Obsessed? Yes.

I have no shame.
I am totally obsessed with the royal wedding and these guys:

...if it weren't for my hatred toward waking up early, I would get up early and watch.
I won't, but I will be recording it to watch later on Friday.

I even have a dress prediction:



I'm thinking lace trumpet style...we shall see in 18 short hours.

-Liz

UPDATE:
So I was totally right about the lace! I really loved her dress, especially the tucking at the waist, so pretty.
And OMG, I can't believe they kissed twice! 

That's a Load of...

dishes.

NPZ may need to go to pre-marital counseling for this one single issue.

The dishwasher.

I can't seem to figure out the correct way to load it! Forks up, forks down?! In the beginning I would just mimic the way that he did it...but it was no use, different dishes get used all the time. I would be totally fine if all that had to be loaded was plates and cups. But that is not they way dish loads work- they are more like a box of chocolate with no candy key.

NPZ likes this thing neat and tidy.



Mine looks more like this:

minus the doggy.

I've been googling how to perfect his skill.

It's not that we have had fights erupt over this issue, just under the breath stuff about dirty glasses and spoons.

I don't think there is anything wrong with trying to change negative aspects of yourself to make your spouse happy. As long as you agree that they are negative, that is ;)

-Liz

Outlook Inbox: Empty

So, I totally get that weddings are an overblown tradition. I have definitely found myself wrapped up in all of it's stresses and pressures and am constantly reminding myself that is no big deal. But it is. I have been trying to be as accommodating to everyone as possible and so far have had very few people take advantage of this.

Not at work though. I feel like I am a dedicated employee...(I say this while blogging at work, but that's beside the point) On more than one occasion I have been called in during my vacation time, been refused time off because 'Im needed here' and on two occasions I have come in dead sick for an hour or two 'to help catch up'.

With time ticking away, and only 2 1/2 months to go, I am left wondering...will I be dreaming of my wedding the day prior from my stuffy cube?

Is it wrong to expect my work to understand that I will require time off for my wedding?
I have requested the bare minimum time off, a lousy 3 1/2 days to pull together a completely DIY wedding. The only reason I spaz about this is because I requested the time off 2 months ago and still no word.

My wonderful coworker SPG will be getting hitched about 3 hours before me, so at least I have someone in the same 'cube' with me.

-Liz

My Office Life: Cubed

My office recently obstructed what little view I previously had by putting up cubical walls anywhere they would fit in this tiny office. I can't complain too much because my cube is actually quite spacious. But the 'Maze' as it has now been dubbed is very tricky to maneuver and there is now not a single window in my eye sight which makes for a very depressing & long day.

I'm going to quit if they get one of these:

-Liz

Emotional Up-Chuck

Last week when NPZ went to pick up Big Blue from the Bottom Feeders, he spent nearly two hours there. We had a lunch date and he was late. I went back to work feeling a tad bit stood up, by now I should know that NPZ can get caught up in conversation. Around 3 I got a call from him. Apparently, Denny (our fast talking salesmen who thinks NPZ is a good boy) emotionally barfed all over NPZ like 5 minutes into their meeting and NPZ had to console the guy for a couple hours.

I can't say he's ever had a salesmen do this before, but it's not the first time this has happened.

What is it about certain people that make us open up to them?

I think there is something about NPZ that makes him approachable and easy to talk to. While I know this puts him in a lot of uncomfortable situations, and he complains about it often, I really think he should embrace this quality that he has.

The perk of this strange quality is that the people we see every day, the ones who look like they've got it together or that everything in their life must be great...those people have problems too, just ask NPZ, he'll tell ya!

-Liz

Drive Thru vs. Drive By

Today after lunch I really needed a coffee. This morning i had one but accidentally got the 'lite' version. It tasted like hot water with Splenda so that went down the drain. Gross.
I ordered at the window. Paid. Then drove away. I didn't even realize I was without drink until I got back to work. Shit. I don't normally go around throwing money at people for nothing but I guess it's Friday.

This is what I'm missing right about now.

PS: Has anyone seen my brain today?

TGIF!

-Liz

UPDATE: My Coworker is awesome, she went and retrieved my crack for me...Thanks SPG(C)!

Big Blue & The Bottom Feeders

With the lease almost up on the black car, NPZ and I knew it was time to start looking into a new vehicle for him. With all the dream shopping and yard work planning- we knew the new vehicle must be a pick up. It was a struggle for us to decide on what to get because we know that car seats are peaking around the corner. (I'd say my car is safe enough for a baby on board sticker, as long as Toyota doesn't recall anything on it)

NPZ managed somehow to find an excellent deal on a 1995 F150. Its not the prettiest thing I have ever seen, but it has 64,000 miles on it and NPZ says it drives like a dream.
He took me there to show it to me last night, and the bottom feeders (as I call them) or vultures (as NPZ calls them) were out in full force. I don't know what it is about fast talking sales men, but I cant stand them. I almost barfed when I heard Denny (our own personal bottom-feeder) had told NPZ that his parents did a great job raising him and that he was a 'good boy'. I told NPZ that he had better get on the line right away with his folks and let them know what Denny thought...dork.

Anyways, NPZ is great at negotiating prices and got a really good deal. I have to say there is something very attractive about this quality that he has.

Anyways, here's big blue.

I can't picture NPZ driving this yet, it a far cry from his usual digs:

Or his super cool work car...purple power...

I definately dont see a place to put a car seat in the new truck, but I can see this with some wooden fencing and some pavers in the back end of it! Also, another perk of this is craigslist finds! We have really never been able to scoop up good deals because we are always taking too long to find transportation for the goods. So I will definitely be hitting up craigslist this weekend!

-Liz

Dream Shopping

Yesterday, while NPZ and I were work, we decided it might be a good idea to get out of the house after work. The big white elephant in the room was sure to spoil a perfectly good evening anyhow. (more on that a little later)
We decided that we would make a trip to the home improvement store and do a little dream shopping...or as NPZ likes to call it, spending all his money in my head. Normally, getting NPZ to go shopping is like getting a cat in the bath tub, but surprisingly he was excited. It may have been because I told him we shouldn't be spending any money on unnecessary things until we knew more about the fridge situation. Being that we have never owned a home, we wanted to be realistic about how much things cost- so we did go and check out what our fridge at home costs new.
We spent most of our time looking at shrubs for the front of our house and patio pavers for the back.
I think we have decided on the plants we like for the front of the house, now I just have to research to see if we can plant them next to each other:



We liked the Boxwood shrub for the front of the house



Im thinking of flanking these along the sides of the house...but I dont know if I can plant it next to the boxwood.

I think with a little research, we will be all set!

-Liz

Is your refrigerator running?

No. It's not.

Last night we noticed that our milk wasnt as cool as we are accustom to. Also, Nick made a batch of split pea soup around lunch time, and it was still warm at dinner time.

With the symptoms adding up, we decided to make a call into our home warranty company. I have to say this home warranty is the biggest load of crap I have ever come across. We have called them twice before and basically nothing is covered under this home warranty.

We thought we'd give it a shot anyhow. They tell us they will send out a service tech on Saturday which is fine because I dont want to take work off for a 4 hour window. Well, waiting until Saturday was totally fine with us until 10 pm when the fidge took it's final breath.

Though we have been talking about getting a chest freezer for months, we have yet to even go shopping for one. So with no back up, poor NPZ is miserable that his precious venison for the year is ruined.

I do feel bad for him for that, but I'm blaming this whole incident on NPZ's luck. It's horrible.

Im just crossing my fingers that this home warranty can come through on this one tiny thing.

(Did I mention that we just went on a all out, hit every single isle, coupon clipping shopping trip on Sunday? Ugh!)

-Liz

UPDATE: Bring on the prank phone calls because our home warranty came through and our fridge is running a marathon.

Spring Ahead!

While I was off having the time of my life at my bridal brunch this weekend, fiance NPZ was home uncovering the new yard. Since we didn't move in until September we really didn't have a chance to uncover our over grown gardens that surround our little house. Nick went through all the gardens on Saturday and cleaned up all the over-grown and dead plants. Our house was a probate house, so these gardens had 2 years of over-growth so it was quite the job! Now that we know what we are working with, we can really start planning. I still am going to have to figure out what the plants are that are in the gardens so that I know how to take care of them. Here is what we are working with:

Chime in if you know what any of these are!

Sedum, Thanks Sister LJP

I dont know what this is, but I would like to move it from the front of the house elsewhere to make room for some shrubbery.

These are spreading like wildfire along the side of my house...what is it and how do I make it stop??

While Nick was working on the yard, our Molly was working on getting into everything she shouldn't. She decided that sticks and dirt would make a great snack, and boy was she wrong! She ended up being one sick puppy! We took her to the vet today and have a plan set to get her feeling better in the next week...hopefully she has learned a valuable lesson in digestion...Silly girl!

Bridal Brunch

This weekend we kicked off the wedding festivities. My sister hosted a double bridal shower (of sorts). My little brother will be getting married in may and we knew that it was important for our side of the family to throw something together. As both of us engaged couples already cohabitate, we thought it best that we let our registries sit idle for a while and ask our friends and family to donate to our favorite charities instead. We raised about $300 for the humane society and the food shelf which felt awesome.

With our good deed for the day done, we sipped on delicious Mimosa's, Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers and devoured yummy pastries and breakfast goodies. 

The games we played at our 'Un-shower' were truly memorable! The first game was the newlywed game, It was such a hoot! Being that NPZ and I have been together for nearly 5 years and  and Brother JH and Sister-In-Law-To-Be  have not hit the 2 year mark yet, so of course, I thought I had this game in the bag! Well, I didn't and as such, I ended up with WAY too much bubble gum in my mouth! I told NPZ once I got home how many incorrect answers we got, he was surprised but said that it was a true testament to how we can change so much as people but still stay strong in our relationship...I thought that was cute, and very well rehearsed!

Here is a list of the questions and answers from Nick and I:

1. What is your Liz's shoe size? Nick said, in women's? 6? Liz said, 7.5
2. What is your song? (as a couple) Got it Right! Carried Away - George Strait
3. What is her favorite pizza topping? Nick said, Pepperoni, Liz said, cheese
4. What was the name of  her first pet? Nick said Hines, Liz said, Sam
5. What is her favorite desert? Nick said, Turtle cheesecake, Liz said, Ice Cream
6. Did she ever wear braces? Got it Right! No.
7. How many bones has Liz broken? Including teeth!Nick said 6, Liz said 4
8. How does Liz take her coffee at home? Got it Right! Liz doesn't drink coffee at home.
9. What is her favorite movie? Got it Right! The Notebook & Twilight
10. Where was your first date? Got it Right! PF Chang's
11. What where you wearing on your first date? Got it Right! Socks & Sandals (ugh, gross)
12. What is Liz's least favorite household chore? Nick, Dishes. Liz, Toilet
13. If Liz could replace you with a superstar who would it be? Nick, Justin Timberlake, Liz said Bill Gates
14. What is your favorite outfit that Liz wears? Got it Right! Jammies!
15. How many pairs of shoes does Liz own? Got it Right! 20.

The next game was 'Guess the Groom'. This was so much fun and only can be played with two brides at the same shower. The questions were so funny. ex. 'Which groom had to start their car with a screwdriver for an entire year?' or 'Which groom has an outie?' The game was so personal and everyone really got into it!

All in all, it was a memorable day. I really hadn't planned on doing a shower for this side of the family and I am so glad that we did. I am so thankful that I have such a great sister to pull this together for both myself and my Sister-In-Law-To-Be.

-Liz

Our Big Fat GREEN Wedding

Early on we decided that it was important for our wedding to have a big impact on us and our family, and a little impact on our environment.

Here are some things that we have done to reduce, reuse and recycle our way to the big day:

-All our centerpieces are used crystal bud vases, mason jars, and used picture frames from goodwill. I spent 5 months making trips to Goodwill, so much so that they started calling me 'The Wedding Girl'. I hope my tables will look like this:

-We are using all locally grown, bulk and overstock flowers. I didnt get to choose exaclty what flowers I would get- but that didnt bother me one bit. We also got an excellent deal on them.

-I purchased my dress second hand! It was crazy and I wouldnt recommend this to anyone who is looking for the easiest route. I shopped all the bridal bouiques and collect style numbers of my 3 favorites. Knowing that it might be hard to find 'The one' I never got attached to any of them. When I found one unaltered in my size on Craigslist.org I purchased it (at $150 it definately didnt break the bank). When the dress arrived it looked as good as new! Turns out the bride that it belonged to married a minister- so needless to say she wasn't partying down in it! I got it altered locally for under $100 and it is perfection!

-I have been saving up wine bottles. I am not a wine drinker myself so I had to recruit my wino friends to help out - and boy did they ever! I plan to use these to decorate in the pole shed. Like this:

-Attire: The bridesmaids are wearing dresses that I found on etsy.com that are eco and only 80 bucks- they are made of bamboo and are so adorable my bridesmaids can wear them anywhere again...really! They each got to pick out a different style so they were able to choose what looked best on them! Most of the groomsmen in the wedding were in a wedding last year and all purchased dark grey suites- they will wear them again.

Surprisingly, this whole green thing has been quite simple! And the cost savings are tremendous!

-Liz

Its been a while

We are currently all settled in at the new house. Wedding planning is in full swing and we are gearing up for summer. Here are all the updates:

- We have braved the winter with no driveway thanks to our lovely neighbors across the way. Our town's snow emergencies do not allow for ANY street parking, so without them we might have spent a lot of time at the impound lot.

-We have added to our little family! We picked up our little lab Molly the weekend after Thanksgiving and she just celebrated her 6 month birthday! Shes SO cute and cuddly, we just adore her.

-With the addition of Molly, we have officially decided that a new fence is our #1 summer priority (Aside from our wedding) This brings up interesting conversations with our one neighbor. We called out the city to find our property lines and we have about 4 feet more than we thought! Awesome!

-I am excited for summer to come so that I can get a fresh start on the gardening. Last year we closed on the house in August so it was too late to start.

We have lots of plans for the house.

The interior of our house hasn't changed much. Finances have been too tight to do much inside this winter with all the funds going toward the wedding. We plan on being here a while so I'm sure it can wait another year or two.

-Liz