Time to play catch-up!!

I promised this entry a long while ago, and now I am going to make good on that promise. This is a long awaited summer update. Do I regret waiting until now? Yes. But..this is the first time I could actually sit down and do this without feeling guilty about it, and that makes me feel good. So here goes....

My Review of Summer 2008

--One of the things that I had decided to do for myself this summer was play on a softball league. It ended up being a lot of fun, even though we only ended up winning two games. I blame it on the fact that we were the only team on a men's league that had 3 girls on it, me being one of them of course. The fact of the matter is that we were just not as good as all those guys. Here are some pictures from the season:





--I believe these pictures were from a BBQ on Father's Day weekend =) / family reunion. Alot of Chris's family was there and we had a lot of great food.

That is Chris's cousin Erica and her husband Joe, she was one of our bridesmaids in our wedding and one of my very good friends.

This was from a quick trip home to see my family. Love my sister!!
--On the weekend of the 4th of July my cousin (through my adopted fam.) got married and we were lucky enough to be invited to her beautiful wedding in Lansing. Not only was the day gorgeous but so was she!

Chris, me, Jesse, Trisha, Patrick and Megan

I took this great picture of Meg and Pat!!

The guys.

Us girls

--One of our huge highlights of the summer was our trip to Niagara Falls (we stayed on the Canadian side.) Chris and I went with his mom Jeanne and her sister Barb. We owe them a huge thank you, without them our trip would not have been possible. Thankfully they knew their way around and helped us out, but also let us go off on our own when we wanted to do stuff. It was a quick trip but a lot of fun!!

View of the Falls from up in the Skylon Tower


Cool pictures from the street

These were from the Tour Behind the Falls. Yeah...we got soaked!!! Awesome view though!!

That night we had an amazing dinner at a Steakhouse near our hotel....the view out our window at our table was the Falls all lit up at night. It was incredible!

These pictures are of the rapids in the Niagara River. Once again, amazing! You can't really tell from the pictures but they are so intense close up.

--Our good friends Adam and Amanda had baby #3 around the end of July. They are really great parents and have super cute kids. These are from when I went to visit Amanda in the hospital, they named her Olivia. She is such a beautiful baby!

--For one week Chris's sister Shauna, husband Todd and their 3 boys Brennan, Aiden and Ciaren came to stay with Chris's parents. They moved all the way from New Mexico to Maine, drove, and stayed for a while on the way. It was fun getting to hang out with them for a while, since I did not know them too well at the time.

Ciaren and Brennan

Me and my buddy Aiden

Duck tour in Saugatuck!

The Johnson Family

--The biggest event of the summer: Nate and Emileigh's wedding!!

Chris and I both had the honor and the pleasure of being in my brother Nate's wedding in August. Once again, another beautiful wedding on a beautiful day. I was so happy for them!

Nephew Sam at the rehearsal,he is getting so big!! And me walking down the aisle alone...Chris had school the night of the rehearsal and couldn't come until the morning of the wedding.

Emileigh and Nate at the rehearsal

Me and Meg at the Bachelorette Party

All of the bridal party girls


Meg and I before the wedding; I did both of our hair.


The beautiful bride and I.

Chris and I at the rehearsal, so cute!

--Here are a couple pictures from a little walk we took to Lake Michigan with Niles. I think he was sneezing in that 2nd one...haha!

Awww he's so cute!!



--Chris's 28th Birthday-August 16-I can't believe I have been with Chris through 4 birthdays so far. This year to celebrate his family came over and we went out to eat at the Chop House down town. Their food was amazing as usual.

Chris and I at dinner. It was fun getting all dressed up.

Aunt Barb and Mom Jeanne

Jeanne and I

Walking back to the car...being cute. =)

Later that night Chris wanted to see a movie so we decided to go to the cheap Celebration movie theatre at the Woodland Mall and see Iron Man.

--And finally....our last summer ShaBang. Labor Day weekend we went to Chicago with Chris's parents. I am really happy that we went, it was also right before I started my new job, it couldn't have been better timing, especially to do some shopping!

Pictures from Millenium Park

Jeanne and I at Buckingham Fountain, one of my favorite things to see in Chicago! I think it's so beautiful.

We tried a new restaurant our last night there that we hadn't been to before. It was the Weber Grill Restaurant. Their food was great. This was from the walk home.

Well that concludes our summer!! I am sure other little things happened here and there, I just probably forgot about them if I didn't have pictures of it. I love pictures. Thank goodness for them.

I don't plan on letting this much time go by again without posting. It's too hard and time consuming. I have been working on this post for about almost 4 hours now. Ridiculous.....more to come tomorrow!!

I love the Holidays

It was a pretty crazy busy weekend, but isn't it always? I think I have excepted the fact that I just do not get to sleep in anymore, whether I like it or not. I miss it, but it's nice to get up early and get a lot done in the day. It makes you feel so accomplished and ambitious, haha.

Friday night after work I finally got to go and see Twilight. I was disappointed. I am not sure exactly what I expected, but the point of the matter is that the book is ALWAYS better than the movie. They are long books. There is no way they can fit that many details into a good movie. It was a little cheesier than I expected. And there were lots of tweens and teens screaming a lot, it was funny. I still liked it though, just because it was Twilight. I can't lie, if they make a second movie, I will see it. How can I not? I am too much of a fan and too curious.
I went with my friend Julie from work and her sister Katherine. It was fun, I went over to their apartment and they had made enchiladas and sangria. It was nice, just some girl time. And then we went and saw the movie. They also have the cutest little pug dog named Stoli, he is so cute!!

Saturday morning Chris and I had a monument appointment in Muskegon which went well, and then we met up with his parents and went out to lunch at Red Lobster. I always want to get their Alfredo Pasta with the crab and lobster in it. Sooo good but sooo incredibly bad for you. Needless to say I was good and got the grilled salmon with rice and veggies. When we came back home in the afternoon we switched vehicles and went to Romence Gardens and got our Christmas tree. This year we decided to upgrade and get the Fraser Fir instead of the Douglas. It looks awesome!! And the needles won't fall off so much, it's also a lot stronger and holds the ornaments better.
Once we got home we decorated.... the tree, the house; all the while listening to Christmas music. Creme de Mint Hot Chocolate and Egg-Nog filled rum...Christmas cookie candles...mmmm.. What could be better? It makes me so nostalgic. I love that we decorate and are creating our own Christmas traditions. It will be so fun one day when we have kids. Of course movie favorites are always thrown in the mix as well. White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, Elf....this year Chris wanted to watch Airplanes, Trains and Automobiles since it was almost Thanksgiving. He loves it, it is so ironic the things the characters go through. The 80's music is awesome too, it's pretty funny. We watched that, then between that night and Sunday after church I managed to whip up 6 pumpkin rolls. It's easier to just make them all that one time and freeze them. I would be needing them for various occasions in the up and coming week ahead. Sunday morning we went to church, did a little grocery shopping, came home and finished the pumpkin rolls. Chris decided to make green bean casserole for our dish to pass (along with a pumpkin roll) and we headed off to Lowell for our House Church Thanksgiving dinner.
It was pretty fun, everyone brought food and we all sat around and talked and laughed...just spent some time together. Afterward we played poker for a while and then the weekend came to end, just like always. It always goes by so quick!

This week at work has been good so far. I only have to work 3 days this week and I get a four day weekend. Chris is jealous. I feel bad for him having to work and everything. Tonight I have my bowling and tomorrow we are going to venture out into the craziness of the biggest bar night of the year. We will see how that goes I guess! Chris's friend Paul and his girlfriend Naomi are going to meet up with us which I'm looking forward to because they are really fun to hang out with and we just do not get to see them all that much. Thursday we are having our Thanksgiving meal with Chris's family before he has to work at 4, and then I'm heading down to South Bend to meet up with my family for the evening, and I believe we are going shopping on friday. That should be interesting, I have never ventured out to do that before!!

Well that is all for now...I should get to work!

Election Day

I made an effort to get up earlier today that way I could go and vote before I went to work. So off Chris and I went at around 7:20 am this morning...the line wasn't too bad. There was a couple people out the door but we got in and out quickly. This is a big election and I know the outcome will go down in history. Either way something big is going happen. We are either going to have the first African American President, or a woman for Vice President. Big stuff. I love my husband, he is funny. He took today off from work months ago. I know that he is sitting on the couch right now watching the news with the laptop on his lap sipping his coffee and eating some oatmeal, and Nile is lying there on the couch next to him.
On a down note....this is so incredibly sad:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/US-Elections-2008/US-Election-Barack-Obamas-Grandmother-Dies-As-He-And-John-McCain-Make-Final-Appeals-To-Voters/Article/200811115141189?lpos=US_Elections_2008_First_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15141189_US_Election%3A_Barack_Obamas_Grandmother_Dies_As_He_And_John_McCain_Make_Final_Appeals_To_Voters

I can't believe his Grandmother passed away right before this election. Obviously it is bitter sweet especially if he wins, but if he does it is sad that she didn't get to see that happen before she passed.

On a lighter more fun note...Tonight I am skipping bowling and we are going to be attending a little "election get together". Chris is going to make his amazing Enchiladas and I'm sure that some good beer and wine will be involved. Our friend has promised to make some sort of dessert which I am already looking forward to. Should be a fun time had by all.

On an ending note..: This election makes me a little nervous, for whoever wins. But deep down I know that God is in control. And everything is going to work out in the end.

Great Verse

Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? ... I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35,38-39 (New Living Translation)

Amazing Song

This song is called Decode by a band named Paramore, which I am actually really growing to like a lot. Paramore wrote this song specifically for the Twilight movie which naturally makes me love it even more. I think the video is decent, flashing some scenes from the movie. Part of me thinks it's a little boring because they are just singing in the woods, but then the other part of me absolutely loves it because it's simple, and some of the shots of Hayley Williams (lead singer) are very clean. Then again, I may just be bias. Check it out

Paramore - New Music - More Music Videos

Twilight The Movie

I can't wait!!!