I'm not ashamed

Need a laugh? I was driving home from work one day this past summer and both lenses from my sunglasses popped out. I had just left my office, I still had 20 minutes to go. I was in such shock over the randomness of this situation. I couldn't stop laughing so I rode all the way home like this. Don't you wish you were as cool as me?? ;)

Seven Weeks

I've been migraine free for seven weeks!! This is what happens inside my head when I get one...

step out

there's no learning in the comfort zone and there's no comfort in the learning zone.

hmmmm.....

"Almost any idea is good if a man has ability and is willing to work hard. The best idea is worthless if the creator is a loafer and ineffective."

- William Feather

Jeremy Updates

Check out Amy & Graig's blog for updates on Jeremy.

Nesting

This is what I do now. I keep finding little ways on our little budget to make this apartment a home. Then I have Tim take pictures along the way so we can remember these times.

This is what I do now.

Life is good.

[less than three weeks until Thanksgiving, yay!]

Happy Halloween

...too funny to pass by

True Story

So this afternoon my lovely husband decided to take me on a Sunday drive. It was amazing. The weather was lovely. We headed down towards Nappanee and drove up and down over a dozen different country roads. I loved every minute of it. That was until I saw it. We were heading back home when we noticed some furniture at a garage sale that looked interesting. We pulled over and headed straight for it. That's when I saw it. The dining table and chairs that I've always wanted. The full set, all eight pieces priced at less than half the price at Oak Express. Most of the chairs still had plastic on them. I could not believe it. Then my husband turned to me and said "Too bad there's no room in the budget this month, but now we know deals like this exist." Are you kidding me?!?! In one second I went from a total high to totally crushed. I couldn't believe that he wasn't going to let me us get this. I had been wanting this for YEARS and it was all right in front of me. After a while we got in the Jeep and headed home. I tried so hard to bulldawg my husband but he talked me down and kept us on track. We have a table that we can use for now. We have chairs. If we would have bought the set things would be so tight and we wouldn't have learned anything or grown at all. I love my husband ...and I've been a crabby girl all day long. We've had to put a lot of $$ into the jeep these past few weeks and then I come across this dining set... I'm still trying to figure out the lesson here.

God is good.

chop chop to the crop crop [continued]
Here are some more pictures of my hair cut from last Saturday...

I was just a little freaked out

Only half through my hair cut

and the after...

I was looking at my reflection and in total shock!!

peace.

chop chop to the crop crop
I had 13 inches taken off of my hair yesterday. It wasn't easy. I was so close to chickening out. I haven't had short hair in over 5 years. I'm so glad that I did it, my head is much lighter. Here's a before and an after [Carrie has a better after shot]. I'll post a better one soon.

still playing catch-up!
Hey guys... here's some more random pictures from our summer so far. Half way through the summer I lost my charger for my camera so this is all we've got for a while... enjoy!!

Miss Carmelina at our rehearsal dinner

My last supper as a Gustafson

Some of the ladies at our apartment

[they weren't ready]

Carrie's creation with our place cards
[she helped keep me sane that week]

Some shots from my shower at Granger Missionary

It was a bag filled with splenda & coffee cream.
My mom knows me well!

Ikea Bollingbrook
[not my first choice]

Everything's changing.

Baby makes three!!!

Mark and Lauren are having a baby!!! We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet another niece/nephew. Congratulations guys, we love you!!
03.06.09

this girl is excited.

It was a great birthday.

...details to come!

Someone's in the kitchen...

It's true. I've started to cook... and I love it. Before we got married all I could make was toast, scrambled eggs and spaghetti. Now I'm cooking up a storm. We were given a few cookbooks and I'm just working my way through them. The first meal I made was Chiles Rellenos Chicken... it was delicious! Here's some proof:

Tim waiting patiently for me to join him so he could eat.

Our fancy dinner table:

Here's the mess I made...

The next night I made Clubhouse Chicken Squares... yum!!

Earlier this week we had Bistro Chicken Twist... another yum!!

Look at all of those spices... it was a lot of fun to make!!

Finally we ended the week with Fajita Pizza.

Life is good!!

Breakfast for Brides:

One Caramel Macchiato + One Mountain Dew

I was a little wired.

06.18.81

from my mom...

"this was supposed to be your date of birth. happy un-birthday!"

...now send an un-birthday gift :)

Meet the Burkeys!!

So we've been married for 10 days now... and loving it!! We don't have internet right now... sad face. It's been a bummer not being able to stay in touch with everyone. We should be getting it next Monday...yay!! I've stolen some pictures from Kate, Jessie and uncle Dave.. enjoy! I'll be updating this as soon as I can... I have so much to add!


photos by: kate podjan photography

jessie murphy

dave arnold

Eight Days Left...

I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone that has helps with the details of our wedding!! Beth has spent countless hours on lists, programs, favors, dress shopping and many other details. Thank you SOOOOO much! Carrie spent an entire night folding 200+ programs... she's a saint! Thank you, thank you to everyone!