Ok...we're getting there

So, the new blog isn't up yet, but I did want to address something.  I've been asked a couple times what the "non-wedding items" are that are so exciting.  Apparently, some people let their minds wander to the extreme.  Let me be the second to say (Mary would be the first), that there is no reason to jump to any conclusions, our family isn't going to be getting bigger, there is no bun in the oven, etc.

So, if anyone was thinking that the aforementioned was the exciting news, sorry to disappoint.  I thought that buying some cool new things for our condo (furniture, tv, etc), would be exciting enough.  Maybe it's just more exciting for me.  Whatever the case is, I just wanted to be very clear about that!

And yes...new blog still coming soon :)

We Now Return To Our Previously Scheduled Wedding Planning

Some of you may already know, but yesterday, Mary and I moved into our new home!  The day started at 8:30am at my sister's place so the movers could pick up all my boxes, my dresser, tv, chair, bar, computer(s) etc.  That took just less than an hour, but after the first few boxes were loaded, I could already tell that I would be very thankful for hiring movers by the end of the day. 

The movers and I then headed to Mary's apartment, we got there just before 10:00am.  With the exception of a dresser, everything in Mary's apartment got moved!  Bentley was there and he was very confused with all the people coming and going.  The boxes weren't too bad.  The difficult items were Mary's couch (with two built-in recliners) and her love seat with a pull-out bed.  Both were really heavy!  Fortunately, Mary lived on ground level with only three small steps.  After another hour and a half or so, it was off to the condo.

It was at that point that I was REALLY glad we hired movers.  They had to carry everything up the back stairway to our second floor unit.  After about two-thirds of our things were moved in, it started to rain...a lot!  All the furniture was covered and the the contents of the boxes were all fine.  For the most part, everything went great (one small bookshelf incident), and after five hours, everything was moved in!

Mary, her Dad and I went to grab a quick bite to eat before retrieving Bentley from Mary's apartment to finally bring him "home."  We unpacked and organized things for several hours before finally retiring for the evening with a bottle of champagne and a frozen pizza!  Now that floor-refinishing, cleaning and moving is over, we can get back to the task at hand.  Only two and half weeks to go!!

A (long) Overall Update

So my wish to catch up on all past blogs a couple weeks ago did not quite work as I had hoped.  I was able to post a few, but shortly after, I was right back to my to do list and our website (unfortunately) was not my top priority.  I'll try to just abridge some things so that you don't get too bored reading this.

1. About a month ago, I was able to finalize the entire flower order.  We decided to start with Del's Florist, which is the flower shop that our church regularly uses, and although I was not able to make an appointment because they were closed the day I call, the woman at the shop was gracious enough to meet with us anyway when we just showed up one day.  We told her we did not live near by and we were completely fine if she had to help anyone if they came in to the shop, so I think that because we were polite and understanding, she was understanding of us as well and helped us right then and there.  I brought tons of pictures of flowers that I liked from magazines, but unlike when I collected pictures of bridal gowns, there was not a strong common theme amongst what I liked.  Thankfully, the woman was extremely nice and would give me much more information when I asked for it since I don't know much about flowers.  I generally knew what colors I wanted though and between her suggestions and input from my parents, I think we picked some great arrangements.  At least for the flowers, it was one-stop shopping!  I am anxious to see how they will turn out, although I am sure they will be great. 
 
2. I finalized all the pieces to the gifts for my bridesmaids.  I can't say much more here since I know at least one of them reads the blog regularly, but I am glad to have everything for those and I am excited to give them their gifts.
 
3. I had to send in our first "final payment" for the wedding last week.  With each thing that I check off my list, I realize it brings us that much closer to our big day.  But there is something about getting into the "final payment" stage that makes me see that it is not that far away any more.  In fact, we only have a few weeks!
 
4. In and amongst all of our planning, we were able to celebrate my grandparents' 67th wedding anniversary.  That's right, you read that correctly - 67 years!  And although they have their aches and pains just like any person does as they age, they both are so grateful to have one another through all these years.  It was a great moment for my family and I to be with them to celebrate and for Jack and I of course, a great reminder as to what unconditional love is as we prepare for our wedding day.
 
5. As Jack has noted in his recent blogs, much of what has been taking up our time is closing on our condo and all of our packing.  When it came to handling condo details, I pretty much left it all to Jack.  He certainly has done so much with our wedding plans, but now that we are heading into the final stretch, we are down to a lot of the little details that all along I just knew I would handle.  So, with that in mind, he took the ball and ran with it in finalizing our condo closing, setting up appointments with the floor refinishers, the people to come and clean the place before we move in, our insurance agent, the movers, etc.  He has just been an ENORMOUS help with all of this!  And one of the great things with Jack is that he didn't leave me in the dust to not know what was going on.  He'd keep me posted with where we were at with things, ask me my opinions and then go from there.  I am just so lucky to have a partner helping with all this!
 
I am long overdue in posting about the Minster shower, so I will be sure to get to that this week, as it was a fantastic afternoon that is worthy of its own blog.

We're Homeowners!

I think today was the second most anticipated day of the year for us.  Today, we closed on our new home, a condo in River West!  Our closing was this morning at 9:00am downtown.  So many people had made comments about how many papers we were going to have to sign that we expected our hands to fall off before it was over.  It wasn't nearly as bad as we expected, though.  We were done with all the paperwork just before 10:30, but the wire transfer from the lender took some time to go through.  So we sat around until about 11:30 until we were all clear and received the keys!

We immediately went to our new home to look around (as if it had changed any since our final walkthrough yesterday morning) and wait for our contractor to show up and give us a quote for re-finishing the hardwood floors.  That project will start next Tuesday and we'll be ready to move in by next weekend!  It's amazing how fast things are moving now.  Hopefully we can stop our heads from spinning in time to enjoy our wedding!

Update 8/30/2008 - Mary took this with her phone today after we realized I was already getting mail here!

Condo Update

We heard from our mortgage officer a few days with some good news.  Our loan was approved!  We weren't worried too much about it, but getting the final word certainly helps us breathe a little easier.  Mary already started packing, I suppose I should probably do the same :)