Getting Married...

Justin and I are getting married in 10 days!!! Below is a picture of our beautiful wedding announcements and open house celebration invitation. We cannot wait to get married... the countdown is on! :-)

Tacky Christmas Sweater Party!

This year, I was in charge of planning Everest College's staff Christmas Party. While at dinner one night, my friend and co-worker Delynn and I though up a terrific theme for the bash... tacky Christmas sweater party! I borrowed a sweater that my Nana has had since the 80's I think and others shopped the local thrift stores and made their own tacky sweaters! It was a fun night and everyone definitely enjoyed themselves. The Sheraton Oceanfront Virginia Beach did a wonderful job and prepared a lovely feast for us all.

Delynn, Angelica, and me at the party

Angelica won the tackiest sweater of the night!

Christmas Lights

This weekend, I put up Christmas lights outside! I can't wait for Justin to come home and see them. Everyone in our neighborhood has decorated. With the wonderful warm temperatures that we have been having lately, I enjoyed a nice walk around the neighborhood and checked out everyone's festive decorations. I just love Christmas time...

Our house at Christmas!

Lights!

The Kirkpatrick's home :-)

It's Beginning to Look alot Like Christmas!

Justin was headed back out to sea for a bit but before he left, we managed to find time to buy a tree and decorate for Christmas! I love how a house looks during the holidays! Simply beautiful! We are so proud of our first Christmas tree! Merry Christmas!

Our tree

So pretty!

Justin and me... so soon! Getting married!

Moving Day!

As posted below, our families helped me move on the day after Thanksgiving. It was an exciting, and even more so for Justin who got to drive the big U-haul! :-)

"Lauren's Place at the Beach" no more!

The day after Thanksgiving, my Mom, Nana and Justin, Sally, Mike, and Megan helped me to officially move out of my condo and into Justin's townhouse. I loved living 7 blocks from the beach and will miss my frequent runs to the Virginia Beach boardwalk. I am however excited for this new journey that Justin and I are embarking on. 421 Marsh Duck Way is home no more... Hello Ridgely Manor!

The living room in my condo

Living room in my condo

More living room :-)



Kitchen at the condo

"Lauren's Place at the Beach"

My "princess" bedroom :-)

I am thankful for...

Justin, my Mom, my Nana, Justin's family, my family, good health, my job, our beautiful home, our troops fighting for freedom, our military, being an American, the right to vote, lower gas prices, and T.J. Maxx... among other things. Life is good and I am so blessed and thankful that I get to go through life with such amazing, supportive, and loving family and friends.
Our families came to Virginia Beach as Justin and I hosted our first Thanksgiving!! We had a wonderful weekend enjoying fantastic company, amazing food, and tons of fun. We were so glad that everyone could share this special holiday with us in our beautiful home! Below are some pictures from the festivities!

Justin and me on Thanksgiving

The dessert table!


The gang!

Food...

Food...

And more food!

Justin and his turkey!

Where we gathered :-)

More home improvements!

My Mom came down this past weekend and helped me pack up my beach condo and start the long process of moving into Justin's. We'll be getting married next month and are excited to begin the moving in process!! :-) I've brought a few things over to Justin's and below are some updated pictures of the living room and dining room. Home Sweet Home!

Looking into the living room from the dining room

Still need a China cabinet but it's coming along!


Our comfy living room!

So homey! :-)

Too funny!

ANTHRAX SCARE AT MICHIGAN

Michigan football practice was delayed nearly two hours late this morning after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field. Head coach Rich Rodriguez immediately suspended practice while police and federal agents were called to investigate. After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance, unknown to the players, was the goal line. Practice was resumed this afternoon after special agents decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again.

We're glad he's not our coach anymore! You can have him, Michigan!

I voted, did you?

This past Saturday, I drove to Boone, NC (13 hours total) to cast my vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. As many of you know, I am a die-hard Republican. I grew up writing letters to President George H. W. Bush while my young classmates were writing to cute boys across the classroom. My three goldfish when I was little were names George, Barbara, and Millie. I have a cardboard cutout of "Dubya" in my house.... I can thank my amazing Pap for teaching me about what Republicans stand for and later embracing me when I decided that I too was destined to become a Republican. I have had the opportunity to meet President Bush twice, the first as my Pap and I sat on stage with him at a rally in 2000 and a second time when I worked for the White House Press Corps in 2003. I have worked as a community liaison with Governor Ernie Fletcher in Kentucky in 2003-2007, the Bush/Cheney campaign in New Hampshire in 2004 and for 15 candidates in North Carolina in 2006. I was active on my college campus and acted as president of the College Republicans for 2 years and became the youngest Republican Women's Club president in my county in NC. All in all, I am a Republican and proud of it.
I have followed this election more closely than others because there IS so much at stake. I'll leave it at that... just go vote. :-)

Sarah Palin and John McCain

Wedding Bands!

Today, Justin and I went WEDDING BAND SHOPPING!! We went to Long's Jewelers in Virginia Beach on Shore Drive and saw our favorite jeweler Joel. We had a BLAST picking out the bands that we will be giving each other when we get MARRIED. Justin chose a yellow gold hammered band that is 6 mm. It really looks sharp on his ring finger. I can't wait until it's on his finger forever! I got a plain platinum 3 mm band that matches my engagement ring. Both are just beautiful and we are surprising each other with engraved messages inside! Can't wait til December!

Justin's Band
My Band

More updates!

Oh how we LOVE duty-free weekends!! :-) Justin and I spent Friday and Saturday working on the downstairs. We finished the painting early Saturday morning and then shopped around in the afternoon for furniture and accessories. We found a cool shelving unit at the furniture store on Little Creek Base and found some awesome accessories and art work at Home Goods and TJ Maxx. We had a blast decorating OUR house! We spent Sunday enjoying our new living room and admiring the work that we have done together!

Looking to the dining room from the living room. We are only needing a china cabinet at the end of the room.

Looking down into the living room from the stairs.

Our beautiful living room!

We LOVE our new living room - note the new furniture on the left wall.

My FIANCE' enjoying our living room! :-)

Happy Birthday Nana and Sally!

Happy Birthday to two very special and beautiful women. My Nana and Justin's Mom's birthdays are today. We wish that we could be with you both on this day and are sorry that we can't. Know that we are thinking about you today and always. Thank you for your love and support and for being so very special to us both. We hope that you both have a great day! We love you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Justin and me with my Nana and Mom at our Engagement Party!

Justin and me with his Mom and Dad at our Engagement Party!

McCain - Palin 2008

This morning, Justin and I got up, put on red "to keep Virginia a red state" and headed to the Virginia Beach Convention Center where John McCain and Sarah Palin were having a rally! Having been heavily involved in politics for years and years, I jumped at the opportunity to see them speak. Justin and I waited in line which was well over a mile long which started down 17th Street and wrapping around the building. Vendors on the street sold McCain/Palin t-shirts, buttons, hats, and playing cards. I especially liked the pink button with the pink elephant proclaiming "hot chicks vote Republican". Once inside, we heard state leaders speak of their elections and listened to special guest Hank Williams Jr. sing 6 songs before John and Cindy McCain and Sarah and Todd Palin were introduced to a roaring crowd of around 20,000 people. It was thrilling to hear their plans for America and we wish them luck on November 4th.

Goooo McCain - Palin!!

Me posing with my yard sign which is no longer there thanks to a McCain hater. :-(

Wooooooosh!

That's the sound we were making all day today as we rode the roller coasters 16 TIMES at Busch Gardens today! 16!! Justin and I got up to the park which in Williamsburg (about 40 minutes away) at 11:00AM and stayed til 10:00PM! We had a FULL day of riding scary roller coasters, eating park food (where else would eating a funnel cake for dinner be acceptable?), and being scared at the frightening haunted houses during Howl-O-Scream! Busch Gardens totally transforms into a scary, spooky park for the month of October. Fog fills the sky, spooky music is projected on the speakers, the lighting is orange and eerie, and scary people pop out of no where just hoping to get a jump or squeal out of you!
Our favorite ride of the day was "Griffin", the WORLD's TALLEST floorless dive coaster. Imagine... Looking down 90 degrees, 205 feet up in the air. You hang 90 degrees over the side of the track for what seems like an eternity (in reality only 10 seconds) and then go zooming down it at 75 MPH. The ride lasts 3 minutes and believe it or not... we didn't go back for seconds, we went back for thirds! We rode it 3 times throughout the day and enjoyed every single second of it. THRILL SEEKERS! (see the website for the ride at http://www.griffoncoaster.com/ )
One of our favorite things to do after the roller coasters were to look at the candid pictures that they take of you as you are zooming on the ride. Justin's mouth was always wide open and he looked like he was having the time of his life. Me on the other hand was holding on for dear life and I looked absolutely terrified.
After 11 grueling hours, we decided to call it a day. Next up... a massage or chiropractor visit to get our backs and necks back in line! :-)

Justin outside of the roller coaster "Alpengeist".

Justin with the beer wagon!

Justin and I enjoying a moment amidst the fall decor.

Griffin

Look at it hanging! Ahhhh! Just looking at it brings chills!

Painters for Hire!

Haha, not really... painting sure isn't something that we enjoy but we aren't too bad at it, if I say so myself! Justin and I spent all weekend painting the half bath, kitchen, and dining room. Since we are hosting Thanksgiving this year for our families, we wanted to make at least the downstairs of our place beautiful. We only have the living room to go - the end is in sight! Below are a few pictures of our place... it's really all coming together and we love calling the townhouse "our home". We know that we will make many special memories here together...

We aren't afraid of color! Our kitchen is painted "Afternoon Tea".

More kitchen.

More kitchen.

Our half bath is "Retro Colonial Blue".

A work in progress.... paint is "Leather"