Kathleen and Brad's Shower

On Saturday, April 3, 2010, we celebrated the upcoming wedding of Kathleen and Brad by hosting a lovely shower for the happy couple! Since the downstairs room of my parent's house is nearly empty (after generously donating some of their furniture to their daughters), it was the perfect spot for a cozy shower. My dad borrowed some tables and chairs from his school and my mom and I decorated - with a little help from Kathleen.

Since Kathleen and Brad both share a love for coffee, we made Mocha's and had heart-shaped coffee scoops for party favors! The party favors were put together by our cousin, Cindy. She did an amazing job!

My dad and Dan were close by throughout the shower. They were most helpful with many little odds and ends that kept the party flowing.

Below are some photos from the shower. Brad showed up just in time for presents. The bride and groom were a blast and made the whole experience very delightful.

Mine and my mom's Coco-Latte machines for making Mocha's!

The downstairs is all set for the party!

Lots of gifts for the bride and groom!

The fabulous party favors! Thank you Cindy!

Guests enjoying a delicious lunch!

Kathleen with her beautiful cake!

Kathleen, Esther (Brad's mom), our mom, and me.

"I Love My Wife" & "I Love My Husband" Mugs

Always making each other laugh.

Katleen gets a Fossil purse... life is good.

My soon-to-be brother-in-law... I couldn't be more excited!

Looking Ahead

Recently, I got surprised by my hubby, sister, and future brother-in-law! Turns out these guys were secretly "plotting" behind my back and planning a mini vaca for us in the Dells! As an added bonus, my parents will be joining us. Seriously, with my dad's lame track schedule my mom would never think a trip with all of her children would be possible this time of year. My weekend is going to be full of fun activities... and I can't wait!

First, Rachel and I are having a sleepover with our "little sisters", Courtney and Jessica. Jason will be spending the night with Dan at our apartment while us girls take over his and Rachel's home. It'll be a night of sweatpants, junk food, pizza, baking, movies, and games. What a great way to start my weekend!

Saturday morning I will be traveling up to the Dells with Dan and my parents. Kathleen and Brad will be meeting us there. We are staying in a two bedroom condo at the Wilderness Hotel and Resort. We will be staying there until Monday. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, playing at the water parks, relaxing on the lazy river, doing some shopping, and not having anything to worry about!

Workin' It

Lately, Dan and I have been on a bigger health-kick then usual. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is so much easier when you have a partner... especially someone that you live with.

I'm trying to keep my body from hitting a "wall" while I lose weight, so I've been changing things up pretty regularly. My reason for steady weight-loss? 1. Kathleen's wedding, 2. Summer is around the corner and 3. I'm going on a short vaca at an indoor water park in the Dells next weekend. Plus, I feel better from the inside out when I'm eating right, exercising, and drinking lots of water!

So what's my plan right now? This week I am NOT eating bread, rice, pasta, or potatoes. Instead, I'm eating chicken breast, fish, lots of veggies, and citrus fruits. I'm also cutting back on coffee and drinking lots of green tea in its place.

On top of my healthy eating I am also exercising more frequently. I don't have much time during the day, so I usually do some stepping on my Wii Fit while I watch TV and/or my basic Pilate's DVD.

My body is rapidly shaping up and I'm already getting my slender figure back! Dan is working on his six-pack and its certainly starting to come through!

If you really know me, then you know that I have a serious sweet tooth! So how am I surviving this lifestyle change? Easy! One day a week I can eat whatever I want... however much I want! I call it My Splurge Day. Usually it is on Saturday. Having a splurge day is important because it shocks your system. If your body gets used to you eating nothing but "diet" food, then it'll adjust to that lifestyle... but if you give your body a good shock and eat some junk food (or in my case, a lot of junk food), then your body will reset to accommodate the sudden change.

I'll admit, sometimes I can over do it when it comes to splurging... but I still manage to drop weight each and every week. Plus, if you cut back on your junk food that Oreo cookie will taste so much better when you haven't had one in a long time! I know it does to me.

World Vision's 30 Hour Famine

Saturday, February 27th to Sunday, February 28th, 2010, Dan and I helped with the 30 Hour Famine at our church. Both the junior and senior high participated in this special event. From 8:00 a.m. on Saturday to 2:00 p.m. on Sunday we went without food and without caffeine!

To get the day going we went over to MorningStar Mission to sort food for a couple of hours. I thought that I would be hungry working with food but it wasn't too bad. We had a nice juice break once we got back to church.

The students played some really fun Tribe games and had some great discussions. Oh... and of course there were the hyped up games of spoons! Dan didn't lose a single game!

Will [the youth pastor] ended up getting sick, so Dan and I were left to run the show. Everything went well and I actually got some sleep! The students weren't hard to wake up in the morning and they got the church all clean before others started arriving.

In between running A/V, Dan and I also taught Sunday School for the youth and got them ready for their Missions Moment presentation during the worship service. I studied the final two Tribe games while I ran A/V and had everything ready to go, on time!

I had to work at 2:00 p.m. so I had a quick bite to eat before I left the church... it was amazing! I was really ready to eat too. I had developed a bad headache and tried to drink lots and lots of water to make up for not eating. It helped, but once I ate I felt a lot better.

Work was very busy, so time went by fast! I was grateful.

It was a long and busy weekend, but it was a good one!

Free Date Night

As Dan and I prepare for his return to school in the fall, we have been careful about what we spend our money on. We also know that this summer is going to be busy with weddings, parties, and maybe even a little traveling, so we are trying to save our pennies now... while we still can.

Friday is typically our "Date Night" and this past Friday we were able to have a fun, full weekend without breaking the bank!

Thanks to my parents and their Valentine's Day gift, we used a gift card to Applebee's to have a nice dinner. Applebee's 2 for $20 deal made for the perfect meal. Afterwords, we went to Walmart to rent some Redbox movies. Thanks to the application on Dan's new phone (the Droid) we got coupon codes that made all of our movies free!

Want to get some FREE Redbox movies? Try these codes:

DVDONME
THEBREAKROOM

They're only good once, per account and over time they no longer work... so act fast!

I'm always on the hunt for a good coupon or special discount. If I come across any other date-friendly deals I will be sure to pass them along. Every couple needs a night out once in a while - if not, every week!

A/V Booth Construction

On Monday, February 15, 2010, Gordon and Floyd started construction on our brand new, custom-made Audio/Visual Booth! I couldn't be more excited! This booth will house our A/V equipment in a more safe, secure, and organized fashion.They are scheduled to have the outside done by tomorrow (Friday). We'll be up and running on the inside as we temporarily set up shop on tables as we wait for our upcoming counter and cabinets

Below are some photos that I've taken during construction.

As I type, the construction continues! I am anxious to get everything up and running in there. This booth is going to be extremely helpful.

A special thank you goes out to Gordon and Floyd for taking the time to build this fabulous booth... and to my parents for donating a significant amount of funds to this special project! May God continue to bless the ministries of Parker Road!

Earthquake!

At 4:00 a.m. this morning I woke up to the startling sound of our bedroom door rattling rather loudly. Instantly I started to pat Dan on his back to wake him up. Finally, he did.

"What?" he moaned, in a weak and tired voice.

"The door!" I exclaimed. "It's rattling!"

"It's probably just the wind," he replied.

"No, it's too loud."

At last, once Dan got a good listen at the loud noise he got up and checked the door. By then it had stopped rattling. He went out into the living room and looked around. He peeked outside and saw nothing that would explain our bedroom door's strange behavior.

Dan got back into bed and assured me that it was probably just the wind. He then fell back to sleep. I laid there for a little while longer... a bit creeped out by what had happened. I didn't believe that it was the wind but I had no other exclamiation at the time.

At 6:00 a.m. Dan got up to go to the gym and then on to work.

Just after 7:00 a.m. Dan called me and woke me up. He heard on the radio that there was an earthquake at 4:00 a.m. I was surprised by the news, but at the same time I was pleased to learn that the door's rattling wasn't just the wind - just as I had thought.

I've slept through a couple of minor earthquakes before. This was the first time I was awake for one. Truthfully, I don't remember actually feeling the earthquake... I just remember the loud rattling. We live on the third floor of our apartment, so I wonder what it was like on the first floor.

It has been reported to be a 3.8-magnitude quake and it was felt from Wisconsin to Tennessee. Thankfully, there are no reports of serious damage or injuries.