YAY! I have bridesmaids!!

Well it's official and there's no turning back now!  I have asked 10 of my most FAVORITE people in the world to be by my side on our Big Day!  Everyone but Catherine should have gotten their "present" so no one tell the secret because Catherine has to wait until she gets to my parent's house to get her gift!  

     My FAVORITE people are Catherine, Brianne, Missy, Betsy, Aimee, Rachel, Jodie, Amanda, Ashley, and Hallie

(I am hoping that William, Emma, and Brenna will be walking by November!  So Brianne, Catherine, and Jodie...GET BUSY!)

The dress I chose for ya'll is Style # 621 in wine/euro wine from www.billlevkoff.com.  I am ordering the dresses from Dee's Country Bridal (740) 635-4177.  If you could go there to be measured or just call in your measurements by June 1st I would GREATLY appreciate it! Please don't worry about the down payment, as we are taking care of the dresses for you all.

I am SO excited to start including everyone in the details of the wedding.  So check back frequently for updates about the wedding and other things going on!

Update on the house

The house is coming along GREAT!  The hardwood floor guys were BUSY BUSY today laying the new floors in the bedrooms and sanding the current floors down.  They "think" they will be finished on Friday!  YAHOO!!!!!!  

Still no show by the tile guys...keep your fingers crossed that they show up eventually.  

The landscape is coming together slowly but surely.  The front of the house is bare because pretty much everything has been pulled out...now we just need to have new plants and bushes planted.  I don't have much of a green thumb or even really an idea of where to begin with bushes so we're hoping for some professional advice from the landscaper.  

Let the wedding plans begin...

I have been ONE busy girl (along with the help of my Mom and Dad) in beginning the planning of this wedding!  I want to take care of all of the "big" things so I can enjoy this time!  Here is what I have accomplished as of today.  We have set our date for November 1st, 2008.  I have also booked pretty much everything that I need to have booked.

Church - St. Jude Catholic Church with 4 piece string quartet

Reception - White Palace

Photographer - Mike Ewing

Flowers - Masterpieces

Hair - la Carezza de Cielo Salon

Cake - Cathy Weltz

DJ - Ted Williams 

Bridesmaid Dresses - Dee's Country Bridal

I am SO excited that everything is falling into place for us!!!!  

Andrew and I are ENGAGED!

Andrew suggests on Friday night at 12:00am that we go to Charleston the next morning. I am ALWAYS up for a roadtrip, so I agreed! Drew says he will book a hotel in the morning before we leave. We get up bright and early to leave and Drew "books" the Francis Marion Hotel for us to stay in.  We arrive in Charleston at lunch time and have a delicious lunch at East Bay Deli (our FAV).  Then, we drive around for a while.  Once we decide to check in to our hotel, Drew pulls in front of the Market Pavilion Hotel NOT the Francis Marion!  "What are you doing?", I ask.  He replies, "Checking in".  Of course I am elated because Market Pavilion is my FAVORITE hotel EVER!!!!!  We check in and head to the rooftop bar for some drinks in the sun and then walk around town for little bit.  At 6:15 we have another delicious meal but this time at an adorable little restaurant, Magnolia's.  We spent the evening swinging by the water and back at the rooftop bar.  It was a PERFECT day and PERFECT evening!

Sunday, we wake up and check out.  I by Drew new sunglasses because he brought me on such a GREAT little trip.  Then, we head to the Battery to take some pics.  We walk around and take some pictures of the view.  We sit down on a bench for a while and chat.  Drew thanks me for buying him the sunglasses and says "I have a gift for you too.  It's in my pocket."  I look confused.  He pulls out this box from his shorts pocket and my response is "Shut up".  I open the box and see an amazing ring inside and all I can say is "Is it real?"  Drew asks me to marry him and of course I said "yes"!  It couldn't have been a more perfect proposal!

Andrew is now my fiance!!!!  I can't wait to start planning our wedding!

Andrew closes on his house!

Andrew FINALLY closed on his house in Riverbend on Monday, the 31st.  We are SO excited about painting and re-modeling some things.  

I attend NCCAT!

NCCAT is The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching. NCCAT is a priviledge for teachers to attend because they pay for EVERYTHING...travel, meals, subs, etc. Something you can only understand if you are a teacher.

Five coworkers and myself headed to the mountains of Cullowhee, NC (the middle of NO WHERE) to spend the week on our Mac books and work on curriculum for our school for next year. Our district is giving Mac book computers to every student grades 4 through 6 this Fall.

It was SO nice to have my own room to sleep in, ALL of my meals were cooked, served and DELICIOUS, and no one bothered us while we worked 12 hour days surfing the internet and creating presentations!!!!!! We did have fun too, of course! You can't put 6 teachers together for a week and expect us to be all work and no play. We hiked, walked, shopped (at Wal-Mart), and talked (lots!). Basically, the week provided us with the UNINTERRUPTED time to work on curriculum. We got SO much accomplished! Here is a short video of our week.

http://animoto.com/play/LxarqV83U5zUYcyg5NajaA

Andrew locks in his mortgage rate!

Andrew locked in his mortgage rate on his house yesterday. He was able to get it under 6%. He locked in 5.87%. We close on the house on the 31st of this month. HOPEFULLY Andrew will have a wife for his house soon.