Company times 2 by 2

Mid afternoon we heard that JD and Mike had arrived.
JD is the guy that helped Randy move here.
Mike is the best man and Randy's former boss.
After they had lunch they stopped by our apartment.

Randy went with them to my parents to see wedding site.
They then returned for dinner and visiting with us.
Dinner was pork loin roast, green beans and mashed potatoes.
Dessert was vitamin pie (coffee cake with fruit cocktail).

Later in the evening John and Sarah stopped in too.
They had made up a card with Nicholas, my old cat.
They used a program to put him in a tuxedo top.
They also gave us a generous monetary gift. THANKS!!!

Vitamin Pie

1 c sugar
1 t baking powder
½ t cinnamon
1 beaten egg
1 c flour
½ t salt
½ t nutmeg
1 c drained fruit cocktail (10.5 oz can)

Mix all ingredients together.
Sprinkle top with 3 T brown sugar.

Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 min

Got this recipe from mom.
I consider it a coffee cake with fruit instead.
Also good with Cool Whip on top.

More Gifts

As an older couple we were not really expecting gifts.
We wish to thank everyone that has sent cards and gifts.
Yesterday we found out Pastor Frank was not charging us.
And the lady making the cake is doing it as a gift as well.

Today we received two gifts in the mail.
A LL Bean gift certificate from Pastor Frank.
And a monetary gift from my Aunt Barbara.
WOW - thanks again to everyone.

Today was a very busy day working around the apartment.
Randy moved some of my things over to the storage unit.
Randy sorted and unpacked his boxes in the bedroom.
We also caught up on each of our individual laundry.

Number 8 is a charm(er)

We found the replacement best man! He's my former boss and discipler. I'm guessing that God kept shutting the other doors because Mike was the intended guy for the job.

Though we did have to call him back a little while ago to tell him that our wedding is casual. (Cathy said to have him wear shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. Mike of course replied to that about his top hat and tails were at the cleaners. He can have a quick wit!)

I guess we'll be seeing him tomorrow.

Note to self: God is a BIG God!

When God Made You

We met with Pastor Frank this afternoon.
It was at my parent's home which is wedding location.
He went over some marriage material with us.
He also asked if there was any additions to ceremony.
We want to incorporate Newsong's lyrics When God Made You.
We still have to decide exactly how to do that.

The lady making our cake also stopped by.
She was checking out the wedding cake topper.
She also tried to talk us into real flowers on the cake.
But we did in the end insist on sugar/frosting flowers.

Errands

Filing fee for the Intention to marry - $30
Haircuts for both of us & Shampoo for Cathy - $42
Wedding bands - $136
Upcoming years of wedded bliss - Priceless!

We also got the matching bureau from her parents house and took her extra bookcase and her "office flooring" back to her parents for storage.

Picture Frame and Ornament

A very sweet teenager we know gave us these.
The picture frame is gold with a heart in lower right corner.
The ornament is very precious as well.
On the back of the bride it says "Just".
On the back of the groom it says "Married".
On the bottom of the bride's dress it says "The Newlyweds".
Both are very special to us. Thank you, Jo.
And thanks to the rest of the family ...
which gave us a $25 gift certificate to LL Bean.

Adjustment to wedding

I got a call this morning from my best man saying that he can't make it due to a family emergency. So I've been going down my list of other potential best man choices. Number 2 said he couldn't do it. Number 3 also couldn't do it. We're waiting on number 4 to get back with us. He was going to talk with his wife and let us know Tuesday night.

I know this adjustment didn't take God by surprise but I'm not sure who He's guiding to be the replacement? Though I may try one other that I figured would be impossible. Since God is the master of the impossible, I'll write him an e-mail next, explain the situation with waiting on number 4 and asking if number 4 can't, if he can.

I know that God has already seen our big event. He already knows who is there. We're the ones in the process of discovery!

Rearranging Furniture

We decided it was time to rearrange apartment.
The bedroom is large and I had a big office area.
We moved everything out of that space.
Then only moved back the necessary items.
Even placing the desk in a different position.
Doing this gave us more room for actual "bedroom".

Lover's Lane

We decided to go out riding.
We wanted to be a little more familiar with area.
Found a road named Lover's Lane.
Randy went out and got a snapshot.

We also went to Freeport - home of LL Bean.
Lots of people were walking in the quaint downtown
spotted with outlet stores such as Ralph Lauren,
Crabtree & Evelyn, and Harry and David.

To see full list of Freeport outlets ...
check out Experience Freeport Shop List.

Movies watched today:
Because of Winn-Dixie - I enjoyed it.
I rewatched it because had fallen asleep other day.
Knocked Up with Katherine Heigl was okay.
It was surprising the lady even got involved
with baby's father because they seemed so different.

Dinner And A Movie cookbooks

Before I left Columbus, I was given 2 cookbooks by Stephanie E. who came over to buy some of my videos. I finally got to look through them today and they're pretty nice! So here's my thanks to Stephanie, who noticed that I was a movie lover!

Dinner and a Movie

This afternoon we watched Because I Said So.
It had Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore in it.

We had a candlelight dinner celebrating our ...
10th month anniversary of courting.

Black Friday shopping

There were a couple of items from Best Buy that caught my eye - Smallville season 6 and House season 3 for only $14.98 each (regularly nearly $50 each). So Cathy called me just before 5 am to get me up so I could get going. I probably got to Best Buy about 5:25 and was surprised by all the cars there. (Not quite like Columbus but still a pretty decent number.) And they still had both sets available! I also added Knocked Up for $6.99 (which is probably the price I'd find it used anyway).

After Best Buy, I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond hoping to get some rugs and a curtain for the front door. It only took a little while for me to realize that I really was out of my element. (Mainly because they didn't have anything near any of the sizes we were hoping for.) So I didn't get anything from there. Or at Target either.

So the only other place I needed to stop was Tim Horton's to grab chocolate glazed donut holes. (And she let me eat most of those!)

Thanksgiving

Made a somewhat big breakfast of ...
scrambed eggs, ham and hash browns.
It was more the brunch time frame ...
knowing there would be a big dinner as well.

For the Thanksgiving meal it was just the two of us.
I made cajun injected turkey breast, potato casserole and corn.

We started to watch the Thin Man series I had given Randy.
And we watched The Devil Wears Prada with Meryl Streep.

Errands

Since it snowed yesterday errands got postponed to today.
Went out and purchased a new matress set and had it delivered.
Since I can not go out and about too much at one time ...
Randy went out the second time by himself to Walmart.

First snowfall

We had our first snowfall here today.
Randy had already seen snow in Ohio.
It snowed when he was out and about.
I gave him a "first snowfall" gift of ice grippers.
He had left my parents and headed over here.
We had a bunch of errands to run but opted not to.
We ended up staying in and watched Shrek the Third.

Bed, Bath & Beyond Gift Certificate

I need to shout out a big thank you to Dave E., formally the Saturday night soundman for XCF!

Thanks Dave for the $50 gift certificate to Bed, Bath & Beyond! We have our eye on some rugs. (We may spend it the day after Thanksgiving as the Black Friday special is 20% off everything. That way we could make it worth an extra $10!!!)

Waiting on Car

Randy and dad took car to the garage this morning.
I'd made the appointment a few weeks ago.
Dad took Randy back to their house to await call.
Randy is still battling a cold so he can rest some more.
Mainly at this point it is a sore throat.

I woke up this morning with red eye.
So I've been resting myself this morning.
I still have to add blog entries for last two days.
Saturday's will be about unloading Randy's belongings.
Sunday's will be about dinner party and virtual bridal shower.

Party Day

At noon we had a dinner party here at apartment.
It was Randy and I, my parents, Pastor Frank and adult daughter.
Pastor Frank will be officiating at our wedding.
After dinner the three of us talked some about the plans.
For dinner I made Tangy Meatloaf with corn and tater tots.
Mom made and brought biscuits and jello salad.

Later in the afternoon we had an online bridal shower.
Since Randy and I met online that was very fitting.
Our friends on that Christian board are special to us.
We are very humbled by all the attention and well wishes.
We thank God for Christian friends from around the world.
God Bless you all.

Welcome to Maine present

I suppose I should tell you about a present I got. It was in a big box! I opened it and inside was another wrapped box. So I opened that and found another wrapped box. I opened that one to find another wrapped box! Mmmmmm. I opened that one and found another wrapped box!!! At least they couldn't get much smaller. So I opened that one and of course it was another wrapped box. Will this be the last one??? I opened it and it was a .....













wrapped box!!! But it looked like the next should be the last one. So I opened it with great anticipation.......













and it was













the house and car keys!!!

(Now I know why Cathy couldn't get the second keys and why the parents didn't give their extra key to me.)

I wonder if that's it for the initiation into the family. (I suspect not!)

Unloading Uhaul

We were there when the storage facility opened at 8 AM.
One person from the Christian school showed up to help.
My parents also showed up with the donuts.
Randy and my dad worked inside doing the storing of boxes.
JD and Jonathon worked outside unloading the boxes onto carts.

After awhile mom and I went to the apartment - just one mile away.
Mom wanted to sit down with me anyway and go over wedding prep.
There will be two sandwich platters with three sandwich types.
One platter: 1 tunafish, 1 egg salad and 1 chicken salad
Second platter: 1 tunafish, 1 ham salad and 1 seafood

En route

Midnight - Randy called from the road.
They had just turned onto 76 which leads to 80.
He'll shut off cell to save the battery.
I said that was fine so I can get some sleep.
They should be wicked tired so I hope they rest too.

4:45 AM - Randy checked in from Snow Shoe, Pennsylvania.
Have seen some snow along the way but just snow squalls.
That's 328 miles from Columbus and 539 miles to Portland.
That means Randy is 37% here to me. Woo Hoo.
They plan to pull over for four to five hours of sleep.

7 AM - I am keeping my eye on the weather.com website.
Looks like it will mostly be clear sailing from here on out.
No snow in the forecast for this morning only clouds and rain.
There is some possibility of snow in the afternoon for Portland.

10:30 AM - I called to see if the guys were awake.
They were already on the road and had been for about an hour.
Randy said he just saw sign for Jersey Shore exit.
Hard to hear him on cell thru the hills.
He will check in at next rest area.
In the meantime I am trying to line up unloaders.

11:30 AM - Randy called just south of Wilkes Barre (PA).
30 miles yet to go on 81 before connecting to 84.
Randy and JD, driving buddy, stopped for lunch.

Noon - Request for folks to help unload went out.
My dad volunteers at a Christian school (and camp).
They were going to ask staff and older students to help.
It is scheduled for Saturday 8 AM when storage facility opens.

3:30 PM - I called Randy to see where he was.
They had just crossed the Connecticut line.
They are 60 miles out of Hartford.
Hoping they realize they are coming up on rush hour.
Cell phone still breaks up so can't talk long.
He'll check in next time they stop.

** prayer request **
Randy continues to battle a cold.
He took meds and does not sound like himself.
Says one of his eyes is watering up badly.
Thankfully JD has been able to do all the driving.

7:30 PM - Randy called
They had just crossed over into New Hampshire.
Randy should be here within TWO HOURS!!!!!
They are going to leave the UHaul at storage facility.
The place has surveillance cameras so should be safe.
I'll have to go pick them up - just around the corner.
Since it is so late they'll camp out in my living room.
I suspect they will sleep really easily tonight.
Me too - I have not slept much in the last few days.

8:30 PM - I called to see where Randy was.
They stopped at Kennebunk rest area for fuel.
Just over an hour away before I see my honey.

10:00 PM - Randy is at the apartment.
We have Wendy's food to eat for supper.

Fix-It and Forget-It

I got our first wedding gift here at the apartment.
I know Randy got a blanket at his farewell party.
I called Randy to see if it was okay that I open it.
He thanked me for calling and giving him an energy boost.

The gift was the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook.
It's subtitle is Feasting with your Slow Cooker.
It was purchased from our Amazon gift registry.
Thank you Cousin Marilyn from Florida.

Moving Day

1 AM - Randy called to say he is getting ready to call it a night.
Still a few hours of work in the morning.
Asked for a 7 AM walk up call.

7 AM - The landline phone already disconnected.
Randy was a wake and moving. YEAH
He will check in with me later.

9:30 AM - I just called to see how things were going.
Seems they still have quite a bit to do.
Expecting to leave after lunch rush hour.

12:30 PM (not posted until 1:50 - sorry)
I called again to see where things stood.
Randy had a storage space at apartment.
It includes gobs of paperwork from last 20 years.
Attempted to sort thru it all before loading.
One good thing is he found the mini van's title.
So hoping to get it transferred before leaving.
He thinks it will be a couple more hours of packing/loading.
I was able to tell him there is snow expected ...
if they decide to still go the upper New York path.

2:10 PM - Got wedding gift delivered at apartment.
So called Randy to let him know I wanted to open it.
They are still in packing/loading mode.

Afternoon into evening - Packing rest of apartment.
The original packing focused on movies, CDs and books.
With that stuff out it made room for the mundane packing.
He certainly had more of that than he had thought!!!

7:30 PM - The mini van's title has been transferred.

8 PM - The Uhaul has finally been totally loaded.
Waiting for Mandy to pick up apartment keys.
That is the lady that is taking over Randy's lease.
They should be hitting the road shortly thereafter.
He will check in at their first stop on the road.
There is the possibility of snow on either route...
so they will be taking it nice and slow for safety.
May be switching to the across Pennsylvania route.

8:30 PM - Mandy is at the apartment. Woo Hoo!!!
The guys will head out VERY SHORTLY.
And they will take 80 across Pennsylvania.
JD slept some when Randy was packing ...
So he has the first shift of driving tonight.
Randy says he'll be some sore when this is done.

10:30 PM - After a few stops headed out of town.
Got supper at Wendy's and more water at Walmart.

Ohio to Maine

View Larger Map
Google map from Columbus, Ohio to Portland, Maine.
I am not really in Portland but close enough for online use.

Driving Buddy

Randy will not be driving alone.
JD will be assisting in the loading and driving.
JD helped me pack up my house a year ago before I sold.

JD is a college buddy of mine who lives in Columbus.
Randy and I first started courting in January.
I sent JD to check Randy out at his church, Xenos.

I attended DeVry Institute of Technology in Columbus.
I also connected Randy with my "Columbus mom and dad".
They all went out for dinner together and liked each other.

Loading Day

Getting the UHaul was delayed a couple of times.
First the plan was for 11 AM then 12:30 PM then 3 PM.
It's 11:30 PM and they are still loading but energy is winding down.
The apartment is on the third floor with no elevator so a lot of work.

Final Packing Push

Randy finalizing a number of things via phone and running around.
There was an issue with transferring the minivan title.
In the evening a friend helped him with the final packing push.

New packed box totals:
VHS: 72
DVD: 29
CDs: 4
Books: 18 (all new)

On a side note I received our wedding cake topper today.

Major Packing Day

Randy now is focusing on packing.
Although fighting a stuffy head.

New packing totals:
VHS - 70 boxes (2 or 3 more to go)
DVD - 28 boxes (1 more to go)
CDs - 4 boxes (couple more to go)
Books - yet to pack - probably 10-15

Last Work Day

Today is Randy's last day at work.
Randy stayed after to clean up his work email account.
He had hundreds of messages to go thru.
Those he wanted to keep he forwarded to yahoo.

Softball Party

Before work Randy was invited to a friend's house.
It ended up being another farewell party ...
from the church softball team.

Bean Jacket

I shared with Randy that I got him a LL Bean Jacket.

I wanted to wait till Christmas to give it to him.

But decided he'd need it sooner to stay warm.

Farewell Party

Randy's work gave him a Farewell Party at lunch.
He received a blanket and large card, 19 X 13.
About 56 folks signed the card with well wishes.

Also a bunch of people spoke tributes to Randy.
He was very touched by the whole event.
He didn't cry but he almost did. Very sentimental.

In the evening people stopped by his apartment.
He sold his microwave, tv, and DVD/VCR.
A couple of folks are interested in the minivan.

Total VHS boxes now packed is 40.

Packing the Cats

My turn to pack now to make room for Randy.
I packed up my cat figurines from curio cabinet.
I am thinking of moving cabinet to bedroom.
Will put the boom box on the top shelf.
Protected behind glass doors will be CDs.

Also packing up most of my books for the time being.
I have seven boxes ranging from poetry to Bible reference.
Will be keeping some books out like couples devotional.
Certainly keeping out the cookbooks - got a hubby to cook for.
Bookcases will house movies we wanted to see right away.

Packing Boxes

Randy finished packing with the boxes he had on hand.
Purchase 90 more boxes from Sam's Club to continue.

Total packed boxes:
28 VHS boxes
8 DVD boxes
4 CD boxes

Wedding Photographer

My mother's best friend since childhood enjoys taking pictures.
She has taken photographs at both my brother's weddings.
She has acceptance an invitation to our wedding.
And she will be more than happy to take photos for us.

My mother is French. Grew up in a French community.
Her best friend, Florence, is a proud French Acadian chanteuse.

Packing Update

Packed thus far ...
25 VHS boxes and 3 DVD boxes

Randy hopes to be posting himself ...
once he is here in Maine with his own PC.

Right now his only access is at work ...
but he does not have the time to do so.

GIft Registries

Spent the week considering these.
At first I had prepared an Amazon one.
Then decided to also do a Kohl's one.
I did not put the same things on both.

As older (in our forties) newlyweds ...
there is not much that we truly need.
Mainly replacing old things to call "ours".
Especially silverstone bakeware items.

On both registries added gift certificates.
Also decided to add LL Bean Gift Cards to list.
That way we can outfit Randy for Maine winters.
Family and friends should go to our wedding site.

Randy Packing Begun

Randy was not feeling good the last couple of days.
After work started to pack up his VHS collection.
Explanation: he has a HUGE collection of movies
5000 VHS he is planning to move with
2000 DVDs he is planning to move with
Packed up 11 boxes of VHS