Zumba

I tried Zumba last night with my mom. She has been to other instructors and likes the other class she normally takes better, but I L.O.V.E.D. it. I will admit that I wasn't always on track with the movements the instructor was doing, but I never stopped shaking my hips!

I can't wait to try it again! I want to try other instructors to find the perfect one and then make it a weekly thing. Working out in any way has always been a 'hobby' of mine, but I think Zumba is going to jump to the top of my list quickly of favorite work outs.

If you haven't tried it yet, DO it!

Happy Friday!!!

Engagement Bliss

249 days to go... 

Lately I have been adding things on my list to do three times faster than I am checking things off my list as completed. The following is what is currently on my to-do list:

-Reserve a room block at a hotel near the reception venue (Golden Valley Country Club)

-Reserve a limo/ shuttle to transport the wedding party to the reception from the ceremony (Lord of Life Lutheran Church)  I completed this task TODAY! Woo hoo!

-Research centerpiece ideas before my meeting with the florist in a couple weeks (Hollie's mom, Penny, is our AMAZING florist)

-Plan when/ where to register for wedding gifts... I am thinking Target, Crate and Barrel and Macy's

-Finish scanning pictures for our slideshow

-Look at veil, shoes and jewelry options for me

-Find a friend to be our videographer

-Plan our ceremony music and contact musicians (possibly my cousin, Matt Martin, who is very talented on the piano and violin)

-Finalize the guest list 

-Buy Corey's wedding ring and have Jared design a wedding band for my ring

Of the more exciting things to do, I have been working with a friend of the Nelson's, Debbie, who just so happens to be a travel agent, to plan our HONEYMOON! This has to be, by far, the most exciting part to planning a wedding. Thinking about our week long escape from reality the Monday after our wedding has me bouncing off the walls excited. Corey and I have never traveled with just the two of us. Today we chose a honeymoon destination--- Secrets St. James Montego Bay, JAMAICA! 

I am so excited. Check out the beautiful blue water and white sandy beaches. This trip is going to be unforgettable! 

Another exciting thing to check off our to-do list was taking engagement pictures. We took those last weekend at the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. The weather was unbeatable and we had such a good time during our session with our photographers (The Third Image). They gave us this 'sneak peak' to hold us over for the four weeks we have to wait to see all the images. 

I just love him so much. I am so happy with this photo!

I really don't know why they took this photo with my right hand. This shot would have been better if it was my engagement ring showing. Oh well. Still LOVE this picture!

Well it felt good to get what I need to get done typed out. Now to actually move forward with doing it! I know these next 8 months and 5 days are going to fly by so fast. I just want to soak it all in as much as I can. I am really enjoying being engaged and planning our wedding day. I am sure the stress will come out eventually, but as of now I just feel so happy and good about where our plans are at! 

:)

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Last week Corey emailed me saying he had a homemade spaghetti sauce recipe he was so excited to make. He found it online and was 'so pumped' for Sunday Dinner. Corey wishes he was Italian. He totally could be too with his dark features and his love for any Italian food. 

The week passed and Friday and Saturday came and went and before we knew it, it was Sunday morning and Corey was so excited to get up and go to the grocery store to get all of his ingredients for his homemade sauce. I won't lie, I kept forgetting he was planning on making this and I never even looked at the recipe. I was in for a shock/ treat when I realized just how much work he was about to put into this sauce. 

Corey came home from the grocery store just as my mom and I were arriving back at our house from MOB (Mother of the Bride) dress shopping. We both were amazed to see so many ingredients on the counter and Corey starting to cook. I don't even remember everything he did- he made bread crumbs, chicken wings on the grill (to put in the sauce for taste), and homemade meatballs from three meats: Italian Sausage, Ground Beef and Pork. A whole lot of chopping of onions, garlic, parsley, pepperoni, etc was completed. After the meatballs were in the oven, it was time to add everything to the pot to cook for 3 hours. 

Corey decided since he was going to spend hours making this sauce, he might as well make a lot of it. He bought a lot of sauce...

Corey checking on the meatballs before mixing everything together

It might not look like it, but everything is in and cooking

After seeing how much work Corey had put into this sauce, my mom suggested she and Don come over for dinner. After we moved in, Corey and I thought the perfect way to thank our parents for all the help and support they gave/ give us would be to give them each a 'Dinner Certificate for Two' for them to come eat at OUR house. It wasn't planned, but Sunday was the perfect chance for my mom and Don to use their certificate on such a great meal! So we had our first dinner guests at our house. 

Table set for four :) 

You can't tell, but these bananas are on fire!!! We made Banana Flambe for dessert. 

Corey's recipe was so good that my mom wanted the recipe!

All in all, it was a successful meal. Two thumbs up for Corey's first attempt at homemade spaghetti sauce. I am so proud of him for taking the initiative to do this! I am a lucky girl to have a fiance who is a great chef!!! 

He even thought to pick up some roses while at the store. These flowers are so beautiful!!! Once again- I am a lucky girl. 

First Day of School

Corey had his first night of class tonight at St. Thomas. His class is Organizational Behavior. He was really excited to tell me all about it that he called me on his way home. I reminded him that we live together and he can just tell me about it in twenty minutes when he gets home. I just love that we are living together now!

While Corey was at class tonight I had a very enjoyable evening. After work I went to Lifetime and had a great core workout. Shannon came over after dinner to venture around my new neighborhood with me. Our walk was great and we saw a lot of gorgeous, new houses. After Shannon left, I put a disk of Friends in the DVD player, plopped down on my couch with a glass of milk and two delicious peanut butter cookies and pressed play! Three episodes later, I heard the garage door open. Yay- Corey is home!

Since I didn't see Corey before he left for school today, I decided to take a few pics of him tonight when he got home from his first day. I just love the cheesy first day of school poses he gave me.

Happy hump day everybody!!! I love a four day work week.

Home Sweet Home

It's been awhile... I know.

Corey and I finally have a home together! It is a townhouse in Plymouth off Vicksburg and County Road 47 in the Legacy Park neighborhood. I am going to give you the virtual tour right now. We still have a lot to do, but it's getting there! 

From the front door- living room, dining room, kitchen

We are going to paint the bar stools black to match the kitchen table and chairs. We still need wall hangings everywhere too. 

Corey loving our new couch

Table and Chairs from Becker 

Hallway from the kitchen to the powder room, utility closet, and garage

I painted the little key rack hanging on the wall in the hallway. I got it a few summers ago in Ely at the Blueberry Arts Festival with Shannon and Hollie. I remember buying it thinking/ hoping I would have it for many, many years! 

We love our kitchen

Corey and I have really enjoyed making our first meals together. Tonight we had Shake n Bake pork chops and red potatoes with onions. I can't wait for many more meals to come. Corey enjoys trying new recipes and perfecting old recipes. I am lucky to have a guy who loves to cook! I just bought the fruit bowl on the counter today from Home Goods! 

Let's go upstairs :)

The Loft- we will have a desk up here shortly and this is where Corey will spend many hours studying in the next few years!!!

Guest Bedroom (bedroom set came from Corey's room at his parent's house)

Guest Bathroom

Our bedroom aka Heaven

This was one of our biggest purchases to date in our relationship (minus my engagement ring). We purchased this bedroom set from Schneidermans and bought the bedding from Bed Bath and Beyond. I am in love with our mattress (a king- who wouldn't love it!?) and our room in general. We have big walk in closet and an awesome master bathroom. 

Dresser and Entertainment Chest

Well that's our house!!! We are so happy and excited to begin this exciting part of our relationship together. We moved in Friday, so this extra long weekend was perfect. Tomorrow it's back to work we go and Corey starts SCHOOL on Wednesday at the University of St. Thomas. I am so proud of Corey for pushing himself to get his MBA. Moving in together couldn't have come at a more perfect time as I know how busy he will be once school starts. It will be nice to live together so it is easier to see each other. 

Hope everybody had a fabulous Labor Day weekend. :)

Day OFF

Yesterday afternoon at work I took this deep breath to let some pressure off my shoulders. I’m not sure what is wrong with me lately. I feel anxious. Days and weeks have been going much faster than they usually do. This year feels weird not having a summer vacation or time to relax in between school years. I didn’t feel this way last summer because I started my ‘big girl job’ toward the end of August which felt the same as heading back to school. I think I just realized how much life has snuck up on me. I am going to be 23 in about a month. I used to think that sounded old, not so much anymore. How does life go so fast!!!?

I miss the days of scraped up knees, tangled hair, one can of pop a day and endless hours of playing outside in the summertime. Life isn’t about being carefree anymore. The constant thoughts on my mind lately include: am I able to get a workout in today, what do I need to plan next for the wedding, do I need to contact our mortgage officer or realtor for our townhouse closing, how can I advance at work, how can I improve in my relationships, when can I have a moment of peace to myself. 

I’m not trying to complain or anything. I love all the positive things happening in my life right now. It’s just weird how you learn to appreciate different things as you get older. No longer am I counting down the days until my birthday or Christmas vacation, but rather the days until Corey and I move in together or the days until we get married. Believe me these things are just as exciting as what I used to get excited about, but it’s a different kind of excited. When you’re a kid everything just works out and you don’t have to put any of the work in. Being an adult is just so different. I can get excited for things like our wedding and our townhouse, but it takes a lot of work to get to those things. I guess I’m just feeling like life isn’t always easy… but it is well worth it.

Among the many things I am appreciative of, today I have the day off!!! While Daina is home and Chad and Jamie's days left in Minnesota are getting fewer, a day off to spend time with Daina and Jamie is very necessary and exciting! The weather didn't quite cooperate for us to have our planned day at the pool, but we will make the best of it. It is so nice to sleep in some this morning, get some laundry done, get a good workout in and have a fun day ahead!! 

Happy Thursday!!! 

A Perfect Evening

Today was a fast drive home- it only took me 40 minutes to get from work to Lifetime in Maple Grove. I quickly changed into my workout clothes and whipped through my ten minute ab routine before hopping back in my car to park near Rice Lake for a walk/ run. I have to get to the gym 12 times/ month in order to receive the $20 off each month, so I like to swipe my card and do something fast in the gym but leave my cardio routine for the outdoors. I can't get enough of being outside when it is SO beautiful like today. 

Rice Lake is about 3.2 miles around (a 5k) and I ran about one mile of that tonight. It felt good to get my heart pumping and work up a good sweat. There were so many people on the trails tonight. I love seeing everyone in great moods- walking their dogs, biking with their kids, running to some tunes, walking hand in hand with their S.O. (significant other)- it all just makes me happy too! 

After my walk/ run I went to Target. Oh how I love/ hate Target. There is something to say about a store that has everything (I love) and a store that I can never walk out of without spending about $40 - $50 (I hate). It was a quick trip and I got everything I went for, and of course my total was $43.20. 

I had a workout done and my errands finished by 6:30 tonight! Corey was waiting for me to finish everything so we could get together for a bite to eat. After a brief moment of thinking we might make something ourselves, we decided to go out to eat. I am feeling like we are going to be in trouble when we live together if we can never think of what the eat. We will have to get better at planning meals. Anyway, we decided to have Solo's Pizza for dinner. If you haven't eaten there, you need to try it! Corey gets The Big Tony- red sauce, meat and other goodness. I usually select a red sauce pizza as well, but tonight I decided to go with Chad's favorite and recommendation-- The White Hen. This is made with Solo's white garlic sauce instead of red sauce and has great flavor. 

I suggested we eat on the patio, but Corey had a better idea. We took the pizzas to go and ate on the patio at his house. Corey's parents live on Fish Lake. It was a perfect night for dinner outside. We turned on K102, grabbed something to drink (me an Arnie Palmer, Corey a beer) and sat down to enjoy our pizzas! The weather was perfect so we refilled our beverages and sat for about an hour outside just enjoying the night and talking. 

Now it is almost 10:30 and I am in bed ready for a good night sleep. I just can't say it enough- tonight was PERFECT and I am so happy. That's pretty good for a Wednesday. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain, so Corey and I are going to a movie. It is still a toss up as to what movie we'll see- Bridesmaids or Transformers. We are still debating on who got to pick the last movie we saw in theaters which will determine what movie we see this time. 

Goodnight!!!