Long time!

Yes, I realize that at the beginning of this project, I stated that I would try to be good at keeping dibs on what is going on in the life of us, but as you can see, I have kind of taken a month absence. But, I am back and ready to rock out (so be prepared for a long entry)!

To catch up, wedding plans are continuing and to tell the truth, things really are going great (knock on wood)! Phil has ordered the tuxes, the guys are getting their orders in, our marriage license arrived, our invites are at my house, we are continuing with our modified marriage counseling and we both are slowly putting together the puzzle of getting married. We did hit a milestone in our marriage prep this past week-- we are now officially down to double digits for the wedding day countdown! It makes Phil and I so excited to know that in 4 months, we will be in Texas, settling into our new apartment and starting our lives as Mrs. and Mr. Chmielewski (oh, I mean Mr. and Mrs. Tiedeman)!

At the beginning of May, after many discussions with relatives and some days of planning, we decided to have a bridal shower in Minnesota. After thinking about it some more, we thought that since we were so close to Iowa, we should plan on having a shower there as well. Once details were organized, my mom and I headed out! Basically, this is what the weekend consisted of: 70 hours for our total trip, 30 hours of driving, 2 showers and one car packed to the brim! I had to work late on Thursday night, so after I got home, my mom and I got into our comfy driving clothes, and proceeded to drive all night! Crazy-- yes we were :) We got to Rochester about noon on Friday and later that night, I met up with one of my childhood friends (that lives in Rochester) to hang out for a few hours. The next morning, my aunt (and godmother) hosted the first shower from 10:30am-1pm. After everyone left, we helped clean up some things, finished packing the car, and drove to George, Iowa for the second shower. That one was from 7-9pm at the church that Phil attended as a child, so it was a great time to meet all of Phil's relatives and friends. After the shower, my mom and I headed to the Tiedeman's house to crash and then drove back to CO at 7:30am! Whew!

Other than wedding stuff, life continues to roll. Phil is staying busy with his job as they are starting to hire employees to fill some positions. And of course, he is staying busy doing all of his 'honey-do' lists that I am starting to assign :) I am in the middle of preparing for summer camp and this will definitely be a summer of learning (both in the educational sense, as well as the emotional sense-- please help me find patience)! I am very excited to return as a director of a summer camp for teens with disabilities as I know it will be full of laughter, smiles, frustrations, fun, emotions and whatever else :)