Updates Ahoy!

(Erica): So, I realize I've been extremely bad in the realm of updates. I can't help it, I'm a newlywed, what do you want from me? Here's a few pics of how the appartment is coming along now and some other gifty pics I just took:

Our bedroom now (notice the "grown up" sheets on happy bed) ;D


The next pic is my night stand...

OK... now fast forward a few months... say to the end of October! Yes! We finally closed on our condo on Oct 23rd and here are some of the remodel pics taken during our transition/ move in time:

*ERK! ACK! COUGH! SPLUTTER! KER PLUNK!*

SORRY - for some reason my photo uploader is being really muy estupido! So you'll just have to take my word for it, or check out our home's photo album here --> Our NEW home! We have quite a few pics there of before (move in phase) and after (living in phase).

Sorry again, that it's taken me SO LONG to get updates on here, I really should try to be more consistant with this, it's just, you know, being a house wife tends to get REALLY busy sometimes... and it feels like there just isn't enough time in the day for every little thing. But for our few faithful readers, I promise to be a better blogger and try to keep the updates coming faster than every 4 months or so ;).

But for now this is Hasta la vista baby, and I'll let you know how the Holidays go.

DC Talk- It's The End of The World As We Know It

That's great it start with an earthquake
birds, snakes, and aeroplanes
You know I am not afraid.

Eye of the hurricane listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs, dummy
serves your own needs
Feed it like an aux feeds, grunt, no, strength, no
Ladder starts with a clatter gear found high
wire in a fire represents a seven gauge
in a government rage

(chorus)
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it and i feel fine

That's great it start with an earthquake
birds, snakes, and aeroplanes
Tobymac has never, ever, ever been afraid

Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn
World serves its own needs,
dummy serve your own needs
Feed it like an aux feeds, grunt, no, strength, no
Ladder starts with a clattered gear found high
Wire in a fire represents a seven gauge
In a government rage

(chorus)

Cause I know where I'm going

(chorus 2x)

I feel fine


---(Erica) So why am I throwing DC Talk lyrics your way? Check this out:

Two (2) miles SW of Chino Hills @ 11:42AM, I (and all of SoCal) lived through what is now termed a 5.4 magnitude Earthquake. It was determined to be 7.7 miles deep and it was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego. An area coined as Inland (sp) Empire lost phone service for a time and within the first hour, 27 aftershocks have occurred throughout SoCal. They ARE lessening and the strongest of those was a 3.6 magnitude. Most of the ones being felt are in the Diamond bar area, but since the initial quake, I have not felt any aftershocks in Lake Forest, so we are OK and safe here.

After Joe called from work to see if I was OK, I flipped the TV on to channel 4 and it's been on ever since. Governor Schwarzenegger is now on trying to calm the general public and spread some more light on what's happened (2:30pm). He's relaying that this is mild to some that he's experienced since being here in Cali, and that we were very lucky this time. According to broadcasts, there's been minimal damage reported. From a few items falling off shelves, to a few community water mains breaking and they are being dealt with now.

Now, here's my personal experience:
I was still in bed, yes, not feeling too well today, so I slept in. As I decided to roll over and check the clock, I realized the time and Joe would be coming home for lunch soon, so I decided to get out of bed. Before I had a chance to even sit up our apartment felt the tremors. It felt like a rolling with a few small jolts. I blamed the incident on the damn trash trucks that love to roll past our apartment and wake me up in the mornings. But the unusual thing this time was the shaking was a big more intense then just for trash trucks, and I heard what sounded like cursing in foreign languages outside the windows. So I knew this must have been something big. As I started getting up my cell rang and Joe had called all worried wanting to make sure I was OK. It wasn't until I heard the tone of his voice that I got worried and he had to tell me we had lived through an earthquake before I would believe what my brain was trying to tell me. Well, channel 4 went on for live updates and about 2 minutes later my mom called to check on us. I explained to her what I assumed it had been, then given her the OK that we were all fine here and the information that I had gathered from the news. Well, now you all have the info as well.

So don't be alarmed. Just praise God that we're OK. The geologist who was on TV earlier did mention may be today and tomorrow that we still have aftershocks and tremors going on, but most will not affect our daily lives and routines, so it's not a huge concern, just beware and be careful. So, my love to all and know that everything is good here, and we're still alive :).

who needs public storage?

(Joe) Yay! two weeks before Erica and I are husband and wife :).

As the wedding draws near, we've managed to start relocating my beloved' essential possessions (e.g. clothes, books, etc). Plus on top of that, we've been getting wedding gifts delivered to our apartment from our generous family and friends. Erica's things..I keep alone until she gets here. Our gifts...we'll open together.

So...corrugated cardboard boxes abound the living quarters.
My bedroom has become a safe storage facility ;). And if you think that's a lot, there's actually more boxes staged to mail out from the Nichols' home. Good nite..how many boxes does a wife come with by default? lol.. j/k. I Love You Dear. When we move from the current apartment to our own place, we'll definitely need a large moving van.

However, looking over the inventory, I realized that we have a hidden treasure....
Without even asking...we got a coffee table!!! I'm not referring to the coffee table that's holding up the TV ..I've had that one for a while. It was born as a bona-fide coffee table, but was able to graduate to the position of TV stand. The *new* coffee table is comprised from 3 boxes that mate together into a useful piece of bachelor furniture. Hey...I have a few days to enjoy this before someone living with me claims that cardboard boxes does not a coffee table make, and urges us to journey to the IKEA.

Working fo' da' Man...

Haha!

I was going to title this post "Working fo' da' Money", but at the last minute I changed my mind :P. Ah, it's a girl thing.

Anyway, the reason for this post is because I have 10, count 'em, 10 days of real physical work left!!! After much inner thought debate/ struggle, I decided I really DID need that whole week off of work during the week of the wedding. After much Bride, MoH and MoB discussion, I realized there are a lot more 'last minute' details than I first imaged, and I really want to help my family out with those. (It will also give me more time to spend with everyone before the wedding and finish that packing, lol).

So, my last day of "working fo' da' man" is Friady 20, 2008! When will I start again? Only God has that time table. I know you're dying to ask: Don't you want to work? You know, something to keep you busy so you don't get bored out of your mind in the apartment? Yes, and No. Let me explain. I'm moving to Cali, there will be quite enough for me to explore and time just start settling in when I get out there. By the time I've taken care of all of this, who knows, we could have a perm place to live (purchase), and we will have to relocate again, or I could be prego, lol (thus limiting my desire for continuous field work anyway). I know that I will find more than enough activities to keep busy with once I'm out there. Plus, the desire to jump back into the working world isn't very strong when you have no vehicle to maintain, and you're living in unfamiliar teritory.


OK, that's my little blurb on the upcoming scenario. Any questions or comments from any of my married crowd out there?

30 Days and Counting...

OK. So we are down to t-minus 30 days and counting until the "big day"!

I'm not really sure how to describe the anxiousness, excitement, joy, splendiforiousness, and over all anticipation I feel with the day hurrying upon us. All I know is that in the next 30 days I will be spending the rest of my living eternity with the most wonderful, God-given blessing of a man and this idea thrills me to no end. :)

Depending on how long you've known me, you should probably realize that I am the pickiest person on earth... especially when it comes to the qualities I've been praying for in a future husband. Who knew that God would give me the EXACT person I would need to help pull me back down to earth every time my imagination would start to wander?... OK, so maybe Mom knew ;). But he really is that wonderful. I'm an idealistic person, he's very realistic... we're learning how to work with these two personalities and figure out how to blend them the best we can (without blowing up in each other's faces... OK, so I do most of the blowing up... I mean, I LOVE YOU JOE!!!)

So... 30 days, hmm...

Homes on Hold

Erica's view:

Joe and I had a GREAT talk last night! Actually, I pretty much whined about how stressed out I've been and he listened. Then he Analyzed "why" I've been so stressed out, and we came to the following conclusion: Wedding + condo buying = TOO MUCH STRESS!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that he loves the home hunting thing and it's keeping him occupied until the wedding. I also love going over all the pics with him of the new places. The problem is that I still feel way too detached from the whole situation, and I hate feeling this way. So we've agreed to postpone the condo/ home hunting until after the wedding. It was decided that we really need to focus on one big thing at a time (like the wedding, and maybe the honeymoon?). Then Once I'm out there for good, we can refocus on condo hunting and maybe have a place by Christmas.

It's just been SO difficult for me to concentrate on so many things at once, too much change trying to take place, and it's freakin' me out man! LOL! So this is the decision we've reached. I'm feeling less stressed already because I know we don't have to worry about moving so many things in such a short time now, and we can sit back and enjoy the Wedding and honeymoon first, then plan our next move on the home front (pun intended, lol).

Now maybe I'll be relaxed enough to start packing my room... hehe.

"One Box At A Time"

Packing... yuck!

OK- So I'm trying to get in the "packing mode", but it's been really hard when you've never moved your entire life. And now you are forced to pack 25 years worth of life and, well let's face it... accumulated junk... into tiny little boxes and ship them across the country to a new home front.

In the next few weeks that are left until the wedding, I will keep a running total on here of the days and how many boxes were completed on that day. =D

As it stands in the total of packed boxes ready to ship:

4/8/08 - 2 boxes packed (one of which is stuff for the hubby, its not even really stuff from MY room!) - yep, that's it, only 2 boxes, lol.

5/9/08 - 3 boxes packed! 2 full of random paperwork that I need to go through before mailing out (it was all dumped into boxes bc Daddy needed a filing cabinet for Gma's paperwork). 1 box half full of random ball caps that I wear when I go to the beach or I don't feel like washing my hair that day (i.e. you know I'm having an "off day" when I'm wearing a ball cap... unless I'm at a ball game ;). The rest of the box will prolly have assorted purses or things).

5/19/08 - 1 box. More random paperwork that I took out of a crate and threw into a box. the dang crate was in my walking space (what little I have atm) and I kept jamming my toes in the crate holes (OW)... I made the exec. decision to trash the crate and throw all the contents into a waiting and empty box. Must remember to sort through crap, I mean "contents" of box later this week. :P

5/24/08 - With Joe in town we got 8 boxes mailed!

5/26/08 - Happy Memorial day! Joe hand carried a box of important docs on the plane for me (I LOVE YOU SWEETHEART!) Plus I got 2 more boxes packed after he left and I'm planning on finishing up another few more this week ;).

5/30 - 6/1/08 - With LOTS of help from various family membrs, 7 more boxes have been completed and ready to ship! Thanks everyone!!! :)

6/7/08 - Thanks to my wonderful family, I finally dragged those 7 boxes out to the post office and got them mailed! Yay! - I think overall now there should be 15 boxes in transit to my Joe, but for some reason my list says there are 19 boxes! So... I have concluded that I probably put down one too many tick marks on the list (I tend to over count things anyway). I think there may be a total of 4-5 boxes left to go and then everything should be on the way! ;).

Has this ever happened to you?...

Embarrassing moments-

We've all had them at one time or another, but no one likes to talk about it (not really anyway).

Well, just in the last few short weeks (we'll say end of March time frame), I had some mishaps that can only be concluded as the silliest and most ridiculous things... had someone been taping me, I would've won that 10K on AFV by now ;)

Mishap #1- My best friend's little bro accidentally walked in on me in my own bathroom. It's not as bad as you're thinking, really. He just caught me putting lotion on my legs and ran out thinking (well, I don't know what he was thinking), but the poor boy turn red and all I could do was say hello and laugh at myself in this situation. I mean, c'mon, it was in MY house, LOL. I had the hardest time from not chuckling the rest of the night, but it's been quite a while since anyone walked in on me unknown to myself, and it was just too funny not to tell.

Mishap #2 - while running an errand at work I wasn't paying attention to where I was stepping (actually, this happens a lot, hm...). Anyway, I wasn't watching where I was stepping, and while trying to say hello to some friends, and walking past a group of guy friends too (two different groups, same location), I trip over the edge of a concrete sidewalk (guess there was less dirt at the edge than I thought). As you may have guessed, I started going down, getting ready to eat concrete with my chin. But it so happens my brain and senses kicked in at the last minute and I caught myself from total infliction of pain and shame. But at this point both my pride and ego were bruised, which was good, I really didn't need them anyway. Everyone was asking me if I was OK, and I just brushed it off like it happens all the time (actually, it really does happen more often then one would think, more hmming...). Yeah, it was embarrassing, but I got over it.

Occasional mishaps- I've pulled out drawers too quickly at work and banged myself in the knee (more times than I can count, which may account for all the bruises I have); I've tried looking "cute" or "cool" while passing a group of people (usually people I don't know), and I always manage to trip just enough to bruise my ego- Thanks God for keeping me humble.

In the last couple of days I've had a problem opening my bedroom door all the way. Maybe it's from the rack of purses hanging behind it and the large box full of books and animals waiting to be shipped out?... Nah... that couldn't be it! Anyway, because of that, I've had a tendency to bang my elbow more than once on the door handle either coming or going from the room, that's pretty embarrassing. It's also a painful reminder of all the stuff in my room that still needs to be packed and shipped to Cali. (Maybe that's why I'm in a bad mood, I'm thinking too much about the big picture of moving and not taking it "one box at a time").

I guess that's about all the embarrassing dirt I've had lately. So, do you think I deserve 10K for it? LOL ;)

Going Crazy...

... Over weddings, and houses, and moving... Oh My!

(Erica) OK, so maybe Joe's not going as crazy as I am, but then again, I worry and get emotional over the little things. Bad, I know. I'm working on it. Just keep praying for me.

Weddings- As everyone should know by now, we'll be getting married the end of June. Thanks to my beloved Joe and our parents, siblings, best friends, etc... things seem to be running smoothly, all the deposits are in and the bridey dress/ groom tux are purchased and fully paid for. So everything is good right? Sure... as long as you're an attending guest and not a bride who's wondering if everything is going to play out at planned. I know, you're thinking "gosh Erica, lighten up would ya? It'll be fine, enjoy the ride", and you'd be right. I'm so excited about everything that's happening, and things are going SO well with the wedding plans, that it seems my mind is making up things to worry about. It's as if a wedding must be harder to plan than ours (which really has been a piece of cake, pun intended) lol. Our invites finally got out in the mail today, so that's been done and covered. If you're on our list (or think you are), and you don't get an invite in a week or two, that's probably because you never sent us a mailing address. So get us an address, and we'll get you a wedding invite. For those from BCC, JCL, Phys Fac, CV, WD, and close friends (you know who you are)... if your invite doesn't show up, let us know ASAP and make sure we have a correct addy ;).

Wedding issues aside, now for houses- OK, not really houses, but condos/ apartments... As most know, I am moving to SoCal to join my beloved after the wedding. During the planning stages (right now), my beloved Joe has taken the task of "home hunting" upon himself and prays we will be homeowners before the big day arrives (granted the home will probably be a condo until the family grows a bit, but it will be lovely because it will be ours). During this "hunting process" I have felt a bit left out since I am not in SoCal getting to help look at properties :(. Last week when I did have my chance to visit my Beloved Joe, his realtor gave us an unexpected call and we had the chance to go look at two properties together! YAY! I feel more included now, and I have a better idea of what we're getting into. Any prayers you feel may be necessary to throw our way would be happily accepted during this process. It's fun, time consuming, tiring, but in the end it will be all worth it. =D

Moving- Depending on how well you know me (Erica), you would know I'm a little terrified of moving. Even the furniture in my room have had the same places for the last several years. I have lived in the same home and had the same bedroom my ENTIRE LIFE! Yeah, time to break out of the old habitat and claim a new space I can call my own, right? For me, even the thought of moving my furniture around is a big deal. Don't judge, I'm a little OCD when it comes to stuff like this, ask my mother. So what's possessed me to move from the East Coast to the West Coast without a second thought? That would have to be the intense love I hold in my heart for my beloved Joe (yes Baby, I love you THAT MUCH!). Call me crazy, but I'm a person of habit and I don't like my world to get tipped out of balance. But ever since Joe and I have been together, my world's been tipped, rocked, completely dumped upside down, and re pieced together into a new and beautiful journey (like a puzzle who's pieces make more than one picture, but you need another point of view to find the next picture in your life). Since meeting Joe, I have found the courage and will to break out of my day-to-day habits and do crazy things like drive from the Beaches to OP to visit Joe and his family, or pick up/ drop him off at the airport every time he's come home to visit. Or drive across town for who-knows-what for things we want to do. Thanks to Joe's love and encouragement, I have found a new sense of adventure within myself and I want to go do crazy things like go camping for a weekend, jump off a bridge, ride an air rail at the San Diego Zoo, and numerous other things that I once thought I'd never risk life or limb to do. But what is a life worth living, of you don't give everything you have to enjoy the life God's blessed you with? So I want to take this opportunity to Thank God for the many blessings He's poured into my life, and the numero uno blessing... being a one and only Joe =D!

We're so good for each other..

...we finish each other's blog setups?

(Joe) My blushing bride is sound asleep against the soothing winds and sounds of crashing waves of the Atlantic ocean. I'm still up on the other side of the land for at least another hour before I join my beloved in dream world.

So yea...many moons ago I started setting up a blogger for us on our joint Google account. I stopped at basic setup and figured one day we might sit down together for our "first blog post". Tonight, I load'er up and see we have pictures and profile information courtesy of Erica :) I love you sweetheart!!!!

It might be hard for us to do a "first blog" together seeing we're 3 hrs apart (unless we wait until we're married, but that's not until June 28). Lets say the first "few" posts together will collectively count as "first posts together".

Bloggish business, I got 86% of my tux complete.
http://picasaweb.google.com/josephwinn01/TuxForWedding

As a kick off, we hope you'll book mark our page here. We'd like to share our life together with the world.

Joe