Playing Catch Up.

So...I lied. I was gone again for a couple months. Oops. 

But, new year, new start? 

My timehop app informed that two years ago I started this little blog which is so crazy. I am determined to stick with it. 

One big life change since last time, I had my last day at the Moses Cone ED the day before Thanksgiving.  A bitter sweet moment for me. I am so thankful to no longer be commuting nearly 1.5 hours to work and to be working normal hours. However, I miss the people I worked with so very much and I have to admit, I miss the crazy patients and stories! But, I also know I needed the change. I was losing sight of why I became a nurse in the first place. I was becoming one of those stereotypical ER nurses and I didn't like it. Elizabeth of course surprised me (even after I asked her repeatedly not to) with a going away pizza party, which also included popcorn and cucumbers (my favorite meals in nursing school) and a gigantic poster/card signed by most of co-workers. I am so surprised I didn't completely break down in tears leaving. 

In catching up, we missed the holiday posts. They were pretty similar to last year. 

Thanksgiving

We hosted again this year at our house in Raleigh. James, Matthew and my mom came from Wilmington and Jakie, Jared's cousin, came from Maryland. It was fun and stressful having it at our house again and I love the tradition we are creating. I look forward to many more Thanksgivings where people come to us for a change :) 

Jared and Jakie got handy and fixed up the kegerator we were given! oh yes, beer on tap in our garage.

Christmas

We did our usual quick trip to Texas. We flew out at 5am Sunday before Christmas and were back 10am in Wilmington Christmas morning to be with my mom and brother. The trip to Texas is never long enough, but we certainly pack in as much as we can while we are there. We spent more time with the cousins this year. We got to see Jared's best friends since middle school! I swear when those guys get together is it like not a day has passed. We also caught up with Gwyn and Neil who moved to Houston a couple months ago. It was a whirlwind as usual but I wouldn't change it for anything. 

seriously, the prairie is so gorgeous! 

I am so lucky to have a sister in law and best friend in one :) 

Then is was off to Wilmington, starting with our before the butt crack of dawn flight to make it home in time for breakfast casserole. So worth it! 

Can I throw in here that in the mix of traveling I got a text from Virginia around 8 am (in the Charlotte airport) declaring that Thomas had FINALLY proposed at 6 am Christmas morning. Totally made our traveling home that much better! 

self timer on the iPhone is so genius. 

mom made legit fondue for Christmas dinner! 

celebrating VA and Thomas engagement & an NC State bowl game win at Banks! 

I love getting to celebrate with both sides of our families for Christmas. It really is such a special time. I just can't imagine what we are going to do when we have little ones of our own. I was having anxiety watching all the parents in the airport with their rugrats during such a hectic time. I don't know if I will ever be poised enough to handle that. 

Speaking of babies, BIG NEWS, our friends, Bunn and Paula, had their precious baby girl on January 9th! She really is royalty, she shares the same birthday at the Kate Middleton. She is so beautiful already and I am thrilled I will get to watch her grow. I am also excited to see our first close friends become parents. 

I am still in shock that we are now in this phase of our lives. It seems like yesterday we were playing beer pong in a someones college apartment. Now we are engaged, married and some are having babies (while some just have baby fever). It is pure craziness I tell you, but I love every minute of it 

I'm Back!!

Ok, so I think my near 2 month long blogging hiatus is over. 

I can't make any promises. But, I will try really hard. There are big things happening in this crazy life and I want to remember and share them!

[warning, this is a long one]

Things that have happened since September 8th? 

Lets see...

We took down 3 walls in our home!!!!!

Yes, we had DEMO-day less than 24 hours after signing the closing papers. 

It was a fun challenging experience and I am still cleaning out dust and debris from nooks and crannies everywhere. But the difference in the living room and dining room are huge. Totally different rooms. However, those projects deserve there very own post. Just because they are down doesn't mean the work is over. We are so close to completion of those rooms I can taste it. 

Here are before and after/during pictures of the living room and hallway

Painted the front door red.

Because, duh, we are two NC State alum who are ridiculously excited to be back in Raleigh!! And because of all the adorable meanings that red door holds. 

Traveled to Mexico and Arizona for 11 days!

Yes, I finally took an extended (and much needed) vacation to visit my side of the family in Arizona for my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. My family has a beach house in Mexico and we went down there for a few relaxing days at the beach before making a wild trip to the Grand Canyon with all 20 of us. It was so much fun visiting with them, but I missed Jared terribly. This trip also deserves its own post.

We had our ONE YEAR wedding anniversary!!!

Even though I was in Mexico without Jared we still managed to make is special. We skyped that day of and then celebrated at Angus Barn, where we had our first dating anniversary. The couple next to us heard it was our one year anniversary and paid for our meal. We had no idea they had done it until they were long gone and we couldn't even thank them.

This past year of marriage has been amazing and I can't wait for what the years to come hold for us :) 

We won and TV and bought a Tahoe!

While I was in Arizona Jared managed to find a Tahoe he wanted to buy and trade in the Highlander. I have always wanted a Tahoe so it didn't take much arm twisting and they gave us a great deal. Long story short, we won a TV in a raffle at the dealership then bought the Tahoe and my mom traded in her car for the Highlander. 

Mountain Jam 2014!

We traveled to Smith Mountain Lake for 4 glorious days on the lake. It was gorgeous and there was so much to celebrate. Jessie and Trey are expecting a baby in April 2015. Bunn and Paula are expecting Lillie Blue in January 2015. Hillman and Nicole got in engaged! we rented a pontoon boat and had the most fun just cruising and enjoying being around each other!

We went to the NC State Fair as official Raleigh residents again!!! 

So.Much.Food.

We had corndogs, onion rings, fried mac and cheese and a fried brownie sundae.

Everything was so delicious. I love everything about the fair. The foods, the smells, the people, the lights. It seriously is one of my favorite places to be. I am so glad Jared shares my obsession for the fair! No ferris wheel this year because it was 1+ hour wait. BOO! 

Cut and Died my hair!!!

I went to a new hairdresser and I am IN LOVE!!!! A bunch of my friends go to her and I was looking for a new stylist since moving back. I wanted to go all out and do something totally different. She did what is called a balayage color on my hair. It turned out so freaking fabulous. I am obsessed with it and her. It is Olivia at Primp Salon Bar in Raleigh. 

 

We celebrated Halloween and paid tribute to Jared's favorite movie!

we have been together for 7 Halloweens and this was our first couple's costumes. Let me tell you, we goes together like peas and carrots. Yes, we are Jenny and Forrest Gump. Swoon, love my sweet hubs for dressing up and keeping in character. Plus look at my adorable friends: a my little pony, night of the Roxbury and Lorde!! Caitlin, Layne and Emily threw such a fun Halloween party! 

Our dogs!! 

We just can't leave them out of post. That would be wrong.

Look at those boys. Probably plotting on what to destroy and kill next...

Well that is it. I mean there was some work, tailgates, room painting, arguments, mental breakdowns, and sappy stories sprinkled in, but those can wait. 

Homeowners!!!

I have finally found the time to sit down and blog about this very exciting journey we have started as HOMEOWNERS!!!!!!! 

and OFFICIALLY Raleigh, NC residents again!!

Last Friday, August 29th (to be exact) we signed over our lives the papers to our very first home that WE purchased! 

Super exciting stuff here y'all!

I really can't find the words to describe the pride we feel in owning this house. We accomplished this all on our own without any help, well except the bank loan of course. Jared and I have seriously come a long way since we first starting dating. No more mustard sandwiches and air mattresses for these kids :) well, for now at least. 

We feel so blessed and thankful to be able to do something like this and can't say enough about how truly supportive and kind our family and friends have been through this process. We love you all dearly. 

Ok, enough with the cheesy stuff, on to the pictures.

oh you, know just opening our door for the first time ever

After closing we went to a celebratory lunch, because naturally you need something to de stress after signing roughly 5,000 pieces of paper and seeing all those numbers, at Cowfish Sushi and Burger Bar in North Hills. 

We have been wanting to it try forever and lunch was the prefect time because it wasn't jam-packed. This place lived up to every single fabulous review I have heard. The food was out of this world delicious. To top it all off we had been talking to our waitress about how we had just finished closing on our house and she went above and beyond for us. She had all the servers come out, sing a special song, hit the gong, gave us the most scrumptious and ridiculously large piece of chocolate cake AND had the manager comp our entire meal. 

We were already planning on coming back because the food spoke for itself but after service like that, we will for sure be returning soon. 

The owners before us had these adorable wooden gliders on the front porch that we fell in love with. Of course Jared wanted them written into the closing deal. He just loves negotiating. Perfect for him to sit and harass the neighborhood kids about his lawn. Dreams really do come true ;) 

The movers came on Thursday and I couldn't of been more excited to see that gigantic truck carrying all f our belongings! They picked our stuff up in Kernersville on August 18th. So we have been living on an air mattress (oh the irony) and out of suitcases for nearly 3 weeks! I shed a tear when I saw our bed come off that thing. 

We caved and bought this fancy French champagne that I have been wanting to try forever. It lived up to all my champagne dreams. I don't know if I can ever go back after tasting something so yummy. Guess I will have to find more things to celebrate...like, finally deciding an area rug. I definitely think that deserves a bottle, or two. 

Jared said it was absolutely necessary that we used our wedding toasting flutes 

A little bit about the house? 

Well, it is a traditional North Raleigh split level home. It has 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths with the most insane back yard and deck you could imagine. It is located in the North Hills area in an old established neighborhood with the most gorgeous trees. I am obsessed to say the least. I get so giddy and happy-teary-eyed  thinking about all the exciting and expensive things that are going to happen in this home. 

Did I mention I love our backyard...?

yep, this is right behind our house. Never would guess a massive shopping center is a mile away. 

the slide will be removed soon, we all know it is a liability with some of our friends. 

this is not our stuff or our picture, but the best way to show off our back deck. 

can we technically say we have waterfront property? 

Apologies for the long post. I am clearly freaking obsessed with our house. 

We love it so much that we knocked down three walls, ripped up carpet, and busted tile the day after moving in, but more on that later in other home update posts. 

Milestone!

Yesterday marked the completion of Jared's Masters of Business Administration from Wake Forest University!!!! I seriously can't even put in to words how proud I am of him. I can't explain how big of deal and what an accomplishment this actually is for him. 

While he was completing his MBA and working a full time job: we got engaged, I finished nursing school, planned a wedding, I started a new job, we got married, we moved, we got a second dog, bought a new car and Jared started a new job. 

Phew...And through all of that Jared still managed to support me and all the crap I had going on. 

He really is just the best husband ever!

Jared, I love you forever and more! I am so excited to see what this new journey has in store for us. I am one lucky gal that I get to share this amazing life with you! 

In-Law Visit

The in-laws were here for an extended weekend and we couldn't of had more fun with them! 

Before getting married I had always heard these sayings about people not getting along with their in-laws. But, I seriously love mine and we always get along. They took me in and made me feel part of the family since Jared and I started dating. I am so lucky to have such great people to add to my fabulous family :)

Their weekend here was so jam packed, mostly with food...We took them to all of the local Kernersville hot spots as well as some yummy places in Raleigh when we took a day trip there

there is no such thing as an ice-cream-less-weekend with the Rice Family 

why yes, those are fries covered in pulled pork, BBQ sauce, and jalapeno melted cheese.
my stomach is growling thinking about it.

 This is what happens when The Rices hit up C&H Cafeteria. It got real. Real good.

My mother-in-law and I did what we do best...shopped! We shopped so much that our feet were killing us and you could hear them crying to stop. But, we are so similar when shopping and love a good bargain it was hard to say no to some really killer deals.

Can't wait to share some of the projects I have planned coming up! 

My father-in-law did what he does best...slept ;) Just kidding...kind of. In his defense he was on vacation so his pre&post lunch naps were totally reasonable due to said vacation. I think he had fun for the most part getting to relax while the chatty women were out of the house. Plus it meant he got some quality one-on-one time with his grand-dogs. 

On top of shopping for clothes and home-goods we also did some power tool shopping! I have never in my life been so excited to buy a "pancake compressor" aka mini nail gun and a drill! My mind and pinterest board is busting at the seams with stuff to destroy build! 

Sadly, it is back to the real world and work. This is how I feel about that. 

According to a Facebook quiz I am in the wrong nursing field...I should be a school nurse? They probably queued into my love of summer, but clearly did not get the memo that snotty, booger, noses from screaming kids is not my favorite. 

Something scary for this Monday night before bed. This is what I would look like old.

Thanks Caitlin. 

Here's to a good week! 

Excited for it to fly by and spend an extended 3 day weekend with my hubs!