Wedding Shower!

Hi Everyone! Did you miss me? I missed you!

I'm sorry I haven't posted all week. Being that this was the first week at my new job, my first week ever teaching a class, and my first (and only) wedding shower, it's been a bit crazy.

 (Sam's brother Jimmy and his hat)

So I have to admitted, I was a little nervous about my shower. My soon-to-be mother-in-law planned the whole thing, so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, she did a beautiful job! I really couldn't have asked for a nicer shower.

  Sam's mom got us corsages, and my went on easy enough. Sam's... well not so much.

Does he look scared? Yeah, for some reason he doesn't trust me with a sharp pin by his chest; but no one was hurt in the putting on of this corsage.

Our showers was much bigger than I ever expected it to be, but I guess I should have known better. I mean we are inviting 335 people to the wedding, so I should have expected a big shower. Everyone was so generous, and I feel so bless by everyone's givings.

I love that Sam was so involved with this wedding shower. He seemed really happy to be there. However, considering he picked out more than half of the kitchen stuff we registered for, he should have been. He has already gotten into many of new kitchen gadgets. 

I feel blessed because we had people come in from out-of-town and even out of state. All my family lives out of state, so I was really happy that my cousins, grandma, and aunt were able to come. 

Also, I bet I'm one of the few girls who got to have a fire truck at her wedding shower!

One of Sam's groomsmen is a fireman, and he decided to come crash the shower- with the fire truck.

I really can't explain how excited I was to get to take pictures with the truck. I don't know, I became I little kid again and just couldn't stop smiling.

We had a great shower, and I'm now really starting to get excited for the wedding. I know it will be here before I know it, but there still a lot to do. On the top of that list- is getting out the "Thank You" notes to all the guests who made my shower so special.

Question: Do I have to hand write every note? Or could I type something up? (I really don't like my handwriting, and I want to make sure people can read the notes I send- so I'm not sure what I should do.)

Big Girl Job with my Big Girl Lunch

Happy new job day to me!

It went down without too many issues. Currently, I don't have a office because the advisor I'm replacing is still working for the college till the end of this month. However, it is nice that I can get trained by both the advisors first and then find my own system that works for me.

I have to say the campus I work on is very confusing because they have tons of random hallways that go in every direction, but I think I'm starting to figure out my way around.

I figured I would enjoy my first lunch hour enjoying the beautiful sunny afternoon. I sat at the picnic tables pictured above, and tried to get a little color in my skin while I can. I even got to use my new sunglasses!

So for my first day at my "big girl job", I thought I should be an adult and pack a "big girl lunch". With the wedding getting closer, eating healthier probably is a good idea.

There also was a left-over square of pizza, but that was eaten before I thought about taking photos of my lunch. But once I saw how pretty my fruit looked, I had to take a picture- which lead to a blog post.

Doesn't it look good! And let me tell you it was. Other than the tasty fruit, I also got to enjoy the view from my picnic table of the pond which the building over looks.

However, I think my attempt to eat a healthy lunch was undone with our wedding tasting we went to tonight. (Sorry, I didn't take any pictures.) But all I can say is, there was A LOT of food to try. And they didn't just give you bite size tasting portions, it was done buffet style so you could try one of everything. I'm so full! However, Sam and I pretty well  know what we are going to be serving at the wedding, so that's one less thing to worry about.

All in all, it been a good day in the life of Stacy!


Question: Did you do a tasting for your wedding? What would you say is the best wedding food to serve? (I think I had one too many banquet dinners in my life to be objective on the subject.)

Wedding Wednesday

I have noticed that a lot of bloggers have day of the week themes to their blog. So I figured I would do a "Wedding Wednesday" post.

This post came from a video my DJ posted on his Facebook page that really just really wanted to share. This video is about a bride going to her "surprise wedding". The video is really sweet and if you a wedding junkie, you'll love this video. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53-6dPB1hkg

On a non-wedding note: I did treat myself to my spa day today. I got my eyebrows done and a 50 minute massage. Plus, I bought myself 3 new tops and sunglasses. The is really unheard of for me, but I start my new job tomorrow so it was nice to treat myself for once.

Last Day of Work

Good-Bye Cubicle!

Today was my last day work at my current job. I have quit other jobs in the past, but this was my first "real" job (even if it was only part-time). Saying good-bye can be hard to do, but I know I'm moving on to bigger and better things.

This week is going to be a bit crazy. Let me give you the run down of what is in store.

• Monday (today): My last day of work!
• Tuesday: HR Orientation for my new job and maybe working at the dentist in the evening.
• Wednesday: Going to a training needed for teaching/ Spa Day! (A girl needs to treat herself every so often.)
• Thursday: Start my new job! And go to our wedding tasting!
• Friday: Second day of work!
• Saturday: Relax (or I hope to)
• Sunday: Bridal Shower!
• Monday: Teach my first class! Then off to my the full-time job.

As you can see this week is a transition week. I'm excited to start getting into a new routine with my new job and teaching, but I'm nervous because it's a lot of changes all at once. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted!

Question: Do you have an advice about starting a new job? Any questions I should be asking?

My "Extreme Couponing" Sister

Being that I'm a TLC junkie, I have seen many episodes of the TV show "Extreme Couponing". This is a show where they follow a bunch of "extreme couponers" who go on these crazy shopping trips and save hundreds of dollars on everyday items.

Well needles to say, my sister is starting to really get into this "extreme couponing". At first she started off by just signing up for "freebies" online. You maybe surprised on how different things you can get for free if you really try. I was most impressed with the 4 free tickets she got for the White Sox games. However, she has taken her obsession of getting free stuff to the next level by getting into this "extreme couponing". 

 
As you can see she has taken over the kitchen table with all her coupons. She has created her own system of keeping them organized, and  she loves to calculate out how much she thinks each trip is going to cost her. She been doing this for about a month or so, and I'm a little surprised at how well she doing with these shopping trips.

So today I decided to tag-along, and see my sis in action for myself. Today's shopping trip: Target

With her coupons in hand- we started in the travel size items aisle. A lot of her items she buys are travel sized because you get the best value out of your coupons.

She also had a few coupons that were for a free item. She got most of those coupons through her "freebies" she signed up for online. Those included 3 different kinds of hair care products, peanut butter, and bag of candy (which we had problems with at the register with but it worked out ok).

These are all the items (total of 36) that she picked up on this trip.

Does she look worried about how much this is all going to cost? Originally when we walked in the door she was only planning on buying the Tide and peanut butter... so we weren't completely sure how well this shopping trip was going to work out.

The results:

Her total (before tax): $0.04
Her total (after tax): $3.07
Her total saving on the trip: $45.69

What can I say- the tax will get you every time. I'm proud of my lil sis. She has found a hobby that doesn't cost a lot of money and can come in handy.

If you want to see my sister's video about today's haul, check out her YouTube page here!

Question: Do you like to use coupons when you shop? Or have you every tried an "extreme couponing" haul?

The Invitations Are Ready!

I have to say it is nice that Sam's aunt and grandma does calligraphy. It has come in handy when it comes to wedding stuff. (See what I did there: calligraphy-handy. Maybe I should stick to my day job.)

Sam's aunt Rosie was nice enough to write out my group of invitations. I have to say, they turned out really nice.

Now all I have to do is put them in their addressed envelopes, put return address stickers on them, seal them up, stick the stamp on them and off they off.

 (Aren't these stamps cute- and they're purple!)

I'm hoping to get them in the mail by the weekend so they will start getting to my guests by next week.

I'm asking my the guest RSVP 4 weeks before the wedding. This is to give myself enough time to contact the hall with the guest count and make the seating chart. This may seem like really far ahead of time, but I really don't want to have to stress too much the last few weeks before the wedding.

80 days till the wedding! It will be here before I know it!

Question: Do you respond right away to parties and weddings? Or do you sit on the invite until closer to the RSVP date? (I haven't been to too many parties or wedding- so I'm just wondering what to expect.)

25 Things You Don't Know About Me

So I'm completely stealing this post idea from another blog I read. (Thanks Chelsey!) I'm no celebrity, and I'm not sure how many people will really care, but I figure it would be fun to do anyway. For all my friends who read this blog, you may know most things on here- so feel free to stop reading now. 

So here we go....


1. The soon-to-be husband and my cat are both named Sam. (This fact is also found on the "About Me" tab- so you may already knew that.)

2. I'm still driving the same car I drove in high school. (I bought it off my parents, after having a bad accident with the first car I bought- so lets just pretend I never had that other car.)

3. I have always bitten my nails. (I know it's gross, but a habit 20+ years in the making- it's hard to break)

4. I love to use parentheses! ( Like you couldn't tell.)

5. I love a good surf and turf dinner. (with crab instead of lobster- please and thank you)

6. I've been in an ambulance 3 times. (Twice because of pool related accidents.)

7. I own all the seasons of "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica" (Don't judge me. Ok, you can judge. Just don't stop reading my blog because of it.)

8. All my dishes I currently own were bought at the dollar store. (The plus side- I never care if they get broken)

9. The only pets I've ever had have been cats. (You could call me a cat person.)

10. I love ham on my pizza! (I think it's a Michigan thing, because no one in Chicago eats ham on pizza.)

11. For many years, I always ate Chinese food on Sundays. (I miss that tradition. But I haven't found a good take-out place around here yet.)

12. I'm double jointed in my hips. (It's always made dancing a little more fun.)

13.I don't like roller coasters. (I can do heights and I can do speed- but not together.)

14. I like to paint. (But I'm really not good at it.)

15. I wanted to be in the school musical in seventh grade, but only got an understudy part & did stage hand work. (I'll leave my singing to the shower or the car.)

16. I love hockey. I'll never turn down going to a game. (This also could be a Michigan thing.)

17. I hate basketball. (Working for a basketball team completely turn me off from the sport.)

18. Oh yeah- I worked for a basketball team. (The worst experience ever!! I'm glad that chapter of my life was short lived.)

19. I love ice cream!! (Chocolate Cookies & Cream is the best, but hard to find.)

20. When I was younger I wanted to be a dolphin trainer. (I guess that's not going to happen.)

21. I always have at least one stuffed animal on my bed. (They are good to snuggle with.)

22. I love shoes! (Some girls like clothes, others like makeup, other have purses- I'm all about shoes.)

23. I never make my bed. (1- Sam is always still in it when I get up & 2- It will just get messy again. I don't see the point.)

24. I've been living out of a suitcase for over a year. (I can't wait to get into our own place, so I can finally have all my clothes in one place.)

25. I have some of the greatest friends in the world. I don't know what I would do without them.


Questions: What's is something that most people don't know about you?