Welcome to Our Home

It is official...we are finally moved in!!! It was a lot of work, a lot of painting & cleaning but it was all worth it :) The move into this house was much easier than the move to Pittsburgh as we didn't have to drive 300 miles and then unpack, this time it was 2 miles down the road. Also instead of just me and James moving the 50 million boxes of stuff we have, we also had the help of my Dad, my brother David and Anthony. The help was much appreciated and we had everythig out of storage and into the house in about 2 hours! While the guys unloaded the truck i unpacked. By the end of the day we had all of the essentials out of the boxes, you could build a great fort with the boxes outside of our garage lol. Today (Sunday) I hung a few photos and got things a little more organized. Our next door neighbors came by with a little gift and a welcome to the neighborhood. They have 2 children and their 1 year old son proceeded to tell us how an old lady used to live here and died in the house...AWESOME!!! We also went to Bed Bath & Beyond and did some guilt free shopping thanks to the gift cards we had received at the shower. We ended the moving weekend with our first home cooked meal in the house. I made homemade montery jack turkey burgers and James manned the grill. Here are a few updated photos since we have painted and moved into the house.

Photos From Shower

Here are a few shots from the shower:

Mum, Me & Grandma

Jen, Me & Dad

The reason this shower happened!

I had no idea Mum & Grandma were coming over for the shower

The veil that Jen made for me, love it!

My ribbon bouquet made by Vanessa

Leona & I

The best bridesmaids EVER!

Wedding Shower Weekend

I have been looking forward to this weekend for the longest time, mostly because I couldn't wait to be in the same room as my best friends, I thought I knew most of the details about the shower but as it turned out I knew nothing at all.

Becca, my first friend in the USA, arrived late late late Thursday night and we got to spend the entire day together on Friday. We had my second dress fitting and Becca was taught how to bustle my dress and put me in it, which let me tell you is quite a process. We got cheesesteaks and relaxed the rest of the afternoon as I had come down with a sinus infection! Friday evening Leona, one of my bestest friends, landed on Friday evening. As far as I was concerned everyone who was supposed to be here, minus Vanessa who was arriving the next day, was here and the party could begin. All us girls sat up talking all night reminicing about high school and college days and filling Tara in on all of our funny stories.

Saturday James came to hangout with me while all the girls went to my parents house to prepare for the shower which was the following day, or so I thought. We went and saw Shrek in 3D which was awesome btw. The plan was I was meeting the girls at Dad and Jens house so we could all then go out in West Chester. Well once I walked into the house I realized quickly those plans were no longer as there was about 30 people yelling SURPRISE!!! My shower was actually Saturday. Good job to all of you who pulled one over on me. I was overwhelmed just with that surprise but there was more to come. I was told to close my eyes and when I opened them my Mum and my Grandma Banfield were standing in front of me and had flown all the way from England the day before. At this point it all became too much and I started crying, as did most of the room. The shower was more than I could ever have imagined. The bridal party, Jen, Anita, Mom, Mum & Grandma worked so hard to make sure the place looked beautiful and everyone had a great time. We played some games, Leona made the best slideshow of James and I growing up, Jen gave me my veil that she made, my family put together an English goodie basket and photo albums. I got to meet some of James family that I hadn't had the chance to meet in the past and it was great to do so. Honestly it was overwhelming to see how many people showed up or sent their 'good wishes' and show how much they care about James and I as we get ready to become husband and wife.

The weather this weekend was beautiful so Bill and Mom threw a little BBQ for my friends that were in town and my Mum and Grandma. It was so nice that they got to meet after they had apparently all been talking via email for the past 6 months! We went out on Sunday night and were entertained by James, David and Leona doing some karaoke. We ended the best weekend by moving some of our things into our new house which we now have the keys for and can officially move in:)

Come See Our House

We were able to get into our soon to be house today so we could take measurements for area rugs and blinds, and decide on paint colors as we are going to start painting next weekend! While we were there I took some photos so you could see what will soon be our home. Hope you enjoy!

The front porch

The foyer

The living room

The chandelier in the dining room

The kitchen

The family room

The back garden

The sun porch

Master Bedroom

Home Sweet Home

James and I are so excited to share with you that as of today we have our first house! Since moving back from Pittsburgh in October we thought renting an apartment was going to be our only option of having our own place, but other plans were in store for us.

Two weeks ago I spent the day with Anita and the kids and had been talking about a house on their development that had been up for rent last year, we decided to drive by, and what do ya know but they were having an open house. After looking around the house Anita, Jenna and I all decided it was the PERFECT house for James and I. By the end of touring the house Jenna had already decided which room was going to be hers and that she was moving in :) James had been at work all day and when he finally got home was greeted by Jenna saying, "Uncle JP I found your house for you today!" The following week we set up an appointment for James to look at the property..two days later the house is ours!!!!!

Never in our wildest dreams did we think our first house would consist of 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a 2 car garage. To top it off we are literally around the corner from Anita, Anthony & the kids.

We are both so anxious to get in the house to start painting and to make it ours. If anybody is free on June 5th and feel like helping us move, it would be more than appreciated .