1.89 ?!?

So let me start out by saying that I am loving gas prices. I don't remember them being this low since college! I filled my tank today from "Holy s@$t I'm not going to make it to the gas station" low to fuller than full and it cost me under $25! With gas a 1.89/gallon I can't go wrong. Not to mention that a tank of gas can last me for about ten years now because I have about a 2 mile commute to work, I'm golden...

And in other (less exaggerated) news, I am currently defrosting after a pretty intense faculty football game. At our high school today we had a bunch of homecoming activities. The kiddos sold some food in the commons as a fundraiser for various clubs and sports and then that's followed by the faculty football game and the powder puff game. The faculty game is against our neighbor town rival, East Haven. When I agreed to play I knew that it could get rough, but I'm a toughie. I had so much fun! I got hit a few times and got in some cheap hits on the other team too! What I wasn't expected was the amount of kids that stayed to watch their teachers attempt to be athletic! The bleachers were about half full, but when I say half full I mean very half full. The kids were all close together and sardined in there. So cool! It was a lot of fun and a great way for the newbie teacher to get to know some people and to have some fun. Now I'm just eagerly awaiting turkey day and getting to see the whole family. Wooh!

Phew

Finally a bright spot in this whole wedding planning debacle! I booked my photographer the other day. She's this crazy lady that I absolutely love. Turns out that she changed her packages too (but don't worry, they'll still honor the old packages unlike some other stupid place..::cough::hawthorne::cough). They are now offering an unlimited package where they'd be with us alllll day for only $200 more. That package originally eliminated the photo album, but when I sent an email to ask about it they agreed to toss it in free of charge if I upgraded to the unlimited package. Kind of cool! LaViera Photography has saved me from going crazy. We also booked the florist...awesome little place called the garden path in southington. The lady was so sweet and good at what she does, so that's officially all squared away. Now the only thing I'm lacking is someone to marry me. I emailed another minister to see if she was available and she wasn't but in her email she said, "don't worry, god will provide." So simple, yet such a profound thought. I always struggle for control. I like to know what's going to happen and to plan for anything in the future. If there's anything that I'm learning from this its that you can't plan for everything and that sometimes you need to just have faith that things will work out and go from there. That's not to say that I'm going to sit back and hope something falls in my lap, but it's at least comforting to know that what's meant to be will be. And if we made it through 8 (almost 9) years of dating, four of which were long distance, I'd say this is meant to be...

Ever feel like screaming?

I do! I jumped onto my email today after work to check some emails and lo and behold there's an email from the church in which I am supposed to be getting married saying that they can't marry me anymore. What the hell (or heaven)! If I wasn't so sure of the fact that I'm supposed to be marrying Keith I would think that someone up there was conspiring against us. I'm not sure where to turn from now. There's a possibility that an outside minister could possibly marry us at the church, but that will cost a lot of money...more money than I'd like to spend. Our other option is to get married outside by a JP at La Mirage. According to Farmer's Almanac the weather looks good (I know, superstitious, silly). Here's my thoughts...getting married in the church started out being very important to me. At this point, its looking less and less important. I've always been a firm believer that you can communicate with God anywhere and that you can be spiritual without being in church. If I were to get married outside of the church it isn't like I wouldn't be making a commitment in front of my family, friends, and God. He's gotta be able to see me no matter where I am, right? We'll see where this path takes us and hopefully I can get this squared away soon considering that I need to order invitations soon!

A quick observation

So I went to the gym today and it was very crowded. There were virtually no parking spaces left in the parking lot except ones that were far away. Not a big deal for me...after all I am going to the gym to get some exercise...walking a bit can't hurt, right? I'm walking in and I notice that there were at least 5 cars that were illegally parked either on the grass near the door or had made their own parking spaces to be closer to the door. Now, I know it was a bit chilly today, but really? Is it that necessary to save yourself a few steps when you're going to go plunk yourself on the treadmill anyways? Silly people.

On the wedding front I have officially picked out bridesmaids dresses....and changed my colors (again!). We're now going with a deep purple color....and the dresses are stunning. We all went to Davids Bridal the other day (minus A because she's in NH and I didn't want to inconvenience her too much) and picked out the dresses and everyone like the same one. So things are turning out a bit different than I imagined, but still working out awesome. An I'm officially the queen of indecision...no doubt about that.

And a catch-up on the housing situation. It's the end of October and I'm STILL AT THE CAMPGROUND!!! We had found that place in Cheshire only to move in and find it to be incredibly loud. I could hear the guy next door go to the bathroom! Gross! Needless to say, we moved out (and sacrificed our security deposit...crapola!) and found a new place in North Branford. We move in there at the end of the month and whether that's good or bad, we'll be there...because we have no where else to be :) No really, it'll be awesome and I know that Keith's happy because there's a man room downstairs that's already wired for surround sound. Anyhoo, I'll post some pics next time when I finally have a real roof that is non-mobile over my head...bye!

Home is Where the Heart Is....

...or at least I sure hope so! Considering that my physical home will be changing yet again this coming weekend, I'm realizing that home really is wherever Keith and I are. We made a wondeful home for ourselves in NH, and although our family wasn't there we have a wonderful "family" of friends that made NH feel like home. This summer, the campground has been home. The people here have been wonderful and it has been one of the best summers that I can remember having. This weekend Keith and I will move to Cheshire into a little townhouse (which is really cute) and that's more convenient to work for both Keith and I. Not to mention, it isn't a camper and has more than one floor...wooh! As soon as we're all set up I'll post some pictures here and of course visitors are always welcome!!!! We'll have plenty of floor space in which to throw some air mattresses and a spare bedroom, too! (Do you get the hint?). In other news, we officially sent out our save the dates to most of our guests for the wedding. Pretty exciting...hopefully people will find this blog through those (Hi!) and I'm sure I'll have more interesting things to post about soon...promise.

A quick catch up

So last time I spoke with you all I was just starting at Branford. Things have gotten into full swing and there definately have been some adjustments, but it's going well. A few thoughts:

• 8 period days are strange! I have been used to block scheduling (3 90-min. classes that meet for half a year). Now I teach 5 50-min classes a day plus have a duty. I have been exhausted! But I'm getting used to it and am starting to feel like I can actually teach something in 50 minutes.
• CT pays their teachers really well...enough said!
• The kids do really well with free time. When they have open periods they can pretty much go where they'd like. You would think this would lead to chaos, but no one really misbehaves terribly.
• I work with some really amazing, younger-ish teachers. Not that I haven't before, but Branford is strange. I think that 75% of the staff is under the age of 35. Seriously. And we are all in one staff room and they all actually collaborate and work together. Really neat atmosphere.
• These same colleagues LOVE HAPPY HOUR! I think someone goes every day of the week and if you don't go on Fridays then you're a loser.
• But despite all of this, I miss Nashua! I miss having people know who I am and having kids come by and poke their heads in. I miss my friends from Nashua and hearing their stories and having them know things about me and having adjacent classroom buddies (my rooms don't connect to anyone).

In other news, Keith officially started his new job today. He's working at a company in Chesire as a software support technician. We'll see how he likes it, but for now I think he's just depressed that he's back at work. I plan to make him a yummy dinner to celebrate/cheer him up. Speaking of which...gotta get to that....

Coming together

I feel like things with the wedding are finally starting to come together. After a lovely little church debacle (which I won't even start to get into because its long and boring) it looks like we'll be able to be married in the other congregational church in town. It isn't the church that I was confirmed at, but it is a church that I have been to considerably (my brother was confirmed there). And to be honest, I've always liked their services a wee bit better (that may be sacrilegious or something but oh well). We got our save the dates in the mail yesterday! So exciting.....no going back now. We also found a friend's dad from NH to be our DJ. He's a great guy and acquainted with both Keith and I. In fact, we've watched quite a few soccer games together as his son and keith have played together all the way through college. So that'll be nice. We found a photographer we like...now the only major things that are left are bridesmaids dresses and a florist. Nice!

In other news, I officially have to start school next week! I have orientation and then the week after next I'll be really really starting. Kind of overwhelmed about that, but I'll post more when I have more to talk about. About the only new development on that front is that I met the new chemistry teacher. She's nice, but she's no Allison....

Campground living is still going wonderfully. We had a nice weekend here this weekend with all of the old campground folks around. We did some campfire drinking, played some cards, and just relaxed. We floated in the river for a good chunk of time on Sunday which is the ultimate lazy sunday activity. It pretty much involves tossing a tube in the river, tying yourself to an anchor so you don't get swept away, and closing your eyes. Heavenly! We're looking forward to a trip to NH this weekend for a wedding and possibly a brief trip to winnipesauke...more later.