Disney bound and so excited!!!

I am writing this in the midst of packing for our honeymoon in Disney, which we leave for in the morning. There is one last load of laundry in the dryer and then packing is on full force!

I am so excited to be leaving tomorrow! We are in need of a vacation and it's funny because for as long as Brian and I have known each other, we have never been on a plane together! We have taken many vacations together...even driving to Virginia for a Dave Matthews Band concert several summers ago, but never on a plane! Yup, I'm a dork...this little part of the trip makes me happy :) It's just one of many things that we haven't done together that we get to do!

Another reason why I am excited is because I get to see my brother, sister-in-love, and nephew tomorrow! Adam called me last weekend to inform me that they had received free tickets to The Animal Kingdom! How cool! While he insisted that it was our honeymoon and we were not obligated to see them at all, how could we not?! They live many miles away from us and now they will be in the same park that we are staying in! We are excited to be able to spend time with them...I know it will be fun!

As we are getting ready for this trip, I am reminded how lucky we are. We decided that we would register for this honeymoon and not for anything else. We purchased our home almost 3 years ago and got lots of new stuff then, so we didn't feel the need to register at Macys or Target, so we went through Disney. Between friends and family purchasing items on our registry, money raised for us at our Jack and Jill, and money given to us in our wedding cards, we have not had to pay one penny for this trip! How fabulous :) I know that we are very fortunate to have friends and family that are so supportive of us and very generous :) I just know that I am going to take advantage of every second in Disney World! We only get one honeymoon and I have already informed Brian that I will probably be one, big kid there!

So, I should get back to packing! I will be sure to post when we return and get settled back into home life! xo

To Sell or Not To Sell?! That is the question....

I made great progress in the past week or so, as you already know! I was able to throw away 2 LARGE garbage bags of things that we didn't need and put together several boxes of things that could be sold in the yard sale at Brian's parents' house that is coming up this Saturday. I was in the mood to clean, clean, clean! And boy, am I glad that I did that! I am even proud of myself for only saving a couple of things from our wedding, putting them in a Rubbermaid container, and placing that in the basement...the rest of the stuff is being put in the yard sale. That was the easy part...now I am going back and forth in my mind about whether or not I should sell my wedding dress. Right now, it's folded and sitting on the bottom of my closet...not where it should be! I am torn between getting it cleaned and preserved and saving it...or cleaning it and trying to sell it. I did some research yesterday and called a local (what I thought was) a little bit higher class consignment store. I always drive by and they always have wedding dresses in their windows. Well, I was informed of their crappy policy, which is:
1. They choose the price that the dress will be put on sale for.
2. You will receive payment if the dress sells up to 6 months from the "put on sale" date. Even if the dress sells the second you walk out the door, you still get your check in 6 months.
3. Dresses "rarely if ever" (direct quote from lady on the phone) sell for more than $200/$300 and after that, I would walk away with 50%. So, the most I would get is $150?! Come on!!!

Honestly, I know that I can't put a price on the memories that this dress has for me, so it would be difficult for me to try to price it, but I know that I couldn't just let it go for that amount of money! Not only because I paid WAY more than that, but it's a beautiful dress!

Brian and I have talked about it and he thinks that I should do whatever I want to do. He said it's my dress and it's my decision. And I even got so far last night as to download pics of the dress for Craig's List last night, but when it came time to posting the listing, I couldn't do it. This is obviously something that I need to think hard and long about. I am usually the type that gets an idea and has to do it right away...but this time, it's different. Once that dress is gone, it's gone. But at the same time, I could hold onto it for years and years with it just taking up space and then never getting around to doing anything with it!

So, the questions remains...to sell or not to sell?! We'll see what I decide!

Auntie x 3 !!! :)

I thought since Holly posted the BIG news on her blog, that it was safe for me to post the news on mine :) As can be seen from my title, I am going to be an auntie again for the third time! SO exciting!!! And to think...Holly was pregnant at our wedding and just didn't know it yet! It's amazing how time flies...it seems like just yesterday, Bryson was being born into our family! And now we have Mason who is 13 months old and another little Hebert on the way! YAY!!!
I pray that Holly is able to feel better soon. The poor girl has been dealing with a lot of morning sickness and dehydration :( Thankfully, she has my brother and a lot of great friends to take care of Bryson so that she is able to get the rest and relaxation that she needs and deserves!

Happy Labor Day?!

I haven't decided yet if I like Labor Day or not. Sure, I only had to work 3 hours this morning, which gave me time to start on my organization kick...and yeah, it's beautiful outside and I felt stress free today. However, Labor Day signals the end of summer. School buses will start popping up soon...kids are back to school...which can only mean fall is right around the corner. While I like fall, I like everything that this summer had to bring. So, maybe I am only undecided about how I feel about this Labor Day because it signals the end of the best summer ever...

So, as I wrote about yesterday, I am in the midst of getting our home organized. I got a great start today and Brian's parents (or should I say, my in-laws) set a date of the 13th for their yard sale, so that made me more motivated than before to declutter! How exactly do 2 people accumulate so much "stuff"?! I made a rule for myself before I started that if I hadn't seen something for the past year, then it was either going into the trash or going into a box for the yard sale. Well, let me tell you, I musn't go into my basement or my craft room closet very often because I was able to dispose of many things! So much that it filled a large black garbage bag (I am working on a second!) and 4 boxes for the yard sale. Not just any boxes either...one housed our microwave when we bought it! And 3 others were decent size. Most of the majority is from the wedding. I kept 1 or 2 of everything I had purchased for decorations and decided to part with the rest. So, now the men with the new washer and dryer will be able to have a clear path to follow to install my new "babies"! and we will now be able to open the craft room closet without the fear of "falling debris"! The next step will be to just tidy up the craft room one last time and tidy up the living room from bringing things I wanted to keep from the basement...and I think we're in good shape. Now, let's just see how long things will stay this way!

Determined to organize!

Due to the fact that we were busy planning a wedding for the past 8 months, and more so the past month or so, other parts of our life were put on hold for a little bit. Once the wedding buzz was over with, I was able to sit back and see things for what they were and I noticed a commonality...unorganization! It was (and still is!) driving my nuts and I am determined to get organization back in my life! I started last week with my craft room. This once safe haven looked like a tornado had hit it...hard! I am lucky enough to be able to work on craft projects at my day job, so I would pack wedding stuff up, complete projects at work, and then bring the bags back home and dump them into the craft room. Since the room is upstairs, Brian and I are really the only ones that see it. However, I was realizing that looking for something was taking a lot longer than it usually did. And I found myself not even wanting to step foot in the room because of the craziness of it. So, when Brian went to work last Saturday night, I spent hours cleaning the room, organizing it again, and even finding things to throw away and put aside to sell in an upcoming yard sale. phew...I felt better!
Then while cleaning my "Purely Pomegranite" craft space, I came across many items that I had purchased over time for projects that I intended on putting together. I ended up organizing all of these items into bags for the project it went with and even started completing some of these projects! My Italy album is almost complete...Mason's 1st birthday album is finished...a scrapbook of Ollie and Sophie is finished...and I was even able to put together a little album for myself of my nephews! Fabulous! Now to tackle the larger ones such as the wedding, bridal shower, and then Disney!
Another BIG accomplishment that I am proud of is the purchase of a new washer and dryer this weekend! I have been asking Brian for awhile if we could get a larger washer and dryer, so that it could cut the loads of laundry down, while saving water and energy at the same time. We looked here and there, but nothing really jumped out at us. It helped us a lot that we received a good amount of money for gifts from friends and family from the wedding, so we took a trip to Home Depot yesterday and purchased a set! Thursday is going to be a fabulous day since that is when they will be delivered! It's everything I could have hoped for! Front loading...very large...and a great price! Who knew that I could ever get excited over purchasing a new washer and dryer?!
So, while getting organized is a lot of work and the house will probably get messier before it gets cleaner during the process, I know that it will be a great sense of accomplishment when things get back to normal. And hey, if our "trash" can become someone else's treasure at the yard sale, then making some extra cash doesn't hurt either!

Hello, my name is Mrs. Soucy!

It has been several weeks since I last posted. I needed time to relax and take a break after the wedding was over, so I just sat back and did just that!
I know you are all dying to know how the wedding went! hehe...
The wedding day was the most amazing day of my life. It went better than I have envisioned it in my head and I think everyone had a really good time. Even though it started pouring on us when we started taking pictures (apparently, rain is good luck!), we still pulled through and took pictures in the rain. Our wedding party was awesome and was so agreeable with whatever Brian and I wanted them to do. I seriously could not have picked better people to be in the wedding party. I had read so many horror stories on my wedding website theknot.com about how some people had bad experiences with maids of honors, bridesmaids, and such. But honestly, we had no drama...everyone got along...everyone was helpful above and beyond what was expected of them...and I am closer to everyone now than before the wedding, which is a great feeling.
Everyone keeps asking me what it's like to be married. Honestly, I can't say that much has changed between Brian and I. Him and I have always been close, so I guess we have gotten closer since tying the knot, but I don't feel any different. Maybe it hasn't really hit me yet. Seeing as we just got our marriage certificate last week and I have started the process of changing my name, so maybe I will feel it soon (whatever it is I'm supposed to feel!).

And where are we going on our honeymoon you ask? We took a long weekend in Maine the weekend after the wedding, which was soooo nice! Brian works nights and I work days, so we rarely have time together, so to have that time was priceless. It was so peaceful and our hotel was beautiful...right on the water and so quiet. We had no real plans, but had a great time. Our "real" honeymoon is coming up in a couple of weeks. We are headed to Disney World, which we are really looking forward to! And then after all of this fun stuff is done, I will have time to scrapbook it all, which will be lots of fun! I have already started buying some stuff for my projects and hope to get started on some of them soon! My first project I want to do is my trip to Italy, which was last summer! That's how busy I have been! I haven't even scrapped something that happened last year!

So, that's the update. Nothing too exciting. Just trying to get back into "normal" life. Work is busy and I am enjoying free time and no wedding planning! Ciao :)

A moment's rest...but not for long!

2 days, 2 days, 2 days! I can't believe that the day is almost here! It's surreal. I don't know if it's really hit me yet...despite everything coming together, it still doesn't seem like something that I have wanted for so long, could finally be happening. I think I might need to pinch myself a few times to make sure this is all happening and it's not just a dream!
I am so glad that I only worked Monday and Tuesday this week! Those 2 days were enough for me and trying to juggle work and all of the last minute wedding stuff was driving me crazy! I was more stressed than I should have been and wasn't feeling good! Today went better. I am exhausted right now and haven't stopped all day, but it's nice to sit on my butt for a minute and relax. However, it's already 10pm and I still have plenty that needs to be done before bed.
I keep reminding myself that as stressful as some of these days have been in the past 8 months of our engagement, everything is going to be worth it on Friday because I am marrying my best friend. Many people spend their whole lives looking for "the one"...I was lucky enough to find him in 7th grade and to reconnect with him after some time apart.
I'm off to do more stuff...I know I will be sleeping good tonight!!!