HELLO June!

It's June!  WHAT????

May was a complete whirlwind.  May is my favorite month for many reasons.  First of all, it is the last month of school.  It is super crazy and busy at work, writing report cards, grading, and wrapping up the school year.  BUT once you get through it, you are FINISHED for 10 weeks!  May is also the month of Mother's Day, Ethan's Birthday, AND my birthday.  Finally, we ended the month with my little sister's wedding!

I blogged a couple of times about doing the Whole 30 during the month of May.  It was a tough month, because we had a lot of celebrations, but it was a perfect month because I LOST weight instead of gaining it.  I ended up losing 6.5 pounds during the month, and actually 5 of them were during the first week.  It was pretty amazing to meet my goal just in time for my sister's wedding.  Since then....welllllll....not so hot.  I feel like it's been a downward spiral for the past week (snacks, pizza, cookies, etc.) and I'm already starting to plan to start another clean eating challenge.  I just don't have will-power on my own, and for some reason, a clean challenge makes me do it.

We celebrated Ethan's 2nd birthday in the middle of the month.  I can't believe my sweet boy is TWO!  We celebrated with a little Elmo party (although he really isn't as obsessed as he was when I chose the theme) of just our immediate family.  Since I went a little overboard with his first birthday party, we decided to keep it small this year. 

When I started the Whole 30, I had every intention of following it, EXCEPT for on my 30th birthday.  Yup, I turned 30 a week ago.  All I wanted for my birthday was a fiesta with my closest family and friends, a Qdoba bar, and margaritas.  And baby, I got it.  I had such a wonderful night, and feel so lucky to be healthy and have reached this milestone year.

After I came off of my birthday hangover, it was time to celebrate Ali's wedding weekend.  It was an INCREDIBLE weekend.  Tornado warnings during the rehearsal dinner and not a drop of rain on her wedding day.  Everything was perfect and I swear, she was the prettiest bride I have ever seen.  Ethan was a perfect angel (except for getting the tux on, which we knew would be a fight), and he walked down the aisle like such a big boy.  We are so happy to have Kyle in our family and our post-wedding lives to get back to normal :)

Now it is finally time to enjoy my summer vacation off with my little man.  We are booked with stroller-fit classes, swimming lessons, music classes, and mommy-and-me camp.  Excited to experience summertime with my family and friends!

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Congrats Stevie and Matt!

Last weekend, we celebrated the marriage of Stevie and Matt! We had such a great time at their wedding. The best past was catching up with all of my high school friends. Here we are...the Parkway Central girls...Stevie was such a beautiful bride and they got so lucky with the amazing weather. Oh...and Jenn came over beforehand and did my makeup. She did a phenominal job! Check out her new website. Now on to some of Mike's pictures! See more here.Such a beautiful day for a beautiful couple! Congrats guys! Can't wait to see you and hear all about Mexico :)

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Tess and Kevin get hitched!

Last weekend, I was lucky to be a part of one of the most beautiful and fun wedding ever. Remember when Tess and Kevin were engaged in October? Or Tess's fabulous bachelorette party in Destin in July? Mike also attended Kevin's bachelor party at the Lake of the Ozarks but there mysteriously aren't any pictures of that event (thank the lord).

All of the wedding celebrations came together for the mecca of weddings. We started the day getting ready in Belleville at Tess's parent's home. It was such a relaxing and laid back morning until suddenly, we had an hour till the wedding and no one was dressed! (Photos of the day used in this post are courtesy of the Browers and my hubby. The ones from the Browers have their name in the corner and Mike's are just plain.)It was finally time for Tess to get ready and she was stunning! The hair, the makeup, and wow...the dress! She was incredible!!! The ceremony was beautiful and Mike got some great pictures.Officially Mr. and Mrs.!!!After the ceremony, we hopped on the trolley to head for our reception destination, the Missouri Athletic Club on Washington Avenue. I can't believe we all fit in this picture! Where's Waldo? Can you find me?The trolley ride included t-ravs, cheese sticks and chicken fingers from their family owned bar, Big Daddy's. There may or may not have also been a chug-off of Boone's Farm wine, bubble gum flavored vodka, and a round of cherry bombs, as well.

Our first stop, The City Garden. I love this place! AND, I love this picture the Browers got of Tess and her sister, Lisa, running through the fountains.Then a stop to visit puppy, Truman, at Tess and Kevin's loft on Washington.We also stopped for a few at the Four Seasons but it wasn't the best experience so I am going to skip that part ;)

The reception at the MAC was amazing! Most of the guests at the wedding at Mizzou fans and Truman the Tiger was there to celebrate! (These pictures are Mike's!)The room was amazing and the tables were just beautiful!We danced the night away and just had so much fun!!!Congrats, Kev and Tess! We love you and can't wait for you to get back from Italy!(Check out more pictures of the wedding here and here.)

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LOVE THIS

If you know me, you know that I am a huge fan of paper products for weddings. After we decided to do full DIY, I grew a great appreciation for invitations, envelopes, calligraphy, etc. I just about died over my friend, Tess' rehearsal dinner invitations. Tess and Kevin love to golf and the invitations read "FORE! ever and ever in love! Adorable! They also have the sweetest little (well, actually big) bulldog named Truman). Check it out.

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Tess is getting married!

This month, I have attended 2 showers for one of my best friends, Tess. Tess and her fiance, Kevin, are getting married on our 1 year anniversary weekend. What a crazy weekend it will be! At the first shower, I had the pleasure of making Tess' bow bouquet. I am getting pretty darn good at those things.I even got to put a little puppy in my pocket :)Last weekend, I got to go to another shower with Tess' HUGE family. Honestly, I would guess close to 100 people were there. Definitely the size of a small wedding. I got to make the bow bouquet again (although I called "not it" in the car)! Here is a picture of 7 out of the 9 bridesmaids drinking cosmos after the shower.This family loves to drink and party...this wedding is going to be AWESOME!

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The Secret is Out

I wasn't able to spill my secret until all involved people were notified. However, I was very amused by your guesses. No, I am not pregnant...thanks Kate. No, I didn't get a dog or my wedding pictures (was that what you were guessing, Amy?).

I am excited to say that I am going to be a bridesmaid in my friend, Tess', wedding. I wrote about their recent engagement a couple of months ago! Tess was my first roommates in the Gamma Phi Beta house at Mizzou. If I had a scanner at home, I could definitely post some crazy (and probably inappropriate pictures of Tess and I). Oh wait.....I have an idea!!!

So I just took some pictures of my shotbook! I haven't looked at it in FOREVER! What a great trip down memory lane!College pictures just crack me up. Most of the time, I think "what am I wearing?" or "who was doing my makeup and hair?"

OK...back to Tess' wedding. Tess and Kevin were engaged in October and are getting married on August 29, 2009. As discussed before, Tess and Kevin are getting married on our 1 year anniversary weekend (our anniversary is August 31st). They have booked our photographers Michael and Lajuanna Browers and I am so excited to be part of such a wonderful day!

YAY!

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More random things...

When should I start deleting the wedding websites and blogs from my Google Reader. I still love looking at wedding pictures, DIY projects, and anything wedding. I guess after you spend so much time looking at it and it is hard to let it all go. Today I saw a wedding that I fell in love with. I just love the flowers, bridesmaid dresses, and the polkadot shoes. Adorable. A few people asked what bridesmaid dresses we wore in Leslie's wedding.It is from David's Bridal in the color terracotta. Cute, huh?

So, Twilight isn't sold out. I am going to go see it on Sunday with a few friends!Finally...I just found out that one of our friends that we made on our honeymoon was in a horrible car accident. Jamie married Graham on the same day we were married. They lived and were married in Oklahoma City but were schedule to move to Canada (where Graham is from) a week after the honeymoon. Jamie and I have been keeping in touch via Facebook and I stumbled upon pictures from her accident.Jamie was hit by a semi and walked away with minor injuries. I looked through the pictures of her car and it amazes me that she lived through this. It is obvious to see the if Graham was in the car (or anyone else), they wouldn't have walked away. It is just so crazy to think about how fast life can change. Again, it made me take a step back and realize how short life is and to always say I love you. I am just so thankful Jamie and Graham are both alright.

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Leslie and Christian are married!

Leslie and I have been friends since we were 13! We have done just about everything together. In high school we were both in choir and we were both cheerleaders. We worked at Macaroni Grill and went to Mizzou together. We were both Gamma Phis and lived in a CoMo apartment together. We were Mizzou Ambassadors together and we both majored in Education. We coached cheerleading together and we lived together right out of our parents house. (Our list goes on and on but those are the important ones!) When we moved in together (with Bina too, of course), I had been dating Mike for about a year. Mike was also wanting to move out of his parents' house and I suggested that he move in with his friend from work, Christian. He did move in with Christian and shortly thereafter, Christian broke up with his long time girlfriend. What else was I to do than start to encourage a love connection?! Mike and Christian were roommates and Leslie and I were roommates. It worked out perfectly!

On Saturday, Leslie and Christian were married. Leslie was a beautiful bride and Christian was just so happy and handsome. It was a happy day full of love, friendship, and freezing weather. Seriously, it was snowing when we were taking pictures. OK...on to the pics!We got our hur did...Got dressed at the church...The beautiful bride! We took some pictures in the snow and before we knew it, it was time to walk down the aisle!After Leslie and Christian said their vows, Stevie and I sang. It ended up being great and my whole day of worrying was for nothing. (Seriously, I was more nervous for her wedding than my own!!!) You can see us singing at the pulpit in this picture...Then, it was official! Here's the new Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey!!!After some more pictures, we hopped on the party bus and drove around Chesterfield. We were cold but Leslie bought us shawls (thank the lord!).(No beers for Allison...sorry girl!)

We rejoined our significant others and the reception and danced the night away. We had a blast!I just love how weddings aren't only family reunions but friend reunions, too! Friends came from near and far and it was so much to all be together to celebrate! High school friends from New York and Chicago...College friends from Chicago (wait, where is Haef) and Florida...
It was such a great night! Congrats Leslie and Christian! We love you!!!

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