Looking Back

On Jan 1st we will not only be ringing in a new year but a whole new decade! The past 10 years has been the decade of my 20’s and it’s been filled with so much change and growth, highs and lows and it has really helped to create the person I am today. So I decided to do a quick recap of some of the highlights:

2000-2002:

I spent these two years as a junior and senior at East Carolina University. I also celebrated my 21st birthday, made some great memories with my some of my (still) closest friends, fell in love with the boy I thought I would marry (but thankfully didn’t), graduated with my Communication degree, moved back to MD and started my first “grown up” job.

2003-2007:

These are what I affectionately refer to as my “hot mess” years. I did what a lot of people in their 20’s do- moved out on my own, worked at a job I wasn’t that fond of making a salary I was even less fond of, lost touch with some friends, made new friendships, jumped from one douchebag to the next and learned a LOT about how NOT to be treated in relationships.

2008:

This was the year when things started to look up for me. I helped throw a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom, helped throw 2 bridal showers including one for K.Law, threw one bachelorette party, was the Maid of Honor in one besties wedding, moved into an apartment with another bestie, adopted my adorable fur-baby Halpert, got a new job that pays me more money and finished off the year by meeting the love of my life.

2009:

I know this year has been hard on so many of my friends but to be honest it’s probably been the best year of my life to date. So many wonderful things happened including:

-Getting Engaged!

-Taking an Amazing trip to Jamacia

-Celebrating with friends at our Engagement Party

-Moving in with Kristian

-Celebrating our Anniversary weekend

-Planning our Wedding and booking our Honeymoon

-Celebrating the holidays with our loved ones

I have to admit I’m a bit nostalgic seeing not only this amazing year but the decade of my 20’s come to an end however I’m SO incredibly excited for 2010 and for the next decade of my life which will hopefully be filled with not only a beautiful wedding but a new house, babies, new job opportunities, travel, and more time with our friends and family.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Are We Nuts?? Maybe.

Today my lovely Bananas has a very interesting topic for her blog post. It’s actually funny timing that she posted this because a friend of mine and I were just discussing this recently and I had been meaning to write my thoughts on the subject.

When it comes to relationships everyone seems to have differing opinions on the timing of when an engagement should happen. For those that get engaged after less than a year of dating they often get the “are you nuts?”, “what’s the rush?”, “this will never last!” etc. etc. For those that date for years and years they get the “what took so long?”, “we didn’t think it would ever happen”, “it’s about time” etc. etc. Really, no one can win.

I’m in the first category of those that got engaged after less than a year of dating, in fact we were dating for only about six months when Kristian proposed. I’m pretty sure that more than one of my friends thought I was nuts or had doubts about whether we would last. To be honest I can’t say I blame them. I’ve always classified myself as a cynic, a pessimist and a wee bit judgemental at times. So if I were in their shoes I would have definitely been skeptical as well. I never imagined being one of those girls that would move so fast in a relationship. I had a plan… I would date someone for a year or two, get engaged, marry a year later, get pregnant a year after that and continue on until I had the white picket fence and 2.5 children. But as we all know life never goes according to plan.

Kristian and I actually started talking about marriage after only about 3 months of dating. WHOA right? I knew I wanted to marry him. I was 28, he was 30 and we both had spent the past decade dating/having relationships and knew what we did and did not want in a partner. And of course it was fun to talk about rings and weddings and what our life would be like but I didn’t really believe he would propose anytime soon. In fact I figured he would probably dump me a month later (I mentioned I’m a cynic right?). Well 3 months later he was down on one knee, holding out a ring and asking me to be his wife and I certainly wasn’t going to say no to this amazing man simply because he was ahead of some imaginary schedule I had in my head.

We’ve now been together for a year and a half, engaged for almost a year and living together for 8 months and I can honestly say things have only gotten better. Don’t get me wrong we have our fights and disagreements and we get on each other’s nerves but I have no doubts he’s the person I’m supposed to be with. We’ve already been through a lot together in our short relationship including job loss, major surgery, an international trip, living together and of course wedding planning which in my opinion is one of the most stressful things a couple can go through. There are so many emotions and family relations and financial aspects with planning a wedding…I know several couples that dated for years but then broke up during the wedding planning process. I also know couples that were engaged after only 3 months and have been married with kids for years while other couples who dated for years have already gotten divorce. You just never know what the future holds.

So after typing this brief novel my main point I guess is that regardless of whether a couple has dated for 6 weeks or 6 years by the time they get married, there are no guarantees. Unfortunately no one is immune from the possibility of divorce. People change and grow and you can only hope that you will grow together and that the love you have is able to withstand through not only the good but the bad as well. All relationships are different, what works for some may not work for others. Every couple should just go at their own pace and do what’s best for them. With that said...I still believe that all those Hollywood couples that meet and marry in the blink of an eye (I'm looking at YOU Khloe and Lamar!) are still destined for disaster...I did mention I'm a cynic right?

Christmas Review

I had a wonderful and busy Christmas weekend. It started on Thursday when I had to run to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, The Dollar Store, Pet Smart and Wegman's then sit in ridiculous traffic, followed by cleaning the house and wrapping presents before heading over to my future inlaws house to open presents. I/We got some great gifts including:

• Waterford Crystal Champagne flutes for the wedding
• Ralph Lauren pajamas
• The Hangover DVD
• A new purse and a new clutch
• A memory book with pages designated to write about everything from our first date to our honeymoon. It's like a baby book but for our engagement/wedding.
• The Twilight book series (I was SOOO excited about this and have started reading Twilight already)

Friday morning Kristian and I woke up and gave the cats their presents (toys w/ catnip) then exchanged our own gifts. He loved the the DVD I made him and has already watched it 5 times. I also gave him a calendar I made on Shutterly of the cats which he thought was hysterical and a new leather desk chair which he's been wanting but never actually asked for. He was thrilled.

He gave me some smaller items in my stocking but my main gifts were a beautiful earring/necklace set, a little adapter so that I can play my IPOD through my car stereo (I've been wanting this forever), an iTunes gift card specifically for downloading the Glee Soundtracks which I asked for but he couldn't find in the stores (I've been jamming out to Glee all day), and Heavenly perfume from Victoria Secret which is my fav.

Afterwards my mom and older brother came over and we exchanged gifts and ate lunch. Thanks to my mom and brother I got my two main gifts that I asked for which were a new digital camera and a blackberry...I finally retired my flip phone circa 2007. Now I can surf the Net on my laptop while checking my emails on my blackberry... it's a bit OOC already. HA.

Later that night we went back to his parents house to eat AGAIN and see his extended family and do the 'White Elephant' gift exchange where I ended up stealing the present I brought (tacky?) and going home with an awesome Shiastu Massage Pillow.

The last two days I've basically just laid on the couch due to the flu like symptoms that decided to invade my body on Saturday. I even had to re-schedule our visit with my other brother and my nieces today so that I don't infect them. Kristian actually left this afternoon to go on a two day hunting trip with his buddy. He offered to stay and nurse me back to health but I know he's been looking forward to this trip and it would be silly to force him to stay here to just stare at me laying on the couch. However we did have the following conversation before he left:

Him- You know where the gun is right?

Me- Yes

Him- You know what to do with it?

Me- Point and Shoot

Him- Good girl

This weekend just re-affirmed how incredibly lucky I am to not only have my own wonderful family but a whole new family to marry into. We all had the best time together.

And now for the pictures:

(Christmas Morning) (Christmas Eve- my FFIL makes amazing Hot Chocolate)
(Wearing one of K's new hats...check out Lilly in her new pink snuggie)
(Halpert loves daddy's new chair)
(My aunt knit Kristian a hunting/fisherman stocking to go with my stocking..see below)

(The Mary Jane stocking my aunt made for me when I was a baby)
(The earring/necklace set Kristian got me)
(My new best friend)
(All the great cards we received including one from Miss Mayra)

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday weekend! Less than a week left of 2009!!

Merry Christmas Eve

I have to make this quick because I have about 50 things to get done before the celebrations can begin tonight which include:

-Going to Target to get a gift for the "White Elephant" gift exchange with K's family
-Go to the dollar store for some stocking stuffers
-Buy more shirt boxes for wrapping gifts
-Finish wrapping gifts
-Clean the house
-Go to the grocery store to get everything we need to cook tomorrow

However I wanted to pop in real quick and wish everyone a

Merry Christmas!!!!

Hit or Miss- The Working from Home Edition

So due to our lovely blizzard we had this weekend I decided to work from home yesterday. I didn’t have too much work to do and was able to do everything via email. I’m finally back in the office today and I’ve come up with a Hit or Miss list about working from home:

Hit- Being able to wake up at 8:45am instead of 6:45am and still be ready to work by 9am.
Miss- Umm there’s really no downside to this

Hit- Being able to work all day in my slippers, PJ’s and no makeup
Miss- If I worked from home everyday I would never have a reason to wear the cute clothes I have or have an excuse to buy more cute clothes

Hit- Catching up with my good friends- Ellen, Maury, Tyra, Phil and Oprah
Miss- Losing brain cells watching about baby daddy test results and menstruation (yes that was the topic of Tyra’s show yesterday)

Hit- Hanging out with my cats all day
Miss- Not having much human interaction from 9-5 would probably cause me to become the crazy cat lady

Hit- Being able to shower at whatever time I feel like
Miss- I would probably end up showering only every other day and Kristian would dump my greasy, stinky ass…showering is such a process!

Hit- Ability to rummage through the kitchen and eat as much as I want
Miss- Higher grocery bill and gaining about 50 pounds

Hit- Laying on the couch while I answer emails on my laptop
Miss- Contracting a serious case of “couch butt”

So there you have it my friends, my hit or miss list. Overall I’ve determined that it would be great if I could work from home say every Monday and Friday but ultimately it’s not something I could do every day without losing my effin mind.

Feel free to add to the list.

Snow Daze

So as many of you know this weekend the East Coast including Northern VA was hit with a MASSIVE snowstorm!! We haven't seen snow like this in over 10 years and I must say it was pretty exciting. It started snowing Friday night and kept up full force for over 24 hours. When we woke up Saturday morning there was probably a good 10 inches already piled up.

We eventually made our way outside to get a jumpstart on the shoveling and cleaning of the cars which was a good thing because we got probably another 10 inches (TWSS) on top of our newly cleaned off cars. I tried to be cute and throw a small snowball at Kristian while he was shoveling and he responded by essentially body slamming me into a snow pile which in my opinion was not a fair form of retaliation!!

We took the cat outside and tossed him into a nice snow pile. It was pretty funny watching him crawl through the snow and then race back upstairs to the condo. Between putting Christmas paraphernalia on his head and throwing him into snow, I'm convinced he's either going to try to run away or just start pissing in the corner.

We spent the rest of the day lounging around the house, eating and drinking. When the power went out for about 2 hours we had to find other ways to entertain ourselves which included Kristian trying to serenade me with his guitar, playing Backgammon, and a few rounds of 20 questions (which I basically kick ass at). It's kind of fun being forced to find other ways to amuse ourselves that don't involve the tv or internet.

Today, Kristian was a good Samaritan and drove one neighbor to the store to by diapers for his kid and then helped shovel out at least 6 neighbors cars. He's a good guy :)

As of now I'm planning to work from home tomorrow and will hopefully be able to finish my Christmas shopping sometime before Friday.

Enjoy some pictures from our weekend in the snow:

My Turn to Propose

So remember this post when I mentioned the super awesome engagement gift I bought for Kristian? Well it finally arrived yesterday after some minor stalking of the seller on Ebay. I was suppose to receive it by Dec. 2 and needless to say I was a little annoyed that I didn’t receive it until this week. Once he was able to track down where the original shipment went he sent out another one along with two smaller items free of charge all of which I received yesterday. I was so excited to get home and give it to Kristian.

When he got home last night I made him stand in the dining room in the exact spot where he proposed to me and told him I had a surprise. I went in the bedroom and turned on Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” which was the song playing when he proposed. I came out and got down on my knees held out the box with the reel in it and asked him to marry me. I know, cheesy, but I couldn't resist my chance to propose. The expression on his face was priceless and I suspect very much mirrored my expression when he proposed to me. In fact he said the exact same thing I said which was “Are you serious?!” He was basically speechless, got a bit teary eyed and gave me a big hug. He was seriously shocked and kept saying that he couldn’t believe I bought this for him.

There was only one major hiccup. See Kristian is left handed…he writes with his left hand, he eats with his left hand, he even shoots a gun with his left hand so when I saw they had a left handed reel I thought SCORE! That is until he was looking at it and whispered “I reel with my right hand” D’OH! I almost burst into tears. I guess when it comes to fishing and using a reel he’s not ambidexterous. I was so upset that I had gotten the wrong one but he assured me that he would take care of talking to the Ebay seller and returning this one for a right handed one (I know the seller has right handed models). He spent the rest of the night showing and telling me about all the features and why it’s the best reel on the market and how much he loves me etc. I've never seen him so excited about a gift. He says that not only does he plan to keep and use this reel forever but that he really hopes we have a son one day that he can pass it down to. I hope so too.

Rocketting It Out

I had the best time last night at the Rockettes show. Kristian’s parents splurged and bought tickets in the 3rd row for the four of us as well as his sister and her three kids. The show was fabulous, the costumes were beautiful, the music was wonderful and the best part was when they sprayed the entire section of floor seats with white confetti “snow”. I even ran into one of my mom’s good friends who was sitting in the row in front of us. Small world. We’re hoping that the Rockettes will start showing every year in the DC area so that we can make this a new family tradition.

After dinner we all met up at Carrabbra's for dinner. Between eating at Maggiano’s the night before and Carrabbra’s last night I think I’ve gained about 5 pounds in the past two days. This time I went for the Lobster Ravioli which was Delish! Oh and we lied to the waiter and said it was Kristian’s birthday so we got a free dessert. Shhhh don’t tell :)

(Outside before the show)

(Sitting with his niece)

(Rockettes as Nutcrackers)

(after it "snowed")

(It's Santa!)

(LOVE these costumes)

(baby Jeebus)

(afterwards at dinner)

Holidaying

With a little over a week left until Christmas the holiday festivities have finally kicked in, not that I was complaining about the downtime. In fact this past weekend with the exception of some quick xmas shopping I basically didn’t leave the house. I was quite happy laying on the couch catching up on magazines and DVR. If someone knows where the motivation fairy is please send her my way because all I’ve been lately is lazy and completely unmotivated. I’m not sure if it’s the weather or the fact that I'm pretty much quarantined inside work during all daylight hours but all I want to do is lay around the house in my jammies.

Anywhoozle, I’ve been forced out of my hibernation this week with some fun holiday events. Last night I went with Kristian to his company holiday party at Maggiano’s which is a great Italian restaurant. I played the role of the sweet, pretty fiancé while simultaneously stuffing myself full of Italian food. The Mushroom Ravioli was TDF!

Tonight we are off to see The Rockettes!! They are performing at the Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University. Kristian’s parents are treating the whole family to the show. It should be a lot of fun, and definitely help us get into the holiday spirit.



Going out two nights in a row during the week is not something I do often or really ever so I’m really trying to rally and remind myself that I have 4 glorious days off next week to be a complete laze.

The Jersey Shore....the trainwreck continues

Source

Last night's episode of The Jersery Shore was another thrilling, brain cell killing trainwreck. And I loved every minute of it! This is shaping up to be one of the shows added to my Must See TV Thursday night lineup.

Some thoughts on last night's episode

-Best line of the night from Snooki while eating a pickle "I like to suck all the juice out first" TWSS

-JWOW should be called JWhore. And her highlights look like someone pissed on her head

-Snooki aka Snickers making out with her friend in the hot tub b/c "that's what guys like" was the epitomy of class

-How many STD's are floating around in that hot tub

-Angelina's excuses for missing work made me want to shake her and tell her to wait until she gets into the "real world" and no I don't mean the t.v. show.

-Also, someone needs to tell Angelina that just because she shares her name with one of the most beautiful women in the world does not make HER one of the most beautiful women in the world

-I love how in one scene you see JWOW in her room with a vase full of roses on the dresser and in the next scene you see her boyfriend bringing her the roses. Great job with the editing MTV.

-Vinny is the most boring character on the show

Can't wait for next week's episode and seeing what happens with Snooki getting knocked the Eff out.

**When I asked Kristian last night if he wanted me to start calling him "The Situation" a la Mike he responded "I'd rather be called 'The Incident'" and that's why I love him.

Love Video

This year Kristian and I made and agreement not to spend too much money on each other for Christmas. I'm trying to follow this agreement though I suspect he's going to think I spent too much on him regardless. Oh well, I love him and I like to spoil the people I love.

Last year one of the gifts I gave him was a photobook with all the pictures we had to that point. He loved it and even though he'll deny it, he even got teary eyed looking through it. So this year one of the gifts I decided to get him was along the same lines as the photobook.

I created an account on Smilebox and was able to make a photo slideshow set to music which I burned onto a DVD. I actually got the idea from his dad who has done this with photos from their fishing trips. I included pictures from this year including the night we got engaged, our Jamaica trip, our engagement party and our engagement photos.

Here is the video which I burned onto a DVD for him. I can't wait to give it to him!

**Note it's about 8 minutes long
**The second song is the one I'm hoping to use for our first dance at the wedding

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Not in the mood

I don't feel much like blogging right now. One of my favorite Bloggie friends had a really horrible day yesterday. And this is just on top of all the troubles that my good friend Kristen has been having this year. It's just hard to talk about stupid wedding stuff or other random life shit when two ladies I care about are going through such a hard time.

Summer and Kristen- You both are amazing, wonderfully strong women who deserve every happiness in the world. I know 2009 has been rough but I see only good things awaiting you both in 2010.

Fist Pumping like Champs

-Friday night, came home and laid on the couch catching up on DVR including the new show "Jersey Shore" on MTV which is an absolute trash-tastic train wreck about "Guido's and Guidettes" and I loved every second of it. Sure I lost a few brain cells but it was worth it. After all where else would I have learned that the best thing to eat when drunk is ham and water??

-Saturday I was awoken at 9am to Kristian coming home from hunting (he left at 5am) bearing breakfast from Chick-Fil-A and a Gingerbread Latte for me. I have him trained well ;-) I spent the day laying in the massage chair watching the first snowfall of the season while my ECU Pirates won their 2nd Consecutive Conference USA Championship Titles!!!!


-Sunday went and picked up my wedding dress!!! I loved it even more than when I ordered it back in July. In fact one part of the dress I planned to change I decided I liked after all. I guess when it's not a sample that's been worn a lot and is actually in your size it changes your perspective. It doesn't need too much altering other than some hemming and adjusting the top to account for my lack of boobage. My mom also picked up her dress and she looks so elegant and classy. The best part was she surprised me by paying half of the balance that I still owed on the dress which was awesome of her!

Sunday night we had Kristian's parents over for dinner. It was the first time his mom had been over since I moved in and got a chance to see all the changes we've made as well as all the Christmas decorations we've put up. They both were very impressed with the place and loved being able to just sit there and not have to do anything while we got all the food ready. Kristian made an awesome pot roast and I made some strawberry shortcakes for dessert. I think they got a kick out of seeing how domestic their son has become and even said that they can just feel the love in our house. Awww

**Special shout out to the uber stylish Summer and her son who picked me as the winner in her awesome Giveaway courtesy of her sisters Etsy store. I can't wait to receive this bad boy to hang in the house. Thanks Summer!

It's HERE!!!!!

I just found out my wedding dress has arrived at the dress store!!!! I didn't think it would come in until January!

My mother's dress for the wedding has also arrived so we're going to try to go this weekend to pick them up.

I'm so EXCITED!!!!!!!

P.S. Would it be weird to wear the dress to work and out grocery shopping because I suspect I'm going to want to wear it ALL. THE. TIME.

All I want for Christmas....

Now that we’re officially into December (where the hell has the year gone?) I think it’s time to buckle down and really get moving with this whole Christmas- presents -shopping situation. Not only do I have to figure out what to buy for my family but now I also have to figure out presents for Kristian’s family. We’re combining bank accounts forces on most gifts which makes it easier but we’re having a hard time coming up with nice and affordable present ideas.

Not only do I have to figure out what to buy other people but I have to figure out what I want. To be honest there’s not a whole lot I want, don’t get me wrong I would take a pair of Loubies or a fancy new purse anyday but realistically I would never ask for those things. I’m pretty particular and would rather buy my own clothes/handbags/accessories so I don’t typically ask for that stuff. There are really only two things that I want and more importantly actually need:

-A new digital camera (mine broke)
-A new phone (mine is way old)

I’m one Verizon and I don’t want to change carriers so switching to AT&T and getting an IPhone is out. Right now I’m leaning more towards a blackberry. I want something where I can access the web and easily send texts and email and of course read blogs. Oh and I should mention I really don’t like touch screens. They just don’t work for me. So if anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Other than the two items above I really just want cash. Cold, hard, American dollars that I can put towards the wedding. Kinda sad that’s all I really want but this shindig ain’t paying for itself! I did also request the Twilight book series (I’m finally giving in and going to actually read these things).

In other related news, we finally put our tree up and got most of the decorating done. Yes we went the way of the skinny, fake tree. My mom passed down most of our family ornaments to me so our tree is decked out in all of the ornaments that I've grown up with which is kinda cool. Wendal’s new favorite spot to lay is right under the tree.

With this Reel I Thee Wed

After Kristian proposed to me on Valentine’s Day I told him that I felt that I should buy him an engagement gift, after all he had just spent a pretty penny on my sparkly new friend which resides on my left hand. I felt he needed something special to mark the occasion. When I asked him what he wanted he mentioned he would really like to have some fancy schmancy new fishing reel. Now he already has God knows how many fishing reels but apparently they all do different things and catch different type of fish and this particular reel is like the Loubies of fishing reels. And since he doesn’t question (often) why I need so many shoes I figured I would just go along with it.

The reel itself is pretty pricey, granted it’s nowhere near as pricey as my sparkly friend but considering every spare penny I have is going into this wedding I didn’t exactly have these funds just laying around. I promised him that I would get him an engagement gift at SOME point while we were engaged. It could be the day before the wedding but it would be while we were engaged. Well thanks to my wonderful xmas bonus check from work I was finally able to afford his fancy schmancy new reel. So I made my way over to Ebay and purchased this little bad boy.



My initial plan was to wait and give it to him on Valentine’s Day which is our 1 year engagiversary but he’s going down to the Outerbanks in January for his fishing bachelor party trip and I know he would want to have this reel with him. So I plan to give it to him as soon as I receive it (which will hopefully be soon). I’m not counting this as one of his xmas presents since he didn’t count my ring as my Valentine’s present and still got me a necklace in addition to the ring (he’s awesome right?). So I’m hoping it comes soon so there is some separation between this present and his xmas goodies.

Weekend in Pictures

Wednesday night:

Finally saw New Moon. Loved it. Since I haven't read the books I only have the first two movies to go off of and I have to admit I'm batting for Team Jacob right now. Not only are his abs TDF but I think he's really sweet with Bella. Edward is a bit too skinny and pale for my taste however the last line of the movie OMG!! I'm tempted to go read Eclipse just to see what happens next.

Thursday:

Amazing dinner at Kristian's parents house. All of his aunts/uncles and cousins on his dad's side were there along with 6 dogs running around. It really was a full house. His mom decorated beautifully, everyone brought a dish or two and it was just the type of Thanksgiving I've always imagined having. We spent the rest of the night in a food coma.

Friday:

Kristian spent most of the day hunting and I spent most of the day laying on the couch except for a quick trip to Target. I left needing cat litter and came home with a new scarf, 4 necklaces and a few picture frames. Gotta love Black Friday deals. That night we played Christmas music and started decorating the house then finished by watching Love Actually which is one of my favorite Christmas movies.

Saturday:
Met up with my friend Lauren for lunch and had a chance to catch up and have some needed girl talk. Afterwards I stopped by Old Navy and took advantage of their sale and bought Kristian two new sweaters and two new pairs of jeans which unfortunately didn't fit. Then I met up with Kristian to hang out with his buddies including his best man Kevin who was in town from Texas. We all hung out and watched the VA Tech football game. His buddy Bryan ended up crashing at our place and the three of us had a great time talking and laughing. I'm so happy that I get along with all of his friends.

Sunday:

We had my mom and brother Michael over for a belated Thanksgiving lunch of blue cheese stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon, green beans, mashed potatoes, cherry pie and cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes which are in a word Delish! Oh and the last picture of us with the cats is going on our Christmas Cards this year. The cats hate us now and will probably pee on the carpet in retaliation but I couldn't resist.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Giving Thanks

This has been one whirlwind year for me, probably the most exciting and stressful year of my life to date and seeing how Thanksgiving is tomorrow I want to write about all that I’m thankful for this year.

Kristian—My best friend, my heart and my future husband. He has brought so much more joy into my life than I ever thought was possible. I never thought I would find someone to love me so unconditionally but he truly does and for that I’ll be forever thankful

Family—Both mine and Kristian’s…they have offered us so much support both emotional and financial when it comes to planning this little thing I like to call a wedding. We really couldn’t do any of this without them

Halpert and Wendal—AKA our furbabies. I don’t know how I lived so long without having a pet in my life. Even when they drive us crazy by waking us up at the ass crack of dawn, they make us laugh on a daily basis and bring us so much happiness.

Real Life Friends—Most of my close friends have been in my life for 10 years or longer, they’ve seen all my ups and downs and many of my crazy, stalker, why-the-hell-are-you-dating-him moments and for better or worse have continued to put up with me. I just hope they all know how truly thankful I am to have each and every one of them in my life.

Blog Friends- It’s amazing to me how connected I feel to people I’ve never met in real life (though I hope one day to). All of your support, advice and enthusiasm has really made the stresses of wedding planning so much easier. I’m so happy I’ve found you all and I look forward to continuing to share our lives. To sympathize with each other during sad times and rejoice together during happy times. A special shoutout to Ela who wrote easily one of the sweetest things ever about me today. You my darling are amazing!

J-O-B- As much as I hate waking up before the sun rises and dragging my ass to work M-F for 8 hours a day I am very thankful to not only have A job but one where I like my co-workers and clients, get paid well and even get Xmas bonuses. In these shitty economic times I realize how incredibly lucky I am!

Health- As of yet no pig inspired illness has invaded my body and I’m very thankful for that!

DVR- If it weren’t for you I would never be able to leave my house or keep up with my trashy reality shows like Real Housewives or Bridezillas

Internet- If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have ever found my job, been able to plan my wedding, met my bloggie friends or found the love of my life.

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving!

BB&B

We decided that in addition to registering at Crate and Barrel we also wanted to register at Bed, Bath and Beyond so that our guests would have plenty of options. Also, because I LOVE BB&B.

Kristian's mom mentioned that some family members may decide to buy us xmas presents off our registry and that we should probably finish registering sooner rather than later. Since a lot of people do the whole Black Friday shopping thing we decidedto go last night while the store wasn't too crowded.

All the sales people were very friendly and helpful and overall we had a pleasant experience. Below are some of the items we registered for:

(Bedding for the guest room)

(New cookware)

(Large suitcase to take on the honeymoon!)

(Dual showerhead...yes please!)

(Keurig single cup coffee maker, we have one at my work and I LOVE this thing)

Thoughts? Suggestions?