Dreaming of Vacations

Whew, this cold weather is making me crave a tropical vacation. I've even been looking different ones up, just dreaming a bit...

These are a few pics from our honeymoon in Costa Rica, just to get you through these cold days!!

I'm A Rockin' Girl

Last weekend, I had my first Rock Band experience. We went to visit's Matt's sister Jennifer and her family. Their youngest boys, really love playing the drums and singing in the microphone. It's pretty cute. Once the boys were in bed, the adults (ahem) took to the stage. We played for hours. Seriously. It was SO fun. Jennifer and Marshall are really good at the drums and guitar! I tried all of the instruments and the singing, as did Matt. It was pretty crazy. I ended up singing most of the time. It's funny because I love to sing...in my car, around the house, etc., but don't typically perform. But, because it's a game you pretty much have to bring it if you want to win it! So I became quite the rockstar (ha!) and we became quite the rock band. The songs I got the most into were Alanis Morrisette's "You Oughta Know," and Miranda Lambert's "Gun Powder and Lead." For some reason the angry female songs are pretty easy to get into and sing your heart out! Apparently Matt filmed some of our songs, but I'm yet to see the videos...they will not be making it on the internet!

Our Rock Band evening reminded me of our tour guide in Costa Rica, Jaime' would hear me singing along with the radio in our tour van and dubbed me a "rockin' girl." My official Costa Rican nickname.

Brrrrr

It is so cold! We're living in an old house and once we got our lastest power bill realized the window unit and space heaters are not gonna cut it...warmth or expense wise. Matt checked into propane, but after much debate, we headed to Lowe's Hardware last night. We bought an oil filled heater, more efficient than the window unit, and also bought these clear plastic sheets to put over the windows...the Lowe's man told us he'd used these when he rented and didn't have double pane windows... So we got home, opened up the kits and started double sided taping, pressing the plasticy paper (think saran wrap) to the window, and then I hair dried the edges. That's in the directions, seal with the hair dryer! It doesn't look as ghetto as it sounds...promise! Our evening was pretty full of handy-man/woman adventures. The result? A bit warmer today - I warm myself over the oil heater like it's a campfire...and hopefully a happier power bill at the end of the month!

Writing the New Year

It's 2010. I can't write 10 just yet. In my thank you note writing I find myself writing 1/6/2010. For some reason 1/6/10 doesn't sit right with me yet. We shall see if I change over... I suspect I will at some point in the next year.

On that note, writing thank you notes is a big deal. I didn't start until after the holidays mostly because I knew the big endeavor they would be. So, I've started, and I actually enjoy it. It helps me reflect, and because I'm truly grateful, I enjoy sending friends and family a sweet little note. When I was much younger, and began to write thank you notes my mom engrained in me the proper way to write a note. Her mother, a socialite in the south and drilled in her the correct way to write. It's a combination of chatty, with a definite amount of thankfulness. It's amazing the thank you notes people write, which are hardly a note at all. Anyway, that's my tangent...and what's going on in my corner of the world.

Newlywed World

We've been married a little over a month and yesterday was Matt's birthday! I got up and fixed him breakfast before work (whew he leaves in the early am hours). We had dinner last night with my parents and are looking forward to grilling out tonight with his new charcoal grill.

It has been great to just be together, and get settled in here. It's taken some time to get things going in the house, since no one has lived here in a while. But we are blessed with a wonderful landlord, and all is well. It took a few weeks to get the internet figured out, we apparently live in a black hole when it comes to the internet. But we went with the Verizon mifi and so far, so good...we're connected with the world again! (though a little break was nice! hehe).

Southern Pines has a cute downtown area and I explored there last week, Christmas shopping and just enjoying a nice day out. We've only had one weekend to visit a church in the area, so we're still meeting people and looking for a place to fellowship and grow. We have our SummerShine Christmas party this weekend which is exciting and another day of celebrating Matt's birth on Saturday.

That's a short update on the Joneses.

Wedding pictures go up this week, so rest assured, there will be another post soon!! Oh...and I will write about Costa Rica too!

Wedding Week!

I can't believe we're here! From getting engaged on Dec. 28th, to the week of our wedding. I am filled with emotions, excitement, a few nerves, and a lot of prayers. I have always handled change with caution, even good change like this. I am so excited to be in the same place, together with Matt. Three years of dating long distance has grown us to where we are now. To actually live together, and do life together will be so different from just visiting on the weekends!! I'm excited to settle in as husband and wife. I know I will miss my family, living at home for a spell has given my parents and me a lot of time to just enjoy a friendship, as well as a family bond and I will miss our chats. However, cars, computers, cell phones and more make staying in touch with everyone, so much easier - - including my girlfriends I've met for weekly dinners! I will still come home and enjoy visiting and catching up. So, that's where I am...about to get married to my best friend! God is good and we are blessed in so many ways. Here are a few of my favorite engagement pictures!!

Exciting days!

Matt and I have started having fun parties and showers in the last few weeks. On top of our own events we've been blessed to attend many weddings this year and share in other people's joy! Today is the one month mark until our wedding. Time is flying! I'm posting some pictures from a lovely shower I had this weekend in Raleigh. It was a wonderful afternoon, as you can see!

All the girls in the group!

A yummy cake and some lovely girls!

With Caroline, our gracious hostess!