ICE! and SNOW!

Last weekend we went to see ICE! and SNOW! at the Gaylord Palms resort. They put this on every year but I had never been, and Garth obviously had not either. So we went with my long time friend Brittany and her boyfriend this past friday night. They bring in 4 tons of ice for this thing and its about a 15-20 min walkthrough of the different rooms and themes built out of ice. Everything is made from ice. They even make a slide out of ice where the stairs are frozen as well. Its a balmy 9 degrees in there so they provide you with a parka. The SNOW portion is a room full of snow with a tobogan run on a inner tube. Not as cool for some our age but for kids they can play in the snow and build snowmen. Quite the treat for floridians who rarely get the real thing.

We're getting a house!

We put in an offer on a house on Monday and finally have heard back that they accepted it! We really like it. It has wood floors throughout, a fenced in back yard, lake view and nice neighborhood. Its 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, 1850 sq ft. The dining room has wainscotting already so one less honey do project for Garth, haha. It also has the formal living room so we can still have our library. Theres a little bit of paint color changing to do but thats easy enough. We should close in mid february as we have a few weeks left until Jeff closes on our home in AL.

Christmas spirit

We went and saw The Singing Christmas Trees at our church this weekend. Its such a cool production.
We also went to Unviersal and watched the Macy's Parade.

Universal

Garth and I took my cousin Georgia to Universal Studios this past weekend. She had a blast on the carasousel! We saw Harry Potter land for the first time and went to the Grinchmas (below) show.

Georgia in Harry Potter

Garth on the carasousel

Georgia and I on the carasousel

Change in plans

We are letting go of the house we were building. With both of our hours cut at work it would be to tight financially each month and we are not prepared for that. We do not want to be house poor and never get to do anything. So we are waiting to see what is going to happen with Garth's job. He thinks he has a good shot at being moved to Brevard (east coach beach area) as a supervisor there. I still want to live in central florida because of the cheaper taxes, lower ins, ect. where we were looking at before. However, if he doesnt get the job we decided we'd like to move back to Alabama. Who knows when they will make the decisions on moving people so we'll just sit and wait it out. In the meantime, we're house shopping online for possibilities in both areas.

We put up the tree and outside lights on my dads house. We could use all the Christmas spirit possible around here. My dad lost his job last month so its not been quite the happy mood.

I braved the Black Friday shopping this year, like a mad person, for the first time. I, along with a cousin of mine, sat in line at Target at 9pm Thanksgiving night until they opened at 4am. It was actually not so bad. I didn't get to tired, we made friends with the people around us and had a good time. I wouldnt do it every year but for a good deal, like I got I would do it again. I was in bed by 5am and then back out later for the smaller things. Finished up the Christmas shopping and they're already wrapped and under the tree! (That has to do mostly with having no where to hide anything in our 10x12 room)

Until next time.

Drywall complete

RAIN

We finally got rain after 35 days (entire month of October plus some) today! It only looks like fall around here because all the grass if dead from no rain. However, Saturday is a high of 70...can't wait!

House 10/28/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Next step: Drywall! We are heading to Ft. Meyers this weekend to see Erin (our old roomate and my maid of honor) and BJ to go horseback riding, sushi dinner and a Halloween party in which Garth and I are going as Caesar and Venus.

House Update

October 25th

We got yet another set of dissapointing blood work results. Garth was on testosterone injections for the past month. Latest bloodwork shows another fall in his testosterone levels, even with the injections. 60 points lower this time, only 10 points lower last time. I want so badly to trust God has a plan for this but it's hard when it's all you really want and there's nothing to do about it.

Continued pictures..

Another great weekend

Our "pre-construction" meeting was this past friday. As you can see it is most definitely post construction. The roof (though not shown here) is also on and framing will be finished on Monday. All electric and a.c. will be installed by the end of the week. Crazy how fast it goes!

We carved pumpkins this weekend as well with Dad and Dawn, Corey and his girflfriend. They turned out great! And on Saturday we went to the Fall Festival at the church down the road with cousin Jenny and Julianna. I had more fun watching Julianna on the rides than going on them myself. Garth and I somehow have weak stomachs for rides that spin in circles.

We have a first floor!

October 9th

Wonderful weekend

We celebrated Garths 25th birthday this weekend. I suprised him with a extended day stay at a local hotel/resort. They had 2 pools and a lazy river. It was nice to get away for a little bit, even though it was only 15 mins from home. Something different. We also went with my cousins to Arabian Knights, dinner show, Saturday evening. Garth got an air compressor, nail gun and new tool chest. Lucky birthday boy!

We also saw the first progress on our house. This is what it looks like...no cement yet but its on the way!

Oh boy

Here we go again with another guessing game. The medication has had no effect on Garth, his testosterone level is actually even lower. Although we never thought that would happen. Back to the doctor on friday to talk about injectable testosterone or what else, if anything, we can do. I'm really just ready to have some good news on this front and for something to start working to give us some hope that we'll be able to conceive one day.

This is us in front of a replica of the home we're going to build, but ours will be different colors. We should have our pre construction meeting next week. At least this is some good news for us.

Some choices

Wet area flooring

Kitchen backsplash

Kitchen/bathroom cabinets and kitchen/bathroom granite countertops

Picking out all of our colors and upgrades made it feel real finally. Was very exciting (for me). Garth was pretty laid back about it, didn't care to much either way. But that's him about most things isnt it?

Feeling like fall!

Its finally beginning to feel a little like fall. Its in the low 90's instead of upper 90's so its cooling off a bit...ha! Our weekend in AL was wonderful fall weather and made me miss living there just a little bit more. Football starts back this week and I joined the Fantasy Draft. We'll see how this girl stands against all the other football fanatics.

Headed to Garths doctor in a week...anxiously counting the days! Also cant wait to see pictures of our new soon to be niece AVA!

Leaving

Leaving tomorrow for AL for 4 whole days off!

Hooray!

We are finally finalizing all of the details on our house this weekend. We go in to pick out cabinets, flooring, counters, lights, ect and I'm so excited.

We are not moving to Texas. It really isn't the best plan for us when all is said and done. I couldn't be happier about that either. Imagine the drive from Dallas to Leesburg...yuck!

Vacation!

Getting excited to head to AL for 4 days over Labor Day! Very excited to have several days off in a row with Garth and visit everyone.

Also, got a manicure today. Still in shock I quit biting and got a manicure on my own nails for the first time in my life!

Scott & Grace Montage

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Church

Last night Garth and I joined First Baptist Orlando as members and I will be baptized this Sunday. I never understood the difference between baptized as an infant (which I was) and being baptized later on in life. So on the day we are welcomed as members of the church I will also stand and say I Am Not Ashamed. It's gonna be exciting!

Finally

We finally got approved for Garths medication. Lets just hope that in a month theres a difference in his lab work. Praying it works.

It's Official!

We break ground next month!

Dang insurance companies

We had that doctors appointment July 16th, today is July 27th...well we're still waiting for insurance to "approve" 1% testosterone for Garth. I'm just glad it wasn't anything life threatening or we could be in trouble by now. I mean seriously, 11 days now? And the doctor cant sign the release we need for insurance with "further information" until thursday afternoon. So they will receive that 2 weeks after we were first issued the medication. But who knows how long it will take to process after that. This is why I don't rely on other people to do things. It takes way to long!

Furniture shopping...yuck!

When I first went to the furniture store I was psyched to be shopping for new furniture. After my 3rd trip there I'm not so thrilled. I was convinced I knew exactly what I wanted. But what Garth wants and what I want tend to be very different. And it wouldn't be so bad but he wants nothing to do with shopping for it. So today, on my third trip, I changed the entire living room set I had picked out and decided on one that would require us to turn around the whole layout for the living room. Going on Saturday to the model to do some measuring so I can make a final decision! It should be finished so we'll get the final picture of what the house will look like.

What I want but may actually not fit as well..

A little at a time

We're chugging along in all of our current plans. Garth is hoping to talk with his district manager this week about a supervisor position he's thinking should come available soon. We went and saw the model of the house we want to build today. It's almost done and it looks great. We have so many ideas of our own so I cant wait to start it in a few months and get into our own place again. Theres a lot to be said for living with family...but theres a lot more to be said about living in your own space!

We also went to the doctor friday morning and got a medication to try and see if that helps us out any with our pregnancy "issue". We're hopeful. We will recheck all of his levels in 2 months and see if there's a difference.

4th of July

Work work work

That's about all we're doing lately. But it's good! I got a job as receptionist/nurse at a high risk OB/pediatric doctor's office Mon-Fri. And also the private duty nursing occasionally. I'm learning so much at the office and it's really amazing. It's right up my alley. Garth is busy with work as well, 6 days a week. Other than working we've been spending time with friends and family in town and have some great 4th of July plans coming up!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

1st Step

We took the first step in our new home project and picked our lot. It is #28 in the picture.

The other pictures show what the layout (for the most part) will be with the kitchen and master bath. Obviously we will have different cabinet colors, fixtures ect. and the kitchen we'll have is a tad larger and more counter space/cabinets off to the left.

We walked through the framing of house of the this model (Windsor) today and loved it! It's gorgeous..well it will be when there are walls up! We will have a contingency contract that we can back out of all the way up until closing day. So we can rest assured that if something goes wrong we won't be tied into it and stuck with two mortgages.

I'm so excited to be one step closer to having our own place again!

Sneak Peak

This is the house we are potentially going to build.

www.standardpacifichomes.com/new-homes-floor-plans/minneola-orlando-reserve-at-minneola-windsor.html

With the cottage front or there is also a tuscan option with more stonework that I like even more.

Finally!

Well I have finally got a job- thank goodness because I'm going stir crazy sitting around most of the day. I have had to really try to find things to do. The job is private duty pediatric nursing. I'll be going to these childrens homes to take care of them as most of them are pretty sick and rely fully on 24 hour care. Many have ventilators, get fed through tubes in their stomachs and have terminal illnesses. It won't be much different than the nursing home except with children and infants instead of the elderly. Regardless, I'm looking forward to learning new things and getting back to a normal schedule. I should have mostly day shifts but I've decided that in order to go full time I might try a night shift or two a week so I can get benefits.

Now we can start the house process. We found a neighborhood we like pretty well to build a house in. They take 4 months to build from contract to closing. So the goal is to start the build in October so when our tenant closes on our house in December we have a few months to make sure everything is okay. And if he doesn't close or backs out we can back out as well because the house won't be personalized yet and they can sell it to someone else. I'm so excited to be able to get it the way we want right off the bat and not go look at houses and think about what we would have to change or improve.

And maybe after all of that we can start into the IVF process....

News on the house

We got some encouraging news about our house in AL. Our only looker (3 weeks ago) decided that he was still interested in the house but could not afford to buy at this moment as he was transferring from Pittsburgh. So he decided on a 6 month lease to own to get his finances together and he should be moving in next week! So that at least covers our mortgage. Now if only I could get a job....40 applications in now and only one interview. I was feeling good about it until she told me she had 450 applicants. Yess 4-5-0! I was shocked. So we'll just see.

Settling In

We're here and settled in to living at my dads house. Garth is thrown full swing into work and I'm awaiting calls on jobs and crossing my fingers for something to come my way.

Our house in AL is in limbo. No looks= no buying. Hopefully as the summer rolls in more people will be looking for houses and summer homes. That would be our best chance. Then we can begin the process of looking for a new home. Went out today to look at a neighborhood that is currently being built where we could essentially design our own home. It sounds nice and a great oppurtunity so we'll see how it plays out.

I'm still getting used to it being light until after 8 pm! I cant quite get myself to go to bed early when it's like that. The next couple days hold going to the beach, getting some sun, visiting with friends/family I haven't seen in several months and relaxing in this off job time.

Moving Day

Well it's almost moving day and it is a bittersweet moment. On one hand we are getting a fresh start and some good careers but on the other we are leaving behind some great things, great memories and great people.
It's been a highly stressful and tiring day of loading our entire lives into a uhaul van. Granted it is 26 feet long...
We'll be pulling out tomorrow evening and heading to Orlando. We'll get a few hours of sleep in the morning and then unload into our storage unit. And hopefully it takes less time than it did to load! It will be a crazy next couple of days but as they say that's just life!

Less than 2 weeks left!

We have less than 2 weeks left in lovely AL before heading back to the humidity of central FL. We had quite the display of rain/thunder storms fri-sat but it cleared out nicely for Grace and Scott's engagment session Sunday...by me! I was excited to try out my amatuer photographer skills and the pictures turned out amazing!!

As for us, we're trying to pack but it's hard because I want to throw everything in boxes and be done with it but I have to wait to pack most things because we use them on a daily basis. Our office and guest room have turned into box and store rooms...so sad.

Moving Update

We have made a decision in the best intersts of our finances, job stability and oppurtunity to "climb the corporate ladder" to move to Orlando. Garth was offered a very nice promotion to go back to his company there and how could I say no to a great oppurtunity for him. I absolutely love our house and living in Alabama close to his family but for now this is the best decision. When is moving day? May 9th. It's coming up quick. The house has been on the market for 3 weeks but it's a tough time to sell a house, especially when you've only owned it 6 months. I'm putting off packing for several various reasons but its looming on me that I need to get going on it. We'll be moving in with my dad until our house sells. Then we'll be able to look at buying another. Wish us luck!

Welcoming ourselves

This is our first blog and we're just giving it a try. We're moving away from family all too soon so this may be a good way to keep the family out of town up to date. We just celebrated our first anniversary (4/11/10) and it's been a wonderful year looking back. We've accomplished so much in one year of marriage: I graduated nursing school, we moved to Alabama and bought our first house, Garth completes his Bachelor's degree in two weeks and we move back to Florida in three weeks. It's a crazy ride but we'll hang on tight!