Kiss Enclosed!

I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers :) from Rob and we have really romantic plans tonight, you might want to sit down, we are grocery shopping and working on our monthly budget.  I know, I know…we sure know how to be romantic.

A wonderful Etsy Seller (African Grey) made a greeting card with Meiko and me in mind.  As I type this up, the greeting card is in my etsy cart to be purchased along with some other really adorable cards.  :)

Meiko, often plays both roles of the White Swan and the Black Swan, so this card is all too fitting.

Meiko as Nina

I wish I was able to play all day, too! When asked why she doesn’t visit me, Mac has been known to say “why would I want to visit you when I live in Paradise?”  After watching that video, I don’t blame her.

Over Thanksgiving, while visiting our family, I made Mac and Raquel take a Hot Yoga class.  Afterwards, Mac said, “skiing is my yoga.” Clearly that statement is also true!

hot yogis

Rob’s Spring Break can’t come soon enough, then maybe I’ll post a video of me skiing half as great/technical as Mac.

Meiko Ornament

Well, that’s not really Meiko but it looks a lot like her in a Male version. We only have my ornaments from my childhood on our tree, we’ll have to get Rob’s over Christmas from his Mom so our tree isn’t dominated with ballet slipper ornaments and 1 Meiko ornament!

Also, take a look at this (what I think is) adorable ornament from Target for Meiko…it’s her friend, Rico!.

Rico Ornament

For the sneak peak, of about 40 key images from the wedding that we got to see from our wonderful photographer Genevieve McKeiver before we received all the images… click HERE!

Up next is the link to our full online gallery, of nearly 800 photos, to view all of those… click HERE!

We absolutely love all the photos and I’m constantly looking at them :) remembering such a fun and love filled day!

And, since a post isn’t official without a photo…

overlooking the river

Showering Meiko

It doesn’t matter what time of the day it is, or how cozy the bed is, if the shower is turned on Meiko bolts to her spot in the bathroom.  Apparently she doesn’t want to miss out at all as to where we are.  I finally put a little bed there for her so she had a little comfort.

Spying Meiko

Meiko likes to sit on top of  her “house” to over look the people walking down the street. She knows everything that goes on down there and will let us know when an untrustworthy dog is walking by. She kindly turned around for me to snap this photo. I am also crazy for putting a bed on top of her house, I know.

Suspecting Meiko

When Meiko sees us putting on shoes or looking like we will be leaving she runs into her house and quickly circles into a ball and waits for us to close the door. I didn’t leave, I was just putting on some new boots (yay!) to show Rob but she made herself comfortable anyways.

Sleepy Meiko

By the end of the night Meiko was ready for bed. She made her way between and under six pillows.

It’s pretty clear by now that I love this dog. :)

My Dad loves to entertain so it wasn’t a huge shocker that my parents would host our wedding reception at their house.  I can’t wait for Thanksgiving  so I can get a hug from the man who turns another year older, today. :)

In honor of his special day here are some of my favorite photos of my Dad from my wedding day.  Isn’t he so spiffy!

about to walk down the aisle

mom and dad walking back down the aisle

Dancing with Dad

photo booth wall

My Dad and his friend actually made this wall with drywall (the photo is cropped) for our guests to take photos with.

Hope your birthday is a wonderful one! Love you!

Rob dressed up as Tony the Tiger from Frosted Flakes, I was the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee.

Tony and Bee

Our friends went as Cap’n Cruch and Toucan Sam from Froot Loops…Meiko stood in for me as the bee while I took the photo.  Aren’t these costumes AMAZING?

cap'n -- tony-- bee--sam

The next morning Rob and I ran with a few other friends in the Madison Mud Run. A 5 mile run that seemed to have us run constantly uphill, over hay barrels, through tunnels of foam, forge a river that was chest deep, and lastly crawl through a pit of mud….all in temperatures under 32 degrees. The group we ran  with also dressed as breakfast cereals, I stuck with the bee…I made Rob a cape to be Count Chocula, there was a frosted mini wheat, snap from rice crispies and toucan sam.  We are looking forward to the May mud run when it should be warmer…

our group after the run

maria and me after the run

after the run!

And I’ll leave you with Meiko in her bee costume, for the third year…she’s loving it just as much as the previous years.  We’ll have to get creative for  next years costume.

bee happy.

We have accomplished so much and have much more to look forward to before it leaves us. So, a quick recap is order..

meiko is too cute

The first weekend, I helped out at the dance studio where I teach ballet for a “fall festival” complete with making your own carmel apples. From there I volunteered for the local Humane Society at their “Dogtoberfest” at a local brewery beer garden. Meiko learned to shake.

festive for dogtoberfest

The second weekend, Rob and I finally was able to attend a wedding together this year.  We’ve had, including ours, eight weddings this year.  The real treat was that the wedding was in Madison for a few of our Chemistry friends. It was great to walk home from the reception! Congratulations Adam and Emily!!

right before the wedding

adam and emily!

The third weekend, I went to a dance convention with the dance studio

This past weekend I went to Chicago for the day on Saturday and walked around, shopping and spending time with my friends Frances and Ada.  On Sunday Rob and I went in search of the perfect Halloween costumes. Together, with our buddies who are married we are dressing up as cereal box characters so I spent a great portion (all day) making our costumes! I’m not going to show a photo of our costumes, just a photo of my helper while I was sewing…

sew helpful

Next weekend we are celebrating Halloween with lots of smiles from friends. We are volunteering for the Humane Socitey again and then dressing up with the rest of the town and hopefully winning a costume contest! On Sunday we are running in a 5 mile “mud run” with obstacles, including…mud.

Other than volunteering and smiling, I’ve been working out lots and watching too much HGTV. I have house fever–get me out of this apartment.