and another one bites the dust... lol

Oh man, what a week. Abi & Andy's wedding was this past weekend, so my weekend pretty much revolved around that event. The wedding went great, and Abi was just gorgeous. (You can go here to see more pics if you would like.) I started preparing for the weekend on Tue, because Wed and Thur were so busy. So I started my packing and whatnot then. Wed we did our volunteering with work at the regional girl's shelter, and the room we did turned out awesome. I was so tired afterwards, but I still had to go to class that night. Really long day. Thur I got up and worked that morning, then came home to finish my packing and everything else that had to be done before I could leave for STL and Abi's rehersal and dinner. I made it to STL in plenty of time, and was able to grab a quick drink and appetizer with Pagie, Kim and David before Paige and I had to head to the Old Cathedral. Rehersal went fine, despite us girls being a bit disapointed over the lack of hot single groomsmen. Details. Afterwards we headed to Pietro's on Watson for drinks, dinner, and of course a slide show and gifts for wedding people. We had fun at our table telling stories about the bride, some of which I'm sure she'd have rather us not (like the story about her puking on the ATM on her 21st. Classic.) Anyway, we all got black bags with our names embroidered on them (very versatile) and flip flops among other things. Good times.

Friday was pretty much an awesome day. Abi and I went to get massages that morning, followed by lunch at the salon where we got our manicures and pedicures that afternoon. So I've had my feet rubbed twice that day, and can handle anything. :) That night we went to the Cardinals game, and had a grand time. Since we had group tickets, we even got a nod on the scoreboard.

We also put up happy birthday messages for our dads, whose birthdays were last Monday (same year and everything). Unfortunately, we were at a terrible angle to get pics of the other scoreboards where they were shown. Oh well. The only downfall to the evening was that I did trip and bruised up my leg, ankle, and foot pretty good. Luckily the leg one was below my dress line the next day, so no problems, and I put some ice on my ankle that night, so I managed. The game was great though, and the Cards won. Always a plus.

The next morning all the girls went over the the Hagy's to get ourselves and the future Mrs. Berthold ready. Hair had already been done that morning, so Vicki, one of Abi & Andy's friends from Omaha, did our makeup, and we all hung out while we ate lunch. After everyone was fed, I sprayed everyone down with sunscreen and the bridesmaids finished getting dressed. Then it was time to dress Abi. Between her mom, sister (and MOH) and me, we got her in, hooked, zipped and buttoned. Whew. (Pic of her checking her self out was posted earlier.) The other girls helped her get her shoes and garter on, and by this time its getting close to time to leave for the church. But of course not before our first bathroom trip of the day. For those of you who have never had this job before, most brides cannot go to the bathroom without assistance due to the massive amount of dress they have on. So, going to the restroom becomes at least a 2 person job. Somehow, her first trip of the day required 3 other people. Luckily, we were much more efficient the other like 4000 times we did this. Hehe. After she was finished with her 'business', we fluffed her layers and got ready to head out the door. Everyone piled into a van and off we went to the church. We were even running a few min early. Amazing.

Once we got to the church, we 'quarenteened' Abi because they didn't want to see each other before the ceremony. So we all hung out behind the screen doing last min things, like double stick taping dress straps and whatnot, and I took a little video of Abi's last words as a bachelorette. Abi also wanted to do confession, so us girls had to entertain ourselves outside the booth while she spilled her guts to the priest about things we already knew. :)

Shortly afterwards the ceremony started, and it was a typical catholic wedding ceremony complete with full mass. Beautiful. After the ceremony, a few pics were taken outside the church (there are no posed ones allowed inside the old cathedral) and then we boarded the party bus. Eventhough the air conditioner wasn't working as well as it should have been, it was still cooler than outside, so we were glad to get on it and poor us some champagne. Toasts were made, and we were off to Forest Park for more pictures. It was at our first stop that I received the vote for best personal attendant ever because I had purchased 6 personal fans for the girls to use in the 90+ degree heat. The boys were way jealous, and the girls loved it. (They did decide to share with the boys, which was nice.) Paige did have an incident with hers though... it totally got stuck in her hair.

I rescued it. :) From there we continued arround town to Wash U, Berthold Ave, and Ted Drewes (of course) for free ice cream. YUMMY! We partied it up, and tried to stay cool best we could.

Abi was so happy to be married she even busted a move on the way to Ted Drewes. :) We clearly had lots of fun. And I have to give the wedding party their due - even though it was just nasty hot, noone whined about it. There was some complaining about it being hot, but not a one of them complained that they had to be out there, and that's pretty awesome of them. At one point all the girls spread their legs to catch a breeze a bit better to cool off it was so hot.

We eventually made it Andre's West, and continued to celebrate by eating, drinking and dancing the night away. We made it through the day with a happy, calm bride (I did my job well), and everything went really smoothly. I actually did my job so well that like 3 people came up and asked me what I had given Abi to make her so calm and happy. I told them I was just that good. lol. She really was great all day though - no complaining from her either. Here's one of me and the Bertholds at the end of the evening.

Sunday there was a brunch and present opening, of course. The newlyweds made some pretty good money, and got some great gifts. Soon it was time to pack everything up and get them ready to leave for their honeymoon, which was a cruise to the Bahamas. (I'm way jealous!) We said our goodbyes, and then I headed home for a short rest and then packed all my stuff up to head back to Branson. I got back here around 7ish, and pretty much layed on the couch all evening uploading pics and laying around. Too soon it was time for bed and then work today.

It was a crazy weekend, but fun. Seeing how happy Abi was makes all the hard work worth it. I wish them a happy life together, and CONGRATS again!

~E

progress

I have finished, with the exception of making my final presentation, my coursework for my capstone class! I took the CompXM (which is basically a comprehensive type exam offered through the people who make the simulation program), and got a 55%. I of course automatically was like, "oh shit I failed!", but my prof. assured me that that's actually a pretty good score, and one of the highest he's ever had. I would have done better if my 'company' hadn't just sucked the first 2 rounds, but after I figured out what I was doing wrong, I was able to recover a bit. But apparently this is fairly common, so I don't feel like a total failure. So now its just finishing Econ, and in 3ish weeks I'll have my MBA. Whew.

Work still sucks, but we're doing a day of volunteering as a unit at a girls' shelter in Springfield on Wed, so that should be fun. The following week we're having a 1 day meeting in STL the following Thur, which is a pain in my ass because I'll probably spend more time driving to and from the meeting than actually attending it, but oh well. Plus I have class Wed nights, so I can't leave until late, which will make for a very long couple of days. Blah. Please let someone call from one of the bazillion jobs I've applied to!

Next weekend is Abi's wedding, and I'll confess that I'll be happy when it's over. I'm happy for her and all that, but we've been talking about it and planning for over a year now, and I'm ready for it to be done. :) (I'm thinking she is too, so she won't be offended by that statement when she reads this.) She'll have to take up knitting or something to fill her free time. Until she has kids anyway. So I have to be in STL Thur evening for the rehersal, and then other wedding-related things the rest of the weekend. Busy.

On a totally unrelated note, there are 3 little kittens (like only a few weeks old) that have been hanging around my apt. They're cute. Last night, however, it stormed pretty badly, and I could hear them in our breezeway or somewhere close crying cause I'm sure they were scared and cold, and I felt like a terrible person for not letting them in. They're still hanging around though, so I guess they survived, but I wish someone would just take them or that they would go away so I don't feel guilty for not wanting them!

Have a great week!

~E

back to reality

Today is the last day of my "staycation" - which I would like to point out was no less busy than a regular vacation. I'm really dreading going back to work tomorrow. But here's how the second half of my vaycay went...

Wed. I ended up going with my brother Brian to see WALL-E. It was cute, but not quite the oh-my-goodness-how-could-I-have-possibly-survived-without-seeing-this-immediately movie some people said it was. But definately worth paying to see, even if its not the next Shrek. Bri and I enjoyed it. Wed night I went over to my dad's house to hang out for awhile, and catch up with him. Good times. Thur. I went out to lunch with my grandma. She wanted to go somewhere 'different' -aka not Fenton - so I took her downtown and we ate at Arcellia's (mexican resturant on Park st.) and went to Park Ave. Coffee for dessert. She really enjoyed both places, and I enjoyed trying the new mexican place, so it was a great afternoon. After I dropped her off, I went to the mall and bought myself like 5 new pairs of pants, mostly for work. (And I got a way cute pair of crop pants and a pair of capri gouchos that I really shouldn't wear to work, but might anyway :) ) Thur night I hung out at home with Mom and read the new book I bought, and thats about it.

Friday was July 4th, and one of my favorite holidays. I love celebrating our nation and the freedoms we're so lucky to enjoy and sometimes take for granted. Plus I like to watch fireworks. I celebrated Independence day first by going over to Sam Ericson's parents' house for a bbq/pool party, and was joined by the fabulous Lindsey Oliver. So glad to see her! After hanging out with Sam and Taylor and some other folks, we headed over to the Casino Queen to meet up with Cyndi Speidel and Aimee Lichtenberg-Quirin (and some other people, who were also fun, but these were the girls I was excited to see!) We at at the humongeous buffet, then sat on the curb to watch the fireworks. It was actually a great place to watch, and not as crowded as the fair would have been. I also got a chance to talk with Aimee's new husband, Andy, about his job at Monsanto, and he was kind enough to offer to pass on my resume to the marketing folks there. So maybe something will come of that. If it does, Aims and Andy are getting something fabulous from me. I don't know what yet, but it will be amazing. :) We hung out at the casino for a bit afterwards, and then Linds and I headed back to SoCo. Fun day.

Sat I hung out with my mom in the morning, and we went to the hardware store for stain for the stairs and whatnot. I then had to go grocery shopping for the bbq that afternoon that I was throwing. Some friends from college (and some friends I've just picked up along the way) came over for some bbq and yard games and whatnot, and we just hung out and caught up. It was good to see Paul again after him being away in Boston so long (training for his new job), though I'm sure I'm not nearly as happy as Emily to have him home. It was a nice afternoon.

The rest of the evening was spent just hanging out, as was Sunday. Sunday night I decided to pack up the cats and go ahead and head back to Branson so that I would have today to just kind of hang out and get everything back in order before having to go back to work. Things like going to the grocery store and unpacking get done today, as well as just a day of rest from my vacation. I also have a conference call at 8pm tonight for capstone. Tomorrow I'm going to have to take Econ with me when I go to get my hair done since I've pretty much ignored it since before I went on vacation, which was probably not my brightest move. Oh well. I'll figure it out. Hopefully. 4 more weeks till I have my MBA!

I think that about wraps it up. Tomorrow its back to reality. I'm ready for another vacation already! lol.

~E

vacation is half over?!?!

My vacation is already half way over. This greatly saddens me. Oh well.

Its been a busy one. Friday night after I got to St. Louis I dropped my cats off at Mom's and headed over to Sam & Taylor's house for bbq and poker. Since I was late I didn't get to play poker (tear) but it was good to see everyone and hang out. Sat morning I helped my Mom get ready for Brian's graduation party (which was Sunday) by running errands and whatnot. That afternoon was my cousin John's graduation party, so I attended that, then went home to gather my stuff for Abi's bachlorette party that night. Bachelorette went well - we had lots of fun, and it was pretty low key, which was what Abi said she wanted. Good times were had by all, but I'm kind of glad its done so I don't have to worry about it anymore! Abi, Kim, Paige and I went to breakfast the next morning (we just stayed at Kate's house) and then I had to leave to go help with graduation party stuff while the three of them went on to the next top secret adventure, which I'm kind of sad I missed, but oh well. (I'd tell you, but in the off chance someone who knows the suprisee reads this I don't want to be responsible for spilling the beans!)

Graduation party went fine, except for the on-and-off rain we got. The light rain was fine, the like 10 min downpour was not. It all worked out though, and I think everyone had a good time. I was really tired afterwards, so I took like a 2 hr nap, and then hung out at home the rest of the evening. We had a family viewing of the Spiderwick Chronicles (seriously, we all watched except for my sister who was taking a boating test for her trip to the ozarks later this month upstairs, and I think she watched the end with us) - which is actually pretty good. I also want to go see WALL-E sometime this week. I might do that today, actually. We'll see.

Monday morning I took my mom to have her colonoscopy (sp). Everything looked good, thankfully, as we have a family history of colon cancer (Mom's grandma and uncle both had it and died from it because it wasn't caught soon enough). She was entertaining in recovery too, as I think she asked me like 4 times if I had gotten my nephew to school ok (I dropped him off at daycare after I dropped her off to go by work really quick, which is also at the hospital) and if I found the GI lab ok and parked in the right place. One time she told me Devin was her other daughter's son. I was like, yes, I'm aware... She also told me several times that she had met her dr. before because he came up to the nuclear med. lab last week, and what she wanted to do for lunch. She doesn't remember the dr coming in to talk to us, but she definately told him my grandma was in denial about her mom and that uncle orval was stupid. Dr. was like, tell us how you really feel, Kerry! It was entertaining. The important thing was that everything looks healthy.

Mom took a nap that afternoon, then we started getting stuff ready for our float trip the next day. We decided to rent a motel room at Meramec Caverns in Stanton, MO for the night so we wouldn't have to rush in the morning (which turned out to be pointless because you can only leave a 830 or 10am to float, and we were ready at 9, so we could have easily just driven down that morning. oh well.) We took the cavern tour, which was fun since I haven't done it since I was little, and went to dinner and whatnot. Tue. we floated, and had a really good time. We didn't tip the canoe or anything, and thanks to dedicated sunblock application didn't end up badly burnt. Mom and I are a bit on the pale side, so it took multiple applicaitons of SPF 30 to accomplish this. I still have a few spots that are a bit red, but its not painful, and its not all over like it would have been. So I'm not *so* pale anymore, and my color is a bit more even. Fun stuff. We got Ted Drewes on the way home, and stopped by Bill's shop to say hi and deliver ice cream to him and Bri. The rest of the night was pretty uneventful - basically just stayed home and rested from a day in the sun.

Today Bri and I might go to Six Flags, which would be way fun since I haven't been in forever. And if we don't, I think I'm going to go to a movie or something. And tonight I might have a conference call with my capstone group. That's about it, I believe.

So that's my vacation so far. I will update you on the rest later - have a great 4th of July!

~E