2 weeks! And summer plans...

Just in case anyone is interested...have I mentioned that we are moving to Ohio? Ok, ok, it's not really moving. We are leaving most of our stuff in Raleigh, but we will temporarily be living in Ohio for 9 weeks. After our wedding and honeymoon, we will be back in Raleigh for less than 24 hours before we leave for Greenville, Ohio. Jared has an internship with Monsanto, the company that is providing his fellowship for his Ph.D. program (i.e. - paying him to go to school). They are also providing our living arrangments while we are there (a room at a bed and breakfast).

SIDE NOTE: Not only does Monsanto pay for Jared's tuition for his entire program and pay him a salary, but they are also provided housing at no cost during his internship. Let me just take a moment to contrast that with my internship: I got nothing. I did not get paid, I had to pay for 14 credit hours of tuition even though I was not taking classes, and I was not allowed to work another job. I had to take out a loan just to live. (Oh, but when I interviewed for the internship, I was told that I got free lunch every day and could consider that my stipend.) Not that I'm complaning (ok, I am), but I am definitely excited (and grateful) for Jared's sweet deal. No hard feelings to any of my Provo Canyon friends! We all know PCS is cheap. ;)

We will return to Raleigh mid-August. School will start again immediately for Jared and I will go back to the tortuous, but hopefully-more-promising-this-time-around job hunt.

24 days...

So we're down to 24 days until we get married. Just thought I should update that. And maybe update a few other things. I've been terribly absent from this blog for a couple months now. The reason for that is I moved and I no longer have internet at home. Remember that post about my awesome house? Well I don't live there anymore. It's a long story, but basically the owner of the house wanted us to start paying more rent and we were so not okay with that, so we all moved out. I moved into a one-bedroom apartment by myself. It's actually been really nice having my own place. I was afraid I would not like living alone or I would be scared, but the opposite is true. I don't feel scared at all (I live in a nice complex in a really good area...in fact the town I live in has been ranked the 6th safest city in America) and I really like having my own place and organizing things however I want them and not dealing with roommates being loud and keeping me up at night. Plus, it is making the transition to married life easier, I think. Jared has been gradually moving his stuff in and we've had time to sort through all our crap and organize, combine, discard, etc. Even though Jared doesn't live in it yet, we view it as our apartment.

I finally got my ring. Actually I got it about a month and a half ago, but I hadn't mentioned it yet, so now I am. I knew it was considered an "antique" style ring, but I wasn't prepared for so many comments about it! I receive at least a couple of compliments per week from customers at work and every single one has been from an older woman. I've also been asked if it was a family heirloom or if it was an antique. But I don't mind having an old lady ring. I really, really like it and I'm definitely still happy with my choice.