Ronny & Amanda's Wedding

My half brother Ronny moved his wedding up from next September to November 6Th a few months ago. So, we were only able to afford to buy a plane ticket for me. I flew in on Thursday Night and hung out with my half sister, Danielle and her husband Jeff. On Friday Morning, Danielle, Jeff and I met up with Ronny & Amanda at the hall to help set-up and decorate. Overall, we had a fun day- but I had quite the struggle with the table skirt for the head table.

Amanda did a great job picking out inexpensive things and the hall looked pretty good when we were done, if I do say so myself. I stuck around to help out/watch the rehearsal. My soon to be nephew, Gino (2) was a little tired and shy and wouldn't walk down the aisle. I pulled out a lollipop from my purse and helped him get down, but then he just sat on my lap instead.



After the rehearsal, we had a nice rehearsal dinner. Jeff, Danielle & I stopped at a bar on the way home for a nightcap and headed in for a somewhat early night since we had a wedding to go to the next morning.

The morning of the wedding, Danielle, My other half sister Jen and I met up with Amanda at her hotel room to get ready. She had Hailey and Gino with her. We had some pizza, champagne and just relaxed for a little while.


Then we headed over to the hall. The wedding went pretty much as planned. Gino fell asleep and our cousin George just carried him down the aisle and held him during the ceremony.

There was some good food. I think everyone had a good time. There was a couple of isolated issues. However, at midnight- things were starting to wind down- but I was still on California time and was not ready for bed. So, I ended up heading home with Jen's roommates. Jen and Ronny's friend John helped entertain me until around 4am. I am glad I got to spend some time getting to know her a little better.



The next day, Jen took me to the airport. I was bummed because The Patriots were playing the Browns in Cleveland when I was getting on my plane. But after I got the score update, I was kind of glad I wasn't in Ohio to watch that game with Browns fans. I am glad I made the effort to get there. But, I was also glad to be home with my daughter, husband and my own bed.

House Troubles

Mid October we received a letter from our property manager. We have been living in our house for almost 4 1/2 years. We have signed several leases, but were currently month to month. They were giving us a new lease option, but no matter which one we chose- they were raising our rent. We could sign a 15 month lease for a $75/month increase, a 6 month least for a $100/month increase or go month to month for a $125/month increase.

The last year has been tough on us and we already thought the rent we were paying was kind of steep. So we had a huge decision ahead of us. The first weekend we found a place about $300/ month cheaper than what we are currently paying. It had a two car garage and no shared walls. It had a patio that felt bigger than our current one. The kitchen was smaller (I didn't think that was possible), as were the bedrooms and living area and we would be down 1 bathroom. Plus, we would not be able to take the dog with us.

So we decided that was not the place for us and decided to consider buying a house. We were pre-approved for a little over $200,000. That doesn't get you very far here, so we decided to look in Concord which is about 25 miles from where we currently live (The opposite way from where Justin has been looking).

We found this house that we liked, in a neighborhood that we didn't.
And a neighborhood we liked, with this house that was just too small and would need to have the garage re-converted back to a garage.
While I was in Ohio, Justin tested the commute and realized that it was just not going to be a good thing for us. The houses we can afford there are just not worth the extra time and money for the commute.

We continued to look for a rental, but decided that we were going to stay where we are at for now. We signed the 15 month lease and are going to trust that God will provide the funds we need to stay there. And since CLO-E is 16 1/2 years old, she may not be with us by the time our lease is up which will make it a lot easier to find a new place. Or maybe, Justin will get a great job and we will be able to afford to buy a small place closer to the area we love.

Hallowwen 2010

A few months ago Paige & I took a trip to Costco. While walking down the aisle I noticed that their Halloween costumes were out. So I asked Paige if she knew what she wanted to be for Halloween. We were passing by some large pillows and she responded a "Pillow". I figured it had something to do with the pillows we just saw and forgot about it.

But Paige did not forget. Anytime you asked her what she wanted to be, she wanted to be a Pillow. And then it became more elaborate, she wanted to be a Princess Pillow. One weekend I went to several garage sales looking for a princess pillowcase to make her costume out of. But I did not find anything and we realized that a standard size pillowcase would be too big for her.

I enlisted the help of my mom, who found some cute princess fabric and she made this great costume. She lined it so it kept its shape. She, as usual, did an awesome job.

On Halloween, she went to a Harvest Festival with Daddy in the morning. We went to look at a house to buy in Concord (Story for another blog) and stopped to go trick or treating at Nana's on the way home. I wasn't feeling very good so I stayed home for trick or treating at night. She actually had to come home to empty her bag. She continued to trick-or-treat at the neighbors houses for days, mostly because they kept giving her candy.