Monday, August 8, 2011

Lately...

It has been a few weeks since I have gotten around to updating the blog, and as strange as it sounds, everything and nothing has happened during that time. Matt and I are basically settled into our tiny little apartment, and I am starting to accept the fact that we simply aren't going to find a place for everything. Though most everything has been put away, we simply do not have enough storage for all of our belongings. His stuff + my stuff + wedding gifts + one closet in the entire apartment = lots of Rubbermaid tubs stacked along our bedroom wall. Though it bothers me that everything can't be stored out of sight, I am thankful that everything is pseudo-organized. We have spent a lot of time during the last three weeks organizing, hanging pictures, and taking care of the load of paperwork that comes with getting married. Our apartment is not completely finished yet (I am still debating on which pictures to hang, where to hang them, etc), but below are a few pictures of what we have done thus far. 


 Our little dining room table was donated to us by one of my dad's coworkers. 
It is very small, but fits perfectly in our dining area. Mom had the chairs 
reupholstered earlier in the year, so of course our fabric of choice was hounds tooth!


These pictures were among our favorite wedding gifts, and are currently 
hanging on one wall in our dining area. Our sweet friend, Matt York, digitally
retouched and framed shots of some of our favorite spots around 
Tuscaloosa. For those of you familiar with the city, there are two shots of the
stadium, one of Manly Hall, and another of City Cafe. We are glad to have a piece of 
Tuscaloosa hanging in our apartment in Madison.


Wide shot of our dining area ( I REALLY wish we could paint the walls!).


Getting everything to fit into our kitchen was a nightmare! Given
our limited space, however, I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.



These two pictures, which are hanging in our hallway, were also wedding gifts.
Marilyn Hunter, mother of our friend Austin, took a few of our engagement and
national championship pictures and created digital scrapbook pages for us. 
Hopefully I can figure out how to do this for myself eventually!


Our living room! This room, as well as our bedroom, is still a work in progress.
We are hoping to add more to the walls in the next few weeks!

Our bedroom is probably the room in our apartment that is furthest from completion, so I will be attacking that project at a later date. I will try to add pictures of that room, as well as our completed living room, as soon as they are completed.

Paperwork has also consumed a lot of our time in the last few weeks. I seriously did not realize how many documents contained my name until the time came to change it. Matt and I have had to change our insurance, banking situation, car tags/titles, licenses (he FINALLY has an Alabama license), and my Social Security information. Making all of these changes was incredibly time consuming, and I am so glad that we have everything taken care of! 

Amid the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks, we have also had a lot to celebrate. I turned 24 on July 24th, and we had a blast celebrating in Madison with friends from Tuscaloosa. I am so thankful that our group of friends is making such an effort to stay in touch, despite the fact that we are now spread out across the state. The next weekend, we were able to accompany our friends Scott and Laura to Handy Fest. Scott and Laura, both of whom were in our wedding, were searching for a band to play at their wedding reception. The trip was a success, and they found a band that I am sure all of their guests will love. Matt and I can't wait to be a part of their big day! This past weekend was a whirlwind as we traveled to Tuscaloosa for my graduation ceremony. Though I actually completed my degree in May, our ceremony was postponed for three months due to the tornadoes of April 27th. Friday and Saturday were exciting days for those of us who were receiving our diplomas, but it was heartbreaking to watch the parents of the deceased students receive diplomas on behalf of their children. The ceremony was definitely more somber than others I have attended, but I think it was a step in the right direction for the city and all who were affected by the storm.