Happy Earth Day!

Random musings....

I am full of useless information, I could totally be on one of those game shows with random facts.

Did you know billboards are illegal in Vermont?

Did you know all 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill?

Did you know that in the US Interstate system, all I-odd numbers run north and south, and all I-even numbers run east and west?? And even number prefix number means it avoids the city, odd number means in goes into the city. For example, 894 goes around Milwaukee, 794 goes into downtown.

wedding, cont.

the stage for the band



the view when you walked in the barn-- really cool hanging lanterns and lights!! This pic doesn't do it justice,



the groom & groomsmen (from L to R--Anthony, Mike, Darren, JJ, Chris, and Spencer) Maddie saw this picture and said, "Look, Mom! They are having a tea party!!"



bride and groom with groomsmen and their dates (& Ant and Rebecca's kids, Immy & Addy)
Darren (groom), Chris, Rebecca, and Anthony are from England. How fun to sit and hang out with people with a great accent : )



me & Mike



Christina (best man's girlfriend), me, and Joette (groomsman JJ's wife)


Friday was the rehearsal and dinner. Saturday, the wedding wasn't till 5pm, so Mike and I walked down to the lakefront--it was such a warm day!! What a nice little area. Saturday night was the wedding. They were even able to have the ceremony outdoors. Who would ever have guessed in the middle of April that could happen!! The band at the reception was great! Everyone was dancing. And Sunday we left around noon or so, and hard to believe the weather had been so nice, because it dropped about 30 degrees and was rainy.


So, anyhow, a great time had by all!!

Photographer and/or scrapbooker's dream site....

We had a really nice weekend in Michigan at a wedding for Mike's very good friend. Can you imagine the photo ops I had to take advantage of at a place like this???? I swear, I am going to go buy a barn. So the story is that this 26 year old gal bought the barn and farmhouse next door and renovated it to use for her own wedding. Then she thought, "Hey....I think I have an idea..." and she rents out the barn for weddings/receptions. She now owns two barns. From the outside, while awesome, it looks a little disheveled (maybe a little hard to tell in the b/w pic)...

but the inside....WOW! It was so beautiful.

They got married & had a reception at the Blue Dress Barn in St. Joseph, Michigan. I have never been to a more beautiful location for a wedding. It was absolutely beautiful. Everything about the place was absolutely stunning. Not to mention the bride and groom : )

I really have not fallen off the face of Earth, and I plan on catching up on all my posting I've missed out on in the past couple weeks!! More pics to come on the wedding, too!!

enjoying the silence...

for now anyways. And maybe it's not quite silent, since the washing machine and dishwasher are going. BUT all children are with Mike at soccer practice. It feels like forever since I've been alone (well, I suppose the last time was my scrap weekend, which I know wasn't that long ago, but still...) Maddie was supposed to stay home with me tonight, but insisted on going with them to soccer. I'm certain going there is much more fun than anything we'd do here. Maybe she is getting a little tired of me being around all the time ; )

Well, I was worried Tuesday. I could hardly walk my tailbone hurt so terribly. But thankfully, for whatever reason it felt better yesterday and way better today.

So how does everyone divide up holiday time?? I am happy to report we are finally drawing the line and no longer doing multiple things in one day. There are way too many times we attempt to do 3 places in one day, and I just get pissed off and don't enjoy the day. I think once we even went to 4 places in one day. Since we've been together, Mike's family has had Thanksgiving Night, Christmas Day, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, the Saturday before and after Christmas, the Saturday after Easter, and sometimes Easter itself. Not to mention the many birthday parties with all our own kids and nieces/nephews on his side. I finally said to Mike that I don't want to do the running around anymore, going to multiple places in a day or a week, and he agreed. We've decided we'll just take turns with families or rotate holidays. On the other hand, of course, I do see my family regularly, but the only set holiday my Mom's side gets is Christmas Eve. So, rarely do we see them on any holiday. We have done Thanksgiving lunch and Christmas morning with my Dad and Stepmom for awhile now, but I always feel bad because we always have to rush out to the next destination. So finally, we have decided to start to rotate holidays and perhaps even do our own thing once in a while. I can't stand being stressed out and in a rush, and why ruin a wonderful holiday by stressing & rushing?? So anyhow, for Easter we have decided to have my family over. It'll be quiet (our kids are the only kids). And we already have planned to stay put for Thanksgiving. A big sigh of relief on my part.

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall...

I guess that makes me Humpty Dumpty. Ouch. Last night in the middle of the night I brought Kaycey some cough medicine (kid's bedrooms are upstairs). On my way back down, I must've overstepped or something (I didn't have any lights on) and my foot slipped. I landed on my tailbone and slid down the remaining stairs. At least I didn't tumble down, I guess. But today I have a sore tail bone (not the first time I've injured it, so I think it's remembering the trauma it suffered in the past--like when I was a cheerleader and I was tossed into the air, and no one caught me....) and my shoulder is sore (I put my arm down to attempt to stop my fall). Well, no broken bones, but OUCH nonetheless. Darn stairs. I had to have the two story house.