Wedding Bells and Frito Pie!

More on our Nebraska visit this past weekend ...

Andi and I spent the better part of Friday relaxing at my parent's house. My parents had to work, so Andi slept in late (And took a nap! My poor husband never slows down so when he does ... it's over) while I updated my baby registries, sat outside and read my Kindle. It was HEAVENLY. I am fully aware these moments are numbered for me and I enjoyed every ounce of the relaxation upon us.

Around 6pm, we arrived at the church for the rehearsal. Andi and I weren't in the wedding, but many of our other family members were. We sat in the front and entertained the babies while the wedding party practiced for the big day.

Brookie practiced her flower girl duties

The wedding party

So, completely random story.
For the last few months, someone has been delivering bunnies to my cousin Jes' (the bride) house every day. She has no idea who is doing this, but every day bunnies are sitting on her porch or decorating her car. In all, she's collected over 300 bunnies! Isn't that strange and creepy and aren't you all thinking WHAT THE HECK?!?! We guessed it was her dad or dad's brother because they are both big jokesters, but the giver never revealed himself. At the rehearsal dinner, Nate's (the groom) mom thought it would be funny to decorate with some of the bunnies. Hence this photo ...

Wedding bunnies

After the rehearsal dinner, Andi and I talked my parents into cruising by the local festival also taking place in town. Andi's a total sucker for carnival food and he saw a sign for Frito Pie as we drove to the dinner. He was set on stopping by to try some. He'd never heard of it before! (Do you all remember Frito Pie from elementary school? It's a individual-size bag of Frito's, cut open and topped with chili and cheese). I remember the lunch ladies serving it to us in elementary school. Healthy, huh? Anyway, the Frito Pie stand was closed by the time we arrived so we settled for a funnel cake and a fresh-squeezed lemonade.

On Sunday morning, we woke up early to attend the festival parade. I seriously hadn't been to this parade in over 15 years so it was a nice trip down memory lane to be back. Coming from a small town, I was in the parade in one form or another for many of my middle and high school years. I also have fond memories of sitting on the curb, catching candy and watching all the floats and clowns pass by as a small child. It was fun to be there again!

This used to be me!

After the parade, we went back to my parents and got ready for the wedding. It was a beautiful day! My cousin Jes looked beautiful and was so happy. Andi and I had fun spending time with all of our family whom we don't see very often.

My little bro Adam and his girlfriend Josi

Bride-to-be getting her hair done

Brookie - the cutest little flower girl in the whole world - got her hair done too

Zach walking Grandma down the aisle

Babies Henry and Lauren rode in a wagon together down the aisle
You can imagine there were many audible ahhh's from the guests - they were absolutely adorable!

Brookie

The reception was fun too! The food was great, we spent lots of time chatting with relatives and Jes and Nate even had a photo booth which was a favorite activity for all of us throughout the night.

What a great weekend with family. Congrats Jes and Nate!

Blast from the past

Sometimes you don't realize how far you've come until you visit where you've been.

This week I had the chance to go back to my old college town for a work project. When my boss called a few weeks ago and asked me to go back to Nebraska to do some market research, I had two words: HECK YES. Free trip (a flight, no less!) to Nebraska and a chance to visit my old stomping grounds after seven long years? I'm there.

As I approached Kearney, the Arch greeted me back to town. I remember when this monument was being built while I lived there. It was a pretty big deal, actually. Half the town thought it was silly and a waste of money. The other half thought it would put the city on the map. Whatever the case, you can't miss it when you come to town.

It's funny how some things never change. The city is exactly as I remember. It was like stepping back into a time warp. Same restaurants, same bumps in the road, same, same, same. I met up with Marcie, my roommate and best friend in college for dinner. We had the best night reminiscing about college days and catching up on what's new. A lot is different for us now - we're both married and she's expecting her first baby this summer. As we were driving down the road after dinner we laughed, not too many years ago we drove these same streets discussing how not to get pregnant. Now, here we are ten years later sharing how to's. Somewhere along the line, life happened and we grew up. Still the same though? We laughed just like we did so many years ago.

Cunningham's

The home of "Big Ass Beers" and our favorite place to go every Tuesday night.

O Mally's

My favorite bar in town

Solar

I worked here nearly every day in college and cried the day I left town. It was my first real job with responsibility and the first place I worked where I felt pride in what I did every day. Good memories.

My sorority

Marcie and I lived shared a room here for three years. We stopped by the house and looked around, then took a picture outside to capture the moment. We have dozens of photos in this very spot.

Sometimes you don't realize how far you've come until you visit where you've been.

Life is good. I'm happier, smarter and more well-rounded because of all those experiences back then. What an awesome blast from the past.