Whirlwind Weekend

The weekend flew by!
Mark and I arrived in Chicago Friday night and made it in time to catch the end of the rehearsal.
The rehearsal dinner was great! It was held at a cute little mexican restaurant only 3 blocks from the church.
Steve (the groom) is a huge prankster so that made the evening all the more entertaining. (sadly, I have no pictures from this event - ugh)

Saturday morning was swell. Mark and I took a walk around their lake - cold, but very peaceful and relaxing for us subdivisioners.

We were able to hang out; all the grandkids at Grampa and Gramma's house!

I love that Mark and my little brother get along (really well). They make fun of each other (a lot) but they also bond over things, weird things.
My Gramma told Mark and Jonathan that if they shot a gray squirrel, she would pay them $10 per squirrel.
...She says they eat all of the bird seed.

1 = $10.00

Mark - $5.00    Jonathan - $5.00

We all got ready and headed off to the wedding. The squirrel stayed home.

bulky camera = no other pictures :(

I will post pictures when I get some from other people. The wedding was absolutley gorgeous.

My Aunt was stunning in her dress and the reception was over-the-top! We really enjoyed seeing family and friends from far away.

We had to take off early on Sunday but we did get to see the newlyweds!

Mark, me, Denise, Steve, and their dog, Mazy.

We left around 10:30 and made it to Youth Group at 5:15 (phew!)

We had a scavenger hunt around town - so much fun!

The groups had to go to as many schools in one hour.

Here are some pictures from my group:

Smith School Bears - whoop whoop!

 (above) this one pretty much somes up these 5 girls, so silly!

HA!

Working with the youth group has been amazing. It's incredible how much I have learned about them and from them.

These pictures don't include all of my girls, but they all have touched my heart and I love them!

my aunt, the bride!

My Aunt is getting married tomorrow!

 The beautiful bride-to-be at her shower in February.

our new garden

This past weekend was B-E-A-utiful.
The sun was shining and the temperature was very spring-like.
Saturday started off early with the first yard sales of the season. HOORAY!
The first yard sale was a dud but the hosts were friendly.
The second yard sale was...interesting. Listen:
Moving Sale.
His stuff in the garage.
Her stuff inside the house.
If you buy something from her, pay her.
If you buy something from him, pay him.
Definitely the most awkward sale EVER, but we got some really good stuff!

After the sale, we built our raised garden bed. We were pretty excited because two things we still needed, we got at the awkward sale.  

Here are some pictures on that.

Yep, one buck for all of that!

Ready for soil.

many more pictures when we plant!

Pudding Top

Pudding Top (adjective): a result from clothing being.....just kidding, this is totally unrelated.

I was eating my lunch today and as I was opening my yogurt I did the unthinkable: I licked the top. 

All good and fine except as I was enjoying my yogurt lid, my coworker walked by and I was caught.in.the.act. 

Oh Cripes.

Well, she stopped and she did the tilt of the head. You know, the tilt of the head that silently asks, "what the heck are you doing?". 

Amidst enjoying my lid, I looked back at her like "Uh, I'm enjoying my yogurt lid...what does it look like?" 

Then I started to think, who doesn't lick their pudding/yogurt/jello lid? 

Maybe my coworker. I should ask her.

There should probably be a study done to see how many people would lick the lid if given a free pudding/yogurt/jello. 

Obviously, I would be with those who licked their lid. 

Nursing Homes & Pot Pies

Pi Day today!

We celebrated Saturday with a chicken pot pie:

This was my first pot pie.

Mark said it was good and that he thought it smelled like a nursing home.

I don't know when he ate pot pie in a nursing home?

Either way, definitely a comfort food and really easy to make!

Happy March!

It's finally March!

(hydrangeas from last year)

Today was beautiful. The sun was shining. 
I love it when the sun shares her beauty with us.


March makes me excited for flowers to bloom, working in the yard, planting a garden, cleaning out the garage (yep), and sitting on the front porch. 


So, in like a lamb and out like a lion?
I'm predicting a post on April 1st with pictures of snow.