"...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.

I know it when I see it

This seems to be the theme of my life, basically. I'm a girl who knows exactly what she wants, is not afraid to explore other options, but will ultimately follow her instinct. This has proved successful in many areas of my life, including choosing to go to Australia on exchange among many other countries upon hearing one person talk about it and loving every minute of it, knowing I would attend UW-Madison after one tour of the campus and having a fabulous college experience, and (this is a bold statement without knowing the outcome) only applying to one graduate school to earn my Masters of Occupational Therapy degree. This characteristic of mine has especially been apparent during the wedding planning process. I haven't talked too much about the planning experience, but I'll give you some examples of when my "intuition" was right: While searching for a wedding dress, I went to one bridal shop with my mom and didn't find anything, and then I looked on ebay and bought the dress of my dreams. I knew it was "the one" when I failed a Physiology exam because I kept thinking about it. I'll always remember being in the quiet area of the library with Jamie (my roommate and maid of honor) as the last few minutes of the bid went by: I was neck and neck with another bidder, but I got my dress! We were both sweating from excitement. It was a great moment! Another example occurred within the first week of our engagement when Ceej and I were discussing colors and flowers and said brown with fushia and lime green orchids, knowing it would most likely change with time. We went back and forth with a lot of different options, but ultimately our bridesmaid dresses are brown and we are having magenta flowers with a few lime green orchids. Pretty close! While shopping for wedding bands, I found one that is really beautiful and unique. It was at the first place we had looked, so we searched many other places over the course of a few months, but we went back to that initial jaw-dropper. My most recent example happened today, actually: I went to the mall to "browse" for wedding jewelery and bought the first and only pair of earrings that I tried on. Granted I did look at 6 other places before going back to purchase these, I knew the entire time that these were the ones. I absolutely love them! I tried them on and gasped-not to sound conceded, but my ears have never looked better. Not that earrings or flowers are life or death situations, but I've learned to follow these "intuitions" in regards to more important issues as well. I take them as God's clues to helping me make decisions. He knows us so much better than we know ourselves, so why not just listen and trust where he leads us?

It has truly been a joy to plan the details of the first day of our marriage with Ceej. He has been an amazing partner in this process, attending every consultation and making every decision with me, contributing ideas, labor, and insight. I am reminded every day of the most apparent example of trusting my first instincts: I fell in love at 14, let both of us have our time to develop into individuals, and here we stand just a few months away from our lives joining forever. I am just beside-myself-elated. As corny as it sounds, sometimes I just feel like I am illuminating with pure joy and bursting at the seams with happiness.

Snowman Season

I've been working a lot at Lutheran Social Services (53 hours last week!) and mostly the 3-11pm shift. I like the shift just fine, especially since Ceej and I can hang out during the days, but when I come home I am exhausted. One recent snowy night I pulled into my driveway to see this little guy, wavin' away. So cute! Ceej is quite the snowman maker (and fiance).

Baby Becker's Shower

This weekend my mom and I went to Hartford, Wisconsin for my cousin's baby shower. It was a lovely one! The shower was held at a great little coffee shop called Perc Place. Lindsay and Shane, the new parents, have been married for three years and are so excited about the arrival of their first little one. They'll be amazing parents!!
It was fun to spend time with my family this weekend! My maternal grandparents and aunts and uncles all live in Hartford, so I really don't get to see them very often.
I'm not a big cake-lover, but this one was to die for! Have you ever had a banana cake?! A M A Z I N G.
My mom and I stayed with my grandparents on Saturday night. Sunday morning, as I plopped down for breakfast about 3 minutes after rolling out of bed, my gramps (half) jokingly said, "Boy, you sure look rough in the mornings. Better shape up or you'll drive your husband away!" He's so adorable! Both of my grandparents are absolutely wonderful. I just love them so much!

Valentine's Day

This year we celebrate Valentine's day pretty low key. I had copied down a recipe for Mexican Lasagna, intending to make it for him, but I was trying to finish up my application to the occupational therapy program at the University of Minnesota (which, but the way, I did!), so he ended up cooking it for me. It turned out great! I've been feeling so domestic lately, copying down different recipes that will suit both of our tastes. This one was definitely a keeper! After our yummy dinner we watched Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice online, played scrabble, and then met my mom and step-dad out for a few games of pool and drinks at Rolly's. It was a nice mix of events. Ceej was bummed because he wasn't doing well at pool as he is highly competetive. I was surprisingly doing great, which is typically not the case. Anyway, it was a fun, relaxing evening. It's really exciting to think about the next 50 Valentine's days and how they'll differ. I can't wait to spend them with this guy!

Weekend in Madison

Ceej and I spent last weekend in Madison. We spent Friday with Dana, Tara and Tom at the Comedy Club on State. Lots of laughs, as always!! Then we went out for a bit. Dana and I had a dance-off -she won only because of her freakishly accurate memorization skills- and we all had a really great time.

Saturday night Ceej went out with Adam for a steak dinner, and I hung out with my roommates. It was so fun to be with the girls again! We had some wine and went to a (free Five Times August concert in the Rathskeller. Afterwards we met up with the two boys and spent the rest of the evening with them.
While walking home from the bars (a serious perk about living so close to State Street), my feet were absolutely freezing. Ceej graciously offerred to switch shoes with me, so he walked all the way home in my (well, Jamie's) heals! What a guy!

Overall it was a fantastic weekend! I really miss living with 6 other amazing girls, but I am happy at home to be with Ceej and having this time to prepare our hearts for marriage. It is so nice to say goodbye at the end of the night, knowing we will see eachother the next day! Although we have been together for a long time, I continue to learn new things about him and get more and more excited to be his wife everyday!