Picture Perfect

My Engagement Ring

My Sister and Jayke when they came to visit.

When the leaves started falling the kids at school really had some fun!

The middle of a leaf fight!

Taking a break after some hard playing!

A little Kitten cuddling up in the Indian Corn at the Pumpkin Patch. What a cutie!

Jim and I at the Pumpkin Patch.

It's About Time I Blogged

Let's see...where to start?? How about last weekend. On Friday Jim had a job interview with Old Castle Materials in their accounting department. He has been pretty unhappy with his current job and finally took a big leap into job hunting a couple of weeks ago. This was by far his favorite interview, I have never heard him so happy after an interview before so we went into the weekend with high hopes.

We had to head to Omaha that weekend because I had the ISACA conference I needed to attend for work. It was all day Saturday so Jim ran errands while I was there. That night we headed to dinner with my Mom and Frank, we had one of our all time favorites, Netties. On Sunday we spent some time with my sister and Jayke...man I love that boy. We also stopped by the hospital to see my grandma. She had a bit of a relapse and the days are pretty up and down. Everyone keep her in your prayers, she needs them right now.

We were back in town on Monday and that is when Jim got his all important phone call, he was offered a position with Old Castle Materials. He was totally pumped. Jim's Mom was coming in town that night so we got to celebrate with her and his sister that night. We all went to dinner at Maxie's and then came back to our place to visit but it wasn't too long before Barb was bustling them out of here cause her show came on at 9. It was nice to visit while it lasted.

On Thursday I planned a staff meeting and we had it here at the house. I thought that would make for a more relaxed atmosphere so we had dinner and then got down to business. Not long after everyone left my throat was killing me. There are a lot of things about being sick I can handle but a sore throat is not one of them. So on Friday I decided it was about darn time to head to the doctor. Sure enough I had a sinus infection. The doctor prescribed some amoxicillan and I am already feeling a little better, at least the sore throat is gone.

Yesterday Jim and I headed to the downtown Des Moines farmers market. It was the last one for the season but they are having a special one in December for Christmas so we might have to head there for that. Then we tried to find this pumpkin patch I had heard about but we had no luck. We stopped at this thrift store that seems to always have nice stuff but we aren't in that part of the city very often and we happened to find a snow blower for $25. It was kind of a risky purchase because we had no idea if it worked but we got it home and gotsome gas in it and it started up. That was pretty cool for us.

I must have really wanted to go to a pumpkin patch because then I drove out to this other one I knew of. We had a good time and picked out a pumpkin. There happened to be another pumpkin patch just down the road so we stopped there and picked up a couple more pumpkins. From there we headed home for a night of relaxation in our fort.

Today has been pretty relaxed. We got some running for Christmas supplies done (we are making most of the presents) and Jim spent the night putting togther the table saw I got him for his birthday so that he could get started with some of the projects. Well, thats about all for now. I will post some pictures in the next couple of days.

September 22nd, 2007

This past weekend Jim and I went home and offically booked our wedding receoption site and church. That means we had to pick a date, I had been leaning towards this date for awhile so I was pretty happy when we settled on September 22, 2007. The wedding will be in the church I grew up at in Omaha. The Reception will be in Council Bluffs at Bayliss Park Hall. I feel good now like everything can start rolling. Here are some pictures from the reception location's website. I am getting SOOO excited already!!

The Outside-the park looks really different because it has just been re-done.

The Fireplace Room

The Grand Stairway

The Ballroom

The Ballroom

Is it Fall or What??

I can hardly believe how cool it has gotten! It has been down right chilly, especially in the mornings, the past couple days. Between the weather and working with kids again I caught something awful at the very end of last week. I am finally feeling a little better today but unfortunately Jim has it now, poor guy.

This weekend my Dad and Deb came up to go to the Valley Junction Art Market on Sunday. We all had a really good time. Teh brought the antique bed and dresser and an old trunk they are giving us so I rearranged the house last week so we had just the right places for everything. After unloading we headed up to the art show. There are always so many great things there and my Dad and Deb had a great time seeing the house and our neighborhood. I think they especially liked the antique stores down there as well.

This week we don't have a whole lot going on. We will finally be getting our new windows we have been promised by our landlord since January. They are coming tomorrow to get them installed, hopefully they can do it in one day but who knows since they seem not very handy man inclined. I definately think it will cut down on the draftiness of our house so I am pretty pumped about that.

Anyhow, not much to say but I thought I would update anyhow. The next will be sooner I hope! Here is a picture or two to keep things interesting!

End of Summer Update

Well I can hardly believe the summer is over! The time has certainly flown by. August started with the proposal and from there it was a whirlwind of busy times. The second week of August was the final week of our summer program at Kids West. My first grade class had been working on the play the Wizard of Oz. We had our final performance on the last day of the program and it was quite a hit! Every single parent showed up from our class which was awesome! Not to mention people bringing grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, our bosses, people from the school district, and Jim... it was a bit crazy. It all worked out great though and it was the perfect end to the summer.

We had a little over a week "off" of work to get ready before school started. As the new site director of Phenix Elementary School's Kids West program I had a ton to do. The person who was there before me had retired after 11 years there so there was stuff built up everywhere. It took over 40 hours that week between getting the site ready and various meetings I was quite busy but I finally got everything how I wanted it. School started on Wednesday, August 23rd. For the first three weeks (this being our last thank goodness) the kindergarteners have been getting out of school early so that their teachers can do home visits. It has made the first couple of weeks pretty busy. I am at work by 6:15am and between actual work time, meetings, and kindergarteners I am pretty much working until 6pm. This week I have had a little more free time now that things are settling in.

The month ended with Jim's birthday. He turned 31 on August 28th. I got him a table saw, something he had been trying to convince me we needed for awhile now. I know he will get tons of use out of it because when he is building somehting he seems right at home. In fact, he just built his sister some bag-o-boxes for her birthday just on Tuesday. We also took her to dinner at Biaggi's, her friend Katie came as well.

Labor day weekend was pretty uneventful. We were going to go to Omaha to look at some reception locations but they weren't showing over the holiday weekend so we postponed our trip home. We are tentatively looking at September 22nd of next year as "the big day", assuming we can get our locations. Anyhow, I will close for now. I will post some additional pictures soon too!

Jim's Birthday!

Happy 31st Birthday Jim!

I love you!!

Engagement Day Photos

The Engagement Story

Well obviously this weekend was absolutley amazing. Let's start with the good stuff. After some fun with Jayke and Nicole Saturday morning Jim wanted to go downtown and walk around the old market. That was fine with me, I have always loved the old market, ever since I was a kid even. We went in some of the shops and while we were in the passageway Jim told me he had a surprise for me. He pulled out a card which was incredibly sweet. The P.S. on the card asked if I wanted to go for a swim (I really enjoy to swim). Inside was a reservation sheet for that night at the Hilton. Jim said that he had asked my Dad and Deb to watch Odie so that we could have a night to ourself since we hadn't been able to do that for awhile, I thought that was extremely sweet.

After that we headed out and walked around a bit more. We stopped for ice cream at Ted and Wally's which gave us a chance to cool down since it was super hot. When we headed back out Jim suggested we go on a horse and carriage ride. Now there is the way straight to my heart! I have always wanted to go on a carriage ride through the old market and Jim knew that so he made it happen. It was very sweet to cuddle in the cart and it was so beautiful out.

After that we headed over to Heartland of America park. Jim and I had always talked about going and somehow we never had which is amazing because it is one of those spots in Omaha I just love (something about the whole downtown area, with the old market, and all the character... I just love it all). When we got out of the car Jim grabbed a gift bag from under the seat and told me he had a present for me but I couldn't have it yet. I REALLY wanted to know what was in it, but he told me every time I asked he was going to wait another minute before giving it to me, now that is harsh!

As we walked around Jim stopped at one point and asked me if I wanted part of my present and of course I did! We sat on the bench and Jim gave me a small gift bag from the larger one. Of course my heart flutters a bit and I open the bag, as I do Jim pretends to have a rock in his shoe and he gets down on one knee. Inside the bag is a pair of earrings and the whole rock thing was just to throw me off, but it worked.

Aftr that we went on a gondala boat ride out around the fountain. It was super pretty and we had a nice time. He told me when we were done with the boat ride I could have the other present so I was getting pretty excited. Afterward we found just the right spot and Jim was ready to give me my present. I sat down on the bench and opened the gift. It was a picture frame that opened up. On one side was a picture of Jim kneeling down with the ring and it was engraved. It said "Will you marry me Mandy? Love Jim". The other side was a clock engraved with the date, "August 5th, 2006". When I looked up Jim was kneeling down just like the picture, down to the same clothes. When he asked me to marry him of course I squealed yes!

From there the night only got better. We were supposed to be meeting my Dad and Deb for supper so we left right after the proposal to head there. When we got there they were waiting outside for us. When we went in we turned the corner and there was my whole family and Jim's family all there to celebrate with us. Jim had arranged for all of them to come! It was amazing, it was like a big celebration and party and I had so much fun! I can not tell you how I felt to have him plan that whole day. We did everything in omaha that I love, and even better, we got to share something so special with the people around us!

Between my Jim, my family, and his, I never felt so special! I love you Jim and I can not thank you enough for all you have done for me and for planning something so amazing! I am so confident with our life together and in case you didn't know, you are super-fantabulously wonderful, just how I like you!

*I will post pictures soon!

We have some super-fantabulous news...

We're Engaged!!!

It's been a wonderful weekend but it is quite late and I am very tired so it is off to bed. Don't worry, all the details will follow tomorrow!

Weekends Away

Well the weekends have been flying by. Two weekends ago we were in Dubuque spending some time with Jim's friends and family. We got there Friday evening and even after taking a detour we got there before his Mom and had to wait outside for a solid 45 minutes before we got in the building. That pretty much stunk. We got in and got settled and then his Mom arrived a little after that. Odie was a little unsure why someone he didn't know was marching in the door and he barked a bit, but I just went over and sat next to her on the couch and had her give him a treat and he was fine after that. He definately likes being new places especially when it comes to his walks, nothing like a walk around a different neighborhood to get that sniffer going.

We were in town for Marty's birthday (Marty is Jim's friend), it was his big yearly birthday bash. It was a good time. We were eating, drinking and hanging around the fire pit until pretty late in the evening, or early in the morning I should say. All in all it was fun and I am glad I finally got to go.

This past weekend we had a family reunion to go to on Sunday. It was with Jim's Mom's family. They had it at Glee and Ron's place in Northeastern Iowa (that is Jim's aunt and uncle). The drive there felt like it took absolutely forever, a solid 3 1/2 hours. It just felt SOOOO LOOONG for some reason, especially when we get a call from Jim's sister thinking left later then we did, but nope, it is just a long drive. When we got there we visited, ate, and played some baggo (now that we got the boards done, they are a lot of fun). Odie went with us on that trip too. He liked the country, but he didn't care for Glee and Ron's massive 80 pound lab puppy. I think he was a but intimidated by his size. We got back late Sunday and then we were off with our week.

This next weekend will be spent back in Omaha.....will we ever get a break?!?!?!