Woah there, killer!

I have to share this story from yesterday. I get this text from Jon while I was grocery shopping after work and I couldn't stop laughing:

'New motivation: effin gorgeous muscle man that works at the gym...mmmmm...mmm...yum!'

This was some girl's status on facebook, and when Jon saw it, his reaction was "maybe I should get a new job.."

Apparently one of the guys that Jon works with is friends with this girl on facebook, and he noticed that this was her status, and pointed it out to Jon. Later that night, the girl came into the gym! Jon said that she was doing a lot of staring. The best part is that I know exactly who this girl is...she's in Drew's grade and we used to play together at recess in elementary school!

Settle down, girlie, this "yummy muscle man" has a WIFE!

UPBC

I got the chance to drive to the UP with my mom this past weekend to get Drew from camp. He worked there for 2 months this summer...I'm jealous! It was a gorgeous drive. My mom and I stopped a few times on the way up, once to visit her friend's mom, and once to swim in Lake Michigan once we got over the bridge. We got to camp in time to watch the festivities that happen on the last night of family camp. We enjoyed a delicious camp meal and got to sleep in one of the cabins, just like old times! It was so amazing to be up there. It definitely didn't feel like it had been 4 years since I'd been there last. The best part was that our friends, the Neals, were there. Their oldest daughter and I met when we were about 10 I think, and our families have gone to family camp together many times since. It was so great to see them and catch up. I felt so uplifted and encouraged being up there and talking to people I hadn't seen in a long time. I got to see some friends that I was on staff with and we walked and looked at the new retreat center that's being built. It's crazy how many great things are happening up there. We stayed the night at camp and left the next morning to bring Drew and his friend home. We stopped again at Lake Michigan and swam for a little bit. It could not have been a more beautiful day. It was so hot and humid up there though! I couldn't believe it. I'm hoping to convince Jon to go to family camp or at least work up there for a week next summer.

My mom, sitting on the dunes by Lake Michigan

Mackinaw Bridge

Lake Michigan

The camp sign! Always so exciting to pull into camp after a long drive.


Drew, me and the Neal kids. Last time we saw them, the 3 younger ones (on the left) were shorter than me!

Briana and me.


The morning we left, right as the sun was rising behind the trees.

The staff boys dressed up like safari animals. Drew painted himself gray and was a wolf that ate the zebras.

Canoeing with my mom.

Honeymoon Pictures

Here are some pictures of our honeymoon. I put Jon in charge of picking the place and surprising me...let's just say it didn't really stay a surprise for long, but at least I didn't know the exact resort we were going to be staying at. He did a great job! We went to a brand-new resort between Cancun and Riviera Maya and it was so beautiful. There was hardly anyone there and we spent most the time just laying by the pool or swimming in the ocean.


Here we are on the boat before going snorkling. It was quite an experience. They gave me a child's lifejacket and that didn't work out too well. Jon had fun though!





Dinner at the Asian themed restaurant.


Dressed up before dinner.

Dinner the last night on the lawn.

Again, dressed up before dinner on our balcony

The beautiful ocean

Sitting on the edge of the pool.

This is pretty much what we did the entire time. So nice to relax and get a TAN!

I miss this so much. All we ever do is talk about going back. Someday.

Our first day there, while we were exploring.

Jon loved swimming in the ocean.

One Year!

This past Sunday, Jon and I celebrated our one year anniversary! Wow...a year FLEW by. I can't believe it. I realized that when I started blogging, I never wrote about our wedding...so get ready for some pictures! I thought I'd start from the beginning of our story...





Jon and I met our freshman year at CMU in 2006. My best guy friend Greg and I went to school pretty much only knowing each other. We quickly made friends with a guy, Nick, and his roommates that lived in the same dorm as Greg and we all started hanging out a lot. Nick had happened to go to a leadership camp over the summer with a guy named Monty, so we all got together with Monty and his roommates to tailgate before the first home football game. Jon happened to be one of Monty's roommates, so we were introduced that day, but there were so many people hanging out with us that I don't really remember meeting him specifically. Since we had a lot of mutual friends (one of his other roommates went to high school with one of my roommates, so that was another connection), we ended up seeing each other a few more times before we actually started talking. I remember thinking he was cute, but I was too shy to talk to him. Finally, in November that year, I got an IM (yeah...I know, back when people still used AIM) from a guy named Jon. It took me a few minutes to remember who he was. We ended up talking for a long time and clicked right away. There was a big Thanksgiving dinner in our cafeteria (our dorms were connected) and we decided to get all of our roommates together to go, since everyone knew each other except Jon and I. After that, we hung out all the time and started dating in December. We had to do the long-distance thing right off the bat, since we didn't see each other over the long Christmas break. After our first semester of our sophomore year, we both decided to move back to our respective homes since we couldn't afford school anymore. He lived 4 hours away, in the UP. After 2 1/2 years, one failed attempt to have Jon live down near me, many hours spent driving to visit each other, a few months of talking about getting engaged, and a few almost break-ups, he proposed on May 15 2009. We knew we didn't want to do the whole long-distance thing for another year, so we decided to make it a super quick engagement and get married that August. It was very stressful and hard, but we did it and got married on August 15, 2009...3 months exactly after getting engaged. We definitely couldn't have pulled it off without my mom. She was amazing and basically did everything with a lot of help from friends and relatives.


Here are some pictures, not in any specific order.



Me and my beautiful mama





Cutting the cake. I made him promise not to smash it in my face, cause I'm no fun like that.






Our first dance..."The Luckiest" by Ben Folds




Me and my gorgeous bridesmaids, Tess, Catie, Katie, and Annmarie




Right after the ceremony

You may kiss the bride!

Instead of lighting a unity candle, we did sand.

My daddy walking me down the aisle.

Hanging out before the wedding.

Daddy-daughter dance.

Everyone in our wedding party. They were all so fun.

And again

Taking pictures in front of the ugly fireplace. Ha!

Jon and his guys and my dad

My and my brother and sister.

Me with the girls/leaders from our group at church. Most of us were together since we were little.

Summer 2010

Well, it's been quite a while since I blogged last. I'm feeling "bloggy" (pretend that's a word) today. So, here's what we've been up to this summer...

For my birthday in May, I wanted to go to the zoo, so we did. It was super hot so not many animals were out, but it was still really fun. One of my favorite things there is the butterfly house.

After the zoo, we got Oberweiss and then went out to dinner with our friends Megan and Aaron. After that, we went shopping at the mall and I got a bunch of new clothes! Talk about a perfect day.

At the end of June, we went up north to visit Jon's friend Cody. His wonderful girlfriend Teresa was up for the weekend also. Cody lives on an island and it is so beautiful up there. We spent time boating, swimming, grilling out, having bonfires, and enjoying the U.P. We also got to spend time with Cody's parents. We just love them. We were able to stop by and say hi to Jon's parents on the way home.

Here we are sitting around the campfire

Swimming by the boat house.

Here are the 4 of us on top of the skydeck.

Jon and Cody having fun on the jet ski

Jon and I watched the Clarkston fireworks on the 4th of July with Meg and Aaron.

Here we are at my cousin's half-sweet-sixteen birthday party at Halfmoon lake. It was a gorgeous day.

I got to watch Jon waterski, which I'd never see him do before. That was so cool. Even though he said it's been a few years since he's done it, he did really well.

One day I was just out driving around, and I ended up on a dirt road. I wanted to show Jon because it was so beautiful, so we went back and I brought my camera this time.

Other things that have happened this summer:

-My best friend, Katie, got engaged!!! I am so incredibly happy for her and Steve. I am going to be in her wedding in December and I can't wait!

-One of my childhood friends, Bethany, got married in the beginning of July. She was beautiful, the wedding was beautiful, and the weather was beautiful. I got to catch up with friends from church and saw some old acquaintances from high school. It was weird to think about how it's been 4 years since I'd last seen them (the high school people, not the church ones).

-I've finished 3 (soon to be 4) more classes! I'm so ready to have a break from school...

-Jon is still working at the gym. He was offered a promotion, but turned it down because it would have meant crazy hours and no time with me :(

-We got new windows in our apartment. I realize this isn't very exciting to most people, but we are really looking forward to not having wind blowing through our closed windows this winter!

-Our dog has taken a liking to the water all of a sudden. After walking him one day, we went down to the lake and he walked right in and attempted to swim. He mostly just sinks. He'd probably drown if we let him.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer because:

1. I'm going up to UPBC with my mom this weekend to bring my brother (and all his stuff) home!!! I am sooo excited since I miss that place like crazy and I haven't been up there in about 5 years. It is a little bittersweet that we're getting Drew, because less than a week after he comes home, he's leaving to go to school in Washington and who knows when we'll see him next :( But I'm super excited for him.

2. Jon and I are celebrating our 1 year anniversary this weekend also. Well, we're going to celebrate for real when we go away for a weekend in September, but we'll do something to celebrate the actual day also. I've left that part up to Jon...so stay tuned to hear about what he planned.

3. The Dream Cruise and Arts, Beats, & Eats are coming up.