Wedding Shower

Dan and I had our Wedding Shower on Saturday, April 25th at Parker Road Bible Church in Mokena. It was a wonderful afternoon, but before the shower even started we had an interesting morning.

First of all, I got very little sleep the night before. I guess that I was just so excited about the shower! I was awake well before I needed to be up.

Dan and I left my house early. We wanted to stop by Michaels before the shower to pick up some things for the wedding. It was the last day of their huge sale! On our way a small dog was limping around speeding cars on a four lane highway and we were heading right for him! Dan quickly stopped and I cried out, "Dan, do something!" No other cars were stopping. The dog went under our car and we tried to get him out. He was scared and feisty! Other stopped and we all worked together in the rain to get the dog out from under our car. Once he was caught and he stopped trying to bite everyone, Dan called the owners and left them a message. One of the ladies that helped us took the dog since she would be in the area. Phew!

We finally made it to Michaels and made our way to the Wedding section. Within minutes there was an older woman who started taking to us about our wedding. She then proceeded to help us pick out some items that we would need. Then, to top things off she gave us a coupon to save some extra money! Wow! While waiting in line, Dan was offered another coupon by a nice lady waiting in front of us! Every little bit helps!

Below are picture from our Wedding Shower. I'll tell you all about it as we go through some of the pictures.

Donna Fox created this lovely, delicious cake for our shower! She also brought flowers from her personal garden to fit the theme "Shower of Blessings."

Dan's mother [Carol] made a surprise entrance at our shower! She flew in from California to see her favorite son. She bought her plane ticket two days before the shower! Dan and I had no idea she was coming! It was an awesome surprise!

Melanie introduced Carol to our guests. Carol has known me since I was about seven years old. She asked God's blessing on the food and fellowship for the afternoon.

Melanie also introduced Lisa to our guests. Lisa has also known me since I was a little girl. She was my youth leader growing up. Lisa shared a beautiful devotional with everyone. I really enjoyed every minute!

Dan and I were also blessed with many thoughtful gifts! We had a blast opening our gifts and gift cards. I really look forward to getting an apartment with Dan... we have so many wonderful new things to help us start our new life together!

Dani, Auntie Patty, Melanie, and Carrie (not pictured) put together such a lovely shower for me and Dan. We are both very grateful to have such special friends in our lives! Thank you, ladies!

58 days until the wedding!

Happy Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day... I challenge each of you to do at least one of the following:

1. Hold onto items that can be recycled... bottles, cans, paper, and plastic. Hold onto that 20 oz. until you get home and can place it into a recycle bin. Don't have one? Start one.

2. Turn off your lights for at least one hour tonight. Enjoy an evening playing board games by candle light or even watching a movie.

3. Turn off your computer when you're not using it. It'll save you energy and it will also help your computer live longer.

4. Don't let the water run while you're brushing your teeth. Use water only when you need it.

5. Send out an e-card to brighten someone's day... many are free and it'll save you on postage and paper!

6. Take a shorter shower without super hot water. This can also save you money!

7. If' the weather is nice by you, start a little garden or plant some potted flowers. Perhaps you'd like to try growing some of your own herbs and/or vegetables.

8. Go through old magazines and newspapers you've got laying around the house and recycle them. Don't just throw them away.

9. If you've got nice weather go for a walk. The exercise will be good for you and the sunshine is a great source of Vitamin D. On your walk notice the changes that are taking place all around you, Mother Nature is beautiful! Take the time to appreciate her.

10. Do a little spring cleaning. Go through old clothes and household items that don't seem to excite you anymore. Box them up and donate them to an organization. For example, Goodwill, PASS Pregnancy Care Center, or the Salvation Army.

Again, Happy Earth Day... let us take the time to show God how much we care for the beauty that he has created for us.

Well, moving on. Here is my weekend report.

Friday, April 17th Dan and I drove up to Minnesota to visit with friends and family. We stayed with his sister, Stefanie, and her husband, Thomas. Kathleen drove down from Fargo/Moorehead and stayed with us on Friday.

Saturday, April 18th we all got off to a late start but still managed to put in a full day of activities. Kathleen, Stefanie, Dan, and I met up with Lauren at the Mall of America where we all did some shopping. I believe everyone bought something, which doesn't happen too often these days. After shopping, Kathleen, Dan, and I met up with Brian and Erin (our wedding photographers). Brian and Erin took us to Minneapolis where they took engagement photos for us. It was a blast and I can't wait to see how they turn out! Dan and I both wore new clothes that we bought at the mall (totally not planned, but worked out great). After pictures the five of us went to Chatterbox Pub for dinner. There we met up with Stefanie, Jonathan, Emily, Lauren, and Scott. It was a blast! In between all the chatting we even managed to squeeze in a game of Apples to Apples. From dinner Kathleen went back home.

Sunday, April 19th Dan and I went to church with Stefanie and Thomas. I ran into an old camp friend and some of Kathleen's Bethel friends. After lunch Dan and I hit the road and began our journey back to Illinois. It was a great weekend!

Matthew and Lynette's Wedding

On Saturday, April 11th, 2009 I made my way to Indiana with a van full of camp friends for Matthew and Lynette's wedding! We had a blast on our mini road trip and the wedding was absolutely wonderful! It was very nicely put together and the food was delicious! Since Matthew and Lynette are now Mr. and Mrs. Voss... they had Voss water at the reception! So good! Plus, the water was in glass bottles, even better. Well, congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Voss... I wish you two a lifetime of blessings together! Only 72 days until my wedding... Woohoo!

Well, yesterday was a very rough day. I had some major computer issues with my personal computer! While I thought that all of my photos, videos, music, and documents were lost forever... I only lost about 20% of my files. My music and documents are all gone, but my photos and video seem to be in tact. Some stuff that was lost is heartbreaking, but it's not the end of the world. I'm just grateful that I have my photos! Can you imagine almost 10 years of photos gone in an instant? That means I would have lost almost every picture of Dan and I since we've been together! But God is gracious and he spared my lost photos. Thank you, God... and thank you to Larry, who is in the process of saving my computer and most of my files!

The majority of invitations have been sent out. I'm still waiting on a couple of addresses, but for the most part they are out and people are already notifying me that they have received their invitation! I know that I have made some errors, so I'm expecting I'll get some returned. Hopefully not too many.

I'll be gone this weekend with Dan. We're going up to Minnesota to visit friends and family. We'll be staying with his sister and her husband. Kathleen will be coming down from Fargo/Moorhead to spend all day Saturday with us. Dan and I are having our engagement photos taken this weekend and we're also planning to have dinner with friends and family on Saturday. It should be a fun weekend. I can really use a weekend away.

Wedding Invitations

As of right now I have all the supplies needed to send out my wedding invitations. Printing directly onto the envelopes seems to be giving me some issues, but I think that I have a game plan! Once they're all sent out I'll be happy. That's for sure. Still waiting on a few addresses, so hopefully that'll come together soon.

Kathleen drove back to Fargo/Moorhead on Sunday. It was so nice having her home for an extra week! I'll be seeing her in about 2 weeks... so that'll be nice!

It's official... I saw my name on the silver screen this past weekend at Gargalese's premiere in Chicago! Dan and Kathleen joined me for this wonderful moment. I really enjoyed the movie! Props to everyone who worked on it!