Shower and Easter

I'm finally posting about our Easter weekend, which was a long time ago now. Oh well!

Saturday, April 7th we headed to eastern Iowa/Illinois for our first wedding shower. It was with my family and was a joined shower with my cousin, Jana, and her fiance Matt. My uncle, Darwin, and his family hosted all of us. We had so much fun with all the family and ate way too much delicious food. Have you noticed a trend with my family events? We eat too much food. But, it's worth it :) Also, most of us played Bunko, too! Many of the men didn't participate, is it too girly of a game?? I don't think so :)

Here are some pictures from the day

BEAUTIFUL and DELICIOUS cookies my cousin, Kendra made!!

our bunko prizes

Matt and Jana with one of their gifts

all of us opening up our grills!! It was such a good idea!!

We also had an Easter egg hunt. Well actually we had 2. One for the little children (approximately 5 and under) and one for the "big kids". We had to split it up because as you can see from the picture below it can get pretty aggressive with the big kids! 

 

eating dinner

my aunt, Diane, and grandpa

Bunko!

more Bunko!

Ashley and Gavin

The day of the shower was also my brother's 15th birthday. It was an ideal birthday party for a 15 year old boy to spend at his sister's wedding shower, right? haha probably not! Love you bud!! We stopped at Pizza Ranch in Clinton for on our way into town for his birthday lunch. We told the waiter it was his birthday and they had one of their workers come out in a chicken suit and the restaurant sang him happy birthday. It was soooo funny!! 

And, here are pictures from Easter morning. After church we went back to Grandpa's house changed and headed out to my cousin Dustin and his family's farm to say bye to everyone, grab some food, and see the baby lambs. 

the girls heading to church

everyone (except dad)

Thank you to all my family for such a great weekend!! We had a lot of fun and it was great to see you all!! Lastly, thank you for all the gifts again...many of them have already gotten use of them :) Love you!!

the REAL 3 month countdown

Sorry again for the delay! I'm back now and taking a break from studying for a big test on Tuesday to write our 3 month countdown. That's 90 days. Or 2160 hours. Or 129600 minutes. Ah!! it's coming fast!

But, back to the countdown. This time we are going to write about our wedding party. We have 3 groomsman and 3 bridesmaids. We wanted to put a little showcase on them because they are such special people in each of our lives and are so thankful for them being a part of our big day!! Also, as always, you take a look at our wedding party under the tabs. So let's get started. Here are Sean's groomsmen (writen by Sean)...

Chris- Best Man and Sean's brother

He currently lives in Kansas City and works at Cerner Corporation.  Chris and I share many common interests.  He swam in high school; I swam in high school.  He played tennis in high school; I played tennis in high school.  He swam in college; I swam in college.  He graduated with an MIS degree; I graduated with an MIS degree.  Are you starting to see the resemblances and who I look up to?  He is a great brother, and I am lucky to have his support even though I went and swam at Iowa (we were all raised as huge ISU fans).  Since we have so many similarities, we definitely partake in some sibling rivalries. 

 

Dane- groomsman and Sean's friend

Dane currently lives in Ames finishing up school at ISU, working at Interstate Battery, and farming.  We met each other in kindergarten have basically been attached at the hip since.  Whenever I go home I always try to see him and we constantly keep in touch by texting daily.  We have a shared interest that we talk about all the time, hunting.  Dane has really gotten into filming his hunts.  You should check out his first video on YouTube.  He has done a really good job with this so far, and I hope to start seeing his very own show in the future.

Brian- groomsman and Sean's friend

Brian lives in Iowa City and is graduating this May from Iowa.  We were on the swim team together at Iowa for three years and we were roommates my senior year.  He is a really loyal friend, and I know I can trust him with anything.  He is a cinema major and has a passion for music.  If you haven’t seen Piranha 3D, you should.  It is one of our favorites.  Brian has an internship this summer helping out with the production of a movie, so he will get to be part of making a film.  I know he will soon be making his own movies and hopefully I will be able to be in one of them.

And my bridesmaids...
Ashley- Maid of Honor and Amanda's sister
Ashley is the older of my younger sisters (does that make sense?) She is also at the University of Iowa studying integrative physiology and applying to become a dentist this summer. She works so hard at school and work! I am so impressed with how much time she puts into it and how focused she is. I have so many great memories of us growing up together. Ashley was the one who got me into swimming for the first time when I was ten years old. We swam together for many years in the YMCA and club. We were both backstrokers and became State Champions in the Medley relay together in 2006!

Jana-bridesmaid and Amanda's cousins
Jana lives in Ankeny with her fiance, Matt, and works at Dole Distributing in Des Moines. Her and Matt are getting married just 2 weeks before Sean and I (we have a busy summer!). Her mom/my aunt, Diane, watched Ashley and I when we were really little while my mom worked. I have so many memories of all of us playing "school" or "work" in old heels on and rollerblading in their basement. I also always loved to come over to their house and jump on the trampoline in the summer with the sprinkler under it. Also, Jana has a connection with my most embarrassing moment. 


Here I will explain: she was only one year ahead of me in school and she was MUCH cooler than I was and had really cute guy friends in high school. One day I had my packed lunch, as always, in a brown paper sack and there were about 5 guys (Jana's cute friends) walking towards me. Somehow my lunch bag ripped open and my yogurt plopped out, and when it hit the floor the yogurt squirted out of the container and go onto one of her friends. My face was probably 5 shades of red darker than a fire truck at this point. Instead of saying anything (I was awkward back then) I kept my face down to avoid any eye contact, picked up my lunch, and walked ran as fast as I could to my lunch table. Yup, it was pretty traumatizing...

Jana and I at my cousin Jill's wedding

Abby-bridesmaid and Amanda's sister
Ok Abby is my youngest sister and she's 13 going on 24. She enjoys hanging out with her friends, shopping, chasing boys, and playing volleyball (she's basically the opposite as me when I was her age) Although we are 9 years apart I love hanging out with her! Abby is hilarious and very sweet! One funny thing she has done recently is on Pinterest she pinned a picture of a sparkle wall and the comment she posted below says "sequin wall...shut up!". I'm not sure if it will be funny to anyone else, but I laughed hard for a good couple minutes when I read it. She also is a great cook and can bake some awesome cupcakes and cookies!

To all of our wedding party: We are so thankful for you guys being part of our wedding day! We love you guys and can't wait to celebrate with you all soon! 

3 month countdown...postponed

No we didn't forget about our countdown! It is 3 months from today and not that far away at all!!! Sean and I are in Boone this weekend to celebrate one of his niece's birthday and his other niece's baptism. We thought of a really good idea to do for our countdown on the way home last night. But, I want to include pictures that I will have to find. So I will do that and post it in (hopefully) a few days. Hope you guys have a good weekend!!

If you like it then you better put a ring on it...

Well Sean already put a ring on it. But, we bought 2 more rings last week. That's right our wedding bands! They should be in this week so we can pick them up and try 'em on. I'm excited! It's a great feeling to keep checking things off the list :)

We ordered them from Helzberg's diamond at the mall here in Coralville. They were having a big sale; especially on Sean's Palladium ring! We ended up saving quite a bit on both of them.

Also, sorry for the lack of blogging lately. These last couple weeks have been JAM-PACKED and it's only going to continue for the rest of April. Is April busy for anyone else, too? I'll be sure to stop back again soon to tell you about our first wedding shower with my family and Easter. Fun times :)

Aaaaand something to leave you with. Sean and I's new favorite show (I know it changes all the time). Monday nights. Fantasy Factory on MTV. I laugh so hard. every episode. I even took a half hour off from studying last night to watch the show. Then I stayed up until midnight. My normal bedtime is 10. No, I'm not the average college student :) If you watch the show and the making of the video it may be more funny. Enjoy!

More from Spring!

the high temp for today is supposed to be 81!! I love it! So here is what has been going on in the last couple weeks....

Last weekend Sean and I made homemade queso. We attempted to make the kind from Pancheros but I couldn't find a recipe. Instead, I found a few white queso dips and then combined the two to make our own recipe. It turned out DELICIOUS! Sean even said it may be even better than Pancheros :)

Here is the recipe we "made up":
2T diced onion
1 small jalapeno (finely diced)
1t chopped garlic
2T diced tomato
1/4t cilantro
1/3 block of velveta blanco
1/2 block of Monterey Jack cheese
shake of black petter
half-and-half (used to create the consistency you want at the end)

First, we chopped all of the ingredients and then sweated the onion and jalapeno until they were soft.

Then we added the garlic, tomato, and cilantro. Then with the stove on med-low we added the cheese and a little half-and-half and stirred occasionally until smooth.

Lastly, I added more half-and-half to make it a little more runny (like it is at Pancheros).

Then, we got some blue corn chips and enjoyed our wonderful creation!

So that was last weekend. Now for this weekend. Yesterday Sean and I attended the College of Pharmacy Ball at the IMU. Many of my classmates, professors, and Deans were there. It was a lot of fun to dress up and hang out with everyone!

Before the Ball, a bunch of us went over to some friends' apartment to pregame. They made some awesome jell-o shots and buffalo chicken dip! My friend Katy also shared a few cans of Jeremiah Weed with me. It's like an alcoholic Arnold Palmer. And it is GOOD!! Thanks again Katy! Other than visiting and enjoying drinks and food of course we took a few pictures :) Sorry I don't have one where we are all looking at the camera. There were 4 guys trying to take pictures at the same time. chaos.

don't I have gorgeous friends??

Sean's still  (a tiny bit) taller, even with my wedges :)

"the married row + Katy" Brittany, me, Katy, and Abby

Thanks friends for an awesome night!! We had a lot of fun :)

honeymoon is booked!

That's right! We booked our honeymoon flights on Tuesday. So do you wanna know where we are going??

I'll give you a few hints...it's south, it has sand, beaches, a pool, and tourists.

Still not narrowing it down??

Ok, here are some options...
A. Dominican Republic
B. Mexico- Riviera Maya
C. Caribbean cruise
D. Key West

and the answer is (drum roll) KEY WEST!!! We are so pumped and we are already counting down the days! It's 233.

Sean and I are heading to the Keys over my week long Thanksgiving break! Even though it is my favorite holiday (and will miss all the amazing food) I know we will have an amazing time! We were trying to plan it out so Sean won't have to take as much time off work. So with this trip he will only have to take 3 days off work for us to go on our week long vay-cay.

In addition, we will be going on a short mini-honeymoon right after we get married (I'm crossing my fingers Sean says Chicago). So, with our plans going accordingly, we will get 2 vacations with Sean only taking 5 days off of work. Not bad :)

So here is a little about the other options listed...
A. Dominican Republic. We were looking into going to a resort in the Dominican Republic over my Christmas break this year. But, we got the estimates back for how much it would cost and WOW we were shocked!! I guess going to a tropical destination in the middle of winter is common? Who knew?

B. Mexico-Riviera Maya. There are plenty of awesome resorts down there but we wanted something a little bit different.

C. Caribbean cruise. I've been on a cruise before and it was great. But, I would have rather stayed at each individual island for a week instead of getting back on a boat.

D. Key West. It's perfect for us! We couldn't ask for a better place for us to spend a relaxing week together. Sean has already said he can't wait to buy books and read them next to the pool all week. I on the other hand can't wait to go to the beach every day and finding the best key lime pie :)

engagement pictures: session 2

As I talked about in my last post, here, my friend Jenni took some more pictures of us 2 weekends ago. Again, we had so much fun with her and the pictures turned out fantastic!! The models were far from being professional or anything, but she did a fabulous job :) There are so many to choose from, but here are a few of my most favorite

When I my dad saw these pictures, apparently the first thing he asked was if I was aware of the holes in my pants. And, yes, yes I was aware. 

I stopped by her apartment last night to pick up the disc of these photos. When I almost arrived I turned a corner and saw a lot of colors in my rear view mirror. I immediately stopped (only after determining it was safe) and was again a little bit of a photographer myself and took a picture of the sunset on my phone. It was gorgeous :) I LOVE sunsets!!

Thank you again, Jen for a fun time and all the amazing pictures!!!

More from Spring Break

well it is officially the first day of Spring!! I did a post on the first day of fall because it was our favorite holiday. I kind of skipped over the first day of winter, but it kind of feels like we skipped the entire season. It never really got super cold or very snowy, which I am perfectly okay with! Probably the prettiest snow fall of the year was just a couple weeks ago and then all of it was gone again in a couple days. That's my favorite; a little snow and then it melts fast.

Anyways, the rest of my spring break was fabulous!! I couldn't have asked for better weather! I laid out a few days and I think I may have even gotten a little color :) That's right in Iowa AND in March!

one night last week it was the same temperature in Punta Cana, Key West, and Ankeny!

Remember our checklist? I got a lot of stuff checked off

1. paint flower pots
2. figure out something old, new, borrowed, and blue
3. book our salon for the day of the wedding
4. blog...yes I have to put it on the to-do list to make sure I do it!
5. scrapbook (not necessarily wedding-related but want to do)
6. finish invitations
7. appointments: decorator, cake, dress, tuxes, caterer, rehearsal dinner caterer, pianist
8. shopping for ties, flower girl dress, and shoes
9. make a map of the Enrichment center
10. figure our escort cards and guestbook
11. and a few other detail things that I'm going to keep secret

We are still on the lookout for ties and I still need to get my sister Abby some shoes for the wedding. I think I am almost set on deciding my old, new, borrowed, blue. And I'm still deciding exactly what to do for our guestbook. 

here's just a tiny sneak peak of our invitation

Most of the invitations are printed...they just need to get put together. In case you were interested in the whole DIY invitation deal. BY FAR the worst part of it was cutting!! I really enjoyed the designing process, but cutting it all out stunk...big time!


This past Sunday my friend and ex-roomy, Jenni, took some extra engagement pictures for us! She's so talented! We also had a lot of fun just hanging out with her for a couple hours that morning :)

here is the first picture she gave to us. I reeeeaally like it :)

Later that day, we played bags outside and I tried to be a little photographer myself by trying to recreate this picture.

here is ours...

 P.S. I had to crop our picture a lot because you could see up my shorts. lol. We'll try again another time :)


All in all, I'd say I had a very successful and awesome break!

more color!

This morning I woke up and read emails. My mom had sent me a post from this scrapbooking website. The topic of this one article/post is all about the color coral! It talked all about how between the 2011 Pantone color of the year being honeysuckle and this year it being Tangerine Tango there is a lot of shades of the color out in the scrapbooking industry! I'm just hoping the men's tie-making companies catch on soon so we can find some neat ties for the guys by the time our wedding rolls around.

Here are some more products from the site with all the coral

There is even a whole stack of paper called Coral Couture