Happy 7 year anniversary!

I can't believe its been 7-years.... I remember our wedding day being hot and humid and a flurry of activity. Dan had just started his job at Best Buy right before graduating from Bethel, we closed on our house in Minnetonka (including painting and moving in our stuff), I started my internship at Wells Fargo and we were finishing the plans for the wedding.

I had prayed for no rain, but forgot to specify 80's would have been more comfortable than 90's for our packed ceremony and outdoor reception. There was air conditioning in the church, but since it was 98+ and HUMID it wasn't keeping up and everyone was very warm. I don't think I noticed though as I had been anxiously awaiting this day for a long time. When I finally walked down the aisle and saw Dan waiting for me, everything else went away.

After the wedding, we had our hordeorves and wedding cake at the outdoor reception in Minnetonka and then went to Bethel to take outdoor pictures near where Dan proposed almost a year earlier. Some of my favorite pictures are from that spot where our wedding party and immediate family gathered and enjoyed a picnic dinner.

That week we honeymooned in Northern MN at a resort on a lake and biked, swam, played tennis and enjoyed the 4th of July fireworks. It was the hottest week of 2002 when we looked back at the almanac, but again I don't think we noticed all that much.

As I think back over the last 7-years, I remember job promotions, finding our church, buying our lake property, meeting new friends, building the cabin, celebrating new births and weddings, our trip to Japan and Singapore, and now (right on schedule with our 7-year plan) expecting our first baby :). Its amazing how much has happened in 7 years, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I got to spend it with my best friend, and am so excited to see what God has in store for the next 7 years and beyond.

I love you Dan!
Here is a picture of our new (used) boat we bought last week for our anniversary. We had a great time trying it out last weekend, and yes, it did fit in the boat lift! Now we are ready to speed along Lake Marie with anyone daring enough to come along.

18 week update

Wow, I can't believe that in 2 weeks we'll be half-way to meeting our baby! Today I had my 18 week apt with my NP and everything looks good. She said the heartbeat is strong and thinks the weird feelings I've been having are definitely kicks. They don't feel like kicks, but just a strange moving sensation so I'll probably be able to identify them in the next few weeks. It is exciting that we are entering this stage though to actually feel the baby! On July 6th we have the ultrasound, so we are counting down the days to that visit.

Last weekend was my cousin Lindsay's wedding. She was beautiful! We took advantage of being dressed up and took a couple pictures too. You can definitely see the baby bump now if I wear tighter clothes. Wearing work jackets still hides it pretty well though!

I still forget all the time that I'm pregnant. I haven't had very many symptoms, and since I'm not huge yet it just slips my mind. I'm sure the 2nd half will remind me more than the 1st!

18 week photo - me and Dan
Sisters!
How cute :)

Lindsay's wedding

18 week profile shot

Hardwood flooring and crib shopping

Last weekend was a perfect weekend to be inside working on home improvement projects. Dan decided to tackle the upstairs at our house and install hickory hardwood flooring in the kitchen, dining room, living room and hallway. Last week we spent our evenings pulling up the old flooring and carpet - it was a lot of work! He borrowed a finishing nail gun from Scott and rented a staple gun from Home Depot early Saturday a.m. and got to work. My dad came over for a few hours and my sisters husband Brent stayed all weekend.

Meanwhile, my mom and sister and I went crib shopping! Babies R Us was definitely the best, and we got a few good ideas. I may end up buying it at Direct Buy because they have the same brands but it is cheaper with their buying club. We also brought my paint sample and picked out bedding! I didn't think I'd get that done this early, but since we were at all those stores anyway we checked them out. The room is peach and I want to stay fairly neutral either way. We found a few cute monkey ones and I'm drawn to the green and brown colors. We stopped at JCPenny's last and found the cutest jungle theme with the right coloring and most importantly it does have monkey's on it.

Saturday afternoon Amber and I helped the guys a little bit and made dinner, took a nap and watched a movie. Sunday we helped a lot more and helped pull up the last of the carpet and sanded the edge pieces Dan cut for the flooring around the stairs. We took Bella to the dog park and then they headed home Sunday evening while Dan and I finished the project with the nail gun. Last night we used the finishing nailer for a few more pieces and trim and I started cleaning the floors and moving the furniture back in place. It looks great!

Tonight once I sand the last few pieces and finish cleaning I'll take some final pictures to post. We are so happy to have this project done! Thank you mom for shopping on Saturday and Dad for helping the guys! And, Amber and Brent we appreciate you giving up your whole weekend to help us, it looks great!

The next project will be the railing and closet doors for the baby room. The carpet should be coming in the next few weeks!

Ripping up the carpet!

lovely original laminate we found in the kitchen

Brent and Dan thinking about the closet

Amber bringing Bella in to see what all the commotion was

Sanding

Final view of the kitchen

16 week belly shot

View of the entryway and edging

More cruise pictures

Shuffle board
Eating one of our many meals


More fish while snorkling


We always had a new towel animal when we got back to our room

Beach in Key West

Ft. Lauderdale once we get off the ship


Dan climbing the rock wall on the back of the ship

Baby getting a sunburn

Beautiful ocean water in Belize going back to the boat
Belize jungle

Eating the yummy meal in Belize after the tubing
Dan in Belize City

Good thing our suitcase made it so we could go to "formal night"