Busy weekend

This weekend we were on the go! Friday night Brian's sister came over to have dinner, and I gave Krystle (my step sis) and Rachel a ride to the airport-they were headed to Vegas, so jealous! Saturday morning I had breakfast with Jennifer and Kaelyn before I headed to work at the gym. Saturday night we had Brian's cousin's wedding reception.  Sunday we went to a new church that had been recommended to us and we feel like it would be a church that we would want to get married at, so we will see.  After church we went to Brian's parent's for a belated birthday lunch. His grandma was there as well (she is 85) and is the sweetest women! It is always nice to see her and I wish we would've had time to play a game of cribbage with her! We left Brian's parent's house and picked Markus up for mini golf. We had alot of fun, but it was soo hot so we kinda rushed through mini golf. Finally to finish the weekend, we met my dad and Kathy in Pella. He gave us some beef to restock our freezer, which is very nice and saves us sooo much money at the grocery store! We really appreciate it.  Below are some pics from the weekend-Kaelyn was trying to mock me and cut her food the same way I do haha, and the second is of Brian, his sister, and I with his grandma.  All in all, another good but busy weekend.  Looking forward to having some couch time next weekend....hopefully!

Des Moines Named No. 1 "Best City for Young Professionals"

So Forbes.com has ranked Des Moines No. 1 on its new list of Best Cities For Young Professionals! This makes me very happy and yet another reason confirming that my move was a great choice both personally and professionally!  Below is an article from kcci.com.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Forbes.com has ranked Des Moines No. 1 on its new list of Best Cities For Young Professionals released on Tuesday.

"The Iowa state capital has a higher concentration of big businesses (1 for every 568 residents) than any other city we assessed, which equals more job opportunities. Financial services and insurance companies like Principal Financial Group and EMC Insurance Companies have long made their home in the corn-belt city, earning it the nickname 'Hartford of the West,'" said the magazine's article.

Forbes cited low business costs, a 5.8 percent unemployment rate and Des Moines' ability to attract startups and companies relocating from the coasts

“We’re encountering a lot of young individuals moving here from larger cities where it would take five or 10 years to ascend into positions, where here they are having opportunities given to them to move more quickly into their career paths.” Mary Bontrager told Forbes. She is vice president of workforce for the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

Way to go Des Moines!

Nice weekend, despite the heat!

We had a great weekend. We went to dinner for Brian's bday Fri (Taki, which by the way never impresses me, but everyone else disagrees) and saw the movie "Horrible Bosses" which is pretty funny.

Our search continues for a church. We are really wanting to get married in a church that we feel comfortable in making our "church home" so the process is taking a little longer. 

Bridgette, Clint, and the kids were in town so we went to their hotel to visit them. We had a really nice time! I wish we could do that more often! I haven't really gotten to spend much more than an hour or so at a time with the kids, so it was nice to get in some play time with them and see how much they've changed since the last time I saw them! The pics below are of Harper (doesn't that face just make you melt) and Reece (had a better pic of him looking at the camera, but he was jumping on the bed so it was a little blurry), then the last pic of course is Colby-he had oral surgery on Friday so he was down for the count this weekend. All in all a good weekend!

Laurie's special weekend

Last weekend was Laurie's Bachelorette Party celebration! Laurie lives in Phoenix and is Brian's best friend's fiance.  Anyway, we had a blast! Friday night we went to dinner and out to the bars. Laurie was a real trooper with wearing some of the fun things we got for her (she previously was very adament about NOT wearing them) and after a few grape bombs, she even insisted on playing one of the card games we had for her. Saturday we went floating down the Guadalupe River which was so relaxing and nice to get some good sun. I am so happy that Laurie and I became such good friends. She is such an amazing and sweet person, and so much fun! I am very happy to be a part of her and Ryan's special day. And Brian is the best man, which reminds me that he needs to get started on his speech...it's only a month and a half away! And how cute does our little bachelorette look in her crown and panty sash (you can't really see the sash but it was really cool).....

Colby say cheese!

It is amazing how things can change in a few months. When I moved in to Colby's house last August, we wanted NOTHING to do with each other.  Well, I take that back, he wanted something to do with me and it involved peeing on my stuff! He would bite me for NO reason and when I would let him out to use the facilities, he would just stop in front of me and start peeing! Ugh. I even recall using the sentence "me or the dog" and now ironically, I love him to pieces and can't imagine our life without him. I've attached some pics. I guess I am feeling a little sentimental because he gets his teeth cleaned tomorrow and get more blood work done for his seizures. The first pic is of us cuddling. He LOVES to be held. The second is of him sound asleep beside me. We share a pillow at night, but he was so tired that he didn't make it to my pillow. haha.

Papparazi!

We have a wedding photographer! And a friend at work is doing our engagement photos! Roll out the red carpet!

Casey Anthony-two cents worth

So I couldn't help myself and just have to make a few comments about the Casey Anthony trial. Do I think she did it? Yes. But they didn't ask me. The defense team successfully applied reasonable doubt to the circumstantial evidence against Anthony. All they had to do was provide the jury with reasonable doubt and that is in fact what they did.

"This jury found it reasonable to believe that a grandfather would see his granddaughter drown in an innocent manner, with no criminal liability, take that innocent accident, cover it up to frame his own daughter for first-degree murder and watch her have to battle a potential death penalty." They found it reasonable, so, under our system, she's not guilty.

While it really stinks, and we all think she did it....unfortunately our legal system is not perfect. I personally would much rather see a guilty person walk, than an innocent person go to prison.

Anyhow, one thing is for certain....the defense attorney's hourly rate just skyrocketed!!! BOOM.

Brighter Note

On a brighter note, I did get a MASSAGE last night! Thank you ERIN for my birthday present and thank you to myself for turning 30! It was sooooo relaxing and much needed!

Ear pain

So the last few weeks, I have been coughing and have some slight sniffles and ear pain-all due to allergies I think? The last day or so, I started feeling like I was getting vertigo. If any of you have ever had it, it stinks! It is harmless and fairly painless, but you feel like you have a brain tumor or something. Your balance is off and you have dizzy spells, etc. Anyway, I went to the doctor yesterday and I was diagnosed with an ear infection! Yucko. I got some meds and hopefully will be back to normal in a few days!  I have one thing to say to my ear infection "Beat it Geek!"

Cheers to a very short week!

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone had a good 4th! We had a great, but uneventful weekend!  We got a few things done around the house, took Markus to the Science Center, then decided we would stop by Ducktail to have a cocktail before dinner. Notice I said "a" meaning 1....well whatever Jamie put in the cocktail made us stay for another 5 or 7 drinks and a few grape bombs! Oh well, it was fun and we hadn't gone out in awhile. Trying to save for a wedding kinda puts a damper on the social life a little bit. We were still home by 11 and didn't feel too bad on Sunday! Sunday night went to a BBQ and yesterday relaxed.

I am headed out of town Friday for a good friend's bachelorette party so hoping the next few days goes by FAST!