check out our "other info" tab

or you can click here. But, check it out! There is lots of good information for you and your trip to Ankeny for the wedding!!

We have information on the Ankeny Summerfest that will be going on the weekend of our wedding. There will be a parade, shows, carnival rides, food carts, a beer tent, and lots of fun people to see. Also, if you hang out all weekend there will be a firework show on Sunday night.

Also listed under that page is trails for biking and walking. Ankeny has lots of good trails that many locals use. I have rode the darker blue trail a few times with my siblings. It goes on for a really long time and I July you will be surrounded by tall crops...it's very Iowa-looking. But it's a good flat trail and lots of fun! 

We also have links to weather and and maps of Ankeny. Hopefully those will help you out :)

You can also find information on a few golf courses in the area if that is something that interests you!

bachelorette party part 2

Again, my bachelorette party was this past weekend. I had so much fun with everybody!! You can remember our morning here in my post from Wednesday when I talked about our trip to the Des Moines Farmer's Market and then to Sky Zone. Later in the day, my aunt, cousins, and Annie came over to our house for the rest of the evening's festivities. My sisters and mom made some awesome appetizers! We had crab rangoon dip, fruit kabobs, and veggie pizza. Ashley also made "Love potion" also (it'a drink with frozen lemonade concentrate, sprite, and raspberry sherbet). After our appetizers and a few shots and some champagne I learned what the word "negligee" means :)

the display. The bottom row is our "party favors" from Ashley. She tied small bottles of cake flavored vodka to the small bottles of sprite. They were really cute!

fruit kabobs, veggie pizza, and crab rangoon dip. YUM! 

family. sorry Abby :)

Diane, Jana, and Jill

my dad and I before we left

again, the party favors

shots! don't worry! Abby's was water lol

 After the gifts, we headed to Django's for dinner. Annie bought us our first round of cocktails. They were STRONG, but very good and fruity! my favorite :) I also had a burger. It was amazing!!

Ashley and Jana

Annie and I

Jill and my mom

Abby, Diane, Ashley, and Jana

my burger. yummy!

After dinner, we headed to a few bars downtown. First, the Standard then Johnny's bar downtown. After those two we made our way to Liar's club. We were only there for about 5 minutes before we looked at the TV's and then left. If you wanna know you can ask :) it was hilarious, but we high tailed our way out of there. We were definitely outsiders at that bar, lol.

Jana and I with a lime-a-rita. It's good!! aaaaand NO I'm not drunk, it was just REALLY bright!

We even made it out past midnight, see...

Thank you to everyone that made this day special!! It was absolutely perfect!!

bachelorette party/day part 1

I had my bachelorette party this past Saturday and I couldn't have asked for a better day!! First, we started the day off at the farmer's market in Des Moines and I had my favorite breakfast ever. It was a breakfast burrito, fresh squeezed oj, and a pastry with berries on it. We got to see lots of dogs, lots of pretty flowers, and even got to see a few people from Walmart. I love the farmer's market!!!

everyone before we left for the farmer's market

view from the parking ramp

our beautiful flowers

my burrito!!

my pastry

at the market

we drove by a truck carrying a bunch of pigs and they were sticking their noses out the holes. we thought it was funny!

We allowed ourselves about an hour and a half at the farmer's market before our appointment at Sky Zone in Grimes. In case you don't know what it is...it's like a warehouse that has basically wall to wall trampolines, trampolines on the walls, foam pits, and basketball hoops. It was so much fun, but such hard work! When I was younger I could jump on a trampoline forever, but I got tired so quickly.

our sweet "elf" shoes

bouncing off the walls

Abby

Jana and I doing back flips...she is way better than I am

Ashley

Jana

Jana's got skills

I will talk more about the later part of the day and evening later this week...

2 month countdown

2 months from today we'll be walking down the aisle to get married! Holy cow! This month for our countdown we will be writing about our two lovely parents! We are so blessed to both have such awesome and supportive parents! We appreciate them so greatly for giving us our wedding! 

all of us at Sean's graduation. May 2011

A's parents: I love my parents so much!! They have taught me so much about love and family. When I was growing up they showed me how they love each other and what a good relationship is like. They have instilled in me the importance of family and spending time together. My parents also gave me my wonderful siblings that I enjoy hanging out with (most of the time, lol). Also, they have taught me to "enjoy the journey, not only the destination". On basically any vacation or long trip we have gone on they always talk about enjoying the trip as much as the actual vacation because we are all together. I think I finally understand what that means and have an appreciation for it. I love you guys!!

at my white coat ceremony. August 2010.

S's parents: Dad and Mom, aka Pat and Katie, are the most supportive parents anyone could ask for.  They do so much for me; I won’t even be able to list it all.  Not only did they pay for my entire education and room and board, they attended all of my swim meets in college except one.  They flew all the way to Seattle and have been to basically every Big Ten school that has a men’s swim program.  The same goes for when I was in high school; they never missed one of my events.  I can’t thank them enough for doing that.  They are the two I go to with all my questions, except for Amanda of course.  I am truly blessed to have such supportive and loving parents.  I hope that I am able to do as much as they have done for me when Amanda and I have our own children. 

Senior night of swimming 2011

P.S. watch out for the posts coming up this week! I'll be talking about my busy weekend, bachelorette party, and Mother's day :)

sweet sweet summer

It's over. My P2 year (pharmacy school year 2)! I am officially half way done to becoming a doctor!! Well, that is considering I passed all my classes...just kidding. I did :)

I have already enjoyed some summertime festivities...yesterday afternoon was my last final and some classmates of mine threw a bbq for all of us last night. It was really nice just to relax and have a couple drinks with friends. Also, the weather was PERFECT! 

In addition to hanging out with friends, I'm also looking forward to getting back into wedding planning mode. Until about 3:00 yesterday afternoon my brain was full of COMT inhibitors, 5HT-1A, BB, CCB, NSTEMI, etc. Sorry if you don't know what any of those are. My pharm people know what I'm talking about :) But, anyways, there is still so much left to do before wedding time (64 days might I add). My mom and I have created a list, which is below, and I now feel like I have time to do accomplish some of it!

FYI: if I have abbreviated something and you can't read it, that means it's a detail thing that needs to be kept a secret. Don't worry though, you'll find out/see in just 64 days

1.       Go over wedding service order so you can confirm with Pastor Tim on Saturday

2.       Schedule final meeting with photographer to go over the wedding day schedule and order engagement photo

3.       Schedule make-up session (trial)

4.       Christiani’s

a.       Cake stand ?

b.      Champagne glasses – how much $

c.       Signature drink glasses – what do they look like

d.      Where to set up buffet tables

e.      Do we need to rent more 8’ tables?

5.      Meet with decorator

6.      Wedding program

7.       Escort cards

8.      Table cloths for guest book table, cake table, gift table

9.       Unity candles

10.   LEDC

11.   WB and decorate

12.   Prepare schedule for DJ, provide music list for DJ

13.   Make final payment to Glorious Desserts

14.   Ties

15.   Order tuxes

16.   Alter Ashley’s dress

17.  KT

18.   Menu

19.   TNT

20.   Rehearsal dinner invites

21.   Add golf courses and bike trails to website

22.   Picture and info to Katie for Boone paper

23.   Table numbers

24.   HNG

25.   Talk to 2nd photographer

26.   PB

27.   Pick music for wedding, cocktail hour, and dance

28.   Call county clerks office for marriage license requirements

However, I'm going to take the weekend off to relax and enjoy life again...

the sunrise this morning on my way to work out this morning. beautiful.

our 2nd wedding shower

This post is a few weeks late, but it's better late then never! Many things have come up these past few weeks including many tests and other weekend festivities. Only 2 exams left until summer!!! woot woot!

So, on April 20th all the neighbors from my old "hood" Richland Court threw us a couples shower. It was a great time seeing everyone and catching up; it really has been a long time! In addition to the wonderful company, we also ate lots of really good food and cake.

Barb, Kathy, and Kellie

Tom, Julie, and Katie

Mike, Bob, Dorthy, Julie, and Scott

John and Barb Ledvina put on the "Newlywed Game", which Sean and I won :) We played against my parents and Sean's parents. They think we cheated because we "practiced". For our "training" all we did was ask each other questions a few times a day for the week before the shower. None of it helped though because the questions that were asked were completely new and ones Sean and I did not cover when we "practiced". lol. It was really funny though and it was a little bit of a competition.

John and Barb hosting the "newlywed game"

Dad and mom aka the big losers :) 

Pat and Katie

I think the question was "who is the better packer?"

We also received a lot of advice from everyone at the shower. Both from a book and also personal notes. The notes were very personable and so sweet!


Here are some examples....

• Never go to bed angry. Put a bottle of wine on the table, take a sip after every point you make in the argument, and by the end of the night you won't care who was right or wrong
• Amanda, you have to spend money to make Sean make money
• never go to bed mad at eachother
• Sean, always remember even when you are right you are wrong
• Remember all the special "little moments" from when you were dating. Take time to have fun together even when life gets really busy and demanding.

I especially like the ones about me spending money and that I'm always right :) lol. But, on a serious note, we really do appreciate them and will cherish them! We have already enjoyed reading through them a couple times, and will continue to read through them in the future :)

Here are some pictures of the passages taken from the book. I loved the pictures...

Sean and and I with one of our gifts

Our gorgeous and delicious cake

Thank you again!! Sean and I are very excited to see everyone at our wedding in just over 2 months now!