Special Addition

When one of my girlfriends found out she was expecting Baby #2, she asked if I would take a few photos for a fun pregnancy announcement. I was honored that she would ask me to do that; of course I took her up on the offer!

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to go visit Mom, Dad, and Big Brother-to-be. They're such an adorable family, and I'm so excited for them to add another member to their family in February!

And Kelly fed me a [delicious] s'mores bar she had made. YUM!! I'll come back and take pictures anytime if that's what it means :) 
*perhaps Kelly will write a guest post about said s'mores bar one day???*

Here's how Big Brother William really feels about the situation.

Thanks to the Hennens for letting me come play for the day.

And a huge Congratulations to you!!

The Great Outdoors 2012

You may remember my camping trip from last summer... or then again you may not. Why would you, after all?


Let me refresh your memory:  
Rachael and I.
Tent.
Campfire.
S'mores.


Rachael and I had such a fun time last year, we decided we should take another camping trip this year. We looked at our calendars in April, and there was one [literally, one] weekend that worked. So we booked that weekend and reserved it in our planners. And three months later, we made it happen.


This year we picked another Iowa lake, but it again was one we had never been to. We went to Lake Aquabi, on the south side of Indianola, Iowa. It was somewhere in the middle and it has a cool name. Why wouldn't we choose it?!


When we both arrived, we had a quick bologna sandwich [the one time of year we're allowed to eat bologna sandwiches with potato chips inside... haha] and then set up camp. We picked the perfect campsite and put up our tent. [Sidenote: they call it pitching a tent. It's way more work than simply 'pitching' it. Just for the record.] Once the hard work was done, it was time to relax. And oh my-- what a great way to relax! The hardest decision we had to make?  Where we would like to sit to read our books. It was glorious!

The rest of the weekend was spent soaking up the sun, reading books, debating the background of our weird neighbors, floating on our neon-colored floaties in the lake, and catching up on life. Even giggling like the third-graders we used to be. It was perfect.  


A few friends came to visit us again this year. The first night our friend Jayne, her hubby Dio, and their little guy Jameson came to visit us-- just like last year! And a friend of Rachael's from Iowa State joined us for dinner the second night. It was great to have some company. Poor Rachael would have gotten tired of me if we hadn't!


A couple months before our trip we had gotten a great online deal for kayak rental, so of course we cashed that in. Rachael was really hesitant, as she had never kayaked before and was a little intimidated. But in being true to her New Year's resolution of trying things she is afraid of, she hopped right in.  It was such a fun and relaxing hour!  

Rachael in her kayak

Me kayaking

There was a hot air balloon that was floating by on two different occasions. So fun!

However, our trip wasn't without trials and tribulations. The first night after our campfire, we sealed up all our food and other goods and headed for bed. About 3am, I heard some rustling from our picnic table. I didn't know if it was our crazy neighbors or animals at first [and of course i'm terrified of the dark], so I just listened. But after a while I looked out and saw a couple raccoons! Ahh! So I woke Rachael up and we assessed the situation with my Dad's trusty lantern (yep, the same one from last year!). By the time we got to the picnic table the raccoons were all gone, but they had done some damage! They stole [literally stole -- not even wrappers left!] a bunch of our food. Little jerks! 

The following  night we learned that we should put all of our food in the car (even if it was sealed), so we did... and then in the morning there were little paw prints all over my car. The stupid little raccoons had smelled the food and climbed all over my car in an attempt to get the food. Ugh! Next year we're doing something different. As my Uncle Larry said-- it's a good thing we weren't in bear country!

What a fantastic second annual camping trip we had. Stay tuned for the third annual installment next summer!

The Dress

With exactly THREE MONTHS until the big day, it was definitely time to get my wedding dress altered.  [Ok, so I had a good month before it needed to be done, but I'm aiming to have everything possible done an entire month early. I don't like stress.]


So with birthday-girl-slash-bridesmaid Kayla by my side, to the alterations department I went. I was really nervous that when I saw my dress again maybe I wouldn't like it, maybe I would feel like a fat cow, maybe it would look yellow or dirty, or maybe it just wasn't the style I liked anymore. I was getting a little anxious about it, but I bucked up and went for it. And with it being 104 degrees outside today, as I was tediously putting on my undergarments, I was sweating like an animal. It was actually kinda gross. [The alterations lady later informed me that that area of the building has no ventilation because it used to be the tire bay of an old Firestone car shop.] After the nice lady snapped up the gazillion hooks, I was ready to go. We got the huge gown out of the nice white fabric bag and voila' -- I LOVED the gown all over again. It was just perfect. 


So we continued with the pinning, turning; pinning and turning. When it came time to take it off, I just didn't want to! I guess that's a good sign :)


Oh, you want a sneak peak? Ok, here you are!

You didn't actually think I was going to show you the real deal, did you??

Mike wanted to know if his "white" tie would match my "ivory" dress. The lighting isn't great in the picture, but I'd say it worked out quite perfectly!

I can't WAIT for October 6th!!

Engagement Photos: A Sneak Peak

As you may have noticed in our Save the Date cards we sent out, my friend Rebekah is a great photographer. So when our wedding photographer was unable to do engagement pictures for us, I asked Becky if she would step in. She was excited to do it, and she had some great ideas. So on a ridiculously sweaty Saturday afternoon, Becky, Mike and I ventured over to Creighton's campus and snapped a few pictures. We tried to get some great shots, but between us dripping sweat, Mike being less-than-excited about the whole venture, and me being an idiot, I wasn't really sure how they would turn out. But alas, Becky sent me a little taste of what she had captured for us, and I couldn't be happier with the results. So I thought I'd share:  compliments of Rebekah photography, here are some engagement photos of Mike and I!

Thanks a million to Becky for being gracious enough to share your talents and spend a few Saturday afternoon hours with us!

To see more of Becky's amazing work, visit http://rebekahh.com/

Mid-week Visitor

My longest-time friend is a saint. She's put up with me for the better part of my life. We've been best friends since the third grade, to be exact. Almost twenty years. And they haven't really been the prettiest twenty years, either. She has supported me through a lot of things, and that doesn't seem to be diminishing any time soon.


But this week it was time for Rachael to support her mom. Shirley, the sweet thing that she is, had her knee replaced this week. It was her second knee replacement this month. CRAZY! If you've ever witnessed someone's recovery from a joint replacement, you know how miserable it can be. But she was [and continues to be] a trooper through it all.


The knee replacement took place at [conveniently] Bergan here in Omaha! So Rachael took a few days off work to come stay with me and help her mom through her knee replacement recovery. Rachael and I try to spend time together every few months, but as two girls with our own lives and jobs in different cities [states, really], that isn't always easy. So it was great to have a few days with Rach. I had to work all three days she was here, but we made the most of our time. We went out for dinner and stayed up til midnight [thank goodness for 6am coffee!], talked wedding-wedding-wedding, had late-night and early-morning girl chat, and planned our annual camping trip we're taking. It was a great three days! Looking forward to that camping trip!

Thanks to Rach for coming to visit,
Thanks to Shirley for having that knee replaced in Omaha :)
And a painless and quick recovery to you, Shirley!

Jakob is ONE!

This weekend was a very quick one, but an especially enjoyable one. I hadn't seen my good friend Sasha since she moved to Kansas City for her hubby's residency. We'd been planning the trip for a few weeks, and I was so excited when it was finally time. The extra-special part? It was Jakob's first birthday!

The 3-hour drive was pretty awful. It was raining nearly the entire time, and I even had to turn my windshield wipers on turbo speed for a good half-hour. I don't so much enjoy driving in the rain when I can't really see very well where I'm going. But alas, I made it there safely.

Once I arrived, Sasha gave me a tour of their beautiful new home. Jakob was taking a nap, so we snuck out for a mani/pedi just like old times -- we hadn't done that for a long time.
(Put down your phone. No need to call CPS. We didn't leave Jakob home alone. Sasha's mother-in-law was in town for the birthday celebrations, so she graciously offered to watch Jakob while we had a little girl time.)

After a much needed day of catching up, we celebrated Jakob's first birthday. I still can't believe it's been a hear since he joined this world! 

Jakob looks a little terrified of our singing.

(don't worry, mama blew out the candle)

Ready to dig in! He had his own personal monkey cake.

His first time having sweets. Not really sure what to think.

He really loved the frosting!

He didn't get as messy as we all thought he would, but he did earn himself a bath!

The Klauks! Love them!

Not really sure what to do with this. He didn't really get the whole unwrapping thing.

Playing with one of his new toys! 

I had a fantastic weekend, and I'm so glad I was able to celebrate the little guy's first birthday. 

So blessed to have such a great friend and a great godson!

Love to you both!

Movie Fail

Omaha is a very cool city. Many people say there isn't a lot to do, but you just have to go find things. Lucky for me, I have a friend who is really good at finding those things. She's always sending me emails of things we can do-- I just love it! [I think I need to take her with me everywhere I go.]

The newest activity? Monday Movies at Midtown. Midtown Crossing is this fantastic new-ish area of Omaha that has shopping, dining, living, a gym, and a really great open grassy space. They have Yoga Rocks the Park there in the summers (which I just LOVE), jazz festivals, and all sorts of other fun things. Now they've added a series of movies that they play on a big inflatable screen. (Sports movies, at that! Field of Dreams, Rudy, Might Ducks, etc.) You just bring your blanket, your snacks, and your friends. And the best part:  it's completely free. Even the parking. What fun!

So the first week Kate and I were all over it. We thought it would be super packed for the debut, so we got there an hour early. Turns out we were the first ones there. Woops, guess everyone else wasn't quite so pumped. But alas, we got in some good quality chatting before the quality people-watching even started. 

When we arrived, there was no screen. As time passed, there was still no screen. The movie was scheduled to start at 8pm. At 7:50-- still no screen. We could tell the organizers were getting a little panicked, but the screen finally arrived at 7:55. However, it takes a good 45 minutes to get an inflatable screen set up. Who knew?

At 8:30 Kate and I were starting to wonder when this movie was actually going to start. The screen was coming right along, but there was no projector to be seen. And it was still quite light out (as you can see in the picture: inflated screen but still very light). Believe it or not, it's really hard to see a projected movie outside when it's still light out.

At 8:45 the movie still hadn't started, and Kate and I decided we couldn't stay up til 11 or 11:30pm-- we'd fall asleep right there in the park. (We're old.) So instead, we were super lame-slash-awkward an packed up our goods and left. Of course we were sitting right up front, so I'm sure people thought we were super lame leaving before it even started, but whatever.

So instead of watching a movie from 9:30 to 11:30 at night, we hit up the Varsity sports bar in Dundee, shared some nachos and drank a delicious Nebraska-brewed beer and went to bed at 10pm. AWESOME.

So the verdict is still out as to when they'll actually start the next movie. We decided if it's any later than 9pm we won't be attending -- EXCEPT for the Might Ducks week. We'll be there.