Oh that I may rejoice!

We got TONS of rain this past weekend and it was so, so wonderful. We kept our front door open as it poured down all Saturday afternoon and through the night. The temperatures are slowly but surely lowering, and dare I say it, it's almost feeling like autumn!

I have completed my first true crochet project. I don't really consider the few scarves that I've made anything big... but I made the CUTEST baby beanie hat for my great niece! I actually made 2, the first one wasn't terrible, but not as perfect as I wanted it to be. Of course, it's too small for my 3 month old great niece, but I think it will be perfect in January when Ashley has her little bundle of joy, Kylie. Speaking of Kylie, Ashley's baby shower is coming up! I'm excited to help plan and organize it... it's so much fun to be able to plan and craft all things baby without actually feeling the responsibility of parenthood.

I should totally post these pictures that I keep promising... like my apartment with pictures on the walls, our sponsored child from Haiti, Rose, and this hat that I crocheted. I promise, I will get around to it! I'm hoping that Ryan and I will get iPhones soon so uploading photos to the computer will be that much simpler.

Oh! And I think I'm finally getting the hang of this couponing thing. Like I've said before, I'm no extreme couponer... I just use a Sunday newspaper insert and occasionally some I'll find on the internet. I did, however, save nearly 28 dollars the other night at H-E-B! That's definitely the most I've ever saved with my coupons, but I also saved 19 last night. I'm getting pretty excited about this. :)

I love saving money... especially because I'm not exactly bringing a whole lot of it to the table right now. 18 hours a week at minimum wage just isn't cutting it anymore. I'll be SO SO SO ready to graduate and get a new job.

Tomorrow is my mommy's birthday. I love her so much.Definitely wouldn't trade her for anyone else's mommy. Ryan and I are taking her to lunch to celebrate. It should be a fun time. :)

Ryan and I are also going to Dallas this weekend for a friends wedding. It will be great to visit with my in-laws for a few days.

I think I'm finally out of my "funk." I'm enjoying life again... things are looking up. and up. and up. Praise the Lord.

Wet Carpet and Avoiding Wedding Disasters

Well, since the last time I wrote, our hot water heater (that in itself seems redundant... so I'll call it our water heater) leaked up THROUGH our floors into our hallway and our bedroom. How did I notice this, you ask? Well, our bed does not have a frame, so our box spring is sitting on the floor. While I was walking past the bed the other day, I brushed it with my foot and felt that it was wet. This really confused me because the carpet between the wall and bed wasn't wet... just the box spring. I'm guessing this is because there was the pressure of the bed on the carpet, I don't even know... I put one of our little fans on it hoping it would help but it didnt. ANYWAY, then I see a spot in the hallway. Thinking Ryan had just stepped there when he got out of the shower, I put a towel down to dry it up.

Well, we woke up the next morning, and the towel was SOAKED. So... I called maintenance. They were at our apartment within 5 minutes. I think they said it was a clogged overflow pipe or something like that. Okay, I'm really not savvy with the lingo, so that either made complete sense or I was way off.

They fixed the pipe or whatever, and then the carpet guy came and turned our bed up against the wall and proceeded to rip up our carpet in our bedroom. We've had 2 huge fans going since Wednesday. They said they'd be by to pick them up on Friday, but here we are 2 days later than that and they're still in my home. Grr.

On a happier note, my best friend Julie (who was also my maid of honor) got married yesterday. It was neat to finally meet the other bridesmaids (her friends from college) after hearing so much about them. I think everything went fairly smoothly. I'm actually glad her wedding was at 3pm instead of 7 like mine because, though we were exhausted when it was over, I was able to go home at like 630.

At the rehearsal, Kevin, one of the ministers who married them, said there would definitely be one thing that did NOT go according to plan, but that everything would be okay anyway. At the time, I kind of felt like he was jinxing it, but every wedding I've been to was that way, so it really wasn't a huge deal.

For Julie and Reed's wedding, it was her wedding dress. Poor thing. It was a lace-up corset top and the boning on her right side broke. The dress was still wearable, but it wasn't perfect, like every bride deserves. We all wanted so bad to fix it, but there was really nothing anyone could do. As I saw tears well up in her eyes, I had to get her away from any mirrors in the room because she kept staring at the dress and seeing imperfections. At the end of the day, it wasn't as noticeable as she feared, and it was still the happiest day of her life. I love her and wish her a lifetime full of happiness.

I'm a married woman!

This is my third week as a true grown up. I'm living in an apartment... with my HUSBAND! It feels so natural, so... perfect.

Our wedding in itself was perfect. I honestly can't remember how many times we've used that word, perfect, to describe the day. We drove to Abilene on our wedding night to stay in a hotel before driving to the DFW airport the next day, and the whole time we were grinning from ear to ear, repeating "Gosh, that was perfect... I wouldn't change a thing."

This being said, we DID get pulled over that night... for going 72 in a 65 (night time). Thank the Lord our friends had written "Just Married" on our windows, or the deputy might not have believed us.

No worries, we just got a warning. :)

Looking back, there were a few minor details that I was stressing over on our big day, but I just LOVE how everything unfolded. Simply beautiful. Just like I had always imagined.

Our honeymoon was beyond awesome! We went to Las Vegas (we both turned 21 in May, so this was perfect timing)! I had never been before, so just walking the strip and seeing all of the buildings, fountains, etc, was incredibly neat. Ryan was excited to gamble, but once we actually got down to it, we lost money way too quickly. We decided to have 40 bucks a piece to gamble at our own leisure, and I think I ended up losing a total of 10 on a slot machine and keeping my 30. Ryan, on the other hand, lost 20-30 real quick on one game of black jack, and decided to quit while he still had some money. He did, however, win $156 on a slot machine off of ONE spin that cost 40 cents while we were waiting for our dinner reservations... VERY cool. I swear, you would have thought we won at least $1000 with the way we reacted. It was such a blast. :)

Exactly a week after our wedding (the day after we got home from the honeymoon), my niece Ashley got married... to a gentleman named... RYAN. Yes, we both married Ryans. They are expecting a baby in January. So exciting... this means me and MY Ryan can hold off on the whole baby thing for a while and play with theirs! ;)

Speaking of babies... my nephew Jason and his wife Laura had their baby girl Layla on the 13th. I haven't been over to see her yet, because I won't be able to refrain from loving on her, and Ryan has been pretty sick for the past week or so and I don't want to give her anything... especially with her being 3-4 weeks premature.

I have found that I'm not as good of a cook as I'd hoped to be... but I'm having so much fun trying. It's always fun to have dinner ready for Ryan as he gets home from work (even though it IS at 9:30pm).

We still don't have the apartment as clean as I'd like it... but I mean, really, it's taken weeks just to get all the boxes from our wedding gifts out of here! Still in the process of moving the last of my stuff over here from my parents house... and we will hopefully have that completed this weekend.

I'm missing my mom and dad, and my fat little dog... but Ryan and I visit them often. I'm not sure if my dog will ever forgive me for moving out, but she's always excited to see us when we stop by.

I love my parents so much... and I'm so grateful for the way they raised me; knowing I deserved nothing less than perfect. And I thank God every day that Ryan fits that description.

I can honestly say I love my life right now... and I wouldn't change a thing.