Show Us Your Life Friday – Favorite Vacation Spot

Kelly over at “Kelly’s Korner”  hosts this every week and I wanted to participate this week because who doesn’t love vacation!!!

Kyle and I have only went on a few vacations since we got married. Our honeymoon was in Clearwater Beach, Florida. We rented a cabin on Leech Lake in Minnesota for a week one summer, and our other trips were pretty much just short ones(Minneapolis, Chicago, Iowa City). So probably out of those, Florida would definitely have to be my favorite. But if we could pick anywhere to vacation we would LOVE to visit BORA BORA!!!

I just love the idea if staying in a little “hut” over the ocean…everything looks SO relaxing! Here is a description I found on a website that I don’t think anyone could resist!!

Bora Bora - Unquestionably the most romantic of the Pacific islands remains the island of all dreams.

Honeymooners and romantics from around the world have laid claim to Bora Bora where the castle-like Mount Otemanu pierces the sky above the crystal lagoon with its unique over the water bungalows that offer a magical oneness with this extraordinary environment.

Lush tropical slopes and valleys blossom with hibiscus, while palm-covered motu circle the lagoon like a delicate necklace. Perfect white-sand beaches give way to emerald waters where impossibly colored fish animate the coral gardens. So much has been written about Bora Bora, and yet it is hard to find the right words to describe the magic that emanates from this island.

Seen from the air, Bora Bora has been compared to that of "a tiny emerald in a setting of turquoise, encircled by a sheltering necklace of sparkling pearls".

And here are a few pictures I found…someday hopefully we can share our own!!

 

Make sure to visit Kelly’s blog to see other “favorite vacation spots”!! I know there are many other places we would like to visit!!

Happy Friday everyone! We are headed to Minneapolis for a Twins baseball game tomorrow!!

Iowa Barnstormers vs Green Bay Blizzard

Saturday night was the 2nd round of the playoffs for the Barnstormers. We played the Green Bay Blizzard who we had already played twice and each won one of those games. Unfortunately the Barnstormers lost, but it was a fun evening with the family.

Melanie and Steve were also home for the weekend and her birthday was on Friday so we stopped at Hickory Park on the way to the game for supper and to celebrate!

Travis ordered a tenderloin and it was HUGE!!! 

Since Mel’s birthday was on Friday we had them sing to her while we were there! But they sang a new song I hadn’t heard before….Mindi we might need to learn. But for now, I can’t remember it. :( 

  This was my desert!! Yum-O!!! 

Introducing Tim….#1!!!!   

Nice Catch!!  

Kyle finally caught a game ball…last game of the season!! He was SUPER excited!!  

It was a rough loss and I’m sad that we won’t be going to Vegas to watch them in the championship, but now we have Hawkeye football to look forward to!!

Wendi’s Home for the Weekend!

My younger sister, Wendi, stayed in Florida for the summer this year. The past 2 summers she lived with Kyle and I. I have to say I’ve missed her greatly. So I was quite excited to see her!! She came home for a high school friends wedding. We decided to grill out and have her friends over to our place while she was home so she could see everyone all at once since she was home for just a short time! It was a fun night with my sis and friends!!

Me and Mel…she is a neighbor we have got to be friends with this summer! 

Wendi’s HS friend Kelsey and her BF Jon.

Kelsey and Wendi…cute little BF’s!!! :)

Me and the girls chillin’ on the steps!

 

Wendi’s main request when she came home was to have sweet corn! We had so much that even Jaxs (our neighbor Chad’s dog) got some!!

     Mel and Robbye…our new friends from down the road!! 

Robbye and Me!!

Bangert Name Frame

Saturday I got a little “creative” and made a personalized name frame. I think I might hang it in the kitchen. I used alphabet photographs and matted them on black cardstock and framed them!! Simple and fun!!

Iowa Barnstormers vs. Manchester Wolves

Last night was the 1st round playoff game for the Barnstormers. It started out kinda rocky, but they pulled out a 70-53 win with a great 2nd half performance!!

They will now play next Saturday vs the winner of tonight’s match up between the Green Bay Blizzard and the Tennessee Valley Vipers. But it is going to be a home game because we have the better record out of either of those teams! So Kyle and I picked up our tickets last night before we left the “Well”!!

“Blackout Night”!!

 

They gave out free Barnstormer towels…Kyle thought they looked pretty good tied on his wrist!!      

And here are a few shots I got during the game!             

Confetti and streamers fell from the ceiling at the end of the game when we won!!

   

This was my cute little hubby mid-game trying to figure out the score of the FD Dodger state baseball game…unfortunately they lost in the 9th inning 3-4. :(

Show Us Your Life Friday – Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony

Kelly over at “Kelly’s Korner”  hosts this every week and I wanted to participate this week because I loved my wedding day!! This week is wedding party, flowers, and ceremony!

I always knew I wanted a summer wedding. We got married July 2nd, 2005. Over 4 years ago…hard to believe! My favorite color is pink so there was no doubt that was going to be the main theme of the wedding!

Our sign in table!

Kyle and I got married at my Grandma’s church in the town we currently live in. The church we go to didn’t have a center aisle and I wanted to have more of a traditional feel for my wedding! Our Pastor from our church married us. That is actually where Kyle & I met in 1997….at church!!! :) And that is still where we go today….12 years later!

I had my four best girls stand up with me! In the picture below from left to right:

Elizabeth, my cousin and almost like 4th sister. We grew up together and have stayed close ever since. She now lives in Minneapolis and just had her first baby boy in May!

Stefanie, my sister, she is #2 out of the 4 of us and 6 years older than me. Stefanie and I fought a lot growing up but have gotten much closer now that we’re both “grown-ups” with our hubby’s & houses!! Stefanie lives in Georgia with her husband Geoff, but they are hoping to move back to the Midwest this fall when Geoff gets out of the military! My fingers are crossed!!

Wendi, my sister, she is the baby of the family and 3 years younger than me. Wendi is currently living in Florida finishing up school this December. The past few years Wendi and I have gotten very close. She lived with Kyle & I the past 2 summers and stayed in Florida this summer and I have missed her dearly this summer!! Everyone calls Wendi the “pretty one”!! :p And she is!!

Mindi, my sister, she is the oldest…9 years older than me. In her words, “I’m the oldest and best”!! Mindi and her husband Preston have been such good friends to Kyle and I and really been mentor’s to us while dating and now in our married lives as well. They live just 20 minutes from the town we live in so it’s nice to have them close!

So that’s my girls…I’ll list the guys, but it’s not the same for me!! I should have Kyle do this part!! Standing next to Kyle is my brother-in-law (Mindi’s husband) Preston. Next is Kyle’s younger (and only) brother Travis, then our friend and Kyle’s boss, Mark, and then finally is another friend, Andrew.

Our flower girl is Elizabeth’s sister and my cousin Toni and the ring bearer is my cousin Daniel. 

 

Here is a close up of me and my girls!! I like this one ‘cause you can see our flowers. I ordered my flowers from growersbox.com and we arranged them into the bouquets. We saved a lot of money and I LOVED them!! I had various shades of pink roses with white roses.

 

Here is another wedding party photo with our ushers kneeling in the front. The outdoor pictures were some of my favorite.  

  I knew I wanted to have petals thrown for our exit and I absolutely LOVE how the pictures turned out!     

Hope you enjoyed our “wedding”!! Make sure to head over to Kelly’s blog to check out everyone else’s  post!!

Sticks & Stone Country Bash

If you know me, you know that I'm about the furthest thing from a country girl. Well ok I grew up on a farm, but that is about where it stops. I'm not really a fan of country music or all those western clothes. But not this past weekend! I got my "cowgirl" on!! And it was SUPER fun!! There was a country music concert here in town and I went...hat and everything!! It was a girl's night with my good friend Jenna. We did meet up with our boys though beforehand for some pizza for supper!

    

All ready to go out!! 

@ the concert...don't ask who it is...I have no clue!!!