The Big Move

We are currently 17 days away from the wedding! I can't believe it, the time has gone so fast! We got news last week that Brent will be able to move up here before the wedding. He has applied for a police officer position with Waseca a few months ago and we have patiently been waiting for the job offer (after 2 interviews and an extensive background check), Brent was in the top 3. He got the call from the Waseca Chief of Police on May 25th. He was runner up for the full-time position, but they were offering him the part-time position. He decided to accept the part-time position because it will average to 32 hours a week with pretty decent pay, benefits and paid time off. We are hoping that his taking this job will help him get his foot in the door and hopefully get a full-time position in the near future (Waseca thinks they will hire full-time again in 4-6 months). We are just grateful that he will be able to move in before the wedding and we don't have to worry about a long-distance marriage!

So, I will be heading down to Iowa this weekend while Brent works, I will be packing up his house! Then, next weekend we will be moving his stuff up here (I really need to make some room for his stuff - I can't believe how 1 person can fill up a 4 bedroom house)! His last day of work in Hampton will be June 24th. 

Brent has been up here this week to take his psych test in Minneapolis (which took 4 hours) and a physical at the clinic in town. His anticipated start date in June 29th, but he has to talk to them yet to determine if they want him to work a week and then take a week off for our honeymoon, or if they just want him to wait to start until after we get back.

I'm looking forward to finally being able to be with him everyday (although, I'm sure there will be an adjustment period, we are both used to living by ourselves). Can't wait!!

Bachelorette Party

I'm a little behind on posting about my bachelorette party, but better late than never right?! My bachelorette party was held on May 23 and was hosted by my personal attendant Elizabeth and and good friend Rachel. We started out at The Tav on the Ave in Mankato where we just hung out and talked and drank! I love the "Blue Whale" drinks at the Tav and managed to drink 2 of them (they are huge), but they were out of whales, so no whale souvenir for me. :(

The girls had ordered appetizers for everyone to share and boy, did we pig out! It was yummy! Oh, and I should also mention that the girls had put together this WONDERFUL table filled with all kinds of pink-goodness! Pink table cloths, pink festooning, pink napkins, pink flowers - everything pink! I loved it! Rachel also made her awesome hostess cupcakes with pink filling and marked with a "B".

After devouring the food, it was time to open gifts. This was also a lingerie shower, so I got all kinds of cute and sexy lingerie - I'm sure Brent will love it all! I also got a sash to wear around town that night that said "The Future Mrs. Brass" as well as a badge that said "pecker inspector" pretty clever! Oh, and I also had a "Bride to Be" sparkly tiara to wear - I was all decked out.

After spending time at the Tav, we decided to head downtown Mankato. I haven't been to the bars in Mankato in forever and a new bar called the Hazard opened up recently, so we started there. The place was decorated pretty cool - lot's of western decor, but I wouldn't call it a country bar. The girls decided I needed to loosen up and have some shots (and so did some random guy at the bar), so I managed to take 5 shots! I can't even tell you the last time I had a shot. After hanging out a the Hazard for a while, we headed to South Street. We were expecting it to be packed like usual, but it was pretty dead. But, I managed to do one more shot while we were there. I thought I was doing pretty good holding all my liquor, when it suddenly hit me and I was feeling quite tipsy!

We then headed to Mums for a little while and then to the Haze to do some dancing! We decided to call it a night around 1:30. My soon-to-be sister-in-law was nice enough to haul my butt home to Waseca (Thanks Kristy)! I had to get up fairly early the next morning as I was planning on attending a friend's baby shower the next day back in Mankato. I think everyone was surprised at how well I was feeling the next day (so was I), but the next day was a different story! Seems like all of the next week, I was paying for my one night out of fun. Oh well, I had an awesome time with all of my awesome friends!!

The table decked out in pink

Me and my Blue Whale drink, minus the whale.

All the girls who spent the night out with me!
(L-R: Rachel, Karina, Paige, Shanna, Kim, Me, Nicole, Elizabeth, Connie, Kristy)
Can you believe that 2 of these girls are pregnant? Such troopers!

Bridal Shower #2

I had my second bridal shower on Sunday, May 17th. My sister, Jennifer (also my matron of honor) hosted it at her house. It was a Mary Kay shower, so guest's were invited to purchase items for me to wear for the wedding, or to bring me another gift if they chose. It was so much fun! This shower was for my side of the family, which is not very many people. Since I am the youngest child in my family, I don't have a lot of close relatives - heck, my 2nd cousins are closer to my age than my first cousins are! However, 3 of my cousins from Iowa came as well as all my bridesmaids.

We played 2 games. The first was about me. I had to leave the room and everyone had to answer questions about what I was wearing that day as well as other questions about me! Kim was the winner of that one! The 2nd game was a board filled with pictures of me from ages 6 months to current and everyone had to guess how old I was in each picture. This was a tough one! The winner of this one was my cousin Ann.

After that, I applied makeup to see which colors I wanted to wear for the big day! The other girls took turns playing and sampling the makeup. It's just like when you're little playing with mom's makeup! Everyone was so generous and I was able to get everything I wanted and more for the wedding day!

Me with 2 of my bridesmaids - Megan and Kim


My other 2 bridesmaids - Maria and Jennifer


Me and my mom!

Bridal Shower #1

I had my first bridal shower this past weekend in Rockwell, IA with Brent's family. It started at 10:00 and was just a "come and go" shower until 11:30. Pretty casual, but fun! My mom took pictures with her camera, so I have to get them from her. I just have a few images of all our loot that I had to haul home (we managed to get it all in my 2-door car even with Maggie in the back seat!), as well as my corsage and the flowers Brent brought me at the end of the shower. Yes, Brent walked in at the end of the shower with a dozen pink roses for me. All the ladies went "Awwwwwwe"! It was pretty cute! I have to get busy writing thank you notes now!

All of our gifts that I'm not allowed to use until Brent moves in!

My pink corsage!


The pink roses Brent brought to me at the shower.

I also had my first dress fitting May 2nd at Mestads in Rochester. I was a bit nervous about how it was going to fit since when she measured me she said I was in between 2 sizes and she ordered the smaller size! It fit pretty good, but the sides did need to be let out just a bit. Also had to get it bustled. The total came to over $200 in alterations and I didn't even have that much that needed to be done. They always get you some way!

I have my second bridal shower this Sunday with a few of my family members (I don't have much for an extended family) and my bridesmaids. It's going to be a Mary Kay shower so I can get some new makeup for the wedding!

I can't believe the wedding is less than 7 weeks away (46 days)! We are feeling pretty good about having everything done. We really don't have much on the list left.

The one thing we are waiting for is to hear about a job for Brent. He has had 2 interviews with the Owatonna Police Department as well as the Waseca Police Department within the last month. Either job would be wonderful as we would still be able to live in Waseca and wouldn't have to try and move right away. I am saying a prayer every spare chance I get that one of these positions works out! It would be wonderful if we could get him moved up here before the wedding. We did spend a little bit of time packing at his house last weekend in anticipation of good news. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Wedding invitations were mailed out last Monday and it has been so much fun receiving RSVP's in the mail everyday!

Dress!

Just got a letter today that my Wedding Dress is in! YAY!!  I have an appointment for May 2nd for my first fitting - hope it fits, it's been a rough winter! :)

Wedding Update

Even though I was helping my mom for most of my furlough, I did manage to get some wedding things done as well.

On Monday, Brent took the day off from work so we could head to Mankato to get some things done.

1. We met with the Pastor and went over our PREPARE inventory with him. Although, there weren't any surprises for me, it was pretty interesting and it gives us some things to think about as we count down the days to the wedding.

2. We met with the wedding coordinator at the Holiday Inn. We got a lot things for the reception figured out and need to schedule a taste test sometime, though I'm not sure when since almost every weekend from now until the wedding has something going on! Oh - and the best part - I locked my keys in my car right before our appointment. So, that was $35 down the drain!

3. We went down and applied for our marriage license. Since we had the meeting with the Pastor, that saved us $75 (well, $40 since I spent $35 getting my car open - ha!)

4. We met with the organist and soloist who will be playing/singing at the wedding. We have our songs all picked out. It was so fun to hear them played. I think Brent got a bit nervous hearing the processional song being played in church!

5. We ordered the memorial bouquet for the ceremony.

Whew - Monday was a big day for checking things off of the to-do list!

While at my mom's this week, I worked on the boutonnieres and corsages. I mostly tried to work on them while mom was napping. I was able to finish them today.

Last night, we booked our flight for our Honeymoon. Brent's cousin owns a beach house on the New Jersey shore near Atlantic City, and he is letting us stay there. We are planning on leaving July 5th and coming home July 10th. We are both really looking forward to it!

The Boutonnieres / Corsages

Mens / Womens

Furlough

This past week was my furlough from work - a week off from work - yay! But, without pay - boo!  The original plan for this week was for my mom and I to work on wedding stuff (like the boutonnieres and corsages and addressing the invites). However, God had another plan.

My mom retired at the end of January and was loving it - until the second week. She started having a lot of back pain. None of us really thought much of it because my mom has had back troubles in the past and it always gets better. But, this time was different. After over a month of pain without any improvement, she finally decided to go to the doctor. She had an MRI and on March 18th we found out that she had a tumor in her back. It was very shocking for all of us, not to mention scary. We didn't know what to expect and the worst thoughts go through your head. She had an appointment with a neurosurgeon in Rochester on the 19th. The doctor originally wanted to wait to do surgery until April 7th, but my mom insisted that was too far away and something needed to be done asap as she was in so much pain. They scheduled the surgery for March 26th. 

On March 23rd, mom went to the Owatonna hospital by ambulance because she couldn't handle the pain at home anymore. They kept her there for pain management until the day before her surgery. Then, they took her by ambulance to Rochester to get her ready for surgery.

March 26th was a long day. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am. Mom was taken into prep at 6:30. Her surgery started at 9:10 and ended at 1:30. We didn't get to see her until about 4:00. It is really tough to see your mom in so much pain. However, the good news was that they were able to completely remove the tumor and it was benign. Mom was also able to wiggle her toes and move her legs! 

The recovery from surgery, wasn't so smooth. Mom was in quite a bit of pain from the surgery and was on a lot of pain medication. However, our family doesn't tolerate pain medication very well and a lot of complications came about. Mom ended up staying in Rochester until April 1st. 

I went to Owatonna the day she came home to help take care of her. My stepdad was there as well, but he has a bad knee, so it was a challenge for him to do everything by himself. I stayed over at my mom's house all week and it was great to see her improving a little bit each day. She's using a walker to get around, but I'm confident that won't last long! 

I'm thankful that I was able to be there to help her out. It's amazing how things work out sometimes. Now, we just need to get her all back to normal - hopefully better than before since this tumor has probably been causing her trouble for a LONG time! We only have 84 days until the wedding!!