A wedding to remember

This weekend Ken and I traveled to Scottsdale to see Wes and Ashley get married.  Scottsdale is beautiful this time of year and they had planned on getting married in a friend's backyard.  Unfortunately mother nature had other plans. 

On Saturday morning a group of us headed to the wedding and reception site to find it flooded.  The back yard was on a slope, and the tent where the festivities were taking place was at the bottom of said slope.  The bride and groom's fathers came to help as we tried to collect rain in buckets and trash cans and squeegee water from the dance floor and isle.  A tree had even fallen over because the ground was so wet.

Wes was there with us and a few hours before the wedding decided that they needed to move the wedding to another location.  With the help of all of us we were able to find a beautiful venue, a friend of a friend lent us her house, moved the entire wedding (tables, chairs, center pieces, bar, etc) and set up for 100 people in a little under 4 hours.  

Wes and Ashley are truly a beautiful couple and we were happy to help a friend in need. It's funny how we think we are in control, but all the planning in the world won't prepare you for what God has in store.  God has a plan for each of us and sometimes it's hard to see the silver lining when all you see are rain clouds. The wedding ended up beautiful and the bride and her groom were just happy to be marrying their best friend. Congratulations to you both and we were honored to be there to help you celebrate!

Top left: Ken and I at the wedding.  Ken also helped valet cars before and after the wedding. Top right: The lucky groom and his beautiful bride. Bottom: The amazing gals that helped pull this wedding together. A little rain won't ruin our day!

Last fling before the ring

Last weekend I had the privilege to celebrate one of my favorite brides to be...Amanda!  Eleven of us flew to Houston to spend the weekend reconnecting, eating & drinking, gossiping and celebrating the upcoming nuptials of Amanda and Jon!

We had so much fun and I am so excited to be there on her big day in February with this group of girls.  Here are some pictures taken by the talented Jamie ,who is a photographer in her spare time. 



Friday night we went for Sushi and Saki at Azuma. 



Our theme for the weekend was bras and beers!  We each brought a bra for the bride and we had some fun beers to try while we enjoyed sweet treats!

Saturday we went to dinner at Del Frisco's and enjoyed our time in the Texans Room.  (from left to right: Katie (groom's sister), Ashley, Me, Alex (bride's sister), Jamie, Christa, Rachel, Lindsay, Laurie; and in front: Amanda (BRIDE), Melissa and Lindsey)  Amanda's fiance was so nice to reserve this room for us and even had champagne waiting when we got there.  Thank you Jon...Amanda is one lucky girl!

Later that night we went out on the town and ended up at a little bar that had air hockey.  Amanda and Melissa dominated and eventually took a break for Ashley to dance!

The last night we ate at Hearsay, a neat little restaurant with a beautiful story. The building was built in 1889 and is the perfect place to eat if you are ever in Houston!



Pictures of the girls all three nights! The bottom picture is of all the Alpha Phis.  So glad to reunite with my sisters and wish we could do this more often!

Sorority Girl

I am a proud sorority girl...and there is nothing we love more than our little sis! I was lucky enough to get to go to dinner with my little, Amber, last night.  She is a grad student at USC and was is in town for the week working at the CES convention.  We haven't seen each other in months so it was a real treat. We went to dinner at Sugar Factory and caught up on our lives.  It was so good to see her and makes me miss the good ol' days of college!

Thanks Amber for such a fun night.  Hopefully we can have a mini family reunion this summer so I can see all my Alpha Phi loves!

2013 Year Challenge

I have never really made a New Year resolution. I guess I never really felt there was something important enough to focus on the whole year. This year I have come up with 12 challenges...one for every month.  Some are simple, some are fun, and some are really important to me. I'm excited for 2013 and hope that this challenge will inspire me to be a better me.

The Memory Jar -2012

Last year Ken and I decided to start a Memory Jar.  We would write down all of the big, important, exciting things that happened throughout the year, put them in the jar and read them on New Years Day.  It was fun documenting our life and then being able to remember and reflect on the past year.

I wanted to share some of our big moments of 2012 so that I will have them forever....

• January - Ken got offered a job in Las Vegas, NV
• February 11th - Ken moved to Las Vegas and we put an offer on our dream home
• March 2nd - My dog Tex passed away
• March 19th - I started a new job and moved to Las Vegas...no more living apart!
• April 11th - We got the keys to our 1st Home
• April 12th - I accepted a job with the March of Dimes and started in May
• April - Ken's parents loaned us a car and Ken drove a white mini van...sweet ride Ken
• May - Karl and Christal were our first house guests
• May 12th - We had a housewarming party and celebrated with family and friends
• May 15th - We celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary...xoxo
• June - Ken got a new truck, a blue Dodge Ram...he was so excited
• June - We joined the Anthem Country Club
• July - Rick and Joyce came to see our new house on their way to Portland
• July - We went to California with my family and caught an Angels game
• August - We got a new dog...welcome home Piper
• September - We found out we are going to be an Aunt & Uncle in the Spring...it's a GIRL
• October - I completed my first big event at my new job...stressful but successful
• November - We went to Houston to see friends and watch some football
• November - We went to Tucson for Thanksgiving...gobble gobble
• December - We had friends come and visit...Casey & Sara, Zach & Katie, Jacob & Caitlin
• December - Ken got a much deserved promotion...it came with more money and more time off
• December - We celebrate Christmas in Vegas...even hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house

We had a busy year and were so blessed. I can't wait to see what 2013 holds for us and will definitely start another Memory Jar. Who knows, maybe I'll even blog more about the cool things that happen!

 

Merry Christmas from Ken & I 

and our pups Piper & Holly

 

We wish you all a blessed Christmas full of family and fun!

 

 

Family Pictures

My friend from middle school, Alli, took some family photos of my family this year. She has started a new photography business and we were glad to become a client, not just a friend. I had asked her to get some of Ken and I with the dogs and my parents, brother and his fiance tagged along too!

 

 Thank Alli - I can't wait to blow some of these photos up for our house!

Turkey in Tucson

We spent Thanksgiving in Tucson with Ken's family.  Since we have been married, and even before, we always do Thanksgiving with the Wendtlands.

We always take a picture in front of this palm tree on Thanksgiving day.  We tried to get the dogs in too but as you can see they weren't cooperating. 

This year we planned to do some fun things around Tucson while we were there.  The holidays are usually so busy that we never end up trying anything new but this year we planned ahead.  Joyce planned for us to go to Karchner Caverns and take a tour of the caves.  It was so beautiful inside. It is hard to imagine how long the stalagmites and stalactites take to form but it was truly breathtaking. Here are some picture from inside the cave.















We took pictures for the Wendtland family Christmas card by the entrance sign.

After the caves we went to Trail Dust Town for some food and fun. It's an old cowboy town that has little shops and restaurants. We ate at Pinnacle Peak and they do something fun there if you wear a tie...they will cut it off and staple it to the wall!   So we all wore a tie and enjoyed being the center of attention at the restaurant.

From left: Christal, Joyce, Me, Ken, Rick & Karl

 

After dinner we watched a cowboy show.  He was so good with his lasso and whip.

Karl (Ken's younger brother) and Ken were goofing off just a bit.

We had a great week there with the family and thank Rick and Joyce for hosting us once again.