Whew... what a week!

Wow! It has been quite a week in the Alt household. LOTS of stress! I never imagined moving would be quite this difficult. Who knew how much junk we'd collected over the last two years. Poor Betty is so confused; half of her lounging space is taken up by big bulky boxes. Luckily I've got a good friend at American Eagle who has saved all of the boxes from their Christmas shipments- Thanks Lisa! (Oh my goodness they're getting ready to put out Christmas stuff!!) At least we don't have to spend money on that or a truck. We drove by the apartments last Saturday night to show Matt's parents where they were, and they were doing some work inside and left the lights on! We got to peek in all the windows and check out our new space. :) It's going to be so BIG! Compared to what we have now anyway. And I'm sure we'll just end up with more junk that we don't know what to do with by the time we finally get a house.

Speaking of Christmas, I applied for a few part-time, seasonal jobs this week. I'm hoping to pick up a couple shifts a week. A little extra spending money never hurt around the Holidays! I've got my fingers crossed that I beat the crowd; most seasonal positions don't start until November 1st or so.

I'm having a jewelry party on Tuesday, so that should be fun. I can't believe it's a week and a half before we move... bad planning on my part. But, I didn't know we were moving when I scheduled the party. The jewelry is gorgeous though, so as long as nobody minds dodging a few boxes, we'll be just fine!

I got my car back yesterday!!! Unfortunately, they detailed it and it looks fantastic, now I don't want to sell it haha. It really is my baby. The first car I bought myself. It's also kept me safe through 2 car wrecks! (Although the air bags have never gone off... hmm.) I must say it’s always nice to be able to throw a lot of people or big bulky things in the back. Maybe I’ll keep it… we’ll have to make that decision this weekend.

On another note (can’t believe this post is so long! I need to update more often.) Conference last weekend was FANTASTIC. With church membership at 13,508,509+ as of April ’09, it never ceases to amaze me that somehow I always hear exactly what I need to. That regardless of the topic, or who’s speaking… at some point during the conference, something will touch me in a way that changes my life. I know I complain a lot and whine about how bad life can be sometimes, but I really am so blessed. I have friends with family in Samoa and the Philippines and I am reminded how precious life really is. Please keep them in your prayers. We could all use a few extra prayers these days.

Picture of the day: My B-E-A-U-TIFUL niece Isabelle at the ward camp out. She is the most precious little girl on the planet!

I Love Fall!

Fall has officially begun… and in our house that means one thing: BEARS FOOTBALL!! I will spend the next six months or so with earplugs permanently in so I do not go deaf while Matt screams at Jay Cutler. I think Matt actually shed a tear or two when we heard that Brian Urlacher would be out for the rest of the season for a wrist injury/surgery. I was sorely disappointed with Cutlers first regular season game against the Packers (L 15-21). Cutler threw FOUR INTERCEPTIONS! But we came out with a win against the Steelers last week (W 17-14), which was a fantastic game! Cutler did much better, but I’ll credit that game to Robbie Gould who’s never missed a field goal within 40 yards. If we don’t beat the Seahawks this week, I might shed a few tears myself.

All geared up for Bears vs. Steelers!

I absolutely love fall, it is one of my favorite seasons and here’s a few reasons why:

-Fall Foliage

-Thanksgiving

-Pumpkin Pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, ANYTHING PUMPKIN!

-Apple Orchards

-Yummy fall scented candles

-Leftover Halloween Candy

-Less Humidity

-Halloween Costumes

-Pumpkins and Jack-o-Lanterns

-Hay Rides

-Cool Weather

-Bonfires and S’mores

-Furry Boots

-Apple Cider

-Long Walks in the Park

-Hot Chocolate

-Can't forget FOOTBALL!

-This list could go on forever!

An Autumn Day

Tell me when the days turn cold
And the crisp, bitter nights set in
I'll bid adieu, adieu to the sun
And embrace the northern winds
Wake me from my restless sleep
For the trees will crackle soon
And Shed their cumbersome coats and dance
Bare with me and the moon
My mouth how it waters in pure delight
Dreaming of scented dregs
Cinnamon, pumpkin, apple spice
Swirling in my head!
And on Halloween, I'll await you where
The headless one rides by
Chasing after phantom fools
And so this night shall I,
September days may shorten in length
October evenings can fright
November rains may fall and freeze
Over the Saman night
But deep within the heart
Of the dormant Earth
The little buds await the Fall
To ensure them of rebirth
And so I sit much like them
Dependant in every way
Upon the plentiful harvest,
Of an autumn day.

B. R. Jording

Life is an Adventure

So dealing with insurance is a PAIN!!! We had to wait all weekend, then the adjuster didn't come out to see the car on Monday like he said he would, because his car broke down! Tuesday afternoon he finally came by to tell us that the car had to be towed to a body shop for an estimate. It should have just been towed there last FRIDAY! Ugh. So that just makes things slower. Now we're waiting to get the estimate to see if they'll total the car. Hopefully they will, there's no point in doing $5,000 worth of work to a $5,800 car haha. Now we just play the waiting game and see what they say. The plan is to hopefully get a new car this weekend. We’ll see, say your prayers!

We’re moving in exactly one month! The good thing about me not having a car in the evenings is that I can get a lot done around the house. So I’ve got some boxes packed, junk drawers cleaned out, and I’m starting the deep cleaning of the apartment. I have run across some fun things in the process. Brochures from the resort on our Honeymoon, the champagne cork from the Honeymoon, movie tickets from the week we started dating, wedding cards, etc. So I took the advice of my visiting teacher (thanks Candi!), and I started an anniversary box! I printed a photo of us on our Honeymoon, and put the resort brochure in the box. I also printed a picture of us on our Anniversary (eating the top tier of our wedding cake!) and put a to-go menu from the restaurant where we had dinner. So in 50 years from now, we’ll have a box full of all of our happy anniversaries together! Totally cheesy… but I think it will be so neat for our children and grandchildren to see.

I’m also in the process of re-vamping our dining room table. It was a great $25 yard sale find (with 4 chairs!) but is definitely in need of some TLC. I’ve put up with its awfulness for too long! So I have started covering the seats with some awesome fabric I found at JoAnn’s on sale and I am going to paint it this weekend. I’ll post before and after pictures when it’s all done.

Matt and I reached an INCREDIBLE MILESTONE in our marriage. I FINALLY beat him at Scrabble!!! I have been attempting to do this for 2 years! He is so good, and always so lucky with his tiles, that I had to document the fact that I actually beat him!

It was a super close game, I think I won by 8 points... but we used all the tiles!

I know it doesn't sound that exciting, but I was thrilled.

Hopefully we'll hear something about the car today!

Oh What a Day...

So I was minding my own business driving home from an awfully looooong day at work, and guess what... CAR ACCIDENT!!!!! :( I was merging on a short exit, checked my blind spot, turned back around to BRAKE LIGHTS!!! I slammed on my breaks... to no avail. Ugh. It was awful. I've never been in an accident with another car on the highway before. So of course I'm crying hysterically on the phone with the poor 911 operator. Things were going so well. Apparently it's not in the cards for too many good things to happen to us in a row. Oh, and the court date is the day before we move! And I'll probably have to go to driving school. Because I got a ticket for following too closely. I was MERGING and HE STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY! And I got a ticket. Sorry about my rant, it's been a long day and that was a pretty awful end to it.

My Poor car!!!! Mr. Jeep barely got a scratch.

This hurts just looking at it.

Yep, my hood is sticking up.

The grill cracked and fell off completely.

Typically... just from what I've observed, most parts are supposed to be attached to the car.

Everyone keeps telling me that these things happen every day, even the guy that I hit. At lease he was nice. I could have been hurt worse than a massive headache, and the damage could have been worse. I'm thinking a homemade milkshake and "The Notebook". That should cure everything!

HE GOT THE JOB!!!!

YIPEE!!!! Matt got a new full-time job! He's been hunting since he got laid off in January, and he finally snagged something! This job market is awful, and our prayers finally got answered. He's been doing temp work for months and between that and my income we've been okay. But we are super excited to have a steady job! He also got more great news, he's halfway done with school! He will be done by August of next year (it would be earlier, he's only been in for 8 months... but with Christmas and Spring breaks it draws it out a little). I am so thrilled and proud of him. I can't believe in less than a year, he'll be a college grad. Time sure goes by fast. This week was wonderful, lots of good news. He starts the new job next week! Training starts Monday in Chantilly, VA. Then he should be on the job by Wednesday. Thanks to everyone for your support and prayers over the past few months!! xo -E

He looks so darn cute in a tie!

We're Moving!

Yay!! We're so excited! We have been wanting a bigger place for so long. We finally decided to make the move and get a new apartment. We were hoping to get to buy a house, but it won't happen for at least another year or two, so rather than subject ourselves to another year in our TINY apartment... we are moving up! We're getting a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom garden apartment at Hanover Crossings. Moving day is October 24th. :) I had no idea that we would acquire as much junk as we have in the past 2 years. I packed the first box last night, and I realized just how much work is ahead of me. With Matt in school, I figure I'll be doing most of the box packing. I'll just let him move all the heavy stuff. It seems like a good trade to me. Not that I won't miss our first home together, but I am dying to get the Christmas tree out of the pantry. Matt won't have to keep his golf clubs in the back of his car, and we will actually have somewhere to put friends when they come to visit. That's all the news for now, we can't wait!!

Sleepy...

I have spent all night trying to figure out this whole blogging thing. It's exhausting... haha. I'm getting there, slowly. If anyone has any tips let me know. What do you think of the new background? Yay for photoshop! It's off to bed for now. Hopefully I'll start figuring this out and my posts will become more than ramblings about trying to start blogging. Good night!! :)

Since I hear a post isn't a post without a picture... I'll add this one. It's what I'll be dreaming about if I can ever get to bed!