Lucky 19

For all of my avid blog readers out there, May 19, 2012 is the big day!

The first date Drew and I went on was on the 19th.

Out of pure coincidence (although he did end up realizing it after he started making plans) he proposed on July 19th.

I figured it only made sense to get married on the 19th too.

I knew it would have to be a 2012 wedding because we wanted to have plenty of cushion time after Drew's deployment so I went looking at the calendar for a Saturday. May is the only month that year in which the 19th falls on a Saturday, so the date was set!

Taking Pointers

Last weekend Drew and I attended his friend's wedding. The bride had a very nontraditional dress. It was absolutely striking on her.Both the bride and the groom are in the military and spent time in Iraq last year. While I don't believe either of them were stationed in the area that Drew will be, it was nice to see them together and happy after their deployment. Drew was one of the groomsmen so he took some notes from the day of the wedding: what he liked, what he didn't. I too kept an eye on all of the details from the church to the reception - making mental notes of things throughout the night.
Here we are with Drew's two sisters...Each groomsman got a bat, engraved with a quote specifically for them. This is me winding up for a swing...
against Josh, another soldier... We have a love-hate type of relationship :)There are definitely a lot of details to consider, but we have plenty of time and a lot of people around willing to help. So far all we have really done is pick a date, church and priest. Drew and I actually had lunch with the priest Thursday. Drew has a lot of history at his church. His family has always been really involved and he worked there for 10 years as a server and doing maintenance. He and this particular priest have history. Father Dell says he remembers drew from when he was 9 years old and they have stayed in touch this entire time even though he no longer works at that church.We have also dived into finding the perfect reception hall and photographer. I definitely have my favorites for both of those, but it's all about reviewing numbers and making sure it's the right fit. I am hoping we can all agree on a reception site in the next couple of weeks. We have two more places set up to look at on Monday and then we might got back to a couple of our favorites with my mom.

I'll keep you posted.

I also have some fun Lexi pictures to post in the next couple of days. I think you will get a kick out of them!

Recovering

Miss Lexi is almost back to normal after her big day Monday. She was spayed, had her stomach tacked (decreases her chance of bloat) and her chip implanted (in case she ever gets lost). The vet said she did very well and was a pleasure to watch overnight. Tuesday she was a little lethargic when we picked her up, but she seemed to be nearly back to her old self yesterday - which makes it a little tough to keep her calm for 10-12 days to let her stomach heal.It's been a while since I posted pictures. These are some from a few days before her surgeries. They are from the dog park near my house. Drew and I got her a 20 day pass to the place. The facility is only a year or two old and it was built to hold dog competitions. She is so funny to take there because she completely ignores us. Normally, she likes to follow us (Drew especially) around, but here, once her lease is off her she takes off playing with the other dogs. She doesn't seem to have a care in the world. She's getting a little more daring with the water. The first time Drew took her she was extremely hesitant. She's slowly going in further, but hasn't really had to "swim" yet.Lexi is on the left. She's 6 months and a little over 70 pounds in these pictures. The vet weighed her at 73 pounds Monday.

Brunettes think a like

A friend from work brought this to my attention - kind of funny

My great picture:Kim Kardashian's vacation get away:

Back to reality

I'm back at it. Back home. Back to work. And now, to wedding planning, but at least I am doing it all with a TAN :)
Life has definitely picked up since Drew and I got engage. Luckily, we were able to spend a nice week in Florida together - with his aunt, uncle and cousins.

The girls (future cousins) I can sum up the trip in one word: relaxing. We spent our time on the beach and in the pool, reading, throwing a football etc. I should note, rafts are not allowed in the pool! Seconds after we started rocking the water, Frank, the pool man came on duty and caught us. That raft was out of the water in seconds! But, it did find it's way to the ocean for the waves! Yet, Frank didn't mind if we horsed around with each other...We were a little worried that Tropical Storm Bonnie would put a damper on our trip, but the weather was wonderful and there was only one day with a patch of rain, and it showed up once we were heading in for the day. I had never been to New Smyrna Beach before, but it was definitely gorgeous and not crowded. We had plenty of space and crisp blue skies. I know Drew has a handful of some good pictures on his camera from a night out to dinner. Until I get a copy of that one, I'll leave you with this as we both tried to ruin the picture for the other, not knowing what the other was doing...Goofy minds think a like