Wine Making Pics

As promised, here are the pics from our wine making experience.


Cheryl mixing in the compound stuff



Chelsea waiting to help



Such a proud helper!



This wine is for my wedding, guess I should do something besides take pictures



Kyle being put to work



Adding the juice concentrate



Now the water



And the yeast



Closing it up



Putting the bubble thing on



Warming belt to keep it, well, warm



Now we let it sit for a week then transfer it to another container



Chelsea really took to Kyle



Uh oh, Angie, do you have some competition?

Catching Up

So the weekend came and went, again, but it was productive and fun. We just went to dinner Friday night so nothing exciting there. Saturday, I volunteered to interview high school seniors who are candidates for the Presidential Scholarship at SLU when/if they come here next year. The scholarship is a full ride, all 4 years, and only 20 scholarships are awarded. There were over 1000 applicants and 420 made it through to the interview process. Not only are these student genius level in testing, they are also “do-gooders” and are president of this club, or started that club to feed Haiti, etc. They spend all of their time doing something for others instead of being a typical teenage like I was. Anyway, my team interviewed 8 students and of those 8, we gave 2 of them perfect scores. I’m telling you, these kids are freaking amazing. Very well poised and put together. While I was in awe of these students, I left there feeling like “man, I have done nothing with my life.” So then I was talking to my boss about it and he said he feels the same way with the people we deal with at work, donors to the University. We are surrounded by people who have annual incomes of $500,000+ and constantly research people who have started up this company, or is president of that company, or owns property in 5 states, etc. So here I am, surrounded by Presidential Scholar students and millionaires – talk about making me feel like crap about what I’ve accomplished in my 32 years of life. Oh well, I just need to suck it up and be proud of what I have done. At least it gives me something to strive toward, right?

Ok, enough “poor me” and onto wedding talk. After I left the interviews, I met Cheryl, Nancy and Angie to brainstorm wedding ideas. We came up with some great centerpiece ideas for the reception and I feel really good about that. I’ll post some pics once we start making them. We are also making homemade wine for guests to take home and we started the white wine Saturday night. It takes 30 days to do whatever it does so we have plenty of time get it made and bottled. Cheryl is the expert and is leading the show on this one. I’m just there to do what she says. I took several pics of the wine making but I don’t have my camera with me now so I will post them later.

I visited St. Paul’s Church in Freeburg on Sunday and introduced myself to Pastor Earl. He recognized my name from calling on Friday, asking if they marry non-members. So we talked briefly about the wedding and he agreed to marry us so YEAH, we have a ceremony site. That is a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I am meeting with the photographer on Thursday of this week to sign the contract with her. The only other major things to book are the DJ and the limo and I will work on those next.

I really need to be better about blogging more often because when I skip a few days, my posts get really long, like this one. I’ll try to work on that.

Quarter Auction

Last night I went to a quarter auction with my future monster-in-law (she calls herself that so it's ok). Anyway, there were several vendors there like Pampered Chef, Party Lite, Home Interiors, some purse lady, a food vendor like Tastefully Simple but different, and some other candle person. Each vendor donates so many items to the auction and the way it works is that when you get there, you pick a number and that is your bid number for the night. If you book a party with someone or place an order for $35 or more, you get another bid number (but I didn't do that part). So a chip with your number goes in the pot for the drawings. They hold up an item and tell how great it is then they tell you how many quarters it takes to bid on that item, anywhere from 1 to 4 quarters. That's right, the max bet is $1, how awesome is that! So anyway, if you want to bid on that item, you throw your $$ in the pot and hold up your number. If they draw your number, and you bid, you win the item. It really sucks when you don't bid and they draw your number, even if you didn't want the item to begin with. It's just fun to win something. So last night I won 2 items but my number was really called 3 times and I missed out because I didn't bid.

Everyone at our table were friends of Mary's (Larry's mom) so when they would win something, they gave it to me. Helen, a dear friend of Mary's started it when she won and said "I'll give it to the bride" and it caught on so I made out like a fat-cat last night and it was awesome. I told Larry when I got home, I love being a bride, LOL. We had a lot of fun, I got cool stuff, and some brownie points with the MIL for hanging out with her and her friends. I would consider that a successful night.

Now, you know I always have to throw a wedding blurb in my posts somewhere and this one is kind of comical. Larry and I decided against being married in his church for several reasons and my church was already booked for the day (not to mention very expensive for members even) so we were on the hunt for a ceremony site. I originally thought the reception venue would work but as it turned out, the other hall was too small and we didn't want both the ceremony and reception in the same room so the search continued. I found a cute little chapel in Mascoutah that was only $100 to rent and our date was open, perfect right? Not so much. I did a Google search to look for wedding pictures that other couples may have posted and discovered that the chapel is in the middle of a cemetery! I don't care how cute or inexpensive it is, I refuse to be married in a cemetery. So the search continues again. This time I called St. Pauls church in Freeburg and they do marry non-members, the cost is reasonable, our date is open, and it's in a great location for easy travel to the reception site. The pastor of the church is out today and will call me on Monday to discuss details but please, keep your fingers crossed that this is our lucky break and we will have a ceremony venue that's not in a cemetery. Of course, I'll post as soon as I know something on Monday.

Happy Friday everyone!!

Drum Roll Please

I did it! I made it through the day without indulging in the sweets. Here is a pic of the temptation I faced most of the day. And, not only did I have a great food day, I also had an awesome workout at the gym to boot. Go me!!



Now onto a wedding topic. Today, Larry and I decided against having the wedding ceremony at St. Joseph church so the dilemma of the day is where the ceremony will be. I want to have it in the same place as the reception, in the other room set up with white chairs, flowers, etc. but Larry doesn't like that idea. So, now the search begins for a ceremony venue. Either that I sweet talk him into my idea :)

Post = Accountability

So today is Fat Tuesday and everyone at work brought in food to celebrate. Of course most of it is unhealthy yet oh so yummy foods like donuts, danish, cakes, cookies, etc. A select few brought in fruit for the health conscious. With the wedding coming up, I have been on my best behavior to drop a few lbs. and get into better shape so I see today as a potential setback. I'm hoping to make it through the day without indulging in the sweets but I need to be held accountable for that, hence my post. So far, I have only had a banana, a few grapes and a sliver of a breakfast casserole. I hope the buck stops there but every time I walk into the break room to get coffee or even water, the food is staring me in the face, calling my name. I seriously lack willpower when it comes to sweets but I'm going to try my darnedest to get through the day guilt-free. I'll post again at the end of the day or when the food is gone, whichever comes first, and let you know how I did. Keep your fingers crossed for me . . .

Happy Valentine's Day . . .

I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s day! Larry and I decided not to celebrate with gifts this year because of the wedding but I did make a nice dinner for us and that was the extent of our celebration.

As usual, the weekend went by way too fast and another week is upon us already. To recap the weekend, Larry and I went to the Casino Queen for a while on Friday night but no big wins to report. Saturday, I got up early and hit the gym then did some house cleaning, a necessary evil. Lisa C. and I had a girls night planned so we went to see Valentine’s Day and it was a really good movie with a ton of great actors/actresses. Then we grabbed a bite to eat and had a few drinks at Cutters. The Stacey Collins Band was playing. I haven’t seen them in a long time and had forgotten how good they are. I had to be back at the gym at 9am on Sunday so it was a fairly early night for us. Sunday, nothing eventful to report. Workout, laundry, a nap, dinner and some reading for my class on Monday. I have to say, there is nothing better than a Sunday afternoon nap to prepare for the week ahead :)

The week ahead is busy once again and I am looking forward to hearing from Fr. Mark about whether or not we can be married in the church on Oct. 30th. Fingers crossed that we get the answer we are hoping for! For those of you who are off tomorrow, lucky dog! Unfortunately, I have to work but it will be a light traffic day, which almost makes it worth it.

Have a good week . . .

It's Too Early For This . . .

Well, today is not starting out so great. I have an appointment with my tax man right after work so I made sure I had everything ready to hand off, nice and neat in a folder. What do I do? Leave the dang folder sitting on my kitchen table and realize it just as I sit down at my desk, crap! So now I have to drive home over my lunch hour to get it. Not a big deal, just a little frustrating. Then, I’m sitting at my desk, sifting through emails and somehow knock my coffee over. Luckily it was less than half full and it did not get on any paperwork, just my mouse pad. In the grand scheme of things, it could be worse so I'm going to suck it up and move on with my day.

In wedding news, the decision of the day is whether to hire a band or DJ for entertainment. The band we are thinking about is After Shock and they have played at several parties that we have been to. We really like them and they are reasonable as far a price but I still think a DJ can provide more variety for everyone. Just because we like the band doesn’t mean the other 300+ guests will like it. Now I just have to convince Larry of this, wish me luck :)

First Blog . . .

I'm new to this whole "blogging" fad but I thought I would give it a try just for fun. My initial thought was to set up a wedding blog but why stop there? So, this will be an all-about-me blog instead, although I'm sure the majority of my posts will be wedding related at least until October.

To back up just a bit, Larry and I got engaged on January 18th, even though he was planning to wait until Valentine's Day. I kind of blew that for him but it all worked out in the end. So we picked out my ring together, which I LOVE, and we set the date for October 30, 2010. I already have my dress and got an awesome deal at David's Bridal, they don't call me a Bargainista for nothing! I had to drive to Cape Girardeau to get the dress but it was well worth the road trip and a special thanks to Tonya and Lisa for going with me :) The ceremony will hopefully be at St. Joseph church in Freeburg (Larry's church) and the reception will be at Albert's Banquet Hall in Belleville. Our wedding party is kind of big, 6 on each side, with Chelsea and Timmy as the flower girl and ring bearer. Cheryl is my Matron of Honor and Tom (a.k.a. Stumpy) is Larry's best man. Our colors are blue and silver. And that is where the planning ends, for now. I have so many decisions to make and details to iron out but I have 8 months, right? Nancy, Cheryl, Angie and I are getting together on Feb. 20th to get some more planning done and I am getting the bridesmaids together on March 7th to go shopping for their dresses. I am confident that it will all fall into place!

Stay tuned for more details . . .