Monday, October 29, 2012

Sandy is on her way...

Hi All,

So as Hurricane Sandy comes her way to DC and the federal government is closed, I have time to reflect on how my life has finally quieted down a bit. After two very busy weekends wedding planning/dress shopping and attending a wedding, I thoroughly enjoyed this past weekend of a whole lot of nothing. I wish I could say I was able to catch up on sleep but the cats and I are still getting adjusted to our new surroundings. I hope the cats are doing ok but I just feel like the adjustment is hard for them. Penny is crying a lot but her food is fresh, water is changed and litter clean. I think she's going around looking for G...

So I've been here for a week and I feel like I'm getting back in to the swing of things. I met the girls for happy hour at one of our familiar joints and we made plans for a girls weekend to celebrate Danielle's birthday. It only took 5 days to get my computer at work so I pretty much got paid to read books and magazines after the day and a half of training ended Tuesday.

I feel bad that I'm not back in Alpharetta helping G finish up packing our apartment. I only left a few things that needed to be taken care of but the big one was cleaning and being there for the movers and everything. Its a lot to ask him to take time off work to be there and manage it on his own. Unfortunately with the time constraints we had, thats how we had to do it. I'm grateful to have such a wonderful fiance who seems to be managing very well and still having some time for fun.

Well the cats and I are hunkering down. Sandy is on her way and its supposed to get worse as the day progresses. I just hope we don't lose power. I wouldn't mind another day off from work. Yes I know its only my 2nd week but I love having free days off. Gives me time to do some wedding planning from afar.

Until next time,

Christina

PS- Maybe I'll have a better blog post next time?! Just a quick update on the move.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

My Next Big Adventure

Hi All,

So one would think planning a wedding in six months is hard enough on its own. Yes, yes it is. But add on to that a job change and a move, and you have My Next Big Adventure. As I wind down my last week here in the Third Party Administrator company world, I anxiously await a return to my old job with Census. I left Census in 2010 to remain in GA permanently with G which I've never looked back on because our relationship grew and became stronger (obviously). I knew I didn't want a long distance relationship at the time so I made the leap and stayed down here.

After much thought and deliberation a few months ago, G and I decided to take a chance and explore our job options in DC. Side note, this was way before the engagement. After sending a few emails, it became very apparent that we were getting signs that this was the right opportunity for us. Not 24 laters from my first email did I find out that there was an opening in my old office. And two months later, that position is mine.

I am so blessed that I have been given this opportunity again. Not only am I simply being reinstated (no starting over here) but they are paying relocation expenses as well. I will be back in DC in less than 2 weeks in my old office.

G has decided to remain down here for the first bit as his department asked him to remain there until the end of the year. We'll see if he stays that long, but it's the best decision for us. Considering we have a wedding to pay for and debt we want to pay off, both us having good paying jobs seems like a win-win. And it gives him a lot more time to find a job up there too. Even though I don't like the idea of being away from him, I know its only 2 months and temporary.

We've kept this pretty hush hush during the discussion of it, the possibility of it, and even when it came to fruition simply because we hadn't told our jobs yet and more importantly, I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up on my side. Also, it was out of respect for his family and friends too who were the one's being affected the most. G has grown up in GA for most of his life and this is his comfort zone and this is where his family is. But now its all a reality (for me at least). G is still working on an official end date with his superiors.

So if you see me and I look tired, stressed or overwhelmed, now you know why. Planning a wedding and a big move all in a few weeks is one Major Adventure. Add on top of that, being away every weekend so I'm losing out on prime planning and packing time, yeah I'm probably crazy. But it will all be worth it in the end. You only have one life right?!

Until next time,

Christina

PS/Disclaimer ~ If you are stopping by from facebook and are friends with both me and G, please only post responses on my facebook page. He is friend's with some coworkers and not everyone in his office knows of his departure since they are still working out the details. Thanks everyone!!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Wedding! Wedding! Wedding!

Hi All,

So I know I have been MIA from blogging lately but its because I had news that I just couldn't share with you yet. But now that we have announced it, I can say it - we are getting married! Most of you already know this because its all over facebook so its not really news to you. But now I can blog about the planning process and the stress that comes with it (happy stress all the way though).

We have decided to get married in 6 months. 180 days from today to be exact. March 30, 2013. Why are we getting married so soon you might ask? There is a perfectly logical explanation: we don't want to get married in the summer ($$$ and too hot here in the Atlanta area), we can't get married in the fall (college football anyone?!), and we certainly don't want to wait until Spring of 2014 (we've been together for 3 years so we don't need a getting to know you stage built in to the engagement). So Spring of 2013 it is. And we found that we can just squeeze in cheaper prices a bit by staying in March so 3/30 it is. Easter weekend no less so it'll bring the family together for sure.

So after narrowing down the time frame, we knew we had to hit the ground running. So off to site visits we went. To be honest, we only went to 2 official visits. We received a lot of email information from various sites though. We knew going in to it approximately where we wanted to have the ceremony/reception. Canton St in Roswell is not only beautiful up and down the street but it has many different venues in the surrounding area. After going to one site, we ventured to the one we absolutely loved. Founders Hall. Not only was it beautiful inside and out but the lady we'll be working with is just so very pleasant and nice that I know we are in good hands. It especially helped that we had my future in laws with us because they knew just what questions to ask and they absolutely loved the place too. So we officially booked an evening wedding at Founders Hall.

After that, G's dad hit the ground running with the rehearsal dinner after finding out what we were thinking- a laid back casual affair that included bbq somehow. There is a perfect little spot right near Founder's Hall named The Yellow House. It is a joint venture of two co-owned restaurants within walking distance (Swallow at the Hallow for bbq and Greenwoods for chicken). You can have items from both restaurants which is fantastic and its a beautiful venue. G's dad and his wife went to check it out and sent us pictures. Its so cute and lovely inside and we know the food is perfect. So mark that one off the list too.

After we got the venues set up, we made our to do list. And let me tell you, its a doozie of a list. Slowly but surely we'll get it done. We almost have the hotel blocks firmed up (Doubletree in Roswell and hopefully Holiday Inn in Roswell) and we finished our registries this weekend (the most fun ever). If you want to get a head start (cough, cough), we are registered at Macys, Crate & Barrel and Target... Just kidding on the head start. But if you want to see them, they are available for public view already. Crate & Barrel has an open house soon so we'll hit that up for free food/drinks even if our registry is pretty much done there.

So I feel like we've accomplished a lot so far. But we still have a list that keeps growing. We already went to the caterer's open house (no worries there, the food was amazing) and have a meeting set up to discuss our food selections. The biggest item on our list that needs to get done is firming up the invite list, getting addresses and sending out Save the Dates.

I'm definitely enjoying the ride though even if it is exhausting.

Until next time,

Christina