Random Updates

Not a whole lot new...just everyday stuff. But I thought I'd give you a few random updates on us. I'm two and a half weeks in and I've lost 7 lbs on my 'How to cheat at Weight Watchers' diet. (I'm not cheating on my diet, I'm cheating the WW company and doing the points system w/o paying to go to meetings or online) I forgot to ask Kurt where he is at....I'll update that later I guess.

This past Friday night, my niece and nephew, Jacob (8) and Morgan (5 1/2) slept over. We watched movies, the kids played outside, and we baked chocolate chip and white choc. chip w/ macadamia nut cookies for my dad for Fathers day. Then at noon on Sunday, we had my family over for Fathers day brunch. Amy brought the bacon and extra griddles, my mom brought carmel nut rolls, and I made thick cut french toast and stuffed strawberries. Delisious!!!!

This past Tuesday (the 17th) Kurt and I celebrated 3 years together. It's hard to believe that it's been three years. It feels like we've been together forever, yet it has gone by so quickly. We didn't do anything special. Just your average Tuesday night at home. He is on thrid shift this week, so that puts a damper on doing much. We were supposed to go out to dinner Sunday night to celebrate, but we were still stuffed from father's day brunch. (6 hours earlier) We think we are going to try again this Sunday.

And for those of you who are counting... 100 days until the wedding!!! OR- 3 months and 8 days! It's coming up quickly!

(not so) Little Lake Winne-Mayer

Every spring our backyard has standing water at the back of our property line. You know, where the lovely Bergstrom body shop is. We call it 'Little Lake Winne-Mayer'! A few weeks into spring, it dries right up and we don't think much about it again! Well, due to the substantial amount of rain we have received over the last few days...it's back!!! Here are some pictures of the 'lake' last night durring the storm. And then a few more from this morning. Amazing how it receided durring the night. See for yourself.

At this point, I'm at the fence line. Almost knee deep in water!!! Kurt thought I was nuts for taking pictures .

Ooo...and you can see our new fence in these pictures!!! Kurt did such a nice job. But don't get me started on the fact that the panels don't match) We will have to wait until next spring to stain it.

This is the back of the garage.

I am so computer illiterate, that I cannot get these pictures to layout nicely on this. So please forgive the fact that I don't really know what I am doing. :) !!!

Happy Friday!

Weight Watchers...

As you may or may not know, at this time last year, Kurt and I did weight watchers. We don't go to any silly meetings, we didn't sign up online...NOPE, we cheated the system and bought the books and calculator off of Ebay. (I love being frugal!) So, I lost 20 lbs as of last July. I hadn't thought much about it since... and kept all but two pounds off. Kurt lost like 10 lbs and then gained it all back.
So since we've got the wedding coming up, Kurt wanted to start back up. So I said I'd start it with him again. Because it truly works so much better when you've got a support team. I don't need silly meetings and weigh-ins, I've got my loving fiance!!!! We keep each other in check.
So we started back up again last week Monday. He's lost 8 lbs!!!!! and I've lost 5 lbs!!!!! We are truly excited. How cool! GO TEAM MAYER!

So much in such a short amount of time!

Oh, I don't even know where to begin. I have so much to say today. I will have to use subcategories and try to summarize the best that I can!!!

Another silly shower gift:
Today's contestant is my mom. For my Silly shower, she got us the Fisher Price 'Little People' wedding set. It comes w/ three connecting backdrop pieces, bride, groom, cat, dog, a set dinner table w/ wedding cake, and four chairs! How fun! Maysun whipped out her other sets and is having lots of fun playing 'little people'!!!

Sharon's Party:
One of my super fantastic friends since kindergarten, Sharon (Stowe) Cook, was ordained this weekend! I am so proud of her! What an awesome accomplishment! So her parents had a little get together for her on Saturday. Kurt, Maysun and I snuck over there before the shower. It was so great to see her and her family. I wish we could have stayed longer.

My bridal shower:
Saturday was my bridal shower. It was held at my Church in their fellowship hall. (huge room!!!) It connects to the kitchen, so it's perfect for this type of occasion. We had a build your own taco buffet (which rocks by the way!!! what a refreshing summer meal!), fruit and veggie salads, and a veggie tray. There were mini taco dip platters at each table, along w/ chips, salsa and cheese & salsa dip. We had a yummy cake from festival too!!! (my favorite)
We played some really fun games... 'how well do you know the couple' trivia, the purse game, the price is right, and bridal bingo! What a hoot!
The kids really behaved very well! I think it was because we had so much room that they could run and play and we didn't get too distracted by them!
I received some really neat gifts too. To many to list right now. (maybe i'll post that later)
It was great to get to spend some time with my friends and family. We had people even come in from way out of town! (Minneapolis, Racine, Milwaukee, Chicago and NEW JERSEY!!!) How neat it was that they were able to make the trip and come celebrate with us. I tried my hardest to make it around to all of the tables and visit with everyone. by the time I got to the last table, it was time for me to open gifts. So I felt kind of bad about that. But I was able to talk to everyone at some point or another.
My bridesmaids sure did such a great job planning and pulling off this shower! Everything was perfect. So an extra super special thank you to the girls!!! (Angie, Amy, Sarah, Krista & last but not least, Tiffany!)

Cook out:
Saturday night, we all went over to Amy & Scott's house and had a cook out. We figured we'd continue the celebration w/ my aunts being in town! So we had brats and burgers and all the cook out fixings! I gave my dad his chocolate drop cookies, which I hope he shared with his sisters. (I got the bowl back this morning, so I'm guessing that he liked them!) It was nice to be able to spend some more time with my aunts. It was low key and relaxing. Just the kind of night I needed!!!

Prepare-enrich:
Well, we got our 'test results' in! (remember a few weeks ago, Kurt and I went to church and had our little scan-tron compatibility test?) OK, so we met again yesterday afternoon with Pastor Holte. And he starts telling us about the four tiers of compatibility and how this test maps out our strength areas and our growth areas. The first tier is 'conflicted'- basically couples who have a lot of conflict. The second tier is 'traditional'- most couples fall into this category...you've got your ups and your downs, but for the most pretty level. The third tier is 'harmonious'- couples who get along good, but still have their issues. And the fourth tier is 'vitalized'- couples who are very in tune with each other and have very few issues.
Can you guess which one Kurt and i fell into??? I'll let you think a few seconds............................
Yup!!! We are "VITALIZED"!!!!!!! When pastor Holte told us this, we both started laughing. And then had to ask if he was serious. He said that he doesn't get the privilege of telling many couples that they scored so highly. The few things that he did go over with us as our 'potential growth areas' was everything we already knew he was going to say. We already know what we need to work on. So that's it. We don't have to go back unless we want to. We are still in disbelief. I cannot believe that we had these results. What a shock, yet confirmation. Strange how that stuff works.

The Boop:
Boozer weighs 28.5 lbs.

Another Silly Gift!

Alright, here's the latest on the silly shower surprises! Our latest entry was submitted by my Aunt Elizabeth in Chicago. She sent me a super fun set of nesting food prep bowls, a new set of measuring spoons, and a copy of 'The American Woman's Cook Book'. This cook book was published in 1939 and is a copy of the exact same one that my grandma Louise had. (My aunt Elizabeth has grandma's copy that is held together with some funky green duct tape!) I cannot wait to make my dad his favorite 'chocolate drop cookies' from this cook book. I'm going to make them and surprise him with them this weekend!

Silly Shower

Alright, I got another silly shower gift!!!! This one came from my cousins out in Salt Lake City, Clarissa Weiss, Mark, Harold and Louise Colloton!!! Clarissa is the one that threw me this super fun shower. (I'll update those of you that don't know what I'm talking about) Clarissa sent out invites to family members on my dad's side of the family, asking them to send me cleaver, funny or just plain silly shower gifts. (she wanted to do something fun for me because she lives so far away and cannot be involved in my bridal shower) So, I've been getting fun stuff via the mail.

So, here's what I got from the Colloton-Weiss family! Each of us at the Rosenthal-Mayer household, got their own fun gift! Kurt got a cutting board and knife set! Katie got an awesome wedding photo album (which i'm super excited about because I've been meaning to look for one!) Maysun got a Disney sing-a-long DVD, sponge bob mac&cheese and m&m minis! Boozer got a black big-girl collar with rainbow Smitty smiley faces all over it! And the future 'baby Mayer' got a blue onesie that says, 'good looks run in the family'!!!!! How frick'n awesome is that??? Super funny because it came from family! So hopefully the next one is a boy OR I can find a cute skirt to go with it :)!!!!!

My aunt Elizabeth emailed me a few days ago and said that she was putting my silly shower gift in the mail! So I'll have more updates on the silly shower gifts soon!!!

OH, by the way... I forgot to mention that this past Saturday a bunch of us gals got together (Me, Amy, my mom-Julie, Kurt's mom-Joan, Angie, Stephanie and Sarah) sat down at Amy's house and addressed, stuffed and stamped all the wedding invites. THEY ARE DONE!!!! (well, with the exception of like a dozen odd ball ones that I need updated address's for) WOO HOO!!! another step closer to the wedding. Next big project is the flowers. Which by the way, two weekends ago, my aunt Pam and I went to Steins and Hobby Lobby and picked up everything that we need to work on them. I've even picked up some Rubbermaid containers to put them in once they are done so they don't get dusty or banged up. So, I think after my bridal shower next weekend... we can start working on them. Things are starting to come together!!! EEK, I'm a dork :)

PREPARE-ENRICH MC

Yesterday I took a half day!!! I left work at one, went home, and Kurt and I ran some errands before our appointment at three. (more on that later) We ran to Harbor Freight, the Fox Cities Visitor Center, Steins, and Menard's. We were walking through Menard's when my cell phone rings. It's Mrs. Swanson at Taft Elementary. 'Maysun fell at recess and has a cut in her chin, I think she might need stitches!' (my dear lord...those are some powerful words when you're not expecting them) So not only are we running late for our appointment with PASTOR HOLTE, but now I have to make like 16 thousand phone calls; grandma Joan-can you pick her up?, Janelle-you don't need to pick her up!, Amy-Maysun fell at school does Theda care have a immediate care?, Theda care pediatrics-can you get her in today? no! can anybody? no! what? emergency room? is there a cheaper option? what do you mean no one can sew at the Dr. office? aren't they doctors? (idiots), Mrs. Swanson- grandma Joan is coming to get her now. please pull her out of class!, grandma Joan calls me back- she doesn't need stitches! that lady at the school office is an idiot!, Pastor Holte- we are running late. we'll be there shortly!

WHEW!!! So we arrived at church at 3:07. We had to meet with Pastor Holte to start our pre-marital stuff. So we sat down and talked with him for a little while. Then he placed us in the church library to do our 'scan tron' style compatibility test. Only, we get to take the 'special' version. The test that they give to people who are divorced or already have children. Interesting stuff. We had to be as honest as we could on these tests. It's kind of difficult when your only reactions to these statements in this booklet are; strongly disagree, disagree, undecided, agree or strongly agree. Leaves some grey areas. But I guess that's what the test is designed to do. So we are sitting in the library and we are not allowed to talk to each other. And I'm giggling because I find humor in just about everything. So Kurt starts asking me which questions I'm giggling at. (well, it's not like we were cheating) The last ten questions were all about your feelings toward your family during your teenage years. Strange. My family is messed up. We didn't do squat together. How did I end up semi-normal?
So when all is said and done and we leave, Kurt and I have decided on our own which areas that we need work on. Our biggest ones seem to be combining our budgets and becoming more spiritual as a couple. Which we already knew these things. This is nothing new to us. We've been talking about working on these things since forever... But with the help of Pastor Holte, we can find a way to fit this into our every day living. What an interesting process. I'm interested to see what else the test has to say!!!