Lots to tell you!

Wow, last post was in May...things certainly have changed around here!

Well, at the beginning of June we went to Las Vegas for my brother & dad's birthdays-it was Cory's first time and we had a blast! It was only for a long weekend, but we managed to see my grandmother, visit all of the "big name" hotels, tour the pawn shop from Pawn Stars, see Lake Mead & Hoover Dam, go to the top of the Paris (eifel tower) hotel to view the Vegas skyline, and come out even in our winnings...now that's a good trip! Here are a few quick photos:

Dad & Cory playing the slots

Us at the top of the Eifel Tower looking at the Vegas skyline

Me, Cory, Dad & Josh waiting for the Lake Mead tour-nice faces dad & Josh :/

(By the way, it was 115 degrees that day-unpleasant)

Moving On....

Later in June, we found out we were expecting our first child. Told you alot has changed! We waited a few weeks to tell our families and then exploded the information to our extended family and friends.

Don't mind my excitement-or my lack of actually brushing my hair after the shower ;)

This was taken August 23, 2010 at 11 weeks, 3 days-which we would later come to find out that we were 10 days farther along than we thought!

September 22, 2010 at 17 weeks-we found out we were having a GIRL!!

Hello sweet Ella :) You are already so spoiled and loved!

Next,
We took our 1 year anniversary trip back to The Origin in Panama City where we spent 5 relaxing days on the beach. I finally got to lay in the sun and people probably wondered why such a whale would even think about laying out in a 2 piece-oh well, Ella enjoyed basking in the sunshine!

October 3, 2010-Happy Anniversary :)

Fast forward ...

October 28, 2010-22 weeks, 1 day!

Today...

I am 24 weeks, 4 days and getting bigger by the second! We had our most recent doctors appointment last week and everything looked great. We have one more monthly appointment before we start going every 2 weeks, which totally freaks me out-the thought that we will have a newborn baby at our house in a matter of months is just crazy. But, we can't wait to meet her!

Speaking of the house-who knew it would be so expensive to update one! I don't think we've gotten nearly as far as we had hoped to by now, but we've done the best with what we have. Between the pregnancy and Cory having class & clinicals for paramedic school, we just have limited amounts of time. We're trying to get Ella's room done first, which has become quite a task. Over the summer, we discovered a water leak in that room and have had to pull up the carpet and tear a hole in the wall. Cory has been wonderful though-the wall has since been patched, and he is now working on scraping the popcorn off of the ceilings. Next, we'll be dealing with flooring, then PAINT! Wait til you all see what we have in store!! Pictures to come soon....

Saving Money!

Yup. I've been saving money and super excited about it.


I've always cut coupons-started doing it for my mom, then went to college and used them every now and then, and now that I have my own house with my own bills-I've gone crazy. I admit-I never miss a Sunday paper and I get bummed when there's only one coupon insert. Dorky, I know, but don't judge just yet ;)

Some girls at work are really really good at "couponing" and saving loads of money-so of course, I jumped on the bandwagon. It all started with http://www.southernsavers.com/. This site is amazing. She finds all these great deals at local grocery stores and places like CVS, Rite Aid, and Target. My favorite section of the website-$1 or less deals. I have been trying to base my grocery shopping every week solely by these deals-only buying what's under a dollar. However, I have quickly come to realize, it's harder than I thought. Once you start buying meat and milk-forget it. But, aside from those 2 items, I do fairly well. The first time I went to Publix and saved more than I spent-I couldn't stop smiling! Still sounding dorky? Ok, maybe so. I was proud :)

But, this has become a weekly occurrence. Since I started this new craze, I have yet to spend more than I save-which is saving me tons of money!

Granted, most of the blogs I read, which teach you how/where to use your coupons, have avid followers that save up to 100% on their shopping bills or spend $4 on a $90 shopping trip, but I generally average about 50% savings, which is good enough for me! I'm able to buy so much more and cut my $500/month grocery bill in half!! See...not so nerdy after all, huh?! The best part-getting FREE stuff! These blogs tell you how to do this!! It's so easy!! As long as you get to the store before everyone else-that's been my one problem. Publix, for example, starts its sales on Thursdays, which I just so happen to work every Thursday (or so it seems) lately and by the time I get there on Saturday, the deals are down to a minimum. That being said, I live an equal distance to 2 different Publix's, so sometimes one still has stuff the other may have sold out of! Yes, I will go out of my way to find a great deal on John Frieda shampoo & conditioner ;)

Of course, with all of my great savings, I had to splurge....check out this super cute coupon organizer I bought from iSew on Etsy. I could just eat it up! Seriously-I love it that much. Just look at the cuteness and tell me you don't love it :)


So, that's my money saving adventure in a nutshell. We have lots of projects going on-we start one and then start another. Cory's almost finished with changing our bathroom ceiling from popcorn to flat so pictures to follow. We're also working on our fencing, landscaping, and back porch-I really want a great backyard for cookouts....I found some adorable condiment holders at Pier 1. Yes, really-condiment holders that look like mini grills. I know-I've gone too far.

Where to Start?

Wow...so, it's certainly been awhile since my last entry. I feel like we've been so busy lately with me working night shift, Cory working 2 jobs and going to paramedic school, and trying to still get our house to look like a house.




Thankfully, the weather has improved, and we've been able to get started on the outside of the house. Cory bought a "new" lawnmower (he actually got a great deal on a John Deere that a friend of his needed to get rid of). It has, in fact, replaced me. I'm pretty sure he dreams about it at night ;) I suppose that's ok, since our yard is always cut!





Speaking of the yard-I've been digging up the old rose bushes and weeds that sit in front of the house. Whew! It's alot of work! I definitely need a little help in the gardening department. I just wanted to replant some pretty flowers-apparently there's perennials, annuals, biennials....who knew?! I wish I could just snap my fingers and it be taken care of!





As for the inside of the house, we finally finished painting the living room....just as I decided I wasn't completely sure I liked the paint color! Cory says it's staying ;)


We bought a couch and loveseat after 6 months of searching for a good price, a set that would fit in our living room, a set we actually agreed on, one that was comfortable for Cory to sleep on after work, debating leather vs. fabric, ruling out every set that had microfiber, deciding what would be best for the animals/future children,....the list goes on and on. But, we found a set-one that we kept going back to every time. It's the Portland collection from Haverty's and we love it! It is soooo comfortable! Unfortunately, we have to wait until the end of May for it to be delivered, but it will be well worth it. We really wanted the sectional, but our living room is just too small.

Yay!

Current projects: Almost done painting the master bathroom. Painting the hallway. Painting the front porch and finishing the landscaping. Installing our fence!! (Duke will finally have a huge yard to run in...and Lord knows, he needs a little exercise in his life!). That's it for now, pictures to follow :)

Tis The Season...

It's been about 2 months since we got married and about a month since we moved in to our house. It's coming along, slowly but surely. We're trying our best to make it "our own", but it seems to be rather difficult when the funds are limited! Here's a picture of the house before we even moved into it...please, do not mind Cory...

I'll try to post pictures as we change things, but so far, we've pretty much just tackled trimming the hideous bushes in the front yard (as you can see) and painting the fireplace mantle. FYI-I HATE our fireplace-and by hate, I mean HATE :) Painting the mantle has done it some justice, however, I would love to demolish all of the stones and redo the whole thing...they tell me it would be quite a task...we'll see ;)
BEFORE

AFTER (Mantle)

Don't mind the boxes, either...after a month, we're still moving in! Next project(s): paint, buy a refrigerator (we're currently borrowing Cory's cousin Jared's spare-thanks!), and decorate. Big projects: install a fence, redo the sunroom, put in hardwood floors and tile the bathrooms, new kitchen cabinets. Whew. It's going to be a busy year! Thank to everyone who offered to keep us when we got back from the honeymoon...you are very special people and we love you dearly.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

WE'RE CLOSING!!

So, we really never thought the day would come.

WE'RE CLOSING ON OUR HOUSE NOVEMBER 18, 2009!

It is a miracle :) Never did I ever think it would be so difficult to buy a house, especially with today's market the way it is. Boy, was I wrong!! It's been awhile since I've blogged, so let me catch you all up to speed....

We got outbid on the first house with the basement/pool...bummer.

We didn't get house #2 we bid on b/c the buyers wouldn't come down....bummer. (They wanted way to much for a house they purchased 6 months previously for almost $50K less for! We later found out that they are most likely paying a 2nd mortgage on it and couldn't afford to lose the money so it will most likely sit until it gets foreclosed on. Double bummer b/c it's too gorgeous of a house to sit).

**At this point, we have literally looked at EVERY house in Henry and Coweta counties. Seriously.**

House #3 we bid on-yay....we got it!! Right? Wrong! We go through the whole entire process with everyone telling us everything on our end looks great, nothing to worry about, we'll be able to close in the next week. Literally, ONE day after we were told this information, we were told that it fell through and we weren't going to be able to get the house. WTF?! Mind you, this is also September 11 (ironic), where many other unfortunate events happened to us in the same day.

So, 3 weeks before our wedding, we were left homeless and clueless as what to do next. I couldn't understand. It's so easy for the people on House Hunters and Property Virgins-why couldn't it be the same way for us?!

Anyways, we looked and looked and looked and looked and came back from the honeymoon still homeless, married, and still living with our parents. Cory & I had ourselves a little "come to Jesus meeting" if you will. A house we had looked at right before we left for Florida was still on the market when we returned. It wasn't anything we wanted or were looking for, but it was move-in ready and $70K cheaper than the other house we almost bought. Basically, we could buy this house and it be cheaper than renting. We bid, we won, and now we're closing! Whew!

So, we're soon moving into our 3BR/2BA simple little ranch on 1.5 acres....but we're excited. It's going to be ours and that is what really matters :)

Thanks to all of my lovely friends, family, & coworkers for allowing me to constantly vent my frustrations about our house hunting process!!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Well, unfortunately we got outbid on the house that we thought was for sure our dream house. But, we've moved on and have been looking non-stop...all over McDonough, Locust Grove, Newnan, and Sharpsburg. Mom took us out to Newnan yesterday to look at a couple houses and truthfully, we found great potential in every one of them. BUT, only one really stuck out :) It's a 4BR/2BA on 1.6 acres and is practically move-in ready, which I love! I wouldn't mind a fixer-upper, but a move-in ready is so much easier! The house is beautiful and we have decided to put an offer on it...here we go again. (I really thought buying a house would be much easier). I'll post pictures galore if we get it.

July 3rd was our 3 month mark til the wedding!! This past Saturday I met with all of my bridesmaids at the dress shop and it was the first time we had all been there at one time, which made me super happy! They looked so great in their dresses. Lately, I've been second guessing every decision we've made about the wedding, including their dresses and the color, but once I saw them on, I'm glad I went with brown instead of blue. Here's a few pictures of our day...none of my dress, of course ;)

Holly, Me, Sarah

Sarah, Amber, Echo, Holly

We'll keep you posted about the house offer :)

Our first blog....

Once upon a time, a boy named Cory met a girl named Jennifer and they quickly fell in love.

Fast forward 3 years-we're engaged, with 3 months and 10 days until the wedding (ahhhhh!), looking for our dream house with a tiny little budget, and I am currently trying to survive my first big-girl job as a nurse! Whew!

We are so excited about our wedding and each day that passes we (or rather I!) find something new to add to the ceremony or reception :) There's just so many great ideas for a destination wedding....the problem is trying to keep it within budget. Never did I EVER imagine weddings would be so dang expensive. People want to charge you an arm & a leg for anything wedding related-it's sickening actually. I started out wanting to DIY most of our stuff, however, trying to do so while finishing up nursing school was just not going to happen. But, so far everything has turned out great and we couldn't be happier! **Thanks to my parents for helping us out!**

On another wedding related note, we FINALLY booked our honeymoon! After months of debating where to go for the best price, we picked The Grand Palladium Resort & Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Hopefully we do not get ran out by hurricanes! As much as we wanted to go to the Turks & Caicos Islands, that'll have to be a 1 year anniversary trip!

We've also been house hunting for quite some time and it is so exhausting/frustrating/exciting all at the same time. The minute you think you find your dream house, you also find that it's under contract or someone has outbid you, etc. From the moment we began talking about a house, we've wanted to move to Coweta County-it is such a nice area with nice schools and close to the interstate. We found a house we really loved down there in Sharpsburg, but have been too busy to go down and really walk around inside. In the meantime, my mom found a house right down the road from our current house and it truly couldn't be more perfect for us. It has everything and I mean everything we have been looking for in a house-3BR/2.5BA, an office, a formal dining room, cherry kitchen cabinets, a massive basement, a huge fenced in backyard for our dog, and.......an INGROUND POOL! Bonus: it's a foreclosure and cheaper than any house we've looked at thus far! So, we're putting an offer on it-wish us luck :)