may 22, 2011

that's the date of my husband's 30th birthday.  a little behind in posting his party pics, wouldn't ya say?  i totally spaced and can't move on with my celebration of fall and obsession with the colorful trees without posting the details of the surprise party.....so here goes:

on friday, may 20th, chris was under the impression that one of his best friends, chad, and his wife sarah were coming into town to spend the weekend and help celebrate him becoming an old man. :) (i can say that because i'm still in my 20's).  this is partially true, but they were also coming in for the party.  when they arrived, i had one job for chad: to keep chris out of my sight for the afternoon!  i really needed chris out of the house as i had to prepare for the party by setting up tables in our garage, prepare food, run errands, etc. and of course it was raining so chad's plan to take him golfing was scratched.  not my problem.  i put chad in charge so he was left to figure it out! hehe.

meanwhile, sarah and i ran around town with our hair on fire!  picking up cake, the fire pit, the fire wood and a few other things deemed exhausting so we were thankful for the help of my wonderful mother who could grab the balloons, bring the tables and chairs, make the drinks and help set things out while we quickly got ourselves thrown together for the party!

the guests slowly arrived and we waited for the boys to get back....

and when they did, i'd say chris was pretty surprised.....or he's a really good actor!

the party turnout was fabulous and i think everyone enjoyed themselves!  a few photos of our guests follow....

chris' classy gift from a couple of our friends, the boyer's

the infamous Wheatfield's strawberry wedding cake.....our birthday tradition!

i wish you could see how enormous this cake really was!

that's right, cheesy personalized candles thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law

such a proud host, i was

from left: my sister brooke, me, neighbor jason, jill, krista and jessica

my sister and friends: brooke, me, jill, krista and jessica

could not have pulled off the party without my sidekick: sarah!

chris and his buddies: travis, jeff, ron and jillian

my so-so-so-willing-to-help parents: mary jean and rod

my sister brooke and her boyfriend will

chris thought we were just spending a fun weekend with our friends chad and sarah

chris' sister laura and her boyfriend mike

chris' grandparents came from east moline, illinois! 

ron and joyce

the snyder girls: me, laura, my mother-in-law cathy, and grandmother-in-law joyce

chris' buddies: dave and kevin and his dad, ron

me and my (big) little brother, taylor

 my brother, taylor and dad, rod

my dad with the blondes 

my parent's with my friends and i

so glad my friend jill could make it!

i just loved the balloons.... :)

chris and his grandfather, ron

best buds: chris and chad, the guy who kept him out of trouble all day (and by trouble i mean out of my house)!

jeff, chris and travis

jill, chris and krista

my brother and my grandfather-in-law

annnnd....the night ended with an attempt at the worm!

so thankful chad and sarah could spend the rest of the weekend with us as well!

we went to the farmer's market and dundee days on saturday

hanging out in the driveway on a beautiful day....classy!

and ate at chris' favorite restaurant, nicola's, with his family

luckily we were sitting under the umbrellas outside because a big thunderstorm rolled in!

we ended the night at nosh wine lounge

my fall bucket list

weddings.weddings.weddings.

i love my friends.  and i love when my friends are happy and in love and decide to spend the rest of their lives with their love.  i love celebrating with them.  i'm honored to be a part of their special day.  and i love wedding cake, wedding mints and wedding dances.

but can i be honest for a minute?
i'm ready for a weekend at home.  in my own bed.  and sitting on my couch if that's what i choose.

by the conclusion of this wedding 'season', we will have attended 7 weddings and were unable to attend another 5.  since labor day weekend, we've had a wedding every weekend.....if you need help doing the math, that's 5 in a row.....not one of those 5 in Omaha.

all of that said, i'm not complaining.  i'm just tired. :)  not to mention it's breaking the bank.  when will my time be my own again?

love you friends, and i wouldn't miss your special day for the world!

crazy.busy.nutty.wacky. summer.

the title says it all.  it's been absolutely insane!  since the summer began, we've been to New Orleans, South Padre, Myrtle Beach, Lake Okoboji, Los Angeles and Orlando.  we've been busy with the travels and all the while trying to enjoy some time with our friends, fit in some golf, lay by the pool, grill some burgers and ride our bikes.  a couple of weeks ago we experienced our first 'jazz on the green' and by the time it's all said and done we'd like to go on our first 'taco ride'! it's been difficult to beat the heat these days but i've been making a significant effort to not complain!  i decided i can't complain about the weather all year round because if i did, there would be 3 feet of snow on the ground before i could blink an eye!

fall, i love you.  please come soon.

May 1, 2011

a day that will go down in history.  Osama bin Laden has been found and killed in a compound where he lived for the last 6 years in Abbottabad, Pakistan.  i have so many mixed feelings about this event.  i'm proud of an American victory to bring justice for the attacks of September 11, 2001!  an almost 10 year pursuit for this evil man has come to an end.  i'm thankful that the families of those killed can have some sort of closure.  on another note, i'm afraid.  if i'm being honest, i'm afraid of what is to come.  afraid that the al qaeda is plotting another attack on our country.  afraid to put my husband on an airplane tomorrow.  i'm also saddened.  OBL died with unrepented sin and is now spending eternity in hell.  there's nothing to celebrate about that.  we all actually deserve to spend our eternity the same way but in this moment i'm thankful for God's mercy!  the God we serve is JUST and also full of MERCY when we repent our sins to him!

"Say to them, As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.  Turn!  Turn from your evil ways!  Why will you die, O house of Israel?"

Ezekiel 33:11

"Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged.  And when I have spent my wrath upon them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal."

Ezekiel 5:13

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

Matthew 5:44

"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice."

Proverbs 24:17

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

"He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem."
          -Isaiah 53:3

"Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross."
          -Colossians 2:14


""He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed.""
          -1 Peter 2:24


"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
          -John 3:16

"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

          -John 11:25-26

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."

          -Phillippians 3:10-12

"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  The death he died, he died to sin once and for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

          -Romans 6:8-11

My Savior Lives

Our God wil reign forever

And all the world will know His name

Everyone together sing the song of the redeemed

I know that my redeemer lives

And now I stand on what He did

My Savior, my Savior lives

Every day a brand new chance to say

"Jesus, You are the only way"

My Savior, my Savior lives

The King has come from Heaven

And darkness trembles at His name

Victory forever is the song of the redeemed

I know that my redeemer lives

And now I stand on what He did

My Savior, my Savior lives

Every day a brand new chance to say

"Jesus, You are the only way"

My Savior, my Savior lives

My Savior lives, My Savior lives, 

My Savior lives, 

My Savior lives, 

My Savior lives, My Savior lives!

festivities:

my Easter basket made by my wonderful husband:

the random pinata tradition (which we all love) created by my dad's parents: 

spectators

 the younger kid's pinata

grandpa doing what he loves...adjusting the pinata so we miss when we swing!

me taking a swing at the big kid's pinata

a friendly game of whiffle ball!

march

march was a very busy month for us!  we traveled to phoenix, austin and chicago!  phoenix and austin were both HFMA meetings for my husband and we traveled to chicago for America's Beauty Show!  in phoenix, while chris was not attending meetings, we got the chance to have dinner with cousin Megan and her husband craig, cousin ben and his girlfriend tiffany, my high school friends katrina and carissa and carissa's husband jason and chris' college friends, chris and courtney.....not all at once, of course.  we also briefly visited the chicago cub's spring training stadium and attending an arizona diamondbacks game!  in austin, i had the chance to meet up with my friend shawna for lunch and a little tour of the city.  we happened to be in chicago the weekend before st. patty's day which is when they dye the Chicago River green...something i've always wanted to see and finally got the chance!  we spent an afternoon with several college friends and also a childhood friend, tony and his fiance, heidi who will be married this september!  although it may seem as though not much work was done, that is not the case!  :) enjoy these photos which briefly document our crazy month!

cousin Megan, her husband Craig and their 3 beautiful boys

 the cub's spring training field

 at the arizona diamondbacks spring training game

 my friends katrina and carissa from high school.  we used to cheer together! :)

 chris' cousin ben and his girlfriend tiffany

 having lunch on lake travis in austin, tx

 sandra bullock's restaurant in austin

 the chicago river being dyed green!!!

 chris will be tony's best man in september when he marries heidi!