Yay for fall!!!

So, I guess I have some news since last time I posted....

I'M NOW A MARRIED WOMAN!!!! :) Matt and I got married about three weeks ago, on September 24, at Sleepy Hollow Inn in Asheville, NC. We had a beautiful wedding, it was the most perfect day ever, and everything went off without a hitch...well...I suppose the only thing that went wrong was my family not being able to find us at Mt. Mitchell for the rehearsal dinner the night before...but...other than that, all went well. My mom, best friend/matron of honor and myself, all drank champagne while the hair and makeup ladies came to Sleepy Hollow to get us all beautiful for the big day. Our wedding coordinator took care of EVERYTHING, including getting our plates ready for us at the reception, along with having beers ready for us as soon as we got to the reception. The pictures were perfect, everything about it was perfect. I would highly recommend it to anybody getting married. I also LOVED getting to spend time with our families and close friends, and had a great Bachelorette party a couple nights before the wedding, which included lots of karaoke and an 80s theme. I also love, love, LOVED getting to see my sweet, sweet niece, Lydia who is now 6 months old. She has gotten SO big, and is absolutely the sweetest, most amazingly perfect little baby. She was an absolute ANGEL during the entire ceremony, and I loved getting to cuddle with her the morning of my wedding. I just wish I got to see her more often.

I'm currently in the process of legally/officially changing everything over to my new name, Jones. It's changed with the social security office, my bank, car insurance, and credit card, just have to get my new driver's license and a few more things then I should be good to go. I'm almost there!!

And to mark this transition in my life, I thought it would be fun to do a second blog (one that hopefully will get updated more regularly than this one) chronicling our newlywed days. We are going on our honeymoon to Savannah in less than two weeks, I am sure I will have a ton to post after the honeymoon!

Blessings to all!

Happy 4th of July!

I suppose that since the last time I updated this blog was in April, it's about time to update it!
First off, I just wanted to wish everybody a very safe and healthy 4th of July. I hope everybody had an amazing holiday weekend :)

Let's start with May...other than attending my ten year (holy crap, really?!?!) high school reunion, the only other thing of significant importance was that Matt moved in with me! Very exciting NOT to have to drive to Wilmington a couple of times a month now. I also took care of getting licenses for counseling board and substance abuse board taken care of.

June seemed to just FLY by! We celebrated Matt's 32nd birthday in June. Also in June, we spent a day hiking at Pilot Mountain State Park, and the last weekend of June, took a day trip to Hanging Rock State Park to go hiking. It is SO very nice having both of these state parks in such close proximity!

On a completely unrelated note, I am continuing my workouts with my trainer, and to date, have lost 4% body fat, about 10 inches, and 8 pounds. It is amazing the stamina I feel when I'm training with her, or hiking, for that matter. I'm able to tackle difficult hikes without getting winded like I used to. Also, I'm beginning to notice muscles that I didn't know I had! Just the other day, I was in a Zumba class and noticed that my legs are beginning to show cut and definition....who knew?! So that has been a very exciting part of my journey, thus far.

Another exciting thing, is I've decided to sell Avon on the side. So far, it has been about a month and I have not had any sales...BUT then again, I knew this would be a slow, gradual thing for me. It may be another couple of months before I can really get into it, as I'm also wedding planning right now. At this point in my life, I don't have that much time/energy to focus on putting everything into this, I'm going to do it slowly, by baby steps. If nothing else, I will be able to order things for myself or gifts for family/friends at discounted prices, so you can't beat that. I just thought it would be fun to try my hand at something new...we'll see.

Matt and I went camping this past weekend at Stone Mountain State Park. It was our first camping trip together, and also Coleman's first camping trip EVER! Coleman did great, but is very tired right now. I'd never been to Stone Mountain, and decided to check it out on recommendation of a sorority sister, actually :) We did three hikes, and spent two nights there. My only advice if you camp there: try to avoid loop C. That's where we camped, and there was no trees or shade. It was very hot, and we didn't have a canopy to provide some shade...lesson learned on that one :) Other than that, we had a blast, and have decided we are going to camp as much as possible...even if it's just for a night here and there. Of course we have other things we enjoy doing, but it's cool that we are now starting to get in the groove of having "our thing"--which is hiking and camping :)

Other than that, just wedding planning. We are only 81 days out, ahhh!!! :) Anyways, hope you enjoyed my ramblings, and I hope that everybody has a blessed 4th. Stay safe, and always remember to be thankful for our freedom!:)

Spring update

So I thought it might be time to update this blog, since I haven't done it in a while. Life has been pretty darn busy for the past two months, and I'm finally starting to feel more and more settled in, with my new city and the new job everyday.

I am loving my job!!! It's been a lot to learn, but I didn't even know it was possible to enjoy your job this much. The people I work with are truly awesome, and I know that I'm supported and encouraged there. I actually get feedback about the good things that I am doing, so that's really exciting. I haven't been in a job like that in a long time!! I laugh every single day. I'm staying productive, and trying to really set the precedent and stay on top of my caseload, even doing things ahead of time if possible. I'm not sure it'll always be like this, but that's what I am striving for, anyways :) I truly believe in what I'm doing, and feel as if I'm making a difference, and I can't begin to tell you how nice that is. I love having my own office, and I love being able to leave work at work when it's time to go home.

I have to say that I think this is a big learning and growing experience for me, as well. My confidence is getting much better, especially as I've never really had to lead groups before, so group counseling is a new experience for me. I'm beginning to slowly but surely, feel more confident in myself and more assertive in leading. I'm also going to be switching my LPC track to LPC-A (licensed professional counselor associate) which is an ACTUAL license, but it just has slightly different qualifications. In addition to that, I'm working on getting my LCAS (licensed clinical addiction specialist), so this is a really exciting step for me in my career :)

I also have to say that I absolutely have fallen in LOVE with Winston-Salem. To me, it's a larger city, that doesn't quite FEEL so large. It's easy to get around in, and most places only take about 15 minutes to get to. I love the character of this city, and I love the hustle and bustle of downtown Winston during the day (I work downtown and go for walks sometimes during lunch), as well as the energy of people dining outside on the patios at the many restaurants that are downtown. I'm looking forward to eventually developing more of a social life here (I'd love to join up with a bowling league here, as well as joining the Winston Zeta alum chapter), but I think I'm just enjoying all the new changes for right now.

Oh, and most of you probably know this, but about a month ago, I joined the Rush (a gym that's big in the triad area) and decided to try personal training. I'm not going to lie, it is expensive and I know that I will be wincing a bit for the next two months when it's taken out of my checking account, however, I do think that investing in my health is worth it. So far, I have lost  four pounds, 2% body fat, and about 3 inches (something like that). I didn't do my training session this week due to my trainer being out of town, but I can't wait to measure again soon :) I feel my belly getting much smaller, and even got a compliment from a friend at work today, so I know that I'm making great progress! I feel great, and even though it is hard to make myself go to the gym sometimes, I'm glad that I take the time to change, get in my car, and make that trip to the gym on a regular basis.

Anyways, just thought I'd do a quick post since it's been almost two months since I've posted on here!!!

Greetings from Winston-Salem

Well, I am finally all moved in and (mostly) settled into my new apartment in Winston-Salem. Matt and his two brothers helped me move in last Saturday.I can honestly say, with the exception of NOT getting the 24' truck that I specifically requested in my order placed three days in advance, the move went smoothly. Matt calmed me down, which was good, because the guy at the truck rental place was rude and kept telling me I "didn't need" the largest truck that they had. Regardless, Matt made it fit. I think I lucked out because I didn't actually MOVE any of the furniture or boxes in the truck because I had to keep an eye on Coleman.

So after we got all moved in, we went back to Wilmington (truck was one-way). Matt and I got our engagement pictures done by a friend on Tuesday, and even though it was cold and windy, I thought they turned out pretty great!! I'd like to get some "professional" ones in Winston, but I might wait a couple of months for that.

I came back to Winston on Wednesday, and have spent the past few days unpacking, getting settled, and buying essentials (such as groceries). I have a rather lofty goal of eating out as little as possible, and cooking dinner and packing my lunch for work on a regular basis. It shouldn't be that hard, since I'm just by myself right now, and can use leftovers, too. I'm excited that there's an Aldi's only about two miles from my apartment--I got a ton of stuff there for under $200! :) While I did have to go to Food Lion to pick up a few other things, I was happy that I could get my kitchen pretty fully stocked relatively inexpensively. Since the only apartment I've lived in was a townhouse, I was a bit unsure as to how I would like "apartment living." Surprisingly, even though I am very close to Wake Forest, it is relatively quiet here. I have now spent a Friday and a Saturday night here, and I hardly hear anything. There are 10 miles of trails which start behind my apartment and connect to trails across the street. Coleman and I have explored them a little bit, and he seems to like them! I've had confirmation from a couple friends in the area that I'm in a good area. And to confirm it, there are several large, expensive houses off of the Bethabara Trail that runs to my apartment. I like that there's a library, and a Dollar Tree about a minute or two up the road from here. I also like that there's a Family Dollar, Target, Aldi's only a few miles away. I'm only a fifteen minute drive to work. I'm only a few minutes away from my friend, Katie. I'm even close to the Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda House, which I plan on checking out at some point. Also, apparently there is a historic park at Bethabara where the Moravians settled. Should be fun checking out sometime soon. Hopefully the weather will be warm tomorrow (supposed to be 72), so I can take Coleman to Pilot Mountain tomorrow!!:)

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

Happy belated Valentine's Day!! I hope that everybody had the most awesome day EVER. I know I did. Matt came home from work and class with a dozen red roses, and a sweet card (ironically, the card that I myself ALMOST bought him!!). We went out for a nice Italian dinner, and had a nice romantic night ;)

Unfortunately, between the Italian sampler, the large class of sangria, and some Riesling I had last night, I think I put a pound on just yesterday :( That's my frustration lately. I have been eating smaller, more frequent meals, and eating small snacks too throughout the day. When it is warm enough, I've been taking my dog on walks for about an hour or so. I did lose the couple of pounds I had put back on, and now I gained another pound! It seems to do that for some reason....I lose a few pounds, gain one or two back, lose one, and then gain another! I am going to go with the assumption that my unhealthy eating last night, along with the alcohol helped me put a pound back on, and hopefully I'll be able to take it back off. I am not necessarily at an "unhealthy" weight at 130, but I'd like to lose between 5-10 pounds. I would love it if I could be 120 lbs again. Although I do have to say, I have been feeling more energized lately since I've been getting more exercise, and trying to create healthier eating habits.

On a HAPPY note....I finally found a place to live!! After spending two Fridays driving to Winston-Salem, going all around looking at houses, apartments and condos, and then driving BACK to Wilmington....we found a place!!! It's just an apartment, however, it's 2br/2ba has a HUGE walk-in master closet, and is a little over 1000 sq ft. The rent is cheap (they're doing a special for $575), so that would help us to save money for other things (such as a honeymoon or renting/buying a nice house), and there are 10 miles of hiking trails behind the apartments, which will be super great for Coleman. We got everything approved yesterday, so now I just need to mail in the deposit and the pet deposit, and I will be signing the lease and moving in on Saturday! I'm so excited, I can't wait! It will feel SO good to FINALLY have my own place again!!!

Creating healthy habits

I guess it's been awhile since I've last posted. I've been keeping myself pretty busy here. I had some good news....I lost four pounds...yay me! Sadly, due to slacking off a few days in the food journal, exercise, etc, I've gained back a couple of those pounds...which I have to say, is frustrating. I was JUST bragging on facebook about how I'm starting to take off the pounds. However, I can't let myself become frustrated or discouraged, I've gotta keep moving forward. I think part of the reason I've put a couple of the pounds BACK on is not getting enough fiber in my diet. Not only that, Matt and I spent an ENTIRE day (from a little before 7am until about 12:30am the next day) driving around Winston-Salem looking at houses, which meant an ENTIRE day of eating fast food. Yuck. I used to LOVE eating fast food, but I'm finding that it's starting to disgust me somewhat when I DO eat it. It makes me feel lethargic and drained.

I read in a magazine recently it takes 66 days for something to become habit...so that's what I'm working on. I've been using the treadmill in Matt's apartment complex, as well as my Zumba Wii workouts, and when the weather's nice out, I've been trying to take advantage of that by taking Coleman for long walks. One habit I'm trying to create is to aim for at least 30 minutes of daily exercise, if not every single day, at least on MOST days. I feel better when I do that.

My second habit I'm going to try to work on is eating healthier, eating breakfast EVERY day, and eating several small meals throughout the day, with lots of fiber and protein to keep me going. I've realized that lately, I've gotten in the habit of skipping breakfast, not eating much for lunch, and then eating a large dinner. By the time dinnertime rolls around, I'm famished. It doesn't help that for the past couple of months, I've more or less been living with Matt (let's just say, my dog and stuff are at my parents' house, however, I'm here everyday and end up sleeping here almost every night, as well), and he doesn't exactly keep healthy food on hand. So today, I took it upon myself to go grocery shopping for HEALTHY foods. I really like Fiber One bars and cereals, and they keep me full in the mornings so I don't have a sugar crash. I also stocked up on hummus, chocolate soymilk, Special K protein shakes, skim milk, Skinny Cow ice cream bars (only 100 calories, woo hoo!!), and bagel thins and sandwich buns, which are thin, only 100 calories, and chock full of protein and fiber. So hopefully, this will be the start of new, healthy habits. I've done an hour of Zumba and Just Dance 2 on the Wii so far today, and I've been eating smaller, more frequent meals.

It's been awhile...

Wow, it's been a couple of weeks! Time for an update, huh?


I went to Greenville, SC a couple of weeks ago for my sister-in-law's baby shower. It was a lot of fun. Since she's due the week of St. Patrick's Day, we all dressed up in green for the shower, and had four leaf clover hats :) It was a lot of fun going out with my parents, brother and sister-in-law, and a lot of their friends for dinner and drinks later. Good times. No idea on the name of baby girl Robinson yet, but I'm super excited. This will be my first time being an aunt, and I can hardly wait!! :) Then, that Sunday, my parents and I drove to Asheville to check out the wedding venue and....we booked it!!!! It is OFFICIALLY set now, September 24, 2011 will be the day that I become a Mrs. :) The place we're getting married at is a really cute bed and breakfast, and the wedding coordinator is super nice and threw in two nights at the carriage house FOR FREE (that's usually like $350 extra!!!)....so I'm pretty stoked about staying in the carriage house with some of my bridesmaids the night before the wedding, and getting ready with my girls there, as well. I'm not quite sure WHERE Matt will stay the night before the wedding...but I'm good to go! haha.

Oh, and today I officially accepted my "contingent" job offer. I will be starting February 28 (thank God). I was supposed to start Valentine's Day, but since I have to find a place to live and move, I'm glad that I was able to get a couple of extra weeks to arrange for that. I suppose I will start looking at houses next week. I'm really pumped about the opportunity to move to the Winston-Salem area! Hopefully Matt and I will be able to buy within the next year or so (that's our goal, anyways. We really don't wanna keep renting for too much longer). Definitely a lot of new, and exciting changes this year...and I can't wait for it.


Other than the upcoming arrival of my niece, starting a new job and moving to a new city, and planning my wedding, the only other major thing in my life has been trying to consistently stay active and be healthy. It's definitely a learning process. I can't WAIT to join a gym again and get back into the gym groove (I love all the different classes!), but so far, Just Dance 2, Gold's Gym Dance Workout, and the new Zumba for Wii have been keeping me motivated to work out just because it's so much FUN to dance and it doesn't seem like work. Although, I came down with a pretty yucky cold this weekend that put me out of commission until yesterday... :(

Keeping the momentum going.

Okay, I had a couple of things I was very excited to share with you, faithful readers. The first is I'm REALLY, REALLY trying to improve my diet, not only to lose weight, but more to be healthier and feel better (have more energy, etc, etc). My dad had high cholesterol, and as I'm approaching 30 (in a couple of years...but STILL), I realize that I need to begin taking my health a LOT more seriously than I have been up to now.

If any of you have kept a food journal, you know just how HARD it is to do. I think I started keeping one four years ago (which helped me to lose 15 or so pounds), but I had a hard time keeping track of it. I'd forget for days at a time, and then be thinking "hmm, what did I eat." And since I'm awful at math, counting all those calories was THE WORST. So a couple of days ago, I was trying to find some kind of free website I could join to keep a food journal, and maybe even exercise journal, and who knows, maybe even tips or motivation to keep up the momentum. I found a wonderful website that I would like to share with you. It's called www.everydayhealth.com, and it's free. Since my goal is to lose 10-15 pounds (I'm not exactly overweight, but I feel I'm slowly getting there--I've definitely put on weight and would like to be able to fit in my wedding dress since it's already altered without having to pay extra to get more taken out), I entered my height, weight, and it gave me a guideline of how many calories to consume daily. I know calorie counting sucks, BUT this nifty tool makes it easy. I think that there database has restaurant dishes, brand names of foods in grocery stores, and if you can't find it on there, you can just take the nutrition label and add the name of the food, serving size, and any nutrition info (though I usually just stick with calories). It adds it all up for you (yay! No math for me!). In addition to that, it keeps a tally of any exercises you do, whether that's running, playing fitness games on the Wii, washing dishes, or cleaning the house. You enter your weight, and how long you were doing a particular exercise for, and it calculates calories burned. It's convenient because there's even a color coded system at the bottom that says whether you are over or under your "calorie budget" for the day. I hope to continue using this tool, as it is proven that people are more likely to lose weight when they keep a food journal. It serves as motivation and lets me know how I'm doing for the day, and what area I need to improve in. I'm also trying to eat more fruits and vegetables, as well as drink more water, and there's even an icon where you click a glass for every 8oz. glass of water consumed for that day.

Another couple of things that I am definitely loving lately are Just Dance 2 for the Wii, as well as Gold's Gym Dance Workout. The Gold's Gym game also has kickboxing, and some "mini games" like matador (I'm not too good at it, Matt is though), bullriding, canoeing, sword fighting, and running. The Latin dances are basically dance moves you'd do in Zumba, and it also counts your calories for you. It seems to be like Wii Fit in that it gives you motivation by giving you "stamps" for every day that you work out, I think that there is a weigh-in option on there as well, I just haven't hooked it up with my balance board just yet. I'm still waiting to get the Zumba game for Wii, I have heard that it is awesome, and I look forward to getting that very soon!!! I've definitely decided that I like a good dance workout though, because it is much more fun, and doesn't feel like exercising.

People pleasing

I wanted to add another New Year's "goal" to the list....and this one is so deeply ingrained in me, that it's going to be hard to work on. This has been something that I have struggled with for years...in fact, I think this is going to not only be a New Year's goal, but a life goal as well.

I am EXHAUSTED with trying to meet other people's expectations, with caring what they think, or generally trying to make others happy 24/7. I don't want to sound selfish. But I think for so long, I have put others' needs and the happiness of others above my own, that maybe I was starting to forget about what MY OWN happiness looks like.

This sentiment of working on my people pleasing is not entirely new, but was definitely brought to my attention tonight by a particularly mean and nasty argument that I got in with somebody who disagrees with my engagement (this person and their relationship to me will remain anonymous to protect privacy!). Instead of a genuine congratulations, I got a "you haven't been dating for even six months!" and "you're rebounding and just desperately want to get married that you don't care to who." Ouch. I was on the verge of telling this person a piece of my mind, and how they would not be welcome at my wedding, but fortunately, Matt stopped me, reminding me that this was a battle I wasn't going to win, and I need to be the bigger person and just let it go. But it's hard to let things like that go.

I've been trying REALLY hard lately, especially since I've recently gotten engaged, to let snarky comments (usually by well meaning family and friends) such as "wow...don't ya think that's kinda fast?" or "already?" or "you're an idiot" roll off my back, but it's been hard. I want for everybody to share in my ecstatic happiness. I want for everybody to realize that I literally glow in a way that I never have before (you can actually see this in pictures with Matt). I've found something that I've never had with another person before. I've been in relationships before, sure, but not with the right person. I have found something far greater than I could ever have imagined for myself.

I'm tired of being judged by the past. Yes, I WAS engaged before. Yes, it ended fairly recently. That previous engagement was a mistake, as I KNEW in my heart of hearts that he was NOT the one for me. Should that engagement have gotten as far as it did? No, in fact, the relationship should have ended a long time before it did. But, it didn't, and I did learn valuable lessons from it. Namely, what I want, and what I'm worth as a person, and as a woman. However, just because I feel I more or less jumped into a previous engagement after 2.5 years with somebody, does not mean that I lack insight or judgment to identify the right person for me.

Yes, I was on match.com.  Yes, this was shortly after breaking off my previous engagement. Yes, I was hoping that I would at least get some dates out of it, and maybe, JUST maybe...EVENTUALLY find "the One." I know that online dating has worked for several of my friends. Did I expect for love to find me again so soon? Absolutely not. Am I glad that it did? You bet your sweet ass I am!  Was I completely surprised and floored when he asked me to marry him? You bet! I honestly thought it would be another few months at least before we had that conversation! However, when he asked, I didn't have a moment of doubt or hesitation. I KNEW that he was the one who was meant for me. With that being said, I don't feel I need to apologize or explain myself or my relationship with anybody, and I'm tired of doing so. Those of you who understand and are TRULY happy for me...thank you. I know that I have found something special, and almost magical with Matt. I've never felt so close to another human being the way I feel with him. He has truly become my best friend, and he is my soul mate and the love of my life. I'm a firm believer that when you "just know"....you JUST KNOW. Whether that be days, weeks, months, or years. I have found somebody who loves me completely and unconditionally JUST as I am, somebody who would bend over backwards for me, is always showing me he loves me by his selfless act...and I could really go on and on, but you get the picture.


And to those who don't, or who question my judgment...well, it's too bad. Because I've just decided to STOP caring what others think. I need to nurture my own happiness, even if others don't like my choices. Because really, what matters in my engagement is that Matt and I are ridiculously happy, both of us are happier than we've been in years. We light each other up. It's just too bad that there are those who can't, or, because of their small minds, or judgmental attitude, refuse to see that.

2011 "Goals" (NOT resolutions!)

Since it is a brand new year, as usual, I have some "goals" for myself. It was brought to my attention that calling them "resolutions" is more setting up for failure, so I'm choosing to call them goals. Maybe if I post them on here, they will be easier to achieve? I certainly hope so, anyways.

1. Stop eating out as much, cook more, eat healthier. About four years ago, I began a very healthy diet, was exercising about 4-5 days a week and I felt AMAZING! It wasn't just the exercise, it was putting HEALTHY food in my body and eating steadily throughout the day (five smaller meals) that kept me going. Unfortunately, when I began working in Gastonia, and constantly had to drive around the county all day, I had no choice but to eat fast food. I didn't get a lunch hour, and I didn't have anywhere to store a lunch. I have plenty of healthy recipes from fitness magazines--the tip is to just work on incorporating it into my routine, and working on my portion size.


2. Exercise!! And by exercise, I mean exercising on a regular basis. I used to work out all the time, eating up the Zumba, step aerobics, kickboxing, and spin classes at the YMCA. Sadly, I have gotten out of the habit of this, and desperately need to jump back on the bandwagon. I've felt particularly drained of energy lately, and not to mention I have packed on a few pounds within the past few months. Hopefully, once I move, I will be able to join the YMCA, and get back in my Zumba classes. I want to walk more. I bought some Fila Fit (which are similar to Sketchers Shape Ups) for $30 last week (they were normally $80--score!!), and I can tell that they make a difference. I also want to get back in my Wii Fit, as well as get the Just Dance 2 for the Wii. I did that the other day with my good friend/sister Krystal and her sons, and we spent about thirty minutes dancing and got a GREAT workout!! I know that I will feel better about myself, have more energy, lose a few pounds, and be able to fit in my wedding dress.

3. Get "financially fit". I am fortunate and blessed to own my car outright, and not have ANY student loans. While I do have some debt, it is fairly manageable in that it is relatively low compared to what most people my age have. I am VERY happy not to have student loans, especially since I was in school for 6.5 years!!! :) However, I would like to have my laptop computer that I opened up a Best Buy account for completely paid off. I also would like to have my credit card balance down to about $200-400. That is reasonable for me. I would like to completely pay it off, but I'm not sure that that will happen...BUT I am hoping to at least bring my balance down considerably. Not only that, I would like to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE, SAVE, SAVE as much as I possibly can, and hopefully even begin to plan for retirement. I want to have money saved up in case of emergencies, so that I don't have to go into debt. I also would like for Matt and I to pay for our honeymoon, which we hope to take this year (we are thinking Disney World!), which hopefully we can save for. In addition to saving, and paying off debt, I'd like to learn how to live more frugally.

4. Try something new. I am thinking about selling Avon in order to make some extra money that can go towards my wedding, honeymoon, etc, etc. We will see how that goes! I did try to sell Mary Kay this past summer, but that didn't pan out, ultimately because of the person that I was with at the time. Avon is a little bit cheaper to start up, and it seems like it would fit my lifestyle a little bit more. I hope to start that up within the next couple of months. I've discussed it with Matt, and he (as always) encouraged me to go for it, because as he said, even if I just made a couple hundred extra a month, it's still extra money. We will see where it goes.

5. Get a job! I'm almost there :) I just had a job offer yesterday for a place in Winston-Salem, had a job interview in Waynesville today, and had a place in Statesville ask what my "plans" were, job wise. So the job part is almost there :) Hopefully, it will be a job that I will feel isn't JUST a "job" but one where I can feel comfortable in, knowing that I am making a difference in the lives of others, and where I have a positive impact on the world. THAT is important to me (as most of you who know me know!) I hope that I can find satisfaction in this job, and leave everyday feeling good about myself, and a job where I gain more confidence on a daily basis. I think that's really important, being able to feel confident in the job that you are in.

6. Buy a house! Since Matt and I have four cats and a dog between us, renting no longer makes sense. I have wanted to buy for YEARS, and the time was never really right, obviously. I had looked into buying this past summer, but as you all know, things didn't work out with the relationship or job that I was in. (so thank God I didn't buy or I'd be in trouble!) The plan is to find something short term to rent (maybe 6 month or even month-to-month), possibly even a rent-to-own. Matt will be finishing his semester up in May, and his lease is up at the end of June, so he will be joining me in June at the latest. IF I work in Winston-Salem, I'll look at buying in Kernersville or Clemmons (and probably renting there too--I've heard to stay away from Winston-Salem as there are many undesirable places to live there!)

7. Get married! Obviously, as I'm engaged, this one is already in the works :) In fact, I am going to Swannanoa (near Asheville) tomorrow to check out a potential wedding venue. Pray that it works out for me, this place looks great online and is all-inclusive and we'd get a GREAT deal on it, so yay!:) We are still shooting for late September for the wedding. I'm very much optimistic about what this year holds: this will be the year I get a new job, relocate to a new city, and hopefully buy a house. This will be the year that I begin to be more budget conscious, hopefully pay off 90% of debt, and save for a future, including retirement. And this will be the year I marry the love of my life, my best friend, and my soul mate, Matthew Jones and become Courtney Jones! :)

May all of you have a blessed and wonderful 2011!

First week of the new year...busy already!

So this week I have not one, but TWO job interviews. My first interview is tomorrow, in Winston-Salem and it's actually a second interview ( :) :) :) :) ), which means that they must REALLY like me. I would be working in with substance abuse clients, as opposed to mental health...which would definitely be a change for me. I also have another interview on Thursday for a place in the Asheville area. To top that off, I decided that since I'm going to be around Asheville anyways, I would go ahead and try to visit the venue I'm wanting to have my wedding at in order to ensure that it's just as quaint, beautiful and perfect in person as it is online (you can't ever REALLY judge things from online!) I'll be staying with friends the next few nights, so needless to say it'll be a busy (and tiring) week.

I also had one more positive thing happen on the job front...I got an e-mail from a lady that I interviewed with a couple of weeks ago. She basically said that while they are still reviewing candidates, they will not know anything until the end of the month. She went on in the e-mail to mention "let's keep in touch" and that she is sure I am having other interviews, and she wants me to let them know my plans, more or less. Which sounds VERY promising to me, and that also happens to be the job that I want. Hopefully, God willing, I will get a couple of great offers and will have to turn somebody down...I've NEVER had to do that before ever, but I think that's definitely a great position for me to be in!

Other than that, the beginning of wedding planning has already begun, I am debating over whether to have an engagement party (and WHEN to do it ) because Matt and I both unanimously want a smaller wedding (about 75 people max). When I really think about it, I can't imagine having too many more people, because I think it would feel like it had lost some of its intimacy that way. I want our wedding to be more about us, than about just inviting every single person we know, and truthfully, that's how I feel weddings should be--about the couple, and not just about hosting a really big, expensive party. I will be VERY happy if I do go with this one venue, as it is all-inclusive which means less of a headache! :)

Matt is starting back school on Wednesday, and with that will also bring some changes. His work schedule has changed, and he will be working a lot more on the weekends, especially Sundays, which kinda stinks because Sunday is usually the one day that we spend entirely together. Speaking of spending time together, I think this week will mark the FIRST time in our relationship that we've gone more than a day or two without seeing each other. I realize that that might not sound significant, but we just really enjoy being together. I don't think I've ever had as much fun with a guy before as I do with Matt. I did get to see him today before heading to Raleigh to stay overnight with my friend, and I will see him Friday night when I get home and he gets off work, but as much as I'm excited about this week of interviews, getting to catch up with old friends, and prospects, it's a little bit sad we don't get to see each other much this week. There are definitely a lot of big changes coming up in this upcoming year, and I'm excited to see what happens next.

Hello 2011!! (and a recap from the rest of 2010)

So, I started this blog with the intentions of actually UPDATING it regularly, and I realize it has been several months since I've done so. Life has been keeping me pretty busy lately, but I will do my best to write a brief synopsis....(although I'm typically long winded, so it might not be TOO brief)....

In late August, after suffering for a few weeks from a stroke, my grandmother passed away. Other than my grandmother passing away, and having a brief, "rebound" that is barely worth mentioning, nothing else happened in August (I would say that the breakup and my grandmother passing away was enough though!) In late August/early September, I ventured into the online dating world. I won't lie...I wanted to find somebody serious, I didn't want somebody who played games, or messed with my mind or heart. I was done with that. Did I expect to? Well, maybe eventually, but not initially. I tried eHarmony...despite all of the hype, was not that impressed with it. I did talk to a few people on there, but the communication seemed extremely slow paced, so that there was never really any momentum. Things never picked up, if you will. Needless to say, that went nowhere. I also signed up for Match.com. I knew of other couples who had met and married on there. I kind of balked at paying for it, so initially I just signed up and got the "winks." However, eventually, after receiving e-mails, I decided that I would "just pay one month" on match. I think it was only like $30, which was a bargain compared to eHarmony. So, after several winks, a few e-mails, and one particularly nasty jerk who felt the need to criticize my personality after ONLY having a phone conversation with me...I met Matt. Actually, it was funny, because when Matt "winked" at me on there and I read his profile, I thought "Hmm, he doesn't seem really serious...he seems kind of like a player" (anybody who has met Matt or has heard me talk about him KNOWS this is the furthest thing from the truth). But, for some reason, there was something telling me to give him a chance (I now believe that this "something" was God trying to talk some sense into me!). We e-mailed each other for a week and a half or so, and then he gave me his phone number. I of course was too chicken to call him, so I texted him...and we spent two days texting before I hinted that it would be easier to talk on the phone. The first time we talked on the phone, we talked for eight hours (I kid you not...from 10pm to 6am...and NO, it was not all me talking either. We were both asking a lot of questions, and really getting to know each other. This shocks some people when I tell them that only because Matt is a fairly quiet person--though he's not all that quiet with me--if that makes sense?). At the end of that phone conversation, I asked him to come meet me for team trivia at B-dubs...because a couple friends of mine went with me. However, when Tuesday night rolled around, nobody else was there so it was just me and him. I was SO nervous, I couldn't eat. That date ended with us stargazing at Fort Fisher until close to 2am, and the date ONLY ended because I reminded him that he had to work early the next day, so he needed sleep. Our second date was two days later, we went to lunch at Flaming Amy's, went to the Battleship, and had ice cream. It was sort of a rushed date because I had bowling league that night (oh yeah...I joined a bowling league for the first time EVER in September and LOVE it!). By the third date, which was that Sunday, I knew he was the one. We went to church together, ate lunch at McAlister's, and then each of us went to our respective houses to get ready for a day of hiking. I brought my dog, Coleman and we went hiking at Carolina Beach State Park and then ended up at Fort Fisher. Matt gave me the new Nicholas Sparks book, and after that....I JUST KNEW. I think that date ended about 9pm, and only because I needed to take my dog home and feed him, and I was getting hungry myself (and had a job interview the next day). He met my parents and picked me up at my house after four dates, and brought me yellow gerber daisies and whoppers. We ate at an Italian restaurant where I was slow eating because I couldn't stop talking (shouldn't surprise anybody!), and went to see You Again (he let me pick it out!) where we were dorky and made googly eyes and held hands the whole time. We even laughed together when I about tripped walking UP the stairs...yeah...I'm cool, I know :) Just twelve days after our first date, Matt asked me to be his girlfriend right before going to lunch after church. He asked if he could turn my Claddagh ring.

I had a job interview in September, it didn't work out. In October, I had my party celebrating me NOT getting married to a loser (otherwise known as what would have been my wedding day). My best friend and her husband came, as well as my ex-boyfriend (whom I'm actually friends with), as well as Matt. We had a blast, and I hated it when the weekend ended. I then went to Knoxville for a job interview that ultimately didn't pan out, either. At the end of October, Matt took me to the mountains. He'd never been. We went to the Biltmore House, Mount Mitchell, Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, and Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We laughed, had a blast, and I felt closer to him after that weekend than I ever had before. We hiked (a lot) and I felt our bond grow even deeper. From the beginning, we began to develop the kind of relationship where we are best friends, and feel as if we'd known each other for years.

Early November, I had another job interview that ultimately, did not work out. Matt also asked me to marry him at the top of a ferris wheel one night when we were at the fair. While he DID give me a ring, it wasn't "the ring" and I wanted to keep it "on the downlow" until I officially had the ring. I had some concerns with how people would view that, and wanted to let our relationship grow even further before announcing it to family and the general population (although, close friends knew!!). Matt had already met my good friend Alexis and my bff Mo at this point, but he hadn't met my girl Krystal, so he came with me to her son's birthday party. Matt spent Thanksgiving with me and my family, and spoiled me on my birthday by giving me a red Wii, buying me flowers, chocolates, and taking me out to dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse (even though he's not crazy about Japanese food!!)

That brings us to the month of December. I've had a few job interviews, and actually have a second interview on Tuesday in Winston-Salem, even have a job interview in Asheville this Thursday. Have had a phone interview, and one in Wilmington for a place in Statesville. I spoiled Matt rotten with gifts, and two days before Christmas, he "surprised" me by taking me to the mall to pick out my engagement ring. He spent all of Christmas weekend with me and my family, and spoiled me further by buying me a kindle AND an iPod touch. (seriously...he spoils me rotten, but I do not ever take it for granted!!!). On December 29, 2010 I got the message that my engagement ring had come in...so went to pick it out, he paid for it, and Matt took me to Fort Fisher and proposed in the little gazebo we sat in on our first date. He got down on one knee and said something to the effect of "Miss Courtney I love you and want you in my life for life"....I mean, I KNEW it was coming, I had just went with him to pick up the ring, but he had promised to get down on one knee when I got the real ring. We waited until the next day and broke the news to my family.

I think a lot of people are surprised...and a lot of people aren't. I know there are people who probably think I'm absolutely NUTS...and honestly...I'm so happy that I just couldn't care less what others think. I have struggled for a long time with being a people pleaser. For the first time in my life, I'm truly happy in a relationship. I won't say that I'm perfect, or that Matt's perfect, but I truly know that we are perfect for each other. I've never had a relationship be this happy or healthy before. In the past, I've often felt lonely and isolated with the people I've been with. Matt and I can sit around for hours doing nothing, or not even saying a word and it's just comforting having him in the same room. He believes in me unconditionally, and encourages me to do accomplish my dreams, no matter what they may be. I know that we have discussed me going back to school, or even possibly changing career paths, and all he wants is for me to be happy. He makes me laugh, and he's there for me when I'm having a bad day or feel like everything is falling apart. He told me in the beginning that he would go with me wherever I got a job. He's willing to do absolutely whatever he can for me, and that is so amazing. He even serves me breakfast in bed if not once a week, once every other week, and when he cooks me dinner, he brings my plate to me. It's crazy to think how far we've come in such a short time, but he is my best friend, soul mate, love of my life, and what they say is true...when you know, you know.

I rang in 2011 the other day with my good friend Angie at her anniversary party in Gastonia. I am really excited to this year, and looking forward to what's coming next. I am becoming an aunt in just a couple of months, and couldn't be more thrilled. I'm so happy that I've finally met the one I'm supposed to be with. I wish all of you blessings and joy in 2011!!

By the way, I'm sorry if this is outrageously long. Kudos to those who have actually taken the time to read the whole thing :)