Wedding, House, Job, Etc.

It has been a while since I have posted!  So much has gone on in the last month, and time has completely slipped by me! We signed the contract for our house, signed our life away at the bank, and continued the process of purchasing our very first home! We are suppose to close December 2nd, but may be able to close a little sooner than that if everything goes through quickly. 

Wedding Planning: Well lets see...we went to Huntsville a few weeks ago (Oct. 20th I think) and Ava and Addy tried on the flower girl dresses! They are gorgeous!! My bridal shower is coming up in just 2 weeks! I am pretty excited about that!! Other than that, wedding planning is beginning to slow down a little.  Got most/all of the BIG stuff done! Only 3 more months!!

New Job: I started working on my own October 1st.  I love my job, but it is definitely time-consuming, hard work.  I am not used to having stuff piled up on my desk.  But it definitely makes the days go by quickly. 

Family Updates:  My dad tore ligaments, tendons, etc. in his arm at work last week.  He's probably going to have surgery on Monday.  My brother got an early Christmas present: A truck.  Cannot believe my brother is old enough to drive. :( Scary thought!! haha!

I guess that is about all I have for life updates. 

Until Next Time,

We Will Soon be HOMEOWNERS!

Back in August, I mentioned briefly that we found a house we liked.  After talking it over and taking our parents to see it, we decided that was IT! That was our house! We waited a few weeks and then found out someone else looked at the house and really liked it and would most likely make an offer on it soon.  We thought we better jump on it if we really wanted the house.  We went to the bank to be pre-approved.  The loan officer at the bank told us that we could make an offer on the house.  We also talked about consolidating some of Kip's debt as well.  He refinanced his car and paid off EVERYTHING...even his student loans that he doesn't have to pay yet! He is debt free (with the exception of the car loan).  It lowered what he was was paying from about $700/month to $267/month.  Talk about saving some money (AND INTEREST!!) He had a few pretty high interest cards and he got all those paid off.  Now his interest rate on the car is only right at 5%.  It is going to help us out tremendously!! I also looked into doing a student loan consolidation to try to lower my payments because I have about $20,000 in loans.  I applied and I am waiting to hear what the actual monthly payment will be, but I think it is somewhere around $125/month.  I also have my car payment, but other than those 3 loans, we are DEBT FREE! It feels good to look at it that way even though we still have some debt. It feels much better to have all those credit cards paid off! :)

So on a Wednesday night (September 18th) we made an offer on the house.  We started out with $10,000 less than they were asking.  They countered and it went back and forth for a few minutes until we made an offer that they accepted! So off to the bank we went the next day! We talked with the loan officer again, and he told us that we were approved for the FHA loan, not the rural development loan.  The FHA has a lower interest rate, but you have to have a down payment.  We tried everything we could to get the RD loan, but it just isn't going to be possible! :( We have to make a down payment of 3.5% which is right about $5,000.  Not too bad, but we don't have $5,000 laying around.  So we are trying to work that out, but the house will soon be ours! It is very exciting knowing that we do have somewhere to go when we get married! :)

There are pros and cons of the house, but it has more of what we want (in our price range) than any other house we have looked at!  Kip wanted a brick house and I wanted a newer house.  Well...we kind of met in the middle.  The house is ALL brick but it is an older house.  BUT the good news is...the inside of the house is less than 5 years old!  They re-did the entire inside of the house! So we both pretty much got what we wanted!

There are so many things that I like about it:

1. 1. HUGE kitchen
2. 2. Open floor plan
3. 3. Flat lot with privacy fenced in backyard 
4. 4. Nice, quiet neighborhood (in Southside--where I have lived almost my whole life)
5. 5. Gorgeous dining room
6. 6. HUGE laundry room
7. 7. Decent sized bedrooms
8. 8. Decent sized closets

The few things we weren't crazy about but can definitely live with are:

1. 1. Small bathrooms
2. 2. One car garage
3. No back porch...just patio (but that can be fixed!)

Yep that is about all.  It really is perfect for us. I can see ourselves in that house...having friends and family over...raising children (until they get a older then we may have to move to a bigger house).  I have already found myself decorating it in my mind!

Now....onto furniture shopping! :)

I'll leave you with a few pics of (soon to be) our house!

HOME!

Back yard

Open floor plan!

Oh the kitchen! So ready to cook in here!

Until Next Time,

So Many Changes!

Wow..so it has been a while since I updated! So many changes have happened in the last month! One major change was a new job!

My last day at WEE Care was September 6th.  Whirlwind of emotions let me tell you!! After working there for 8 years it was really hard to leave.  I didn't cry until Jennifer and Ava Caroline came to see me.  What really got me was when Jennifer said, "Tell Ms. Lauren 'Bye'! She got a new job!" AC said, "She wont be working her anymore???" with a poked out lip and sad face! That is when I started crying!! I got better though until 5:30 when I left! But my sweet bosses gave me flowers and bought my lunch! It was so sweet!

My sweet Kate!! 

My gorgeous flowers!

I started my new job on September 9th.  It was a little slow at first, but I am getting more used to it!  I have been having to work some nights with Susan, the old financial secretary, because she has taken another job.  She has shown me a lot and I am learning new things daily.  I am ready to be on my own, but it is a little scary because if I have a question about something I wont have anybody to ask! But I'll get it...slowly but surely I'll get it! :)

There are so many things I enjoy about my job!

1. 1. Getting to take sweet Graison to school everyday and getting to see my best friend and Evelynn everyday too!
2. 2. Eating lunch with Kip a few days a week--we usually only saw each other about 6:00pm when I finally got into Gadsden from work.
3. 3. My work hours!! Even though I have been working a few nights a week, I absolutely love my hours! 8:30 - 4:30 is awesome! There are days I wish I could sleep in and not go to work until 9:30 like I used to but getting off at 4:30 is definitely worth it!
4. 4. Being so close to home! It only takes me about 12-15 minutes to get to work where it used to take AT LEAST 30.  It is also only about 8 miles from my house to CrossPoint...compared to 25 miles one way!
5. 5.  I love the people here! Everyone is so nice and sweet! I do miss my co-workers in Jacksonville but I do love my new co-workers!
6. 6. My own office! I finally have my own office (almost).  I am ready to fix it up like I want it when Susan leaves! I have bought picture frames and everything! Ready to make it mine!

Everybody tells me what a big job it is and that they couldn't do it.  Well I have faith in myself that I can...I believe that I can handle the job! It is much more than I did at WEE Care, but everyone takes steps up in their career! I can handle it! I know I can! :)

Things have moved forward with wedding stuff! YAY!! I also have some big news about a house for Kip and I as well. More to come on that in another post! :)

Until next time,

Evelynn Faith is HERE!

Yesterday was an awesome day! I am reaping the repercussions of the whole no sleep thing though!  I am so exhausted and probably wont be much help today at work, although I will try my best.  I basically stayed up all night Wednesday night--thinking if I went to sleep I wouldn't wake up to be at Jillian's by 4am.  I dosed off a couple of times but pretty much kept myself up.  I got to Jillian's a little after 4am.  Clai and Jillian left around 4:30am so I crawled into bed with Graison thinking I was going to go to sleep at least until he woke up.  I finally went to sleep about 5:30 but it was off and on.  I was so anxious about baby Evelynn I guess. I kept checking my phone to see if Jillian had text me with an update.  Graison slept until almost 8am so I got about 2 hours of sleep off and on.  I was afraid he would be upset when he woke up and saw me but he was fine.  He woke up and smiled and said "LaLa" and gave me a big hug!  Sweetest thing EVER!! So we got up, played iPad, watched Mickey, and ate breakfast.

We played in Graison's room for a little while until he wanted to play the "pad" again.

After a few minutes of playing cars and puzzles in his room, he wanted to play the pad again!

So we took his chair into the living room so he could watch Mickey, play the pad, and drink his milk!

Later on, he wanted to go in sissy's room, so we went to play in there and talk about sissy coming home!

He is so silly....he climbed up in the swing and just laughed and laughed!

Love this boy so much!  We had so much fun playing together yesterday!!

He finally sat in my lap for a picture!

He ate lunch, watched Mickey, and played the iPad for a little while.  We tried to lay down for a nap but he wasn't having that!  So we went to meet Kip to give him his wallet and hang out for a little bit until he got good and sleepy.  We went back home so he could take a nap before going to see sissy!  He laid right down and went to sleep without a fight!  He slept until a little after 3pm. 

We got up and changed clothes and headed to the hospital to see his sissy!! 

I got a text from Clai about 12:30 saying that baby girl was HERE! 7 lbs 12 oz and 21 inches long!  It killed me not to be there like I was with Graison, but I enjoyed my time with Graison yesterday! I loved getting to see his reaction to sissy! :) 

Miss Evelynn Faith Neal

He didn't want to have much to do with her at first.  But he warmed up after he opened his present from sissy! I just love that family so much! :) 

And let me tell you....I envy Jillian Neal and her ability to have babies quickly!! I know that will not be the case with me! haha! She was in labor for like 10 minutes with Evelynn and just a few hours (if that) with Graison.  And she doesn't even look like she just had a baby! I'm going to be the one that looks like death warmed over when I have a baby! haha! But I am so happy for this precious family.  And I love them so very much!! I have many more pics on my camera but I haven't had a chance to go through them!  Just wait for the over abundance of pics in the next few days!  If you thought I was bad about taking pics of Graison then think again....cause I have a nice, new camera now that I can take pics with! haha!  

Cannot wait to get off work today to head up to the hospital so I can see Jillian and Evelynn and hold that sweet baby again!! 

Until next time, 

Updates

Wow...so this past month has been BUSY BUSY BUSY!  LOTS of things have been going on. Where to start...oh goodness. Well....we ordered Save the Dates a few weeks ago and are in the process of sending those out! They are super cute and I am pretty proud of my design I made all by myself!

I also went wedding dress shopping August 9th and I found my dress!!! :) Not gonna put a picture up of my dress in case Kip may look at the blog, but it is gorgeous!! 

We booked our honeymoon cabin too! SOOOOO excited about spending the week in the mountains with my new hubby in February!! 

We got our invitations ordered too!! Not much left to do! YAY!! 

We have been house searching too! But we have been waiting to see where I get a job/how much I will make/etc.  We found a house we really like...its a friend of ours that is selling their house! 

Speaking of job: I went for a second interview with Coosa/Crosspoint Church August 5th for the financial secretary position.  I finally heard back a few days ago and got a final job offer today!! Bro. Chuck told me to talk it over with Kip and let him know something tomorrow!  We have talked about it but just want to talk to Kip first before I do accept the job.  I am excited about it because I will get to see my best friend just about everyday and see Miss Evelynn and Mr. Graison too! 

Speaking of Evelynn and Graison: Jillian is having her tomorrow!! She is going to the hospital tomorrow morning! I am beyond excited!! I get to keep Graison tomorrow and I am PUMPED! Love that kid!!! We are gonna have a fun day! :) I am so excited that I get to spend some time with Graison AND get to meet his little sister too!!! It's gonna be a great day!!

I will updated the blog with pics of Evelynn SOON! :)

Until next time, 

Changes

I have really got to thinking about how much I have changed since I graduated high school!  Mentally and physically.  It is true what they say about getting old, as you get older you get wiser (and WIDER)! HaHa! Just a little fun (mainly for my entertainment purposes).  A look back through the years:

Summer 2005: I was so young!

Christmas 2005: Still young!

Early 2006

Christmas 2006

Summer 2007: 6 months difference...I look so much different!

Christmas 2007: Change in hair color...and looking much different than summertime!

Summer 2008: MAJOR haircut...really wanting to get my hair that short again!

Summer 2009: Not too different

January 2010: Dark Hair

March 2010: Blonde again!

2011: Still blonde

Summer 2012: Still blonde

Winter 2012: Dark hair!

Spring 2013: Still dark!

Summer 2013: Blonde again (just highlights)! Missed the blonde too much! 

This was all just kind of for myself to really see the changes I made all through the years! :)

Until next time, 

Growing Up

This past week at our church was our VBS week.  It was a lot of fun as usual, but it really got me to thinking...thinking about years past. Just to warn you...I am about to go down memory lane here. Watching the youth working in VBS, most of which were in pre-school when I was in the youth group, really got me reminiscing on when I was in the youth group years ago.

We had some of the best times and most of my favorite memories from middle school and high school involve the youth group.  I made some lasting friendships too! In fact, my very best friend, Jillian and I became friends when her family started coming to the church in 2002 I believe.  I was going in to 8th grade and she was going in to 10th grade.  We, to this day, are still best friends!  I spent summers pretty much living at her house!  We were even college roommates my first year of college!  The memories I have of the time spent with Jillian are some of the best and I am so thankful for East Gadsden Baptist and God for bringing us together, from her "grandma car", to camp-outs in her backyard, to being college roommates, to her wedding, to the birth of her baby boy and soon the birth of her baby girl, and in just a few short months to my wedding...just to name a few!  I cannot list all the memories I have of Jillian..it would literally take me years!

Watching those girls in the youth group now made me smile.  Just thinking about all the memories I had of youth trips, VBS, and just hanging out after church and on the weekends while watching those girls really warmed my heart.  I sincerely hope those girls make some awesome memories with each other like I did when I was in the youth group!

Not only did memories of my best friend start flooding into my mind, but memories of boys in the youth group also.  Watching those young girls and boys flirting with each other also made me smile.  I met my first serious boyfriend in the youth group.  I am now engaged to that boy. :-) Kip and I grew up in church together but never really hung out, mainly because he was younger than me.  He didn't do a lot with the youth at our church until Bro. Allen came in 2005.  Not long after Bro. Allen came, Kip and I started talking more and more.  Only a few months after Bro. Allen came, Kip and I started dating! Now, we are about to get married and start a family! I am beyond thankful for our youth group and Bro. Allen and most importantly, God, for bringing Kip and I together.  It is awesome to be marrying someone I have grown up with at church.  We have made some awesome memories together and traveled many places on youth choir trips.  What awesome memories those are!!

I hope that each and every one of those boys and girls in the East Gadsden Baptist youth group make such great memories like I did that they will carry around with them as long as they live.  I hope they make lasting friendships and even relationships that lead to marriage like I did.  It is awesome to see these kids growing up and making those lasting friendships and relationships.  It really is one of the best times in life and I hope and pray that they stay on the right track and have Godly friendships and relationships all throughout their schooling, even college!

What awesome memories I carry with me everyday of youth trips, friendships, and relationships from my youth group!

Until Next Time,