Stone Age And A New Place

Hi! I am writing to you from work--but don't worry, I'm on my lunch break. This is because Bart and I don't have internet in our new apartment yet. Or cable. Ick. Anyway, we moved in on Saturday, though we are still a little bit spread out through the two different apartments right now. Hopefully tonight we will be officially DONE with moving forever. Or at least until this time next year.

It was so hard moving all of our stuff in. We had to bring everything down two flights of rickety old stairs, walk half a block down this back alley, climb four flights of rickety old stairs (a.k.a. Mt. Everest) at least 291957037569 times in 96 degree weather. Let's just say that if I don't lose 10lbs. and my butt cheeks aren't rock-hard by the end of this week, I'm going to be a pretty disappointed girl.

Bart did such a wonderful job with the moving. He was super motivated, organized and (thank God) super strong. The guy did probably 75% of the moving on his own, what with me only being able to carry the light stuff (I'm weak, OKAY??), and Jason only helping us on Sunday with the heavy furniture. I really don't know what I would have done without Bart. And he has been so sweet about helping me unpack and organize our stuff in the new place. I mean, really, could I have asked for a better husband?

All in all, the new apartment is pretty fantastic and the move wasn't so bad, either. I'll have to post pictures later when I a) get internet hooked up and b) have a second to breathe.

A New Engagement!!

It certainly seems that love is in the air! Just one week before Bart and I got married, my younger cousin, Branyn, got engaged to a lovely young man, Braden. I cannot begin to tell you all how excited I am about this! She will make a beautiful bride and, of course, a strong and loving wife.

When Aunt Jayne, Alyssa, Branyn and I went to pick up my wedding gown, I insisted that Branyn try on some herself. They live in California, so when else am I going to get the chance to be involved in any of her wedding planning fun?? Needless to say, she was stunning and may have even found THE DRESS! No pictures of her in the gown, though. We'll save those for the big day!

I do, however have a picture of us in the store that I just love.
Two engaged ladies!


These two are so lucky to have found each other so young. Congratulations!

Just Married!

I can't believe how long it has taken be to blog that Bart and I are FINALLY and truly married! I guess things have just been pretty crazy around here. You know how it is--you finish one huge project and wind up with two more. Or something.

Anyway, the wedding was just wonderful! August 14th turned out to be a sunny, warm-with-a-cool-breeze kind of day, which is perfect wedding weather, if you ask me. But I probably would have thought a hurricane was perfect wedding weather just because I was going to become Bart's wife! I had a wonderful afternoon getting ready with my sister, bridesmaids and best friends. And you know the best part? I WAS COMPLETELY CALM. I mean, like nothing was going to freak me out. And the only thing I felt was this huge sense of excitement, just like I used to get on the mornings Mom would be getting ready to go to the Great Escape (sort of crummy theme park for those of you non-upstate NY-ers). Like an urgent, ankle-tingling I want to scream, but I'll keep it cool kind of excitement. It was great. And the things I will cherish for the rest of my life are the beautiful note Bart sent to me that morning and the dill pickle that he had delivered to my room after I had brushed my teeth. That boy sure does know the way to my heart!

Everyone got a kick out of the fact that Iwas SO ready to marry Bart, that I actually forced all of my BMs to get me to the church 30 minutes early. That's right. For those that don't know me well, running late is what I do. It's just in my genes. And I was so pissed that NO ONE ELSE WAS READY FOR ME WALK DOWN THE ISLE! I know that's a little self-centered, but it was my wedding day and I was excited, okay?? Bart is still teasing me about it. I told him that me being early was his wedding gift haha.

Anyway, our wedding day was perfect. It was, in fact, the best day of my life. Seeing all of our friends and family having such a great time celebrating our special day and loving us so much was just SO worth all of the planning stress. Here are a few pictures that family and friends captured. Warning: picture overload!

A beautiful dress certainly does help a girl feel like a beautiful bride!

Me and Dad walking down the aisle.

Saying our "I dos." This was by far the best part of the whole day!

JUST MARRIED!!!

"You & Me Together" DMB

"I Loved Her First" Heartland

So excited.

No Shoes? No Veil? No Problem!

As of right now, I have no shoes to wear to my wedding, or a veil or any sort of barrette or hair piece. And you know what? I'm alright with that. Obviously, wearing flip-flops down the aisle with my hair styled simply is not the worst thing that could happen on my wedding day (unless you're my Grandma, then it's another story). I am just TOO excited to share that day with Bart, and the people that we love most, and SO thrilled that the planning is done, that I just don't care! Of course, I am going to spend today shopping at Water Tower Place downtown to try to remedy at least one of the two minor situations and to try to find a nice (cheap) outfit to wear to my bachelorette party.

Of course, those are only two things on my huge list of "To-Dos" for today since we are leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow to catch our flight to NY. Laundry, packing, and cleaning are just a few. And I'm happy to do them all because it means that I will be on my way back to the East Coast to visit my family, celebrate and marry the love of my life!

A Roof Over Our Heads

The big news today is that we have finally found an apartment. Not just any apartment, mind you, but our FIRST apartment together. Where just the TWO of us will live. Together. Married.

And I think the best part of all is that I am the one who found it, called the landlord (who happens to be the same one we have now, but that is neither here nor there), and set up an appointment with the currant occupant to view it. And it is lovely. It's much smaller than the apartment we have now, which is fine by me. There is a sweet master bedroom (and his/hers closets!!!!!!!!!!!!) with french doors that open into the living room/eating area and even another second room that Bart will use as his "office" when it's not being used as a "guest room." The kitchen is adorable--almost like a play house kitchen, but for a grown up. There are windows on BOTH SIDES of the apartment, which is something you really don't see out here in Chicago. The walls are a soft white, the trim around the windows is natural wood in a beautiful buttery shade. It almost reminds me of the Cape house--no wonder I love it!

I am just DYING to decorate. I'm so sick of having crappy IKEA furniture that falls apart every time you try to use it. I don't want to live like a college student anymore. My goal is going to be to decorate the whole place, slowly and on a budget, through craigslist.org. I love that site. You can get the best stuff for dirt cheap since most people who are desperate to sell things get rid of their stuff there. The only tough part will be finding a vehicle to get the goods back to our new place!

Anyway, we move, hopefully, on August 30 or 31. It's going to be so fun and exciting to live alone with Bart for the first time in our relationship--and just in time for our marriage!

Ladies and Gentlemen...We Have A RING!

Yes, folks, it's true! I actually have a wedding band that I LOVE and that matches my engagement ring perfectly! I'm so thrilled (i.e. relieved) that this is an issue I no longer need to worry about. Sorry, but no picture! Since the big day is so close, I figured I'd just wait to post it with the rest of our wedding photos.

The band fits the curve of my engagement ring, and is super thin so that it actually almost blends in with the micro diamonds on the sides of the engagement ring. It just accents the beauty of the engagement ring, instead of trying to over power it. I'm so glad our jeweler understood (clearly a lot better than I did) that there really isn't a wedding band in the world that is equal in beauty to my engagement ring. The best thing to do is just let the engagement ring shine!

He was also able to do the engravings inside the rings, which made me super happy. We chose to have a quote from "Letter XXI" from Confidential Correspondence of the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Josephine: "To love you alone, to make you happy...this is my destiny."

Bart's ring reads, "To love you alone, to make you happy," and mine says, "this is my destiny." I thought it was actually kind of nice that we had to split the quote between our two rings, since, together, they create the one declaration of love.

In other news, Bart is still sick--or if you ask him, insanely ill. And he's still studying so hard for his finals. I feel so bad for the poor boy. There is nothing worse than being really sick AND having to study and take all important finals at the same time. So, I do the only things that I can do to make him feel better; I feed him his favorite foods, comfort him, baby him and give him mini pep talks so that he doesn't lose faith in himself. Please pray for him!

14 Days!

I can't believe that we have exactly two weeks until our wedding. Until we are husband and wife. I'm so excited that I almost can't stand it! Seriously, the level of excitement we are talking about here is right up there with a 10 year old going to Disney World in two weeks.

Things have been going really well with the last minute wedding details. Just about everything is taken care of (minus the flower girls' baskets and the unity candle stuff) and our rings are coming tomorrow!!! I really can't wait to see what my wedding band looks like. I made sure to give him absolutely NO instructions beyond the engraving inside the bands. Bart asked the jeweler how it looked, and he said, "Just like it should have looked the first time." I really should just leave things to the professionals from now on.

Anyway, Mrs. H has been on the Cape for the past week and decided that your every day escort cards were just not good enough for our wedding, so she went out and bought a bunch of sand dollars that we are going to attach dark blue, blue/grey and white ribbon to, depending on the meal, and write the guests' names and tables on them! Cute, right? I was hoping to write them out with my California Cousins when we all meet in NY, but she's already started them. That's okay, though, because we have centerpieces to make!

Bart isn't doing so well lately--he's sick (he gets sick ONCE a year and decides that now is the time for a viral attack?!) and has finals allllll this week before we leave. He has 13 days to get himself healthy. He'd better do it, too, because I don't want anyone sick and unable to enjoy our day.

It's so crazy that in just two weeks I won't be Kari Carelli anymore. Or ever again. Which reminds me--I need to ask Maria what I need to do to change my last name...