Reception Menus

Yesterday I prefaced a request to Jesse with, "I love that you don't have to work today so we can spend some time together!" What I really meant was, "Get off your butt and get dressed...we have to go to Michaels."Surprisingly, he went along with it. I told him I just needed to pick up some card stock. He had no idea that it would take me an hour to scour the entire aisle of card stock. Silly boy. It only took him about 5 minutes to start asking how much longer it was going to take. He stuck in there with me though and only laughed a little bit when he found me sitting in the middle of the aisle, surrounded by about 1000 different shades of green paper.  His patience was rewarded with a new pen (his favorite kind of office supply). I also used a coupon. I think he was secretly impressed.

Four hours later, the project was complete. Reception menus for the low low cost of $28.

Wedding Planning Sneak Peak

Even though there are only a few pictures I can post (in the off chance Jesse ever reads this), I think I should blog about wedding planning so I can look back on it again some day.  Everyone keeps saying how quickly it will go by, and I'd hate to forget all of the excitement.  Wedding planning started out being not so fun; I was taking part is some major stress-related meltdowns. It started out being stressful because, as it turns out, only a crazy lady would try to plan a wedding on her own, 3000 miles away.  My family has been beyond helpful, but there's only so much this control freak will let others handle. So at last, 2 churches and 3 reception venues later, we solidified a plan. 

I flew home to Pennsylvania two weeks ago, and my parents drove up from North Carolina. My mom, grandma, Phran, Kathryn and I had an action packed weekend. My grandma is amazing. She set up all of the appointments for the dress fitting, florist, flower nursery, cake, church, and wedding planner. This wedding would not be happening without her (picture me running around in circles, crying). 

Church- First United Methodist Church of Pottsville

Reception-Schuylkill Country Club

Save The Date

Sneak Peak!

(Thanks Kathryn!)

Best Friends

I typed this post weeks ago and then never hit send.

It's the first day of Fall today, my favorite season, and I just lit the spiced apple candle that Lindsey brought me last weekend. Oh yeah, Lindsey came to visit last weekend! I needed it. This is the first move we've made with zero friends and it's rough.  Even though I really enjoy moving frequently and trying out new places (and new jobs), I have recently realized that moves have always been really easy because our friends have moved with us.  This time around, everyone went their separate ways and it's kind of lonely.

I'm lucky to have a best friend who has visited us just about every place we've lived.  Lindsey is 5 months pregnant so our shenanigans have taken on a different purpose, but we're both at pretty exciting points in our lives: wedding planning and baby preparation. We spent the weekend stuffing our faces, catching up, shopping for maternity clothes/rehearsal dinner dresses, and brainstorming over nursery fabric swatches.  The weekend went by far too quickly but it was a great visit :)

Derby Goes To The Beach

Jesse is in SERE School this week, so last weekend we cruised over to Coronado to check out the base, North Island.We took Derby with us so we could spend the afternoon walking around the town with her.

Derby had a great time walking around. Coronado seems more like a vacation town, so it's very calm and laid back. Fortunately for Derby, Jesse asked this dog's owner why he was wet, and the owner told us that there is a dog beach on Coronado.

What a great place. There is just a small sign that separates the dog beach from the human beach, which makes the dog beach seem really open and free. The dogs run around without leashes or confinement. Unlike Pensacola, this beach actually has waves. Watching the dogs tackle the waves and then run away in fear is hilarious. She was so happy! I become more and more impressed with San Diego with every adventure we take.

Boat Show

The San Diego boat show occurred a few weeks ago. It was small compared to Annapolis, but still fun.  They offered free entry for military (always a bonus) and they also had lots of giveaways. 

We got the life jackets for free!

The chick to my right looks nervous.

I'm pretending this is mine.

 In order to enter into a raffle to win a paddle board, he had to ride the paddle board. Fun stuff! I passed on the offer. I would have been the one to fall in the frigid water.

Hello San Diego!

After the boat show, we headed downtown to Little Italy. It was really cute. It's just one street of shops and restaurants, complete with little Italian men sitting outside smoking cigars and playing chess. 

This is the deli where we bought some prosciutto. 

Lastly, we headed to a restaurant for delicious pizza and happy hour wine. The couple that you can kind of see in the picture was really nice. When I took this picture, I didn't know that we would become friends (otherwise I would have aimed more for their faces, and less for the pizza). They've been together for 14 years and still aren't married. Jesse enjoyed telling them that he tried to play that game too.  They left shortly after we started eating, and when we tried to pay our bill, the bartender informed us that the couple took care of it. What an awesome experience! San Diego is full of wonderful surprises. 

Derby Goes Downtown

I need to do a better job of posting as soon as things happen!

July 29th, 2012....we took Derby downtown! She had so much fun! She enjoyed walking down the sidewalks and seeing all the people and commotion.  She was SO well-behaved. We walked her all through the streets and in front of restaurants; she was curious but she didn't do anything bad. One of the hotels we passed had dog treats at their outside podium, where Derby ended up making friends. 

Most of the restaurants are also dog friendly! It's so nice! We ate lunch at a mini brewery and had the most delicious cheeseburger. Derby just had water. 

After lunch we headed to a park on the water. There are shops lining the water and lots of grass and trees. It's beautiful. Even on the weekends, it doesn't get overly crowded. 

Derby and I had fun watching Jesse fly his kite. 

She's people watching. 

It was a great day downtown! This is something we will definitely do frequently. I love that we can take Derby places and don't have to worry about her causing a disaster, especially considering her size. She's a special girl.

Derby Gets Skunked

A few nights ago, Jesse, Derby, and I were enjoying a nice evening just hanging out at home.

Derby loves the swimming pool

But only if we're near the pool too. She started out being terrified (typical Derby), but after a few days, she was leaping right into the pool! 

She's so cute. If we put her toys in the pool, she'll pounce around on her back legs, in the shallow end, just playing all by herself. 

We later went inside and started teaching Derby new tricks for the upcoming Olympic games

Bone chewing is her favorite event.

Derby must have been bored with our shenanigans, because she trotted outside to play by herself. Little did we know what was about to come.  Derby must have seen what she THOUGHT was a cat (her most favorite friend).  Shortly after that encounter, she ran into the house and started sprinting around like a maniac, then dropped herself to the floor and started sliding her face across the carpet. It didn't click for us until we began to smell the most dreadful stench...skunk.  Basically, we freaked. Neither of us knew what to do or particularly wanted to touch her. The smell was overwhelming and Jesse finally just said "throw her in the pool!". I felt bad because she had no idea what was going on or why we were so upset, and I didn't want to scare her or make her afraid of the pool. In any case, into the pool she went, followed by pup shampoo and lots and lots of scrubbing. 

The video that Jesse took of me dry-heaving is really much more entertaining, but you get the idea.  The next morning was spent researching home remedies that included vinegar, laundry detergent, and hydrogen peroxide.  Needless to say, the house is finally starting to air out, and Derby only smells when we get too close.