Hitched...Or At Least Getting There

If you are reading this before 10 a.m. Central Time then we are currently running around doing all of the last minute readying and dressing.

If you are reading this after 10 a.m. then we are either gettin' hitched or we've already been there, done that.

Either way this is the day!

Yay!!!

I hope you are sending lots of good wishes and love our way. 

We may not officially be going on a honeymoon, but I am definitely taking some time away from the computer.  However, I have something special up my sleeve for y'all.  Starting tomorrow there will be 5 days of wonderful guest posts from a few of my favorite married ladies.  Each time one of these wonderful posts landed in my inbox it felt like opening a present.   A huge thanks to each of these very special bloggers for making this time in my life that much more wonderful.  

Just in case curiosity is getting the best of you, I'll let you in on who will be posting this week...

Nell from Casual Friday Everyday

Holly from Tropic of Mom

Leigh from Marvelous Kiddo

 

Dera from Casablanca

And,

Erin from It's Your Movie

These gals rank as some of my all time favorite bloggers, so you should definitely click the links and make new friends (or visit old ones). 
Enjoy your week!  

Preparing The Munchkin For The Big Move

So, I have zero practice at preparing munchkins for large life changes, and quite obviously we are about to hit a major one...in 10 days to be exact...Yikes! Is it really only 10 days? Hmmm. Despite my lack of skill in this area, I'm still making a few fumbling efforts at helping Levi get acquainted to the idea of a rather new life. Not only will there be an extra person living with us, we'll also be moving 45 minutes from my parents. I'm bracing myself for the first morning when we wake up and can't go to Nanno and Baw-Baw's house.

As far as preparations go here's the list:

~ We take Levi over to the new house often...granted he calls it "Tevens house" which means he doesn't get that it will soon be our house. In case you need a translation "Teven" is Stephan.

~ We've moved some of his toys over there so that despite all the renovations it might have some feeling of home (or at least fun).

~ We take Levi to the house frequently for naps, so he can adjust to sleeping in a new place.

~ We've also been taking him to some of the spots we'll soon be frequenting...like the grocery store and nearby playground. Did I just say grocery store and nearby playground?!  Oh, I'm going to be so spoiled.


~ I tried talking to him about it, but that totally went over his head. He didn't get upset, but it was obvious that he had no idea what I was jabbering on about.

~ For post wedding, we've decided to postpone the honeymoon.  Stephan is taking off the week after we get hitched.  We toyed with the idea of going away for a couple of days.  We even considered taking more of a family vacation than a honeymoon, but in the end we decided that it would be best to just stick around and adjust to being a family. 

I had planned on having more of our stuff moved, so the place would gain a familiar feel.  But, things are going a little slower than anticipated.  Stephan's trying really hard to get the popcorn ceilings scraped and all of the ceiling debris cleaned up before we  move stuff in.  But, as is typical with renovations, there have been setbacks.  It should be done by the wedding which puts us at moving stuff the week after.  Sigh.  At least we'll get to visit Nanno and Baw-Baw a lot that week.  There's always a sunny side, huh?

Any suggestions from you seasoned and even not so seasoned vets?  How would you prepare your kiddos for a whole new life?

As If There Weren't Enough Reasons To Love Him

Have I mentioned he's handy?

 

 

He bought us a house, and...well...hmmm...it needs some work.  Structurally it's great.  Cosmetically it's pretty bad.  Icky, icky wallpaper.  Ancient carpets.  Horrible linoleum floors.  Countertops that really must go.  And cabinets that are in desperate need of some paint and new hardware.  And, the yard is straight out of Sleeping Beauty.  A pair of clippers (possibly a chainsaw) are in order. 

Despite all of this, I love it. Is that strange?  I mean, in my head I see the house we're turning it into. Admittedly, this love might change once I actually move in.  I'm sure the reality of living in an unfinished house with a two year old is going to be a bit rough.  Luckily, though, I think Stephan makes a pretty cute handy man...I'm convinced that will make up for having to look at tarps and painter's tape all day. 

So, You Wanna Know The Details?

For those inquiring minds who have been patiently waiting to find out all the details on how Stephan and I met.  Well, here it is.  Sorry for having left y'all hanging there.

My apologies for reusing this pic.  We still don't have any others.  Crazy I know!

It turns out that Stephan lived just down the road from me for 2 years before we met.  Our families knew each other.  His aunt, cousin, and grandmother are all members of my church.  His uncle used to cut our hay.  We even have friends in common.  We live in one very tiny town.  Despite all of this we had never met...until one fateful day. 
On that day, some friends invited my whole family over for a dinner party.  It was going to interfere a little with Levi's bedtime, so I almost stayed home.  I think it was my sister who convinced me to go and reminded me that we could just leave if Levi was unhappy.  So, off we went. 
Levi spent most of the party playing with my mom and our friends' children.  I spent the first part of the evening avoiding eye contact with Stephan who was definitely trying to make eye contact.  He was persistent though, and eventually struck up a conversation with me.  We chatted the rest of the evening. (Before you start thinking he's after married women.  I quit wearing a wedding ring shortly after Levi was born.  The poor guy didn't have a clue.)
Since I was in the midst of a divorce, I certainly wasn't looking for anyone.  As we were talking, I kept thinking that I should tell this guy that I'm not available, but how does one squeeze that into small talk with a stranger?  I had never been in this situation.  It was quite a relief when the party broke up, and we went our separate ways without him asking for my number. 
But, the next day, I got a Facebook friend request.  About a nanosecond later, Stephan messaged me asking for a date.  I sent him a message back, explaining the situation, and thought that would put the quietus on it.  I honestly didn't even expect a response, but Stephan sent one anyway.  It was really sweet.  He said that he was sorry to hear about what I was going through, and he'd like to be friends with me if that was okay.  So, friends we became. 
We pretty much had the strangest courtship ever...it was spent nearly entirely with my parents and on the phone.  Stephan started coming over to visit once a week.  Soon he started visiting every chance he got.  And, oh, my, the phone calls!  I'm pretty sure we deserve some kind of record for the number of hours spent on the phone.   But, for us, that turned out to be wonderful.  We didn't really have normal dating concerns, so we were able to develop a solid friendship.  However, it didn't take us too terribly long to figure out that this was definitely destined to be something beyond friendship.  Stephan was more than willing to wait for me however long it took which pretty much melted me into a big ole' puddle.  By the time I was divorced we knew that we wanted to get married.  Heck, Stephan had already bought a house with that in mind...sneaky little me got to pick it out too.  ;)
So, here we are...gettin' hitched, remodeling a house, and starting a brand new adventure together.  It all just makes me go "Sigh."...in a very, very good way.

So, now it's your turn.  I'd like to know how you met your significant other.  Seriously...do tell!  If you post your story on your blog let me know and I'll link to you here. 

The Shiny Side

I have a little surprise up my sleeve.
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You wanna know what it is?
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Drum roll please...
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Are you ready for it?  ; )
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You sure?
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Alrighty then
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This Barefoot Mama's gettin' hitched!!!

I told you it was a surprise.  He's kinda cute...huh?  To top it off he's my best friend, and he happens to be the sweetest guy on the face of this planet....in my not so humble opinion.

To answer possible questions...no, we didn't just meet yesterday...and no, he's not the reason for this.  I promise.  I'm not that kind of girl.  We met over the course of my ridiculously lengthy divorce...which at the time was inconvenient and annoying.  But, in retrospect it's got God's fingerprints all over it.  Meeting that way and only being able to be friends actually allowed us to become best friends.  Funny how things work out.

You wanna know the coolest part?  Levi thinks he hung the stinkin' moon.  Those two fellas could start their own mutual admiration society.  Which is a good thing, because no matter how swank I think he is, he wasn't going to make the cut without Levi's wholehearted approval.

Oh...what's that?...you wanna know his name?  :)  It's Stephan.  Although, most people (except me for some odd reason) call him Steve.  Someday, I might be converted...we'll see.

We're tying the knot February 13 in my parents' back yard.  Sorry to disappoint though...it won't be a full on barefoot wedding because...um...Mississippi is cold in February.  People are probably going to be ready to slap me for having the shindig in the backyard in the first place.  But, I'm aiming for small, relaxed, and personal...the backyard fits.

P.S. Sorry about the not so fabulous photos.  I tried to get some over Christmas, but we just weren't managing photogenic...or even close.

P.P.S. One day in the near future, I'll actually sit down and write a post about how we met.  So, inquiring minds can know.