, so I can't complain too much, I have my lovely craft bag packed with a bead weaving project, my cross-stitch, and my crochet :D I'm going to have to be careful to pace myself, so I wanted to make sure I had something to do with my hands when I'm forced to rest.

Seriously though, I will have to be really careful. We're having record breaking heat here right now. I live in the northwest right? We're usually in the 80's this time of year. It's supposed to hit 107 today. So I have to be extra careful to stay hydrated because dehydration triggers my asthma really quickly! I also have high blood pressure issues - and heat is really bad for that!

We did the last of the packing with my Mom last night. We were all working pretty steady - and after the third box I packed I kinda collapsed and fell asleep on the futon. I was apparently all red and blotchy. Moses covered my forehead with a cool cloth and that helped.

So my plan for today is to suck as much water as I can, and sit as often as I can convince myself! I'm not going to be moving any boxes (not allowed to because of my back issues anyway). I'm going to stay at the new apartment with my MIL or Kat (or both) and slowly start unpacking while everyone else does the heavy work.

The internet is going to be connected some time tomorrow. All we know is that it'll be up by 5pm. And by then I may be falling asleep again :P We'll see. So I don't know when you'll see me on-line again. I miss you all already!

Whew!

I feel like I've been going none stop all day long! I finally have internet access again and I've slowly started catching up on all the blog posts that I missed.  I felt so left out! I'm having fun reading everything, but it's taking me awhile :P So if I haven't been by your blog yet, don't worry, I should be soon!  I've been starting by catching up with my etsybloggers, and I plan on returning to my normal entre card drops tomorrow if at all possible!

Yesterday was really exciting! My dear hubby and I were talking as we drove to the bead store about building a web-site.  He's a geek-extraordinaire, and has offered to build one for me.  My first reaction was, "I'm managing enough sites with etsy and three blogs!"  Then, as I thought about it more, I began to see more and more possibilities for having my own web-site.  One of the things that I'd really like to do in the near future is start working on getting some consignment and wholesale accounts in the local area.  I was thinking I'd try to get cracking on that after the New Year.  So I was thinking that it would be fantastic to have a web-site that I could put in a brochure for consignments and wholesale accounts.  That way I can produce a small brochure, and then say, "for futher examples please see ...."  My dear hubby loved the idea and we talked about the whole to the bead store!

At the bead store I had several things I was looking for specifically, and I ended up in a long conversation with the store owner.  I have a new project I want to try, the patterns from a book, so I was double checking with her that I had the right materials.  As we chatted we ended up talking about many things, and I showed her a macrame piece that I had in my pocket (working on it in the car), she was very impressed! Which surprised me since I've just started working with macrame...  Anyway, next thing I know she was telling me that she loves to support local artisans and if I ever wanted to sell in her shop to let her know! 

I was floored, and super excited! We talked over details and I'll be going back in the next few weeks to set it all up! I couldn't believe that we'd JUST been talking about trying to pursue opportunities like this, and one was handed to me, dropped right in my lap.  Isn't that exciting?

Today was our first radio program on Blockhead Radio! I'll be telling you more about that tomorrow - so stay tuned!  I'll just say for now that I think it really well :)

I wanted to share a blog post with you that a friend of mine put together.  I thought it was really inciteful and I'm looking forward to reading the rest she has to share!  Go here to find the blog post :)

Oh yes, and for anyone who has been wondering, I do plan on resuming my promotions series, hopefully Saturday or Sunday. 

Fantastic Friday

Why is today fantastic you may ask?  For many reasons! For one - it's Black Friday and I no longer work in the customer service industry! *dances* Also, my fantastic Etsy Bloggers Team is doing a sale!!!

☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆:*¨¨*:★:*¨¨*:☆☆ ; ;:* ¨¨*:★:

H a p p y H o l i d a y s ! !
The EtsyBloggers HOLIDAY S*A*L*E* is going on from Black Friday thru Cyber Monday!!
That's Friday 11/28 thru Monday 12/1!!
See a list of the 50+ shops having a SALE below...
H a p p y S h o p p i n g ! !

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I've got 10% off my entire shop PLUS FREE shipping on orders of $20 or more.  If you mention this post I'll make it 15% off. Nice eh?


I also received this award a couple of days ago and have been so busy I haven't had a chance to blog about it. Yikes! So thanks to the fantastic Spirit Mama for considering me worthy :) Now the rules say I'm supposed to nominate 7 other blogs - but I'm not going to pass it on today - because I'm really tired! Sorry guys - i know - I'm a spoil sport :P

Why am I so tired if I'm not working in customer service you might ask? Good question, because I certainly didn't go shopping! I'm not that brave/crazy/whatever *wink* No, today was the last day of moving stuff out of the place we've been house-sitting for the last two months! We thought it would all be done by yesterday except for some cleaning, but that was not to be.  I ended up having a nasty allergic reaction to a new medicine the doc's tried putting me on and that kinda made everything take longer.

So now everything is in the new apartment and my hubby and I spent the first night in our new place last night! Even though everything is disorganized and in boxes, and we'd forgotten our pillows at the place we were house-sitting, it was still a nice feeling to be in a place that was "ours" again.  Since moving back to our home town we've been in limbo, and I'm really happy about how everything has worked out with a living place, job for hubby, and getting hubby into a new school!  Now if we can just get me healthy - I'd be on top of the world :) That's ok - I can wait!

As soon as we've got some more of the boxes cleared I'll post some pics of the new place - give me until next week sometime - I'm exhausted!

Another Day in the Life

I've been sick all weekend - but it feels like a lots happened anyway! I didn't get a chance to photo and post about my weekly bead weaving goal, but I did get it done last week!  I had originally planned on completing the next in my geekery series - but I hit a snag.  So I whipped up the lovely Christmas earrings you see on your right here, and I'll be completing my geekery bracelet this week!  The earrings aren't up in my shop yet, but it's on my list of things to get done today.  When I do, I'll come back and edit this post to include a link :)

I was contacted about a month ago by Kerry of the Creative Aussie Crafters Magazine.  She was impressed by some of the articles I'd put together as I started my promotions series, and asked me to write an article for the magazine! I was very honored by this request - and the magazine was just published! you can read it on-line here.

I'm busy learning some new techniques and getting ready to host my first jewelry part at my Mom's house this weekend.  I'm also busy getting ready to move! We've been in limbo, without a place of our own, since moving across the state at the end of September.  Thankfully we were given the opportunity to house sit for this entire time, but now we get to move into our own apartment! We start moving next Monday :)

Last night was an awesome and fun edition of the Block Head Rod show - if you missed it make sure to check it out in the widget on the side of my blog! We had fun :) 

Last, but definitely not least, I snagged the next edition in my on-going BNR! We've had 23 sales so far - but none yet this round.  Buy in to snag YOUR spot! You'll be in until you get a sale :)