The wedding of the century

Bridesmaids dress - $203
Alterations - $110
Updo hair style - $75
Seeing Dave and Kerry get married after 9 years of dating? Priceless.

Congrats Kerry and Dave!

View pictures here

Some photos from the weekend

This weekend I had the pleasure of going to a friends wedding, and getting to catch up with some good friends from college that I don't spend nearly enough time socializing with. Of course, the fact that we are now spattered all over the country probably doesn't help that... most of us are still in NH, but some of us (who shall remain nameless... Kerry and Dave) moved to California.
Anyway, I wanted to get some photos I took from the reception up into my blog, both so that I could share them with my friends, and so that I could let you all see and decide how pregnant I look :-)

You can see all the photos from the wedding here

Bitter Sweet Goodbye

Well, today was my last day at Seacoast Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. It was a really bitter sweet thing, though. I thought I was ready to leave and move on, and just when I decide to do that, things start going right again, and I realize how appreciated I was there. I even got a Christmas gift from a physical therapy office that I worked with! It was so nice! Today we had our office Christmas party, they gave us all bonuses this year, and then as people were getting ready to go, they gave us all fleece jackets with the logo embroidered on! They're really nice, very comfortable! I wore mine home. I actually started crying in the car when I left, because it was starting to hit me on the way home that I wasn't just gone for the long weekend, but that I was gone! Everyone kept telling me to come back and say hi and to stay in touch. John even said that if I wanted to go back to work their, they would probably take me back. I'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll hate substitute teaching and things with the state won't work out. I've only got 39 days left to get a job with them. If things don't work out... I don't know. I'll just have to start taking everything one day at a time.

On a much happier note - tomorrow is Christmas eve! I can't believe it! I'm excited for the holiday, but at the same time, I don't really feel it this year. Like, I know I've been hearing the music and shopping and wrapping and hearing the stories read at church, but for some reason, it's just not the same. I think part of it may be that John and I are going to a wedding tomorrow at 4pm, which should be lovely! It's Sarah's mom, who's my moms best friend, and we're really happy for her. I think what the problem is is that my parents forget that we're coming for Christmas too, not just for the wedding. Every time I talk to them, they're like "Oh, we'll see you in time for the wedding!" "Oh - [this] about the wedding" "Oh, [that] about the wedding!" And Sarah, I know you're going to see this, so I just want you to know, I'm REALLY not complaining about your moms wedding - I think it will be great and I'm so happy for her! I think what it is though, is that we're not having a Christmas dinner with the family, and my parents have forgotten that Sunday is Christmas.

ANYWAY... I digress. I guess that's about all I have to talk about - I'll update again after the holiday(s), and we'll go from there.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Yay Sarah and Chad!

Sarah and Chad's wedding was so great! It was nice to see everyone at the wedding, and Sarah looked so happy! Pyper was adorable, so it was so fun seeing them all dance together during Sarah and Chads dance was so wonderful! I'm so happy for them! Weddings are so much fun! My sister-in-laws wedding is coming up in just under 2 weeks, I wonder if she's flipping out yet... Sarah, if you read this - everything went so smoothly and you looked wonderful! I hope you're happy with the way the day went! Can you believe we're old married women now? =) Call me or e-mail me when you get home for your honeymoon. I hope you had a great time!
Anyway, things here with me? Same old, same old. I'm going to post pictures from Sarah and Chads wedding tonight, so people will have to check out my photos thing: http://pg.yahoo.photos.com/ph/mcardin81/my_photos. But there really isn't anything much for me to write about unless people want me to gush on about how great weddings are and stuff like that. Oh! John and I went apple picking today. That was fun, since the weather was so nice.
Anyway, we're going to church tonight, so I suppose I should take care of unpacking and what-not... Talk to you all later!

Such a quiet day

Today must qualify as one of the most boring days ever in my life! There isn't a whole lot to report right now. I'm still waiting to hear from DCYF. I was told I would hear from Rochester the beginning of last week. So much for that happening. Oh well. I do hope I hear from them soon, because otherwise, I'm going to go crazy this week. I need to be able to tell something to the job I'm at, because I found out the other day they're already interviewing for my job. That's fine with me, except for that I could be there as long as until March, and it's not fair to anyone to be interviewing for a job that isn't even open yet.
Yesterday I went shopping and bought a new outfit to wear to Sarah's wedding and Jen's wedding (gasp! Yes I fully intend to wear the same outfit to both weddings, despite them only being 2 weeks apart). That was pretty fun. Friday night John and I went out to dinner, so that was nice too. Today, however, was so boring! John played on his computer most of the day, and I "played" on my computer most of the day. I put played in quotes because I can only stand to play computer games for so long before I feel like my brain is being fried. However, I played Bust-A-Move today, in honor of my former roommate, Kerry, whom I miss very much. She and I were great at that game, and it two days, I've made it to round 48. We always played that game when we were angry about something because it's hard to stay upset when you hear the music for the game. It gets a bit repetitive after a while, but even still...
Let's see... Well, like I said, it was a very dull day. I need to try to connect with friends and stuff better, but I don't always know how to get a hold of people. Sarah C., I'm sorry I didn't come to your Mary Kay party, but I didn't really have the extra money this month to spend on make-up (or gas, for that matter). I really want to get together with you, but I know you're crazy busy with wedding plans, so sometime after you get all settled back in afterwards. Kerry, well, it's a little difficult to get together on a regular basis, but I just want to try staying in touch better. I miss you! I miss all of my old roommates, and it was so great to finally at least see everyone face to face at my wedding. Now I just want to get together with everyone for real!
John is well. He started teaching again last week, and so far the kids are good. So far. =) We'll see how long that lasts.
I guess that's about it for now. I could probably go off on a few good rants, but it's nothing that I want to post online. =)
Take care everyone!

Life as a married college graduate

Well, first off, the wedding went so smoothly! I couldn't believe we didn't have a single problem the whole day! Everything went fine, everyone showed up when they were suposed to, we ended up with really good food at the reception, and we got rave reviews about our DJ! All of the pictures are up on http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/mcardin81/my_photos and just follow the one that says wedding. As soon as we get some back from the photograper and can get them scanned in, I'll upload some of the great professional ones too.
Our honeymoon was fantastic also! We drove to Searsport, ME, and stayed for two nights, then on to Port Elgin, New Brunswick for two nights, then on to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. While in Searsport, we ventured up to Bar Harbor, took a trolley tour of Acadia, which was really nice, and got a lot of great pictures. We did a small amount of shopping while we were there, too. Neither of us had ever been to Bar Harbor, so it was nice to visit. The next day we drove up to New Brunswick to stay in this REALLY nice place in Port Elgin, which is about 1/2 an hour north of Moncton, and maybe 45 minutes from Fundy National Park. This inn was AMAZING. They had the best food and the suite we stayed in was so nice! There are some pictures of it in the Honeymoon part one photo album at the same website. While we were in NB, we went to Magnetic Hill, which is a hill that you drive down, get into the left lane, put the car in reverse and then get "pulled" back up the hill! Want to know how it works? You won't hear it from me! =) It is an optical illusion though, but still cool none the less. Then we went to Fundy National Park for the afternoon, which was also great. The weather was nice while we were there, for the most part (we got some rain just as we were getting ready to head back out of the park), and we did a lot of hiking around in the woods. We went to see a waterfall and got some nice views while we were there. The park is about 80 miles, give or take, so there was a TON we didn't get to see, which was kind of sad. It would be very easy to spend a couple of days or a week exploring it. John and I both got tee-shirts at the visitors center, so that was a fun way to commemorate our trip there.
After Fundy, we went to see the Hopewell Rocks, which are these rocks that, when the tide is out, you can go explore the caves and crevices of them, but when the tide comes in, look out! It rises about 20-30 feet, and you can go kayaking around the rocks instead! There are some great pictures of them on in our photos. We made it back to the inn an hour late for dinner, but the innkeepers were great about it.
The last phase of our trip included Prince Edward Island. So, when we left Port Elgin, we stopped at Cape Jourimain, which had a lighthouse we could hike out too, plus some really nice pictures of the Confederation bridge, which is the 8 mile bridge that crosses into P.E.I. We hiked around there for a bit, then hopped back in the car and crossed over the bridge into P.E.I. Our first stop there was at Gateway Village, which has a tourist center for people coming into P.E.I., plus lots of little shops. We picked up some brochures, then drove around that part of the island to Charlottetown. After lunch and exploring Charlottetown for a bit, we headed up to the place we stayed in Cavendish. That place was really nice too. The suite we had was great and had this HUGE whirlpool tub in it. We went out to dinner in New Glasgow that night, to a really fancy restaurant. I tried muscles for the first time, and John had salmon that was cooked on a piece of cedar wood. The dinner was good. The next day we saw the Green Gables house, from the Anne of Green Gables books (NOT the one from the movie - not to be confused, this was not that house) and hiked through the "haunted" forest. That was cool. Then we moved on to Avonlea. This was the town from the Anne of Green Gables books and they have people that dress up like all of the characters and play the roles of them there. Every 15 minutes or so they do another skit somewhere around the town, so that was kind of neat. Next we went to the Cavendish Boardwalk. There are a bunch of little shops there, and John got a "Red Dirt Shirt" there, and I got a PEI Dirt Visor. They're dyed with the red dirt and mud in PEI. Then it was lunch time for us, and then we headed to the Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum. There was some really cool stuff there! After that, we drove to Kensington to go to Woodleigh Replicas, a place that has all scale replicas of medieval castles and chapels and houses and such. Some were large enough to go into, some were only like up to our waists, but they were all really cool. After that we went back to Cavendish and went to the beach. We have some beautiful pictures of Cavendish beach up on the photo site, so check those out. All of the dirt, more or less, is red, so a lot of the beach is red. The sand was brown, like normal beach sand, but the beach itself was just gorgeous. After that, it was dinner at Rachel's Restaurante, and then we went out to the Boardwalk again so I could get a visor for my sister and some chocolates for my parents.
When we went home the next day, we made a couple of stops so that the drive didn't feel as long. We went to the reversing falls in St. John New Brunswick, then we stopped in St. Andrews for lunch, then it was on to Bangor, ME to get gas, then on to Dover to swing by John's parents house to pick up our wedding gifts, and finally home by 10:30 that night. It was such a great trip though, we got to see and do so much by driving! I'm so glad we did it that way. Maybe next year we'll take the Scotia Prince up to Nova Scotia to get to see that part of the Maritime Provinces.
So this week I've just been dealing with name change stuff and let me tell you: that has been the biggest hassle! Since I wanted my name to be Melissa Streeter Cardin, I figured I would just go to the social security office to change it. Well, apparently I can't just change my middle name, I have to go to probate court to do that. Not to mention, we (me and the woman that works at social security) discovered that social security and the IRS had my date of birth as September 19 instead of August 19, so that alone has caused enough problems. So for two days I was walking around with a legal name of Melissa Marion Cardin, and since my date of birth was wrong, they have to verify from the state (even though I had my birth certificate there) that I was really born Aug. 19. So it's going to take like a month to get the new card. So today I went to probate court and had my name legally changed from Melissa Marion Cardin to Melissa Streeter Cardin, and then I went back to the social security office, and waited two hours to have it changed again. Then she told me that they would put it in the computer, but since they still had to wait for D.O.B. verification, I probably won't get my new card for like a month. SOOOOO if I get hired on by the state, I'm going to have to bring like... my old SS card, my form from them stating my name was change to Melissa M. Cardin, my marriage certificate, and the court order that my name was changed to Melissa S. Cardin. But most of the major stuff is done anyway... not much more I can change. I just need to mail the stuff to the bank for my car loan and UNH and my student loan company. Then when I register my car, I'll have to take care of the name change there.
So, that's how I've been spending my time as a college graduate... still looking for my DCYF job, but I called the Rochester office and they said there should be two openings waived next week. That means that everyone HAS to start praying really hard about that =)
Okay, I'm going to wrap this up, my fingers are sore, and I've been working on this entry for about 40 minutes now. I'll catch up with everyone in due time! Oh, and in case you didn't know - mcardin81 on AIM!

All at once

Holy cow! So yesterday John and I had our new little kitten arrive at our apartment. Molly is her name and she's adorable! Anyone who wants to see pictures, just drop me an e-mail (mcardin@comcast.net) and let me know, and I'll send you the link to them online. She is such a riot, but she doesn't do very well sleeping at night... we're still working on that one. It is very fun having her around though.
Today we went to Kerry's for her graduation party. It was fun, and it was great to see a bunch of friends from UNH that I never get to spend enough time with! I love having that quality time with them to really relax and have fun. I don't think I have a greater social circle than the people I got to hang out with today, and I mean that! So all of you that are reading this that I saw today, remember that I love you all to bits and I miss each of you terribly! (Well, I don't miss John, as I see him every day - and that's NOT a bad thing at all!!!)
Tomorrow I work a full day at SOSMed, then Tuesday I have my LAST COLLEGE SEMINAR EVER!!!!! As of 11:01am on Tuesday, I can put the letters BASW after my name! That is so exciting! Then on Tuesday afternoon, I'm working from 12:00-4:30 at SOSMed. Wednesday I have to put in my last 8 hours at my internship by going to a training. Fortunately, that doesn't require me driving very far, just to the other side of Concord. Since Friday was my last day in the office in Rochester, the coworkers there threw me a little party. It was a lot of fun! They bought a cake and some ice cream and it was great! I almost started to cry when I was getting ready to leave the office. Hopefully the week after our honeymoon I'll be able to go back for a job interview, as there are 2 positions opening up there. We'll see... :-/
And finally, last but certainly not least, the WEDDING IS LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow, I can't believe it! I am SOOOOO excited and so happy!
I can't believe how everything is coming at once though. But you know, at least it's all good things that have been happening to make this month feel even better!
So, since I probably won't post again until after the honeymoon, I'll catch y'all on the flip side!

The beginning of an end

It really is, isn't it? Between finishing college and ending my life as a single person? In a couple of weeks though, it will be changing to the end of a beginning... Strange how that works...
In two seminars (just under two weeks) I'll be able to put the letters BASW after my name. That's so exciting! I can't wait for that, to finally be done with my bachelors degree. Albeit a couple years later than I had originally intended, but better late than never, right? I'm really excited about being done with school, but I'm still really nervous about finding a job... I really am nervous about where I'm going to work because I can't seem to find an open position in an office that is even remotely close to where I live now!
In just over two weeks, I'll be able to put a new last name before the BASW, which I'm INCREDIBLY excited about! The planning is pretty much done, and that's a relief. I'm mostly just nervous about everything coming together alright. But surprisingly, I'm not at all nervous about marrying John. In fact, I've never been so sure about anything in my life! He has been such a positive influence on my life and I am eternally grateful to God for letting us find each other... Just for everyone's reference, my name will be Melissa Cardin after July 30th, and my e-mail address as of right now is mcardin@alumni.unh.edu
Time to feed Chuck (my guinea pig) and change into my PJ's... night all!

Happy 4th of July!

Okay, so I know my subject is a day early, but I probably won't post tomorrow and I wanted to make sure I wished everyone a happy 4th of July!
I don't really have a whole lot to report today, but I figured I'd check in and let everyone know what I'm up to.
The wedding is only 27 days away! I can't believe how fast it's coming, and I am SO excited! John and I are just about all set, which is good - we've just about wrapped up the honeymoon plans, which was the biggest thing we still had to do. Next Saturday we meet with Sweet Meadows (the florist) and Christine at the Rochester Country Club to finalize all of those details. We need to work on our list of "definitely play" and "definitely do not play" songs for the dj and e-mail that to him, and I go to pick up my dress from the seamstress on the 15th! That's really exciting!!! It's going to look awesome!!!
Hmm, what else? Oh, I told everyone at my internship that I was leaving on the 22nd, and that I'm only in the office 4 more times before I'm done with my internship! That's CRAZY! But exciting, that means I'm almost done and that is THRILLING!!!!! I've worked really hard for this, and I can't wait to be done! Now I just have to finish writing up my process recording, and that means that the last major thing I have to do is a 15 minute presentation on testifying in court - right up my ally, huh? :)
Plans for the 4th? Well, today John and I have church, then we're going over to my parents for a cookout and to see the fireworks in Hancock. Then tomorrow we're coming back and Theresa and Chris are coming over to see our apartment for the first time and go to the fireworks here in Concord. It should be a good time. Theresa's bringing over the favors for the wedding, which is good. I'm excited to see how they came out!
I guess that's really about it for today. I've got to go eat some breakfast and finish writing up my process recording. Believe me, I will NOT miss these when I'm done!
Be safe and have a happy weekend!

Stuff 'n' stuff

I got an e-mail today from the district office supervisor at the DCYF in Manchester. I was so looking forward to getting to interview for an one of the three open positions I had heard they had there. In her e-mail, though, she said that they had one open position. "Okay," I think to myself, "that's fine. I'm a IV-E intern, they have to place me somewhere..." So I continue reading. "We need to have this position filled ASAP, so I cannot offer you an interview as you have not completed your degree. We are hoping to hire someone by the end of the week." Crap. So I sent back a very polite "screw you" e-mail, using the southern tradition of killing them with kindness.
Anyway, thats where I'm at with that right now. Wedding plans are coming along well, so that's good. John and I are going to get our marriage license tomorrow, which is good. That will make it feel somewhat official. For some reason I keep feeling like I'm overlooking something major, but there's not much else I can do at this point, other than go to the appointments with the reception hall, florist and then on the 23rd, the hairdresser. I still need to pick up my dress from the seamstress - it will be ready on the 15th.
If anyone out there in LiveJournal land has gotten married and can think of anything I might be missing, please e-mail me and let me know what you think. It would be much appreciated!
Tomorrow my seminar is at the Browne Center. I am so glad that I am almost done with this, and that I really only have about 4 weeks left of my seminar! As much as I usually enjoy ropes courses, I don't really want to do that tomorrow. Because now I'm going to do that, get all hot, sweaty and gross, then not be able to shower because I have to go get the marriage license and then go to work!
Anyway, it's really hot over in the corner with my computer, so I think I'm going to wrap this post up, and head into the bedroom, call my mom and try to cool down. John's playing Jedi Knight tonight, so I don't have much to do other than either sit outside or sit in the bedroom...

Life or something like it

Things around here have been so busy, but generally in a good way. John and I are all settled into our new apartment. We have a couch (albeit very ugly - but yay for supervisors at internships who just happen to have couch slip covers in the back seats of their cars!), and a pretty decent apartment for the two of us. I've enjoyed being here in Concord, it's nice having everything sooo close by - we can walk to Shaw's! Granted, we do our grocery shopping at the other end of the street, but it's nice KNOWING we can walk to Shaws if we need anything. We haven't had any major fights since moving in, which has been a big relief, since Theresa told me that all she and Chris did when they moved in together was fight. I was really nervous about it! But John and I have been getting along fine, and it's been really nice knowing that no matter how long or crazy our day has been, we'll still get to see each other at the end of it.
The month of May was just an over all crazy month. We didn't have any free weekends anywhere, so we were pretty much dead by the time Memorial Day weekend rolled around. And even that was busy on Saturday!
I had my college graduation (FINALLY) on the 21st, which went alright. It didn't rain, so I guess that was a huge good thing. It was cold, though, but I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too. I have no idea why though! :-) So as of right now I have 8 weeks of school left until I can be granted my bachelors degree. Now I am just frantically trying to find a job either in the Rochester DCYF, the Concord DCYF or the Laconia DCYF. Heck, I may even say Manchester too, but I've heard crazy things about that office.
We haven't really done any major wedding planning lately, but we are getting back the response cards pretty regularly now. I'm starting to think about how I'm going to wear my hair, what the flowers are going to look like, and other stuff like that. We need to book the honeymoon too. Oops :-)! So we're going to work on that at some point this weekend. I need to call the florist and the hairdressers and set up appointments and all of that good stuff. I'm going to get my dress altered on the 21st, so that will be good too.
This weekend we're heading to my parents to have lunch, so I suppose I need to wrap this up and head out. I'm going to try to be better about updating now that I have more free time - like... lots more :-D

Holy Cow

Okay, it's been well over a month since my last update. My apologies to those who look forward to their monthly dose of my ramblings. Things have been so busy lately, and are just now starting to wind down. I'm actually taking a break from a take home final I've been working on this afternoon. It's the only final I have this semester! WOO-HOO!!!! Can I just tell you how happy that makes me?
Overall, things have been going well. I'm not doing poorly in school, even though I thought at times this semester I was going to fail for certain. Plans for the wedding are coming along very smoothly, which makes me happy. I'm trying not to stress about that though. I just keep telling myself that if something doesn't go right, the only people that will know will be the members of the wedding party and my and Johns families. That thought has been keeping me sane for a lot of it.
Tomorrow I have an interview at the Rochester District Office for the possibility of getting a job there. It's not a formal interview, but it's just a chance for me to talk to the people there, say "this is what I'm interested in" and for them to say "this is what you'd be doing" and things like that. Then I have another interview in Concord on Friday. That one is going to be very fast though, because it's going to be during the lunch break of a training I'll be at that day. I'm a little nervous, but I think they'll go fine. I hope they will anyway. I need to make sure I print off copies of my résumé by tomorrow though.
I can't believe mothers day is this weekend already! I am going to mail my mom a card, because I can't get home this weekend to see her, but fortunately, since my Aunt Donna is coming home that weekend, we're going to get together and do something with my grandmother that day, since Mothers day is Sunday, my dads birthday is next Tuesday, and my grandmothers birthday is the Tuesday after that, we're just going to have a big party or something that day. I have to figure out what John and I are going to do as far as going home that weekend-it was another poor planning for me weekend. I'm going to be in Concord, then I'd have to go back to Dover, then back through Concord to get home that night. I guess I'll have to, since I think we're going to have to go home Friday night. My sister is going to the prom that night, so I may call Chris and Theresa and see if they want to get together with John and I.
Anywho - I need to get back to work on this final now, I suppose. Less than one week of classes left!!!

All Kinds of Stuff

Wow, I'm so behind in this thing! Oh well. I've been super busy with school and everything lately that I really haven't had time to update my journal.
School is going well, for the most part. Despite my several near-breakdowns, I've been handling things pretty well. I just finished up my first paper, and I still have two more to write. If I can make it through April 16th, I'll be all set. The rest of this semester will be pretty much all downhill from there. Classes are going pretty well, and I still (kind of) like my internship. It can be stressful, or there are days that I don't have anything to do. Since I can't carry my own case load, I pretty much just do whatever other people have me do. Monday, though, I'm interviewing Detective Harrington from the Dover P.D. to see how they work in conjunction with DCYF. Then I'm spending the rest of the afternoon working on paper #2. I'm feeling much more optimistic than I was a week to a week and a half ago. Maybe some of that has to do with the fact that I just took brownies out of the oven, and some of it has to do with the fact that it is beautiful outside, but either way, I'm still feeling good.
Wedding plans are going smoothly too. We've gotten all of the big stuff situated, so now the rest is just details. That makes me happy! John and the guys still need to get their tuxes though, but I think that's the last major thing for anyone. After that it will just be picking flowers, table arrangements, and so on.
Anyway, I guess I really only have one last thing to say - CONGRATULATIONS KERRY AND DAVE!!!! I'm so happy for you guys!
Alright, I need to get going. I have a ton of work to get done between now and 3pm. Catch you all later!

Stuff and stuff

I love Saturdays! I swear, Saturday has to be the most perfect day of the week! I don't have to get up early, I don't have to go anywhere, don't have to worry about classes or work or internships... it's just a wonderful day! It's nice to have a day in the week where you don't have to do anything at all. I spent a good chunk of the morning in my pj's and in bed, then I went to the gym to get buff, then John and I went to his house and I typed up part of a paper for my seminar.
School is going well so far this semester. I haven't had much of anything to get graded on yet. I had to write a learning contract for my internship and field seminar. I got a 93 on that. I had a quiz in my human behavior class. That didn't go so well, but oh well. I had a presentation for that class too, and hopefully I did well enough on it to pull the grade up a bit. I'll just have to study much harder for the next one. I need to do well in my classes this semester! It's amazing how concerned I am with my grades now. Did I tell you all that I made the deans list last semester? That's never happened before! EVER! I'm GOING to do well though. I've been working really hard this semester too.
I love my internship too. I love getting to go there. I'm starting to feel like I know whats going on, so that's good. I just started writing an agency analysis for my seminar, and that has actually been kind of fun, because it has allowed me to learn so much about my agency, and talk to people I haven't gotten to talk to much there.
I'm kind of sick of my actual job though. It pays well and all, but I'm so sick of the job! Not much I can do about that though. I keep telling myself that it's only until August, then I can officially start with the state.
I joined Planet Fitness this week. I've gone every day since Tuesday, so that's been fun. I forgot how much I enjoy going to the gym. It would be nice if there were someone there that I knew, or that would go with me, but I kind of like being able to work out at my own pace too. I get up and go before work in the morning, I'm usually there around 6am or so. I've been doing both cardio and weight training. It's helped me feel quite a bit better about myself.
But, things over all are going pretty well. The wedding plans are coming along, so thats fun. We're working on the photographer and florist still, but we're making headway on both. I just can't wait until August!

Ready to graduate

Oh my goodness, things are so busy!!! My semester is going pretty well, but I'm just so tired of having to be on the go all the time. It seems like no matter where I am, I'm getting ready to go somewhere else. I'm also tired of being broke! My classes are more or less interesting, which is nice. I'm taking SW 623 (Practice II), SW 551 (Human Development II), SW 640 and 640 A (Internship and Seminar). My days look kind of like this: Monday - Work 8-5, class from 6-9. Tuesday - Work from 8-10, Class from 11-12:30, Work from 1-5. Wednesdays - Seminar from 8:40-either 10 or 11 depending on if I have supervision that week, internship from 12-4:30. Thursday - Work from 8-10, class from 11-12:30, internship from 1-4:30, RCIA from 7-9. Friday - intern all day. By the time I get home at night, I'm exhausted. But, it makes the weekends that much nicer when they come. But when I say that I'm ready to graduate, I mean that it'll be great to be able to come home from work, not have to do homework, and be involved in other things without feeling like I should be somewhere else.
There are definitely some good things going on though. I still get to see John on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, which is REALLY nice. Monday and Tuesday days make me so ready for Tuesday nights by the time I get there! I will become officially Catholic in just over a month, which is really exciting. It doesn't seem like it would be that big a deal to most people, but this is a very big thing for me, and I'm very excited about it! Also, spring break is also just over a month away, which will be a much needed spring break. I was going to take the week off from work, but I think instead I'm going to just take off Wednesday all together so I can schedule a doctors appointment and a dentist appointment and an appointment to have a dress altered for my friend Theresas wedding.
ALSO, the wedding plans (speaking of weddings) are going really well! I picked up my dress on Saturday :-D and I didn't want to take it off when I tried it on that night! I'm going crazy not being able to show John, but it will be so much fun that day! I feel like a princess with it on!
Okay, I need to go shower so I can start the day. At least I'm feeling pretty good today, which makes a huge difference!
People start dropping me e-mails! I miss everyone!

Back to school

I can't believe classes start up again tomorrow... oh well - it's the last spring semester for me! The countdown is... 7 weeks to spring break, 17 school weeks until commencement, and 27 school weeks total until I'm done with my bachelors!!!!!!!! I'm sure everyone I know that's graduated already knows exactly how I feel right now - anxious, excited, and stuck with the biggest case of senioritis E-V-E-R!!!!
It's strange to think, too, that I will be getting married in 28 weeks! It really doesn't seem all that long when I look at it that way... but it's true - 194 days!!! I'm soooooo excited! I cannot wait to be married!!! I went dress shopping this weekend and got my dress. It had to be ordered and it will be arriving in about 6 weeks. 2 of my bridesmaids and my maid of honor and my mom were all there, so we were able to pick out the bridesmaid dresses too! That was nice. Then today, John and I went shopping and got our toasting flutes and cake knife and stuff. I got my garter yesterday too. It's been pretty stressful, but now we've got the church, the reception site, the dress, and the bridesmaid dresses. We're working on a DJ and a photographer now, and we've got to get our engagement in the papers, but after that, it's all just details, so that's good.
I should probably finish unpacking from the weekend too, I've got stuff all over my bed. I was hoping to get in some yoga tonight, but I don't think I'm going to, so maybe in the morning.

Stuff

Things have been going pretty well lately! I've been working a lot, which has been good. I started trainings for DCYF last Wednesday. I have another one coming up this Wednesday. I'm not overly excited, but I have to do 8 of them while I'm an intern, so I'm glad to get a jump on them.
This weekend was pretty good. Saturday was nice and relaxing, John and I spend a good chunk of the day just kicking around the apartment in our pajamas, and making pancakes for breakfast. We spent the rest of the afternoon at his house, and then at 4, we went to mass, because we knew we wouldn't make it to mass on Sunday.
After that, we had dinner at his house, then came back here and did various things, and watched Back To The Future on tv.
Sunday we had to get up early, because my parents, my sister and my cousin Bonnie were all coming at 9 am to go meet with a reception site at 10. We went and looked at Cottage By The Bay, and I think that's going to work out, if we can get to have a little bit of flexibility with the menu for the buffet. We're waiting to hear back from our contact person for there. I really like that facility, so I REALLY hope it works out. At 11, we headed over to Durham to go to the bridal show at the New England Center. That went well - we had some definite ideas come from there. We talked to a DJ and stuff, and they seemed pretty good. After that, we went out to lunch at La Festa in Dover. Then we took everyone to see the church John and I are getting married in. They thought it was really nice, so we were happy to hear that. Tonight, we're meeting with Father Cole to get started on paperwork and everything. Anyway, after seeing St. Josephs, we went to Great Bay Gallery & Catering to meet with them about a reception. They were pretty good, and it was good to know that I wouldn't mind using them if the other place falls through, but I didn't really like them as much. They're catering menu looked pretty good, so Mom wants us to see about trying to get something similar at the Cottage.
We've also changed the day from August 20th to July 30th, so as of today, it's 201 days!!!
Anyway, I've got to get ready for work. Ugh. Can it be Friday again yet?