Sorry sorry sorry sorry!

We've been doing well lately! Super busy, but really great! We just took a trip back to Springfield, MO to see Brad's parents and it was so great to be back there! We hadn't been to Springfield since Jess and Ryan's wedding last June and my shower. Whoa. So here's the play by play.

We got in Saturday and headed straight to Carl and Rosemary's house where Brad and I passed out for an hour nap before some family friends came over for a cook out. This was so much fun, we got to spend time with people that have been a big part of Brad's life, and I was excited to visit with people who took the time to travel all the way up to our wedding last year and let them know how much we appreciated that. I felt like at the wedding we didn't get enough of a chance, or we didn't do a very good job of showing our family and friends how grateful we were that they were a part of the day, so this was such a fun night. We had some DELICIOUS food as always. Rosemary is just a flat out great cook, and Carl rocked the grill out so it was a great night!

Brad with Jonathan at the cook out...goofy kids.

Sunday morning we SLEPT in, I think later than we've slept any Sunday morning since we've been married. We then got up and had a great mix of breakfast, including hotdogs and deviled eggs, and then headed to St. Louis. Rosemary and Carl stayed at Harrah's and went to a Joe Cocker/Steve Miller Band concert while we headed to Jess and Ryan's to spend the evening with them! These two are such awesome friends! We don't get to see them much, but it's like no time has passed when we do. Brad truly has such great friends from back home, every one of them is so genuine and awesome, so I have had such a great time getting to know them all, with their wives/families/girlfriends over the last few years. We're spoiled. Anyways, Ryan and Jess had gone all out and made us a FANTASTIC dinner. Brad and Ryan had these T-Bone steaks which were by far the biggest steaks I've ever seen. Jess and I had cute filet's wrapped in bacon, which as we all know is a WINNER in my book! We had corn on the cob with herbed butter and cilantro. Brie with brown sugar and grapes for an appetizer. Homemade potato chips, literally, and a desert that my words couldn't even describe other than amazing! After we ate dinner we just relaxed with the two of them, although we were total losers and headed to bed way early. It was so great to see them! Here's a pic from Monday morning, we look a bit like scrubs as we hadn't showered yet. Thanks Ryan and Jess for letting us stay...please come down here now so we can return the gesture!

Monday, after Ryan and Jess left for work we headed over to meet Brad's parents, his Aunt Susan, and his cousin Alex for a brunch. I tell you, for all the good food we had this weekend it's a wonder we're both not 15 pounds bigger. Brunch was great, it's always fun to see family, and I hadn't realized how close we were to Susan, Mark, Alex, and Ashley's house. So after we ate we headed over there to visit. Brad and Alex played some Wii, and now I can't remember who won, so we'll give the victory to Alex. I spent time just talking with Susan and Brad's parents. It was neat to see their home, I had never been there before. After awhile, we decided we needed to head back to Springfield, and that we did.
Monday night, Preston and Courtney's nephew was set to play T-Ball, and we really wanted to see that, so the two of us and Rosemary hitched a ride with Betty G up to the game. It was HILARIOUS! For Preston and Courtney, since you all can't be there we took videos. See below. Anyways, the little guys and girls were so much fun to watch, along with all the dads on the field trying to give some sense of order. We had so much fun! We also got to see Jason and Stephanie's new little girl, Emerson, who is just beautiful. Here are some pictures of the game...Preston and Courtney we really missed you two since we were with your family but not you! It's amazing to see the work being down in Puerta Vallarta though!



Here are the videos...

I love this, Elliot caught up to the sweet little girl ahead of him, and then turned around.


Priceless.


Again.


Got it the 2nd time around.


Last at bat...hard hitter!

Now we're back home and getting back into routine. As nice as it is to visit family, it's always nice to come back here too.

Work is good. I know on my end I'm feeling like I am geting my feet on the ground, and that I am a competent nurse, which is a relief. I will tell you though, I'm still having crazy dreams. Yesterday I dreamt that I never once, in 12 hours, went to check on my patient, and I was really embarrassed when the nurse I gave report to started asking questions. In this dream I also asked Brad to go draw some blood for me. Who knows. I'm losing my mind. Brad's job is going well too. We believe that in 2 months or so he'll be back on to compressed work week. (Wed-every other Saturday). This is great in some aspects, but it has made a little confusion for us as we decide it it is time for me to switch to a days position. Who knows, we're just praying and giving things time to settle.We know whatever happens, we'll make do so we're just happy that he won't have to work 5 days a week anymore on this schedule.

We've gotten to spend some time catching up with friends lately here in Austin. We've missed them. It seems like all of us have been out of town lately, and then we're each taking different classes this summer, so it's nice to catch up when we can. Below, Katie and Evan and the cornhole set. This was from back when they were our very first official guests. This weekend 5 couples went to lunch after church, it was great just to all sit and talk and enjoy. I love it. I love that the Lord has given us friends that have made Austin home to us.


At the Stone, we've both been taking a leadership class this summer. Brad is taking a class for potential small group leaders, and I am taking one on mercy ministry. I can't even explain how excited this class makes me. I love that we are going to be actively working towards showing mercy to those in our community and our church. I love it. That's all there is to it. Love it! We've also started Kidstuff once a month with the little kiddies. Heck yes. And our small group has grown and we're getting to know each other better and better. Yay! God is go good!

Alright all..I promise to post more frequently so I won't receive any more angry comments! Take care, hope everyone is doing well!

Wedding #2

Rox and Jake were married on 6.7.08 and it was PERFECT! It was so great to see the two of them have their day, and to be a part of it was even better! I, of course, was a mess and cried much of the wedding. Although El was there to make me smile, as did Brittany when the Kleenex kept dropping on Rox's train! Priceless. Also priceless, the fact that I literally thought my heart might physically pound out of my chest when it was my turn to read scripture. I thought I would forget when I was supposed to go, I think at one point Ellen actually said it wasn't time yet. Then, when I knew it was coming, truly I could not breathe. Who knew I was shy? Good gracious.

Best of all, though, was seeing Rox and Jake say their vows. I love weddings, but more than that I love marriage. It's sappy but true. It was exciting to see how they looked at each other, and their excitement, and when you could barely hear Rox I was a lost cause. The vows are just so much more than words.

So....enough of the sap. Here are the pictures.

We started out the weekend on Friday night at the rehearsal. Always a good time; below are some pictures from that night.... After rehearsing the walk down the aisle.All the briesmaids, we had such a great time!

On Saturday, we started early. Hair appointments began at 7am. I don't think I have EVER had so much hairspray in my hair. If you look hard enough you can see that my hair is plastered to my head, although this was a good thing since it stayed most of the day. After the appointments we headed to the Trails to decorate. That was actually pretty fun. I'm not sure if that was just fun for me, but I kinda liked seeing it all come together.

Post trails, we headed to the church to get ready, have some lunch, and start the pictures. Here are a few from before the ceremony.
Such a beautiful bride. I love this girl. I love this one too. I told the girls a story about Brad, they teased him about it and he totally went with it. Love that he has an awesome sense of humor. El here is doing an interpretation of the story. With her backward hoodie. Hahahaha I love it. It was great seeing Brittany and Jackie. Mr. and Mrs.

After the wedding, they had rented a navigator limo for us to ride to take pictures in. For real, my first limo ride ever, and for real it was so much fun! For pictures we headed to campus, Ross Ade, and downtown Lafayette. I can't wait to see the pictures.
On to the reception at the Trails. It was great! We danced all night long, I think my feet might still hurt. Purdue Pete stopped by for a visit. The awesome cake. Us.
Even Mom and Dad, and Nana and Papa joined in on the fun!

All in all, a pretty awesome day! Congrats Rox and Jake, we're so happy for you!

Indiana !!

Well, hello again from Austin. We've been super busy since we've been back, so now is my first chance to really update...and if you notice it's almost midnight. CRAZY! Life is so great though. Let's just talk about the fantastic time we had at home!

Sunday, I flew in and Dad and Luke picked me up from the airport. I was super excited to see them both, and glad that I got to see Luke before he headed down to be a camp counselor for the summer. So we drove down to Seymour, dropped Luke off at his awesome summer job, and headed back home for Lauri's graduation party! I was so glad to be able to make her party. I missed her graduation and her valedictorian speech, I was so thankful it worked out to be there for her that weekend. Below are a few pictures I stole via Lauri of her party. She's such a graduate, I can't even believe it! She's the youngest of the 7 of us. It's crazy how time flies!Lauri and our Great-Grandma RothThey're cute...Lauri and ChaseThe Ladies! Louann, Sarah, Aunt Vic, MomLove my baby niece. Uncle Mike and Aunt VicThe lady cousinsMom, Papa, and me
Aw.
Grandma and Grandpa Clark
Hahahaha..we break them in. Grandma Roth lovin on Emily.

After Sunday the week was so busy and I loved it!!! Monday I was able to just spend time with El and Rox. El picked me up and we then just spent some time at her house, then in the afteroon the three of us went to watch Emily's first swim lesson. She's just adorable. She didn't last toolong, because she turned SO blue....see below. Monday evening I joined Dad at the baseball game to watch the boy's regionals. I love softball and baseball...that's something I really do miss from home. There's just a feel to McCutcheon Softball and Baseball. J.D. and Brandon happened to be at the game, so after it was over we grabbed some Arni's...because who doens't LOVE Arni's??

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all such a blur! If I had written about them last week I may have been able to give you details, but I can't promise anything. It was crazy, and busy, and great! I was so glad to be able to be there through the week to be part of the whole preparation. We just couldn't be happier for Rox and Jake.

Friday, Brad got into town, and I was pumped! 5 days is a LONG time, and though I had vowed to not leave him in Austin without me after the last time, we had to do the same this time! I was a big ball of emotion when I picked him up at the airport! I was so ancy and his flight kept getting delayed..neurotic Rachael is not a fun Rachael! Kidding kidding. Once we got back into town we headed for the rehearsal and dinner, and then we crashed by 10:30. Old is what we are. I'll save those and Saturday's pictures for post #2.

After the wedding weekend we spent most of the rest of the time with my family. We did get to catch up with a couple of our friends on Sunday and Monday nights which was great! We got some quality time with Manders, Tim, Jared and Becca, and Brad go to see Ryan and many others from college group at Kossuth. Monday El had some lunch with us before we headed out of town, it's weird not knowing the next time we'll be there. Since it rained all weekend, the softball state championships were delayed until Monday so I headed down to Carmel to watch the girls play. I was SO bummed that it rained them out again! They ended up taking state one day later (congrats!!) but I didn't get to be there for Dad.

Tuesday it was back to reality, where we have been working like crazy people. So many things to talk about, but I'll save that for a rainy day! Here are some pictures!!



After swim lessons...so blue and cold. She LOVED it though!She loves to take Grandpa's hat. Or any hat for that matter.

Well...I have many pictures and have to do the wedding weekend justice, so I believe I will update about that tomorrow. Take care all!! Hope you have been having a fantastic week!!

Wedding #1

Griswold/Michner- May 31st, 2008.

These two are just wonderful! They have become fast friends of ours down here in Austin. We have grown to just love them and the people they are. We met Katie and Evan in the nearly/newlywed class last fall. They both had moved to Austin after college in Indiana, which you better believe I love!

Their wedding was beautiful. The message was perfect, and really showed the love that they have for each other and for Christ. Pretty stinkin exciting. Katie looked just stunning! We had a whole little group of friends there too so we had some time just to enjoy some company. Also, I must say that Mike Jones OWNED the dance floor. Here are some pictures from the night!

We're looking forward to seeing you now that you're back! Congrats!!

On the road again...

Sooo many pictures from this wonderful week to put up once we get back to Austin! We're excited to get back home, but we always miss this home when we leave. Not sure when we will get to be back here. Thankfully, we are headed to Springfield/Branson/St. Louis for 4th of July weekend for some family time with Brad's parents. We're super excited for that trip too!

This week has been amazing! We've been to two great wedding of people we love, we've seen our family, we've caught up with friends, and we've just had some quality time just the two of us that wasn't revolving around crazy work schedules. It's been such a huge refreshing blessing. We are SO not ready to go back to work!

I'm off for now, time to chat with Mom and Dad before head out tomorrow! Until tomorrow! 24 hours and counting until pictures are up.
Yay!

Wedding Bells!!!

So, last weekend we attended Katie and Evan's wedding! It was perfect! Such a beautiful day! I will write more when I can put pictures up but I left the cord at home in Austin, and here I am in Indiana!

I flew home on Sunday to be here for Lauri's graduation party. Dad and Luke picked me up from the airport, which was really nice! I never get to spend much time with those two, so it was fun to have a car ride that was just the three of us. Luke is down in Seymour for the summer working at a camp. I think he's going to have a blast. I'm so happy for him! Dad and I then headed home to get to Lauri's party. I wasn't great company because I was sleepy from getting up early, it was still fun though!

Lauri's party was great! She had such a turnout. She's so sweet. Plus, I was able to see the rest of my family. Even Kevin was there from out of town. I missed Kyle though. We don't have too many cousins, so each one is so special to us! It's crazy how old we all are now. Bradley, Luke, and Lauri will all be in college this year! I remember when they all started school. One of my favorite pictures from growing up is Bradley and I hugging and he was smaller than me. He's now a good almost foot taller than me. It's just crazy. Love my family though.

This week has been crazy and fun so far. I've been able to spend time with my family, El, Rox and Jake, Brandon, and J.D. so far, and still have plans to see more friends that I haven't been able to see yet. Manders is next on my list for tomorrow. It's so fun to come back to so many people we love. Today I got to eat lunch with Aunt Vic and Lauri, we've never done that really, it was great!

Rox and Jake are only 3 days out from there big day. It's all coming together. I'm pretty excited, since I LOVE weddings! They're excited and it's going to be a beautiful wedding! Yay!

Brad comes on Friday! He may be enjoying his bachelor week, but I sure miss him! We're excited, this will be one of the first times in months where we'll be on the same schedule for 5 days! WOOOOOOOOOOO!

Alright, all for now! Have a great week!