A Weekend of Change

(From Nate) Well, it was an eventful weekend to say the least. There are big things right around the cornier in my life, but this weekend was a huge leap forward. It all started on Friday, which was my last day on the job in Omaha. I had been working over the summer at a geospatial consulting form in downtown Omaha. Though it got interesting near the end, it was a pretty boring job, that was not valuable enough to keep me separated from Kathryn after we're married. So I resigned and began searching in earnest for employment in Grand Island. Saturday was full of activity getting my apartment ready for my big move. Mom and Dad came over mid day and help me get started loading the truck. It was awesome. We got almost all of my boxes and small things loaded up, so that the guys and I would just have to get the furniture. Once we got all that work out of the way, it was on to more important things... time for Fantasy Football draft 2011. I've been plotting my domination of the league for years, quietly waiting at the bottom of the standings, ready to rise to the top in an epic season the likes of which has never been seen before. Well this, my friends is the year. Here's my team by round:

Keeper 1: Andre Johnson WR

Keeper 2: DeAngelo Williams RB

Round 3: Ray Rice RB

Round 4: Matt Ryan QB

Round 5: Wes Welker WR

Round 6: Malcolm Floyd WR

Round 7: Lee Evans WR

Round 8: Green Bay Packers DEF

Round 9: Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis RB

Round 10: Tony Moeaki TE

Round 11: Sam Bradford QB

Round 12: Neil Rackers K

Round 13: Donald Driver WR

Round 14: Javon Ringer RB

Round 15: Minnesota Vikings DEF

All in all, the draft was awesome and my team rules.Like every year, we had a live draft with all 12 teams there. We all sit around with our stat sheets, computers, food and beer, and talk trash while we pick our teams. It's something that we all look forward to every year. Here's a few pics...

Joe, Jeremy, and Grant discussing strategy

Our League Trophy, with draftboard and creepy Cody in the background.

Girlfriend came to pick me up at the end of the night. Matching Tshirts was a coincidence

Then came Sunday, the big day. The day that I pull up roots, leave the glitz and glam of Omaha behind, and move to a tiny town in central Nebraska called Grand Island. What would possess a seemingly intelligent person to do such a thing. Some would guess a job, others love, or perhaps family? The truth is, it's this little lady:

Wait, no.... I mean this little lady. It is about Love :-)

Kathryn is in month #2 of a 12 month residency at the VA in Grand Island, so we have a little townhouse and will stay there for a year, hoping to return to the Omaha area after that. It's hard to believe that the wedding is in less than a week away. The change is really starting to set in as we get my stuff unpacked in GI. The idea that we live together is a big, and exciting change. I know it'll take some getting used to, and a lot of compromise, frustration, and joy, but we are off to a good start so far.
I have to say some HUGE thank you's to Kathryn, my parents, my brother Shaun, and my good friend Jason for all their hard work getting me packed up and out to Grand Island. Jason and I drove the moving truck, while my parents drove my car.

We stopped in Dwight to put a few things in storage at Kathryn's parents house. Unloading went really quick, although their are boxes everywhere and organizing will take some serious time.... but most of it will have to wait until after the wedding. Cheddar has seemed a little confused; sniffing everything, jumping in boxes, following me around and whining constantly. She'll snap out of it soon. Here's a few pics of the end of the move:

Work = Wine (at least these days)

I don't know what the problem is these days, but work has been CRAZY. I guess it may have to do with the fact that we're short two pharmacists and that our chem machine up in the lab was broken for two days. So yeah...that basically means double the work. Anyways, I thought yesterday was a wine day, but today, hands down, was worse and definitely a wine day. I go to open a bottle of wine, and find that I don't have a working wine opener. Uh oh. I considered not having wine tonight, but no, I needed it. I immediately think BB&B to use a coupon, and totally thought good ole Grand Island had one. Off to google maps I go to make sure it's where I think it is, and yup, you guessed it, of course Grand Island doesn't have a BB&B. I reconsider again, can I do without the wine? Still no - so off to Younkers. I find a very nice wine opener on super duper sale and I am set!

Busy busy weekend

Hello everyone, Nate and I had a busy weekend yet again. This last weekend was the weekend I designated to be the time when we put our favors together. For those of you who don't know, we decided to make homemade vanilla for our wedding favors.

Friday evening I wanted to test the vanilla and see if it was functional - so I baked some chocolate chip cookies. They turned out fantastic! In the meantime - Nate decided to filter out the vanilla from the bean pods and seeds and to start pouring the vanilla into the little jars that we had bought. Between baking cookies and figuring out the method to our madness in pouring the vanilla, it ended up being a pretty late night.

Saturday morning I woke bright and early. On a side note: I have found that this is a hazard of growing up and having a steady job. Every day I wake up at 6:30 am to go to work; therefore, I wake up at 6:30 am whether it's Saturday, Sunday or the middle of the week. So I was upstairs by 7:30 am and ready to get started. Nate, mom and I worked steadily until a little after noon, and was shocked to complete the project completely by lunchtime. Wowzers - I was prepared for it to take the whole weekend - so yay for not taking as long. I have posted some pictures below.

The rest of the day consisted of making different signs, finalizing the RSVP list, finalizing the seating chart and other random "to dos".

Saturday evening we decided we were done with wedding stuff - that's it, we needed a break. So off to the Saltdogs game we decided to go. It was a beautiful evening and it was great to be outside. It was the last home Saturday night game of the season so they had a pretty impressive fireworks show afterwards, and the home team won in extra innings!

On our way to our last marriage counseling session on Sunday, we stopped at G&G Schmid's to pick some sweet corn. I LOVE Grandpa's sweet corn! I remember as a kid going out to the farm with a few cousins and putting up a bunch of corn. We had this whole process going on where some kids would pick corn, others would shuck it, and then more would be in the kitchen helping the "adults". That was hard work!! I remember looking forward to it every year, and then thinking that it was a lot of work.

Anyways - I will be glad to have a regular weekend back without wedding chores and errands to run. Only 10 more days!!!

Brews, Bros, and a Billion Blinking Lights

With all the business of wedding week approaching, I finally have a few minutes to sit down and tell you about my (aka Nate) recent adventures. On Friday a few weeks ago I, along with three of my best friends boarded a plane for Las Vegas. I was joined by my best man Travis, groomsman Jason, and my good buddy Eric. None of us had ever been to Las Vegas, so it was a fun adventure for us to explore together. Now, I know what you're thinking... Ive heard the stories, have assumptions, and have seen the Hangover, I know what goes on when the guys have a weekend in vegas. Well let me set the record straight. That's EXACTLY they way things went!!! ... Ok, not really. We were nothing like that. But we did have a great time. We stayed at the Excalibur. It's a huge hotel that's themed like a medevial castle.

It's located near the south end of the strip, across from New York-New York and MGM Grand. There are internal hallways connecting it to the Luxor and Mandalay Bay, so we spent most of our time around there. Not surprising, Vegas is hot. like 106 F kind of hot. So Jason and I spent a few hours each day at the pool. The first day we found a spot by the main pool and there were tons of people there. The second day, we wised up a little bit and hung out at the 18+ pool. There's really nothing special about it, except that it's less crowded, quieter, and there are no kids running around and splashing you.

We're not huge gamblers, as we don't have huge bank rolls. But we were in Vegas, so we had to enjoy the games a little bit. Eric and I found some video poker machines that we liked, but I wanted more. I love playing Texas hold-em at home with the guys or my brothers, So I had to try it in Vegas.... and let me tell you, it was a blast. I got to learn a new version of the game (2-6 Limit) and all about proper Vegas table etiquette. And I actually had some success. I played three separate times (made $42, lost $40, and made $63), and came out ahead. It was a fun experience, but not somethings I have any desire to do habitually. Anyway, that's all I have for now, below are a few more pics of the weekend.
~Nate

Tomatoes & Coffee

This weekend was another great weekend of fun. Saturday morning was my first dress fitting and we were able to pick out some jewelry - phew, one less thing to worry about. Nate and I ran a bunch of errands during the day and had time to sit on the deck at Brix with a glass of wine and a cheese plate - have I mentioned how much I miss Omaha?? I love love sitting out on a beautiful day with a glass of wine and a snack :). That evening I met my old work friends at Nebraska Brewing Company for a wedding shower. Oh how I miss my work friends - it was so fun to catch up and tell stories about pharmacy life. They got together and gave Nate and I the wonderful gift of coffee from a Keurig!!! I'm so excited to try it out. It makes coffee, iced coffee, hot chocolate, and even more!! Thank you pharmacy crew!!!!

This morning Katie, Nate and I met up at the farmers' market before church. Oh how I miss a good farmers' market. We bought sweet corn, onions, peppers, and fresh tomatoes. I love me some fresh tomatoes. Nate and I each ate a whole tomato after church with our lunch.

Peacock Fun

Last weekend I had my first bridal shower. My sister was the brains behind the whole production and she did a fantastic job. My friend Katie and my mom also helped quite a bit. The theme was "peacock" and I just loved all the colors!

Suzanne & Mom made the pom-pom things and hung them all over. The cupcakes were from Cinnamon Girl Cupcakes made by Jordan Faeh - chocolate with chocolate and vanilla chai cupcake with almond frosting - delicious! 

Trying to decide on the best drawing of myself on wedding day - there are some great drawers in the Bowers family!

With Katie and my Sis 

Peacock guestbook - love 

Mom and her girls 

The fam plus the bear (aka my nephew) 

We were able to skype in my grandma and aunt from Raleigh - glad they could join us 

Katie found these awesome peacock headbands - she asked if I'd wear it - of course I would!!

It was a fantastic and very busy morning, but lots of fun. Thanks everyone for coming and hanging out!

Shopping trip to the Big O

Today I finally was able to do some shopping in Omaha - and I had a BLAST! First stop - Jos A. Bank to find dad a new dress shirt and tie for the wedding. Poor dad, he hates to shop, and I mean HATES IT. Luckily, he was willing to go and I am willing to let him wear a suit he already has. So we found him a gorgeous tie and a shirt, and a few other things that he was desperately needing (as my mother says, you have to do it while he's out, because he won't ever go shopping with you again :) ). We then went our separate ways as I had a bunch of errands to run and I wanted to dilly dally without dad rushing me. I then found an awesome "going away" dress and jewelry to match. A couple of errands and a quick bite for lunch, and it was time to meet my friend Katie and my sis Suz. We had a fabulous time shopping. I purchased many a things...all for the wedding or honeymoon of course. Loved loved every minute of it. Thanks Katie and Suzanne for shopping with me!!!

A new adventure

I have never blogged in my entire life. I don't even like to write, but I discovered the world of blogs when I became engaged and started reading wedding blogs for ideas and inspiration. So, Nate and I decided to start a blog. I'm sure we'll both be on here and write random things about our lives, thoughts, or whatever, as well as post some photos showing our adventures. Anyways, welcome to our new blog!