Remaining Strong

Alright... so my life... has been... interesting in the last few weeks. I was really struggling with some emotional stuff (as per my last post) and have since gotten most of those cleared up and am feeling much better. Well, almost that was until this past Tuesday. Andy, his parents, and I met with our financial adviser yesterday morning to go over what payments and closing costs are going to look like. She estimated everything on the higher side but oh wow was that discouraging! Things were not explained to us properly when we first started this venture so now it's like um.. yeah... Anyway.. I'm sure we'll be able to work it out but it's definitely all kinds of stress. Speaking of the house, Andy and I went to see the progress on Sunday. All the siding and shutters are on and looks as though all the plumbing, electric wiring, and duct work is installed. Yay!!! I can't wait to move in! I'm thinking it's not going to take nearly as long to get it finished as we initially thought, which would make me even more happy!

Today, Andy and I went to hhgregg to look for appliances for the house. We originally found a fantastic deal for the four kitchen appliances (stove, over the range microwave, refrigerator, and dishwasher) in stainless steel. For all 4, it was only going to be $1999 plus tax, delivery, and extended warranties. I thought that wasn't a bad deal, especially for stainless steel and the fact that the stove is a flat top. I love the look of them; however, I have heard that stainless steel is difficult to keep clean. Fingerprints show up very easily. Since you all know I am not the greatest housekeeper, I'm thinking this probably isn't the best option for us, especially since Kristi loves to put her fingers on everything and we're planning to have more children. So we decided to do some shopping around--hence the trip to hhgregg today. I am happy to say that we found the same set of appliances, in black, with the warranties and free delivery for $50 less!! Yay! So awesome! We also checked out Best Buy but they were oober expensive.

Anyway... While down in Hagerstown, MD, we hit up Pier One Imports, Home Depot, and Bed Bath & Beyond. Since the house is a bi-level, the living room, dining room, and kitchen are all in one open room. We were originally going to do sage green there and royal purple in the bedroom (wall color/theme). The first store we went into was Pier One Imports which is one of Andy's favorite places to shop (I know.. a guy that likes to shop??). We were looking at possible choices for dishes and came across a set called Tranquil. Andy and I both just oohed and ahhed over them. They're not only gorgeous--and a little girly--but also square, which we both wanted! They're not terribly expensive either--always a plus! Ultimately, seeing those works of art made us decide to change the color of the living/dining room area to a similar blue. Since we currently have an African theme, we're going to do the kitchen (there's very little wall space that'll need to be painted) in a muted red. It's going to be freaking awesome and I can't wait! So after Pier One, we headed over to Bed Bath & Beyond. Because we changed our minds about the color scheme in the living area, we decided to use the original theme now in our bedroom (that was originally going to be royal purple). We found the most amazing Dana 20 piece comforter set in a beautiful sage green and chocolate brown. After checking those out, we went over to look at curtains and found the perfect curtains for the bedroom, living room, and dining room/kitchen. The series of events totally reminded me an episode of Gilmore Girls where Lorelei is planning her wedding to Luke with her best friend Sookie. They decide to go to a neighboring town to look at invitations. After passing the invitations store, Sookie pulls Lorelei into a dress shop. When she turns around, she sees the perfect dress (which, btw, is the title of the episode). From there, all the details fall into place for her wedding! That's exactly how I felt today!

So after doing our "wanting" shopping spree, Andy and I were absolutely starving! Although we planned really well by making sure we had all the meals needed for the entire day with us, I decided to take them out of my purse and leave them in the car while shopping! Uh yeah... not a smart idea. The strip mall where the stores were located had all these amazing restaurants and one in particular that he and I both love: Chicago Uno. I haven't been to one since I was pregnant with my daughter so I was sooo excited. I remember taking a look at the menu posted online a few weeks ago when we went to the Inner Harbor and there really isn't much that would be OP. So... drum roll please...... Andy and I went back to the car and ate a Medifast meal instead of walking to the restaurant! I know that seems like not a big deal but for those of you who know us know that was no easy feat! So, I'm super proud that he and I made the choice to stay OP. It was difficult for us but we feel really proud of ourselves for making the right decision (for once... LoL!). 

Thursday morning I started thinking about what other things I could consolidate right now for packing that wouldn't be missed and decided to start with all my cd cases. Since I have 3 flip cases to put them in, I'm going to pack away all the individual plastic cases. This led me to start cataloging what I have, but not everything. I decided to only worry about the ones that are burned mixes, since I have no idea what is on most of them and most of them are not labeled other than the Courtney's Mix #7, Soft Mix #4, etc. Wow was that a blast from the past! I found a few that had everything from NSYNC and 98 Degrees to Neil Young and Celine Dion. So far, there's only one cd that I have no clue what is on it and can't seem to find any info on the songs. They're really pretty ones though. They almost sound like ones from movies. We're making a great deal of progress in the basement. My goal was to have everything gone through and organized by the time Kris came back on Sunday but it's not looking like that's going to happen. There's just not enough time with Andy working overtime right now. We did make a pretty good dent last Saturday. We spent about 2 1/2 hours going through boxes and organizing stuff we want to keep, throw away, and yard sale. Our friend Wendy came over and helped us out, cut my hair, and watched 2 1/2 Star Trek movies with us. It was a really great time!

So last Thursday, 8/5 Andy got pulled into the office at work and was told that they need him to go back to second shift receiving. I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I mean, on one hand it's a blessing because he'll be way less stressed but on the other hand it sucks. The thing that upsets me the most is that he won't get a chance to see Kris during the week because she'll be at school before he wakes up and gets home after he leaves. He's on overtime right now which totally bites because I only get to see him for like 2 hours before he has to leave for work. I know it's a blessing but there's that little twinge of sadness from not being able to spend much time with him. I'm trying really hard to not be selfish and support him but it's definitely hard.


Okay.. I'm really thinking this is long enough. LoL! Until next time: health, happiness, and blessings!

♥Courtney♥