In a nut shell...

My baby brother graduated from college on Friday...

Here he is with his grandmas.

  

This little girl went to pre-school orientation on Saturday...

I got to watch this little guy while she was there... 

I gave my dear mother a movie, a CD, and these beauties for Mother's day...

Can you believe I arranged these myself!? Beginner's luck, I'd say.

And then took her out for lunch...

And ended the weekend with a triple movie date to The Great Gatsby...

<==========8

A month ago we had my sister's bachelorette party (I can't believe I haven't posted about it yet!).

Guests were invited to wear their tackiest bridesmaid dress, and boy did they!

The bride, of course, wore a wedding gown.

Once everyone arrived, we enjoyed a delicious meal together that was prepared by my dear mother. She made caesar salad, candied carrots, pastry-wrapped chicken stuffed with cheese (and topped with an inappropriate pastry shape), and potatoes.

The cloth napkins were the perfect addition to our table setting.

I repurposed the vases from Abby's shower.

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

The hunk of the evening...

Abby's bridesmaid, April, baked these sweet things.

Abby saving the day...

After dinner, the guests went on a scavenger hunt. Everyone started with clue number one, which lead them to clue two, which lead them to clue three....all the way up to ten where the winning team found a prize. It went okay, but if I could do it over, I would start everyone out with a different clue.

The clues, of course, were dirty and inappropriate. **Dad, if you're reading this, stop here.** For example, clue number one said, "A great place to do the deed, especially when on your monthly bleed." Terrible and disgusting--Lord, forgive me--but, the answer for that one (if you haven't guessed it yet), is the shower.

If anyone out there is planning a bacherlorette party and would like to know all ten of the dirty clues I came up with, let me know and I'll email them to you!

After the hunt, we played dirty charades. This was my favorite game of the night and, aside from one *surprisingly* shy person, I think everyone really liked it! Everyone was on their own team and had to act out two different dirty words (i.e. porn, missionary, dildo). Whoever was first to guess their word received one point. AND, if the girl who was acting out the word had her word guessed within 30 seconds, she got a point too. The person with the most points won (I did first and second prizes).

Lastly, the group split into two teams and each stood in a straight line. I gave the first person in line a cucumber, they placed the cucumbers upove their knees and between their legs, and passed it to the next girl in line. Two rules: 1) no hands allowed 2) if the cucumber drops, the team has to start over from the beginning. The first team to get their cucumber to the end of the line wins. We played best out of three and the winning team won "BJ Blast" (...which I think was like rock candy...which sounds painful).

Marissa and Shannon

The losing team.

The WINNING team!

After the games, Abby opened her presents, we chit chatted, drank, adjusted our sexy dresses, and headed out the door! The night was spent bar hopping, singing karaoke, and dancing our booties off. We stayed out alllll niiiiighhhhttt loooonnngggg! Even my mom stayed all night (she was our dd)!

Cute little nightie and robe set from her Aunt Krista.

Beer, munchies, napkins that read: "Contrats on no longer living in sin," and the party favors: chocolate, ring pops, ibuprofen, and suckers.

April and Lindsay learning some new moves.

April made cosmos for everyone!

The whole gang at the bar!

Me and my mom. Can you believe how giant that sleeve is!?

If you've seen the movie, "Bridesmaids", you'll understand :)

Another "Bridesmaids" reenactment :)

Karaoke

Lindsay showing off her awesome shorts. And no, she did not have an accident...it just looks that way.

Jenna and Abby

April and Abby

Abby and me

Piled in the back of my car for the ride home (with gyros in hand).

IT WAS SUCH A GREAT NIGHT!!!!

...exactly two weeks til wedding day. Holy MOLY!

Wordless Wednesday: my kitchen obsession / online shopping spree

 

1 box

10 of these...

2 candles

12 cloth napkins

2 handle mits

2 vases

1 silverware caddy

6 sets of these...

1 cute pitcher

$141

El Weekendo

On Friday, after my semi-annual haircut, my mom and I headed to Des Moines to shop for a dress for her to wear to my sister's wedding (which is less than three weeks away!). After trying on several dresses, she finally bought one, and then two hours later decided she didn't like it anymore. We were, however, rather successful in the makeup department; we both had makeovers done by the Clinique people, and spent way too much money on eye shadow and "primer."

On Friday night I went out to dinner with an old friend of mine (Miss Laura Lou) who informed me that she and her husband are moving to Colorado this summer! I am so happy for them and am happy for another excuse to visit that wonderful state.

On Saturday, I babysat the cute littles. In honor of the Kentucky Derby, they both put on their favorite hats and rode around on my back. About every 10 seconds during this "horse"back ride, and without any instruction from me, Kennedy would take off her hat, swing it around her head, and say "Yee Haw!" It was adorable.

Another adorable moment of Kennedy's:

She was driving away in the little toy car we have and said to Quinn, “I’m guna go get gas.”

Quinn said, “Bye, Kennedy.”

Kennedy then stuck her head out the window, looked back at Quinn, and said, “You can chetch up with me later, okay?”

HOW DOES SHE COME UP WITH THOSE CUTE LITTLE PHRASES!?

And if you thought I misspelled the word “catch,” you are way wrong, reader! Kennedy pronounces most things that start with a “Ke” or “Cu” sound as “Ch.”  So, for example, in Kennedy talk:

catch = “chetch”

ketchup = “chetchup”

come = “chum”

I really, really, really hope she never grows out of that!

On Cinco de Mayo, I went out for margaritas with my old friends, Austin, Zach, and Tyler. And, let me tell you, those boys are absolutely hilarious! Hanging out with them was the perfect end to my weekend.

A Rambling Post / Jealousy schmelousy. Worrier Schmurier.

I have been gone from this wonderful blogging world for a while now, but believe me, it was not intentional! The best part of my day is writing these things!

My excuse?

I was on vacation last week. I had such big plans of writing daily posts (in a really fun, story book kind of way), but quickly discovered that typing long posts on a tiny little smart phone is absolutely miserable.  

**Warning: I am about to ramble** 

So anyway, recently I've noticed how incredibly jealous-minded/worried/stressed I am. It's annoying, and terrible, but I'm sure everyone has similarish thoughts. So, here are my most popular:

I'm jealous of...

…people who sincerely love their job.

…people who have zero student loans.

…women who are lucky enough to never get stretch marks--I’ve never even been pregnant, but you can bet your bottom dollar that those ugly white marks are on these thunder thighs of mine.

…people with babies--I would give anything to have seven right now.

…couples who (appear to) have the perfect relationship.

…women who eat tons, exercise none, and are still skinny.

…Taylor Swift and her 17 million dollar mansion.

…all homeowners (not just mansion owners). 

And, when I start thinking of all the things I don't have, or in some cases, the things that I do have (stretch marks and extra weight), my mood goes straight down the drain. Straight down an unclogged, recently Drainoed drain.

It's annoying.

 

What's more annoying? I'm a worrier. And, of course, some of these things have been keeping me up at night. This is a typical conversation in my mind while trying to fall asleep at night:

“I DO NOT want to go to work tomorrow. Seriously, my life sucks. I wonder if I could quit tomorrow and live off of my savings for a while…**at this point, I would do some math in my head—savings, minus monthly car payments, minus monthly student loan payments, plus the vacation payout I would receive, plus my last paycheck, etc.** …okay I’d survive for a few months (if I'm lucky). Ug, but seriously Andi, the real question is why the heck did you eat so much today?! You know once you have one cookie you'll end up eating thirteen--why did you do that to yourself? ...okay, I guess it's not that big of a deal...as long as all I have tomorrow is coffee and water. But not Starbucks coffee. Good god no, that stuff is expensive! Do you want to be reminded of your student loan balance? And really, the less coffee you drink, the more savings you have, and the sooner you can quit your job. Speaking of jobs...why hasn't anyone responded to me yet!? Didn't they get my resume? Should I resend it? Or maybe I should just call them tomorrow. Ug...tomorrow...I DO NOT want to go to work tomorrow!" 

And the cycle continues. And yes, I talk to myself and as myself during these nightly sessions. Last night, after an hour of these jumbled thoughts, I took a sleeping pill. I had to.

Gosh, I wish life was perfect. And holy crapload, I wish I didn't worry so much. 

That's all...I need to get started on this worrying thing if I want to get to bed at a decent hour!