I was wanting to post last night, but kept getting an error message for the blogs! I was very glad this morning when I was able to get on with no issue.

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Thursday night Mr FT got several texts from his nephew. He was telling him that Mr FTs sister was in the ICU!

During the wedding weekend, his sister, S, had told him that she'd been bit by her dog earlier that week. Also that she had a weird spot on her arm.

It turns out that the weird spot was some kind of blood infection!! She didn't go to the doctor until Wednesday ... They sent her home with some antibiotics and painkillers. On Thursday they got the results of the blood tests back, and told her to come back to the hospital.

At this point, she also had a weird spot on one of her legs.

We found out last night that she is going to be having surgery (now, actually) to clean out the blood infection. We'll be going to visit her later today after she has a chance to recuperate from the surgery and is up to visitors.

Goes to show that you just never know when something is going to happen!

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My goals this weekend are pretty much to get thank you notes written and get my apartment looking less like a whirlwind hit it. (As Mr FT so helpfully intoned when he came over on Thursday - he apparently had no memory of what it looked like on Sunday after bringing in everything from the wedding ... )

I also need to figure out what to do with the leftover cut up veggies before they go bad - there's at least one full veggie tray, plus another large container. A week old now ... I've managed to eat most of the leftover fruit for lunches at work last week.

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I signed the paperwork for the home warranty plan after work yesterday. Also made sure that my mortgage broker J knew that we had home insurance lined up.

A little less than two weeks til closing!

I plan on asking J how long he can make it before our first mortgage payment is due. We'll be having to pay rent and utilities on two places through June. So it would definitely be helpful to not have to pay the first mortgage payment on top of that.

Just one week left of work til a whole week off! Plus, the Branson trip of course.

I'd successfully shared an album from iCloud before, but I tried that tonight, and it kept my full name! Ugh! So I made an album in Amazon drive, and was even able to upload videos!

You'll never guess what the pictures and videos are all about will you?

Some of the photos are repeats, most aren't. One video is of my brother singing, and the other video is of us playing the Shoe Game (part of it at least.)

Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/Z3Bin621nWftrSroJzpgFo9ncFLs9CVXDgC9L9QnbeU

*The first picture is my favorite one I think.

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I'm still in recovery mode. Had two days of being at work as a married woman. Been trying to get used to writing my new initials in the receipt book. My email address got an alias now, and that confused a few people. So, I had to share the good news.

Mr FT and I opened a joint account on Monday evening. A funny story - we drove there in two cars because he was going to have to leave for work right away. When we got there, we did a quick smooch before heading in. Coming out of the credit union was an old man.

He shouted at us to keep the PDA's out of the public view. Mr FT told him that we'd just gotten married on Sunday and couldn't help it.

The old man shouted back, "Happy New Year!" ???? LOL

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I got my engagement ring and wedding ring resized and soldered ? together. They also shined them up really nice. It was so strange to have the engagement ring off my finger, even if only for less than 24 hours. It's funny how fast you get used to something.
_---It cost $128 to resize and solder. (almost as much as the wedding band itself cost ...)

I haven't added up ALL the costs, but I think we came close to breaking even. We had $2500 gifted to us before the wedding, and received slightly more than $1k in cash/checks + some more in gift cards.

Dress+Alterations - ~$700
Tux rental - $220
Venue rental + use of two rooms - $524
Food for reception - $220
Drink for reception - $35
Food for rehearsal dinner - $50
Drink for rehearsal dinner - $20
Decorations, plates, etc - $56
Hair (trial, +mom and I wedding day) -140
Makeup (trial, mom and I wedding day) - 170
Invitations/Thank You Cards/Postage - $35
Bouquet / boutonniere - $68
Marriage License - $30
Pre-Marital Counseling - $35
Photographer - $250 (so far - owe another $250 when we receive photos)
Printing Photos - $31 so far (Groupon deals, plus two photos from Walgreen's to include in group thank you card to bus company)

If you include a full $500 for the photographer, it comes out to about $2800. I expect to spend probably another $100 - $150 for printing photos. Probably add in another $100 or so for expenses I forgot to include (haven't kept the best track ...) and we're still under what we were gifted.

That leaves some for the honeymoon.

Ok, now this may end my wedding talk. For awhile.

So a few weeks ago I bought a Groupon for 3 mani/pedi's from the local beauty school. 3 of them for about 35% of the price at a regular place.

Today I had my first 1/2 of the mani/pedi - the manicure. The girl was very nice and friendly and really tried hard. But ... part of the reason I was going for someone else to do my nails, was to have my cuticles taken care of .. and other than pushing them back, she did nothing with them.

It was a very basic manicure, one that I could have pretty easily replicated on my own. (I don't do my cuticles, have had one too many oops doing them myself.) Still, it did turn out looking nice, just not quite what I was expecting.

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After I was done, I headed to Walmart. I bought 6 bottles of Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice for toasting, a variety of teas for the reception, a combination photo album/signature book *$9!* for the guest book, some fake flowers to put in the teapot we were given for our sweetheart table centerpiece, and some other miscellaneous items. Spent nearly $100!

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I didn't realize that cutting fake flower stems was so difficult ... I'd bought one of those styrofoam disc things to put them into, and to put into the teapot. The flat round ball was too big ... so I had to cut it down.

Then I tried cutting the stem of the longest flower with a pair of scissors. Nope. Wasn't happening. Finally got it "cut" with a knife.

I'd planned on cutting ALL of them down so they'd be more even with the top of the teapot. But after my first attempt, decided to try without cutting. They look okay, but I'm hoping to figure out what I need to use to cut them!

Wire cutters?

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I don't think I'm going to manage to get my apartment very clean before Friday. I had been thinking of having the CA contingent eat lunch here on Saturday ...but, yeah, no. Maybe I'll let them come in long enough to meet Kari. Otherwise, we can eat the the cafeteria on the local SDA college campus. My grandma would really like that. (That's what we do when I visit her in CA.)

Only two more days of work! (Well, the paying kind of work at least.)

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I paid off the cake today, and the table/linen delivery people also.

*Note to self - have a $5 bill to give to cake people on Sunday (the lady charged me $5 less than she was supposed to, so I told her I'd give them $5 on Sunday.)

Most of what expenses are left now will be paying the bed and breakfast fees (she's not charging anything until all is said and done - will probably be the $245 fee, plus two room rentals since one couple isn't coming that we'd planned on.) The makeup fee. (Hair is already paid in full.) The other half of the photography fee (but he doesn't want that until he gives us the photos.) Then probably 3 meals out with varying groups of people - two times with the CA contingency, and once with the TX/OH group.

I do still need to get the salad fixings for Saturday night, pay for the pizza, buy the ice cream and rootbeer ... and ?? That may be it.

I think I've decided to not do programs. Is that bad? I'd kind of put together one, but every time I'm out somewhere I might get paper for it, I keep forgetting it. Maybe Thursday when I get the salad stuff, if I see some for a good deal that I like ..

I haven't been keeping perfect track of all wedding related expenses, but I think we are on track to come in under $3500, even with the eating out group expenses (which I hadn't put in my budget plan at first.) That isn't including the honeymoon. Although that I don't think should come in much more than $1k, if that.

This weekend I called Geico, with whom I've had my car insurance for 15+ years to get a home insurance quote and also find out what it would cost to add Mr FTs car to my policy.

The auto insurance person I spoke with was great. Very helpful. I have no complaints about him.

The home insurance person I spoke with was great at first. But then when she figured out that I was only looking for a quote (after I repeatedly said that numerous times...) she got all pushy.

When I told her that I'd been told to not go for any quotes over $950/yr, she told me "but we're offering $10k sewer backup - nobody else will give you that."

I firmly told her thank you, but that I wanted to do some more checking around. She wasn't a happy camper.

(My quote was $1160/yr. for $179k replacement. I think the wood stove in the basement and fireplace probably didn't help the cost estimate.)

Today I got an email telling me that I have a $2.11 bill for my car insurance. So I'm guessing that they've already put Mr FT on my policy? Or changed my zipcode? I'm not sure it's worth a phone call right now or not- my minutes are being eaten up this month majorly.

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I've emailed a couple other places about home insurance and am waiting to hear back from them.

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Last night Mr FT and I booked our hotel for our honeymoon! We both agreed that normally we'd go for the cheapest room, but decided this was worthy of a splurge. So we went with the 1 bedroom condo w/kitchenette on the lakeside. 3 nights will be just a bit less than $300 with taxes and fees. (Plus getting 8 SBs per dollar back.)

We also explored what shows are going on that week, and found a few we could agree on. We haven't bought any tickets yet though.

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I worked on the seating plans today ... and realized that didn't have enough spots for all the people! The rental place called, and while I was on the phone with them I asked how much it would cost to upsize one of the tables - $2. Go for it!

One other thing Mr FT and I worked on last night (with a bit of grumbling from him at first) was writing out the place cards. I wrote messages inside of each place card for my family members, and then wrote what Mr FT dictated to me for his. I hope everyone likes it! (This was possible since we only have 20 people coming. More than that, and it may have been a bit overwhelming.)

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The money from stocks and ROTH have hit my checking account. Now it'll sit there until time to do a huge cashier's check ... At least it will be earning a little bit of interest until May 12. (2.5%)

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My allergies seem to have lightened up some here this week. Knock on wood that the trend continues. At least through Monday of next week.

Today I called the bakery and ordered a cupcake to go with the cake - to give to the owner of the vintage car as a thank you.

I also made two! appointments to have a mani/pedi - one for the mani, and one for the pedi. Not ideal by any means, but the only way I could do it without taking off of work.

I found out that J had been waiting to hear back from me about the inspection before going forward with the appraisal. Oops! I didn't have my debit card with me for the correct account, so will do that tomorrow.

After work I picked up a card from the Dollar Store for S who is retiring tomorrow. He's not even 55 years old! My hero!!

When I got home, I called my brokerage firm and got the ball moving on the ROTH transfer. By Friday I should be able to move all the money to my bank account.

THEN I finally wrote out and addressed all the thank you cards from the Bridal shower. 9 days later isn't too late, is it? Better late than never? .... I'll take them to the post office tomorrow.

Am now taking a slight breather before working on some cleaning that needs to be done.

I'm glad to check a bunch off my list!

I finally pulled the trigger on selling the stock on Monday. They sold at 251, and this morning they open at 249 .. so maybe good timing?? I think it will still be another day or two before I can move the money though.

I tried moving my money from my ROTH, but there is a $45 debit from when I transferred the ROTH from Trowe - so can't do it without making a phone call. How annoying! Why they can't just take the $45 out automatically ... Ugh. At least I'm not in a time crunch.

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Last night I checked my Amazon registry and saw that someone had bought the InstaPot for us! When I looked to see who it was, I was very conflicted. It was my mom's most recent ex-guyfriend. They're breakup wasn't pretty. I called her and asked her what she wanted me to do - she told me to just accept it graciously. So ... I guess I'll do that.

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I had a dentist appointment yesterday. No cavities! yay!

Afterwards I stopped at Shopko to see if they had any tennies in my size at a reasonable price. I thought I had found a pair, but when I got to the checkout counter, found out they weren't wide width. Boo!

I did however find a new pair of dress pants that fit well and were reasonably priced (only due to a sale price!) and two tops (also on "sale") One of the tops I know I'll keep - the other one I need to try with the skirt I'm always trying to figure out what to wear with. Maybe I'll try it on and post a photo here and see what you all think ... I love the skirt, it's just so hard to find a color/top that works with it.

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The wedding is just 11 days away ... yikes yikes yikes! I'm looking forward to seeing my family, but am also nervous about whether I'll have everything put together in time or not. I'm also hoping that my allergies aren't going to be making me miserable that weekend ... like they currently have been ...

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I think Mr FT and I have decided to leave the majority of the flooring in our new house alone. We will take out the carpet in the bathrooms and replace with some kind of wet resistant flooring, but otherwise wait and see if the other flooring will truly be a problem. It was, as I found out, only installed a few months ago. That would be such a waste to pull it up without giving it a chance first.

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I helped Mr FT with his taxes the other night. He's getting a nice bit back. Between that, and his inheritance check, we're going to be able to take a big chunk out of his medical and student loan debt, even with taking some of it to fund "present" and "future."

I also was reading the instructions for the 1095 form, and it mentioned something about if you need to make different allocations due to a marriage in the year. So it sounds like the IRS planned for circumstances similar to ours. That gives me hope for our taxes next year - that they're not going to be a mess or a lot owed.

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Along with my allergies being bonkers, I've been having a really sour stomach the last few days. The only thing I can think of is that I've eaten some fried foods that I don't normally eat, plus been drinking more soda. So .. no more soda and no more fried foods! Hopefully the sour will go away soon ...

We had our house inspection this afternoon! R, our inspector was pretty awesome I think. He had spent a couple hours going through the house before we got there checking everything out. Then with us there, he took us through everything and pointed out a huge variety of things.

He told us that overall, the house is in very good shape. The main concern is the 23 yo water heater .. There was SO much information ... but he's going to be writing a 17 page report with the same info so we can refer back to it when we need to.

We told C, our agent ... Go ahead! None of the issues raised by R are anything we can't easily do ourselves (well, with a little help from youtube ...)

One thing we found out was that the couple selling the house have just had their 70th!! wedding anniversary! The husband is turning 95 soon. We were SO off - we thought they were maybe mid to late 70s at most.

They also are the original owners - they designed the home themselves - back in 1952. The husband custom made the cabinets (he's way into woodworking.)

I didn't get any photos today - just way too much to take in to also take photos. But I will take some soon!

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One thing R told us was about the flooring used in the kitchen/formal dining room/hallways - it's a wood vaneer? He basically said that you don't want to let it get wet, as it can ruin it quickly.

So ... um ... with all our cats, and possibly dogs in the future .. some with possible "issues" of the liquid variety .. We won't always be home to catch "issues" right away. So .. there's gotta be something we can put on it to protect it? Right?

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So, our next hurdle is the appraisal. Then of course getting the stocks sold for the downpayment. (The T stock has been so UP and DOWN - wish I'd sold it on Wednesday!)

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Just two weeks from now, and my brother/grandma/aunt will be here from California!

I still have SO much to do. I stopped at Dollar Tree and SuperSaver to get some napkins/plates/cups/plasticware for the rehearsal dinner/reception. I couldn't find the plates I wanted, so I might have to go to Party City for them.

I was going to stop at this new store FreshT for some great produce deals, but I hadn't eaten since lunch and was getting a sinus headache. Maybe I'll go there on Sunday after meeting with the photographer.

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I finally made it to 100k points in the Achievemint app again. Sadly though, after I redeemed my points for my $100 gift card, I was told that I'd reached the max reward limit. So, I guess they only let you get 2 $100 awards.

This was a slow way to accumulate extra funds, but it was relatively simple and painless. So I'm sad to not have it as a tiny bit of extra motivation.

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I probably should try to do my thank you notes tonight so I can hand most of them out at church tomorrow. Save on postage you know. That probably won't happen though, plus it might be kind of rude ... I don't know.

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Question about homeowner's insurance and liability -- let's say we had a boat and it was within our fenced in yard. Some yahoos decide to climb our fence and get in the boat and goof off and end up getting hurt. Would we be liable? If so, would it be homeowner's insurance or liability for boat insurance that would cover it?

Mr FT and I were having a discussion about this today (as we were discussing where to check at for homeowner's insurance.) BTW - Anyone use Farm Bureau Insurance? R told us about it, and that they have only one deductible for whatever you have insured with them. (house, car, boat ..)

On Sunday I had my bridal shower. There was a nice sized group of ladies there. It felt really weird to be in the center of things ... Some of them thought it was funny that I looked for the card first before opening the gift - I told them that I'd been taught to always try to find the card first and thank the giver before you even know what the gift is. (We also usually give big hugs after opening ... but I didn't do that on Sunday.)

I got quite a few nice items - which made me glad I had spent the time on making the registries. I'd kind of wondered if that had been a whole lot of wasted time ..

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Still helping Mr FT with his big project. Although tonight I had to tell him I needed a break. Hopefully it'll be mostly done by this Friday - otherwise I'm going to have to tell him he's on his own. I have to get some stuff done for the wedding!!

I checked in with the cake baker, the videographer, and the caterer on Monday and Tuesday to make sure everything was still good to go.

I need to write out thank you notes for all the gifts on Sunday (maybe take them to work with me tomorrow ...)

I am SO tired of having people argue with me about route information. SO TIRED!

My sinuses are really acting up = probably somewhat related to the big project I've been helping with.

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The radon testing is getting set up at our house tomorrow so we'll have the results by Friday. C really made me roll my eyes today when he texted me to make sure we'd asked for radon testing. Uh yeah. It was in the offer thing, and I specifically specified it when talking to you ...

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I'm really liking the plant based cooking class - I haven't had time to do TOO much with it yet, but mostly it's just reading background info / watching videos right now.

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Mr FTs inheritance check looks like it may actually be coming in the next few weeks. We've been discussing what to do with it. My suggestion was 30% each to medical debt, present needs (landscaping), and future (retirement) and 10% to fun (his boat fund / 4 wheel vehicle fund probably). He's agreeable to the idea, but we haven't made any final decisions.

I wrote a long entry, and then forgot to copy it ..

Oh well.

Jist of it -

*Been very busy helping Mr FT with a huge project this week. Still lots to do, and not lots of time to do it in ..

*Signed the mortgage paperwork with J on Thursday. Inspections are scheduled for the 8th, and the appraisal will be after that.

*Debating on the timing of selling electric car stock (begins with T) and withdrawing from ROTH. The market has been SO topsy turvy. Especially the T stock.

*Aunt and Uncle (who paid for wedding dress) got their first T car - a the X one. Uber excited. My brother will get to drive it - lucky duck. (I could too, just would mean a California trip.)

(The above Uncle is the one who got my dads whole side of the family to invest in the T stock when it was still under $30.)

* Bridal shower is tomorrow! I'm not sure what to expect, since there is another bridal shower at the same time at the church! I wasn't expecting to even have one, so whatever happens, will be great!

*I've been coming up with many ideas/ways to spend money regarding the new house. Almost as bad as Mr FT with his landscaping/animals ideas. Good thing I have a strong penchant for keeping a strong EF! But will give ourselves a little bit of money to play with in setting up house.

*Finally had a Groupon deal come out for a mani/pedi. There seemed to be a dearth of them for awhile. Maybe because of it being winter? Anyway, I got a deal for 3 gel mani/pedis at a local beauty school for $43. Not too shabby I think. (One will be for wedding.)

*Got my interest for the Brink's account! 3 months worth at 5% - $57.68! I'm glad I decided to wait patiently and see if it would actually pay out 5%!

- Will now probably fund the Netspend card I opened a while ago, but got discouraged about actually using due to not having interest the first month show up. Will only put $40 on it to get the $20 bonus though. Later may put more on there.

* I started the Culinary PX program. I haven't gotten very far with it due to Mr FTs big project, but what I have seen so far, I like a lot. I think it's going to be well worth the $50.

I signed up for one week of Hello Fresh through a Swagbucks offer ($19 after a coupon, plus another 1000SBs) This weekend I made the flatbread pizza (didn't take a picture though) and tonight I made this:



Southwest Zucchini Bake

It used basmati rice which I'd never had before. I wasn't too thrilled by the rice, but the dish overall was really good! (I have enough for dinner tomorrow!)

If I had several recipes I could do the prep work for at one time, then it would make this meal take about 30 minutes. As it was, it took me about 50 minutes with chopping the different ingredients/figuring out how to scoop out the zucchini.

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I did bite the bullet and sign up for Culinary DX plant based cooking lessons for $50. It's a 60 day course, and it starts tomorrow. Prepping the stuff tonight made me hope for better knife skills ...

I do have a good set of Cusinart knives now though. Bought them from Amazon a few months ago when a deal site advertised them - I think they were $19 for six knives? Normally a $100+ set.

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I was so busy at work today, that I had oodles of time to look at different arrangements of cat wall shelving environments. Our cats will more than likely be our kids, so I may spend a little bit of an insane amount to make the house fun for them. (Hopefully eliminate or lessen territorial issues, and also give Kari a way to get away if she needs to.)

I also was looking at various contraptions to let cats be "outside", but not really have freedom. Our deck I think will be perfect for some of the ideas I saw. Eventually, we may build a sunroom off of the back door/deck of the living room. That's a ways off though.

I also spent time looking at DIY home decorating ideas. I really liked one for decorating the front stoop - Mr FT and I will have to discuss it of course, but I bet I can get him to go for it.

Can you tell just how busy I was?
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I woke up around 4:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Finally I got up and put some music on, and "danced" for about 30 minutes. I am now SO tired. I'm going to try to get to bed here in the next hour or so.

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I updated in the comments, but for anyone else ..

I talked to J today and my interest rate for the loan is locked in at 3.875% (30 years), and no escrow/no fee! I'm meeting him at his office on Thursday with the initial round of paperwork he's needing.

I asked him about taxes. He told me we'd not have to pay taxes at closing - but we'd get a tax bill in December which would be due in March. You know what I'm going to do right?

They didn't accept our offer BUT they did a counter offer!

Mr FT had told me that if we had to add up to 3k to it, he was fine with it.

They asked for 1.5k more - with the allowance of letting us keep whatever furniture/appliances in the garage/tool shed/house that we wanted.

I of course said YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT - We'll TAKE IT!!!!!!!



C, our Realtor said the couple loved our bio, and that may have been partly what sealed the deal for us.

He's going to come by my work tomorrow with some more paperwork to fill out. Then we're going to get started inspections.

Closing date is scheduled for Friday, May 13 (the day after we get back from our honeymoon.)

OH MY WORD!!!!

Mr FT and I are going to go out to eat somewhere tonight to celebrate crossing this first major hurdle towards the finish line of being homeowners!

SWEET!!!

We need to get my boss something as a thank you gift - she's the one who sent this address on to me to look at. If she hadn't nudged me that way, I may not have even seen it, because I was only looking at places with photos!

OH .. the final offer price is $141,500. The sellers are paying the 3.5% Realtor fee.

So ... we are putting in an offer on a house tonight!

It's a FSBO but we are having our agent do the legwork. It's in L town - towards the NE part. I'd be able to catch a bus two blocks away to get to work.

It's an awesome house! Our offer is at the topmost max of our comfort level, but we are competing with at least one other offer ...

There weren't ANY photos posted online, so we went in only knowing what was listed on zillow about the house.

The sellers are an older couple, probably in their late 70s. Sweet people who love their house, but just can't keep up with the upkeep anymore.

Our agent had me write up a bio on Mr FT and I to kind of personalize the offer. I made sure to touch on how much we love the house, and how we can see ourselves making new memories with our new family unit there - that we'd love and care for the house.

We'll know one way or the other by tomorrow morning.

EEEEEKKKKK!!!!

Just 30 days to go til I change my last name and add Mrs to it.

Mr FT and I had a heart to heart a few nights ago about the househunting. I suggested maybe taking a break from it - he realized that part of my frustration was from feeling like he was dismissing all of my suggestions. It's going much better now (not taking a break.) Who knew, communication, right?

We may have found another really good candidate. It'd be about a 30 minute commute. 3+ acres. We plan on driving out to give it a closer look tomorrow - plus find out the policy on chickens.

Chickens ... the main reason we totally gave up on the house we love. The house we love(d) is now off market.

There is a second home we are going to drive by tomorrow that is actually in L town.

Mr FT has agreed that if we don't find THE house by the end of April, he will be willing to look for a house that is "good enough" for 4 or 5 years. Just so we can get ourselves into ONE household!

Hopefully one of these two homes we're looking at tomorrow will be THE one.

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My aunt from Ohio is going to be making us a quilt! She made me a handmade Cabbage Patch doll when I was 5 or 6 - Rosie - which I still have. I'm really looking forward to seeing it! (Speaking of, maybe I should remove the quilt from my registry ... not that anyone is even USING the darn thing. Ufta! What a waste of hours that seems to have been ...)

My bridal shower is in less than a week!! I really have no idea what to expect. I've been to lots of them over the years, but none since I've lived here. Will be interesting.

We have all but one of the six rooms at the bed and breakfast reserved now. Mr FT's relative may or may not be coming ... We're not sure if she has her panties in a wad because we didn't send out invites to his other relatives (whom he has never met ...) or if it really is just that she's not doing well. No response to my message asking if she'd gotten the invite, and a two word response to Mr FTs message ...

Oh well, I built into the wedding budget this possibility (that we'd be on for two rooms.) If they do come, it will be a nice surprise.

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This Sunday I MUST do some major cleaning of my apartment and my car. Will be having way too many relatives probably wanting to come over and see the place /see Kari to wait to the last minute.

I've been doing more cooking lately, but not been doing so well at cleaning as I go. So .. hence the need for major cleaning.

Tonight I made fried quinoa and asparagus with leftover cooked quinoa (from last Sunday) and asparagus I bought for $.88/lb at a new local fresh grocer last week. Yummy!

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I'm in the midst of working on several projects related to the wedding - slideshow' typing up / putting together final product of ceremony schedule; typing up final unity candle version; typing up / emailing photographer list of must shots; typing up wedding weekend schedule; working with Mr FT to finish up music playlist for rehearsal dinner ...

Just a few things left. Oh yeah, I still need to get the baby's breath for my hair. Forgot to ask the lady who made my bouquet/boutonniere for some.

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With all that's been going on, I've gotten REALLY behind on my budget / recording spending. It's not going to be pretty once I do get it caught up. Especially since some things could go into multiple categories ... Really do need to get it done though soon. Maybe tomorrow night.

Speaking of spending ... my phone bill is going to be the highest it's been since starting to use Ting this month. It's already at $39, and I think my text bucket is going to go into the next level (if it didn't already tonight.) Sigh. Still better than $76+/month no matter how much I actually used. Once this wedding stuff is finished and we're in a house together, the bill will drop significantly.

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I ordered a Hello Fresh delivery through Swagbucks - 1000 SBs, plus a $40 off coupon. That should come tomorrow. It'll be enough for 6 meals for me. $19 is still a lot for that much food - put it on pause for the next week (and will continue to do that for a few weeks, til it's safe to cancel.)

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Work has been up and down this week. Had a few days of major irritability ... but my talk with Mr FT on Wednesday night helped a lot, plus better sleep, so Thursday and Friday were decent.

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Next week need to make the downpayment for the photographer, also for the cake, and probably should check in with the caterer as well. Plus decide how many pizzas / what kind for the rehearsal dinner and figure out how to do rootbeer floats (two cartons of ice cream - one dairy, one non-dairy? Scoop your own?)

Then two weeks from Sunday will be meeting with photographer at the bed and breakfast.

---
With all of this, I have been sorely lax in much of any kind of physical activity. Thankfully it hasn't been affecting the scale too much (even though I've eaten my share of junk ...) Am looking forward to getting to a place where I can put a more normal schedule together again.

Mr FT talks about getting back to "normalcy" too ... It will be fun to discover what "normalcy" will mean when it's the two of us +cats in our new home.

Today I had my make up trial. It was a lady who does airbrushing. Have you ever had airbrushing done? It seriously tickles!

I really liked the lady. She was so friendly and talkative. I had to have her redo my lipstick though because it was just way too dark for my tastes - thought it made me look pasty in contrast.

I've got fake eyelashes on. Weird. Really weird. Though I do have to say I like how they look. Not enough to wear them regularly.

With tip, it cost me $37 for the trial.

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So I was working on the wording for the unity ceremony today. I'm planning on doing it in two parts. The first part where my mom and Mr FTs sister light our candles, and then we light one candle. Then the second part where my uncle will issue a challenge to the guests to support us, and then we light all the candles of everyone.

I'm not sure if I like the wording 100% yet. So .. if you all could offer your take on it, I'd appreciate it.

"The two outside candles have been lit as a symbol of your lives at this moment. They are two distinct lights, each capable of going their own way. To bring bliss and happiness into your home, there must be a merging of the two lights.

From now on, your thoughts will be for each other, rather than just for your individual selves. Your plans mutual, your joys and sorrows shared.

As you take your candle and together light the center one, you merge two lights into one.

***help needed here mostly**
Although you are now one, you are also still your own distinct person, as shown by your candles still burning.

***Music interlude - Brother singing "God Bless This Broken Road"

"Family and friends of FT and Mr FT, the vows which they have made today are sacred and holy and should not be broken. However, as FT and Mr FT face their new life together, their relationship is sure to be tested at one point or another by conflict, temptation, strife or change.

Will you, family and friends, promise to help them keep their vows, by reminding them of their love for each other and helping them cross through stressful times with the wisdom of your counsel? At times of joy, will you celebrate with them, nourishing their love for one another? (Guests say yes, or I will.)

As a symbol of your commitment to this couple, and the uniting of two families and ***friendships ???**, please accept the light from the person next to you."

Background instrumental music plays while people light candles - We've Only Just Begun.

Closing prayer, ask people to blow out candles, Intro of couple, Recessional.

This is kind of a mishmash of wording examples I've found, as well as some revising on my own. I'm just not sure how well it flows or how much sense it makes.

---
I discovered a website that offers cooking skills lessons (plant based!) for $49 for 60 days. It looks like it really breaks it down into manageable bites. (ha ha!) I'm really tempted by it.

Cook Smarts - the meal planning website that offers vegetarian options for all meal plans, and is whole food/non-processesed mainly - has a 15% discount now through the 22nd. Am also tempted with this.

Although at the moment I have about 3 weeks worth of lunches in my freezer after a cooking palooza on Sunday. (My second use of the freezer dinner trays! Getting my money's worth out of them.)

So .. I went to work today. Within about 20 minutes of getting there I was really wishing I was back home.

People on the phone being obtuse. My computer got switched out on Friday (which is a good thing, mostly) which meant that I had to re do all my settings ... and my locator application was hidden, and a my address book program didn't get put back on .... etc., etc.

Then I talk to my supervisor to find out what the text on Friday was all about. She told me that people taking Friday and Mondays off is a pattern of someone unhappy at work.

So I told her I had a doctor's note because I was genuinely not feeling well! At first she tells me she doesn't need it. Then ten minutes later she comes out and wants to see it. I thought that was pretty bizarre.

Can I take 20 more years of this?????

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So ... the houses. First, the $52k (1880) one. The reason it is $52k is because it needs extensive renovation. Plumbing, electric, etc., etc. Neither FHA nor Rural loans would work for it unless a lot of improvements were made first (by current owners.)
We didn't get to look inside of it because C (our Realtor) hadn't gotten in touch with the seller's Realtor. (Granted, the house was only listed on one site, which made it difficult to find.)

The $120k house. Mr FT and I got there more than an hour before scheduled time and just drove around the town/area, and walked around the property. Sigh. Love. Love. Love. That feeling you get when a place is just *right.*

A super sappy wide smile lighting my face as we walk around inside the house.

Until ... heart falls into stomach ... the basement wall has bulges....

C at first declared "you guys don't want this house" but then after looking it over more, he told us that it wasn't as bad as some he's seen, and maybe it could be fixed.

He's suggesting offering 85k (last tax assessment of $95k) -- 15 y.o. roof, basement wall issues, the amount of work the yard will take to get it back to a manicured level, etc. (Where we would ask for a credit for the roof, them to get the basement taken care of, and closing costs.)

Mr FT and I feel like we're capable of tackling the yard stuff (although probably hire out the dead tree removal.)

We're taking time to sleep on it a few times and think some more about it.

I also have a call in to the mortgage broker person to find out what would disqualify a house from an FHA or Rural loan. (i.e. the basement or roof)

Love, love, love the house/land/town. Love. Will feel so sad if we can't make it work. Worth the 30+ minute commute.

I'd love to share a link to the property, but we might end up actually living there ... so

--
I came across an article today that mentioned something about Obamacare which got me wondering.

Mr FT has healthcare through the NE health exchange. He's getting subsidies.

I have health insurance through my employer.

When we get married, Mr FT is going on my insurance and dropping his insurance.

Now what I can't figure out, is this - I know tax wise we'll be considered married for the whole 2016 tax year. So, I had already figured we may have to pay back part of his subsidy. But ... now I'm wondering if we'll have to pay ALL of it back - because once he marries me, he'll be disqualified from having Obamacare coverage.

I haven't been able to find anything definitive on this. That could be a lot of money. Gulp. It also really doesn't seem fair ... but what is fair in life, right? Especially when it comes to government and taxes. Sigh.

Today when I got home from church I had an email from my aunt who lives in Ohio. She and her husband NEVER go anywhere. They don't enjoy traveling at all. She refuses to fly. They didn't go to my brother's wedding, nor my mom's last three weddings (I *think* they attended her second wedding where she married my adoptive dad.)

Guess what? They're coming to my wedding!! That makes 3 relatives (4 if you count them separately) who are coming that we didn't expect to actually come!

Now I'll be really shocked if my aunt and uncle in TN decide to come ...

It's okay guest size wise - we may have to add a couple chairs to one table, but we can make it work.

I haven't seen my Ohio aunt and uncle since I was about 15? years old. That's when we moved to New Jersey and kind of stopped doing the Ohio trips.

If I haven't heard from one of Mr FT's relatives by Wednesday, I'm going to give her a FB nudge. I really hope they're coming - both to help balance out the guest list between Mr FT and I, and also I just really like her and her husband.

---
Someone ordered 3 items from our registry! Woo hoo! Do I wait til I get the items to send the thank you note? Probably, right.

---
I think I'm being a wee bit over sensitive lately. Last week apparently when I did my Sabbath School (SS) money collecting duties (while feeling ill, but going to fulfill the duty) I somehow neglected to pick up two offering envelopes. So today as I got there and was working on collecting envelopes, I was accosted by the SS leader about the not picked up envelopes. Then I went into a couple rooms just to be told their envelope had already been picked up. Argh!

I SO felt like saying that I don't need the extra stress in my life and find someone else to do it. I didn't of course. I'm really not sure how the envelopes didn't get picked up - because this isn't the first time I've done this, and I'm pretty sure I went into all the kid's rooms. Oh well.

--
I talked to the audio visual person at church today about projectors (for my slideshow at the reception.) He offered to bring the church's extra projector to the b&b, set it up, and then take it back. Sweet!

I ordered a cable from amazon to connect either my iPad or my iPhone 4S to the projector (along with some other items to get free shipping - nutritional yeast, cacao powder, unity candle, set of 24 taper candles (unity ceremony), and the knife/serving set for the cake.) Used gift card money, so nothing out of pocket.

---
I'm feeling better than I have this past week. Still not great, but definitely better.

I'm really looking forward to going to look at the houses tomorrow. We're going to leave a little early so we can drive around the "town" and get a good feel for it. (Population of about 173 people.)

Yesterday (Monday) I still wasn't feeling well, and so decided to take the day off from work.

I spent a few hours in the morning working in Turbo Tax after calling Nationwide to find out why I hadn't gotten a 1099 for the $200 bonus. It turns out that they counted it similarly to a credit card bonus! Wish all the other banks had done that!

In the end, I ended up owing $357 Fed, and getting a $33 refund from the state. I paid $23 to TurboTax for efiling and keeping an archive.

I made sure I got the email confirmations telling me that not only had my returns been received, but they had also been accepted!

I think maybe the step we missed with NE was inputting the confirmation number for the payment.

---
After that, I did the online defensive driving class. It was supposed to only take four hours, but I kept falling asleep .... so about five hours later I finally finished it.

I ended up going to bed about 9 p.m.

--
We're about 2/3rds of the way through our spending on the Citi card. Thanks to taxes and the driving course .... that's about $500 right there.

---
I received the $9 from Pinecone and the $25 PayPal from Swagbucks today.

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I have my dress at home (hidden behind the bedroom door - couldn't hang it in my closet because the rod was too close to the ground.) The alterator told me to try it on again two weeks before the wedding to make sure it still fits - if it needs anything, just let her know.

Mr FT hasn't even gone to look for his suit/tux yet. I'm trying to not nag him about it. But ... 47 days .... and he's not a small guy in any shape or form.

The ladies making my bouquet had taken it all apart when I got there - it's a mom/grandma team. They told me they're excited to do mine because it's different from what they've done before (using snapdragons as the main focus.) I love the colors they found, and think it's going to be gorgeous.

Mr FT asked me if using fake flowers is normal ... well, if it isn't, I don't really care. It's what I'm doing (plus, I can keep my bouquet forever without having to have it "preserved" or whatever if I want to - or resell it!)

Is it weird that no one has bought anything off the registries yet? The bridal shower is about three weeks from now ... And only one person has paid for their room at the b&b. I've had four RSVP's, and two of those are from a co-worker and her husband.

Um .... April 24 is coming up real quick. (I asked for RSVPs by the 15th. I *know* most of the people I invited ARE coming with or without the RSVP, but still ...)

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Last week at our pre-marital counseling session we were talking about some of our favorite dates. Mr FT mentioned the restaurant we'd gone to for my birthday this past year. The pastor had never heard of it, but was really intrigued. He emailed me this weekend to ask me the name of it (he'd mentioned it to his wife, but couldn't remember its name.) So I emailed him the name, as well as a code to get a $25 gift certificate for $4.25 from restaurants.com.

I'd actually been thinking of getting a certificate for the pastor and his wife as a thank you for our PMC sessions - although it looks like they may be going before I can do that.

I wasn't feeling very well yesterday, so after going to the church to do my duty of collecting the Sabbath School money (this is my month to do it) I came back home.

Somehow I came across a mention of the site cooksmarts.com. It is a meal planning site (as low as $6/month) but it also is a site with TONS of resources for learning how to cook.

I think I must have spent four or five hours on that site. I ended up adding some things to my registry too.

I think I may sign up for it, but I'm going to wait until either we move into a house, or they offer a discount price. As I went through their FB feed, I saw they've offered discounts multiple times in the past at various times.

What I like most about it is that I can customize the meal plan for both Mr FT and I's food preferences, and have one handy grocery shopping list. (They have original, gluten free, paleo and vegetarian options for each of the 4 days of meal plans.)

I may end up getting Plan to Eat later on too, though that will have to wait til their Black Friday sale in November.

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House hunting ... sigh. There just isn't anything in our price range that Mr FT and I can agree on .. except the FSBO house we looked at a few weeks ago. We both want to keep looking, but we also are worried that if we wait too long, that house will be gone.

If I was willing to go up another $20k in my price point, there've been several good possibilities. To do that though would mean needing to sell stock to get the loan value low enough so our monthly expenses wouldn't make it so we had nothing left to do anything else. I don't want to do that - especially since that stock has been going up the last week or so (back above where I sold some a while ago.) Plus, both of those houses in the $20k extra range seem way too big just for two people and a lot of cats.

Both my mom and my grandma think it's weird that we won't be living together right away after getting married. Well .. neither of our places is big enough to handle both of us AND the cats. Which is why we need a house. Maybe unconventional, but we get to write the rules for ourselves, right?

--
I have a possibly final dress fitting today at 1, then am going to go look at my bouquet to see if I like their design, and then go to a Women's Ministry meeting.

Then of course Mr FT will be coming over later.

I'd kind of like to cancel on all of it except Mr FT because all I really want to do right now is keep a heating pad on my back and do nothing. But, you do what you have to do, right?

---
I had two Pinecone surveys this weekend. So once they credit, I'll be able to cash out $9.

I also cashed out 2200SBs for a $25 AGC, and will be cashing out for a $25 PayPal today.

---
I helped Mr FT with his taxes last year. He had filed an extension, and then in September we used TaxAct to file them. We went through all the steps and even paid what he owed to the Feds. He was due a refund from NE. He got confirmation of the Fed payment.

He still hadn't received his refund or a tax bill from the Feds (fees and penalities for extension) so last week he logged in to TaxAct and was informed that his taxes had never been filed!

He went to his bank and got a printout of his bank statements from last year. It shows that he paid the Federal taxes AND that he paid TaxAct. So I do NOT get how his taxes were not filed!

In all my years of doing my taxes online, I've never had any issues. Of course the first time I convince him to do his online, this happens. Ugh!

I spent about five or six hours last week getting this figured out - contacting customer service; ordering the "archived" copy of his forms from last year, printing two copies out (one for him to mail in, and one for the mortgage process), etc.

Hopefully this isn't going to cause any issues for him. (Other than extra penalties and fees, although I don't think it should be too much for $495 in taxes.)

TaxAct's customer service is a joke. They make it nearly impossible to figure out how to actually send a question in, and then you get back essentially a form letter.

Oh well. I have no idea how to prove that we did complete the necessary steps to file. So mailing them in and hoping for the best is all we've got I guess. I just wish I'd been more cognizant of the fact that he'd ONLY received confirmation of his federal income payment.

Ugh!

Ugh. This morning on the way to work I got pulled over and got a speeding ticket. 10 over in a school zone. Ugh, ugh, ugh, I'm usually SO careful in school zones, but I was just kind of zoned out. Too tired I guess.

So now I get to choose between paying $100 for court costs/ ticket or $100 and 4 hours to take a safe driving class.

The first option would be simplest. However, it may raise my insurance rates. The second option would be a pain, but would keep the points off my license and keep my insurance rates the same. However, it can only be done once every 3 years.

It's been at least six years since I was last pulled over for anything, so option two seems pretty safe.

I'm just SO annoyed with myself.

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Househunting isn't going that great. Neither of the places we looked at on Sunday are viable options. There's little other options. We've even looked into what it would cost to build our own house (beyond our budget even for a simple house.)

I guess it just means that we have to be patient til the right place comes along. No matter how long that takes.

Tomorrow our pre-marital counseling session will be on finances. Mr FT and I have spent a lot of time talking about finances.

I'm not sure we have yet reached a real consensus yet on what we're going to do.

For me, a budget/plan for ALL my money helps me to feel secure. For him, he pays his bills, then whatever is left is for whatever else comes up.

He's willing to concede that my way *could* work, but is something he'll have to wrap his mind around.

I'm trying to figure out what might be a happy medium - a meeting point, so to speak, where we both give a little, but come out better for it.

So ... I was hoping you all might share what works (ed) for you? Also, what kind of financial savvy (or lack of) did you and your partner (s) come into marriage / sharing finances with?

Mostly I'm still trying to wrap my brain around a possible mortgage payment of $850. When I was hoping for $700 to be the ultimate max. (The $850 is for the $130k house. There is an $89k house in the running as well.)

So ... for the first time in who knows how long I made it over the gym today. Not to workout, but to ask about the early termination fee. $399. Ouch.

I have 12 months left to go on my contract, or about $500.

So, canceling now (tomorrow) would save $100. Usually I would say it's a no brainer, but ... right now with all the wedding expenses and house hunting ... I'm wondering if it'd be better to just let it pay out in drips of $46/month and pay the extra $100 than to let go of $400 in one shot.

I hate to waste the $100. There's very little chance of me starting to go again - I was reminded today of why I didn't like going very much (traffic and way too full parking lot.) And if we move further out than the middle of the city, traffic / time on the road would be even worse.

What do y'all think?

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I took my wedding ring and engagement ring to a jeweler today (before going to the gym)to check on the sizing. The jeweler said I'd need to have it upsized 1 size (both) and suggested having them bonded together so they wouldn't rub against each other. Quoted $90 for all of it (resizing, bonding)

She said it'd take about 3 business days. So, probably drop off there after taking my mom to the airport the Monday after.

--
I have to share with you a link to a house Mr FT sent me. I'm not sure if he was really serious about it or not ... but can you imagine? Two people in a place this size? It's a dream inducing place as far as style, etc., but nightmare inducing when thinking of real costs. http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1445-E-St-Lincoln-NE-68508/6574554_zpid/

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Mr FT is going to be sending the realtor a list of 4 or 5 places we want to look at on Sunday (hopefully tonight.) He also volunteered to email the FSBO house owner to let him know what we are doing - we haven't totally discounted that house yet.

(However, if we look at the $89k house and find we love it, I will not be unhappy. At all.)

---
I got my copy of the Tightwad gazette from the library today. Haven't looked in it yet for the chore division.

--
2 months and 1 day. Faint.

--
I sent Vanguard an email about a week ago asking about the process of taking $10k from my ROTH for a first time home purchase. No response.

I'm thinking I'll try calling tomorrow after work. Kind of frustrating that now that they've got my money, this is the kind of response I get.

So tomorrow night Mr FT and I will be doing our first walk through of the house which we think we want.

My boss was telling me to make sure to flush the toilets, run the sinks and showers, look under cabinets, etc.

What else should we look for?

The driveway has a crack going up the middle and looks like it goes into the garage. Could that be a foundation issue?

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I got stamps today to mail the invitations, but won't get them mailed til tomorrow - some of the sticky stuff wasn't holding, so I'm going to tape them tomorrow before mailing.

I also stopped at Walgreen's and bought some Valentine's candy at 50% off - some kiss shaped ferraro chocolates in gold packets = two boxes of them. (table favors!)

I also got $10 worth of gas.

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I decided to book the photographer I met with Monday night. He'll be charging $500 (his wife will assist him.) Sometime soon I'm going to have him and Mr FT meet so Mr FT will feel comfortable with him.

I also booked a videographer. She'll do the ceremony and reception (with highlights) for less than $100.

On Friday I have a hair trial appointment. (Yes, I found someone to do my hair!)

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Need to work on my homework for the pre-marital counseling tonight, but otherwise am just going to take it easy.

So as I've mentioned, Mr Ft and I went through the process of submitting a loan application for pre-approval on the house we're considering (strongly considering).

I got a call from the mortgage originator last night shortly before heading over to the photographer appointment.

He told me that we definitely qualified for the loan amount, and that with $20k down, our payment would be roughly $838. He was basing that off a rough interest rate estimate.

So ... I called C, a realtor and he called the homeowner and set up an appointment for us to look at the house on Thursday.

Today I realized that the house is a for sale by owner, and that maybe I shouldn't have jumped the gun on calling C. Especially since C told me that the homeowner made it clear that the price was non-negotiable.

That sounded really strange to me. I talked to J again (loan originator) and he told me that the market had been pretty strong here for awhile, and houses have been selling for asking price +. So that might be why the homeowner said that.

He also gave me an updated estimate - with putting down only 10% (instead of 15%) using a NIFA loan, we could get 3.25% interest (paying PMA for 11 years) and our estimated payment would be $844.

(I asked him about doing just 10% so that we could have more liquid cash breathing room for moving costs, closing costs, setting up house, etc. It was a difference of about $30/month in the payment.)

I also asked him how high we could go ... he told me ... oh a couple hundred thousand. I just about choked. No way, no how!

The asking price on the house we're looking at is $128,500 which is more than enough for my blood.

---
The long and short of it (ha ha) is that we could potentially become homeowners before we get married! (J was saying it could take anywhere from 30 - 45 days for the whole process.)

Faint.

I'm glad I took Saturday "off" - ended up sleeping a good portion of it (partially because my Internet went on the fritz, so sleep sounded good.)

I did go to Walmart Saturday night and picked up $40 in groceries and a gift for Mr FT. I have about $15 left in groceries for the month, but that should be fine as long as I stick to just the bare basics. No Trader Joe's for me this month though.

--
Sunday was a long and busy day. I started out by getting to S's house at 10 a.m. to help make the food for the Valentine's Ladies Tea. Another lady showed up to help also thankfully. Between the three of us, we were able to get out the door by 1:15 p.m. One of the things I did was make egg salad sandwiches, cut the crusts off, then cut in 1/3rds. Enough for 60 people.

Then we raced over to the place where the Tea was being held. Raced around getting things set up and adding a few last minute appetizers.

The tea itself took about two hours. Afterwards I helped clean up (and got to take home leftovers!)

I got home about 5 p.m.

About 6:10 Mr FT showed up with this:

He had a box of breadsticks thrown in for free because they'd forgotten to print our ticket, and so our order was late.

After we finished eating, we worked on the home loan application. Submitted about 9 p.m. Yikes!!!

Mr FT left about midnight.

Long day. Soo glad for today being off.

--
I've got a spaghetti squash, butternut squash and 7 sweet potatoes in the oven right now. Later I'm going to cook up a big pot of quinoa and veggies (broccoli and carrots.) Using up stuff in my fridge before it goes bad - plus lots of pre prepared lunches/dinners for the next few weeks.

I'm going to be making my new invitations today. Hope to get them out in the mail tomorrow.

Later today I am meeting with the potential photographer.

Oh, almost forgot! I found someone to do the video for $35!! DVD and highlights!
---
Cashed out PerkTV for a $25 Amazon Gift Card (should be here Wednesday.)

I will probably need to get some more gas today.

---
Mr FT and I are continuing budget negotiations. Figuring out just how we're going to merge our finances and make a budget work for two different styles (more regimented and more go with the flow.) We're figuring it out.

Cars and "toys" are going to be our own responsibility. (Toys = boat, large screen tv for Mr FT; home gym equipment for me.) Cable is in discussion ... (I have no use for it, but Mr FT misses it a lot (football) and doesn't buy that I won't ever watch something with it.)

Today my boss finally did my yearly evaluation. She told me that the raise (2.5%) will be retroactive. Just one pay period, so not that much. (It'll equate to about $.35/hour before taxes.) But still ... every cent counts when house hunting.

Mr FT and I found a house we both really like. It'd be stretching our price range a bit, but might be doable. We just have to get the loan application done! (We're going to work on it this Sunday.)

--

I'm thinking about making a slideshow / video for the reception giving some background on Mr FT and I's childhood/growing up/ dating life. That way people who only know one or the other of us can get a "picture" of us. Also, it'll take up some of the time.

I was looking into renting a projector, but the realized I'd also need to rent a laptop. So ... am now thinking I'll get one of those iPhone / iPad projector things. I'm just not sure which one to get. Reviews on various ones are all over the place on Amazon (one to five stars.)

I'm also not sure which app would be best to use. I was thinking of buying iMovie (app) but don't know if there is something else that might work?

Would love any suggestions!

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I found out today that the place I applied at when first moved here has had to let go of a lot of positions and completely restructure itself. That could've been me if I hadn't gotten the bus job while waiting to hear back.

As much as I dislike this job sometimes, I am glad to HAVE a job. Especially right now with a wedding and househunting!

I feel badly for the people who lost their jobs there though. I sure know how that feels.

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I'm thinking of taking tomorrow off from church. I'm starting to feel pretty run down, and Sunday is going to be hectic with the Valentine's tea thing, and then whatever Mr FT and I do that night.

Mr FT got some happy news Thursday - his nephew is coming to the wedding! He hasn't been back here in 8 years! Mr FT and his mom had a large part in raising the nephew. I'm so glad Mr FT is going to have both his sister and nephew here for him.

--
I got my bloodwork results back from the doctor. My TSH level was on the high side again (not 17, but about 7.8) so she increased my dosage. I'll have to get it rechecked in a month.

I was also told that my bad cholesterol was a bit elevated and was suggested to use red yeast rice. It's an over the counter supplement - from what I'm reading though, it doesn't sound very effective. Plus, I'd really rather try to do better with my eating. (Krispee Kreme opened a shop here recently, and Mr FT has fallen in love with the hot & fresh glazed donuts .... this is not going to help the diet.)

Anyone ever use Red Yeast Rice?

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Spending hasn't been horrible, but definitely not being as careful as I could be.

I've changed all my direct to credit card bills to my new Citi card, and Mr FT is using it to buy gas. I added him as an authorized user too. Once his card gets here, then I can use mine to do other in person spending. (wedding, groceries, etc.) We're planning on using the $500 towards either the mortgage or student loans, and not towards travel money.

*** Almost a month and I haven't heard anything back about the librarian job. Maybe they're just slow. This actually works though ... It would be better if I get the job, to not have it start til mid-May.

So I've been reading / browsing through some of the books I got from the library about communication. One I've been reading via the Kindle app (during work ...) is Crucial Conversations. Very interesting and very good. Am hoping I'll be able to learn some of the techniques.

I asked my boss this afternoon how she had learned to be such a good mediator / communicator. At a stressful meeting a few weeks ago between myself and a co-worker (one I've mentioned before as being a perfectionist .....) she basically mediated between us. The whole time she was so calm, cool, collected - while co-worker was on the attack and I was withering ...

This question led to a 40 minute discussion which I felt was pretty valuable. She was surprised when I told her that I thought she was confident and calm, etc. Funny how people see us as things we don't see for ourselves.

She also told me that my evaluation should be coming up in the next few days (I'd been biting my nails to not ask about it yet again ...)

Can I just say again how great a boss I have?

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After work today I met with a local cafe owner. He's going to do scones w/jam, finger sandwiches, fruit and veggie trays, cheesecake bites, etc. all for $160! (including tax!) for 20 people. They'll bring it and get it all set up in time for the reception to start. No delivery charge.

The person doing my alterations raved about their food.

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Question time ... I am wondering about the etiquette of this .... My mom was asking if I was going to do a formal FB announcement of place/time/registry. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone do that? Maybe I could make a post stating the day, and a link to our website for more info??

I *think* she wants me to do this for the extended friends of our family who aren't being invited, but may want to send something.

I'm just not really sure what the etiquette here would be. Emily Post of the FB age, where are you?

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Ouch! I had my doctor call in prescriptions for Allegra D 24 hr and Nascort spray. $43.xx for the Allegra D (30 day supply) and $50 copay for the Nascort!! I'm not sure how many sprays that works out to - need to figure that out to see if it works out more cheaply than buying it just OTC.

I did this mainly so I wouldn't have to go in so often to get more Allegra, but also so I could use my FSA money for my allergy stuff. Very many refills of this will use it up in no time ...

Well, as of Thursday we have our marriage license, and we also completed our first pre-marital counseling session.

This afternoon I finally got a couple returns mailed off to Amazon.

I am seriously exhausted. I'd like to take a week off from wedding planning .. but have appointments Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday next week - all dealing with wedding planning.

I know it's my fault for having set it up like this. I guess I'm hoping that by having the majority of it taken care of early on, that I'll then be able to relax a bit for awhile before the wedding.

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I'm beginning to reconsider having a video of the wedding.

Question: How many of you had a video made? How often have you actually looked at it?

Another question: Did any of you play the shoe game at your reception, or perhaps seen it played? What did you think of it?

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I've done pretty well with spending so far this month. Other than wedding related spending, bills and groceries, not much else has been spent.

Of course, it still is just the 5th.

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I had a bloodwork appointment this morning. A few days ago in the mail I got new insurance cards with my married name on them. I thought that was weird, but was reassured that it didn't mean anything (by personnel benefits person.)

Today though I found out that my name has been changed in the system for the provider as well. What should have been a 3 minute in and out trip, took nearly ten while they figured out what to do.

I just hope it doesn't cause issues in getting things paid! (I have been reassured that this does NOT mean that I'm going to start getting charged couple premiums.)

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Do any of you have any good books/resources for someone who has a tendency to clam up/clench up/not be able to get words out when upset or talking about something difficult? That's me.

At the PMC session we got our "scores." Both of us scored low for self-esteem. I was higher in assertiveness (not all that surprising, at least in dealing with public situations or customer service people ...) Overall it said we were a "vital" couple. (Next to best rating I guess.)

I was seriously interested in the personality profile assessments though. One of the most accurate ones I think I've ever seen - for both of us. Kari's asleep on my lap right now, so I can't get it, but I think it's called SCORE or something like that.

Edit -- Nope, its called PREPARE-ENRICH.

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Another question: What did you do for your guest book?

What I'm thinking about is either having guests take a picture of themselves and then writing a note with advice or memories. Then pasting them in a scrapbook. We could add other stuff in there too. --This would mean I'd need to find a Polaroid camera ...

Or I could ask people to bring one - three photos of themselves with either of us & them, plus a note.

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Cashed out for a $25 PayPal today from Swagbucks and a $5 AGC from Bing.

Got a $.90 rebate from MobiSave from my shopping trip today.

When I was working as a school librarian in New Mexico, I was part of a program called Americorps. As part of that program you get an education award for each year of service. I earned two awards.

I used about 30% of it for a certificate program, but have had no use for the rest of it.

With marrying Mr FT, my plan was to transfer the award to him so he could pay off his student loans.

I'm almost POSITIVE I read that the only qualification was it had to be an immediate family member.

But ... tonight I was doing a little more research into it to refresh my memory. Unless I was reading something way different, I really messed up.

Apparently you can only transfer it to a child or grandchild AND only then if you were 55+ years old when entering into Americorps service.

If this is truly the case, then we won't be able to pay off his student loans in one fell swoop. So .. I guess that means that we really have no reason to wait to actually buy a house til after we're married. (I figured it would take a few months for the award to be transferred, and then pay off the loans.)

What a colossal waste of money. The award money will expire in 5 years (7 years from end of service.) I have absolutely no desire to go back to school for anything.

Ugh and Double Ugh!

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We sure got some snow here this morning! There was nothing by 2 a.m., and then when I looked again at 4, there was at least 4 inches. By noon, there had been at least 10!

I got stuck trying to get out of my parking lot and couldn't find my shovel. So I improvised and used ... a mop! Then when I came home tonight, I had to make 3 attempts to get up the little hill into the parking lot!

I kept track today of how many calls I took asking about if the buses were running. Over 100 total, but 45 of them were in the first hour! Other people were also taking similar calls.

It didn't help that Omaha shut down their bus system. I think that got a lot of people here panicked that we were going to do so as well. How nice would a snow day be ... (did you notice how well I slept last night? Yeah.)

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I may have misunderstood the Brink's PrePaid deal. I have an email in to customer service to clarify, but from what I can gather, it pays interest 1 x per quarter, not monthly. Which is why I didn't have any interest show up for this month. The .50% is for amounts over $5k, so it still should be 5% for the first $5k.

Waiting now for clarification.

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I received my $25 AGC from SBs today. Pretty fast since I only ordered it yesterday!

This morning I woke up feeling pretty under the weather, and called in sick. A few hours later after getting some more sleep, I was feeling better and decided to get on the computer and see what I could do towards wedding planning.

Sunday night I'd been added to the local FB wedding group. I posted a question about finding someone to do hair and makeup on a Sunday. I now have two people who will come to my location and do my hair and makeup for me! It's going to run a bit more than I was planning on, but I think it'll be worth it.

Then ... I saw a thread talking about photographers. I noticed one in particular mentioned multiple times. I contacted her. She is going to do a video and photographs for $485!

Then ... I noticed someone offering to do alterations. I checked out their page/work and was impressed. I IMd them with a picture of my dress and what I needed. $75.

Then ... I called the bakery I visited last Tuesday to find out why I hadn't gotten a return call yet. The woman I needed to talk with answered - she'd just not had a chance to call yet. The two layer cake is going to cost $85, plus $5 for delivery, and another $15 for 20 wedding cake cookies.

Then ... I get a call from one of the catering places I'd contacted last week, but only got a voicemail. This place will do a proper tea. With scones and jam. Plus lots of other finger foods/sandwiches. Plus they may work out cheaper than the local grocery store. I have an appointment with them next Tuesday.

Almost forgot! I found shoes! Wide width, decent heel, white shoes! $25. Sweet! From Sears online.

Finally, tonight I stopped by the bed and breakfast and signed the contract. One thing I asked about was whether we could "discount" the room prices by paying part of the cost ourselves. She said that wouldn't be a problem. I'm thinking I might do that as a thank you to people coming from out of state. Especially since I'm saving so much money in other places.

And in a few hours I'm heading to bed praying that even though most of the city is shut down tomorrow, the snow will miss us! Cuz no matter what, I have to go into work tomorrow!

The first time I talked to Mr Ft about getting a picture of us in a photobooth was back in 2004. Yep. The very first time around for us.

Finally, today, it happened. Just took getting engaged to do so!

So .. here is a sort of engagement photo. (I was trying to get my ring in the photo, but it cut that part off.)

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When we got back to my place, Mr FT and I started talking budget and finances in preparations for talking to the mortgage originator on Wednesday. We've agreed that whatever assets/liabilities we each have as of April 23rd, those will still be ours to deal with/use. From April 24 forward, we will combine whatever we bring in.

I emailed him the link to my YNAB budget program where I had put together two sample possible budgets based on varying levels of contribution from each of us. He's going to look them over and see what he thinks.

We also discussed how we're going to fund the downpayment. I'm going to pull $10k from my ROTH (which I've had since 2007, and in a sense had really thought of using the money for something like this.) Then together we'll come up with another $10k + whatever we need for closing costs.

It was a very good conversation. The only thing we need to figure out is groceries. I average around $130 - 50 / month. He averages more around $200-30 per month. I could only come up with $225 for groceries ... Hopefully we can figure out how to trim groceries for both of us (like maybe I'll do less stocking up? Only buy for the week ahead? Meal plan? Although that'd be difficult with a vegetarian and a carnivore ...)

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I picked up my dress today! Tomorrow I'll have to start calling the alterations people and get that going.

Before going to get my dress, I stopped at Party City and picked up DIY invitations for $10. Also a garter (something blue), and paper lace placemats/doilies for the reception.

I also stopped at my beloved Dollar Tree - frozen fruit and cheap veggie food!

I stopped at CVS too - the lady at the register recognized me (she buys a bus pass from me!) But she told me that I looked so much nicer out in public! LOL Probably because I was wearing makeup and had my hair down/fixed - don't wear makeup to work usually, and always have my hair back so it doesn't get tangled in my earpiece. I bought Flonase and Nascort - both of which had rebates (MobiSave and SavingStar.)

Finally I did a bit of grocery shopping at Walmart. Some of it was eligible for rebates.

I'm counting some of my grocery spending for February - I would have waited on most of it til next week if t hadn't been for me being in that part of town already for picking up my dress. (I had to wait til 1pm when the store opened.)

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It looks like I not only have my centerpieces taken care of, but I also have teacups! The women's ministries leader texted me a picture of 24 teacup mugs she got at Goodwill this morning. Beautiful!

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Some weather reports are predicting 1 - 3 inches Monday/Tuesday. Some are reporting anywhere from 8 - 16 inches, but 40mph winds. Would it be really awful of me to call in sick on Tuesday? (Won't do it, but am tempted!)

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Cashed out $20 from iBotta.
Cashed out $5.75 from MobiSave
Will eventually cash out $8.75 from Saving Star when my purchase processes.