As you can see by my lack of posts, May has been nothing short of busy!
My Land Cruiser that my boss gave me to drive got traded in. Mike and I had a minor heart attack phase when we realized we'd have a large car payment coming up. Not two months before the wedding- yuck! Not only that, but we 'splurged' and bought a king size bed b/c I was not sleeping in the queen. If you are unaware, Gracie sleeps with us. She's really not that big...about 45 pounds. And you will usually find her snuggled up in a little ball when she's anywhere else in the house. In bed, she sprawls out and becomes as big as she possibly can. The king was much needed for my sanity and has turned out to be a wonderful idea on our behalf. I can now sleep with Gracie at my feet and still have room to roll over to give us both space : ) And with the wedding a month out, I am actually sleep much better than I did last month! Who would have thought??
Thankfully, Dad decided that since he had wanted a new car for awhile, he'd graciously give us his. His Acura had over 100,000 miles so, he wouldn't get much for it in a trade in anyways. We lucked out- BIG time! Mike flew out on Friday and drove the car back on Saturday. He made the trip in one full day, but was safe and still had energy to unpack the car when he got home at 2 am. Crazy kid. My mom also had several boxes of my "keep stuff." I have notes from every year of middle school through senior year of high school. I have notebook after notebook of college classwork and kept most of my education books (I thought I had all those with me, but I was wrong). Those we fun to go through. I got my baby book and all my childhood things as well. It's great to have them with me now.
It was a stressful situation. Mike and I knew I wouldn't have the L.C. forever, but thought we'd have more notice.
Then, we took a 7 hour road trip with my boss, Lauren, and her 4 kidos. Plus, another three kids from a friend. All the way to Huntington Beach, CA. We rented an 8 bedroom house for a long weekend and had the privilege of watching the Southwest Regional Qualifier for CrossFit. It's hard to explain, but it's an awe inspiring weekend of the most elite athletes in the Southwest. Out of 100+ females and 100+ males only the top 4 got to continue on to the CrossFit Games, which are the Olympics of our world. They strive to be "The Fittest Human Being in The World" with athletes and spectators worldwide attending. This year the winners will receive $25,000 each (one male and one female). We also took the kids to Disneyland and hung by the pool awhile. It was a great trip and all seven kids were great. Can't ask for much more!
Last weekend was a whirl wind. Gracie has been sick from what we think was eating chicken grease off the grill (sick- I know). She was waking us up several times a night with the runs and had a couple of nasty accidents in the house- miserable! I felt so bad for her. She had her tail between her legs and ears back as if she was in huge trouble. I let her know she was a "good girl" and she couldn't help pooing in the house. I just hope she doesn't eat more chicken grease. I had my FINAL dress fitting...eeeeekkkkkk! I love it. Now they will pack it up so I can carry it on the plane with me! Exciting! It seemed so weird. Watching other girls select several dresses to try on for the first time. I felt like that trip for me was just yesterday. But bada-boom bada-bing it's done. We also said our 'good-byes' to a good friend who is going into the Peace Cor in Kenya for two and a half years.
That leads us to this week...Bachelor/Bachelorette Party Weekends! Thank goodness these are happening on the same weekend. I plan on leaving my phone in the hotel and having much needed/deserved girl time : ) I wish all my friends far away were with me...however, I know all you ladies are with me in spirit, which is sometimes just as great!
The weekend after this is the last weekend in May, which brings another heart attack my way clearly! We are celebrating a Belated Mother's Day with Mike's mom and working on reception decor. It should be fun and low key. Oh, and I think we will get my wedding band. It takes a few days, as they create the bands in the store, which is nice! We received Mike's band in the mail a couple weeks ago...it's absolutely beautiful. I love it.
Next up will be printing Menus, Favor Tags, and Programs. Then scheduling hair and makeup appointments for my ladies and I. I am creating t-shirts for Mike and I to wear on Thursday for the Cubs game. I've ordered half the favors and need a better idea of our final head count for the most important favor. I need to go check out the boarding resort for Gracie this week. She's only going to be there three days, but it's KILLING me. On top of all that, I work every day from 1-7 pm and workout every morning for at least an hour. Ugh! There really isn't time...ever...ha ha.
I cannot wait for Chicago, June 12th and every day for two weeks after that. We were golfing with Mike's Uncle last weekend and Mike sat down in the golf cart with me, looked over, and said, "So do you wanna get married or something?" I think it's finally setting in. We are going to be Husband and Wife. We are going to start a family together. We are going to be by each other's side from here on out...for the rest of our lives. So empowering, mind boggling, and content. I love my life.
Cheers until post Bachelorette Party : )
