Apartment Love!

This gorgeous apartment proves you can do so much with a small space. It's only 540 square feet, but it's packed with style. I love the pops of color and the bathroom is AMAZING.

This apartment was featured in MiCasa.The site is in Spanish but all I care about are the GREAT home photos!

One Line a Day...

I stumbled upon the book/journal/keepsake One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book (Five Year Memory Book)on Amazon.com today. I instantly thought it would be the cutest gift for many different occasions.

A birthday: So your friend can record five years of great birthday memories from that day and beyond.

A wedding/bridal shower: So your friend can record five years of memories with her new hubby. 

A baby shower: So your friend can record how much life changes over five years while watching their little one grow up.

I feel like I want to buy ten copies and just in case I ever need a last-minute, but very thoughtful gift.

Waiting to get Engaged...

Let me explan my feeling on waiting to get engaged:

After starting the home buying process last winter I began growing more and more impatient waiting for him to propose. I went through a lot of ups and downs. I mean, it is an incredibly frustrating experience when you know someone loves you, yet you constantly find yourself wondering, "What the hell are they waiting for?!" Meanwhile, me, the over-thinker, tosses and turns at night thinking and stressing over every last idea of why he is waiting so long and if it is ever going to happen. I would go through periods of insecurity, then acceptance and my patience would return; then, I'd get a little bitter for a moment before telling myself again to just be patient. I CONSTANTLY scrolled through wedding blogs and had totally caught wedding fever. However, after nearly four years of dating, I was so ready! I apologize for all the friends and family who have endured my endless whining and moaning over how badly I wanted this, but let me say now that I'm glad it worked out the way it did. And ladies, if you find yourself in the postition I was in, I'm sure you can relate. But, as a word from the wise, be patient, it all works out in the end!

If you know me, you know I'm not the kind of person who likes to wait and wait for something I REALLY want. I get pushy until the point it starts to make me crazy (like I mentioned above).



How we met...

Matt and I met at the Vice President's 2006 Holiday Parties.

I was acting as the Volunteer Coordinator at that time and as much as Matt does not like to admit it… he was a volunteer. That year we were short on military volunteers and so we put out the word to the Pentagon that we needed help. One of Matt's co-workers convinced him to help with all three of the parties. Despite the odds of us not having the most favorable first impressions of each other (I thought that he was conceded and he thought I was bossy... maybe true statements) we ended up talking about my need for employment post graduation.

After the events Matt offered to circulate my resume around The Pentagon we started e-mailing. I learned that Matt was extremely handy and that he lived close to me in Annandale. Matt had just completed a huge remodel on his kitchen and I decided that I wanted to get him some kitchen items as a thank you for all of his help circulating my resume around The Pentagon. When I mentioned that I had something that I was going to send into the Pentagon for him he suggested that I drop it by his house to see his handiwork. Loving all things home improvement I couldn't resist…

When I arrived Matt had an AMAZING meal prepared and casually invited me to stay for dinner... Smooth move! That was the day he won me over! While having a great meal with his roommates I was able to learn a lot more about Matt and the fact that he went above and beyond to do something to get to know me was amazing… Now almost four years later here we are!

My Fall...

So After being MIA on the blog for so long I almost don't know how to begin... There are SOOO many things to post about so I've decided to do a little run down of our fall...

1. We closed on our house on September 17th. After the closing Matt Proposed (More on this story later!)

2. We are all moved in... there are some more boxes to unpack in the garage but we are getting there!

3. Emma is going GREAT! She is in Daisies and playing Soccer with the same group of girls as last spring and loving it... Who know though that 1st grade soccer would have so many rules and be competitive.

4. The wedding planning is in full swing and in just under three months I will be Mrs. Park!!! AHHH

5. Work is going well! Was able to help out on a CRAZY trip and in only ten days went to Hawaii, Guam, Singapore, South Korea, Japan & Alaska.

6. We are getting ready for Thanksgiving in Chicago.

So that is a VERY abbreviated version of some things that have been going on in the Fleming/ Park Household! More to come on all!