Save The Date

10/17: I just received Cassandra and Andrew's save the date for their wedding. It is official... no turning back now! They can't elope now! I am so happy for them. She gave it to me when we went out to dinner at Lucky's Chinese. Andrew and Cassandra had never been before so it was nice to see them and nice to have dinner with them. They turned out so cute and it is already on the fridge. I told her that they would be too cute with a magnet. That way it can be a keep-sake too.

9/5: I am starting to plan her shower/bachelorette party. She didn't want the traditional 2 separate parties so I am kind of doing a duo part, a lingerie shower. I think it will be a fun way for her to be a bit embarrassed, celebrate, and get a lot of cute gifts for the honeymoon.

3/19: My 23rd birthday is on Friday. I don't know how I feel about being so one year old. I am trying not to get discouraged but I still feel like I am some how behind in life. I should have a degree by now, either a family or a career. Troy is turning 24. I can't even believe it. The other night I went through my "Troy Box" and looked at old love letters and cards from 6-7 years ago. It is crazy to think that I celebrated my sweet 16 with him and now am about to turn 23. I love him. :)

Next Best Thing...

To your own wedding... planning someone elses wedding! My dear friend and former bridesmaid is now taking the plunge. I am so excited for her! Tomorrow we are going to a bridal show case and then after we are going dress shopping. I don't know who is more excited, me or her?

I am understanding her stress right now as everything in the wedding process right now just looks like $$$. And when you don't have a lot of $ it can be hard to find the joy in planning and more easily seen as just plain stressful. I fear that the wedding dress shopping extravaganza will likely be the same. I told her that the rule is that she has to try on all kinds of dresses to see which style looks best on her, what feels right, and what will go with the style of her wedding. No looking at the price tag!! This trip is specifically planned to just shop and look around, and if we find "the one" then it will be a bonus!

Updated Bucket List as of 1/22/10

1. Get married and go on a fabulous honeymoon! (Done!! 10/24/09 & 10/25/09 – 10/31/09)
2. Have a baby or babies
3. Own my own home
4. Go on a hot air balloon ride
5. Go white water rafting
6. Go on a wine tasting tour
7. Vacation in NY and take tours of all the fabulous site seeing hot spots (including the Sex In The City Tour)
8. Learn how to skateboard
9. Go to the World Series
10. Earn my BA
11. Co-own a classic car/truck with my husband and learn how to work on it
12. Go on a cruise
13. Swim with dolphins
14. Study abroad for at least 1 semester
15. Go to a Nicholas Sparks book signing
16. Own a pair of fabulous and ridiculously expensive designer shoes
17. Camp in Joshua Tree to sleep under the stars
18. Read the entire Bible
19. Zip line in Costa Rica
20. See Brad Paisley in concert

Playing Ketchup!!

My life has quieted down so much you could hear a pin drop. We were so busy up through the wedding but now that the chaos is over I don’t really know what to do with myself. I have not started on any new projects. Actually, I should be trying to hammer out some major work on my scrap books. Of course I have not gotten past my graduation party in June 2005. Now I am married. I still can’t believe it sometimes. I finally was able to print all of my photos and put them in photo books. Between my Dad’s pictures and our two amazing photographers there was approx. 1,600 photos in all. If I could I would put them all over my house!

Troy got the Wii for Christmas from his Mom. This has now become his new addiction. Joe and Troy play Wii all day and all night. We have several games already. In fact, I have been wanting to get a new entertainment center to replace my old TV stand for a long time now. You know what made Troy jump on my band wagon? The Wii! In fact he wanted a new entertainment center so that the TV would be higher off the ground which would make it easier to use since the sensor bar would be higher as well. Go figure!

Heather and Joe have gotten back together since Heather has been home. The four of us have been spending quite a lot of time together. In fact, since Christmas Eve Joe has only gone home one time to spend the night at his Dad’s house. Troy and I finally made the decision that he should just move in with us. So this is our next new adventure. He has some issues in his life that he needs to clear up. We are trying to give him the opportunity to right some wrongs and get a jump start in life. I hope that he doesn’t think that this is some free ride. Rent free is just a temporary situation until he is working full time and has gotten a hold of his other financial responsibilities.

This whole arrangement will definitely change should I get pregnant. At the moment Troy and I are not “trying” to get pregnant however we are not taking any steps to prevent it either. We are not using any kind of form of protection. We are just letting nature take its course and if God thinks we are ready to become pregnant then it will happen.

School Is Finally Out... Well Almost

Tonight is my final for my oceanography class. I thought this class was going to go on and on forever. I didn't love it as much as I expected to. I think I thought that it was going to be more of a marine science and less of a "this is a wave, and this is phytoplanktin" kind of class. I had full intentions last week for actually studying for this 90 question final. I even broke out the flash cards, the powerpoints and the study guides to do my best to maintain my grade or hopefully bring it up. On Friday night before the krew came over I started studying and only got through 2 chapters (out of 5) and then shuffled it away as the guests arrived. One thing led to another this weekend and the study guide and flash cards never made it back out. These chapters do not contain material that you can just "fake" your way through and do alright. So tonight before class I am going to scramble and review as much as possible before the final at 6:00 pm. I am SO glad this class is over. The regular semester classes really are hard for me because about 1/2 way through I become unmotivated to go to class anymore. Since I work full time and am doing night school I get really tired and just plain over it!

Next semester I am taking Political Science A180 with Heather. I am also going to try to apply to take at least 1 paralegal class. I think that is what I want to do "when I grow up" but who really knows at this point. I also want to be able to transfer to a 4 year university and complete my BA degree.

I have made a counseling appointment with one of the academic counselors to review my options for getting my AA and possibly transfering. I am going to make an education plan and this will be on file with the school and will help guide me better. I feel like I have a good handle on the situation but I would love for someone to confirm that my calculations are right and that I am not taking classes for nothing.

Next semester I think I am going to really try to stay focussed and take 3 classes: political science, math, and 1 paralegal class. Think I can do it?

Fresh Start

This is my fresh start to my new blog. Now that I am a married woman and all I thought it would be a good idea to start anew as Mrs. Keeney. The wedding went without a hitch. Any issues that arose my wonderful maid of honor, Heather, took care of. The day was beautiful and I enjoyed every moment even though the day flew by! I can't wait to blog about my new adventures and recap on some of my best wedding moment memories!

Best Mother's Day Present!!

So Heather, Cathleen, Dad and I have been plotting for some time. Heather couldn't decided what to do for Mom for Mother's day. She asked if she would like flowers, even though they are quite expensive. I told her that it would be a nice gesturebut probably not worth the cost. Somewhere along in the conversation we came up with the idea to have her fly down and suprise mom.

So the plotting began...Heather was to fly down the Friday before. We pulled Dad into the plot and decided to have a "Mother's Day BBQ" at our house with the family to pull everyone together. On Friday when I picked her up we would surprise Nichole at work and have Heather stay the night there to hide her. Nichole was to get off of work at 4:00 pm so the four of us (Heather, Cathleen, Nichole and I) would have a girls night and go to Davids Bridal, maybe see a movie, and just spend time together. This was the plan...

Well a few days before Heather was supposed to come down Nichole drops the bomb that she switched with another employee and has to work from 3:00 to 9:00 at Seal Beach. Bummer!! I made sure she knew we were going to hang out on Friday to ensure she wouldn't make plans with someone else. The BBQ was all set. Family knew and were all excited. It turned into a combo BBQ for William's 13th birthday as well.

Friday comes and I get off of work at 1:00 pm. I go to the Dr's first to have the so unpleasant yearly exam and quickly head home to pick up Cathleen. After that we head to the airport. We picked up Heather from Long Beach and headed to Seal Beach for the first surprise. We stopped at Starbucks to kill time and to also prep for our surprise to the unsuspecting Nichole at work. We devised the plan that Cathleen would be on the phone with Heather who would be standing outside of the store listening in on our conversation. When we walked in Nichole saw the Starbucks with a envious eye and I explained that I forgot to call until after I went through the drive through. At that point that was Heather's cue to bum rush the store and yell surprise!

It was perfect!!! Heather with Starbucks in hand for Nichole came rushing around the corner. Nichole jumped back, gasped with open mouth and exclaimed "Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?" We explained the rest of the surprise plot about the next day and how we were to hide Heather at her house that night.

Saturday morning was like any other and my mom was busy cleaning the house for the BBQ at 12:00. Nichole and I were in communication so she knew when everyone was there for the big surprise. It was perfect! I sent the all clear text and they were on their way. Dad had the camera ready. Nichole walked in first and told Mom that she had something for her. Mom came out of the kitchen into the dining room and once again Heather came rushing through the door with sunflowers screaming "Surprise! Happy Mother's Day!" The look of shock and awe was priceless and then came the tears of gratitude and love. She was so surprised and so happy to have the family together on Mother's Day (well, one day prior). She got all emotional (score!) and was very happy that we had done this for her. Even Aunt Lisa was emotional and excited! She told Uncle John that once her girls go to college John better arrange the same surprise! :)

Needless to say, it was the best Mother's Day celebration yet! It was a complete success!

(Pictures to be posted later - after I steal them from Dad)