SURPRISE!!!

Well this weekend was my first bridal shower and it was a total surprise. I thought my "friend" shower was July 27th but I knew that my bridesmaid, Chrissy, hates to not surprise the bride. But I thought with my busy schedule and her busy life with her triplets, that July 27th was the time everyone could make it. I thought I was going to my god-daughter's bday party but I was wrong. They got me good. It's funny because I almost felt a little pissed off when I walked in and finally understood what was going on. I couldn't believe they tricked me. And one of the first things I said was, "But I didn't get to wear my 'It's my day' tank top that I bought for this occassion!" Such a brat I am sometimes - I know! The shower was very nice. The girl's did a nice job planning (I hear Kelly conducted conference calls and made up an agenda. Such the event planner!) and hosting and we got lots of awesome gifts (Nathan was like a kid in a candy store opening everything up later and putting it all in its new spot. He also kept calling everything his as in, "I'm so happy I got MY pressure cooker!" I had to keep reminding him that the gifts were OURS!)

The girls also did a very special thing for me. Per Kim's suggestion, they made me a scrapbook. Each person invited to the shower was instructed to make a page with pictures, poems, designs, etc. and they put it all together in one book. It's so awesome and I feel so lucky to have such great friends. I brought the book to work today to show it off. I wish I would have thought of this idea for all of their showers in the past. Thanks again to all who participated in this. I will treasure it always!

There are some things that should have tipped me off to the shower. Below is a list of those things:

1. Nathan remembered that Abby's bday party was on June 28th weeks ago when we received a bday party invitation to Ava's bday party on the same day. I didn't have Abby's bday party written down on any calenders at the time so I thought it was amazing that he remembered about it and rememeber the date. But of course, he knew it was my shower. He helped the bridesmaids pick the date back in April!

2. My brother called me earlier in the day and was asking me what my plans were that afternoon. He never does that. I thought it was weird but didn't think much else of it.

3. I called my mom at work on Sat. afternoon and her co-worker told me she was gone for the day. When I called my mom on her cell phone, she told me she was eating. When I asked her where she was eating, she told me "at work". I said that I just called there and they told me she was gone. She said she must have been in the bathroom when they looked for her. But I remember thinking it was weird because her salon is not that big to know if she's not there or not. Really she was at home getting ready for the shower.

4. Nathan's sister, Aubrey, emailed me on Friday to ask me if my shower was June 28th or July 13th. I have a family shower that she is invited to on July 13th but she got wind of the the friend shower on the 28th and got confused. She found out from Nathan and his mom that the 28th shower was a surprise one for friends so she emailed me back to say she got Ava's bday party and my shower dates mixed up. I was clueless about this slipup.

5. My mom and sister-in-law, Kelly, were walking up the street as I pulled onto Kelly's street. They dove behind a bush to hide (and two little girls stared at them like they were crazy). Somehow I missed this commotion. Good thing I'm not observant.

6. Nathan and Beth had both asked me this week if I've been staying off of my bridal registry. I had (see, I'm good sometimes!) so I had no idea a bunch of presents had been bought.

So there you have it. I should have know better but I was too caught up with other things to put it all together. But thanks again to everyone. Thank you cards are going out this week. Once I get some pictures from the shower, I will post them so check back for that. Kelly has a video too from when I walked in so I'll see if I can add that also.

On another note, Nathan and I had dinner with his parents and sister and my mom on Sunday and then everyone came back to our house. We hashed out some wedding details. As Nathan texted me today, we only have 75 days until the big day! Hope to see you there!

Love,
Dawn

Almost got my @ss kicked in San Diego!

This past weekend I attended the National PTA Conference in San Diego, CA for work. I hate being at a conference over a weekend but if I have to, this was a good one to go to. I went with my co-worker, John, and we tried to make the best of it. Thursday night we went into downtown and ate dinner at this place called Whisky Girl.

Me in downtown with the Giradelli (spelling??) Guy

Friday morning we went to the San Diego Zoo. It's a nice zoo and I saw some crazy animals I've never heard of before but it was weird to pay to get into a zoo. We're not used to that in the STL!

Hippos


Panda-I feel like these things are really just someone dressed up in a costume. They don't seem real to me for some reason.


Not sure what this is but it seems like a cross between a zebra and a horse or something.

Friday night we went to a San Diego Padres game. They were playing the Detroit Tigers and we were sitting behind some DIE HARD Detroit fans. One of the guys was so rude and was getting on my nerves so bad that at some point I put my fingers to my forehead in the shape of an "L" and called him a loser. Probably wasn't the smartest thing to do! He wasn't too happy with me after that. Thankfully, the Padres beat the Tigers and he left before we did since his team was losing.

Petco Park - the stadium set up reminded me a lot of the new Busch Stadium

Sat. night we went to this dinner/drinks thing that one our business partners was having. It was at this Mexian restaurant in this area called Old Town. It was this town from the 1800's that has been preserved in the middle of this state park. It was pretty authentic and had no A/C. We were so hot in there but we had free food and drinks so it was hard to pass up. I think John and I brought the St. Louis heat with us. The first day we were there was nice but the other 3 days were hot. Everyone kept talking about the heat wave. I don't think they're used to that kind of heat down there.

We came home on Sunday. We did actually work in between all of this too! Nathan had to work this weekend as well. He worked on Sat. I was glad he got to enjoy his Sunday though. He played golf with Miles, Jim and Jim's dad. Then he and Miles went to Hooters and Dairy Queen!

Last night, Nathan and I finally had a whole evening to ourselves without anything specific to do. It was so nice. We don't get that a lot. We took a 2 hour walk. We walked to Dairy Qeen (a little counter-productive, I know!) and then checked out the new Switch Fitness for Women that just opened by our house. I think we are going to check out the Rec-Plex on Wed. We need to find a place to work out. We'd be able to go together there.

Anyhoo, we will be tackling a lot of wedding details in the upcoming weeks. I can't wait to get a lot of little stuff taken care of. It will be here before we know it!

Oh, I almost forgot. I had my last class on Wednesday! Freedom!!!! At least until Oct. 4th when I start back. I am so excited for a break though!

I have some pictures from my San Diego trip that I will post later so check back if you care!

Dawn

Don't be Jelly!

Aloha! Nathan and I booked our honeymoon on Friday! We are so excited to be able to go to Maui! I found us a pretty good deal online for a flight/car package. And Nathan's parents are letting us use their timeshare for the week. We are very thankful. I don't think we would ever have a chance like this again to go to Hawaii for this cheap. It all happened so quickly on Friday as I looked up flights and Gail scrambled to find us a place to stay (and I called Nathan umpteem times while he was on his way out of town!) but it all came together. I am still in shock! We've decided to leave on Sat., Sept. 20 - the weekend after we get married. That will give us time to recover from the wedding, spend time with family and friends the day after the wedding and pack without being rushed.

I can't believe the wedding is (less than) 3 months away. There is still much to do. My head starts to swim just thinking about it. I did find a salon to do my hair and all of the bridesmaids' hair that day. That's a relief.

Since yesterday was Father's Day, I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the dads I know. I hope it was a nice day for you. Nathan, his dad and Graham celebrated by going camping this past weekend. They had a good time from what I hear but did get a lot of their food eaten by a crafty raccoon! Since they were gone most of the weekend, I had the house to myself. I watched movies and hung out with my matron-of-honor, Kelly, and her kids. Her daughter, Abby, is our flowergirl. We went shopping and to the pool. I also hung out with my mom on Sat. night so that was nice.

Don't forget to watch and vote for Pearl Heart on Nashville Star tonight on NBC.

Peace out,
Dawn

Engagement Pictures

Again, I know I've emailed most of you about this but if you click on the link below, you can see a few pictures from our engagement session. Our photographers are awesome and I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures.

http://www.lightsourcephotography.blogspot.com/


Also, congratulations to Jessica and Jesse Wilson on the birth of their new baby girl this morning. I'm assuming they are still naming her Addelyn Grace (not sure of the spelling of the first name). I believe Nathan said she weighed 7 lbs. Mom and baby are healthy! Can't wait to meet her!

Love,
Dawn

Time to vote! No, not for Obama or McCain but for Pearl Heart!

I tried to email most people I know already about this but I wanted to post it here also. The nieces of my friend, Chrissy, have made it to the top 12 on Nashville Star. It's a country music singing competition (kind of like American Idol). Here the info from Chrissy:

Hi everyone! My nieces made it to the Top 12 contestants on NashvilleStar - Season 6. Their band name is Pearl Heart and its Amy, Angela,and Courtney. We are so excited and proud of them! Please tune in onMonday, June 9th at 8pm CST on NBC to root them on and vote for them. It's kind of likeAmerican Idol with the voting. Feel free to pass this on to everyoneyou know :) Please, please, please vote!!!! :)

PEARL HEART Amy, Angela and Courtney Krechel AGES: Amy and Angela (20),Courtney (17) HOMETOWN: Florissant, Missouri CURRENT HOME: Thompson'sStation, Tennessee The female trio Pearl Heart is a family affair withtwin sisters Amy and Angela singing alongside their little sisterCourtney. After watching their daughters perform together for years,Pearl Heart's parents packed up their bags and moved their family toTennessee for their daughters to more seriously pursue their musiccareer. By making top-12 of "Nashville Star," the Krechel sisters arehoping to prove to their parents that the move paid off.Their website is pearlheartfan.com.


Other news:

It's so weird because I've slowed down the past few days. Thursday night was the first time in a long time that I didn't have anything to do. No homework, no appointments, no nothing! It was so nice but I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. I ended up taking a 50 minute walk with my mom and just relaxing. It was total bliss!
Friday I went to a baby shower for my friend, Ann. She is having twins in August.
Nathan worked this weekend so I had Sat. and Sun. to entertain myself also. It was so weird to do whatever I wanted. I swept the basement, walked on the treadmill, did some shopping and looked for a hair place for the wedding on Sat. That night, Nathan and I went to dinner at McGurks. Sunday, I had lunch with my mom and then we shopped and saw a movie. Sunday night, I FINALLY updated my MP3 player and Nathan and I watched a movie. It was so nice to have time to do whatever I wanted.
Nathan was not so lucky. Besides working, he had to fix our shower. Luckily, he was able to take care of it and we don't have to call a plumber. I love that he's so handy around the house!

So, that was our boring but fabulous weekend! Tonight we are meeting with a travel agent to disuss honeymoon ideas!

Remember to vote tonight!

Love,
Dawn

Check and Check

Nathan and I crossed another wedding task off of our to-do list this weekend. Saturday, we went to Shane Co. and purchased (and by purchased, I mean put in layaway!) our wedding bands. CHECK!!! Nathan's has to be special ordered and will take 6-8 weeks to come in. I'm so glad we did this now because of this reason alone! (BTW, there was a couple in there purchasing their rings for the June wedding! That is too close to comfort for me!) I debated back and forth between 2 bands but finally settled on one. I could give you guys the link to the rings we picked but I don't want to give everything away! You'll just have to wait and see them on the day of the wedding! :)

I love that everytime we go to the Shane Co, they clean and re-dip my engagement ring. So it's all shiny and scratch-free again.

Friday, I went to see Sex and the City with my friend, Amanda. I loved it! I think if you were a fan of the show, you will enjoy it. If you never watched the show, not so much. It was a bit long but I didn't mind (well, my bladder minded a bit!). Then we went to one of my favorite places, The Drunken Fish, for sushi and drinks.

Sunday, Nathan, Graham and I went to the pool for the first time this summer. It was a great day. The water was a little cold but it got better once you were in. We all got a little sunburned (some of us - Nathan - more than others!) but it was nice to just relax for a whole day for once. Later that night, Nathan and I watched No Country for Old Men. He really enjoyed it. I thought it was OK. Hated the ending though.

Tonight is our last wedding class. CHECK!!!

Love,
Dawn