Wedding Plans ramp up again

It's good to have my girl back again. After the long time working for her test, it's done and Shannon's stress level is back to a more normal level.

To celebrate, since Shannon wanted a malt, we headed down to Drake Diner for dinner. I love that place. Good food. Good price. Her malt was good and my shake was good too.

Afterwards we went to Nacho Libre. The reviews that I had read were rather mixed. Either people loved it, or hated it, which sounds like Napolean Dynamite. I laughed and I thought parts were stupid...pretty much just like the previous movie. So I'm mixed but I'd probably watch it again.

Saturday, we lounged around for a good part of the morning, and then when we were ready, we headed over to University Photo and dropped off a few slides and photographs to get resized. Not to bad a price. I'm sure if I wanted to deal with my old scanner, I could probably have done it myself, but when it comes down to it, I'm not even sure that scanner works, or that I even have it anymore...

Anyways, we went grocery shopping, got home and started working on invitations.

We've gotten them designed and test printed and it's all good. And maybe, just maybe, if we do it right, we'll be able to get the maps, response card and invite in there and still remain under an ounce (thus not having to add extra postage). Shannon scanned through the stamps and foud a couple of designs that we wanted to use. So we ordered oh around 200 Stamps for around 70$. Initially when I've thought about ordered just single books of stamps, they were a little obnoxious on the price, but when you buy a lot, it's not so bad to pay $1 for shipping and handling.

Shannon talked to her mom a bit and while she was doign that I investigaged M&M prices. So we ended up getting 5 pounds of pink M&Ms, 5 Pounds of White, and 5 Pounds of Silver. Then we added a couple of custom printed M&Ms, and got 2 pounds (4 8oz bags) of a mix of Pink and White with our names on them and then another 2 pounds of a mix of dark pink and silver. So I cannot believe that we ordered 19 pounds of M&Ms or how much we paid for them, but they'll make a nice give away. We will have to have a M&M packing party (no eating of the wedding M&Ms).

Today we plan on checking and finalizing directions and maps and get the final weight of the invitation...then maybe start printing.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Chicago to see Radiohead. My seat is pretty good, but I'll miss not having company. I think a big part of the fun of going to a concert is going with someone else. But I'm not missing the show. 6 hours there and and another 6 on the way back, probably puts me home (depending on the show's end time) at 5 in the morning on Tuesday. Good thing I took Tuesday off too.

a few days that fall on the weekend

So Saturday we met up with Chris and Holly and Holly's mom down at the Greek Food Fair, which, to our surprise, wasn't actually open, yet. Apprently they expanded their hours to Saturday...but only Saturday evening (Chris and Holly already had plans for the evening). So we chatted and ended up going to Cookery.

The food was good. We had scheduled to go to X-Men 3 the next day, but decided to go on Saturday instead. So we headed over to the Cobblestone 9. It was actually kind of funny when Shannon and I went in, cause it was showing on so many screens, we actually tried 2 screens before we actually got the right one. There was nobody taking tickets and directing traffic, so it made it a bit hard to find the right one.

Shannon and I headed home after the movie, and just kind of hung out the evening. We ended up watching Austin Powers: Goldmember and since our next day was to start so early, we went to bed.

5:AM Sunday rolls around.

5:AM is really early, espically on a Sunday when you just kind of want to be lazy all day.

I got up and got ready and Shannon didn't much feel up to it. She was having a common side effect of the antibiotic that she was on, that prevented her from headed out with me. We were under the impression from a call to the Doctor's office that we would be able to change the perscription that we had witht he pharmacist, if the side effect continued. So when it opened we headed down there to get it changed, and we had no such luck. So Shannon will be calling the doctor today to get a new perscription....or at least talk with them about it.

So, making sure it was ok with Shannon, I headed up north. It took a bit shorter then I thought it was (It's about a 160 mile drive, Chris, so about 2 hours or so, not 3). I got to the Mormon church in Albert Lea. I was a bit early, so I thought I'd wander around for a bit and take pictures of the building...it didn't take very long, since it's a lot smaller then most churches that I've been to.

Eventually, other family (Including grandma, with her first trip to church since she went to the nursing home) showed up and we were probably about 1/3rd of the people there. The blessing of Hyrum and Diane's new baby was about 10 minutes, and I kinda sat around for the rest of the meeting.

Afterwards I called and checked on Shannon to see if she needed me to come home (she didn't). So I helped my dad take Grandma back to the nursing home (my first visit there, yes I know, I'm a bad grandson). After that, he led me over to Hyrum's house and I hung out while they setup to grill and sever a small army of people. Diane's parents needed to head back to Wyoming, so they wanted to take off pretty quick, and so lunch was cooked in two shifts.

Burgers, brats, hot dogs, potato salad, and other various things made up the meal. It was nice.

Around 1ish the rest of the faimly showed up from church and the 2nd shift began.

I had a nice conversation with my cousin Mike (who I have seen from time to time). It was interesting we talked a bit about HBO's Big Love and other things. It was kind nice. I hadn't really sat down and talked to him in a long time.

I had some rubarb pie (Mom made), which was pretty good. I took some of it home and had it for dinner (Shannon's not a huge fan of rubarb. I took lots of pictures, played with some kids.

I guess the funny comment of the afternoon was when I explained that Shannon wasn't feeling well, Brent asked if it was morning sickness...which it's not.

Around 3 or so, I headed back home.

I cooked dinner, and for a while, we worked on an assignment that was given to use by the officiant for our wedding. He basically asked us to write how you feel in you head and in your heart about what the marriage should be and write how you are going to seek to accomplish that. Which is a bit harder then it sounds. He also told us to bring along some music if we want it in the wedding. So I have a thing or two in mind.

If what we wrote is not exactly what he wants then I guess we'll have to try again...but I think it is...

We are at about 110 Days to the weding...so things are getting pretty close.

Adam and Tiffer get hitched

So this was the first event that Shannon's really felt well enought to do something. So we got all dressed up (Shannon in her new black dress) and me in my dress shirt and slacks (like normal). I was putting my wallet and etc in my pocket when I discovered that my phone was missing. After searching a bit more we discovered the problem and we headed out.

We drove to the Gloria Dei church and headed in. I like the stained glass and the design of the church, although their are a few things, that I don't like, but over all it's a fiarly modern design, but still has a very strong religous feel to it.

Adam, Josh, Drew, and Ryan all looked very handsome and respectable in thier tuxedos. Tiff's bridesmaids were all very pretty. The combination of Pink and Green was a very good one. Tiff was very beautiful in her dress.

The ceremony was a bit dry and long and I almost wished I would've kept track of how many times he said "marriage" or "Love". But Adam and Tiffer looked very nice up there and it was nice over all.

Afterwards we headed towards the Comfort Suites for the reception. They are located right next to Living History Farms. We headed in and the place was decorated nice, but it ended up being a little crowded (I think more people showed up then said they would.

Dinner was a build your own pasta bar, which was...well...OK. Nothing to memorable about it. The Champagene cake was pretty good (it was in the other room).

Adam and Tif did kind of mash the cake into each other's faces, and as they passed by to go clean themselves up, Adam did say that he had gotten cake up his nose.

It was cute.

At around 10:PM we said our goodbyes to the happy couple and the rest of the people we knew there and headed out.

Oh, and since Shannon likes sparkly wrapping paper, I did get some sparklys over what I was wearing.

Wedding Spoons and Shannon's Sick

So Vanberia International Gifts, called me back and they did have them, in stock, just in a diffrent place then where they thought they would be. So I ordered them and they shipped it...and fast too, cause we got them yesterday. Now we're down to gifts for people...and M&Ms I remembered those earlier today.

Also, Shannon's been sick. She took of Tuesday and Wednesday off and stayed at home. She actually did go to work today, but she's still feeling it and will be going to visit the doctor this afternoon (after her short day of work). Although, I must say that she seemed a lot better this morning then she did the previous two, but still not 100%.

I hope she gets better.

Wedding stuffs and fun with math and etc

So I got a call yesterday from That Irish Shoppe and they told me that they got the replacement box for the flutes that we ordered and the cake knife and server were there if we wanted to have them.

So I was a bit suprised by the box. They were nice wooden boxes, lined with cloth. So they were a quite bit better then the black cardboard like boxes that we had gotten before. So the cake server and knife were pretty and the quality that I've come to expect from Mullingar Pewter. So I ended up getting those too. I think as far as that goes we just have to get some presents for people in our wedding and the Nordic Wedding spoons (which we should get a better idea about when we go up to NE Iowa this weekend).

Last night Shannon started to work on practicing the math stuff for her vet tech exam, and I helped her out a bit...some I did good at, others not so good. I think we were using the wrong formula though...We're gonna work on it some more tonight. I vaguely remember some of it from Chemistry, but I don't think I've taken a chemistry class in 8 years...

Jen stopped by last night to drop off maps of Northern Iowa, and so we broke out our new camping gear and setup our new tent. It was pretty easy to setup...We got it up and down in about 30 minutes (and that's the first time too). I don't think it'll be so bad, camping this weekend. The air mattress and etc will certainly make it a lot easier to sleep on the ground. I still worry about my condition on CPAPless sleep. I'll probably just be tired. But it's gonna be like not really sleeping for 2 overnights... I supposed if I really wanted to I could get a battery pack for it, I think they said something about it, when I first got it...but considering how expensive that thing was, I'm guessing that a battery would be too (looks around the internet and finds a battery pack for ~$400). Oh well...I guess my only task is to remember to bring earplugs for everyone else.

Oh yeah...engagement pictures..

We had engagement photo's taken at the Greenwood Park Rose Garden behind the art center. We are pretty happy with a few of 'em (which is pretty much all you need).

We already printed out some and gave to parents (who will then give to grandparents) and Nate and Jenny and Shannon's Sister.

I'll eventually get one up here somewheres.

Some Stuff...

So on monday night we had a meeting with the person that will be Pastor of our wedding. He seemed pretty cool, but while we were about to headed over there it just poured on our car...of course it almost stopped by the time we got there, and we had there was a beautiful rainbow. We talked about how we met, what we like in each other and all that, and we went away with an assignment (to write what we expect out of the marriage and how we expect to accomplish it) and bring it back when we meet again. He is an assistant pastor at a church (I forget which one) but he is also a chaplain at Iowa Health Des Moines, which is kind of funny since I work for Iowa Health System (sort of like the parent company).

Last night at Chris and Pat's we watched The Apartment, which, while it was good, it wasn't exactly great, and I don't understand why it was on the list AND I dont understand why it won all those academy awards... Oh well it was a good time. The night started off a bit odd, when we went ot the Jimmy John's over there and went to get a sandwhich, and we found that...well...they didn't have any bread....It's 6:30 (dinner rush not over yet) and they didn't have any bread...and wouldn't for another 30-45 minutes...that's a treat. We ended up ordering pizza.

Another busy week

So on Sunday we headed over to the east side to Courtie's Graduation party. It was a good time...even though, intiially, we were confused, since we didn't recognize anyone at first, but then saw Courtie's mom and continued from there. The food they had was pretty good (cavatelli). It was a good time. Even though Jen already said it, we did get to see Courtney nekked...well a picture, when she was a youngester, playing in the mud....naked... A bit later we headed even futher east to Jerry and Renee's Baby shower at Renee's sister's. We arrived a bit late, since the time of both the partys overlapped. But in hanging out there, when we got up to go, I couldn't find one of my shoes. Apprently one of the children had carried it off into the kitchen. Afterwards we headed home for the day.

Wednesday we had movie night at Chris and Pat's. We watched Guess Who's coming to Dinner. It was pretty good. Great charecters and a topic that could still be consider sensative today (though much less so). They certainly played it off pretty well though. Is a well educated, important, sensative person, even though they are of a diffrent race, ok to marry your child? Or on the opposite side, someone who's well bred and rich good for you child? It was a good movie, and a good way to spend the evening.

I've started to help Shannon study for her upcoming exam (in June). I really think that she is an auditory learner.

Thursday night, I made a Jerk chicken marinade (out of a recent Bon Appetit. I had to modify the recipe a little since they didn't have any habenero peppers at the store...actually both stores I went to, I ended up using jalapeno peppers. I left the chicken to marinade over night....it was very green.

So I put the chicken into the oven about an hour before my Parents, oldest sister Cara, and youngest brother Isaac got here. This was, I think, the last of my siblings that Shannon needed to meet.

So I also made my first risotto too. I couldn't find the rice that was suggested to use and only one kind of medium grain rice. I made it to match with the chicken, and it turned out very well...I used olive oil, a white onion, green onions a coupel of jalapeno peppers (all choped up), the rice, some white wine, heated up chicken broth (store bought) (a lot more then I thought would be in there), and then finally some spices (ginger, basil, and crushed red pepper) and quite a bit of parmesan cheese.

I gotta say that I was really happy how both things turned out. In what I read about risotto is that it is easy to mess up, having it go to long, stiring to much, or to little, to hot or to cold...so I was happy with the taste and the consistancy.

The jerk chicken was good too. It was at about the limits of Shannon (and also Cara's) spiciness. But it was so good. Spicy...the mixture of spices (a lot more then I thought would be in there) along with the heat from the peppers.

The food got good reviews all around the table, and everything (even the two baggetts) was devoured (no leftovers). Joseph did miss out, but we sent him some of the suace I made from the jerk merinade.

We all headed down to Stam for some Gellato and afterwards they left and we headed home.

It turned out pretty good :)

Coming up:

Third round job interviews
3 days off
Matta's coming up to visit
Mother's day
Pastor visit (for marriage ceremony)
Engagement Photos
Memorial Day weekend (camping)!

Weekend Full...

So we, at much prompting from Shannon, decided that we should clean up all the leaves that I failed to clean up before winter. So we did so.

4 or 5 Hours and 11 bags later, the yard was much much cleaner and ready to be mowed over (of course the ground is far to wet to actually mow).

Afterwards, we ate lunch, Shannon Napped and time passed.

We headed down to eat at the Raccon River Brew Pub downtown, to investigate the possibility of having the rehersal dinner there (Shannon said it's ok, So I need to call them now). I like their food, it's good and pretty, without being too expensive.

We were panning on going to V for Vendetta, but got a call during dinner from Josh and he wanted to go bowling...since Shannon didn't so much want to see the movie, it was an easy sell.

So we went home, watched a movie and then headed out to the bowling alley.

Apprently EXTREME bowling doesn't start until 12:30, instead of 11, so We (Josh, Lindsay, Lindsay's sister and her friends) headed to Josh's and watched March of the Penguins. When the movie was almost done, Josh et all headed off and we finished watching the movie and when home to go to bed.

The next morning we headed out to Jordan Creek for Shannon's makeup appointment (for the wedding). So I wandered around the mall, drooled over some stuff at the apple store (no buying anything until new version comes out or ipod dies (whichever comes first)). Looked at some stuff at Williams Sonoma. I ended up buying a card game book (rules on hearts and etc) and Risk GodStorm (on the Vossinator's Suggestion).

After Shannon was done, we headed over to the surrounding stores and she went to Old Navy (for shorts and shirts for summer) and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond. I drooled over a stainless steel wok and grill pan from
Calphalon. I ended up getting a can opener to replace the one we have (this one not being an electric one, cause it saves counter space).

Then we headed to Target! I bought some shorts and a pair of swim trunks and shannon got some more makeup stuff and some shorts.

All said, we spent quite a chunk of money....but it's all good, preparing for summer and all that.

Wedding Reception and Shannon's Birthday (at least the start of)

So yesterday morning, I got up while Shannon was at work and instead of being lazy, like I normally do, I ran a bunch of errends.

I started off at Kitchen Collage and picked up a new flour sifter. The one I have is not only small, but crappy to and doesn't work very well. I got one which looks pretty much like the one that my mom has (used it today, it works much better then the other one). I asked about a spice mill. They didn't have one, or at least not one that was specifically labed a "spice mill", she suggested that I head over to Younkers or Bed Bath and Beyond.

I headed over to the Post Office and dropped off a net flix movie and then headed out to West Des Moines. First stop was bed bath and beyond, where they suggested I use a pepper mill...which I bought, it was pretty nice, stainless steel, ceramic on the inside (it actually worked pretty good too). I was kind of offended when they just assumed that I was running an errend for someone else...but I guess I am a guy so it's not what they are used to.

Then it was off to the Waterfront to buy lobster. They do have lobster that crawl around in pools of water, but I'm not ready for that yet, so I asked and they had freshly frozen lobster in 2 pound packages. I bought, was a little stunned by the price, but headed off.

Next was CostCo. I bought a few things that we needed (Orange Juice, chicken, etc). Lots of free samples to try (which was good since I hadn't eaten yet).

Then I headed to hy-vee to get the rest of the ingrediants that I needed for the cake and pasta I'm making today. (More free samples). I was hungry so I did buy things that I probably shouldn't have (ice cream and chips (new flavors I haven't tried yet).

Then I headed towards home and stopped at a health/organic food store. And then I picked up some lavender blossoms..mmmm...lavender. It was a bit wierd, since they were self service.

I got home and put the grocerys and things away, and when I was about to head out to go to la mie to pick up something for breakfast/lunch (mocha and croissant), Shannon got home. So I said hello, showed her some of the things that I bought (espically the Hershey's Extra Dark) and then headed out to get my breakfast while she headed upstairs to get ready to go to Jerry and Renee's wedding reception.

After I got back and got dressed, she was ready and we headed south...way far south, further south then I thought. It kept going and going...Anyways, we eventually found the place, which was on the top of a hill and had a great view of the Iowa Countryside. There were a large segment of people there I didn't know, but it was shortly supplemented by lots of people I did (which made me more comfortable). It was a lot of fun. Renee's showing quite a bit (they've been married for 3 months). And they both looked happy. Shannon also wore her new earrings for the first time. They look really good, a good balence between size and lack of gaudyness. A nice spread of food, a pretty cake and even some cheese cake and cookies. We left around 6:30 and headed home.

We thought about going up north to Ames to help celebrate in Briana's birthday party, but Shannon was tired, so we stayed home instead.

Shannon's Birthday

So Shannon woke me up this morning when she stirred a bit. So I got up and took a shower and came downstairs and played Civ 4 and listened to my iPod, so I wouldn't disturb her sleep. It was actually kind of nice. Most Sundays, I wait for her to get up before I even think about getting ready for the day, but I was all clean by the time she got up.

She went downstairs to excersize, while I played, and then upstairs to get ready, while I played, and then we headed to La Mie for brunch, when she was ready.

The food, as always was very good. She had a breadcrumb and prochuitto omlette and I had Pain Perdu (a version of french toast). It was very good, as always. We headed to Dahl's and picked up some bread there from Basil Prosperi (Challla), since they didn't really have any at La Mie when we got there.

We headed home, and while Shannon was lounging (since it is her birthday), I started to bake the cake. Shannon eventually headed upstairs to nap.

Right now the cake is done and cooling in the pans.