"Only a Plane Ride Away"

I have been blessed beyond words to have met all of my wonderful friends at Hannibal-LaGrange College. If it weren't for that decision to go to school in Hannibal, I never would have these beautiful girls in my life. I never would've met my fiance or the rest of my dear friends from there. The 10 of us pictured below all spent part of our college days all living in the same dorm, Memorial. Most of us even lived on the same hall for the majority of our Junior and Senior years. I can't believe all of the memories we've shared since those first days of meeting each other. Somehow, by the grace of God, we have managed to remain close. Although it's not an easy feat to get us ALL together at the same time (this is the first time in years), we all made the commitment to be together for Erin as she leaves the Midwest for a new adventure out in Arizona. I really hope all 10 of you girls will also be at my wedding next May! Kari and Kylanne are both IN my wedding and I couldn't be more happy!

Pictured, left to right: Ky, Me, Kari, Amanda, Breah, Erin, Megan, Ashley, Meghan, Licie.

Erin, I'm so excited for you to start your life in Arizona! I know you'll be so happy there and make great new friends. Hopefully I will be able to see you before our wedding, but if not, you know we will for sure keep in touch like we always have :) Love you!!

"It's good to know that the ones you love will always be in your heart. And if you're very lucky, only a plane ride away." ~Sex and the City~

13 days!!!

Oh my goodness.... less than two weeks until my honey is home!

We're really cookin'!

The kitchen is all coming together! I couldn't be more thrilled....

This is the before picture:

Champion Flooring came and sanded, stained, and poly-urethaned the floor; they were professional, fast, and courteous to the customer (me). A far stretch from the joke they call Stanley Steemer.The finished product... beautiful!!
My uncle Jeff and Marc worked hard and got the cabinets up in only 2 days! They are so beautiful!

Working on the new island

All the cabinets are in!

Only the Good Die Young

"You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd
We ain't too pretty we ain't too proud
We might be laughing a bit too loud
Aw but that never hurt no one."

RIP Timmy... for the past few days I've cried tears for you, your family, and your fellow JH Concrete employees - who are your second family. I'm sure you made St. Peter smile with your "What's up doggg!" at the pearly gates. You will be missed!

I always have such morbid thoughts leading up to and after attending a funeral. I start to mentally plan out my own funeral and even think about who all would come in case of my untimely death. I suppose the only thing I would really care about would be giving my family and friends whatever closure they needed. I think today gave our JH boys some closure; they were able to say their goodbyes to their buddy together. Hugs, tears, words of reassurance... this all helps bring everyone together to get through these hard times.

Wicked!

Saturday afternoon, after a morning of working on the kitchen, I went to see Wicked at the Fabulous Fox Theater in downtown St. Louis. I wish I could go back and watch it again right now! Unfortunately this was its last weekend playing at the Fox so I'll have to wait until Jonathan and I make it to Broadway some day ;) Annette, Marc, Sarah and I went to the show after having a fabulous lunch at Triumph Grill (I can't wait to go back!). Sarah was facinated that they had PBR on tap, and I was dying to try everything on the menu, so it looks like we will have to have a Sister-In-Law date sometime soon! The show was amazing - the sets were beautiful and the story was so cool. I've read the book a couple of times but forgot lots of the storyline so it was a great refresher. I can't wait for Jonathan to get back so we can start our lives together in St. Louis. There are just tons of fun things to do around town! This weekend, his two little cousins are having a joint birthday party in St. Louis at the Magic House (I think). Hopefully I'll be able to partake in the festivities!

Only 36 more days...

Jonathan will finally be home after his six month stint in Afghanistan in only 36 days. August 5, I get to pick him up from the airport and his time officially begins back home in St. Louis! He's taking three weeks off of work when he gets back. We had hoped to do a vacation of some sort, but with the kitchen remodel and stuff, it's just a bad time. Although, isn't is always a "bad time" to take a vacation? There are never enough days in the year for a break, or enough money in the bank, etc. I plan on making time/money for a vacation for us asap though. I don't even want to have to wait as long as May, when we will be going on our honeymoon (YAY!). After six months apart, it's only fair to get some alone time away, right? I want to be able to take a picture on top of a mountain like Jonathan and Matt did in Afghanistan (this picture). Although, I think I'd rather be on top of a mountain/volcano in Hawaii. I didn't mean for this to turn into a blog about wanting to go on vacation... I guess I'm just ready to spend some time with my finance... without the stresses of day to day life haha