Nope, still no word on the house. Apparently there is some question on who is first on the title—the first or second mortgage and it needs to be figured out. All we can do is wait. We’ve been looking at other houses in the process and found some alternates, but none we have bid on and these things are selling like hot cakes. I don’t want to get in a bidding war with 5 other people when there’s so many other houses out there but we might need to start moving faster too. I think it’s just because we have “our” house waiting for us. We’re not in a rush but I would like to seal the deal sometime in the near future. We have to give our notice to the apartment complex by May 15th (conveniently my birthday) so I don’t think it’s asking too much to know something by then. It’s now been 1 month exactly since we bid on the house…
Outside of thinking about the house we’ve been pretty busy lately. I’ve been working a lot with the second job, and thankfully baseball (our busiest season) is almost over! That keeps me working at least 3 days a week, and we have tennis going on right now too. After that things will really slow down and then I’m taking the summer off, undetermined as of yet if I’ll be coming back in the fall. We’ll see!
Last weekend I came home for my friend Becky’s wedding. It was a fast & furious trip home but so much fun and jam packed. I landed in Bloomington around 10:40 Friday night, and my brother picked me up and we went to Steak & Shake (had to squeeze in a visit to SnS!) Saturday morning was Braydon & Kage’s first soccer game so I got to go see that and then we grabbed some McDonald’s. Then it was time for the wedding. The wedding was really pretty, and the reception was so much fun. Icing in the cake—it was at the DoubleTree and I LOVE the DoubleTree so I got room there and slept like a baby. The next day all my mom’s family was over making Easter candy so I got to see them too. That night I went to see my sister & her kids so I saw as many people as I possibly could in 2 days I think! The flight back was fine…a little annoying though. I was standing in line near some college students who have apparently been living under a rock—they had no idea you couldn’t take liquids on the plane and kept complaining about it. I’m like really??! It’s been this way for YEARS! Then, on the plane I had a 3 year old kicking my seat the whole way. I was having a very hard time showing restraint, but what could I do? The mom mouthed “Sorry!” I’m thinking…I don’t need you to be sorry, I need you to make her stop! Make her sit criss-cross or something, try telling her no! Something! And on top of that we had 130 mile per hour headwinds, which slowed us down by like ½ an hour. Yuck. I guess that was making up for the wonderful flights I had on the way to Illinois—I was the only person in the entire 6 seat row! It was glorious :) haha
As going to a wedding always does, it made us think about our own and we had to make some decisions. So it will definitely be out here in Arizona at Cibola Vista Resort & Spa where we own our timeshare. (Did I mention we bought a timeshare after that free night? We did, very happy about it too). We are keeping it as small as possibly while still inviting the necessary people. If it was totally up to me it would be & Ivan on an island, literally nobody else. But that’s not going to happen so the compromise is keeping it small. With that said, don’t be offended if you don’t get invited! Of course we would have everyone under the sun there if we could but it costs money you know :) haha And we’re thinking about having some cook-outs or something back home later on so you will definitely still get to celebrate with us. You just won’t have to suffer through the boring part of the wedding, and all the expenses of flying to Phoenix (and sitting outside in the heat in June). Consider it a favor! Haha So we have chosen our bridal party—Jyll (my sister), Heidi (my sister-in-law), Megan (bf since kinder), and Celeeste (bf since college). Ivan is having three of his childhood friends- Tommy, Sylvester, Jelani, and his cousin Graley. We decided to keep the party small—you know some people have like 10 people stand up with them but I think it just gets a little crazy at some point, and in the spirit of keeping things simple we stopped at 4. And we figure we’re already asking people to fly out here and book a hotel, rent a car or shuttle etc, so we’ll let the rest of our friends just enjoy themselves! Haha As of right now we are not going to have a flower girl or ring bearer. Obviously the flower girl would be Maddie as she’s the only girl (old enough) out of our nieces & nephews, but there are way too many boys to choose from! (Braydon, Kage, Connor, Clay, Evan, Drew, Dawson) For me it’d be all or nothing, I’m not choosing between them all and certainly can’t have a pack of 7 little ring bearers...or could I? Plus, again, it’s really just an added expense for their parents, which Jyll & Heidi are already in the wedding, and everyone will be flying out etc. I told Ivan I think we should have our little girls (Lucy & Charlie) be the ring bearers but he’s frowning on that. I’ll keep working on him though :) We can just tie the rings to their collars and they’ll run straight down the aisle when they see us. Hah What else…I guess that’s about all you need to know. I’ve got a list of caterers, bartenders, DJ’s, and a photographer & flower lady. I’m pretty sure I have favors picked out, the bridesmaid dresses are chosen, I’ve got my dress narrowed down I think. I’m all about seeing something I like and then just choosing it because too many options and too much time makes things so much more difficult, as my dad says “Think long think wrong.” So I see it, like it, book it. Done! I just want this to be as fun as possible, and more importantly, relaxed! I don’t want it to be too formal, I want it to feel small and just like a fun gathering of friends and family, I want to be able to actually spend time with people. Right now I think the only thing I can’t make up my mind about is what to have the guys wear…if I want to keep it semi-casual I don’t want them in tuxes, and I also am considering the fact that it will be 115 degrees out! So I want them comfortable and cool as possible—so I don’t even know if I should do a full suit , should I do light colors? Linen suit? I’m stumped on the guys really. Because my girls will be in black dresses so I don’t want the girls to look way more formal than the guys. I will just be doing some picture research on the internet, but will take any ideas! Whew, so that’s that.
I got chosen for the River Rampage volunteer program I had mentioned!! Quick recap: This river outing will consist of special needs kids and disadvantaged kids. They earn their trip by doing 40 hours of volunteer service. As a mentor I will be paired with some kids and help them meet their volunteer hours, and then go on the trip with them. It’s a week long camping/white water rafting trip in Utah. I’m so excited! And scared of course! So I will be doing that June 22-28th. There are three different trips throughout the summer and I had really hoped for a later trip but this is the one they need me on. Unfortunately this means I won’t be able to go with Ivan to Indianapolis for one of his friend’s weddings. That was pretty disappointing. But this trip might never happen again (yeah I know neither will the wedding…) With budget cuts happening all around us this could be the last year for the trip and I think it’s an awesome program so I want to be a part of it.
Although I can’t get to the wedding with Ivan this is the first year I will be going to his family reunion. Ever since I’ve been invited I’ve always had something else going on—I was in Florida, in Detroit for a concert, working, in Africa, etc. So this year is the big year, and I think it’s fitting since we’re actually engaged. And Ivan’s mom told me that each year they go around and say what they’ve been up to and everything. I guess last year Ivan said he was planning to propose sometime, so this year I’ll actually be there. I told Ivan people probably think he made me up or something because for the past 7 years he’s been showing up saying he has this girlfriend Chelsey but conveniently she’s always traveling elsewhere on reunion weekend! Anyway, this year it is Memphis and I’m excited. Every year they have a theme also, like last year it was white—so everyone was wearing white dresses and everything. This year it’s a Jamaican theme, so bold colors, etc. I’m just excited to go shopping for some dresses for the reunion. Haha
Well I guess that’s about it…I’ll get going
