I don't really ever update this anymore...no one even reads it but I'm kinda bored tonight and I feel like alot has happened in the last few months so here goes nothing....

First things first...its 2 months until the wedding!!  I can't even begin to explain how excited I am!!!  I don't think I've ever been so ready for something in my life!  This past Thursday I met with the wedding/reception lady again and had the taste testing.  Everything is pretty much done.  There is still the small list of things to do (like getting an actual marriage certificate) once Jim gets back next week but it feels good to know that the invitations are in the mail and the major plans are set.  The weeks events are as follows...

11/9 Wedding Rehersal/Dinner

11/10 Wedding

11/12 Leave for Honeymoon.  We will be spending Monday and Tuesday in San Diego.  We are staying in a small hotel called "The Sofia".  We have a suite!!!!!!!  Our plans are to shop, eat, get massages, and visit the San Diego Zoo!  On Wednesday we leave from San Diego for an 8 day Carnival Cruise to Acapulco, Ixtapa, and Manzanillo.  We have a balcony room on the ship which I am VERY excited about!  Carnival had a deal where you pay for the lowest balcony room but get the best.  Spending 6 months away from each other has really made the time we do spend together mean so much more to us.  I know that all of the things we do on our honeymoon will be amazing because I have Jim to share them with. 

Moving on...

Jim's team lost in the playoffs yesterday so he is currently driving back to Michigan.  He should be home tomorrow afternoon and will stay in Michigan until I arrive on Friday.  I will be going home this next weekend and I am EXCITED!!  I haven't been back to Michigan in about 8 months and I know its going to feel good to be home again.  Not to mention I have TWO...yes TWO...wedding showers to attend.  Getting gifts is always fun!  I will be in Kalamazoo on Saturday and then Brighton on Sunday.  It is going to be awesome to see my family and friends again.  I am also very excited to see Hershey again..I miss him so much! I have a late flight back to Phoenix on Monday.  At that point Jim and his mom will begin the long drive back to Arizona (with all of our amazing gifts of course!).  I can't believe we made it another 6 months....its hard but he is totally worth it! 

Still going...

Work has been very interesting.  I think we can all say that work is work...if we loved it all the time then it wouldn't be called work.  There are days when I love my job and days when I hate it.  Right now I am working 10 hours each day because we are trying to finish the audit for a certian unamed university.  We started the audit the last week of August (if you can really call it starting when the client has given you NOTHING) and are to finish by the second week of October. I've never done this audit before but I'm not an idiot...I know there is NO WAY this will be finished by then...thus why we are working 100 hours in each pay period.  It makes for long days but I guess it will be nice to have an extra whole week worth of vacation when it is said and done.  Sometimes I just wish the office wouldn't put up with so much crap from the client...then maybe these things wouldn't need to happen.

Getting to the end...

I guess that is pretty much my life right now.  The summer is coming to an end and although those of you in Michigan are wishing it would continue, I am getting excited for lower temps here in Phoenix.  There really hasn't been a day when I've said "this is unbearable" but I will def. agree that the days are much nicer when the temp falls below 100 degrees.  Other than that I am enjoying the moment the best I can and getting excited for Jim to come home and to get married and go on our honeymoon and live together and start our life together and be happpppppy together...well you get the point! hehe!

I haven't written much lately because I haven't had much to say...at least not good things.  I have been dealing with some really stupid people at work...stupid people who don't respond to wedding questions...stupid people who don't call me back about my broken car....stupid insurance agents who don't want to insure my wedding rings....and stupid people who don't know how to bill me for internet correctly.  I swear I've complained on here before about qwest internet and tv....I won't even get into it!  I've come to the conclusion that most people do not do what they say they are going to do.  I guess to make my complaining short I've been very stressed with all the things I am doing right now and no one seems to make it easier for me.  I really can't hang out with people from work outside of work anymore...its like I bring all those issues home with me and everywhere else I go.  I need some seperation.  What I really need is someone from home who is here...someone who knows me and who I don't have to justify everything I say or do to because they don't care....people who aren't so judgemental. 

Last week I took 3 days off and went to visit Jim for the holiday.  I was there for 6 days and it seemed like 2.  It gets harder and harder to leave every time I go visit.  I only have 2 months left but sometimes I feel like it will never get here.  I was able to see Matt and Alex while I was there.  They came to a game!  That was awesome because I haven't seen them in almost an entire year.  I will get to see them again at the wedding in November!

I think I'm lonely here in Phoenix.  No one has come to visit since May and I think I've finally realized that I miss everyone from home so much.  I want someone here when I come home from work...someone to hang out with on the weekends...I don't think I've had a good laugh with a girlfriend since Katie and Melissa were here in May.  I miss having Jim waiting for me when I get home from work.  I just miss the company of having people around. 

Basically my mood today is not good.  I probably shouldn't have even started writing...I don't know if I can stop now.  It's Melissa's fault....she blamed me for never writing anymore.  Okay I'm going now...  

Missing You....

I've been really homesick this week.  I miss my friends...I miss that feeling of "fitting in"...knowing that the people around you "understand" you.  When you are far away from home things are alot different.  People are different...they act different...and sometimes you just really miss those familar faces who you know will make you smile or laugh.  The people you know so well and the people who know you so well.  You always make new friends and meet new people wherever you go but sometimes its just not the same as the friends and family you've always known...the friends and family you've shared so much with.  All this started last weekend when I was thinking about the Tigers vs. Diamondback's games.  I was thinking how I've been to two Diamondback games this season and they really don't compare to a Tigers game.  Its the little things like this that I've been missing this week.  Going to a baseball game isn't the same without Biggie Charlie.  Who's gonna bring the big bag of pnuts for me to eat?  Church...I just miss that comfort zone of having those familar faces every Sunday...knowing I had such a huge amazing support group who would be there for me with real Christian advice.  There are just so many amazing people who make my life so much better....people who I miss so much! 

I'm ENGAGED!!

I know that most of you already know that...and most of you already know the story...but some of you (Lauren) do not! So here it is...

I went to see Jim this weekend and it was probably the best weekend I've had in a long time.  I left Thursday night from Phoenix at 6pm...or I was supposed to.  My flight was an hour late getting out which put me in Raleigh at about 2am...then we had to drive an hour and a half back to Jim's apt...ick!  We went to bed at about 5am...just as the sun was coming up!  Friday I made birthday cake and cleaned up the apt (the bathtub was black and its supposed to be white) which got me out of going to a doubleheader!  After the game Jim and I made dinner and exchanged birthday gifts.  He got me a pirates singing birthday card...how cool is that?  The rest of the weekend I laid around by the pool with some of the girlfriends and wives....went to the games...and spent as much time with Jim as I could.  Friday night he had told me to pack a bag because he had a surprise for me Sunday after the game.  So Sunday we left and drove to Wilmington, NC which is on the ocean and also where they film my favorite tv show (One Tree Hill).  When we got there we checked into our hotel room and went to dinner.  After dinner we went downtown (the really old historic part) and took a carriage ride around the city.  This is something that I've tried to get every boyfriend to do for me and I think I finally annoyed Jim enough that he gave in.  After that we went and got ice cream and walked along the boardwalk next to the river.  We went back to the hotel room and he got down on his knee, pulled out a ring, and asked me to marry him.  It was so cute!  He was so nervous he forgot his whole speech...but he gave it to me later!  I was really glad that he didn't ask in public  because I would have been so embarassed and uncomfortable.  It was perfect just the way it was!  We are planning to get married this November in Phoenix....so I've got alot of planning to do!!  Love you all!