Goodbye Car!

Yesterday I had to say goodbye for now to my little Jetta.

She is now on her way to San Diego! We're only shipping one of our vehicles and we ended up finding a decent deal to get her out there (by the way, if you're in Richmond we have our 2004 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon for sale!). She'll be arriving either the same day or the day after us which will also be very convenient.

We were allowed to pack up to 100 pounds of stuff (no appliances, liquids, etc.) into the trunk. I think we exceeded that weight limit a little:

I actually rearranged the shoes and was able to fit two small file boxes in there too!

But luckily the driver didn't check the trunk. We bought those space saver bags you see on TV hoping to pack the trunk full of clothes, pillows, blankets and towels. They don't work magic on everything like the infomercials have you believe but they definitely make a difference space wise and were kind of fun to play with :)

Yes that actually is the majority of my wardrobe minus about a week's worth of clothes...I told you I'm a really bad shopper! But I was able to fit all of the above plus three hooded sweatshirts into two Space Bags.

See they don't flatten quite the way they do in the commercials, but they still definitely get smaller.

These are the cube shaped bags, the bag on the right has a queen sized comforter, 4 pillows and a twin comforter! The bag on the left has probably 10 regular sized bath towels and a few dish towels.

The Space Bags work the best for comforters and pillows, which makes sense since they have a lot of air in them. We discovered for clothes they aren't as useful for things that are already pretty flay like t-shirts and pants, but they do work well for sweaters and sweatshirts. Either way, they do make you clothes more compact and are probably really good for storing things. We were able to fit a ton of stuff in our trunk which is less stuff we'll have to figure out how to move later.

Last night we also had a farewell dinner with my family and some of our close family friends at this cute Italian place in Oilville. We're trying hard to fit in as many goodbyes as we can before Wednesday, it's hard to fit everyone in though so I'm glad this group was able to come out.

Today's moving tasks include unpacking our Smartbox that's been sitting outside for about a year, sorting through that stuff and repacking what we actually want to keep. We'll top all that work off with happy hour tonight with my Hollins ladies :)

Have you ever bought something you saw on an infomercial? Did it work?

Breaking Traditions

It only took 6 days for us to break a marriage tradition...See we had planned to freeze the top of our wedding cake to save for our first anniversary, then last Friday morning as I was chatting with Brittany during our morning workout I realized: we're moving to California, duh.

I'm sure I could figure out a way to transport it out there but that sounds like a pain in the butt. Plus, it's really freaking good cake and almost everyone we've talked says it's never that good after a year. Lucky for us, I've been preoccupied and haven't put it in the freezer yet.

So we busted it out last Friday night for a happy one week anniversary wine and cake party!

The boys wanted to celebrate with us too, Basher had to check and make sure the cake was still good.

It definitely was. And I am in love with our champagne flutes! How cute are these?

Get it, they're Love Birds :) mine also sort of look like the Twitter logo but that's totally a coincidence.

Wine and cake has already become sort of a new tradition for us. We had a fair amount of leftover wedding cake and a really good bottle of wine we'd brought with us to Ocracoke (an engagement gift from my aunt and her boyfriend), so our first night alone after the wedding we also had a wine and cake party.

Wedding wine stopper from our friend Courtney :)

We broke a few other wedding traditions the day of our wedding too, one was that I opted out of the bouquet/garter tossing thing. Partly because I didn't want to stop the party to go through the motions of that (it would just take a way from my champagne sippin') and also because we had a smaller wedding so there were only a few "single" ladies there. I've been to weddings before as one of the 4 "single" (meaning non-married even if I was there with Ty) ladies forced to stand out on the dance floor, no thanks. Little did I know, Ty's dad had a very elaborate joke planned for the garter toss, it was funny so I'm sorry I messed that up!

We also technically saw each other twice on our wedding day before the ceremony. First, because we woke up together...Since our guests traveled from far far away to see us, we had a reception Friday night after the rehearsal dinner so that we could visit with everyone. Originally I'd planned for the girls to crash at the house we rented and Ty was going to stay with a group of the guys but, not wanting to waste a minute of time visiting with our friends and family, eventually everyone had gone to bed and we were the last ones up. It would have been weird for us to go our separate ways at that point so we just went back to our house together. It was actually a perfect way to end the night and get to spend a few moments together in between the craziness of everyone arriving and the whirlwind that would happen the next day. We woke up early, said our goodbyes, and didn't see each other until our "first look" right before the ceremony (the second time we saw each other that day).

We knew almost from the instant we found out what a first look was that we wanted to do it. If you've never heard of it, like we hadn't, it's when the bride and groom come together a few minutes before the ceremony to see each other for the first time. Some people think that's bad luck, but we loved it! I think it calmed us both down and allowed us to really enjoy the ceremony. Our photographer was the only one there with us and I can't wait to see the pictures! I think she got some great shots of Ty's expression when he first saw me :)

There were a lot of times during our wedding planning that we felt pressure to do what was traditional. I'm all for traditions and there were certainly plenty of others that we did do that made our wedding feel special. But, I also think not adhering to all of them made our wedding truly OUR wedding. We're looking forward to making even more traditions in the future (wine and cake is a great one to start with).

Our California packing madness starts NOW! My car is being picked up today to be shipped to our new temporary living space (thank you Jay!!) and we're allowed to pack the trunk with stuff. Let's hope these Space Saver bags we bought live up to their name!

My Last Day in One Word

Today is my last day as Director of Volunteer Development at Komen Central Virginia! Even though I am very excited to start a new chapter in my career, I will absolutely miss all of the amazing people I've met and worked with in my time at Komen.

It started 4 years ago when I was hired as the Administrative Assistant at what was then Komen Richmond (we changed our name last year to Komen Central Virginia). Back then there were just 3 of us on staff and I owned exactly 0 articles of pink clothing.

Judy, Pem, and I - the original 3!

Since then I was promoted, we've grown to a whopping 4 staff members and my wardrobe now includes 2 pink sweaters, 1 pink dress and 1 pink scarf.

Linda, Janna, Pem and I showing our VCU Ram pride during the Final Four

I've been up way before the sun, setting up for the Richmond Race for the Cure.

Ty and I at the 2009 Race for the Cure.

I've heard amazing speakers and met inspiring breast cancer survivors at our Survivor Celebration luncheon.

I've been inspired by not only the women and men I work closely with, but also by the woman who started it all with just a handful of friends and a shoe box full of donations.

Meredith and I with Nancy G. Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

I've started a young professionals group who I know will continue to do great things to fight breast cancer with the leadership of the fabulous Kelly DeLaney :)

Kelly and I, Co-Chairs of P.I.N.K.K., at the Richmond Flying Squirrels game.

I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with the most kind, inspiring, and dedicated volunteers you could ever wish for.

I realize the word inspiring has come up a few times as I write this, but it's probably the word I would use to best describe my 4 years at Komen. Well, if you'd asked me when my alarm was going off at 3am on Race morning I probably would have chosen a few other words :) but later that day once 9,000 people had come and gone, I would have come back to that word: inspiring.

I know that my new job will challenge and inspire me in different ways but Komen will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the place where I discovered where I want my career to go. It is where I learned that even though I am only one person, I can make a difference in the lives of the people and community around me. It is the place I know I can always go back to.

I dedicate this post to my Komen family and in particular to two special ladies: my Aunt Dottie and my friend Becky Morris, who both lost their battles to breast cancer but who continue to inspire me.

My Big (Not Pregnant) Announcement!

Had to throw that "not pregnant" part in there...being a newlywed, or really in your mid-twenties in general, that just seems to be what everyone jumps to when you say you have news :)

I can now official announce that Ty and I are moving to San Diego!!!

In 2 weeks. We go big here in our house.

Why San Diego?

The main reason is that I am planning to get my Masters in Non-profit Leadership from the University of San Diego. Or that's the main reason we're telling everyone anyway :) have you seen the weather there? We're also just ready to try something new. This isn't a surprise to a lot of people we know, it's something we've been talking about for almost 2 years. The pieces came together to make it work now. Like right now. Two weeks now.

It's risky, there is no doubting that, but it is something that we both agree if we didn't do, we would regret it. I already have a job lined up that I am VERY excited about (more on that later) and right now Ty is enjoying playing "house hubby" and getting us ready for the move. I'm still working at Komen until next Friday, mostly tying up loose ends, documenting processes and saying the inevitable goodbyes.

The next few weeks are going to be a whirlwind as we pack, sell, and ship everything we own from Virginia to California. Any tips you have about moving across the country are welcome! We're still working on logistics but here are a few things we know for sure:

• We are selling both of Ty's vehicles and shipping my car to CA (I don't have a car payment so financially, this makes the most sense)
• We will be shipping at least some of our stuff but are putting great effort into taking only what is absolutely necessary.
• We have a place to stay when we get there thanks to our awesome friend and groomsmen Jay.
• My first day at my new job is November 7th, so we have to be out there before then!
• We have a great group of friends in San Diego already who have been completely supportive and helpful.

What we don't know yet:

• How we're going to transport our 3 cats across the country. Options are to fly or drive them.
• Whether we should sell our big stuff (couch, TV, mattress) and try to buy them out there or ship them out. There is serious math involved there!
• How we're going to fit in saying goodbye to all of our family and friends here!

I think a lot of people think we're crazy to make a big move right after our wedding but we're looking at it as an adventure. We're making lists, occasionally getting overwhelmed, but mostly we're still on a wedding high and this is just one more thing for us to plan and look forward to!

We're also going to have to get creative in the kitchen during these two weeks, or maybe hand that off to my house hubby :) as we try to use up everything that's been sitting in our pantry since...well a long time. We stocked up on a few fresh ingredients last night, but we're going to keep food shopping to a minimum. Tonight 's dinner was a perfect example straight out of our pantry:

• Grilled, marinated chicken
• 1 can of corn
• 1 can of green beans
• 1 bag of 90 second red beans & rice

Doesn't sound too exciting but it was a good meal!

Off to eat and pack! Or watch Castle and drink wine...or something :)

Wedding Recap

It was beyond perfect...the end :)

Seriously though, I knew our family and friends were awesome and that we would have a great time at our wedding but I never imagined that things would go off without a hitch the way they did. The weather was perfect, the decorations were perfect (thanks to the hard work of my mom and her friends), my dress was perfect, all of it.

It's hard to put into words the love and gratitude we felt over the last few days, so instead I'll just post pictures :) these are pictures taken by our friends, I'll post more when our amazing photographer Jessica sends them over to us!

Getting my hair done by my fabulous cousin Brandi.

Putting on the dress!

Cheers! How beautiful are my bridesmaids??

Walking down with dad :)

Seriously delicious cake!

Bridesmaids personalized glasses from Sisterhood of the Traveling Glasses.

The fine ladies of our OBX crew.

It's Wedding Week!

The big day is almost here, and what better way to kick off our wedding week than with a wedding!

This afternoon we're going to the wedding of our friends Casey & Laura. Casey was one of Ty's first friends he met when he moved to Virginia from Ohio. Casey & Laura have also been dating about the same amount of time as Ty and I - that would be almost 10 years - and it was totally random that we ended up getting engaged around the same time and planning our weddings back to back! They picked their date first so we made a big effort to find a venue that was available either the 1st or 15th of this month so we could be there to celebrate with them.

I actually ran into Laura randomly this week at the tailor when I was picking up my dress. She was picking up their son's little tiny tux :) he is going to look so adorable today! My dress ended up absolutely perfect, I can't wait for everyone, especially Ty to see it.

As far as wedding planning goes, there have been a few hiccups but I think everything is going to come together just as we hoped. It appears that Route 12 (the main access road to the island we're getting married on) will open this Tuesday which will be so much more convenient for our guests.

I almost had a break down yesterday over flowers though, which is so ironic because I always said the flowers were not important to me. It really wasn't about the flowers themselves, I think we just have A LOT going on in addition to the wedding and it was one more thing I had to worry about. The issue is, if for some reason Rt. 12 does NOT open on time, our florist in Ocracoke would not be able to get our flowers. Mom and I made the decision to go ahead and order flowers here and transport them down just to be safe, but they need to be ordered ASAP. Luckily mom was able to run over to Costco (which had been recommended by a few brides) to pick them out.

They were pretty low on selection in the colors we want. As mom was listing off the flowers they had in our colors the words "carnations, Gerbera daisies" are what brought tears to my eyes as visions of very nice funeral arrangements popped into my head. She moved past those to "mini Calla lilies, snapdragons and roses" and the wave of anxiety passed over. I had to Google snapdragons but they are so pretty, it made me feel much better.

With everything going on the past few weeks, I've had very little time for cooking anything interesting. For breakfast this morning I really wanted eggs over medium (some people call the dippy eggs, I like them a little more done than typical over easy eggs) but I don't like eating them by themselves. I stood in the middle of the kitchen for entirely too long trying to figure out what else I could make. We're pretty low on groceries right now since we're leaving soon for the wedding. Inspiration finally hit in the form of a sweet potato:

I diced up half a sweet potato and sauteed it in 1 tbsp olive oil with salt and pepper. I've just decided recently that I like sweet potatoes. Growing up the only forms I knew them in were pie or covered in marshmallows and maple syrup which I just didn't care for. Now that I'm a big girl and I can cook my food however I want, I've realized sweet potatoes are really good cooked with a little salt and pepper! I've made them mashed, baked, and now as a sort of breakfast hash.

I cooked the potatoes and then used the same pan to cook the eggs because I did this while cooking dinner last night:

And yes it is still sitting like that this morning.

Did you see this week's Modern Family? Usually we joke that Ty and I are like Cam and Mitchell, and that Ty is definitely Cam :) but this week's episode was SO funny because Cam made a huge mess in the kitchen and left it for Mitchell to clean up. This may or may not happen on a weekly basis in our house. What can I say? I don't like to touch dirty dishes and Ty is just much better at cleaning than me. But this morning he totally left this mess for me to clean up myself geesh.

I do love doing laundry and don't mind putting the CLEAN dishes away once he's done making them not gross, so we strike a balance that way.

And since it is October (Breast Cancer Awareness month) and I do work Komen, I busted out one of my Komen mugs for my tea this morning:

I got that at this year's Komen Leadership Conference, how cute is that little spoon?

We have a ton to do today so I'm going to get off my butt now and possibly clean up that kitchen...