My Beautiful Day

Great post to follow "Married Life is Great!" right?! Well, he doesn't really tick me off, he just frustrates me a little bit. I'm sitting at my kitchen counter, overseeing he and our friend, Chris, doing some electrical work to prepare for the new range that we're putting in (yes, this spoiled brat got a gas stove/oven for christmas/her birthday!). I tell him to be careful and just a moment later (as he's reaching behind an outlet with a needle-nose pleiers [sp?]) he starts shaking and screaming, "aaah! aah! aaahhh!" Then comes the laughter as he looks at the shock and freak-out factor on my face. Then comes the punch from me when I realize it was a joke. My husband is a butthead!!! :)

... or at least the first two weeks of it has been! My new family is amazing, my husband is a dream-come-true, my life is truly blessed. Thank you so much to everybody who helped make this day as amazing as it was! We love you all so much!!

Alright Michelle, here it is! I've been tagged to find the sixth picture in the sixth folder on my computer - and here it is! A picture of my friend's and I on the night of Shawn and Chris' engagement dinner - and the waiter couldn't figure out how to zoom the camera OUT so that everybody could be seen! What a great night! :) I hereby tag Angela, Amanda, Melissa and Shannon to do the same! Here are the instructions: 1. Go to your sixth picture folder and find the sixth picture. 2. Pray you remember the details! 3. Post it on your blog. 4. Tag four others and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they've been tagged. On another note - wedding plans are almost complete! I have yet to buy votives for the reception, make my programs and finish writing my vows - all of which I hope to complete TODAY! YiKeS! It should be great, though. I can't tell you how excited I am to see everybody and to be able to celebrate my marriage with the people I love most...

You know when it's coming - you can feel it building under your skin even before it shows it's ugly face. You've been stressed out, had a little too much on your plate, and now you know that you're REALLY going to have something awful to show for it. Then it happens - the zit of the century pops out on your face and it seems like there's nothing you can do to get rid of it. You? Oh no, wait, that's right - this is happening to ME! Ugh. 10 days before my wedding, I have a monsterous zit on the side of my nose - bulging over my eye (and making my nose appear to be twice its normal size!) and I can't seem to get rid of it! Whatever is a woman to do?!!! :)

I hereby tag all of you to do this ... 1. Where is your cell phone? In my purse - in the closet. 2.Where is your significant other? On his way to work. 3. Your hair color? I wish it was still brown, but it always fades back to blonde :( 4. Your mother? Completely amazing! 5. Your father? There when I need him. 6. Your favorite thing? Spending time with my Monte! 7. Your dream last night? No dreams - just a hard sleep after a full day of shopping with my sister, Tanya. 8. Your dream/goal? To raise my kids in the path of God. 9. The room you're in? The kitchen. 10. Your hobby? Right now it would have to be doing laundry, changing diapers and cleaning the house! 11. Your fear? Losing people I love. 12. Where do you want to be in six years? Here with Monte and the kids - with some more kids too - loving life, serving God, working hard, reaching people and touching lives. 13. Where were you last night? At the Mall of America with Tanya. 14. What you’re not? Awake .. I could...

So, as a treat to myself, I have began a ritual of daily taking a little bit of "Me Time" when Colin is down for his nap. During this time, I am allowed to do NO work (this was at the request of my wonderful Monte!), but I am allowed to relax and use the time to do whatever my heart desires. Today, I want to blog. So here I sit at my kitchen counter, staring at the insane MESS around me! Somehow, after my trip to the grocery store this morning, I made the command decision to clean out some of the cupboards in the kitchen. WHAT A PROJECT!! And now I'm sitting here, eating peanut m&ms and drinking a diet coke, just watching this mess stare me right in the face ... and it's driving me crazy! I just might have to break the 'me time' rules today, cause this project is one that needs to be tackled again soon! I'm happy to say that I believe wedding planning is almost complete! My sister, Tanya, and I are off to another full day of wedding shopping a...

Here I sit, 19 days away from my WEDDING DAY, and all I can think about is how the last seven weeks have flown by. I remember the day that Monte and I decided to move the wedding date up, and when wedding preparations began. I have gone from that phase of having nothing figured out, to almost being completely set and ready to go (thanks to a LOT of help from my sister, Tanya). I am so completely excited to be married to such an amazing man - and I can't imagine what life would be like without him or his four awesome kids. I think it's almost beyond belief that, in the course of a year, I went from being a single woman living with her brother and his family, barely making ends meet (or not making them meet sometimes!), just wanting to be married and life to move forward .. just wanting love; to go from that to being married with four step-children in the course of a YEAR ... holy moly! I am so thankful to God for all He has blessed me with, and I pray that I will never take...

I can't really show you a picture or tell you anything about it being the fact that my Monte has access to my blog as well ... but I HAVE A DRESS!! :) I'm so excited - it's so elegant and gorgeous! I picked out my bridesmaid dresses as well and will have the last of those ordered by this weekend (Michelle, this is the reason you need to call me ASAP!). It's going to be completely amazing! :) I'm excited ... :)

Things seem to be coming together wonderfully for the wedding, and I'm really excited about it! We've got our church (Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Excelsior), the reception site (BayView Event Center in Excelsior), looking into DJs, dress shopping with my sister tonight ... it all seems to be falling into place! I am really beginning to enjoy planning for this, and have yet to feel stressed out over the wedding planning. I will admit that, when we decided to move the date up to December 6th, I was a little nervous, as we were leaving ourselves with only ten weeks to plan - but God has been so faithful to open doors for us and to provide venues and details -- and to do it in a hurry! I must say, however, that I'm incredibly excited to start dress shopping tonight ...... Tanya - let's get going! :) On top of that, I'm thrilled that my best Michelle will be able to make it back home for the wedding! Monte and I were blessed that almost everybody that we wanted in...

It's official - as of Thursday October 16th, I am going to be a stay-at-home (future) step-mom! Monte and I had been discussing this one for a long time, as we are having some stresses with the nanny who currently stays at home with Colin during the day, and we have come to the conclusion that it's going to be best for all of us (in the long run) to have me there sooner as opposed to later. I wanted to give my bosses at least a month's notice, as I really do enjoy my current job and don't want to burn any bridges or leave them high-and-dry when I leave - so we decided to cut my time there right at the end of a pay period - thus October 15th will be my last day as Business Manager at Accelerated Sports Therapy & Fitness. It may just be a sad day ... but I promise the 16th will be an exciting one! It's always been my heart's desire to be a stay-at-home mom, to devote my time to my children (now my future step-children) and to see what avenues God will have...

You read correctly! My wonderful Monte proposed to me last night! He took me to a wonderful dinner at Kincaid's restaurant, then proceeded to tell me how much he wants to spend the rest of his life with me, how he and the kids love me, how we're perfect together ... then he asked me if I would marry him. I was in shock - he even had to tell me that he was being serious - and he waited until I said YES to pull out the ring! Oh my!!! :) I just had to share that wonderful news!

Per Michelle's request, here you have it! In the month of August I have: -Gone to camp with WyldLife (the youth group I work with) -Become insanely ill and can't seem to shake it (going on two weeks now) -Met some of Monte's extended family -Finally got to see my family -Had Jeremy and Missy (my brother and his wife) and their kids out to the house for dinner -Tory was there too -I realized how much I miss my family -I've kicked butt on the insurance project I'm working on at work -I've realized that I'm entering step-motherhood to a pre-teen girl, and have started preparing myself for this :0 -Missed writing and blogging and reading and relaxing, but know that, for now, there are too few hours in the day -Missed you! :)

Saturday morning, Monte and I packed up the kids, (as well as their bags, blankets, pillows and stuffed animals!), fishing poles and tackle boxes, snacks and what seemed like everything short of the kitchen sink .. and headed to Perham! We spent the weekend with my mom and step-Bob, and what a weekend it was! Iain and Ellis went fishing with Monte and Bob: And later, Ellis and I enjoyed swinging on the rope swing above the lake. We later noticed that his fly was open - thus the zipping and my laughter! On top of that, Claire and Colin helped my mom make cookies and then the four of us went to town for shopping and ice cream! Beyond that, we enjoyed awesome meals, going to church in the morning, LOTS of time on the lake and great company. All in all, it was a great overnight in Perham!

So here's my question: why is that, when you call someone, they will answer the phone even when they have only a minute (or even a few seconds) to talk? Isn't that what voicemail is for? The reason I ask that is because three very important people in my life have done this to me already this morning, and by the third, I was feeling a bit frustrated! There are people who can do this and I completely understand and have no problem with it - like my brother, Tory. He and I rarely are on the phone with each other, so if one of us is calling, it's usually because it's important. He can pick up the phone and say "hey, I only have a few minutes" and I'll get right to the point and it's all good. It's when I'm calling people that I talk to regularly (and by regularly, I mean at least three or four times per week!) that I get frustrated that they insist on picking up the phone when they don't have time to talk. Now, put the shoe on the other...

I used to always believe that I was going to absolutely LOVE living in my own home, love the peace and quiet, love my own space. Don't get me wrong, I truthfully do love my home and wouldn't want to give it up for almost anything ... but the one thing that I've noticed resounds throughout the house is silence...... I miss the LOUD !!

I love that today is Friday! I'm working only a half day today, then I'm meeting my mom and my sister at my townhouse and we're going to go crazy - shopping and decorating and deciding on paint colors. Eventually, it will be a warm, cozy place to be. Now it's just a cozy place to be with WHITE WALLS EVERYWHERE! So they're helping me to remedy that problem. Don't get me wrong, I can likely do it myself, but why would I choose to do that when I have two immediate relatives who have degrees in interior redesign?!?! :) So that is my tonight. Tomorrow is the best, though .. I get to take my niece and nephew, Lexie and Zachary, for the day and I am sooooo excited! It has been really weird coming home to an empty house, as opposed to when I used to live with them and came home to them eating dinner. The second I would walk through the door they would both yell, "Auntie Kami!!" and come give hugs and kisses, as if I hadn't just seen them that morni...

I've been thinking a lot lately about some cherished memories I have in my life, and realizing the significance of each of those events in shaping me for the future. One such memory is my youth group's many missions trips to downtown Chicago. On one particular trip, we spent our free day at Six Flags. I remember sitting at the top of the Giant Drop (much like the Power Tower at Valleyfair), just waiting to plummet to the Earth, and singing out (along with my friends, Michelle and Marie), "Be bold! Be strong! For the Lord thy God is with you. I am not afraid, NO NO NO! I am not dismayed, uh uh. I'm walkin' in faith and victory, come on and walk in faith and victory, for the Lord thy God is with you!" And with that, the ride would fall to the ground and we would scream every second of the fall! It's moments like that that make me realize just how much my family shaped and impacted my faith, how much of a huge role my youth group played in solidifyin...

Well, I can finally say that most of my transitions are over! What an amazing feeling that is! Now it's just a matter of bringing more order and organization to my life, but that will come in time. Where to begin? How about I back up to last month. One of the best blessings I had last month was to get to see my best friend, Michelle! Monte and I drove to Forest City, Iowa and met up with her and Ethan (her husband) for a day of food and mini golf (a typical combination for Michelle and me!), and it was so wonderful! She's in her last month of pregnancy, so it was fun to see her with that big belly (because pictures truthfully do not do justice!). Unfortunately, our time together felt all too short, but was still completely worth every moment of the drive there! Shortly after our mini-trip to Iowa, I got to go to Colorado for five days of relaxation! We spent most of the trip in Breckenridge, and about two days in Vail. We hiked, shopped, (the girls) had a spa day, wen...

That can't be a good thing! :) Wow, where has the time gone since my last blog on May 13th?! Lots of transitions are still going on in my life, but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of this tunnel of insanity, and it's a very glorious light! The main thing on my plate right now is the move to Plymouth. I can't wait - but unfortunately I have to. The move-in date got pushed back yet again, so it's looking like the end of the month before we get in there. I think the difficulty with waiting is knowing that I'm ready to be there - and I just can't. I've got all the furniture for the dining room, living room and my bedroom (with the exception of purchasing a boxspring and mattress for my bed!) - and it's all sitting in my storage garage just waiting for a home. A home that I'm not allowed to move in to until ... who knows when?! :) I've come to the point where I have decided I can't be upset about it anymore - it's complet...

Life is insane, where do I even begin?! Reno was great! It ended up being long enough that it felt like a decent vacation, yet short enough that my homesick feeling didn't last long! I'm such a home body, it's ridiculous. We flew in on Thursday, May 1st and back out again on Sunday, May 4th. We spent some time touring Reno, ate at a Basque Restaurant, chilled at Norris and Angela's house, visited Lake Tahoe and drove up through the mountains on the Nevada/California border .... I cooked and baked for them .. life was good! To view the pictures go to: http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g313/kamiandie/Reno/ --- if it asks for a password, I think it's: anderson. Since then (only a mere week later!) I have made some MAJOR transitions in life. I consolidated my debt, bought a new car (this one wasn't in the plans, but made a lot of sense in the end), and have made the decision to move - and it's all happening VERY quickly! I will be moving to Plymouth (...

I've been harassed that I'm not updating enough, so here's my update for you all (by the way, for those of you who are complaining, buy me a computer and I'll update more!! ... just playin' just playin'). This past weekend was an absolutely insane adventure, as I was in Perham (my hometown) for my friend, Lindsey's, wedding. Normally being involved in a wedding is something I enjoy to no end, but this one brought about a few surprises including about 10 inches of snow! God must have an absolutely amazing sense of humor to allow that much snow in the end of April - I can't wait to meet Him and get His reasoning for that one! :) So Saturday morning I woke up to find a three-foot snowdrift surrounding my car, and that was just the start of the day! Other events included a bridesmaid stranded in the ditch, roads that were nearly impossible to drive on, the photographer and entire wedding party arriving late for pictures, a ceremony starting almost a hal...

I have learned that you can't judge a person by their lifestyle - you don't know where they have been or what they have gone through to get them where they are today. I have learned that God really knew what He was talking about when He said " be still and know that I am God". I love to be still. I have learned that kisses really do make some of the pain go away. I have learned that my family will always be irreplaceable in my heart. I have learned that true love lets you be who you are 100% of the time. I have learned that sugar-coating my words hurts more in the end. I have learned that not everybody follows my schedule. Surprisingly enough, that one took awhile to learn! I have learned that laughter really is the best medicine and a hug between friends is priceless. I have learned that a phone conversation with mom is a treasure. I have learned that ice cream and chocolate truly are therapeutic. I have learned that going out of your way to help others ...

Here I go - copying Katie's blog, sheerly because it was so enjoyable to read her 100 things! If you have a blog of your own, I hereby tag you to share your 100 with me! :) So, without further adieu, I bring you my 100 ......... 1. I am incredibly random and off-the-wall. 2. 90% of the time I am an extreme extrovert. 3. My relationship with God is the number one priority in my life. 4. My family means the entire world to me and I don't know how I would function or survive without them. 5. I tend to hate and love the exact same thing a lot (i.e. I hate to work out, but I love to work out). 6. My heart's true desire is to be a wife and a mom. This will happen someday, of that I am certain. 7. Ice cream has the ability to make everything bad in my life go away for awhile! 8. I take my 4-year-old niece, Lexie, on a "girls day" date at least twice every month and always anticipate the arrival of our next date. 9. My 10 nieces and nephews are the joy of my lif...

I want it one way, they're telling me to go another. I see the joy, contentment and love, they see disaster and difficulty. I see adventure, they see destruction. The very people who's opinion I hold at the highest esteem are the people who are telling me I'm wrong. I don't think I'm wrong. I know I'm stubborn and I know that I have a tendency to go against people's advice for the sheer pleasure of doing things my own way. I've always had to learn the hard way. This sucks, I'm well aware. However, I don't think this is a "learning the hard way" sort of matter. I have prayed about this for endless hours. I have cried tears that felt like they would never end. I have discussed it with people who's opinion matters. I have sought counsel in the midst of it all. They see the gap, they see the unconventional way that this is going, and they fear for me. I never said I wasn't afraid. I never said that this was the way th...

Does anybody know where it is?! I'm not completely certain as to why I'm losing sleep, but my schedule is seeming to allow less and less of it, and it's starting to have it's effect on me more and more. Like this weekend, for instance. I absolutely guarantee my sleep will be little to none. I should be snoozing right now, as I'm waking up tomorrow at 6am. 6:00 on a Saturday morning?! Why would anybody choose to do that?! My neighbors, my sister-in-law and I are having a garage sale (yes, in the midst of this snowy, ridiculously cold weekend, we're going to sit outside and attempt to sell things) that opens at 7:00am. Missy (my sister-in-law) and I have much to set up in the morning, which means rise and shine at 6am. Ish. It's all good, though, I'm going to treat myself to a glorious 10 minutes in the tanning bed after sitting in the cold all morning long. Somehow I feel that it equals itself out. :) Then I have plans to be with a friend on S...

I don't think that I could have asked for a better weekend than this one. I was completely on my own schedule, spent time with some of the most important people in my life and have had huge amounts of fun! Friday night was spent with the two cutest little kids in the world, which (for the uninformed) is my niece and nephew, Lexie (4) and Zack (2). My brother and his wife went out to celebrate her birthday, which meant the babies and I had the night to ourselves. Unfortunately, due to my huge amounts of missed sleep this past week, I was beat by the beginning of our night! We started the evening with chasing each other around the house, followed by a movie and lots of delicious popcorn (or "piecorn" as Zachary likes to call it!), and ended the evening with reading books, singing the "jammies" song, and tucking babies into bed. I even got a bonus, as Lexie wanted to cuddle - so we snuggled up together for awhile and talked about my friend that I had been on ...

Here it is, blog number one. I have absolutely nothing to blog about, but evidently my blogger wants me to create and type out a blog, and thus I am. Life has been great! I have very little to complain about, and even when I am complaining it's only to a select few people (all of whom I have complete confidence and trust in) and they've got great advice to help me through. I'm rambling about nothingness just to fill up space. I'm watching the babies tonight (my niece and nephew, Lexie and Zack) and I'm thrilled to get to spend time with them! Maybe we'll build a fort in the basement. This could be a blast. I may need to buy clothespins on my way home from work. An idea is brewing! Over and out!