August 17, 2009

Well, it's time for my weekly blog :-). I processed the rest of my Botanical Garden pics finally and posted them on flickr. Here are two of my faves.

Also one of Dexter thinking he is human as usual :-)

The week started off with Nathan being so tired and worn out from his bachelor party and I just worked Sat, Sun, and Mon. Nate's great friend from high school, Danny, is staying with us for a little bit until he gets some stuff figured out and moves into an apartment. It's been really fun though because someone is always home and Dexter loves the extra attention as well. We had taco night on Tuesday which was yummy and played guitar hero and hung out on Wednesday. On Thursday we went to Max and Erma's where he manages in Lake St. Louis and had dinner. YUM YUM!!! And then Nate and Danny came up and visited me while I bartended later that night. Porscha got my bridal shower stuff squared away and I'm helping her get invitations together and sent out hopefully by tomorrow or Wed by the latest. It's at the Bistro in St. louis by the Fox Theater. Should be really modern and fun! I'm so excited! I can't believe my shower and bachelorette party are less than a month away AHHH!! Friday was a blast! We had barbecue and beer at Debbie's and tie dyed shirts while the boys went for a helicopter ride. It's so nice being out in the middle of nowhere. So peaceful and so much privacy. I think Dexter had even more fun than us if that's possible. He ran around sniffing and chasing bugs and peeing on everything and even managed to bend his stake in half trying to eat Debbie's cat Zeus. A very fun and relaxing week and it's my last night of work. YAY!

Friend Award

My coworker and friend, Debbie, sent me this loyal friend award to pass along to some of my friends and to get people more involved in other people's blogs. Please take a look at her blog when you get a chance. She always has such wonderful stories and pictures about her and her boys. http://babykingsadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/

I would like to pass the award along to two of my great friends Jenn and Pamela. They are both friends from college and will be bridesmaids in my wedding in two months. http://rowclifffamily.blogspot.com/ and http://bornreddy.blogspot.com/ .

August 9, 2009

Happy Birthday Bridgette! I can't believe we have been friends for 10 years. CRAZY! This week has been hectic/fun. Tuesday was our softball championship. We beat the number 4 seed (green team) to make it to the finals and had to sit and watch blue vs. black to determine who we would play in the finals. Black was definitely a better team all summer but blue battled and won by 1 run. We won the championship and had a blast doing it. Everyone seemed to hit and make some pretty awesome plays. It was a blast. We got a big huge trophy and went out to Duffy's afterwards for pizza and celebratory beers! Nate and I stopped by Double D afterwards to say hi to Sarah and Bronson and have a beer.

On Wednesday, Porscha and I ironed on fun rhinestone designs on the back of the girls shirts for the float trip :-). Then I watched Race to Witch Mountain (cute) and got my nails filled before Nathan got home. I also had a major headache and laid in bed for 2 hours. Hormonal issues...... Nate was planning on golfing with Joe and Nevitt and since he would have to ride in the cart all by his lonesome (which isn't fun) I offered to go ride along. haaa. Little did we know, this place doesn't rent out carts after 530. Their tee time was 6. Neat huh!? So I just wandered around with them and walked the 9 holes. Well, they only got through 7 because the sun went down. We went to Fortel's afterwards for a late dinner and then off to DD to meet Sarah and Bronson and Ann (Antwan :-/ long story). We had a really good time hanging out with everyone and a lot of the fun regulars were there like Kevin, Leonard, and Jason. We stayed till close and got home to SURPRISE dexter puked all over the bathroom floor. UGH!! So I drunkenly cleaned up puke before bed, while trying to hold back my dry heaves lol. Then we ate our white castle we had picked up on the way home. YUM YUM!!

Thursday was fun because Nate worked from home and we got to relax all morning. In the afternoon, we ran to Sams for some shopping and Nate picked up some light at Sears for his bachelor party camping trip. Then we cleaned house the rest of the afternoon before I picked up my mom to meet with the florist in Collinsville. We are doing fake flowers for bridesmaids and groomsmen but my bouquet, Nate's bouttoniere, and our parents flowers will be real. It'll be a nice mix. I hope everything matches and looks good. That was a two hour meeting figuring things out and putting down a deposit and this and that. My mom and I went back to her house to eat dinner with my daddy before heading off to the Muny to see Hairspray. SOOOOO GOOOD by the way!! I loved it :-). Nathan packed his car for his camping weekend and helped finish up some cleaning and laundry around the house. Soooo sweet!! I was all wired after seeing Hairspray and stayed up and watched the movie Obsessed with beyonce. I really liked it!

Friday we finally got Dex to eat his normal amount of food without barfing and then let him spend the afternoon outside while we met Bo for lunch and a beer at Hot Shots and then went to his house to help him load up his truck for Nate's shindig. We had to put in coolers, a grill, generator, propane tank, firewood, etc into his truck. It was nice so he could just be ready to go in the morning and not sweat his ass off carrying all that stuff. Nate wanted to get to bed early so he stayed in and watched the Cubs game and Ann came over and played guitar hero for a little bit. Then we got ready to go out and stopped at DD for a beer and 2 shots before going out downtown. It was nice to visit with Sarah again and make fun of everybody in there. It was sooo crowded but everyone was already drunk and just like standing around dazed. Kinda funny. We went down to Morgan St. and realized we didn't have cash for parking and had to pay in quarters lol. Fun times. We stood right in front of the stage and danced for hours and would take turns getting beer and sharing it. I of course didn't drink as much because I was driving but I did want to have some three olives bubble ( the new bubble gum flavored vodka yum yum) and they had 2 dollar shots of it mixed with creme de banana. Ann hated it but i HEARTED it. We had a blast catching up and dancing our butts off. We didn't get heckled by many guys either b/c we were right up against the stage which was nice. We got up on stage for the last 2 songs which was fun and then sat outside and cooled off for a little before heading home. We were considering going to big daddy's for another hour because its open later, but opted for taco bell and sleep. We went to bed at 4 and next thing I knew Nate's alarm was going off at 5. UGH!

Nate left at 530 for golf with the boys in alton and then got changed at Greg's before lunch at the duck and then out to the land to get wasted and be crazy. I hope he is having fun!!!! He even called me a few times too which I wasn't expecting. It was sweet. :-) Ann and I got up around 830 or so and got ready for Raging Rivers. We spent the day riding slides and fighting waves and then ended with a yummy cheeseburger and floated around the lazy river 3 times. We had an awesome time together and I got to see her 3 times this week which was awesome. :-) .

Now I'm sitting at work completely exhausted because I was in the sun and water all day and now I'm trying to stay awake and focused. UGH. Debbie is off so it's even busier without the extra person. Tomorrow I'll be getting no sleep either b/c I'm getting up for my new niece's baptism. Well, I better wrap up some stuff before it gets too busy again.

August 2, 2009

WOW! A whole month...I know! I suck :-(


In the past month, I've gone to Wrigley Field for a Cards/Cubs game with Nate and his friends Joe and Castro and others, and also met my Aunt Patty and cousin Michelle at the game. It was my second time to Wrigley, but first time in the bleachers. It was an awesome time, even though the Cards lost. I'm pretty sure we drank for like 14 hours....ugh. Here is a pic or me, Nate and Michelle, and a pic of me, my aunt, and michelle.

Nathan and I went to the Botanical Gardens with my mom and Uncle Raymond one Saturday and nate rented a macro lens and got some awesome shots! I got a little more comfortable with my camera and took at least 450 pictures that day. We watched the All-star game at home together...the one game we cheer for the same team all year :-). We dropped off some wedding stuff in Springfield to be engraved and met Bob and Taush for sushi YUM YUM, I bartended 2 more times, and Nate went on a golf trip to springfield with Nev, Joe, Kevin, Foster, etc one weekend. Bridgette got me awesome Bare escentuals makeup at the galleria and then we went to cheesecake factory with Nate and Joe afterwards. We went to Dave and Busters for Colin's Birthday (guy from work) and met a whole bunch of other work people there. It was nice because Nate got to finally meet all these people I had been talking about for the last year and a half lol. We have one more night of softball, but it keeps getting rained out. We are in 1st place and we just have the playoffs left. The black team proves to be our only hurdle of getting 1st place overall. :-/ We'll see..... I got my hair trimmed and highlighted, and have my practice updo coming up next month. I just need to print my address labels and get Nathan to print his and we'll be ready to send out our invitations. After that are the rehearsal dinner invites and then programs. We have to meet with our officiant first to discuss the order of things before doing program. We got our guestbook and pen ordered and our favors done...just need to be bagged up the week or two before. Porscha and I made tanks for the bachelorette party (pink of course) with iron on words and fun things on the back with iron on rhinestones from Joanns and Hobby Lobby. We are going to look so cute. I just hope it won't be cold or rainy! Nate's Bachelor party is this weekend and the weather is supposed to be gorgeous. I'm so happy! I have to get back to work because Debbie left me by my lonesome tonight :-(

Sorry for such a disorganized blog...just trying to get everyone up to speed.

July 4, 2009

Yes, it's the 4th of July and I'm writing a blog while sitting at work. Fun Fun! We aren't too busy right now, so I'm watching Lost (season 4 woot!) and then going on top of Z building to watch the fireworks with Debbie. Romantic huh? lol.

On Tuesday, we lost our first softball game :-( but I had the more fun than I have all season b/c the other team was good and I got a lot of ground balls at 2nd :-) I hit like crap though (to the shortstop every freakin time!).

Wednesday was awesome. I picked up Nate from work for lunch and we went to Trainwreck. We sat out on the patio and ate and then went to Schillers (camera store) and got a UV lens filter for my camera and a lens wiping cloth. Nathan also reserved a rental for a 100mm macro lens for when we go to the botanical gardens. I can't wait. I spent the afternoon finishing season 5 of one tree hill. It's awesome!! I can't wait to watch 6 and for 7 to start on tv!! When Nathan got home we had turkey club and guacamole for dinner and then went to St. Charles to take pictures of the old building decked out in flags and banners for the holiday. We both got some great shots! After sunset we went to the mills mall and saw transformers 2. It was really long but good. Not as good as the first one though.

Nathan worked from home on Thursday so we could go to my parents for an early dinner and go to the Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp concert. The concert was like 5 hours long and we waited in line for an hour to get good seats. It was a great show. It's funny how old they all are and can barely move around the stage but the music was still awesome. We ended up staying the night at my parents that night since we got home so late.

On Friday we woke up and met Debbie and her family at Grant's Farm for the day. We had fun feeding the goats, eating snow cones, and taking pictures. The free beer was great too lol. I still have to load and process my pictures from then but I'll put some pics from St. charles up.

Also, my barn HDR I took of a random barn driving from Springfield to Carlinville.

June 27, 2009

I didn't do anything too exciting this week. I got a lot of errands done and wedding stuff accomplished. On Thursday night Debbie and I got our CPR certification. We had fun making fun of the guy on the video and also learning CPR/AED. Her arms are sore and my hand is bruised though. :-) We are wimps!
On Friday, Nathan and I drove to Springfield to drop off some stuff to get engraved and check on progress of our wedding bands. Nate's is done already but mine is still getting made. Hopefully its done soon lol. We dropped off the name plate on our cake topper, our cake serving set, and some groomsmen gifts to get engraved. We will have to head back in a week or two to pick everything up. We got to see his brother for a little and meet his friend Jason for lunch at this yummy sushi restaurant.
Friday night, my mom and I got some ribbon to decorate the unity candle, an ivory toss garter, some ivory paper to put hotel info on and stuff in invitations, and a few other odds and ends things. I also ordered some silk ivory carnations online to attempt to make the bridesmaid's bouquets. I'm not a very crafty person so we'll see how those turn out lol. Nathan is going to pick out a unity candle holder this week and order that at work. I love that he wants to be involved and helpful. I've heard so many brides complain about the guys just not caring. I think Pt and Bridgette also decided on Sept 12 and 13 as bachelorette party/bridal shower weekend so that's good too. Nate and I got our new laptops today (mine is pink YAY). We were playing on them today and trying to get things loaded on them. I still have to transfer pictures and music which is going to suck.
My work is still down, so I'll be reading and watching Lost and One Tree Hill. Fun Fun! Nate and I are almost done with Lost season 4, which sucks because we will have to wait 6 months for season 5 to come out on DVD AHH!! I don't think I'll be able to wait, so I might have to watch it online at home. Our flight itinerary for our honeymoon randomly got changed today, which I got really worried about. They just changed our layover to be in Atlanta instead of Miami now so that's not a big deal I guess. Kinda random though.

June 23, 2009

I figured while I was waiting for my sample to finish sonicating that I should write my blog for this week. I've been putting it off all weekend even though we have NOTHING to do at work. The plant has been shut down for almost a week and we have just had a few odds and ends things to do. In between, we have been watching Lost, One Tree Hill, and reading. I finished From Baghdad, With Love. It was only 200 pages and a really good, quick read.

Tuesday's slowpitch doubleheader was cancelled once again (6 weeks in a row now). I didn't really mind though, because I'm always exhausted on Tuesdays. I went to the Mexican grocery store to get arrachera meat and lime juice and then got a pedicure with my mommy before going home and mowing. Nathan and I watched Lost until we fell asleep (which was at like 930 lol). Nate worked from home on Wednesday and we cleaned up the house and tried going through some books in our office piled up that we want to donate. Shaun and Samantha came over for dinner and we watched the new friday the 13th movie that just came out and then played guitar hero. After that we went to the theater to see The Hangover which was HILARIOUS!!

Nathan took a vacation day on Thursday which I was kind of suspicious of until a package came with a new Canon 50D 15 megapixel camera in it for me!!!! He is soooo sweet. It was such a wonderful surprise and as soon as my battery was charged we went out taking pictures at this conservation place on the river. I got lots of pictures of toads, turkeys, deer, flowers, etc. I'm so excited about my new camera!! He also spoiled the surprise that he ordered us both new laptops which are coming in about a week. Mine is pink! YAY! Both of our laptops are at least 4 years old and about to die on us (his already did). He is so sweet! I love him and am so glad we are getting married in 4 months!!! AHHHH. I'm getting so nervous that I'm not going to have everything done on time or that I'm going to forget something. I got the invitations and reply cards printed and my mom is going to get stamps and stamp them all. Then I'll just have to go buy labels and print them all and send them by mid-July. After that will be the rehearsal dinner invites which me and my mom are making. I got the unity candle bought this weekend along w/ a cubs garter (something blue and cubs for nate). Nathan ordered napkins today too and is trying to get a copy of an engagement picture so we can post announcement in the newspaper. Things are moving right along. I still have to figure out this mess with the bridal shower and bachelorette party and see if they will be on same weekend or what's going on. Other than that, nothing much new in life. Jenn got to bring her baby home which I'm so excited about!! I can't wait to see pictures of their family at home!

June 13, 2009

WHEW! I just finished 3 crappy drug chem samples. I'm glad those are over with. Now hopefully I can enjoy the rest of my night and catch up with Debbie and watch One Tree Hill or read Angels and Demons in my free time. I'm officially hooked on OTH and Lost. It's fine now b/c I have the seasons on DVD but when the fall comes I need to make sure I'm caught up so I can watch them when they are on TV. Then that'll be two more shows added to the list I need to watch every week. It's been fun watching Lost with Nate and guessing what's going to happen and who will die and this and that.



Not a very eventful week. Softball was rained out AGAIN and Nate and I cooked quesadillas for dinner and watched Seabiscuit...an old movie, but I'd never seen it. Nate bought us a bluray player for our bedroom which is exciting. I can't believe how clear the picture is! It's crazy. So I bought Night at the museum and Da vinci code on blu ray because they were on sale for 12 dollars. Nate bought me Bride Wars too :-) yay. He got a whole bunch of blu rays for cheap at best buy this week also, now that we have two blu ray players we aren't as limited of where we have to watch them.



We went out to dinner with our neighbors (Rich and Kathy) on Wednesday to this Chinese restaurant on Olive. It was yummy ( a lil spicy but good) and then went to an asian grocery store afterwards and bought some candy and different sauces and stuff. Ohhh I also bought those fun bowls and spoons you use for soup at Chinese restaurants. They were like 10 bucks for the set so I couldn't resist. Kathy gave us authentic chopsticks from Japan to match our set so that was pretty cool.



I bartended Thursday. It was pretty slow and uneventful, but once again it was fun and good easy cash. Nate worked Fri and Sat and there was a huge fight and he had to jump over the bar and tackle this guy because he had the door guy pinned against the wall. It was pretty crazy. I got there around 11 and hung out and just wanted a few drinks and then I ended up helping close out tabs and clean b/c Nate was kicking ppl out and the cops were there too lol. We got out of there at 2 on a friday night which is like a world record tho :-0.



We didn't get too much accomplished wedding-wise, but we got our readings and songs figured out for the ceremony which will be good for when we meet with our officiant.



Here is a picture of my niece Maia. :-)

June 7, 2009

Not really in the mood to type a blog right now, but I know if I don't do it now it won't get done for another week. Our slowpitch got rained out on Tuesday (my raindance beat you Debbie!!) and I was so looking forward to a relaxed night at home to catch up on shows and movies and snuggle with Nathan. Well, guess what!? The storm made our power go out. There went that plan! Nathan also forgot his key and the garage door wouldn't work without power so he went and wandered around Target until I got home to let him in. We sat outside with our neighbors and drank a few beers and then went to Ruiz for dinner since our lasagna plans wouldn't work without an oven. We started a new TV series this week....LOST! It's really good so far. Castro let us borrow the first two seasons and we are about half way through the first season and we both really like it. I'm excited for the upcoming seasons to see what all they put in it to make up 5 + seasons. I'm intrigued. Nathan's sister Emily left for Utah this past week, and her and Devon found an apt out there until they start their camping/job shindigs. We went to see Night at the Museum 2 on our date night wednesday with Sarah and Bronson and went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I loved the movie and can't wait to buy it. Not a very eventful week. I had my alumni Extreme Fastpitch game today. It was sooo great to see everyone and I got to pitch and play 2nd. It was fun. I felt pretty old and fat though with all those college softball players in their prime. lol. oh well....

We had rehearsal dinner drama last week. The lady double booked us on accident, but its all squared away now. We have the room for an hour less than we were supposed to, but she isn't making us pay for the room fee now b/c she messed up. YAY! Nathan took care of booking our hotel room at the renaissance by the airport for our wedding night and we blocked off rooms at the Hampton Inn for everyone else on friday and saturday night. My mom also helped me book hair appts for me and her and all the bridesmaids. YAY! I feel like I'm getting things accomplished with the help of my mom and Nate. Porscha is on the task of bridal shower and Bridgette on the bachelorette party so things are moving along well. The cake is ordered and we found the perfect cake topper. We just have to make a trip up the springfield soon to get everything engraved.

Jenn's baby is doing better by the day. I'm so happy. I sent them a gift on friday :-) woot. Can't wait to see a picture. And my brother BJ and his wife had their second baby....Maia. So now I am an aunt to 2 ppl...scary i know. I can't wait to meet her!!! Well, I gotta get back to work since we are super busy without my partner in crime Debbie here tonight. She is at Nico's recital! Can't wait to see the video tomorrow. Here are some pics. The first is the crappy tile I talked about last blog with the things peaking through the grout. The second one is of the different tile with accent pieces. And the third pic is of my boys hanging out together....so adorable!

May 31, 2009

Gosh, this month has flown by! Monday was Memorial day, so Nathan and I rounded up Dexter and went to my parents for some porksteaks, kabobs, and brats..... YUM! We hung out with my mom's side of the family for awhile and then we headed up to Target to get the rest of the cardstock and thank you's needed for wedding invites. Now I just have to figure out what to put on them and get them printed. I went into work at 10pm that night which was nice, except I left my keys in Nathan's car and had to take my mom's jeep which didn't have my work badge or an umbrella. So I had to get a temp badge and was soaking wet. It was horrible!!

Tuesday was slightly hectic, and I'm glad softball got rained out. I got my nails done and my mom dyed my hair to even it out more. It's all bleached out from being in Arizona and the few times I tanned before Kristy's wedding. I had to go home to drop Dex off and get dressed to meet Nathan at PF Changs for Kelly's going away party (girl from double D). Then 270 was closed at my exit so I had to go all the way around. It was a pain. Dinner was amazing!! We had so much food and wine it was crazy! I think I'm still stuffed!!

On Wednesday my Dad came over to put up backsplash tile in the kitchen and I cleaned up the house and mowed and helped him in between. Nathan went in work half a day so that was nice, b/c the three of us got to go to Pirrone's for lunch. My dad came back the next day to grout the tile and we realized the big glue dots that connected the 2 inch tiles were so thick they showed up through the grout. It was a huge mess and my dad ended up ripping down all the tile and buying new that was connected on the back by a mesh. It looks really nice now and I appreciate all his hardwork!

I bartended my first real night with Sarah on Thursday night. It was fun and a nice easy way to make extra cash with things being tight now with all the wedding stuff. Nathan came up and drank too which was nice. His friend Joe met him and decided to throw up all over the floor....neat huh!? lol. I didn't have to clean it up thankfully! We went and got taco bell after the bar closed and went to Schnucks to get groceries for camping. We got up at 9 (only 4 or 5 hrs sleep) and packed the car to go camping at Cuivre River State Park with Debbie's family. We hiked and layed out at the beach. We also played catch, washers, drank some beer, took pictures, etc. It was a blast! It was so relaxing to get away even if it was only one day and one night. That night we cooked burgers on the fire and ate s'mores. Dexter took such a liking to Luca...it was adorable!! I'll have to post pics when I get them loaded on the computer. This is a cute one of Nico showing his little brother how to build a sandcastle....priceless. Saturday morning it stormed sooo hard, but it was kind of for the better b/c it pushed us to get our butts up and get moving. We helped Debbie get things cleaned up and followed her home to make sure she made it up the hill!!! Her house is soo huge and awesome! I wish I lived way out there if it wasn't for the long drive and being so far from my parents!

It seemed like my four days off were soooo long which is awesome!! It was nice to get out and get some fresh air and sun and hang out with good company. I'm looking forward to plenty more camping trips this summer. :-) I'm also pleased to hear that Ella (Jenn's newborn) is off her ventilator today and doing much better. It's been so hard for Jenn to go home without her little girl and she has been in my thoughts and prayers constantly!! I wish I could just up and go to NC for a week and see her....I just don't have the vacation or money right now. I miss her and can't wait to see her new family member!

May 23, 2009

Whew!!! This week flew by! We went to 3 Cards/Cubs games (tues, wed, and thurs) and the cards SWEPT the cubs WOOHOO!!!! It was great. Nathan and I had a lot of fun together and met up with his friends and ex-roomies Joe and Ryan before the game on Wed at Mike Shannons for some beers. We also sat by a very interesting drunk guy that night. He spilled a half-full beer down my leg and then told me that baseball was like football but w/ Kobe Bryant. WTF!!?!? Apparently he was really confused if we were watching football, baseball, or basketball lol. We had to miss our slowpitch games this week, but they still won both games without us.

My mom and I went to the Fox to see the Chorus Line on Thursday at 1. It was really good. It was a short show....only 2 hours with no intermission. Very good though. We ordered tickets to see Hairspray at the Muny in August too. We are excited.

My parents and Nathan's mom and grandma came over for dinner last night. We sat outside and grilled Aracherra (mexican skirt steak) with the yummy white mexican queso on tortillas with grilled onions and green peppers.....so GOOD!! Then Nathan went to bartend and my dad and I went to Home Depot to get tile for the backsplash behind the kitchen sink. It just gets too much crap splashed back there. I also want to get all new tan paint for kitchen and hallway b/c the guy before us put flat matte and its disgusting and nothing wipes clean off of it. GROSS! We tried one color but when we got home it looked to peachy colored instead of tan so I think we are going to use it in downstairs bathroom maybe since the paint is non-refundable. My dad and I are going to put up the backsplash on Wednesday, if we find a tile cutter in time.

I'm still into taking pictures with Nate's camera. These are some I took this week.

May 17, 2009

I'm a day late writing b/c I didn't work last night. This week we managed to squeeze in both of our sball games before the storms and won them both. Our umpire was horrible this week, and Nathan almost got thrown out for saying Jesus Christ lol.

Wednesday night we went out to eat with Sarah and Bronson (from DD) and then went and had drinks at DD (way too many for me). I wasn't feeling so hot for work at 6am Thursday morning but ended up leaving early b/c Dexter decided to step on a picture frame leaning against the wall waiting to be hung up. I went home and tended to him and then my boss said I didn't need to come back b/c Ron came in. Nathan and I met his brother for lunch at Pirrone's. Yum!! Thursday night, Nathan's sisters and a few friends came over for dinner after Emily's bachelorette party, while Josh and Nathan went out taking pictures downtown at the arch and Keiner plaza and other places. They were gone forever and seemed to have a lot of fun taking pictures all night and grabbing dinner.

Friday we dropped Dexter off at my parents and went to Jacksonville for Emily's rehearsal dinner. It was at a nice venue (Buena Vista Farms in Chapin, IL) but everything was pretty unorganized and it rained during the rehearsal so nobody seemed very ready for the wedding the next day. That night we got a hotel room (Nathan can't stay at home b/c he is allergic to cats and his mom has like 6) and let Josh and his gf stay with us since they didn't want to stay at his mom's either b/c Brittany is allergic to cats too.....and Nathan's other sister has mono and strep. We had fun hanging out in the hotel room and Josh and Nathan left the next morning to get pics while Brittany and I hung out and got ready together. She is really fun....I hope Josh knows she's a keeper lol. The wedding was really nice and they had punch and cake afterwards. I got to use Nathan's camera for the first time and loved it!!!

Today we woke up and got ready for our engagement session at Forest Park. It was a lot of fun except my hair kept blowing around in all the pictures. Our photographer got in a fight with a biker (harley not bicycle) and that was pretty funny. After our session my parents met us with Dexter and Bella to take some shots on Nate's camera w/ the dogs. It was fun!! I took my first HDR picture!!! Its the pink tree in my blog! YAY!! And now I'm at work and need to go do some stuff lol. It's Debbies birthday too!! HAPPY BDAY DEBBIE!!! We gotta go upstairs and have some DQ ice cream cake too. :-)

May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!! I decided to buy tickets to see the Chorus Line at the Fox Theater for me and my mommy :-) I can't wait. I love going to the fox with her. We usually go at least once or twice a year together. I'll be sleeping most of the day tomorrow but I plan on at least eating dinner and giving her her present before going back to work. Today was BORING! Nathan went to his brother's graduation which I planned on going to but at the last minute realized with a 2 hour ceremony and 2 hour drive it just wasn't going to happen with me having to work. I can't freakin take any vacation either b/c I'm using half of my year's vacay for our honeymoon ugh. It'll be worth it though. We won both of our softball games on Tuesday night and I went to DD after to train for bartending. I liked it a lot. I'm looking forward to doing it here and there for fun and extra cash. This wedding stuff is stressful and expensive :-(. We did cake testing on Friday which was fun, and we figured out which tier is going to be which kind. We also blocked off some rooms at the Hampton Inn in Columbia, Il. Its a brand new, really nice hotel, but the rooms are kinda pricey for such a small town. Like $90 a night!!! Sheeeesh. My mom and I found a cute ivory flower girl basket last night with a pearl handle and some favor bags for the tables. Now we just have to figure out if we are putting candy or mints in them. I better get back to work....

May 3, 2009

May 3rd!! Where has this year gone!!! sheesh. I feel like it was just New Years! This week wasn't too eventful. We did manage to register at Sears. FUN FUN! Nathan had a blast with the gun until the trigger stopped working and he had to just press a button on top. After that he lost all interest lol. We had a lot of fun! We rented the movies Australia and Milk....Australia was GREAT, Milk not so much. We turned it off after 20 minutes from all the making out between Sean Penn and another guy (the pot dealer from Pineapple Express). We got to use our new mower (so fun, i know) and our yard is pretty spiffy :-). Other than that, not too much. We just finalized plans to go camping w/ Debbie and her family at the end of the month so I'm pumped about that!! I wish I could use all my awesome camping stuff I just registered for hehe. Nathan's sister is getting married this month and I'm helping organize the bachelorette party so that'll be a nice bonding experience with his sisters. I'm looking forward to it. I don't get to see them very often because we all live 2 hours apart. We booked our engagement session for May 17th so I'm thouroughly stressing about what the wear and my hair and jewelry and AHHH everything :-(. We are getting them taken at Forest Park so at least the background will be pretty! Time to get to work. Now that I'm back on weekends, hopefully I'll be better at updating this.

April 26, 2009

Well, I realized after reading Debbie's blog that I'm officially a blogger SLACKER!! :-) Nathan and I went to Seattle to visit his dad, stepmom, and family from Australia for 6 days over the Easter holiday weekend. We had a blast and ate lots of yummy seafood!!! It always seems too short though because we don't get to see them very often and this was my first time meeting his aunt, uncle and cousin from Australia. Their accents are awesome!! I could listen to them talk all day :-) . After our Seattle trip, I started working my weekend nights shift again. Of course Debbie was off and I only got to work with her one day!! Bummer :-(

We started Nate's company slow-pitch softball league last Tuesday by winning our doubleheader. It was a blast!! I hate to say it, but we were both a little sore the next day. How embarrassing!!! I'm looking forward to this week, and my parents are going to bring Dexter and come watch soon. I'm excited. I guess I better work the rust out before they come watch though lol.

This weekend was my friend from college's wedding. Kristy and Stephen's rehearsal dinner was Friday at the country club and it was just a nice relaxed bbq with beer and the cards/cubs game on TV. What more could you ask for?!! Saturday we all got our hair done and drank champagne before going to the church to get dressed. The wedding was wonderful and no one cried except the maid of honor (her sister). We took a party bus after pics to the courthouse to take some more pictures and then off to Staunton for the reception. The hall was gorgeous, decorated in all hot pink and green colors. They had an awesome dinner catered by Ashley's (another bridesmaid) mom who owns a catering business. YUM YUM! And for dessert we had cheesecake with strawberry, chocolate or caramel toppings. It was all so pretty and wonderful and we danced our butts off all night!! The DJ decided it was a good idea to play all the slide, line dances, etc in a row and we were all sweating. GROSS!! Today her and Stephen opened presents at her parents and had brunch. They got some awesome stuff. I can't wait to register for my wedding!!!

Nathan and I met with our wedding coordinator last week and got meal plans finalized for the caterer and times set for arrival, ceremony, reception, etc. Next week we are doing cake testing to figure out what it will look and taste like, and have to go block off some rooms at the Hampton Inn in Columbia, Il. We are also going to register at Sears this Friday morning since we are both off. It seems neverending!! I just can't wait for the day to be here and everything to be done lol. Time to go approve Debbie's samples. Guess that's enough for now.

April 1, 2009

It's been almost a month, so I'm in real need of a post. Happy April Fools Day! Since my last post, I went to Carlinville for Kristy's bridal shower. Her sister did such a great job of picking out food and decorations. Everything was bright pink and green. It was ADORABLE! Her bachelorette party is this Saturday, so I'm looking forward to that as well. I went with my mom and grandma to my cousin's wife's baby shower also. We hung out with Crystal, Eric, Castro, and Sarah and got to see Castro's new house. It's very nice and roomy. Nate helped them move while I was at the baby shower. I finally made Nathan go to the podiatrist for his toe after he let it get so bad for 2 years. It was an ingrown toe nail at the base of his nail instead of the top. It was really weird. It was growing laterally so much it was almost out the side of his big toe. EW!! It feels much better and all the fun in the sun and flip flop time in AZ helped.

Arizona was great. We got there Wednesday night and were told they were out of the SUV we had booked so we ended up getting an Eclipse convertible. It was soo nice and fast!! :-) We went to a game Thurs, Fri, and Sunday and a practice on Thursday also. The Thursday game got called in the 7th due to weather!! Yes, in arizona! :-( BLAH. It was really windy, but c'mon its windier in Chicago...I think they are used to it. The other team was just pansies I guess. Saturday we went up to Sedona, AZ to see the canyons and stuff up there. It was such pretty scenery and Nathan got a chance to really use his new camera for landscapes and not just baseball player's butts lol. I got Ryne Sandberg and Milton Bradley's autographs which was cool. I also got an ear infection and had quite a painful airplane ride out there, so I went to an urgent care place to get some medicine before the ride home. All in all it was a great and relaxing vacation! The weather was amazing, considering it was snowing at home. I missed Dexter a lot though :-(. Nathan and I loved it so much, that we seriously are debating moving there once we are vested in our 401K's at work in 2011. Who knows!? You only live once....why not go somewhere nice and warm!!

Off to work...I switch back to weekends soon. It's going to suck being on different days than Nathan but it'll be nice working with Debbie again and having 4 days off a week :-)

They brought the Clydesdales and dalmation from STL to the spring training games. The dog was kind of worn out it looks like. Bunting above is my Cubs fave Ted Lilly :-)

March 2, 2009

Wow! Where did the first two months of the year go?? Well, I've now been at my current job for more than a year. YAY! This past year has flown by, with getting a new job, house, car, fiance, dogs, etc. It's been great though :-) Since my last post we went to an awesome concert w/ Crystal and Eric. Buckcherry and Saving Abel weren't very good but Papa Roach and Avenged Sevenfold were AWESOME!! Jacoby from Papa Roach came over and stood right in front of me and sang a song. It was great!! We also went to Carlinville and hung out with Kristy, Stephen, Jackie, and Marcus for Mart's bday. We went out to eat and went to the duck. It was fun times. We also went and saw Pam and Jason's new baby. :-) He is sooo adorable. I love Luke!! I'll like him more when he isn't so freakin tiny and crying the whole time lol. He was only a week old tho. Nathan and I also decided we are going to go to Cubs spring training in Mesa, AZ. We booked our flight this past weekend and we are going march 25-30. I'm so excited. We need a vacation so bad. We have been semi-tight on money w/ wedding stuff and trying to buy stuff around the house but we decided to splurge a little with our tax refund money. It's actually pretty cheap though. Only like 360 a person for flight and hotel then we have to rent a car and buy baseball tickets. Well, I gotta get to work. Later!

February 16, 2009

UGH!! I hate Mondays. The only thing fun about today is Katie and I brought in milk and donuts for breakfast and then we went to White Castle for lunch. Yum! I officially am sooo full and just want to take a nap.

This past Tuesday, Bella got some more shots at the vet, I got an oil change, and we met the Murphys at Alfonso's for dinner. On Wednesday, Nathan and I got our taxes done and I ordered my cute silver shoes for Kristy's wedding. Thursday was fun times b/c I had to go back to court to pay off my ticket and get my ticket changed to a non-moving violation. YAY! I got that damn ticket in November. It's so good to finally be done with it.

Nathan bartended on Friday night, so my mom came over and watched The Secret Life of Bees with me and we made butterscotch pudding :-) YUM!! We also played Mario Kart on the Wii. I took a little nap before Nate got home with Taco Bell for me.

Saturday was Valentine's Day! We said we weren't doing gifts, but Nathan got me bubble bath and some other smelly good stuff from bath and body works. We went to stir crazy ( my fave) for lunch and then saw Taken at the theater. After that we ran a few errands and got Cold Stone ice cream before we went home. We layed in bed and watched Nights in Rodanthe and ate our ice cream. We decided to go to the bar and hang out with some friends after that. It was a great Valentine's day!! I love my Nathan :-)

Yesterday, my mommy and I went to Archiver's for a bridal class on making invitations and programs and stuff. We learned a lot, but it stressed me out on decided styles and colors and prices and whatnot. AHH! Nathan and I need to go pick a rehearsal dinner place and make a deposit THIS WEEK!! ERRR. We are thinking Gallaghers in waterloo b/c its nice and close to where we will have our rehearsal. http://www.gallagherswaterloo.com/.

Alright, gotta get back to work :-0

February 8, 2009

I'm at work on a Saturday night. BOO! I'm a loser. No, I needed a little OT and I like coming in on Saturdays b/c I miss working with Debbie :-) . We aren't too busy now, so we are both updating our blogs. Friday night was fun! We played laser tag in Belleville. It was our first time and I definitely got plowed over by a 9 year old boy. Neat! There was a restaurant, bar, and arcade connected to the place so we played other fun games and drank also. Today, Nate and I packed up a picnic lunch and the doggies and went to the park by our house. It was such a nice day! 67 degrees :-) We took the dogs on a nice long walk and jog after we ate, and Dexter tried to jump in the pond and eat the geese. We came home and watched Pineapple Express and an episode of the Office and Eleventh Hour before we both showered and came to work for 6 hours. Nate will be home early b/c they don't have to stock beer tonight. YAY! I'm starving though, so I might have to get Taco Bell on the way home. YUM!! No other news really. I received my free 8X8 shutterfly album in the mail today. It's so cute....aside from the pictures with me in it lol. Well, I'm leaving in about 30 minutes so I better get wrapping things up. My parents are coming over tomorrow so my mom can help me hem some curtains and my Dad and Nate are FINALLY rebuilding the wall they tore down 6 months ago. :-)

Sidenote....Jenn, I got your postcard from Disney! Thanks! I want to hear all about your trip :-) POST A NEW BLOG JEH!!

February 5, 2009

Sheesh! Where did January go!? Since I wrote last, my birthday came and went with not much excitement. We went to a chinese buffet with my brother, his gf, my parents, aunt and 2 uncles and cousin. Afterwards, Nate and I said our goodbyes to Bridgette because she is moving to Virginia to travel nurse, and hung out at big daddy's with Duece and her roomie. It was a good night aside from getting 4 hours of sleep! UGH!!

Friday I went to Maggianos with Debbie, Barb, Samantha, and my mom. YUM YUM. We didn't have enough time to do Family style which was a bummer :-( . The lasagna was AMAZING though! We went to see Legally Blonde the musical at the Fox afterwards. It was AWESOME and we got to see Lauren and Rhiannon from the MTV show that tried out for Elle's spot. The picture of us was cute b/c we took it in front of the sign. You can't tell, but we all have pink shirts on under our jackets :-) WE ARE DORKS!!!

Saturday night Nathan and I went to the Blues game with Crystal and Eric. We went to dinner at TGIFridays first and I got to spin the bday wheel and got a free dinner. YAY!! That was awesome. The game was fun. We won 4-0 but were mad b/c if they score 5 goals you get free DQ blizzards. DARN!! We still went out for blizzards after the game lol. We also got to see a women get smacked in the face by the arm that goes up and down to let you in the parking garage. HILARIOUS!!!

On Sunday Nate had to bartend for superbowl and me, Ann, and Porscha went up to the bar to hang out for a little. I helped him open too and put all the chairs in place and cut fruit and stuff. I think I might try to bartend for some extra wedding cash in the next month if there are any openings. FUN FUN! I ended up staying till 930 and they closed early b/c everyone left after the game.

Monday was pretty uneventful at work aside from Katie going home sick. After work Nathan and I got food for the dogs at Petsmart and then dinner at PF Changs. YUM YUM. I also had the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Last night we met Debbie and her family at Angelo's for pizza. It was sooo scrumptious! Afterwards we watched House and 24 and called it an early night. I finished reading Midnight Sun (edward's viewpoint of twilight) and Nate played Call of Duty with Stephen online.

Well, some samples are in the window so I better go. I'm meeting Ann and Pt after work at Buffalo Wild Wings. YAY!! Gosh my whole blog is about food. I'm such a fatty!!! I better hop on the scale to see if my wedding dress will fit me lol.

January 27, 2009

Happy Birthday Dexter! My little boy is 1 today :-) . I woke up this morning to about 3 inches of snow on the ground. Ugh! I was going to take Nathan to work before I went in, but his boss is awesome and is letting him work from home. We also had plans to go to dinner with family friends (from sball) at 645 but with the snow its up in the air.

I'm jealous Nathan gets to stay home all day. BUT....he has to deal with the dogs. I love Bella to death but its just so frustrating b/c she doesn't listen and wants to be constantly in your face. She also is like a savage when its dinner time. You would think we never feed her. She will knock anything down in her path for that freakin food dish. It's ridiculous!!

Friday night was fun. We went to Olive garden and I had some yummy lasagna and then we went to Crystal's house and played yahtzee (mine and nate's first time) mad gab, etc. It was fun. We stayed over there till about 1130 then swung by and got Dexter from my parent's house and went home. He loves going over there to play so we try to take him there as much as possible especially when we aren't going to be home all evening.

Saturday morning we actually woke up semi early for once :-) We had our leftovers from olive garden and decided to catch a matinee showing of Gran Turino. It was sooo good/sad. I definitely recommend it. After that we finally found some black suede curtains from bed bath and beyond that were long enough to put behind our screen in basement to help make more of a theater room ambiance. Its a slow expensive process. Like just the curtains alone were 200 dollars to put behind the screen and then the doorway leading into the weight room. We still have to paint the baseboards gray, put up gray trim on wall, paint ceiling black and paint staircase. Oh and get theater chairs. I'm sure it'll take us another year to do it all with all our extra money going toward the wedding now. Oh well....at least we have the projector, screen and surround sound. Good enough for me :-) Saturday night I came in for 5 hours and worked with Debbie. It was nice to catch up with her and also help the lab catch up on drug chem samples.

On Sunday, Nathan and I layed in bed and were bums practically the entire day. We got up to eat twice and mail a few bills and some netflix movies. Other than that I started reading Midnight sun (twilight from edward's perspective) some more and then passed out. Monday at work was pretty uneventful. Not too busy with ASI samples....just drug chem. I worked on 8 different drug chem samples throughout the day and tried fiddling with the EG system. ANNOYING! After work Nate and I made chocolate chip pancakes for dinner. It was yummy :-) I love putting peanut butter and syrup on top of my choc. chip pancakes. Tastes like a reese's peanut butter cup!! I made Nathan watch The Women with me also lol :-) I had nathan download the twilight soundtrack for me and then I read a few more pages of Midnight sun before passing out.

The drive wasn't too terrible this morning except for in my neighborhood. We are supposed to get a few more inches today though so wish me luck !! I hate driving in the snow :-(

January 23, 2009

Once again, not doing very well with writing in my blog. Oh well, I figure once a week is good. Well, since I wrote last we ended up adopting Bella the 1 year old rottie. She doesn't have very good manners and doesn't know many commands yet, but she seems smart and willing to learn so that's good. Her and Dexter are outside playing. Its so nice that Dexter has a companion. Nate and I got her mostly for Dexter. We were content with just one dog, but its good for Dex to have someone to play with. She just ended a heat cycle when we got her (whew) and we are getting her fixed next week. She was scheduled to yesterday but after getting her Bordetella shot she developed kennel cough. Kinda like the whole flu shot/getting the flu ordeal. And then she passed it on to Dexter. So they are both on antibiotics and cough suppressants. Fun Fun! I had an interview at our Maryland Heights facility today. Its kinda a whole different route in my career if I take it. So we'll see what I decide. I want the Hazelwood job but they never called back. I suck!! :-( Other than that I've just been working and hanging out with Nathan and the pups. Tonight we are going to Olive Garden with Crystal and Eric and then playing games at their house :-) Tomorrow I'm going in to work with Debbie for a little bit :-0 YAY while Nate is bartending. Gotta make that extra cash. Just wrote a check for $3900 for our first payment for wedding/reception. Ugh!! 3 more to go!! At least my dress is paid for too. So after these next three installments I'll have to honeymoon, flowers, favors, etc . So expensive!! I guess that's why you only do it once :-) . I finished the Twilight series finally. It was sooo good! I was pleasantly surprised. Now I'm trying to read the Host by Stephanie Meyer but its really weird! I have to go get the dogs and maybe take a nap. :-)

January 15, 2009

WOW! I've been horrible about writing on this. Where to start....A week ago I had traffic class b/c I'm a bad citizen and got a speeding ticket for going 10 over. I took the course so I wouldn't get points toward my license. It was 4 hours monday and tuesday and we watched movies and took quizzes. It was HORRIBLE!! Oh well, I'm just glad its done and over. I did miss one question.....where should your hands be when driving. I put 10 and 2.....nope NOT RIGHT!!! Its 8 and 4 now. WTF! When did this happen. I just took drivers ed 7 years ago. SHEESH.

Nate bartended this past weekend and made some extra cash b/c he has to get new tires this month. I went and saw Bride Wars with my mommy and went and worked 4 hrs w/ Debbie so we could catch up on things. Bride Wars was soo cute and funny. I definitely recommend it to anyone. We drug my dad too which was kinda funny.

Big news! I'm working days now. Monday thru Friday 6am-2pm. Its great to have my weekends but I get payed less money, I have to wake up sooo early, and I have to come to work 2 extra days. Other than that I love having my weekends with Nathan and Dexter and my nights at home to hang out and cook dinner and stuff.

My mom and I saw twilight w/ Samantha (my bro's gf) on Monday night. I'm on the fourth book now. I love the series!! I'm surprised. I really was not looking forward to reading it and thought I would be bored w/ it but after the first book I was hooked. The movie wasn't as good as the book like always but it was nice to see how they portrayed all the characters and stuff. Just little stuff bothers me like in the book the Cullens live in a big white house....in the movie its like a wooden house w/ all these huge windows. WEIRD! Its not like some things they couldn't help but skipping or changing due to time constraints....but they couldn't find a big white house in the forrest to live in !?? seriously ppl! lol.

I went to the dentist tuesday and have a cavity UGH!! I have to get it filled next tuesday. This sucks. :-( Bridgette came over tuesday and we talked for hours and our dogs played and it was just really nice to see her and catch up on things.

My brother and his fellow cops found a 1 year old(ish) female Rottweiler while on duty and they can't find the owner or anything so today after work I'm going to get her and take her to get groomed and get fecal test, shots, and bloodwork to see if she is okay and then Dexter will have a mate :-) I'll post pics as soon as I can. I hope they get along!!

Other than that, nothing much is up. I had a phone interview today for a position at our Hazelwood campus. It went well so I hope to hear from her soon about setting up a face to face interview. I love that they have flexible start hours and summer hours. WOOHOO! This friday Nate and I are celebrating my bday with my Carlinville friends. Jackie, Marcus, Kristy and Stephen are coming down and we are going to the Melting Pot. I'm sooo excited. The food is so amazing (but expensive) and I'm going to be honest....my favorite part is dessert :-)

Gotta get back to work :-) More to come.....

Creepy dog!

Nate and I were at Petsmart and this dog thoroughly creeped me out b/c we recently watched the Xfiles movie where they cut off heads of dogs and put on a different dog's body. And this german shepard looked like its head was put on a lab's body. I think it was because they shaved it.....I still had to take a picture though. CREEPY!!! :-/

January, 3 2009

Happy New Year! Well, I definitely sucked at blogging all week. SORRY! Where to start....... Well, Tuesday at the Blues games our seats were awesome. We could see everything on the ice and we had all you can drink beer and soda with some snacks. I had to, of course, go down and get some nachos. I couldn't resist. I love cheese!! My cousin Jeff and my Dad ended up sitting at Jeff's season ticket seats which are really close to the ice. Well, if you look closely my Dad is answering questions to win a prize and you can see him on the jumbotran (spelling??). He got all the questions wrong though because they were personal questions about one of the players....like favorite magazine, condiment, and chewing gum. DUMB!!

Wednesday Nate and I went to the Chiropractor...I'm still having TMJ (jaw) issues. Apparently my bite is off and it causes it to pop and it hurts and she pops it back into place. It's quite painful actually. Nate got his neck re-aligned as well. That night we went to Castro's for 4 hours and then Crystal's until 2am and then we went home.

Thursday we had to go get Dexter from my parents and we sat at the vet with him for 3 hours while he got 200 dollars worth of injections/xrays to figure out why he was STILL throwing up. Good news though, he isn't stopped up again. Thank god!! I do not have 1200 dollars for that surgery! Apparently b/c of his last surgery he has trouble digesting so we have to feed him in small increments every few hours (pretty much all day b/c he is a 90 pound dog!) Debbie said he is worse than a baby lol :-) . I am starting to think she's right! Thursday night we bought another Xbox for our bedroom (we already have on in the theater area in the basement) b/c we traded in blockbuster for netflix and you can watch movies through xbox live on your netflix queue. It's pretty awesome. We also bought the xbox game scene it movies and we can play it in bed at night. It's great. We also played halo 3 online with Crystal and Eric and 2 of her co-workers.

Friday I watched The Office in the morning (I'm on season 4 now :-) It's hilarious) and then met Nate for lunch at Cheesecake factory. I also called and chatted with Debbie on the way home and caught up on what we did on New Years and stuff. When I got home I gave Dexter a bath. He decided it was a good idea to drink all the water in the bathtub during his bath then run around like a madman. He proceeded to jump on the bed and roll around on his back until he slid off and did a backflip off the bed. During the dismount he also decided to projectile vomit all the water he had just drank during his bath. JAZZ!!!! After cleaning that up and being tired and having a full belly from Cheesecake factory, I took a nap. Nate got home during my nap and decided to put our new Schwinn exercise bike together. When I woke up we ate dinner and watched Eagle Eye. It was pretty good! During Eagle Eye we each took a 30 min turn on the exercise bike. That's kinda our new years resolution is to start doing some cardio like 3 times a week so we can be healthy and happy for our wedding day! And forever.... After showering we layed in bed and played scene it some more and Nate fell asleep around 2. I had taken a nap earlier and wasn't tired at all so I watched Sisterhood of the traveling pants and went to bed.

Tonight at work I hope we aren't busy so I can read more of New Moon....the second book in the twilight series. I'm pleasantly surprised by how good the series is. I am glad I gave it a second try. I also need to soak my acrylic nails off in acetone lol. I hardcore need a new set. These are getting really thin and breaking and stuff. Alright, off to work!