Dress Fitting + Wedding Shower #2.

And I'm back....has to be a record since the early blogging days. I love the looks of a finished post, but finding the time while working night shift is a bit of a challenge!!! Anyways.... this past weekend is definitely worth posting about....

My mom and three of her good friends (including Fancy who frequents the blog as a main character!) plus Fancy's daughter Anna, and my sister in law Marcy met me in Chicago for a girls weekend that included my initial wedding dress fitting and my/our second wedding shower!! Why do I say "my" wedding shower you ask?? Well that's easy, because AK did not join me for this shower, nor did he receive any of the gifts OR write any of the thank yous....really he has it easy. He will benefit from all the gifts, but doesn't have to endure any of the work. Is this a sign of my future!?!? :)

But first things first.....DRESS FITTING!!! I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous for my dress fitting. I mean it's kind of a funny situation, right? You pick out your dress months in advance, you take one picture for memory and then don't see the dress again until the day of the fitting, in which case you've seen a zillion pintrest pictures, not to mention all the pictures of all my friends that are brides right now. I was scared to death I would get there and hate it, or get there and it wouldn't fit, or even worse, get there and realize my friend bought the same one as we both randomly shopped at the same boutique and our weddings are three months apart!! But low and behold none of those things happened. And the dress was just as beautiful as I remembered and I was still in love with it as much as I was when I initially tried it on....just like AK!! (#barf) But then came the fun stuff.....the final touches!! These ladies at Mira Couture had me tucked, pinned and tightened faster than you could say "I DO!" :) I was so nervous though, because I had to decide things on the fly....like more a-line or more mermaid fit, or french bustle vs traditional bustle, or just touching the ground or dragging on the ground a 1/2 inch, etc!!! I mean, I don't know. And I do take care of incredibly sick kids for a living, so I realize these decisions are really minimal compared to some in life, but the bottom line is you want to look your best, because I plan to really only wear this dress once!!!! In the end, however the choices I made turned out PERFECT and when I say PERFECT, I mean PERFECT. I've never in my life had a dress or anything for that matter fit like this gown does. When these people mean custom, they mean it and I would recommend them to absolutely anyone. When I put the dress on for the last time on Monday, I just stood there and cried. It is so beautiful and lovely and fits so well, I wanted to run down the isle, right then and there!!! In those moments, I'm very glad we are doing a traditional church wedding as opposed to a destination of some sort!!! But for now you will have to use your imagination......and stay tuned for pictures June 15th and not a minute sooner. AK prefers to be surprised!!!!

okay this is all you get.....mira the designer/owner herself!!! otherwise stayed tuned...54 days until "I DO"

Next up, wedding shower #2. Since AK's parents live an hour outside of Chicago (give or take traffic or whether there is a Bears and/or White Sox game), we decided to make the most ofmy visit and plan a shower with his family while we were close by. AK's mom (Peggy) and his sister (Melissa) hosted a beautiful shower with the theme of all things "love!" Really they went above and beyond and planned a delicious meal, organized way too many games, and opened their home up to lots of guests, including a rowdy bunch from Iowa!! ;). Oh and the sangria was tasty as well!! But in all seriousness I was overwhelmed with how gracious AK's aunts, cousins and family were in all the gifts they showered us with. It's so exciting to open all the fun stuff and have it be exactly what you wished for! It's like an extra Christmas or birthday!!! Ha!!! Unfortunately for me though, we live too far away and the TSA frowns upon extra bags on the plane, so all the gifts had to stay put for the time being. Hopefully we can convince one of our loved ones to drive out after the wedding with all the gifts or we will have to rent a U Haul trailer to get everything back to CO. The joys of living at distance!!! Thanks again Peggy and Melissa.....we all had a great time and you really out did yourself!!!!

one of our shower gifts from AK's Mom and Dad....EXCELLENT gift. we play all the time and are pretty competitive...shocking, i'm sure!!!

the host + the bride to be!!!

just the hosts....the spread was beautiful!

no surprise to anyone....going straight for dessert!!! ;)

And a few added bonuses to the weekend....my mom found her Mother of the Bride dress at Nordstrom. It was a dress I had seen online, but her friends convinced her to try it on.....looks beautiful and I can't wait to see her rock it on the day of the wedding. So elegant and so pretty and will match me perfectly!!! Can't wait. I also had opportunities to sneak in a few visits with girlfriends while we were there. A visit with Kristyn over dinner.....she makes pregnancy look good.....
And Sunday  night I met up with my good friend Lindsey for a little sushi date. So fun getting caught up with some good Chicago gals!!
And "when in Rome".....a girl must shop!!! :)) I found a little dress for a few upcoming events, the main one being my bachelorette party in Sonoma/Napa in ONE WEEK!!!!!!

Bonus pics:

all us girls...enjoying the embassy suites!!!

skyline. i squeezed in a long run the last day i was in CHI....still is pretty!! and still is grey....just sayin!! ;)

kristyn at 21.5 weeks....she's a rockstar and makes pregnancy look easy and beautiful!!!

quick stop at wrigley!!! you can't resist a picture!!!

As always stay tuned.....this weekend AK and I go on our bach parties and the week after that AK turns 30!!!!!!!! Big happs!!!!

Cheers!!!A-Team!

Wedding Shower #1 + Easter!!!!

Hello, hello....again (assuming of course, the same people read my blog!!) Well I would like to give myself a pat on the back, because this post will hopefully go viral less than 2 weeks from the last post....good job busy bride, night shift nurse worker, and part time puppy trainer!!! :)) (Sometimes you gotta toot your own horn, so, "toot toot!!") ;)

So last weekend or two weekends ago, however you think of past time, we were home for Easter. I was lucky enough to be home for a full week and Andy joined me and my family (soon to be his in-laws!) for the weekend. I would love to say this trip was relaxing and provided lots of quality time with the people I love most, but that was definitely not the case. Let me just touch on a few of the highlights!!!

Wedding plans: The plans are coming along nicely and I have really only been told once by my loving mother that I completely overreacted and freaked out!!! Depends on how you look at the situation I guess, but there was one freak out, which surrounded a big miscommunication regarding the tent we rented for our reception. Apparently I assumed the tent company knew where the tent is going to be placed for the reception and guaranteed all would be well, but not. so. much. This lead to a huge scare that it may not fit in the space we had planned on, that the tent company would not be able to get it's equipment close enough to put the tent up, that the country club may go back on it's word due to precious grass being damaged,  etc. Without going into extensive I detail, I will summarize that I pretty much flipped out!!! This included sobbing, yelling, maybe a few choice words, etc. But AK came to my rescue and provided the calmness/problem solving solutions (per ushh) and my brother met us at the country club, hooked us up with the grounds keeper who said the reception+tent was still a go!!! Phewww, because in our area of small town/cornfield country/Midwest Iowa, there are not a lot of places to host 300+ guests for an event you prefer to be fancier than casual!!! Other than that our flowers are placed (and gorgeous), our ceremony is planned (which made me cry...obvs!), our menu is complete (yummo!), our ceremony music is finalized (beautiful), our invitations are about to be sent out (lovely), and low and behold the freaking tent will fit (P.T.L. praise the Lord!!!! :) The week was a success I must say!!! Yay for a pretty wedding to come!!!

the official spot of the tent/reception location as of April 1st and I'm not foolin!!! ;)

 Wedding Shower: Saturday night before Easter some good friends of my parents hosted what I think is the best wedding shower I have witnessed to date!!! They (Jaspers, Buttons, Webbs, Barnards, and Haskins) hosted a couples shower that has to go down in history. It was so fun, AK challenged me afterward saying: "I thought you said *wedding/baby showers are kind of boring, and I beg to differ, because that was a blast!!" My response: "When something is done right, it's always enjoyable!!" ;). To set the scene.....there was amazing food, THREE signature cocktails, enough champagne for the entire county, and such fun company I didn't stop laughing or chatting all night (neither did AK)!!! And the night ended with some fantastic gifts.....WHO on earth wouldn't want to be at that party?? Just sayin!!! ;)). A big, big thank you to all of them. We had a blast and in my opinion was just a brief look at what our wedding/reception will be like!!!!
*to note: this was JUST a wedding shower even though I lump wedding and baby showers into the same genre!! :). hopefully our baby shower is a ways off....also just sayin!!!* ;) 

jame+lace+me.....only missing one and that would be k-dogg!!! ;) thanks for coming you two!!!!!

full house with lots of love!!!!

Easter: Easter is always kind of a big deal at my house!! We are definitely church goin folk, so we celebrate our risen Savior with fine food and lots of people!!! I think our crowd on Easter topped out at roughly 30!! Lots a lot!!! Our church service was fabulous as always and Sunday was a day to relax and enjoy the people I don't get to see very often. Unfortunately AK and I had some miscommunication many weeks back so he actually had to leave directly after we ate.....basically dined and dashed if you will!! ;). But it all worked out, he made his flight back to D-town (meaning Denver for my silly Detroit readers!!) and was off to DC the next day for work. One thing we don't do is a live a slow or lazy life!! :) My favorite Easter moments included: church, easter egg hunts/baskets, my mom's carrot cake (that stuff could be famous, no joke....perfect mix of carrot cake + incredible frosting!!), my visit with my Uncle Randy/Aunt Nancy annnnd it ended with a view of "Father of the Bride" with my mom and the Gehrk. George Stanley Banks and the Gehrk have striking similarities!! ;) Just kidding, but I did tease Gehrk on a few occasions, but all things being fair.....he has been more than amazing when it comes to the wedding. We are a blessed engaged couple!!

the little boys were over serious pics....the silly upside down picture was my recco....you're welcome!! so cute!!!

who doesn't love boys in sear sucker bow ties+pants!!!! adorbs!!!!!

looking for the Easter bunny!! too cute!!!!

a quick shot of me and AK....happy easter ya'lll!!!!

A few upcoming events this week: a juice cleanse for myself (multiple reasons surround this decision, but either way, WISH. ME. LUCK as I love food/eating/drinking wine!) and Friday I'm off to Chicago for my dress fitting and our second wedding shower!! Stay tuned.....