Chores

I've been living with K on a consistent basis now since April and in the past few months we've really started to settle into a routine which is nice because I'm a creature of habit who hates change (even when it's good change). So needless to say the last 6 months which has been full of change i.e. getting engaged and moving in with a boy (!) has been a bit overwhelming. But slowly the condo is starting to feel more and more like home and we now have our little routine down which helps.

One thing I've noticed is how we've managed to split up the chores around the house. We never really had a big discussion about who would do what, it just sort of evolved over time. The breakdown of chores is as follows:

Me-
Feed the cats
Load/Unload the dishwasher
Grocery Shop
Laundry
Clean

Him-
Change the litter boxes
Take out the trash
Cook
Take care of plants
Put together any furniture we buy

Now this isn't to say that I don't sometimes cook because I do or that he doesn't sometimes clean because he does. And even though I clean on a more regular basis I would say he's actually better at it than I am. When he does get into his cleaning tizzies (about once a month), he'll do the whole condo and even do things I don't such as dusting the ceiling fans...granted I'm also a foot shorter than him so it's not as easy for me to do it.

I think our little system has worked out nicely and I really don't mind the chores that I end up doing. I'm just grateful that I have a man that not only enjoys to cook but is really good at it! And I've actually gotten a lot better at cooking as well thanks to his help. So I guess we don't need to worry about our kids going hungry.

Overall I'm just happy that I'm not the one having to do all the work around the house on top of having a full time job. We really are partners in this little adventure and that's comforting.

Vendor Interview #1

Last night K and I met with a potential photographer, actually we met with two photographers (a husband and wife team) from Classic Creations Photography . Our meeting with Rob and Jenn went very well. They were both very nice and answered all our questions and the albums they brought had some really nice shots. They asked us many questions ranging from the size of our bridal party to what we are looking for in a photographer.

We went through their price list which is totally customizable and determined that we probably just need the most basic package which includes two photographers for 8 hours, Web hosting so that our family and friends and can see and order prints, a Hi Res DVD with all our pictures (and the option to print them elsewhere) and 20 Prints. The pricing for this package seemed pretty reasonable and close to what I've seen for only having one photographer. They also seemed very flexible as far as the schedule for the day and the types of shots we would want. They shoot more of the documentary style that we both prefer. They also had really good reviews on wedding wire which is my go to place before booking any vendor.

We also discussed doing an engagement shoot and their pricing for that was also pretty reasonable in comparison to what I've seen elsewhere. We discussed the possibility of taking the pictures down at his parents beach house which is about two hours away. K was the one that made that suggestion and I immediately loved the idea and couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before. There would be a ton of great shots that we could get down there on the pier or the beachy area behind the house. And since we plan to keep that house in the family for a long time to come it would be great to have some of those shots hanging in the house 50 years from now.

I still want to look around a bit more and see what some other options are for photographers but I think these two could definitely end up being the ones we go with. Hopefully we'll be able to decide within the next few weeks and have one more big item checked off the to-do list.

Cha-Ching!

I just got the best surprise at work...a bonus check! Yippee! This is the second bonus check I've gotten this year and the third overall since I started working here in October. We are very fortunate that despite the economy and the downsizing of a lot of our competitors, that we are actually doing very well and continuing to bring in a decent profit. It also helps that I work at a very small company so they are able to reward us with any excess profits that we bring in each quarter. So despite all the bitching and moaning I do every morning when I have to crawl out of my super comfy bed next to my super cute fiance, I am very grateful to not only have a job but one that pays me well and even provides bonus checks. In this economy I know how incredibly rare that is!

So as with my last bonus check this money will be going into the slowly growing wedding fund and now when I go dress shopping again this weekend I may actually be able to afford to buy one!

Countdown Continues

I am getting married exactly 11 months from today! The time really is flying by fast. I didn't think it would but it is. There is still so much left to do, it's a bit overwhelming and even though in reality I know there is plenty of time, I feel like I'm stuck treading water. It doesn't help that for the past two months I haven't really had that much time to focus on wedding planning between the Jamaican vacation and moving. I'm hoping that July and August will be much more productive months for me and I can knock out some more of the big items i.e. caterer, photographer, dress etc. But more importantly, 11 months from today I get to marry my best friend. yay!

The Big Move

I was finally able to finish moving all my stuff into K's condo this weekend. We rented a budget moving truck on Saturday and had my friend JD come and help us move the furniture and the few boxes I still had in the apartment. Overall it went fairly smooth and didn't take too long despite that we had to move in the rain. I actually didn't really mind and found it quite refreshing. And of course the moment we finished unloading at the condo the skies cleared and the rain stopped. Oh well. I then treated the boys to lunch and spent the rest of the day trying to unpack/organize.

Yesterday we made our way over to Ikea to look for the pantry/cabinet that we wanted for the kitchen. We've both been avoiding the Ikea near our house because it's massively large and a tad overwhelming. Fortunately it didn't take us too long to find something that we liked and that was reasonably priced. It's a nice wood cabinet with 3 shelves that is painted white and fits perfectly in the spot we wanted. I was then able to clean out all the cabinets and reorganize everything and finally get the counters cleared off. I absolutely love the kitchen now. The great thing about the cabinet is that even if we eventually move into a larger place (God willing) and don't need it for the kitchen it could still be used in either an office or maybe even a kids room to hold their toys. Yes I know, I'm getting ahead of myself :)

The only things left to do are to go back to my old apartment and prime the three walls I had painted, clean, vacuum and get out the few miscellaneous items I left there. We also have a number of boxes piled in the guest room of the stuff I want to try to sell at a yard sale in a few weeks. Hopefully we can make some extra cash to go into the wedding fund. Otherwise we'll be making a big deposit at the salvation army.

It's definitely been a bit of a challenge at times trying to merge all of our stuff together and decide how we want to redecorate but it's been a great learning process and practice in compromise and I'm starting to really feel at home at his...our place :)

Meant to Be?

Tonight we moved the bed out into the dining room in anticipation of his parents coming tomorrow morning to take it to their beach house and make room for us to move in my bed this weekend. After we moved the bed we decided to go through all the items that were under the bed including the adoption paperwork that Kristian had for Wendal. While looking at his "birth certificate" I noticed that the birthday listed was May 22, 1997 which means that Wendal will turn 13 on our wedding day! What are the odds that our cat's birthday is the same day we plan to get married?! This is just further proof that May 22 is the perfect date for us to get married.

Work getting in the way of wedding planning

Work has just exploded on me this week. I go through highs and lows when it comes to my workload. For some reason my clients always seem to be on the same schedule so rather than dealing with them one at a time they all end up needing me the same week. For instance last week I was twirling my thumbs at my desk and watching the minutes tick off on the clock on my computer and this week I'm so busy my head feels like it will explode!

But back to the issue at hand, I hate when work gets in the way of wedding planning. Rather than dealing with clients that have no idea what they are doing and like to make my life harder I would rather just immerse myself in all things wedding and browse over all the lovely wedding porn that's out there. Why can't I just win the lottery, quit my job and spend my days planning this wedding extravaganza? Okay, extravaganza might be exaggerating a bit.

Right now I'm in the process of trying to book a caterer and a photographer, neither of which will be cheap and the hit that our bank account is going to take makes me tear up a bit. But I keep reminding myself that our guests deserve a nice meal and we deserve beautiful pictures to look at 50 years from now. Currently I've been reviewing pricing from R&R Catering as well as a few others. Their menus always make me hungry and I can't wait to do some tastings. We're having an initial consultation with them in July.

I've also gotten pricing from two photographers Joseph Allen and Classic Creations Photography . I had a very nice long phone conversation with Joseph Allen the other night and we have a consultation setup with Classic Creations for next week. So it's slowly coming together. I just want to get these vendors booked so that I can start focusing on the smaller details.

Between work being insane this week, still trying to move all my stuff into Kristian's and trying to find wedding vendors I'm a bit stressed right now. Hopefully everything will clear up over the next few weeks and then I can actually take the time to enjoy the summer and start doing some fun weekend activities that don't involve weddings or moving.