I am so honored!

I won a blog award! I was nominated by Krista from Canadian Bride. Krista is so sweet! She says I'm funny...am I really? Maybe funny looking! Ha..just jokes. I am so honored for such a cute award! Thank you Krista! Check out her blog..I love reading it! She is one of the many blogs I stalk..

Click here for to see the other nominees! I stalk these ladies as well!!

The Uber (AKA Super) Amazing Blog Award is a blog award given to sites who:
-Inspire you
-Make you smile and laugh
-Or maybe gives amazing information
-A great read
-Has an amazing design
-And any other reason you can think of that makes them uber amazing!

The rules of the award are:
-Put the logo on your blog or post
-Nominate a minimum of 5 blogs
-Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog
-Share the love and link to this post and the person you received your award from


Here are my nominations.....you must check these girls out. They are amazingly awesome!

Blabber and Blunder (for being my best friend and being such an inspiration)
The Bride (for being so honest-she is one of my favorites!)
Gage's Mom (for being such a wonderful mom.)
I Hate Planning My Wedding (for being so damn honest!)
Our Little Haus (for being my inspiration)

I'm back!

I'm back from my Iowa trip! I am so glad to be home. The trip was nice but I got a little home sick. I have a lot of pictures to post and things to tell you about! But I'm still unpacking..and have lots of laundry to do. And I need to go through the hundreds of email I have and my 405 blogs in my google reader. I also have to go through all the lovely comments I've received since I've been gone! (Thanks for all the comment love!)

I will leave you with a few pictures. So you can see all the fun I had...

Please excuse my crappy camera. I'm in desperate need of a new one.

Do you see the excitement in our faces???

As you can see there isn't much to see in Iowa. Lots of farms and cows.

I am so happy to be home..I can hear cars driving by. Oh how I missed civilization.....

Guest Post from our children..

Mommy and Daddy...

Grandma fed us too much..we just can't pick ourselves off this comfy couch...



*meow..HURRY HOME! We miss you!..*meow




Love,
Stoli and Dimitri

Jeff and Kelly 11-8-08

Today Mike's brother Jeff will be marrying his fiance Kelly. I wish them all the luck and happiness life can offer.

I'm really excited to attend a wedding..being that our wedding is coming so soon. It makes it that more exciting! I'm also going to try my damnedest to catch the bouquet!!

Congratulation Jeff and Kelly! I hope your day is however you dreamed it would be.


I can't wait to show all of you pictures!!

Healthy Peanut Butter cookies

I have a weakness for sweets. However, I cannot have them because of my Insulin Resistance. I have to stay away from sweets to prevent myself from becoming diabetic. So, over the last few years I have found healthy sweet recipes. And I wanted to share one with you....

I found this from Kalyn's Kitchen. But I've added my own 'twist'...to make it a little better. Since they are flourless and sugarfree-they tend to get a little dry.

Flourless, Sugar-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
(Makes about 2 dozen small cookies, recipe adapted from Flourless Peanut Butter CookiesCookie Madness.) from

1 large egg
1 cup granular Splenda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Mexican vanilla (or vanilla extract)
1 cup creamy natural peanut butter (check sugar content, the one I used had only 1 gram sugar per serving)
1 tsp. water
1 bag sugar-free Hershey chocolates (milk or dark-whatever you prefer)*
1/3 cup chopped peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In mixing bowl, use electric beater to beat together the egg, Splenda, baking powder, and vanilla for about a minute. Add peanut butter and water and beat together. (The mixture was fairly dry and broken apart. Just be sure the peanut butter is mixed well with the other ingredients.) Add peanuts if using, and blend into dough.

Use a large non-stick cookie sheet. Measure out a heaping teaspoon of batter for each cookie, then smash down with a fork. Bake 15 minutes, or slightly longer, until cookies feel firm and are slightly browned.

*Now here is my little 'twist' I was telling you about...Cut the sugar-free chocolates in half and place them on the warm cookies. The chocolate will melt and they will become chewy PB/chocolate goodness!

Enjoy!!

I heart Target

Remember a while ago...I told you about my addiction to purses??


Well...since I bought a new dress for this wedding were are going to..I HAD to find a new purse. And it was only $16.99!

I freakin love it.

What do you think?

There are a lot of cute purses and clutches are Target right now.. You should check it out!

Bon Voyage!

Today is my last day at work until next Tuesday!

Hold on while I do a little dance....

Tonight we are leaving to go to Iowa! Woo hoo...Corn fields! Kidding..kidding..

Our itinerary looks like this:
Wednesday night: 6pm-Midnight Driving to Iowa..then crashing at our hotel.
Thursday: Mama B is going to show me off to all of her friends and family...she tells me she can NOT wait for this! I too am pretty excited to meet Mike's extended family!!
Thursday Night: Dart League at a local bar with the Bride and Groom.
Friday: Rehearsal/Rehearsal Dinner
Saturday: Jeff and Kelly's Wedding!!
Sunday: Brunch/Gift opening
... and then our drive home! Mike is planning to show me a few surprises on the way home.. I can't wait!

Not only am I excited to attend their wedding ceremony..and shake my groove thang at the reception. But I am especially excited to take my first real vacation with Mike. In the 4-1/2 years we have been together, we have never vacationed together. Just staying at a out-of-state hotel seems so exciting to me!

I am bringing my camera and hope to have lots of recaps to show you!

We also took Monday off just to relax for one day alone before heading back to work on Tuesday.

And since I promised to blog once a day throughout this lovely month of November..I have scheduled posts everyday I am gone, since I unfortunately do not have a laptop to bring with me...*sigh.

Bon Voyage!!

Week 9: weigh in

I skipped week 8 for no apparent reason..I just forgot.

I'm still at a 17lb loss. But I'm not complaining! I have lost a few more inches around my tummy and my arms. And it's all thanks to 30 Day Shred! This program really works. My legs are getting so defined...my butt is starting to look amazing. And my old tighter clothes are beginning to feel so much more comfortable.

I'm on week 2 of 30 Day Shred and started level 2 on Sunday. I don't feel like I'm dying anymore. I feel great after each workout!

I really recommend this workout to anyone who wants to tone up or loose some weight. It's extremely affective. It's all thanks to Cyd from The Sweetest Occasion!!

I'm hoping to reach 20lbs by next week....!

6 Months to go!

My ticker says we have 6 months until we say I do!

Woo hoo!

These last 5 months of being engaged have flown. I can't believe it. They have been so exciting and so wonderful. I hope the next 6 months fly by too!

The knot's checkist is kinda stressing me out though. I wish it would stop.

THIS MONTHS TO DOS

		Make sure your maid of honor and best man are aware of what you expect of them -- providing a list of their duties will help.
		Set aside blocks of hotel rooms for out-of-town guests.
		Finalize menu and service details with caterer.
		Finalize your invitation wording.
		Order your invitations and announcements (don't forget plenty of extra envelopes).
		Start thinking about flower arrangement styles you like, and figure out what flowers will be in season on your wedding day.
		Decide on a floral scheme, choose flowers, and negotiate prices with florist. Be sure to sign a contract outlining what you agreed upon.
		Book a calligrapher (if you are using one).
		Grooms: Start looking to buy or rent tux, suit, or other formal attire.
		Book rehearsal-dinner site.

As you see there are many 'over due' tasks.

Why do I have to order my invitations so early?? And why do I need to tell my Matron of Honor and Best Man what I expect of them...when I'm not even sure of our 'Day Of'-Timeline. And the hotel my out-of-town guests will be staying at-is NOT even finished being built yet. And I've picked out my floral scheme + my deposit paid...but my florist doesn't want to finalize everything until January. And why do we need to book our rehearsal dinner site? Seriously...it all seems a little silly.

I think we can wait a few months for those tasks. Don't you?? I personally think finding my veil, bridal shoes and purchasing Mike's wedding band are WAY more important...

But here are all of my completed tasks...

1. Chose a date
2. Booked the church
3. Booked the reception venue
4. Booked my DJ
5. Booked my Photographer
6. Booked my Florist
7. Ordered/paid for my dress
8. Ordered/paid for all the bridesmaid dresses
9. Chosen floral scheme
10. Picked/bought all centerpieces
11. Was lucky enough to have my Uncle be our Officiant
12. Registered for gifts
13. Have ideas for the rehearsal dinner site.

I think that is pretty good for being 6 months away.....

NaBloPoMo

National Blog Posting Month.

You are suppose to post 1 blog a day throughout the month of November.

I found out about this through my good friend Bella. And she found it here.

I think it's a great challenge! And I'm going to try it too! I'm going to try and make it exciting all month-but a couple may be boring...but you never know.

2 down....28 to go!

Stay tuned!