changes...

I suppose it's about time for another post. I've been waiting until I have something to report, but I don't want to fall too behind on my blogging "duties".


School updates:
So, pretty soon I'm going to have to change the name of this blog to "The Road to Matrimony" because my thesis is done! I've received the final approval from both the docs on my committee, so the only thing that's left is submitting it to the online service the school uses to prevent plagiarism. I'm going to obsessively read through it a few more times to make sure that all grammatical errors are eradicated. I still have about 2 weeks before the final due date. Jason and his parents took me out to dinner last night to celebrate my small victory, which was lovely. Work is going well but slow now that the thesis is done. I'm trying to stay on top of everything. Only 5ish more weeks to go until graduation! 


Wedding updates:
Well, I went to pick up my dress shortly after my last post. For those of you that do not know, my dress is discontinued (which is insane!). They only had 2 left in the entire store.. one was a size too small for me and the other was several sizes too large. However, I was so in love with this dress that I didn't care about the fact that it was a little tight on me. In order to fit into it, I need to keep the belly flab down. I'm not complaining; it's totally worth it and gives me an excuse to stay in shape.  So anyway, I when the dress was purchased, there was some loose beading and strings since it was the gown that was on the floor (meaning that people tried on). The alterations department offered to fix the beads and strings and after some difficulty in the scheduling (the woman in alternations was a little brash and clearly very busy) we worked out a date to come and review her work. We were also supposed to have my first fitting that day. We even called ahead of time to make sure everything was ready and got a hurried and somewhat rude response that it was. Well, when we went to get the dress, it seemed as if very little work had been done on it at all. Some of the beads were fixed, but there were still loose strings everywhere. My mom was upset (naturally, they'd had nearly a month to work on it) and the shop was very busy so no one was around to help us with anything. We decided it would be best to take the dress elsewhere to be altered. I'd rather have someone who isn't always backlogged working on a dress that I cannot take back or replace.
So, long story short, I chose a tailor shop and have my first fitting on April 6. I can only hope this place turns out better and that my dress continues to be gorgeous! 
The day after my first fitting we're going cake testing! I'm very excited about this, and so is Jason. It's the only part of the wedding process that he really wanted to be involved in :-). Typical man for you. 
We've received good feedback on the save-the-dates. I'm so glad! They were fun to make and it was nice to hear that people liked them! I did as well! :-)
Now we mostly have little things left to handle. The next "big" endeavor will be the invitations. 


Life updates:
Things have been a bit tense for me since I still have not found a job. If the school doesn't hire me on for the summer, I will no longer have a job after April 30th. This prospect scares me. Not only are we trying to pay for a wedding and living expenses, but I also have loans to pay off! I did a count today and realized that since I started looking in December, I've applied for about 60 jobs. And heard back from none of them. Health departments, hospitals, Monster, Craigslist, even some at UT Austin. Nothing. I mean, I've always heard stories about people struggling to find work and everything, but I kind of thought that with a master's it would be a little easier. Not the case. It may be the case that I have to take some kind of waitressing/receptionist job for the time being. I guess some money is better than no money. Obviously this isn't what I want to do, but I need to contribute something. I know Jason could take care of us both if it really came down to it, but what kind of strong, independent woman would I be if I let THAT happen? :-)
We still have no idea what our living situation will be post-July. As much as we'd love a house, it may be a little hard to swing if we've only got one income. As much as I hate it, it seems we're taking the "wait and see" approach on a lot of things these days. 


If you're still reading you're amazing. 


Now, go do something else!


over and out,


Whitney