Dan's Graduation from Lewis University

On Sunday, May 17, 2009 Dan graduated from Lewis University! A day that once felt so distant has quickly snuck up on us. It was a great day... the sun was out and the weather was warm (in the sun at least).

Much of Dan's family was able to attend his graduation. Below is a picture of his mom (Carol), Dad (Dan), and one of his sisters (Mandy). Mandy's boyfriend, Cale, was in attendance as well.

Congratulations to Dan and the entire Lewis University Class of 2009! Dan, I am so very proud of you! You never cease to amaze me with how hard you work and remain dedicated to each and every project to take on! You're awesome!

Another shout out and massive Congratulations go to my sister, Kathleen! On Friday, May 15th she graduated with her Masters from NDSU. Unfortunately, I could not make it to her graduation, but I proudly looked through photos that were taken by my father. Way to go, Kathleen! You're the best and I am super proud of all that you do! Now... please come home soon! I miss you!

And... as promised... here are a few photos of mine and Dan's new apartment! These were taken the day that we signed the lease. As of right now, Dan is all moved in.

Our fireplace in the living room! It's a gas fireplace, so it turns on and off with a switch.

From this angle you can see our dinning room and part of our kitchen. To the right is the rest of the kitchen and our pantry/laundry room and to the left you'll see the door that leads into our master bedroom and master bathroom. How nice!

Here is a view from the dinning room so you can see the rest of the kitchen. Through that white door is our pantry/laundry room (with a full size washer and dryer). We got lucky, not all the units have a washer and dryer in them.

Our apartment consists of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, pantry/laundry room, balcony (we're on the 3rd/top floor), dish washer, walk-in closets in both bedrooms, and lots of other little goodies.

While Dan is all moved in, there really isn't much furniture, but we'll have some more once I move in and we are planning to buy some new furniture before or after the wedding (depending on deals that we may find).

I'm still waiting on quite a number of RSVPs from guests. I'm not really stressin' over it. They're due Saturday, June 6th. Wow! Time is going by so fast! How exciting!

Only 36 days until the wedding!

We Have A Winner!

Dan and I have successfully found an apartment! It is a two bedroom, two bathroom, with a gas fireplace and a washer and dryer in the unit! A little bigger then we were originally looking for, but we got a sweet deal. We are both very excited about our new home. While we are in the process of getting our new things moved in, Dan is really the only one who will be living there before the wedding.

Dan is finished with school (as of last week) and is currently working full-time. He graduates this Sunday! YAY! This week his is still in his dorm, but he has to be all moved out by Sunday. He'll have everything out before then. Everything has worked out nicely. Now Dan has a place to go after graduation. That means, less moving for him. Phew!

I have pictures of our new place, but I do not have them on me at the moment. I will try to post them soon!

Only 45 days until the wedding!

Apartment Hunting

Dan and I have been on the hunt for a lovely new place we can call home. We've been doing lots of research for the past couple of weeks, talking with friends and family (and their friends and family), and viewing some of our favorites in hopes of finding the right place for us to share.

We found one apartment that is a little bit bigger then we've been looking for and a bit more then we were planning to spend, but it looks like we may have found a real jewel! It's on a special right now, so if everything works out we will get a sweet deal! So we are praying that everything will work out. We really like this apartment and we both felt very at home while we were there.

As of right now we're looking to lease an apartment for at least one year. We are not sure where we will be next year and until Dan is done with his extended schooling we really cannot commit to any place more permanent.

Apartment hunting with Dan is so exciting! Just thinking that in less then two months we will be married and sharing a lovely new home together makes me smile!

Only 52 days until the wedding!

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!