What's been happening...

Hello ol’ blog… I have been a real slacker lately with my blogging. Life has just been crazy!! So, here is what’s been happening…

I survived another Quarter-End at work. This one happened to be the week of New Years and we were prepared to ring in the New Year at the office but we were pleasantly surprised when we got to leave at a normal time!! I am not sure if it was the workload or the fact that we have a larger team to share the work, but we weren’t arguing!! I have been very blessed with my Austin teammates. Last week, I celebrated one year with ShoreTel. This time last year, I was in California training and then I returned to Austin as the only member of my team. As of this week, I have a new Manager here and EIGHT new co-workers!! My, how things have changed.

I am currently maintaining occupancy in 3 cities! How is that possible? Well, as of this weekend, I am officially renting a room from a good friend Laurie- she lives in Leander. All of my stuff, plus Cheyenne, Zoe & Gypsy are now at Brad’s in Georgetown. All my furniture is still in the condo in Austin that I have been renting since last May. The owner of the condo (and my friend), Lisa is going to be selling. So, I offered to “stage” it for her since I didn’t need any of my furniture until I move in with Brad after the wedding.

Brad and I finished cleaning everything this past Saturday. (Well, to be fair, I think Brad did most of the hard work!! Little did I know... he had been going over there on his lunch hours and cleaning!! He is too good to me!) A few minutes before we left, we reflected on the memories there. It was where he brought me home from the airport after my business trip to CA- when we “officially” started dating. We spent many evenings there eating dinner and watching TV, while hanging with my animals. Not only did Brad and I begin falling in love here, but so did he and Cheyenne. :o) It was where we had our first kiss. It was where we worked on our first home improvement project together (my awesome sliding door). It is where Samson first shared his puppy destruction skills. It is where Kasi picked me up to begin the Scavenger Hunt set up by Brad to propose. There are so many other memories there… so it was a bittersweet moment. But as Brad said as he prayed over our lunch that day, we are so thankful for that chapter and looking forward to the next one!

Speaking of next chapter… the wedding invitations are out!!! We sent them out about a week ago and have already had some RSVPs come in. My friends Melinda and Kasi tied for first place! We are very excited to share our wedding plans with everyone- it makes it more official. We are still planning everything, however, most of the major decisions are done. It is down to the details now. Yesterday, I went to the Bridal Extravaganza with my friend Erica. (She just got engaged over Christmas.) I came home with a few more ideas! Not that I would recommend this, but the second time around is so much better. :o) Brad and I get a “do-over” and are having fun planning things that neither one of us got to do last time. I am much more relaxed and just going with the flow on things. The other night Kasi, my Matron of Honor, asked me what color shoes she should wear and what she could wear in her hair… I told her she could do whatever she wanted! NO Bridezilla here!!!

Beginning this month, Brad and I switched to a new Sunday School class. We are now in the “Nearly Wed and Newly Wed” class. The first 4 weeks we are going through part of the Dave Ramsey financial course. We will then continue for the next year with other topics specific to engaged and newly married couples. We are both really looking forward to it. We will soon be doing pre-marital counseling through Brad’s friend Jim. He is a minister in Tyler and has known Brad for over 10 years. I met him when we went to the Casting Crowns concert in October. We have asked him to perform our wedding ceremony and we are thrilled that he agreed! He has been sending us material in preparation for our time together. And thanks to technology, we will do our sessions via webcam!

This week is another adventure… on Thursday, I am having LASIK eye surgery. In preparation, I had to stop wearing my contacts for 2 weeks and those of you that know me well, know that has been torture!! I go in Thursday afternoon for the procedure and will be off work Friday. I am going to recover at Brad’s house on Friday so I can be surrounded by my animals. I am terrified of the procedure and excited for the results. I have been wearing glasses for over 25 years and contacts for over 20 years. I can’t wait to be able to wake up in the middle of the night and not stumble to the bathroom. I can buy “normal” alarm clocks that don’t have 3 inch numbers! I also look forward to throwing away my contacts and glasses!!! So, I will focus on those things… not that I will be awake while they cut into my cornea with a laser. I am told they give me Valium as soon as I arrive, so I will look forward to that!!

The next couple of months will be busy with wedding details and plans. We will have our tasting at The Winfield Inn, get suits for the guys, my dress fitted, a fun shower for me and a Boys Day for Brad… all fun stuff!