Sunday Gun-day

Like a pro

Dee M., Assassin - She's a really good shot!

Erik and I spent Sunday with our friends Dee and Alvin. Erik and Alvin met 19 years ago by fate. Erik was on the school bus and began choking on a piece of candy. Alvin was running late for work and happened to pass. Erik was without oxygen for over 10 minutes, but Alvin never gave up. It is an amazingly powerful story and they have been in each others lives since.

We started our day with something both Erik and I grew up doing, but haven't done in awhile. We accompanied them to church. It was a non-denominational service which was very different from the Catholic services I grew up with. The core message was exactly the same, but it was nice to see it delivered in a different way. 

After church and some amazing grilled chicken, we set up the targets and got out the handguns. I grew up in a hunting household so I've shot rifles and shotguns, but never handguns. I was nervous I was going to be one of those girls you see on YouTube that punches themselves in the face because of the kick-back. They started me off on the smallest caliber, and with a bit of coaching I did pretty good. Even with the larger guns I had a tight-ish shot cluster. Erik was impressed and Alvin, who used to be in law enforcement, said I did better than some cops he's seen!

We had a blast and this Sunday will go down in the record books!

Wordless Wednesday

BABY!

Kathie's baby has finally arrived! I tell you what, at only 24 hours old he's already pretty handsome. This little boy is going to be a ladies man! But seriously, he is unbelievably precious and has two of the greatest people looking out for him.

Congrats Sam and Kathie!

Wedding Weekend

photo courtesy of Amanda West via Facebook

So the wedding was so much fun! Abby was gorgeous and Brent looked pretty handsome too! I was blown away by her dress! It was amazing tiered layers of lace and she looked stunning! The bridesmaids dresses were pretty perfect too - they were blue floral patterned and strapless.

Both the ceremony and reception were in such beautiful venues. I was constantly looking around going 'wow'. And the food was awesome - I ate way too much! They did such a nice job of making everything enjoyable for us. It was great to get together with everyone and it was truly special to see how much Abby and Brent love eachother!

My new dress!

It got a little warm - thank goodness there was a piece of loose ribbon in the centerpiece!

I am one lucky girl! On Sunday, I got to nurse my hangover on Dane and Jenny's boat! I've never been boating before and I had a blast! I'm not a swimmer and I'm a super pansy, so I was hesitant to hop in the water without being able to touch the bottom. With the assistance of a floaty, I finally jumped in, and it was so worth it! A fish did jump on my back which caused a small panic episode, but don't worry, I eventually pulled it back together. 

Erik left on Sunday to drive for a RAGBRAI team. RAGBRAI is a huge week long bike ride across the state of Iowa where you start with your back wheel in the Missouri River and dip your front tire in the Mississippi at the end. It has become so big, that Lance Armstrong has even made a point of riding for the last several years. Both Bosley and I miss Erik terribly right now!

Cuddling with daddy after the wedding

Wordless Wednesday

Mommy came home for lunch to see me since Daddy is gone at RAGBRAI

Semi-lazy Saturdays

Last Saturday was the slowest it's been in awhile. For the last month or so, every time Saturday rolled around it felt like we were trying to fit the whole week into that 24 hours. But not this day. I had a baby shower to go to on the evening but I was determined to do as little as possible before hand. So I set about doing my new found love - crafting. More specifically, card making. 

I needed a card for the parents to be and I had two friends that celebrated their birthdays easier that week. I casually and all relaxed-like went and got good old construction paper. Am I the only one that really enjoys the sound and feeling of the first cut into a fresh piece of construction paper?

The mommy-to-be can be a bit of an insomniac so as the shower gift a couple of us got together and got a bunch of stuff to help the baby sleep - an ambient noise machine, lavender baby soaps and lotion, etc. To keep the theme I made a little moon out of paper punches. I had seen people use layers of buttons to make animals on pinterest so I figured I could get a similar effect with the punches.

Pinterest also provided me with a tutorial for a lovely origami dress. This took a couple of tries. This was for Kathie's birthday - whose due date was yesterday!!!! It could literally be any moment now!

This little lollie for Chauncy, is just a series of circles. Turns out the Asprin lid was a perfect template.Who needs a fancy paper punch or Cricut?

While mommy was relaxing/crafting, the little fluffy one was hard at work trying to nap and protect his red squeaky bone or his mini teddy at the same time.

This Saturday we have Abby and Brent's wedding. Finally! Hers was the bridal shower I went to awhile back. I'm super excited to celebrate with them - so excited I got a new dress! What?! I know! Awesome, right?

I have been insanely bad about taking pictures of my adventures this summer and even worse about actually posting the ones I have taken, but I just got an iPhone with a super awesome camera so I have no excuses now. I WILL be posting lots of super awesome photos of the beautiful bride and groom...and my new dress of course.

Panda-monium!!!!

Life has been a little crazy lately so I apologize for falling off the face of the earth! I promise to have a real new post soon but in the meantime, here is a really cute photo of pandas!

Liebster Award

I am finally getting around to passing on the wonderful Liebster Award given to me by Betty the Bichon. 

First, here is a bit of background on the award:

"The origins of the Liebster Blog award are somewhat unclear but the general consensus is that it originated in Germany, Liebster meaning favourite or dearest, to showcase bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. Upon accepting the award the recipient can then pass it on to five more blogs of note. A way of introducing other bloggers to the blogs you enjoy."

Okay, the blogs I chose are ones I have really enjoyed following, so drum roll please...

The winners are:

1. Groucho the Wonder Westie

2. Pebbles the Puppy

3. Murphy and Stanley

4. Ziggy the Westie

5. A Pirate Dog and an Air Traffic Controller

Begging for a Beefy Treat

We got a special package today from a very special duo. Our friend Noodles recently celebrated his 500th post! As part of the celebration he let his buddy Sunshine take over the blog for a day and they held a caption contest. Well, I entered and got second! As our prize, Noodles and Sunshine sent us a wonderful bag of PureBites, and Bosley could not be happier! Thanks so much for the wonderful gift, Noodles and Sunshine!

We Went Wading

Yesterday we went out to the county park to play. Erik threw a line in the pond and Bosley went wading to cool off. Once he figured out that the water did not equal death, he had a really good time. 

Found a stick

Spotted a fish!

Oops, it got a little deep

Bosley would have walked all the way around the pond in the shallows if I would have let him - we went most of the way. He kept trying to pull in full sized logs! It was pretty funny. When I finally pulled him out, I had half of a completely different dog. I had half of my little white fluffy puppy and half of a scrawny little black one. 

Getting fully immersed in nature

Tasting the wonderful flavors of fishy water

After a very sudsy bath, Bosley reminded me that Father's day was coming up. I got out some of my crafting supplies and we set to work.

Getting ready to give daddy his card

I had a non-toxic rainbow ink pad that I had Bosley step on. The paw prints didn't come out really well so I free handed them a little.

Happy Father's Day, Erik! Bosley and I love you so much!

Acrobatic

What started off as a little puppy photo shoot, turned into an interesting display of flexibility and balance, as well as stubbornness....

Dad thought he could sit in the chair...well I'm not giving up my spot

Never give up! Never surrender!

Thirsty Thursday Happy Hour

The girls needed to get together. It had been far too long since I had seen Abba-Dabba. I was getting desperate. Plus, Dalyz is leaving for a two week trip to Texas, so she need the proper send off. Luckily our favorite spot, Red's Ale House, has an amazing happy hour and an even better patio. The drinks are two for one!

We loaded up on queso dip, balsamic chicken flatbread, some pretty fantastic loaded fries, and one of the most delicious looking steak dishes. Mmmmm, it was like food porn.

Wordless Wednesday

Welcoming Summer and Puppy Forts

Welcome mats are fun, but sometimes nothing says 'welcome to my home' quite like a beautiful wreath. My front entry has felt a bit bare so I wanted to add that bit of summery warmth.

I picked up a grapevine wreath and some wood letters today at Hobby Lobby. I spray painted the letters white and everything is attached with fishing line stolen from my pink Lady Fish rod. I already had the silk hydrangeas, the paint, and the line so the whole project cost $6!

Erik was at a softball game while I was getting crafty, and he was pleasantly surprised when he got home.

Bosley was a little preoccupied with the pillow fort I built him to care about the wreath.