Vacation 2013 {Part 3}

If you've been around this here blog for very long, you will know that there is always a story. As one of my friends said "Who does that happen to?" Or as my mom said " It would happen to you." Of course.

The Big day. The crazy day. The busy day. The very looong day had finally arrived!

It began bright and early (again) with Elianna's hair appointment at 7:30am. While we waited for everyone else to get their hair and makeup done, Elianna did what she does best - charms and entertains people. Yes, even that early in the morning. When it came time for the lady to do Elianna's hair, she asked what I wanted done to it. Now here is my deal with hair people. Hair is their job. I don't ask people how to do my job (if I had one, of course) and nor do I want anyone telling me exactly what to do. I'm not going to tell her how to do her job. Especially with a 3 year old's hair. I have no idea. Do your job and that's doing my 3 year old's hair. Not in a rude way - just in a matter of fact - it's your job way - do whatever you think is best. So she did and it turned out beautiful! Elianna did a great job just sitting there still and letting the lady do her job. Yes, you read that correctly. Elianna sat still. Amazing! Anyway, I was told a price of $25 for Elianna's hair to get done. Not bad. Money saved up and ready to go. I go to pay and am told "it ended up being more since they put her hair up so it's $45 now." Um... WHAT? Excuse me? The hair girl (conveniently) never told me it would be $20 more to do her job to put Elianna's hair up. I kept those bobby pins. They are in my drawer right now. Those $20 bobby pins. Blah!

The $20 bobby pins

Moving on... After hair was done, I headed back to the Bride's parent's house (yay! She just moved up to "Bride" status!) to set up the food we put together early that morning the night before. Nancy (Mother of the Bride) had reserved the dining room table for the food. I had put the balsamic vinegar on the caprese bites and then decided to take the food to the table. Mistake #1 of the day. First, I spilled balsamic vinegar on the kitchen floor. Then I spilled some on her beautiful white lace tablecloth covering the dining room table. It can only get better from here, right? Ha! If only!

After the bridal party ate, they went upstairs to get dressed. Elianna was playing games on my phone in an attempt to keep her sitting still so as not to mess her hair up. Finally, they were about ready for Elianna to be in the pictures, so I put her dress on her. Ya'll, I am so happy with how it turned out! Aunt Bobbi was a tremendous help (read: did pretty much all of it except for the straight seams which I did because they are oh so hard, you know)! Now remember, the bride, bridesmaids and mother of the bride are all upstairs getting ready. The father of the bride was somewhere. And the photographer (who I used to work for when we first moved to NJ) with her assistant were in the dining room eating. Real quick before Elianna had to head upstairs to be in the pictures, I decided to take a quick picture of her by the fireplace to send to my mom. I had to lean back a little to take the picture but wanted a bit farther back picture to get her whole dress in the picture. Mistake #2. Lean back . . . just a bit more . . . over the coffee table and BAM! I fell back into the coffee table which had a glass pane in it and crashed through the glass. Somehow I fit into that little window pane. That part was the only part I felt good about - fitting through a small "window" pane on a coffee table. Oh.my.goodness! I jumped up and out of that thing as quick as I could! The photographer came and got Elianna away from the glass and took her upstairs to take the pictures. While she was up there, she told the mother of the bride (Nancy) what I had done. Standing there in humiliation I hear Nancy call down not to worry about it because she wanted to get rid of that coffee table anyway. The father of the bride (Brent) comes around the corner and asks if I'm ok. At this point in my debacle, I have no idea if I'm ok or not. Seriously. It all happened so fast and crazy like, that I never stopped to think about it. So off I trot to the bathroom only to discover that blood has already soaked through my dress from 2 cuts on my back. Thankfully, my dress was a poly-blend material that the blood washed right out of. So naturally, I stick a wad of toilet paper in my back to go ask for a band-aid. 4 band-aids crissed crossed over each cut. Yeah. You guessed it. Those band-aids did nothing. By the time we left their house in the limo and arrived at the church, blood was flowing down my back, down my leg and dripping onto the floor. Thankfully, a friend had followed me into the bathroom to make sure I was ok seeing as I had blood dripping from me. When I showed her, she ran out and sent her son to the school nurses' office. Ya'll, I am so greatful God cares about even the craziest things. The nurses' office is always locked. It's supposed to be locked. But that day, it wasn't locked. Praise the Lord! He was able to grab some bandages so I could get bandaged up like a Christmas package. Long story short (little too late for that I guess) but I was fine. Sore back for a few weeks but nothing damaging. It could have been much worse. And the best part was I got to see Elianna walk down the aisle!

Since I've used up my allotted number of words (just kidding), I'll overwhelm ya on another day with pictures.

Vacation 2013 {Part 2}

Rehearsal Day = a day just as crazy as the wedding day. 

Friday morning we headed to Columbus Farmers Market with the idea of getting a super delicious Amish breakfast. Unfortunately, we were still lagging (really don't understand why) and didn't make it there on time. I'm not really sure what else happened during the day, but I remember running around trying to get some stuff done right before the rehearsal. It was a dash to Office Depot and then back to get changed and rush, once again, out the door. For Chris' first wedding as "officiant", he did a marvelous job! He was a groomsman, officiant and wedding coordinator. Everyone was surprised it was his first wedding because he was so organized and thorough. I was even surprised!

Lauren (bride-to-be) is a Dr. Seuss fan so for the rehearsal, we had Dr. Seuss vows Dave (groom-to-be) repeated. He struggled a bit seeing the screen since he vainly doesn't like to wear his glasses. They are a bit long, but I thought they were cute.


Chris: Will you answer me right now
These questions, as your wedding vow?

Dave (Groom-to-be): Yes, I will answer right now
Your questions as my wedding vow.

Chris: Will you take her as your wife?
Will you love her all your life?

Dave: Yes, I take her as my wife,
Yes, I'll love her all my life.

Chris: Will you have, and also hold
Just as you have at this time told?

Dave: Yes, I will have, and I will hold,
Just as I have at this time told,
Yes, I will love her all my life
As I now take her as my wife.

Chris: Will you love through good and bad?
Whether you're happy or sad?

Dave: Yes, I'll love through good and bad,
Whether we're happy or sad,
Yes, I will have and I will hold
Just as I have already told,
Yes, I will love her all my life,
Yes, I will take her as my wife!

Chris: Will you love her if you're rich?
Or if you're poor, and in a ditch?

Dave: Yes, I'll love her if we're rich,
And I will love her in a ditch,
I'll love her through good times and bad,
Whether we are happy or sad,
Yes, I will have, and I will hold
(I could have sworn this has been told!)
I promise to love all my life
This woman, as my lawful wife!

Chris: Will you love her when you're fit,
And also when you're feeling sick?

Dave: Yes, I'll love her when we're fit,
And when we're hurt, and when we're sick,
And I will love her when we're rich
And I will love her in a ditch
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold
Ten years from now a thousandfold,
Yes, I will love for my whole life
This lovely woman as my wife!

Chris: Will you love with all your heart?
Will you love till death you part?

Dave: Yes, I'll love with all my heart
From now until death do us part,
And I will love her when we're rich,
And when we're broke and in a ditch,
And when we're fit, and when we're sick,
(Oh, CAN'T we get this finished quick?)
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold,
And if I might now be so bold,
I'll love her my entire life,
Yes, I WILL take her as my wife!

Chris: Then if you'll take her as your wife,
And if you'll love her all your life,
And if you'll have, and if you'll hold,
From now until the stars grow cold,
And if you'll love through good and bad,
And whether you're happy or sad,
And love in sickness, and in health,
And when you're poor, and when in wealth,
And if you'll love with all your heart,
From now until death do you part,
Yes, if you'll love her through and through,
Please answer with these words:

Dave: I DO! 

Rylan (Ring Bearer) and Elianna (Flower Girl) 

Marriage certificate signed! 

L to R: Chris, Shaun (Best Man), Dave (Groom-to-be), 

Lauren (Bride-to-be), Beth (Maid of Honor) 

I believe I gained at least 5 pounds at the rehearsal dinner with a potential to gain 15 more. It was good good Italian food. First it was bread, and garlic knots, then came a salad, then antipasto, then vodka rigatoni, then chicken park, tilapia, cheese stuffed eggplant rolls and grilled vegetables. We ended our feast with cake and a fresh fruit salad. Oh my!

Lauren (Bride-to-be) and Elianna

"Davey Chowda" (Groom-to-be) and Elianna

I had volunteered to make food for the bridal party for the day of the wedding. The guys were going out for breakfast and the girls were having breakfast provided at the hair salon, but nothing was planned for lunch. With the wedding at 1pm and the reception not until 4pm, I knew food was needed so, of course, I volunteered. I mean, what else did I have to do? Therefore, when we got home (late) from the rehearsal dinner, I had food to make. I had tried to pick easy to make foods, but at midnight, you wonder why you didn't pick something easier. Thankfully, Chris and Nana stayed up to help me make the food. We made (first two on a stick for easy to eat in a fancy dress consumption): melon and proscuitto, caprese bites (tomato, fresh mozarella cheese and basil), veggies and dip (in a cup), and cream cheese sugar mints. I am so thankful for their help! I was even more thankful I had decided to simply have stuff for sandwiches for the guys. No prep there!

Vacation 2013 {Part 1}

Where to even start?  I have absolutely no idea but according to Fraulein Maria, "let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start" {Name that movie}

We left Wednesday, May 15, otherwise known as my birthday, for Philadelphia.  Our flight there was fairly uneventful.  The flight attendants were kind and let me hang Elianna's "wedding dress" (that's what Elianna calls it) in the coat closet.  Elianna was super good and kept asking "Are we still flying?" I had some toys and things for her to play with which kept her occupied pretty much the entire time.  Our flight was orginially going to get in 5 minutes early which would have been good since we were on a tight tight schedule, but somehow somewhere we ended up landing 15 minutes late.  As soon as we stepped out of the airport, Chris and I both gasped (literally) at the humidity.  Oh goodness!  We are so used to (and thankful for) the dry air!

Waiting for our plane

Playing with her Toy Story cutouts on the plane

The ride to Elianna's "Jersey Grandparents" (the Koenig's - PopPop and Nana) house was more eventful than our 3-1/2 hour flight.  A Philly's baseball game finished just as we were leaving the airport.  It took probably double the amount of time to get to their house than it normally would have taken.  We turned down this street and cut across to that street and by the time we were out of the heart of Philly, I was sure we were headed to who-knows-where.  Thankfully PopPop knew where he was going.  We were getting nervous with the time but made it just in time to get changed and run down to a restaurant down the road.  The Koenig's had set everything up at the restaurant including a birthday cake for me.  But once again, plans change and we simply inhaled a piece of pizza and ran out the door in order to make it to church on time.  Cake saved for a later date and time.

We had it planned to surprise the teens at youth group with our coming and Chris preaching.  Dave (the groom-to-be) said something (inside the youth building) about it being hot and opened the door to Elianna standing in the doorway.  The next few minutes involved screaming and teens rushing at us.  Elianna kept asking "Why does everyone keep hugging me?  And how do they know my name?"

After talking and talking after church, we sent Elianna home with the Koenig's and we headed over to the Bride and Groom-to-be's apartment.  More pizza was ordered and consumed.  We were back in Jersey!  They were sweet and had a chocolate pie for my birthday.  Naturally we stayed out super late but that was to be the pattern of our NJ stay.  Busy and late.

Thursday was probably our least crazy NJ day.  Elianna and I headed out at what seemed to us as bright and early (our bodies were still on Mountain Time so everything seemed so early to us) to get our nails done.  I had gotten some birthday money that would have expired had I not spent it within 24 hours so it worked out well.  Elianna's nails were the wedding color green with white polk dots.  The nail guy was so sweet and painstakingly sat there (for her toes on a small stool) and put little white dots all over her fingers.  Not just one or two dots but each one of her little fingers had at least 6-8 dots on it!

In the evening, Chris headed out to the "bachelor party" with Shaun, another Chris and Dave (groom-to-be).  They went to a (knockoff - read cheaper) Brazilian steakhouse and then built a bonfire at the Bride's parents house.  They sat around talking philosphy and singing songs - typical for that group.  And quite the group they were - 1 married with 5 kids (the other Chris), 1 married with 1 kid (my Chris), a crazy single guy (Shaun) and the groom-to-be (Dave).

L to R:  Dave (Groom-to-be), Shaun, Chris, my Chris

While Chris was out, Elianna headed out with PopPop to go look at some horses a co-worker of his has.  She absolutely loved it!  She pet them and feed them special cookies and said goodnight to each one of those horses when she left.  Even though Chris was out with "the boys", we ate my birthday cake and ice cream when she got home.  The best carrot cake I've had in a very long time.  The best!

Enjoying her ice cream

And that was just the first 24 hours we were there.

Home Sweet Home

After almost a month away, our little family is finally all in the same state (I can only say state for right now since my Chris is still at work).  It feels good to be home!  We have showered to get all the airport germs off and now a nap is in order.

There is a lot to do though now that we are home.  Unpacking, cleaning, cooking, getting into our summer schedule and blogging about our many many adventures!  There is much to share but be patient - there's a groove that I have to get back into. We ate a lot of ice cream while we were away so I may be in a ice cream depravetory shock.  My groove may not be the only thing I have to work to get back into.