I'm back... almost...

Wow, I haven't posted on here in forever! Not since before the wedding, which now seems like waaaay longer than 3 1/2 months ago (in a good way, of course). It took me like 10 minutes to sign in, because the email address I initially used is one that is no longer active. Couldn't figure out for the life of me why it wouldn't work. Crazy. And my layout still doesn't look the way I want it to, even though I had some help bringing it back to normal colors again. So... (and I realize this is a lazy move)... I believe I am going to start over. Because let's face it: sometimes it's just easier to start from scratch. And my name on here is "The future Mrs. Spencer". Um... that's not me anymore-- I'm the current Mrs. Spencer. :) Stay tuned for directions to the new blog...

I need a do-over.

I have royally messed up my blog layout.  I tried to change the background, make it all cute and stuff... and this is what I ended up with.  The gray background doesn't exactly match the cute green, brown, and turquoise layout.  Anybody know how to fix my problem?  I need a do-over. :) 

I've been slacking again... I know.  My life has been CRAZY lately!  Okay, we're all busy, I get it.  However, next time I think it's a good idea to plan a wedding and move into a new home at the same time, and to do the moving while my wonderful fiance is at work... someone please remind me how not fun this has been.  Not that I am anticipating having to plan another wedding... this marriage is gonna have to last the rest of my life, because I never wan to plan other wedding as long as I live.  Seriously. 

So here I am, living in my new home.  I officially moved in today, since Robert has been staying here for the past week.  My mom went to Mexico with her sisters, so I stayed at my parent's house with Dad . His health isn't very good, and I worry about him being by himself, so I decided to stay with him while Mom was gone.  Dad and I had a good time, and it gave Robert a chance to get into the house and get his things unpacked without me breathing down his neck.  He left to go back to Idaho today, so I'm here at the house now.  It's nice to be in my own space again, instead of being at my parent's house.  

It's been a long week already, and it's only Wednesday.  I had a good week with Robert being here, getting settled into our home.  I am so ready to be his wife, and to start our family.  He's going to be such a good husband and dad.  He may not be the best housekeeper, but he's a pretty good cook.... I think I'll keep him. :) We are going to have a blessing-filled life together. :)

Pictures!!

I almost forgot!! Our engagement pictures are online now! I don't have the CD of them yet, so can't post any pics on here, but here's the link to our photographer's website so you can see how cute we are. :)

http://www.amyparsons.com/

Once you get there, click on "client galleries". Then "portrait clients". You'll see "Robert & Michelle: Engagement" right up at the top. There you can view all 135 of our pictures! We're trying to decide which one to use for the newspaper announcement, so be sure to let me know which numbers are your favorites!

Oh... and there are some pictures of us making crazy faces... those were on purpose! We really do know how to smile properly for pictures. :)

Movin' on up...

That's right... I have moved into the house up the hill! What a relief to have all the furniture and boxes in the house! We were planning to move things into the upstairs bedrooms last week Saturday, but I was sicker than a dog. Seriously. I was a snot factory. It was not my prettiest hour. So...

Yesterday, my little sister, her son, and the best friend in the world decided to help me move everything out of my apartment. They are troopers-- I was having a hard time seeing what needed to be done, and they were able to get me focused. They worked through cold weather and rain-- and a little bit of slushy snow-- to get me moved to the house. We put almost everything in the master bedroom, just to get it put somewhere. I'll begin the joy of moving everything to it's home as soon as I officially live there. Which will hopefully be on Wednesday.

One would assume that since Robert and I signed a lease which is set to begin on April 1, that I would get to move in on that date. Let's hope that actually happens. When we got to the house yesterday, our landlord was frantically "finishing things up". He still needed to install light fixtures, put in light switch covers, touch up the paint, install the blinds, and-- oh yeah-- PUT IN THE DRIVEWAY!! Seriously, these things should have been done already. Has he looked at a calendar lately?! April 1st has been quickly approaching! I personally think he bit off more than he could chew with this project, and underestimated the amount of time it would take him to get the house move-in ready.

We decided to unload the storage unit today. That was an adventure. Lucky for us-- no rain today! Just lots of sunshine and blue sky. I was planning to have 2 of my sisters and one brother-in-law help me after church today. Well, I got to talking to someone at church, and when she realized that we didn't have "enough" people to help with moving, she decided to send her husband and son over to assist. What a surprise! Completely unexpected and amazingly generous. With their help, we got the unit emptied and everything into the house in 2 hours.

I'm camping out at mom & dad's house until the 1st, when I WILL move in. He'd better have things finished, is all I can say... or we're going to have words. I think I'm being taught another lesson in grace, patience, and surrender. I should buy a lifetime supply of "thank-you" cards. I have a feeling I'm going to need them. I am so overwhelmingly blessed by the people in my life.

Slacker

That's right.  I'm a slacker.  I take full responsibility for my slacker-ness.  It has been what seems like an eternity since I've posted on here, and that is sad news.  Especially since my life is such an exciting wonderland.  Ha!

Wow, we have been busy.  I have been packing, packing, packing.  Oh, and I've also done a little packing.  When I look around the apartment, I realize that I probably haven't done as much as it seems, because I have a lot of stuff to stuff into boxes yet.  Oh, the joys of moving.  We (a.k.a. "I", as Robert is back at work) get to start moving things into the house next Saturday!  Just the things that go upstairs, though.  Our landlord wants to finish up a few more things before we move into the main floor.  We get to save that bit of fun for the following Saturday, the 28th.  

Robert went back to work today.  Such a bummer.  It's probably a good thing, though, because moving is EXPENSIVE!!  Wow... I went to the post office and City Hall this morning, and wrote two checks totaling $290.  Good thing today is payday.  Hello money... goodbye money. :(  The good news is that we officially have a post office box, and are scheduled to be hooked up for utilities.  Always a good thing.  Mail, water, electricity, and sewer service are good things.  What's next... contacting Verizon for cable, phone, and internet.  Oh, and the gas company.  And the garbage people.  I'm exhausted.  

Wedding stuff... last weekend, I got together with my mom, sisters, and best friend (and Robert) to work on wedding favors and address wedding invitations.  Actually, I let everyone else work on favors.  I'm too controlling to let anyone else address the invites.  I like the way I print, and I can keep tabs on how things are looking.  Control freak?  I think not. :)

Robert and I had our engagement pictures taken on Monday!  We had such a great time, and our photographer is fantastic.  I nearly had a meltdown when we were on our way to meet her, as the rain kept falling harder and faster... and, wait a minute-- is that hail?!?!  Yeah.  I was upset.  But the rain went away, and the sun came out, and we got some great pictures.  I am so excited to see all of them!  I'll be sure to share them on here just as soon as we get them back.  And after I figure out how to post pictures on here.  I'll work on it. 

It's been a long day, and I'm not feeling very well.  I think I'll have the last piece of chocolate cake and then go to bed.  My life is busy but blessed. 

Guilt trip resolved... :)

So, my Mr. Wonderful sent me on a short guilt trip over the fact that I don't update this frequently enough... point taken, my love! :)

Hmmm... wedding progress... 

Tonight I sorted through 956 pieces of chocolate for reception favors while watching Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy. I have a truly exciting life. And by the way, I only ate 2 pieces! Don't forget, I have to fit into a wedding dress in less than 3 months! 

I've been packing my apartment up, little by little. It's so strange to walk in and not see any pictures on the walls, and no books in the bookcase. I think I'll move a few things to the storage unit this weekend, if I can convince one of my sisters to help me. You know who you are. :) Speaking of storage, Robert and I moved into a 14x20 unit on Monday! We were able to put the couch in there, as well as the dressers and nightstands, t.v., and a ton of rubbermaid containers. Each time we move more things in there, I get excited to start our new life together in our new home. 

The flowergirl dress arrived from Target yesterday. It's a really cute little sundress, white with big lavender, blue, and turquoise polka dots. I love it, but unfortunately it won't fit Ashleigh. She needs at least a size 7, and the biggest the dress comes is a 6x. Mom found another dress at JC Penney that comes in sizes to fit both girls, so hopefully I'll be able to see them this weekend.

Work has been crazy this week... I am so glad that tomorrow is Friday! Unfortunately, the weekends just aren't long enough. I'm looking forward to getting a few more wedding details taken care of, and I also have a wedding to go to on Saturday night! It will be the last one I attend before my own! Looking forward to a relaxing, blessed few days off...

Crossing things off the list...

Wow! Hard to believe it's already been a week since I last posted! We have a few more things crossed off the list for the wedding since last week:

1) Mom and i met with the cake lady-- her company is called "Let Them Eat Cake". Isn't that cute? She is really talented, and has been doing wedding cakes for 25 years, so I'm very confident that our cake will be beautiful. I spoke with her this afternoon, and she gave me the pricing bid for the cake, which turned out to be less than I expected... which is good news. :)

2) We're trying to decide on flower girl dresses, so I ordered one from Target's website, just to have the girls try it on to see if the size is right. 

3) I ordered centerpiece mirrors (to use on the tables during the reception) and silk rose petals for the flower girls to scatter. 

4) My mom ordered her dress for the wedding. 

We've had a busy week! I love crossing things off my "to-do" list. So satisfying.

Robert will be here in 4 more days! I'm excited to see him again, and I'm so ready to be married to him, so that we can be together for the 3 weeks that he is off work, and not have to make do with a few days at a time. Sometimes I get frustrated in dealing with the details surrounding the wedding, but I remind myself that the details are the means to an end. I know our wedding is going to be beautiful, and the best day of our lives up to this point. The wedding will be great, but what I'm really looking forward to is the marriage. I'm such a blessed girl. :)

It's all in the details...

It's so reassuring to know that basically we are just down to details now, as far as the wedding goes. Mom and I have a meeting on Wednesday with the cake lady, to arrange for the AMAZING cake I talked about in an earlier post. We went shopping on Saturday to pick up some fun things, and bought a really cute cake topper that looks like two silver hearts entwined together. I'm not sure if we're going to use it, but it'll be nice to have the input from the cake lady, to determine if it will work with the cake plan. During our shopping trip on Saturday, mom bought me the cutest white canvas bag with the words "Here comes the bride" written on it with rhinestones. So cute! We also bought silver heart stickers to put on the invitation envelopes, and baskets for the flower girls. 

I went to the mall for awhile today, to add to our registries at Macy's and Target. I was so excited to find the perfect color of towels for our bathroom! I had to make a phone call to Robert while I was there, to double check on the colors for our bedding, to make sure he is still on board with me for the colors we've chosen. Luckily, he is... so we are registered for those things as well! I also found a really cute white storage shelf/cabinet on sale for $21!! What a great deal! I asked a salesperson what was wrong with it (why it was on clearance), and she said that the only reason was that the box was damaged. So I opened it in the store, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the shelf! Exciting! :)

Wow, I sound really materialistic in this post. Really, it's not all about "things" for me... just nice to know that preparations are being made for me and Robert to spend our life together. He's been sending me sweet little text messages, to tell me that he loves me and that I am his everything. I received the most beautiful flowers from him for Valentine's Day... it's so crazy to think that this is the last V-Day I'll spend as a single/unmarried woman! I'm so blessed to call him mine. :) 

Getting closer!

Only 3 months and 20 days left before I am Mrs. Spencer! I cannot tell you how excited I am to be Robert's wife! I think about it all the time, and I probably walk around with a goofy smile on my face-- if my co-workers didn't already think I'm crazy, I'm probably confirming their suspicions. :) He makes me so happy, and I know it sounds cliche-- but just when I think I couldn't possibly love him more than I do right now... I love him even more! I'll stop with the mushy stuff now. 

There are still a few things left to do in preparation for the big day, but I am surprisingly relaxed about it. I'm feeling more open to asking my mom and sisters to help with the details now. I asked my good friend Angela to be in charge of the ceremony and reception timing/details. She is one of the most organized people I know, and I'm confident that she'll keep things running on time and relieve a lot of stress for me! 

Lately, my mind keeps wandering to the house. I cannot wait to move into our new home, and am so excited to start decorating! Thank heaven for Robert, he humors me when I talk about how I want to decorate each room, and even has valuable input for me. :) We're planning to decorate our master bedroom/bathroom in a beach theme. My sister and I stopped by the house last weekend to see the progress, and I was thrilled to see that the bedroom has been painted a sandy tan color, and the bathroom a very light blue/green. Not turquoise, but very light blue-- almost like sea glass. It's going to go perfectly with our plans! I've been doing a little shopping, buying a few decorative things here and there. I'm looking forward to having a blank slate to make our own. :)

Since the accident, I'm feeling a little better every day. I'm still sore, and just when I think I'm pain free... I realize that I'm not. It's hard not to over-do things at work. I'm used to doing a fair amount of lifting, but now I rely more on my co-workers for that. I'm seeing a chiropractor for my neck and back pain, so hopefully that will help. My doctor gave me a referral for massage too, so I'm looking forward to getting some of these tight muscles loosened up! This is taking much longer than I expected. The emotional healing is taking even longer, which is frustrating. I'm still having a lot of nightmares about the accident, and get very anxious about driving, especially in the mornings when the streets are a little slippery. Its scary, but God continues to be faithful.

My life is good. I have Robert, our upcoming marriage, good friends, a new home, and physical healing. I continue to count my many blessings...

To whom much is given, much will be required.

So, yesterday I experienced a continuation of "Project Homeless". Our office had committed to check 40 patients for glasses, following the original event. We got people scheduled that Thursday, gave them maps to our office, an appointment card, and a voucher for a free bus ride. The amazing opticians that I work with had elicited enough donations fro our frame and lens suppliers to provide 40 pairs of glasses, at NO COST to our guests. Incredible. Well, only about 20 of the expected 40 people showed up, but it was still great. I recognized all of them from the event last week, and it was so good to see them again! One man, Ricardo, was the first one there... he arrived at 8:00, and we weren't scheduled to begin until 9:00! Our office manager was the only one there at that time, so she sat and visited with him while he had some of the breakfast we provided. All I really know about Ricardo's circumstances is that he lives in the mission shelter downtown, and that he's one of the most positive people I know. He's one of those people who affects the life of every individual that he encounters. And let's talk about appreciative. He couldn't thank us enough for everything, from the granola bars, to the glasses, to "giving me a warm place to hang out for a couple of hours". God keeps finding ways to humble me. 

Something that was striking about our guests yesterday was the difference in attitude between the ages of the people. Every single patient over 40 years old nearly fell over themselves, thanking us for doing what we were doing. They couldn't believe that we were doing this for free, donating our time, not charging them for glasses, AND providing them with breakfast. One guest in his 80's actually said to me, "what's in it for you?". He just couldn't wrap his brain around the fact that we would do this because we care. However, I also worked with a few guests who were close to my age-- 20's-30's-- they didn't seem to be grateful for what we were doing at all! It seems like they had this attitude of entitlement-- like they just expected that there would be someone there to provide for their needs. It kind of irritated me. Part of me wanted to tell them, "there are plenty of people who showed up last Thursday who would have loved a free eye exam and pair of glasses, but you beat them to it... they'd love to be here right now-- would you at least say thank you?!" Fortunately, I wasn't alone... I talked about this with my co-workers, and they had sensed the same thing. I can't stay annoyed, though. I love these people, despite the fact that I don't know them, and may never see them again. Again, I am overwhelmed with the blessings that God continues to heap on me. 

"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11