Changes

On September 18, my grandfather passed away. The week following that was hectic and sad, but his wake and funeral were an incredible tribute to the amazing man, teacher, husband, father, grandfather, friend, mentor that he was. He had about 500 people show up to his wake, that's how many lives he touched and people he loved. I miss him so much and I wish he could have seen me get married, but I know he will be there, as will my great aunt Alice, Matt's grandfather, his great aunt Kathleen, and everyone else who is no longer on earth but is still watching out for us.

RIP Pop Pop xoxo

Matt got a job!

Well today shaped up to be pretty fantastic. On Monday, a family friend who works at the VA office in Providence called us and said there was a job opening that Matt would be perfect for... well, he had the interview this morning and about 3 hours after the interview, they called and told him that they wanted to hire him! He'll be helping new veterans with their benefits and loans and in the process he'll get to learn about them for himself, too. It's so exciting! I'm so glad he got a job... it's almost been a year since he got out of the Army and I know it's been tough for him to apply to job after job and get nothing out of it. This is a great thing for him! I'm very happy for him and his new job :)

There are no recent wedding planning updates unfortunately. Things have kind of leveled off since we have everything done that we need to have done at this point. We've been playing around with some Save the Date designs, but even those don't need to go out for a while still.

So I guess this begins a new chapter for us. Matt will be living in RI and staying with me and my family at least for a little while to save some money. We'll be able to see each other daily, which will be a first for our relationship. We'll have to get used to it if we're going to get married! I think it'll be an exciting and interesting change for the better, and I hope that Matt likes his new job!

Island Living

Matt and I got back from a great weekend on Block Island yesterday. The weather was PERFECT. We spent so much time in the sun (and we paid for it... talk about sunburns!), on our bikes, walking around, and people-watching. To be fair, we did equal amounts of napping after the long bike rides. I bought a pair of really cool earrings from this little girl named Sally who travels around the world 8 months of the year with her family on their boat and lives on the island the rest of the time. She buys her beads from other countries when they're traveling, then comes home to Block Island and makes earrings and sells them on the side of the road. I was fascinated by her! She was the sweetest kid, and her earrings were really neat. She had her stand set up right next to the Island Manor where we stayed, so we passed her on our way to dinner one night and I had to stop and chat. What a cool life, huh?

I already miss the island. It's always so much fun to go somewhere new with Matt because we both like exploring and taking pictures and learning about places, so we have good time when we venture to a new locale. I remember how fascinating Kansas was to me when I went out there to visit Matt last summer (twice). I never would have thought the midwest would interest me, but being there with Matt was so fun. He showed me places he knew of already, and together we found some new and really beautiful ones, too. That was kind of what this weekend was like-- I showed him the places I know and love, but together we wandered around the island enough to stumble upon some REALLY awesome spots. We watched the sun set on a lake near the North Lighthouse on the first night we were there, and it was totally by accident that we found it. Wander around enough and you'll always be rewarded!

I saw a girl in line for the ferry yesterday who was carrying a bag that had a great saying on it:
Go into the world and do well, but mostly, go into the world and do good.

Isn't that a nice thought?

No wedding news at the moment... The big things are done, and right now it's smooth sailing for a little while. We have our marriage prep class in a couple of weeks, but other than that, we're good to go!