wedding

Josh and Mer got married this weekend on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception a ton of fun! We're so thankful they are our friends and so happy for them! I didn't take any pictures, but did bring home many flowers to keep in our house. The flowers and decorations were beautiful...

We have one more wedding this year and then we're done probably until next summer. Everyone said that our life would slow down after our wedding. That hasn't been the case and I don't think life will really slow down until January. Until then we'll enjoy our crazy life together!

bouquet

I'm not a huge flower person. I think they're pretty, but I don't know anything about them. The flowers for our wedding were important to me because I wanted them to look good but I wasn't very picky. I trusted our florists and hoped for the best {they were wonderful!!}.

I absolutely loved my bouquet. It was perfect. I went back and forth between wanting an all white one and wanting one with a little color. I decided on one with a little color and I'm so happy I did. The peach English Roses {my absolute new favorite!} looked so great with my dress and in pictures...I'm not bias or anything! Needless to say, they might be my go to flowers in the future if I ever buy flowers.

But how can something this pretty turn into this???

I wish I could have saved my pretty bouquet forever, but I'm glad I have such great pictures to remind me!

so excited!

We got the CDs with all our wedding pictures the other day and I finally got them all put on my computer this afternoon. I've been spending way too much time looking at them and wishing I could go back and do it all over ten times!

never forget

10 years ago I was a Sophomore in high school sitting in the gym conference room taking ISTEP tests. After the test was over I walked back into school to finish up my day of classes. As I walked through the gym, the bleachers were pulled out like we were going to have an assembly. Did I miss the fact that we were going to have an assembly or mass that afternoon?!? I remember seeing everyone watching the TVs in the cafeteria as I walked by and I was really confused. I thought maybe it was normal for them to watch at this time of day since I was normally in a different class. Then I walked to the library and everyone in there was glued to TVs as well. Everyone else in the school already heard about the events of the morning and had been watching for quite awhile. The conference room didn't have the PA system hooked up, so we had no idea what was going on.

I'll never forget that day. We didn't have any classes. We watched the news all day and then had an assembly later in the afternoon. A prayer service. There were only a few times in my four years of high school that I was in the gym with hundreds of other 15-18 year old kids and you could hear a pin drop.

The kids I teach weren't even born when 9/11 happened. It makes me sad because they don't know how the events of that day unfolded or how many heros we watched that day. However, it makes me happy that they didn't have to experience that horrible day.

I will never forget that day and all the people that lost their lives.

My thoughts and prayers are with all the families of the victims.

i hate mondays

Mondays are awful.

And to top it off, I had the worst headache most all day today.

So I skipped my workout, came home after work, and just woke up from a little cat-nap.

My night isn't turning out so horribly after-all!

On another note, I learned about the My Fitness Pal app the other day. I have started using it and I love it! My goal is to lose all 12 lbs. I gained after our honeymoon/this summer and maybe a couple more pounds before Josh and Mer's wedding. I lost two pounds last week just being back in the school routine and working out twice. Looks like this is possible!

"Cleaning Tuesdays" is making its way back to our house starting tomorrow. I used to religiously clean at the apartment every Tuesday and then I wouldn't have to worry about it on the weekends. I'm dreading having to clean tomorrow because we've put it off for so long. But, I'll be thankful this long weekend {and many other weekends} that I don't have to use my days to clean.

I'm off to enjoy my lazy night before the rest of this week starts getting crazy!

to shop or not?!?

I was just looking through my closet to try and find an outfit to wear to school tomorrow. {Yes, I have to pick my outfit out the night before or I'll be really, really late to work in the morning!} I yelled down to Kurt saying I really want to go shopping and get some new stuff. And that I really need some new clothes....! :)

Funny how things work because while cooking dinner we were talking about money. We were talking about stuff you talk about when you get married...trying to save for the future even more than we were before. "We need to stop spending so much money," came out of my mouth during this discussion.

Ugh, I know we need to save money, but looking cute is important too! Right?!? {ha} I guess no shopping is in the near future. Now back to figuring out what to wear.

P.S- My first day was great. I'm exhausted and thinking of going to bed soon. This year is going to be fun!

kindergarten

This little lady started kindergarten today and I can't believe it! She's growing up so quickly!

This is Lauren and Julia with my dad {Papa} on Julia's 5th birthday this summer.

I start school tomorrow. I'm not ready. The older I get, it seems like time goes quicker than the day/month/year before. I want life to slow down!! This summer was amazing and I'm sad to see it come to an end. I know this year will be fun and I can't wait to meet my kids tomorrow. I'm off to finish the laundry so I can get in bed early. Have a great week!

really wishing...

...we were back here.

No responsibilities, no phone, no emails, just us.

Missing that amazing time we shared, just the two of us, on our honeymoon.

lake rage fest

We invited some friends up to the lake last weekend. We had a blast. Ate a lot and drank even more! The weather was perfect for long days at the sandbar. I didn't take many pictures, but I'll let them speak for themselves....

We left Coop at my parents house and brought Bailey for two reasons. 1. She LOVES swimming and hasn't gotten to go to the lake for a couple years. 2. We really wanted her to 'teach' Olive how to swim.

Trying to beat the lake....

OG had a difficult evening...complete with some marshmallow on his chest!

On the last day, she decided it was a good idea to swim! Woo hoo!!

not in college con't

After today, I am really reminded I'm not in college. I am currently posting laying in bed ready to go to sleep for the evening. I had tutoring this morning and then ran a couple errands. At noon I met all my 2nd grade teacher friends at the pool for a summer team meeting. Right away I started off the meeting with drinks and continued to drink until I left at 4:30. Sounds like a pretty great meeting, huh?!? :)

I met Kurt at the car shop and dropped my car off {because the air isn't working..ugh!} and then we ran a couple errands. We went to Three Wisemen for dinner/drinks early and sat outside. Wednesdays are $2.50 pint nights so of course we both had some beer...I just continued my drinking trend for the day. I'm exhausted from this little bit of day drinking and trying to extend it into the evening....ugh, I'm getting old.

Kurt went to hockey for the night, so I hanging with the dogs and planning a very early bedtime. Too bad it's still light outside or I might be sleeping right now!

On a side note, we were talking after our meeting about babies and such. I expressed my concern that EVERYONE will know I'm pregnant {when the time comes} way before we're ready to tell anyone because they'll notice right away if I don't drink. Sounds like I need to reconsider this whole drinking thing, huh? That's a whole different conversation for another day!

we're not in college anymore...

...unfortunately, in some respects. I must say I miss a lot of things about college - friends, lack of responsibility, the college town atmosphere, Bloomington. I do not miss the school part - tests, homework, papers, etc. I absolutely don't miss Kurt's crazy nasty houses and the horrible decorations/home furnishings. We've kept one thing straight out of college in our apartmentand house until the other day...thank goodness it's gone!

Here's a look at the front corner of the house before:

Ah, yes. A touch lamp. And, yes it is crooked.

And now, our little upgrade...

Only thing is the cord. However, that shouldn't be a problem for too long {hopefully}. We plan on getting another chair and little table to finish off that corner and add more seating in our living room. We're now on the hunt for a new chair that will fit!

shopping spree...for {practically} free!!

I didn't expect registering to be so stressful when we got engaged. I thought it would be a process that was fun and exciting. But, it did stress me out when we were actually registering....are we making the right decisions on plates, cups, pillows, towels, ect. AHHH! I was so worried about it all. We knew we were inviting a lot of people to our wedding and I had 4 showers, so we made sure to register for a lot of stuff.

You've seen the post about our house being a mess from all the presents we got before the wedding. Well, things haven't improved with stashes of gifts, Crate and Barrel boxes, and tissue paper. It's insane how much stuff we've gotten {and we're working on thanking all of our family and friends for their generous gifts!}. Since we've gotten back from our honeymoon, we've been going through all of our presents and making three "piles." 1. Keep at home. 2. Keep at my parents {no room for it at home but we'll eventually want it and won't want to spend the money on it}. 3. Take back.

Although we received many, many gifts from our registery, we decided to take a decent amount back mainly because we really feel we don't need

it/won't use it and would like the money for things we didn't get that we do really need/want and will use. So onto this "free" shopping spree. Monday and yesterday we took back a lot of presents to the stores where we registered. We've been going through our registeries thinking about what we'd still like to get. After we returned some things, we decided it was time to start using our 10% off at these stores and work on getting these things we still wanted to get.

First up, Target. We had a gift card there for 80 some dollars and also a 10% off card. Here's what we picked up {none were actually the original things on our registery but similar products}. We did spend $12 here to cover a few other things that aren't on here...

We picked up two of these puppies. Great for tailgating and sitting in the backyard {since we don't have patio furniture}. Oh, and the lake! Note the cooler on the side of the chair...selling point for Kurt.

And we grabbed this for the same reasons as above.

We may have gotten ourselves in over our heads. We'll see when we test it at the lake in 2 weekends...!

Then we headed to Crate and Barrel. I wasn't expecting to be there for as long as we were, but I remembered why registering in the first place was difficult....I WANT EVERYTHING! That store just pulls me in every. single. time. We got a lot {for free} and still have over $300 to the store to use very soon! :)

We got too much stuff to put all the pictures up. So here's a quick list:

Small Salad Spinner

White Butter Dish

Non-slip Over the Sink Cutting Board & Colander {love this one!}

Grill Tool Set {with green case}

2 Dylan Highball Glasses {to finish up our set}

6 Dylan Double Glasses {to finish up our set}

2 Black Silicone Mitts {for Kurt while grilling}

Square Grill Basket {for veggies, potatoes, etc}

Grill Half-Grid "Basket" {for fish}

Pepper Blend

Another set of corn picks

Spoon Rest

2 in 1 basting brush

Meat Tenderizer

Ice Scoop

Zester/Grater

I have absolutely no idea where we're going to put all this stuff, but I can't wait to find places and start using them!! We're trying to find time to clean out all of our kitchen cabinets to see what we have and to reorganize. Let's hope this happens soon!

Lastly, after dinner, we went to Macy's. I've been really, really wanting a new vacuum {which is crazy because Kurt does most of the vacuuming!}. We returned a few things and went straight to the vacuums. We knew we wanted the Dyson Animal one. It just so happens that a sale started today and part of the sale is newly married couples get 20% off everything {on top of sale price} instead of the usual 10%!!! We were able to "preorder" the stuff, aka buy it last night and pick it up today for the sale price. We also picked up two awesome pillows that we didn't get. I can't wait to use them!!! We had to leave because the store was closing, but we're planning on going back and picking up a few more things. Oh, by the way, we got a over $500 vacuum and 2 pillows that are originally $200 a piece for $50 of our own money. Sweet!!!

slow down!

Woah, we're back. In fact we've been back for a week now. This summer is going way too quickly!

Our wedding was perfect. More than I dreamed of, imagined, and pictured for so long. I'm sad it's now over, but excited about our future together. Many, many more updates to come.

Our honeymoon was absolutely perfect except one thing...I wanted to stay forever! We were gone for 2 weeks and still didn't seem long enough. We have tons of pictures from that to share, too.

I thought things would really slow down once we got home and got all settled in. They haven't yet and don't seem like they will for a little while. So, I'll try to catch up as best as possible. But some things were pushed to the back burner or nonexistent for many months before the wedding that need tending to now! All the laundry is done {well last load in the washer for now!}, the house is now somewhat cleaned {thank God!}, and we're slowly but surely going through presents and finding spots for them. Next up, yard work this weekend...ugh! And, thank you note writing is beginning right now. I'll leave you with one picture from the wedding {the only one I have so far}. On of our options for our Thank You cards. Have a great Thursday and {probably} weekend. I'll be back to update about the yard next week.

I'm getting MARRIED...

in 2 days!!!! I absolutely cannot believe it. This week has been so busy but has gone by so slowly. Tomorrow morning bright and early the wedding festivities begin for both the men and women. Nails, lunch, makeup, rehearsal, and dinner are all in the plans for tomorrow night. Sunday we have a day after brunch. It's going to be quite a busy weekend but I hope that it doesn't go by too quickly! It still hasn't really hit me yet, but I think it will tomorrow night. I'm going to be Mrs. Weiper in less than 48 hours!!!

Many, many pictures and updates from the wedding and life later. Have an amazing weekend!

11 Days...omg!

Almost exactly at this time in 11 days, we'll be married. Holy sh*t!! I've been dreaming of this day since I can remember and seriously planning for over a year. How did it all the sudden creep up on me?!? I cannot express how excited I am. Each day I'm starting to really feel like it's coming, but I know it won't hit me until the day of, or maybe even after. I feel like this most Christmas days. I listen to music, shop, etc. looking forward to the big day and all the sudden, it's over. I'm a little worried this is how our wedding day will feel. Now that all the plans are in place, I keep playing the weekend over and over in my head. I hope the weekend will be better than I have ever imagined it to be. I cannot wait for the moment that I see Kurt for the first time waiting for me at the end of the aisle. This is one thing I know will be better than I can ever imagine! I can't wait for him to finally see my dress...man, it's been tricky trying to keep it a secret from him for so long! Oh and how I can't wait to see all our family and friends all in one spot...dancing the night away!

I have a lot to do in these next 11 days. Before all last minute wedding planning can happen, I must say goodbye to my kiddos. My first ever class. What a crazy year it has been. One I'll never forget. I just told my kids something we're going to find time to do in our crazy schedule tomorrow. An idea that came to me while on recess duty today. I am going to have each student in my class write a letter to him/her self. A reflection of second grade. We're going to seal them up in an envelope for me to keep. I'll give them their letter the day they graduate from Orchard in 8th grade {in 2017!}. As I was sitting thinking about this, I decided and told the kids I would write one too. One can only think about what things will be like in 2017, but it will be wonderful thinking back to this year and all the things that have happened. As for now, I'll think about how great things are now and how I'm lucky that things will be absolutely amazing in 11 days. 

see for yourself

Um,  this is what a house looks like 3 weeks before a wedding....

Honestly, I'm positive you can't even see how much of a disaster our house currently is. These pictures don't do it justice. As I was taking these pictures, Kurt commented that, "This {the sh** you're looking at} is just the tip of the iceberg!" I couldn't have said it better, babe...

Only good news?!? Well, two things. We've gotten so much awesome stuff, from all my showers and people's wedding gifts. And, Kurt is starting to get really sick of all this crap around {as am I} and said he was going to do a major clean-up this weekend while I'm away. Wooo hooo! Look's like I'll be coming home to a clean{er} house! :)

Can't wait to relax and party with my friends all weekend!!!

worn out

It's only Monday and I'm already worn out. We had an all day field trip today which was tiring {Kurt came with}! When we got home at 4:00, I got right to work on wedding stuff. I've been working on stuff ever since...it's now 9:45. I did take a 15 or 20 minute break for dinner. I must say, I got a lot done tonight!! This week is busy so posting will probably be light once again.

Tomorrow - Last meeting with florist at 5:00 then a new team meeting {for next year}.
Wednesday - My friends at work are having a work bridal shower for me!!
Thursday - Must finish sub plans for Friday and Monday {taking the two days off} and work out at 5:30.
Friday - Last meeting with photographer at 1:00. Off to Bachelorette Party Weekend at 6:00!!!!!

Oh yeah, I need to try and find time to do laundy and clean the house sometime in here....!

memories

So, I totally did this post the other day but just realized it didn't show up.... I don't know where it went! Anyway, Kurt and I spent a lot of time {way too much time} the other night putting together our wedding slide show. So far, this has been one of my favorite projects that I've done for the wedding. I didn't think I'd get as emotional as I do every time I watch it, and I've watched it multiple times already! I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you. We can't wait to share the whole slide show with our family and friends at our wedding reception!

 

{Cute baby Kurt}

 

{My family}

 {Little Mr. Athlete}

 

{Yes, at one point in my life I was good at a sport!}

 {Shortly after we started dating...don't judge!}

Our wedding is 4 weeks from tomorrow. I absolutely cannot believe it's so soon!

Olive watches Bethenny too!

So any time a baby or dog comes on TV, Olive stops dead in her tracks and runs to the TV to watch what's going on. I accidentally erased a clip on TV that she was going nuts over, so this will have to do until I can catch it again with my camera. What a funny little pup we have...!

I have my second dress fitting tonight. Wish me luck! Can wait to try on my dress again! :)
Less than 5 weeks. The countdown has begun!

2nd Grade 'Surprise' Party

My friends that I teach with and some parents of 2nd graders worked together to plan a shower for me at school today. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I found out....not from the kids! They are really good at keeping secrets. They asked me some questions about the wedding and sang "Here Comes the Bride" as I walked in with my veil and bouquet. Needless to say, I cried. Some of the parents took video and pictures of our afternoon {that I'll share sometime}, but I thought I'd leave you with a picture of a present I got and some wedding advise given to me {all of them wrote Kurt and I a piece of advice and put it into a whole book}.

 It's hard to tell how stinkin' cute this is from the picture. My class made it for me with their thumbprints. Then they drew around it to make some object. I love it!

"You should say I love you to him, do the dishes, and feed the dogs." - Reese

"You're the best teacher ever and I bet you will be a great wife. Try to do everything together whenever you can." - Eli

"Make sure he says he loves you every morning, noon, and night. And don't let him tell you what to do because you're the QUEEN." -Lola

"I hope you have a fantastic marriage. You should get candles on your wedding cake and make wishes." - Benny

"When your kids go to college, try to let them call you." - Eric

"Always remember your honeymoon when you celebrate your anniversary." - Louise

"I wish you have a great time with Kurt. When you get married you should take charge of Kurt. Oh and make sure you do the dishes because husbands don't like to." -Hailey

"I hope you have a fantastic wedding. I hope you have a boy." -Logan

"Remember to fight through tough times together." -Mary

"Always give Kurt a hug and a kiss when he comes home from work." -Kayla

"Take a lot of family trips...remember bring the baby!!" -Sydney

"Don't forget to go out on dates sometimes." -Chase

"Don't just enjoy the wedding, really enjoy the marriage." -Keegan

"Remember if you are ever mad at Kurt look back at the best times you and him had together. P.S. Have a happy life together." -Jack

"I hope you have a great life. Never let Kurt spell 5 things wrong in a sentence." -Charlotte

"Remember don't let Kurt pick out your outfit." -Caroline

"I hope you will be happy with Kurt. Don't get too much furniture or you'll have no room." -Josh

"I wish for you to have a great marriage...and for June 11 to be the best day of your life. And remember, there's never too much makeup!" Josh

"I wish you a happy wedding day. Oh, and don't get too excited. A baby is a real handful!" -Margot

"I hope you have an awesome marriage. I hope you have a good life with Kurt. Remember always get your way!" -Morgan

"I wish for you and Kurt to have the time of your life. Here's a tip...don't ever get in fights. If you do, just drop it." -Soren

"Wedding Advice: 1. Make sure you do a big mwhooo {kissing sound}. 2. Make sure you braid your hair. 3. Make sure you are looking fancy. 4. Make sure your eyes twinkle in the sun." -Casey

"I hope you have a good wedding day and a good baby." -Tucker

Sorry, I know I said a few. But, there are too many to choose from!

The Mannings

If you're a Colts fan {maybe even just a football fan}, you should read this article. Have a good weekend!!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6430211

Stella & Dot

Tuesday evening, my mom and I had a little jewelry party. Have you ever heard of Stella & Dot? If not, you're missing out. It's soo cute! One of the reasons why we wanted to have the party now was so I could get some fun stuff for me to take on our honeymoon!! And I got so much fun stuff. I can't wait for it to come! Here's what I got...

{Love this ring!! I can't wait to wear it!}

 {I got these in gold}

 {How fun is this??}

{And, my favorite. A ring. That I'm going to sport on our wedding day. My mom said I could only wear it at the reception though, but I promise you I'll be wearing it!!!}

rage fest

A week ago this past Saturday, our good friends {and Best Man and Maid of Honor} Josh and Mer had a couples shower {or rage fest according to Josh}. We are so lucky to have such great friends to have a party for us and come celebrate with us before we get married. We had an awesome time. Thanks, Josh and Mer for having a party for us! And thanks to all our friends for being so great!!

The yummy food!

 Kaden {Mercy and Turner's little boy} came to party with us!

Some boys hanging out.

More boys...

Mer and I

Us

We're getting married in 45 days and I can absolutely not believe it's coming so soon!

I'm starting to go a little crazy with all the things we have going on...!

refreshing

Kurt and I gave up beer for Lent. Not the best idea we've ever had, but we did it anyway. We did cheat a few times, but for the most part didn't drink beer for the whole 6 weeks. It was so refreshing to taste a yummy summer beer yesterday! I'm about to pop one open right now...

Ahhhhh, how I love beer.

respondez s'il vous plait

Since we sent our invitations out a little over a week ago, we've had lots of mail!

Response cards in particular. 

You might not believe me when I tell you that this picture is how many response cards we've gotten back already, but this picture isn't lying!!

47 cards to be exact. 47 out of 150 sent.

And what's even harder for me to believe is that so far only 6 people can't come!

84 people {including Kurt and I}

What's been really fun is reading notes that people are leaving on the back of the cards for us.

{The bottom of the response card says, "Include a message of best wishes for the bride and groom on the back of this card."}

Things are starting to come together and get really exciting. I absolutely cannot wait to see all the people I haven't seen in awhile and share our wedding day with so many special people!

surprises @ the door

Today we got lots of packages in the mail, one we knew was coming and the other is a gift!

We were really excited when we opened up this package...

We registered for this doormat from Pottery Barn. 

Kurt's aunt and uncle sent it to us.

Although I'm not technically a Weiper yet, Kurt insisted that we put it at our front door because we like it so much!

Looks awesome, don't you agree?!?

The long awaited package of part of my bridesmaid's gifts also came today!! I really, really wish I could put a picture up of what came, but don't want to ruin the surprise for my girls! I'll be sure to share after the wedding.

And speaking of gifts, look at what I'm using for the first time to make part of our dinner...

Steamed broccoli is soo good!
We got this for a shower gift from my sister-in-law Allison and her mom.
And I can't forget to mention our little teapot we LOVE...also a shower gift!

We're blessed and lucky to have such special family and friends.