do we have everything?

Finally, I think we're all packed and ready to go on our cruise. I spent all day doing laundry, making sure everything was clean for our trip, and packing everything. I'm a pretty good packer (I get that from my Daddy) so I usually pack for any trips we go on. Jeff lays his stuff out and I pack it all up. We had A LOT of stuff to pack for this trip because we'll be gone for 7 days and we probably won't wash anything while we're gone (I'm pretty sure they'd charge us for that...). We had lots of sunscreen & bug spray to pack (smart, huh?), we had beach towels to pack, and lots of clothes -- casual clothes, bathing suits, formal dress clothes (I actually talked Jeff into that!). We got it all into 4 bags so I think we're good. We weighed them and they're under the limit, so we're good there. Whew! :)

WE ARE READY! Leaving on a jet plane tomorrow morning...

guest bathroom addition...

Ha! I know you all were thinking I'd only be posting "cruise stuff" from here on out until we go, but we do have 7 more days (!) until we leave, people. I mean, come on...do you think that's ALL that's on my mind these days?? (Yes...you are correct in your assumption...)

I got an itch Friday night to start really going through the boxes we have still kicking around here and either do something with the stuff, or get rid of it. A lot of the stuff in the boxes is decorative stuff that I haven't decided where to put yet or am waiting on a piece of furniture to be built first (ahem, Jeff...) -- that sort of thing. But it occurred to me that we're less than 3 months away from our 1-year anniversary being in this house and I personally, think it's silly to have this many boxes sitting around with stuff still in them. I mean, really, how much can I actually need the "stuff" if I've been without it for almost a year?? So my goal this long weekend is to at least condense things down into less boxes (or even one box).

Having said that, another thing that's been kicking around here is the cabinet Jeff made me for the master bathroom at our other place. He did a fantastic job on it -- all I did was find a photo of what I wanted (with a few "tweaks" that he took note of) and he built it. He's really very handy with wood... :) Anyway, because we had it hanging in our bathroom in our other place, I naturally assumed we'd do the same in this house. Plus, we need all the storage we can get in our bathroom here since all we have is a couple drawers and the cabinet under the sink (I don't know why one has to have so much "bathroom stuff" to function, but we do...). However, there really isn't a place in our bathroom to hang this cabinet.

I finally came to that realization Friday and decided that we should hang it in the guest bathroom. I don't really need an extra cabinet in there since I do have the cabinet under the sink and a linen closet but I'd rather hang it in there (and let people admire --er, I mean, see my husband's handiwork) than not use it at all. So we did. Saturday afternoon. And I must say, I really like it. It makes the bathroom look more finished or something...more lived in? I don't know why -- no one really uses it unless we have guests. But that's okay. I really like the cabinet in there. And that's enough. What do you think?

first time for everything...

There IS a first time for everything...and this is a big year for us. If you remember this post, I mentioned something about a trip to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary...

And celebrate we will! WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE! Our first (and hopefully not our last) cruise. We sail June 1 to the Western Carribean on the Carnival Triumph and I can't even begin to explain how excited I am. 7 glorious, fun-filled days aboard this massive ship with everything in the world to do. We'll visit Cozumel, Mexico, the Grand Cayman Islands and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. I'm starting to sound like an advertisement, right?

I've been told by all of our friends who've been on cruises that it really is a spectacular vacation, the only way to travel, really. Well, it would be the only way to travel if we didn't have anything else to do with our money! But this is a momentous occassion and one I didn't want to get by us without doing something really grand to celebrate. This qualifies.

I spent countless hours online researching cruises, deals, places to go -- I must've exhausted at least 10-12 different websites that boasted of "the best cruise deals", "rock-bottom cruises", etc. In the end, we enlisted the help of a travel agent that we trust and she found us a great, all-inclusive deal. When we leave ILM (Wilmington, NC airport) on June 1, we will be carted to-&-fro by air, land & sea for 7 days. No worries. Our airfare, ground transport to the ship from the airport and back, as well as the cruise fare all included. Done.

The next thing to think about was shore excursions. Oh, my heavens! So many options in each port. I spent several more countless hours online researching these & comparing and calculating the best deals for our hard-earned cash. I'm happy to say we booked our excursions last night, one on each island, and I feel sooo much better with that done. We got the ones we wanted (they weren't full yet) and we kept the cost relatively low. We won't have to get up really early on any particular day and we'll have "down-time" each day, even in port, to do our own thing.

I'm compiling basically a notebook of "stuff" to read through or to have on hand to make the experience smoother. I have our travel documents and "FunPass" printed out; I have emails in which I've gotten feedback from friends who've been on this exact same cruise and those who've been on other cruises. I found out what shore excursions they went on & what they thought of them (I used those emails heavily to help me make my decisions about our excursions). I've asked general questions about the cruise itself and they've all been just so sweet to pass on whatever information they learned from their experiences.

So now we wait. But not for too long...17 days (and counting)!

exciting times...

These are exciting times...for the very first time, I am going to be an aunt. I know you're thinking I'm already an aunt, and you're right. I have a niece & nephew on Jeff's side of the family, Brittany & Brandon, and I love them dearly. BUT -- this is completely different.

My "little" brother, Daniel, (he's only 2 years younger, but it seems like so much more than that to me...) and his sweet wife, Brandi, are going to welcome a darling addition to their family in about 2 1/2 months. And this will change lives, people.

It will change their lives -- they will no longer be a couple; they will be called a family. They will not only be "husband & wife", they will become "mommy & daddy" to a precious child. A child who will watch their every move, listen to their every word.

It will change the lives of my parents -- they will not only be parents, they will (finally) be called "grandparents". They will experience the joys of grandparenting which I've heard is so much different than parenting...they are absolutely beside themselves with excitement.

So Brandi's due date is July 23, a mere 6 days before they celebrate their 2nd anniversary. So she is just about 2 1/2 months away...has it really already been 6 1/2 months? That's crazy. And she's just the cutest little pregnant woman -- you'd never guess she was pregnant if you were looking anywhere but her stomach (it kinda makes me sick...). And guess what they're having? Oh, I just can't wait!

We had a baby shower for them a couple weekends ago in my hometown, Lexington (NC). All of Brandi's family is around the area and they have a great support group at their church so we had good attendance that Sunday afternoon. I made little corsages (out of socks & such) for both of them to wear, the mommy- and daddy-to-be. And then the unveiling of "THE PINK" began! Yes, they got loads of girlie, pink stuff, much to my brother's chagrin. But, they are having a girl. That is the natural tendency. They did get a lot of nice things that were NOT pink and he was thankful for that. Let me just say, the child will NEVER be naked for lack of clothes! But how can one resist those little dresses, onesies & jeans that are only 7 inches long?! Oh, and don't even get me started on the shoes!

Tell me...do you think he looks ready? :)

"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

--Proverbs 22:6

hurricane season already?

Not quite, but close. However, we have had some serious downpours here & there, including this one today that kept me sitting in my car in the driveway after I got home from work for about 5 min, waiting for any kind of letup so I could dash to the porch. I got a semi-letup, but still got drenched.

Our yards definitely need the rain, and Jeff was really excited to see it -- he's been fertilizing the yard & such. Well, I think our yard got a little more than it bargained for today! There were some serious puddles in the backyard before it was all over.

We finally got gutters put on the house so the front yard did fairly well through the downpour. We haven't done any kind of landscaping yet so I wasn't terribly upset with all the water gushing into what's there.

I did notice the "flood 'o' mud" running down our street, almost flooding it all the way across. It's lovely, isn't it? They are (blessedly) almost finished with every home on Rose Bud (our street) so hopefully we won't be seeing too much more of that.

**note: I'm seriously embarrassed by how long it has been since I last posted. I have had a lack of time on the one hand and a lack of activity around the house on the other hand. Both have served to give me absolutely nothing to blog about in terms of the house. I'm having to resort to blogging about the rain? For pete's sake! I plan to blog about some things that may not necessarily have to do with the house but are things happening right now in our lives, but I don't want to get too far off "the beaten path" of what I want this blog to be about. So stick with me, folks. I appreciate everyone who still checks the blog from time to time. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I plan to continue this blog for a while.