(Ash writes:)  I'm going to make this as quick as possible since it's been so long since our last entry . . . wow.  We can't tell you what a BLESSING this site has been in encouraging us and lifting us up.  The past four days have been incredible and having so much support and many kind words has made this whole time of our life . . . special.  Joshua and I want to thank MSN Spaces for featuring our space and giving us the opportunity to share this story.   

Josh and I have read every comment on this page time and time again.  Things have been quite busy, obviously, so this is the first chance either of us have had to sit down and write, but we want you to know we got all your well wishes and prayers.

The wedding went so smoothly . . . My parents, sister, and best friend showed up as did Josh's parents and his good friend with his girlfriend.  We got to the courthouse at 4 to get the license taken care of and waited until about 5:15 to see the justice.  He was a REALLY nice guy. (While we waited, there was a couple sitting with us who had brought their very curious daughter.  She was SO adorable, so we will be adding pics of her.)  Our friends and family covered Josh's windows with red, white, and blue paint announcing our blessed union, and we were off to the Doubletree.

The resort was great, our room was fantastic!  Not only did we have a huge, comfortable bedroom, but the Doubletree included an adjacent "parlor" with a GREAT view to the courtyard from its balcony.  While all the food was expensive, the room service was great and we only left the resort to get a steak dinner once.  The rest of our time was spent cuddling, swimming, and (sorry to be redundant) cuddling.

We came home to my family (Josh's parents left for NM the day after our wedding) and had a nice dinner before heading home to our apartment and crashing.  Monday, Memorial Day, we did go back to Grandma's place to finish packing my room and enjoy some barbeque and leftover cake.  We're almost settled, but even if it takes us the rest of our lives to unpack, we couldn't be happier than we are right now.  Life is . . . nearing perfection.

I need to stop and specifically thank Carolynn ("from Alaska") for the AMAZING, most unexpected plant arrangement she had sent directly to our room.  How did you find us?!  I nearly cried, CJ, that was SO SWEET of you.  And so special to us.  We'll take pictures of it and post them so you can see it.  It's beautiful. 
THANK YOU DEARLY.

Again, thanks to all who have so kindly contributed to the site and left the most WONDERFUL comments.  We are slowly trying to go through each and every one of them and, we will, at some point visit your site and possibly be leaving comments.

It's gonna be a short week, but it certainly won't seem like it.  SO many things to get finished up in this two week stretch, as I'll leave for a four-day business trip to Prescott on the 12th and would very much like to have my boxes sorted through and things put away by then.

For now, it's back to the daily grind.  Happy Tuesday to everyone, and I'm sure you'll be hearing from us again soon!

(Ash writes:)  What . . . a . . . weekend. 

It's been quite a busy five days, I must say.  As Joshua (the darling) said, last Wednesday I had him rush me to the emergency room as quickly as possible . . . to sit around for a few hours.  I saw a few really good movies, though . . .

It started with some mild stomach pain.  Not long after Josh came over to take care of me, the pain got worse.  Nothing worked to ease the pain, and for a long time I argued with Josh, my mother, and my grandmother about going to the hospital (I can't stand doctors of any sort, they make me nervous), but finally the pain was just too much to bear.  After hours upon hours, a few pokes and prods, some x-rays and a pelvic exam, the doctor discovered I was SEVERELY backed up (really?!  I never would have guessed).  He gave me a prescription and sent me home.  I stayed home Thursday but nothing happened.  I tried to go to work on Friday but halfway there, stuck in the middle of rush hour traffic, the pain hit me hard and I could barely shift anymore.  I decided to finish the ride to work and have Josh come get me.  Went to MY doctor, got a few suggestions for over-the-counter remedies (which later ended up working better than I could hope).  The doc freaked me out a little with talk of the possibility that the problem may be caused by an adhesion from my appendectomy in 3rd grade! And then, of course, there was talk of surgery and I was ready to RUN AWAY!

Anywho . . . the good news is, I'm okay now.  Everything's fine.  I know it's all a little gross, but seriously, the pain scared the hell out of me.  I thought I was dying.  I've never felt anything like that in my life.

I owe so much to Joshua.  He's been so good to me, so worried and caring and wonderful . . . okay, so he sucks at steering the wheel chair, but the bruises will heal and I'll still love him more than anything in the world.

OH oh more TERRIBLY good news (sarcastic tone):  we moved into our AMAZING apartment (which I'm very serious about, we love it), bought some new furniture and art for the living room, got one of our shelving units put together and attached to the wall . . . and discovered that the friendly neighbor above us is a night owl . . .  he is so loud and very easily kept us awake every night this weekend . . .  And just when we think he's done for the night, the noise begins again . . . it went on until 4 am on Friday night and has been going on every night since.  Josh was a really nice guy and went up there to tell the guy just how loud he is, but it did no good, he just does his thing.  We don't know what to do . . . we love our apartment and we've already put so many holes in the walls and moved so much stuff, but it's not like we can ask the guy to stop living his life, and there's no way we can sleep with that noise going on all night long.  Josh said that after his test today (I'm praying for him every second I get to think about that), he'll go down to the management office and talk to them about it.  We don't want to get the guy in trouble . . . we just can't live with that.

But other than all that, this weekend was a lot of fun.  Josh's parents were in town and we did a lot of shopping, spent a lot of money and worked ourselves to a thorough sweat (which wasn't hard at 110 degrees in the SHADE), but our apartment is really coming together and is going to look just GREAT when it's finished.  We bought a new controller for our X-Box and played a few games for relaxation until finally pouring ourselves into bed and hoping the guy upstairs would just REST for one night (which he did).  When the apartment is done (in a few months, hehe) we'll have to post pics of it.  We may or may not be moving AGAIN this week.  *sigh*

Still haven't heard back about that job . . . I'm getting desperate.  Josh is taking his test today, so we're both crossing our fingers, holding our breath, and praying that things work out.  I'm looking forward to seeing my family and I'm REALLY excited about Friday.  It's just . . . almost unbearable.  I hope everything goes smoothly . . .

(Ash writes:)  Things are just . . . hectic, at the moment.  The weekend was not so stressful, but things are starting to heat up.

Josh and I did some shopping and I bought a new dress and shoes to wear for the . . . proceedings?  Now that this is all happening in a courtroom, I'm not sure what to call it.  The wedding.  Josh is going to wear his blues, so he's got it easy.  I still have to decide what to do with my hair and nails and make-up.  *sigh*  I haven't decided if I want daises or tulips on "the day".  It's not going to be a big fancy ceremony, but I want some sort of bouquet, alright? 

We also picked up our wedding bands.  Actually, we had gone in to the jeweler to see about ordering a titanium band for Josh, but were told that it'd take three weeks to receive that . . . and . . . we don't have three weeks.  So, Josh and I bought a "loaner":  a four millimeter white gold band.  Then plan was to use that until after the wedding, we'd order the titanium and exchange it for the white gold.  Josh is warming up to that band, though.  We've discovered an obvious problem with titanium since the jewelry scene, also: titanium is too strong to just cut and reshape (for the purpose of resizing).    When ordered, the ring must be newly poured in the mold and cannot be altered after it cools.  For this reason, Josh and I are now afraid to buy one because if he gains or loses weight, his ring will no longer fit and we won't be able to resize it; we'll have to pay for a brand new ring.  It just doesn't work out well.  BUT -- Josh can have whatever he wants.  We'll see how Josh feels about the white gold when it comes time to order the new one.

What else happened on the weekend . . . oh, we went out to see my aunt's new half-million dollar home.  Actually, I'm pretty sure they've got it up to nearly $1 million because they bought all brand new furniture and LITERALLY sold everything in the old house.  It's great, though.  My uncle has worked so hard for this, they've compromised and sacrificed so much, they deserve it.  It looks great now with all their furniture in.  This was the first time Josh had met any of my dad's family, and though it was a very small group in comparison to the whole family, it was a lot of people to deal with at once:  Auntie Beth (the center of the family's universe, our world revolves around her), Uncle Danny, Cousin Danny and his girlfriend Veriqua (I know I've butchered that.  I don't know how to spell it.  She's romanian and I'm an ignorant American), Cousin Jessica, Aunt Kathy,  Cousin Debbie, and Debbie's son Nathan.  Plus the three dogs, the TV on high volume, and everyone talking over it.  It was fun, though.  Josh said he was uncomfortable until Danny invited him out to the garage to talk about car problems.  Hehe.  That's my man.

So now we're both back to the daily grind.  The computer here at my desk (actually, every computer in the office) has been having problems, so the computer guy has been in and out for the past two days.  Josh is just doing his thing in the shop, working his tight little tush off (oh . . . sorry . . . TMI).  He has a Dining In to attend on Friday night and he's taking all of next week off to relax after his staff sergeant test is finished, so that's good news.  He's studying so hard and stressing out constantly, so when that's done, I'll be relieved.  With the time off he'll be able to do a little work here and there on the new apartment should he be in the mood.  I only have the Friday of our ceremony off and the Monday after that for Memorial Day.  We're not even sure Josh has that off, yet.

NOTICE:  Good news alert!  I may have a new job just falling into my lap this week.  On Sunday, my cousin mentioned a job that he used to have being open and the details he gave me were enough to convince me that it was much better than working where I am now.  More money, a better chance to prove myself, a more comfortable environment . . . I'm sold.  I sent my resume and cover letter via email yesterday, and now I'm just crossing my fingers.  I'm pretty confident about this. 

Oh, more good news, Josh spoke to the landlord, and we are going to be allowed to bring Desdemona (Dezi), my Rhodesian Ridgeback, down from Show Low to live with us.  She's a bit large, but Josh and I hear that dogs her size are happy in small spaces because they get more attention and have more control.  SO I'm going to have my DOGGY!  I raised Dezi from 3 months old.  She was my Christmas present to myself in 2003, and she's the most amazing animal.  It's going to be great having her back.

I don't even KNOW how I'm going to get all my stuff packed in time to move it.  I may be slowly moving after the wedding is done.  I think the important stuff will be easy:  clothes, bathroom essentials . . . that's basically all I have besides books and what not.  I'll get the easy, important stuff into the apartment and make trips to the old house to pick up the other stuff when I get time to breathe.  And think.

So my mom-in-law is coming in from New Mexico this weekend for a training course but is giong to stay over a bit longer to spend time with us.  She and I have Friday night together because Josh will be busy, so we are planning to shop for lingerie (which, amazingly, doesn't bother me), and then I have to work on Saturday for a committee meeting, so Josh will have time with his mother, then.  She'll probably head home on Sunday and then she and Josh's stepdad, Terry, will be back on Friday the 27th for the wedding and also to help us move the major furniture from storage.

My parents and sister (and dog) are coming into town with my furniture from Show Low on the 26th.  On the morning of the 27th, Josh and I are going down to the courthouse to get our marriage license.  The rest of the day will be moving/sorting and getting ready for our 4:45 meeting back at the courthouse for the actual marriage certificate.  Chances are, we'll be standing in line, signing a document, waiting for our witnesses (family) to sign their stuff and then . . . WE'LL BE MARRIED!  Pictures, a few toasts, and Josh and I will be off to the Doubletree Hotel in Phoenix.

That's the plan, anyway.  The real battle is getting to that point.

(Ash writes:) It was a nearly uneventful weekend.  Josh got a lot done and I did a whole lot of sleeping.  I did spin at the base fitness center for a whole 50 minutes on Saturday, and I feel like that was a large accomplishment (mostly because Josh was shocked I went to the very end).  It was difficult for me to walk when I finished . . .  Friday night, though, Josh had a Pageant of the Flags to do for honor guard in APACHE JUNCTION, and I thought it was quite important that I see that since it'll probably be the last the honor guard will do while we're here at Luke AFB.  He was so cute in his costume . . . reminded me of Mel Gibson in "The Patriot".  Sexy beast, my fiance is.

On Saturday after our workout, we strolled through Target to start our registry and went down to Castles & Coasters, the white-trashiest amusement park on the planet (but SO MUCH FUN!) and goofed off playing miniature golf and video games in the arcade.  My good friend and his significant other are in town visiting for Mother's Day/his birthday because his and his girlfriend's classes are done until next semester.  They live in Buffalo, NY so they are enjoying this weather to its FULLEST.  Josh and I met them for a double date at Chili's and had, seriously, the WORST dinner EVER!  Word of advice:  When the server brings you free chips, tells you the computers are broken and explains that your order may take a while, LEAVE!  We waited a whole hour, and when our food finally found its way to our table, my chicken was dry, Josh's steak was impossible to chew, and the cheese in my friend's quesadilla had hardened back to a solid.  We waited all that time for luke warm food!

Sunday we were supposed to go to church but we slept in (naughty naughty) instead and went to breakfast at Denny's.  Great idea that was:  Mother's Day at the most popular breakfast spot save for IHOP.  Yeah . . . we waited a while.  But breakfast was good and Josh didn't get sick of his flapjack stack.  ("Marriage is like pancakes . . .")  We also went grocery shopping and bummed around the Base "X-change".  I got a little queazy and napped while Josh cleaned up after his pets (a.k.a. roommates).  He cooked me dinner (aw, so CUTE) and we watched a movie before taking Grandma some flowers for Mother's Day.

Overall . . . we did a whole lot of nothin'.  It was so nice!  And saying goodbye to Josh on Sunday night was so hard . . . wish there were something I could do about that.  Hmph.