My baby sister got married. Here she is walking into the church... she was relaxed at least. I know it's a bad picture because it's so far away but this is the happy couple. They were both so relaxed all day it was awesome.
haha... this picture is my favorite. We took the bus bar hopping before the reception and we were playing the Crocodile, Crocodile... game but we couldn't remember the words so we just slapped each other and then yelled and laughed a lot. It was a good time.

Here is my entire family including Mr Wonderful. No really, he is wonderful. All day he told me how much fun he was having and how he loves my family and then all night he told me how happy he was to be there with me. He's pretty much the greatest thing ever.

My family is funny. The youngest is the tallest and the oldest is the shortest but the shortests' husband is the tallest. so basically my oldest sister's family is the extremes. oh but those kids of hers... THEY are cute!

i was a sweaty mess but here is a picture of us dancing. doesn't he just look happy?? i thought so too.

on a wedding side note... i've started to think that maybe marriage itself isn't all that bad. i feel like it changes things and there is no way around that but i think those same things change after 5 or 6 years anyway. i'm sure a spark will sizzle out from time to time but i know there will be more sparks. i don't like to say this because i don't regret my first marriage, but i wish i had known then what i know now. i may never have gotten married. then again i'm a pretty stubburn person and i don't like to be told what to do so i probably would have gone through with it anyway. and i did love him, just not the way i should have.

i wish i knew how good it feels to be completely yourself and know that you're loved. to look at someone and just get them. i may not know what he wanted to be when he was little... it was a truck driver or a farmer for the record... but i do know that he loves the badgers and brewers more then any professional football team. i know he likes desserts more then any meal. i know how he likes to be kissed and how he likes to have his arms around me when he sleeps. i know back scratches can get him to do almost anything and that he won't use a clippers to clip his finger nails. i know that when he looks at me and smiles he means it and that his kisses are genuine. i love how he lets me make desicions and always includes me input when he's making them. i love how he knows what bugs me so he avoids it if possible. how he kisses my forhead with the exact right amount of pressure and how his eyes sink when i get sick. i love everything about him.

i think i might be ok with marrying this man. shhh... don't tell anyone though. :)

This is my last day with Savanah. Here she is resting on the kitchen floor.
Here is my favorite boy and girl in the world. I love them sooooo much!

I have been doing more then just watching a dog sleep lately...

I've been diligently taking care of flowers. I HAVE NO GREEN THUMB! Do not for one second thing that I do. However, there are so many BEAUTIFUL gardens in the yard that Mr Wonderful and I decided this year we were going to do our best to care for them. (Last year, we didn't do much to them.) So last fall we planted tulips. Don't they look wonderful? Oh and we bought ourselves a new grill. Now we have a pretty red gas grill on our deck. It's like having flowers out... you can just sit and stare at it. No, we really do use it. Quite often actually. I love cooking a grill because there is practically NO CLEAN UP. Last night we have this cheesy sausage ring bologna wanna be thing and fried tators and onions in aluminum foil. AMAZING. Oh and we had salads but that doesn't require cooking anyway. All I had to do was throw our plates and stuff in the dishwasher and presto wham-o... a clean kitchen.

Not sure if I mentioned this but a few weekends ago we had my sister's 2nd bachelorette party. (That first was last Nov in VEGAS!) These are the last 5 standing. my sister is in the bright orange. The one in the polka dots is our cousins Sara, she's not in the wedding. The other three are me, cousin Ashley, and joey's cousin, Dana. The three of us ARE in the wedding.

Here's the entire group that went out for dinner at Pedro's, Pedro's Making Mexican... (You must sing that while you read it... it's the rule.)

The wedding is this coming weekend... only like 4ish days away! I can't wait!!!

Big weekend coming up. Friday we're getting pedi's and mani's. Then rehearsal and a cook out following at the park. Then Saturday is the big day... (I really need to write or at least think about the speech, being maid of honor is so hard). Sunday my friend is having a cancer benefit. She's 27 and has Stage III Breast Cancer. She's by far one of the most upbeat inspiring person I've ever in my entire life met. She's amazing. Anyway, we have that. Then Monday we have to get the cat from Scott's rents home and come back to dried out weeping flowers that will need my utmost attention.

whew... looking forward to what's to come...

DOGGY UPDATE!

No, she's not dead, she's napping. Having a dog is so elegant when all he does is looks cute and plays dead on the deck. I just tie her up in the yard and she lays here until I force her to come in. She loves it outside and I'm not sure why, she gets sun burns. No really, she does.

Last night we were going to bed so I wanted her to go into her kennel. I told her to go to her kennel and she ran to the back of the house. I assumed she went where she was told but oh no... she wanted a nice warm bath before bed. I think she was feeling a little stressed and wanted to relax. TOO BAD... SO SAD! It was cute though, she LOVES water.

Sunday we took her for a nice LONG walk down by the lake to help tire her out. We were walking along the bike path like normal people but every time we came to a set of stairs leading to the beach she sniffed down them and then looked at us like "Come on guys, there's water down there. I'm not scared of water, I'm a big girl." So eventually we gave in. We just walked along the edge of the water and she's tip-toe in once and awhile and out of no where... she took off into the water with all her energy. She ran back out and was going crazy. Running around kicking up dirt like she was born to. Then she went back to the edge to get a drink. When her head was down a wave came and completely covered her head. She didn't care. She just ran deeper in the water. She went in and out for probably 15 mins and she LOVED it. We had to quite literally DRAG her back to the walking path. She got a nice warm bath when we got home and she was sleeping within mins. What a perfect solution to high energy.

This is where I usually sit during the day. I watch the shows we recorded from the night before and catch up on Sports Center or the news. Not this week. She's taken over. If she's not in the most comfortable chair in the house...

She's taking up half the couch. She's good about staying on her blankets but dude... can you share some of the comfy resting spots?

I LOVE HER and it's been GREAT having her here.

Do you remember her? She's the most precious being in all of the land. She's my Princess Savanah. She's coming to stay with me for a week. She's coming Saturday night and then she'll be here through next Thursday. I can't wait. I have a feeling after like two days I'll be ready to ship her back but for now, I'm really excited. I haven't had a dog around for over a year. I relinquished my rights over a year ago. She was my daughter, I turned my back on her, and now I get a second chance.

ok so it's really not that serious but i am excited to see her again. i hope she lets me sleep and i hope she doesn't run away. or chew on scott's shoes. those are my big concerns. oh and i hope she doesn't pee in the house. yea, that would be bad. having a dog leaves all sorts of possibilities for bad things....

we took the cat to Grandma and Grandpa's on Sunday. she has to go to the vet and get shots and we figured since the dog was going to be here anyway, she might as well go play with the worlds fattiest and laziest cats ever born. we got a report from g-ma she's doing good and is very friendly. i miss her like crazy and i can't wait for her to come home. but again, i'm also very excited to have savanah visiting.

that's it. that's all i have to say. dogs. cats. what has my life come to?

i've been trying to blog all day but blogger hates me... do you blame it? no, me either. but it's a good day and so many days are not good days so i wanted to write.

i wanted to write about how happy i am to be starting school in two weeks and then more permanently in a month. how happy i am that i am nervous. i mean weird, right? but nervous in a good way. in a "I hope I can handle the pressure and I'm ready to find out" way. and although the sun isn't shining today and there are lots of clouds out, it's finally getting warm on a continuous basis. and warm in wisconsin is hard to come by so i want to welcome it with smiles and laughter. i wanted to write how happy i am for my little sister and her most perfect fiance on finally selling their old h0use and buying one closer to their jobs. and how excited i am for them to be able to spend tonight, their first night in their new house, together. how they don't have to live with my parents anymore. and how happy i am that tomorrow we are celebrating said house, her birthday, and her upcoming wedding with a bachelorette party and booze and laughter. AND most of all, i want to write about me. just me. i wanted to let everyone know (even thought no one reads this but they would read this if they had the time and knew it was out there and if i wanted them to, which i'm not sure i do but if you do read this you can tell me. i'd love to hear from you.) i wanted to tell all those people (which is a lot) that it's been almost one year ago that i walked away from my marriage. it was almost one year ago that i stood on my own two feet and i looked christopher in the eyes and said i couldn't do it anymore. ok it was more then a year ago that i did that but almost a year since it was in writing and the courts. it was a scary, lonely time and i hurt someone i loved but in doing so i've made myself so much happier. and by the way, he's finally happy again. i can see it when i see him. his new lady is very much into him and he's very much into her and they are adorable together. they look so much better together then him and i ever did. and let's not lie here, it's been a year since i started to fall in love again. not only with myself, but with the most wonderful amazing man. he's so much of why i'm able to be happy today. it's not him entirely, but by his existing in my life i'm able to look at myself in the mirror and be proud of what's looking back. i'm not beautiful or smart or funny but i'm me and that's ok with me. he gives me the strength to do that. he listens when i know he doesn't care but he pretends anyway. and sometimes i think he even convinces himself that he cares when really i know deep down, there's no way he could care. and he smiles at me when i need just that, a simple smile. he knows when to hug and when to kiss and when to leave me along. he holds me tight when i feel lost and he helps me find my way. he encourages and compliments and he's here. he's just here for me. mr wonderful... thank you.

i wanted to write all that but since blogger hates me i don't feel like writing it anymore.