Times, they are a changin'.

Yep, it's been awhile... yeah yeah the theme of this blog but there's been some legit stuff going on. First of all, I've been working A LOT. Cory isn't much of a blogger sooo no guest contributing while I've been busy. Also, there's been some personal stuff going on. I won't go into much on here because I am not one to air my dirty laundry on here but things are now going well. We still have some bumps (and all I'm going to say about that is I only pray I can keep my mouth closed to the ones who are at the center of it long enough, I understand it makes YOU feel better but watching it hurt the ones that I LOVE bothers me!) but if engagements or marriages were easy everyone would be doing it :).

So what have you been missing out on? First of all.... ONE YEAR UNTIL THE WEDDING!!!! I can't wait!! Well more like almost 11.5 months at this point. And do I have any planning done? Um... nope. Looks like all these extra hours of work will be going towards wedding deposits and all of the fun hoopla that goes with it. I just saw our venue posting photos of their fall weddings and oh my goodness it makes me excited! All the while of wedding planning we're going to be car hunting for me. I want to get a newish car paid off before I have my lovely student loan payments in a few years. So that's the process we're in right now, so exciting.

I'll post fall pictures of the house soon. Can't wait until Thanksgiving and Christmas! There's nothing else really new. I turned 23, we've been working. Oh! I moved to day shift (I live a normal life, yay!). We had a wonderful weekend with Cory's family in Georgia for my birthday (missed my dad a bunch!). We had a wonderful day at Table Rock park on my birthday. We found Cassie a new home due to the fact our home wasn't quite big enough. Anddddd Cory and I are doing better than we have ever done.

Love you guys!
B

Dining Room Before and After

So here it is... the before and after of my living room. We painted, I had gotten a new mirror a few weeks back from Kirklands and bought a couple of candle holders and bam, this is the end product. I am hoping to have friends over for dinner soon!

Before: White Aslyum walls, old mirror and candle holders, etc.

In progress....

Done!

Next up finishing the living room! Then it's up to the upstairs!

Decisions, Decisions...

So, due to us not being able to get out of our lease and not wanting to put that on our rental history/credit and lose our deposit we have decided to stay put until the end of our lease. We're hoping we can negotitate a lower rent come February but we will see where the future takes us. We're still waiting on several What If's...

But with this news we're redecorating! I am sick of the asylum white walls in this townhouse (every one of the bathrooms are painted but the other walls were a cheap flat white paint) so we painted! We did our living/dining area a tanish/brown/leather color and cleaned the carpets. It looks absolutely awesome, I just have to say Cory is the best for doing this considering I had to work the day we did it. Next is my cleaning spree tomorrow while C is at work and then we're going to paint the master bedroom. We got new furniture off of Craigslist for it that is absolutely beautiful and then I'm hopefully going to be able to completely redecorate it. Then will be the office and after that the guest room (we just need queen sized mattresses. We have the frame now for the bed for the guest room!). Hoping to have this place homey by the end of the year. I'll post pics tomorrow, I promise :). I've also started decorating for Autumn, yay! This makes me so so happy. We've still got to work on our porch (our neighbors are outdoing us right now!) but hopefully it'll be done soon.

The only other news is our awesome weekend away a couple of weeks ago. I've been working WAY too much so we decided to run off to Atlanta for the weekend. We started our vacation in Helen eating a yummy dinner and then we got tattooed together... sorta. My grandmother passed away in November and when i get married my maiden name will become my middle name so since her favorite hymn was I'll fly away I got a sparrow on the back of my right shoulder. Cory had his tattoo touched up and it looks awesome. Then we headed to Atlanta, stayed by the airport and went and spent Saturday with my dad. We had an awesome time, then had an awesome dinner. Sunday was spent with Cory's aunt and uncle who we always have a blast with. All in all a great weekend that I wish hadn't had to end. Looks like we might head to NC this month to celebrate my birthday. I can't wait!

That about wraps up this post, another one soon, I still have other things to write. I hope this finds everyone well.

<3 B

It's been awhile...

So, it looks like everything is going to work out so I can finally announce it.... we're moving!! Our subdivision in Seneca keeps going downhill and with some recent events and recent information we've decided to move. We're moving to the South Greenville area, that way Cory can be close to his family and I can be close to my job at the hospital. I'm currently driving 1 hour one day 4 days a week and after a 12 hour shift that's rough. Cory will be closer to his job at the academy and we're getting rid of the bad juju Oconee has brought us. It's rough because I am officially closing the chapter on my firefighting career as the department in which we're moving to doesn't have volunteers. We also have to find a home for our Collie. She needs a home where she's the only dog and has a yard to run in. Even the yard at our townhouse isn't big enough. It's sad as she's a sweet dog who has been a joy but she's not going to be a good apartment dog. Otherwise I'm excited for this new adventure. Our new apartment is absolutely huge and gorgeous. We'll be moving into a 3 bedroom/2 bath on the first floor (no stairs!) in a newer (7 years old) community. I am so excited.

On other fronts things are going good. We're headed out of town this weekend (we get the keys to the new place Thursday lol) and staying in Atlanta for a few days. We were going to head up to Helen but with it being Oktoberfest that's kinda out. Then next week we move into our new place, and life begins again. We're hoping the complex will finish painting our accent walls during the week that we're not moving in. Cory and I have both been working on getting fit again, I'm at 7lbs and Cory is looking great. Really excited to what the future holds!

I promise lots of pictures with the new place. Hopefully everything goes smoothly with this!

<3 B

Putting my guard down...

Some of this is going to be hard for me to write, as I am still working through all of this in my head and dealing with it on a personal level.

My heart is going to be in Afghanistan (or Iraq, but it's leaning more towards Afghanistan). And by that I mean, Cory is going through the processes with 2 different companies as we speak.

With the economy the way it is, jobs have been harder than imagined to find around here and while my field is in demand, Cory's is currently not. We are hoping a miracle will happen and he can stay here and stay with Westminster Fire and we can continue to have each other to come home to each night but the two full time positions we though could possibly come open there will not be coming open anytime soon. He'll be gone 120 days the first go around before he comes home on R&R in which we're trying to plan a wedding for one of his R&Rs. The hard part? I might get told he's coming home on this day when something happens and pushes it back to another day... not so efficient for wedding planning. We'll be married before he goes though as we'll have a small little ceremony. I won't always know which FOB he's on as some of them I can't even know about. Skype will be my best friend and my cell phone will never leave my side. I do not see how MilWives do this.. I officially have a new found respect. One of his R&Rs him and I will meet outside of the country due to tax laws and we're thinking Dublin so that's my light within the tunnel I guess. Plus, I get to marry my best friend, my hero a little earlier than planned. But overall, I am scared, anxious and ready to just get this over with so that I can begin our life, our family with my partner. I won't speak for Cory on this but I am sure you can only imagine what he's going through. He's going to get fingerprinted tomorrow for his security clearance, this is the process that will take the longest. After that I have a bad feeling everything will go quickly so I only pray that  the people processing the clearance take their time in giving it to him.

The biggest thing is, I. Will. Need. You. Guys. Wow, that was tough to write but I know I can't deal with this alone. CNN, MSNBC, FoxNews and any other news will be my enemy and I will need my girls (and guys) for those times I freak out wondering if who I'm reading about is the love of my life. Last night we were watching some 9/11 stuff on National Geographic and I about flipped when the video of the contractor being killed came on. I will be strong, I know he needs me to be but I am not going to lie and say this will be the easiest. I plan on having my own countdown until the last day of his contract and let me tell you, when he gets home we're going to celebrate and celebrate big.

So... on a different note, how things are going now. We got new furniture from my wonderful dad and spent yesterday rearranging the house. The master bedroom looks great, it looks huge! and our living room looks so much more open and comfy. I love it. So thanks dad! Today my wreath I won comes in so I cannot wait to see that on my door. Julie, the owner of Wreaths With Love, did an awesome job on it! Now for some more painting around the townhouse. I took my first unit exam last night and made an 85, I was so proud. Religion isn't the easiest class so I was pretty happy about that grade. Today I have a logic exam and next week my first lab exam in Anatomy and Physiology II. College is busy busy busy but I can't wait to start nursing school!!

I am hitting up the fitness hardcore this next month, my goal is by the time Cory's first R&R comes around to have lost 40lbs. I'll update you guys :). I've been sick with a kidney infection so I haven't really felt up to doing any working out needless to say.

So that's about it, updates soon, in fact updates more than I have been doing now that school is started and going and I am working less.

B

p.s. A post about our wonderful weekend soon, I promise as I am off the next 3 nights.

Everybody's working for the weekend...

So last night, I totally had this blog written out. And then it deleted it. Sooo here we go at attempt number 2.

Yesterday was absolutely great. Cory and I headed down to Atlanta to see my family and his family and we couldn't have had more fun. First of all, we met up with my dad. We got to show Cory my dad's model airplanes and man cave, that way they'd have something to bond over lol. Then it was off to lunch at Red Robin and afterwards we headed out to where my dad works, the TechOps Hanger at ATL's airport for Delta Airlines. We had a blast getting to see the hangers, it was so huge. Cory was in heaven with his love of avaition and I got to see so many things that were in there that I never knew existed. It was a very interesting trip. I can't wait to go back and see dad in a couple of weeks for his birthday. Then it was off to see Cory's aunt and some other family members for dinner, it's always a good time with Wanda. We went out to dinner and got to spend some quality time with one of his groomsmen that we hardly get to see. The 57th Fighter Group was an awesome restaurant and we had a blast. Thanks Wanda! Then it was back home sadly, we were not ready to come back. We enjoyed our time there however and will be going back for the weekend in a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow starts back classes for me. I'm pretty nervous as I really need to achieve high grades this semester. I've got some major studying to do. It is really weird though thinking back that I should be going into paramedic classes and starting on my NREMT-P but... I'm not and I feel like this is the right decision for me. Plus, there might be new opportunities awaiting me beyond getting my RN :). It'll be a long day, I have to go get some textbooks from the bookstore and then off to class and then off to work. Unfortunately I'll have to miss part of my class once a week thanks to work but oh well.

Hope everyone has a great week!

B

p.s. The upstairs didn't get done but at least the downstairs looks fabulous!

Craziness and Organization

So first of all, Cory and I have been living in this house since the very end of February and we have one room that is still in absolute complete disaray. Like, the door stays shut all of the time which is sad because it has an amazing mountain view out of its window. Well, it is meant to be our guest room/maybe a future nursery in the long long future. Well, when we moved in we were in a rush to get it ready for a friend of mine who was coming to visit but the friend never got to come so we just kinda forgot about it... until now. I am absolutely determined to get this room done now. There's piles in our landing/laundry area now of clothes I randomly found in there, stuff that belongs down there and stuff for our office (we have a 3 bedroom/2.5 bath townhome). So hopefully this house is going to completely be home soon. Pictures to come soon!

So anyways, sorry for the long time between updates. Unfortunately the screen on my laptop got busted about 2 weeks ago and I had to wait for it to be picked up in the shop. Perfect timing for it to be ready though considering I have a ton going on!

This Monday I start up in school again. I really really enjoyed my summer off so I am definitely dreading this but I am hoping to get into Clemson University for nursing next fall so this is my only option. I am hoping to finish all of my pre-reqs and get my GPA up before next summer so that I can apply in and take next summer off. I am taking Anatomy and Physiology II, Western Civ Post 1689, Introduction to Logic and Religions of the World. I'm on the waiting list for Nutrition so we'll have to see if I get in that class. I'm nervous, I really need to make excellent grades to get my GPA up and ready for Clemson. I'll be meeting with an admissions officer soon to discuss what I need to do.

The other reason I needed the laptop is because Bee See Photography (my side project) might be up and coming again. I did a shoot for a friend's family recently and forgot how much I loved it. If you go to facebook, look up my page for it and you'll see. I still have some shots to add so keep an eye out.

Nothing else really going on. We're still in a holding pattern for an official elopement plan of action. It'll be worth the wait though :). My dad is fully on board with me doing this so that makes me excited! The car will be transferred to my name to make the registeration process easier so I'm excited. Speaking of cars, not only will I officially own my car as of next week (I've had it since I was in 10th grade, it's just always been in my dad's name) but we're getting Cory's new car next week too. I know he's really excited and glad to not have to drive my 2 door everywhere lol.

Anyways, I hope this finds everyone well. I promise not to wait so long to write the next time (though I know my entries are wayyy too long. Sorry!)

B

Story time!

So... a neat little story to share that coincides with something from this past week.

As you all may know, we up and moved over a county and Cory started working as a firefighter for a dept in Oconee County (where I work as an EMT now) in March. We had moved into our apartment 2 weeks previously and then had to move to the townhouse (not to mention this was a 3rd story apartment) so it was quite the ordeal. Well, about a month-month and a half ago Cory was working in his department when someone walked up to him and said "Oh wow you've gained a lot of weight in the past 3 years". He just looked at this guy with his marine stare I'm sure lol (and no he's not fat, he just used to be a twig) and the guy automatically asked him how he couldn't recognize his roommate from Iraq. Turns out, one of our paramedics/FTOs at Oconee was Cory's roommate for a little bit of time in Iraq. Klaren didn't live here at the time and they had no clue that the both of them lived in South Carolina, but 8000 miles away they reunited 3 years later. He went out to the range with Klaren and his wife Thursday and had a blast. All while I slept the day away from working the previous night at the hospital.

How cool is that though?!?

Anyways, nothing around here. Was just told I officially have the offer for job #3 with the state's largest ambulance organization. We'll see.... otherwise it's work work work. Cory found a new truck (well, new to us) so we're working on getting that. We are so thankful for our friends Jennifer and Charlie for helping us with this. Having one car would work out great if I didn't have one job that is 45 minutes to a hour away and I work 7p to 7a at the hospital while Cory works 8a to 8p at the FD and then has a job 2 hours away in Columbia at the academy.

I promise that I'm not neglecting comments, I'm just have a little trouble learning how to sign in and etc. Anyways, it's 0142 and I'm tired! I worked 12 today (7a to 7p), 10 yesterday (9a to 7p), I work 12 tomorrow night (7p to 7a), and then 12 on Wednesday (7a to 7p). I work the weekend but at least I have Tuesday and Thursday off!

B

Time for some big life announcements!

First of all *drumroll please*....

I'm not going to paramedic school!!! Wait, what?!?! I know I know I just received my acceptance letter and I was so excited and I've worked SO hard for this and I even took the summer off to prep for it but, I need more time. Until then it's prepping to attend Clemson University in the fall (or spring 2013!) of next year. I am still going to school this fall. Unfortunately not thinking I majored in Associates of Arts for my basics degree because I used to be an education major. Well, things change, I change, life changes so now I am in need of some major science classes and it's cheaper for me to do them at Greenville Tech than it is at Clemson. By the time I get to Clemson I'll have some of their basic classes to take (College 101 stuff) and a 300 level English and the rest will be my nursing classes. I'm so excited! So hopefully I can make it through 2 or 3 more semesters at GTC and then head on to be a tiger. Know that I love EMS and I love doing what I do at Oconee. I just don't know that paramedicine is right for me fresh into my EMS career. I really want to do trauma nursing and nicu nursing (wow, neonatal, that was out of left field for me.. I use to be terrified of little babies!) and then attend MUSC for my MSN-NP degree. I'm looking into being a neonatal or family nurse practitioner. I guess we'll just have to see where my heart lies.

Second of all...

My healthier life begins tomorrow. I am done eatting twix bars out of the vending machines at work (or my latest craving... mini chewy sweettarts). I actually bought some sunflower kernels tonight to snack on. Then I replaced my ice cream cravings with skinny cow ice cream snacks (mmm!). Tomorrow I'll be joining a local 24 hour gym so that the nights I can't sleep and the lovely future hubby is passed out I can run up there and get a work out to make me tired to come home and sleep. Starting tomorrow I am also going to be drinking a lot more water and going to try to manage to only drink one coke/dr pepper a day. I am so determined to get back into shape. Plus I kinda have this wedding thing to prep for so I better be in my best shape :). I'll keep you guys updated to my weight loss. I have to keep up with Cory though, he's been slimming down a bunch lately. I am so proud of him, he's been working so hard!

On another note...

Charleston was fabulous. We have a good idea of where we're getting married, when we're getting married and the thing is, we're probably keeping it under wraps for now :). We want this to be extra special to us and if everyone is expecting it and some people are trying to wiggle their way into the ceremony or offended because we didn't invite this person or we invited this person and not them then it'll be stressful. The weekend was way too short but full of laughs, cuddling, sightseeing and yummy food.

Otherwise things are good and starting to slow down which is nice considering my classes start August 15th (ahh so soon!). I'm ready to get back into the swing of things after a summer off and get this degree done. I'm getting an awesome bracelet this week in support of my marine :). Cory has started at the academy and will be working there once a week once we get some things worked out around here. I'm working a little less right now but I needed a break. 72 hour weeks are for the birds! I was told I was getting offered a third job but after some hard thinking and hardcore praying I just don't know if now is the right time in my life for 3 jobs.

We miss everyone back in Texas and hope to see ya'll soon! I promise it won't be so long between updates next time. We have some things coming up that we're looking forward to so I can't wait to tell you guys all about it!

<3 b

For better or worse, for more dogs or less....

So, I promised Toby would be our last one but I looked at the Greenville Humane Society, Oconee Animal Shelter and Spartanburg Humane Society out of curious and the rest is history. Welcome Lassie (we didn't choose the name and she's almost 5 so we can't change it) to the [future] Bouldin family. She's a purebred smooth collie and sweet as can be. In fact she's sitting here on the couch with me. Initially we were scared of how the other dogs would get along with her but so far, Bella tries to show out occassionally but otherwise they're all good. Now, while we were there we got introduced to the furminator.... I had heard of this thing before but omg how did I live without it? It's a grooming/shedding tool that pulls out the undercoat that is loose and helps you keep them from shedding so much. I've been chasing the dogs around with it all day. So far we have half a wal-mart bag full of fur. Thank goodness we have our pet hair friendly vacuum! This weekend the 3 of them are sharing a run at the place we board the dogs so that we can head out of town so we'll see if I get any frantic phone calls from the place but I don't see it being a problem.

So otherwise what's been up? First of all Cory and I celebrated July 4th on July 3rd at the Westminster fireworks. It was so awesome and we got to spend some time with friends so it was definitely a good time. A few "exciting moments" but no one got hurt :). I have been offered an interview at another ambulance service in this area so I have decided to take it. I figure I can work part time for them since I only work prn for Oconee and 3 nights a week for GMH. Cory has orientation at the SCFA this week. Not to mention, the unmentionable possible future plan took a big step in coming around last Friday. Excited, scared, and anxious about what the future holds career wise for us. Hopefully I'll get to tell you guys soon what's going on.

This weekend is Charleston (Wooo!). We're leaving Saturday morning and returning late on Sunday. We so far have plans to go to the USS Yorktown, Angel Oak Tree Park, and the American LaFrance museum. I'm really looking forward to this.

Now onto cleaning up the mess called having 3 dogs. Cory's working on our office so maybe I can post pictures of the entire place soon.

Brenda C.

Our first post!

So... with LOTS of changes coming up in our life I figured I'd start a blog so that all of our friends and family could keep up with what's going on with Cory and I. We are so lucky to have all of you in our life.

So lately, let's catch up. I just started two new jobs this summer, one working PRN for Oconee Medical Center EMS and then I work full-time at Greenville Memorial Hospital - Emergency Trauma Center as a NST. Definitely been an adjustment for Cory and I as I now work nights at the hospital and this comes right as we become a one-car family temporarily due to some problems with the other car we had. But nothing we haven't handled and thankfully Cory has been amazing in how he tries to sleep in with me until the afternoon (though I don't think he complains about sleeping in until 2:30ish). Cory is still at Westminster FD and we're still waiting to hear back from the SCFA on his start date there. I am so proud of him for chasing his dreams. I just know he'll go far in his career. We're still in our townhouse in Seneca, still working on turning it into home. Cory brought home some of his stuff from his grandparents so the garage is slowly but surely becoming his "man cave". We're working on deciding what we do after the lease at this place is up next February but we also have to wait to see if some things fall into place. Either way it looks like we'll be staying in Oconee County as we have enjoyed the hiking and the small town feel (though I do miss my shopping and variety of places to meet with friends.).

So another change, looks like I'll be Mrs. Bouldin a little sooner than originally planned. Weddings are expensive (26,000+ on average as of 2005 according to cnnmoney.com) and we really don't feel like waiting until next October when we could afford the one we want soooo we're doing a small ceremony at a date known to us in Charleston and then eventually we'll have a big wedding and reception for everyone to attend. This was a decision that wasn't easy as we didn't want to leave our family completely out but we're very excited about our plans and then we can't wait to celebrate with everyone at a later date. For the record, since everyone has had this thought since we announced it, no I am not pregnant. We're doing this for us and us only.

So lots of decisions and changes coming up in the future. I've got some decisions to make about school. I think my heart is in nursing and doing EMS prn soooo I've got some decisions to make there. I love EMS but I have to keep in mind I want a family one day and I don't see how being a mom and working 24 hour shifts will work for me. I still have my sights on being a nurse practitioner. To make things a little more murky I did get accepted to the Paramedic program this fall so lots of decisions. Hopefully I'll know some things soon :).

This weekend has been one of relaxation. Yesterday we took the dogs out to Chau Ram for hiking and their first swim and it went off wonderfully except Bella getting injured. She'll be fine though. Tonight is hopefully us getting to spend some time together for July 4th since I'm working on the actual holiday and then next weekend is my 5 day weekend on this new [temporary] rotation and then the weekend after that we're headed off to Charleston to scout out a place to get married and spend some time down there. I've missed it a lot!

Hope this finds everyone well and check back frequently for updates. As the changes happen and as exciting things (such as Charleston) happen we'll keep you guys informed. I know many of you wished I would get back into blogging and now that I am working back on my weight loss and spending many wonderful life events with Cory I promise to become proactive in it again. Love ya'll!

Brenda C.