Our new house in Charleston

We finally made it to Charleston!! We took 5 days to drive out here from Colorado, stopping in Killeen, TX and Shreveport, LA to visit family. The drive passed very quickly, which was definitely nice. We drove into Charleston on May 28!

I had been working with a realtor, so we had a pretty good idea of the houses for sale out here. Joe spent a night in Charleston last month and was able to check out the different areas, so we knew generally where we wanted to buy our house. This being said, don't call us too crazy for picking out our house on the first day!

Joe had checked out a KB Home building site when we was out here last month and really liked the style of the homes. Typically, people buying a KB home get to choose everything about their home and build it from the ground up. Because we didn't have 5 months to wait for a house to be built, we figured we'd check out a pre-built one. In the area we wanted to live in, there was only one home available for immediate move in, so we thought we'd check it out. It was quite a bit bigger and more expensive than what we originally had wanted to pay, so we certainly weren't getting our hopes up.

When we pulled up to the home that was for sale, Joe couldn't believe it! He'd seen this house the last time he was here, loved it and even sent me a picture of it. At that time, it was sold, so he didn't even considered it. Financing from the previous owners fell through, so Joe's dream house was now available!

The second we walked in the door, we knew it was perfect. It has an open floor plan, 3,200 sq. ft, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and absolutely beautiful details. The house sits right next to a large pond with a fountain and backs to a forest area, so we'll only have neighbors on one side of us. It's a brand new home in a brand new area, so everything is very well-maintained, safe and up and coming. There's shopping areas nearby, only 20 minutes from Joe's work and 30 minutes from downtown Charleston and the beach.

Even though the house seemed like perfection, it was out of our price range, so we walked away. That whole night we couldn't get the house out of our mind. We looked at a couple of other available homes that next day but realized we'd be comparing everything to our "dream home." We decided to go back to the house and see if they'd lower the price. To our complete satisfaction, the salesman had already spoken with their VP and dropped the price for us. We then went forward with the whole process.

Pending successful appraisal from our lender, the house is ours! We're hoping to close next week!!! Below is a link to an online album with more pics of the house. We'll post more pictures of the inside once we have our stuff moved in.

Online Photo Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2041312&id=73000021&l=d5f2a6b50c

When are we moving?!

As you probably know, Joe got his new assignment to fly C-17s at Charleston, South Carolina this summer. We were originally set to move there right after our wedding in January, but his training was postponed. So, here's the deal:

Joe has to be in Altus, Oklahoma in mid-June to train for the C-17s. He will be there for four months and will arrive in Charleston at the end of October. Right now, he's assigned to the 14th airlift squadron, which will deploy to the Middle East for four months starting January. When he gets back, we'll be in Charleston for at least four years, but we could extend our time there if we want.

As for me, I will be moving to Charleston in early June. I've been applying for jobs and am really excited for the opportunity that's out there. Though I haven't decided to pursue TV news for sure, I do know that whatever I decide will be perfect.

We've started the online house hunt and will probably be taking a trip out there prior to moving to pick out our house. We're putting our Colorado Springs house up for rent in mid-June and will start showing it next week. We've already starting packing and sorting through all of our stuff and are getting super excited for our next chapter of life.

We'll keep you all updated as we learn and progress more!! :)

Our Professional Wedding Pics

Hey!

We got our pictures from our wedding photographer and have them all on CD. If you're interested in viewing them, I'll send you a link to an online album or mail you a CD. Just get in touch with us!! :)

Our favorite little visitor

Kara, my almost 6 year old niece, visited Joe and I for a few days. She spent some time here for wedding and graduation festivities, but she hasn't visited us all by herself since this summer. It's always such a treat to spend time with her, so we were very sad to give her back.

Kara calls Joe "Bubblegum" from a funny night we all had a few months ago. We were sitting around our kitchen table playing a game when Joe started laughing hysterically. He turned a nice shade of pink, which is about when Kara noticed his face was the same shade as bubblegum. The nickname has stuck... and we get some funny looks in public when we call him by his nickname.

We had a weekend full of puppies, which are her favorite thing. Sofie, our Leonberger, is Kara's absolute favorite because she's "the big puppy." Sofie's so good with her... even let's her put makeup on her and play tea party. We know she loves the attention. Romeo, our toy poodle, just loves Kara to death and is the perfect size for her. He's the only one Kara can walk. And, of course, there's Buddy who is a little stand-offish. When no other dogs are around, he loves cuddling with us all, so Kara enjoyed that.





All six of us spent some time at our favorite dog park, which was a cool experience for Kara. We reminded her to never touch someone else's dog without asking, but we did get to see some cool and friendly dogs. Sofie even spent some time swimming in the creek! We also went and saw "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," which was the fifth time for little miss! Such a cute movie-- even Joe will admit!



We certainly can't wait for our favorite little visitor to come over again!! :)

Honeymoon Jamaican Style, Mon!

Joe and I just got back from our honeymoon! We stayed at the Sandals all-inclusive resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica for 7 nights of pure bliss. This was our first big trip together and a perfect chance to relax after a stressful last couple of months.

We landed in Montego Bay and took a 1.5 hour bus ride to Ocho Rios. We were exhausted from our 36 hour day and were very relieved when we made it safely. Neither of us had stayed at a resort before so we were kind of confused about what to do. We quickly became acclimated and absolutely enjoyed the “order whatever you want off the menu and don’t pay or tip” mentality. They had such good food, good service and good drinks!

We spent most of our days exploring the rather large resort. It was split into two sides—the Manor and Riviera. You had to take a shuttle to get from one side of the resort to the other, but it actually was nice to have so much property to explore. We stayed on the Manor side or the side not closest to the beach. We had a honeymoon villa with a private pool and really enjoyed all the lush greenery and interesting plants. We saw maybe one or two other couples in the area where the villas were, so it was very peaceful and quiet. On the Manor side, there were huge pools, delicious restaurants and grills, multiple bars and outdoor activities. On the Riviera side, there was obviously the beach with all the water sports, more restaurants, grills and bars.

Friends who had gone to Jamaica before us had advised to stay at the resort for safety reasons. The people in the cities who run shops and stores are ruthless and would do anything to get you to buy something. We were super protected at our resort, but at times it kind of felt like prison. Hah. Of course, we were free to leave, but even the staff highly discouraged it. We took one excursion to Dunns River Falls, a 1,000 foot waterfall that you literally climb. This was Joe’s favorite part of the trip and one hell of an experience. When we were leaving the falls, 30 or so shops were set up with very desperate and pushy Jamaicans demanding we buy. It was kind of scary! We took our friends’ advice and just pushed through the crowd to get to our bus. We had five minutes of that and were sick of off-resort life and Jamaicans.

My favorite activity was the romantic couple’s massage on a private dock, side by side, complete with champagne. It was so relaxing and the best massages we’ve ever had, though I think the atmosphere added to that.

This was our first of many honeymoons, as Joe said. But it’s good to be home.

Now, back to reality. :)




We could have stayed there all day!



Romantic dinner on the beach... The waves were about 5 feet from the edge of our table.



Honeymooners



We did all the watersports: kayaking, sailing and water trikes!

To view all of our honeymoon pictures, go to:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036137&l=df291&id=73000021
and
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2036138&l=b30a2&id=73000021

Our Winter Wonderland Wedding

Phew! What a whirlwind of winter wonderland, friends and family. Our wedding was last night, and we sure had a marvelous time. The festivities started days before, and we felt so blessed to be surrounded by our closest families and friends.

It was forecasted to be about 50 degrees and sunny on the day of our wedding. I was a little bummed because our entire wedding’s theme was Winter Wonderland. When Joe and I decided to get married in Colorado in January, I figured we might as well go all out, so bring on the snowflakes, ice blue and silver! Though we wanted the outside scenery to match the inside, we wanted people to actually attend our wedding and do so safely. When I woke up yesterday, flurries had started to come down. I was starting to get excited!!

By the time our photographer arrived to the bridal suite, the snow was really coming down. Unfortunately, we had to postpone and eventually cancel most of the outdoor wedding pictures because it literally started to blizzard. We moved the posed pictures to inside the chapel and tried to do them all before the wedding started. We even postponed the start of the ceremony to allow our guests some extra time to get there.

During the ceremony alone, it snowed five inches!! I peeked outside just before my dad walked me down the aisle and it was a complete whiteout. It really was a winter wonderland!

Unfortunately, due to the snow, we had some people who couldn’t come at all and some who left pretty early. My Great Aunt Myrna actually fell on the ice coming into the reception hall, and it’s looking like her wrist is probably broken. Despite the hiccups, it was a beautiful night.

Everyone was in awe that I actually got my winter wonderland, afterall! And you know, today is about 55 degrees and sunny. It only snowed over USAFA, too. It’s funny how help from above can do amazing things!

Now, married and so in love, Joe and I are heading out for Ocho Rios, Jamaica for our honeymoon!! We’re staying at a Sandals resort and are SO excited to get some quality time together in paradise.

I’ll post more pictures later, but these are a few that some of my wonderful bridesmaids and friends took.