Jack and I have been busy with all kinds of little things these days.  I was out this past weekend with my good friend, Kristen, to help her shop for her wedding shoes.  Can I just say it was so fun to be on the bridesmaid side of things!  Don't get me wrong, I loved being a bride and all, but it was just so nice to be in a supporting role for such a wonderful friend as she prepares for her big day.  We certainly did make a day of it and hit a couple wedding boutiques (where she at found a couple pairs she liked, so she has some options), stopped by her favorite cupcake shop (YUM!), and then picked up her maid of honor in the afternoon to continue our shopping activities. Now if I could just find some gold shoes for my bridesmaid dress, I'd be good!

Jack and I also went shopping recently to get some "honeymoon" clothes - like shorts, flip flops and a new pair of khakis for Jack, and some shorts and capris for me.  And since I found a pair of cute sandals too, how could I put them back with our fun trip coming up? ;)  It took a little coaxing to get Jack ready for our shopping trip, but he knew he needed these things, so it was just a matter of making sure I didn't spring it on him since he doesn't love to shop.  After picking a date a week in advance and giving him a couple reminders during the week, he seemed ready when we finally did go.  When we got to the outlet mall though, you'd thing the economy was just booming for the amount of people that were there and shopping!!

Jack's car broke down a couple weeks ago and after a few phone calls and a bunch of work done, both the radiator had to be replaced and the transmission pretty much had to be rebuilt.  Ouch!  Thankfully, it is all fixed now and the owner of the shop to which he had taken it was very nice and told him to bring it back sometime soon (I forget all the details) to make sure all was still working ok. 

We booked our airline tickets for our friends Jen & Ken's wedding in Florida this May, so that is another something fun to look forward to.  May seems a ways a way, but then I remember that this Saturday is the end of February and suddenly, May doesn't seem so far off!  We have also been trying to plan a time to have our immediate families over to our condo (as many of them have not seen it yet) and to give our parents and siblings (along with their families) the chance to get to know each other better.  We tried to plan something last fall before the rehearsal dinner and wedding, but it just didn't work, so we thought this would be a nice way to do it.  I am hoping that we are getting close to finding a good date for all.

Sorry if this was kind of a boring blog. I'll try to come up with some more interesting stuff soon!

This past weekend, Jack and I headed to my parents' house on Saturday to take care of some things for them.  My brother, Jim, and his two kids were there also, so it was nice to visit with everyone too.  Upon arriving, my dad very quickly offered to make us some french toast.  Now you have to know, my dad makes the BEST french toast (I might be a little biased), so who was I to turn down an offer like that!  I didn't even ask Jack if he wanted some - I just said YES!  While we were enjoying our treat, we all got to talking and my dad asked how I liked the leftover slices of quesadillas that he had sent me home with earlier in the week when I had visited.  Jack immediately turned to me and gave me a look that said "You got quesadillas and you didn't share them with me!!" to which I responded without him having to say anything and said, "He only gave me three tiny slices" and even my dad piped in and said that they were meant for me to eat on my way to pick Jack up from where his car had broken down.  This immediately created a whole lots of jokes and laughter amongst us all, but then while still finishing our french toast, my dad offered to make us some quesadillas to take home.  I know this might sound silly and like it was food overload, but again, he makes the BEST quesadillas.  I don't know what it is and there isn't anything very complicated about it, but I think he just has the timing down right and clearly, they are made with love.  So, within a matter of minutes, we had a bag full of quesadillas to take home. :)  And let me tell you, they were delicious as always!

Then on Sunday after church, Jack offered to make us waffles.  Now, this shouldn't have really surprised me because he does love our waffle maker, but I did wonder a bit if he was trying to make up for the previous weekend when I actually had a taste for a waffle and asked if he was up for making them and he really wasn't.  None the less though, they were quite tasty!

Thanks Dad and Jack!  Love you!

Finally, we booked our honeymoon!  It took a little longer to book than we both would have liked, but at least now all our arrangements have been made.  I booked our flight, hotel, and car rental all through Expedia and got a pretty good deal.  We haven't picked any specific activities yet, but we know of a few things we're interested in, such as the bike ride down the volcano, the Road to Hana, and of course laying out on the beach!  We also rented a convertible for our trip.  With some of the driving we'll be doing, it's the only way to go (second only to renting a Harley, that is).

Neither Mary or I have ever been to Hawaii, so we figured it was a great location for our honeymoon.  Since we've never been there, feel free to leave some suggestions on places to go or things to do.  Mary's brother already gave us some great information on Maui, but it never hurts to be educated!

...take some ibuprofen and make chicken fajitas anyway!

So, I left work a little late last night and was stopped at the light to turn onto 22nd Street, which for those not in the area, is a pretty busy street.  I was in the far right turn lane and someone behind me honked for me to go.  I pulled forward ever so slightly (because the person to my left didn't leave me any room to see the oncoming traffic) and I saw more cars coming.  I stopped, but the person behind me didn't and hit the back of my car.  UGH!  Thankfully, she wasn't going 20mph or anything so it wasn't too bad, but she bumped it hard enough that my head flew forward and back again against my headrest.  My head immediately started to hurt and I had QUITE the headache for the rest of the night.  I got out right away and checked my car; thankfully, there was no damage.  We exchanged information anyway, and as I got back into my car nad put my seatbelt on, a car pulled around us to turn, clearly very irritated that we were there and gave me the most evil glare!  Talking outloud to myself in the car said, "So sorry for stopping since someone hit me!"  The rest of the drive was rather uneventful and rather quick because of the holiday.

Once at home, I got a hug from my husband, took some ibuprofen for my headache, and proceeded to make chicken fajitas.  We had invited Steve and Kati over for dinner since Steve and Jack had spent the afternoon together, as they were lucky enough to have the day off.  Jack was a great husband and helped me cut up the fruit for our pre-bottled Sangria and then made dessert while I focused on dinner.  The ibuprofen thankfully started to work and we had a great time with friends.

I forgot to take a picture of this meal.  So many blogs I follow include pictures of the food someone prepares, I have to try to remember to do that more often.

One thing I've been looking forward to is being able to grill out on our balcony.  The only thing missing was the grill!  It turned out that Kristen and Jay had an extra one that they so kindly delivered right to our condo!  I finally got to take it for a spin last week and grilled up some pork chops.  Mary made a fantastic marinade for it as well as a really great red wine vinaigrette salad.  I ended up over-cooking the chops a bit as they were a little dry, but they still had some great flavor.  I'm hoping I'll only get better!