give a little heart and soul

Bullets, because I have not updated in forever and this is easier than writing full paragraphs about everything that has been going on:

-We are moved into our house! We found out we were closing an hour and a half ahead of time, and then spent the following four days painting, cleaning, moving, painting, cleaning, moving...
-I posted some photos on facebook but I need to get outside today and get some photos of the actual house. I want to wait on inside photos a bit longer because as soon as we get one room unpacked, we start a new project and it gets messy again.
-My bridal shower was last weekend and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have so many incredible family and friends. My mom pulled off an incredible afternoon with lots of tea and cupcakes. People were VERY generous and I felt like we moved again last weekend with the amount of stuff I brought home!
-The wedding is in 57 days (FIFTY SEVEN!!). I have so much to do. You don't even want to see my to-do list, it will make you sick.
-I had intended to make one of the spare bedrooms into "wedding central" but that room has not even been unpacked yet. Not to mention I need a table to assemble all of my DIY crafts. I have no table.
-Milo is terrified of ceiling fans. We have three of them now, and at first he would not even go into those rooms because they freaked him out so much. Now he just gets freaked out about them when they are on. I hope he comes around because I fully intend on using them a lot this summer.
-My aunt asked me if Marley was pregnant yesterday. I replied that Marley is a boy. I guess I need to cut down on his food consumption? He really doesn't eat a ton but he is L-A-Z-Y. I keep telling him to exercise but he just rolls over and goes back to sleep.
-Nala has adjusted perfectly and was Queen of the house within minutes. So much so, that she feels it's within her rights to sprawl out on the kitchen counters. We've started spray-bottle training her this weekend and when she sees it, her eyes get all scrunched up and she slowly makes her way off the counters.
-John's family is no longer coming to our wedding. It's been a really long, stressful six weeks, but they have shown their true colors not only to us, but to my whole family, and I am relieved that we don't have to worry about them on the wedding day anymore. John is beyond hurt that his family could treat him this way, but he is also relieved that he doesn't have to worry about them anymore. It's a blessing in disguise, I think. I could write a whole book about the drama that's been going on but I'll save it for another time.
-I had my fitting for my dress two weeks ago and O-M-G I LOVE IT. I have my second fitting this Saturday and my hair trial right after - Squee!
-I am desperate for warmer weather. Even if it's just 60's! I am so sick of cold weather. It's almost April, weather gods! Give me some warmth!
-I cannot wait to go on vacation for 10 days. In the warm Florida sun! With my most favorite people in the world!
-I am going to miss my fur babies like crazy, though. I'll probably be a nervous wreck for the week leading up to the wedding.

remember the time I said I was buying a house?

We have been so busy lately. I've had wedding questions from my planner to answer, decisions to make, INVITATIONS TO MAIL OUT [this took FOREVER], and the list goes on. It's been an especially stressful couple of weeks on the house front, though. It seems like the seller is the slowest person on Earth. There have been lots of bits and pieces that need to be sorted out - papers to be signed & permits to be shown, and of course we've been dealing with the ever-difficult VA.

We are getting a VA home loan that John is eligible for after serving in the Army for 8 years. They are pretty picky about some things, but they are also SO SLOW at getting anything done. But there was one thing that ticked me off - John had to sign a piece of paper stating that he was not going to be deploying in the next 12 months, because if he was, the VA considered it "bad faith." REALLY!? If he were to deploy [which he won't; his time was up almost 2 years ago] the bank would say we reneged on the loan. I just couldn't believe that. How can you tell service men and women that they cannot buy a house if they are to deploy within 12 months? How awful is that?!

Anyway. Rant aside, things are moving along, albeit a bit slowly and stressfully. [Stressfully is not a word but I just made it up. Don't judge]. We should be closing next week! Hopefully the move will go smoothly because by the end of March, we will be in full-force Wedding Mode. Please bear with me through the sporadic posts until June - I cannot even believe it's March already. I don't know where the last 2 months have gone.

PS - our 4583745 feet of snow is finally melting. Please, weather gods, please melt it all away before we move next weekend!? Please?!

PPS - my first wedding dress fitting is next weekend also. -freaking out about fitting into it-