We're back! Actually, we've been back for a few days now, but I've just been trying (quite unsuccessfully) to catch up on life. We had such a great time visiting my family, but it's so, so good to be home. There's just something about traveling with a baby that makes life a lot more stressful. Maybe it's just our baby, but regardless,  we're ready to stay close to home for awhile.

We had such a great time visiting with family that we haven't seen in awhile. For most of them, it's been years. I still can't believe that so many of our out of state family made the trek to Montana to visit us while we were there. 

Our biggest priority for the trip was spending time with my 94 year old grandma. I really wanted her to meet Asher. The reality is that at her age, everytime we say goodbye I know in my heart it could be for the lat time. Unfortunately, my great aunt bobbie passed away just 2 weeks before we got to town, so it was a little sad not having her at our family functions.

Here's some of my favorite memories from our trip.....

Spending time with the Eisenharts and the Kavanaghs. I love these guys so much! I was so glad that Sam & Sara were able to make it up from Bozeman while we were in town. Can't wait to see the newest addition to the Kavy family in just a few weeks!

My mom soaked up every single second with Asher. It was nice for us, cause we got a break! We went out on dates and double dates with Andy & Mandie quite a few times while we were home after Asher went to bed and Mom was on babysitting duty. 

Asher hanging out with great grandma. He also got to meet his second cousin Allan  (named after my grandfather) who came to visit from Washington.

Funny picture - Andy & Mandie are trying to make Asher laugh, and grandma is blinking but it looks like she's sleeping. This is the best family picture we could muster up.

Asher absolutely LOVED his Uncle Andy and Auntie Mandie. They are going to make such great parents someday.

Our last day in Montana after all the hoards of  family had come and gone.  I still can't believe how much snow there was in the mountains. Hopefully it won't flood once it melts like has been predicted. My mom lives just 1/4 of a mile away from the big Flathead River, so it could mean very bad things for her.

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So that was our trip. So great, but so tiring. Now it's time to get back into the swing of life here in Madison and prepare for this baby.  Just 7 weeks left. I have had no nesting instinct whatsoever thus far, so I'm trying to get my butt in gear and get ready for this little guy to join us. I felt so accomplished yesterday when I washed the newborn inserts for the carseat. I still have a long ways to go, but at least most of it will hopefully be easy stuff. I checked in with the doctor as soon as I got back into town and my levels of amniotic fluid hasn't really changed much in the last week, so that's actually a good thing. There's still way to much fluid there. but at least it's not growing so rapidly. I had understood when I talked to the doctor before I left that I would be going in for weekly ultrasounds and non-stress tests, but I found out this week that I'll actually have to be going in twice a week from here on out unless things drastically improve. I've been super frustrated about this as it's not easy when I have Asher to care for, but really, whatever it takes to make sure our little guy is safe is worth every inconvenience to me.
That's it from our end!

The things we take for granted...

How is it possible to wake up every morning and think that some of life's problems just seem to big for God when you look at this view of His creation? I can't believe that for the first 18 years of my life this is what I woke up to every morning when I looked outside my moms living room window and was never really in awe. I guess it's true that you don't know what you have until it's gone.
For now, I'm enjoying the beauty of Montana, all the different little local coffee roasters that make some of the best coffee in the world, the perfect summertime weather and once in awhile a sip or two of Steve's beer from some of the great local breweries, but most of all I'm soaking up every single minute of spending time with my family.
Watching Asher interact with his 94 year old great grandma has provided us with priceless memories and having family come from California, Washington and Idaho just to meet the new addition to our family while we're in town has made us feel so loved. Yes, I may come from the most dysfunctional family ever, but the family members that we have that are "normal" are some of the best people I've ever known.
One more day and then it's back to reality. Have I mentioned lately just how badly I want to move to California to live closer to my brother? Well, this trip has sealed the deal. We have decided that one day this dream will be a reality - hopefully sooner rather than later. For now though, it's back to another day of breathing in fresh air while we're surrounded on all sides by beautiful mountains.

Week at a glance

It's been a busy week around here!

- Went to the doctor last week and this baby is measuring way huge, so we had to schedule an ultrasound to see what's going on in there with all this crazy growth.  I also failed my 1 hour gestational diabetes test, so had to go back on Friday for the big 3 hour test where they take my blood over 4 different intervals of time. Getting all that blood taken out of me was not so fun, but oddly enough, it was kind of nice to have a break for a few hours. Steve took some time off work to watch Asher while I sat in the waiting room of the doctors office all morning. I ended up seeing 2 other pregnant friends that were in for their appointments so got to chat with them for awhile and then caught up on a few shows on hulu. It was surprisingly rather nice! I got news yesterday that I passed this test with flying colors, so no gestational diabetes for me - yea!

- Our mini-van shopping trip was successful! I really thought I'd hate having a mini-van, but it's so roomy and convenient that I'm loving it so far.

- We had a little fun while we were in the windy city as well. Or course, we stopped by Ikea. I'm getting so much better with my shopping there, we hardly came home with anything - that's good news! We also went to Medievel Times. I had never been there, but heard from a few people that it was a lot of fun. I thought it was just okay, but Asher loved it! He was so entertained by watching the horses and the knights and was clapping his hands in delight the whole show!

- Asher had his 9 month appointment (yes, actually he's almost 10 months). He's looking good and healthy at 23 pounds! He's still having a hard time eating solid foods. I guess it must be because of the tongue thrusting issues he had early on, so we'll be sending him to a feeding specialist sometime in the near future so we can try and figure out what is going on. All along, I haven't really stressed much about these feeding issues, but I'm starting to feel the stress more now. I think just because in only 3 months we'll have another baby to care for and the thought of that is overwhelming in itself. I really hope we can get these problems resolved before the next baby gets here so that feeding Asher isn't such a source of stress for both him and me.

That's it from our neck of the woods.  Exciting? I think not.

St. Louis Wedding Weekend!

We had a double-whammy for Halloween this year. We got to celebrate in St. Louis and Madison - so fun!

It was also the big wedding weekend and I was so happy to see one of my favorite people get married to a wonderful man. We're so happy for Nadia and Justin - they are just perfect for each other!

The wedding and reception both were gorgeous! Unfortunately, I didn't really take any pictures. Sommer got this one of Nadia and Asher though.

Doesn't she look gorgeous?!?! She was such a beautiful bride and it did my heart good to see her so happy at her wedding. There's just something so great about being able to rejoice with others. I find myself always crying at weddings - don't know why, but I'm always just so happy for the bride and groom that it makes me tear up.

It was also sooooo fun to be able to see some of our friends while we were in town. We got to take dinner to the Nathan and Jamie and it was so great to spend time with our dear friends. Jamie is such a trooper and I already deem her a super mom even though she hasn't had the baby yet because of how amazing she has been with being on complete bedrest. I can't imagine how difficult that must be, but she is still so positive and it's so challenging to me.

Also got to spend time with the ladies and it did my heart good.

Asher got to spend time with his favorite girl Amanda and that did his heart good!

All in all, it was a good trip. I don't think we'll be making it back to St. Louis for awhile though. It really is a pain traveling with kids and as much as we love seeing everyone it's just exhausting trying to balance our time when we come to town now that we have a baby. Truthfully, it kinda takes the fun out of it.

We miss everyone in St. Louis dearly, but our life is in Madison now and we're fine with that. We love going home to visit, but I think we've decided that our visits will be few and far in between now. We'll definitely plan a trip back next spring sometime to meet the newest little addition to Nathan and Jamie's family, but other than that we're sticking close to home.....at least for the next 3 weeks until Asher gets his first trip on an airplane! :)

I'll post some pictures of our cute little Halloween charmer tomorrow. As for now, it's back to catching up on life.

Hanging with the homies....

This last week has been great and so refreshing. Sara and Amelia came to visit from Montana. It was so wonderful to meet this sweet Amelia that I've only heard about and seen pictures of for the last year.

Sara and I have been friends, well, for forever! One of my first memories of her was when we both sang in a little play with our children's choir at church - Sara was a little sheep in the play! If I had to guess I would say we were probably in forth or fifth grade at the time. Since then we've been good friends. I don't see her as often as I'd like since we live on opposite sides of the country, but when I do it's one of those friendships where you can just pick up right where you left off with none of the awkwardness that sometimes comes with catching up with someone you haven't seen in forever. I love those kind of friends.

Anyway, we had such a great week hanging out, introducing our kids to each other and catching up on life. After having such a busy and somewhat draining last few weeks it was so refreshing for me to spend some quality time with my good friend. Sara is such a wonderful mom and I just wanted to soak up every second of watching and learning from her. I think I must have asked her at least a thousand questions about parenting.

I was so sad to see her leave, but so happy that we had the opportunity to spend this time together.

Asher loved his Auntie Sara!

Hanging out at the park, yes, that is Josh pushing my 200 pound husband on the "big kids" swing. I think they were trying to catch up with Amelia.

Asher's First Trip to the Lou...

Asher made his first trip to St. Louis and was finally able to meet some of the most important people in our lives! So exciting! It was a busy and long few days. I've learned that traveling with a baby is not so fun. Not only was our car completely packed with all the stuff we had to bring, but just being in a new place with not a whole lot of familiarity was hard for the little guy.

We spent the majority of our time with Steve's parents, but managed to get a little time in with friends as well. It was sooo good to see everyone! This will be a post with lots and lots pictures!

Some of the highlights of our trip:

Taking Asher to the arch for the first time. We lived in St. Louis for 6 years and rarely went down to the arch - I even worked just 2 blocks away for 4 of those 6 years. It's kind of one of those things that once you've seen it the first time you don't really need to go back again. Anyway, so after not having been to the arch in a few years I was reminded of how just amazing it is. I just can't imagine all the thought and planning that went into constructing something so amazing.

He also got to meet Grandma Rodriguez for the first time and as expected all she wants to do is spoil him rotten! She's so excited to finally be a grandma! It's the moment she's been dreaming about (and all we've been hearing about) since Steve and I even started dating. I think she has more items for a baby in her house than we do!

I'll admit it was a bittersweet trip for me. Seeing our friends was so great, but it made me so, so sad that our little boy won't grow up surrounded by the people that matter the most to us. It's so sad to know that Asher won't get a chance to really get to know the people that know us best. I hate that our friends have, or are having kids and Asher won't grow up with them. Moving back to St. Louis is something that will most likely never, ever happen for us though, and I'm okay with that, just sometimes a little sad about all that we're missing out on.

We got to spend time with Nathan and Jamie (check out her cute little baby bump) and we are so, so excited for the addition that will be coming to their family in January....a little girl! We can't wait to meet the little beauty! It was so good see these guys and to be able to spend some time with Erica as well.

We also go to see Nadia and she was completely smitten with our little guy (who am I kidding, she's smitten with ANY baby). Next time we see Nadia it will be on her wedding day. We're so excited for her and Justin!

Thankfully, we were able to get together with Tim and Amanda for a quick visit before they left town for the weekend (coincidentally, they were coming up to Madison). Asher loved Amanda! It was cute to see him get all snugly and flirty with her! It was the first time I've ever seen him make it really obvious that he liked someone. I dressed Asher in his favorite neck time onesie that Amanda had made him and she stocked us up with some more that she had made for him! Prepare to see lots of pictures of Asher with cute polka dot neck tie onesies on in the upcoming weeks!

Asher also got to meet old man Freet while we were in town. I think it was the first time that I've ever seen Dan hold a baby, and he did pretty good. It was really cute to see him get so excited.

Last, but not least, I got to see one of my favorite people in the entire world. No matter what, a trip to St. Louis is never complete without seeing my amazing friend Missy. I so wish we would have had more time together, but I'm so grateful for the time we had and for her amazing margarita's that force me to pump and dump. Ha! Ha! Love you SO much, Bodum!

It was so good to see everyone! Now that we have a baby our trips to St. Louis will be a lot less frequent than they have been in the past year. It's just to difficult to plan and pack for the baby and I was surprised by how difficult it was for Asher to adjust to getting out of his normal routine. We are looking forward to heading back to town to see everyone in October for Nadia's wedding though!

Chicago!

Steve had to go to Chicago for a work conference this week. He left on Sunday and one of my friends here happened to be going to Chicago on Monday, also for work, so Asher and I hitched a ride with her so we could join daddy for a few days. It was so great to get away and ended up being a nice little mini vacation! Steve ended up having quite a bit of free time, so we got to spend lots of quality time together.

His work put him up in a super nice hotel right downtown across for the Chicago Theatre. Asher and I spent a lot of time walking around exploring the city and shopping (or more browsing) the stores on State St. and Michigan Ave.

Not the best picture of our little Ash-man

It was nice to get away for a few days, but whew - packing for a baby is quite the ordeal! I couldn't believe how much stuff we had to pack up just for a quick trip. I spent the majority of Sunday afternoon packing and preparing, when before baby I would have just taken me a few minutes to throw my stuff in a bag. It was worth it though - we had such a great time and didn't spend a penny for our little getaway!

One of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing my friend Kris. I met Kris 11 years ago when I was teaching english in Thailand. He was one of my students and at the time only spoke a few words of english. We've kept in touch from time to time and he moved to Chicago not that long ago to go to school and is now a fluent english speaker! I was excited that we could get together and reconnect after all these years!

It was a great few days away and just what we needed!

Weekend in Minneapolis

Steve & AJ warming up before the first game.

Good weekend! We went to Minneapolis for Steve's hurling tournament, and although they didn't win, they didn't do so bad either. The bad news is that Steve got hurt. He further injured the shoulder where he already had a torn rotator cuff, so now he pretty much can't lift anything with his left arm and is in constant pain. He's going into the doctor next week and hopefully they can fix him up with a non-invasive surgery.

The team

Sunday afternoon we headed over to Eau Claire to hang out with some of my family. It was so great to see my grandparents from Montana. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pics! It was also good to see my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. We've seen them three time now since we've lived in Wisconsin. I haven't even seen them that many times in the previous 15 years, so it's been good to reconnect.

It was fun to get away, but even more fun to come home! We've been traveling a lot lately, so I'm happy that we have no plans to leave town for awhile now.

Maternity leave has begun! It all started yesterday with me getting up at 4:30. I just couldn't sleep anymore because I was thinking of everything I needed to do. Steve packed up the rest of Jessica's things last night, and we'll be delivering it all to her new apartment this evening, so that means I can get started on getting the baby's room ready! Yea! I can't say I'm excited about the process, but I will be so happy once we can get all of the crap out of our room and the baby's room so we can have a little space to live. Since I get up every hour upon the hour to pee in the night, tripping over the boxes in our room while I'm half asleep is getting a little bit old.

Ironically, I was really sad to leave my job on Friday. I knew that I liked my job, but I guess I didn't realize how attached I had become to so many of my clients. I will miss them, along with my coworkers a lot! I can't wait to go back and visit though! Assuming I don't have the baby by then, I will be heading back for a 100th birthday party for one of my clients in 2 weeks.

That's all for now, I gotta get to work on cleaning up the basement.

Weekend Getaway - Chicago!

Not the best picture, but it's all I got from our weekend away.

Long time no blog. We have been so busy that there's just to much to write about but not enough time. That being said, blogging is not much of a priority these days, and I'm okay with that.

Steve & I spent the weekend in Chicago. Oh, it was so heavenly to get away. My two priorities for the weekend - sleep in, and enjoy quality time relaxing with Steve. My fantasy of sleeping in didn't work out as nicely as I hoped, although I was able to make it to 7:15 on Sunday before I just couldn't sleep any longer. The quality time part was just what we needed though! We honestly went away to mostly do nothing but just get away. We're all for fun, but have both been so exhausted lately that we didn't really have much of an agenda. We rented a movie friday night and stayed in our hotel and vegged out with a bowl of popcorn. Saturday we took the train downtown and walked around for a bit until we were both tired and ended up going back to the hotel and watched TV till we fell asleep. Side note - I don't know how many jurrasic park movies are out now, but did you know that there is one where they bring the dinasours to NYC? Yep, that was our Saturday night!

Of course, a trip to Chicago is not complete without a trip to IKEA! That is what consisted of our Sunday. We went not really planning on buying much, but actually came home with a dresser that will work perfectly in the baby's room and will double as a changing table as well as some new pots and pans! Yea!

The only downer of the trip was getting rear ended as we were leaving the Ikea parking lot. Not so much fun as we haven't had the best luck with cars this year. I had just finished telling Steve that's it's been almost a year since we were both in separate accidents within a week of each other (last year I got rear-ended on cinco de mayo and a few days later he got rear ended coming home from work). I guess I spoke to soon!

We were just happy to have a few much needed days off. As nice as it was to get away, I unfortunately still don't feel all that rested, I think that's just part of being pregnant though.

Speaking of baby....I'm still measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule. They're not going to change my due date or anything since normally with a first pregnancy the baby comes late anyway, but they did tell me not to be shocked if the little guy decided to make an early entrance.

Here's a pic that Steve took of me at while we were waiting for the train in Chicago. I'm 31 weeks along and don't really know how I can get much bigger at this point, but somehow I feel it's inevitable. Two long months to go....

Meet me in St. Louis....

We had a good trip home to St. Louis. It was so nice to spend some quality time with friends and Steve and I were both a little sad to have to come home to Madison. I feel like I'll be recuperating for weeks from all the late nights that I'm no longer used to.

I was super happy that we got to spend so much time with Missy, Dale and the kids. I have missed them so much and love that we have the kind of friendship that can pick up right where we left off. I always get a little nervous about seeing the kids when we go home because I wonder if they'll remember me since it's so rare that we get to see them now, but I was very happy to see them waiting to give me a hug outside the bathroom door at 6 am on Thursday morning just after I had gotten up. They were very excited to see Steve as well and kept asking me when he would wake up.
I actually ended up staying awake until 1:30 to bring in the New Year, I might have been a little bit half asleep, but I was still functioning nonetheless! We ended up going to the Blues game with Nate & Moyer and then headed over to Chasers to hang out with Jamie, Jerry and Phyllis.Go Blues!As always, we enjoyed our time back in St. Louis and soaked up every minute that we got to spend with friends, but every time we go home it just leaves us feeling so sad that we live so far away from all of the people that we love the most. We always can't help but feel a little bit lonely once we get back to life and reality in Madison. It's been especially hard since I've been pregnant, because I get so sad that our kids won't grow up knowing all the people that are so dear to our hearts because of the 6 hour drive that separates us.

Being further away really does help me treasure the moments that we have with these dear friends though and not take a single second for granted. Now we're back to life here. Steve started puking almost immediately once we got home and has been sick ever since. He ended up going back to work today, but now I'm starting to feel like I might be coming down with what he had - so not fun! I'm just glad we weren't sick while we were away. Now it's time to get back to the daily grind. After having 3 day work weeks these last 2 weeks I'm really not looking forward to putting in a full 40 hours, but then again, I'm just happy to have a job!

Mr. & Mrs. Perkins

We made a pit stop at McGurks on our way into town and tried the special edition Guinness 250! It was so tasty!
The Rodriguez summer of love tour has ended with final wedding of the summer last weekend in St. Louis. It's so weird that Nathan & Nicole are hitched...it seems like just yesterday he was an annoying little 15 year old who thought he knew it all. He still thinks he knows it all, but at least he's not annoying anymore! On a serious note, they are such a cute couple and we are so happy for them.

Our trips home are always so bittersweet. It's so nice to see the friends that we miss so much, but every time we go home it's also a reminder that St. Louis is a completely different world from Madison and our life is here now. We miss so much about St. Louis, but we know that if we were still there we would be miserable.


Time with Missy and Co. is always my #1 priority when I'm home. I hate that I'm missing out on the kids growing up and always feel so happy when I see them and they're happy to see me. It's nice to know they haven't forgotten me (yet).My favorite little guy in the whole wide world
It was a quick trip, so besides our mutual friends that were at the wedding and time with Dale & Missy we didn't really get to see anyone else. We were asked to be the guest worship leaders at Hope Vineyard on Sunday morning before we headed back to Madison and it was so weird to be there again and see all those familiar faces. It kinda felt like we had never left.

It was such a strange trip and to be perfectly honest kind of depressing. For some reason it seemed like everyone we talked to only had bad news to tell us about the things that were going on in their lives and it was so emotionally draining. That made it all the much easier to come back home to Madison though. We've been to St. Louis a lot this summer, but I think this was our last trip for awhile. I'm still trying to decide if that makes me happy or sad.

Okay, I just couldn't resist....one more picture of the cutest little guy EVER....and no, I'm not talking about Steve, although he is quite the hottie!

Camping Fun!

We had a great weekend in the great outdoors! Friday after work we headed up to Devil's Lake State Park to meet up with everyone for a weekend of camping. I love camping, but unfortunately don't get to go very often, so I've been really looking forward to this weekend.

Not the best picture of us, but what can I say, we were hiking!
Saturday morning we woke up to Pat cooking a gigantic breakfast of french toast and sausages and then we headed off for a beautiful hike. We hiked up to Balanced Rock - a very steep hike, but very well worth it for the gorgeous views from the top of the mountain. We opted to take the longer route back down and headed to the East Bluff trail - it was such a beautiful hike and a nice trail. We stopped a few times to check out some of the cool rock formations (yes, I am that geek that gets a kick out of looking at rock formations) and plants.It was neat having Jarod (aka "Mr. DNR") with us to educate us on all the different plants and conservation efforts going on in the area. I love that he has such a passion for what he does.

The guys stopping to see how high up we were
After we made it back to our campsite we were pooped and spent the rest of the day hanging out. We took a little snooze in the hammock and then played a little volleyball before dinner.
Chris, Christina and Nich and Sarah came up to join us for the evening and we spent another night sitting around the campfire, having fun, chatting it up and eating Smores!

Sunday morning we had an extra special surprise, we were just getting ready to sit down to yet another huge breakfast (of course made by Pat) when a mini-van pulled into our campsite and a lady got out yelling something about wanting a free breakfast. I was shocked when I looked up and saw Alma! Apparently she had been talking to Julie for weeks and had planned to surprise us. It was so good to see her, Brad and the kids. We hung out with them for the afternoon and then parted ways. They're going to vacation in Wisconsin Dells for a few days and will come back and stay with us toward the end of the week for a few days.
I just love having friends from St. Louis come visit us...even more then I love going back home to visit them!
It was a fun weekend and so good to get away. I can't say that I was able to completely forget about all the things that I needed to be taking care of around the house or the stresses of some of the stuff going on at work, but it was kind of nice to be forced to get away from it all.
Next weekend we'll actually be in town for the first weekend in what feels like forever. I'm really looking forward to waking up in my own bed on Saturday morning and enjoying my morning coffee.

Weekend In Minnesota

We had a nice weekend up in Minneapolis for Brian and Katie's wedding. It was a quick trip, but kind of nice to get away nonetheless. They had a very unique wedding in the backyard of their lakehouse. I loved that it was casual enough that I didn't have to get all dressed up. Brian & Katie had their dog Barney for a ring bearer. It was kind of cute, Barney didn't leave Katie's side all day long.

After the wedding a pirate ship showed up to give people trips around the lake - such a fun idea! They also had boats and wake boarding, but unfortunately it was too cold of a day to swim in the lake anyway (which was fine by me!).

It was good to catch up with family that I haven't seen in awhile and just sit back and not do a whole lot for a few hours. Steve and I were both exhausted from a busy last few days before the wedding, so unfortunately we weren't the most exciting folks to be around.
Me with Bonnie (my stepmother).
Sunday we slept in (yes, it's sad that 8:00 am is "sleeping in" to us) and then headed to downtown Minneapolis to hang out for awhile before we met up with more family for lunch. This was the first time that we've driven to Minneapolis since we move to Madison and it was actually a pretty quick and painless drive, so I'm sure we'll be going again in the future to do some more exploring of the city. Next weekend we're off to Devil's Lake to go camping for the weekend!

Weekend in St. Louis.....

I managed to have a great weekend in St. Louis even though I had to make the trip by myself. Steve stayed back as he was singing/playing guitar in the wedding of some of our friends here in Madison. He wouldn't have been able to get Monday off of work to go with me to St. Louis anyway, so it was good that he had something to keep him busy while I was away. He had quite the weekend of bachelor parties, BBQ's, golf games and wedding festivities.

I had a great time in St. Louis for Chad & Erica's wedding even though I was bummed that Steve wasn't able to join me. Sunday morning I was able to visit our old church and catch up with a lot of people all at once. After church Amy and I headed to the Four Season's at the Lumiere Place to deliver food to the lovely bride. I've never been to the Lumiere and was very impressed. The views were amazing (see above picture) and the hotel very nice. Erica was getting her makeup done when we showed up and even in just a robe and with her hair back in a ponytail she already looked gorgeous. She was literally glowing and it was so sweet.
I was super excited to see that she was going to be wearing "the veil." This veil has been passed around to the all the girlfriends and if I remember correctly this is the 5th wedding it's been in. Missy wore it for her wedding and I did for mine as well. It's super special to have this little tradition. Next we just have to get Nadia married off and wearing the thing.
The ceremony was beautiful and decorated so tastefully. Erica looked so pretty and couldn't stop smiling the entire time. I am just so happy for her and Chad. They are complete opposites, but so perfect for each other. They balance each other out beautifully and I love the Erica has finally found a man that is truly worthy of her love. Whenever I'm at a wedding for someone I really care about I tend to get really emotional, because I'm just so happy for them. I'm proud to announce that I managed to make it through the entire ceremony with only shedding just a small tear!
After the ceremony I hung out with Nate & Jamie before heading over the reception. They had such a unique reception, it was held at the Third Degree Glass Factory - a place I had never been to in St. Louis. Before the couple arrived they had glass blowing demonstrations for all of the wedding attendees. It's such a nice place with a great atmosphere. It was fun to hang out with friends, but the time went by way to quickly!
Every time I go home I just am reminded at how irreplaceable my friends are. I especially miss my close girlfriends and feel kind of lost now that I don't have them in my life on a daily basis anymore. It's been good that lately I've been able to see them once a month, but I still can't help but feel super sad every time that I have to leave them and come back to Madison where the close girlfriend factor is definitely missing.I spent Sunday night at Dan & Amy's and it was good to hang out with them. I went out for breakfast with Amy on Monday and then stopped by to see Missy and the kids for awhile before I had to take the lonely drive back to Madison.
I can't wait to go home again next month to see everyone for Nathan & Nicole's wedding.
In the mean time, we'll have a few busy weeks! Nadia's coming to visit on Wednesday night and then Steve M and Nate are coming on Thursday night to spend the weekend and then Jess P coming the weekend after that. I love having friends come to town! The goal is to eventually get them all to love Madison so much that that can't bear the thought of living in St. Louis any longer and end up moving here. Hopefully my plan will work!

Weekend in St. Louis

We had such a great weekend in St. Louis. It was so much fun to reconnect with friends and have some much needed fun!Saturday was Erica's bachelorette party and we had a great time celebrating! We started the day out by going to a Cardinals game then headed on over to Art Hill in Forest Park for a picnic. It was so much fun for me to be able to celebrate Erica and hang out with some of my favorite girls. We had SO much fun together and Erica had a great time! Nadia and Missy did such a great job planning the day. I'm so excited to head back to the Lou for her wedding next month.
We also had a great time hanging out with my favorite kids in the world! I was so excited to get home and see Dale & Missy's kids and so sad to leave them. I hate that we're missing out on everything as they grow up! I couldn't believe how huge Caleb is getting and love how his little laid back personality has started to come out.

As much as I love Madison, the one thing that has been so hard for me here is missing our friends (and their kids) back in St. Louis. We've made some nice friends here, but I really miss having my close friends that know everything about me. There's something to be said about having history with people and that is definitely something that I miss here. I know that Madison is where we're supposed to be, but I can't help but get a little sad that all the friends we love are so far away now. I tried to soak up every minute that I could with my girl friends while we were home knowing that these moments have become a rarity in the last year. I know that Steve feels that same way about missing his friends as well, so it made me really happy that he was able to have a good time hanging out with the guys while we were home.
We had a great time, although it went by way to quick! I wish we could have had more time to see everyone that we wanted to, but we were just happy to be able to spend time with the friends that we did.
We also mad a pit-stop by Fast Eddie's on the way out of town yesterday and had lunch with Steve's folks. Steve's mom is crazy about the shrimp there and apparently Steve found a new love for them as well.
I'm not a fan of the shrimp, but I sure did enjoy sipping on my blue moon on such a beautiful day. It was a perfect end to a very refreshing visit home.