Soaking in the last bits of Summer!

  Before the pool closes and the weather gets too cold, we're soaking in all Summer has to offer.  One night this week, Ross and I headed to our neighborhood pool to take a dip.  It was so nice because there weren't a million people/kids in!  With all the kids back to school, they must be out of the "pool mode" which is good for us since we like swimming laps and goofing around.  I even got to take some pictures (imagine that!)

  We also heading over to Kristin and Alex Janeczeks' for nice Friday evening cookout.  We had a great time with good food, and good friends!

Yum Yum! It's breakfast time!

This morning, Ross and I decided we were going to be productive.  Instead of sleeping in and laying about until church at 9:30, we decided to get up (that means actually getting out of bed and getting dressed) and get on our road bikes for a morning ride.  We went on a 13ish mile ride around the country roads just north of Brownsburg.  We got back just in time to get ready and head to church.  When we got home, Ross made some YUMMY pancakes for us for breakfast. 

More Camera Fun

Jessie suggested a great program, Adobe Lightroom, that is absolutely amazing with photo editing.  Below is some more fun that I had with the new camera we purchased and the new program (Photoshop was just too difficult for editing the pics)
Hope you enjoy! (I know I am... and Ross has been teasing me, dubbing me "shutter bug")

Having TOO much fun!

I've been having too much fun playing with my camera and photoshop.  Oliver, Sable, and Ross are my most frequent victims. 

Though I do snap a random photo of inanimate objects from time to time as well. 

But I have to say... the most fun I had all day was discovering the multi-photo option on my timed photo setting. If you need a laugh, check these out.  I sure had giggle with them.

Gotta love having fun and laughing at yourself!

Poor Puppy!

Our poor Sable is not doing very well.  Ross took her to the vet last week, and they informed Ross of a
tumor that needed to be removed from her leg.  A couple days ago, she had the tumor removed (we will know the seriousness of the removal in a couple weeks) but we did have some good news- it was not very deep.

Earlier today, Sable, while alone, messed with her leg (where the tumor was removed) and tore out a few of her stitches.  This leaves a miserable, whimpering Sable for Ross and I to take care of tonigh.  Send some positive vibes Sable's way because she could use all the prayers she can get.... she is a poor pitiful girl right now.  She'll be into the vet in the morning to get re-stitched!  Hopefully we'll have a good Sable update soon!

Wedding Memories Continued...

 School has started up for me (Julie) and Sable went in for surgery and Ross has been taking care of her... so the second half of this blog has been slightly delayed.  Such is life, right?

Once our ceremony was all over, the memories (obviously) did not end there.  It was such an amazing evening from beginning to end! Below are some post ceremony and reception/post reception memories.

Once the ceremony was over, and we recessed back down the isle, we had a getaway car waiting for us (in the walkway in front of the courthouse (not so sure that was allowed, but eh, we did it anyway!)  It was nice for Ross and I to have a moment to ourselves before we returned to be with everyone.  We also got quite a few honks and people screaming "congratulations!!" as cars passed us by.







When we returned, it was time for pictures.  We took a bunch of pictures in just about every combination.  During this time, my nephew Aidan who is four, decided it would be more exciting to hoard every last container of bubbles he could fit in his little hands.  It was le cute, and did keep him content as well.  Having both of my nephews (adorable, sweet, handsome, CUTE nephews I might add) there was such a blessing!


Once all the pictures were done, and we were going into the reception, it became quite nerve wracking for me to be feeling on display.  I just remember not being able to eat or drink anything because my stomach was doing flips.  Ross took my hand, and scooted his chair close to mine, and I began feeling SO much better.  Once the two of us got up, and went back to where the food was being served to talk with people while they were in line, it felt even better.  We were in our element, talking to people we love... and we were together (and not feeling so on display).

One funny thing from when we cut the cake... we forgot to take the ribbon off the cake, so we had to cut around it! I guess we were nervous and forgot?!  It still tasted delicious! I would definitely recommend the New Haven Bakery to those getting married in or near Fort Wayne.  The cake the day of the wedding was even better than the sample cake.

The first thing we took care of while people were finishing up their dinners was the dances (one with my dad and I, one with Ross and Jerri, and then our first dance)
I danced with my dad to the Richie Havens Song, "Follow."  He picked it out, and the morning before the wedding, while listening to it alone, I bawled my eyes out.  Ross came in and asked me what was wrong.  I told him I was listening to the song, and his solution?  "Well, you should probably stop listening to it!"  I love my dad so much, and for him to pick out such a sweet song was so incredibly special to me.
While Ross danced with his mom, I ran back to a room in the courthouse and FRANTICALLY changed out of my wedding dress, and into my special dress for our first dance. 
For a couple months, Ross and I had been practicing for our very first dance as a married couple.  We had gone through lists of songs, trying to find just the right one, but nothing ever seemed exactly what we wanted.  One day, Ross came to me with an idea.  "Check this out.  Let's dance to the final song in the Dirty Dancing movie"  .... and so we did.  It wasn't perfect (especially from my end) but boy was it fun learning it together.  I'm so lucky to have such a talented husband!  Thank you Jerri and Steve for putting him in lessons from an early age!  It sure paid off and was definitely one thing that won my heart.

One funny memory that melted my heart for the way that young minds think, was when my cousin, Chloe caught the bouquet.  I was upstairs on the second floor balcony throwing the bouquet down to the ladies on the first floor.  My cousin, being ten years old and also single, was right out there to try to catch it.  Sure enough, she went for it (and so did our friend, Lauren) and Chloe caught it.  She tried to offer it to Lauren once it all went down, but Lauren was gracious and turned her down.  This is about when Chloe's smile went to a "deer in the headlights" look.  My other cousin Emily said "Chloe, you will have to dance with whoever catches Julie's garter."  To a ten year old, this must have been the worst thing that could have come from catching that dang bouquet.  She sat to the side while others continued to enjoy themselves on the dancefloor, dreading the moment she would have to dance with some random guy (who was probably sweaty and smelly from dancing on that said dance floor)  I'm not sure how much time elapsed, but I was dancing with Emily and she brought up Chloe's distaste for this dance that she thought was coming up.  I, in fact, had no garter to be taken off and tossed to some random smelly guy that Chloe didn't know, so I had to let her know.  I walked over to where to she was sitting with sheer terror upon her face and said "Chloe!  I don't have a garter, you don't have to dance with anyone!"  You should have seen the fear slide right off her face.  I encouraged her, and she got right back on the dance floor and got back to having fun!

Another great memory was in memory of a loved one who was not able to be there.  12 years ago, my cousin Josh was up at Macinac Island, and I came up there for my birthday.  He made me feel so incredible special by getting all the guys to sing "You've lost that loving feeling" .... You know, the part that goes "Baby, Baby, I get down on my knees for you..."  Josh passed away a little over 10 years ago, and although he was missed at our wedding, he was there in spirit when we honored my favorite memory with him.  With Peggy and Jen (Josh's mom and sister) standing there with me tons of guys reinacted the moment, and got down on their knees and belted out the song to us.  Such a special memory!

We ended the reception at the courthouse in true Purdue/Fort Wayne style.  Late night hot dogs is a Purdue thing, and Coney Island hot dogs are a Fort Wayne tradition.  We put the two together, and had a great late night snack for everyone!

Once the night was over at the reception, Ross and I led the way to our after party place.  With such a great day behind us, we just weren't ready to say good night and good bye to all our friends who had come so far to be with us.  Just a little more dancing was in order at "The Thirsty Camel." 
Quite a few of our friends, and even both sets of parents came out for one last hurrah!  It was such a fun way to end an incredible day.
We were the only bride are groom that came out and were at the bar that night (some other bridal parties were present).  We had such a great time dancing more with our friends, and there was a live dj there that was having a lot of fun with our group there. 
One special thing that we weren't expecting was when the dj played a special song for Ross and I - "Time of my life" the dirty dancing song we danced to for our first dance.  The only part that we weren't expecting, was that we danced to the movie length version of the song (in fact, Ross had to make a movie version of his own, adding in an extra chorus, because we were unable to find the movie length version anywhere)  It was still so much fun, and we loved that we got to do it again.
One thing I wasn't expecting was to get such great use out of my dress.  I wore it until the bustle literal fell apart (people kept stepping on it and it ending up breaking away)  But really, when will I wear it again?  I had such an amazing day, and at the end of the night... got to leave with my husband, the man I prayed for, before I even knew what I needed.  What a great start to our lives.  (God is so good!)

Just Married! Memories Part 1

Just a little over a week ago, Ross and I got married at the Courthouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  It was an awesome day for us, and we were so happy we were able to share it with so many people that we love.

The night before the wedding Ross and I went our separate ways.  I went downtown to the Hilton to be with the girls (including my sisters and my mom).  While I was washing my face, my sister Jess looked at me and said "Awe... this is the last night you will wash your face as a single girl!"  I look at her, smile, roll my eyes a little, and kick her in the butt.  "Jess, this is the last time I'll kick you in the butt as a single girl!"  I had to lighten the mood.  I love my sisters and how we can be goofy and sentimental at the same time.

As we were driving up to our mini-moon at Macinac Island (our real honeymoon is in December), we came up with a list of fun memories we didn't want to forget from our wedding day.  They will be mostly in order, but bare with us :) 

Our ceremony was so much better than we even imagined.  We knew we were getting married in the round in the rotunda of a turn of the century courthouse, but we never dreamed it would be such an intimate service.  Almost everyone that we knew growing up was within 5-15 feet from us.  We didn't anticipate how special that would be for us.

At the ceremony, emotions were running high, and I cried non-stop bascially on and off throughout the entire thing. I would lose it a little, get it back together, then lose it again.  I had a bride hanky in my bra area just in case I needed it.  I pulled it out once and Ross laughed/rolled his eyes at me :P

During our vows, Ross had memorized his, but when he got going, he had to stop and say "wow, I should have written these down,"  He forgot them for just a second, but almost immediately got it back together.  It was silly and everyone giggled at his nerves (with him)

When we were exchanging rings, both of us had swollen fingers (perhaps from holding each others hands throughout the entire ceremony?) I was squeezing the crap out Ross' finger! Either way, he had to shove it on my finger, and when it came to put his ring on... I forgot which finger to put it on!  I had to turn so I faced the same way as him, hold out my left hand, then turn back around and put the ring on his left hand.  I just wanted to make sure I put it on right!

Yelling "I do!"  when asked if I came freely to this marriage.
Friends and family yelling "WE DO!" when asked if they would love us and uphold us in our marriage.  Both were special and fun parts of the excitement in our ceremony.

Neither Ross nor I knew it, but there was a bet with the bridesmaids of who would cry first.  Jen lost.  (Jessie was a close second)

At the end of the ceremony, my mom and my cousin Jen had the most unexpected surprise for Ross and I.  In the rotunda, there is a second floor round balcony looking down on the first floor.  When our service was all finished, rose petals fell from all around the balcony... SO beautiful!  All smiles during that surprise. :)

So... I need a break from memory lane (mostly because my fingers are tired!  This is a TBC blog (to be continued!)