Some Photos to Share

Thought I'd share a few photos...

This is Chris' brother, Mike, and his wife, Carrie, and their adorable 6-month old, Marshall.

This is Chris and, our friends', Brian and Sharon's, little guy Noah. We watched Noah overnight for them - Noah's first overnight away from Mommy and Daddy. Noah and Chris and I had a great time! We even watched It's a Wonderful Life. Mommy and Daddy were sad without Noah. Chris is a natural!

Christmas, New Year's and the ER

Christmas
Our first Christmas together was wonderful! Christmas Eve we spent visiting friends, relaxing and just hanging out together. We attended the candlelight service at our church and then Chris drove us around to look at lights in Harlan and Shelby. We ended up at our friend, Cherie's, house where we ate and visited and sang carols around the piano and drank eggnog (OK, I just held my glass - I think eggnog is foul!). It was such a nice evening. We headed home and went to bed. On Christmas morning, we got up and opened gifts from each other and ate cinnamon rolls and watched one of Chris' new movies. It was awesome just to be able to relax and spend time with just the two of us.

Later in the day we packed up and drove to Sioux City for dinner and time with my family. My two youngest sisters, Reann and Rheta, plus Reann's fiance' Jon, and Mom and Dad were all there. We had an a great dinner of ham, cheesy potatoes, green beans, and corn. Cherie had given Chris and I the game Scene-It and we had brought it with us to Mom and Dad's. So the bunch of us played Scene-It and then Sequence. It was so much fun. We spent the night and headed out in the morning. On the way home, we stopped in Council Bluffs to do a little shopping and to grab a quick bite. We celebrated our one-month anniversary (Yeah!) with lunch at HuHot Mongolian Grill - YUM!!!! I think we've found another favorite place to eat in the city! We headed home after lunch and spent the rest of the day relaxing and cleaning and just enjoying each other's company.

New Year's
After a few days of work, we took off again, this time heading for Michigan and to spend New Year's with Chris' family and some of our friends up there. We left on Thursday after work and made it all the way to Gary, Indiana before we decided enough was enough and checked into a motel. We forgot all about the time change so we got a little later start than we intended in the morning but still made it to Brighton by mid-afternoon. It was so good to see Chris' parents! We had a late lunch with them and played Scene-It (one of our new favorite games!) a few times with them (girls vs. boys - girls won :)) before heading to Ypsilanti to see Mike and Carrie and Marshall. Chris fixed their computer while Carrie and I hung out with Marshall and he entertained us. He officially turned 6 months old on January 1st and it was fun to see how much more animated he is. He loved the light up bongo drum toy that Chris and I got him - although, honestly, he liked the wrapping paper on everything most of all! :)

On Saturday, Chris and Mike and I ran errands while Grandma Peggy and Grandpa Dave watched Marshall. Carrie was stuck at hospital on call the whole day and night. We got done with errands and started making dinner for that night. Then we started on the games! Mom, Dad, Mike, Chris and I played Carcassonne, a game Mike and Carrie got Mom and Dad. Even though I had no idea what I was doing I ended up winning! Yeah! Then we took on Mike's new game that Chris and I got him - Betrayal at House on the Hill. Another fun game - you have to explore a creepy old house that you lay out room by room. Eventually someone becomes the traitor and then it's everyone against that person. By that time, our friends were starting to arrive so we shelved the games and finished making dinner. Mom and Dad, Mike and Marshall, and Chris and I were joined by our friends Chris Mueller, Brad Bachelor, Murph and Eddy (Edna) Mueller, and Bill and Amy Pemberton and Baby Liam. We had a great dinner - homemade lasagna, cheesy potatoes, green beans, bacon wrapped little smokies, homemade bread - we were all stuffed! Then it was time for some more serious game playing. This time we started with a round of Scene-It - with just Mike, Bill and I versus everyone else. They figure we were big enough movie buffs but alas, we fell to the numbers. Then it was time for Cranium Turbo Edition - we had a great time - except we really dislike the yellow cards! Watch out for them! The guys played another game of Betrayal at House on the Hill while the rest of us visited and played with Baby Liam. We all gathered together to watch the ball drop at midnight and cherish our time together. Our guests headed for home sometime after 2 am and we all headed to bed. On Sunday, we spent more time playing games - we had to get in at least one game of Settlers plus a few rounds of Beer Money (a funny card game Chris' parents got him) and another round of Scene-It. Chris and I got to spend some time playing with Marshall on our own as his parents took a nap and Mike went to meet Carrie to celebrate their anniversary. Mike and Carrie came back in the evening and we all played some more games and entertained Marshall. Mike, Carrie and Marshall stayed over at Mom and Dad's so we all got up and were able to eat breakfast together and spend time relaxing and - you guessed it - playing another game before Chris and I had to leave. We got home around 10:30 on Monday night - and then the real fun began!

...and the ER
So we got home around 10:30 and got stuff ready to go for work the next day. Around 11:00, Chris started getting sick - and proceeded to get sick every 10-15 minutes all night long. At 6:30 the next morning, we headed to the ER in hopes of anti-nausea shot for Chris and eventually sleep for both of us. Chris got his shot but they were alarmed at his white count and thought maybe he had appendicitis. So my poor, incredibly nauseous husband had to drink down a berry smoothie cocktail plus two glasses of foul, lemon flavored barium drinks in order to have a CT scan of his tummy. The CT came back negative for appendicitis but the docs were concerned enough to admit him to the hospital for observation. Who knew the "in sickness" part of our vows would come up so soon? Thankfully, we had great nurses who found a cot for me so I could stay with Chris. We spent the night and, after still finding no cause for his elevated white count, were released to head home the next morning. We've been trying to take it easy since then and are planning a relaxing weekend mostly at home.

I have to say, it was really cool and special to know so many people were praying for us with Chris being sick - we so appreciated all the phone calls and the visits. It's a huge reminder how wonderful our friends and family are. Thanks to all of you who have been there for us over this past year. We are so grateful you are in our lives!

The Married Life

Whoops! I just realized it's been over a month since I've posted on here. Needless to say, it's been a busy month!

Chris and I were married on November 26th, surrounded by our friends and family. It was a wonderful day! In hindsight, I don't know know if we've ever felt so much love from our friends and family. God blessed us with a gorgeous day and everyone got safely to and from the wedding.

Fun memories of the day include:

*All the kids (3 - 4 year old flowergirls, 1 - 3 1/2 year old ringbearer, and 1 - 9 yr old usher) did fantastic during pictures and all day. However, about 2 minutes before we were to head down the aisle, Ian, our little ringbearer, decided he had had enough. He didn't want either the pillow or his little tractor and he definitely didn't want to walk down the aisle alone. So he walked down with Mommy (Katia - my bridesmaid) and stood with her on the altar. Not even a few minutes into the ceremony, the wedding guests watched as Ian slowly slid down Katia's leg and fell asleep. It was so precious!

*Having my friend Amy (Kline) from Philly come in, as I was waiting for the ceremony to begin, just to give me homemade chocolate chip cookies!

*Dancing with my nephew, Marshall, who is only 5 months old. The kid knows how to cut a rug!

*My brother-in-law, Mike's, toast/speech. Mikey was trying to think of similarities between Iowa and Michigan. What he came up with -
- both are suburbs of Chicago
- Michigan has the Great Lakes, Iowa the Great Plains
- and Iowa has corn and Michigan has the Detroit Lions. The only difference between the two that Mike could see was that corn was even more unpredictable and more interesting to watch!

*Watching my mother-in-law dance with glo-necklaces, headbands, and earrings.

*Getting stopped by a Sheriff's Deputy on the way from the hall to the B&B (no ticket - he came up to us almost apologizing!).

*Just getting to see so many friends and family - and the chance to talk and dance with most of them.

A few photos-
This is my absolute favorite photo of Chris and I. It's his favorite too!

This photos is of all the very handsome guys - Chris, groomsmen, ushers and ringbearer.

In the back are the ushers - Tyler, Brett, Sean (very short), and Ethan.

In the front row is Chris Antieau (groomsman), Chris with Ian (ringbearer), Mike Nicholson (Chris' brother and best man), & Trevor Owen (groomsman).

Amy, Katia and I goofing around!

Another of our favorites!

We followed up the wedding with an awesome trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It was wonderful! We returned to -4 degrees and 8 inches of snow on the ground - quite a shock!

Now we're so ready for our first Christmas together! We'll be at home on Christmas Eve and part of Christmas Day. We'll see my family the evening of Christmas Day and then we head to Michigan to see Chris' family over New Year's. It's going to be busy but great!

We hope you all have a wonderful and blessed CHRISTmas!

A Fun Post

10 Favorites
Favorite Color: Green
Favorite Food: Beef Stroganoff
Favorite Band/Singer: Neil Diamond
Favorite Hobby: Dancing
Favorite Movie: the Lord of the Rings trilogy
Favorite Flower: Roses
Favorite Season: Autumn – love the colors of the leaves
Favorite Day of the Week: Thursday
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Vanilla with chocolate syrup
Favorite Time of Day: sunrise

9 Currents
Current Mood: little tired, want to talk to Chris
Current Clothes: jeans, white turtleneck, navy windshirt, tennies
Current Underwear Color: pink and white
Current Desktop Picture: picture of my nephew Marshall
Current Nail Color: no color
Current Time: 3:08 pm
Current Surroundings: my office cubicle
Current Annoyances: people who keep telling me their wedding horror stories
Current Thoughts: what should I make for dinner? I’m thinking beef stroganoff!

8 Firsts
First Best Friend: Christy Hartz – we were 3
First Screen Name: nazers74
First Pet: Bennett, my Himalayan kitty
First Tattoo: none – don’t plan on it
First Crush: Ben something or other from kindergarten
First Music Owned: Michael Jackson Thriller Record
First Car: Chevy Malibu, 1979, Pea green
First Career Choice: Engineer

7 Lasts
Last Cigarette: never, yuck
Last Drink: Coke about 2 minutes ago
Last Time on Drugs: only prescription for me
Last Kiss: my fiance’ this morning
Last Movie Watched: Mona Lisa Smile – OK movie
Last CD Played: Chris’ Blackthorn Live CD – Irish music
Last thing to eat: a Red Delicious apple

6 Have You Evers
Have you ever dated one of your best friends? Gonna marry him in 9 days!
Have you ever broken the law? Definitely the speed limit!
Have you ever been arrested? no
Have you ever skinny dipped? no
Have you ever been on television? Yes, when I went to see Puppin’s Place at the Park
Have you ever kissed someone you didn't know? Oh, do I have a story about this one!

5 Places You've Been
Devil’s Tower on a sunny, warm day in August
Vermillion Bay near the Gulf of Mississippi on a swamp boat
Bismarck, North Dakota in June watching it snow
Shell Rock, IA on the 4th of July
Coney Island on a 75 degree day in April

4 People You Can Tell Anything To
Jesus
Chris
Amy
Katia

3 Things you can hear right now:
Joann and Jeff talking
Luke talking to a client
The printer

3 things you can't live without:
My relationship with Jesus
My family and friends
Good food

3 things you do when you're bored:
Read
Dream
Listen to music

2 Choices
Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi - Diet Coke
PC or Mac - PC

1 Thing You Want To Do Before You Die
Fulfill God’s plans for me

10 days!

This past weekend was great! Had a great time at my shower and spending time with my family! My dad loved his cake (a recipe that was a specialty of my Grandma Ford's)!

On Saturday night, we had our friend's Josh and Renee Hansen out. We cooked up some homemade pizza and played games. It was such a relaxing evening with friends!

This week has been pretty relaxed so far. Sunday was spent at church and small group. Monday we had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING scheduled in the evening. It was so nice to just sit home with Chris and relax. We had a good chance to talk and just enjoy the evening.

We woke up to snow on Tuesday morning. It continued to snow all day and then started blowing. By the time I headed home from work, the roads were awful. We decided it'd be smart to skip dance class and just head home. It took me twice as long to get home and I was so glad to get there. We spent the evening rearranging the office and setting up Chris' computer. We're also trying to organize all his stuff that we've moved to my house so far. After going through some of the stuff, we finally just put it back in the totes, put their lids on and shoved them in the closet. Most of it is stuff that can wait until after the wedding to be dealt with. Chris is so easy going about all that so we got it done quickly and snuggled up on the couch and finished BYF stuff and relaxed.

I got a phone call around 12:30 from my friend Katia. Katia's cousin Rachel was killed in an accident after hitting ice late Tuesday evening up in Minnesota. Please pray for Katia and her whole family. They are having a really rough time right now as they prepare to bury Rachel.

This morning was chilly and beautiful - lots of white snow and bright sunshine! The drive to work took quite a while. It was pretty treacherous at times. I felt like I was driving on a sheet of ice. Tonight we have the last BYF before Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to cuddling some babies and relaxing.

Just 10 days to go until our wedding! Yeah! Chris and I are both getting excited. At this time next week, we'll be picking up Amy and Laini from the airport and running lots of last minute errands in Omaha. Yeah!

Hope you are all having a great week!

Yippee! It's Friday for me!

Wow! Another week is almost gone! Chris got home from Final Haven late Sunday night and we had a little snuggle time before we both passed out.

Monday night we met with our DJ to talk over details and give him some info - got home in time to do a load of laundry and pass out again.

On Tuesday we headed down to dance class and stopped to see our friend Dan on they way. Sometime on Sunday, Dan got bit on the index finger by a barn cat. By Tuesday afternoon, he'd suffered through a few rounds of rabies shots and tetanus shots, and then was admitted to the hospital so they could do surgery on his hand later Tuesday night. We had a great visit with Dan and his wife Tina. Dan was in great spirits going into the surgery. He's home now and in a lot of pain. Would you say a prayer for him if you have some time? Thanks!

After negotiating some crazy traffic, we finally made it to dance class and had a great time. I think Chris and I are both feeling a lot more comfy with the foxtrot and definitely with the waltz. We again headed home in time to pass out.

Last night we were supposed to do nursery at BYF but ended up with no kids! The high schooler's didn't have BYF because most of them were at the girl's state volleyball tournament. The Harlan girls made it to the playoffs again but ended up in a heartbreaking loss to ADM last night. So we headed home early, worked on budget stuff, cleaned up the house, organized gifts we've already received, and passed out. Are you sensing a pattern here?!

Today I am leaving early (YEAH!) to get my hair colored - must cover the gray! and trimmed before the wedding and I'll get to spend some time with my friend Renee. Then tonight, after Chris gets off work, we meet with Pastor for some final details and a quick run through up in the sanctuary.

Tomorrow, long after Chris heads to work, I may drag my self out of bed! Seriously, I just get to sleep in a little. I LOVE FEDERAL HOLIDAY!!! I have a hair-do run-through at the salon at 9:00, followed by an allergy shot, a visit with some friends, and then lunch with Chris. I'm also babysitting my friend's little guy Noah so we'll be wandering around together. After lunch, Noah and I are going to head back to my house so he can take a nap and I can pack and clean. Then after Chris gets home, (and Noah's mommy and daddy pick him up) we'll head up to Sioux City for a bridal shower there. We've got some shopping to do with my mom on Saturday and we're planning on celebrating my dad's 70th birthday. Then it's home again for us.

And yeah! Just 2 weeks to go until Thanksgiving and then the wedding! We are both getting excited. No nerves yet - just happiness!

Hope you all have a great Veteran's Day!

Chris and I at the pumpkin patch 

Chris with my Mom and Dad at the Pumpkin patch  

Chris and Delilah on Sylvan Theater 

Chris and Delilah in front of the SDSU Campanile. 

Sean cleaning out his pumpkin. 

A Happy Pumpkin and a Happy Ian! 

Yum! Pumpkin Guts! 

Ian pulling out the guts 

Ian and his finished pumpkin 

Whoo-Hoo - 3 weeks and counting!

Yeah! Only 3 weeks to go until I get to marry the most awesome man in the world!

We had a great time at Katia's last weekend! We got in late Friday and spent some quality time playing with Ian and catching up with Katia while Sean went to the Waverly-Shellrock football game. On Saturday, we headed into Waterloo/Cedar Falls for some errands and shopping. We were able to meet my friend Tami and her husband Ryan for lunch. It's been over a year since I've seen Tami and it was awesome to see her, meet Ryan again and introduce them to Chris, not to mention Katia and the boys. We spent some time shopping and running our errands before heading back to Waverly. After a nice nap, we took a walk and soaked in all the fall colors. It was beautiful! Then it was a great steak dinner. Chris and Sean manned the grill and discussed serious guy stuff like meat tenderizer, flame height and cuts of meat, while Katia and I and Ian prepared the rest of the fixings. It was fun to have a "family" meal and relax.

After dinner is when all the excitement really began! It was time for pumpkin carving! Ian's ended up with a happy face, Chris' was funny/scary, and Sean - the die hard White Sox fan - put on his "Go Sox!" By the time we got done, we were all about ready for bed. The boys headed to bed while Katia, Chris and I tried to stay awake for a bit. We gave up pretty early and headed to bed.

On Sunday, we went to church with Katia and the boys. We got to hear Sean sing in the choir - and do sign language to several songs! Very impressive! We were all proud of him. After the service, we jetted down to Cedar Falls to meet our friends, Tim, Michelle, Mark & Josh Masters, for lunch at Carlos O'Kelly's. It was so fun to see the boys so grown up and great to catch up with Tim and Michelle and let Chris get to know them better, and vice versa. After lunch, it was time to head back home to western Iowa.

Since we've been back, it's been another crazy week. Monday we were super busy with getting Chris' stuff ready for him to leave yesterday. Tuesday was dance lessons and visiting our friend Milton in the hospital. Wednesday was heading down with our friend Cherie to see another friend Melanie after her surgery. We had dinner at a little Mexican/American restaurant called Senor Matia's. Great food! Yesterday, Chris headed out for Michigan after work and I went down with my friend's Sharon and Brian and their little guy Noah to visit Melanie again. We topped off the trip with dinner at Olive Garden. Yum! Even little Noah loved it! He is such a good eater and will try anything! We let him try a lemon and he LOVED it! I went out and spent the night with my friend Cherie. She is going to be handling all the kitchen stuff at our wedding so we're getting ready to practice on some stuff this weekend.

This weekend is already panning out to be busy. Chris is up in Michigan and will be home late Sunday night. Tonight, my friend Tara is coming up to visit and we're going to have a girl's evening. On Saturday morning, my friend Nancy Sorensen is throwing a Pampered Chef Bridal Shower for me and that should be a lot of fun. In the afternoon, a few of us girls are going to spend some time with a recuperating Melanie and then Cherie and I will be practicing on the salads and punch for the reception. Sunday is church, hopefully a movie (can't wait to see Chicken Little!) and then small group. Chris should be home shortly after I get home from small group. Yeah!

Hope you are all doing great. Will post more pictures soon.

Just a bit

Had a great weekend - will post more about that later.

But here's a fun item I found on another blog. Can you pass 8th grade math?

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Off again

This weekend we are off for a relaxing (hopefully) trip to Waverly to see Katia, Sean and Ian. We are getting out of here a little late due to Chris' work schedule but will still get up there tonight. Then tomorrow, it's lots of little errands to run and some shopping to take care of. And then PUMPKIN CARVING with the boys! YEAH! Have a great weekend!

Another busy weekend

Last weekend started out with date night on Friday night. Chris and I grabbed dinner at my house and relaxed for a bit before heading into town for some galaxy bowling (black lights, lots of fluorescent features, funky music, etc). Due to the out-of-town football game (Harlan at Denison) we pretty much had the bowling alley to ourselves. We had a great time, played a few games, went for a starlight walk in the park and went home and watched more LOTR (I think Chris thinks I need to see the whole thing again before the wedding!).

We got up early in the morning and headed to Sioux City to visit with my parents. We had so much fun! We all ate a great lunch at Applebee's, and then hit the Palmer Candy store to get some treats for Mom and Dad and some Twin Bings for my co-worker, Luke. We then headed out to the pumpkin patch. We found some adorable decorated gourds, lots of little pumpkins and a wagonload of big pumpkins. After visiting for a little while at Mom's house, Chris and I took Dad back to the nursing home and decorated his room with little pumpkins and replenished his chocolate stash. It was really a nice day with them.

We then took off for Brookings, SD. We got there and met my friend Mindy and her daughter Delilah at their house (husband Tony and older daughter Mariah were out elk hunting in the Black Hills) and headed straight for George's - my favorite Brookings restaurant! YUM!!! We spent the evening and most of the next day with Mindy and Delilah just hanging out, checking out the changes on the SDSU campus, and checking out new stuff in town. In the afternoon, we headed to the memorial service for Rosie Malo, the wife of my professor Doug. Doug and Rosie were so good to me all the while I was in Brookings and I really felt the need to be there. I am so sad for Doug and their kids, Denise and Rob. Despite the sad circumstance, I got to visit with quite a few of my former professors which was a lot of fun.

We left Brookings and made our way back to Sioux City where Mom had a fresh pan of pumpkin bars waiting for us! Yum! My mom is great! Not to mention, she also had hemmed a couple of pairs of jeans for me - AND finished our ring bearer pillow which we brought home. We then left and headed back to my house arriving just in time to head to bed.

This week has been a pretty full week with dance classes, BYF and finishing up wedding stuff. We really feel like we're ready to go. I think we have most everything taken care of that we can have taken care of at this point. Tonight and tomorrow we will be attending a marriage conference in Des Moines with some friends from our small group. We are pretty excited about it and are feeling it'll be a good tool for us as we are just a month away from the wedding.

Hope you've all had a great week!

More 80s

So, I have a confession to make. I loved the 80s! I did, they were awesome. I mean, I know that I was young and carefree and innocent and all that jazz, but there was something so cool about the 80s. I can't tell you how many 80s CDs I have! We even asked our DJ for our wedding to play a lot of 80s dance music. It's so nice that my honey loves the 80s too!

So, here are some of my favorite things about the 80s:

*Love Boat - what a great show! I could watch it for hours!

*Rick Springfield - I SO wanted to be Jesse's Girl!

*Family Ties - Alex P. Keaton was a stud. And I really wanted Mallory to give Skippy just a chance.

*Sit N Spin's - OK, so this may have come out earlier but the 80s is when I became acquainted with this projectile vomit-inducing toy.

*He-Man - I never really got into She-ra

*Pac Man - I still stink at this but I love to play it!

*Duran Duran - "Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand, Just like that river twisting through a dusty land!" Of course, think of this being sung at the top of your lungs!

*Pajama parties - sleeping all over the living room after passing out talking

*Saturday morning cartoons - today's cartoons are OK but they ROCKED when we were growing up!

*Conjunction Junction - what's your function?

Ah the memories! Makes me a little misty-eyed...

Have a great weekend!