Back in my routine

I've been told a hundred times that I'm clearly stuck in the body of a 65 year old. I go to bed early, eat dinner early, and don't like going out. I always laugh because it completely true. But after spending the last 10 days at my grandparents house I am FINALLY home. I am SOOOOOO glad to be getting back into my routine and not driving an hour to get to school.
     On the other hand, my FI and I have 8 days to pick a wedding venue...8...no pressure right? Why 8 days? Because on the 1st we have to decide if we are having our wedding at our school or somewhere else because that is the day we have to book it. We both just want to get it over with. We know that sounds crazy but we've been together so long we don't really see it as a huge deal and it's definitely more work for us. Hopefully it will work out though.

Happy Planning
-A

Lets recap...Get me out of here!

I haven't posted since the 8th. Why? A few simple reasons really. My lovely FI and I have been dog sitting for my grandparents while they take my little sister to Florida for the first time. I have a dog, love dogs, love dog sitting. This, however, is not just dog sitting. It's like Noah's Ark, only not as fun.
     My grandparents don't just have a dog, they have 3, one of which is a puppy, (aw so cute) but a beagle puppy. Which means that he howls, and barks, and is just all around loud. His high energy level is ridiculous, but not nearly as ridiculous as his need to pee everywhere, all the time. Seriously, we take this dog out ALL the time, and I'm sure you are all suffereing from this heat as much as we are which means he is in and out all the time with lots of water. He's cute, true, super cute, but he has that constant puppy smell of pee and general stink.
     The other two dogs are great, we had a small issue of attack but all is well. We are hoping to finally be able to go home on Sunday. We have been there since the 14. It's felt like a month. I love my grandparents, and love helping them, but this is just painful. I'm ready to go home. Tears have been shed and it's time to move on.
     To make things even better, I started my first quarter of nursing school the day they left. Which means that I am not only chasing my whippet and a beagle around, but also trying to study, read, cook dinner, all that general stuff completely out of my little element and comfort zone of home. Plus they live almost an hour from school which I get to drive daily.
    The FI and I have been hit with some financial issues and are trying to decide if we should be moving our wedding ceremony to another location and cutting the guest list and just having a large party for the rest of our friends. We love our friends and want as many of them there as we can but our wallets and bank account don't love them as much. The goal is to have a plan decided by this weekend because we have to book our venues on the 1st of August. We will see how things go!!

Happy Planning!
-A

P.S: Borders has started their liquidation sales, excluding on-line. Definitely a good way to get wedding books, or nursing guides! I'll be heading there after class.

Making a big decision

So I've made a huge decision. I've decided that since I only planning on this big day happening once I am going to purchase my dream shoe of a pair of Christian Louboutins. The FI gave me the go ahead and his blessing because he knows how much I love them lol. The savings starts now and I'm very excited to put that order in. A huge expense? Um, DUH. But it's a once in a lifetime day and this is a once in a lifetime purchase!

Nursing School

I am starting nursing school next week to get my RN. I already have a B.A. in Political Science but the lovely government hiring freeze left my dreams of working in an immigration office in the dust until a time when our economy recovers. This left me scrambling, along with many of my friends, looking for our plan b. Mine was nursing school. After much consideration I enrolled. My ultimate goal when I'm done is to go into hematology/oncology and work with cancer patients, mainly breast cancer because it's hit a few women in my family. There is a passion, and it's what I'll be striving for.

The one thing I'll always hate about school, is buying the books. I worked in the bookstore in college along side my FI but the shock of books just never ceases to amaze me. Now that I'm buying science books it's even more money. Got to love it. I pay for school on my own, which now means paying for nursing school, all my other bills, and our wedding. It will be an interesting period until the big day is over!

Best wishes and happy planning!
-A

Wedding Background

The wedding background is simple and easy. My FI and I are planning on paying for 99% of the wedding. We chose this because we wanted to have all the say in our wedding and not feel like we need the approval of others for our big day. That being said, we are working hard to keep our budget at $10,000 with a guest list of roughly 140 people. Not that we don't love our families, we certainly do, they just don't happen to have the same vision we do.

This is our second time planning the wedding. We had first planned to get married this year, this past June in fact, and it ended up being more than he, and eventually I was willing to deal with. We called it off and it took us months to pick another date. After 5 years together, a 2 1/2 year engagement will be the least of our waiting. By the time our wedding rolls around we will have been together over 6 years, crazy, but all the seems to make our relationship into a marriage is a simple signature on paper.

Back to the budget. With the amount that we want to spend I have become Super Shopper. All our vases have come from Goodwill, Homegoods, St. Vincent de Paul. Nothing has been over $2.00 and a couple vases in the .20-.25 cent range. My aunt is making our invites as a wedding gift to us (AMAZING). We have purchased silver etched plates form the Dollar Tree (if you can tell they are a dollar, I'll pay for your wedding, lol). Our goal is to cut down the flower budget to MAYBE $200, hopefully not that high. We will also be having a half open/half cash bar. We love our friends, but can't possibly afford their drinking habits. My other tip? COUPONS COUPONS COUPONS! Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann Fabric, anything you can get your hands on. They have been a life saver. If you have a store around you call CHARMING CHARLIE, GO THERE! RIGHT NOW! GO! It's like accessory heaven. My girls will be carrying clutches instead of flowers, they were a whopping $6.00 a piece on mark down. Went to Jo-Ann Fabric got some vintage pearl buttons (with my COUPON) and for 5 it cost me $3.00.


Message from my post: Coupons! Duh.

Best Wishes and Happy Planning!
-A

Who is this girl?

This girl is a nursing student who has been with her wonderful FI for over 5 years. In that time there have been many ups and downs and we are now happily planning our much awaited wedding.

I hope that in this blog I can help other with how I am personally planning my wedding and throw out some things that will hopefully bring my wedding into the vision that I am hoping for.

Our wedding is Sept. 15, 2012 in Oxford, OH. Home to the Miami Redhawks (LOVE AND HONOR). We are what our school calls "Miami Mergers" which is two students that went to Miami and are getting married or have gotten married. Our schools boasts the highest marriage rate of any university in the country and it's something we all take very seriously at our wonderful school. That being said, there will be many Miami aspects of our wedding because it is a school that is so dear to us.

Please feel free to leave any comments, nothing negative, constructive criticism is appreciated.

THANKS!!!!

-A