I Have Neglected You

I'm sorry blog-o-sphere, I have neglected you. The last 3 weeks have been pretty crazy/not very internet friendly. After a visit to Wisconsin and my friend Jamie's BEAUTIFUL wedding in Minnesota, I came home to all of my stuff moved into our new apartment - Thanks to Jonathan, my dad, my future father-in-law, my brothers, and my future brother-in-laws.... don't I have an amazing family?!?

Jonathan has helped me settle in quite nicely. The kitchen is unpacked, all of our furniture is in place, and most boxes have been unpacked and organized. We still need to hang pictures, but I absolutely LOVE our place - the amount of space that we have is perfect for just the two of us and I don't think we can beat the location! Also, it has been nice to feel like an adult moved into my first grown-up place, but it is quite boring/lonely - especially because our cable and internet have not been installed yet. But I'm sure that this time of boredom and loneliness will help me appreciate when Jonathan moves in with me in October - btw. I can't wait!!

I also started school this week. I had a couple of days of new teacher training and then a three day conference with a ton of amazing speakers (including two of the original Freedom Writers) that were very inspiring. So far, I am loving this school system and I am excited about the direction they want to head. The big downer of the week was that the school building where I am working is still under construction. They are supposed to be done on Monday. It will be really nice to finally get in there and start cleaning and organizing the room (especially since EVERYTHING is in boxes - including our entire chemical stock).

Well, I am currently at Panera and not on my computer with pictures - so I apologize for neglecting you further by not providing images. The next couple of weeks will be pretty busy with my last week of professional development, my bachelorette/bridal shower weekend, and the official start of the school year. But I will try to write a picture update blog soon.

I'm off to wait for Comcast.... for the second time,
<3 Alison

Busy Week

I have a very busy, but exciting week this week. Here is a run-down of what I have going on....

Today:
- flew home from family vacation in Wisconsin (on a 2.5hr delayed flight that only lasted 2hrs...)
- rested
- started placing invitations in addressed envelopes

Monday:
- shopping in Tyson's for: a dress for Jamie's wedding/my bridal shower, jewelry for my wedding, brown shoes to go with my rehearsal dinner dress, and some other wedding things
- take my wedding dress to be fitted and bustled and my rehearsal dinner dress to be taken in
- finish placing invites in envelopes and double check addresses

Tuesday:
- take invitations to the post office and cancellation stamp every invite
- file my change to my change of address with the post office (switching apartment numbers)
- take my engagement ring to Jared's to be re-sized [better late than never, i guess o=) ]
- dinner with my NOVA ed school friends
- if I have extra time after, relax in the hot tub with a glass of wine =)

Wednesday:
- work on lots of wedding crafts (I'll update with pictures later this week.... hopefully)
- figure out transportation for guests up to the wedding site
- finalize some things for my bridal luncheon
- if Jonathan gets back early enough from his bachelor party/trip, go wedding band shopping

Thursday-Sunday:
- fly up to Minneapolis, MN and drive to Spicer, MN with some 206 girls for Jamie and Rob's wedding!

(Sunday, also):
- Jonathan, his brothers, and my brothers move me into my new apartment (too bad I'm out of town until Sunday evening... its funny how that worked out) =P

Monday:
- physically move myself into the apartment
- unpack and organize the apartment with Jonathan

Phew! Lots to do, but there is also a lot of fun to be had. =)

Heaven

Today, I feel like I had a small taste of heaven....

Almost every summer of my childhood my family drove 16+ hours in our minivan to spend at least a week around Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My dad is one of 7 and his entire family is up this way. I always LOVE our trips to Wisconsin, which consist of family, brats (sausages... not young, annoying children), Milwaukee custard, Friday fish fries, the lake, and amazing weather (with very little humidity)!

Tonight we gathered together with several of my aunts and uncles for fish fry at a restaurant near my grandparents' home. We just talked, shared stories, laughed, and ate amazing fried fish. Afterward, we drove to Mickey's, a custard place near my grandparents' house, and indulged in amazing, rich frozen custard.... YUM!! (If you are lucky enough to live near a Milwaukee Frozen Custard place in the Herndon/Sterling/Ashburn area, you must go and try for yourself!)

I always love traveling to Wisconsin and when several of our families gather together over a big meal. There is so much joy is such meetings. It is what I picture heaven will be like... sharing food, stories, and laughter with people you love. I can't wait.

Blue Hole

Blue hole did happen and it was fun, amazing, and slightly scary (not in a terrible way)! Anyways, Jonathan has all the pictures... so, I'll update on this in a couple weeks when I finally get moved into the new apartment!

What do you do with an extra 48 hours in Cville?

So, Jonathan and I were supposed to pack up and move from Charlottesville yesterday.... well, we are still here. About a month ago, we placed an order to rent a Uhaul truck to help us move our things, and a car trailer to bring Jon's car (so he could drive back to Cville to work one more week). However, a wonderful friend of ours offered to come with us and help us move, and he could drive Jon's car. Thus, about two weeks ago, Jonathan called Uhaul to cancel the car trailer. BUT we found out Thursday evening that they decided to cancel our entire rental order!! Thanks, Uhaul.

With only 12 hours before our planned move, we were unable to find a truck for Friday. With today being the first of the month, we were also unable to find a truck for today. However, Pensky came through and has a truck for us tomorrow morning, 8am. Praise, God!

With all of this said, Jonathan and have I found ourselves with an extra 48 hours in Charlottesville. After moving & cramming all of Jonathan's stuff into my apartment (thanks for your flexibility, Stacey!), we decided to go out for wings and a movie with my roomate, Stacey, her boyfriend, Jeff, and our friend Chip. It was good fun to eat as many boneless buffalo wings as possible and then just vegge in a movie theater.

After the movie, the night was still young. Jon and I picked up a few sodas from Giant and decided to go for a drive. We hopped on 64 West and just drove. After about 30 minutes of driving on 64, we figured we were half-way to Harrisonburg and in the mood for ice cream... vuala we had a mission! So, we drove to 81 North and into Harrisonburg, grabbed a couple of cones at Dairy Queen, and headed back to Cville. Mission complete.

It was awesome! We had the music turned off and just talked the entire time. We talked about a great variety of things: God & faith, music, childhood memories, and puberty experiences to name a few. This spontaneous trip just reminded me how amazing it is to be in love with my best friend. I cannot wait for all of the spontaneous adventures we will embark on in our life together as husband and wife! =)

So, that was the first 24hrs.... currently, the next will entail sleeping in for Jonathan (who is still fast asleep in my living room) and a trip to Blue Hole, a swimming hole near the Shenandoah National Park. More updates later!