Thoughts on Thursday

I have only two thoughts today....


1. I have been the world's worst blog friend/follower/commenter/e-mail returner EVER these past couple of weeks! I apologize!!! I am hoping to get all caught up on what's going on with you guys today!

2. The BRITNEY concert is in 6 days!!! 6 FRICKIN DAYS!!!!

So, from now until next Wednesday (and most likely beyond) ONLY Brit Brit will be played in my car! SOOOO pumped to spend the night with these two:

Who else is seeing BRITNEY this summer?!?!!?!?!

Everyone head over to my BB's blog: Life, Love & Puppy Prints and link up with Thoughts on Thursday!

Wedding Wednesday: Groom's Dinner

We have a venue all nailed down for our Groom's Dinner and I am SO excited! I went to school at the University of Minnesota and one of the restaurants/bars where I was quite the regular was called Steaknife. The owner, Tony, is Greek and so am I, so we bonded instantly. Tony was always bringing my bottles of wine and treating me like a queen when I would stop in. Once J and I started dating we went to Steaknife often because the food is amazing! When trying to think of places for our Groom's dinner, Steaknife (now named Tony's Diner) stood out above the rest. We took J's dad and step-mom to dinner and to meet Tony and they were sold once they saw how amazingly sweet Tony is.

Tony has shut his restaurant down for a private party only once before and it was for his cousin's christening and he is willing to do it for us! It's going to be so fun and so personal and the food will be AMAZING (and Greek!!!)

Me and my girlfriends singing karaoke at Tony's way back in the day! I'm pretty sure this was my Freshman year!

It's going to be the perfect place for our Groom's Dinner and I can't wait to have our very closest friends and family together the night before we get married!!! SO EXCITED! CANNOT WAIT!

129 days to go!!!

Adventures in Iowa

This past weekend our friends John and Sara (they also happen to be our wedding photographers) were married in Iowa. J and I made the 4 1/2 hour drive and let me tell you, it was an adventure.

We left Saturday morning and were making great time. We only got sorta lost one time, and it only cost us about 10 minutes. We even had time to stop at a place called Hucklberry's in Okoboji to buy a souvenir for J's dad(who collects rocks).


So we roll in to Storm Lake around 2:15pm and we are supposed to be picked up by the shuttle at 3:15 (the venue was about half an hour away from the hotel). So J and I figure we're in great shape, we swing in to a Subway to get a quick bite to eat before getting ready. Worst Subway experience EVER! Apparently they had chopped up onions just before we got there.....everyone's eyes were burning. It was so bad, I seriously felt like I was going blind. To top it off, it took 20 minutes to get our subs...not because there was a line but because the workers were that slow. It was unreal.

We finally roll in to the hotel at 2:50, so we have a good 25 minutes to eat and get ready...which should be fine. I forgot to mention that most of (well, now we know all of) the other wedding guests were staying at different hotel about a mile down the road. The shuttle was to pick them up at 3:15 and then come to get us afterward...but our stop was a last minute addition so we weren't sure if it would be coming or not, which wasn't a big deal because if it didn't we could catch the 4:15 shuttle at the other hotel. Anyways, J and I are scrambling to get ready when a wave of panic rushes over me.................I don't have my make up. I had showered before we left that morning but didn't bother drying my hair or putting on make up....I had my straightener to do my hair but my make up was no where in sight. Shit. With 20 minutes until the shuttle comes I fly out the door and run to Walgreen which, thank the Lord, was right across the street from the hotel. $50 later and I had some new, really crappy make up. Yes, $50 for crappy make up. I can't even tell you how pissed I was, and still am. I get back to the hotel right at 3:15, so I send J down to wait for the shuttle with instructions to call me when it gets there. Of course in my mad rush I didn't pay too close of attention to what I was buying and it turns out I buy foundation that's about three shades too dark for me and the "gray" eyeshadow I bought looks a lot more bright blue when it's on your face. Basically, I looked like a clown.

I meet J down in the parking lot to wait for the shuttle, after about 20 minute we figure it's not coming. We have time to kill and we don't want to have our car at the other hotel so we decide to walk. In the heat. On the side of road. Not the best idea. But, we made it there, a little sweatier than when we left. And we had a few minutes to cool off before the next shuttle came. Thankfully we were on the shuttle with John and Sara's WONDERFUL neighbors (follow Britni's blog: Britni's Beginings) and they were smart enough to bring a cooler and were nice enough to offer us a beer. After a crazy and kind of stressful day everything was behind us once we saw those blue mountains.


By the time we had reached Prairie Peddler everything was behind us. It was absolutely beautiful!




They had this adorable Lemonade stand where guests could serve themselves lemonade and iced tea before the ceremony:


5pm came quickly and it was time for John and Sara to get married!!!



It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ceremony and I'm so glad we got to be a part of it. I cried like a baby, each wedding closer to ours I cry more and more (BB-I'm going to be a hot mess at yours, just warning you).

Sara had thought of every little detail and it was what made this wedding truly amazing!

Home made pies for dessert:


ADORABLE centerpieces (each table was different):


Sweetheart table:


Dance floor!


Some of you may wonder...."what does a wedding photographer do about a wedding photographer for her own wedding? Well, I'll tell you! She invites all her friends and has 9 photographers!

It was incredible. There were giant cameras everywhere. It was like the paparazzi. I can't wait to see Sara's pictures because I know there's going to be a ton of them and they are going to be amazing!

Once the sun went down there was dancing, karaoke and a fireworks show!!!




Quick side story...on the shuttle ride back to the hotels I got to meet a blog follower! It was my first "blog sighting" and I felt sooooo cool! :) I promised this awesome lady (thanks for sharing your beer cup) that I would give her a shout out! So.....HEY HEY, "B Giving!" Thanks for reading the blog and thanks for recognizing me!

We had an absolute blast!
To John and Sara-
Thank you so much for including us in your big day! We had an amazing time! All the hard work you put in to the wedding paid off and everything was truly magical!
CONGRATS! We love you guys!


Sunday on our way home we decided to stop in Jackson, MN where my dad was born and lived until he was 10. I had only ever driven through the little town and since we weren't in a rush to get home we decided to take a little tour of where my dad grew up.


The house he grew up in:


And, I got to go meet my grandpa! My dad's dad Donald, passed away when my dad was 7 years old, so obviously, I never got a chance to meet him. When I found out he was buried in the cemetery in Jackson I really wanted to stop. It took J and I a long time to find his sight, but thanks to some help from my dad and grandma we were able to find him.

(sorry for the white out...gotta protect myself)
It was a very bittersweet moment finding the headstone of my grandpa. Part of me felt so sad that my grandma, dad, aunt and uncle lost him so young and that I never got a chance to meet him. And, it was very strange seeing my last name on a headstone. But, the other part of me felt so happy and proud that I was able to stop and see him and pay respects. I felt so much love for J during that time because he wasn't going to give up and leave until we found my grandpa and because I couldn't imagine losing him. The whole experience was pretty cool and pretty powerful. I'm so glad we stopped.

It was another fabulous weekend in the books!

Congrats....

...to our friends John and Sara, who got married this weekend!!!!!!!!!

CREDIT

All the details on their amazing wedding tomorrow! I hope you all had a great weekend! :)

Fitness Friday

Well, I'm back at it. Last week I was looking at my calendar and counted that there were only 10 weeks until my bachelorette lake weekend (now only 9!) I got super excited and then super stressed because I am no where near where I want to be fitness/food/body-wise with only weeks remaining before all of my wedding festivities begin!

This past week I've done GREAT staying right around my 1,380 daily calorie goal (thank you My Fitness Pal). I haven't been able to get out and run/walk much this week (I blame it on the weather) but I was able to clock 6 miles (thank you Daily Mile). AND, I lost 2.4 pounds WHOOP.

I also created an amazingly delicious lunch for only 250 calories! Obviously, I have to share it with you....this is for you Caroline! :)

I was scrounging through the fridge and saw this collection of random ingredients:

-2 slices Sara Lee 45 Calories and Delightful 100% Whole Wheat Bread
(90 calories total)
-1/4 cup Bertolli Organic Pasta sauce-I had Olive Oil & Garlic
(40 calories)
-1/4 cup Market Pantry Reduced Fat Mexican Cheese-thats what I had, it could be any cheese
(80 calories)
-10 turkey pepperonis
(41 calories)
-Spray Butter (0 calories)
-Pinch of garlic salt

*First I sprayed a piece of tin foil with the spray butter and added the two pieces of bread on top, I then sprayed them with the butter and added a little garlic salt to each piece.

*Then I broiled them for about 2 minutes, until they were just lightly browned

*Next I added the pasta sauce


*Then the pepperonis


*And finally, the cheese


*I put the bread back in the oven and broiled for another minute or so...just long enough for the cheese to melt (watch it closely so it doesn't burn!)

*I topped it off with some Frank's Hot Sauce (cuz I put it on everything) and then enjoyed!

It was SO yummy! It totally filled me up AND 250 calories?! YES!

I'm hoping to use Fridays as my check-in days to keep me on track, I know, I know...I've said that before, but I really do feel pretty motivated this time. And, after only a week I can really feel a change in my appetite. So, wish me luck!

Also, just throwing this out there...I want to find a week this summer to do the dreaded Cabbage Soup Diet (read about it HERE) again and was wondering if any of you would be interested in doing it with me? I thought we could help each other through it and share our experiences on our blogs.....if you'd maybe want to do it, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail and maybe a bunch of us can find a week to shed some pounds! :)

Wedding Wednesday

With only 136 days until the wedding, it's starting to really feel real!

Photo Credit

We have so much done and I feel great about where we're at, but there's always things to be doing when it comes to wedding planning and I am bound and determined to have as little to do the weeks leading up to the wedding as possible. In fact, one of my amazing bridesmaids, Courtney, sent me a super sweet e-mail and part of it said, "Trust me when I say – work ahead so that you have as few things to do the week before as possible. Stuff will come up, but then if all the other to-do’s are done, you’ll have time for the random stuff that pops up." And that's exactly what I'm doing, right now I'm working on the following....

-Flowers! My mom and I met with our florist on Monday and finalized all the flower details (so excited!)

-Gifts! Our Groomsmen gifts arrives (I LOVE THEM!), my BM gifts are 99% complete (just waiting for one more delivery!) We've got our readers and ceremony musicians taken care of, now I am working on finalizing the details for the gifts to our parents.

-Invites! They are completely printed (I had a little snafu) and now I am working on assembling them and getting our return address on all the envelopes. Then, come September all I'll have to do is address and stuff. Easy.

-Showers! I need to get the final guest lists to each of my shower hosts. I also need to start figuring out some outfits for these blessed events. I CANNOT wait for my showers!

-Details! Details! Details! I have a few DYI projects I want to do in the way of reception decor...so I'm hoping to get those starting soon!

-Saving! I am trying to pay for as much as I can as early as I can, I have all of my pre-wedding facials and waxing appointments scheduled and paid for, which feels great!

-Scheduling! I created a tentative Day-Of itinerary and as soon as my lovely photographer, Sara Jayne is done GETTING MARRIED (this weekend, SO excited) we're going to meet and go over it and check out some photo locations. I also want to get a rough schedule started for the day before the wedding, I know I'm a spaz....but all of my wedding nightmares have to do with poor scheduling so I'm pre-scheduling as much as I can!


What were you doing or freaking out about or planning at the 41/2 month mark? Words of wisdom are much appreciated here! :)

MIL's Meat Dip

My soon to be Mother-in-Law makes this amazing meat dip! She was kind enough to share her famous recipe with me and I just had to share it with you lovely people!

Lisa's Meat Dip

Ingredients:
-1 pound ground beef
-2 cans Hormel HOT Chili without Beans
-1 8oz can of tomato sauce
-1/2 tsp garlic power (I use a little more because I am a garlic fanatic)
-1/2 tbsp sugar (more or less to taste)
-1 tbsp cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
-Nacho Cheese Doritos

Directions:
-Brown the ground beef
-In a large pot combine cooked beef with all other ingredients
-Cook over medium heat until hot
-Serve with Doritos

SO EASY and SO YUMMY!

Celebrating Dad's

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and were able to spend some time with your dads yesterday!

I am so blessed to be surrounded by FIVE amazing dads!

My Step-dad, Steve


My soon-to-be dad-in-law (J's stepdad), Deward also known to me as Dilly Bar


My soon-to-be Father-in-Law, Kevin


The love of my life and my puppy daddy, JJ


And of course, my dad, the one of a kind...BIG TOM

I LOVE ALL OF YOU!!!!!!! THANKS FOR BEING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

I always have a really hard time shopping for my dad, but this year I knew exactly what I wanted to get him for Father's Day! I found these super cute cufflinks from The Wedding Outlet....

We had a great day with our dad's yesterday! I hope you did too! Now, on to a new week....

Chirp.

A while back I broke down and joined the Twitter world and absolutely hated it. Then, after a few months I tried it again and am now hooked.

So.......................


http://twitter.com/#!/BusyBeeMN


HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!!!!

Thoughts on Thursday

Play along with BB's Thoughts on Thursday: Life, Love & Puppy Prints

-It's no surprise that I love my fiance, but it's the little things he does that make me crazy about him. This morning I came in to work to find some little surprises! He bought me my favorite Market Pantry sparkling water and left a note in the fridge:

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when he draws me pictures!

Then, I went to put the bakery out in the bakery case and found this:

In case you can't read it, it says,
"Hi Tootie! (his nickname for me) I Love You!!!!! Wanna get married???"

-I am full blown obsessed with LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" video! If you haven't seen it, please watch it....it's unreal. Officially one of my top 5 fave music videos ever!

-I got a new swimsuit for my Bachelorette Lake Weekend coming up in August! To say I'm excited would be a HUGE understatement!


Cute, right?


-I broke up with The Bachelorette.

I couldn't stand Ashley last season and was super bummed when she was chosen as the new Bachelorette, but, because I've never missed a season I gave her a chance. I made it through the first couple of episodes, but this week I just couldn't take it any more. She is SO whiny! And the whole Bentley thing (staged or not) was SOOOOOOOOO stupid! I watched about 15 minutes of Monday's episode then stopped it, erased it and canceled the recording. Just can't deal.


-142 days...no big deal.