Photo Update

I've been slacking on the pictures lately so here's a few to catch you all up!....

This one is old -- from last month... look how small Max is!

We bought our shoes for the wedding... currently being dyed.

A typical night ... sleepy boys!

Max has a friend over (Tuff) while the Collins' family was in town for Super Pee Wee State Wrestling!
The dogs loved to wrestle, too!

Drake-man ready to wrestle!

Uncle Kurt w/ Briggs -- cheerin for Drake!

Engaged for 1 year - 3 months to go! :)

All tuckered out after throwing fit for being left outside... *Sigh*

Look how BIG he is now!! He used to sleep under the couch... Ha!

Bring on SPRING!

Thank God winter is finally over!! We're loving this extra daylight (but still struggling with the dark mornings after daylight savings time, haha I guess we can't have it all). 

Last weekend we went back to WL to spend some time with our families.  I got to see Matt and his classmates pull off an uber-impressive musical --- I seriously can't get over how cool it was! And to think that they're only in Jr. High, WOW.  ...Kurt worked on the firebird and before we knew it it was already time to head back to Waterloo.  Weekends at home always go too fast and there never seems to be enough time to do everything we want to do and see everyone we want to see!

This past week we've been enjoying the warmer weather and truckin' away on wedding projects/plans... here's our updates in a nutshell:
- Finally took the dogs on a decent walk.  Yay for nice weather!
- Spent an evening setting up a wedding registry at Menards (Kurt was in his glory).
- Attempted to convert Max to an outside dog... not going well so far.
- Kurt surprised me by taking the awnings off our house - a project I've been dying to do since we moved in!
- Got all pumped up to grill up some burgers only to find our propane tank is empty (sigh...George Foreman saved the day).
- Sent our wedding invitations to the printer. (Wow, we're that close!)
- Researched Bachelor/Bachelorette party locations/plans...... sooooo fun. =D

We're enjoying this weekend by not doing too much.  I got to spend the day shopping in Cedar Rapids with two of my best friends yesterday -- it was fun to have some girl time and we found some good stuff shopping too! :)  Kurt squeezed in some fishing and we even got some time to hang out and play Wii with some friends in town. After this weekend we're completely booked until May ... let the craziness commence!

Time Flies ...

...when you're planning a wedding!  Seriously, today is the ONE YEAR anniversary of our engagement and I honestly cannot believe it's been 12 entire months.  I almost always feel like time is flying but this year in particular has been a crazy, hectic, emotional and exciting one!  It truly is a whirlwind and we're doing our best to take in all of these experiences and memories - afterall, we only get to do this once! :) 

As we think back to last year at this time I can't help but tear up... The proposal was such an awesome surprise and I love how genuine and straight-up nervous Kurt was.  It makes me giggle!  We had bought tickets to see Jason Aldean in concert in Ames so we took off work a little early to account for travel.  I was rushing around the apartment in an attempt to get ready on time (imagine that) and Kurt was being oddly quiet (seriously can you imagine that? ha!).  I had randomly found an unclaimed wedding magazine by the mailboxes that afternoon and was babbling about how it would be the perfect thing to flip through on the way to Ames (ironic, right?).  ...We were heading out the door (already behind schedule) when Kurt suddenly "forgets something inside".   I hesitantly followed him back into the apartment (slightly annoyed) and shut the door only to turn around and find him on his knee!  It took a few seconds to realize what was happening and to shake off the disbelief and acutally listen  to what he was saying but when I did, I flew at him for a huge hug and burst into tears!!  I remember trying to take in every detail of the moment... and I'm glad I did, so I can remember it so vividly at times like today.  =)  Of course, we went to the concert and had a blast just living it up on cloud nine!  It's an amazing memory.

I know I posted about the proposal last year when I began blogging but I couldn't resist re-living it yet again.  Tonight we're celebrating our year of happiness (and planning) with a little date night.  I even have a little surprise in store for my future hubby... (I know I can post it now b/c he never reads this unless I leave the page up for him lol)... I picked up his wedding band this week and am planning a little proposal of my own. And guess what... I'm kind of nervous!! Now I understand what he was feeling that day!  Wish me luck, hopefully he says YES.  <3 

Front of our Save-the-Dates

Back of our save-the-dates.

PS. If you haven't visited our wedding website, please do!  Don't forget to sign our guestbook...it always makes us smile! :)     www.theknot.com/ourwedding/kurtsimon&jessikelly

Hello March!

Holy smokes it's already March!  February was a really really busy month but the fact that it's such a short month made it FLY.  We're welcoming March with open arms and holding out all hope that the old saying is true.... "In like a lion out like a lamb".   It better be... I'm sick of this cold crappy weather!  The extra daylight is noticeable now so that's a good sign. :)

On another note - we had a great time here in the 'Loo last weekend (it's already almost the weekend again!!).  Kurt's friend (Seth) Anderson came to visit and we all went to the Miranda Lambert concert on Saturday... she was awesome!!  I know she's coming back this way this summer (to the Mississippi Valley Fair I believe) so if you're able to catch the show - do it!  Justin Moore was the opener and he was really good too -- it was a fun concert!  I always like going to concerts at the McLeod Center because it reminds me of the events/shows that I used to work there.  Plus, you can't beat it because the tickets are affordable and all the seats are great.  We got the cheap-o bleacher seats because I knew you'd have just as good of a view!  Ahhh it feels good to be right. =)

On Sunday, while the boys tinkered with crap in the garage I headed to Cedar Rapids to meet my mom and the bridesmaids!  We all picked out our shoes for the wedding (yay!) and grabbed a bite to eat.  It was great to have some girl time and the more time I spend with them the more excited I get for our wedding!  Everything is really coming together and that is a great feeling.  According to TheKnot's to-do list I am about 1 month ahead of schedule.... Rockin' it, right?

Oh and the biggest development in our plans...  we booked the honeymoon!  We debated long and hard about honeymooning right after the wedding or holding off until Iowa's weather was less desirable.  We opted for the latter -- it just made more sense to us to avoid hurricane season down in the tropics and enjoy what we can of Iowa's summer by planning the trip for November.  We decided to go big (it's big for us anyways!)-- so we're heading to Punta Cana for a 6 night trip the week after Thanksgiving.  Check out our amazing resort..... all-inclusive, adults-only, perfect. =)

All dogs go to heaven...

...right? 

We've been trying to swallow some sad happenings over the last week... and we decided it was time to blog about it.  We had to put our dog, Rockie, to sleep.  Of course, this type of thing is always hard and we feel horrible that her life ended this way.  She was a great dog! 

While back home (in WL) with her puppies Rockie wandered off about a week and a half ago.  It was just after the big blizzard and there wasn't much we could do to search for her since we were surrounded by huge snow drifts.  At that point, we tried to stay hopeful because Rockie (like many farm dogs) had a habit of running around and she always returned to her pups.  As the days went by we asked neighbors to be on the look-out, called a couple shelters and kept our eyes pealed whenever we were in the area... but she didn't turn up.  We started to face reality and tried to come to terms with the idea that she probably wasn't coming back.  (Although I'll totally admit that I optimistically envisioned a cute little family picking her up and taking her in. If only things were that "happy" in the real world!) .... Anyways, she was mysteriously delivered back to Jim's after a week.... but not in good shape.  We're not sure what happened to her, or what she had to live through during her days away but Rockie was sick, skinny and suffering from a badly broken leg.  It is utterly heartbreaking to think of her like this.  Kurt rushed back home to take her to the vet but the prognosis wasn't good.  She was too sick and weak to undergo the surgery she needed, if we tried to save her she would have been in a lot of pain and she would have lost a leg.  =(    So now we're left with memories of Rockie, trying to focus on the good ones!! 

There is one positive part of this senario... Rockie did leave 3 super cute puppies behind.  In light of her tragic passing we opted to keep on of the puppies afterall.  It's weird having another dog already but Max reminds us SO much of Rockie when she was puppy.  We choose this one out of the 3 because he looks the most like Rockie!! We missed out on this time of Rockie's life (she lived on the farm the first year) so we're looking forward to training Max from a young age.   And here he is....

 

Meet Max...7 weeks old.  Doesn't he look just like Rockie?? 

 

Max likes to sleep under the couch... but I'm sure he won't fit there for long!

I bet you're wondering how Pita is handeling all this change?? Well, it's been interesting.  Having a young pup in the house is really testing our skills as responsible "adults" (scream!)... it's a full time job!  We're buckling down and getting serious on the dogs... training books, dentist bones, the whole she-bang.  If you've met Pita before you know that he generally does two things.... 1) Cuddle/Lay Around or 2) Look at you suspiciously.  So really things haven't changed much, he's hard to read because he pretty much always looks scared.  Max on the other hand has aproximately 3,498 cute tricks up his sleeve.  He's a busy little guy and he loves to play... which is something that Pita has zero tolerance for.  Overall, I think it's safe to say that Pita likes tolerates Max... and we're OK with that for now!  See for yourself.... 

Ohhh these fellas provide endless entertainment in our household.  I think Rockie would be proud. :) 

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On a completely different note... I couldn't resist a little shout out to one of my amazing friends who recently got engaged!!! CONGRATS CAITLIN & ELI!!! Welcome to the bride club!  Enjoy the madness!!  

I love you, Cait, and am SO excited for you!  <3,  Jess

Hotlanta!

I am missing the gorgeous warm weather of Atlanta, Georgia right now!

I had the opportunity to attend a conference for work in Atlanta this week so I was there from Thursday-Saturday.  Of course, work trips are generally filled with work so there wasn't much time for exploring.  My co-workers and I did get to sneak away for a couple meals though and we tried to spend as much time as possible on outdoor patios!  It was PERFECT weather.  A sunny 73 degrees... *sigh* it made we rethink why we live in Iowa.  Ha!

 We attended the awards banquet where Ashley was honored as a "Star Status" Walk for 2010!  Woohoo, way to go girl!

 We learned all sorts of new things surrounding the re-branding of our signature event,
now called the Walk to End Alzheimer's!

 We enjoyed a number of inspiring speeches including one by David Hyde Pierce
(Niles from the Frasier show!)

 We had a little fun experiencing what "Walk" is all about.

And most importantly, we were reminded why we do what we do... 

to END Alzheimer's disease. 

It was a very busy few days and I'm completely exhausted today.  I'll have to admit... I'm dreading going back to work already tomorrow but I guess that's life!   ...On another note, Kurt has been laid off for the last week and half but was already called back to work.  I guess we'll both be dragging our feet a little on Monday.  =) 

Have a great week! 

It's a LOVE story

In honor of Valentine's Day we thought it'd be appropriate to display some grossly cute photos of us falling in love.  Enjoy! =P

 the beginning of something special =)

 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!