Wedding season really had an impact on me this summer! Three friends of mine decided it was time to tie the knot. It seems like every time I turn around someone I know got engaged or married. My best friend just attended her 5th wedding in less than one year. I loved helping my sister plan for her September 2004 wedding to my brother-in-law, Jim. I can't wait to plan my own. I guess my abundance of creativity is where it all stems from. The one thing I am looking forward to the most is using the skills I learned as a graphic design major to make out-of-this-world invitations and thank-you cards. I already have ideas running through my head!

Before I get more in depth about the weddings, I attended the Robert Morris Health Fair in the tech center this past Thursday. I do have to say that I was really impressed. Since I am really into health and nutrition (and even considered if for my major for a long time), I loved the fact that they had the health fair there for the students. So many people overlook health and nutrition issues, and this caught the attention to many people. I plan on writing an article for the website on the fair. I took some pictures and talked with a lot of interesting people. I was really surprised to see McDonald's there...who would have thought?! They were promoting their salads and yogurt parfaits. I even got a free 5 minute massage and a razzmatazz smoothie from Jamba Juice. I think it was a success and suggest you go next year if you did not make it this year.

So, back to the weddings. Friday my family and I went to one of the nicest weddings I have ever been to. It was for our friends, Johnny and Julia. Johnny has been my brother in law's best friend since childhood. Julia, my sister, and brother-in-law all worked together about 4 years ago. When my sister got married, Julia was a bridesmaid, and Johnny was my brother-in-law's best man. They met at the rehearsal dinner and were inseparable ever since! That was just about 2 years ago. They decided to have a small afternoon wedding with only about 30 or 35 people. I have never seen more people tear up at a wedding as everyone did at theirs! The priest read love letters they wrote to each other during their marriage classes before the wedding. They were beautiful! After the mass we all went to the Limestone Grille in Palos. We were in our own little room, and we had a wonderful dinner together!

Two weeks ago, John and I went to his good friend Edgar's wedding, and he asked John to be an attendant. Unfortunately, I missed the church ceremony because of a baby shower that fell on the same day, at the same time. (Oh, and by the way, John's cousin is expecting a baby in the last week of October, right around our birthdays, the 27th and the 30th). Anyway, most of the reception was in Spanish and I did not understand a lot of it, but I think I pretty much got the point! (Like the bouquet toss, for example!). I didn't have to speak Spanish to figure that one out...hahaha. Even though I did not know too many people, I quickly made friends. I even ran around in a circle holding hands with a bunch of other girls, while some fast-paced song was playing! John and I practiced salsa dancing about a week before the wedding. We didn't get nearly as much practice as we needed, but at least we didn't have to sit out any of the dances. Learning some basic steps gave us the confidence we needed to get out there and shake our booties! Haha.

And last but not least, at the end of July my childhood best friend Halina got married. She was such a beautiful bride, and the wedding was really fancy! Her bridal party was huge, and everyone was in shades of green and gold. The reception hall and decor matched beautifully. After a HUGE dinner of Polish food at the Burbank Manor, a giant sweet table and ice cream cured our sweet tooth. After the Polka band played for awhile, John and I were ready to leave, only to see them bring out more food! And this was not just some more munchies and snacks....a giant roast pig was brought out! The bride and groom cut the back open, just like how they sliced their wedding cake! I've never seen anything like that before, and I won't ever forget it. The chef then proceeded to cut the pig's head off. THAT was cool! :) It grosses people out every time I tell them that tidbit of information! I would have loved to taste a little bit, but I was sooooo full from all of the other wonderful food that I could not eat another bite!

So, the weddings the past few months have been really fun, and happy times are abundant! Love is truly in the air! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that one day soon I'll be the next one engaged and planning a wedding! On a completely different note before I finish up here, my Dad's cousin is in from Florida this weekend, and we're thinking of going to a dinner show like Tony N Tina's wedding, or Medieval Times. I'll take pictures and let everyone know how it goes!

Ciao!    

WOW - This was a fantastic week for me!

It all started Tuesday night...John came out here to see me and we went shopping for my new digital camera and our pumpkins! I splurged a little on the camera, but that's okay because it will come in handy for school and all my projects. It is soooo awesome! It has so many neat features and I know I need to spend time reading the manual just to learn everything about it. We then were on a wild goose chase looking for pumpkin carving pattern books. We went to so many stores and no one had them, but I guess that's what happens when you wait until a week before Halloween! We ended up using books we already had but we were looking for something more challenging. John of course picked out the biggest pumpkin he could find...and I guess it was a bargain since he got all that pumpkin for only $4 at Jewel!!

On thursday I got to see my Johnny after work, and we went out to dinner to celebrate our upcoming birthdays. Nothing fancy, just a nice dinner for two at Olive Garden. Then Friday was my 22nd birthday!! I did not have to work in the morning, so I got to sleep in a little bit. I did do some homework in the morning, but that's okay (I wanted to get it done and out of the way). I was asked if I wanted the day off from work but it did not bother me since I really had nothing going on in the afternoon, so I figured I would work to help pay for that camera! It was really quiet there so the afternoon was easy. When I came home, John and my sister Lisa came over and we had pizza and I opened some gifts. John bought me a nice new printer...I bought a new Mac computer in the spring and I never bought a printer for it, so it was a gift I could really use. It's works great with the new digital camera! My parents gave me some money for the camera and a few items for my hope chest. I also decided to give John his birthday gift a little early, so we got to open our gifts together (I got him a bears shirt and hoodie, a CD, some chocolate since he's a chocoholic, and an sterling silver Celtic cross necklace). My boss gave me a gift certificate to one of my favorite restaurants...Fuji Japanese Steakhouse. I thought that was a really nice gift from her, and she also gave me Saturday off from work!! That was a great present...hahaha.

Since I did not have to work Saturday, I spent the morning cleaning and getting ready for our party Sunday, and then I babysat the rest of the day for Jackson (his picture is on my first blog). I have been watching his sister Sydney for the past 5 years, and for Jack since he was born. He is such a cutie, and I look forward to seeing him and his sister every other weekend when their parents bowl. They had the fireplace going when we got there, and we just kept adding wood all night...there's nothing better than keeping warm by the fire on a chilly evening. Jack and John and I played "campground" and roasted marshmallows and told jokes, and then watched the movie "Over The Hedge" which was really cute. After I got home, I caught a little bit of the movie "Nacho Libre" and headed off to bed.

The phone rang about 6:30 a.m. Sunday with some good news...John's cousin Karen had her baby! It's a boy! They named him Zachary Ryan. I spent the morning cleaning some more, and then the families came over around two. John's birthday is the 30th, so we had a combined party for the two of us. His mom, Grandma, and brother came, as well as his cousin (who is also his roommate) and his godson, Nick. My Grandma and Uncle came as well as my sister and brother-in law, best friend Kelly and her boyfriend Josh, and Johnny and Julia, the friends of the family who just got married two weeks ago. I had such a blast!! My mom made a fantastic meal, and John's mom took care of the cakes....yellow with chocolate frosting for John, and a pineapple orange cake with a cool whip frosting for me....yummmm. Most of the guys were glued to the TV for awhile because the bears game was on, but that's okay since it gave the girls more time to socialize! Everyone sang to us and we opened gifts. The families left, but my sister and our friends stayed late and we just had a great time talking, laughing, and sharing stories about everything and anything. I haven't laughed that much in a long time! It made me really appreciate the awesome friends and family that I have, and I love them all dearly.  

I posted plenty of pictures of the party and our pumpkins....I chose to do an enchantress/gypsy woman, John did the two dracula faces, and my sister did a dancing skeleton, witch, and cat in front of the moon. The new camera took some great pictures! I just had such a fun week, and created so many new memories that I won't forget!