Things I'm Lovin!

I know it's been awhile and I really don't have many Things I'm Lovin but I have a new obsession this week that I just had to share! Let me start by saying that I usually don't have Derek buy me any Lean Cuisines on his week to buy groceries (we take turns) because I am really picky on which ones I like. Well this week he ended up having one of my lean pockets because we had nothing to take for lunch so I told him no problem but to grab some more at the store. I wasn't too nervous because I told him just to get some Lean Pockets because I haven't had a kind I didn't like. Well I guess they came out with a new kind since I went to the store last week and I am so glad Derek got some. I am obsessed

They are 280 calories which isn't bad because I usually just have 1 of these and some Sun Chips for lunch. This one just tastes like a cheesy pretzel and it is sssoooo good. Had one yesterday and today (Derek wasn't too happy that I didn't let him have one)

Not only am I trying to plan our wedding but I have also been buying stuff for our honeymoon! I have already gotten 1 swim suit in the mail and have my eye on 3 more at Target. I love this one from Target because it's reversible! How can I not buy it? It's like buying 1 and getting 1 FREE!

(no picture because I can't find out)

Ok I feel like a fat kid for having 2 food related Things I'm Lovin but atleast their healthy! My sister had us try Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt and it might be my new favorite dessert. I had no idea I was going to walk into dessert heaven...

First you get to pick your flavor (or 2 or 3 or 10) of yogurt and if that doesn't satisfy your sweet tooth alone, you can walk on over to the candy BUFFET and choose as many toppings as you want on your yogurt (keep in mind that the cost is based on weight). Derek absolutely loved his and I loved mine until I got to my tart vanilla. I didn't see regular vanilla so I thought that was it. Wrong. It was disgusting. Derek said he saw regular vanilla but didn't know I was looking for it. That just gives me an excuse to go back!

Lastly, I am loving my workout essentials. Pandora Radio because I don't like to pay for music on my phone and my arm band Derek's grandma got me for Christmas. I am completely worthless when I try to workout without these.

Check Check Check

I'm a week early on my monthly wedding blog but I have officially had a VERY productive wedding related month. I was off last week so I attempted to make the centerpiecs I wanted to do. After 2 tries, I have give up. I will post a picture because I am 99% sure I am not going to be doing this anymore. They look easy but they were HARD. Or maybe it's just because I don't have a crafty bone in my body.

So my wonderful sister Amber has come up with a new centerpiece that we are going to attempt this weekend. I am doing 2 different centerpieces but the other ones are for sure and they are pretty easy (even for me).

Tonight was probably the biggest wedding day so far. I ordered the invites AND flower girl dresses!! I don't want to ruin the surprise for those of you who are getting invites (who am I kidding? The only people that read this blog are family and friends so you ALL will be getting invites i'm sure). But I will show you the dresses our 3 adorable flower girls will be wearing.

Earlier this month I finally decided on bridesmaids dresses and all the girls have ordered them! Again, i'm not going to show you a pic but I will tell you it's one of the 4 below. I liked all 4 of them but loved the one I went with.

Groomsmen tuxes have not been ordered but I called the tux place and they said that when we go to Manhattan the end of February, we can order them then and that gives them plenty of time to get them all in.

We officially have an organist to play at the ceremony

Linens are still on my to do list. I just heard today that the college rents linens out so I need to call them and see about chair covers and napkins.

We have appts set up at the end of February with our cake lady (which I still have no idea what I want the cake to look like), pastor, and flower lady. That means I have to know exactly what I want for centerpieces before we meet with her again.

Also in February I will be taking my dress in to get altered. I need to find shoes before that appt!

My list for the next month:

• Centerpieces (I am so ready to cross this off my list)
• Buy my shoes


• Toasting flutes


• Cake serving set


• Ring bands


• Tuxes


• Linens


• Mail out invites!

Yay for a productive January. Now lets hope I can keep this up. 3 more months!

DC

This past weekend I flew to DC with my nanny family. The dad isn't able to go to DC til tomorrow so my nanny mom paid for me to fly to DC with her, the twins, and their older brother (who is 3). Instead of turning around and flying back home, I stayed 2 nights with my friend Melanie from high school. The twins did SO good on the plane. 1 sat beside me in his car seat and the other sat on my lap. They both fell asleep 10 min after take off and slept the entire flight. I was shocked!

We got into DC around 5:00pm DC time. After helping my nanny family get through the airport and to their ride (they are staying a week with my nanny mom's family), Melanie picked me up and we headed back to her place. She lives in Alexandria, VA which is about 20 min. from DC and her apt. was SO cute. We decided to order in Chinese and stay in that night.

Sunday we drove around and did some sight seeing. It was really cold out so we mostly drove around but we did walk around the white house and 1 art museum. We then met her friend for mimosa's and lunch which turned into drinking and watching football all day. That night we went to a little karaoke bar and had a blast singing in our own private room.

Melanie headed to work Monday morning and I spent the day recovering from the day/night before. I got a taxi around 2:30 that took me to the airport and I survived my first plane ride by myself. I had a great time in DC and the people there were SO nice but I was glad to see Derek and the dogs waiting for me at the airport.

Now I have been enjoying my week off and catching up on wedding stuff (that's a whole new post that I will get too soon). Elsie got fixed yesterday so we have been cuddling lots. She is almost back to her normal self today. Glad I made it to the gym, grocery store, and Wal Mart. It just started snowing here and we are supposed to be getting around 6 in. so I'm sure I'll be staying in tomorrow. Here are some pics of Elsie's haircut last week and the dogs in the snow. They like running and playing in the snow for about 2 min. then their feet get cold and we have to go carry them inside. Happy Wednesday!

Bring on 2011!

Derek and I spent New Years Eve at home, eating, drinking, and relaxing. We thought about going out in KC or going to Manhattan but we decided we didn't want to spend the money or freeze so we stayed in and brought in the new year just the two of us...and Elsie and Zoe :)

We ran a couple errands Saturday day and had lunch with my sister and then continued to do nothing. Derek's parents came Saturday night so Derek and his dad could go to the Chiefs game on Sunday and his mom brought Bierocks for dinner. Cabbage is supposed to be good luck and we need all the luck we can get this year. This year is probably going to be the biggest year EVER for the 2 of us. We will be getting married, I will start a new job after the wedding (no idea what that will be yet), and we HOPE to buy a house and start a family! I am ssooo excited for all of these things!

As far as resolutions go, we didn't really set any. There's always the lose weight and get in shape but we've have been working on this for months. I am going to watch what I eat more but that's more for the wedding then for a resolution. I just want to be a good fiance/wife, friend, sister, aunt, daughter, etc and just really enjoy this year and all the new things that come with it. BRING ON 2011!!!!

Christmas 2010

We left for Galva, KS (where Derek is from) on Thursday the 23rd so we could celebrate his nephews birthday. His actual birthday is the 28th but since we wouldn't be back for it, we had a a little party for him with us.

Christmas Eve we braved Wal-Mart to get some last minute groceries for the dip we were gonna take to our Christmas Eve party. Wal-Mart was luckily not too bad so we were in and out. After that we met one of Derek's friends and his little girl for some Pizza Hut buffet. You can't even eat inside the Pizza Huts in KC let alone have buffet so we have been looking forward to Pizza Hut buffet for awhile not. Fat kids :) After we stuffed our bellies we took it easy all afternoon until it was time to go to the Christmas Eve party at Derek's aunt and uncles. Their house is AMAZING and there was such a great turn out of people, food, and beverages. Even Santa made an appearance! We had a great time and look forward to many more Christmas Eve parties.

Christmas morning we woke up and Santa had come to Derek's parents house. We had a yummy breakfast and then opened presents with his parents, sister, and her family. Our nieces and nephew must have been REALLY good because Santa and grandma and grandpa got them LOTS! We got our Christmas present early when Derek's parents helped us get new furniture but they were nice enough to get us each a North Face jacket too!! We love them! We hated having to leave Derek's family on Christmas but we have to split holidays with each of our families so we packed up and headed to my dads.

Almost my whole dads side of the family plus all my siblings and nephews and niece came to my dads for Christmas. We had an awesome lunch of the traditional ham, turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, etc. After that the kids were ready to open presents. They of course were all spoiled with gifts and all of us kids got money, gift cards, and some other stocking stuffers. Even Elsie and Zoe got some new toys and a Pet Smart gift card! We continued to eat all day, play games (including Paxton's awesome Big Buck Hunter), and drink some wine. We were all exhausted at the end of the day and were all in bed by 10:30!

I left Sunday and went to Atchison with Amy and the kids (Josh and Derek left VERY early Sunday to help out at the bar) for the grand opening of the new Willies! Mom met us there and Amber and Aiden also followed us from Manhattan. The new bar looks awesome and they had a great turnout for Friends and Family. We will definitely be going back since it's only an hour away. We hung out at Willies all day and got to see Madi and Boston, Leslie and DJ, Casey, and other past employees we used to work with. That night Amy and I went back to the hotel to let the dogs out and get the kids in bed and then went back to Willies to drink with Derek and Josh (Harper and Pax stayed with their grandma at the hotel. Don't worry, we didn't leave the dogs to babysit them). We spent Monday recovering and then it was back to work...for me anyway. Derek enjoyed most of this week off. Lucky!

I am SO thankful for my family and although I already consider them my family, I can't wait to officially become a Lorson. We couldn't ask for a better family then the ones we have.

We can almost say...

...we're getting married THIS year! I don't know why it is but the wedding being 4 months away seems SO much closer then when we were 5 months away. I've been saying all along that I'm not going to do awhole lot of the detailed stuff until after the new year and now that the new year is 2 days away, i'm freaking out! Don't get me wrong, I am super excited to get married and become Derek's wife but the whole planning of the wedding isn't my cup of tea. I am seriously thinking about hiring a wedding planner because i'm nervous I will forget small details. Any takers :)

#1 on my to do list is bridesmaid dresses! I think this has been my #1 for the past 5 months but i'm serious this time. My sister and I are actually going to try and go look on Saturday.


#2- Start making the centerpieces. I have a week off in January (could not come at a better time) and I am going to start making the centerpieces. I still need to come up with an idea for anotehr centerpiece. I want half the tables with the centerpiece I am making and the others with something else. HELP!






Centerpiece idea







#3-Order flower girl dresses and go to Manhattan and pick out tuxes

#4-Order invitations. Already have them picked out just need to finalize the wording and order them! Also need to call Colbert Hills and see what time their going to kick us out :)

#5-Decide about linens. Colbert Hills provides white linens but I think I want to spruce up the table and get yellow napkins

#6-Find musicians for the ceremony

#7-If we make a trip to Manhattan this month, we need to meet with either our florist or the pastor. I've made some changes to the flowers and we need to meet with our pastor 3 times before the wedding.

#8 Send in limo agreement






Our ride after the ceremony

Lastly but most importantly, lose weight! I have been going to the gym for a few months now but I really haven't been trying super hard or watching what I eat. Now it's time to get serious and lose weight and tone up!

Ok, I think that's a long enough list for this month. I am hoping to complete these tasks the week I have off in January. Elsie is getting fixed that week so we'll be spending a lot of time at home and I can't wait!


1 thing we can finally check off our list... our honeymoon!!!! Thank you Derek's parents! We decided on El Dorado in Rivieria Maya. I have shown this picture before but now that it's official...here is where we will be spending much of our time







at our swim up room!

The weekend before Christmas

Saturday morning Derek and I got up and around and did our Christmas shopping. I say it every year but for real this time, I am NOT waiting til the weekend before Christmas to do my shopping ever again! Everywhere was packed, they were out of things I wanted, etc. After we rushed around to a few different places I dropped him off at home and headed to my 60 min. massage. Derek got it for me for my birthday (yes, in May) and I finally got around to using it. I absolutely loved it. I told him it was probably a bad idea to give me that because now I want one like every week!

Late that afternoon we met my sister, her boyfriend, nephew Aiden, and mom at my sisters house and all packed into a car and headed to Union Station. They had a polar express exhibit going on so we checked out all the model trains inside Union Station and then headed out to an actual train. It was 4 cars long and each car was decked out in Christmas stuff. It was really neat!

Next on our list was the Plaza. Of course it was PACKED since it was the weekend before Christmas so since there wasn't anywhere to park, they dropped Amber, Aiden, and me off so we could do a carriage ride and they drove away from the crowd and ended up finding a not to packed bar and had a drink while they waited for us. We didn't have to wait too long and got on a group carriage ride (a carriage ride to yourself was $50-70). It was fun to ride around and look at the lights and it even started snowing while we were on it!

After they picked us back up we decided we were way too hungry to wait an hour for a table somewhere on the plaza (it was 7 at this point) so we drove back by where my sister lives and ate at Oklahoma Joe's. My sister and I aren't huge bbq fans but this place was very good. We chowed down on some food, went back to my sisters to get our car and then Derek and I drove through a neighborhood my mom told me about where every.single.house was decorated in Christmas lights. It was beautiful.

Sunday I went with my sister to get Aiden's 2 year pics taken and then we had a fun filled day of baking! Once again, Wal-Mart was out of stuff we needed (a rolling pin and cookie cutters) so we had to run to another store for cookie cutters and improvise on the rolling pin. We made homemade sugar cookies and frosting (we'll stick with easy circle sugar cookies next year), chex mix, peanut brittle, chocolate covered pretzels, and chocolate covered peanut butter crackers. Aiden also tried out his toddler bed for the 1st time while I was over there AND put on his big boy undies for nana and I. He isn't potty trained yet but he looked so adorable in them. We were all exhausted last night but we all had a great weekend together!