Monday, April 21, 2008

Engagement pics!

A couple of Sundays ago Kyle and I walked around Georgia Tech's campus and Piedmont Park taking engagement pictures. A fraternity brother of his, Michael Schneider, is a fantastic photographer and I am really excited about the pictures he took. Here are just a few of my favorite:











I love pictures - I guess I just love capturing memories and moments in people's lives, and what better way to capture the time you are engaged than with professional pictures? I couldn't be more excited about them. Thanks Michael!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

My views on ... politics???

I feel like my life has changed a lot recently - the activities I spend time doing have rearranged themselves. There are a few things I have quit doing as much as I used to, some of which are productive (watching TV, wasting time on Facebook, etc) and some of which I wish I would once again spend more of my time doing (reading, sleeping, studying the Bible, etc). There has also been a plethora of things I have picked up recently that were never really part of my life before - which include cooking, running, planning a wedding, and ... staying up to date on news and politics.

I have talked before about planning a wedding (and will continue to until July 12), and about running (as a side note - I am setting a new record for myself every week now - yesterday I ran 3.5 miles for the first time ever), but I haven't really spent much time talking about politics or news. And that would be for several reasons.

First of all, I feel as if I am a "newbie" to this world. There was such a long period of time in my life that I did not keep up with what was going on in the world and in this country, and I have had such a short time to catch up on things. I don't like to talk about, debate, or share opinions for which I am not wholly confident in my ability to answer intelligently and thoroughly. And I'm not there yet.

Second of all, I am much more confident in other's ability to communicate similar views of mine. This is most evident in my relationship with Kyle. If anyone has views most aligned with mine, it would be him. And if anyone our age has the knowledge of politics, and keeps up constantly with what is going on in the world and in our country, it would be him.

It would also be Kyle that has the largest influence on my growing interest. He is an avid reader of all kinds of newspapers, blogs, etc, and is full of interesting conversational topics at any given time. I feel most successful in this new interest of mine when I can carry on a conversation with him about any topic, and not feel left behind or unknowledgeable. Because I can bet you he has an opinion, can fully explain and reason out his opinion, and can back his opinion. Maybe one day I will be there.

Regardless of that, I am here to say that I have become increasingly interested in being informed instead of ignorant. Talk and news radio have become the norm during my half hour commutes to and from work. I spend half an hour every morning checking the major news stories and reading respectable blogs. And tonight... I actually TiVo'ed the debate between Clinton and Obama.

Despite all of my hesitation on speaking my opinion, I will say that the first 30 minutes of the debate had me questioning my newfound interests. I have always disliked people that talk about things they don't know about, or vote for someone blindly and without considering all aspects of an election. I am a registered Republican, have always identified myself as a Conservative, but in order to avoid being one of the ignorant voters or blind followers I dislike, I decided that I should listen to what Clinton and Obama have to say.

I wasn't impressed.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Birthday!

Sunday was my 24th birthday (man, I'm getting old) and, although I didn't do much on my actual birthday, I had the chance to celebrate with family and friends beforehand. Last Wednesday my parents came up to visit, and we all went out to dinner at Mellow Mushroom. Afterwards we ate cheesecake (my favorite) for dessert at my sister's house and I got to open presents!

Friday night I went out with a small group of friends to a restaurant called Seasons 52. It was delicious food and great to hang out with people I don't see nearly enough! Here is our group:


PwC friends - I miss working with these people!


Friends from college

Monday, April 14, 2008

Weddings!



Saturday night we went to Brian and Lindsey's wedding (see photo above). It was a beautiful wedding, a lot of fun, and great because BOTH of us knew a lot of people there.

After going to the wedding I began reminiscing all of the weddings Kyle and I have gone to. So here is a quick recap of the weddings the two of us have attended since we've been dating. Only one of these couples have made the jump to parenthood so far - can you guess which one???


Zach and Sallie


Adam and Jenny


Steve and Mirinda


Kyle and Amanda


John and Carol


Chris and Ashley (I couldn't find a wedding picture of them - so here is an engagement picture)

Jason and Mariah (I also couldn't find any pictures of them)


Caleb and Leah


Marc and Cris


Chris and Naureen


Ben and Stephanie


Trevor and Katy


Grant and Heather


Randy and Emily


Derik and Kristin

Sunday, April 13, 2008

We are homeowners!

We closed on our house Friday morning! It felt great, and is definitely the biggest purchase I have ever made, along with the largest check I have ever written. So late Friday night we were able to go over to the house for the first time - with it being OURS.

Which house did we choose?

THE BLUE HOUSE! It is just right for us. The kitchen is outdated but we are very excited about remodeling it. The blue is not what we want - and we will definitely be painting the exterior. But the price was right for all the renovations we want to do - and we love the character of the house. It feels like home!

Here are our Friday adventures in our new house:


Us with our new key in front of the fireplace


Kyle surveying his domain


The only furniture we have there right now. Eventually there will be more - but I won't be moving in until May (after most of the renovations are hopefully done) and Kyle won't be moving in until our wedding in July.


What better way to celebrate than with a glass of delicious champagne?


We couldn't be happier :)

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Delicious food

We had our tasting for our reception at Maggiano's on Sunday afternoon and it was absolutely delicious. We were joined by my sister and her husband, and one of Kyle's groomsman with his wife. Everyone gave insightful input and helped make my decisions as easy as possible.

It put a smile on my face to hear Randy, Kyle's groomsman, respond to a comment I had made about him "having" to come to the reception - "This isn't a have to, Meg, I GET to come to this reception." THAT is that attitude I want people to have towards my wedding. I know not everyone has that attitude towards weddings and receptions, but at least I know one person who is excited about it. And I can guarantee you... the food will be GOOD.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Decisions, decisions!

I feel like my life is way too full of decision making right now. Deciding which house to buy, deciding every single detail for our wedding, and now deciding what we want to do to our new house...

Being that we close on our house in less than a week, and will be doing a good amount of renovating and painting once Kyle graduates, we spent a fun Saturday evening walking through Home Depot last Saturday and came home with these:



Knowing how bad I am at making decisions, how will we EVER choose between every imaginable shade of color? And not just for one room! Wish us luck and pray our house looks good when we are done!

Friday, April 4, 2008

Get me out of this apartment...

Less than 2 months left living in an apartment. PRAISE GOD! Last night I crawled into bed a little after 11, exhausted and with a headache, and about 5 minutes later heard the TV from the apartment upstairs blaring. I took a few deep breaths, turned on some of my own music, and prayed for sleep to come.

It seems like at any time of day I will either hear loud music coming from the apartment to our left, loud music coming from the apartment to our right, or loud music/TV coming from the apartment above us. And its always at the worst times - like after midnight, or when I'm trying to study, or when I have a really bad headache.

I am so ready for a house - which is good because we CLOSE IN A WEEK. I know, I know, I haven't answered the question of which house we chose, but I'm waiting to get that perfect picture. You'll just have to keep waiting a little bit longer to find out...

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Let's try this again...

So, after my Friday in the ER, I had a cardiologist appointment Monday morning. As expected, they couldn't do anything since nothing was showing up on my EKG at that time. They sent me home with a 30-day heart monitor, which makes me look like I'm always carrying an old-school pager with me, in the hopes that my heart will go crazy again but this time we can get a recording of it.

Sigh. I did this last year. Let's just hope and pray it can help us somehow this year.



This is what I have to wear for the next 30 days. It's not as easy as you might think to deal with for a month. Time to suck it up and be a good sport :)