Tuesday, September 20, 2005

It's great to beat the Tennessee Volunteers!

This past weekend was great! Grant came to visit me and we had a very busy weekend. Friday night we went out for my old roommate's birthday and then went to the Sister Hazel concert. I love Sister Hazel! Then, on Saturday we went out for breakfast and went to the UF v. UT game. We kicked some butt! It was great to be there and see us beat Tennessee. On Sunday I had a BBQ and then we went to Grant's brother and sister-in-law's apartment. It was really nice to see them. I need to make more of an effort to go over there when Grant is not in town. Grant and his brother talked about restaurant stuff, like usual, and Megan and I talked about wedding stuff and about their son. I asked their son to be a junior groomsman in the wedding. It was really funny because when I asked him he asked me if it was on a weekend because he couldn't do it on a school night! How cute?! After that Grant and I went to see Wedding Crashers. It was really funny. He left Monday morning and I miss him very much. But he'll be back 2 weeks from Friday for Homecoming.

This week is a busy one for me. I have my first exam of my last semester tomorrow in Facilities. It is hard to study for it because it seems like everything is common sense. I made notes and I read them while I work out. Then, I am traveling to the PGA TOUR headquarters on Thursday to get some data for an independent study I am doing with them. I am also going to catch up with some old coworkers from the summer and get information for my comprehensive exam essays. On Saturday, I am going on a field trip! My facilities class is going to tour Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex and the Orlando Convention Center. I am staying the night in Orlando with my Mom and sister Tess. We are going to go to Islands of Adventure on Sunday. Looks like another unproductive, but fun weekend.

Wedding update: I got paper samples for my invitations in the mail yesterday. The paper is really pretty! I am so excited to see what they will look like! I also drafted a Bridesmaids Newsletter and sent it out to my wedding party. I love wedding stuff and I can't wait until I can focus more of my attention on it!

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Overwhelmed??

This may be my last post on here for a while. Life in because world just got a little busier. Here is what's currently on my plate:

Classes: 1. Managing and Planning Facilities, 2. Sport Sociology, 3. Counseling for Non-Counselors, 4. Foundations and Functions of Student Affairs 4. Independent Study = 13 credit hours

Work: 1. Graduate Hall Director, 2. Graduate Assistant = 30 hours/week

Wedding Planning

and...just added today

Comprehensive Exams: Write 4 10-page research essays due: 9/30, 10/14, 10/28 and 11/11

I am just a little stressed about all of this. I wanted to have a fun last semester at UF, but it looks like I will be working like crazy until November 11.

Can I quit school now?

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

HTML

Hello, so today has been an html day for me. For you who ask what is html, well it's a programming language for web pages. In my Computer Networks class, my professor wanted us to make a web page on the web space we have through the university. No problem easy enough right? Well never having ever looked at html code this turned out to be some work. Sure I could have used dream weaver or front page to help me along with the simple project but what fun would that be! So I had chosen good ole notepad to write my code in. One thing nice about html is that you can view the source code of any web page you want and implement things you have seen from their websites to yours. It was a day of fun setting up my first ever website made from scratch, with the help of many websites and html tutorial readings. You can even check out the page by clicking on link over on the left called, Grants Webpage. It is just in its first stages of being built but I think it is coming along great! After accomplishing that task, I figured I would take a look into the Html code of this blog. I changed quite a few things minor stuff here and there mostly the side bar. I deleted the majority of their filler code and the page still works and everything is showing so I guess their default code is just for looks. I wanted to break the blog into two or three frames. One for the side bar, Header, and Body but there is a lot of code above for the main area of the blog and did not want to mess things up just yet! So look forward to a new and exciting look around here when I get things going.

Grant C.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Chicago - a brief summary of a great trip

Grant and I went to Chicago last weekend. I have been busy with my 4 classes, independent study and 2 jobs until this current study break.

Grant and I drove down to the Orlando airport Friday afternoon and flew up to Chicago that night. My friend Marin picked us up and we hung out that night at her apartment. It was great getting to meet her roommate and see her coat! (she is in her first year of med school.) We went to bed early and work up the next morning to begin our long day of meetings. Marin was amazing and let us borrow her car while she went to her coating ceremony with her family.

We headed off to our first meeting of the day at a reception location. We got there and wandered down to the basement of the clubhouse and found the main office. We got a tour of the facility, but were not impressed. Plus the prices had gone up since they sent me an email the week before. We made mental notes about this first stop and headed off to the next meeting.

We met with Modern Images Studios. Their office was really amazing. We saw examples of all of their photobooks and watched a dvd with the work of one of the photographers who was available on our wedding day. Her work was amazing. We were definitely impressed with vendor!

Next, we met with the caterer, Noteable Events. We found their office and were met by Ann. Quickly after the food started coming. Mike, the chef and owner, brought out an amazing salad. Then, he brought out char-fired chicken (2 whole chickens!), roasted red potatoes and asparagus. In case we didn't like that entree, he brought out stuffed chicken breasts, mashed potatoes and broccoli. Everything so far was amazing! I had told Ann before the meeting that we were going to order a cake from another vendor, so we didn't need dessert. However, Mike brought out 2 huge pieces of chocolate cake, 8 chocolate covered strawberries and 2 chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookies! And if that wasn't enough food to feed a small army, Mike brought out a HUGE bowl of Bananas Foster. I think I gained 10 pounds that afternoon, but it was worth it. Noteable Events is truly noteworthy!

After we stuffed our tummies full of amazing food we went to the Lindner Conference Center to meet with Brenda. We were in luck too because they were setting up for a wedding that very evening. The main room was absolutely beautiful. There were floor to ceiling windows overlooking a lake, plenty of room for our guests and dancing. I loved it. Brenda was great!

We were getting pretty tired, but we had one more meeting that afternoon with another photographer. This photographer had good work, but was a little more expensive than the one we met with previously. We were not really impressed. Definitely not sold.

We had a few free minutes so we ran over to Grant's Aunt and Uncle's house. I love Beth and Tony and their dog Rufus (a wheaton terrier)! Tony is a Sox fan...I am a Cubs fan...This season Tony definitely has the bragging rights. But there is always next season!

We then went to Jordan's for a bit. I asked her to be my Maid of Honor :). She said yes! I know she is going to do a great job and I couldn't imagine having anyone else as my MOH. She has been my friend since first grade and is always there for me. I could go on and on about her. Jordan is the best!

We hung out with Jordan that night and I got to meet her boyfriend Ryan who was awesome! Marin came by and we watched a movie and talked. It was like old times. :)

We went back to Marin's and I asked her to be in my wedding. She said yes too! :) Marin and I met in first grade as well. We go way back. We were all pretty exhausted and Grant and I had a meeting at 9 the next morning so we went to bed.

The next morning we met with 2 more photographers, both of which were more pricey, but really nice! I would love to have one of them, but I just can't see spending more than I need to. Then, we met with Pastor Dean at First United Methodist Church of Western Springs. The church is perfect! Very tradition and old fashioned, just like I have always imagined. It is in my home town in Western Springs, just blocks from my childhood home. Pastor Dean is amazing too! I just love him. He was so open and nice. He's going to be a great man to work with and get to know more as our wedding day approaches. SO happy we got to meet him!

So that was our weekend, lots of meetings, but we got to cross off 4 things on our list: church, reception site, caterer and photographer. I love Chicago! I love Grant! I can't wait to marry him in the town I love!

Becky =)