It Was Perfect

From start to finish our wedding day was absolutely perfect.  We would not have changed a single thing and feel so lucky to have spent our day and night with so many wonderful family members and friends.

Our perfect family totally pulled through and ROCKED the set-up that was to be done on Friday.  They had over 200 chair covers and sashes ironed and placed on chairs by noon - well before I anticipated we would finish that job.  I hope someone took a picture of our ballroom surrounded by extension cords, irons, and ironing boards!

Our perfect wedding party helped to make our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner so much fun as they helped to take away some of the stress from the day.  The food was perfectly delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

I got to enjoy one last glass of wine with my sister and college roommates back at the hotel on Friday night.  It was the perfect way to celebrate my last night of single life in the same way we celebrated so many other important life events when living together.  Many laughs were had by all!

The actual wedding day went perfectly according to plan.  Everyone was where they needed to be, when they needed to be there.  We had everything we needed and if anyone forgot anything I never found out.  There were even a couple of points in the day that believe it or not, we were actually ahead of schedule!  Our wedding party, parents, and grandparents all looked amazing.  Paul and I?  We looked pretty amazing too!  :)  The ceremony went perfectly and so many people were there to witness the start of our new life together.

We had a blast taking pictures and the weather cooperated perfectly.  The forecast for the day said it was going to rain in the morning and at 3:00 - the exact times we would be outside taking pictures.  Instead it was the perfect temperature, a bit windy, and there were just enough clouds to keep us from having to squint from the sun.

The reception was beyond amazing.  It was exactly as we had dreamed it would be and yes, absolutely perfect.  We have an amazing scrapbook of pictures from the photo booth and the dance floor was packed all night.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and Paul and I had a blast.

THANK YOU to everyone who was there to celebrate with us, or had to celebrate from afar but was there in spirit.  Our wedding day was beyond perfect and we have all of you to thank.

Let's Rewind a Bit

Since it's been awhile, let's back up a little bit.  October ended with nothing other than Halloween.  We ducked out on the very few trick-or-treaters that actually make their way to our street and went grocery shopping instead.  Exciting, I know.  We did manage to carve some pumpkins though.  I think we had more fun watching Millie than the actually carving the pumpkins.

We spent Paul's 26th birthday at the Nitty Gritty with friends and doing what he loves to do most on a Thursday night - playing volleyball.  I worked on school work.  :)  November was pretty uneventful.  We celebrated my grandma's 80th birthday and enjoyed great Thanksgivings with both of our families.  

December started with a weekend spent with some great friends from college.  We had a blast making Christmas cookies.  Then it was only 15 minutes in and we still had to make the rest.  3 hours later we swore we'd never make cookies again!  We had a great time at the Christmas party for Paul's school.  We danced the night away and were able to spend time with some great friends.

On Friday we said goodbye to one of our best friends.  Our dog, Peaches, had to be put to sleep after 14 wonderful years of memories.  We're all sad to see her go, but know that she's much happier now chasing birds and airplanes like she used to.  I just hope there are some cows in Heaven that will let her lick out their ears.  Its one of her favorite things to do!  

And that brings us here.  Yesterday was 6 months away from our wedding and a week away from hosting my mom's family for Christmas then 3 more days of Christmas fun.  The tree is up, decorations are hung, and shopping is almost finished.  Tonight we head out for our annual shopping trip with Dad.  Sometimes I think we'll be 40 and still shopping with Dad.  It's one of our favorite Christmas traditions!  

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and in case we're not back before then, a Happy New Year as well!  

Want to go for a run?

We spent most of our weekend dodging rain drops, but had a great time doing it!  Paul ran his first half marathon on Saturday.  I'll be the first to admit that when he first talked about signing up I secretly thought "Really?  You're really going to do this?  School will get busy and stressful, you'll quit training, and will eventually give up."  I know this doesn't sound the most supportive, but school usually takes priority and running gets moved to the back burner.  I should have known better though, because when he puts his mind to something he does it.  And run he did!  In the rain and the cold.  I will say that I was pretty impressed and take back any thoughts of doubt.

 

 

He was concentrating so hard he didn't even realize I was there! 

 

 

 

Looking good after an awesome finish!

I wasn't originally planning to be there, but those pesky raindrops were actually a good thing!  I know what you're thinking.  First I didn't even think he'd be able to do it, and then I had no intentions of not going.  World's worst fiance?  No.  I felt awful about not being there, but I had signed up to do the Color Me Rad run with my sister.  On the same day.  At the same time.  Unfortunately for us it was down pouring at the start of our race.  Since they were running multiple start times we decided to hold off on running our race and headed over to watch Paul finish his.  The rain cleared up a little bit, and we headed off to get colorful. 

 

 

Pre-Race.  Check out those nice, white shirts!

 

 

 

It turns out the rain turned our color run into a tough mudder as well.  We were dodging puddles, avoiding slippery hills, and sprinting through colored powder.  Ok, maybe not the intensity of a tough mudder, but it was still pretty messy.

 

Our not-so-white-anymore shirts.  Hope's arm is still a little blue!

 

We had a great time at both races and enjoyed the rest of our weekend at home working on school work, taking a nap with Millie, doing a little shopping, and supper at Mom and Dad's.  A great fall weekend in Wisconsin at the {soon to be} Jones House!

Say Cheese!

We finally took our engagement pictures a couple of weeks ago.  We got them back the other day and I can happily say I LOVE them.  There are of course a few awkward poses, but there are definitely enough to choose from to be able to frame a few.  Our photographer did an awesome job and was so easy to work with.  You can check them out at the link below.  The password is 06152013.  It took me about 3 times of logging in to realize that's our wedding date.  Oops.  Warning:  There's not a whole lot of saying cheese, but there is a whole lot of kissing.  Guard your eyes!

Engagement Pictures

 

Momma's Girl

I had every intention of writing an end of summer post last night before we both started a new school year.  But then it was 10:30 and I realized if I had any chance of surviving the first day of school with 19 six year olds, I needed to go to bed.  Now it just doesn't seem right since summer has officially ended in our house.  Paul started his new semester today as well and Millie is back to her normal routine of sleeping all day while anxiously awaiting for us to come home.

I came home fully expecting to be body slammed by our favorite 4-legged furry friend {her favorite way of saying hello}.  Nope.  What did she do instead?  Puked.  All over the carpet.  I know you're all laughing thinking that the sight of me is what caused her to puke and it very well may have been since it was super hot today and our school isn't air conditioned so I came home looking like one hot, scary mess.  However, I was home for at least 5 minutes before the puking happened so I take no blame.

Usually she rebounds to her normal self within a few minutes, but not tonight.  Tonight she decided that since I still had a couple of hours worth of work to do she could entertain herself and rest peacefully next to me.  Paul took some pictures of her laying right on top of my school bag {in protest, I'm sure!} and of her laying on my lap watching the computer screen, but I look SUPER pregnant in both.  Thank you, flowing dress and slouchy posture.  No, I'm not pregnant so no, you don't get to see those pictures.  I promise you though, she looked pretty cute!

So, thank you Millie for being on your best behavior in hopes that we won't leave you alone all day again tomorrow.  I know you're missing your afternoon nap on the couch with mommy and I appreciate the snuggles after a long day.  I just hope you keep up this behavior until this thunderstorm has passed since your dad has so conveniently decided to go to bed already and I will be the one taking you out to use the bathroom before bed.  By the way, did you hear he poured coffee on his cereal this morning?  I'll tell you the rest of that story later!