1. al and i got engaged!!! (early march) which helps explain the lack of time for blogging. **below: one of my favorite engagement pics of us taken by THE gina zeidler. :]
2. i began wedding planning. let me preface the rest of this number by saying i am a planner and i generally LOVE to plan/organize. and i did really love most of it. however, i felt very alone in my planning. al helped where he could as did my mom (for some reason, i had a hard time sharing things with her. i think that was because i really wanted to do it how i/we wanted it and i was afraid she'd disapprove/dislike/maybe be disappointed by some of my decisions). i had a crazy busy schedule this summer with softball 3 + nights a week and crossfit 3-5 times a week plus a full time job (hadn't done that in a while). and so trying to meet with everyone, draw inspiration, keep a common theme going, bring in all the aspects i wanted to and create/decide on ALL the decorations myself was tough. along with the nagging in my head that i wanted to impress certain people and give them some things they'd truly be excited about; a lot of pressure that i put on myself. in the end tho, i'm incredibly happy with how everything i planned ended up. i can't wait to see all the pictures and see how it looked from another's view point. **below: here i am on one of the many weekends spent creating. i tried to do as much outside in the nice weather as i could.
3. i got a full time, "big girl" job. i started in april. i am doing accounting, mostly accounts payable. it is enjoyable at times, not so at others. i don't think it's where i'm meant to be to grow myself but i'm learning a lot and getting great experience. also a plus: full time job paychecks to help pay for the wedding (which we were able to pay off before the actual day!!!).
4. i changed and challenged my eating habits. this is still a developing thing but i've come a long way! i tried and succeeded at isagenix cleanses which required cleansing (ie no eating just drinking cleanse juice) for 2 days at a time; never thought i could do something like that. i also did a paleo challenge with my crossfit crew that helped change and mold new ways of thinking about eating for me. i learned a lot! eating just a salad for lunch in hopes of dropping weight and being healthy is just not an option for me anymore, especially when i want to grow stronger and better with crossfit 5 times a week. i now (try to) eat to fuel my body instead of eat for pleasure. and if i can fuel my body with something that tastes great, even better.
5. i got the priviledge to live with my mom and al. i have been living back home (for the 4th time; yes boomarang is the correct definition for our generation) for a while but al had been living elsewhere, either in eau claire or in savage with shane and jodi. in may, he moved in with us to help us save money and we took over the basement. i am unbelievably thankful for mom and this is just one of the many reasons why. to be able to save money, have her around to chat with and go places with me, and allowing her and al to get to know each other better is worth more then i could ever describe. living with al is so much easier on us too especially with our differing work and busy schedules.
6. i fell madly in love with crossfit. i've always known i love sports and working out and moving and grooving. :] i started crossfit in march of 2010 but i was only going once or twice a week for a long time. it was fun and it was good, but it wasn't "wetting my whistle," if you will. after i got my full time job, i had to go after work and thus meet more of the people. i have always loved my trainer, malia, and to get to meet the other folks who work out there has created a little crossfit family for me. then i amped up the number of times i was going each week to 5, had a blast watching the crossfit games at our box, found inspiration & motivation from my co-crossfitters and i was more determined then ever. the games had created a dream for me of getting to a place where i could possibly even think about trying out for the games. that and seeing the physical changes in my body and realizing i had the means and potential to get my ideal body, i was in whole hearted. i can't imagine ever not doing crossfit. i digress because otherwise i could go on and on. :)
7. softball is my lifeline in the summer. i got to grow closer to my softball friends, meet new ones, and get back in touch with some high school friends who played this year. getting to be outside, be active, have a beer or 2 and be surrounded by friends & people who love the same things has no comparison. i love it!!! i kind of wish i would have counted how many games i played this summer and fall because between my 3 teams, a few tournaments and subbing quite often, the number had to be pretty large.
8. i got to experience jury duty. full blog post on this experience to come. but let's just say getting on a jury for a 2 week trial a month before your wedding when you're already super indecisive is not recommended, although it was a great thing to experience.
9. i got to experience multiple types of wedding showers and my bachelorette party. i had 2 traditional showers, a super fun kickball co-ed shower and a completely me bachelorette party. these will probably be posts of their own too so i'll leave it there for now.
10. i became jaded in my thinking and understanding of my relationship with a lot of people in my life. i am not sure i want to discuss this but i saw a quite on pinterest that kind of sums it up: "sometimes we expect more from others because we would be willing to do that much for them." it makes me a little sad but also has refocused me on those who are most important: al, mom, and me...
11. there were quite a few mishaps in the 2 weeks leading up to our wedding. some of these created stress, some astonishingly did not. this, too, will likely have a post of it's own for memories sake.
12. we got married!!!! it was a wonderful, fast paced day!!! we had a great time! once we get our actual photographers pictures back this will undoubtably get at least one, if not more, posts. :) **below: pics taken by my very talented bridesmaid, gina zeidler.
13. we sat down to plan out our future and were able to actually plan big, life changing things. this might not sound like a big deal, but to be able to sit down and talk to al about "adult" things and plan a far out future is so amazing. i have never felt like a "grown up" but i'm getting closer. next on our lists: pay off some debt and save for a house. we'd like to have a house within a year. or maybe we'll just add the addition on to mom's house that we've been joking about :)
