This is cool!

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WHEW....

So glad this week is over...it really was a tough one! However, I signed onto The Knot and saw that I am getting married in 156 days! WOW...that really isn't far away! Since becoming a member of stlwed.com, I have so many great girls planning their weddings. Now that spring is here, the most helpful girls for me are all getting hitched! CONGRATS GIRLS!!!

I am so excited to get married but I am really looking forward to moving into our new home. Our closing date is on May 22nd and that is only in 55 days (I think)! We have been registering and I LOVE it! It was really hard at first without a home in-mind but now...it is a breeze. Mike has been playing with Photoshop and fixing certain areas of our house. Honestly, I am not a big fan of the front of the house. The all white is boring to me and I am not crazy about the landscaping. Mike made a retaining wall and I think it looks fantastic. What do you think? (Current picture on the left...Photoshopped version on the right...if you couldn't tell)

I love how the grass also suddenly became greener and the sky bluer! But I like the look!!!!

The only room in the house that needs some major TLC is the kitchen. It has bad floors, bad cabinets, no cabinet space, and it is tiny!!! We are going to do new floors, fix the cabinets to make more space, new lighting, new paint, and new counter tops. Here is Mike's vision (for today...it will change 10 times until we actually do it)!!! (Again, current kitchen on the left, Photoshopped version on the right.)
Now, how much is this going to cost???? Hummm.....

HAVE A FANTASTIC FRIDAY NIGHT! We are going to marriage class from 7-9 and then we will be out on the town! Has anyone been to Sol?

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Serious Turn-around Wednesday

So, I feel like I have been Debbie Downer lately (wa wa waaaaaaa...can you hear the music?). SO stressed out, tired, bummed...
1.) The sellers of our house didn't want to fix any of the problems found in inspections
2.) My bridesmaid dresses were unable to be found and had suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth
3.) Cheerleading drama (don't even ask)
4.-100.) Bla Bla Bla

BUT...somehow in the last few hours, my day has had a magical turn-around!!!
1.) Mike called to let me know that the sellers decided to give us money toward our closing for the house problems! WOO HOO...it really is almost ours!!! Now we just wait until May 22nd to officially close, sign the papers, and begin move-in! I am SOOOO happy now! At first, I wasn't to happy about the process...but the thought of losing the house because of the inspections really crushed me. I was going to cry...and I was scared about what Mike would do!!!
2.) THIS IS THE BEST. Look what I have...YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! I can't even tell you how happy I am right now. I got one last night and just came home to 2 more!!! There is another one on the way right now and there are 3 on hold for me at the Galleria. I am going to go pick them up tonight :) Unfortunately, I needed 4 size twos and I only got 2 of them. BUT, I have a size 0 and multiple size 4s so we will just have to alter them. I am going to have Ann Taylor pay for the altering too after this whole debacle!!! I am just so happy right now! WOO HOO!

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Why me?

Seriously, I am not meant to buy bridesmaid dresses. I had my first dilemma when my "green" dresses did not really appear green at all. You can read and see pictures about that problem right here.

Then I got so excited when I found the "perfect" bridesmaid dress and I blogged about the right here.

I did not buy my bridesmaid dresses on that Friday because they were having a sale and I had a 30% off coupon. They told me that I could open up a credit card and get another 10% off and that was AWESOME. I had my ordering appointment today at 1:00. I opened the credit card and the girl goes into the computer to order the dresses. Oh wait, there aren't any of these dresses in the inventory. Excuse me? What? Why?

There are only size 10 and up...my girls need size 2-6. What am I going to do? They aren't sure if the company is going to continue making the dress in the color I need. I am seriously livid about it right now! I just have to keep stalking the store and internet and pray for returns. Already I found a size 4 and ordered it! Anyone want to stalk with me? Now I only need 4 size 2s and 1 size 6. Here is the dress...Ann Taylor Celebration Website

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Mexico, here I come...

well...not anytime soon. BUT, it is finally official...we have booked out honeymoon! We are going to the El Dorado Seaside Suites. They are located in the Riviera Maya in Mexico (south of Cancun). I am so freaking excited!!! I want to go there right now! We booked a swim-up suite..Each morning, I can imagine getting up, and just lying in the pool in our little chairs in the water!!! Maybe, just sitting there at night! Isn't it awesome!
I am also very excited about the beds...both inside and outside!And...each room has a jacuzzi!Here are some other pics that are getting me super excited!All-inclusive, plenty of food and drinks, sun, me and my hunny, and no kids...sounds like heaven to me!

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St. Patrick's Day

PART 3: MONDAY
We got up at about 9 am and started the festivities. With my mimosa in hand, I began making some delicious cinnamon rolls and getting the house ready for our pre-party. About 10 of us hung around Mike's apartment until 12 and we walked to Seamus McDaniel's. Hung around there, stepped out to watch the parade, and even got a private performance from a bagpiper!It rained on and off but we had a great time. I had to hold my own with all of the boys for most of the day!!!Back at Mike's apartment, I thought I was hilarious while playing with an apron that he got from Greece last summer. Since these picture's can be looked at as pornographic, I censored them for you! (I was pretty funny, though!!!)Bottom line, we had an AWESOME weekend! Very busy, probably not very healthy, but it was fantastic and memorable (except for the parts that I don't remember...). Hope everyone had as much fun as I did!!!

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CRAZY weekend review!

I am exhausted!
PART ONE: SATURDAY
Saturday was Mike's 26th birthday and we took the awesome trip out to Fast Eddie's. Again, if you have not been, PLEASE, do yourself a favor, and GO! Recently, Illinois passed the "no smoking law" in restaurants and bars (come on, Missouri, when are you going to jump on the bandwagon). SOOOO...Fast Eddie's build a gigantic outside patio. Why did they wait to do this...it is amazing! We spent all day outside!It was a little chilly out but they had those awesome heat-lamps all over. (Although I seriously thought I had 3rd degree burns on my head by the end of the day.) We had a great time...and I am pretty sure Mike enjoyed his birthday party :)After leaving Fast Eddies, my roommate decided to have "after-bars" at our house. So about 30 people came over, drank A LOT, ate 10 pizzas, overflowed the hottub, and turning the living room into a dance party (I can't lie...I was dancing on the table and couch too)!I love this one of Mike breaking it downIt was definitely a LATE night and a LONNNNNNGGGGG day but we had a great time!
PART 2: SUNDAY
We had to wake up super early after our crazy Saturday to meet with our real estate agents. We began negotiations after our inspections about what we would ask the sellers to fix. Actually, we really won't hung over since we stopped our indulgence at about 8ish and didn't go to sleep until 1 am or so! After meeting the agents, we ran a few errands, took a 45 minute nap, and got ready for dinner! Mike's parents took us out to dinner to celebrate the b-day and also invited my parents. It was SO good and I had never been to a restaurant with a hibachi grill before. SO MUCH FUN!!!Our little chef, Lee, made Mike a "birthday cake" out of onions...it was really cool. After dinner, we went back to Mike's parents for some dessert and presents time. Mike got TONS of tools for our new house!!! We were so excited! He got saws, a hammer, pliers, lot of things that I don't even know anything about, and my favorite...the power drill (that IS what it is called, right?!)After the Sunday-Funday, it was time to get to sleep and prepare for good-ol' St. Pat's Day! I am tired just blogging about it!!!
PART 3: MONDAY (on the next blogpost)

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Birthday Fun

Today is Mike's birthday and we are off to Fast Eddie's in Alton, Illinois.If you have never been to Fast Eddie's before, I highly recommend it! SO MUCH FUN...cheap beers and cheap food! We are actually taking a school bus with about 40 people so no one needs to worry about drinking and driving. We are getting picked up at Blueberry Hill in the Loop at 2 so I need to hurry and get ready! Have a great weekend...I will post pictures, I promise. It is going to be a hot mess:)

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My baby....

is the best! As you all know, the past couple of weeks have been really hard for me. I go through mini-breakdown periods about semi-annually...and I really thought this would be one of them. But guess what folks...TA DA...I DID NOT CRY! Oh no...not once! Tonight, I got close...twice...tears in the eyes. We had cheerleading tryouts and we cut 3 former cheerleaders. NEVER FUN...seriously painful. The house thing is driving me crazy (we have our inspections tomorrow at 8 AM...it is 1:30 AM right now). But school is officially out for spring break :) I just need this break!

But now here's the reason for this post! My darling sent me flowers yesterday and they were delivered to work. Here they areFirst of all...so sweet. Seriously, the letter was adorable. Something along the lines of, "I am so proud of all the hard work you do. You are the best and I love you...." So I call him to say thanks (and here is my first attempt at Julia's dialog posts. )
Me: "Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers. That was so thoughtful and sweet of you. I will definitely get through my conferences now (wait, check our my adorable conference table...candle and backlighting...uh huh)."
Mike: "Of course, I love you. Are they pretty?"
Me: (long pause) (please don't think that I am a brat, who ever reads this...) "Well, they aren't ugly."
Mike: (laughs) "What do you mean 'not ugly'."
Me: (laughs even harder): (trying to change the subject...I get a 25 minute lunch break) "Thank you so much I love them...blablabla"

Later that night, he comes over and watches a little Biggest Loser with me. I mention the thoughtful flowers and he gets up to take a look in the kitchen. He sits down and says, "They looked bigger on the internet. Assholes." Cracked me up. IT IS THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS! I made it through the week! Now...I am going to tackle my HUGE to-do list over my "spring break."

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I caved!

I finally installed Google Reader. OMG...what was I thinking when I didn't have it?!?! It is THE BEST things ever. I knew that everyone thought "it was all that" but I didn't really believe it. I also was just too lazy to enter all of my blogs in. BOY, did that time pay off! This seriously cuts my blog reading in half. However, now I am checking my Google Reader so often, it probably increased the amount of time that I am stalking blogs. Oh well...

Since I had such success with GR, I decided to install Google Analytics. Now, I am not too sure about this. Kristal and Julia, how did you get all of those cool graphs to show up? I don't really know what to click on to see interested stats. And I don't really know what all of the techie words mean. Any help would be appreciated! THANKS!!!

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Semi-close to a breakdown

I am teetering (sp?) on the edge of sanity right now. I hate to whine and complain but sometimes...we just need to get it out!!!

OK, I have 3 more days of school until Spring Break. No, I am not going anywhere...although I need a vacation more than anything. But of course, I don't think that I will ever afford a vacation ever again (I will get back to that in just a bit). I have conferences on Wednesday night from 3-9 and let me tell you, that makes for a long day (after you have taught all day). Needless to say, conferences fly by pretty quickly and aren't bad at all! Just all of the stress preparing for them is what gets me.

Cheerleading clinics and tryouts are this week. Tonight was the first night of clinics where the girls learned a cheer, chant, and dance for their Thursday tryout. One of my girls from last year dislocated her elbow doing a backhandspring...not a pretty sight! I seriously thought I was going to faint. After calling her parents, 911, and trying to keep her calm, I had to continue with the other 70 girls. She is still in the hospital and getting x-rays right now :(

We bought the house and have inspections this Friday. Everything about the house and how much money everything costs is making me sick. Seriously...how much does it cost for people to come in and check out my house? AHHH! And I am just so frustrated because I am not dying about this house...I am not beaming at every moment and head over heels. But I think this is normal for me! I didn't get excited about buying my car, I didn't have a "this is the one" moment with my wedding dress. I think that I just take everything in stride...along with this house. I feel like I should be SO happy about it but I am just too overwhelmed right now.

Actually, my masters class is going just fine. A lot of papers to write but I can handle it!

Oh yeah, and I am getting married too! Haven't planned or thought about it in over 2 weeks! Hopefully, Mike and I don't kill each other before the wedding...this house stuff is causing some disagreements.

I just need to make it through Thursday and then I am off work for a week! I don't like posts without pictures so here are pictures of something that makes me REALLY happy!!! This is my parents cockapoo, Zoe (the love of my life).Thanks for reading my vent...I will be ok...I hope!

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I love Fridays!

Especially this Friday because I took the day off!!! Last night was so much fun! I sang a couple of songs and it was great hanging out with my old band. The best part...I stayed out past my 10:00 bedtime :) Here are a couple of pics! I tried to get Mike to upload a video of last night, but he is too busy at work right now.

Today, I went to the Galleria with my sister and mom to check out the Ann Taylor bridesmaid dress that I love. And of course, she looked ADORABLE and it is so cute! Here is the picture of her in the right color...
and the right size....It is the PERFECT shade of green (that I never thought that I would find) and so flattering. It is $200 but with all of the coupons and offers that I will get for ordering them all together, they will come out to $140 each!!! YEA!!! I also decided that I want them to wear silver shoes. My sister tried on these cute ones from the store:
I am scared that my wedding obsession will be overcome with my new home obsession. Now, my mind is constantly thinking of colors for each room, what to register for, different furniture... so much to think of!!! My brain hurts!

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Um...what?!

Where the hell did my JCrew clutch go? I have been longing for it and waiting for it to go on sale. I went to check today online and I can't find it!!! It was only online for a month...WTF!

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WE GOT IT!!!

I got the call today that the sellers accepted our offer! This all happened SO fast! We saw the house on Monday for the first time and now it is ours! AHHHHH! Very exciting but stressful! Everything is so fast paced...we need to get our inspections scheduled next week!!! But luckily we aren't closing until the end of May so we have PLENTY of time to relax! So, since it is ours...here are a couple more pictures:

Our deck and fenced backyard (one day we will get a puppy!!!)

Dining Room (kitchen is to the left, bedrooms and bathroom to the right, and breezeway out the window)Upstairs bathroomBasement (we will need to finish the ceiling)

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention! I am singing a few songs tonight with the band down at Lucas Park. I had taken tomorrow off ahead of time so we will definitely party tonight!

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I hate this!

So we are in the negotiation process right now. I really hate it...it is like we are playing a game! I don't even care...I hate that it feels like we need to win. They counter-offered our offer so we countered back. GRRR...!!! So instead of thinking of the hundreds of thousands of dollars that I will be spending on a house, here is a picture of a dress I bought last weekend.Cute, huh?! I got it from White House, Black Market. Is the the right name of that store? I always just call it "The Black and White Store." Anyways, I think that I may wear it to my rehearsal dinner...if I can wait that long!

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As requested...

...here are some pictures of the house that we put an off on this morning. It is right in the heart of Kirkwood in a very cute area. It is 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, finished basement, deck and fenced yard, garage...everything that we want. So now we need to see if they accept or counter our offer with a higher price. It is so nerve-racking!

Living Room

Master bedroomBreezeway (connects the garage to the house...also goes out to the deck)

It is soooo cute. I don't want to post too many picture because it isn't ours yet!!! There may be other house-hunters out there and I don't want to give anyone ideas :) We will hear by tomorrow morning what the seller's response is at this time! Cross your fingers for us!

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I have been tagged!

Jen tagged me!

The rules: Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. Leave a comment on their blogs so that they know they have been tagged.

Here we go:
1.) My biggest fears in life are killers and/or robbers. I am ridiculously afraid that someone out there is out to get me. Although at times, I know that I am crazy and neurotic...however, I don't think that it is a bad thing that I am aware of my surroundings and I trust my gut about bad situations. Unfortunately, bad things happen out there...and it scares the crap out of me!

2.) I used to be in a band for 3 years. I worked at Macaroni Grill as a waitress but also was the opera singer that would sing "Happy Birthday" in Italian. I sang for a table and a few of the guys asked me to audition for their band. I was only 20 at the time and they were all in their mid-to- late-30s so I was a little leery at first. But we all hit it off and I ended up playing with them for a while. It was so much fun! If you went to Helen Fitzgerald's on Saturday nights between 2003-2006, you probably saw us there! Unfortunately, real world and real job have made it impossible to continue being a band....BUT, we are having a little acoustic reunion this Thursday at Lucas Park. I am only going to sing 2 songs but it will be fun!

3.) I tried out for American Idol a few years ago when it came to St. Louis. Seriously, one of the craziest experiences of my life! Thousands of people sleeping outside and camping out, then singing all over the TWA dome was very interesting. The process was NOTHING like I thought it would be. NO, I did not meet Paula, Randy, and Simon. NO, I was not on TV. But YES, I was really good! However, they had a strange system of eliminating people. They split you into 10 lines and only accepted people from the odd numbered lines. Of course, I was in line 4 so after singing a couple of lines in my song, I was told, "thank you for your time" and shown the door. People always ask if I would try out again and I tell them no. I just didn't like the process of elimination and I felt that I did not really have a chance!

4.) My hubby-to-be and I went to high school together. However, we did not really know each other. He was an art weirdo and I was a music nerd (but not too much of a nerd, I was a cheerleader too)! I really didn't know too much about him other than he worked at Wild Oats with two of my best friends. I do remember that he was homecoming king his senior year. Our closest encounter was when we were both 6th Grade Camp counselors when he was a senior and I was a junior. Honestly, we didn't even talk much though...we had different groups of friends. We re-met after college at a friends going-away party and the rest is history. It is just so strange that we were under each other's noses for so long!

5.) I have a tattoo! On my friend's 21st birthday, 4 of us decided to get matching tattoos. It took a while to agree on something that we all had in common. Since we had all met in college because of our sorority, we decided to get our sorority symbol. I was/am a Gamma Phi Beta (Mizzou-Alpha Delta Chapter) so we all have a matching crescent moon. Do I regret it? Hell no! Something that I will always look back on as a great time in my life. AND...the 3 other girls are all bridesmaids and will be friends for life!

6.) My mom is my best friend. Some might think this is normal or maybe strange. We talk on the phone all of the time. We do go some days without talking to each other but not often. Mike thinks it is crazy but I just tell him that boys don't communication like girls do with their moms (or anyone else). It is hard for me to make decisions without getting her opinion which probably drives him crazy...but she is a very smart lady and had great instincts. She is the best!

7.) I am a complete dork when it comes to musicals. Seriously, I am obsessed! I turn into a choir/drama nerd when I talk about one, listen to one, watch one...think about one. I can start singing show tunes at the drop of a hat...requests anyone??? I took Mike to the Fox this year to see Wicked and it was only his 2nd time seeing a show there!!! THAT IS JUST A CRIME!!! My grandma has always had season tickets (front row) so I have been lucky enough to see a few shows a year (starting at the age of 5). I have probably seen 40 shows there! Don't even get me started about the Muny...I have probably seen 40 there too! What is my fav? Right now, I just LOVE Wicked and Aida. Phantom and Les Mis are just classics. I saw The Producers on Broadway and it was hilarious! I am not really crazy about Miss Saigon, Mama Mia, or Lion King (call me crazy).

WHOA...that was a lot of info about me! I think that everyone I know has been tagged!!! Here are people that may have been tagged but they have not posted about it yet. How about Darci, Amy, Kristal, Amber, Michael, Karen, and Lisa. GET ON IT GIRLS (and GUY)!!!

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Slacker...

I have been such a slacker lately on updating my blog! I am such a bad blog-mommy! So neglectful!

Since I am home today, I will put up a few "makeup" posts (including the tag) I got from Jen
(Yeah, I just did that link thing for the first time :)

Mike and I are going to look at a house this morning (that we are putting an offer down on today) just to get one last look before we put the paperwork in. I will be back and updating my blog after that. I am going to attempt to set up GoogleReader as suggested by Julia.

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