August 2011: Iowa State Fair!

 Gina & Joey by the petting zoo. Joey especially loved getting to ride the camel.

My mom got us some tickets to the Iowa State Fair. I haven't been in years and Jesse's never been, so we decided to tag along with my cousin Gina, her sister Mandy, and my cousin Scott's daughter Olyvia when they took Joey, my other cousin Scott's grandson, to the fair. 

 Comparing our height to the tallest horse. We're short and we know it.

 Pork Chop on a stick and a Giant Turkey Leg, Yum!

 

Joey Showing off his tattoos!

 Joey and Jesse quickly became best buds as you can see in the video.

 Jesse and Joey holding hands as we walked around. 
It was so sweet. Joey just reached up and grabbed Jesse hand. They held hands like this for a most of the rest of the day.

 The Red Velvet Funnel Cake that the 6 of us shared.

 Joey zonked out.

Jesse all tuckered out. 

It was a long day for the boys.

We saw some awesome sewing work, the classic butter cow on it's 100th anniversary, the biggest animals (cows, horses, and pigs), we also saw some bizarre miniature animals, sampled delicious dishes, watched some performances on the free stage, and of course scored Joey as many temporary tattoos as humanly possible. It was a good day.

July 2011: Colorado Bound again!

 Chelsey & David. Mt Evans, Colorado

In July Jesse and I took a trip back to Colorado with my brother and his then girlfriend Chelsey. Dave had been planning to pop the question and wanted to do it somewhere special. I suggested Mt Evans for it's beauty and relative closeness to Denver. I think this picture speaks for itself. Besides being windy it was a beautiful day and of course she said Yes. They're planning their nuptials for sometime next August.

 Front Row: Tenille, Me, Michon, Myrna, Tana

Second Row: Monique, Chelsey, Mary, and Amanda

My 2nd Bridal Shower of sorts was held in Colorado that same weekend as well. I invited several girl friends out to a spa day at one of my favorite places Moonedance Botanicals. We had a foot spa party, with champagne spritzers, fancy cheese & crackers, and delicious gourmet cupcakes (courtesy of a groupon I purchased months earlier). It was a good day and it was great to see all the ladies who could actually make it.

 The big reason for the trip to Colorado was a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater. One of David's favorite bands, The Avett Brothers, were preforming so we had to be there. When I had originally told David about this we thought we would still be living in Denver, but things change so it became a weekend retreat for all of us and we stayed in hotels rather than our old apartment. Jesse spent the night out with his old band mates while Dave, Chels, and I checked out the show. If you've never heard of The Avett Brothers you should definitely follow the link and check them out. They put on a great show.

 Denton and Fiona enjoying their treats!

Of course a trip to Colorado isn't complete with out a trip to the Jeong's house. Denton and Fiona have now met my parents and my brother. They were pretty excited to see us. They were even more excited by the treats we brought them. Their first Rock Candies ever! It was so nice of their parents to have us over for a delicious breakfast before we hit the road again back to Iowa, especially because it was Denton's birthday weekend and they were busy enough with out entertaining us. Thanks guys!

Dave and Chels catching some Zzzz'z on the trip home.

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but I'm so glad we did it. It was great getting to see everyone again, celebrating an engagement, celebrating a birthday, and seeing an awesome concert in the beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater.

June 2011: Jeremiah & Lesley's Wedding

Since I moved back to Iowa, so quickly I was fortunate enough to be able to take the weekend and attend my cousin Jeremiah's wedding. I took a road trip adventure to Illinois with my cousin Melissa, her husband Ken, their daughter Sydney, My cousin Adam's son Jasper, my Aunt Debbie, and my Uncle Paul. Thanks for letting me tag along guys! It was a fun weekend with lots of dancing and singing most of that coming from Jasper.

 The lovely bride and groom cutting their cake.

Jasper getting down... way down.

 Nice splits! Jasper certainly had some sweet moves.

Father daughter dance. Jeremiah and Emma.

Mother son dance. Mom and David.

Congratulations Jeremiah & Lesley!

More May 2011 : Jared & Jesse

Jesse's brother Jared came to visit us in Iowa in May. Jared lives only a few hours away in Kansas. I know Jesse is glad we are now closer to Jared, so the boys can visit more often. Although, they talk on the phone quite a bit and they play video games online together whenever they get a chance. I think their favorite is spending time together in person though. They love to go fishing and the 2 ponds my parents have were the perfect spot for the boys. I was glad Jared was able to come up and hang out with Jesse while I had my girl's day at the Bridal Shower.

Back Tracking a little...

 Oops! I almost forgot about this. April/May 2011 just before we left for Iowa...

Our Friend Mark helped Jesse build a print press for screen printing. Mark loves to do wood working and Jesse loves screen printing, so it worked out great for both of them. Mark said he had an alterior motive for helping Jesse build  the press. He said he was helping, so that Jesse would give him lots of free t-shirts. Here are a couple videos of Jesse and Mark at work. Denton really enjoyed watching working with them too.

May 2011, Bridal Shower

 Me & Mom

 Me & Grandma Rita

 Front Row: Syd & Sam

Back Row: Gina, Melissa, Natalie, Me, & Rhea

 The girls showing off their new lunch bags they made.

Big Thanks to Gina, Melissa, Natalie, Rhea, Sydney, and Sam for helping plan my Bridal Shower and to everyone else for making food, showing up to celebrate, etc...

When I got to Iowa in late May my cousins threw me a Bridal Shower before I started my new job. It was a beautiful day with lovely peacock feather decorations, tasty breakfast (I'm a big fan of breakfast), and another favorite of mine crafting. Instead of playing lots of awkward games we opted for one quiz on How well you know the couple (I believe my mom and my friend were the top winners for that one), and then we decorated little canvas bags to use for lunch bags (we're so green). Jesse and I were blessed with some wonderful gifts as well. We're so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends close by.

Where to begin...

Obviously we haven't been posting on our blog like we used to. Sorry about that. I've been meaning to keep everyone updated, but so much has happened in such a short amount of time that its hard for me to even keep up. As most of you know I got a job at the Science Center of Iowa and we moved to Iowa. I moved here in May and Jesse followed in late June. Talk about craziness.

Jesse and I made a quick trip back to Iowa for Easter and my first interview in April. Then roughly a month later we were back again for a trip we had already planned, only this time I stayed and lived out of a suitcase in my parent's basement for several weeks. All the while Jesse finished up the packing and took over my nanny gigs to make some cash since he quit his job. My parents drove out to Denver with me and helped us pack up our stuff. Jesse stayed behind for another couple weeks to finish a house sitting job we had promised we would do and to attend this year's Westword Music Showcase. His band was again asked to play, so he couldn't miss it. While here I worked on unpacking and organizing our new apartment (aka my parent's remodeled basement) and I took a weekend trip to Illinois for my cousin's wedding.

Jesse is here now and we're officially Iowa residents. He's currently looking for a job and helping out around the farm. I'm working away and trying to get adjusted to actually living here again. It's been nice having my family around, but it still seems like we are just visiting. I'm sure someday soon I'll wake up and realize this is our new life. What a change of pace. The country vs the city, bugs vs no bugs, humidity vs dry heat, etc...

Our wedding is quickly approaching. The date for the rsvps to our wedding has come and gone, but do not fret we are still willing to take rsvps and we would love it if you would. There will be no formal sit down dinner, but it would still be nice to have an accurate head count for the food and drinks. Feel free to rsvp if you haven't yet.

I promise to write more soon and post lots of random pictures from the last couple months.

Take care,

Erin & Jesse