Happy Mothers Day! (2 days late!)

Ok, I know, I know. Mother's day was 2 days ago and I didn't write this post 2 days ago...however, I didn't have time because I was busy spending the day with my mom and grandma and then Jimmy's mom and grandma...so that's my excuse :) It's a good one I think!

But where do you start on thanking your mom and wishing her a very happy mother's day? I'm not quite sure. Probably because words don't even begin to express how thankful and lucky I am to have such a wonderful mom, role model and friend in my life (and Lyndsay is too!). So as good as this will do...Mom, thank you for all you do and the way you support us always in everything we do and talk about doing. You are always there to celebrate with us when we succeed and comfort us when things don't go our way. And now you are a great friend also :) THANKS BARB!

And thanks to Ona Belle (pictured below) and Dorothy (pictured here) for being such wonderful mothers and role models to both of my parents. You all are such wonderful role models and I can only hope to be mothers like you are...



At Red Lobster on Mother's Day with Jimmy, my dad, my mom, my uncle (Roland), my grandmother and grandfather....



Mom and daughters at my bridal shower earlier this year



Mom and daughters at my wedding!



This year was also my first mother's day having a mother in law too. While Sue has been in my life awhile, this is the first eyer it's official. And with how wonderful she was with all the wedding stuff and just the was she and Red have been there for Jimmy and I has been amazing. I also know it took a lot to raise 5 boys into 5 wonderful men....that's pretty much amazing in my book and I have a lot to learn from her someday whenever I become a mom!!



Here are my two baby dogs that I have been lucky enough to be a mom dog to for almost a full two years now :) Love them! And now I get to be dog mom to Toby too !!!



And while I'm only just a dog mom, Jimmy was nice enough to give me a little mother's day surprise from the whole family!!! He got some washable finger paint and got all the dogs to put their paw prints and "write" me a note. So cute :) I need to get a frame to hang this up. Haha. He's so sweet! And then he also got us Royal's tickets for this Wednesday night to go to BUCK night. I love hot dogs, so as long as it doesn't rain....we off to see the Royal's game for the first time of the season and to nosh on some yummy $1 food!!

Welcome home, Toby!

Now that I am the mom of 3 dogs (we like to refer to it as blended families), with Toby's permanent house now being where Milly, Willy and I previously resided, life has become more interesting. Instead of just hanging out with my little dogs, I now have a big dog to entertain and take care of and love. It's been a new world to me because a big dog does things so different than little ones. He requires more food, a little big more love, and absolutely more exercise!

With Willy gaining 3 lbs when he stayed with my parents over the honeymoon, I made it a priority to take Milly and Willy on a walk everyday and we have a goal of making it to Corinth Square to go to Land of Paws by the end of the summer :) There walks are short though and Toby requires just a tiny bit more exercising. So, that means I take him on runs with me! Yes, I have found my running partner for the summer time. He pulls me a little harder, just when I need it. I have been running 3 miles with him and by the time we get back to the house, we're both pretty exhausted. I will say that Ceaser Milan (the dog whisperer) might just have something going with that the more exercise a dog gets, the better behaved :)

So overall, with a new running partner and someone that can protect me, I'm really liking having Mr. Tobias around. Milly and Willy are getting used to him, but they are getting along ok! He's a great guard dog and will always let you know when someone is coming up to the house or there is someone outside (like you know, your weird neighbor across the street that chooses to water his lawn at 10:30PM with a flashlight on his head....). With that said, this post is dedicated to him. Milly and Willy have had plenty of time to shine, so Toby, show them what you got :)



Just chilling in the sun shine and the freshly cut grass. Check out that bushy tail. Haha



I think he had his sight on a big stick at this point



So cute :) What a fun cuddler. Now that we have a king size bed, he welcomes himself to sleep at the bottom of it every night (above the covers) and I let him stay! Haha.



Toby and Milson, walking down the street.....(only Jimmy will understand this)

And here, finally is a funny video of him playing with a HUGE stick in the yard this weekend. I think he might have overestimated it's size, but it was funny to watch him run with it! Gotta love good old Toby Joseph! So glad you are finally a permanent resident. And I already have gotten Jimmy to tell me how amazed he is that Toby listens to me so well :) What can I say, I'm a natural!


***And the video will not post. I even tried to get it overnight. I'll try again. Sorry, but it's funny**

Fun with friends- out with Lyssa!

Ok, so in between organizing the kitchen, I did attend some fun festivities with my friends to kick off the wedding celebration that will take place June 26 between Lyssa and Kevin! How freaking adorable is this picture- I didn't take it, Sara did though :) Mother and daughter---Kinley is SO cute!!!!



However, I did get a few pictures of the super awesome limo ride and a dance that Garten put on....so here you go!



In the HUGE limo!



Sup Mrs. Strathman...



Just hanging out....





Mrs. Strathman and soon to be Mrs. Krumholtz :) Yeah for a fun night!!

And here is a nice little video of Garten dancing and doing her thing. Haha, I didn't get the best part!!

Organize the kitchen, completed!

All right, so it was quite the weekend (this last weekend, trying to stay caught up), but in between Lyssa's wedding shower in the morning and her bachelorette party in the evening, I was able to sneak home and get a project and some cleaning done!

I really wanted to take a nap, however, I came home to my husband doing this:


....cleaning the gutters on the roof and putting gutter guards on, so I felt a little guilty for just sleeping. So I decided to tackle the pantry organization project. Remember the before picture?? Awful, right? And how full does the pantry look?



Well, I googled "how to organize a pantry" and it gave me an estimated completion time of 30-90 minutes, so I figured I could take that on. Simple steps: Take all the food out, assess what's good/bad, then put back in the pantry in a fashion that makes sense and is organized by group. Simple enough right?

Here is all the food out...then I cleaned all the shelves.



Then Jimmy joined in the fun. He was really happy haha!



And TA-DA! The organized pantry. Really there is almost the same amount of food in it, it's just SO much more organized, it's amazing! And with some labels of course. My mom asked who needed labels if it was just me and Jimmy living there..my answer was so when he helps unload the groceries, he knows where things go :)



In one of our wedding fonts, Century Gothic, of course.




And I couldn't stop there. Oh no. I went one step farther....

In the spice cabinet that I had organized last week.....



And then I FINALLY labeled and am putting to good use the present Lauren bought me for my birthday last year! It's great to file the mail so it doesn't sit on the island all week---drives me crazy!





Oh hey :)

Ok, so now that I have proven to you I'm a freak and I really like having things organized...that's it! Next to organize: the office!

Posts that I missed #2: Erica's shower!

Ok, so the weekend after we got back from our honeymoon....we flew to Dallas (all the bridesmaids) to host a wedding shower for Miss Erica Snyder...the bride to be on June 19--so soon!!

As always, Dallas was an amazing time. Vanessa met Emily and I at the airport where Heather was nice enough to pick us up and then we were off to dinner with all the DFU and Carol Snyder, who was in town for the festivities!! It was a very delicious meal and I actually saw one of Jimmy's cousins while we were sitting at the table- small world. Then it was off to an SMU bar, full of very rich and very fancy people. Haha.



Me and Payson and Rachel- part of the DFU :)


The other side of the table!


Matron of Honor #1- doing her thing and getting the bride to be drunk


Matron of Honor #2- getting it DONE

PS- all the pictures are stolen from Vanessa's facebook album---as I didn't take any Friday night and just a few on Saturday! Thanks V :)

The next morning Vanessa and I tried to get up and head to CostCo early, but that didn't work because they weren't open. Haha. The host and her mom made us a delicious breakfast of a fruit and yogurt parfait and then we were off to the bridesmaid bootcamp the Erica was hosting us at with her trainer at Cooper Aerobics. And then there was a surprise visitor- Andrew's sister, Kristine, made the trek all the way to Texas from Nebraska!!! Yeah :) I'm so glad she could make it and hang out with all of us- it was so great to have her there.

Pretty much April, Erica's trainer at Cooper, kicked our butts---after a little warm up, we did some intense intervals at different stations with our partners. It was pretty fun and make me realize how much I missed bridal bootcamp and the structured work outs :) We ended the work out with a nice walk around the Cooper complex, with Erica as our tour guide. It was really beautiful and full of lots of healthy people working out- of course. Check out the blog that Erica helps manage as their PR Manager- she's a stud with her own office!!

After that we were off to a delicious lunch at Central Market- a VERY upscale grocery store with a little restaurant in it. It was delicious....and for the record Erica, nothing like Hy-Vee--haha!

Finally, we were off to do what our main goal was there, to get supplies for the shower that started at 6PM. With our trusty CostCo cards in hard, we headed a way away from Dallas to get all the supplies we need for the wine and cheese themed shower. Of course, it had everything we needed at a great price and even some beautiful flowers! But as we left, we realized we forgot the most important part---6 bottles of wine to gift to Erica as part of our present. We then drove around for an hour by Erica's house looking for a liquor store---turns out she lives in a dry county but luckily we found some trashy place that only sold beer and wine, but we were good to go and luckily all the other bridesmaids were already showered and ready so they could set up and we could get ready :)

And ladies and gentlemen....I present to you, our final product! Complete with recommended wine and cheese pairings! I have to say....the bride to be LOVED it! We all knew that she would, but were very happy she was excited!!

There were a great group of girls to help her celebrate and lots of awesome presents!!! I think overall, she had a great time and so did all of us!!!


The table set up- Vanessa's wonderful handwriting!


The set up on the island---and you can see Erica's sweet new countertops!! And Heather being creepy...what's new?


Um, I think she likes it :)


All the shower attendees working on their game!


She LOVED this present!


The bride and all her bridesmaids :) Getting excited for New Orleans and June 19!

Then we were off to Uptown for the night- and things got a little crazy on the dance floor.


Everyone prior to the dancing fools...


The bride has some moves we have never seen...


Heather and I dancing, luckily I wasn't sweating :)

And after a fun and tiring weekend, we were off to the airport bright and early and back home. But never fear our Dallas friends, we will see you all again in only a few short weeks in New Orleans and then again in Dallas at the Wassinger/Snyder wedding shin-dig! Yeah for fun, friends, and good times....

Posts that I missed #1: Jimmy's birthday

Ok, so this was a long time ago, about 3 weeks. But Saturday, April 17 was Jimmy's 26th birthday!! And I missed the post just for him. So here it is :)

Reasons I can't wait to be around when Jimmy for the next 26 years....

1) He loves KU so much that he cries when they win the national championship. Oh and he loves his friends. No really, I do love his passion for things (including KU)! I can only hope that he finds more passion in all the things he does in life and I can be there to support him!



2) I love his friends and family a lot!! His friends continue to crack me up when they are around and are just all around great guys- he's very lucky to have them (and so am I!). His family is amazing as well and I am lucky to be a part of it now...and can't wait to be around as it continues to grow :)





3) The fact that he puts up with my ridiculousness at times.....just a quick example would be right after this picture was taken in December of 2006. This was when he got me a diamond necklace that was a circle....five minutes before I opened it I blurted out in the car how I hope he didn't get me the "trendy circle necklace" because they are so trendy. And then I opened up a diamond circle necklace. I do love it now.....but OOPS. Or how he got me a nice watch for my birthday and I didn't like the color of the face and said it was too expensive, but am still wearing it almost 3 birthdays later. And the diamond earrings....I flipped out when he got me those and said that I didn't want them and he should take them back and get me a Wii, but he refused. Yep, wore them to work today and almost everyday. But I will say, as much complaining as I did, he took it in stride and probably secretly smiles every time I wear them. Maybe Jimmy really does know best :)



4) The way he can always make me smile. This was New Years Eve 2007 in Manhattan- freezing cold outside- but still smiling :) And it's even better when he makes me laugh...hard...I love that.



5) That he asked me to spend the rest of his life with him :) And it was the best day ever!!




Love you Jim and can't wait for many more birthday celebrations to come!!

Trip to Iowa!

Last weekend, Jimmy, Brittany, Roger, Barb, Milly and Willy (Toby stayed with Jimmy's parents---couldn't make the long car ride!) headed out to Storm Lake, Iowa early Saturday morning. My grandparents (dad's parents) live there and they weren't able to make the 6 hour drive down to our wedding about a month ago, so we went to them....with the wedding video and lots of pictures and stories in hand!!!

Willy rocking his Royals hat and snoozing....



They have a farm and farmhouse just right outside of town that they have lived in forever, but recently moved into an assisted living facility and my mom, Jimmy or I hadn't seen it yet. My grandma had a pantry for the first time in her life and she was SO excited!! They had lots of room on one floor (no stairs) and it suits them great! And with a big guest room and guest bathroom- it was perfect for all of us.

After driving around Storm Lake and Alta, waiting for my grandparents to finish lunch in the dining area with their friends, of course Grandma had a delicious lunch prepared for us when we arrived Saturday afternoon! Then we spent the whole afternoon watching our entire wedding. We laughed, we cried, and best yet, it was such a detailed/good video that they felt like they were there!! Which is exactly what we wanted :)

Then we decided to go against the norm and not hit up Lakeshore cafe on Main Street and we took them to a fun restaurant at a new resort that just went up on the lake that is very nice! They loved it and it was very pretty looking at the lake (hence the city name, Storm Lake)! Here are a few pictures from dinner---



This one is funny because it looks like my grandma is trying to tell my dad something :)

Before dinner we went to their farm house and looked at lots of stuff to see if we wanted to take anything and I got some great stuff that is very special :) I got a gorgeous punch bowl and glasses that my grandma had- and best yet, it has the original receipt on it from 1969!!!! It was so neat to hear her tell stories about all the things in their house. We got some great candlestick holders that are now holding candles on our dining room table!

After dinner, we went back to their apartment and just hung out and talked. And my dad disappeared to "get gas" and he came back with these two things of Monkey Bread from Godfathers pizza. One was caramel and one was cinnamon. It was hilarious because my dad was like a kid when he walked in the door with them---so excited and telling his parents about how good they were. They were apparently for breakfast, but that didn't stop him from eating about half of them! Pictures of the boys just hanging out.


Milly found her snuggle spot on our pillow.



It might have been like 80 degrees in their apartment. Jimmy and my dad were trying to make do :)

Then Jimmy and I went to the guest room in the facility to sleep in twin beds.

One thing I did not foresee myself doing within the first 3 weeks of getting married: Sleeping in the guest room of an assisted living facility with my husband in the other twin bed. Haha. But what can you do? Just go with it....Jimmy was just happy because he was able to control the temperature. He did wake up in the middle of the night and turned it off because it was too cold!

The next morning we were up early to eat the Monkey Bread and some other yummy things my grandma made :) Took some pictures for Grandma and then we were off!!




Heading back to KC, my mom entertained Willy by reading to him. Gotta love road trips :)



We had a great time and were very glad we were able to share our wedding day with my grandparents. They were very very sad they had to miss it, but were so excited and surprised to hear their names were included in part of our priests' homily when he talked about a great legacy of marriages we have to follow---with their 62 years, we certainly do! Cannot wait to go back and see the rest of the Bruns family!