hello lover.

Our favorite couple is getting married! (9.25.10) .....
and these fabulous shoes get to accompany me down the aisle. 
I can not wait to spend a beautiful weekend with the Schroeder's and all their gorgeous wedding guests! 

It's official.

885 East Drive is on the market.

Officially.

Bella is not sure how she feels about this situation. The k-word (kennel) has been brought up in a few conversations as a solution to her lodging when the house is being toured by prospective buyers.  When this whole experience is over we may have to have her treated for PTSD, but we will keep you posted.

Good Ole' Rocky Top (whoo!)\

trI hope everyone had an amazing Labor Day Holiday and summer closure (that is if you live anywhere but Texas). Can't wait to share what I did for the long weekend, but first...

...some pictures of those adorable children I was describing last time.

(Thanks Betty!)

I spent the weekend up in Tennessee and had a weekend full of fun, sun, food, family, music, and the color orange. I flew solo because unfortunately Matt took a literal interpretation of the word labor and worked ALL weekend long. That's right, you can now give a very sympathetic "ohhh" for my dear husband. 

But back to a more appropriate Labor day weekend...

This is where I spent a good portion of my weekend.

That's right, the office. I have been known to be a bit of a "workaholic".

Some of my "co-workers" joined me as well.

Our Captain and his first mate

It was absolutely gorgeous and so relaxing to spend the weekend on the water.

I also got to attend the season opener for the VOLS. I did a lot of singing... and was with approximately 100,000 of my closest friends from TN (including this guy). 

I also got to see a few new spots in Tennessee. Both my brother and sister have found a "home" of their own and I was very impressed with their casas.

(aly's got a chalkboard wall in her apt. This is a much better way of writing messages than the interpretation we had in college...overhead markers and the fridge)

Mom and Dad also have a new home/office. It's a beautiful new building and appears to be a lovely place to work. Personally I wish I had a bright colored trendy office to come to daily...

Since they're in the pet business, my dog (and I) gets the hook up. And as usual, I truly enjoy taking a look at the merchandise. 

And as for Bella, she appreciates the perks.

As you can see, I had a great time! SooOOoo great that I have spent the last few days thinking this...

love.

Matt and I are back from an amazing weekend full of friends, family, laughter, a lack of sleep, and a gorgeous occasion. We headed back to the Des Moines area to witness a dear friend tie the knot. In between the wedding festivities, we had the pleasure of spending some quality time with great friends and family. Let me preface: I did a terrible job of picture taking this weekend...

Mr. & Mrs. Gourley (officially)


Sunday we spent the day celebrating (and some may say recovering) five years of being uncle and aunt to 2 very adorable twins. My aunt skills were not in effect, therefore I have no pictures to share. But you can check out this adorable bunch here.
We have made some progress on the home front. The realtor has taken pictures and the documents are ready to be signed, so while we don't have a sign in the front yard indicating it yet, I think it's safe to say our home is for sale. And for those of you who care, No, we still have no clue when or where we are going... sounds like fun, huh? 
Bella celebrated a recent birthday (as I am sure you all were aware). Her birthday celebration was a little belated this year, but it appears her birthday gift was worth the wait. 

Our dog loves My Little Ponies. 

Seriously. The kind of love that involves her sleeping with the pony, carrying it around the house, and very happily retrieving it anytime she is asked, "Hey Bella, where's your pony?"
Yes, she is strange. But that's what we love about her. The kind of love that involves dedicating blog posts to updates on our dog. Someday when we are parents to a human, we may think we were a little obsessive. 

But right now, we are totally okay with it.

weddings. botox. progress.

Hello you beautiful (& few) blog followers.

A bit to catch up on...

weddings

Last weekend Matt and I traveled to Austin to see Justin get hitched. I can't tell you how excited we were to be able to drive to a wedding. Since our move south, we fly A LOT. So it was a nice change of pace to not worry about liquids, over packing, and a few of the other small stressors that go with flying. Needless to say, I brought quite a few dress options and more than enough shoes. We had such an amazing weekend!!! Anna and Justin's wedding was beautiful and it was so special to be a part of their big day. I remember when Justin informed Matt and I that he was "talking" to someone... Since then we have gotten to know Anna and watched Justin fall in love. There are an amazing couple and we are happy to invite Anna to this crazy group of loving friends.

It was an amazing weekend... Matt and I had so much fun catching up. I think I laughed all weekend long. Can't wait for a BYOH weekend sometime soon!
We also had the pleasure of seeing Matt's parents, hailing all the way from Iowa. It was so nice to spend some time with them and a nice change of pace to tell them, "See ya'll later!" since we will be on Iowa soil in a few weeks. 
Here are a few of the weekend highlights!

botox

NO. I did not get botox.

But, Kathleen reminded me of a very important nickname that was left out of Bella's birthday tribute. 

Meet Bella Botox - because she could really use some.

progress

We are making progress on Project: Sell 885 East Drive. We had the sweetest realtor help us buy this home and since she took such good care of us, we wanted her help again. She came by the house this week to take a look and prepare us for the next stage of this adventure... and lets just say, It's going to be an adventure. Once we sign the contract, this house if officially on the market.

random

One more very random thing. Today in the mail I got the Pottery Barn Kids Halloween Catalogue. Seriously. Matt and I are often telling people that we are not ready to start a family yet, but this magazine, makes me think twice (for about 2 minutes). Take a gander at what pulled at my heart-strings...

(the owl... oh my goodness! don't you just love the owl)

However, Saturday night Matt and I met some friends for some martinis. When we got home we began discussing how we hoped Bella stayed asleep all night and didn't need to go outside in the middle of the night. At this point we realized, Nope... we're still not ready.

b.

bella rose
bellaluna
stellaluna
bellanaughty
gorgy porgy
portabella
bellisimo
bella boxer baby
bellsabub
itsabella

our dog. our baby.

happy birthday bella.

No Words...

Long time, no blog.
I apologize in advance for my lack of words in this post, but I will make up for it with pictures. Lack of words, because there are no words. There is no way to put into the words the amazing weekend I had celebrating the beautiful, amazing, kind, and sweet Kathleen and her fabulous bridal shower/bachelorette party weekend. There are no words to describe what a luxury it was to be in the company of the best friends a girl could ask for. There are no words to describe the amazing food I ate, the smiles, the sights, and the laughter. So I won't try. I'll just show you.


My weekend started off with this...

she's a trip, and that's what she took down the steps to earn that shiner (Happy Birthday Casie!)



What's a slumber party without shoving three almost 30 year olds in a full size bed? Seriously.

The shiner after a make up job by the artist known as Kate.






(okay, seriously... Is that not the coolest cutting board you've ever laid eyes on?)