Whirlwind

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of events and the next couple weeks will be the same....don't you just love summer!

We started off with my stepdaughters graduation open house.  It was such a good time and worth the many weeks of prep leading up to the big day.  Although, in typical Michigan fashion, it decided to rain about an hour into the party, which caused about 30+ people to gather under 2 small canopies, our gazebo, and the garage.

The day after this party, I couldn't even get out of bed!  I prepped for about 3 weeks and put in well over 100 hours getting our backyard ready.

This past weekend my sister and I drove from Michigan to West Virginia to attend the Fiestaware Tent Sale.  It was so much fun, but exhausting all at the same time.  I awoke Friday morning about 3am and was on the road by 4:30am.  By the time we arrive back home I was whooped!  Not to mention a wee-bit sunburned :)

We normally stay in a hotel the night before, and then get in line about 6am to get our tickets.  But this year we decided to try something different.  We arrived about 10:45am and only had to wait in line about 2+ hours before entering the tent.



Patiently waiting

 

We rounded the corner and could finally see the tent

 

 If you've never had the chance to experience this.....It is an amazing site!

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Bin after bin after bin of colorful, fiestaware.  I am drooling all over again just thinking about it.



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I was hoping for a few more pieces than what I got, but that just means we will have to go back again next year!

I was able to catch up on some much needed quality time with the hubby and the pets yesterday.  It was a gorgeous summer day here in West Michigan and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Stewie

Lainey

It's so hard to get my tongue all the way into this cow hoof

Tucker

This upcoming weekend I have a bridal shower for a good friend of mine and then the following weekend is the July 4th holiday/wedding. If I can just get through the next 12 days or so, I think I will be able to relax.

Happy Birthday Zander!

Today is my nephew's 13th birthday.  HE IS A TEENAGER!!!

I can't even put into words how this makes me feel.  I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.  And although Zander might not remember, I hope he knows that he changed a lot of lives on that day.  Many people, including myself, opened their hearts and found more love than they knew they ever had, and it was all for him.

To watch him grow from a small baby to an intelligent young man has been exhilarating. 

Zander, thank you for being such an amazing person.  But, most of all, thank you for making me an AUNT thirteen years ago today!

I love you!

Have a great time on your birthday, eat some cake and SMILE for the camera!

Bullets

I've been neglecting to blog lately because I feel like there is either nothing worthwhile to talk about or so much to talk about that I can't begin to put it into words.  So today I've decided to update life using bullet points.

• This upcoming Saturday I'm having Thanksgiving with my in-laws
• Thanksgiving day will be spent with my sister and her family this year as the rest of our family has other priorities
• That same sister turns the big "4-0" on Black Friday..Happy Early Birthday Rachel!
• My hometown highschool football team is playing in the semi-finals this upcoming weekend and if they win they will be competing in the state finals at Ford Field in Detroit the weekend of Thanksgiving.  I am planning on going so I'm praying they win this Saturday
• This past weekend I attended a baby shower of one of my best friends.  I have mixed feelings about the day.  I've come to realize that my "best" friends are failing me...I don't know if we are growing apart, if we lack things in common or I've been naive in who I thought they were.  Either way, it hurts to know life is not the same as it used to be.
• I've gained 13 lbs since my wedding in July and I'm having a terrible time getting motivated to lose it.  I hate the way I look, how my clothes fit, etc, but I can't seem to want to do anything about it.  And worse, the holidays are fast approaching which means lots of BIG meals and baked goods.
• My step-son will be living with us full-time starting in December.  If you remember, he was supposed to move in with us before the new school year started, but my husbands ex-wife changed her mind at the last minute.  As of yesterday she has once again changed her mind...
• I am so burned out on life...especially work.  I have never been so looking forward to some time off.  I will have a long weekend next week for Thanksgiving and hopefully 7-8 days off for Christmas. 
• The time change sucks.  I hate that it is dark out before I even get home from work.
• I'm so ready to decorate for Christmas.  I think we are going to begin bringing out the Christmas decor this weekend.
• As I've stated before...I LOVE Christmas music!  A local radio station began playing it on Monday so I even listen while at work.

There you have it...my life in bullets! 

Wedding Recap #1

It's so funny because I've been following wedding blogs for almost 2 years now and after each bride got married I read their posts explaining how difficult they found it to start their wedding recaps.  I never quite understood why they were having a problem.  Start with the beginning and move forward...seemed pretty simple at the time.

And yet, here I am 13 days after my wedding and I don't have a clue how to begin putting into words the sheer magnitude of what took place and how I felt (and still feel).  So my apologies if my wedding recaps seem a little scattered, out of order, and filled with a ton of pictures.  I will also apologize right now for the sheer amount of posts that will soon follow.  There are SO many things I want to talk about (and so many pictures to post).

So, as I patiently wait for our professional pictures to come back, I will start with the days leading up to the wedding and will then move onto our rehearsal.

Our wedding took place outdoors at my mom and step dad's house so I spent nearly every waking hour in the weeks leading up to the wedding working in their yard.  And when I wasn't spreading mulch or laying down flooring under the tents I was finishing centerpieces and the other gazillion little details that needed to be done.

Besides all the "physical" work and the sore muscles I encountered, I would honestly say that the most difficult part of the entire process was when I finally had to open myself up to the idea that I needed help from family and friends in order to pull off this shindig.    It was terrifying planning this huge party by myself, but for some reason in my mind I found it "more" terrifying to have to ask for help in doing it.  And to my surprise, the moments in the days before the wedding where I recognized and accepted this as a necessity, will remain some of the most important and most memorable moments of the whole wedding process.

On the Friday before the wedding, my family, wedding party and close friends pulled together as a team.  We had people hanging paper lanterns, stringing lights, ironing the linens, setting up centerpieces, folding napkins, putting final touches on our photo wall, pulling weeds and blowing leaves, and so much more!  It was such beautiful chaos and it brings tears just thinking about it.

Centerpieces waiting to be distributed

200+ Paper lanterns

Brother in Law working on the photo wall

Grandma ironing the table linens

Best Friend Kevin blowing leaves off the "wedding aisle"

Bride to be with Mother in Law hanging Lanterns

As soon as everyone arrived and we started setting up and I could really see things coming together, it was as if someone waved a magic wand over me and all the pre-wedding anxiety was gone.  I absolutely, without a doubt, loved this day just as much as my actual wedding day.  Totally AMAZING!!!

Bridal Shower Pics

Bridal shower pics can be seen here

Engagement Pics

Go here to see a preview of our engagement pics.

My Sister is Coming....

My sister is coming to stay with me over the weekend!! I'm so excited. We are going to work on wedding stuff on Saturday (centerpieces, invitations, etc) and we are attending a bridal show on Sunday.

Did I mention how excited I am....I've got so much stuff I want to run by her. Fiance isn't so helpful on certain aspects of the wedding so I need a "girls" opinion on a few things.

What would I do without my sister???

So, I had my first wedding dream (nightmare) last night! Don't you think it's a little early for me to be dreaming about the wedding? Most likely it's because there has been nothing but wedding talk around my house for a couple weeks now. As soon as the clock struck twelve and it was 2010 we realized we need to get on the ball and start moving. We get married in 186 days so the checklist has been brought back out along with a to-do list that's a mile long.

Anyway, back to my story. So in my dream I woke up the day of my wedding to find that I had slept in my wedding dress and it was all wrinkly. Well, as always, my sister Rachel was there to save me. She had a "spare" dress that was identical to my dress and she simply slipped the new dress on me and away we went.

I know it doesn't seem like much to those of you who don't know me, but that dream just solidifies the fact that I could NEVER face anything as big as my wedding day without my sister by my side. She has been, and always will be, my saviour.

T Minus 14 Days.....

Can you believe it's only 2 weeks away from Thanksgiving? Where did the year go? I guess most of it, for me, was spent wedding planning. And let me tell you....this break I've been on has been wonderful, but as of next week I will be back in wedding planning mode once again.

Not only is Thanksgiving only 2 weeks away, but my sister's birthday is on the same day. I can't wait to spend time with the family, relax, and of course, do a little Christmas shopping. I'm already totally pumped up for Black Friday! I love the adrenaline rush of waking up early to stand in the freezing cold just to try and beat the person behind you to the best deals possible.

But to be totally honest, I'm most excited about having some much needed time off work. I will not be working the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or the Monday after....yes, you do the math...that's 6 days of nothing but total awesomeness!! Sleeping in, decorating the house, shopping, spending time with family.......I can't think of a better way to spend my mini-vacation.

Be Happy

I've been having a crappy week....okay, I'll be honest, I've been having a crappy few weeks. But today, I feel happy!

My sister called me today with some very good news and since our phone call I can't stop smiling. I am so happy for her. It is the best feeling in the world to know that someone you love is so happy, so excited, so full of life! She has always been my inspiration and today she inspired me to be happy!

I couldn't be more proud of my sister and I hope she knows that.

CONGRATS RACH!

Newell, WV

So the weekend was a whirl-wind....... I worked until 3pm on Friday and then headed to my sisters house so we could load up her vehicle and head to Newell, WV for the FiestaWare Tent Sale. We arrived at our destination about 10:30pm, checked into the hotel and got some shut-eye! Saturday was the tent sale and it was totally worth the trip.....Well, some may beg to differ considering the cost of the trip (including gas, hotel, food) was about 2-3 times more then what we spent at the sale.

Anywho........I got some great finds and I can't wait to go back next year!

Here we are waiting in line for our tickets.....it was mighty chilly out.....I think in my picture my teeth are actuallly chattering!!

And here are all my goodies.......I ended up with 32 pieces of FiestaWare so not a bad trip!! (and in case you can't tell....most of my kitchen dishes are ORANGE)

A HUGE thank you to my sister for such wonderful memories......I had a blast, I hope you did!