The Royal Wedding

So, it's kind of disturbing how excited I am about the Royal Wedding! Really. It's right up there on the list behind my own wedding! I don't exactly know what it is, but I'm sure it's the 'celebrity' of it all. Everything is just done on such a grand scale and it has an 'unrealness' to it. I have nothing to even relate this type of event to, and I'm sure that's why I am so fascinated with it. It doesn't hurt that they are such a good looking couple either!

I mean, really, look at them! They are just so cute!

Now I will tell you that I am not a morning person., but you can bet I will have my alarm set for 4 a.m. on Friday morning to watch it all go down. I am still contemplating what channel I am going to watch it on. I've gotta figure out what station will have the most insight and the best coverage so I can know all there is to know about what's going on. I have been watching the whole Royal Wedding Week extravaganza on TLC since it started on Sunday, but I have to say I'll probably stick with NBC and let my favorites from the Today Show host the event for me.

In light of planning my own wedding and being consumed by all of my own details, I am very interested to see what Kate ends up wearing. It doesn't really matter what show your watching about the Royal Wedding, but everyone seems to be guessing what she's going to be wearing and who it's going to be designed by, what color the bridesmaids will wear, what flowers she'll be carrying, and what royal traditions they will go against while making this wedding a little more modern than royal weddings we've seen in the past. I know, though, that it will be amazing and beautiful no matter what the details end up being. I just hope I can keep my eyes open at 4 in the morning to watch the TV. This is just one downfall to not having DVR! 

It's crazy to imagine what the couple is thinking about on this day before their wedding. Even though they seem so much different than me, being royalty and all, I'm sure their emotions are somewhat similar to the same as I'll feel just a month from today! That makes me so much more excited for them, just being able to relate that tiny bit.

I do wish them the happiest of marriages and hope that this fairytale that we're all being forced to watch and hear about really does end up having a happy ending! (I'm sure they'll appreciate my well wishes!)

That's all for now!

I Wonder...

I wonder what the proper etiquette is for putting a smiley face inside parentheses when you are typing (in an informal message this is) There are times when I'm typing and want to say something quite witty, but I think it needs to be said as a sidenote inside a pair of parentheses... I just don't know what the 'right' way to do it is...

Do I just double up the closing parenthesis..? Ex. = (hardy har har :))
Do I use brackets...? Ex. = [chuckle chuckle :)]
Do I space between the smiley and the closing parenthesis..? Ex. = (BAHAHAHA :) )
Do I make the smile more exaggerated to differentiate between the smile and the parenthesis..? Ex. = (loud laughter =D)
Do I forget the smiley and just go with the standard "lol" and let the reader figure the rest out..? Ex. = (witty remark. lol)

Things like this seem to 'confuzzle' my mind on occasion, and I just continue to wonder... what is 'correct'?

April Showers Bring May Flowers... Literally!

And I mean literally because I just had a great bridal shower thrown for me last weekend and then, in May, comes our wedding, where there will be plenty of flowers! Get it? Good :)


Me with the hostesses, Staci and Melodie

Now that we are on the same page, I will tell you more about the shower. It was hosted by Trent's sister Melodie and his cousin Staci and held at Melodie's home. The decorations were homemade by Melodie and beautiful and the food was so amazing. They also had some activities planned for us all that were very fun and entertaining (I'm sure VERY entertaining for some - you will see why I say that). I feel very lucky to have been honored at this great bridal shower. Not only am I lucky enough to have my own wonderful family, the wonderfulness is now doubled, and I get the privilege to being joining Trent's amazing family as well. I definitely left the shower that day feeling very grateful for all that I have in my life! 

The shower started off by Melodie telling us what the first activity would be... she let me know that I would be making brownies for everyone for our dessert (WHAT?!?) and she had everything that I needed  to make the brownies EXCEPT the recipe. So I put on my apron and got to work attempting to make these brownies... Now I don't want to sound like I've never cooked before... I have made brownies plenty of times, and I woudl say I'm pretty good at it, too. But as I was standing behind the table looking at all my ingredients and I just couldn't think of what I needed to use. I was so helpless! How frustrating :) My Grandma Kock was there watching me, and she kept giving me the look like "Come on, Kendra, you know what to do!" and this woudl have been a perfect opportunity to really make her proud because she's the one who taught me how to make the brownies I've always made and who give me the majority of my cooking tips. And when she cooks, she doesn't even use a recipe, so this was like her comfort zone! Thankfully, my grandma always wants what's best for me and was willing to help me cheat a little :) She would mouth the words to me and when people would ask questions to lead me into things, she would hold up fingers as to how many of something I needed or if I needed more or less of something. What a great grandma! Sadly, even with her help I didn't come up with the best looking brownies. They did kind of look like brownies at least, but they were pretty thin and didn't taste 'normal'. If nothing else, my bridal shower has opened the door to me being more like my grandma and has started to break the chains of my recipe cards. Earlier this week I was making cookies (which I make frequently) and Trent told me that was a recipe I should know by heart too, and he's right. I'll get to work on that :)

After the brownies were safely in the oven, we moved on to the next game, a fun version of BINGO. (One of my favorites) Melodie had complied a bunch of facts about Trent and I, each corresponding to a number on people's Bingo cards. She would read the fact, not saying who it described, and everyone would hold up their sign (see picture at right - you will see my sign was beautifully decorated by Trent's niece, Taylor) saying whether they thought it was about Trent or myself. The facts were things such as: Favorite vegetable is green beans (Trent), Dislikes peanut butter (Kendra), Hates taking the trash out (Trent), Hates food left in the sink (Kendra), and Hates cleaning the toilet (Kendra). If you guessed correctly, you got to mark that number on the card. It was a lot of fun to see what people guessed were the correct facts about each of us.

  

Aww... Snuggle!!



The rest of the afternoon was filled with amazing food, visiting, and opening presents. Taylor even modeled her flower girl dress for us all and Trent showed up with his dad and brother-in-law. It was such a good day with people who love Trent and I and who made the day so much better just by being there.

Now, we're finishing all of the rest of the wedding details that need to be taken care of. My dress finally came in last week, and I am going to have my first fitting on Sunday. I am so excited to try it on again for the first time in seven months. I hope that it still has the same effect on me that it did the first time I had it on! Hopefully, it will be even better now that we are only 44 days away from THE DAY! I will leave you with a few more pictures of me with guests at the shower. I hope you enjoy!

Me with my Grandma Jons and Grandma Kock

With Trent's Grandma, Donna Lu

Trent's mom, Jan, myself, and my mom, Janine

Me with Taylor, the flower girl

Trent and I



Hair Comes the Bride

Two weeks ago, I had my first bridal shower. It was an amazing shower put together by my two aunts, Doreen and Barb, my sister, Kellsey, and my cousin, Jocelyn, who are also two of my bridesmaids. It was so fun, but yet so weird to be the bride and the center of attention at one of those things. It was so great to see all of the women from both sides of my family and friends from my church and community that came. It was a great feeling that that many people cared enough about me to show up to my shower. I know the hostesses put a lot of work into the shower and I hope they know how much I appreciated it and won’t forget it!

Last weekend, Trent and I started the process of preparing his apartment for me and all my clothes and things to move it, which will be happening in about 2 short months. We are trying to get ahead of the game and start moving things from my apartment to his that I won’t need now, and then hopefully it will be easier to move the rest of the stuff when the time comes without having to worry about all of the little things. So far I have moved my tub of purses and a tub of wrapping paper and things. I’d say I’d better get a move on! I just am having a hard time finding things that I can live without for 2 months ;) Trent went through his closets in his spare bedrooms and made it so all of his stuff fit into one of them, so I can have the other spare room’s closet for my things. We also moved one car load of things to our storage unit, which we like to call ‘My Parents’ House.” Aren’t they so the best?!

Every time that we do a little more ‘preparing’ for me to move in, I go through a wave of excitedness to get everything moved and in its place. It will be great to have the apartment feeling like ‘our’ place. It’s strange to think about though… At the end of May, I’m going to be living in my apartment like normal, and then I am going to go away for a weekend, and then I’ll come back to Omaha and BAM! I live somewhere different… and with a BOY!! Weird! :)

Last weekend, I also went to Des Moines to meet up with my cousin Tricia, at my cousin (her sister) Traci and her husband Derrick’s house. (Who looks very cute when she’s pregnant I might add!) Tricia will be doing mine and the bridesmaids’ hair for the wedding. We did a little run through of my hair style to see how it looked and if we liked it. At first, I couldn’t even tell her if I liked it or what I didn’t like about it because I was so shocked to see myself looking like I did, all done up and stuff. And then I got my veil on and things and it just made me so emotional and excited. It reminded me a lot of when I had my dress on for the first time. That was a very emotional time as well. To just imagine that I am going to be looking like that on my wedding day and to imagine Trent seeing me for the first time walking down the aisle like that, it all just brings tears to my eyes and makes me wish the next 65 days would just hurry up!

Speaking of my dress… Next week should be THE week when my dress comes in! FINALLY! I can’t wait to put it on again and see how it looks. It’s been 6 long months since I had it on and I hope it’s still makes me as happy as it did the first time I put it on! I’ll be anxiously waiting for the call!

And here's a picture from last Friday when Trent and I and Trent’s coworker made a trip to the court house in Council Bluffs to apply for our marriage license. Working on making it legal!! :) YAY!!

One for the Record Books

For the past two weeks, I have been meaning to write a few things about the Ar-We-Va Rockets basketball season and their week at the State Tournament. Time has just been flying by though. It is hard to believe that week was already that long ago. Where did that time go…? Well, I know where the week of the tournament went… how about in the record books!! :)

I cannot tell you how much fun it was to be a part of that week. As a lifelong (and a long life it’s been) fan and the coach’s daughter, I could not have been more proud to walk into that arena wearing an Ar-We-Va t-shirt. It was so fun to see how excited all the girls were and to see all the attention the whole team was getting from everyone. It truly was awesome to see them after each game and see the proud glow they all put off. They all knew that they were 100% deserving of where they were, and even though they were all very modest, they couldn’t hide the fact that they knew they were good!

I do have to admit that watching them play did make me a little jealous at times. Maybe jealous isn’t the right word, but it sure did bring up some memories. The thought crossed my mind a few times about what would have happened if my teams would have made it to State. I remembered the heartbreak my sophomore year when we lost to Hinton in a close game, and again my senior year when I fouled out of the game and had to watch the end of my last game from the bench. It’s one of those things, that makes you wonder, What if? But oh well :) It kind of made me laugh during the championship game this year, when the All Iowa Honor Drill Team came out for their patriotic dance before the game, because I looked at our girls standing in front of the bench during the National Anthem and then looked at the dancers on the floor… And being one of those dancers was the closest I ever got to being on that bench. But at least I’ve got that one! Some basketball players can’t even say that ;)

Overall, when I think about the Ar-We-Va girls’ basketball team, I’d have to say it makes me think of my dad the most. I am so happy that he finally got to coach at the State Tournament. He really deserves that, and I certainly hope that it isn’t the last time! My dad is so completely devoted to being a coach and genuinely loves it. If everyone could see all of the time and effort and thought that he puts into his coaching, I think everyone would gain a new understanding and respect for him. Some of my greatest memories from my senior year include sitting in the living room with my dad and watching game film and taking stats with him. It’s almost a given that you know my dad will be up until early in the morning most nights during basketball season because he is up studying AWV’s games or scouting other teams through watching their past games that he has recorded. My dad is so smart (don’t tell him I said that) and I am so proud to have him as an influence in my life. I just wish I would have realized how smart he was earlier in life, so I could have soaked up a little more while I was at home! I remember when I was in 5th or 6th grade, that I cried a few times before basketball games because I didn’t really want to play and in my first few years of high school, basketball was nowhere near the top of my favorite sports list. But in my one quick year of having my dad as my head coach, I gained a new appreciation for it all and he promptly made basketball my favorite. Thanks to him, when I think of basketball in my high school years, it brings up happy memories, it doesn’t bring up feelings of regret or dislike in the slightest. I know, because of that, I will be one of those old ladies that talks about her high school basketball career just like it was yesterday and will pretend like the people I’m talking to care in the slightest about what happened in 2006 when I was playing basketball.

This year’s team sure did create a lot of great memories that will make for a lot better stories when they are old than mine will. :) I really hope that this isn’t the last time we get to make three trips to Des Moines in a week! Although that made for an interesting work week, I would do it again… say… next year during the first week of March!

That's all for now!

GO ROCKETS!

Time goes by... So slowly...

We are three months and one week away from the wedding... It seems like I've been saying that it's three months away FOR.E.VER! Time felt like it was going by quickly for quite a while but now it feels like we've kind of hit a wall... But I guess, the time will come. Things have been getting done one at a time and everything has gone smoothly to this point. I really hope that it stays that way!

Ever since we've started planning the wedding, I have I spent a lot of time reading a wedding blog site, weddingbee.com. I love reading all of these brides', called 'Bees,' posts as they plan their weddings. They hash out all of their ideas and feelings as they are planning their weddings, they post DIY tutorials, and then, after their weddings, they post recaps of their weddings. They tell all about the days leading up to their weddings with all their pre-wedding events and then go through their wedding day events as well. They post their professional pictures and walk all of the readers through all the feelings they were feeling on their special day. They let us in on all of the secrets of what didn't go perfectly and what they would have done differently if they had the chance. I have gotten a lot of great ideas from reading the numerous brides' ideas and experiences and taken some of their how-to's and done them myself. I also have made lists of things that they would do differently if they could go back, so I can hopefully plan my day and avoid doing things 'wrong.' It is really interesting to read all the different people's posts because of the fact that they all come from such different backgrounds. None of them seem to be planning a 250 guest, small-town Iowa wedding, though :)

I got a call on Friday that all of my bridesmaids' dresses are in at the bridal shop. That makes me very excited! I can't wait to see them in the right color and all in the right sizes and on the girls. (Even though I probably won't really ever see them all in their dresses until the actual wedding day) They are going to look so great! :) It makes me smile just to think about them all standing up at the front of the church with Trent and I.

I had always known from the beginning of the planning that I was going to be making our flower girl, Trent's niece, Taylor's flower girl skirt. I'm sure you've all seen the tutus that are made out of tulle, well this is the same thing except a skirt and not a tutu. I actually made the skirt today and I like it, but I don't love it. I will be seeing her next weekend, so I'll have her try it on and hopefully that makes me love it. Otherwise I guess we'll have to go to Plan B. (first I guess we'll have to figure out what Plan B is...)

That's all for now!

Oh, one more thing..... GO ROCKETS!!!

Gametime, HUH!! (Manly noise...)

I'm pretty certain all of you received a blank post from me yesterday... That was a mistake due to my 'smart' phone not being so smart. It should know better than to post something that was blank... but oh well. At least I've got everyone's attention now.

This past weekend was a great one. I was supposed to spend the weekend in the Des Moines area with my cousins Traci and Tricia, as Tricia was going to do a trial run of my hair for the wedding. But, sadly, Tricia came down with the flu and really didn't feel like doing much at all, which I don't blame her at all!

I won't lie, I was kind of happy that my weekend plans were changed. It allowed for a lot more down time, and didn't require driving 4 hours on I-80. Instead, my Saturday consisted of some deep cleaning of my apartment. It was definitely time for that anyways. Especially since we were hosting a Super Bowl 'party' this weekend. Another reason I was happy that I got to stay home was because I got the opportunity to travel to Mapleton to see the Ar-We-Va girls play in the Conference Tournament championship game. Unfortunately, they lost, but it was still fun to be there and I'm glad I got to go.

Sunday was another fairly relaxing day. Trent and I went and worked out around noon and then when I got home, I did some final preparations for our little get together and started making some food. Now when I say 'little get together' I truly do mean that. It was just Lauren and I and our significant others at our apartment. But I like it that way, and it was nice to relax and watch the game (and the commercials). We just had typical game watching food. We had little smokies, some chips and dip, and pizza and Lauren made a veggie pizza (our 'healthy' alternative). ;)

At the beginning of the game, it seemed as though everyone was going for the Packers, but as the game went on, I let it slip that, deep down, I was really going for the Steelers. I don't know what it really was, but I think I just can't bring myself to cheer for a team that has Green and Gold as their colors... It's in my blood I guess. :)

I have to say I wasn't too impressed with the commercials this year. I don't really remember being impressed for the past few years either. There were a couple that I chuckled at and that we said were pretty good, but nothing really was AWESOME! The one that I remember the most is the Volkswagen commercial with the little guy in the Darth Vader costume. Talk about cute!!

I heard on the radio this past week that the day after the Super Bowl is one of the most missed days of work in the year and that millions of people call in sick. The radio personality then went on to say that, with that knowledge, we should just make the Monday after the Super Bowl a holiday... and I like that idea! :)

That's all for now!