It's official

I only have about 5 mins here because the flight leaves soon and i haven't packed yet... but thought we would leave you with a few pictures before departure. we couldn't have had a more beautiful day for the wedding. it was outside on the lawn of the gale mansion in minneapolis. Everything went very well and it seemed like our friends and family enjoyed themselves. we didn't want to hold people up from the party for very long so the ceremony was only about 10 mins. seemed like a long time to me when i was standing up there... only one real mishap and that was that the flower girl, Minnette (below) kind of tripped on the aisle runner and if it wasn't for our friend Raymond swooping in, it could have been a disaster. oh also another kind of mishap during the ceremony, multiple passersby yelling things at us from their bikes/cars. i couldn't help but totally crack up. oh also the musicians music blew away right before i was supposed to walk down the aisle. a lot of waiting... oh well that's the way these things go sometimes. ok, so three mishaps. more professional pictures to follow maybe when we get back from the trip. here are just a few shots.

We went over to the Arts Institute to snap a few pictures. did you know that the building is copywrited? so don't pull this picture off of here and put it in a brochure I guess. Heres the wedding party, from left, anton, pat, adam, dave, steve, me, kristen, ginny, erin and elissa.

standing guard

The less than 15 minute ceremony

Quintessential Minnette! She is a longtime friend of my dad's family and we couldn't have been happier that she agreed to be the flower girl in our wedding and was able to travel here from California. Almost 92 and still sharp as a tack. She was the hit of the party!

So long for now. will try to do a few updates while on the trip in the next 3 weeks. we are so excited to go we can't hardly stand it!!!

Come on everyone, it's easier than you think. tomorrow is bike/walk to work day. many festivities around the city in the morning. More info here.

Last Big Hurrah

Last weekend 7 of us went up to Brainerd to Grandview lodge for a bachelorette party of sorts. Unlike the boys, we really lucked out with better than anticipated weather, which made for trail running, a quick dip in the chilly lake, sitting outside, and swimming in the pool and watersliding (indoors though). We were set back a bit by my 2 hour wait at the doctor's office for what i thought was another case of pink eye. Turns out it's not pink eye, it is something that happens to people with fair skin and is the inflammation of the eyelids. Quite unluckily (is that a word?) for me, it is apparently a lifelong condition; people with fair skin you've been warned. good news for others is that is isn't contagious, enough of Debbie Downer here though... back to the party.

On Saturday night we headed out to a local bar for some dancing and tomfoolery. Everyone was celebrating Cinco de mayo so the crowds were out. The Juan twins above even dressed up (in rugs they bought from fleet farm). I'd say 80% of the people at this bar were our age and from the twin cities. Lots of bachelor parties.

Emily, Kristen, Elissa, Ginny, Erin and Kelsey all decked out in necklaces, rhinestone tattooes, pins and stickers.
Everyone gave me costumes for my costume trunk. The Kanye glasses from Jen were a huge hit! As were the butterfly wings from Mary Kay (which we left back at the cabin). The girls gave me a pack of stickers that said silly things on them to give out to strangers. we made a lot of need friends doing that.
what would the weekend be without cupcake decorating? Ginny and i just took a class on it a few weeks ago. will post those pictures belatedly in a few days. In conclusion, a fun weekend of games, friends and silliness.

Wildman weekend

Dave planned a fabulous bachelor weekend! 13 guys showed up Friday afternoon at Wildman Whitwater Ranch in Athelstane, WI (about 5 hours west of Minneapolis and 2.5 hours north of Milwaukee). We put down six or seven cases of beer Friday night while we rotated from beer pong, Nintendo playing, grilling, poker, Euchre, and some wrestling (As it was pointed out multiple times the next day, I was the first to go to sleep so other events may have taken place).

The NES was a hit.

The MN crew playing high stakes poker (Jarvy has some good weekend coverage as well).

After some breakfast sandwiches the next morning and a nap we suited up to ride the Pechtigo River. The large amount of snow created high water levels and a fast river. I must admit I was nervous and even a tad scared after one of our guides explained we would be alone in three man boats, that some of us will go in the river for sure, that people are basically like a noodle in a strainer if you fall in the river, and of course the fact the river wanted to kill us.

All wet-suited up and ready to go!
I'd say over half of us ended up "taking a drink." But, it was a blast and the sun even poked it's head out to trick us into forgetting it was under 50 degrees out. We're thinking about ordering some of the action shots the ranch took of us on the river, and I will post those.

After a warm shower we stared a huge fire outside, cooked the rest of our brats, burgers, chicken wings, etc and took on round two of the festivities (and another six or seven cases of beer). Another 5 guys showed up while we were rafting. Pat and Heppe brought more Krunchers and more importantly some fireworks. The hightlight was the love bomb.

LOVE EXPLOSION!

It was a great bachelor weekend and wonderful to see so many of my friends in one place. The rafting was great and I would definitely recommend it and do it again!

LINK OF THE MONTH

We've never gotten around to installing a webcam in our chicken coop. This British award winning blog has, check out the hencam!