GO CUBS GO!!!!

I have no reservations about moving to good ol' St. Louis in a few months... well, almost no reservations. No worries about missing my family and friends (it's only an hour and a half away), or of taking care of our own house, or of our relationship when we have to become roommates. The scariest part of moving to St. Louis is knowing that I'm going to be in the complete minority for the first time in my life... that's right... a Cubs fan in Cardinals territory.

Jonathan wouldn't even let me wear my blue Cubbies tank top to our neighborhood meeting last Fall (yes, it turned into a fight... "you can't tell me what to do" is my favorite attitude to have with him sometimes!) While we're on this subject, we were supposed to go to the Cubs/Cards game that day and all I had packed was my favorite summer Cubs gear - and it was HIS fault we didn't go to the game... if my selective memory serves me right ;) Luckily I have spied a big Chicago Cubs flag flying proudly on the porch of one of our neighbors so maybe I should go introduce myself to people who obviously appreciate the finer things in life!

We've got a whole summer ahead of us, so being five games back isn't really too big of a deal... but come on Cubbies, let's do some work!!!! I don't have any tickets yet or even plans for that matter, but Wrigley is already calling my name again. I need to try to get to at least a couple more games because... THIS IS OUR YEAR... we've been waiting a long 102 years for this season... I'm keeping the faith!

Is it Wednesday yet??

I always give 100% at work:
13% Monday
22% Tuesday
26% Wednesday
35% Thursday
4% Friday

This week I only have to give 35% total... because I'm taking off Wed-Fri... Hello six day weekend!! Unfortunately I had to take off for a big reason that I'm not happy about. I have to say goodbye to Jonathan this week. Another 2-3 months without him are looming on the horizon. We are both dreading Saturday; poor Jonathan has two days of travel to get back to his base in Afghanistan.

We had a fabulous weekend together. Friday night we went over to Joe's house to celebrate my beautiful, best friend Alexis' 24th birthday then got up early Saturday morning to go golfing with my dad, his step-dad Marc, and his step-sis Sarah. It was a nice bonding experience for us all and Dad and Marc finally got to meet (they really hit it off). I've never played 18 holes of golf before and decided that I absolutely love the sport and want to get better at it! I even made Jonathan take me to the driving range on Sunday to try and get my swing down. After our golf outing, Jonathan and I made the drive over to Columbia, MO for his little cousin's high school graduation party. The weather was sunny and warm and it was a perfect day for dinner at the park. Daniel and Wendy even brought a washers set so we stayed entertained for hours visiting with family and playing games. It was a long day with a lot of driving after we finally made it back to St. Louis at 10:30PM. Sunday morning I got up and made Jonathan his favorite breakfast and after a little fight about how I'm not "careful" while I cook (he freaks out when I spill stuff), we had another fabulous day with beautiful weather to enjoy!

353 days left...

Wedding planning isn't too stressful when you start 15 months ahead of the big day - May 7, 2011. In the first month I got our church booked (Blessed Sacrament) and our reception hall booked (The Oakley Lindsay Center). I made it my goal to have the colors and theme decided by May, and I think I have! Black and white will be the main theme with hints of greens thrown in throughout. This bouquet is almost exactly what I'm thinking for myself and a smaller version for my bridesmaids; the only thing I'll change is a little less of the green roses and more white roses. The girls will wear black, cocktail type dresses and the guys will wear traditional black suits. Classy, right?? I think the kegs of Bud Light and our crazy wedding party will help show how maybe UNclassy we really are, and I like it that way.

Trying to play catch-up

For the first time in five days I am not worried about the next thing to do on the list. Unfortunately I am back at work this week, but it's good to be back in the mix. I took off work for three days last week and I feel totally out of the loop. We have been busy since the moment Jonathan got home. How wonderful to have my future hubby by my side for a few weeks!

Jonathan's flights were delayed/cancelled all day on Wednesday, so instead of getting in at 9:45am, he didn't get to STL until 6:45pm. It was a drag to wait around for him all day, but praise the Lord he still got home on Wednesday and didn't get stuck out of the country for an extra day or two. When I first laid eyes on him at the airport I was shocked; my fiance has changed a lot in three short months! Twenty pounds lighter with a big burly beard (maybe he was trying to fit in with his Afghany associates?), he looked different, but once his arms wrapped around me in that airport I couldn't help but cry tears of joy to have my boy back!

His mom, grandma, aunt, and uncle came to visit the next day for lunch. We showed his aunt and uncle the house (they live in NY and had never seen it before), went to a yummy lunch at Olive Garden, and then stopped by the flower/produce stand to check out what they had out! They all headed back to Hannibal and Jonathan and I just hung out at the house for the rest of the day. Friday I finally got to show Jonathan the kitchen design I've been working on for the past couple of months at Lowe's. We ordered our new kitchen and will begin demolition and installation in about a month! Scary and exciting for sure. I was so thrilled that Jonathan loved the colors and layout as much as I did. Can't wait to see the finished product! Saturday we came back to Hannibal and hung out with his dad and Barbara. We went to Barbara's nephew's graduation party at Spirit Knob Winery in Ursa, IL. He played in his band, Highway 99, and we drank some wine and did a little dancing. It was so much fun! Yesterday (Sunday) we went to Gran Rio for lunch with his mom, Marc, and Sarah. Then we all went to see Iron Man 2 at the movie theater. It was really good!

Obviously I was more concerned with Jonathan getting to spend time with HIS family on his leave, but I have been most excited about him finally getting to meet his new baby niece Mia for the first time! It was the first time I had ever seen Jonathan hold a baby and let me just say, it was precious. She smiled at him so big and just melted his heart. I can't wait to have babies of our own! I just can't get over her funny expressions... it's hard to believe she's only three months old! What a doll. We ate some dinner and hung out with my dad, Kim, Jason, Courtney, Mia, Grandma, and Grandpa until about 9:00 last night! We were exhausted from another FULL day and couldn't wait to get to sleep. It's been a whirlwind since he's gotten home! For the first time since he got back, he's not with me (I'm at work) and that makes me super sad. He's in Hannibal hanging out with his dad while I'm at the office missing him. Too bad it's not "Bring Your Fiance To Work Day." 5:00 cannot come soon enough today!!

T-minus 2 Days!!

WEDNESDAY MORNING I'M PICKING JONATHAN

UP FROM THE ST. LOUIS AIRPORT!!!!

I wish he didn't have to go back on the 29th, but we will definitely make the most out of his time here. He's my other half and I haven't felt whole since he left! Can't wait to greet him at the airport with a big HUG AND KISS!

Mother's Day

It's easy to think about how much I love and respect my mom but sometimes I do forget a little bit and let life get in the way of my family relationships. Yesterday, Mother's Day, I was on the road for a couple hours and so had lots of time to think about how blessed I truly am.

First of all, my mom is an amazing person. When my dad was still trying to grow up, she had to be our family's rock. She had to make sure there was food on the table. She had to make sure my sister and I were taken care of. She had to make the important decisions for our family's future. Although I may never have understood it at the time, I am eternally grateful to her for stepping up and being the mom she had to be. Nobody's perfect, but she has always tried to do right by us girls.

(on our trip to Surfside Beach, TX - Summer '07)

14 years ago, my dad married Kim. She was already a great mother to my stepbrother, Jason, and immediately loved Kellie and I like we were her own. Over the years we have definitely had some ups and downs, but one thing I can always count on is that she will always be in my corner. When Dad tries to pressure me into anything, she is right there to back me up. When we talk about Jonathan, she says how excited she is for us to start our lives together. She even said she will come to our house in St. Louis to help us out with our future kids! She is without a doubt, my second Mom. I can only hope that Kellie will come around someday to see how great it is to have so much family in your life. Maybe when she becomes a mother herself (September) she will see the importance of having all the help you can get!

When it comes to my grandmothers, I could go on and on and on, but I'll try to be brief. Grandma Betty was a saint (seriously), Nanny has such a funny sense of humor and I think she really let me be me when I was little, Grammy embraces my quirks and makes me laugh all the time, Granny was an amazing woman who I will NEVER forget, Grandma Calvert adored all her children/grandchildren/great-grandchildren so much - I truly think it's who she lived for, Ada - I miss you all the time and am so thankful for all the memories we have together, you have really helped make me into the woman I am today, and Grandma Proske - you have embraced Kellie and I as your own grandchildren and I love you so much for that!

When I get married next year, I'll officially have two MORE moms! Annette and Barbara have been so sweet to me since the first day they met me and I couldn't ever ask for better Mother-In-Laws.

I hope that all my family and friends out there who have children had a fantastic Mother's Day!! If you have a mother or grandmother or just a special woman in your life, I hope you take the time to thank God for them everyday!

Gifts from South-Central Asia

Jonathan found this really cool painting at the Bazaar today. He said it's about 6' long and 18" high. It's hand painted on a woman's burqa and very fragile, so when he gets back on Wednesday then he's going to give it to me to have framed. I think it would be really cool to hang over our stairs or maybe to put above the guest bed. Can't wait to see what other treasures he brings home from Afghanistan!

TGIF!!

The jewelry party was a success! Andrea booked three more parties for the summer so it looks like I'll be buying a lot more jewelry in the next few months. I'm so excited to see all the free stuff I got from hosting the party last night.
Barb and I, once again, stayed up way too late on a weeknight, so I am very tired and ready for the weekend to officially start. I play volleyball at 6:00 tonight and then I'm hitting the road, heading to our house in St. Peters! The lawn definitely will need mowed tomorrow... I think I'm going to try to hire that out though. I wish my mom lived here to help me with all the yard stuff, I want to get all the flowers and plants in order around the house. The people who lived there before us did a great job with the greenery all over, but there just aren't any flowers, and I LOVE flowers! My goals for tomorrow include getting the yard mowed and weed-eated, getting all the weeds out from around the house, cleaning the living room blinds, and doing all of the floors in the house. We will see what actually gets done haha! OH and I also want to do some wedding planning... because in exactly one year from today we are getting married!!!! So exciting!


Side note:
I'm probably not supposed to put this on the internet, but I think an official "Skin Head" just put in a job application. He had a bald head with strange symbols tattooed on the back of it, a blonde goatee, blue contacts in (they were definitely contacts), and when he spoke he sounded high as a kite. Normally I try not to judge a book by its cover but in this case I couldn't help it. Maybe next time he applies for a job somewhere he should put on a real shirt (instead of one with the sleeves ripped out all the way) and not say such weird things. He got lost trying to leave and I had to point him to his girlfriend's car. So strange. Oh well, TGIF!!!

Lia Sophia Party!

Tomorrow I'm hosting a Lia Sophia jewelry party, with my cousin Andrea as our advisor. Hopefully more than three people will come; since I live in such a tiny apartment, I'm borrowing my cousin Justin's house for the party. I don't know what I'm more excited about, the jewelry or the snacks and wine! Check out the jewelry Andrea is selling at http://www.liasophia.com/ and let me know if you find anything you want to order!

I did my appetizer grocery shopping last night and bought some delicious Brie that I'm going to spread onto Melba Toast, topped with thinly sliced apples and pears... YUMMY! Also, I got the stuff to make my low-cal baked jalapeno poppers. I've never made them before but they sound heavenly! We're also stocked up on wine for tomorrow night - White Zin, Reisling, and Lambrusco.

If Friends Were Flowers, I'd Pick You

It always makes me laugh when people ask how the five of us girls came to be so close in the past year, because it's such a random way to find a great group of girls. Let's see... I started playing sand volleyball with Lauren four years ago. Alexis and I went to college together at HLG and became instant best friends. Alexis and Barb work together everyday in the same accounting department. LeeAnn used to date Alexis' roommate from last year who happens to also be one of my very best friends. PHEW! That's a lot to explain but it's so funny how life brings you to these places with such great people. Just last night we all got to get together to help Lauren celebrate her 23rd Birthday, and then Barb and I stayed up into the wee-hours of the night just talking and gossiping on the back stoop! Gotta love those heart-to-hearts. Did I mention all of us (except for Barb who lives right down the block) live in the same building?? It's like we're in college again! Well, I just wanted to give a shout out to my Quincy girls who have helped keep me super busy while Jonathan has been gone! Can't wait to see what kind of trouble we can get into this summer :)

From left to right... Alexis, Barb, Lauren, Meghan, LeeAnn

Wrigley Field 4-17-10

First Official Post!

The past year has been a whirlwind, with emotions ranging from despair to utter happiness. Right now I'm in a beautiful place in my life and am looking forward to a bright future with the love of my life, my family, and my best friends. While trying to enjoy my last summer in Quincy, IL, I'm anxiously awaiting the return of my fiance. Jonathan is working very long days in Afghanistan for another 3-4 months. He bought a house last August in St. Peters, MO and I couldn't be more excited to move in and really make it OUR home. The wedding will be May 7, 2011 and then I will be a full time city girl... if you can really count living in the suburbs of St. Louis as the "city." I'm not really sure what the theme of this blog will be except to chronicle my story as we embark on this adventure called life, plus any other tidbits I find on the way! Even though my mom's probably the only one who will ever read it...