July Preview

I don't think I'll be blogging much during July because we have a C.R.A.Z.Y month ahead of us. All very exciting things, but I know it's going to fly by. I have mixed emotions about it all because it's my last full month at home with Norah before I head back to work in mid-August. I'm planning to soak up every last moment with her before that. Here's a preview of our crazy life to come:

*Today {July 1}, we officially got possession of our new house! We showed my parents, Andy, Julia, and Lauren the house yesterday, but we could officially begin moving things in today. 

*Tomorrow Kurt and I plan to move as much as possible on our own to the new house. We're hoping to not have to keep the movers for as much time as they've quoted us. The less time, the cheaper for us! 

*Wednesday the movers come! It will be our first night in the new place! 

*Thursday is the 4th {already?!?}. This will be the first time in years we'll be celebrating in Indy. We'll probably go check out the fireworks downtown after working on the house all day.

*Friday we're going to head to the lake for the weekend to try and relax a little bit.

*Monday {8th} - Friday {12th} we are going to be working on the house as much as we possibly can. I'll make sure to take before and after pictures as much!

*Saturday {13th - Julia's 7th Birthday!!} my mom, Norah, and I are heading up to Michigan to meet Andy, Quinn, and the girls. Kurt and my dad are heading up after golf on Sunday. We'll be spending the week there with everyone. 

*Friday {19th} we are planning to leave Michigan and stop at the lake on the way home. We'll spend the evening with Kurt's family and pick up the dogs from his parents. 

*Saturday {20th} we are leaving the lake to come home, unpack, and do any last minute things on our old house. 

*Monday {22nd} if everything goes as planned {fingers crossed!!!!!}, we close on our old house!

*Tuesday {23rd) we are heading out to Newport Beach, CA for a business meeting that Kurt has.

*Wednesday {24th} Kurt, Norah, and I will be flying up to San Francisco to stay with Lauren and Jared!! :) Either Thursday or Friday that week, we are going to drive to their house in Tahoe and stay there until Sunday. 

*Monday {29th} we fly home! 

Hopefully, by the end of this month, we'll be vacationed out {is that really possible?!?}, ready to do some major work on our new place, and only own one home. It's going to be a crazy month, but so much fun. I know we'll come out of July feeling tired, but I can't wait to make so many memories! 

Weeks 9 & 10 {Catching Up}

Okay, we're almost caught up on the week updates here. After this, baby bump pictures will be around each week. 

How big was baby: A grape and a kumquat {?!?!?}. 

What's going on with baby: The embryo turned into a fetus. The baby is kicking up a storm {I wish I could feel it!} and many of the vital organs are beginning to function. I can't believe how much the baby is growing and developing each week!

What happened this week: 
-Week 9, we finally had a week that wasn't so crazy busy. I was able to get some things done around the house. We went to dinner with Lauren and Tom and I was able to get a {much needed} full week of working out in.
-We went to pick up Kurt's new car on Thursday!! And I had to take my car in to get new tires put on. We spent wayyy too much money in one day! :)
-Friday we packed and got ready for our trip to South Carolina. We left later in the evening once everyone else was off work. 
-Week 10, we were in SC the whole week. It was a great, relaxing vacation!

{Celebrating the 4th in SC and testing out the new camera.}

{Good friends, good food, and a great trip!!}

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.

overdue updates

I don't know where to begin. Before we left for Mexico, I'm sure you could already tell posting was getting less and less as things started getting more crazy and stressful. Once we got home, the craziness continued, and the thought of blogging stressed me out even more! So, I'm back to recap the last couple of months. Especially since many new and exciting things have happened around here!!!! :)

Cabo Trip

It's nearly impossible to try and sum up a week of vacation. We had an amazing time. The room was incredible {upgraded to the Penthouse!}, the weather couldn't have been more perfect, the food was so good, and sharing that with best friends makes it even better. Here are a few pictures from the week:

{The Group}

{The Boys}

{The Girls}

{My Love}

Doggie
After talking about getting another dog for a long time, we finally caved in and bought our second dog. We rescued Olive from Animal Care and Control. We picked her up after her spay on April 1. After a couple days, her and Cooper have become best buddies.




During our first vet appointment {also Cooper's 6 month check-up}, we found out that Olive had kennel cough. They put her on $60 medicine and couldn't give her the shots she needed until she got better. Two weeks later, we took her in to finally get her second round of shots....vet said everything looked good except a rash on her belly {needed more medicine for that}.

That next Saturday {after having her for 3 weeks}, Olive had been up throwing up all night. Her belly looked really misshaped and she couldn't stop shaking. The vet wanted us to come in as soon as possible. After a long day, lots of tests and x-rays, and some confusion, Olive had surgery to remove her spleen. It had twisted over on itself and she almost died because of it. She's practically famous at our vet office now since she is only the third dog in 30 YEARS that this has happened to! It's going to take almost that amount of time for our wallets to recover! :)

She's happy and healthy now. She loves to play with her older brother and snuggle on the couch. Our house appears to be hit by a tornado because she loves playing with every toy we have. She can entertain herself for quite awhile! Every time we put the toys into the basket, she takes them all out and puts them on her bed. I love our new addition to our family...even if she is expensive!

{Here she is with all her toys on her bed...including the 3 she's laying on!!!}

Katie and Kurt, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes love, then comes MARRIAGE!
Yep, that's right. Kurt and I got engaged last Friday!!! We couldn't be happier to take the next step in our relationship. The engagement was perfect. After taking me to dinner, Kurt planned for us to walk around downtown and take a carriage ride. Because it started to storm, we couldn't do either. I suggested we go get some ice cream and go back home to watch the Blackhawks game. The entire night, Kurt acted totally normal and didn't persist on us doing anything. After ice cream, we went home. By that time, I knew he wasn't going to propose that night. When we got home, there was a card taped on the wall right as you walk in. It basically took me on a little scavenger hunt. The last stop was the dresser where a ring box was with a note that said, "Turn Around." He had mentioned in one of the cards that there was a surprise on the bed. As I am ruffling around the bed, thinking that Cooper has eaten my surprise, Kurt got down on one knee. Finally I turned around and he asked me to marry him....while Olive licked his face and Cooper howled at the door because he wanted in!!! :)

{After he proposed!}

{The ring he designed AND kept a secret from everyone since February. He did ask my dad a week in advance, but before that, NO ONE knew he had bought a ring!!!}

We've started the wedding planning process. We're planning to get married June of 2011. Hopefully this summer, I'll be able to shuffle tutoring, getting a classroom ready, planning a wedding, and blogging!

{One of my best friends, Susanah, got engaged the night before us. Not planned at all!!}

Of course we've had some other exciting things going on, but I wanted to update on the most exciting/important ones. Only two and a half more weeks of school...so I hope to be around more often!

checked out

I've lost a lot of motivation...it's not hard to do since we'll be here in less than 2 weeks...

I honestly can't put into words how excited I am.

quick recap

I've been very tongue-tied lately. Instead of telling you a lot about our trip, I'll let you see {some} of the pictures. Hope you had a great long weekend!!

Getting ready for dinner...taking a break from dancing!

The whole family {minus Allison} at a new restaurant...beautiful!

Hanging out at dinner :)

She l.o.v.e.d. the Santa at our hotel!

My wonderful family.

Taking a break from eating at our favorite place...Edith's. Yum!

New Year's Eve

Julia and Christopher playing doctor...her foot was hurt.

Resting up after eating a yummy home-cooked New Year's Eve dinner.

Really not wanting to go out to celebrate New Year's -- losers I know.

We were exhausted and tired so we decided to take beers down to the beach and have a low-key night.

What a great way to begin 2010!

Happy 2010!!!

First picture of the year!

Last night -- beautiful sunset from our patio!

Julia with her baby on the last night.

Although our trip seemed extra short this year, we still had a great time. Kurt and I {along with some friends} will be heading back down to Cabo for my spring break. I can't wait to be back!!

Cabo {finally}

When thinking back to my many trips to Cabo, I'd have to say this trip was {by far} the most dramatic. I'm sure you're wondering why, but I'm not so sure you'll want to continue on reading....

You want the short version? -- It took us 36 hours {or something} to get there.

You want the loonnngggg version? -- Continue on reading!

Instead of telling the story, I'm going to just give you the {as brief as possible} time line. Okay, so here we go.

November{ish} 2009
Mom calls to get our seat assignments and airline informs her that our flight had been canceled. They {graciously} bumped us onto the Christmas Day flight. We informed them that we could absolutely not leave on Christmas Day. They {finally} added us onto another airline's flight leaving the day after Christmas...like originally planned.  

December 26, 2009

{times are all in Indianapolis time...}

3:15 am - Our alarm goes off to get ready...get out of bed at 3:30! :)
4:15 am - Mom and dad pick us up.
5:30 am - Having difficulty checking in. {Julia's reservation was for some reason with my name....important information for later on...little did we know!}
6:00 am - Kurt and Andy stand in line forever waiting to talk to the gate agent about getting seat assignments...kinda hard to fly with a 3 year old when we're scattered around the plane. {Another flight had been canceled, so those people took forever in line.} They never talked to the lady.
6:30 am - Our flight was scheduled to leave. We continued to sit in the airport... {Maintenance}
7:30 am - Sitting on our plane waiting to leave. {1 hour late}
*Note -- we had an hour layover in Denver to make our flight to Cabo*
7:45 am - They come back on saying there is another maintenance issue with the air conditioning.
8:45 am - We are told we have to switch airplanes....still in Indianapolis!
9:30 am - On our 2nd plane of the day, waiting to get deiced.
9:45 am - FINALLY leave Indy.

10:30 am - Our flight leaves for Cabo...without us :(

11:30 am - I'm looking out the window noticing we continue to turn to the right a lot...
12:00 pm - Pilot announces that we've been circling because of a snow storm and we'll continue to circle until given the okay.
12:45 pm - Land in Denver.

1:00 pm - Find customer service line in airport. Dad begins waiting with the hundreds of other people. Everyone else tries to find a place to eat.
2:00 pm - Done eating lunch at Paradise Cafe. Find dad who has just gotten to the beginning of the line.
3:00 pm - Manager of customer service has looked all over the country trying to find us a way to get to Phoenix. {There were no more flights to Cabo that day. We HAD to get to Phoenix by 9am the next morning to make the flight. All the flights from Denver to Phoenix were overbooked that day. If we didn't get to Phoenix by the morning, we were told that we wouldn't get to Cabo until Tuesday...it was SATURDAY!} She came up with a plan!!!!!! This is what she told us... "There is a flight leaving from here in 30 minutes to Fresno, California. You'll have an hour layover in Fresno and then you'll get on another plane to get to Phoenix. We're going to send your bags to Phoenix tonight. You'll stay the night in Phoenix and catch the first flight out to Cabo."
3:05 pm - In disbelief of how ridiculous this day was. Rushing to our gate to make the next flight.
3:10 pm - Find out that our flight to Fresno is delayed because the plane is late from Aspen. Praying with all our might that it would hurry up so we could make it to Fresno in time....

{While waiting, we had to take our minds off of the stress. Watching the airport people clear off the runways...how exciting!}

{Wearing sunglasses in the airport because it was SO sunny and warm inside. We're making our 'I can't f*ing believe this is happening right now' face!}

5:00 pm - Finally leave Denver praying that they will fly the plane EXTRA quick!

6:45 pm - Land in Fresno. Look around while pulling into the terminal to see NOT ONE plane sitting by a gate.

7:00 pm - Run to our gate to find out that it left.....

7:30 pm - Begin talking to the gate agent about what the hell we are going to do. We just wanted to make it to Phoenix that night. After standing there talking for 1 1/2 hours this is what we found out...

-There was no possible way to get all 7 of us to Phoenix that night.

-The first flight to Phoenix was at 6:30 am the next morning. Here's the kicker....there were only 6 seats on the flight!!!!

-Kurt and I offer to figure out a way to fly that night to Phoenix so that everyone can get on the morning flight.

-Man begins checking to see what we would have to do to get to Phoenix.

-B**** lady on the phone tells us that they would not allow for me to fly with Kurt because Julia and I were together on a reservation. They wouldn't split up our reservation and if they did, Julia would loose all of her seats for the remainder of the trip {including home flights}!

-Kurt offers to fly by himself to Phoenix...which meant he would fly from Fresno to Vegas THEN from Vegas to Phoenix....that NIGHT. {Kurt ended up being in 5 airports and 5 states in ONE DAY!}

-Man gets Kurt's tickets and then works on getting all our tickets for the next morning. THANK GOD we were already on the Phoenix flight in the morning....we just needed to make it there!!!

-Man tells us we need to come back to the airport at 5am the next morning.

9:00 pm - We sit down at the {one} airport restaurant to eat dinner. Kurt continues to complain about his stomach acting up....he can't eat a thing.

9:45 pm - Say goodbye to Kurt in the Fresno airport.

{Julia started crying when Kurt left. We were making our 'sad faces'.}

10:00 pm - Call hotel shuttle.

10:15 pm - Get free 'cosmetics' and hotel rooms. Find our rooms. Can't shut my hotel room door. When I figure out how to shut it, I can't get out...ugh!

10:30 pm - Lights out. Waiting for Kurt to call.

{Going back...} 10:00 pm - Kurt's plane starts to leave for Vegas. He throws up in the plane bathroom and tells the flight attendant that he's not going to be able to stay on the plane. They make him talk to the captain and drive back to the gate. He calms down and decides that he's going to stay on the plane....if he got off, he probably wouldn't have gotten to Cabo till Tuesday...! He pukes the entire flight and they make him wear a mask. {poor guy!}

12:30 am - Kurt calls from the Vegas airport. Says he feels like crap. Looks for a gatorade and waits for his next flight. I remind him of all the things he has to do when he gets to Phoenix and go back to bed.

2:00 am - Kurt calls from Phoenix. He checks in for the morning flight, gets his hotel voucher, and talks to the baggage person about where our bags are. He calls the hotel shuttle.

2:15 am - Hotel shuttle not there. Kurt calls back. They ask him to take a cab because they were having an emergency.

2:30 am - Kurt gets to the hotel and gets reimbursed for the cab fare. He was told about the drunk lady who stumbled through the lobby/hit her head and cause the emergency....

2:45 am - Kurt is still sick and tries to lay down to get some sleep.

8:00 am - Arrive at the Fresno airport. Wait in a VERY long line {when we were told NO ONE would be there!}

8:30 am - Lady tells us that Quinn {sister-in-law} was in fact NOT on this flight and that she is THIRD in line on standby. {Even though they printed off our tickets the night before that we were on this flight}

8:45 am - Start freaking out. I go stand in the security line. We didn't know if everyone would get on the flight...even if we did, we didn't think we'd make it through security in time.

8:50 am - I scan the security line for some saints!

8:55 am - Ask two incredibly nice ladies if my family could cut in line so we could try and get on the flight.

9:10 am -Run to the gate and begin asking people if we can pay for their ticket so they would switch. Some people offered, but they decided not to when they heard they couldn't get out of Fresno until at best the next day.

9:15 am - Told that if we have a ticket we had to get on the plane or they'd give away our tickets. Dad decided to stay so Quinn could go. {They gave Quinn a 'ticket' to get through security but not to get on the flight.}

9:20 am - After ALLLL the drama, they close the door and allow all 7 of us on the plane.

*My dad was able to get on because other people didn't make it through security in time...

9:30 am - Plane leaves Fresno a little late. I'm shaking in my seat because we had only 45 minutes in Phoenix to make the Cabo flight.

11:00 am - Plane lands in Phoenix. We run to our next gate, where Kurt and Patrick were waiting. {Patrick was supposed to come a day later than we were. We ended up being on his flight!}

11:15 am - Having not eaten a bite of anything that day, we buckled our seat belts on the final flight.

1:00 pm - Land in sunny Cabo!!

1:45 pm - Absolutely cannot believe that ALL our bags made it safely to Cabo!

3:00 pm - Get to our hotel and begin the checking in process.

3:30 pm - Begin drinking {!!!}

Can you believe it?!?!?!? It still stresses me out....and kinda puts me in a bad mood...ha!

You would think that after that the vacation was a-okay? Nope, the first day we were there {a whole day late} it absolutely POURED more than you can imagine. Oh well...we took great naps that day! :)

I'll be sure to share some good parts of the trip tomorrow!

Merry Chirstmas {and Happy New Year}!

I love Christmas.....

The traditions, spending time with family, snow, music, etc.

I especially love that my family leaves for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico the Saturday after Christmas each year.

Yep, that's right. Saturday we'll be leaving the cold weather for a week of relaxing on the beach.

Have yourself a wonderful Christmas and a very fun New Year.

See you in 2010!

dreaming

Sorry about my short blogging hiatus. Work last week was full of drama and very busy....

This was a much needed weekend that ended up going way too fast!

I don't have much inspiration right now considering I had to be at work today at 6:45 am.

Lately, I've been dreaming of my family's yearly trip to Cabo San Lucas.

We always go the Saturday after Christmas and stay through New Years.

Not trying to wish away this time of year, but it will feel fabulous when I spend a week looking at this....