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!

Queen Bee

Like most brides-to-be, I co-planned my maid-of-honor's bachelorette party 8 days before my wedding. It was so fun to be back in Madison and spending time with my girls! Here is a little picture story of Jamie's night as "Queen Bee."
We started the evening with gifts, appetizers, and wine at our apartment. Jamie's excited about her new lovelies! Below is a picture of one of the games we played. It was hilarious and actually more difficult than one would think! We had 3 teams and one partner had the broom and the other had the toilet paper between their legs, racing to get 3 rolls on. Below Mia and I are the winners!

We then walked downtown in our black and yellow attire, stopping for a few pictures along the way.

...and a shot at Wando's.Next stop was for dinner at the Great Dane. Below is Jamie's "Blow Job complimentary bachelorette shot" that we had to pay for (it didn't make sense to us, either). Jamie couldn't get her mouth around the glass, but it was so funny to watch her try, poor thing.
We walked around capital square to try different places for drinks, continuing a game of Truth or Dare and "pass the Bee wings to whoever says Jamie's name." Below is our LAST roomie picture... sad! Luckily I'll be getting another super cool roommate in 2 days.
We ended up going to Brocah's and LOVING it there! We had awesome shots and desserts, and spent part of the evening in this little lounge area. We played games and laughed a lot! The bartenders were great, too, and they showed us how to do the inch worm and played games with us, even wearing the wings!
Jamie is getting married on July 4th, and here are her bridesmaids (besides her sister, who couldn't make it to the party):
Next stop was the Ivory Room, a piano bar off of State Street. The singer serenaded Jamie very awkwardly, but she sang great and it was a very fun place to be! After the Ivory Room we went to Karaoke Kid and sang Sugarland "Settling". Such a fun way to end a night with great friends!

My Bachelorette Party!

I had such a great time at my bachelorette party! Jamie and Dana planned it, and it began at Jamie's house in Bloomington. These pictures will tell the story of my very special night!

After meeting at Jamie's house for munchies and games we all went to Victoria's Secret in Mall of America. People pooled money together for me to get some really nice gifts there, and I had fun modeling different looks for them! The pictures are below (just kidding).


From Vikki's we went to have a shot a Hooters, and then we caught the metro to downtown Minneapolis. Throughout the night I had a spinner with different "dares" in it, and I completed them all! Some of the dares were altered a bit, which I got a kick out of. For example, instead of "Kiss the bartender" Jamie and Dana had written in "kiss the bartender on the hand," and instead of "Show your bra" they wrote in "show your boa." One of the dares on the train was to walk down the middle and yelled "I'm getting married!"
From there we went to dinner at Hard Rock Cafe. Although Chel really does love bunnies (and all animals, actually), she isn't just wearing those bunny ears for kicks. Every time someone said my name or Ceej's name they had to wear them! These ears definitely got passed throughout the entire group numerous times!After dinner we went to a few different bars and clubs for drinks and lots of dancing!
At one point we went to the Shout House, a really fun club where the piano players sing silly songs about people in the audience. Although the girls had prearranged this, I was shocked to be called on stage! I sat on the piano as the guys sang silly songs to me about marriage and being a bride. It was awesome!
After bar close we all went to Sex World, where I had to get a picture on top of the giant... you-know-what. We got a taxi home, ate yummy food, and then headed to bed. What a perfect night! Thanks for everything, Jaim and Danasaur!

"...then comes marriage..."

Well, folks, our four wedding showers are officially done and that just leaves one thing... the wedding! This entry will be briefly describing the four showers, as they were all very different. The one above was this past weekend in Hartford, thrown by my aunt and gram. We had enchiladas and margaritas, two splendid things. The theme was to use a piece of lingerie as decoration in the wrapping process. How creative! And let's just be honest- it's fun to have cute new undies and outfits for my married life.
The pictures above and below are from Le Sueur, Minnesota, and this shower was put on by Becky's family. It was really nice to meet some of Ceej's more distant relatives at this St. Patrick's Day themed party. We played Pfeffer (I literally got the worst score of everyone) and ate Mexican food. We also got to spend lots of time with his aunts and uncles after the shower, which was a blast!
The next two pictures were from an evening shower in Stillwater thrown by my sister, Jenni. The first was an intense "hot bouquet" type of game (which my aunt Sue won). The second picture is me holding my ice cream cake, homemade by Jenni! It was fun to drink wine and spend time with my aunts and sisters in a non-holiday setting.


Not pictured (due to not having a camera there) was my shower in Eau Claire thrown by both of our moms. We played fun games and had a soup and sandwich buffet. This shower was lovely and had a lot of people from the area... a bonus for those unable to travel!

Showers can be overwhelming for some, but I really loved them! They were all so unique and wonderful. I feel so blessed to have such great family and friends (I know-I'm super corny). I can't believe we'll be married in 25 days... this amazing time has gone by so fast!

Easter Blessings

Ceej and I had a fantastic Easter this year. It began the good ol' fashioned way- by dying eggs with his siblings. It was a great time and we made some very attractive little eggs!
Easter Sunday was spent going to church with my brother and then heading over to my aunt's for the annual egg hunt. Mickeegan and Elliana (above) were really excited to find their eggs! To do a little "Auntie Em bragging": Mickeegan is 6 and reading in our wedding! He actually MEMORIZED his reading, and it's so cute that I'm a little scared he's going to steal the show. Elliana is going to be 2 in May and already potty trained! Isn't that crazy?! Both these kids are just amazing and I'm very proud of them!
Rylan is getting so big! He already has a mouth full of teeny tiny teeth that resemble mustard seeds. I had to include the picture below, too, because his little smile is SO adorable. He is crazy about his bear and laughs histerically when it "dances" in front of him!

Bright and White

You're probably thinking, "What in the HECK is going on in these revolting pictures?!" Actually, we are quite excited about them! My brother is great for two reasons: 1. He's really fun and 2. He's a dentist. For our wedding gift he offered to bleach our teeth, and these pictures represent the process. Did you notice how distressed Ceej looks and how thrilled I appear? Well that would have to do with the large object on my face administering laughing gas. George wasn't shy about crankin' that bad boy up, which explains the joyful look on my face. Afterward we were both really sore, but we are so happy with the outcome! Thanks for such an awesome job, George!

Wooohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

There are two reasons why I am currently celebrating:

1. It is finally spring, which means that bike riding season has begun for my daddy and me.

2. I have been accepted to the Masters of Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Minnesota to begin September 8th! It's a 2 1/2 year program taking place in Rochester. It is mostly online and increasingly becomes more face-to-face as the semesters progress. That is, the first semester is 2 consecutive days each month, the second semester is 2 consecutive days every two weeks, the third is 2 per week, and the fourth is 4 per week. For the first year my beloved cousin will be living in Winona, about 40 minutes from Rochester, so I'll be staying with her. We'll figure out the rest as it comes. We are very thankful for this opportunity, and I can't wait to start!

Our New Home!

We have a new home! We are currently in the nesting stage and very excited to move in on May 24th! It's a sweet little duplex in Altoona and we are thrilled with it! There are 2 bedrooms and 3 levels. The basement is unfinished but that doesn't phase us- we bought a large piece of carpet and are in the process of setting up our pool table and a card table down there. It's been so fun to "prepare" our first home and move in slowly... enjoying every step of the way!

We got a new table as a wedding gift! Our dining area is pretty small, so we needed a tiny table to fill that space. It's the perfect size and really, really beautiful!
Our little kitchen... here is a picture of a night after one of the bridal showers... we unloaded all of our gifts, washed the dishes and cookware, and organized our cupboards! It was great because I especially love organizing.

Ceej with our first ever bag of garbage. I thought it was a monumental moment... but now it just sounds dorky.
I have been feeling so domestic! Above are some items that I spray-painted black to fit with our decor better. It's a really exciting new hobby, especially with garage sale season coming up! I will probably start thinking in all shades of color... seeing objects as blank slates that I can paint into masterpieces. So beware, I may start mismatching clothes. Below is the reminder that I am just a novice, as I forgot to wear gloves and still have black nails 3 days later.