6 years & counting

Six years ago today I stood in front of God, my family, & my closest friends & said "I DO" to the most
wonderful man in the world...the love of my life!

Sometimes I still can't believe it. Until I met my husband, I used to think that a girl was really lucky if she found someone who she could just get along with. I didn't think that all that starry-eyed fireworks stuff was actually real...until I found it. I didn't think that I would ever find someone who gave me "butterfly" feelings in my stomach everytime he walked through the door. I didn't think a man could be a girls best friend. I didn't believe in soulmates.

During these six wonderful years I have learned that all these things are possible & I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones.

Top 2 Tuesday

It's time for Top 2 Tuesday & this week its Top 2 things to do before I die. Taylor's blog always has the best topics on her Top 2 Tuesday posts.

Not going to lie, this one is one that will most certainly make you rack your brain as I did, but it's also a "bucket list" of sorts and of course we all have things we want to cross off our list before our time is complete. Mine are these:

1) Become a mother. As much as other things can help make your world complete, I don't think there is one single thing I'd rather do on earth than become a Mom. Being surrounded by such a loving family since I was little, I can't help but hope I get to have that experience someday & surround my own little one with such love!

2) Go up in a hot air balloon. There are several businesses in KC that offer balloon rides to the public but unfortunately it is pricey ($185/person)! Maybe someday I will be lucky enough to be able to cross this request off of my "bucket list"?! Anyone be willing to go up, up & away with me?

Visit from the In-laws

Since I got back from Vegas, my weeks have been a blur! Last weekend I was on call & the weekend before that was spent trying to catch up from being gone. It unfortunately rained the entire weekend so I didn't get much done but did enjoy some R-n-R with the hubby on the couch catching up on DVR'd shows & watching movies. If felt SO good to be lazy for a change!

This past weekend, Shane's parents were in town & stayed with us. It had been awhile since they had been back in KC so it was very nice to see them & all spend some time long over-due time together.

Saturday afternoon we had Shane's brother & his fiance Anna over to the house as well as Shane's nephew Jordan. He is in the Army & is soon leaving for Korea for a year so everyone gathered to spend some time with Jordan before he leaves. It was nice to get to spend time with his side of the family for a change & thankful we could all get together.

Sunday I ran some errands & cleaned up the house a bit while Shane's parents went to visit his aunt & uncle. I had decided to make us all a nice dinner since it was their last evening with us. I had gotten a recipe last week that I was dying to try but it makes ALOT so with Shane's parents here, it was a perfect time to try it out.

The recipe was for Spinach Stuffed Shells

It turned out awesome, was dee-lish, very easy to make & plenty left over to freeze for another day. It is also a Weight Watchers dish for those of you on the WW diet - 3 shells are 6 pts! I ended up serving the dish with a Cesear salad & garlic bread - not on the WW diet :) We all stuffed ourselves but made sure to leave a little room for a quick run to Sonic for chocolate shakes...yummy! Later in the evening, we all settled in & watched the movie The Blindside which was excellent!

All in all, it turned out to be a great weekend spent with the hubby & the in-laws!

Top 2 Tuesday

It's that time of the week again...Top 2 Tuesday

This weeks topic is "Dream Houses"

When I lived in South Carolina, my favorite place to go visit was Charleston. I fell in love with this city & would LOVE to live there someday. So it seems fitting that my 2 favorite dream houses would be:

1) a historic Charleston home

2) a beach home overlooking the ocean

Chelsea Hander

Tonight I spent the evening with my neigborhood girlfriends along with my friend Susan for dinner & a comedy show. We all met at On The Border for some margaritas, good food & great conversation.

Time flew by & before we knew it we were paying our bill & on our way to the Starlight Theatre to see Chelsea Handler. For those of you who don't know, Chelsea is a stand-up comedian who hosts her own late night talk show called Chelsea Lately on E! & she is hilarious. She has also written a few books which are definitely worth the read.

She had all us girls crackin' up with all her humor & left us wanting more. It ended up being a bit chilly out at Starlight but nothing a couple of beverages & a few good laughs couldn't take care of.

Thanks girls for another fun evening out!

10 years & still going

Every year the hospital I work for puts on a Recognition Luncheon to honor staff that have worked there for 5, 10, 20+ yrs. This year I was in attendance along with a few of my co-workers. I am proud to say that I have been at St. Lukes for 10 years & can honestly say it is a fabulous place to work for. We had a dee-lish 3 course meal starting with a cranberry/walnut salad w/goat cheese, then the main entree consisted of a beef rib w/bbq sauce, chicken breast with a honey mustard glaze, garlic mashed potatoes & vegetables. The dessert was last & it came out to us looking like this:
This is a neopolitan mousse atop a brownie w/raspberry sauce & it was oh soooo good! It turned out to be a really nice luncheon & was a nice gesture by the hospital to be honored for all our years of service.

Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 Things You Splurge On

1) I have an obsession with purses - Coach purses to be exact. I sometimes think I might need an intervention!? Like anything I have, I get tired of it after awhile so I will splurge & buy a new one. I am proud to say that I have never payed full price for one. I either buy them off of eBay or at the Coach Outlet store. I actually got 2 more in Vegas at the Outlet & decided I need to sell a few in my "collection" to justify the cost of buying 2 more purses I don't need :)

2) Pedicures! I absolutely love getting pedicures. I used to love getting manicures and pedicures together but I would always get frustrated when the manicure would chip the next day. Might have something to do with my line of work?! Anyways, unless it's a special occasion I stick with pedicures!

Vegas Day 3

Camille & I were up early this morning & due to her late night, she was not feeling so hot! Me on the other hand felt well rested :) We had a date with Meghan's group at the spa this morning so we got up & made our way to Caesars Palace. Once we got there I was disappointed to see only Meghan & Desi there. Seems that the other girls all bailed on the spa outing for various reasons so it ended up being just the 4 of us. We started out having our massage and afterwards spent the next couple of hours utilizing the saunas, roman mineral baths, jacuzzi tubs & then the luxurious showers. It was SO very relaxing & I think the girls were all glad that they had participated.Once we finished our spa experience, we left Meghan & Desi as they had plans to meet up with the rest of her group for the day. Camille & I had lunch together on the strip & then made our way back to the hotel where we met Deanna & laid by the pool the rest of the afternoon. Deanna was flying back to Austin this evening so at 5:30pm Camille & I drove her to the airport & said our goodbyes. She is going to be back in KC over Memorial Day weekend so we will get to see her again soon!

After we dropped Deanna off, we headed back to the hotel & tried to figure out what to do the rest of the evening. Meghan's group had planned on walking the strip to check out a few sights & Camille really wanted to head to old downtown Vegas so that is what we ended up doing. We called the KC girls to see where they were at & picked them up on the strip in the rental car & all headed downtown. We ate at Main Street Casino & had the bestest, cheapest buffet dinner I have ever had! We then made our way to Fremont Street & walked around until the laser show started.
The laser show ended up being a tribute to the rock band Queen & was very cool! After that we headed to the craps table where Camille showed us all how to play the game. We all had fun rolling the dice, placing bets & not having a clue what we were doing! I won $10 which was good enough for me & I walked away. We all headed back to the car & made our way to the hotel to get ready for one last night of hitting the clubs.

HK ended up getting us VIP entrance into the Playboy Bar & Ghostbar at the Palms so we headed over there for the night. I was super excited about going to these 2 bars because this is where alot of the celebrities hang out - especially the cast from MTV's The Hills.

We didn't end up seeing any celebrities but all agreed that we were glad we got to experience these 2 bars. It was around 1am & we were starting to have enough of the bar scene so we decided to head back to the hotel. But before we returned to the hotel, we took a little detour & stopped at the Las Vegas welcome sign for a few fun pictures. Lucky for us there was one other couple out there at 1:30am to take our picture!

Several pics later we were on our way back to the hotel. By now it is past 2am & we have to be up in less than 2 hours to check out & leave for the airport for our 6:30am flight. We ended up staying up the rest of the night repacking our suitcases & reminiscing about the past few days events.

4am couldn't come soon enough & Camille & I both decided we were "done" with Vegas & ready to get home. We checked out, dropped off the rental car & made our way through security to the gate. It was a pleasant flight home as I pretty much slept the entire way! I sure do love going to Vegas but I love coming home even more :)

Thanks for the memories girls...

Vegas Day 2

Spent the morning sleeping in, got ready & then made our way to the LV Premier Outlet Mall for the majority of the day. This is one of the things that I really wanted to do this trip so since everyone else pretty much had their day planned, me, Camille & Marlo spent our day shopping.

This was the first stop & the 1st purchase of the day:I ended up buying 2 Coach purses that were marked down 30% off PLUS I had a 30% off coupon so I got them both at a really good price. Too much for some - just right for me!

We then made our way around the outlet mall stopping in & out of stores like Guess, Bebe, Kate Spade, True Religion & Seven just to name a few. It was a great outlet mall with lots of great stores & a wonderful afternoon spent with friends.

We made our way back to the hotel around 3pm, chilled for a bit in the room & then got ready for another evening out in Vegas.

Tonight was to be Meghan's Bachelorette Party so after I had finished getting ready, I made my way to Meghan's room to give the girls their "bachelorette party gear" for all to wear throughout the evening.

After everyone was ready, we made our way over to Mandalay Bay to have a drink at the Minus 5 Bar. For $25 you can go into the "Ice Bar", have a drink & experience a bar made totally of ice. Camille & I opted not to pay for the 10 minute experience but instead had a drink at the regular bar. We waited for the other girls while they went in, had their drink, took some pics & 15 minutes later were back.

Next stop was to one of the Mexican restaurants in Mandalay Bay for dinner. We all dined on chips & salsa & Camille & I shared quesadillas that were just so-so - which was disappointing but thankful it wasn't very expensive!Camille & I had to unfortunately leave early after dinner as she is still breast-feeding & had to go pump for the night so the girls said they would meet up with us after she was done. By the time we got back to the hotel & Camille was done pumping a good hour had gone by & we made our way down to meet Meghan at the club. We ended up running into the KC girls & stopped to catch up with them for a minute since we hadn't seen them all day. Meghan, Desi & her sister Sarah came over also & then told us that Desi wasn't feeling well & they were all tired so they were going to turn in for the night. We were disappointed that Meghan wasn't going to get her "last night out as a single girl" but it was her decision! We did manage to get one last picture of the entire group before they left:After they left, we hung out in the casino for awhile & then went to LAX to do some dancing. After almost an hour of waiting in line to get in I was done! It was 1am, my feet & back hurt, my stomach wasn't feeling well since dinner & I was exhausted so I went ahead and went back to the room while the other girls managed to stay out until 3am. According to them, I missed a good time :( Oh well - at least I was going to be well rested in the morning!

Viva Las Vegas - Day 1

This morning I was up at 3:30am! Why so early you ask? I had to leave the house by 4:15am to pick up my friend Camille & head to the airport for a 7am flight to Vegas. I have NO idea why we booked the flight that early but I made a mental note on the way - never again book a flight that early regardless of where you are going!We met my sister-in-law-to-be Meghan, her cousin Desi & her sister Sarah at the airport, boarded the plane & were on our way for the 3 hour flight to Las Vegas.Once we arrived, we got our bags, picked up the rental car, headed to the Luxor & all sat down for breakfast while we waited for an early check-in. As I was sitting there, I got the biggest surprise. The hostess asked me if I wanted anymore coffee & as I looked up at her to say no thank-you, I see that it was my girlfriend Deanna from Austin, TX - crazy girl! I jumped up, had tears in my eyes & gave her a huge hug. Then around the corner comes my girlfriends from KC - HK & Marlo. I was in shock & it had to be the BEST surprise ever!

We finished our breakfast & Meghan & the girls left to go meet up with her other 2 cousins that were flying in from the East coast. We sat with my KC friends while they finished their breakfast and had fun catching up with each other.Once we got checked in & settled, we called Meghan's group & they were out eating lunch & then were going to go sight-seeing. The KC group was out doing that themselves so Camille & I decided to venture out onto the strip ourselves. We of course managed to take some fun pics along the way! First things first - I had to stop & get my "yard"!

Yes - that is a man in a wedding gown & a python around my neck! Crazy...Later in the day, we ran into the KC girls along the strip...BFF's - HT & HK :)We all walked back to the hotel, had some dinner and then all got ready to go out in Vegas for the evening. Meghan's group was planning on going to the show "O" & since I had already seen it I opted to stay behind while they went ahead. We had planned on meeting up for drinks afterwards.The KC girls all met up, walked around the Luxor awhile & then went into the nightclub Cathouse. It ended up being a really neat club with cool decor but was WAY overpacked with sweaty people & the floor was super sticky so it made it really hard to walk. We ended up leaving there early & were going to wait for Meghan's group to meet us for a drink but they decided to turn in early & since we were all tired from traveling earlier in the day we called it an early night as well.

Top 2 Tuesday

2 favorite things about summer

1) flip flops - LOVE flip flops in the summertime & have them in every color.

2) putting the top down on the convertible :)

Bridal Shower Festivities

Today everyone was headed to the event that brought the family together for the weekend - Meghan's bridal shower. We all packed into the SUV early this morning & drove to the Northland to help set up, decorate & get the food together. I was in charge of the decorations & tableware & put together these cute flower centerpieces for the tables...
Once we got everything set up, we had some time for pictures before everyone arrived. Here is the bride-2-be Meghan...

My Grandmother, sister Jen, nephew Cael & me :)
My mother & Cael My brother & groom-2-be Steve with Cael

Looks like everybody wanted a picture with my nephew Cael?! How can you not with him being so very cute!

The shower had a good turnout with about 30 guests attending. We played one game before the gift opening called "How well do you know the Bride?" There were 16 questions that we had to answer about Meghan & Steve & the person who answered the most correctly won. I ended up getting 10 correct & was declared the big winner! Seems I know these two pretty well?! It just might have something to do with the fact that I was the one to introduce them to each other? :)

Meghan opened all her gifts & ended up receiving some really nice things for their home. It was much fun watching her open everything! Shortly after the gift opening it was time for cake - my favorite part of any shower :) - and it was dee-lish!

It turned out to be a lovely shower and now that it is done & over with, we are now less than 6 weeks away from the wedding on June 5th! It is going to be here before we know it!