We are HOME!!!!

Actually we have been home for, well it will be 2 weeks tomorrow :O) I love this place!!! It is soooo beautiful!! So big!! I'm soooo excited. Ryan is too!! The move went really really well, better than I thought it would have gone. The moves got to the apartment at 9:o0am and went straight to work. There were 3 guys, in there 20's I would say and they just busted ass. It was amazing to watch. At 10:00 am Ryan and I left them and went and closed on the house.My dad came over to "watch" the movers for us while we closed. I am proud to say that I did not throw up on the closing agent. That whole closing thing had me very nervous. All those papers to sign. But we made it through it and no ones hand fell off from signing. We got back to the apartment at 11:30ish and the movers were just finishing up. I was floored. I can't believe what would have taken us a day to do these guys did in just 2 and 1/2 hours!! My dad said that they would carry something down the stairs and then run up all those stairs to the 3rd floor to get something else. They are nuts!! But AWESOME!!! We got to the new house at 12:00 pm and they went right to work. I had them put most of the stuff in the back spare bedroom till I could figure out what to do with it. But they did put our bedroom stuff in our room and even set up the bed for us. They put the furniture in the Family room just the way I asked them too, and the same for the desks being put in the other spare room. They were done by 1:30pm. AMAZING!!!!

We had sooooo many people visit us that day too. Family and friends who were excited and happy for us stopped by to check the new place out. I love having my door open to guests. We had wine coolers, beer, and snacks for them too. Lunch was sooo funny, my cousin Steph stopped by, with her to adorable kids :O), so her and I went to McDonald's to get lunch for everybody. My order went something like I need 10 double cheese burgers, 10 Mc chickens and how many apple pies do you have?? The lady actually went and counted. I took them all, 11 I think?? I wish I knew what those people were thinking?? I have a pic somewhere of our fabulous 1st meal in our new house. After lunch we pretty much went straight to work unpacking and putting things away. We had a lot of help and a big THANK YOU to all who helped or just stopped by that day, it wouldn't have been the same with out all of you. Mary ( my sister ) and Mary ( my sister in law ) unpacked my kitchen for me :O) My Pops put my curtain rods up, so I can hide my nakedness :O) Joe used his muscles and cut the shelves for the closets. My mom and his Mom ironed my curtains :O) I can't remember what else, but that's a good portion of the things going on that 1st day. We have pizza for dinner which was also very fitting. I loved it.

Ryan and I also brought the meow faces here that night. It was interesting. I don't know weather they were sacred or excited but they explored and had fun I think. Tinky did have a few problems which she solved by trying to sleep on my head. I did manage to get her under the covers instead, which I think was just as good as my head. I think?? Nizzy, is my fearless one, she explored and was just as happy as can be. Although she did sleep in Tinky's nest for a few nights, but she is over that now. Her favorite place is in the closet. Typical girl. They are completely at home now, and they LOVE running and playing on the stairs, which Ryan scolds them for. Its really cute.

Other than that we are just unpacking little, by little. We have all the major stuff done now it is just finding a place for all the other stuff. But we have a basement so I think a majority of it will be going down there till we need it. Hey that's what basements are for.

I do have to share one more thing. The other evening/night Ryan was outside adjusting the sprinklers and working a little bit on the yard and I was in the kitchen making dinner and it really hit me. THIS IS MY HOUSE!! THAT IS MY HUSBAND WORKING IN OUR YARD!! I'M COOKING IN MY BIG BEAUTIFUL KITCHEN!! It really felt like heaven at that point!! I am sooo happy, Ryan and I are the happiest we have ever been!!! We are sooo in love with each other!! Life is great and when the time is right for us we will start trying to have a family. I am soooo blessed!!!

Tee Hee Hee Its All Done!!

Guess what???? Our House is officially completed!!! I'm soooooo excited!! It is sooooo beautiful!!! I can't believe I get to live there. There are only 5 little thing left to do. The humidifier water line still needs to be hooked up. One of the closet doors are missing its handle. There is a little bubble under the vinyl in the Kitchen that they are going to fix. The front has to be sodded and the back seeded. A few paint touch ups. That's it, then it is all ours!!! So needless to say I really need to finish packing!! I wish we could just move today, but it won't be much longer. I think I can wait. I think...

On another note the mittens are having the best time around here. There are sooo many boxes to explore. They are climbing and jumping and hiding. Its crazy!! I think they know something is going on but I don't think they understand . Although they both like to jump into a box and meow for us to look I think they are saying "look mom, I'm all ready, aren't you proud of me?? They are soooo silly. I love our little meow faces.

So I'm going to go back to packing. Have a great weekend all !! :O)

Once again I have the GREATEST POPS EVER!!!

I know I brag about my dad a lot but he really is TOTALLY AWESOME!!! Our house is just about completed and we have our final walk though coming up. This is the last chance we have to make sure everything is correct before we close on the house. Ryan and I originally wanted to have my pops with us to make sure that everything is good, but we came to realize that it is just too much to ask of him to take off the day for the walk through and a day off for the move. So my awesome dad spent his day with me yesterday at the house looking over everything. I just think he is the best to have done this for me. I mean for a guy who only gets 2 days off a week, I know that most people only get 2 days off, but to spend the day with me at my house when he has a ton of his own things to do . It just show how giving and unselfish he is. He's the bestest and I really appreciate everything he does for me.

I can't believe that I am almost the owner of a beautiful house!! Every thing is just about done. The carpet was laid Friday so I got to walk on it, bare foot!! I know I'm a dork but it is sooooo soft between my toes. I can't wait to live the!! The kitchen is calling my name I can hear it. I want to decide in advance what the first meal I will cook will be. I think it needs to be something special and great. I know our first meal in our house will be pizza, beer, wine coolers, soda, ect. Not a real special meal be I think it is a traditional one for the first meal in a new house. Plus our fridge and stove won't be delivered till the following morning, so its not like we have a ton of options. But I want the first meal I cook to be awesome. I will have to continue to think about that. Other than that we are just packing like mad!!! Our apartment is completely torn apart you can hardly walk though it. Well its not that bad but it ain't that great either. But we won't have to deal with it much longer. Oh and I am sooooo happy we have our movers scheduled!! I was really dreading having to move all this stuff ourselves. It would have taken forever and been a ton of trips or we would have had to rent a U-Haul or something and walking up and down 3 flights of stair a billion times just does not sound like fun to me. The movers say that it will take them about 3-4hrs to get everything out and maybe 2-3hrs to unload so we will be moved in by 4:00pm-ish!!! This is a very good thing since we only have like 2 days to move and turn in the keys to this place.

Now I have to get back to packing but here are just a few pics.

Basement - all insulated and ready to go.
Also see all the lights!! NO SCARY BASEMENT!!!

The black granite in the master bath.
It looks sooo cool!! I love it :O)

O.k that's it :O) I thought I had more but I guess not.

Oh the Anticipation

Heheheh!!! I am sooo excited!! Ryan and I went out to the house Thursday and guess what?? Our counter tops are in!! There are even more beautiful than I thought. And as if that wasn't exciting enough they were installing our lights fixtures!! Our house is going to be sooooo AWESOME!! I can't wait!! On another note... I almost had a heart attack the other day!! Thursday afternoon I got an e-mail for Tony, our construction manager. All the e-mail said was, "We need to talk about your counter tops, call me as soon as you get this!!!" My first thought was, we're hosed!! We have to be out by the end of the month, and now we don't have counter tops. Crap now what do we do?? I called and he tells me that they ordered the counter tops in the wrong size. The master bath counter tops that is. And that it was going to take 2 1/2 weeks to get the correct size in. ( If the house isn't complete we can't close ) So then he asks......... "how would you like a black gannet counter top in there instead??" Heck yes!!! So now we have a cool black counter top in the master bath!! Its going to look awesome!!! Just a few more weeks!! Maybe I'm a little bias, but I think our house is sooooo beautiful!!! I can't wait to live there!!

Oh and I hate packing!! How did we get so much junk?? I have packed a lot of boxes and it looks like I haven't even started to pack. Its really frustrating!! But its got to be done. I try and sort things and throw things out but it isn't working that well. At least at the new place there is plenty of room to put all the junk. :O)

And one last thing here are some new pics.........

Our Kitchen with the counter tops on
Its going to be soooo awesome and see
the light in the ceiling :O)

closer view.... aren't they beautiful??
They go sooo well with the cabinets

The counter top bar thing that we
can eat on.

I am soooo happy about this....
Its the folding counter in the Laundry room!!!!

The cabinets and counter top in the main bath,
our bath has the same cabinets but will have the black gannet.

Although they look black it is really just dark wood.

The ball is rolling

It won't be too long now and we will be in our Awesome New House!!! We are getting so excited!! Lately I have be trying to pack. It is more work than you think. We have a fair amount of boxes packed but not nearly enough. But little by little boxes are getting packed and things are being organized. I just have to keep working on it day by day.
Tonight we bought our range and refrigerator. They will be delivered the day after we close. We have decided to hire a moving company to move all the big stuff and the heavy boxes and we will get the lite things on our own. By doing this we will definitely be out of the apartment in one day!!!! I really can't believe all this is happening, it has seemed like a dream, and in a way it still does. Ryan is getting excited too. He has been sooooo goofy and happy lately, sometimes I don't think he's the same person. We keep thinking of this as a new start. We are leaving all the old crap behind and we are starting over. I really think we needed this. It has made our marriage sooo much stronger.
Also we did get our new address, I won't post it but we do have it and I all ready know it by heart!!! They put our cabinets in last week, they also have started the trim and our doors are on. They should have the counter tops in this week and maybe the lights. Its coming along quite nicely. We love it!!!!

Refridgerator, Range and Mower..Oh My

Well it looks like May 24th is still sticking as the completion date, so that's cool. Although we actually won't be able to move in till the very end of May or early June. Buts that's ok :O) we still have at ton to do. We have been looking for a refrigerator, range and mower, which is much harder to do than it sounds. We have looked just about ever where we can think of, and I do mean everywhere. We even looked in the forbidden store ( Best Buy ). Its not that we can't find anything its that we find too much, and we aren't really sure what we want. Well that is not completely true, we do know what we want in a fridge, kind of?? Its really hard to go in a store and they have like 50 different ranges or fridges and try to narrow it down to just one. We have certain things that we know we want but its not enough to really eliminate anything. For example in a range we know we what a gas range, so if there are 50 different ranges it will eliminate maybe half if you are lucky. But from there we are stuck. Do we want convection, accu bake, speed convection, or just a normal oven??? Do we want 4 or 5 burners?? And some have 2 ovens, which I think is AWESOME, but do I NEED it?? I really don't know what I need. Its just too frustrating. This is a big deal, whatever we pick will be with us for years and years. My parents have had there range for like 25yrs. I think that is the part that freaks me out the most, whatever I pick will be with me forever, or pretty close to forever. Its not like our car leases that we can just trade in if we don't like the car or just want an up grade. Plus its not like I can take the range home and try it out to see if like it. I have to go on looks and what I read about it. But I will have to pick something and I will but, I will also worry, wondering if I made the right choice. These things are a lot of money, and I really don't want to screw it up. At least we have an idea about the fridge. It has to be a side by side. We know we want the water/ice in the door and the ice bucket that is in the freezer has to be in the door, not the top shelf of the freezer, the door saves space. Other than that it is mostly bells and whistles. We did find one at Lowe's. Well I should say we narrowed it down to two, which is really good for us. There are very similar, the main different is in the shelves, but we actually haven't picked which one we want. As far as the mower, we have only just started to look. It will more than likely be a push/self propelled mower, I really don't care what it is, although I should since I will be the one doing the mowing. I think it would be really mean to make him mow the grass after being at work all day and I only work part time. Plus I like mowing.

Other than all that, we ( I ) need to really get on the packing wagon. I just don't know where to start. Everything had been really fun, up untill now. I really just want to get a bunch of boxes and just tthrow stuff in, I really don't feel like going through everything and sorting and wraping, ect... But that probabaly isn't a good idea. So I guess I need to get my butt in gear and pack, boooooooo :O(

Tee Hee Hee

Ryan and I went out to the house today and talked to the drywallers. They are painting tomorrow :O) It took a little longer for the drywaller to finish cuz I guess with the weather the plaster took a little longer to dry, or something?? Oh well, all I know is that they paint tomorrow, it dries over the weekend and next week I think we will get the cabinets, counters, and floor. YEAH!!! We're on our way!!!

Just a few pics of our house

So I said I would post some pictures so here they are in a very random sort of way.

There are only a few, i am really busy packing and such, sorry :O(

Ryan waling in the family room, I am standing in the kitchen taking the picture

Our sun room

The kitchen, all drywalled and ready for some paint

Standing in the family room, looking at the foyer

Ryan in the foyer

Ryan and I trying to be cute, this is the back of the house

The back/side of the house, it looks sooooo big :O)

The insulation my dad and I added between the laundry room and bedroom#2

it is mainly for a sound barrier, so if a kid is sleeping they

can't hear the washer or dryer

My pops is awesome!!!

My Pops adding the insulation

Me adding insulation :OP

That's all for now I will add more in the next few weeks, this week they are painting and laying the vinyl floor, then putting in the cabinets and counter tops....ect. I'm soooo excited, just 6 weeks and we will be in a house!!!

May 24th!!!!!!!

May 24th is the date ( as of today, it maybe sooner or could be a little later ) that our house will be completed!!! HOLY CRAP!!! I have to pack!!! O.k well I'm not going to start today :O) . But I can't believe it!!! We were originally told the end of May, that was when we were going to break ground in January, but when they weren't able to because the ground was too frozen they moved the dig date to February 14 and the complete date to June, but when they tried to dig on the 14th the ground was still to hard. They finally were able to break ground March 5th - ish, which put the complete day the middle to end of June. So that was what I was planning for, end of June. Now its May 24th!!!!! I'm happy and excited and a little scared all at once!!! These next few weeks, months are going to be crazy!!!!!!!!

p.s. I will post pics soooooon :O)

To Dance

Well that's the answer, yes I will be dancing!! There are only 5 or 6 classes left this semester so I will be going to class, but it is not enough time to learn the dances ( 2 ) so I won't do the show. I am totally fine with that. I will more than likely be able to learn them just not well enough to perform. I am excited but also a little drained at the same time. We have soooo much going on right now and I can't believe I added another thing. But for those who know me it is totally normal. I am not satisfied with life unless I am running around doing a million and one things at a time. Plus this will help me get in shape for Mary's wedding. Who knows I might even get my sexy abs back ;O) Well I have to be at the studio in a half hour so got to go.

To Dance Or Not To Dance That Is The Question

Its funny sometimes how things just fall in your lap. Today I was at Lt. Marys school to type some stories that her kids had written for a book they will later on illustrate. Well, today also happens to be the day when a lady comes in and teaches the kids Spanish. So as the kids are learning I am just typing away minding my business. It was the end of the day and after the kids left Mary tells me that she also has a dance studio. "Oh really??" So I talk to her for a bit and mention how Mary and I used to dance. That I hadn't done it for years but I would love to get back into it. Of course the question of what I used to take can up and I told her how I loved ballet, jazz, hip hop and tap. And she is like " would you like to join a hip hop class?" It just so happens that she has a small class of 3 adults and they have been looking for a forth. I almost wet myself!! Do you have any idea how awesome it would be to be in a small adult hip hop class??!! So next Wednesday I am going to go and try it out. The only problem is that I have not danced in YEARS!!! and I have lost alllllll my flexibility. So she has offered that I can go to a Tuesday afternoon ballet class to regain some of my flexibility. Its actually a point class, but they have the best bar stretches. So it would help me get back into shape the fastest. But do I do it??? How much have I really lost?? Do I dare commit to another thing?? Oh and the performance is in May. So I would have 2months to get in shape and learn the dance for the recital. It would be easy to learn given there are only 3 other people and if they are in need like the lady said then I"m sure they will be willing to take the time to teach me. Oh what to do?? What to do??

Can't get it out of my head

Although there are happy, exciting things going on in my life, I just can't get what happened to Sheena out of my head. I was going to try and post some of our house pics since it is all up and today we went to did the electrical walk though which was fun. But it all seems so not important right now. A young woman was killed for no reason. She was a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend. And someone had to take it all away. Last night I was lying in bed thinking why did she leave her apartment and them go back?? You always hear that "when God wants you, he wants you" I think that I am just now realizing that people say that only to try to make you feel better. How could murder be the way that God wants to take you?? I guess if he is in control he can do what ever he wants. But how could he want you to be murdered?? I know, I know "free will". Well then why didn't God protect her. He could have not let her remember that she forgot something, or he could have changed her mind so that she would not turn around and go back. I don't know. I guess the part that makes me all worried is that she was my sisters age. She could have been my sister. But she wasn't she was someone else's. Her and her sister Nina were really close. I can only imagine how Nina feels. To loose a sister. If I ever lost little Mary or Joe for that matter, I don't know what I'd do. Lt. Mary is my best friend. I know we don't see eye to eye on things and that we are very different, but I think we are more alike than we are different. And although I don't talk to Joe much any more, we were buddies growing up and I would do anything to protect either one of them. I would give my life for them. My heart really hurts for her sister, her family, her children. Nothing can make this right, or o.k. All I can do is Pray. Pray for her family and pray that they find whom ever did this. Rest in Peace Sheena. The world is not the same without you.

Please Pray For Her and Her Family

It happened at the River Shores apartment complex on Bristol’s west side. A neighbor called 911 after she saw a preschooler wandering outside the apartment. That child told her the mom was hurt.

When police arrived, they found Sheena Kiska's body inside. Autopsy results conclude her death was a homicide, and the coroner described multiple wounds on her body due to sharp force trauma.

“It’s shocking,” said Branden Bradley. “You never expect something like that to happen around here."

Bradley lives in the River Shore apartment complex where police found Kiska's body.

"It was quiet and laid back,” Bradley said. “A lot of us are all friends, we know each other. It’s like one big family all around through here."

"It was a dramatic blow for the community because it’s a very peaceful neighborhood and it is Neighborhood Watch safe, and I never would have expected this to happen,” said Nicholas Daily, who lives in the complex.

Bristol police have been assisted in their investigation of the case by several agencies, including the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department, the prosecutor's office, and the Indiana State Police. Bristol officers, with the help of state police technicians, went through Kiska's apartment overnight.

“I've been tending not to lock my doors but I am rethinking that situation, as of yesterday,” Daily said.

Bristol police say they have been to this apartment complex before. However, the town marshal told WSBT News this is the first time officers have been to Kiska's apartment.


** Sheena was a friend, more little Mary's than mine,but I knew her well and I would consider us friends. She was one of the sweetest girls I have ever met, polite and soft spoken. This happening is just very shocking, please pray for her children and family, and that they find whom ever did this to her, she did not deserve this. This angers me and makes me sad all at the same time. She had dreams, she was going to get married this year, she had 2 wonderful, beautiful children. She was a wonderful, caring, giving person. She will be missed by all who ever knew her. **

I have to start somewhere

This is our house, so far.... actually these are just pics to start off with the house is much farther along now. I went out there again today and the roof is on, not the shingles but the wood is down and they were starting to put the vapor barrier down, and the shingles go on top of that. Its amazing all this work has been down in just two weeks!!

A pile of wood, actually its the roof trusses

the basement walls

this is looking at the front of the house

the guys is standing on the garage wall

basement walls

looking at the side of the house, you can also see the lookout part

a far away view looking at the other side

the back of the house

the lookout part

side few again

front of the house again

this also shows the forms they use to form the walls

Ryan's garage

the garage and front of the house

I have sooooo many more pics and I will post them later, I had to start somewhere. We are soooo excited!! It took a while longer to start then we thought it would but at least now it is well on its way. :O)

Exciting Times

So first of all this weekend my dad and I went out to the home site to measure some things. I some how got this crazy notion in my head that they poured the wrong basement for our house. Last week when I went out there I was in my work clothes and the place is SUPER muddy so I didn't get that close, plus the guys were working and I didn't want to intrude. But from where I was standing and walking it didn't look like the right basement, so Saturday I asked my dad if he would go out there with me and measure just to be sure. I know I am a girl and I can worry a bit about things I shouldn't and at this stage of the house who could tell by just looking anyways. So Saturday after we did bridesmaid dress shopping (*story later* ), my dad and I drove out there.

Now this is the thought in my head....its freezing cold outside so all the mud that I had encountered on Tuesday will all be dry and hard if not frozen , yea not so much. We get out there and the first thing that I realized as I stepped onto the lot of mud, is that mud really doesn't freeze. So starts the adventure. So my Awesome dad and I begin carefully walking towards the house, trying hard not to sink in to the mud, we finally reach where the garage and do some measuring, then we begin our "hike" to the back of the house to see the actual basement. This was the fun part. We were climbing over big mounds of dirt ( mud ) and trying to maneuver around big muddles and mud, I felt like we were little kids, it was so much fun. But at one point I almost lost a shoe, I stepped in a really muddy spot, the kind of mud that is more like quick sand than mud, it was like it just can alive and started to devour my shoe, lucky I didn't panic too much :O) and was able to pull my leg and shoe out. But it was a close one. From then on Dad led the way.

So we climb down to the back of the house and climb over the wall, and WE STOOD IN MY BASEMENT!!!! Soooo exciting!!! We measured all the wall and stuff and sure enough its the right house. Some how I think my dad new all along that it was right but I think he wanted an adventure too. We always have the bestest times together!!! So after we decided that the basement was ok ;O) We made our way back out of the basement and back to the street. I think my dads childhood days came back to him a bit because on the way out he knew right where to step and we didn't get stuck once.

After we measured the "house" he helped me figure out our property lines. He is soooo smart and good at stuff like that. They don't have the lines marked so by my dad using his awesome math skills I think we found them, or at least we are really close. So yeah, yeah, yeah!!

And my mom called me today and said that she drove by it and that they are pulling up the basement floor joists ( I think thats what you call them?? ) So tomorrow I am going out there again to take some more pics. I could just burst at the seams!!!!

In other news...... Saturday we also pick out bridesmaid dresses for Lt. Marys wedding. They are sooooooo pretty!! They will go sooooo well with her dress. God, I am sooooo happy for them. She is going to be the most beautiful bride and he will be the most hansomest groom. Their colors are pink and blue. Their theme is doves and her flowers are daisy's. Things are moving right along. Its crazy to think that in just a few months she is going to be married!!! HEHEHEHEH!!

Other than that Ryan and I are doing awesomely!! He's still working for "The City" and is loving it. He comes home in a great mood, we have fun, laugh, giggle, play with the meowfaces, eat dinner and snuggle up on the couch and fall asleep together. That is till I wake him up and we move to the "bee bed". Yes, that is his new thing, everything is "bees" with him. Bee Bye times, and sleepy bees, and Tinky bees and Bootsie Bee, and bee butt cheeks, the list goes on and on. I swear sometime he has he laughing so hard I almost pee my pants. I Love him soooooo much. We are soooooo happy and this is such an exciting time for us, I can't imagine sharing this time in my life with anyone else. God, I am soooo lucky to be married to such a wonderful, loving, caring, big hearted, goofy man. I am soooo blessed.