Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Troops Arrive

I'm happy to report that my Mom and sissy, matron of honor, Laura are here for a week to help me plan the wedding. While I've been at work they have been busy making phone calls for me. I can't believe that they have accomplished so much on the first day of their visit!! Boy do we have a busy week with most of the appointments after 5pm when I get out of work.

My brother-in-law, Ed, joined my sister on the trip to FL. I told him that this was a wedding planning trip and not a vacation so he will be on his own. Today has been spent trying to hunt down fishing equipment. Apparently, there are fish jumping like crazy in the canal behind my house and Ed is chomping at the bit to catch them.

That's all for now. I'll be posting travel details soon so keep checking back!!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Party Pics

Florida Pit Fire

Our new ring toss game. Looks professionally installed huh?

The guys thought "Just for Men" was the perfect gift for Jonathan since he found 2 gray arm hairs and one on his head.

Finally....someone else took our picture! I have way too many pics of the two of us with Jonathan's arm strectched.
The party was a huge success and a lot of friends came to celebrate Jonathan's birthday. For quite a few this was their first time to our new house. We got rave reviews which I love! Everyone was gone & the kitchen was cleaned up by 11:30. It was early to bed for an early rise this morning - especially since we lost an hour last night. I went for a 28 mile bike ride with a girlfriend and Jonathan & the guys hit the mountain bike park. I plan on finishing my everyday chores and preparing the guest bedroom for my Mom & Sister's vist. They arrive in 3 days and I can't wait!!!! That's all for now! Have a great Sunday everyone!





Saturday, March 7, 2009

Jonathan's 28th Birthday

This week has been a busy one in the Decker/Gabel household. Jonathan's 28th birthday was yesterday and we celebrated with dinner at his brother Justin's house. Jess, Justin's girlfriend, made a wonderful lasagna dinner. Terry, Jonathan's Mom, made her special homemade birthday cake, a tradition since childhood, and we all enjoyed watching Jonathan struggle to blow out all of the candles. After dinner Jonathan and I headed to a local bar near our house simply named the Tiki Bar. There was a live band and best of all we ran into a friend of ours we hadn't seen in a while. Then it was off to Pearl Lounge to dance & people watch. There was more people watching than dancing going on but we enjoyed every minute of it.

On Thursday night I treated Jonathan to dinner on the Murder Mystery Dinner Train in Fort Myers. We dined with a great couple from West Virginia, enjoyed the yummy food & laughed at the show as it played out in the aisle between courses. Unfortunately, no one at our table could solve the murder. Jonathan & I were both a bit upset at not "winning" but got over that when we found out that the prize was a coffee mug. Although, I do need one or two more mugs to make sure there are enough to go around the next time Joe & Marti come to visit. :)

I have also been EXTREMELY busy at work this week. There didn't seem to be enough time in the day to accomplish all my tasks. I count my blessings that I have a job to keep me busy and try to remember that when I start to feel overwhelmed. This being said, there isn't time during the day to do much wedding planning. I'm sure that my boss would think that this is a good thing. I did manage to set up a few appointments to meet with vendors in the next 2 weeks. My Mom and sister will be here next week Wed. to get a lot of wedding details taken care of and I can't wait!! My Mom lives in TX & my sister lives in OH so they've missed out on the preliminary planning. They're going to be BUSY when they get here!! We're going to meet with the florist, reception site to finalize the menu, cake baker, area hotels & hopefully pick out our invitations. Next Sat. the bridesmaids & I are all getting together to pick out their dresses. I've already found my dress & can't wait to try it on again for my Mom & sister who weren't with me when I found it.

We're off to breakfast now and then Jonathan will head to his "project" house to continue the demo and remodel taking place there. In a weeks time he has filled a dumpster & is ready to start putting things back together. The demo consisted of tearing down a room that was built in place of the screen porch, tearing out the master bathroom shower as the walls were caving in from water damage, removing all of the baseboard & carpeting in the house & removing a wooden basketball hoop. To help with this I gave him an air compressor nail gun thing for his birthday that he's been drooling over at Home Depot. I know that it will go to good use!! We're having a get together at our house tonight at 6pm for Jonathan's birthday so while Jonathan is elbow deep in construction I'll be grocery shopping, cleaning the house & getting ready for company. One of my favorite things to do is entertain! I just love having a house full of people who are having fun and enjoying each others company. I can't wait!! We're even going to have a pit fire if it's cold enough tonight. Come one come all!!