nauvoo bridal shower...

Here are some pictures from the bridal shower Jennifer and Sophie Smith threw for me!!

a couple stories...

A few days ago me and Daron went to P.F. Changs after going to the temple and here is what our fortunes were:

Mine: Your sense of adventure will lead you on a great vacation.

Darons: You will do well to take a vacation travelling to the west.

Funny huh!

In other news I don't think I ever wrote about the drama that was moving out of my house in June! Well...the moving part wasn't the drama...it was trying to get our deposit back that was such an issue!

It all started at the final walk through with me, Jillian and our landlord Beth the day after we had all moved out. We walked through the house and she pointed out a few things that were broken and that would be deducted from our deposit, there were about 5 or 6 things and it was looking to be a few hundred dollars...and at the end right before we all left she says "And I just want to tell you girls that I really hope you don't do to other landlords what you did to me. You are the filthiest girls and it was just disgusting in here every time I came over." (if you know me you are probably thinking that there was a good possibility that that was true...but if you knew Jillian you would know that our house was never disgusting...and even I wouldn't let it get disgusting...I just let my room get cluttered sometimes) So we were like...um...ok... and then we left...FUMING of course. So a few days later we get an email informing us that we weren't going to be getting anything back because of the cost of everything...and she included a list of the deductions and one of them was a $3100 carpet replacement!!! We were FURIOUS because the carpet was just fine when we left! So we asked for copies of the receipts of course.... A few days later we get an email with ONE receipt scanned in and it was for the carpet replacement... After looking the receipt over for a little while it just didn't seem quite right. So we looked closer and it turns out she ALTERED the receipt! It was actually an ESTIMATE from 2008!!!! You could see where she had whited out the dates and then photocopied it again with a date of July 2, 2010 over one of the spots...which you could tell was a different font and size...and she forgot to white out one of the smaller dates that said 2008 on it.

So, we informed her that if she did not provide an actual receipt for the carpet replacement as well as the other receipts then we would be taking legal action.

Needless to say...after weeks of going back and forth with emails and her sending over new lists with new deductions and different prices (included air conditioning replacement, a new garbage disposal, and a bunch of other made up stuff that she never actually did)...we did sue her. And we won! We didn't get it all back like we were hoping...but we got a good chunk back...

And I have to give a shout out to my former roommate Jillian...who did all of the filing and the organizing and the submitting of everything to court! It wouldn't of happened without her!

busy busy busy...

Well I only have a few days left in the Arizona before I head back home for the last time as a single woman! I fly home Thursday, and less than two week later Daron flies into town, and a few days after that we are married! It's absolutely crazy to think how different life will be after that! I've realized on this trip how funny it will feel to live away from my family and know that it's a permanent thing...that my life for the most part will now be solely in Arizona.

Me and Daron have thought that we will get the car all packed and leave from the reception and go to Iowa City...since we are driving home anyway (through Utah to see my grandparents)...and stay there Friday night and leave Saturday morning. I have been thinking about how bittersweet my reception will be. It won't just be a 'congratulations on your wedding' (well, for some people it will be just that), but for lots of important people in my life it will be saying 'goodbye' too...and I worry that I am going to cry a lot (sort of like the way I am crying right now just blogging about it!!)

Ok...on to happier thoughts. I had a mental list of things that needed to be done on this trip...and I believe we accomplished most if not all of them... Let's see...

1. find sweaters for the bridesmaids...check
2. rug doctor the carpets in Darons house for the company we'll have for the AZ reception...check
3. get ties for the groomsmen, my dad and Daron...check
4. get Darons front room cleaned up (which has been basically collecting boxes of unwanted crap for the past many months...check
5. have the AZ bridal shower...check
6. have dinner with the girls...check
7. go with Daron to the temple for the first time...CHECK :)
8. get Darons wine cabinet on craigslist...not yet...but my time here isn't over yet!

Anyway...so it's been a productive and eye opening week...
There is TONS of stuff waiting for me to do when I get home...even though my family has been busy while I've been gone! As much as I didn't want to depend on them to get things done for the wedding I absolutely would never of gotten anything done without them!

You need to watch this...

A while back I blogged about how funny Modern Family was...and I'm the type of person that I really hate people missing out on super funny things...so I'm sharing this video with you. I couldn't copy and past the embedding code into my blog for some reason but this link should take you there...

In other news...I'm back in Arizona for another week of getting the pre-wedding things done. Daron went through the temple yesterday and that was so good!! The bridal shower that Hannah and Keri are doing is tonight and I am very excited about that! We are getting our new couch delivered here on Wednesday. The couch and love seat Daron had were pretty worn out and old...so it will be nice to have something new. I will for sure get some before and after pictures to share with everyone... We also got a new cat! I have never been a cat person, but we went to the pound the last time I was here and they had this cute little Russian Blue kitten...so they went a couple days before I came and got her and we picked her up on Tuesday! She is adorable!

Jennifer and Sophie Smith threw me the coolest bridal shower shower last week! There was tons of purple and sparkles (which are my two favorite things) and it was just really nice! Over the top nice!! Jennifers niece Sarah took pictures and as soon as she sends them to me I will get pictures posted of that.

Don't let the bed bugs bite...

Last night when I went to bed I rolled onto my back and saw a black shadow on the ceiling. I put my glasses on and saw it was a praying mantis. I didn't think much of it and I rolled back over, turned off the light and went to sleep.

When I woke up this morning that silly thing was STILL THERE on the ceiling right where I had left it. Again, I didn't do anything about it and got up and went to my tanning appointment.

When I got home about 15 minutes later I gathered my things I wanted to take pictures of to put on eBay and I walked into my room and just about plopped myself down on my bed when I noticed the mantis sitting right in the middle of my bed...right where I would of squished him if I had continued with my plopping down.

For some reason I found this little scene 'blog worthy' and so I got my camera to take a picture of it and right after the flash went off he flew across my bed and landed somewhere in the mess of blankets I keep between me and the wall...

I hope he makes his way back to my ceiling by the time I go to bed again...cause I don't relish in the idea of cuddling up with a praying mantis at night...