Jerad & Amanda: Major Update

So the update brings us to May finally.

MY WEDDING DRESS IS IN!!! I had my confirmation appt on May 7th - I had to confirm it was the right dress/color/size and no flaws. It was beautiful...but that's all you get....no pictures will be posted of the dress.

Our first big event has turned into an annual event. We participated in the Twin Cities Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. As Jerad's mom and aunt as well as my best friends mom are all survivors I was able to dedicate my run to them.

Jerad and I got up early to do the 5K run at 7:30AM and when we finished we met up with Debbie and Sue to check out all of the stands they have donating their product and services. In the survivors tent there was a table full of Babybel cheese and since Uncle Gary sells that cheese, we had to take a picture to send to him.

And yes, I did look like a freakish superhero as a number of sponsors were giving out capes and scarves....I had to wear it all.

I always get so emotional at this race. I can't help it when I just see the sea of faces out there doing the walk either in Honor of or in Remembrance of family or friends. I think we hit about 40,000-50,000 people that day. Along our walk we did have to stop along the way to take pictures at all of the signs. That too has turned into a tradition. We had a great time during our race and want to thank everyone who sponsored our team. And I want to thank my small, but growing team. We have increased our team by one this year and hopefully next year we can grow a little more.

The following weekend I had my VERY FIRST BRIDAL SHOWER!! My aunt Darla and cousin Abbie threw me a Pampered Chef bridal shower back in my hometown of Belmond Iowa. It was so nice to see those that were able to make it to the shower. I got to spend time with my bridesmaids and 3 of the four flower girls and ring bearers. I would post some pictures, but I do not have one on my camera, they are on my mom and Jerad's mom's cameras. I ended up getting some very nice kitchen and serving items from the shower. While I was there, Jerad was off again at another bachelor party for one of his friends. Have I happened to mention that we are/were invited to 7 weddings this year not including our own?

Memorial weekend was another busy one for us. Jerad headed up for his traditional fishing trip to Canada with his uncles. They have been going for years and I have to say that I am a fan of the fish he does bring back. :-) They were catching a ton of fish in which Jerad caught a 26" walleye!

While the men were being men, us women - Debbie, Sue and I - decided it was Girls' Weekend up at the cabin. We had a full weekend of pampering. Debbie and I drove up on Thursday night as we both prefer to drive at night then get up in the morning and travel. So on Friday morning, I went next door to the cabin for a massage. Gary and Sue are so lucky to have a neighbor up there that is a massage therapist. Then by the time I was done, Sue was pulling up with her dogs and we would soon be off to get our pedicures and manicures. We decided to go to the cosmetology school for a "deal" on our pedi/manis, but it really didn't turn out that great. They really don't give these girls the best tools to use for the services they offer. We sat in hair dryer seats and our feet were soaked in pretty cheap feet soakers that anyone can buy at the store. Needless to say, you could tell the girls weren't that excited to be doing the services. Our nails were barely filed, the cuticles were not cut - even though the cuticle cutter was sitting out next to all of the other tools, our nails were each a different height and shape and we had polish around the sides of our nails. I have a feeling these girls just want to cut hair. To think they graduate in July! Scary! Then on Saturday, Debbie and I went to get our hair done. I was WAY overdue for a hair cut. We both got a cut and color. Jim is also the stylist that is doing my hair for the wedding so before he even cut and colored my hair, he played with my hair as to how he wants to do my wedding updo. Even though it was put up in less than 10 min, we got a great feeling with how we want to do it and he loved my ideas of what I wanted to do with my hair. Then after my cut and color he did it again. You know, it must be great to have skill like that. :-)

Later that day we headed out to eat and just chilled out at the cabin. Sunday we finally worked on the wedding project. We have 1/2 of the branches for the centerpieces done. You don't know how great that feels to have started on it and almost done. Now I just have to finish it. Oh and I do have the jewelry done for my bridesmaids too. And I failed to mention that the dogs had a fabulous time this weekend too. Freddy and Nattie really wanted to play, but the new puppy Frankie really had a thing for Nattie....you'd think she was the first female dog he has ever seen.

And for our final weekend in May we closed it out with a BBQ that we hosted in our own backyard. We invited neighbors/friends/family. We had a great turnout and was able to visit with neighbors we barely knew and the kids had a blast too. One of our neighbors has a big blow up bouncer that he kept from when he owned a business of them. With that in our side yard, the kids were able to jump, slide and bounce until their little heart's content and I guess my retired neighbor Sharon decided to take a bounce in it too. I'm really sorry I missed that one. I want to say thanks to all of our neighbors and friends and family that joined us and brought along food to share. We still have some leftover if you want to stop by.

And since the weekend wasn't complete, on Sunday Jerad and our neighbor Tim got together to take down our other neighbors' 3 pine trees in the back yard (Fred and Sharon) I didn't get any pictures of them taking them down, but here is the aftermath of it all. Monday morning Fred, Sharon and their daughter Kari were out clipping it all up and we had 10 bags and two cans full for the yard waste guy to take away at 1:30. By 5:30pm, after a little rest, they have the big yard waste container, 2 cans, and 3 bags full and ready to go for next week's pick up.

The first picture is the old location....please note that no flamingos where hurt in the process of taking down the trees.