Sheesh

I'm apparently no good at blogging, personal or for business. Ugh!

So, so much to update on too!

Let's see...

Since the last update (a long, LONG time ago)...

I formally launched my photography business website: jessicaledergerberphotography.com... business isn't what I would call 'booming' by any means, but I get to photography on average about once a month and its a little extra income and I LOVE doing it... so if you know anyone who needs some photos done... you know where you could send them :)

Rob and I have put an offer in on another house (that is if I failed to mention we had put an offer in on a HUD home in Bath, that we did not get). This house is perfect location for us. I think the biggest downside is not having a basement, but its 1,344 square feet on 1.12 acres of country land. Rob's perk is that the creek in the backyard is our land boundary and just beyond that is over 200 acres of public hunting land. Hopefully, fingers crossed and some added prayers, we should know in the next couple weeks whether our offer is accepted by the bank :) We will keep you informed of any news, but for now we keep praying and hope this is the plan that HE has in mind for us.

So the holidays quickly approached and now are gone... My parents surprised the crap out of us and drove into town Christmas Eve. Luckily, I had Christmas Eve-the day after Christmas off, so I could spend some good quality time with them before they headed out this morning! Rob's stepbrother and his wife were in town with their son, Brady from NC and it was great to catch up with them too. I love spending time with my family and my newly acquired family on Rob's side :)

I'm unsure of our plans for NYE, but it sounds like we may be hanging out with a couple we don't see often enough... other than that, this year has flown by! I can't believe Rob and I have already passed the 8 month mark of being married!

I guess that is about the latest. I will attempt to update this a little more regularly - maybe a New Year's resolution? And next time I will even try to include some photos :)

Until next time :)

Wow

Apparently it's been busy around here! Between the last post and now... Woah! Rob and I started looking for a house. We're keeping our heads up, but we haven't had a lot of luck at all. We really are out growing our apartment. I have started dreaming a lot lately... about painting our house, planting a garden, having a dog and eventually starting a family... House hunting can be so frustrating!!

In more recent news Molly and Justin tied the knot (just over a month ago already - wow). It was a very HOT day, but Molly was absolutely breath-taking and you cannot deny the love between the two of them! We wish them all the happiness and love for their new lives together!

Now for a few photos... Our Internet is suck-tacular so this post and photos are from my phone!

We got Molly's bachelorette party, Emma and Heather, Rob and I at M + J's wedding, Emma, and Rob and I at our friends' parents new pub, EagleMonk Pub and Brewery

Wedding video!

https://vimeo.com/44882580

2 Mths!

We've been married for 2 months today!! Happy Anniversary to my best friend and love of my life, Rob <3

Wedded Bliss + The Future

Well we have been happily married for about a month and a half. Life is great.

A recap on a little recent stuff, as most of you may know, Rob, unfortunately, did not make it into the state police academy. We were both a little disappointed, but now know that God has other plans for us. If Rob so decides he can reapply in 2 years. We aren't sure at this moment if he will do that or see if something else comes along.

This past weekend we found ourselves over in the Frandor area conveniently while the Ingham County Animal Shelter was having their 30 hr Adopt-A-Fest for lots of dogs and cats. Of course we couldn't not stop by there  to see what they had, despite the fact we can't have a dog in our current apartment. There were so many dogs there (we didn't look at the cats) and we got to pet and love on them! I was in heaven! We ended up talking to one of the workers from the shelter and she was very informative about what their volunteer program is, and how fostering works etc. It sounds like Rob and I may start volunteering there in the near future. I think it would be a lot of fun, and a good way for Rob and I to spend time together doing something that benefits the animals and helps out the shelter! Who knows, maybe Rob will even get to know a little more about the animal control officers and what they do...

Anyways, near future holds that we are working on our budgets to get things squared away so that we can purchase a house in the next year. We've been looking on and off for a while and nothing really has perked either of our interest, but we also are not in a rush seeing as we signed a new lease in April and that goes for a year. Hopefully when the right house goes on the market, we will get our opportunity to claim it as ours. We will be sure to keep you all posted :)

Wedding Highlights Video!

Drew, just sent this video out to me yesterday - a reminder of how special our day was!

Honeymoon near over

Well, its our last day here in Myrtle Beach. Around 5 this evening we will be arriving in Detroit to journey back to Lansing.

I have to say, I do miss home every time I leave, but the more and more I come down here [Myrtle Beach], the more it becomes hard to go back. I'm sure that would be the case anywhere in actuality, but I think this place has a lot of familiarity to it. I learn every time I come down here. Learn the local roads, how to get to places, the local eats etc. My parents have really lucked out with their retirement and relocation. They are lucky to call this place home. Maybe some day I will be able to do the same...

So anyways, honeymoon has been great. We've explored new places and I took a TON of photos [near 500 I believe]. Highlights, well who I am kidding, the whole trip was a highlight, a start of our new life and journey together... we saw Brookgreen Gardens, explored the USS Yorktown and USS Laffey in Mt. Pleasant. Visited historic Charleston, saw bottlenose dolphins on our Fort Sumter tour, took a horse and carriage ride.... visited the beach and watched a few people catch some small sharks off of the pier. Went golfing [and putt putt]. Ate with the locals. This trip, was truly amazing and I can't wait to visit here again.

Now on to our not so relaxing weekend- tonight we arrive home and swing by our place, swap out some stuff and head to St. Johns for Relay for Life festivities. Tomorrow the plan is to finish Thank Yous from our wedding and get those out! And then back to the daily grind on Monday (boo).

Anyways, you should see some photos surfacing from our wedding (and our honeymoon) the next few days and weeks :) Wedding photos are waiting for us at home :D Cannot wait to see those, share them, print them and reminisce on the day :)

See you all soon :)

Wedding is over!

Thank you to everyone for sharing in our special day!! It was so sooo very perfect. We couldn't have ever imagined or dreamed it would turn out as well as it did (not to think it wouldn't be a good day, but rarely do weddings go perfectly as planned)

Married life is wonderful, btw! We've just reached the week + some days mark. We finalized our B&B reservations for our honeymoon, which we leave for next week :) I am very excited for that! Can't wait not only to vacation with my hubby, but just to relax and not be at work!

Photographer says photos will be done soon, so hopefully I will be posting some photos. There are lots on facebook though, if you haven't seen them - from our photographer, videographer, friends and family!

Post wedding news:
Rob's moving forward with his State Police Application, so send prayers and cross your fingers for him. Last week, trooper Herman did some home visits to get an idea of the person Rob was as part of his background check. I believe our place (to talk to me) was the last stop on his list of places... to my knowledge. The trooper said all was well and that he was typing up his list sending it on to Lansing so they could contact him for his hiring interview to the academy! Please please please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he *hopefully* moves forward to his dream job!

Much Love

Single Digits!

Well we've reached the single digits - 9 more days. It is so hard to believe. Though Rob and I have been at each others throats during this stress, let me emphasize STRESSful time, we are so happy to finally be reaching our big day... It will be nice to have "free time" or "Non-wedding time"... I would love to do some more photography!

All that is left to be done is place cards, wrapping presents (plus buying a few more) and um... that's about it! My hair cut/color and test 'updo is tomorrow - Robbie is getting his chopped the day before...

Tee times are set up for the day of for the men to golf... We were able to gain access for the reception hall and chapel for night before (Yay, a lot less stressed because of this). Rehearsal is squared away + dinner following. If you aren't sure if you're invited check with me or Rob or Marian (we just emailed her yesterday with Rob's side of the family).

I can finally count down number of days till "Happy Ever After", new last name and less stress... oh yes, and a very loving husband! Can't wait! <3

Quick Reminder!

If you are planning on staying in the hotel for the wedding festivities - deadline to reserve a room (under the wedding party name)  is March 20!

Just a little over a month till the big day!

Bridal Showers + Bachelorette Party

This past weekend was so fun and so busy!

On Saturday, my aunt Shelley and cousin, Lisa and her daughter, Erin, hosted a fabulous bridal shower in my honor. There was a great showing of around 26 people, yummy brunch dishes, mamosas and a yummy cake! I got so many awesome shower gifts. My friend and bridesmaid, Maggie even flew in from California for the occasion (that meant A LOT).

Saturday night was my bachelorette party. We met at Town Place Suites near MSU at 5:30pm where I opened some fun lingerie and other "goodies". We then carpooled to one of my favorite Sushi restaurants, AI Fusion. It was the first time experiencing a private room with "low seating" which none of us knew what it meant. We thought we would be sitting on pillows or something and playing footsie with everyone all night, but rather we stepped up and into the room and then there was a "hole" under the table so it was as if we were sitting at an actual table, not on the floor. It was a great experience and there were 9 of us, including a few of my friends, my sister and my mom, and one of my future sis-in-laws. Yummy food was had.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for a few games and then we hit the bars. It happened to be one of the coldest days this winter, or so it seemed so we only made it to Ricks and then closed down the bar at Dublin square. It was truly a great night, and I had too much... and had a hangover...

...Which means Sunday started out a little rough. I had Rob's side of the family bridal shower. Fortunately, in my favor, it was later in the day and by the time it rolled around I was feeling near 100% again after a slow and painful recovery (lol). A completely different shower "theme" - the wine and Italian theme was amazing. Yummy fettuccine with Alfredo or marinara sauces with bread and salad. It was really good and was beyond what I could have thought. Ashley and Heather did an awesome job throwing an awesome shower for me (and Rob). I can't wait till I can officially call them sisters! Not too much longer now.

Now... It has been three days and every day for a few hours I am chipping away at the dwindling mountain of shower gifts. Unfortunately, it has come as easily as I would have wished. Our new dishes are larger than our current so they don't fit in the cupboard that our old dishes were stored in. So end result - we've had to overhaul and rearrange and move dishes from one to the other... it's been a pain, but I think everything should be taken care of within the next couple days... or so that is my hope.

Anyways, this weekend meant a lot to me (and Rob) and I am we are soo soo blessed to have such amazing friends and family. Thank you everyone for all the support with our big day. 6 1/2 weeks to go!

My Robbie!

There has been a lot happening in our household these past few day!

Rob's dad heard a rumor that a state police academy was possibly running this May. Rob was already in the process of filling out his application (all 19 pages!) which included lots of background information - all relatives, cohabitants, and financial history. He was taking his time on it, but honestly, wasn't completing it very quickly. Well this heads up made him jump on it and he successfully completed it and mailed it in a couple days ago. And that is only the start. Someone or somebodies are surely looking out for him, he got an email today stating he needs to take his agility test scheduled for March 9 - next friday! He has to talk to his supervisor tomorrow to get that day off, but he also needs to go to his doctor and get "approved" for the agility test! This is becoming a whirlwind as wedding plans are also coinciding with all of this. Funny how we haven't booked our honeymoon yet (we are going to Myrtle Beach), now we are waiting until we get confirmation of the academy, and now hopefully we will have some answers next week. If any of you get a chance - please send an email of encouragement to Rob. I do think it would mean something to him, to just wish him luck, as this has been a dream of his for a while. His email is robertledergerber@gmail.com

Thanks for the support!

Taste-testing + Other fun stuff

This past week, on Tuesday, Rob and I had our taste-testing for our reception menu! There was so much yummy food. We sat at a table with two other couples who were getting married May and June and we're having their receptions the same place as us (as opposed to Eagle Eye reception rooms, since they had different color cards for Hawk Hollow and Eagle Eye). Right before the tasting, I showed Rob the room we reserved for the rehearsal - called the Log Cabin room, which as it states is very log cabin - it has the log walls, lots of deer heads and a full mount brown bear and wolf. Rob was pretty excited to see it in person. But anyways, at the tasting, we tried various chickens, beefs, salmon and tilapia, and some vegetarian meals. All were very yummy, but I think we have finally narrowed it down to one each of chicken and beef.

The saturday before, we met with Uncle Mike to go over Ceremony stuff. He gave us a couple books, which we need to look through for ideas for readings and such. He says we can do whatever, but these books provide the most popular and common readings specifically for weddings. Funny, while meeting (at the Wheel Inn) we had parked next to a vehicle who ended up being someone that Rob knows. Well, when he was backing out, he hit the car (BUMMER!), but since we were not occupying the vehicle, it was considered private property and all damages are being covered by their auto insurance, plus a rental car since the work will be about 3 days worth. Aside from the minimal damage, the waitress was the driver's wife, who felt seriously bad and covered our bill, letting us leave a nice tip for her. All in all, it was all quite amusing, and after meeting with Uncle Mike, I think we are well on our way to finalizing ceremony details!

In other wedding news, I pick up my dress on Wednesday, fingers crossed all the alterations are just as they need to stay! I am very excited to have that back! This coming weekend is "Jessy day/weekend" as my good friend Megan called it today while at bowling. Funny enough I questioned why she said that until I realized that this weekend I have back-to-back bridal showers (with both families) and a bachelorette party in the middle! Woohoo, funny how all the wedding stuff is moving forward so fast and I forgot that next weekend already are my showers! Rob has a 10 game 9-pin no tap bowling tournament on saturday, so at least he will be kept busy, though he plans on leaving at 9:30 Saturday and I probably won't see him except for a bit on sunday morning and then sunday evening. I am hoping the weekend will be fun for both of us, not to mention that my parents will be in town for the short weekend. It will be really good to see them and spend time with them for the little time they are here.

We have had a laid back weekend. Went out coyote hunting last night. I find it to be very boring so I have informed Rob to not bother asking me any more. Between sitting in the cold, not moving or talking, watching for what appears to be nothing, and listening to the most annoying fake rabbit shrieking for an hour, I was pretty fed up with it. Oh yes, add all the layers of clothes to put on, the 3 sizes too large military boots (Thanks dad, they do keep my feet very warm, but are slightly too large) and then carrying a chair and a gun = not fun, not doing again. Save my energy for deer hunting where we only got skunked once or twice this past season! Today we had church and then lunch. I took a late afternoon siesta and then this evening we had bowling leagues. It feels funny bowling with all the rest of the league since we haven't in 6 weeks due to our trip to Myrtle Beach and Megan and Jim's cruise. Sigh.

Work tomorrow and I am sure it will be another long week. Until another update...

A Short update

Well time is really really flying by fast.

We are at 2 months and 1 week until our big day! And we couldn't be more thrilled!

This past weekend we sent invitations out (so keep an eye out for them) and next week we do our taste testing - yummo!

I have a few things I am working on around here, but pretty much most everything is falling into place. I know as the time gets closer I will become more and more nervous.

In fact, here's a funny story - I have started having nightmares about the wedding. Last night's nightmare was about my 5th that I have had in the past few weeks. It involved missing our hair appointments, getting our hair done late and then looking awful, followed by bridesmaids in the wrong color dress and missing groomsman. I surely hope this isn't a sign of what is going to happen!! Haha!

Well, Happy Valentines Day and Happy Anniversary to Maggie and Peter - 3 years already - wow!

3 more months!

Well, yesterday we hit our 3 month mark! Crazy how fast time has gone by!

This week - mission is to finish envelopes and have invites in the mail in the next week or so!

My dress is at the tailor and set to be midget-sized and bustled! Yes!

This coming month, Rob and I get to do taste-testing!

Um, that's really about it for wedding details!

Wedding accomplishments

Well, last night my sister and I had a blast and we accomplished a lot! Kory and her came over around 5 and Kory and Rob played video games while my sister and myself perfected my bridal veil, hairpiece and finished my shoes - well they may be near finish...I'm up in the air on a few details possibly left. We had so much fun, putting stuff together, messing around and skyping with mom (and dad sporatically - he was watching the Lions). Overall it was a very successful and fun night. They didn't leave until after 11, but tired as we all were, things got accomplished and I couldn't be more happy. Saving money, awesome pieces for the wedding, super fun time... etc etc.

Today has been a lazy day. I decided to opt out of church this morning so I have been accomplishing a lot of laundry (the laundry that never ends is near an end now!) and my intentions for this evening are to work on the invitations. Once I finish the detail I am working on, I will have just to finish the enclosures and the details on the outside, and we will be set. Overall they are about 90% complete, which makes me extremely happy because they need to go out end of the month beginning of February! Yikes! Where has the time gone? Bridal showers are just around the corner and pretty soon I will be posting saying that "today is the day". I'm finally getting the last minute (though 3.5 months out) jitters/nerves and stresses. I tell Rob this daily. And I don't think its stuff that is going to go away... its just detail stuff that absolutely cannot be done yet, and that friends and family, annoys me! :) I can't do menu stuff, or programs because those few details just aren't settled on yet! Sigh.

Done ranting! According to my smartphone app - 103 days, 20 hours and 39 minutes until the big day :)