Birthdays, Burgers, & Babies

Well, it's been a while! It's be a crazy couple of weeks. I'll try to hit the high points! We celebrated Izzy's first birthday last Friday! She has survived a whole year in this great big world, and 10 months with us! I can't believe how much she's changed!
Here she is on the day we got her, she was 10 weeks old!

















Here are a few pictures from Friday, her birthday! We spoiled her with her own burger, Cheetos, & chips! It was all gone in a matter of seconds! I think this is a good tradition we started!

Going!













Going!














Gone!













She really enjoyed her treat!

Saturday, Brent, Buffye, & the kids came to spend the night at our place on their way back home to Colorado Springs! We had a full house, but it was a lot of fun! We went to the Morrill Hall museum on Saturday afternoon. Considering I have lived in Lincoln for seven years and never been, it was good to go and see it! The kids had a pretty good time too! We came home, the kids napped, and then we grilled out. We ended the evening with s'mores from our fire pit! It was a great time!

They left Sunday morning, and we were spent! We decided to see the new Harry Potter flick on Sunday afternoon. I thought it was really good! I love all those books and the movies are just as good!

Monday night we went out with all our friends for and early birthday celebration for Craig. He chose Shogun's. It was a great time, and our chef got a kick out of picking on Craig! His really birthday is the 28th, so we'll be celebrating in Okoboji! YAY!

It the midst of dinner, a couple of friends had a big announcement...they're having a baby! They are due Febuary 8th and our other really good friends are due Febuary 1st. This means I am now throwing a double baby shower! I'm super excited for all of them!

Our Okoboji vacation is next week, less than 3 days and we'll be there! I'm beyond excited! I can't wait for some R&R and fun in the sun! It's been a while...like since our honeymoon!

1 Down, 2 To Go!

Well, we survived the trip to Colorado Springs over the 4th! It was a lot of fun, we got to hang out with the kids, go to a movie (Ice Age 3...funny!), go on a hike in the mountains (BEAUTIFUL!), eat yummy food, and go boating on a gorgeous lake! That's not too shabby for a four day trip! The trip didn't not help my "baby itch". I got to be reminded how great Craig is with kids...he's going to be a great Daddy whenever the time comes. We also got to see how Izzy handles kids. She did sooo good! They hugged her, pulled her tail, messed with her ears, screamed at her, etc...and she didn't growl, nip, or hardly react at all! She LOVES kids, so I'm sure she'll be excited whenever the time comes!

We had an engagement party for Jess & Nick this past Saturday! It was so much fun! The weather couldn't have been better, and we spent the night on the patio drinking, singing, and laughing with friends & family! Brent & Buffye are back in Nebraska this week, so they came to the party...it was a great opportunity to kick back and have fun with them too! Craig got volunteered to bartend for the party...yikes! Over the course of the evening, he thought it would be a good idea to experiment with Scotch. He also smoked about 8 cigars...gross! I was sure he'd be getting sick by the end of the night, but somehow he maintained and actually felt better than I did yesterday (I only had 3 drinks and woke up with a headache!) This was the official kick off to the next 5ish months of wedding festivities! It's going to be a crazy, fun ride! I can't wait!

We are t-minus 12 days to Okoboji! We are all so excited about this trip. I'm not sure why this trip is different from any other we've taken up there, but we are all super excited. I don't remember all of us looking forward to it like this! It's probably because we had to skip last year! The only thing I'm sad about it leaving Izzy behind at the Kennel for 7 nights...that makes me sad!

Speaking of Izzy, she turns the big #1 this Friday! I can't believe she's already a year old! We are going to celebrate, but making a trip to the pet store to let her pick out a new toy and some treats! We are also going to get her a harness to make walks a little more pleasureable for all of us! She's a tugger! We are also planning to grill her a special "Izzy size" hamburger to mark the occassion!

Sometime later this week, Brent, Buffye, & the kids are going to come stay at our place on their way back to Colorado! It should be a lot of fun to have them all at our house (and not have to share them with anyone else!) That means we have some serious cleaning, yard work, organizing, and grocery shopping to do! It should be crazy, fun, busy week!

Dog Park, Road Trips, & More!

Yikes, it's been a while! Let's see, what's happened since my last post. Well, I guess the biggest news is that Jess & Nick have picked New Year's Eve 2009 as their wedding date! It wasn't their first choice because of all our December birthdays, but due to some conflicts with Nick's family next summer it was the next best option. It should be a lot of fun, and one hell of a way to end 2009! We went dress shopping last Friday, and she picked the first dress she tried on! (Of course, she tried on many others, but nothing topped that first one!) It is absolutely gorgeous on her! We also got lucky and found bridesmaid's dresses for us (She asked me to be her Maid of Honor...I'm so excited!). The dresses for us are tea length & black! I love them!

We spend the rest of the weekend hanging with friends we don't see too often. We got the chance to go to the Melting Pot in Omaha to celebrate Amanda & Scott's anniversary with them. OMG, that restaurant is sooooo good but man is it expensive! I will definitely go back, but it's going to have to be a special occasion! After dinner, we headed over to Travis's house for a backyard concert. It was pretty fun, the music was good, the friends were good, but the drive home after midnight kinda sucked!

Sunday was a lazy day up until we decided to take Izzy to the Dog Park for the first time! She was a little overwhelmed by the big dogs that ran up to her to say "Hi!", but overall I think she had a good time! Here are some pics of the experience!






Here she is just warming up to the place! Notice her tail is down...not typical!










Craig wanted to see what she would do in the water...of course, she was too scared to go in on her own, so he threw her in! Awesome! She didn't like that too much, and found her way to land as quick as she could!





Sunday evening, the Community Church had a children's carnival and fireworks. We walked up with our neighbors to watch the show. I must admit I was impressed by the fireworks display! It lasted quite a while and the fireworks were pretty cool! It definitely pumped me up for this weekend!

Monday, we had our usual grill night with our friends. As normal, the food was great and the conversation better! Last night, we exposed our favorite neighbors, Tim & Alli (and their 4-year-old Greyson) to our favorite Chinese take-out Zhangs! It was so yummy, and we had a great time hanging out with him. Izzy & Greyson wore each other out, so that was entertaining to watch!

Now, we trying to get organized for our trip out to Colorado Springs. We are leaving tomorrow afternoon as soon as we can get out of work. I have the house cleaned, and I'm working on the laundry. I hope to be packed by 9! I better get moving!

Wow! This was long, and I have pictures in my post...I'm getting better at this blog thing I think. Now, if only people would read it! Ha!

Well, if any of you are reading this, I hope you have a great 4th of July! It is definitely my favorite holiday!

Five Years...a little late

So I should have posted this about a week ago, but you know life got in the way. On June 14th, I have been at my job for 5 years! 5 YEARS! I think that is insane. I'm 25 and have been at the same job for 5 years...that's pretty rare. Granted 2 of those years were part time while I was in college, but still 5 years is a long time. 20% of my life...ouch!

So much has changed in my life since I started here...I have graduated college, bought a car, got married, vacationed out of the country, bought a house, and gotten a dog. Also, my family has expanded with a niece & a nephew (on Craig's side), and lost two family members to cancer (great aunt & uncle). I have watched both siblings graduate high school and my sister graduate college too! I have moved twice and gone of various trips...Vegas, Colorado, Okoboji, Mexico, etc. I can't believe it's really been that long. It's been a wild ride!

I love my job. I like what I do, and I think I'm pretty good at it. Now, if I could only figure out a way to make more money...I'd be set for life!

It's a great day!

I got a call from my sister this morning...she's engaged! It's about time, no really we just have all knew this was coming for quite some time, so we've been waiting for what seems like forever. I am beyond excited for her and Nick. They are so great together! I couldn't have picked anyone better for her.

So...this means we have another year full of wedding planning, parties, and fun! I am so excited! I had so much fun with our wedding, so I know this will be fun too! Especially, since I'm not the one making all the decisions!

Oh, and Jess & Nick closed on their house this morning too, so it's been a HUGE day for them! Talk about timing!

It's official...

I have the ever-so-popular "baby itch" that inevitably hits most women at some point in their lives. My itch has been growing for months now (pretty much since the wedding), but the last few weeks have gotten pretty serious. Craig's not "there" yet, but I'm working on him!

It's probably not helping that yesterday I got to hold a newborn for the first time in a couple years. I also spend a lot of time reading other blogs about people with their new babies or the tales of pregnant women. It seems like there's a baby boom going on these days!

My thing is we're married, we have a house, we both have good jobs...why wait? Are we financially ready, probably not, but then again will we ever be? I doubt it! Do we have a good support system, I would like to think so? Are we ready to be parents...I think so! (OK maybe not so much yet for Craig, but I know he would be when the time came! I can't wait to see him as a Dad!)

In other news, not much going on! We're headed back home for the weekend. We're going to catch one of Chip's baseball games and hopefully get a tour of Jessica & Nick's new house. They should be closing hopefully tomorrow! We'll also visit the grandparents and hang with the 'rents! Should be a fun weekend!

Trips, Trips, & More Trips

Well, we now have 3 vacations to look forward in the next few months. Yay! I've been missing work alot for all the things that have been going on, but most of that wasn't really fun or vacation like...funerals, helping with graduation parties, etc. (The actual graduation parties were fun!)Now, we'll be going to fun places and doing fun things!

Our first trip is scheduled for the 4th of July weekend. We're going on a road trip out to Colorado Springs to visit Craig's brother & his family. We haven't seen the kids (or Brent & Buffye) since Christmas, so we're really looking forward to seeing them! It may also be Izzy's first road trip over 2 hours, so that will be interesting! She's a little crazy in the car sometimes! We always have a great time out there, it's so beautiful! What a great place to visit and what better excuse...to see our neices & nephew!

The next trip is at the end of July! We're going on the Annual Bryant Vacation to Okoboji! SWEET! I absolutely love it there...it's one of my favorite places! My whole immediate family is going, and this year we are renting out a lakefront condo versus staying at a resort like usual. It should be really fun! Oh, and Nick has a new boat for the trip, so we're all looking forward to breaking that in! We are seriously counting down the days to this one! Can't come soon enough! Last year, because of our wedding, nobody got to go to Okoboji...so we're all overdue for a trip up there!

The last trip (which we just planned last night) is to Las Vegas over Labor Day weekend! We went a few years ago during one of our college spring breaks, and we've been dying to go back ever since! This time we are going with some of our best friends, Ryan & Jill. We both have anniversaries in August, so we're calling it a "Joint-Anniversary" trip. We're staying at the Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino. It wasn't even built the last time we were there, so it should be really nice considering it's brand new! We can't wait!

So while all this is super fun & exciting, this means I seriously need to figure out a way to lose weight & get in shape VERY fast! Yikes! If these trips aren't enough motivation for me, I don't know what will be! Wish me luck!