Okay, so sorry this took a while to get on here...I had a lot of freaking work to do today...really limited my time on DIS.
"Going to the Chapel and We're Gonna Get Married"
Whew..looking back on the past ten months, I just don't know how we handled it all...
Right after we got back from Vegas I headed home, so not fair that we had to be apart for like a week right after getting engaged!!!

But we made due. I got going on wedding planning, I really have always wanted to get married in the fall, and my parents got married in October, so that was ideal. Sorry, we did not get married in Disney World, would have been soo cool, but I am Catholic and really wanted the big church wedding. Back to planning - it sucks!! At least the initial part does. We were getting married in Kansas City. Finding a place was crazy! Both church and reception (I didn't belong to a Church up there yet). I totally stressed out over all that and the COST - I had no idea! Luckily his parents are cool and they split it with mine. They are all the greatest!!!
After the new year I had to head back to school.

I am in an intensive graduate program. The first year is strictly horrible classes. I really hated it, but now I just do research so it isn't as bad. But at the time I had that on my plate as well as planning.
The about February I decided that I really NEEDED a puppy

. I had had my mind set on one for a while so I began looking. Andy wanted to wait but I wanted one then. Andy already had a black lab that he got in the "divorce"

. Looking back, I love them both, but don't know what I was thinking. So, obvioudly I looked around - which took a while cause I was not going to spend 1400 on a dog! I really wanted a pure bread dog - a yorkie - for the size (yeah I liked the whole Paris Hilton carry your dog around thing - got over that). So we found a breader and went to get our pup. He is so cute. And as it turns out really not small. He's pretty big for a yorkie - 11 pounds! But that is better since we have a black lab as well - she would crush him if he were smaller. I have no pics of him now but this is what he looked like right when we got him. The lab is Mali and the pup Harlie.
Aren't they cute. HA! Don't let them deceive you. Training a new puppy in an apartment is really hard!
Andy and I then decided that going to school/work, having two dogs, and planning a wedding just wasn't enough so we threw in building a house!

What a process..our first house and we were building! It's in one of those cookie cutter subdivisions - but you still have a lot to think about in little things. All in all it went well and at the end of June we had our first house. (My lease was up so I moved in as well...lived in "sin" for three months!

) We love it! We have repainted almost every room, built a fence, landscaped, added on to the deck, and are getting ready to put a bar/family room in the unfinished basement. I guess we just love to be busy. I don't have any finished pics, but here is one in the process...It's now a dark sage green with off white trim.
So, oh yeah, I was planning a wedding right? HA. Things actually were just great with that after we booked the locations. The only pain was invitations and waiting for people to respond. NOTE: unless there is a health issue please respond to wedding invites as soon as possible, or at least at all! and if you say yes, but then can't go, let the couple know. The number we tell the caterers is what we pay for!
Okay off my soap box. We got married October 1, 2005. It was lovely! We had the wedding outside of Kansas City and the reception in downtown Kansas City, MO. I am Italian so having a big party reception was very important and it turned out great. We got married in the afternoon and then the wedding party took a trolley around town for pictures.

The reception was later that evening and lasted til late in the night! We went to a nice hotel that night..but still haven't gone on our honeymoon! I do have one class and it only meets one day a week, and my boss is the teacher, so I just didn't think I could miss it, so we won't be going until Dec. But so excited about that! I already have my wedding ears (got them in
Disneyland last month!)
We will be there for 9 days staying at POR! I have all dinners planned, tours, and cruises. I am so excited! Everything has turned out great and I really hope you enjoyed my report! It was fun writing it. Thank you for all your lovely replies. Here are some pics of the wedding. It was just beautiful.