"We’ve come so far since that day, And I thought I loved you then."

Well like I mentioned during my last blog entry, the weekend of October 24-25 marked 10 years that Timmy and I have been together. It is so crazy to think about how much we have grown and all that we have been through over the past 10 years, even though we have only been married for a little over 2 years.

For those of you who may not know Timmy and I met in high school. We started "hanging out" the summer of 99 before he left for college and I began my junior year of high school. He told me when he left for school that he liked me a lot but that since he was going away for school he did not want to start a serious long distance relationship. Although I was hurt I respected that. We stayed friends, even wrote each other letters and mailed them back and forth (yes, email was around but we still mailed each other letter snail mail style). I still have one letter he sent to me in which he wrote to me about his new girlfriend Dawn. Fortunately for me that relationship did not last long and we hung out the entire time he was home for his fall break that October. October 23 was my junior homecoming and I asked Timmy to come back and go with me and he did! (Looking back it was probably a little embarrassing to be a college guy going back to HS dances- but he was trooper and ended up not only at my junior homecoming, but also my senior homecoming and both proms!) A few months later when we decided we were probably officially a couple, we picked that weekend to mark the beginning of our relationship.

Homecoming 99- Luckily one of the things that has changed over the past 10 years is that Timmy started smiling in pictures!

We went to dinner before hand with Clayton & Brandon, it was Brandon's 16th Birthday!

We spent the first 8 years of that relationship pretty much long distance, never even living in the same area code until we got married and moved to Columbia. Luckily both of our families are in Chester so we still got to see each other plenty and managed to make it work. He will never let me forget those few months my second year of college that we broke up, but it was that time apart that made me realize that he was the one for me.

We have truly been very blessed and when I think about all that has changed over the past 10 years I feel very lucky to have been through it all with Timmy by my side. I know that we never know what the future has in store for us but I know that I have been blessed with an amazing husband and that we are both supported by amazing family and friends and with that kind of love and support I am certain that together we will be able to get through all that this life has in store for us!

10 years later...

We celebrated the night at Wesley & Marci's Wedding

and while the girlfriends in their lives have changed, Clayton & Brandon are still great friends of mine, I got to briefly celebrate his 26th Birthday with him as well!

"And in a week or two it'll be Halloween, Set the page and the stage for the scene"

Well Timmy and I have gotten settled into the new place and finally had some time last weekend to catch up with old and new friends in Charleston. My friend Liz and her husband Adam were here visiting Adam's parents over the weekend and we had the chance to go over and watch the VT game with them (that is as much as I am going to say about the game, for those of you who follow college football and who are Hokie fans like me, you know there is not possibly anything good I can say about that game). But at least we got to enjoy the good company of great friends. It was great to see them and catch up. Sunday we went to Pumpkin Patch with some of my CofC friends and then had them all over to carve pumpkins and have dinner. It was great to have them over and Timmy and I had a great time getting to carve pumpkins, it is actually the first time we have ever done that together. Below are a few pictures of our pumpkin and entertaining adventure!

Tomorrow we are heading back to Richmond for the weekend. We haven't been home since June and are really looking forward to getting back for the weekend. Our friend Wesley is getting married and Saturday is also Reed's birthday so we are looking forward to seeing family and friends and celebrating with everyone. Hopefully there will be some fun pictures and stories to share from the weekend.

This weekend also marks a milestone for Timmy and I. It is hard to believe but this weekend will be 10 years since Timmy came home from Radford to go with me to my junior homecoming and when we started dating. I don't feel old enough to have been in relationship for 10 years, I guess time flies when you are having fun and are blessed to be spending your life with your best friend!

So we certainly have a lot to raise a glass to this weekend- cheers to love, family, and friends!

"It's not a big place sittin' up high on some hill, A lot of things will come and go but love never will, Oh, I'm proud, of the house we built"

Well I know some of you have been patiently awaiting this post. We have finally moved and for the most part settled into our new place, and I am certainly glad to finally be officially down here. There are still a few things left to purchase eventually, some pictures left to hang, and a few boxes to still find a home for but I would say for just two weekends and one week I think we have gotten a lot accomplished. Mom and Margaret came down and were a huge help the weekend we moved so I do have to give them a BIG thanks because we probably wouldn't have as much done otherwise. Like a good blogger I took lots of pictures from the time we closed until now when we have all the furniture in place to document the whole process. But since it has taken me until now to post the pictures I figure I will just share what the place is looking like now, although some of the colors look funny with the camera. We are excited to be here and hope to start having some visitors soon!

Welcome Home Marsh's

View of Downstairs from Front Door

Family Room

New Desk/Office

Kitchen (complete with a cook)

Upstairs Hallway, view from top of the stairs

Master Bedroom

Guest Room 1

Guest Room 2 (our Chicken Man Room)

Upstairs Guest Bathroom
House warming gift from my brother, you definitely can't find these in SC!

Go Hokies!

"I love sleeping in on Saturdays, and I love college football games"

Almost everyone who knows me knows that one of my biggest passions in life is Virginia Tech football. Yet another season is underway which is one of the reasons why I truly believe fall is the most wonderful time of the year (with summer and Christmas being close behind). Of course being in South Carolina and having to work on Saturdays (which I have for the past 6 in a row due to recruitment and various programs) make it difficult to get back to Blacksburg to see the games in person. But I still do not miss watching a single game whether is is on TV or on ESPN's 360 where you merely watch the little arrows get updated with each play.

Yesterday marked the last Saturday for pretty much the rest of this fall semester that I had to work and I am looking forward to being able to sleep in again on the weekends. Luckily our program ended around 1:00 yesterday and I was able to make it back to Columbia in time for the VT v. Nebraska game. As you know, we are moving in two weeks and my sweet husband has been doing a lot of packing on the weekends while I have been gone. When I called him on my way home yesterday I joked with him that I hoped the house would be decorated for the VT game when I got home, to which he responded sarcastically, "but we don't really own anything VT that I could decorate with." I laughed at him and told him I was sure he could at least put Zoey's jersey on her.

Well much to my surprise, an hour and a half later when I got home, not only was I welcomed in the parking lot by Zoey in her VT jersey, I also walked into this...

I was even able to get Timmy to wear a VT Shirt for the game, which again if you know Timmy you know this is not his usual Saturday attire as it is mine.

For those of you who saw the game it was a good one, well good, then bad, then finally ended good with a 1 point victory thanks to a touch down in the last minute of the game by the Hokies. I nearly had several heart attacks during the game and now know that I need to make sure I am in tip-top shape for next week's game against Miami which is certain to also be a tough one for the Hokies. Hopefully our box filled apartment will be able to be filled with Hokie Spirit again for the game next weekend, it will be the last time we watch Saturday football from our apartment here in Columbia. We will move the next Saturday and will be watching the games for the rest of the season in our new home, hopefully on a nice new, big flat screen HDTV we will purchase after we get down there, hey a girl can dream right?!

GO HOKIES!

"So I'll drive, and I'll think about my life"

Wow, it has really been over a month since my last blog post! Life and work have been super hectic over the past month between a trip to MD to visit our new nephew Benjamin, getting ready for the move, and school starting back at CofC and recruitment in full gear. I have been able to spare a day or two or even a night over the past month to get back home to Columbia but with working the past several weekends sometimes it feela like I am spending more time driving then I am at home. We close on our house 3 weeks from today and are scheduled to move the first weekend in October, that weekend cannot get here soon enough! I figured rather than write a lot about the past month I would just post a few pictures of everything. Now that life is getting somewhat back to normal (except for the move) I hope to be a better blogger. Again, sorry it's been so long!

Townhome at our Pre-Drywall Walk Through (ours is the middle one with the brick front)

Visitng Benjamin

My amazing new CofC Co-Workers and Friends (minus Libby)

Panhellenic Exec at Cougar Carnival

IFC Officers & Chapter Presidents at their Recruitment Covocation

NPHC Open House

SGRho's @ NPHC Meet the Greeks

Panhellenic Bid Day...too bad pictures just can't capture the excitement

"My wish for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to"

Well once again it has been several weeks since I have updated the blog and I apologize. This has really been my first full weekend and more than a day at home since my last post, so can you blame me for not spending the little time I did have at home on the computer and with Timmy instead? It is hard to believe that August is already here, but what an exciting and busy last few weeks of July we have had.

When I last posted I was off to IFI in Indiana for a week, and while the trip got a little long it was really amazing. Part of the program is breaking up into small dot groups for the week, so I was a member of the Green Dot Group and had a wonderful time getting to know my fellow colleagues on campuses and at HQ's around the country and having some great conversations about the fraternal movement and where we still need to go. I also had a chance to catch the newest Harry Potter with my fellow Green Dotters while I was gone which was also an added bonus to the trip. I learned a lot and made some great new connections in the field and am glad that I went to IFI this summer!

The Green Dot Group at IFI

After a few days back at work after IFI I spent last weekend facilitating at Pi Kapp College, a summer leadership program held by Pi Kappa Phi for some of their chapter officers. Since the fraternity was founded at College of Charleston they had the program there and I was lucky to be invited to help out but also not to have to travel for it. Again, it was great to be involved interfraternally and I also got "Voluntold" that I was going to be a tour guide for the groups tour around campus and the city. I was a little nervous at first about this since I had only been in Charleston for a few weeks at that point, but luckily they gave me the landmarks and talking points and I was able to find my way to them all, and now am full of some great Pi Kapp knowledge of the city of Charleston and campus!

After a brief 14 hour trip back to Columbia to do laundry and repack following Pi Kapp College I was back down to Charleston for another week of work. However, the most exciting part about last week was that Timmy and I became an uncle and aunt for the third time. That is right, Benjamin Arthur was born at 12:23a.m. on Tuesday, July 28. You can check out some picture below, I know I am probably a little bias but I think he may possibly be one of the cutest babies ever! Timmy and I are thrilled for MK and Jonathan and decided to fly up to MD next weekend to visit them and to meet Baby Ben, so hopefully there will be many more pictures to come of him!

Finally, on the moving front, after lots of paint samples and lots of debating I think Timmy and I have finally picked out paint for all the rooms in our new place, now we can start getting estimates from some paint companies down there. We have our pre-drywall walk through tomorrow morning at the new place, the frame, windows, and roof are all done so we are looking forward to taking some pictures and actually seeing some of the place tomorrow. We are getting excited that we will be moving in less than 2 months.

So that is the quick update on our end, life is crazy but good. Work is going great for both of us right now and we are just slowly but surely getting things done for the move. We are very excited about our little vacation up to MD next weekend and will post more about that when we get back.

"We run on fumes, your life and mine, like the sands of time"

Well I now have officially experienced one whole week of the packing up Sunday night, driving to Charleston Monday morning, and staying until Friday after work then heading back to Columbia for the weekend. Luckily Kassie gave me today off work since I am leaving tomorrow for IFI (Interfraternity Institute, a new professionals conference for those of us working in the Greek world). Now as most of you know the long distance thing is nothing new for Timmy and I. We spent the first 7.5 years of our relationship together long distance, it was not until we were married that we lived in the same zip code let alone the same place. And last summer I spent two months living in Blacksburg for my internship. So it's not that we can't do the long distance thing, it is just that the longer we are together the harder it gets to do it. I have a new found respect for my friends who have spouses in the military who spend months/years apart. I am grateful that Timmy and I still see each other on the weekends (well at least a few between now and when we move) and that I know that there is an end in sight once our place is done being built and we move.

Speaking of the new place we ventured out on Saturday to do some more looking for bedding for our guestroom and to pick up more paint samples. We are getting the twin beds that I grew up with back from my dad's attic when we move and are going to put them in our third room so that we can have two guest rooms in the new place (so hopefully we will have lots of visitors). We decided to push them together to make them a king so we have been hunting for king sized bedding. In addition, our friend Tory bought us an Ernest Lee painting (better known in Columbia and around SC as the Chicken Man) before she left to move back home, and I really wanted to be able to hang it somewhere in the new place. So while I was not necessarily looking for bedding for a room to match the painting, it would definitely have been a plus. Well I found a comforter set that I loved at Macy's but of course it was very expensive and even their great One Day sale wasn't helping my cause. So we wrote down the name and searched for it online when we got home. Lucky for me we were able to find it for a GREAT deal on overstock.com so I am getting the bedding I love and it matches the picture Tory bought us. Today we went and picked up a few more to hang with it over the bed, but overall I am very excited about our new room and our new art. It will be a very SC/Beachy room and it will be waiting for people to come visit and stay in it! Check out the pictures below of the comforter set and the paintings we bought.

This is the bedding we got for the king bed

Here are our 3 new paitings (the one in the middle was our gift from Tory)

Here is another actual Chicken Paiting we also got, this one will also go somewhere in the new guest room, just not with the palmetto trees

Like I mentioned I had a nice day off work today and was able to grab lunch with Lavina and Anna, two of my past co-workers who I really miss at my new job. It was great to catch up with them and to have an extra day to get my stuff together and pack before I leave tomorrow morning for Indiana. Timmy is also going to go to Chester this weekend while I am gone to visit since it looks like between the move and my crazy fall schedule at work that we probably won't make it back there together until the end of October. With that said though, the job is going great, I really love everything about it so far- I have great co-workers and the students I have had a chance to meet are awesome, and really, who can complain about the gorgeous views I have on my morning runs around the city? I think I made a great job decision and am actually looking forward to getting back from my trip (that I haven't even left for yet) to get back to working on things there. So other than the craziness of traveling and being apart, life is pretty good right now and it sure does make Timmy and I grateful for the few days we do get to spend together, even if they are few and far between for the next few months.