The Draper Diaries: Joining the blogging world!

With our busy schedules, it is sometimes hard for Matt and I to keep in touch with everyone as often as we would like. That is why, following in Dad's footsteps, we are creating this blog! The goal is to be able to post one entry per week to keep everyone informed of our lives here in Avon.

Last week, I started working night shift at Methodist Hospital. I have been working day shift (as well as taking some classes for new Registered Nurses) since I started at the end of May, but now it is time to transition in to my actual full-time night position. Right now my schedule is still a little strange because I have at least one class a week that is during the day, plus I am working about 2 1/2 night shifts in order to get all of my hours. However, soon I will be fully on nights and when that happens I will work three 12-hour shifts per week (as well as any additional hours that I decide to pick up if my unit needs more workers). It is exciting to be figuring out my role, but I like getting things done during the day so sleeping until 2:30pm on the days I work is still very foreign to me!

Matt has been very busy around our house. We finished moving my belongings out of my Purdue apartment last week and we are slowly but surely retrieving the rest of my stuff from my parents' house, so needless to say we are still working on putting things away! His other project right now is the lawn. He has decided that he wants the nicest looking lawn in the neighborhood so he has been seeding, fertilizing, weeding, and watering in order to reach his goal! Can you tell that he is a real homeowner now?

We are very happy with some new furniture that we purchased a few weeks ago: a faux-leather couch (that reclines!) and a sofa table. Although we really liked the old sofa from Mom and Dad's basement, it was 12-years old and sank nearly to the ground when we sat on it! We decided that we would take advantage of a good 4th of July sale at Ashley Furniture and spend just a little bit of our new homebuyer tax credit to purchase our new furnishings.

In addition to the lawn, Matt is very proud of his little nook/sun room that comes off of the kitchen. He has his exercise bike in there, as well as the couch that used to be in our living room. He topped it off with a big blue rug and a small bookshelf (both from my apartment), as well as a lamp that Grandma and Grandpa Ward gave me and now he has a nice exercise/reading room.

I have been enjoying using various kitchen gadgets that were given to us as wedding gifts. Last week I used our new crock pot to make barbeque pork, as well as some little smokies weenies for some friends that came over to see the house! We have also tested the waffle maker (several times...waffles are delicious!) and the electric skillet.

Speaking of wedding gifts, we apologize profusely for not having sent thank-you's yet. Trust me, they would have been sent out at least a month ago except they were included in our photography package and they still haven't arrived! I hate waiting so long to send thank-yous but in the mean time just let us say THANK YOU SO MUCH for the wedding gifts and for your attendance at our wedding! We had a wonderful time and everything was absolutely perfect and exactly how we envisioned it. Well, besides the rain...but that didn't end up being bad at all :) If rain on your wedding day is good luck, a power outage must be awesome luck, right?

Oh, and we had a wonderful time in Hawaii on our honeymoon! We were on the island of Oahu and we stayed about a 5-minute walk from Waikiki Beach. We were very close to shopping as well and it was fun to explore the streets of Waikiki at night and people-watch. We also enjoyed snorkeling, especially at Hanamau Bay (a nature preserve) and Three Rivers (on the north shore, near Waimea Bay). We saw huge, beautiful fish and coral reefs, and even a family of squid! One day we also took a trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center to learn more about the island and to partake in a famous hog roast. However, we ended up buying the wrong tickets and didn't get to attend the luau where the pig was actually roasted. But we did get to enjoy is buffet style! After dinner we watched a traditional Hawaiian dance show, complete with fire! The rest of our trip was spent exploring Oahu (we rented a car), eating seafood and enjoying mixed drinks (I even had one in a pineapple!), and relaxing on the beach. When can we go back?!

Anyway, that is all for now! There are a lot of happenings this weekend, so stay turned for the next chapter of the Draper Diaries!

Love,
Stacey and Matt