T-13 Days

Howdy folks! Just wanted to pop in and tell you about an exciting little adventure I will be having in T-13 days. I'm going on a houseboat trip on the Mississippi!!! Yes, that's right. In less than two weeks, I will be cruisin' the 'ol Miss and enjoying a MUCH needed (and what I like to think is well-deserved) vacation! This li'l trip has been a few months in the making, but it's coming up fast. I am going, along with L and some La Crosse friends, and I couldn't be more excited! I can't even lie, the job has been severely stressing me out lately for a few different reasons, so this couldn't come at a more perfect time. I know, I have a job, so I shouldn't complain, but sometimes ya just need to get away! Anyway, I don't know if you're familiar with houseboats, we did it once when we were kids, and I remember loving it. That being said, it's been a LONG time since that experience. For this trip, there are somewhere between 10-12 of us going at this point, and the model of houseboat we're taking is the Sharpe. Look at those specs and tell me you're not jealous, because I don't think that's possible! ;) Believe it or not, there are FIVE queen-sized sleeping areas. That's pretty impressive! Not only that, but there are also a few other exciting features like a TV,  fridge, oven/stove, grill, and an upper party deck with water slide. Yeah. I'm pretty sure I'm never gonna get off this thing. Well, except for when we dock at various sandbars and I feel the need to get off to lounge and relax on the beach. :) I'm hoping to have lots of pictures to share after the trip, so stay tuned. But for now, I just wanted to get you guys all excited for me and my upcoming trip, ha!

You Like 'a Me Mustache?

I don't think this video requires much of  an introduction, but while L was here this weekend, he whipped out his cell phone and showed me his mustache app. I'd never seen it before, and because he had had a few drinks in his system from when me, him, and my mom went to Barnacle Buds, he gave me this little gem of a video that makes me laugh so hard. Between the crazy eyes, the weird accent, and the odd commentary, I'm not sure it could get much better! Perhaps you won't find it as hilarious as I did, but man, this could perk me up on a bad day in a heartbeat. Oh, and don't mind my crazy laugh. ;)

Hitched!

As mentioned in my last post, I was home this past weekend to see the fam and to celebrate the wedding of my cousin Dan and his long time lady, Paige. The wedding was slightly smaller than I expected, but overall, it was a pretty good time! We had a good chunk of time between the ceremony and reception, so I just spent that time hangin' with the 'rents. Once we got to the reception, I got to socialize with family and friends, and that was really nice! My one gripe about the venue is that there is a bar and restaurant attached to the banquet hall, so in the down time, people head over to the bar area, and then it can be really difficult to get them back into the hall for the meal or dance. If I were getting married, I'd be hesitant to have my wedding there for that reason alone. I understand that people wander, but this place just gives far too many opportunities for that, ha! Anyway, the intro of the wedding party was pretty great (the DJ gave us a little history about all of the people in the wedding party), and then during the dance, there was a part where the DJ told everyone how Dan and Paige met and then read some words that they'd each written to each other. It was so sweet and I almost cried! I spent some time dancing and just having a good time, and then of course, Sunday came too soon. I hung out in Colby for awhile that day and got a later start back to Milwaukee than I wanted. However, I don't regret it considering I hadn't been there for 3 months. Hopefully it won't be that long until the next time! Until then, enjoy a few photos from the day!

 Me and mama before the wedding!

 With my bros! I love this picture. :)

 Oh, Jacob... ;)

 Me and Tayt!

 Dave and mama dancing during the mother/son dance!

 Dave and Court dancing!

Casey and Homer enjoying it as Jacob got dragged out to the dance floor! ;)

I Like You.

I feel like pretty much every post I do these days has something to do with L, so I apologize if you guys are getting way bored with me... Ha. I just can't help myself. :) This is just a quick one to share another little sweet thing he did. While I was in Colby for my cousin's wedding this weekend, he was actually in Milwaukee. He had to fly out of MKE for work, and since he has my other set of keys, I told him he could just drop some of his stuff at my apartment if he needed to. When I got home last night, I found the little note pictured below. Here's a little context. I have a notepad that has a message at the top that says, "I like you. You're an even bigger mess than I am." The content of the message L left wasn't even overly sweet or anything, but it made me smile when I saw that he crossed out the second part of the sentence on top so it just said, "I like you." Oh, it's the little things. :) Looking forward to Wednesday when I get to pick him up from the airport and hang out with him for a couple nights! (Oh, and speaking of the wedding this weekend, I'll probably do a post real soon with a few pictures from the day!)

HBD Jack!

A quick shout out to wish my bro a happy 29th birthday today! Now, more than ever, I am SO ready to get home and see him and the rest of my fam. This 3 months in between visits is NOT ideal. I miss everyone way too much! Anyway, Jack (his real name's Jacob for those of you who may not know, but I often call him Jack), I hope you had a great day. I love you and can't wait to see you this weekend!! :)

Tried to find a mix of hilarious photos and nice ones. Let me tell ya, in our collection, there are far more hilarious ones than nice ones. I'd say we need to work on it, but why change such a good thing?! ;)

 

La Crosse + Wedding

As promised, here are a few tidbits from my weekend in La Crosse last weekend (assuming you care;). The purpose for my trip was my old roommate Lauren's wedding, which was in Rochester. Rather than driving all the way up to Rochester, it made much more sense to go to La Crosse first and make that my weekend "home" so I could break up the drive and also see L before we headed to MN on Saturday. I went up after work and we just laid low that night. Got up, had some brunch, and then got ready for the wedding. L was definitely NOT too excited about the wedding. He's not a fan in general, especially not when he doesn't know anyone, so I was happy he agreed to be my date (despite the occasional whining on the trip;). We went to the wedding at 1:00 and then had a bunch of awkward time in between that and the reception, so we ended up going to Taco Bell to grab a little food. Nothing like strollin' in for some TB in fancy wedding clothes, ha! After that, we found a bar in downtown Rochester - which was surprisingly no easy feat - and had a few drinks. Then we made our way back for the reception. Eventually we ate and did a little dancing, and then we headed out relatively early because we decided to drive back that same night. There was appeal to staying in a hotel, but we decided it didn't seem ideal to spend that much on a hotel when we were only an hour away from home. Just relaxed when we got home that night, and then Sunday was a long, fun day! We got up somewhat early, headed out to Pettibone Boat Club for breakfast and ended up staying for several hours, went to Ye Olde Style Inn (another local pub) and had an afternoon lunch, and ended by going to see the new Spiderman movie. SUCH a fun day! I met my friend Andrew later for a little bit because it'd been a LONG time since I'd seen him, so that was nice too! Backing up a sec, this was the first time I'd been to the boat club. It is right on the water, and it was beautiful! I had such a blast being there, minus the fact that I got sunburnt on my right arm and thigh. I'd go back in a heartbeat. Anyway, on Monday, which I'd taken off, L went back to work and I just chilled. I got my hair done and had lunch with L, then just relaxed all day. He came home and we spent the night just hanging out. I had to work Tuesday, so I had my always-occurring dilemma: Do I go tonight? Or do I stay over and get up super early to drive back? Of course, because I love being there, I tortured myself a bit and decided to stay over. I tell ya, getting up at 4:30 is no easy feat. Driving 3+ hours after that is also no easy feat. And working 9 hours once I arrive is pretty much torture. However, I've done it a few times, and I actually survive a little easier than one would think. So, a few extra hours are worth it! :) Anyway, I'll stop talking now. Enjoy a few pics from our weekend. We clean up well, huh?!

OH! I should mentioned that the pearl earrings and necklace were a gift from L. He got them for me in Hawaii! :)

In the mirror before heading out!

 Killing time in downtown Rochester.

 Me and Lauren, the beautiful bride!

 Candid shot. :)

He hates these types of photos. ;)

Check us out on the left. This must have been the moment when he was pulling away to switch dancing positions because he felt we were dancing like high schoolers with my arms around his neck. ;) Apparently we should dance more like the guy to our right in the pink shirt. Who knew?! Seems a little old school to me, ha!

 Full length photo!

 Now THERE is that smile I love. :)

 Brunch at Pettibone Boat Club!

Lunch at Ye Olde Style Inn!

Hair!

When I was up in La Crosse last weekend, I took Monday off and was able to get in for my much needed scheduled hair appointment. I'm not sure if you all have one, but I'm under the firm belief that when you find the right person to do your hair, it's really hard to let them go! I found that person in Jenna, my stylist from the Orange Pearl Salon. The last time I got my hair done there (I think it was back in April, eesh!), I scheduled my next [tentative] appointment for mid-June. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go to that one since I wasn't in town, so by the time Monday's appointment rolled around, I was well over a month beyond my normal time between appointments. Yikes! Anyway........ Way more information than you needed to know about my hair routine, but just wanted to give you a quick pic to show you my new 'do! Nothing drastically different than my past few cuts, and I know this pic doesn't give the best sense for the color, but hopefully you get the idea! I love that I have such good hair days right after I get it cut. Never used to be the case! I've got a keeper in Jenna! And stay tuned for a post with more details from my weekend in La Crosse! :)