Two Tickets & Egg Whites Only, Please!

Ya know, I'm really loving all these dates nights we've been going on! This last one, which we went on Monday evening... yes, five days ago, and I'm just now posting... it's been one of those weeks!... Mark surprised me with movie tickets :) He didn't tell me what we were going to see, and there are several out that I've had my eye on, so I was pretty interested to find out which one he'd pick.

He picked right!

We went to see The Vow. About darn time, too! ;)

The best part was that we were the only people in the entire theater. How much fun is that?! Pretty fun, if you ask me.

Here we are:

 

I swear, he wasn't trying to get as far away from me as possible. He's just relaxed, and I'm just trying to get both our heads in the frame. haha

Here's where we sat:

 

I really enjoy how Mark is so much like me and is equally interested in capturing so many things about us that absolutely no one else but us actually cares about. He genius-ly (yeah, not a word, I do that a lot) thought to use his jacket and my purse to mark the spot where we sat. Too cute :)

Here is my favorite part of the entire film:

 Afterwards, Mark was going to take me to Denny's. My mind was already drooling with the possibility of french toast for dinner. Alas, the people at Denny's were in training and the restaurant was closed. Darn you Denny's! With it being rather late and not much left open, Mark opted to take me to the Waffle House that he used to go to when, as he put it, "nothing else was open", which happened to be rather fitting since we were finding ourselves in that particular predicament. 

I should note that I absolutely loathe Waffle House. I was starving. I was in a uber romantic mood because Mark and I just shared a private viewing of a total chick flick that I've been wanting him to take me to see for a long time. So, I took the hook that he bated and agreed to eat at Waffle House. We both ordered the same thing: cheese omlette, egg whites only please! It was... okay. I make them better. The toast was good though, but you really can't go wrong with wheat toast. 

Overall, a great night out. Lot's of cuddles, lots of laughs. With the night ending, we went home and enjoyed our traditional mug of hot chocolate while reading our current book, The Swiss Family Robinson. I've never read it, always wanted to, so we are :)

We're off now to enjoy a rather eventful weekend. Have a good two days off, y'all!

 

Casting Crowns

I have THE BEST BOYFRIEND IN THE WORLD. That's right, no "!!!" necessary. It's a matter-of-fact statement. Mark's the best.

There are several reasons why; I'll blog about one of them now:

For Christmas this year, he surprised me with concert tickets to Casting Crowns. LOVE THEM! They are my most fav christian band :) Here's how he surprised me:

There was a large Precious Moments tin with my name on it. Inside, somewhere in the amiss of styrofoam popcorns was a book. Inside this book cover was a love note written by Mark, and telling me to turn to a certain page. I turned to that page and read the poem, which led me to a Christmas card in which was written another love note and two tickets to Casting Crowns. Probably the most creative and beautiful gift packaging ever :)

  

This past weekend was concert time! Too excited!! We had an amazing time :) As always, we intended to get there a little early, but of course, you know us, we did not. We did, however, actually get there IN TIME! Points for Us :) lol Okay, so here is a shot of us once we got to our seats:

 

The concert was fantastic. We sang, we laughed, we cuddled and swung to the music. It was an absolutely wonderful feeling to know that we were in this stadium filled with other Christians. It was like one big giant church service. Just awesome. Everyone, I mean every single person we saw, had the joy in their heart shining in their smiles. There were no crazy drunk people next to me annoying the crap out of me. There were no obscenities shouted into the crowd. There were no pushing or stealing of seats. Everyone was wearing enough clothes and not-too-much make-up. And my favorite quote of the evening from Mark... "I didn't even smell marijuana anywhere!" Bah-ahahaha! (So true, if you think about it.) 

At intermission, where Mark Hall sent us off by saying "Save a baby, then go get one!" (my second favorite quote of the evening. It's one of those quotes where you kinda have to be there to get it. That man is hilarious for real.) Mark and I made the most ridiculous decision of our lives thus far... we went to go get a t-shirt. BIG MISTAKE (kinda - because I really love my t-shirt) There was only one t-shirt booth! Can you believe that!? Ridiculous. Worth it, though, I suppose. It took almost the entire intermission waddling like freaking penguins to get up to the front of this insane mass of t-shirt wanting fans. Look at my cute new tee, though!

 

...and here are a few of my favorite stage shots...

 

Half way through the concert, Mark switched seats with me. He said he wanted to be able to look at me. AWWW! He wanted to see me singing and praising the Lord and whenever I caught him looking at me I would stop. That was true. I would. Don't know why. Just did. So he switched with me. 

Casting Crowns closed the concert with my favorite song: Until The Whole World Hears. I went nuts :) I was singing, I was dancing, my hands were in the air. Mark got his cute little show. Here's a shot of what was going on on stage while I was doin' my thang:

 

Really. It was like Mark Hall was singing just for me (and you, God, and all). Amazing. I was so happy they closed with that song. 

Concert over. More penguin waddles through the crowd (we got stuck in the t-shirt crowd again on the way out the door). When we got to the outside it looked like there was some sort of mass evacuation and it was just a mess of cars going in every which direction. Total chaos. So, we took the opportunity to have some more fun. We turned the seats down in the back of the SUV, laid out a blanket, and got all cuddly; discussing our favorite moments from the concert, religion, racism, and social media. An hour later we looked out the windows and, finding a completely empty parking lot, got into our seats and drove to Walmart. We had a few things to pick up. 

So we ended our Casting Crowns date night by Nerf sword fighting in the toy department of the Walmart off Zumbehl. Mark picked up his sword first, and in retaliation I grabbed one as well, exclaiming "There can be only one!" (Any of you Highlander fans should get that one!) We both got a few good hits, and then my sword hit a bunch of Star Wars action figures and they fell to the ground, conveniently just as a Wally World employee was turning the corner into our isle, and Mark said "Geez Nichole, I can't take you anywhere!!!"  as he quickly threw his sword back on the shelf and I stood there in the center of the isle, sword in hand, utterly guilty. It was freaking hilarious. 

A perfect ending :)

We're still "Dating"!

Spring is fantastic. Mark and I have been taking severe advantage of mother nature lately. We have found ourselves heading to Forest Park twice since this beautiful weather arrived. Last week, we celebrated our 32-month anniversary. I know, what kind of couple celebrates their 32nd month anniversary? Of course we do!! We celebrate the 13th of every month, not just July :) To mark this specific month, Mark took me out on a date. Ever notice when you get real comfortable in your relationship and there is a tendency to get caught up in work and to-do lists (not the fun kind I'm always blogging about, the never-ending-do-I-really-hafta-? kind.) or doing a lot of "group things" with friends and family? So, as happy as Mark and I are, and we are pretty stinkin' happy, we decided we needed to have more fun just the two of us. Enjoy our time a little differently. We don't want to stop "dating" each other just because we've decided to spend our lives together. Mark said to me "I want to take you out and show the world you're mine." Sounds pretty perfect to me! So, since my favorite place in St. Louis is Forest Park, we've been spending a lot of time there lately.

Anyways, back to last week. Mark heard about a couple of "married" owls that have lived in the park for several years now and they had two owlets. Apparently, this was a BIG deal, because when we got there we arrived to a hefty swarm of people with their cameras aimed at the trees... and you can bet we joined right in! Afterwards, we trailed over to The Great Basin for a picnic right up next to the water and dined to the sunset; snuggling and being all sweet and sappy until the park closed. It was perfect. (Photos are on my Facebook)

We ventured back last night. It was a beautiful night. Perfect weather. I'll post the photos here instead of Facebook, this time:

This little bird we just happened to walk past.

We went to the History Museum (our favorite) to see the Mammoth & Mastodon exhibit.

Cameras are not allowed inside the actual exhibit, so we took a few snappies of Mr. Mastodon on display in the lobby.

The exhibit was actually quite fantastic. Very informative, and incredibly interesting. Mark and I even wrestled with tusks LOL :) He won, but only because my mastodon was handicap and had only one tusk and because he cheated and turned his mastodon's head upside down - which only a demon possessed mastodon would have been able to do in real life. 

I had packed us dinner as well this time, and once the museum closed we ventured back to the car to grab our dinner and then walked a little ways until we found the perfect spot to settle.

Spring trees at night. (Next to the History Museum)

The back entrance of the museum all lit up. Just beautiful :)

 

We found the sweetest place for a picnic, right near a pathway through the park.

 I made super yummy Southwest Kickin' Chicken (Thanks to my friend Kendra, who introduced me to the most amazing chicken spice I have ever had & now always keep in stock!!!)

 

He insisted (because I always insist I photograph him)

And, last but certainly not least, I will end this post with a photograph of the beautiful scene we sat in front of while we enjoyed the last several moments of our date night. Forest Park really is lovely, especially at night.

 

The Great Bunny Rescue

Last night was The Night of The Great Bunny Rescue.

Mark was in the yard doing whatever it is guys do in the yard (the shed was open, yard tools were all over, and that is as much as I know) and I was in the kitchen thinking dreamy thoughts about the ranch fried potatoes I had sizzling in the skillet and getting the chicken ready for the grill. It was a b-e-a-utiful day. Windows open. Home breezy. We just had a very successful family St. Pat’s party the day before and Mark had the grand idea of ending our weekend with a romantic backyard BBQ-for-Two. I had spent the day barefoot and comfy in my favorite jeans and lacy tank and was feeling Pretty. Darn. Good.

Then, Mark comes up to the kitchen window and explains that the neighborhood cat had just attacked one of the bunnies that lives in our yard. NOOOOOOO! I was so upset! Mark chased the cat away and I went out and took a look at Bunny. His legs were injured, but he made his way to a sit-up position and seemed alert.

After calling PetCo and getting a wildlife emergency number (they didn’t pick up their phone), I went back outside and Mark and I pretty much assumed Bunny was done for. I couldn’t bare it. After staring at Bunny the entire time Mark was flippin’ the chicken on the grill, I said “We have to try to save him…somehow.” So, we called my Nana, who is the best wild animal rescuer I know. She told me what to do. So, Mark grabbed the camera and I grabbed the necessary materials (because, you know, Mark and I document every freaking thing we do!). Box (which I cut little holes in), old rags, grass, gloves, and an old towel. Then, Mark informed me that I was going to catch Bunny. SAY WHAT!?! I did not think so! I was too afraid to hurt Bunny. I wanted Mark to do it so he could be the one hurting Bunny, but, I put on the gloves (so my skin would not touch him by accident) and grabbed the towel.

 

Bunny flipped around (he could not move well, both legs were injured pretty bad) and I knew I was scaring him senseless, but I also knew that getting him in that box was his only chance... that mean cat was across the street watching and waiting to get the chance for another attack...Mark kept scaring him off. I just kept saying to Mark "I'm going to hurt him, I'm going to hurt him!" and Mark, so sweetly, kept cheering me on and assuring me that hurting him more to get him into the box would be so much better than leaving him for the cat. So, after two tries, I got Bunny to calm down by completely covering him with the towel and then scooping him up as gently as possible and then setting him in the box, using the towel to cushion his body. 

I carried Bunny in his box and we situated him in the garage, safe from the mean cat. Checking on him throughout the rest of the evening, I was beyond thrilled that he was still alive as we settled into bed for the night. Unsure as to whether or not Bunny had survived the night, I decided it would be best to wait until Mark had left for work before I checked on Bunny this morning. If he didn't make it, even though I was aware he might not, I knew I would be very upset. So, after sending Mark off, I went to the garage and, like a scared little girl (lol), I slowly opened the garage door. CRAP! The lid was popped off the box. BUNNY HAD ESCAPED! I was panicked, thinking he had hopped out and was somewhere in our garage either suffering or dead. So, I tip toed up to the box and peeked in. NOPE, HE WAS THERE! He had just turned himself around in the box, and in doing so had removed the lid a bit :) 

 

 Bunny was breathing well and awake, but obviously very dehydrated. I talked softly to him and told him I was going to take him to go get better. He lifted his head up ever so slightly and looked at me. It was probably ridiculous to talk to Bunny, but he looked so scared. I couldn't reach anyone at the rescue number PetCo had given me, so I looked up a different one and called them. Then, I called Mark to let him know that Bunny had survived the night. YAY!

So, I put Bunny in the car. The Mama in me said it would be best to buckle him in...

 

... and we were on our way to the Wildlife Rescue Clinic!!! I kept the stereo off because I was worried the music would stress him out even more. Every once in awhile I could hear him tossing around, but for the most part he was still. When I pulled up to the clinic I removed the towel from his box and took the last pictures of Bunny...

 

 

You can see where the mean cat got Bunny, at his knee and the back of his leg. MEAN CAT! (If he knows what is good for him, he'll stay the heck out of my yard!)

I carried Bunny in his box into the clinic, where he was immediately taken back to the vet. As I was filling out the paperwork, I was told that Bunny was not in any immediate danger and they would hydrate him right away before giving him a complete physical. They said they would do everything possible to help him survive and would release him back into the wild if/when he makes a complete recovery. They showed me pictures of other animals they've helped, including a squirrel who lived at the clinic for several weeks with a cast on his broken leg. I felt sure that if Bunny had a chance, these people would give it to him. 

I left Bunny feeling optimistic, knowing we did the best we could, and although conscience of the reality that he still might not survive his wounds, I'm still hoping. I was told to call in the morning and ask for an update on "Bunny Butler". 

Say a prayer for Bunny Butler, ya'll... this little guy won my heart :)

 

We Like to Dance!

This past weekend was the big one... my little brother's wedding weekend! To put it bluntly, Mark and I had a blast!!! While my brother and his new bride had their own wedding activities to enjoy, we enjoyed our own. Our weekend of celebration started on Thursday, March 8 when we went to pick up my grandparents from the airport. They were flying in from Florida and I was soooooo excited to see them! It took us about thirty minutes just to get out of the parking garage, and then another 45 minutes to get to the Enterprise Rent A Car that was "conveniently" right down the street (I couldn't find it!!!), but finally the four of us made it to the restaurant! Mark and I took them to one of our favorite little places in town, Cannoli's, and we had a lovely time. 

 

The four of us at Cannoli's.

The next morning, Mark went off to work and I drove out to the Family Compound to help get things ready for the dinner that night and the wedding the next day. Mark met me at the Church for the rehearsal, and then we spent the remainder of that Friday night visiting with family and friends at the rehearsal dinner that was hosted at the compound (: My cousin Jen, who had just driven in town for the wedding the next day, even came over from the hotel to spend some time with us! 

After staying up with Mom & Daddy until 1:30 in the morning attempting to finish as many of the sugar cookie wedding favors as possible, Mark and I finally hit the sack and Man! were we exhausted!! Still, though, morning brought the wedding day and there was no time at all to relax. Breakfast, showers, gathering of gown/nylons/shoes/spanx/jewelry/make-up, painting my toe nails a freaking bright orange for the bride, deciding whether or not we should try to hem Mark's tux pants... then, twenty minutes late, we were out the door for my hair appointment. I'm just going to note here that MY HAIR TURNED OUT GORGEOUS and I was so happy with it. When my now-sister-in-law requested all bridesmaids to wear their hair in a up-do I felt absolutely ghastly about it. I never wear my hair "up". With the help of my amazingly talented cousin Angie, we came up with a hairstyle that was both "up" and "down" and hopefully (hopefully!) made everyone happy. With the hair done, and Mark waiting patiently for me all ready in his tux, he got out my new nylons from the bag and stretched them out so they would be easier for me to throw on once my hair was done. So, with hair done, nylons on, gown zipped, shoes slipped into, make-up complete (big thanks to my Ang, who helped me escape a freak-out when my face concealer splattered on the front of my gown) Mark and I headed to the Church only 30 minutes late - which is BASICALLY on time for us! Yay! lol

Ceremony was lovely. Pictures will be great. THE RECEPTION WAS SUPER FUN. For me, it was having all the family out there that really made the reception what it was. Once Mark got me on the dance floor (he asked a few times and I finally gave in) we hardly stopped dancing all night. Here's a picture of us during our first dance of the evening, courtesy of my cousin Jen...

  

"You say it best, when you say nothing at all..."

Mark and I really had an amazing time dancing. Mark said it was the most fun he has ever had at a wedding. The next morning, he went around to my parents and grandparents apologizing for my dirty dancing. I want to note that HE WAS DANCING JUST AS DIRTY AS I WAS!!! He is as equally guilty! We just didn't care... we were having a blast! We danced every fast song, every slow song, and really only left the dance floor to get a glass of water. Here are a few pictures from the wedding:

 

Us, with my parents, at the Church.

 Us, with my siblings, before the Ceremony.

 

Water break!

 

Gena sat on Mark & Jeremy's lap while my brother went in for the garter. LOL!

 Us slow dancing with Ellie. :)

Really, I could post pictures all day. There are oodles on my Facebook, if you care to see :) Mark and I stayed until the end of the reception, which is something we had not planned on, because we were having too much fun. We got back to my mom's house around one in the morning, and after drinking our usual hot chocolate and talking about the day, we fell asleep and it was heavenly.

The next morning we went to Cracker Barrel with our Chicago family... they've got really scrumdidilyumptious pecan pancakes, ya'll!... and then it was off to the gift-opening party. I will point out that at this point, sadly so, my hair was still up (if you could say it was "up") from the day before. I was nicknamed "Medusa" for the day... yes, it was THAT bad. But oh well. We left the party around 4:30 and headed home.

So here is the best part of the whole weekend...

When we left for home, Mark told me to just follow him (we had both of our cars because we had met up at the Church for the rehearsal Friday). It became rapidly clear that we were not heading home. I didn't know where we were heading, but it certainly was not home. I'll give you the short version - 

Mark pulled up in front of the park that he used to hang out at when he was a kid. I pulled in behind him and turned off my car when he turned of his. We got out and he led me into the park. It was dark, chilly, and raining - not a down pour, but more than a drizzle. I had no clue was was going on. Then, he stopped us in front of the gazebo, took me in his arms, and we started to slow dance. AWWWWWW! I melted completely!! We danced there in the rain, saying sweet things and kissing and being waaaay too in love that it would make most people puke. I LOVED IT! After awhile, he got out the iPod, put one headphone in my ear and one in his, and played our song (My Heart Belongs To You by Hailey Westenra) CAN YOU IMAGINE!?! It was romance at it's best! "Dance in the rain" and "Kiss in the rain" were items on the to-do list. I love how we just let the list happen and don't just experience them so we can cross them off. Once we were completely soaked, we went home and, after Mark lovingly removed the dozens and dozens of bobby pins from my hair, snuggled up on the sofa with popcorn and enjoyed an episode of Highlander. He snapped a picture of me watching the show because he told me he wanted me to see "What I get to look over and see" every time we watch something together. AWWWW, he was just scoring all sorts of points that day! Here is the pic:

Perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

The next morning Mark said, "Wasn't it nice that God gave John and Gena the sun for their wedding day, and the next day he gave us the rain for our dance."

Blues 5, Blackhawks 1

That was the score of last nights hockey game... which Mark and I just so happened to be at! Such FUN! We have had "Go to a Blues game together" on our To-Do list since 2008. I know, took us long enough, didn't it?!

This wasn't just a Blues game, though, it was a Blues-Blackhawks game! STL vs. Chi-Town... Does. Not. Get. Better. Than. That! So, we were super duper stoked; Mark even more so because I was willing to sport-up on the Blues gear instead of the Blackhawks gear. (Sorry, Blackhawks... but I wore you in my heart!!! And, you failed me anyway, suckas!)

Mark, after being told he was "lucky" to be going to the game by one of his friends, said "Not lucky, I just have a really awesome girlfriend. You should get one of those sometime." Hear that? I'm really awesome. I thought so. :)

Now, we always take the metro link whenever we go to a game... baseball, football, hockey - now that we have been to all :) ...so of course on this particular occasion we did so as well. Just as we were feeding the machine a $10 bill, an east-bound train was pulling up to the station. Hurrying, rushing, so we would not have to wait another 15 minutes for the next train, of course the machine would decide it did not approve of the way our $10 bill tasted and spit it right back out. Then, when it finally ate our money, it decided to take it's darn time burping out our tickets... so east-bound train pulls up to the station, people on platform enter onto train, Mark and Nichole still standing at the ticket dispenser thing, east-bound train starts heading east, Mark and Nichole standing on the platform for another 15 minutes on what is probably the windiest day Saint Louis has ever seen... aaaaannnnnd, the wind really screws up Nichole's pretty hair and makes it all knotty. Grrrrrr to you, ya stupid ticket dispenser thing!

So, now that I have painted that not-so-pretty picture, on to the game! Metro ride rather uneventful (and filled with Blues fans) we arrive at Scottrade. As we walk into the stadium I take the opportunity to point out all of the Blackhawk fans and tell Mark "See... SEE! I am not the only one!" after which, he says "Shhh, you might get us killed!" We basically spend the next several minutes just laughing and giving each other a hard time, enjoying our fun sports rivalry, when, as we are standing at the top of an escalator rummaging through my purse for our tickets to find our seats, someone comes up beside me and yells "Go Blues". Immediately, I am thinking "What kind of flippity flappity freak is yelling into my ear? I don't even know them! Annoying!" and then I look up and IT'S MY SISTER!!!!! LMAO!!!! (I knew they were around there somewhere, but I hadn't received their text yet so I didn't think they had arrived.) We start laughing and within seconds Mark, myself, and my siblings are all clumped together chit-chatting. They were all like "YOU (as in me) are in Blues gear? I'm surprised!" ha ha Anyways, so we get out the camera and a lovely vendor lady takes our picture for us:

 

(Mark, myself, John Michael, Gena, Jeremy, & Amanda)

Aren't we cute :)

Unfortunately, our seats are in a separate section so Mark and I part ways with them and head over to find our seats. Our seats turn out to be awesome! See, I'm super short. Super, super short! I always have this problem, even in stadium seating, where I have limited view when people are in front of me. Well, I really am an awesome girlfriend, because I got us ahhhhmazing seats! Absolutely nothing in front of us :) Here is our view of the game (You have to excuse the quality of all of these photos. Scottrade does not allow professional cameras in, so I had to use my small Canon.)

As always, the camera makes things look much farther away than they are. We were super pleased with our seats, and will purchase our future tickets in the same section/row. 

It wouldn't be Us if we didn't snap one or two (okay, several) self-snappies of us enjoying the game. I'll spare y'all and only post one...

 

Not the best, but hey, they can't all be winners (the Blackhawks certainly weren't last night!!) 

Here are a few more from the game:

 

Huggle (my word for a hug/huddle) right after the Blackhaws score (their only point!)

 

 

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." There was a freaking awesomely long fight right at the beginning of the game (don't ask me why I didn't grab my camera... so disappointed that I didn't!). I was really hoping for some action here, but these two were too pansy to fist up. Booo!

Blues score point 4. Everyone freaks out because this means they get a free Big Mac. And, I will point out here, that with every point the Blues scored, Mark pointed to my shirt and said "Look who you're wearing, Blues fan!"

As if the Blackhawks were not already playing pathetically enough (C'mon guys!) the Blues scored their final point number 5 with 14.7 seconds left in the game.

 

A winning game and free Big Macs for everyone! I personally find it entertaining that point 4, the Big Mac score, was scored by player Andy McDonald. Am I the only one who caught the humor in that?

As Mark and I gather our things to head out, we decide to take one more self-snappy of us with the ice in the background. Watching us fail and most likely taking great pity on us, a couple who had been sitting a few rows behind us kindly and graciously offers to snap it for us (and we do the same for them). Really grateful, because this is a super fun picture:

 

Not wanting to wait in the Metro lines, we decide to take a gander into the gift shop. We mosey on through, for quite a while, trying to find some sort of memento from our first Blues game together. Nothing. Really. The only things we like are the jerseys, tees, and hats. Everything else looked too cheap for us. So, as we keep trying to settle for one souvenir or another, we come up with a genius plan. We are going to take our tickets, our favorite pictures from the game, write a little memory, and frame it all pretty-like in a shadow box to hang behind our bar in the basement. Perfect idea, and so much better than anything we could have purchased in the gift shop! So, with the decision made... it's off to the Metro we go.

Because we wasted such a ridiculous amount of time in the gift shop, the lines for the Metro are easy-peasy and we get right onto a train with no problem finding a seat. It is during our ride when I look at my phone and see a text from Jeremy: "Wanna come over here third period? Free seats next to us." and then their section and row. Dag Nabbit!!! We sure woulda!!! 

We were so excited to finally cross off "Go to a Blues game together" on our To-Do list that by the end of the night we were kind of sad it was over. We absolutely love our first experiences together. Oh well, with this one down, it's off to the next item on the list!

Wedding Prep Weekend, Complete!

Mark and I love to be home. Seriously. Our favorite thing to do ever is to lock the front door, set the cell phones on silent, and cuddle up in our house. Thank goodness we got to do that two weekends ago, because life has been busy since!

For starters, this past weekend was spent at the Family Compound. That wasn't bad, in fact, we love going there and always look forward to it, but our main reason for visiting was to help my family prepare for my brother's wedding this upcoming weekend! Big deal and super exciting... even in spite of the insane amount of work. Mark and I helped to clear out the lower level of all furniture (where the rehearsal dinner will be taking place) and did some deep cleaning... you know, that top of the fridge and trim under the kitchen cabinet kind of cleaning. In between things, we totally soaked up lots of time with Ellie (the most adorable 2-almost-3-year-old in our entire world!)

We were able to take a little break Saturday night, however, while Mark attended my brother's bachelor party (laser tag at the nations largest ever laser tag place... heck yes, and I was super jealous) and my sister and I went out with our mom for shopping and dinner. Mom got a gorgeous dress for my brother's wedding and, just to note, the fried zucchini at The Macaroni Grill is absolutely to die for! Also, M.A.S.H. is still a fun game, even when you are well into your 20s!

Good times had by us both, we were super happy to reunite shortly before 1 a.m. and drove back to my mom's house... where we proceeded to drink hot chocolate in the kitchen and talk about my cats while everyone else in the house slept. 2:30 a.m. and it's time for bed, so off we went :)

Then - early morning snuggles, eggs, oatmeal in the car, mass at the country church where we actually pay rather well attention to Father's homily because we ourselves have been pondering those same ideas, more cleaning, some moving of tables, more Ellie, and then Mark packed up the car and we were off for home. We stopped at Goodwill on the way back, choosing a really neat little book about starting family traditions (we're hoping to get working on that sometime soon!), then... workouts, yard work, dinner, movie, and *insert sigh of relief* bed. Mark swears I said "If we fall asleep, will the light still be on when we wake up?" and he replied "Probably." As a token to how very exhausted we were, I do not remember saying that and the light was on when we woke up this morning.

Ah, yes, adding to everything else... our oven decided to die last night. After almost 45 minutes of attempting to bake pizza dough, Mark called time of death and I got smart and finished cooking our pizza in the microwave. (It actually does work, it's just a soft crust instead of crispy...which I prefer, but oh well.)

There is still the wedding cooking to do this week, but Mark and I have a few really fun things planned for this work-week. Can't wait to blog about it all :)