mike & lauren

Yea!! I am so excited to announce that my brother Mike, and his girlfriend Lauren are getting married! We love Lauren and are thrilled she will be part of the family soon!

They came to show Mom and Terry - Mike proposed in Boston on a trip with their good friends, Jack and Jody. It was a total surprise and how sweet of Jack and Jody to help with the logisitics! Jody took the ring on the plane to avoid any security mishaps and video taped the proposal/took pics. Love sweet friends like that!

Can you guys tell p drennan took this shot? I can hear it now, 'let's try to get down by this pretty flower! okay now turn your hand a little more...' LOVE her pretty ring - emerald cut - so classy!

Cute shoes, pretty nails and a gorgeous ring! I can't wait!! Think they are thinking beginning of next May.

Future father-in-law checking it out. Our parents are extremely happy!!

Mom making Lauren show off the ring - welcome to the family Lauren! You will have many more shots like this before it is all said and done! ;-)

weekend in wichita ;-)

So this past weekend was our first wedding shower in Wichita! It was also my family's first time to visit Kansas! They absolutely loved it thanks to the hospitality of the Buchanans and their sweet friends. We arrived to our hotel with a goodie bag in each room! It was a very special weekend we will never forget!

Dave and I on the Buchanan's front porch. Janie plants the most beautiful flowers!

Some of the girls before our delicious dinner!! Mom, Marianne, Me, Julie, Aunt Laura and Janie

This is me and Grayson (Little G) before dinner. He was showing me how is vacuum cleaner worked. He needs it outside to get all the poop up - so he told us. Ha! So cute!! Notice how Uncle Brett gelled his hair like Uncle Brett's.

Julie and I working on the salad. I LOVE this salad and want to learn how to make it - especially because Dave loves it so much!

Janie and Aunt Laura came up with the sweetest theme for the weekend, 'Planting the seed of love.' They incorporated the theme into the place settings and dessert! This was dessert - ice cream with crushed cookies in a pot...it was DELICIOUS and cute too!

Saturday morning, we had a ladies shower. It was SO special. I must say, I am getting one amazing mother in law, because her friends were SO kind to me. We had a delicious lunch and fun time visiting together. They wanted to hear all about our story - so it was fun, when Dave arrived at the end, they all sat around to listen to our 'love story' as they called it. It was almost overwhelming how much they genuinely cared. Then we opened our gifts - a Kitchen Aid Mixer and our set of knives!! So fun!

Then I got to meet with the 'Plate Ladies'. A sweet, sweet time I will always remember. These are the women Janie has been in a Bible Study with for about 30 years. They always share with each new bride in their families about marriage and a specific verse that has helped them throughout their own marriage. It was so special to listen to these women tell me about their own marriages - struggles and blessings. Sweet Julie and Kristi also shared important verses and lessons from their marriages. Then they presented me with a beautiful Christmas plate with our names and 'established August 30, 2008.' It was so neat - on the back it had the ladies' names and their verses. I was just overwhelmed with the love they had shown for a girl they had just met. They were so kind to include my mom, sister, stepmom and grandmother in this intimate moment.

Saturday night was our couple's shower. Here is the younger group - Paige, Barry, Julie, Jerry, Carl, Sarah, Dave, Me, Kristi, Scott, Marianne and Norm. A very fun group!!

Terry, Mom and Me - Me blocking the KU for our house divided flag ;-)

Us being cheesy with our flag. Dave said I couldn't put a #1 because we didn't win a championship. I said, fine, I can put a gun's up!

This was such a cute shower - it was a tailgate party theme! For KU and Tech! These sweet KU fans gathered up all this Tech gear for the party. It was really cute and very sweet because this is serious KU country!

We got a very cool copper drink bin on an iron stand! It was so cool - not expected and really nice! They filled it with cute aprons and tons of grilling stuff! We can't wait to have everyone over to cook out!

Then we got a fire pit!! I am so excited about this gift!! My dad has one and I think they are SO COOL!! I can't wait for us to use it in the fall when it gets a little cooler outside!

Half of my sweet family - Terry, Dave, Me, Mom, Marianne and Norm. Thanks so much for coming up Norm!! Everyone loved you!

My other sweet half of the family - Norm, Marianne, Dad, Dave, Me, Karol and Nona. Love how Dad, Karol and Nona dressed in TTU colors!! So fitting!

My soon to be family!! Aunt Laura, Jerry, Julie, David, Me, Janie and Van (minus Grayson and Brett). Brett had a formal and since he missed his last one to be at our engagement, we let him skip this! But he was so sweet to drive in for dinner Friday night.

This is Me and Kristi - Scott's sweet wife. Scott and David have known each other since birth and Scott's parents hosted our shower at their home. It was such a special shower because after opening our gifts, all of the people in the room shared marital advice with David and I. We were so blessed with this advice...some funny, some serious. Well to my surprise, Kristi wrote it all down in a sweet card. A card, I will cherish forever. Thanks so much Kristi!! She was also a blessing throughout the whole day as she went through all of it 3 years ago when she married Scott. It was just fun to have her there to encourage me throughout the whole day.

This weekend was just amazing!! We were 'showered' with much more than gifts - although we loved them - but also love, encouragement and advice we will always cherish.

addison

chad and addison - two peas in a podSo I got the biggest treat of all times today after lunch. I arrived back at my desk after a wonderful lunch date with Dave to find new pictures of my sweet niece Addison. This past weekend she hung out with her Doc, Mia and Daddy. They had a great time as you can see. I am SO jealous I didn't get to see her.

Her other grandparents had her ready to go in Daddy's Girl gear. So cute!! She was SO excited to hang out with her Daddy...as you can see.

She is growing so fast! She already has her first teeth!! So her doctor has her on baby food - which she really enjoyed with Mia.

Then she got to play for the rest of the afternoon. She and Chad had a really good time in front of the mirrors!

And Mia has very fun hair to play with!! Love that leg kicked out. Such a happy baby! Her Doc is the best! They had a great time together - cracking each other up!Doc, Mia and Addison

Chad and Addison - checking each other out...clearly big fans of each other! ;-)

So sweet - love that baby girl!!

national champions

Well they did it! The Jayhawks pulled off a BIG win last night against Memphis for the National Championship title. Of course, David was way too nervous to go to San Antonio on Saturday for the Final Four game against UNC. We definitely didn't want to jinx it! So we had a watch party with my parents, Chad, Dan, Marissa and Brooke. They started off playing unbelievably well! It got pretty intense as UNC picked it up in the second half. But of course, KU picked right back up and secured themselves a spot in Monday's championship game. Everyone was so sweet to sport KU gear and cheer them on all night...well everyone except Marissa who learned when she didn't talk, KU did better. So sweet Marissa didn't say a word for the last 10 minutes of the game!

Jason, one of Dave's close friends, got us tickets from some unhappy UNC fans on Saturday night. So off to San Antonio we went on Sunday!

Love eating outside and think the River Walk is SO fun for that!

But clearly, we were there for more important things!

We had SO much fun with Dave's friends from KU: Dave, me, Amber, Jason, Ben, Lindsey and Andy. Before the game we went to a KU Pep Rally. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people there. The band and cheerleaders came...they played highlight videos.

Then, we walked to the Alamodome for the game with all of the other KU fans!

The whole experience was AWESOME! I am not going to lie, I was pretty nervous when Kansas was down by 8 with 2 minutes left...but they played SO smart and well! It obviously paid off! Mario Chalmers hit a 3 with 2 seconds left to send the game into OT! I wanted to hit the guy in front of us cheering for Memphis, 'shoot a 4 pointer! now just hold the ball for the last 5 minutes.' These people shouldn't be allowed in the championship games. But the score quieted him in the end! The Jayhawks looked great in OT - finishing the game 75-68 KU.

And the celebrating began!

It was the perfect night - filled with great company and a very memorable performance!

So glad we went and so excited for my happy jayhawk!

mr.405 update

Well after visiting with the management, I learned that mr. 405 decided to take his own life last weekend. While I am thankful there was no foul play involved (in other words, no need for continued fear), I am always deeply saddened when someone does this. I don't know why he might have felt the need to do this, but my heart and prayers continue to go out to him and his family.

Please also keep Miss 406 in your thoughts, as she is having a hard time understandably.

up and coming in fort worth

Dave was recognized with 12 other men in Fort Worth as Up and Coming Guys by Fort Worth Business Press' Men's Magazine!! Now, he is horrified that I would tell everyone, but it is quite an accomplishment - especially since the other men are between 32 and 41 years old!

I am so blessed to be engaged to a person with such integrity and character. Oh and ha! He swears he told them pub and not club...but I don't know...

Way to go sweetheart! This was very much deserved!

mr. 405

Okay, well I start this post in kind of a somber mood. I wanted to give fun updates on this blog, but I find myself completely consumed with curiosity, sadness and a little fear.

At around 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon, David came by to say hi before a meeting downtown. (I was working from home yesterday). When he came in the door, he asked if I had seen the cops, men in suits and security guys on my floor. He said there was a Crime Scene truck out front with several cop cars. I had not seen any of this. He said he thought someone had probable died because everyone was speaking very softly in the hall. Yikes!

So we went out there and Dave asked them if everything was okay - to which the men quietly said, 'everything is fine, everything is fine.' So we went back inside my apt. Dave left and then came back after work. I left to go to Target and when I came back, the men were still there (7 pm) and the door to Apt 405 was cracked. (I live in 403). As I went to unlock my door, I heard what sounded like something rolling...and my curiosity got the best of me, I looked up to see a body bag on a stretcher being rolled out of 405 towards the elevator. It was the most unsettling feeling I have ever had.

I decided not to stay the night in my apartment and when I got home this morning to meet Patricia (my cleaning lady), everything seemed normal. Until just now, Patricia called me when she left because the parking lot attendant told her someone was killed there yesterday! okay super yikes!! I have since called my apartment management and am waiting for them to return my call.

Some thoughts: Who was mr. 405? I have seen him in the hall and garage several times...seems to be a man in his 30s or early 40s. Other than that, I know nothing. What happened to mr. 405? In an age where we see so much violence, drugs and depression - my mind can only wonder. Or perhaps he was very ill. Who does know mr. 405? Where are his family and friends? Why did I have to be Miss 403?

As my mind continues to wonder, I continuously pray for mr. 405, his family and friends and the people investigating his death. It was quite obvious to me yesterday that the crime scene unit is not an area for me. I am shaken up by a quick glance and these people see it daily. I hope you will pray for mr. 405 and them too!

Will hopefully be able to update this...