I saw them standing there pretending to be JUST FRIENDS, when all the time in the world couldn't seperate them.

I need to appologize for taking a week's hiatus. It won't happen again...for a while at least. I have a lot to tell you about. Cake. Engagement photos. Save The Dates, Meeting with Bean and Cindy. Lot's of good things happening lately. But, I have to be reflective today. I would say, actually, that I am reflective on most days. (Why would I start a blog if I wasn't?)

Today is different. Today marks the end of something moumental. 7 years ago I met my Aaron. And today he packs his office up, and moves onto the next great adventure. Somewhere not within yelling distance from me. Somewhere with a different zip code than me. Somewhere with a different license plate than me. Somewhere I am not going. And maybe it hit today. Even though I knew this was coming for months. But, you have to understand....we haven't always lived together in the same close proximity. There was about a year and a half when we weren't close at all. But since June 2007, this has been our life:

We have been co-dependant at times. We have been frustrated at times. We have been stupid at times. We have been sad a times. We have been happy...maainly happy. Aaron and I found out what love was together. We traveled across country in a car together. And it was pure bliss. We explored Decatur. We spent nights doing absolutely nothing. I have been mistaken as Aaron's wife. TOO MANY TIMES. Aaron maybe the only one who knows how to deal with my pissy moods. And I have them. More than I admit. And even though I get so mad at him, he is really a patient man. :)

I would never have come to Decatur to work at MU if it wasn't for this man. I look back in my journal from a few years ago, and I see something I wrote about a particular day togethr:
"Aaron and I spent the day together at the pool today. It was the perfect summer heat. The trees were buzzing with bugs and sun light. Everything was heavy. I worshiped the sun by the pool and we just sat all day and got in and out of the water. As we left to drive home a few hours later, we coasted through Fairview park with the windows down, radio low, and sun beating in the window. The breeze was enough. And as we just sat, I thought: For the rest of my life, when I am old and the days are slower, I will look back and remember this moment with him and think - We spent the best days of our lives in Decatur. Growing and loving and learning how to be human together."

And as I finally come to terms with my Aaron packing up and leaving today, I will always be thankful for the chords that connect us to one another.
I would not have met my love had it not been for this man traveling to MU a year before. He paved a way for me to find the huge pieces of my life.
And I don't remember what it is like to live without seeing him daily, but it's just the next great thing for us.

mmp

137

days until we tye the knot. It's hard to believe that number will soon be 2 digits, instead of 3. So few digits, so much to do! :)

So, I went to this drive-in women's conference for work the other day. It was a really nice day of sessions geared towards women working in higher education. I was sitting next to this woman at lunch who talked about her husband and how they have only been married a year. She said they had to get married quicly because she was graduating from graduate school, and they didn't think she would have a chunk of time off she would be able to take for the wedding. So, anyhow, they eloped and got married at the court house on Friday, moved to her new location on Saturday, and started work on Monday. Wow. Busy weekend. Although this is not our plan of attack for the wedding, I am 100% supportive of "doing what you want" for your wedding. But then she went into the fact that her husband dosn't really get what she does, and doesn't understand her hours she puts in at work. They dated for 4 years before they got married, and he never once thought to ask about what she wanted, or what that meant for them. And she never thought to tell him. Never once thought of the non-traditional route she was choosing, and what that would look like for "them."

And as I listened to this woman (whine) for the remainder of the lunch, I was once again reminded of the man I am marrying. A man who not only supports what I do for a living, but "gets" it. He didn't complain that I worked all weekend, and saw him for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday. When I left my phone accidently on the kitchen counter last night when I went to a meeting, he was semi-excited to be able to answer an "emergency" call and make some decisions. I'm lucky. I'm so lucky.

Have some meetings this week for the wedding. Looking forward to finishing up some things, and sending out the STD by the end of June!

In other news: I think I am missing some clothing! I can't find some of my dresses since the move. Maybe they are still in the Hessler dryer...ugh.

Just gave AHB a kiss before he headed to work. Annnnd I'm still in work out clothing looking a bit of a mess. Should start the morning process... Hello Tuesday.

mmp

Shout Out

To Ellen and Aaron for (some of the) arm twisting that happened with the slight additions to the registry. I went back and switched bedding and took EME and AWC with me. Ha.

Who had control of the gun? Ellen.

At one point I would hear a "Beep" from isles away, and hear her smile. Yes, you can hear Ellen smile. :)

They are good additions.

Came home and told AHB of the rogue additions.

"Well, they sound great."

mmp

Club Wed

Well, we registered the other day. Now, I have heard many things regarding couples as they register: They fight. They seriously disagree. They hate it.

Well, I didn't want to hate it. And I didn't want him to hate it. So, I was crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. But, I need to be honest. We don't need a lot. I know, I know. This is the cardinal sin for couples when they register. I have absolutely been to weddings where there was absolutely not enough on the registry by the time the showers were over. I fear this will be us - but seriously folks. I'm 28. I have everything I needed. AHB also has everything he needed. So, when we combined two "everything we needed apartments" into something a little "tight" - we are left with limited space.

So, I am putting it out there. We don't have a huge registry. We even registered for more than I thought we would.

AHB: "We don't need anything! Where will we put it!?"

And. honestly, I am not sure. We are living in piles already. And, yes, we broke down and registered for "new things" just to have nice new things. (And I think this killed AHB a bit. He was kind of against it...) But we did it...but even my mom asked, "Why did you only register for 4 plates??"
(in her defense, and ours, we registered for a set - and added 4 extra plates...not JUST 4 plates.)

So, the registry is "live" - although I think the bedding is wrong, now that I go back and look at it. So we need to go fix it - and it won't let me do that on-line. (So much for being super handy.)

I am really in love with everything on the registry. And I actually think we do legitimately need/want everything. (Well, you will notice the plethora of cleaning supplies and candles...guess who was SUPER excited about getting cleaning supplies??? Like mother like son...)

I just asked AHB about what his favorite thing on the registry is: "The dog treats."

I just asked Apple and Olive about their favorite things: "The bedding." (They want us to have good bedding too...)

We also knocked out a list of things this weekend including looking at tuxes, ordering stamps, and even talking with our invitation woman. Woo hoo! Only a few more big pieces to make it all work together.

Did I mention that we are planning to honeymoon in Savannah!? Neither of us have been there, and I am real excited about the possibilities of southern history and a bit of a romantic feel.

One member of the "family" who has gone unmentioned thus far is Uncle Albert Chickenwings. He is the frog we inherited. Looks like he will be a permanent member of this apartment. He got some new digs this weekend. Promise to upload a picture real soon.

If you want to check out the registry go to www.target.com (Search for AHB or I)

mmp

Apartment Pictures

I did want to post some of our pictures as of late. I am not sure when all of our friends and family will be able to make the trek to Decatur to see us, but at least you can check out the pictures. I tried my best to capture the great aspects of the apartment with lighting, and a limited camera angle. Thank you panoramic shots.

Let's see if this works. :)

These are some of our front room, kitchen, and bathroom. I will try to get the "office/second bedroom" and bedroom later. :)

We were also really happy that a few of our engagement shots were posted on Alida Duff Sullivan's facebook fan page. So, if you haven't seen them, just browse on facebook a bit. We are huge fans of what we have seen so far.

Nothing really new to report, well except that we now have a "Director of Hospitality" for our wedding. Thank you Daniel for working with hotels for block booking rates. Who better than the negotiator himself!? You should take William Shatner's place on Priceline. "Priceline negotiator - Daniel Stuby."


mmp

The significance of 5

Well, it should say something that I just stepped over roughly 5 boxes to make my way to the computer to blog. These boxes are the LAST 5 boxes of things from my apartment in Hessler. (Which we hauled over today) Woo hoo for being completely out of the apartment I grew up in. And, into the apartment I will grow into.

Today is the 5th of June. A year ago today AHB took me to dinner for the first time. For many of you, this might be considered the "first date". Well, no. Not for AHB. Dinner on the 5th was just a "payment" for photos I took of the pups. But, the 5th is significant to me. It was the night I went home and thought, "I hope he asks me to dinner again." And he did.

5 months from TODAY we walk down the isle as husband and wife. Today we beat the odds at the weather (which was very very stormy at 8am) and we took engagement photos around town (at 5pm) with our fantastic photographer. We actually had fun. Once we got over the whole touch each other and gaze into each other's eyes.

"Pretend that you like me."

"I do. Most of the time."

Smile! Now kiss. Haha.

2 hours later we were taking our last few shots on the lawn of our reception site. It was exciting to think of us walking into that building together in a few more months.

And now I am tired. I think he would "ditto" that statement. Thank goodness we hung up some things this weekend already in the apartment. I don't feel the pressure to do more tonight...although maybe a few things in the bedroom. I need to still unpack clothing, and about 100 other things.

OH...things I learned from Bennett...
1.) Even when you wash the duvet cover of your duvet...because your cat loved to sleep there, and your fiance is allergic....the dander is most likely still there. And we learned that the difficult way as AHB had to take an allergy pill in our cat-free home last night. So, I don't know what to do about that. hmm.

Who wants to wash again? Not me. I mean, it is JUST the guest room. Not our bed. AND without a free washer down stairs, I am less motivated for sure. ;o)

mmp

Til' Cake Pan Do Us Part

No one tells you what it is like to combine 2 apartments. Well, I guess that isn't exactly true. I read this article once when David Arquette and Courtney Cox married and they talked about the "challenges" of combining two VERY different apartments to make the new place feel like the both of them. Without losing the identity of one or the other.

I have to admit, I really thought this would be a problem for AHB and I too. He has all the furniture. Living in a fully furnished residence hall apartment for 7 years really hasn't prepared me for moving off campus one day. So, I own nothing.

Strike that. Re-do.

I own every kitchen appliance you can imagine. You name it, I most likely have it. Every cake pan, every decorting tool, even the little corn-on-the-cob holder guys. (ask me how many times I have used them...) But, things of substance? No. Not really. So, I worried that I would be lost in an apartment of AHB, and the MMP wouldn't be found anywhere.

But, to my GREAT shock, I came back from a long weekend to find a lovely-homey-put-together-two-bedroom-apartment that felt like "us". Minus the fact that none of the items in said apartment were actually mine. Maybe it was the new space. Maybe it was the colors we spent hours painting on the walls. Maybe it was the comment that first greeted me moments before stepping foot into our new home, "Now, if you don't like something, we will move it."

So AHB and the "moving crew" made the transition last weekend into the new space. And it is MAGNIFICENT. I was unfortunately gone but came back to bliss. Then Tuesday hit, and I had to start packing. 'Start' being the key word. And that sucks. Moving really sucks. Boxes, and purging, and realizing you aren't purging enough and you and your fiance will have to have another go at it once you realize without hope that nothing fits in the new kitchen. Yes, purging still needs to happen.

So, I've parted with a few things (Anna and Katie will be happy to inherit) and I've tried to keep a few things. AHB asked to help, but I made him promise not to panic when he came over. And it was a really great moment when he picked up two very similar bake and fill cake pans and tried to rationalize why I didn't need both. And he was right. And the hilarious moment when we were taking my boxes to our cars (including a tent, a kitchen-aid mixer, and 2 half finished craft projects) AHB looks at me and said, "Pip, you sure fit a lot in that apartment."
So, we are in the process of finding a spot for everything...only to go back thought eventually when we are tired of battling the towering dishes every night just to get the one on the bottom of the pile.

And more of my things are starting to integrate themselves into the vibe of the current things. And it was a huge triumph when AHB announced he had cleaned out 5 drawers for me to have for my clothing. I like it here. I think he does too.

Updates:
1.) Engagement photos this weekend.
2.) Cake lady (Betty) is booked.
3.) I am signing the catering contract this weekend and shipping it out.
4.) I have a gown.

Things are practically around the corner.
I will upload pictures of the new digs once I get them onto the computer from my camera. I'll just keep you in suspense for now.

mmp