Busy day!

Today was a busy, busy day! Theresa and I did a bunch of wedding stuff in Indy. I felt so productive! One of the things we did was the trial run of my hair and makeup for the wedding. I think its gonna be great! Theresa got this great picture of the hairsylist working on my hair :)

I look pretty awesome...right?! haha! I think the sylists are going to be great for the bridesmaids. They're going to look so beautiful! I'm so excited!

Eric's Haircut!

For anyone who knows my brother or who has looked at any of my family pictures recently, Eric has had crazy long hair! It has been getting much worse this summer too, since I had already told Eric he had to get a haircut before the wedding and he was growing it as long as he could before then! Today, to my amazement, he agreed to a haircut! He's been having a lot of soccer practice lately (he'll be on the school team this year) and he really decided on his own that he needed a haircut. Yay! Here are some pics. LOVE IT! He looks so much older...

Dave & Busters

Today Dave, Eric, Sara and I took a daytrip to Indy. Eric and Dave needed to get measured for their tuxes for the wedding and then we decided to go the new Dave & Buster's that just opened recently in Indy near Castleton Mall. We had so much fun! I had never eaten at Dave & Buster's but was surprised by the food. It was pretty good...and good sized portions too! We each had a $10 game card and it gave us a good amount of time to play. We did the arcade car racing game against each other and of course got some skee ball time in...my favorite! Then Eric and I found some silly type games where you can get some tickets. We also each did the big wheel that is like the one on the Price is Right. It was so fun! We decided to all pool our tickets and in the end we each got something. I got a hacky sack and Sara got a ring pop and some sweet tarts, but Eric got this awesome green tie (looks like something Fred Flinstone would wear, right??)

All in all we had a great day! I visited with Grandma & Grandpa Manning when I got back and then with Uncle Ken & Aunt Toddy for awhile. Always good times! Grandpa seemed to be in good spirits, but his breathing is making it really difficult for him to get around. He won't be able to make it to my wedding because of his health :( Tomorrow Mom and I are doing some wedding things in Muncie before I head to Indy for dinner with Theresa & Megan! I'm really making the most of my time off work!

The Power of Music

I have been told several times that I should watch the movie "August Rush" because I would love it, but I still hadn't seen it. Mom and I just watched it and I really liked it a lot. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was completely unrealistic and cheesy, but it really demonstrated the power that music can have over people.

I have always loved music of all kinds. I remember the day I first played the flute. It was the first day of band on the first day of school in 7th grade. My band teacher was helping us to choose our instruments. I tried the trumpet first...no go. We decided to bypass the other brass instruments...so we tried the clarinet. It was ok, but then we tried the flute. Instantly I was in love with that instrument! I practiced so hard that year and for the next few years. I loved to play! Anytime I heard music with a flute I got goosebumps. I love when music does that to you! I gave up the flute in high school and to this day I still regret it. When I remember how much pleasure I got from playing...well, I try not to remember sometimes. Music is so universal, so powerful, and still can be so peaceful. It can in an instant transform your world. Even music you don't realize you're listening to, like movie scores, is affecting you. You can hear that music in a different environment and know exactly what movie, and maybe what scene, it came from. I love that!

If you haven't seen "August Rush" I recommend it, especially if you are a music lover. Remember, it is really cheesy, but still it will leave an impact. And...if you play music or sing NEVER give it up!

Dancing

Shawn and I had dance class again tonigh and we only have 1 lesson left! I think we're doing really well! We're gonna dance so great at the wedding! Wait til you see us :) I'm getting better at following (I think) but I still make Shawn tell me what's next. That's easier for me! haha!

7 weeks to go...

With only 7 weeks until the wedding, I am starting to freak out a bit...just a bit though :) I have been doing a lot of stuff slowly along the way, but there is still so much to do! I'm trying to do a little everyday and I think I'm doing pretty well. A few months ago Shawn and I got together with out parents to go through old pictures of us when we were kids. I have been working on a slideshow to play during the cocktail hour. I finally finished and I think it's pretty good. The one for the wedding will play through the entire cocktail hour kind of on a loop since people will be walking around and talking and won't just be sitting there watching it. I created a shorter version with only pictures of Shawn and I as kids through high school to share with you all now. I hope you enjoy it!

To add to my stress level right now, Shawn and I need to find a new apartment. Our current least ends in October but with the wedding and honeymoon in September I really need to find a new place now. It is hard to look so early though, so I am going to have to go apartment hunting at the end of August, which I know is going to stress me out! I really hope I find something perfect quickly. We like our current place but there are several things we really need to change, so the apartment quest begins...

Engagement Pics

Shawn and I took had 2 engagement photo sessions back in March & April. For the first session our photographers came up to see us in Oak Park and for the second we met them in Indianapolis. We did 2 because our first one got mainly rained out...we did get some great pictures but not a ton, which led to a second session. We had a great time doing the pics. Here are just a few of my favorites.

We just got the pictures from the photographer. There was a small mishap with their computer recently, but we are going to make it work. I knew that my first major wedding issue was going to happen, I was just hoping there would be nothing. I'm not getting too stressed out...yet! I'm sure it will come though! Just a little stress about the wedding creeping up on us!!!

If you need a photographer, check ours out. They are really creative and super super nice!

http://www.babygracephotography.com/

Shawn's Birthday Trip to Metropolis

This past Sunday, July 12, was Shawn's 26th Birthday.

I made him a sweet birthday cake (if I do say so myself). He liked it anyway, so I guess that's all that matters!

We wanted to do something fun and special for Shawn's birthday, so we decided to take a 2 day trip to Metropolis, IL. Shawn has been wanting to go there so quite awhile, so we finally made the journey down to the very bottom of the state of Illinois. The town is right on the Ohio River just bordering Paducah, KY. They have a Superman Festival every year in June, but we've never been able to go for that. There is a Superman Museum though and other Superman attractions, so we headed down Saturday morning after breakfast with Dad, Ana & Niko. It is a 6 hour drive!!! We decided to stay at a bed & breakfast in town. It is called the Summers Riverview Mansion.

The bed & breakfast had 5 rooms. All of them were really nice! We were in the Sweet Dreams room :) Our room had a canopy bed and the bathroom had a claw footed tub! There was also a huge tub with jets in each room too! I had the best, relaxing bubble bath on Sunday night!! Nice! The people who ran the B&B were really nice and we had a really nice stay! So much more relaxing than a hotel.

The Massac County Court House is in Metroplis and they have a large Superman Statue in the town square. As you can see, he's pretty tall! The town also has 2 musems. The Americana Hollywood Museum and the Super Museum. The Americana Hollywood Museum has all kinds of stuff about comic and Superman but also movie stuff too. There was a big section about Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider stuff mostly) and Elvis, James Dean, Pamela Anderson (costumes she's worn in her movies...I didn't even know she was in movies!), etc. It had a ton of stuff. Was pretty neat to look though. There was also the Super Museum which was basically the history of Superman from comics through the movies. There was actual props and costumes from the movies and old TV shows plus tons of stuff you could have bought over the years. It was really neat to see the kind of Superman toys and stuff that was for sale back in the 50's as compared to now!

There was a piece of "Kryptonite" in town. Shawn is demonstrating the way Clark/Superman is hurt by it!

We went to a restaurant/bar in Metropolis called Willy Jak's. They actually had Keystone Light on tap for only $2 a glass! And that is a big glass too! We hit the jackpot!

Here is me in a Wonder Woman cape I wanted to steal! Seriously...If anyone knows where I can buy one of these I want it!

Superman's tombstone at the Super Museum.

Shawn (a.k.a. Superman) is peeking out of the phonebooth for the trouble before suiting up!

Sunday night after a busy couple of days we decided to go out for dinner to celebrate Shawn's birthday. Shawn chose Red Lobster (more than anything else because he wanted to make my little bro jealous!). It was delicious though. We had to go into Paducah for dinner, but that was kinda neat too. Except we were gonna get a bottle of wine of the way back to the B&B and discovered that like Indiana, you can't buy alcohol on Sunday in Kentucky either! Stupid states! We had gotten so used to being able to buy it whenever we want in Chicago! Geez! Way to ruin the end of the night stupid law!

So, we made it home today around 3:30pm and it was a fantastic trip! It really made us look forward even more to our honeymoon trip to Ireland (which is coming up in 2 months!!).

2 months to go!

Two months until the wedding!!

We are so so excited! The invitations have been sent out...all is almost ready! We just got home from dance class and things are going well. We just need to keep practicing but our instructor says we're doing really well. We really are enjoying it. Shawn liked tonight's class because we learned the dip for the end of the dance. He wants to spin me and whip me around...but he can't! Our dance is going to be really good, I think!

This coming weekend is Shawn's birthday trip to Metropolis, Illinois. We're really excited about that too. I like Shawn's birthdays because then he seems closer to me in age for a few months! haha! We'll have lots of pictures of our weekend early next week.