Final Flings before the Rings!

Let's just say that we had an EPIC weekend.  We had a great time celebrating the last of our "single" days and are desperately trying to catch up on sleep!  =)  Here's a little re-cap:

Jessi's Bachelorette Par-Tee

Yep, "Par-Tee" because it was a golf theme.   If you know me at all, you know that I love theme parties so this was right up my alley.  My amazing maid of honor, Lauren, put together a Pub Golf game which required us to visit 9 holes (bars) where we enjoyed cocktails, played some drinking games and completed dares to earn different scores.  We had score cards and all!  I am still mildly amazed at how fun it was... We had an awesome group of girls (16 of us!) and we totally tore up Cedar Falls. 

All the girls at Voo-Doo, 2nd stop of the night. :)

We were the first to finish our fishbow...not an easy task!

We played some Flippy Cup at The Hub.

We got "iced" at Pump Haus.

We sang karaoke and did some limbo (DJ's idea) at the Hydrant.

It got a little tougher to round up the group by this time.... 2nd to last stop of the night (Becks). Having a BLAST.

Kurt's Bachelor Party

Kurt and the guys celebrated in a totally different (and totally manly) way -- they hit the road for Monticello and went on a little canoeing and camping trip on the Maquoketa River!  Actually, it wasn't "little" at all.  There was 15 of them and they did an 8 mile float.  They had a blast stopping at sand bars, fishing, and of course, drinking lots of beer.  The big surprise was that Kurt actually stayed awake for the whole thing (ha!!).  Turns out that 5-Hour Energy really does do the trick.  =P

They pitched some tents and played some yard games.

They drank alot of beer.

They chilled around the fire.

One thing the fellas didn't do is take a lot of pictures so I guess we'll have to fill in the blanks with our imaginations. :)   In fact, we don't have a single picture of Kurt with the guys... ha! When will they learn to document these days for future enjoyment?  We'll see I suppose!

We hope you're all as excited for our wedding day as we are! We can't wait to celebrate with our closest friends and family members!!  I had my final dress fitting last night and my gown is now hanging safely at my parent's house.  Woohooooo, it won't be long now! 

June is finally here!!

Oh my gosh it's JUNE!!!!  It's already been a couple weeks since we blogged but it's wedding month - we have a darn good excuse.  Although I've spent the last year (and then some) planning and organizing there is still a lot of running around to do as we watch everything fall into place.  I'm feeling great about where we are -- and we're TOTALLY excited for our big day!  Right now actually, we're focusing on how pumped we are for our Bachelor and Bachelorette parties this weekend.  Can we get a HELL YEAH? 

Since our last update we've been pretty busy.  We went camping for Memorial Day weekend and got rained on majority of the trip - but still had a good time w/ our friends, Justin & Jessi.  We took the fishing boat for the first time, caught some catfish, drank some beers and piled on damp layers to fend off the chilly weather.  Luckily, the sun came out for a few hours to dry us out on Saturday... but not for long, when Sunday morning rolled around we got hit with a storm and threw all our drenched belongings in the back of the truck and hit the road for home.  Of course, Monday was GORGEOUS but we were already back in Waterloo so had to make-due by grilling out in the backyard.  =) 

I spent a couple days at home in West Liberty while my Mom underwent surgery.  After finding a softball-sized tumor, she had to have a hysterectomy.  This was all very recently discovered and quick-moving... of course, her goal was to get this done and over with so she's not out of business for our wedding....  What can you do, she's always thinking like a Mom! <3   I'm so appreciative for everyone that kept her in their thoughts and prayers in the last couple weeks!  She's recovering like a champ and is anxious to get back into the swing of things!!  In fact - tomorrow is her birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! :)

On a summer-y note:  Our peonies bloomed last weekend!  I cut a vase full of them for my office and our house -- they're beautiful and fragrant.  We're loving it, but they won't last long... 

Whew - that's the low down on our end.   Time to scoot .... I have a long to-do list this week!

Hey Baby!

It's been a while since we blogged!  ...It's like we have a huge life event that we're planning for or something.  Ha! :)   1 month to go!

The only exciting news we have to share is that we welcomed another nephew into the world on May 17th!  We're so happy for Joe & Chana and we're already totally in love with their new little guy.  I wish I could just cuddle him all the time!!  One (of the many) things I love about Kurt's family is that he's already an uncle....x7!  The kiddos are all so much fun to be around and I'm really looking forward to officially being their aunt.  But back to the baby talk (because it is unusually cruel not to share photos of adorable newborns) here is a little peak at Turner James Simon.   PS.  How cool is that name?  LOVE IT.

On that note... we're skipping town for a extra long weekend and heading down south (as in southern Iowa) to do some camping!   Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine and warm temperatures...  =D

40 days and 40 nights

Not on a arc with stinky animals but until we begin our married life! :)  I couldn't resist the biblical reference because we've been searching for the perfect bible verses for our ceremony today -- it's about time we make a decision on this!  Anyways, I'm happy to report that disaster was averted and my wedding gown is restored to it's original beauty.  Thank God.  Now those busy bees at the bridal boutique are working to make it fit perfectly. We're getting so close, I can't wait for Kurt to see it!  We've been traditional and he doesn't know a single thing about the dress.  It'll be cool to see his face that day.... Can you tell I totally have bridal brain right now?  I'll snap out of it.

We enjoyed another weekend at home (that's right... 2 in a row!!!) and even had the chance to hit the town with some buddies.  Check it out... 

Edgar visited and he came armed with loads of mexican food to throw on the grill. 
** it.was.awesome. **

We had some drinks on Main Street in Cedar Falls...
Aren't they cute?

Kurt & I kicked Edgar & Chad's butts in pool.  More than once.

Yes, we sometimes coordinate our outfits.  We are that couple.

Note to Self:  Don't bring men to a Martini Bar.

Aside from our weekend fun we also had car trouble x 2.  Kurt's truck broke down on Friday and still isn't running... so it remains in the parking lot at work.  My car had some sudden (sort of scary) braking issues so I dropped it at the shop this morning.  Hopefully we're back up and running soon!  Car crap can be so annoying...not to mention expensive!   At least the sun is shining out there -- gotta love spring!! 

Adios for now.  Time to throw some brats on the grill, yum!

No 'Zilla Here!

I've said before how this past year (and then some) has been a roller coaster ride as we make plans and preparations for our wedding.  If you've planned a wedding, you know I'm not kidding.  Ever since we hit the double digits time is FLYING by, too.  We're absolutely ready to make this commitment to each other, totally stoked to celebrate with our family and friends and looking forward to seeing all the hard work and little details come together on the big day.   But this week I had a defining moment... and I will admit that this is first time I've really felt pressure that everyone warned me about!  Here's the story:

My first dress fitting was on Monday and I was so excited to put that beauty on again (it's been like 6 months!).  To top things off my mom and Kurt's mom arranged to car pool up to Waterloo and Emilee came along to share this fun experience with me!  (Yay!)  I love my dress more and more every time I put it on ... but we noticed a problem, well lots of little problems actually.  The seamstress poked around and confirmed that the manufacturer neglected to properly clean the dress before they sent it our way - which means that there are yellow chalk lines all over it.  On every seam and every crease.  Yikes.  My stomach dropped but she assured us that this should not have happened and that she'd call the manufacturer in the morning to rush in a new dress.  Long story short the manufacturer refused and now the seamstresses at the boutique are working hard to save the dress.  Ahh, nerve racking!

So that’s the DL on my first defining moment as a bride.  That’s what I’m calling it – defining moment.  Because I’ve seen this type of thing play out on TLC way too many times and although they usually pull through with a fixed gown on the wedding day, there’s always the sob story for the one dress that couldn’t be saved.  That’s a scary thought… no dress a month before the wedding?!  But, there’s no bridezilla here!!  I’m feeling confident that this will work out because the Bride’s Corner staff has been extremely friendly and after a little chat mid-week they reassured me that with some seriously meticulous and diligent work they will make sure that it’s perfect by June 25^th. 


My first fitting is now schedule for Tuesday so keep your fingers crossed! 

There's No Place like Home.

This past weekend was our first full weekend home in 2 months. Boy, did we need it!  It was really nice to finally have a full weekend when neither one of us had to work and we weren't traveling anywhere. =)  We made the best of our time at home and were especially happy that some decent weather pulled through!

We managed to cram alot into the weekend...  We gave the house a good cleaning and had some friends over on Friday.  Got to sleep in Saturday and then hit the town for some shopping and errands.  I fell victim to all that Target offers (sigh, so many cute things!) and couldn't resist a trip to the mall, and Kurt retreated to Menards for landscaping supplies (and anything else he could get his hands on).  We came home with all sorts of stuff crossed off our lists! 

• Rehearsal Dinner outfits - CHECK!
• Golf themed attire for my Bachelorette Party - CHECK! (still searching for the perfect argyl socks though...)
• Gifts for the kiddo's in our wedding - CHECK!
• Mulch - CHECK!
• Solar lights for the landscaping - CHECK!

After a long productive day on Saturday we were ready to blow off some steam when Sunday rolled around.  We hit up a Car Show at the Casino in town which was fun but it was so darn windy we were barely able to make the rounds before heading in for the free coffee!  A couple hours later we walked out about $40 richer... NICE!  Our gambling luck revved up our motivation again and we decided to dive in and tackle the landscaping.  Let me tell you... this is no easy project.  One thing we've learned as homeowners is that curb appeal does not come easily!  When we re-roofed the house last fall we were a little rough on the landscaping and yard so we're trying to give our flowers, plants and grass some extra love this spring.  We worked for 5 hours (until we ran out of sunlight) and we still have 1/3 of the landscaping to finish...luckily we finished the prominent areas and only have a couple smaller sections left.  It's fun to stand back and see our hard work pay off. :)

digging out all the old stuff. 
We even moved a couple plants that we didn't like to fill in other spots around the house! 
What a difference!

 

Can you tell where we stopped?? HA!

We're anxious to get this project finished...just need another nice weekend or evening! 

Until next time....Enjoy the little bit of sunshine we're getting!! =)

Where are you Mr. Sun?

Rain, rain go away!  Give us some sunshine to brighten the days!

....This gloomy weather is seriously robbing me of my motivation to be productive.  We have a ton of little projects going at home but we've totally been slacking on them for the last week (blaming the rain...since it's literally been raining everyday we've been home).  One thing we did accomplish is the wedding invitations!  We were just too excited to wait any long and decided to drop them in the mail a couple days for before our 8 week mark. YAY!!  I really spent a lot of time on those babies so it's been really fun to hear/see people's feedback. Plus, it's like Christmas in our mailbox....everyday. We love getting the RSVP's in the mail, especially when they have fun little notes from you guys!! :)

Last weekend my aunts put on a beauitful shower in my honor.  I was truly in awe of the creativity that went into everything -- it was so fun to celebrate with both sides of my family.  Of course, we also got to see all sorts of family on Easter Sunday which is always a good time.  Kurt worked on Saturday but made it back to WL in time for the Easter service which was really nice.  We also enjoyed brunch with my Dad's side of the fam, an egg hunt a la my parents (yes, they still hide eggs even though we're 24 and 14) and then a big Easter bash at G'ma & G'ma Simon's complete with tacos, kites and more egg hunting!  The jam-packed day slowed us down a little and we didn't make it back home until after 11pm which probably didn't help with the lack-of-motivation we've been fighting this week! ha!

Due to the astounding generosity of our family and friends we now have a basement full of shower gifts that need to find a permanent place!  This is really fun "problem" to have but I need to focus some time on rearranging the cupboards and closets to find these beauties a home! :)  We've been getting all sorts of advice on this sort of thing lately... advice to wait until the wedding to break out the gifts, advice to dive in and enjoy them, advice about the items that will hold up and the ones to use with caution...and the list goes on.  We're pumped about it all -- but more than anything we're just loving it that our family and friends are sharing our joy at this exciting time in our lives! 

Alright.... a little less talk, a lot more action.  Time to get something done!