New addition!

we have a new addition to our family!!! :)





'hey there delilah' has been joey and i's song since forever! so it seemed like a fitting name for our little girl :)

We found her through a breeder in Florida, and theyre gonna fly her out here next week--we want here asap! buuut we're leaving for Michigan Saturday and wont be back till Tuesday, so we didnt wanna break her routine when coming to a new home. i THINK we'll pick her up from the airport on the 9th. i am SO EXCITED! this week is probably going to go by SO SLOW!
we've been wanting a sheltie, its the only dog we've ever talked about. and joey had one when he was younger! shes 23 wks old, fully potty trained (HUGE BONUS!), pure bred, her parents are beautiful, and from what i've heard from the breeder she has a sweet/loving personality, and im thinkin shes gonna be a little diva ;) apparently she loves being groomed!

when we finalized the adoption this morning we went to Petsmart and got her and potter new beds/bowls/and toys! i cant wait! shes so pretty!

so thats our exciting update! more pictures to come once our little girl gets home!

errands,suprises,celebration,and scary

today was a long,but fun day! with an interesting ending!

after work i came home and joey had cleaned the house,and had lunch waiting on me. so sweet! then we went to bed,bath,and beyond because they called saying they got one of our place settings in if i wanted to see it in person. i love it! its very different but thats us ;) and colorful which i love. then we went to Borders and i got a cookbook! a cookbook for two! which im hoping will be helpful! next we went to walmart and picked up some random things. when we got home i was sitting in the living room and joey goes 'oh my gosh, what is that? babe come look in the oven what is this?' i immediatley get stressed thinking 'oh my god what did i leave in the oven?' thinking ive lost my mind! i look in there...and theres a ring box! :)
he got me a gorgeous topaz/diamond ring! ive BEEN saying i wanted one for quite a while now, he said hes had it for a week! sneaky! i love it!!! such a sweetheart. and with me trying to learn to cook and stressing about it so much, it was a nice suprise to find in the oven of all places ;)

then we went to target and got Scene It and Scrabble-so fun! (and i also got a random purse from target..random but its cute!)
next we stopped by Ross, took a look around their 'Home' Section and came out with a super cute sign that i hung above our bed, it says "Grow old with me, the best is yet to be" i love it! joey also got a grill brush lol

then we went to Ocharlys for dinner. we decided to have a date night, because 1. we realized we havent had one, just us two, since hes been home. and 2....JOEY GOT A JOB TODAY! he interviewed yesterday and they called him today! its only a few minutes from the house, PPG Industries! very exciting-so we went out to celebrate.

finally we went to the movies. there were a bunch we wanted to see but decided on Halloween. we love Rob Zombie and the trailer looked good.
OMG. we BOTH left feeling physically ill,and mentally disturbed. it was just...too much. we talked about leaving half a dozen times. i still feel sick to my stomach and almost think id feel better if i did get sick! as SOON as we got home we put on a funny movie....ugh.

on the way home from the movie we were behind this one SUV the whole way home, and this person was swerving ALL over the road. it was scary...and whats weird is idk if it was a drunk driver or an elderly person--they had a handicap tag so...idk? it got so bad we ended up calling the police (never thought we'd be "those" people but it was that bad)--gave them the tag number,location,ect and they said theyd look into it. well 15 min later we're still behind the car (nervous to pass it bc it was swerving so bad) and no cops pulled em over. i just hope whoever it was made it to wherever they were going safely,and no one was hurt. i seriously felt like a grandma doing that lol but ive never seen that,and i just kept thinking someone would get hurt.

crazy ending to our night!

so long,fun,eventful day! im so proud of joey about the job,hes such a sweetheart for my ring, and we had fun spending so much time together and getting stuff for our house :) GOOD DAY!

tomorrow we plan on sleeping late! for once! we have nothing todo! then we dont have anything todo until dinner at his parents house. i think we may go get tiki torches for the back deck though :) fun!

anyhoo,thats all for now! im still on the job hunt, enjoying the time i have left at the gym (im gonna miss it!) and just enjoying my husband :)

home sweet home

well it feels like things are starting to slow down (i think!) which is nice.

yesterday was Brian's funeral. the service was really well done, it was packed--it was cool to see the amount of people who showed up, i couldnt even find a seat-i had to sit against the wall on the floor! the support for the Mccorkles/Spruells was great.

so, sad news. i have to leave my job at the gym :( as much as i dont want to, i need to find something that pays a little more. i love it there but...all apart of being a grown up right? gotta do whatcha gotta do! so im back on the job hunt for now. i told my boss today at work and it was so hard! so sad :(

we're all settled in the house which is nice. i keep rearranging everything a bajillion times,but i think thats normal ;) i love coming home and being able to relax with joey--its such a great feeling! things SEEM like theyre finally slowing down and i hope they are, everythings been so hectic since he got home 2 wks ago!

joey and i also went on sunday and finally registered! at bed bath and beyond! we had a good time, and they have so much great stuff! one of my moms friends is throwing me a shower so im excited about that! even though we did everything kinda backwards it makes me feel good that i dont miss out on the wedding showers and registering, the big wedding and reception :) i got excited just hearing someone wanted to throw me a shower!!
we have furniture,and our personal stuff like clothes,knick knacks, and junk like that. but we have nothing as far as linens,appliances,utensils,ect. so im hoping we get some of that!

cooking has been interesting ha! its not that i cant, i just dont know WHAT to cook. i need a cook book of meals for two. its frustrating trying to think of stuff to cook! how lame do i sound? im open to cooking, i want to! it makes me feel like a wife! ive just never had todo it before so im struggling thinking up meals. help anyone!? :)

not much else going on these days, settling into the house, working, and enjoying my time with joey--its SO NICE having him home :)

RIP Brian Andrew Spruell

http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/man-who-died-in-122377.html

Brian's visitation, viewing & funeral is on Wednesday at AS Turner & Sons in Decatur. The viewing & visitation is 11:30-1 and the service is at 1:00. 2773 N. Decatur Road Decatur, GA 30033

i dont even know where to start so im just gonna jump right into it:

my god daughter is 6, almost 7. my bestfriend of over 13 years had her when she was 16, with a guy named Brian. they were together for almost 4 years but it didnt work out--however they stayed on good terms. very close.

he was 23, engaged. ive known him for years.

last night christina (my bf) called me hysterical...he was killed. going down the highway, he was going to meet christina and his fiance'--his fiance' called askin how far away he was, he said just one exit away and he loved her bla bla and hung up. his brother was following behind him (not right behind him but a ways)-- all of a sudden the highway was stopped,all lanes closed. his brother i guess had a bad feeling bc he pulled off on the shoulder and walked...to the accident scene.
after brian got off the phone with his fiance', he was hit by a semi truck. 3 cars were involved but brian was the only fatality. killed instantly.

this has been a huge shock for everyone. i was up till 230, couldnt sleep, complete shock...got up at 4 to go open the gym, my boss came at 7am (i usually get off at 1) so i could leave and go be with christina. she wanted me to be there before my god daughter woke up so we could both sit down and tell her (she was asleep last night when all this happened).

that convo was hands down the hardest thing ive ever had todo.

joey and i went with them to lunch, and then to build-a-bear,(and her brother patrick met us there too) so she could build a 'daddy bear'. then kierstin said she wanted to get flowers to plant in the yard,with an angel, for her daddy.

ive been with them and his family all day, doing whatever needs to be done. i went and bought kierstin a locket and put a picture of her mom, and dad in it.

i came home a couple hours ago, and completley passed out. joeys been great--he did laundry all day and handled dinner. im supposed to go back over there later--but i do have to open tomorrow again so tryin not to stay out too late. the funeral is wedns...they had to creamate him..

please keep them in your prayers. it happened so out of the blue--theyre all taking it very hard. ive kept it together pretty well, especially around all of them. but ive broken down a few times. i knew brian for a long time, and it was just such a horrible accident. and my god daughter...its just not fair to her. at one point when we were explaining it to her she said 'so i dont have a daddy anymore?' and started crying--i keep replaying the whole thing in my head. it just absolutley breaks my heart.


please keep the Spruells/McCorkles in your thoughts and prayers in this difficult time.

MIA

i've been pretty MIA these past few days but that was to be expected!

as im sure anyone who knows me knows...joey came home friday! everyone was at the airport anxiously awaiting! we have pics/vids that ill try to get up asap here or on FB but theyre at his parents house. from the airport i brought him to the house to show him everything :) then we went to his parents house for a family dinner. we spent the night there that night. the rest of the weekend we spent moving. hardcore! we got EVERYTHING done! even got the living room furniture in on sunday afternoon! i have pictures up on facebook--id put them up here but theyre really not the best, i took them on my phone. we were without internet till today! woo hoo! cable and internet finally got hooked up so we're back to the world of technology!

saturday we had a good ol time shopping! his parents welcome home gift to him was a brand new grill-- so nice! we got ourselves a new tv stand, brand new 50 inch tv (love it!) patio furniture set annnd i think thats it. we're lovin the set up so far! it feels like our home!

theres still little things here and there that need to be done/ i wanna do--but tryin to be smart with money! i know it wont happen over night--but i AM happy with it so far!

ive been workin this week and tryin to get things done around the house. i feel like im always cleaning! but its nice to have our own place to clean, even nicer to come home to my husband everyday and goto bed with him every night--no more sleeping alone!! it still hasnt really hit either of us he's not leaving again! i am so so happy he's home :) i cant even explain!

today we were gonna go get a kitten :) i was so excited!! i grew up with cats AND dogs, and of course we have potter (love him!) but i was hoping to get a kitty to add to our family. we found a ton on craigslist and were in the car on our way to go over there but...all 3 of joeys sisters and his dad are allergic. so...no kitty for us. big bummer. understandable! but it still sucks :( i love my in-laws more than some random kitty--ive said it a million times but ive truly been blessed with great in-laws,so theyre worth it!

we went to work out (we both plan to start going everyday) and came home to eat dinner. our first REAL dinner since we started living here--we just went to the grocery store today. which as lame as it sounds? it was nice strolling around the grocery store with my husband :) i finally get todo the little married things ive been missing out on!
so anyway after the gym we came home and i made spaghetti-not too hard right? baby steps! but i think i did a good job ;)

now we're hangin out in the living room relaxin and trying to find something on tv to watch. this weekend we have a thing at church for his dad, and sunday a cook out at my grand parents house.

im exhausted! opening at the gym is tough stuff! 4am wake up? NO FUN!

thats all for now!

exhausted!

time has gone by SO fast since i started working on this house!

last week i was alone the whole time, it was hard. vicky came over and we got one of the bathrooms knocked out in no time which was great! then this past sunday i had me,my mom, my MIL, Aunt Becky and Uncle John, and even my neighbor from across the street came to help! The Hicks moved in across the street when my mom was prego with me so i've known them my whole life! theyve been VERY helpful. Mrs.Hicks said ' baby girl we are just so tickeled to death you're comin home and movin in across the street!' :) made me smile! anyhoo-we got a TON done on Sunday, i was so excited! Aunt Becky and Uncle John even bought us new blinds for some of the windows! who knew id ever get excited about blinds!? :)
i got our sheets on the bed, and put some sheer curtains up :) so the bedroom is nice and bright!
everyday this week my moms been meeting me at the house working on the kitchen--thats by far taken the longest. we finally finished tonight. all thats left to do is mop..ugh. other than that its move-in ready! while my mom and i were there earlier mrs.hicks came over again and brought joey and i some towels! i didnt even think about it but we...really dont have all that stuff! she got us a set of 4 towels,hand towels and wash cloths! even washed/dried/folded them for me! SO SWEET! so yay we have towels! ha! i even went over tonight and took some of my clothes and most of my shoes to start putting away.
i was going to wait on Joey to start moving in but he's gonna be pretty busy this weekend so i figured why not go ahead and start movin my clothes n junk in. ill do that tomorrow when i get off work too.

this is what i have in my head:
master bedroom/bathroom: chocolate and teal
hall bathroom: beachy,with different color blues and whites
living room: black and red
kitchen: oranges,yellows,and whites

when joey gets back we're going to try to register asap--cause we need STUFF! we have zero!
once we get moved in and settled ill start focusing on the wedding again. ohhh busy busy life!

joey gets in on friday! lord im ready. we're going to have a family dinner that night. and then i dont know if we're staying at the new house or not,maybe just stay here-we havent really decided. then he'll be in a driving class all day (stupid DMV) to get his license renewed, and then he's going to a braves game with his dad. ill spend saturday moving,and while he's at the game i may go with christina to see 'Time Travelers Wife'. sunday im not sure what we're doing, probably moving in more. we gotta get our computers and tvs in there for sure cause comcast is coming monday!

it has been CRAZY busy for me. if im not working or sleeping im at that house!
this week i started my new work schedule too:
Mon/Tues 5am-1
Wed-Fri 845am-1

so im adjusting to that. id prefer to work mornings and get off at 1 everyday :) and have weekends off! its been hard gettin used to that 4am alarm on Mon/Tues though...let me tell ya!

needless to say its been crazy for me. im exhausted. and soooo want a day to sleep in and do NOTHING. but id rather get everything done sooner than later...THEN relax!

thats all for now--just work,sleep,and house! excited for husband to come home, and looking forward to spending time with him :) i miss the guy!

drunken confessions

let me start off my by saying ive been drinking wine since...10ish? i think...and its now 1am. so forgive my ramblings but i felt the need

1. i realized my nose is long,crooked and ew.....ew!

2. this house thing is stressing me out and im exhausted! its too much for one person. i went from excited to stressed...im tryin to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel and know this is a blessing.

3. i have...an extreme amount of guilt about my grandmother.
when my grand-daddy died i was in...7th grade? i dont remember a thing. i dont remember how he died,what led up to it, the funeral-nothing.
my grandmother died a year ago. i grew up next door to them,they were like second parents to me. after my grand daddy died i distanced myself. and my grandmother started going downhill. i swear of a broken heart...
when i went off to college in 05 i never came home. ever. mostly because i knew it was only a matter of time before my parents got divorced--but when i DID come home...i never went to see my grandmother. i activley avoided her. how horrible is that? she lived RIGHT next door.
when she went into a nursing home i saw her maybe 3-4 times,and only bc my mom made me (keep in mind this was my DADS mom and my parents were divorced by now)--when she made me go i hated it. it was so hard seeing her like that. she wasnt herself, her mind was going, she NEVER knew who i was and it broke my heart-i cried everytime. and she looked so miserable.
when she went into hospice before she died it hit me--so i went to see her. alot. as hard as it was i went. i had just started a new job (at emory) so was busy but i went up there as often as i could,it was SO crucial to me that she didnt die alone. the night before she died i went to go see her, and i just sat there talking to her. telling her i loved her, telling her about joey and how i wish she couldve met him, spent alot of time crying...most of the time i sat there and watched her breathe. a few times i was scared she was dying right there in front of me. i went to get a nurse a few times. one nurse in particular was nice,and filled me in on the process of dying and how i would know she was gone,ect and even gave me a book on it. i was so nervous the entire time.
she hadnt recognized me in a long time. that night i felt like she knew who i was. at one point she moved her head over, looked me right in the eye and a single tear rolled down her face.
the next morning i was at work and my dad called me,telling me she passed. i was standing in a hallway and just sat down crying. sobbing-LOUD. i couldnt keep it in. my mom and i were carpooling at the time so she came and got me. she asked me where i wanted to go and i said to my dads--he wasnt home.
so i had my mom drive me to the hospice center. i went in,crying, and asked the nurse about my grandmother. theyd already moved her body and cleared out her room-ALREADY. i asked her if she was alone when she went...and she said yes.
it broke my heart.

since then ive had an extreme amount of guilt. guilt ive hidden for a long time, ignored. guilt that i didnt go see her more and treasure the time she had left. guilt that i wasnt a better grand daughter after how close we were when i grew up.and in her final days. and now? im moving in to her house. im the one going through her things--and its so hard. i dont feel like i deserve to live there. i wronged her by not soaking up every moment with her.
my mom keeps telling me my grandparents would be happy, honored that the house was staying in our family (for now) and joey and i were starting our married life there. i try to keep that in mind. its just hard.
i wish i could go back and change things but i cant. so how do i fix it? how do i get rid of the guilt?

this probably makes no sense....i just needed to get it out.

hard work.

well since we made the decision on the house tuesday--ive been over here tues,wednds,today, will be there all day tomorrow,saturday night, all day sunday,and everyday next week when i get off work at 1. BUSY!

its alot bigger of a project than i thought it would be. ive been runnin myself ragged but i know itll be worth it. not to mention i really am doin a favor for the rest of the family--no one really WANTS to go through my grandmothers things. its hard. harder than i thought it would be--alot more emotional than i anticipated. im just trying to keep in mind what my mom told me: that my grandparents would be happy knowing joey and i are working on the house/living there. its about time to bring that house to life again.
i dont know if ive worked so hard in my life! its been tough doing it alone,its alot for one person. but vicky is coming tomorrow,MIL on Sunday,and Christina 3 days next week--so itll be good to have some help. and some company too!

its cool going through my grandmothers things, getting to know her in a way. the house is great,and we're blessed to have this opporunity-though it does come with some major work! its not as simple as renting a house (which is basically what we're doing) and moving in/decorating/unpacking. im having to go through each room, go through all their things, make some space for us,clean the house top to bottom,we'll need to pressure wash the driveway and house,fix up the deck and porch, get things ready for a garage sale,and estate sale--those two things in themselves will be a big project. but itll be nice to have joey to help me,and us do it together. i know my dad really appreciates it too. i cant imagine how hard it would be for he and my uncle to do all of this-so im glad we can help :)

lots of work, im exhausted, gone through feeling overwhelmed, greif over my grandmother passing, forgetting to eat! ha--its just all consuming. but im glad we're lucky enough to have it :) i cant WAIT for joey to get home! its SO close!!! a week from tomorrow :) !!

thats all for now! back to work!

all systems go!

we decided to take the house :) !!!

ill be cleaning it all in the inside starting asap so when joey gets home on the 14th we can move right in! we are both SO excited!!!

house? maybe?

Sooo joey and i have been stressing/wondering where we're going to live. we've decided we wanna get a house here in Lilburn but we know we cant do that right away. we could get an apartment for a while but thatd be throwing an awful lot of money out the window...and we can stay here at his parents--but i think we'd kill eachother in this room, kinda small! we have crap everywhere,all over the floor cause theres nowhere to put it.

well an offer has arised...but we arent sure if we want to take it or not.

my dad has offered us my grandmothers house. all we would have to pay is utilities--he's not looking to make money off the house,its paid for. and itd be a temporary situation. the insurance on the house is up and he has until the 16th of this month to renew it BUT they wont let him if the house is vacant..well joey gets home the 14th..2 days apart.
my dad also needs to go through and sell my grandmothers things. but he works 7 days a week and just flat out doesnt have the time. he said he was looking into hiring someone to hold an estate sale, so if he does--he asked if joey and i would oversee/help with it, and if we would he would pay us.

so lets lay it all out:

pros:

-helping my dad as far as insurance,and going through my grandmothers things
-giving joey and i our own space/privacy
-financially its great since we'd only pay utilities AND get paid todo the estate sale


cons:

the only con i can think of is it MIGHT be weird living in my grandparents house.

see, all their stuff is still in it. might be creepy. GRANTED we can re-arrange how we want, move our furniture in,ect. plus its not like joey and i have furniture to furnish an entire house so we can still use whats there. as far as our bedroom we could move everything out and move OUR stuff in. the living room, we can find some couch covers to stick on the current couches, re-arrange the living room, decorate, AND we are buying the living room furniture from Becca and Zach...

the house is so nice though- 3 bedrooms, 2 bath, formal dining room, sitting room, living room, kitchen,wash room with washer/dryer and an extra sink/freezer, garage, big front porch with rocking chairs, full basement,back deck thatd be good for having a cook out or having friends over, TONS of land.

the land itself makes it special to me. theres trails,a big old barn, a big gulley,ect! and my dad said we can even put up a fence for potter to run around in!
not to mention the garden! its between my dads house and my grandparents house-and my dad has really brought it back to life. tomatoes,2 kinds of squash,carrots,cantelope,ochra,cucumbers,muscadines,watermelons,ect! its impressive! id love to get out there and work with my dad.

id also love for my dad and joey to spend more time together and establish a relationship. i love my dad so much,and we've always been so close-despite the past couple years of ups and downs we're slowly getting back to where we were.


it almost seems too good to be true. i think itd be a really good thing--and it seems like a no brainer! but for some reason joey and i are both hesitant. so what to do? we have a short time span of making a decision so its a little stressful.

my thought is, if it doesnt work out...oh well--we can move out. the insurance on the house would be re-newed and i could still help my dad getting rid of my grandmothers things-no harm done.

*sigh* any advice?