Sisters

You can always count on sisters for a silly photo.  Claire and her tootsie roll pop make this picture fantastic.

I'm a lucky girl.

Not only do I have my wonderful sister, Claire, to call and vent to just about every day (not to mention live vicariously through her since she's a college sophomore right now)...and Jenny, my FSIL, who lives literally 3 exits down the highway from me...and Alexcia, who has been my roommate and confidante since freshman year of college....but I also have Morgan and Nisha, who have been my very best friends since high school and junior high, respectively.

I spent the past weekend in Conway, Arkansas visiting with Morgan and her husband and Nisha.  Nisha was just in St. Louis for a quick weekend, but I haven't seen Morgan, or Mogee as I lovingly call her, since her own wedding in August 2009.  These two girls make up the other 2/3 of "Kamorganishatie" a nickname we dubbed upon ourselves our senior year of high school.  We all have birthdays 5 days apart, me being the middle birthday, and I swear it was a sign that we were meant to be friends for life. I actually met Nisha in 7th grade and then Morgan in 9th grade when my family moved to Cabot.  We all went to Arkansas Governor's School between our junior and senior years of high school and Morgan and Nisha hit it off, so naturally I pulled the "I already knew her" card with Nisha and we became BFFs, literally.

Morgan is such a cute newlywed it makes me even more excited to get married. Seriously, her husband is awesome (and was also at Governor's School with us) and I love him more and more each time I'm around him.  I joked with Morgan this weekend that he and I have so much in common, it's no wonder she married him :)  Nisha is a 3rd year med student and is our never ending source of entertainment. She's so pretty and smart and funny and just worldly, I can't help but admire her.

These 2 girls, combined with Claire, Jenny, and Alexcia make up my bridesmaids.  A fun and beautiful group of girls that I can't wait to share my day with, not to mention have them all meet each other. Finally.

Morgan, Me, and Nisha at Morgan's bachelorette Party

This may be my favorite picture from Morgan's wedding weekend. 

Jenny's "Jersey Shore" birthday March 2010. So.Much.Fun.

Alexcia and I never fail to have fun, even with a bucket.

"A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life." - Isadora James

Happy New Year!

Well 2010 is officially behind us, only 475 days to go til the big W. :)

2010 was very, very good to me.  Chris and I made a lot of trips, some to new places and some to old favorites.  I think a photo recap is in order :)

We started the year off with a trip to Cincinnati, and of course had to hit up a Xavier basketball game.  We even got to meet the Blue Blob!

Next came a trip to Nashville for the Super Bowl with our friends Nathan and Sarah. The guys are the best of friends and are just adorable together.

 Early spring brings Mardi Gras to St. Louis and we can't pass up this crazy and fun filled weekend each year.

Chris' sister and her roommate both have March birthdays and threw the most amazing "Jersey Shore" theme party.  This picture doesn't do the bash justice.

I was lucky to get to spend a girls weekend in Memphis with my roommate and two other friends from SLU. It was a quick but fun trip.

In April, Chris and I made a trip out to see his Aunt and Uncle in Phoenix and had an amazing week seeing the land, even making it to the Grand Canyon. The picture at the top of the blog is from this trip.  We spent an afternoon in Sedona and the Red Rocks were breathtaking.

What's spring in St. Louis without baseball...or rain?  Chris and I went to most of the Cardinals/Reds games this year.  This game in particular had a 2 or 3 hour rain delay...I don't recall details, mostly because the beer service didn't stop :)  You can probably tell we had a good time.

Each year, Chris is lucky to spend a week in Canada with his dad and other friends or family.  This summer he went way up north into Ontario with his dad and two uncles.  He always comes back to me as a mountain man with all kinds of fish stories.

 In June, my family spent a week in Granby, Colorado.  This week was very special because my older brother Tim was visiting from Qatar and Chris got to spend a week with my entire family.  We had a blast and I've been itching to get back out west ever since.

For the July 4th weekend, we had originally planned to accompany a group of friends to a lake house in Tennessee...but that fell through (long story) and we all met up in Chicago for the weekend.  It was my first time there and I loved the busy city.  Good times with good friends.  I hope you can tell we're at Wrigley for a Reds/Cubs game, and I'm wearing my Cardinals hat :)

In August, my "baby" brother turned 17.  I got him tickets to a Something Coporate concert here in St. Louis.  He came out with our sister Claire and we had so much fun.  It was great to share the experience with them, especially since this is a band I listened to when I was 17.  Side note:  I took my sister to a concert for the lead singers other band, Jack's Mannequin, in February...but we both forgot our cameras, so no pictures from that one. 

September came and went with no pictures, even though I had my birthday...not sure why I didn't use my camera.  Then came October :)


So I bought Chris tickets to the Bengals v. Dolphins game for his birthday, and we headed to Cincinnati for the Halloween weekend.  We dressed as Frank and Charlie from one of our favorite shows for a Halloween party, cheered on the Bengals, and oh, GOT ENGAGED! :)  I loved October.

We spent Thanksgiving in Cincinnati, and oddly, I have no pictures from that trip.

In early December, my roommate and I went to Chicago for a 3 day weekend.  The whole weekend I wanted to see the bean in Millennium Park, which we did...en route to the airport.  Note the suitcases in our picture :)

For Christmas, I headed home to Kansas and Chris went to Ohio.   Though I missed him, I had a great time spending the holiday with my family.

We spent New Years with our friends Nathan and Sarah at The Wine Tap and had a fantastic time, complete with Chris playing his New Years horn to the tune of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and Nathan trying to book the band for our wedding.

So that was my year; full of travel, family, and friends.  Looking back through all these pictures reminds me how truly blessed I am to have such great people in my life.  Though I can't imagine anything topping this year, I'm very much looking forward to what 2011 has to bring...and to being closer to 4.21.2012 :)

The best example

I've had an absolutely wonderful Christmas trip home.  I wish I could stay longer than this weekend, but I bet one day longer and they'd be begging me to leave :)  My dad mentioned today that he'd forgotten how cranky I get when I'm tired...Me? Cranky?  Never.... :)

Mom, Claire, and I hit up a bridal store here in Wichita this afternoon.  Just to look and touch and ooh and ahh.  I didn't try anything on, but fell even more in love with a dress I've been oogling over online since before Chris proposed. Yes, I am that girl who had her dress picked out before being engaged.  So, I made the executive decision that mom must spend her MLK holiday weekend driving to St. Louis so I can try on, and hopefully buy, THE dress.  Of course, I'll try on a variety, just to be sure.  Though really, I'm convinced I've found my dress.  Fingers crossed it actually looks good on me!

Okay, to the point of my title...

How pretty is my mom?!

 

Look at how happy my parents are :)  I can honestly say that they've been like this for as long as I've been around, and I bet its safe to say they were like this the 4 years before I joined this world too.  I am so unbelievable lucky to have had two great role models of what love, family, and a marriage should be and can be.  I think it's easy to forget how blessed we are to have the people in our lives to guide us and support us and teach us how to love.  

I think my parents' priest summed it up best in today's homily: "We pick our friends because they are like us.  God gives us our family to learn to love people who are different." 

Our first Keepsake :)

Chris and I exchanged gifts last night since he's driving back to Ohio today and I'm leaving for Kansas on Friday.  He got me a Kindle, which is awesome!  I'm obsessed with it and wish I had more time to just read and read all day.

Then there was this:

A 2010 Hallmark keepsake ornament, "for our first Christmas being engaged." Needless to say I got pretty teary eyed and could only muster a sob of "It's just so sweet."  That's my Chris, not a man of many words about how much he loves me (thats my style), but a man of sweet and thoughtful gestures that fill my heart with even more love for my future husband.

Okay, I've worked myself up to happy tears again...so thats it for this post.


p.s. Think happy and safe thoughts for me as I make a snow filled trek to Kansas on Friday.  Fingers crossed I get there in time for 8 pm mass!

Eat your heart out Charlie Brown!

      I came over to Chris' after work today to wrap some presents and help him get stuff together for his work Christmas party tomorrow, and there was this adorable little tree sitting in his living room just crying out for some decorations.  Apparently Chris' buddy Nathan left the tree outside his apartment as a Christmas gift for us.  I couldn't be more excited, and I can't even begin to describe how good this little fir tree smells!
     I haven't been at my parent's house for the decorating of the tree in years, and even though this guy was a little smaller than the big trees I'm used to, it got me right into the Christmas spirit.  I think Chris got a kick out of how excited I was and patiently accompanied me to the nearest store to get lights, candy canes, and ornaments.  I kept reminding him in the car that this is our 2nd to last Christmas together before we're married, "Only two more Christmases to go, by the third one we'll be married!"  When I think about it like that, April 21, 2012 seems so close!
     For now, I'm going to make myself a cup of tea and enjoy our tree!  Happy Holidays!

Flat tire, Christmas shopping, and basketball...and all by Wednesday!

Another week almost in the books...complete with a new set of tires for me and almost all the Christmas shopping done for Chris and my families.  Discovering a flat tire Monday morning when its -15 with the wind chill is definitely not a good start to the week, but at least it gave me a good excuse to take a comp day to do some shopping and spend the day with Chris, along with replacing all my tires and getting my alignment done.  Woohoo!

Chris and I went to the SLU basketball game tonight with our friends Theo and Steph.  They got married last year, and are one of my favorite couples to go out with. They're fun and a good example for Chris to see that its cool to be married :)

Slowly but surely, I'm working on Chris to get some more wedding stuff nailed down.  He has promised me he'll ask his guys to be groomsmen etc over the Christmas break.  Luckily Jenny will be home in Ohio with him to make sure it gets done. It's always nice to have an enforcer to be there when I'm not.  I've also nagged my mom to death about getting my hands on a credit card when I go home for the holiday.  So hopefully, assuming I get the credit card, some deposits will be made shortly after the new year for a reception venue and photography.  I really want to get the engagement photos done early this spring so we can get save the dates out. 

Some days it still doesn't all feel real.  I'm a lucky, lucky girl. And very loved. :)

 And by the way....Merry Christmas!

Long time no blog...

Ugh, where have I been?  Life took over as usual.

I had a fantastic time in Chicago, and got to see some old friends from college.  Chris was hunting again while I was seeing the city, and he got a deer!

I'm a little freaked out that the poor deer has his tongue hanging out...surely the taxidermist will make him look a little happier when he's mounted.  Chris and I have a running joke about his future "man cave" in our first place together.  There is absolutely no way I'd let him put deer heads up in a place that any guest would see.  Maybe we'll theme a guest room with hunting/fishing decor, though I could see deer heads watching you as you sleep giving people nightmares.

I'm feeling a bit stagnant at the moment as far as wedding planning goes.  I've gotten wrapped up in the holidays and work, and I've only looked at wedding stuff twice in the last 2 weeks I'd guess.  <---that is crazy!  Is something wrong with me? 

I guess once we get through Christmas it'll be easier to focus on planning details, and I hope to have my hands on a credit card from my parents to start putting deposits down for a photographer and reception site.  I'd like to get our engagement session and save the dates out of the way by early next spring.  For now the only thing on the radar is a pre-cana Saturday that I registered us for in February. 

One of my long time friends and bridesmaid, Nisha, is coming up to St. Louis for the weekend tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited for some best friend time.  I know, I know, I've always got something going on. How am I ever going to find the time to plan a wedding or start my Christmas shopping? ;-) 

I hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday season, I know I sure am!