One-Year Anniversary Spent at a Wedding

On Saturday, June 26th Dan and I celebrated our first anniversary! Wow! Where has the time gone? Has it really been a year? Time sure flies when you're having fun! Really though, it has been an amazing year and I was kinda sad to see the "first year" to be over so quickly. Of course I know that with each year that passes we'll share more special "firsts" and make even more special memories along the way!

Saturday morning we were surprised to find a lovely package waiting for us at our apartment! Turns out it was a super awesome package of chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate covered chocolate chip cookies from Melanie and the rest of the Troyer family! Yikes, that's a lot of chocolate... yep, I think I can handle it. Truth be told, I am a difficult person to surprise, but Melanie managed to surprise both of us! What an amazing treat for your one-year anniversary... and yes, Melanie, everything was delicious!

Later that day we drove up to Harvard for our friend, Rose's wedding. It was a lovely outdoor wedding and they were blessed with plenty of sunshine and a soft summer breeze. The ceremony was sweet and simple. The reception had a lot of delicious food... and of course, since it was Rose's wedding, there was dancing! It got pretty hot, but no one seemed to really mind. There were still lots of guests out on the dance floor bustin' some moves!

Cutting the cake got a little messy for the bride and groom. Rose seemed to get most of the cake on her face, but of course the groom took his time carefully cleaning up the frosting off his wife's face.

Rose and I met at Phantom Ranch and grew up attending camp together as campers. While working on staff we grew really close. So it's pretty cool that we now share the same anniversary... only one year apart!

Of course, no meeting would be complete for Dan and Erik if it didn't conclude with a couple of rounds of "The Rock Game". If you can't tell by the title or by what's going on in the photo... ask Dan. He can explain this crazy game! I've got to admit though, they're pretty silly to watch. Kinda entertaining.

Yes, Dan and I did go out to celebrate our wedding anniversary... but I will post that one at a later date. Stay tuned!

Kathleen & Brad's Shower in Moorhead, MN

On Friday, June 18th Dan and I got up early to begin our long drive to Moorhead, Minnesota. I started out as our driver. Apparently we left at just the right time, because we made it to the Saint Paul/Minneapolis area [to pick up Kathleen] with no traffic issues. My parents on the other hand... well, they left a bit later then us and did not have the best luck. They hit quite a bit of random traffic along the way, including delay from an accident. I told them, just be grateful that the accident wasn't because of me and Dan.

Kathleen, Dan, and I grabbed some lunch and hit up an outlet mall while we waited... and waited... and waited for my parents to catch up. Once they did catch up we took some time to let my parents stretch their legs, but then it was back into our cars for another 3 hours! Dan took the wheel from there.

When we finally made it to Brad's house, his family had dinner all ready for us! It was amazing! Oh, and their new home is gorgeous! I'm talking, "Bus driver, move that bus" gorgeous! Seriously, I know who I'm calling when I need help designing a home. Brad's dad did a beautiful job creating such a lovely home.

Saturday, June 19th Kathleen and I took our parents out for breakfast in honor of Father's Day. It was nice to spend time together, just the 4 of us. The boys were out golfing, so they didn't mind missing breakfast.

Later that afternoon we had a second shower for Kathleen, hosted by some family friends - and soon to be real family for Kathleen. Laneil and Jenna (mother and daughter) put together a lovely shower for Kathleen at their home. The shower was sweet and personal... the food was delicious... and the weather was amazing!

One of our hosts, Jenna (who is also Kathleen's former college roommate and former Moorhead roommate and is also Brad's second cousin), read from the book of Psalm. To count down their wedding, Kathleen and Brad have been reading a Psalm each day, starting with book 150. So that day Jenna read Psalm 42.

The mother of the groom, Esther, shared a lovely devotional with the group. She shared some warm and witty words with Kathleen and her guests. Kathleen is very lucky to have such a fun-loving soon-to-be mother-in-law.

After the devotional was complete, we placed our hands on Kathleen as both mothers led us in prayer over Kathleen and Brad's upcoming marriage. It was a very special time.

You can't tell from the photos, but Kathleen had hardly any voice all weekend. Thankfully it didn't hurt her when she attempted to talk, or whisper. When it was time to open presents Brad arrived and was able to do some of the talking on her behalf. What a guy!

In the end, it was a wonderful day! Kathleen and Brad were blessed with so many wonderful gifts to help them start their lives together.

Since Brad was there, we used him to take a group photo of all of us. I did notice that there is one girl missing (oops!), but it is still a nice way to show who made it to the shower to show their support for the happy couple.

Here is also a nice photo of Kathleen and I with our mom... and no, Kathleen and I did not coordinate our outfits. Ha ha!

While Kathleen and Brad were looking so nice, I took the opportunity to take their photo so that Brad's mom could use it for their engagement announcement. They're so cute together!

Later that evening, a bunch of us went to downtown Fargo, North Dakota to hang out. It was a blast and a nice opportunity to get to know some of Kathleen's friends better as well as Brad's brother, Brent. Below is a portion of our group from that night.

Sunday, June 20th Dan and I left Moorhead in the morning so that we could stop and visit with his sister, Stefanie, and her husband, Thomas. We got to their place just in time for lunch. We ate out at Granite City and then did a little bit of shopping. We left Minnesota around 6:00 p.m. and started our drive home. I drove home since Dan had work in the morning.

Well, Moorhead may be quite the hike, but it was worth the drive! Hopefully Dan and I will be making some trips back up north in the not-so-distant future. It'll be hard with Dan going to school full-time, but it'll be worth it if we can find the time.

Michigan Double Date

Friday, May 28th Dan and I went to Michigan with our friends, Jason and Rachel, for a mini vacation. The drive was only about 3 hours, so it was an easy trip.

After we checked into our hotel, the four of us drove to Holland. There we went shopping and had lunch. There was a darling chocolate and ice cream shop close by called Kilwin's, so of course we saved room for dessert.

Later that evening we went for a walk on the beach just before sunset. It was a gorgeous evening. It was cool, but not cold. Rachel had the unfortunate luck of stepping on a bee, which stung her foot. Dan was kind enough to help her get the stinger out. Once Rachel recovered from her little sting, we walked on the sand and on a nearby pier.

Before the sun set, Rachel and I made a stop for some coffee. We found a cute coffee shop and decided to give it a try. Oh boy, were we in for a delicious treat! I can't remember what all was in the coffee, but I know that it was something like mocha and white chocolate. Then, it was topped off with homemade whipped cream and white chocolate and we were given spoons that were dipped in white chocolate! Worth every calorie!

With our amazing coffee in hand, we found a lovely spot to watch the sun set. There were a lot of locals in the area who came out to sit and watch the sun go down. One was kind enough to take our photo.

Seriously, we couldn't have asked for a better first day for our trip. Well, maybe minus the bee sting. Sorry Rachel.

Saturday, May 29th we went checked out some local wineries. We tasted a few wines and came home with a few of our favorites. One of my favorite stops wasn't for wine... it was for fancy chocolate at Tabor Hill! These candies were very pricey, so we each only got one. Oh man, they were worth it! My chocolate was called "cupcake batter" and boy did it taste like it! It was kind of like Cold Stone, but with chocolate.
That evening we had dinner at Schu's in St. Joseph. After dinner we walked down to a different beach to watch the sun set. Once again, it was a great way to end the day!

Sunday, May 30th we packed up and started our drive home. On our way home we stopped at the Warren Dunes. The crowd wasn't too bad. We had no trouble finding a nice spot on the beach to lay our things. The water was cold, but we manged to get used to it and play some catch with a squishy frisbee.

Our mini getaway was another great way to get our summer off to a fabulous start!

Colorado Trip

This post (as well as other upcoming posts) are way overdue, I know. Well, I finally have some spare time, so I am going to attempt to start sharing some posts.

On Saturday, May 22nd Dan and I got up at 4:00 a.m. and flew to Denver, Colorado to spend a couple of days with Dan's best friend, Myk, and Myk's girlfriend, Kristy.

As soon as we arrived in Denver we got into Kristy's CRV and drove up to Steamboat, Colorado. There we attempted to go rafting and hiking. Our timing wasn't the best. We soon found out that most of the major attractions were due to open up next weekend [Memorial Day Weekend]. No matter, we still did some shopping.

While we were shopping we got word from a local who suggested a sweet, little baby hike that was nearby called Fish Creek Falls. It was a 1/4 of a mile hike to a beautiful waterfall. Sadly, this was the most hiking that we got in during our trip, but I was pleased with the waterfall. There was even some snow on the ground! Even though it was quite warm, Myk and Dan still managed to have a mini snowball fight! They were so funny.

After our hike we had did at an Italian restaurant. The atmosphere wasn't all that great but the food was delicious! Everybody got something different... and everything was amazing.

Later that evening, just before it got dark, we went up to the Strawberry Park Hot Springs. Wow, let me tell you... it was one of the most amazing and relaxing experiences of my life! We went from spring to spring until we managed to snag a sweet little spring that was big enough to fit the four of us! We sat together in the hot spring for a couple of hours, not doing much of anything... except taking pictures, chatting, and laughing. Soon it was dark and our only source of light was the moon. Too bad it was cloudy, it would have been nice to see some stars.

Sunday, May 23rd we drove back to Myk and Kristy's home. That evening we went over to Myk's parents' home and had dinner with them. That evening we also played Cranium. The game was new to me, but I had a blast! We played guys vs. girls... and sadly, the guys won. Oh well, it was a close game and I had a great time playing. The game has made it on to my shopping list. One of these days I'll have to pick it up.

Monday, May 24th Myk took Dan and I to the Denver Zoo. Myk managed to score us some free passes, so of course we didn't hesitate to go. It has been about 4 years since I have been to a zoo, so I was happy to go! We had a blast on this busy zoo day. I had a feeling we'd run into some school field trips... and sure enough, we did! The kids didn't get in our way too much, but they did seem to run into Myk a lot. Myk says its because he is so tall... they just don't see him.

Monday evening we had a BBQ at Myk's place. There was more then enough food for us and all of Myk's roommates. Myk was so anxious to grill, I think he went a little overboard with the food, ha ha.

Later that night Myk drove Dan and I out to Mary and Dan's house for dessert. Mary and I grew up together at church and since she got married and moved out to Colorado we don't see each other all that often. Anyway, we had a nice time over at Mary's house. We got the grand tour of their home and I got to play with her daughter, Emily, and read to her before she went to bed. Once Emily was all tucked in Mary broke out the Baker's Square Key Lime pie! It was wonderful!

After our visit with Mary, Dan, and Emily, we went back to Myk's house for a bon fire. We had all the s'more fixings and I taught everyone how to make banana boats (so good!). It was another fun, relaxing evening. One of the funniest moments was when Myk's dog rolled in some melted marshmallow!

Tuesday, May 25th was our last day in Colorado. We drove up to Estes Park where we did some shopping and had lunch. It was rather chilly on that day, but I guess we actually came on a good day because one guy said that the other day a blast of snow came through and all the shoppers ran into stores for shelter. Wild.

We made an attempt to check out some trails in Rocky Mountain National Park, but of course found out that what we wanted to do wasn't open yet. Plus, we'd have to pay, like, $22 to park and we didn't have that much time to spend there, so we left. We ended up finding this super cheap mini golf spot. It was a joke of a place and 4 holes were under construction, so the old man working there charged us $2 per person instead of $3. What a guy! Well, we actually had a great time playing mini golf! Each hole was messed up, but we made the most of the situation and laughed pretty hard the whole time. Dan and Myk both won a free game on the 19th hole... and they got to sign some sort of wall of fame for their win. Our mini golf experience just goes to show that it doesn't matter what you're doing... if you have good company, you can have fun doing just about anything.

Later that evening, Dan and I flew back to Illinois. I already miss the mountains. I hope that we get to go back sometime when there are more trails open... and maybe sometime when we take stay out there for at least a week. There is just so much to do!

Biker Chick

On Sunday, May 16th I went for my first motorcycle ride! Finally!

Dan and I were spending Sunday afternoon with our friends, Jason and Rachel [and their dog, Barney]. Jason has a motorcycle and was nice enough to take me for a ride. I'll admit I was nervous for a moment or two before I hopped on, but then I realized... I've gone skydiving before! This should be easier. That it was!

We went cruising around the neighborhood and then out onto the highway. There was one moment when we went over train tracks and I bounced up off my seat. A wild experience when you don't have a roof over your head.

As time went by I enjoyed the ride more and more. We got going pretty fast when we were in the boonies and no one was really around... but by then I had a need for speed!

The experience was a lot like doubling up on a horse... which I have done several times and love it! Basically, you just have to trust the person in front of you, who is in control. Once you relax and do just that, the experience is a lot of fun.

Jason wants Dan to buy a motorcycle... and after my ride with Jason I feel a little more willing to let that happen. That is... after Dan is done with school ($$$) and after I get a new car ($$$) and after Dan gets a new job ($$$) and after... well, we'll see how it goes. Dan and I are on the same page though, so that's a plus. We both agree that other things must come first before he purchases his own motorcycle.

We've Moved

On Saturday, May 8, 2010, we officially moved. We were blessed with lots of terrific helpers. We had breakfast ready for them when they arrived between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. Dan's mom [Carol] brought down some yummy chocolate Kringle from Wisconsin.

All of our prep work really paid off! With our amazing help, we got moved out of our old place and into our new place in 3 hours! Seriously, it was insane how quick and easy the whole move was. The week of packing and prepping was, by far, the worst part. The move itself was not bad.

Dan's parents were very helpful... after all, they are the most experienced movers that I know. Dan's dad helped organize the truck while his mom knew when to take down each item.

Once we had everything in our new place we treated our friends and family to some pizza and other goodies that my mom brought. It was fun visiting with everyone... and it helped that everyone got chatty with each other, even if it was their first time officially meeting.

After the move we went up to Wisconsin to visit with Dan's parents, sister [Mandy], and her boyfriend [Cale]. Mandy made homemade pizza and even though we already had pizza earlier that day, Mandy's homemade pizza was so delicious!

We spent the evening playing a mystery game on PS3 and chatting. It is always a good time with the Nelsons!

As of today, we are pretty much all settled into our new apartment. It is actually starting to feel more and more like home. I especially love our private entrance! Makes our place feel more like a town home.

Now, below is a preview of our new apartment. This is our living room. We still have to hang photos and curtain, but you get an idea of what our new place looks like.

My Time in Iowa with Dan

So last week (Sunday - Tuesday) I got to go with Dan to Iowa for a couple of days. Not exactly a second honeymoon sort of trip, but definitely worth taking.

Dan had to go to Iowa for work and I was able to arrange my work schedule so that I could join him. It was a decent area with enough stuff to keep me busy while Dan was at work.

I got to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with him each day and I didn't have to cook! What a deal! One of Dan's co-workers, Jeff, joined us for lunch and dinner each day. We had a blast together!

Not sure when Dan will have to go back, but when/if he does, I wouldn't mind tagging along again.