It's been a while, eh?

What a busy past month we have had! Married life is better than could be expected; we are really enjoying it! It’s pretty dang fun having your best bud around all of the time. Below is a little picture summary of what the past month or so has looked like for the Thurner family! We were married on May 23^rd, and it was perfect. The whole day was just so special! We had a great time and our guests seemed to as well; everything went very smoothly.

We took it easy the next day by attending a grilled lunch at his parents’ and then spending our second night at our new apartment opening gifts as a couple and ordering subs (our options were pretty limited as we had yet to grocery shopping). Below is what our living room looked like mid-opening. Keep in mind there were still piles in the kitchen!

The next day we left for our lovely honeymoon! We spent the week in Duluth, MN at a family friend’s cabin for part of the week and then at the Larsmont Cottages. We had so much fun relaxing together, playing lots of Scrabble, cooking, taking walks, and fishing. We also hiked at Gooseberry Falls and toured the Glensheen Mansion. It was great to be able to take the first few days of our marriage enjoying one another instead of dealing with the name changing, bank account joining, new license, new Social Security Card, blah blah blah business that consumed the following week! The first picture is of my first-ever attempt at cooking bacon for my new husband (I had lost Scrabble and the loser had to cook breakfast... little did Ceej know that he would be cooking it afterall!).

On the way home from our honeymoon we stopped in Bloomington to attend Dana's goodbye party, as she is moving to Washington D.C. to be a camp counselor for the summer. We played bean bag toss with some friends from Madison and said our goodbyes to a good friend!

Our first “Cinder City Days” weekend as a married couple was the next weekend. Actually, it was at this little carnival that I first saw Ceej! I was walking with a friend and he passed by us. My friend gasped and grabbed my arm saying, “that’s C.J. Thurner! He is SO cute!” My 13 year old self turned around and replied, “Oh, really? Well, he’s got a nice butt!” Smart girl. J Cinder weekend was WET… it poured rain practically the whole time. But we had a great time! Ceej even made a new friend because they shared the same name (Chuck).

Ceej and I hosted our first dinner party! We had 11 family members over for some grilled turkey tenderloin and roasted vegetables. It was a fun time, and we enjoyed serving them! Below is Ceej with our lovely grill (a wedding present from my dad) and his turkey grilled to perfection.

Next event: I co-hosted Jamie’s bridal shower in Bloomington. It was so great to see her again… it’s weird going from seeing someone everyday to absolutely never! Ceej met me in Stillwater on the way home, and we stayed with my dad for the night. We took a family trip to Hastings for a car show and then (of course) had my dad’s famous breakfast in the morning with everyone! OUR nieces and nephews are growing up so fast! It’s hard being so far away.

Last weekend we went with my mom, step-dad, brother, and Mitch (Hommer) to our cabin in Balsam Lake. We stayed for the weekend but wished we could have stayed all week with them! We fished a ton, my mom and I went for lots of walks, and we grilled out every day. The weather was perfect, as was the overall weekend! It was so nice to get away and relax with family.

We have 3 weddings in July, so this was literally the last weekend that we didn’t have a set plan until August. We were planning on attending Country Fest but decided against it in order to save money and avoid having a plan. We had a GREAT one... we went to "My Sister's Keeper" in the theaters on Friday. For those of you who know me well, you know I am a big fan of Jodi Picoult, the author of this amazing book. I have read 8 of her novels and plan to complete all of them because she is so brilliant. I attended two of her book talks in Madison, and below is a picture of Chel, Andrea, and I 3 years ago as we were waiting for several hours at Barnes and Noble after her talk to get her autograph on some of her masterpieces. That is such a fun memory! We kept making up funny sayings about what we would do for her in relation to the main themes of her books. Hey- it was a few hours; we had to entertain ourselves! ANYWAY- back to the movie- SOB FEST. I typically do not cry at movies, but I was a complete mess. I was hysterical and literally gasping for air for a good portion of the show. I highly recommend it. After the movie we climbed the mountain... a fun little date! Saturday night we went out for dinner with my family and then had a few drinks at his parents' for the rest of the night. Sorry about the ridiculously long post. Good on ya' reader! Hopefully it won't be another month before I update again. Until then, enjoy your week!