Weddings and more weddings...

So it's been a month since I've posted... I'm clearly not good at this blogging thing, but I will keep trying!

It has been a busy month... we've gone to 2 weddings, with another one today, Kristin came and visited, and work has been NUTS!

My good friend Jenni got married on September 19 here in KC. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and the reception was a blast. Jenni is part of my "Girls Night" group that gets together once a month, and we had so much fun planning our weddings at the same time (along with 3 of the other girls!). It was so amazing to see all of her hard work come together for one perfect day.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Beck!

Brett and I at the reception

Our Girls Night group.... I LOVE these girls!!

Kristin came in town the following weekend for a quick visit, and she, Elissa, and I had a fun night out on the town, as always. It was apparently so fun, that we forgot to take any pictures :) Love you Krissy!

Last weekend was Kit and Jeff's wedding in Nebraska. All of the weekend events were held at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City. There are no words to describe how beautiful everything was. I was so excited to be a part of this special weekend, because I was with Kit the day she met Jeff! It has been so fun to watch their relationship grow, and to finally see them get married was emotional for me, to say the least (okay, I cried like a baby the entire weekend). The weather was a little chilly, but we toughed it out and everything was absolutely perfect.

The gorgeous outdoor ceremony

Kit was an absolutely stunning bride... I got teary everytime I looked at her!

On the dance floor.... it was a great party!!

Today is Elizabeth and Tim's wedding, which is also sure to be beautiful and a ton of fun! Lots of college friends who I haven't seen in awhile are coming in, and my friend Tully is staying with us, so I guess I'd better start getting cleaned up. Stay tuned for pics of their wedding!

P.S. I also have some new recipes that I'm dying to share- stay tuned for Salsa Chicken and Baked Potato Soup- both CrockPot recipes :)

It's Been Awhile...

Well considering it's been almost a month since I've last posted, clearly this blogging thing isn't going as well as planned. But life has been absolutely crazy these past few weeks... where to start?!?

Brett and I both started back to work on the 13th, had a week of pre-service, then our kiddos started on the 19th for him, and 20th for me. It feels really really good to be back in a routine, and I really love all of my kiddos and missed them over the summer! I'm on a gazillion committees this year, and everyone keeps telling me I really need to start saying no, but it really is all stuff I feel strongly about, and like doing.

I'm also on the Convention Planning Team for the Missouri Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and had a meeting in Columbia for that 2 Saturdays ago. That afternoon, I drove from Columbia to Cedar Rapids, IA to visit Lauren and Johnse and meet Baby Micah, who was born that Monday (August 17). We had a wonderful visit, and I am so in love with Micah. I just held him and snuggled him the whole time I was there, and it was perfect. I am so happy for Lauren and Johnse, and was totally amazed at what wonderful, natural parents they are already (although I was not surprised!)

Last weekend I worked at Ronald McDonald House for the whole weekend (the shift is 5pm Friday- 8pm Sunday, with overnight stays Friday and Saturday). I absolutely love being there, and I really like the work, but it's really hard to dedicate that much time and energy to it right now. By the end of the week, I am just done... my brain is fried, I'm exhausted, and I just need some downtime. So last weekend was really tough for me. After a lot of thought, I decided that I cannot commit to RMH any longer, and I told them last night that I was leaving after my next scheduled shift, which is in a few weeks. It was a really tough decision, but I feel like it's the right thing, for now at least. I still want to be active at the house in some capacity, and I may go back to being a volunteer, which is how I got involved with the house in the first place.

Football is of course in full swing for Brett, and they are off to a great start. They were ranked 5th in the state in preseason polls, and they won their first game 42-6 last Friday. Tomorrow night they play Ray-Pec, which should be an exciting game, and a little more of a challenge for them.

What else... oh, we bought a new TV! We had Brett's old one (which really wasn't that old- he bought it less than 3 years ago) in our living room, but it just looked pretty tiny in this big room. We bought a new 42 inch plasma at Nebraska Furniture Mart, and got a great deal on it. We picked it up on Monday night, and finally got it set up last night. It looks HUGE compared to the old one. We sold the old one to my friend Lara, and got that delivered to her last night as well. I bought a new TV stand too (I really hate the old one), but we haven't gotten that put together yet. We might try to tackle that project tonight, we'll see.

So, the moral of the story is that life is really really hectic. All of this on top of trying to (still) get completely unpacked and settled, cooking, trying to keep the place clean, trying to keep up with laundry... it's hard work living with a boy! Brett is such a huge help, which I'm very thankful for, but with his schedule, he doesn't usually get home until at least 7 on weeknights, we eat dinner, and pretty much are ready to crash.

I'm actually home sick today, which is why I'm having time to blog, but we are so looking forward to the long weekend. It will be nice to just be here for the first weekend in awhile, and we have a long to-do list, but hopefully will get some time to relax as well!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Friday was my birthday, and I have to say, it was pretty perfect. I started the day with a massage in the morning, while Brett and his dad moved the rest of my furniture in (we are using it as our guest bedroom furniture, so it hadn't been a high priority). How great are they?? Brett actually suggested that I schedule my massage while they were moving- he didn't have to tell me twice!! I got home and the guest room was all set up, and it looks great! We're almost ready for overnight guests! Who's coming to visit first?? I had my massage at Sunlight Spa. It was the first time I had been there and it was great- I would highly recommend it!

Brett and I went to the pool for a few hours in the afternoon, then came home and showered and got ready, had a drink at home, and opened presents. Brett got me clothes, which he had never done before- and he did great! He got me some really cute stuff- I was very proud of him!! Kristin sent me a beautiful Calla Lily plant (our first plant in the new place!), and my parents sent me a few books, the new Brad Paisley CD (with our wedding song on it), and some amazing banana walnut cookies.

We walked down to City Tavern around 8 for dinner. They wouldn't take reservations because it was First Friday, so we figured we would have a bit of a wait, which we were fine with. I have to say, overall we were pretty disappointed in our experience. I will preface this by saying that it was very busy, so we tried to give the place the benefit of the doubt. We walked in and the hostess didn't even say anything to us, instead she just stared at us with this annoyed look on her face. Not talking is one of my biggest pet peeves- maybe because I teach it for a living?!? I felt like I needed to say to her, "Use your words!" like I say to my three year olds. Seriously lady, communication is a lot smoother when you talk instead of staring at us and hoping we can read your mind. (Off my soapbox now). Anyway, we put our name in, went to the bar to get a drink. The bartender also seemed a little annoyed, but I tried to let that one slide. We only had to wait about 20 minutes for our table, which wasn't bad. Our waitress was definitely the friendliest City Tavern employee we encountered. She was very nice, but way too busy. At this point, if the food would have been great, it would have made up for the rest of the experience, but it wasn't great. It was good, but not great. I had a steak, and Brett had scallops, and they were both fine, but not anything exceptional. SO... I don't think we will be returning to City Tavern anytime soon. We still had a really great time at dinner, despite the "just okay" restaurant. It was so fun to get dressed up (I wore heels for the first time since our wedding!) and go on a date with my hubby.

Overall, it was a great day to mark the beginning of 27! Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes, gifts, and love. I think it's going to be a great year :)


(Brett and I before dinner... using the self-timer on the camera- not the best picture we've ever taken!)


(the beautiful Calla Lily plant Kristin sent me- thanks Krissy!)

Settling in...

Well, we've made it through week 3 of marriage, and we're both still alive!

Just kidding... every second of it has truly been great. We're just getting settled in, still trying to recover from the amazing honeymoon, and gearing up to go back to work next week (ugh). Brett is off from football this week, so we're trying to get a lot done around the apartment. We (I use the term "we" very loosely- this was 99% Brett's doing) tackled our first DIY project yesterday. A small one, but a DIY nonetheless. I had an old bookshelf that was still in great condition, but didn't so much match anything in our new place. So Brett painted it to match our new furniture, and it looks awesome! He did a great job, and hey, can't beat a $20 painting project as opposed to buying a new $100 bookshelf!
(not too shabby, huh?!)


My favorite part of the new place is by far the kitchen- it's huge and amazing (will post pics soon when it's not such a mess)- and I have been doing a lot of cooking. We also went to the Farmer's Market at River Market on Saturday morning and got some great produce, which was quite fun. We had only been one other time before that- we're hoping to go much more often now that we live so close.

We are definitely loving living in the city- after the Farmer's Market on Saturday we walked to JackStack for some good KC BBQ. It was a gorgeous day and it is so nice to have so many great restaurants within walking distance. We also found a restaurant for my birthday dinner- we're going to try City Tavern on Friday- the menu looks great, and again, walking distance!

Besides trying to get unpacked and settled, we're trying to get caught up on thank you notes, I've been consumed with the never-ending process of getting my name changed, and Brett's been playing some golf. All in all, not a bad end to the summer!

I'm hoping to keep up with this blogging stuff, just to keep our friends in family in the loop. We'll see how it goes!!