So. In less than 4 weeks, I will be getting married. For that part to have a start that goes swimmingly well, there needs to be a place to reside. Less than 6 days ago, Jill and I closed on our new home. This is what this post is all about.
Last Tuesday, we met with the seller and the closing company to sign a forest's worth of papers (and people are concerned about the Amazon?) to get the keys to the kingdom, as I liked to phrase it, and become the proud new owners of a flipped 60-year-old house. A house to call home. Knowing that we were closing that evening, we filled our two vehicles full of boxes and items that were to be the initial wave of incoming goods to turn the empty house into a place to feel warm and welcome, if not wealthy (most defintely not that!). These things included non-perishable foodstuffs, cleaning supplies, bathroom supplies, and one lamp. The closing took place in the evening, and after it was done, we went to dinner with my folks in the form of a celebration.
Once we got to the house (after 9pm), Jill got to work on the bathroom and floors. I forgot what I was doing. I remember attempting to work on cleaning out the pantry, but the wooden slat boards had flaking paint and were starting to bow from age. I decided we would have to buy some wood to make new shelves for the pantry. We set aside one of the bedrooms as the initial storage of moved-in boxes. I unpacked the boxes I had brought, since I was going to refill them the next day for the next wave. We got done around 1am and headed to her house to put a dining room table and four chairs in my car for the next day.
The next 4 days go by following a variation of the theme: pack, unpack, clean, shop for things we need. All days start early (due to work, with the exception of Friday, which is early due to applying for the marriage license) and end after midnight at the new house. There are a few events that are smattered here and there; a wedding shower, an engagement photo session. Each passing early morning, I get less and less sleep.
Saturday morning, my body and brain had had enough. The alarm goes off, I hop right out of bed, and it's just nothing but muttering and forgetting hard-to-forget details whilst getting ready for work and yet another evening unpacking and cleaning. I already knew that I would have to drive back to my parents' house to get some more stuff, possibly twice in one evening. My mother, being my mother and thus attuned to my moods and their variating severities, stopped me on the way out the door to pray with me, asking God to encourage and strengthen me and to give me endurance and patience with the things I was dealing with.
And it worked. Instead of falling asleep at the wheel or nodding off in the middle of work or seeing my dreams come visit me in the waking world, I actually had an amount of energy that kept me alert and on my feet but was still low enough that I wasn't going to full anyone into thinking I wasn't tired. When I got back to Freedom that evening to pack the dresser and some items that would make my first night (and following morning) seem somewhat normal, such as deodorant, shaving implements, shoes, clothes hangers, clocks, etc., my parents pretty much decided to use their Expedition to bring my bookshelves and other objects that very same night.
It was on the spur of the moment, but I knew I was in no position to turn them down, despite Jill and I wanting our parents to see the place after it had been cleaned up and properly organized. Once at the house, dad got to work on some maintenance issues and mom got to work cleaning. It was after their bedtime, but they were eagerly into the swing of things! They get a kick out of helping out around the house, and this house was a new house (to them) and I think gave them a bit of energy at doing some basic maintenance to a place that was new to them instead of doing renovation work to a place (their house) that was old to them.
And we're grateful to them for it! Their help enabled us to be able to take a more leisurely pace on Sunday before her family came over for a Mother's Day brunch of belgian waffles, bacon, and strawberries. The linen closet and kitchen cabinets finally got wiped down properly; kitchen utensils, tableware, and pots and pans started finding their homes. For dinner, my parents came over for a Mother's Day dinner of salad, fresh-baked bread, and a shrimp liguine meal capped with chocolate cupcakes.
And that's where we stand. The new house is slowly turning into home, which, to me, won't happen properly until Jill and I are married; then all the aspects of home will be in the house.
I suspect I'll be posting a few more (maybe shorter) entries about the progress from house to home. With the moving having taken a more leisurely pace, there will probably be more time for just that!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Must Be A Blue Moon Tonight...
It must be a blue moon tonight. I'm updating this thing. Or rather, I'm posting a new post to the blog.
I said I was going to reveal photos of the much-maligned (and always maligned, for that matter) Cobalt. But alas, I'm too lazy. Instead, I'll simply tell you about what I replaced said much-maligned Cobalt with, as well as some other side notes.
The replacement vehicle is the 2008 Subaru Forester with a shade between steel and silver. It has everything I could want in a car: cruise control, sunroof, 6-disc changer, auxilary port for additional audio devices (very nice!), power locks, power windows, enough space in the 'trunk' (is a hatchback a proper trunk, anyway?) for the hockey gear, all-wheel drive (and very timely at that), and more cup holders than one can shake a stick at. The fiancee, however, never skips a moment to remind me that the heated seats aren't hooked up, and that I should call the dealership and get that taken care of. It doesn't help that every time she says her seat is cold, I hear "my feet are cold". I can't be blamed, either, because her feet are always cold. That's literally, of course, and not in the least bit figurative.
The Cobalt, meanwhile, became a $3000 downpayment for the Subaru, after the remainder of that loan was paid off with the compensation money. It was the opposite of when I obtained the Cobalt, since I added $3000 to that loan due to an awful, awful, horrendous trade-in of a real lemon of an Audi. I will never buy an Audi again. If I was to somehow become an owner by way of a gift, I would turn around and sell it as fast as humanly possible. I might even take just a dollar for it.
So that's cars. The fiancee and I have been house-hunting lately. We've been doing so for at least a month, and the whole realtor business, being like the heart of Africa on 19th century British maps, has been slowly revealed to us for what it is - a ridiculous amount of time being reliant on an agent who sometimes doesn't always seem to have his/her clients' best interests at heart. Some of it is misunderstanding. Some of it is miscommunication. And some of it may turn out to be a difference of opinion. Thus, we are still looking. The problem isn't so much availability. It's availability of living space that we are able to move into and then proceed to afford after financing. Some people have remarked to me that we will know the house once we walk into it and suddenly think: "we're home". Sounds much like the idea that a bride-to-be will know her wedding dress the moment she puts it on and has 'that moment'. If you're a woman and have been through that process, then you know what I'm talking about. If not, then consider yourself my ally, because I frankly don't know what kind of feeling I'm waiting for.
Anyway, there's something of a vague deadline rushing up on us, as we may have to go the way of renting for a year if we cannot locate a living space for purchase soon enough. We have at least acknowledge rental as a viable options, given our situation. But we'll see what happens with that.
In the meantime, I work my work, play my play, and rest my rest. I wish I could read my read, but I've been quite streaky lately, going two and half months reading like I can't live any other way, and then spend the two and half months following having nothing to do with reading other than for the daily websites I visit. I get the feeling that consitent reading will come once the new habitation is found and the wedding is over. That's just a heck of a lot of planning going on for reading to get involved.
Anyway, that's that. End of post. Goodbye.
I said I was going to reveal photos of the much-maligned (and always maligned, for that matter) Cobalt. But alas, I'm too lazy. Instead, I'll simply tell you about what I replaced said much-maligned Cobalt with, as well as some other side notes.
The replacement vehicle is the 2008 Subaru Forester with a shade between steel and silver. It has everything I could want in a car: cruise control, sunroof, 6-disc changer, auxilary port for additional audio devices (very nice!), power locks, power windows, enough space in the 'trunk' (is a hatchback a proper trunk, anyway?) for the hockey gear, all-wheel drive (and very timely at that), and more cup holders than one can shake a stick at. The fiancee, however, never skips a moment to remind me that the heated seats aren't hooked up, and that I should call the dealership and get that taken care of. It doesn't help that every time she says her seat is cold, I hear "my feet are cold". I can't be blamed, either, because her feet are always cold. That's literally, of course, and not in the least bit figurative.
The Cobalt, meanwhile, became a $3000 downpayment for the Subaru, after the remainder of that loan was paid off with the compensation money. It was the opposite of when I obtained the Cobalt, since I added $3000 to that loan due to an awful, awful, horrendous trade-in of a real lemon of an Audi. I will never buy an Audi again. If I was to somehow become an owner by way of a gift, I would turn around and sell it as fast as humanly possible. I might even take just a dollar for it.
So that's cars. The fiancee and I have been house-hunting lately. We've been doing so for at least a month, and the whole realtor business, being like the heart of Africa on 19th century British maps, has been slowly revealed to us for what it is - a ridiculous amount of time being reliant on an agent who sometimes doesn't always seem to have his/her clients' best interests at heart. Some of it is misunderstanding. Some of it is miscommunication. And some of it may turn out to be a difference of opinion. Thus, we are still looking. The problem isn't so much availability. It's availability of living space that we are able to move into and then proceed to afford after financing. Some people have remarked to me that we will know the house once we walk into it and suddenly think: "we're home". Sounds much like the idea that a bride-to-be will know her wedding dress the moment she puts it on and has 'that moment'. If you're a woman and have been through that process, then you know what I'm talking about. If not, then consider yourself my ally, because I frankly don't know what kind of feeling I'm waiting for.
Anyway, there's something of a vague deadline rushing up on us, as we may have to go the way of renting for a year if we cannot locate a living space for purchase soon enough. We have at least acknowledge rental as a viable options, given our situation. But we'll see what happens with that.
In the meantime, I work my work, play my play, and rest my rest. I wish I could read my read, but I've been quite streaky lately, going two and half months reading like I can't live any other way, and then spend the two and half months following having nothing to do with reading other than for the daily websites I visit. I get the feeling that consitent reading will come once the new habitation is found and the wedding is over. That's just a heck of a lot of planning going on for reading to get involved.
Anyway, that's that. End of post. Goodbye.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Things With Keys And Doors
An update on the car is forthcoming, I do believe. Don't have available photos of the Cobalt's rearranged face, but it's rearranged face has been deemed a total loss by the insurance folks. Thus, the end of a era has come upon us. I've finally managed to total a vehicle. Granted, it took five cars with at least eleven incidents combined that either involved unintentional off-roading or some kind of contact with another vehicle. All in 13+ years.
Now that we have the relevant statistics out of the way...
So the fiancee and I are in the midst of car shopping, which is always fun. Of course, I'm still waiting for my settlement check from the insurance people, so I can't quite just go out and buy a car, yet. I can put down a deposit on a vehicle that I like, which will hopefully happen tonight. I say 'hopefully', because the vehicle we're looking for is the 2008 Subaru Forester with less than 35k miles, the factory warranty still intact, and a low enough price that, even after the down payment (the aforementioned check), won't break the bank on a monthly basis. What's nice about that last part is the first dealership we looked at claimed they could get us car we want within our budget range. That means I can tell that to other dealerships and not be lying in order to get a smaller monthly payment for similarly priced Foresters. I don't lie so convincingly. That's usually a good thing.
Let me finish up on that 'hopefully' emphasis. The first one we test-drove sold later that same day, before I felt comfortable putting a deposit down (still hadn't known what the check was going to be cut for, at that point). The next Forester, at a sister dealership across town, sold before the agent could have it delivered to the first location. I was starting to think we were on to something, finding a car that apparently was so good pre-owned that it couldn't stay on the lot short of boosting it's wheels.
At the moment, we're slated to visit another dealership (in yet another 'across town' direction) that has what we believe we're looking for. I'm praying that when I call them after work, it will still be there and will remain there until we get there. If that doesn't pan out, then we still have leads on several other Foresters, one of them an '08, several of them are '07 models, and yet another, an LL Bean edition, an '05 - but that one has over 90k miles, so it'd have to be vomiting rainbows and pooping gold to be a serious consideration for purchase.
So that's the car situation.
The house-hunting situation is a bit more complicated. Probably because you can't just drive a house to a more desirable location. There are also infinitely more characteristics to consider with a house compared to a car. The most prominent consideration being the loan duration, amount, and the yearly taxes. Add in the few requirements that we have and the limited budget (we are first-time buyers, after all), and you have a bunch of little factors that make it nigh impossible to quickly find a suitable location. Of course, after finding a suitable location, there's the seller and bank to deal with, so location isn't necessarily everything.
We've looked at 6 houses thus far. Planning on seeing another bunch this upcoming Saturday. We'll repeat that little phenomenon the following weekend depending on what we see. Personally, it won't surprise me if we need to adjust our 'required' characteristics in order to find something. We aren't exactly on a relaxing time frame, what with June running up to meet us.
Pretty much the only thing I can say for sure is that our house will have a roof, walls, windows, at least one door (hopefully more!), and we will have a lot more time for fun things when the search is over.
Now that we have the relevant statistics out of the way...
So the fiancee and I are in the midst of car shopping, which is always fun. Of course, I'm still waiting for my settlement check from the insurance people, so I can't quite just go out and buy a car, yet. I can put down a deposit on a vehicle that I like, which will hopefully happen tonight. I say 'hopefully', because the vehicle we're looking for is the 2008 Subaru Forester with less than 35k miles, the factory warranty still intact, and a low enough price that, even after the down payment (the aforementioned check), won't break the bank on a monthly basis. What's nice about that last part is the first dealership we looked at claimed they could get us car we want within our budget range. That means I can tell that to other dealerships and not be lying in order to get a smaller monthly payment for similarly priced Foresters. I don't lie so convincingly. That's usually a good thing.
Let me finish up on that 'hopefully' emphasis. The first one we test-drove sold later that same day, before I felt comfortable putting a deposit down (still hadn't known what the check was going to be cut for, at that point). The next Forester, at a sister dealership across town, sold before the agent could have it delivered to the first location. I was starting to think we were on to something, finding a car that apparently was so good pre-owned that it couldn't stay on the lot short of boosting it's wheels.
At the moment, we're slated to visit another dealership (in yet another 'across town' direction) that has what we believe we're looking for. I'm praying that when I call them after work, it will still be there and will remain there until we get there. If that doesn't pan out, then we still have leads on several other Foresters, one of them an '08, several of them are '07 models, and yet another, an LL Bean edition, an '05 - but that one has over 90k miles, so it'd have to be vomiting rainbows and pooping gold to be a serious consideration for purchase.
So that's the car situation.
The house-hunting situation is a bit more complicated. Probably because you can't just drive a house to a more desirable location. There are also infinitely more characteristics to consider with a house compared to a car. The most prominent consideration being the loan duration, amount, and the yearly taxes. Add in the few requirements that we have and the limited budget (we are first-time buyers, after all), and you have a bunch of little factors that make it nigh impossible to quickly find a suitable location. Of course, after finding a suitable location, there's the seller and bank to deal with, so location isn't necessarily everything.
We've looked at 6 houses thus far. Planning on seeing another bunch this upcoming Saturday. We'll repeat that little phenomenon the following weekend depending on what we see. Personally, it won't surprise me if we need to adjust our 'required' characteristics in order to find something. We aren't exactly on a relaxing time frame, what with June running up to meet us.
Pretty much the only thing I can say for sure is that our house will have a roof, walls, windows, at least one door (hopefully more!), and we will have a lot more time for fun things when the search is over.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Investments Upon Investments
In my previous post, I went on a bit about my impending wedding and following marriage.
Since that point, the fiancee and I have started looking at some of the more important beginning decisions that face us as we start our life together. The first being buying a house. We've looked at one house so far, but we just started looking (seriously looking, anyway) this past Friday. Sure, we fooled around with realty websites, hitting searches that fit our parameters. We've already been pre-approved and have a solid lock on what our target price range is. We've narrowed the ideal location to within so many miles - a perk of only working about 10 minutes apart!
On Friday, we went to see the first house on our list. A nice house, even if the location is near one of the lower-income areas of Pittsburgh. We got a chance to see the neighborhood, spot several other property sales along the way, had our first experience with a realtor agent, and came away with a good impression of the place. Today, however, we shared the sentiment that it probably wouldn't work out, long-term, if we bought it. It has no yard, really. Maybe 8' on all sides, max.
In the meantime, we're planning on seeing another house, in quite a different neighborhood (think rural-ish!). The property is cheaper but in more need of repairs and renovations, just from looking at the property disclosure that the agent emailed me. But it has yard! After this one, we're hoping to visit another house or two before Valentine's Day (Saturday, methinks).
All of this is keeping us busy. Especially when...
I wrecked my car! Yeah, really. Neither the fiancee nor I were seriously hurt, although she is still sore. Got looked at, but the doc says 'tis just a muscle strain that needs time to work itself out. The car, on the other hand, is another matter. What happened is, we hit an slippy spot on a downgrade in the middle of a bend. Instead of going to the right with the road, the Cobalt decided it would just go straight to give that big ol' telephone pole a nice kiss.
It got towed (from my house - it was declared to be "drivable", but that's really not a story to be shared online) to a bodyshop that's attached to a dealership and will hopefully be assessed no later than Thursday, if not Wednesday. My father put forth the thought that maybe the car will be declared totalled, given that the front grill, hood, right fender, and at least the radiator (couldn't get an accurate body count of all the engine parts, since the hood was jammed shut) are in need of replacement. It's possible the front passenger door needs replaced due to the way the right fender got pushed back, as well as the left fender, but I can't tell if that's just the way the front grill got messed up. The engine was starting to overheat on the way back home from the accident, so that's why I know the radiator is busted. It goes without saying that the engine didn't sound all that pleased about being rammed into a solid piece of roadside decorum, either. For all that, it didnt' have problems steering, stopping, or going. I was concerned the battery was going to run itself dead when the fan kept going after turning off the car in an attempt to cool off the overheated engine.
When the fiancee's father saw the photos of the destruction, he wasn't so sure it would be declared totalled from the pictures and our description of the way it drove immediately after the accident. Hence, the assessment is eagerly anticipated! And this is why:
If totalled - hopefully that gap insurance I bought upon obtaining the Cobalt is still in effect - that would absolve me of paying off the final $2k, and then the amount I receive from insurance for the value can become down payment for a newer and, logically, better quality all-wheel drive vehicle, which would be better suited to the local weather patterns and my 'active' lifestyle (read: a more convenient way to transport my stinky goalie equipment without wedging hockey sticks between opposing doors). This would also be convenient in assisting the fiancee and I to start meshing our financial records and responsibilities jointly in terms of ownership and any relevant insurance coverages from such ownerships.
If fixable (according to the insurer, of course) - that means new body panels and a free fix (once past the deductable, of course, and it is that), fresh paint on front end of the car, new tires (with balancing and realignment), hopefully a fixing of that annoying shimmy at highway speeds: it now becomes a possible decent sell to some teenager looking for his first ride before he gets a serious job. Or maybe the working man who just needs a car to get from point A to B without breaking the bank. In either case, according to Kelly Blue Book, the retail value of the Cobalt would be around $5k. Remember the amount that I owe? Yeah, that would be a $3k profit if I was able to sell it around that $5k mark. Hell, even if it sold at $3.5k, it would still give me a higher downpayment than most car ads state for their advertised financing deals. Once again, enter a new vehicle. It just comes a little later down the road.
The longer I think about this decision, the more and more I think that having it fixable and then waiting until after the fiancee and I find a new home would be ideal. This is due to our wanting to get an SUV as the next vehicle. This would give us a good option during the winter, not to say her Neon is bad in this weather. At least it has snow tires. But the cheaper used SUVs that are newer than 4 years tend to be on the guzzling side of the gas tank. If we end up living quite close to our jobs, then it would be a viable solution, especially if we were to adopt a schedule of carpooling 2 or 3 days of the week yearlong. But if we were to live a bit further away from work (say 20 minutes or so), then finding an SUV with a better gas efficiency would pay off in the long-run, despite their average higher asking price to buy.
And then, of course, the fiancee (this was before the accident, so we'll see if this gets put on the back-burner or not) started sending me emails of pets looking for their forever homes, so I guess there's always more than just houses and cars, right?
In any event, I will probably post photos of the car after I hear what the assessment is. It should be fun times!
Since that point, the fiancee and I have started looking at some of the more important beginning decisions that face us as we start our life together. The first being buying a house. We've looked at one house so far, but we just started looking (seriously looking, anyway) this past Friday. Sure, we fooled around with realty websites, hitting searches that fit our parameters. We've already been pre-approved and have a solid lock on what our target price range is. We've narrowed the ideal location to within so many miles - a perk of only working about 10 minutes apart!
On Friday, we went to see the first house on our list. A nice house, even if the location is near one of the lower-income areas of Pittsburgh. We got a chance to see the neighborhood, spot several other property sales along the way, had our first experience with a realtor agent, and came away with a good impression of the place. Today, however, we shared the sentiment that it probably wouldn't work out, long-term, if we bought it. It has no yard, really. Maybe 8' on all sides, max.
In the meantime, we're planning on seeing another house, in quite a different neighborhood (think rural-ish!). The property is cheaper but in more need of repairs and renovations, just from looking at the property disclosure that the agent emailed me. But it has yard! After this one, we're hoping to visit another house or two before Valentine's Day (Saturday, methinks).
All of this is keeping us busy. Especially when...
I wrecked my car! Yeah, really. Neither the fiancee nor I were seriously hurt, although she is still sore. Got looked at, but the doc says 'tis just a muscle strain that needs time to work itself out. The car, on the other hand, is another matter. What happened is, we hit an slippy spot on a downgrade in the middle of a bend. Instead of going to the right with the road, the Cobalt decided it would just go straight to give that big ol' telephone pole a nice kiss.
It got towed (from my house - it was declared to be "drivable", but that's really not a story to be shared online) to a bodyshop that's attached to a dealership and will hopefully be assessed no later than Thursday, if not Wednesday. My father put forth the thought that maybe the car will be declared totalled, given that the front grill, hood, right fender, and at least the radiator (couldn't get an accurate body count of all the engine parts, since the hood was jammed shut) are in need of replacement. It's possible the front passenger door needs replaced due to the way the right fender got pushed back, as well as the left fender, but I can't tell if that's just the way the front grill got messed up. The engine was starting to overheat on the way back home from the accident, so that's why I know the radiator is busted. It goes without saying that the engine didn't sound all that pleased about being rammed into a solid piece of roadside decorum, either. For all that, it didnt' have problems steering, stopping, or going. I was concerned the battery was going to run itself dead when the fan kept going after turning off the car in an attempt to cool off the overheated engine.
When the fiancee's father saw the photos of the destruction, he wasn't so sure it would be declared totalled from the pictures and our description of the way it drove immediately after the accident. Hence, the assessment is eagerly anticipated! And this is why:
If totalled - hopefully that gap insurance I bought upon obtaining the Cobalt is still in effect - that would absolve me of paying off the final $2k, and then the amount I receive from insurance for the value can become down payment for a newer and, logically, better quality all-wheel drive vehicle, which would be better suited to the local weather patterns and my 'active' lifestyle (read: a more convenient way to transport my stinky goalie equipment without wedging hockey sticks between opposing doors). This would also be convenient in assisting the fiancee and I to start meshing our financial records and responsibilities jointly in terms of ownership and any relevant insurance coverages from such ownerships.
If fixable (according to the insurer, of course) - that means new body panels and a free fix (once past the deductable, of course, and it is that), fresh paint on front end of the car, new tires (with balancing and realignment), hopefully a fixing of that annoying shimmy at highway speeds: it now becomes a possible decent sell to some teenager looking for his first ride before he gets a serious job. Or maybe the working man who just needs a car to get from point A to B without breaking the bank. In either case, according to Kelly Blue Book, the retail value of the Cobalt would be around $5k. Remember the amount that I owe? Yeah, that would be a $3k profit if I was able to sell it around that $5k mark. Hell, even if it sold at $3.5k, it would still give me a higher downpayment than most car ads state for their advertised financing deals. Once again, enter a new vehicle. It just comes a little later down the road.
The longer I think about this decision, the more and more I think that having it fixable and then waiting until after the fiancee and I find a new home would be ideal. This is due to our wanting to get an SUV as the next vehicle. This would give us a good option during the winter, not to say her Neon is bad in this weather. At least it has snow tires. But the cheaper used SUVs that are newer than 4 years tend to be on the guzzling side of the gas tank. If we end up living quite close to our jobs, then it would be a viable solution, especially if we were to adopt a schedule of carpooling 2 or 3 days of the week yearlong. But if we were to live a bit further away from work (say 20 minutes or so), then finding an SUV with a better gas efficiency would pay off in the long-run, despite their average higher asking price to buy.
And then, of course, the fiancee (this was before the accident, so we'll see if this gets put on the back-burner or not) started sending me emails of pets looking for their forever homes, so I guess there's always more than just houses and cars, right?
In any event, I will probably post photos of the car after I hear what the assessment is. It should be fun times!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Back In The Captain's Chair
It's been quite a few weeks since my last post. In fact, I dare say it's been months. I kind of got lost out there in the great black beyond of space of life. It happens; don't deny it.
That said, I guess I need to make an accounting of myself. But with that much down time from this then-fledgling blog, there's quite a bit to make an accounting for.
I'll start with the simple and obvious. I got engaged. Yes yes, I know it's not like once that happened I lost all possible free time in which to blurt out randomly sweet nothings into the blogosphere, but for all my sweetheart and I have gotten done in such a relatively short time, there's a lot tied and related to the planning process. I'm starting to convince myself that over half the 'wedding planning' is actually just talking about the wedding planning. Not just the parents, both her's and mine, but to other people, regardless of their invite status. Discussing what's been done so far, discussing what has yet to get done, discussing what will happen after the wedding, discussing expectations, discussing discussing discussing. If it was possible to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and fulfill all energy needs with wedding discussions, I'm sure world peace would have helped itself to our world and the salsa that happens to be in the fridge. Once it's open, you sort of need to take care of it pronto. Salsa doesn't stay good for that long after it's been opened.
Anyway, a good portion of the wedding planning has been dealt with. There are still some notable details that need hashed out like the wedding cake and what readings and music we want for the ceremony itself. Since we got engaged mid-November, we locked down the ceremony location, reception location, rehearsal dinner location, bridal parties, flowers (still working on the prices), dresses for all members of the bridal party, transportation, hotel accomodations for out-of-town guests, invitations picked out, wedding bands picked (mine is actually already purchased; hers is depending on who has it and at what price), guest list nailed down (and hopefully the parents will stop giving it plenty of sunlight and water - we're already bumping up against our self-imposed cap without letting it grow!), honey moon is planned, vacation times are requested, one gift registry is full auto while another needs to get on the ball.
And then there's the marriage planning, which would be stuff like (in my opinion) place to live, getting financial records and official insurance and registrations of all things (like cars and loans and bank accounts and all of that wonderful fun stuff) brought up to speed, obtaining (hopefully without resorting to petty theft and black market maneuverings) furniture and appliances that keep a couple a happy couple when sharing a space. As an aside, we are quite comfortable with small spaces, but I'm sure not all the long-term couples could be wrong when they say that there will be times when "cozy" (what they mean is "cramped") just isn't doing either person any favors.
I guess you could say that I'm looking very forward to June 4th, when I am made a husband and take on a wife. That will eliminate the worries of at least half the above. I have a feeling that even if the other half is relative smooth sailing, it'll still be nice to be able to give it the attention it all deserves.
How anyone can possibly deal with a multi-year engagement is beyond me. I know that I'd be banging my head against a wall and wondering why I should wait so long for something that is going to happen. I would want to have all the time I can to learn, and hopefully come close to perfecting, how to live with the love of my life.
That said, I guess I need to make an accounting of myself. But with that much down time from this then-fledgling blog, there's quite a bit to make an accounting for.
I'll start with the simple and obvious. I got engaged. Yes yes, I know it's not like once that happened I lost all possible free time in which to blurt out randomly sweet nothings into the blogosphere, but for all my sweetheart and I have gotten done in such a relatively short time, there's a lot tied and related to the planning process. I'm starting to convince myself that over half the 'wedding planning' is actually just talking about the wedding planning. Not just the parents, both her's and mine, but to other people, regardless of their invite status. Discussing what's been done so far, discussing what has yet to get done, discussing what will happen after the wedding, discussing expectations, discussing discussing discussing. If it was possible to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and fulfill all energy needs with wedding discussions, I'm sure world peace would have helped itself to our world and the salsa that happens to be in the fridge. Once it's open, you sort of need to take care of it pronto. Salsa doesn't stay good for that long after it's been opened.
Anyway, a good portion of the wedding planning has been dealt with. There are still some notable details that need hashed out like the wedding cake and what readings and music we want for the ceremony itself. Since we got engaged mid-November, we locked down the ceremony location, reception location, rehearsal dinner location, bridal parties, flowers (still working on the prices), dresses for all members of the bridal party, transportation, hotel accomodations for out-of-town guests, invitations picked out, wedding bands picked (mine is actually already purchased; hers is depending on who has it and at what price), guest list nailed down (and hopefully the parents will stop giving it plenty of sunlight and water - we're already bumping up against our self-imposed cap without letting it grow!), honey moon is planned, vacation times are requested, one gift registry is full auto while another needs to get on the ball.
And then there's the marriage planning, which would be stuff like (in my opinion) place to live, getting financial records and official insurance and registrations of all things (like cars and loans and bank accounts and all of that wonderful fun stuff) brought up to speed, obtaining (hopefully without resorting to petty theft and black market maneuverings) furniture and appliances that keep a couple a happy couple when sharing a space. As an aside, we are quite comfortable with small spaces, but I'm sure not all the long-term couples could be wrong when they say that there will be times when "cozy" (what they mean is "cramped") just isn't doing either person any favors.
I guess you could say that I'm looking very forward to June 4th, when I am made a husband and take on a wife. That will eliminate the worries of at least half the above. I have a feeling that even if the other half is relative smooth sailing, it'll still be nice to be able to give it the attention it all deserves.
How anyone can possibly deal with a multi-year engagement is beyond me. I know that I'd be banging my head against a wall and wondering why I should wait so long for something that is going to happen. I would want to have all the time I can to learn, and hopefully come close to perfecting, how to live with the love of my life.
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