First of SEVEN weddings + Final wedding shower!!!

Well what do you know, this blogging thing has almost become a weekly occurrence. How about that?? I actually find it pretty fun to put together a post, so as long as people read it, I will keep posting....

This weekend was another weekend of success when it comes to cramming as many things in as possible while having so much fun!! Andy and I flew back to Iowa on Friday afternoon for a fast furious 36 hours. Friday night we arrived and were greeted by Marcy (my brother's wife/sister in law) and Tommy (my little nephew). They drove us to Eldora so we could all spend the night together as the wedding shower was slated for 9:30am on Saturday!!! Friday night we enjoyed pizza and cheese balls from one of my favorite places in town known to many locals as Jerry's Pizza, but really known as Eldora Pizza and Steakhouse. Either way the food did not disappoint per usual and we went to bed with pizza/beer/cheese ball/buttermilk brownie filled bellies.....so basically there went the wedding diet!! :)

Saturday morning we were all up early and hit the ground running. I really did go for a run and Andy played golf with my good friend Blake as neither of them were included in the wedding shower festivities!!! All the girls primped and were ready to celebrate our nuptials. Marcy, Jen (my other sister in law), Kathy and Nancy (2 of my aunts) hosted a beautiful bridal shower for me, which included fresh flowers, really yummy food and fantastic company, including my grandma who has been kinda sick for quite some time. It really was special to have so many wonderful people that I never see in one room!! Made me even more excited for the wedding. And I better not forget all the fabulous gifts everyone brought....they were way too generous and AK and I walked away with some pretty awesome loot!! Pretty exciting and kinda feels like Christmas!!!

tommy was quite the helper!!

he loved to rip!!!

grandma glenda made it with a smile on her face!! was so happy to see her!!

grandma Jean came for all the fun and relinquished her hot fudge recipe!!!! i'm a lucky girl!!

a couple generations right here....

Saturday night we cut loose!!!! My good friend Tim got married in Cedar Falls/Waterloo and we did not miss one minute of that celebration. Marcy/Dan were invited as well so we (her sister Megan, Blake, AK and I) carpooled over and just had a blast and shared so many laughs all afternoon (the boys Kyle/Daniel met us later). The entire night was filled with catching up with old friends and introducing AK to all the guys I spent so much time with in high school. We stayed until the wee hours and made sure not to miss one minute of all the fun. And if nothing else it made me so excited for our wedding in just a few short weeks as most of these guys are invited and wedding season has officially begun!! I will also add my abs hurt Sunday morning from laughing so hard (much like high school) that I was happy I didn't do my usual ab routine Saturday morning!! AK had a great time as well and felt just as tired/slow as I did on Sunday. And I'm pretty sure AK received decent reviews, unlike the last guy I introduced these guys to!! Good thing, huh, since we are saying "I DO" in no time!!! Congratulations Tim and Kaitlin.....we had so much fun celebrating!!!

Sunday morning came quick and it came with a headache. Yowza!!! Made me remember just how old I am even if I want to act 16 when I hang out with friends from high school!! :) Anyhow, I skipped church (shhhh!!) and organized all our gifts and even packed an over-sized suitcase with some of our gifts which was nice to get some home!!! My parents just built this shed and every Sunday a group of their friends meets out there for Sunday brunch.....this is genius I have to say. There are three guys that cook continuously and the food is as good as any I've ever had!! They even have a pretty good pulse on the bread pudding pancakes originally founded by Southport Grocery in Chicago....YUMMO!!!! After breakfast it was time to bolt and board our plane back to CO!! We had a great weekend, but as you can see it began about as fast it came to a close!! But always full of good times and great laughs!!!

Side note: I was having too much fun at Tim's wedding to take pictures....don't have any...NOT EVEN ONE!!! :(  

Summer is Here!!!!!

Okay if you haven't caught on, I'm trying to keep this blog real up to date and chronicle our recent happenings in Denver. I feel like we just keep having these super fun encounters and pinch myself often, because we have found such a great community in Denver.

This weekend was no different. We accepted an invitation to an "Around the World Party" (stay tuned) and we hosted a nice little Sunday evening BBQ on our newly decorated patio!!! I could not think of a better way to kick off the first weekend that felt like Summer....apparently we are skipping Spring this year. Is everyone okay with that!?? ;)

Friday night AK and I stayed in for a few reasons.....one, we were out too late the night before at the Zac Brown Band concert where I celebrated enough for the two of us, and two, we were hoping to get a few things done around the house. So we I planted flowers, AK set up his new fire pit (thanks, mom) and we both cleaned a little bit so we could have a fun afternoon on Saturday....

After putting the finishing touches on the patio, cleaning the house and both squeezing in a workout on Saturday morning, we were ready to celebrate....the world, I guess. Our good friends Stephanie and Nick have kindly included us in some of their recent parties and we are thankful, because these people are fun and are always up for a good time!! Saturday was no different. A few of their friends had a very fun idea of having an "Around the World Party" which involved moving between four houses that each represented a country. At each respective country (ie. house), the host country had to provide an authentic adult beverage, authentic food and an activity that represents each country. I'm not sure how this idea was thought up, but let me tell you, it was genius!! The first country (ie. house) we went to was England and one of the England hosts was an actual Brit who relocated to America so the food and drinks were amazing. The most laughs though came with their activity which was a less harmful form of jousting!!! Seriously hilarious and wait until you see pictures below!!! The next house was Stephanie and Nick's and they were hosting the country of Japan. You want to talk about cracking up.....their costumes alone were enough to make me double over in laughter...you'll see!! They provided Japanese beer and sushi and the game was reading your fortune from provided fortune cookies aloud but you had to add "in bed" at the end of the fortune. Seriously.....so funny!!! The next country was Mexico and Brittany and Elliot played it just right....Mexican beer, chips/salsa/gauc and they made homemade tamales that were delicious. And there was also a pinata...like I said last week, it's not a party without a pinata!!! The last country (ie. house) was America and as I said when we left Mexico...."it's always nice to be home after traveling!!" :) Zack hosted a great American party.....country music, hamburgers/hot dogs, American beer and American flag painted boards for cornhole, which the guys played a lot of.  And the girls played their own American games.....Butt quarters (don't ask) and flip cup.....kept it classy, as always!!! ;)) We biked from one house to another so we felt as though we were getting exercise, but let's be honest after a day of drinking and feasting it didn't really matter, and was more for the fun of it!! All in all, great day spent in great company and great weather (finally!!!!).

Stephanie + Robyn while visiting England

AK + AFS....the olympic committee with an American flare (see AK's aviators).....we weren't hosting so we had to come up with something!!!!

Japan's food display!!!

this is how we rolled. yes mom, i wore my helmet.....the only one i might add!!!

i would never post anyone else but myself.....but now you get the idea of butt quarters!?!? but my mom informed me the cup has to be on the GROUND!!!!! apparently she's good and knows the rules!?!?!?? ;)

group shot at Mexico

the Japan hosts.....fans and warm towels!! genius!!!

getting ready to "joust" AK

giddy up!?!?

the pinata was tricky....kinda caught steph off guard!!

group shot at England

the pinata moved up and down on a rope....not easy folks, not easy!!!!

Sunday was the nicest day we have had all year. It was 75 degrees, sunny, not a cloud in the sky and the day was meant to honor mothers and plant flowers/a garden and we did just that!!! We honored our mother's from a distance....both placing calls and sharing our favorite things about our moms. Turns out, we're pretty lucky. We finished up our flower planting and got a good start on our garden (Thanks to my Dad for his advice)!!! Once our patio was a go, we decided to host an impromptu BBQ to show it off. We had AK's brother Bryan and his gf Brittany over some delicious food and Summer Shandys......the taste of summer if you ask me!!!! It was a great weekend and we are looking forward to many, many more on our patio this summer!!! And if we seem excited, WE ARE, as neither of us have had a patio or deck since we moved away from our parents house, so we are beyond excited!!!! 

i didn't mention it, but we also dog sat Tommy for a night.....Ruby was in heaven and they wore each other out!!!!

bryan and brittany!!! love them and they are just across town!!!!

our patio!!!

from the yard!!!

from the corner

my favorite part....fire pit and patio lights!!!! 

Summer is here and we couldn't be more thrilled......as this summer offers so many wonderful celebrations!!!! Next up, my friend Tim's wedding this coming weekend and our 4th and final wedding shower!!! Looking forward to a quick trip home!!!

Andy Turns 30 + Wedding Shower #3

Last weekend was jam packed full of fun....again!!! I tell ya it's a rough life we live....work, party/celebrate, hang out with good friends....repeat!!! Add a little random family time in there and you've got yourself a recipe for nothing but good times!!

I know I had been plugging it for over a month,  but last weekend Andy turned 30 and we should not have celebrated like we were 21.....we did that already (nine years ago to be exact), but we just don't learn!!! Anyhow, AK's amazing fiance (yours truly) threw him a bitchin surprise party at one of our local bars called Ale House. A lot of his friends showed up including his younger brother and one of his groomsmen who tore his ACL on AK's bachelor party (I wouldn't recommend paint ball if you're pushin 30...just sayin) so he definitely felt the love. With this kind of thing, you're just susceptible to people buying you drinks, shots, more drinks and before you know it, you've had too much. Thank goodness for good friends, huh?? ;) Andy is even luckier, because he had the three main woman (his mom, his fiance, and hist mother-in-law to be) in his life shower him with gifts and make him feel even more loved than he already is!! ;)) His momma sent him a box with 30 gifts.....one for each year. These gift were a mixture of sentimental things to old age reminders all centered around the number 30. My personal fav.....Jillian Micheal's "30" minute abs!!! HAHA!! If you haven't caught on, AK's mom is pretty creative/crafty. I then followed up with tickets to Zac Brown Band at Red Rocks (an amazing outdoor concert venue) and a fancy tie he can wear with a fairly new suit.....perhaps the rehearsal dinner!?!? (hint, hint!!) ;). My mom sent him some grilling essentials, cold cash and a Gehrke Inc hoodie....AK is now official!! And while AK was opening gifts we sipped on a nice bottle of wine I picked up in Napa and munched on FunFetti cupcakes (AK's favorite). I gotta say, I think the big 3-0 went off without a hitch and other than that nothing has really changed....oh, except the hangover recovery process....that is much more intense!!! We enjoyed the concert thoroughly with our good friends Stephanie and Nick and once again over indulged in our celebrating.....see the pics below!!!!

gift 1 of 30. if i were on it, i would have taken a pic of #30 as well. oops!!! but still cute!!

birthday collage....lovey, wine, cupcakes and realizing he gets to see ZBB live!! whoop! whoop!! 

the boys at the concert!!!

me + stephanie! long lost iowa loves!!!

all the girls.....yeah, it was a little chilly, but we were dry!!!!

AK always makes fun of me when i drink budweiser!!! kinda manly i guess!?!?

love him!!! and the hawkeyes!!! HA!!

happy birthday AK....group shot!!! Zack (cool guy in orange carhart hat) is not usually that dark....weird lighting!!

i LOVE redrocks!!! such a fun spot!!!!

The next big item on the agenda last weekend was our third wedding shower!!! My good friend (and bridesmaid) Bridget hosted a couples shower for us with a "stock the bar" theme. Pretty great idea considering the crew we run with and even better considering she planned the party for May 5th, also known to some as Cinco De Mayo!!!! Bridget put on quite the spread....Margs, Corona, Dosequis, great food and she even made Tequilla cupcakes!!! YUMMO!!!!! And did I mention there was a pinata....I mean it's not a party without a pinata!!!!  And I might add our bar is fully stocked!! You name it, we got it......wine, bourbon, vodka, gin, rum, etc. I'd say the A-Team Bar is open for summer (if this silly wet weather would ever turn)!!!!!! We are so thankful for such great friends and feel so blessed to live so close to so many of them. Can't wait to celebrate with them in Iowa on the big day!!!

Stephanie and myself with the hostess with the mostess

linds + me.

the flower girls made the party!!!

look at that spread!!! yum. yum!!

pinata time!!!!

blindfold!!!!!

opening gifts!!! riley and reagan were quite the little helpers!!!!

One thing we are not is dull......next weekend we are off to Iowa for my good friend Tim Zern's wedding and our 4th and final wedding shower. It's been a whirlwind for sure, but so fun at the same time!! And if you're counting, we are 36 days away from saying "I DO!!" eeeeeekkkkkk!!!!!

Bachelorette Party....Sonoma/Napa/San Fran Style!!!

As I mentioned last week, my bach party was coming up and low and behold it happened and we all survived to talk about it!!! What an experience it was....I had such a great time that I will obviously share with you all!!!

The first feat of the trip was having everyone arrive on time into SFO....now this may not seem like a huge task but we had people coming from Nebraska, Baltimore, Iowa, and Denver and in the midst of all the Furloughs going on, we had reason to be concerned. But somehow, someway we all landed on time and within an hour of each other and after Kendra let the Hertz woman know who was boss, we were on our way to wine country....

The drive up to wine country was a blast. No one knew where we were going (P.T.L for iphones/google maps), so that made things a little interesting. But K-Dogg (Kendra Schaa for the local readers) took the wheel and really only nearly crashed one or two times (who's counting), but other than that we were in good hands and arrived with minimal "F" bombs! Night 1 was such a blast....as Jen put it today, "it's been a while since I felt so happy for one evening that I never wanted to end!" This is so true. When we arrived at our resort in Sonoma we had 30 minutes to primp for dinner....clothes were flying, hair spray was fogging the room and multiple perfumes were being sprayed, however we managed to arrive on time at The Girl and the Fig. Once we arrived, we were not sorry....we had some of the best food and drank AH-MAZ-ING local wine and literally laughed until we all cried....like so much my abs hurt the next day (not kidding!). Dinner was on their quaint patio and was truly a magical experience. I loved every minute of it, but the night could not end there. We finished the night with a little visit to the hot tub under the Sonoma stars and continued our friendly banter with a few San Fran locals. Whether they liked it or not, we got to know them and they certainly got to know us!! #iowanice!! This took us into the wee hours of the morning and multiple bottles of bubbles and wine later so we headed to bed in prep for our day of wineries and fun in the Napa Valley!!!!

just getting seated!!!

a little later in the night.....

we are cracking up about my hair....there were moments it looked like i had a rat tail!!! not cute!!!

checking the evidence!!

complete hysteric!!! and notice i discontinued the side pony!?!?

fun fun!!!!

delicious food!!! yumm-OOOO!!!!

and i can't even talk about desert.....delectable.

fun one!!! so pretty!!!

Saturday was day 2 and definitely a day for the record books. I have not seen such beauty in God's landscape in quite some time....well since the last time I was skiing. I do live in the Rocky Mountains afterall!! :). But anywho, way prettier than I ever expected it to be and to say the weather was perfect is a complete understatement. All the locals were saying how lucky we were to experience such rare beautiful weather and to enjoy every minute...umm, yeah, not a problem, don't worry!! The day began with a run/walk for everyone (despite our wine-O headaches) along with delish brunch. Then we were off..... The first winery we went to was called Kuleto Estates and it seriously had some of the prettiest views and most delicious wine. The Estate itself sits on top of a cliff/bluff over looking the entire Napa Valley and you could see for miles. Ane the Estate itself was gorgeous....blooming flowers, sunshine, horses, kind people and yummy wine.....who would not be in heaven??!! We were treated like queens and got to end up trying SIX  different wines that were paired with real yummy cheeses and our host was a delight. She loved us and kept the wine flowing.....so much I bought TWO fancy bottles!!! ;). But I seriously can't say enough about this place.....it's beauty is hard to describe in words!!! None of us wanted to leave. The second winery we went to was a smaller winery and aimed more at the locals, but also fabulous. We lost track of time at Kuleto so we had to rush to make it before closing time and we arrived just in the knick of time.....or perhaps the fact that the host was from Des Moines made all the difference!!!!!!!!!! She treated us to three different wines (all fantastic) for FREE!!!!! I'm telling you, it pays to be #iowanice!! :)) After that my lovely girlfriends treated me to a beautiful picnic/lingerie shower in a park amongst all the beautiful vines!! ;). Such a special moment as each person said a little diddy on why I was special and gave some advice for the future. It was neat and definitely made me teary!! And I now have a whole stash of lingerie I would have never bought for myself. Girlfriends are the best!!! ;). We closed out the night at a restaurant called Cooks, which did not disappoint. However, we had drank and ate all day so our bellies were a bit full by the time we ended up there!! Our night cap came as quite a surprise from my momma all the way back in Iowa!!! She didn't make the bach trip herself, but she delivered what every girls loves....a couples bottles of champagne to the room!!! Perfect way to end the night. Thanks momma!!

beautiful pic....at the vineyard!!!

karen came!!!!! brand new baby and all!!!!!!! she's such a trooper!!!

jamebo and myself....one of many pics since early high school!!! #love!!

i love this picture as well. everything is so green and lush.

and you can't forget about fancy!!!!

meg was our true volunteer photographer!!! love that!!!

denver girls at the vineyard!!!!

the hills and vines did not end!!!

a little bit more!!

so gorgeous

vines!!!!

i love this group photo.....the colors are so bright!!!

notice the lake in the background....the host said she normally doesn't see it b/c it's usually never clear enough!!

so pretty....looking over the whole valley!!

love this as well....but a little windy!!!

group shot....pretty, but silly wind!!!!

the flowers were everywhere!!!

this is where we sat for our tasting!!! just perfect!!!

i couldn't get enough!!!

towards the end of the tasting!!!

right before dinner at cooks!!!

dinner time!!!

dinner time photos

ahhh.....hats off to a great party planner!!!

Sunday was bittersweet as we all packed up to make our way back to San Fran and disperse!!! But not without a little San Fran/Cali fun!!! After dropping a few people off and slimming the group down to four, we took to the Pacific Coast Highway and enjoyed ourselves a little scenery. This is something I have always wanted to do and let me tell you the sights were gorgeous and the day was clear....again, we lucked out!!! But the cliffs accompanied by the ocean and sunshine were astounding. We took tons of pics and made so many visual memories!! After driving up and down the coast a bit and filling the rest of the space on our camera cards, we headed back to San Fran for a little peak at the city. We only had a few hours, so there is more to cover the next I go, but for the initial visit, I think we did pretty good. We walked along the water/Fisherman's Warf and saw all the beautiful sites from there and took in the local company. Next up, after googling the "10 best things to do in San Fran," we went and checked out Telegraph Hill.....and this area of town is GORGEOUS!!! It was the epitome of San Fran or what you see in pictures/books/on TV....the homes were stacked (and crazy cool) and the flowers were some of the freshest and most delightful I have seen in quite some time. Everything was in full bloom and was so bright and colorful, I'm not sure the pictures do it justice. We also had incredible views from atop the hill and saw the initial part of the sun setting over the Golden Gate Bridge.....all in all, wonderful experience!!!! After that, WE. WERE. EXHAUSTED and Kendra was slated to fly out for her red eye flight back to B-More. I stayed over one more night with Fancy and we both flew out with the early birds Monday morning!!! And that's a wrap my friends!!!

the cost!!!! love this!!!!

scenic off the PCH

one more!!

the view was so breath taking!!!!

definite framer!!!

the bay in San Fran!!!

the board walk!!

such a clear and beautiful day!!!

the city along the water!! pretty cool!!!

one more!!!

telegraph hill....incredibly beautiful. my pics below do not do it justice!!!!

fresh flowers everywhere!!!

we were right next to these people's homes....so fun!!!

meg and i want to live here!!!

we had to hide and sit b/c a local resident came out of his door!!! we were so obvious though....we could not stop giggling!!!

our sonoma resort.....unbelievable!!!

pool time!!!

i loved this little sitting area!!!

more of the coast!!! love it!!!

coast line off PCH!!

 i wouldn't stop!!! ;)

for real, i would not stop....notice the next few pics!!! :)))

so windy, but i love this picture and thought is was perfect for closing off the post!!!!!

Phewww.....I'm just tired thinking about it again, but would go back this weekend if someone said I had to. It was such a great weekend and I can't thank my gal pals enough....especially Kendra and Jamie who planned so much and orchestrated 7 girls so perfectly. AMAZING!!!!! I felt refreshed when I returned and am officially ready to close out my 30 years of single-hood!!! Good thing, because we are saying "I DO" in 44 days!!!!!! :)))

Okay, as always stay tuned.....AK turns 30 on Friday. If you think of it (and have his digits), let him know how much he is loved!!! 30 is a big deal and I'm excited to celebrate with him!!!!!! :)

Cheers. A-Team