First fitting

My wedding dress has been in for about 3 weeks. I've been scared to try it on. I'm not sure if it's because I am needing to get rid of the "holiday" LB's or what.  I finally tried on my dress and it's a little big! So what is the incentive to lose weight???? I was hoping it would be too small so I would have an extra incentive to lose weight....oh well.  Guess I better start thinking about the bachelorette party and being in a bathing suit!!!

Oh, but the good news is, that it is still beautiful and I love it just as much as I did the day we bought it!

Registering

So we finally registered! Wow, what a process.  We were at Bed Bath Beyond for almost 3 hours! It was a nice experience compared to Dillards.  We had our own consultant to help us along the way and guide us on what we really needed and what we did not.  I can totally see why they do this....to methodically increase their sales! We ended up registering for China.  We had not planned on it, but am really glad we did. I think I would regret it in a few years when we have a bigger house and want to host dinner parties, etc.

Feels good to have that done! Now bring on the showers and wedding! ;-)

"The Bus Missed Me"

Markus has been getting in trouble at school so Brian and I decided to have a talk with him and see what is really going on.  His mom told us that he missed the bus then refused to go to school.  We asked Markus why he missed the bus, and he said "I didn't, the bus missed me"....what a great answer! I was dying in the front seat.  If you think about it, that is true.  The bus did go by his house and didn't pick him up!

If my future kids have responses like this, how on earth will I stay mad at them! We're screwed.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look what came in the mail today from Shari's Berries???? The woman even spells her name the same way AND the Strawberries were the bomb! Thank you Brian! I love you!

Splitsville

Soo Demi Moore and Ashton...now Seal & Heidi Klum.  I am mortified.  Two couples I truly thought were in for the long haul.  What do I know?!

Poor Lindsey Lohan can't catch a break

Shocking news-Lindsey Lohan is possibly involved in another legal battle.  She allegedly hit another pedestrian while driving her Maserati. I will take her Maserati if she goes to jail!

http://wonderwall.msn.com/movies/lindsay-lohan-sued-by-pedestrian-allegedly-struck-by-star-1663615.story

Bachelorette Party booked!

Flight to Vegas is booked! Yay! So excited for it and Sheila has done a great job taking care of the planning! I can't wait!!! It's for sure going to be a fun, relaxing, and crazy time! Here are some pics of our suite!

Dominican Republic booked!

We booked our honeymoon! Punta Cana here we come! Honeymoon suite. OMG I can't wait.
In the bottom picture, just insert our faces ;-)

NYE

I decided to take the Friday before NYE off.  I met with a florist and also stopped at a few hotels close to the Sheraton to discuss a room block so our guests could have a cheaper, second alternative.  Ryan and Laurie were spending the weekend with us, which was sooo awesome to have them here!  We had a party Friday night at our place for Brian's old roommates.  It was alot of fun and so nice to see David, Lindsey, and their kids, and Rustin and Libby also came over! We had alot of yummy food and watch the Hawks lose to the Sooners.  Honestly, I never thought they would win and Oklahoma is my second team so I really didn't care who won....sorry to say that!

Saturday night, we went to dinner at Fire Creek with Ryan and Laurie then went to Ducktail for a few drinks and made it home shortly BEFORE midnight.  Yes, you read that right, BEFORE midnight.  It sucks getting old! :-)

I wish I had pics to show, but I didn't take any. Shame on me.

Christmas

Friday before Christmas we headed to my dad and Kathy's.  We got into town Friday afternoon.  We stopped and dropped off Bridgette and Ellen's bridesmaid dress at Newman's so Cathy could deliver them to Bridgette on Saturday.  It was nice stopping by and catching up with Cathy, Court, and Andrew!  Then we opened presents at my dad's and had a nice dinner.  Saturday we went to Jeremy's house and and all the kids were there. I have to say, Christmas is much more fun when there are kids around opening presents! They get such cool things, I'm not sure who has more fun playing, me or them...haha.  Saturday night we opened presents at Brian's parents house, and Sunday we had lunch at his grandma's.  Sunday morning we actually didn't have anywhere we had to be, so we opened a few presents that we had bought for each other, and then made breakfast. It was very nice! Below are a few pics of the kids at Christmas, and another of Brian and Colby taking a nap after eating a big meal!

 I want one!

Brian will KILL me for posting this picture!! haha

KC Groupon

Sorry, I have been so bad about keeping up with my blog.  Of course, it's a new year and it's on my list of things to improve!

A few weeks before Christmas, Brian and I went to Kansas City and spent the night.  I had bought a groupon way back in September for a one night stay at the Q Hotel and Spa in Kansas City.  We had a really good time and we really got our money's worth! The hotel had free drinks from 5-7PM at the hotel bar. Now, use your imagination, what do you think two people who are planning and spending every penny they have on their wedding, did??? You guessed it, we took full advantage and got drunk! We met 2 fencers that were in town from California for a competition.  Talk about interesting conversation.  I love meeting new people and having great conversation. The hotel also had a free continental/omelette breakfast which was delicious.  I would suggest anyone staying in the Westport area to stay there.

All in all, it was a nice getaway! We won't be getting many of those this year with the wedding! I just have to keep thinking of the bachelorette party and honeymoon!

Shopping with a Cop

Big Brother Big Sister had their annual "Shopping with a Cop" event.  We had never been since we just started this program last January.  Wow, what a great program! We picked Markus up after work and everyone had to meet at Wal-Mart.  $100 gift cards were donated and each child gets a gift card to shop for his/her family. Markus came prepared with a list of gifts for his mom, dad, brother, and sister.  Each kid is designated a police officer to walk around and talk with us while we shop.  Markus picked out a flat iron for his sister, a red lobster gift card for his mom, t-shirts for his brother, a watch for his dad, and some treats for his dogs! It was so special to see Markus be able to buy gifts for his family.  He said he never gets to do that!

Below is a pic of Markus opening up his gift from us.  I love his facial expression in the first one.

MIA

Sorry, I've been MIA! Wish that meant in Miami, but it doesn't! It's been crazy at work, which is a good thing. The last few weeks have been such a whirlwind. So I will try to recap a bit.

Thanksgiving-We went to Brian's parent's house for Thanksgiving. Had a great time. Ate too much.  Nice to spend some time with his grandma.  She cracks me up! We went to my dad's house Saturday and also had a great time and ate too much!

Colby is still a little stinker.  See pic below.

The week after we had Brian's friends birthday party and Kaelyn and Jennifer stopped by to visit.  See pic below.  It was so funny, we were just trying to get her to just smile regular, but she kept giving us a big cheesy smile. It was hilarious.

Also had date night with Jackson, Sheila's son. He just turned 10 so he got to pick what we had for dinner. As you can see from the pic below....it was real healthy.  We watched Smurfs and both crashed early! We were long overdue for a date!

Ok that's all for now!  I hate going too long without blogging.  Hope my readers are still out there!

Tis the Season

Our first official Christmas tree is up and ready to go!!! We just need some presents! The problem is, Brian and I are not really buying for each other this year since we are putting money towards the wedding....so I guess that leaves Colby to buy for us. Just look at him, does he look like he is going to buy us anything????

DWTS

Who wants Rob Kardashian to win???? I do!!!

Not ready for this

I am a few weeks behind, but I am not ready for this. See below.  This is what I saw when I awoke. Yuck.

Chi-town trip!

I had a great time in Chicago! I hadn't realized that I hadn't been to Chicago since April! This trip reinforced my thought that Chicago is the greatest City, and that I really took it for granted when I lived there!

My trip started off with a stop in Iowa City to visit Ellen and Roger's baby. He is adorable! The cutest thing I've seen in a long time! Sorry Brian :-)  See the pic below for proof!

Next, I stopped at the NBC Tower to visit everyone at Brinks. I posted a pic below of the building I used to work in. I used to work on the 34th floor, 2 floors from the top! It reminds me how different my life is here. Grant it, I do work on the 18th floor, but the building isn't as tall so it doesn't seem like I am that high up. It was soo nice visiting my old boss and co-workers. They again reminded me that their are mortgage company's and bank and would just need to make a call and get Brian a job. I don't think he will go for that, so I better stay put. :-)



After my visit to Brinks, I headed to Erin's to stay at my old place, in my old room! We went out for Jill's birthday and had a blast! It was nice to see some of my ol' flag football buddies.

Friday morning I had my eye appointment with my lasik surgeon and he said my eyes are better than perfect! Yes, there is such a thing-20/15! Woo hoo! Such a life changing experience for me and I would do it again in a heartbeat! After that, Erin and I shopped, had lunch at Grand Lux (yummy), and tried on a few bridesmaid dresses-thank you Erin for being a good sport! haha.  It was nice to spend quality time with her! See below-look how peace beautiful Michigan Avenue is on a Friday morning. Love it!

Friday night I picked Maria up from work and we went to her family restaurant and had dinner. We drank quite a bit more than anticipated, but that's alright. haha. It was so fun and we spent most of the night laughing which we haven't done in awhile.

One thing is for certain after this trip, I will not go another 6 months before I visit again!

A few more pics :-)

Engagement photos!

Here are a few pics!

One trick or treater is all I need

A little cupcake came knocking on my door! I don't even care that I look like a hot mess, because I know you aren't looking at me :-)

If you were a billionaire

So if you were a billionaire what you would buy? This article really got me thinking of what I would do if I had that much money. It's interesting to see how I differ from these ultra rich people in the article.  Sure, I would buy a Bentley, but not sure about a Yacht or a Boeing 757...although I could see myself buying a private jet....just not a huge plane per se.  I could also see myself following in Victoria Beckham's footsteps by having a custom made gold phone cover since it only costs $36,000.

See the link below if you want to fantasize a little!

http://money.msn.com/investing/billionaires-and-their-toys-cnbc.aspx?cp-documentid=6867822&GT1=33002

Hawks win!

We met Rustin and Libby out to watch the Iowa game. It was fun and nice to snuggle Baby Emmett! I hadn't seen him in awhile so he was overdue for some Shardogg snuggles.

Below is the highlight from my weekend. :-)

Sweetest Day :-)

A few weeks ago I asked Brian what he was getting me for Sweetest Day and he said "What? I've never heard of it...." so in true Brian form, he googled it and can not only tell you the origin, but can tell you many other facts about this day! haha.  I was teasing him and told him that I would like a new pair of Uggs and to eat at Americana, but since he researched it he knows that you are supposed to give candy.  I really didn't expect anything, but he sent me flowers and chocolates! The flowes are so cute and if you can't see the note it says- "The Sweetest Day is the day we met." How sweet is that?! Thank you Brian and thank you to whomever made a new hallmark holiday! Made my day :-)

Chicago trip in November!

I am way overdue for a checkup with my eye doctor in Chicago. I finally have a free weekend so scheduled my appointment for early November! I CANNOT wait!!!! I didn't realize how much I miss Chicago until I made my eye appointment and got very giddy! Hoping to get some shopping in (at the good stores that Des Moines doesn't have), eat good pizza, and try to visit with as many friends as possible! YAY!

Pics from mom's visit

Here are some pics from my mom's visit in September.