back to where I left off... Part 2
Matt comes downstairs and tells me that he is headed to another interview! I am in shock! thinking to myself "OK, just another opportunity to see what is out there." by the time Matt has made it to the interview an email arrives in his inbox from the Nashville company... ANOTHER offer! oh my goodness I could barely contain myself and my mom could not contain herself at all!
now I am nervously waiting to hear about the spontaneous interview that he is in. time went by so slowly! FINALLY Matt calls and says that they offered him the job and that he thinks that it is the best fit for him and for us!!!! I could not believe what I was hearing! The Lord seriously works in mysterious ways because I surely thought that Matt would be taking the original job offer that we had banked on.
there was a catch though... the Nashville offer was a considerable increase in salary than any of the other offers but that did not sway Matt's decision and I did not say a word! I knew that he would make the right decision for himself and our family. after a couple hours of letting all this craziness sink in - Matt accepted the job from the spontaneous interview and is now a Project Manager for a commercial construction contracting company in Louisville! I am so proud to be his wife and knew that his hard work and perseverance would pay off!
we immediately and frantically began searching for apartments so we did not have to shack up at my parent's house. the original plan was just to pack our stuff up if we did not have a firm job offer and just move to my parents - I am so thankful that we did not have to do that! not that I don't love my parents, but we just operate on different schedules and lifestyle preferences. within a day and a half we had found an apartment that will suffice (until we begin house hunting) and headed to "The Ville" with all our stuff!
in the midst of moving we got stuck on I65 because of a major accident with a caravan of 3 cars and a Uhaul - the trip that normally would have taken about 2 hours took us 7 hours! I am not complaining because it was a fatal accident and I am just so glad that we were not involved! thanks to my handy mom and an actual paper map we made it to our new home after several failed detour attempts. we are so thankful for our family who helped us move and for all the prayers that have been prayed! it feels good to be home after leaving here 6 years ago for college - now I get to bring my husband back with me!
oh yes, I almost forgot! after being here for about a week Matt got a call about another job offer and another call for an interview!!! so blessed... I am so proud of him!
we have been here about a month now and still settling in. Matt is busy with work and just started his first big project and I am hanging out with my niece as much as I can, making this apartment our home, spending time with family and job hunting! the whole job hunting has been rough, probably cause I really don't know exactly what I want to do... I love the wedding business, but it has been so nice to do stuff on the weekends. we were able to take a mini road trip to Indianapolis for our anniversary, drive around town in the jeep with the top and doors off, go boating with my parents, and enjoy each other's company.
stay tuned for some diy projects and more of our happenings in our "new" city!
also - Matt's parents move to Thailand!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
the move to Louisville: part 1
to blog or not to blog? that is the question... I have gone over this in my head a lot. Matt is always encouraging me to start up again, but I always just shrug it off. I am thinking of changing the layout and look maybe to freshen it up a bit! besides not blogging I have been somewhat busy lately - I will give you an update on our life happenings as of lately...
we moved to Louisville! after about 6 months of Matt applying for jobs he finally got 3 official job offers within TWO days! it was craziness! the Lord was so good to us and I just remember praying on my knees literally and asking him to place us where we needed to be and show us the right path. I really struggled with where I wanted to be ultimately. I knew I didn't want to stay in Bowling Green, after being out of school for a year and a half I was ready to move out of the somewhat college town. I had a great job in Nashville that I really enjoyed, but with working in the wedding business I worked basically every weekend and the husband did not care for that and we missed out on a lot of social things. I was also commuting an hour each way, which was not very fun. our niece was almost 2 years old and I got to see her somewhat frequently but not as much as I would have liked to and our 1 year old nephew was even farther away than our niece, so we had barely even gotten to spend any length of time with him. family is so important to me, but I knew that Matt and I had started our own family so if that meant that we would move to Nashville or clear across the country I was going to be ok with that.
so Matt applied to jobs in Nashville and Louisville and Cincinnati (where his family is from) and everywhere else in between! we waited and waited and all of the sudden it was March and I was starting to slightly freak out. I knew that if someone would just give him a face to face interview that he would impress them and be hired! around the beginning of April he had a phone interview and one face to face interview, he thought they went well but no offers yet. a few weeks went by and the face to face interview company wanted him but did not have a specific position for him so it just became a waiting game... we were pretty confident that the face to face interview (in Louisville) was going to offer and they basically did without the paper work so we put our trust in God and planned to move to Louisville. I put in my notice at work (which was so hard, I had learned SOOOO much working there and loved the wedding business - my co workers and boss were like a 2nd family to me - a crazy nutty family, but it was a great job that lead me to a ton of awesome opportunities!)
anyways, I put my notice in at work after quite a few tears and started packing for Louisville... fast forward to the second week of May - less than a week before Matt's graduation... He gets a call from a company in Nashville!! OH MY GOSH I just quit my job in Nashville! so we go to the interview (I tag along for a free nights stay in a hotel) and it goes well and they seem to really want Matt, but no offer yet. the next day or so he gets a call from the same company that my mom works for, a custom home builder. I am crying tears of Joy thanking the Lord for blessing us with more than one interview!!! we head to Louisville for the interview just DAYS before graduation and in the midst of packing for who knows where at this moment! the interview is ok, but the offer not so great. as Matt is leaving that interview somewhat discouraged he gets a call from the ORIGINAL company that we were very confident with the offer saying that it was a done deal!!! he had 24 hours to discuss with me and call the other companies he had interviewed with. we went to sleep that night (in Louisville) thinking that he was going to accept the offer from the original company. I woke up early to greet my niece at the door around 715 am to watch her while my sister in law went to work. a couple hours later Matt comes down stairs and says he got a call from a commercial contractor in Louisville that he had applied for at the beginning of the year. they wanted to know if he had a job yet and if he was still interested. Matt said that he had an offer that he was getting ready to accept. they said come on down if we feel it is the right fit we can also give you an offer today!!! God has been so good to us! Going to wrap it up there for tonight but our story is not finished yet! stay tuned...
we moved to Louisville! after about 6 months of Matt applying for jobs he finally got 3 official job offers within TWO days! it was craziness! the Lord was so good to us and I just remember praying on my knees literally and asking him to place us where we needed to be and show us the right path. I really struggled with where I wanted to be ultimately. I knew I didn't want to stay in Bowling Green, after being out of school for a year and a half I was ready to move out of the somewhat college town. I had a great job in Nashville that I really enjoyed, but with working in the wedding business I worked basically every weekend and the husband did not care for that and we missed out on a lot of social things. I was also commuting an hour each way, which was not very fun. our niece was almost 2 years old and I got to see her somewhat frequently but not as much as I would have liked to and our 1 year old nephew was even farther away than our niece, so we had barely even gotten to spend any length of time with him. family is so important to me, but I knew that Matt and I had started our own family so if that meant that we would move to Nashville or clear across the country I was going to be ok with that.
so Matt applied to jobs in Nashville and Louisville and Cincinnati (where his family is from) and everywhere else in between! we waited and waited and all of the sudden it was March and I was starting to slightly freak out. I knew that if someone would just give him a face to face interview that he would impress them and be hired! around the beginning of April he had a phone interview and one face to face interview, he thought they went well but no offers yet. a few weeks went by and the face to face interview company wanted him but did not have a specific position for him so it just became a waiting game... we were pretty confident that the face to face interview (in Louisville) was going to offer and they basically did without the paper work so we put our trust in God and planned to move to Louisville. I put in my notice at work (which was so hard, I had learned SOOOO much working there and loved the wedding business - my co workers and boss were like a 2nd family to me - a crazy nutty family, but it was a great job that lead me to a ton of awesome opportunities!)
anyways, I put my notice in at work after quite a few tears and started packing for Louisville... fast forward to the second week of May - less than a week before Matt's graduation... He gets a call from a company in Nashville!! OH MY GOSH I just quit my job in Nashville! so we go to the interview (I tag along for a free nights stay in a hotel) and it goes well and they seem to really want Matt, but no offer yet. the next day or so he gets a call from the same company that my mom works for, a custom home builder. I am crying tears of Joy thanking the Lord for blessing us with more than one interview!!! we head to Louisville for the interview just DAYS before graduation and in the midst of packing for who knows where at this moment! the interview is ok, but the offer not so great. as Matt is leaving that interview somewhat discouraged he gets a call from the ORIGINAL company that we were very confident with the offer saying that it was a done deal!!! he had 24 hours to discuss with me and call the other companies he had interviewed with. we went to sleep that night (in Louisville) thinking that he was going to accept the offer from the original company. I woke up early to greet my niece at the door around 715 am to watch her while my sister in law went to work. a couple hours later Matt comes down stairs and says he got a call from a commercial contractor in Louisville that he had applied for at the beginning of the year. they wanted to know if he had a job yet and if he was still interested. Matt said that he had an offer that he was getting ready to accept. they said come on down if we feel it is the right fit we can also give you an offer today!!! God has been so good to us! Going to wrap it up there for tonight but our story is not finished yet! stay tuned...
Monday, March 12, 2012
my V-Day gift...a custom bar!
so lately I was obsessing over bar carts and was really really wanting to purchase one, but could not find one that I LOVED that was anywhere near our price range. Hubby decided he would make me one, but I quickly decided that I would be settling and did not want one made out of wood and did not want him to go through all that and me not like it. SOOOO we decided instead to build a bar - since we have sooo much room for all that in our tiny apartment and all. (sarcasm, people). Well Matt started drawing and sketching and I just rattled off some ideas of what I wanted it to look like. That was the beginning. Turns out we totally went over budget and changed quite a few things from the initial drawing that my handy husband drew up. BUT I LOVE it and it is one of a kind and my sweet, handy, intelligent, hard working husband made it for me (I mean us!?). I took pictures along they way thinking that I would blog step by step how to make a bar in a baby apartment on your baby 2nd story patio BUT so many things went differently and I am not really sure how we even got to the point it is today HA - so sorry if you wanted to make one just like ours! You should want to though, cause its amazing! Now all we need to do is get a bigger place and have parties! I really enjoy entertaining so that was one of my reasons for wanting this bar and I needed a place to store all of our bar ware so why not? Well here ya go! Lots of pics and a little commentary...
I ordered a stencil online of our wedding logo that we designed together for the wedding and stenciled it on the top of the bar with glitter (yes, glitter - spray glitter) and sealed it.
I was given the fleur de lis lamp for Christmas from my boss but never had a spot for it - FINALLY a spot! The lamp was originally more rustic and traditional and of course I had to glam it up with the same glossy black paint as the bar, some spray glitter (gilver - or silver and gold)and some black blingy ribbon on the shade.
And before you judge our weirdo 80's looking kitchen chairs that is because they are 80's - our kitchen set was my parents first kitchen set. Next up on Matt's handy man to do list is a new kitchen table - we will probably just purchase the chairs.
We plan to maybe eventually get bar stools so if we want we can sit at the bar - originally we were going to do 2 shelves but decided if we ever wanted to sit at the bar it would be much more comfortable to slide in a chair with just one shelf.
I was given the fleur de lis lamp for Christmas from my boss but never had a spot for it - FINALLY a spot! The lamp was originally more rustic and traditional and of course I had to glam it up with the same glossy black paint as the bar, some spray glitter (gilver - or silver and gold)and some black blingy ribbon on the shade.
And before you judge our weirdo 80's looking kitchen chairs that is because they are 80's - our kitchen set was my parents first kitchen set. Next up on Matt's handy man to do list is a new kitchen table - we will probably just purchase the chairs.
We plan to maybe eventually get bar stools so if we want we can sit at the bar - originally we were going to do 2 shelves but decided if we ever wanted to sit at the bar it would be much more comfortable to slide in a chair with just one shelf.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Be My Valentine - late
We are celebrating V-Day today so even though I am late on my post - really it is right on time! We are making a nice dinner - romaine salad with strawberries, mandarin oranges and a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette, ribs (hubby's thing), roasted potatoes, baby carrots and asparagus, fudge brownies topped with strawberries and champagne! Can't wait! I think we might go bowling (which includes adult beverages) or go see the new Reese Witherspoon movie - This Means War. Big night planned! I was also thinking of going to get a shampoo and style/blowout. I need to get my brows waxed BAD and I never seem to be able to get any curl to hold in my thick, heavy hair so I was thinking of getting some sassy curls and body for my date night! This post is FULL of Valentine decor pics - so enjoy! What did you expect? This IS my first Valentine's Day as Mrs. Valentine - can't help it.
side note: My wreath on the front door got a little beat up and raggedy in the weather, so excuse her lack of perkiness. AND my mantle is not ideal and got changed around several times but I only got a picture of her once. The picture is not how she ultimately ended up, but you get the idea. The "Kiss Me" ribbon hung on the back of our front door - I had leftover ribbon and letters so I just whipped it up last minute.
side note: My wreath on the front door got a little beat up and raggedy in the weather, so excuse her lack of perkiness. AND my mantle is not ideal and got changed around several times but I only got a picture of her once. The picture is not how she ultimately ended up, but you get the idea. The "Kiss Me" ribbon hung on the back of our front door - I had leftover ribbon and letters so I just whipped it up last minute.
Friday, February 3, 2012
the best tortilla soup!
so I inherited this recipe from my sister in law so I cannot take all the credit! I don't know if we do the recipe the exact same way, but close enough! This recipe is amazing and my go to meal if we have company or a group together. It is so easy to whip together and does not take any time at all!
what you will need:
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of black beans
1 can of Rotel
2 cans of corn - we use the fiesta kind
1-2 packages of dry ranch mix - we use 2 for more flavor
1-2 packages of taco seasoning - we use 2
1-2 lbs of ground meat - we prefer turkey - I use lean turkey for everything!
2 cups of water
cilantro - optional, I use it if I have some on hand, just however much you would like
throw in all your ingredients, be sure to drain your black beans
brown your meat
toss in the meat and let the soup heat thoroughly - I usually let it come to a slight boil and then let it simmer a while so all the seasonings are soaked into the meat
on our last grocery trip I spotted these tortilla strips and thought we would try them out - so glad we did! added some nice texture and crunch to the soup!
you may also want to add some shredded cheese and/or sour cream - and there you have it! a simple, easy and VERY delicious meal! ENJOY!
what you will need:
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of black beans
1 can of Rotel
2 cans of corn - we use the fiesta kind
1-2 packages of dry ranch mix - we use 2 for more flavor
1-2 packages of taco seasoning - we use 2
1-2 lbs of ground meat - we prefer turkey - I use lean turkey for everything!
2 cups of water
cilantro - optional, I use it if I have some on hand, just however much you would like
brown your meat
you may also want to add some shredded cheese and/or sour cream - and there you have it! a simple, easy and VERY delicious meal! ENJOY!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
amazingness
Monday, January 30, 2012
January PINK Bridal Show
Had lots of fun at the PINK bridal show @ the Nashville Convention center! Talked to lots of fall brides ( Sept and Oct). Lots of September - I was very surprised! I love being able to talk the girls/ladies. Met a few friends that I hope will be booking with us. Lots of girls were into the lush, luxury look which I don't blame them! Feathers, bling, and white seemed to be popular for this year. Check out our awesome booth! We have ANOTHER show this coming weekend at Opryland Hotel! Can't wait!
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