McGraw & Chesney

It couldn't have been a better day for the concert! We opted to relax poolside during the day vs. tailgating and were pretty happy we did. When we pulled up we were pleasantly surprised that our parking passes got us effortlessly up to the second row!

We got there just in time to grab a beer, find our seats and settle in before Tim McGraw took stage. I apologize in advance for the crappy pictures - we didn't take our camera and instead relied on the phone - which later you will see hated the lights during Kenny's performance.

Tim McGraw - yumminess in his white jeans and tighter white shirt than I would wear. Thankfully his voice is amazing and surprisingly more powerful live than I would've ever guessed. I say thankfully because I really didn't enjoy his performance. It lacked energy and his rumored cockiness was nearly in every move he made. Except for when he had the crowd sing happy birthday to his daughter, that was really sweet. But still, it was Tim McGraw who has one of the best voices and muscles to awe at ;)

Entertaining ourselves between shows...

Then... it was Kenny time. Maybe I wasn't impressed with McGraw because of how amazing Kenny is. I couldn't care less what the rumors are - he is an AMAZING entertainer. His voice never wavered as he literally ran around the entire time. He was so excited to be performing and his high energy makes his concerts one great party. You can tell he is very passionate and still so very appreciative that crowds would want to watch him. This is our second Kenny concert and he does not disappoint. LOVE him!

Again, sorry for the lack of good pics - the phone really hated all the bright lights and refused to cooperate.

Tim coming back out to take the stage with Kenny. 

Weather was great and it was a beautiful night! Our splurge on a parking pass proved to be even more worth it as we were out and on our way home in about 5 minutes. So if you go to a concert at FedEx field - get the parking pass!

Wedding Dress Shopping

This is going to be very difficult. Mom and I went out for round one of wedding dress shopping and I actually surprised myself by enjoying it and learn that I do have preferences :)

I've never been that girl to have a dress vision. And honestly I wasn't looking forward to shopping for one. I guess I felt like it was such a daunting task especially going into it not sure what I wanted or liked. Which led to me being very nervous when we first sat down with the salesperson at the bridal boutique.

Q: What do you want your dress to look like?
A: I'm not sure.
Q: Ok, do you like strapless or straps?
A: Maybe strapless, but open to straps.
Q: Ok, sweetheart or no?
A: Huh?
Q: How do you want the neckline to look?
A: Um.... pretty?
Q: Moving on, do you like lace or no?
A: I'm not sure.
Q: Do you want it to be white?
A: (a very excited) Yes! (because I could finally answer a question)
Q: Ok, do you like embellishments?
A: Yes, wait no, not really, well maybe. Can I just start trying on dresses??

I thought I was going to slowly get up, act like I was looking around and bolt for the door. What part of "I have no idea what it is that I want" did she not understand? I get it, I'm a difficult customer - I have them too. But I take them to the product and start guiding them through different options. Not drill them with a bunch of questions that I know they can't answer yet.

Luckily that was the best way to go. As soon as I started trying on different kinds I slowly realized what I liked and what I didn't like. And that's when the fun started. Those things are difficult to get into and it's a crazy process getting it on, strapped into, clipped on, and trying to walk out to show Mom. But fun all the same.

Neither one of us were emotional with the first dress. It was an immediate no. Then came the second one and it had potential. So we tried a veil. Waterworks immediately followed. I'm not sure what it was about the veil, but it made Mom and I tear up.

I think I tried on 5 dresses and the last one was FABULOUS! I loved it. A lot. And so did Mom. But I didn't want to buy on the spot since I had only learned what I wanted and it was the first boutique we had been to. So we walked away.

The other weekend we went for round two. I was pretty certain I wouldn't find another option & figured looking more would just help confirm my love for at the first boutique. Nope. Wrong!

The lady that helped me was from MI. She likes/dislikes DC & MI the same reasons I do. She's getting married ... in St. John ... at the Westin ... which was our second option for our wedding. Fate?

So naturally I fell in love with two more dresses. Rats! I went home more confused than I started. I'm trying to focus on that being a good problem to have.

Mom took lots of pictures and it's weird to not be able to share them with Nate. We've decided that Nate will not see the dress, not even a peek, until our wedding day. I can barely keep him from Christmas presents a week before Christmas. Hiding something like this for almost a year seems like torture. But we know it will be worth it, so we're going for it!

Now on to making the second hardest wedding decision...

Date & Venue: Check!

What has seemed like the hardest part of planning our wedding is finally over. We have committed to our date and venue!

We will be getting married on June 21, 2013 in St. Thomas at Sugar Bay. We seriously looked at many options and kept going back and forth to several locations. In the end, our hearts wanted it in St. Thomas. Once we figured that out we then battled with well, if we're down there do we want St. Thomas or St. John? Hotel or villa? So many amazing options and knowing we really couldn't go wrong we decided on Sugar Bay. It's of course the very place we got engaged so clearly sentimental value lead in this decision.

Sugar Bay is the perfect mix of what we pictured our wedding being like. Casual ease is every inch of the resort as it lets the surroundings shine and be showcased. Nothing formal and fancy about it yet still so beautiful and breathtaking. Kinda perfect in our eyes and that's what made it the spot!

I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders as soon as this was finalized. I didn't really feel like we could move forward with any of the other planning pieces until this was completed. Now we can start planning the fun stuff!

And there's still plenty to plan, but for now we're celebrating having a date and location and best of all, a countdown!!

We've set up our wedding website for guests and will be updating as details progress. Stay tuned! www.kyleeandnate.ourwedding.com.

Don't go Chasing Waterfalls

Yeah, Nate came up with that title. Sparked your curiosity didn't it? Good, he'll be proud.

Before I get into the waterfalls reference, I want to take a minute to brag about how impressive Nate can be. We were going to go out to dinner, I had a long day and needed to keep working so I wasn't in the mood to cook (ok, just another excuse... I really hate cooking sometimes). But Nate said, no, sit and keep working, I got this. I heard lots of clanking, the door to the back deck opened and closed about 20 times and this is what I found in record time...

Amazing. I think he secured making dinners for, oh let's say the next 50 years...

So last weekend we went out on a long overdue date night with the Jacksons. We stopped in Alexandria just in time to catch some fireworks then continued on to Julie's "surprise location". Had know idea what was in store and got a little nervous when we headed into SE DC.

She took us to a new gem - the Yards Park, a new park on the river. There was a little water fountain, waterfall into a shallow pool which was inviting when it was 95 degrees at 10pm. There was also a big boardwalk, several layers of grassy areas perfect for a picnic and little nooks with lounge chairs. Very nice, must say!

So it was really hot. Julie and I decided to take our sandals off and splash around in the water.

Then Julie figured out we could walk behind the waterfall, which was pretty fun. We're kids at heart really.

I had to include this one because it turned out so creepy which is funny because poor Julie is so very afraid of scary movies and here she is looking crazy scary!

So then Julie asks if I'll run through it with her. I only asked if we were going anywhere else afterwards and she said no so 1,2,3 we ran through!

The looks on Nate and Jonathan's faces when they looked at each other, looked at us, looked at each other and said what the heck just happened?! was priceless. Also priceless - feeling like a kid again!

 "OMG, that was so fun!!"

"High five, we did it!"

We honestly thought we'd only get a little wet. But to our surprise that was one powerful waterfall and we were completely soaked. I lost an earring not even realizing it. Meh, price of having too much fun. So just like when you get off a rollarcoaster we yelled let's do it again!

 "Wait, is my butt hanging out?!"

I guess I found the cold blast to be a bit surprising... and no I didn't have the patience to fix the crazy eyes. My apologies. 

So here we were, dripping wet on date night with our dates silent in shock. We decided what better way to dry off then run around the boardwalk and the Navy Pier.

 Looking only slightly drowned...

 Rock Stars

 Nate didn't want to get too close :)

 Didn't realize this was happening in front of security...

To no surprise we dried off relatively quickly in the high temps. I love letting loose and acting like a kid. Makes you forget all the stresses in your life and it's so refreshing to just enjoy. Thank you Julie for being my spontaneously fun friend... these moments are priceless!!

Date night this weekend was a little classier but very fun. Nate and I went to the Kennedy Center to enjoy seeing the Addams Family. 

Enjoying a glass of wine on the deck overlooking the river and Georgetown waterfront before the show.

Nate can't stand to disappoint so of course we ended up with Ah-mazing seats (ps - seeing a show on a Sunday night = super cheap tickets!). 

But we were a little sad to look next to us and notice two empty seats where the Jacksons should've been but sadly they couldn't make it. 

I really enjoyed it. I used to watch the show so I could appreciate the performance and they had some pretty clever humor in there too. All too often, I disagree with the critics and thought it was great!

So that's been our recent date night fun. Chasing waterfalls (in the good way, not the way TLC warned against), enjoying the theater and some good home cookin makes life pretty darn awesome if you ask me!

Chasing Running

I'm in a rut ... and it's a crater of a rut! Possibly the size of the Grand Canyon. I am also my worst critic. So when I'm in a rut I criticize myself for allowing myself to be in said rut. Awful, awful habit.

To summarize, I haven't been running. I haven't been cooking and I've barely been cleaning. I haven't been reading and I can't get off the couch when I get home from work. Bad rut.

I'm not depressed, just exhausted from work, ok, and lately haven't been medically 100% but I can usually power through all that. I know I can't though when I'm not running. Running makes me awake, sleep better, and just overall happier. I feel a sense of accomplishment especially since I've always despised it.

So last week I decided to get back to it. Laced up my shoes, hopped on the treadmill and started running. Could barely finish a mile. Wth? I chalked it up to being "the first day back" and tried again the next day. Same thing. Grrr. Tried again the next day but went outside which typically lifts my spirits. In frustration, I had to walk after the first mile. So angry with myself, I ran another mile. That second mile ended in tears. What have I done? Why did I let myself seriously derail this time?!

It broke my heart and made me so very disappointed in myself that I worked so hard to get up to 10 miles and yet here I am back at square one, but with a worse attitude. The half marathon is in 1.5 months. How the H am I going to pull this off?!

I know I can, and I will. It's just so interesting to me how quickly it all went away. In a flash all my hard work was out the window. My body missed it and immediately became lethargic and my mind lazy after work.

Luckily I got back up to three miles this week and tomorrow I'm going to see what happens when I try for 6. I know that might be a bit much considering I haven't been running but I'm a little out of time and need to go for it. And I carefully chose my words "see what happens" - if it doesn't work out then I won't feel defeated but if it does, BAM, I'm back at it!

Writing this down does make me feel better. I'm hoping putting it out there for others to read and for me to go back to read with give a sense of accountability I need to get me through the next month.

1,2,3 GO!!!

Derecho

A Derecho is a widespread and straight-line windstorm that is associated with a fast-moving band of severe thunderstorms with gusts and winds often exceeding hurricane-force. In other words, a quick land hurricane.
Friday was a sunny, hot day. I remember hearing that we could have a thunderstorm that night, but nothing alarming and we really needed the rain and break in the 100 degree weather!

 
That night we went to a late movie with Julie & Jonathan. Julie and I were sitting in the theater waiting for the movie to start while the guys were getting snacks. Then the screen and lights went out. We were confused, but figured it was nothing. Power came back on and we enjoyed the movie. Moonrise Kingdom was different and funny btw.

Walking out it was sprinkling and obvious that it had been raining. Driving home was a little creepy. The streets were steaming from the day's heat and there were small branches and leaves everywhere. Hmmm, that thunderstorm must've hit. They dropped us off and we walked up to our front door and I asked Nate why he had turned our porch lights off. At that same moment he opened the door and tried to turn them on. No power. Dangit!

Then we heard Julie yell, "you guys, look!" and she was pointing down our street. We ran down and saw that our neighbor's tree was split in three, one side blocking the street. Wow, must've been some storm!

Nate's creepy eyes made me think of how scary it would be if we had a zombie attack while without power.

Luckily they still had power and it appeared only our street was without. So Nate and I settled into our basement to sleep for the night as it was the only spot in the house that wasn't 80 degrees already.

The next morning still no power and we went outside to check out the tree. It was burned down the middle, so we're guessing it was lightning. Our neighbors said the storm hit fast and was like a sudden hurricane and then they heard the loudest bang, power went out and the tree was down. Thankfully the tree just barely dented their car, but didn't smash it.

I had plans to go shopping for wedding dresses with my mom that day so I called her and learned she too was without power. Luckily the store we were going to had power, so we planned to go anyway and enjoy the A/C. I drove to work first to check on the building and we luckily had power there too.

Driving to my mom's was scary. Trees were down everywhere - even on the highway! And when I say trees, I don't mean the little ones. HUGE trees knocked down like they were nothing. Listening to the one radio station that had power and was able to be on, I learned that we had been hit by a Derecho. Half a million people were without power. Trees hit houses. Two were killed in Springfield (where we live) - one was hit by a tree while driving, one hit by a tree in her own house. So sad.

I got off the highway and Old Georgetown Rd. looked like a complete war zone. All traffic lights out. Idiot drivers not knowing that you have to treat it like a 4-way stop so I watched about 3 almost horrible accidents. Driving was like an obstacle course because of all the trees down and debris everywhere. Half-mile long lines to the gas stations as everyone needed to gas up their generators and most gas stations were without power.

Then I noticed my mom's neighbor, two houses down. It was split in two by a tree. The tree fell directly into the middle of the house and completely cut the house into two. No one was hurt, but it made me realize how horrible the storm was so thankful that my mom was safe and so were we.

We made it to the dress shop and enjoyed our day :) News hit that we should prepare for the power to take days, if not a week to come back on because of all the damage and amount of people without. Then Nate called and said our power made it back on. YAY!! Mom came and stayed with us until power was restored in her area.

Being without power is one thing. Being without power when it was 90-100 degrees everyday was pure misery. I am so thankful that we just happened to be one of the first areas with power restored. But I felt so bad as we talked to others and heard the news how miserable people were as their houses reached 90-95 degrees inside. Metro buses were turned on and stationed as cooling centers. People turned to all the malls just to walk around and cool off. I'm sure restaurants have made plenty as everyone has been eating out.

Each day since another 100,000 people have had the power restored and I think we're down to the final 100,000 without power. Mom's finally came back on yesterday. Cleanup is almost done. End of the tunnel is very near!

Last night Nate and I went to dinner and noticed lightening. Crap. We watched the storm get closer and asked the waitress to grab our check so we could make it out before the storm. Just as we were chatting with her about how bad Friday's storm was, the power went out. NOOOO!! Luckily it came right back on but we had to wait for the credit card machine to come back on. So we didn't beat the storm, we watched it hit. Crazy winds and lightening all over again. As we approached our neighborhood, all street and traffic lights went out. Not again!! Luckily they too came back on a minute later. Anxious to see if our house had power, we turned the corner and I've never been so happy to see our porch lights still on!

So this 4th of July we're so thankful for our freedom, our power and safety!

Guns & 80 yr. olds

Guns - I know it's a touchy subject. I don't doubt that half the people who read this will not agree with me and that's absolutely ok. But sometimes things bother me so much I just have to vent and well, this is one of my soundboards.

This weekend we were at the pool and a neighbor said to another neighbor that there was a shooting in our neighborhood. Clearly, this conversation happened loud enough for all to hear and it commanded our attention. He then went on to explain that a few houses down an 80 year-old man was cleaning his gun and it accidentally discharged, shot through his hand and then into the stomach of his 40 year son. As far as anyone knows, the son has survived (and the 80 yr. old is fine).

I wouldn't necessarily phrase that as a shooting - that takes me back to some of my living and working in Pontiac, MI days - those were legit shootings. But anyway...


The woman he was talking to immediately says "see, that's exactly why I think guns should be illegal. I don't care how careful people claim to be, they're still dangerous." She clearly wanted the entire pool area to hear her opinion as she loudly announced her stance on gun control. She said it with fierce conviction and nearly sounded outraged that the 80 year was even allowed to have a gun.


Here's my problem - if you have a stance on an issue, please try to make sense. Say something like "how scary, guns scare me and that's why I don't want them anywhere near me or my home." That makes sense. Guns can be scary and it's beyond understandable that people are scared of them. Heck, they make me a little nervous too.

And she was right - guns are dangerous. But so are many things in our lives, like cars. Let's say a drunk driver gets behind the wheel and hits someone - do you then think cars should be illegal? No, it's the act that is illegal, not the object.

Let's even tone it down some - say someone is putting mascara on while driving (no, I don't do this... anymore) and accidentally rear-ends the car in front. I don't see anyone outlawing vehicles, but absolutely she should get fined for being careless and reckless. Or even better, put the same 80 year old man behind the wheel and let's say he can't see well and accidentally starts running over mailboxes. You're given a license to drive and with that comes the responsibility to drive safely and not hit anyone or anything.


With a gun you're held to similar laws - you can't just go around shooting people (except for in Florida). It's gun handling 101 to not clean a loaded gun. That was ridiculous and obviously an accident waiting to happen. I'm guessing because he's 80, shot himself and his son that they won't charge him, but they have every right to.


When you abuse your right to drive or have a gun by being careless with it, there should be consequences. However, I think it's a stretch to see it as a justifiable reason to make it illegal. Stick to the things that make sense instead of making outlandish statements that make you look silly.


These are all the things I wanted to say to that lady but she looked like she could beat me up, so I'll just share it here.

In case you haven't guessed I'm pro the 2nd amendment and grew up with a father and many other family members who are avid hunters. I grew up as a little girl with guns in the house and constantly around them. It never phased me. Never once did I ever think it was ok to play with them. I wasn't afraid of them, but I respected them.


At the same time, I understand those who are afraid and against guns. I don't agree, but I understand. It's a different age and clearly there is some serious abuse out there - that I firmly believe should be controlled. But I think a lot of that fear comes from the unknown. If you grew up like I did you would see things differently. If someone kills someone with a gun I see a killer and wonder and worry what made him do it. Others see how and why he got the gun. While that may be part of the problem, it's not what caused the problem in my eyes.

Ok, done with this topic - hope I didn't offend anyone!