My, how BIG they are!

Dora and Cora. Cora's giving me that 'you biznatch!' look that only cats can do.

Are you guys sick of looking at my cats yet? Sorry, but I have nothing else but my wedding dress to show, and I don't know if Shaun looks at this, so sorry!

Shtuff

So we're back. We got back at 8:10 yesterday. Got up at 4. That sucked. We had a great time at Shaun's parent's house. We went to Fond Du Lac to get Tyler's present and cruised around Kohl's for a while. That night we went to the Gallagher's to see them and the Mohrs. I always like visiting with them all. :) Saturday was the Bliss X-mas at the Sapalas' house. Everyone was there, and it was fun. It was kinda funny because a couple of Shaun's aunts were all flustered because they felt bad that they didn't get the RSVP in yet. Not a big deal yet at this point, but I will have to start calling next well. We asked his aunt Polly if she'd be willing to do a reading for our ceremony, and she agreed. :) That made me happy. Then after everyone left we had the Sapala family christmas. Shaun's parents were dears and got us our pots and pans! :) Also, I got diamond studs as a 'welcome to the family' present. :) That was so sweet of them! And completely unexpected. Then we went to bed and got up at 4. The flight back was uneventful, except that I had to go to the bathroom and by the time we got up to cruising altitude and could get up and the lady that sat by us was done drinking her coffee, we were on our way down. So I was literally dying 30,000 feet in the air. Something cool, though: I was in 22f (window seat!) and Shaun was in 41C (literally the last row). The seat between me and the lady that I was talking with ended up being empty, and a scary looking guy was looking for a place to sit. So the lady suggested I ask the steward if Shaun could sit by me, and he said yes. So that was really nice, we got to sit by each other on the flight back, instead of being a whole plane apart. AND we got to get off earlier, which was really good for me. Haha. Then we went to my parent's house and opened presents. They made present hunts for all three of us! We had to go outside and tramp around the yard to find our presents. At first I was upset because I was like, 'I don't get these things!!!' and then I was the first one done and I helped Ty and Shaun. :) Mom and dad stayed in the house and laughed at us. The kitkits were there waiting for us, that was nice! Then we went to Lehman's where we had a good time. I slept for an hour while watching the Brothers Grimm with Jen and Shaun. :) It was a good nap. Then we were home again by 8:30. It was good to relax again. :) Hope you all had a wonderful christmas and have a happy new year!

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Which I did. I got a guy who was scared of flying sitting behind me. Thank God he finally fell asleep because until he did he was constantly pushing on my seat. But when he first got on he had to be one of those seatmates that everyone fears - the talker. "Hi, I'm Jim and your name is...? Amber? Nice to meet you. Hi, my name's Jim, and yours is? Jim? Nice to meet you too! Where you going, Amber? Milwaukee? How about you Jim? Milwaukee too, huh? Yeah, I know that that's where I'm going too.... And where's home for you Amber? Downtown? And you, Jim? Brookfield? Ah. Are you guys nervous about flying on planes? You are, Amber? Me too. How about you, Jim? No? You do this all the time? Wow. Are you married? No? Haha. Maybe you are right, maybe the reason you aren't is because you're flying all the time..." Well, you get the idea. That was basically how the conversation sounded. Just not so one-sided. I was so happy when he fell asleep. But then there was the guy next to me - alcohol fumes and snoring. Great. This was our announcement when we got to cruising elevation: Hello, passengers. This is the Captain. I just wanted to let you know that we just reached our cruising elevation and will be beginning our decent shortly. Then we overflew Milwaukee to get lined up for the runway. The lake was freaky. Then I thought I saw a lighthouse (it was an airplane). Then I thought I saw a plane coming at us! (It was the light on the end of our wing). Shaun and the drunk guy laughed at me. I felt a fool. Oh, well. Landing was rough, it was windy. When we touched down we slid sideways a little, but it was allright. Shaun's parents came and picked us up and now we are in Plymouth. :) We our flight out of Milwaukee is at 6 something Sunday morning. Hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

It's been a while...

...since I've put up pictures, so here are some. :)

According to Ty, he drank 12 hours straight with 3 hours of sleep... so at Johnson's X-mas, he slept for a couple of hours, offering us a wonderful chance for photos. He says he decided to bleach his hair out now so that by my wedding it should be long enough to be cut back to his natural hair color. It'd better... ;-)

They sure do love sleeping by your neck. It gets a little overwhelming sometimes.

Looking cute on our kitchen table.

Cora snuggling up to the neck again... she was yelling at Shaun for waking her up.

Playing hard.

Resting well.

For a little humor.

We went and saw the lady who is playing our ceremony music Friday. When she played the processional song I started crying. Haha. But it was all good. I also went and took pics of the way that our room is decorated. It 'goes' with everything that we had planned so far. Yay! Also stopped at Country Inn & Suites. I was very underwhelmed by Trista, the front desk lady that was working. She was extremely unhelpful. Hopefully my guests won't have to deal with her!

Friday night we went to Menomonie for Senior Shows. Next semester I am pretty sure that I am going alone. Or at least without Shaun. He does nothing but drive me nuts the entire time we're there. And when I see old friends and I stop and talk to them I get nothing but attitude. But it was also fun because we picked Andrea up at the MOA and picked up Cory in Meno and met Andrea's bf Brandon @ El Patio. So now my mexican craving is fixed for a while. :) Then we all went to the shows and then had a drinky at The Market.

Yesterday we had X-Mas at the Johnson's. It was a good time. Today we had it for the Sprouls' side. We had great food and got to watch all of the little kids opening their presents. My little cousins are the CUTEST! :)

Tomorrow mom and dad are coming down for my next dress fitting. My mom needs to be there so she knows how to lace me up into my corset back dress!

Also, (and I'm SO SUPER EXCITED FOR THIS, haha) we're flying to Milwaukee! I know, just a little puddle jump, but I haven't been in an airplane since Senior year of high school. It costs $150 with tax for two round trips. Not bad at all. It'd be a shame to have to pass that up. It turns a 6 hour drive there into a 1hour 20min flight and an hour's ride. Ditto on the way back, but that's regularly a 7 hour drive. Awesomeness. :)

***UPDATE***

Seems like for now I get to keep my uterus. Good news. Haha. Okay, so the colposocopy went well, it was a LOT better than my first one. The doc said low grade changes she thinks, and probably not cancer. Good. I told my dad that and he heaved a huge sigh of relief. He was super worried, and I wasn't, not really. So, yay.

After my appointment we went to Bread and Chocolate on Grand. Their cream cheese bran muffins are delish. Then we went to my favorite store that shall remain a secret. Got some great stuff there for the people in my life. I can't wait. I wanted to buy so much more! But no job = no stuff. :) Then we went to the best Wal-Mart that I have ever been to (but still not as good as the meanest Target) and then my fav Target so far.

Weekend

So... Friday the future in-laws came, and it was a good time. We went to Old Spaghetti Factory, and it was delicious. They also like our place. I made a devil's food cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and royal icing snowflakes. Made it all myself. Turned out kinda crappy though since I forgot to flour the cake pans (all we had for flour was soy flour, and I thought that that was weird - didn't know how it'd taste) so when I turned the cake out it broke up and looked ugly. Then I forgot a step in the buttercream frosting so it was kinda oozy. So broken cake + oozy frosting = moving cake chunks. But it tasted delicious. Inbetween the layers I added mint extract to the frosting so it had a slight mint taste. Num.

Saturday we went to Hinckley. I pointed out to Andrea and Leanne 'locations of interest'. We even got to go down Main Street (haha) because I had to drop off a library book. Andrea thought that my high school was teeny. Which it is, compared to hers I am sure. Then I pointed out the Fire Museum, and we stopped at Tobies for gas and Andrea got her dad a caramel roll. Then I pointed out the Honey House which my mom's dad used to own, and the place I had my accident, and my house, and all kinds of fun stuff. When we got to Peggy's there were a few people there. Lena Frye showed up! She said that she was all surprised and happy that I invited her. I was shocked she did, but it was nice. She seems to have settled down, she's still with her Burlington Northern boyfriend, and his 9 year old daughter. She lives with him now in Rush City, and still works slots at the Casino. Jaime was there too, it was so good seeing her again. I felt bad because I felt like I neglected people because everyone was talking to me at once. I couldn't keep stuff straight! And the wine that Peggy kept giving me didn't help. I felt bad for Andrea and Jennifer because they were stuck in the corner, and I hardly got to talk to them there. I hope they had a good time, though!

Yesterday we went to the MOA to do some shopping. Then we came back and Alissa and Tony were here packing up some of Alissa's stuff so we could put out stuff we got for our shower. I got all of the Fiestaware that we registered for! I can't wait to put it in the cupboards and see how pretty they all look together. :) It was a great time.

Weekend/Early week update

First off: These cats are driving me up the WALL!! Haha. I can't wait until they grow up a little bit more!

Saturday night was a good time. It was the fanciest meal I'd ever eaten! It started out with corn chowder, then spinach leaves in fried cheese circles with the YUMMIEST citrus dressing, then the main course (I had the vegetarian meal of herbed penne - delish!) and dessert: raspberry chocolate cake with thick, gooey chocolate frosting. MMM! I couldn't even eat another bite of Shaun's after I finished mine (I know, shock and awe) because it was sooo rich. Then we played blackjack afterwards. I was leery of it, but it ended up being a great time. The dealer was really funny too. I kept catching him turning his hands over like he was on camera or something. :) Old habits die hard. A bunch of us took over one table so that was fun. Then we went afterwards to Shaun's co-worker's place in Eden Prairie. I was getting tired but Shaun was super smashed. He wouldn't shut up! Haha. Usually you can't hardly get anything out of him, but get liquor in him... Dawn (Dan's roomate's gf) told me to have something to drink, and I was like "Someone has to drive home..." And she said, "Oh, yeah." I think she forgot some of us have to drive still since she didn't have to. So I told Shaun that I was ready to go at like, 12:30. We didn't get out of there until about... oh, 2-2:15. AM. And then I had to drive. But it was alright, just a little cold and walking in snow in high heels isn't the best idea... it was icy when we were walking into Hotel Sofitel (where the dinner was) and he was just walking ahead of me and I was just mincing along so I didn't slip. I had to yell at him because he wasn't being a gentleman. Sheesh.

Sunday we went and met Mom, Dad and Ty at Maplewood for them to get fitted for their tuxes. Then we ate at Chili's, and then went to JoAnn and Gander Mtn. Then we came home and did nothing.

Monday night Sarah* came and picked me up and we went to Acme Comedy Club, where she bought me a Peppermint Patty. That thing frickin' rocked. Num. Her brother Ron was also there. We laughed and had a good time. It was Open Mic Night so it's always iffy. Afterwards I went and saw her cute lil apartment and her kitties. I maintain that Vaughn is the size of a small dog - I can't think of what breed right now. ;-) Thanks Sarah* for providing me with a fun night!

Last night I sat on the phone all night because Shaun was at Rob's playing poker. BOOORing. (Poker, that is). Tomorrow I'm meeting a Knottie because I am purchasing candles and a card box from her. YAY! At Cossetta. It's two blocks away from me and I'm going to drive because this card box thingy is HUGE. And we're eating there. An Italian Eatery place.

Friday the future In-Laws are coming, and we're thinking we're going to go eat at Old Spaghetti Factory. Saturday is my bridal shower (Sarah*, do you think you are going to make it?) and I am really looking forward to that. So far it'll be three of us in the car - me, Leanne and Andrea. It'll be fun! :)

My life

I have been trying to figure it out for years... college was supposed to help prepare me, but I feel like it did nothing but discourage me. What a way to start out life. At any rate, I want to know what to do with myself for a career. It has to be creative, I know, otherwise I'd detest whatever I did, but which way? I could do web stuff, graphic design stuff, design wedding invitations, photography, jewlery design, pastry art, so many things. Then I was watching a show tonight about storefront window designers, and that seemed really interesting too. I just feel so lost, without a purpose. I hate sitting here doing nothing all day. I know that there are people who probably think I have it just the way that I want it, but that's not the case. Unless I am doing something that has a purpose, I feel useless. And I don't like feeling like that. I realize that there are no immediate answers, but it's getting on 7 months now, and it feels like forever. I guess I'll have to think about it and talk to the big guy, but I hope something clarifies real soon. I just need that break. Isn't it my time yet? Or maybe I'm just being selfish. There's just so many things that I want to do and can't get going in any of them. Half of it's my fault, and the other half is money.

My little life

So... you guys should be getting those invites now, and the few people I've talked to since then say that they like them. Good. You're listening to me well. ;-) kidding.

We went to see Walk the Line yesterday afternoon. It was super good. I was impressed by the quality. And it may be like Shaun said, a lot of Johnny Cash's songs were similar with similar bass lines, but I still liked them. And I find it hard to believe that it was actually them singing, even though I know it was. And Reese Witherspoon put in a very credible performance. None of her usual ditzy stuff. Even though there was one expression that I saw in the film that reminded me of Legally Blonde. Four thumbs up, we decided.

Shaun's company holiday party is tonight. I don't really want to go. We're going to be playing blackjack and Texas Hold 'Em, taught by professional dealers. Shaun's parents went to something similar for one of his Dad's parties, and they said that was the most fun that they'd ever had at one of those things. I guess I'm just really self-conscious about it all. I hate screwing up and looking like and idiot. That, and I have NO interest in playing Texas Hold 'Em, and I'm sure that that is what Shaun will want to play. Another stressor is that it said semi-formal on the invite, and it's being held someplace fancy, called the Hotel Sofitel or something like that. But when he talked to the guys that he works with, they said that even the president of the company only wears nice khakis and polo or a sweater or something. So since I was going to wear a skirt, and Shaun his suit, we would have been horribly overdressed. So now I am going to wear a long tunic-shirt and a cami underneath and my pinstripe pants, and Shaun's going to wear something nice, also, but not his suit. So hopefully we'll be right inbetween. We'll see.

But all is right in the world since I am getting snuggles from my kitten.


Nevermind, she just chewed my ear and walked down my back with all of her claws.




Edit: I forgot to mention that we at at Dino's Gyros yesterday in West St. Paul. They were delicious! Their french fries were damn good too, best I've had in ages. They're crispy on the outside and slightly squishy on the inside. And they have veggie food too! :)