SOLD

I put the bed, chair and vanity set up on Craigs List yesterday. Today I sold the vanity set for $30. This is 100% profit, because we got it for free. It was kind of sad to see it go. Mostly because now my computer has to live on the floor and all my clothes that were in the drawers are on the floor.

I hope we can get the bed sold. That would be really nice, we could always just leave it here, but it would be nice to get $50 for it. I doubt anyone will want the chair even though it is only up for $10. There is so much stuff on Craigs List right now. I do have hope because we will be here after June 1 and maybe people will be moving done moving out and starting to move back in.

I don't look forward to moving, but I do look forward to being back in Ames.

This next week is going to be crazy!

I hope we survive this next week. There is so much to do. Jeff has this Passages thing that is eating up all his free time, plus on the 2nd his family shows up. Since they did come all this way, they will want to see him, since we are moving all our friends want to see us, since we are moving three days later I want to see him packing! Jeff's going to be pulled really thin, and by extension I am going to be pulled really thin.

I have been trying to think of ways to make this run smoothly. I am still trying to get things done earlier that can be done earlier.

What I am going to do today,

• pack up all the books and dvd and things that we don't use very often
• do laundry
• return library books
• list the bed, side dresser, chair and vanity on Craigs List - every little bit of money helps

Happy Birthday Clarissa

It is my little sister's birthday, but she isn't that little. She's actually close to my size and she's 22 now! I remember when she was just a little girl in a sun dress and absolutely terrified of spiders. I tried to find a good picture of her, but I don't have any on my computer and the rest are in my photo albums at home. So here's a little drawing of her, although her hair is short right now, so it isn't even an accurate stick figure.

Happy Birthday, Clarissa!

Jeff Doesn't Even Know This Yet

I just got home and checked my email. We got emails from the Peace Corps. There are good things and bad and eh things. The bad, we are nominated for a program that doesn't leave until next May, that's a full year from now. The good news? It is in Latin America! The eh thing is that we are both required to take some Spanish classes before we go.

I have to take three semesters and Jeff has to take two. Why do I have to take more? I'm not sure. I had two years of high school Spanish, Jeff might have had three, I don't recall. Incidentally, can I take three semesters before next May? Maybe if there were some summer courses. Where would we take them? ISU? DMAC? These things must be explored.

But the language issue asside, I'll be working with Applied Agricultural Science. Jeff will be with Agriculture and Forestry Extension. They sound kind of like the same thing.

Well, I guess we have new things to look into. Exciting! Maybe I can start work towards my Masters now and be a full time student come fall.

One Month

Not only is it 12 days until we move out, but it is one month until we get married!

I am not sure how that makes me feel. I guess, I'm not really worried about the wedding, all the major stuff is done.

But wow, just one month.

12 Days until we move out

Today, I got more things checked off my list.

1. Donate old magazines to the Library magazine exchange *check*
2. Vacuumed out car *check* I actually did this while working with the work
   vacuume. So I got paid to vacuume out my car, nice.
3. While I was cleaning out my car I found more stuff to take to Good Will, so I took it to Good Will. *check*
4. Called and got an appointment for an oil change tomorrow *half check* I’ll get the full check, once I actually have it done.
5. Use up more random food stuffs. *check* Tonight’s enchiladas use up the frozen black beans, ground turkey, roasted red peppers, cheddar and monetary jack cheese, olives, and tortillas.

Tonight and tomorrow I will, mail the rehearsal dinner invitations, call around to find somewhere in Ames to alter Jeff’s suit, start packing the trunk of my car, and do laundry.

Check that off the list

I have been productive, I have been working to get things done as if we have to be out of the apartment on May 31. (We have to be out June 5.) So far I have:

1. Recycled everything under the sink and in my car trunk. *Check* All our cans/plastics/paper for the next week will have to go to land fill aka the site of Savannah's next public school.
2. Go through my closest and make piles of things to throw out and things to go to Good Will. Take those things to Good Will. *Check*
3. Go through the food stuffs and try and use up what's in the cupboard. *Check* We are having some sort of pasta dish tonight concocted from organic tomato sauce, onions, olives and vegeburgers and 1/2 a box of left over ziti.
4. Decide to fix my car's A/C or not. *Check* Definitely not, after analyzing our finances we should be $400 in the hole after Adam and Emily's wedding in July, and I didn't even factor in the cost of going to the wedding.
5. Finish listing eBay stuff. *Check* I have been listing the wedding dresses and swimsuits I acquired while in Savannah, so far I have earned $80 over what I spent, hopefully I'll earn another $80 or so before we leave.

I still need to do things like, get oil changed, buy Ying-Ling Beer, clean out the car, find someone to take my plants, and take old magazines to the Library magazine exchange. Oh and we need to do the whole pack and clean the apartment thing. Not to mention our apartment is being shown again tomorrow, so I need to clear away some of the clutter that is starting to brew.

My last full week of work

Yeah, that's right, it is my last full week of work. I only work through next Wednesday. I can't believe we are so close to moving and I have so much stuff to do. I made a big old list of everything I should do hopefully before Jeff graduates. I better get busy. Let's see how much I can get done tonight!

Why do they call it "Hostel"?

We had another lovely weekend at Hostel in the Forest. We went with Diana and Nate, whom we met at a coffee shop in Savannah (even though they live in Statesboro).

We stayed in the Screen Hut this time. All four walls are screens, with a roof on top. There was no ceiling fan in this hut. However, once it cooled down at night it was a very pleasant place to sleep. Also, we were farther from the chickens so the rooster crowing didn't wake me up. The hostel had just gotten baby chicks in the mail and they had a little incubator set up for them. They were just fluffy little yellow puffs with feet. I want to have chickens when I grow up.

Dinner was once again delicious. There was a Mexican casserole, tortilla soup, fresh salsa, homemade tortilla chips and corn bread. The meal alone is worth the $20 per day charge.

We did a lot of swimming in the lake. I wore lots of sun screen, but I think I am making head way on not having a farmer's tan for the wedding/honeymoon. In fact, I don't think I'll have any tan lines, if you catch my drift. Saturday night, we went for a late night swim. Some one had come up with the brilliant idea to attach rocks to glow sticks and dive for them. The pond is about 16 feet deep and the glow sticks were tossed and retrieved many times.

I will definitely have to go back again.

Coming home to a clean house

Is there anything more wonderful than coming home to a nice clean apartment? How about having made dinner the night before so you don't have to cook either?

Today, was absolutely beautiful. I had to work, but when I came home the apartment was nice and clean. Ray was showing our apartment, and several people were walking through, so I scrubbed the floors, did all the laundry, cleaned the toilet, and put stuff away. It looks so nice right now!

Plus, I didn't have to make dinner because, one of the girls at work and I are doing a dinner swap tomorrow (she's cooking for us and I'm cooking for her and her husband, and then we'll swap). Last night, I made enough for them and us and we are eating what I made tonight and then we are eating what she makes tomorrow. I made sundried tomato and goatcheese stuffed chicken breasts. So tasty! I wonder what she's making.

Hostel in the Forest

We are going to Hostel in the Forest for the weekend. You know how I said, "Florida was vetoed [for the wedding location] because it just sounded sleezy." Well if we had visited Hostel in the Forest before we made that decision, I just might have tried to get Jeff to have the wedding there. *Although technically it is in Georgia*

There is this great glass house back in the woods that has a Japanese-style wooden bridge you have to walk over before you reach it. It is a beautiful space with water on three sides and a beautiful porch on the third. It would make a great wedding location. Then everyone could have had an organic dinner in the main domes and spend the night in tree houses. The glitch would be there are only composting toilets. If you have to pee you go "water the trees." Some how I don't think this would go over well with everyone who would come to the wedding. Maybe I'll talk Clarissa into getting married there, that is if she ever wants to get married. Or maybe we'll do an aniversary party there. The only problem is lots of people will go out of their way to go to a wedding, but for an aniversary party, not so much. Although I don't think the hostel can have more than 20 guests, so it couldn't be a very big party anyway.

Wedding Guests

As long as we are on the topic of guests,

We have 32 confirmed people coming to our wedding. For a complete list vist http://foyandjeff.com and then click on "Guests".

Marigold has requested a new post

Marigold wants that picture of Jeff and the giant hamburger to go away, so I will post something.

What's on my mind right now? The wedding. It has gone through a lot of changes from what we wanted into what was expected. People always say they want their wedding to be a reflection of them and be unique to them, but what really happens, is your wedding is a reflection of you, your family, friends, and community. Here is the evolution of our wedding plans as far as size and location go.

Tropical Destination Wedding Faze
Originally we were going to do this destination wedding in some cool tropical location, and to hell will those who couldn't make it. We'd choose a small core of people that we had to have at the wedding and then invite everyone we knew and who ever showed up, would be great. Then, we realized that the people who would come are the ones who could afford to come and not necessarily those who we'd really want there. And some of the people we really wanted wouldn't be able to come. Also, it would be really expensive for us.

Local Destination Wedding Faze
Perhaps we should have a cool destination wedding State side? We looked into Boundary Waters outfitter type establishments, Jeff’s Family's Minnesota Cabin, and Florida Resorts. Jeff decides that if it was going to be destination, it should be tropical. Florida gets vetoed, because it just sounds sleazy.

Small Iowa Wedding Faze
It would make our grandparents happy, not to mention the many people who didn't have the time or money to travel happy, if the wedding was local. So we thought maybe a around 80 people at the wedding, would be nice.

Medium Iowa Wedding Faze
Well, if we were going local, we might as well invite all those obligatory cousins and people that you only see at Christmas for a couple hours. The wedding climbs to 120 or so people.

Large Iowa Wedding Faze
Well, if you invite so-and-so you have to invite so-and-so, snow balls. People start talking about whether or not they'll be able to attend, and we didn't even plan on inviting them, so they have to be added. people only one of us has met once when he was nine, become required invitees. However, we are assured that they will, "give a good gift." The final count sits right around 175 people invited.

Amazing, I never intended to have a big wedding, but that's just what I mean when I say, "your wedding isn't yours alone". We (but mostly I) had to learn to let other people make some decisions. If it makes the most people happy and keeps the peace, then that's the right way to do it. I guess that is why there's a honeymoon, so at least something is yours to plan and do the way you want to.

How's that for a post? At least that gigantic burger isn't staring at you anymore.

Bring it on Challenge

Thank you to Marigold for posting about this, so I didn't have to.

Baby Haske

Jeff and I went to a baby shower for Baby Haske this afternoon. It was fun. I believe this is the first baby shower, I have ever gone to, for friends that were married. Oddly, I went to baby showers before I went to weddings. Now there are more weddings, but I just found out Jennifer and Joe are expecting, so maybe I will get to go to more baby showers.

In other news, we are figuring out how moving will work. This is the schedule thus far:

May 31 - Foy's last day of work
June 1 - Jeff's last day of class - and Jeff's parents arrive
June 2 - Jeff's floating sculpture thing "Passages"
June 3 - Jeff's graduation
June 4 - Jeff's parents leave
June 5 - We pack up and leave that night or early on the 6th
June 6 - Drive
June 7 - Arrive in Iowa
June 8 - Sleep
June 9 - Unpack and move in to our new appartment
June 10 - Jeff's Bachelor Party

Sublease

I found a place to sublease for the summer. Thanks to my lovely sister for pulling down fliers when she was on campus and also checking out the apartment. The place seems like a really good deal. We are going to pay $350 a month for June and July. (Hopefully, we'll be back in Ames by the 10th of June.) The person who's lease it is will pay a little over a hundred dollars a month for us. There is an option to sign the apartment for the next year. The apartment is over on South 4th by Hy-Vee & Hobby Lobby. It has airconditioning, a dishwasher, and balcony. I am excited, there is no way it can possibly be smaller than the current apartment we are in.

If all you Ames people could be on the look out for queen to king size beds that would be awesome. We won't be able to fit our current bed into either car, so we'll need to buy one when we get to Ames.

Something Wierd

So you want to know something wierd? This is the women who hit Jeff.

Her step son was the missing soldier in Savannah. She was in town helping search for him the night she turned into Jeff and his bike. Her step son was found dead a couple days after the accident with Jeff. Here's the news article. This is probably why we haven't heard from the insurance company. She is probably back in MI helping organizing the funeral.

Staples are out

Jeff got his staples out yesterday. He said they were really uncomfortable so he got an earlier appointment than originally scheduled. It makes his arm easier to bandage too. He'll have to keep his cuts bandaged for another week or so, then he can let them heal on their own.

We still haven't heard from any insurance companies. Although we are assured that we have two years to collect from them. It would just be nice to have that money now.

We got our first reply

Well, my mother got our first reply. Thank you Dave and Sarah! It would be more exciting to get the reply postcards our selves, but it is also fun to have my mother update the guest list manager on Weddingchannel.com.

Wedding Update

There have been so many other things happening that I haven't gotten a chance to update on what has been going on with the wedding.

The Jeff's New Clothes - Jeff has a snazzy Italian linen suit for the wedding. Don't worry, he didn't get the ugly peach tie. He hasn't tried it on yet, cuz it might get goo from his arm on it, but it sure looks nice.
The Table's New Clothes - I rented linens for the reception, but then decided that I could buy napkins for about the same price. So I have been searching eBay for lots of vintage mix and match napkins. I am not having much luck with the 90" round table clothes, but I think the rented white ones will be fine. I don't want to compete with the pretty napkins. I think it would be really cool to make a quilt out of our wedding linens.

Laurence the Magician, I mean Musician - Laurance has agreed to play cello for the ceremony. His sister, Mary, might even accompany on violin. I am super excited about this! We had no idea what we were going to do and then Jeff ask, "who do we know that plays guitar?" It came to us at the same time, Laurence and his cello would be way better than someone we don't know.

Color Doesn't Matter - Whether you wear brown or white or purple, you will be welcome at our wedding. I origonally had a color theme, but we aren't paying any attention to it. Over all I think there will be kind of a vintage, garden party type feel, but what ever. Just be comfortable and come to have fun!