Mostly Wordless Wednesday (Thanks Steve!)

Halloween in Branson 2006

I decorated the office--man it was fun..

Michelle and I..

Michelle, Carla, and I

Miss you guys and everyone in Branson!

Weddings, Weddings, and more Weddings

2009-2010 is the year to get married! Almost exactly 1 year ago our weddings started and they still haven't stopped.  Which is okay with us because we love being able to celebrate with our friends! It is great! Plus we got to travel to some great places!

Derek and Marta started the wedding year off in May 2009 in Rapid City, SD. Gorgeous outdoor wedding @ Sylvan Lake in the black hills. We even got to go to Mount Rushmore in between the wedding and reception...good times!

Derek & Marta Hultgren, May 30, 2009, Sylvan Lake, Black Hills, SD






Mindy and Ryan are next on our friends to get married.  We traveled to Sioux City, IA, for their wedding.  Molly and I sang in their gorgeous wedding.  Everything was great about their wedding! It was such a great occasion!

Ryan & Mindy Collins, August 1, 2009, Sioux City, IA






Next to get married were our really good friends Sarah and Randy.  We drove to Weyauwega, WI, for this wedding...we even got to experience Madison, WI, at rush hour...no worries...wasn't that bad :-) We went a few days early to help with anything and everything they wanted to have us do :-) We also got to go into Appleton, WI, the one day.  The wedding was a blast!

Randy and Sarah Backman, October 3, 2009 in Weyauwega, WI





Then skip ahead to February 2010.  My sister and Clay ran off to Mexico and got married! Okay maybe they didn't run off because ALOT of people joined them but it was in Mexico and it was a great time! :-) Woot woot!

Clay & Melissa Eisenbraun, February 19, 2010, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico






The next wedding we went to, I had the honor of being the made of honor at Kates wedding. Kate and I have been best friends for about 12-13 years! Kate and Joel got married on a windy somewhat chilly spring day in good ole Omaha, but it was an awesome day!

Joel & Kate Rudloff, March 26, 2010, Omaha






Next was our wedding, On June 5.  We also got married in Omaha: Quick picture below and then moving on to the next friends wedding :-)

Pete & Rebecca Casarotto III, June 5, 2010, Omaha








Next is Greg and Lauren's Wedding! They got married in Valpariso, NE, 2 weeks after we did! It was fun going to the wedding and seeing a bunch of people from college that we haven't seen in a long time.

Greg & Lauren Wilmes, June 19, 2010, Valpariso, NE







Then we had a slight break from weddings...when I say break it was about a month...which brings us to our next wedding, which was Holli and Dusty's! Holli and I have been planning our weddings together for the last year...we had the same cake lady (which is awesome Vera), same photographer (Amazing Emily Holben Photography), and we even ended up using the same bus for our wedding party! It was such a great time! They also got married here in Omaha.

Dusty & Holli Vesely, July 16, 2010, Omaha





The next day, after Holli's wedding, we traveled to Shenadoah, IA, with my sister and Clay for Nicky and Tom's wedding.  It was a HOT HOT DAY, the church had no ac, but the wedding was still amazing and beautiful! The reception was full of dancing and fun times with friends! (Okay sorry, but I don't have a good picture of the bride and groom...my picture of them is extremely dark! So I put a picture of the bride with her sister!)

Tom and Nichole Lensch, July 17, 2010, Shenadoah, IA








Then to end the month of July, we traveled to Valentine, NE, to see Q and Jill get married! They had a very nice wedding followed by a great party.  Once again, it was great seeing all the college friends again!

Quentin & Jill Connealy, July 24, 2010, Valentine, NE







Which brings us up to current date, the last wedding we went to was over the weekend.  My high school friend Becky got married.  Her reception was in Fremont at the city auditorium and was so nice! I don't have a picture of Becky and her husband Dana, but I do have a picture of the beautiful bride and I so I have posted that.

Dana & Becky Nielsen, September 18, 2010, Fremont






We have a few weeks off! The next and last wedding of the year is October 9...our great friends Braxton and Taylor.  We will be traveling to North Platte for this wedding and then we dont have any weddings planned after that...for now...we have some great friends that are still not married...but they will be and when they do...if we are invited...we will be there with them to celebrate!

Congratulations to all the new husbands and wives!

Home is Where the Heart Is

First come loves, then comes marriage, then comes...a house? I don't think that is how the song goes...haha

We have decided that we want to stick around the Omaha/Blair area and if we are going to move somewhere, we are going to move into a home and not an apartment.  Now dont get me wrong...we absolutely love our apartment and have no problem what so ever staying where we are. We have a large spacious apartment, 2 bedrooms 2 baths and our complex is very quiet and relaxing.  We are in a good location in Omaha too...close to alot..shopping, dining, and friends, however, we both have decided that maybe we should start looking for a home to be more "permanent" in the Omaha Area.

So about a month ago we started looking at homes.  We so far have only looked at homes in Blair.  We love Blair.  We love the small town feel, the schools, the people, and oh did we mention the taxes are UBER less then in Omaha? haha but yes we love Blair.  So we decided to start in Blair looking at houses. 
We have seen some super nice homes in Blair as well...we have also seen some super small, cramped, weird homes in Blair as well. 

For example, the one house...we pulled up to and our realtor picked up the key to show us the key to the house...IT WAS A SKELTON KEY PEOPLE!!! Not kidding....and the home proved to be very very very old inside as well...another home we went to...we are pretty dang sure they were hoarders...or borderline hoarders...their garage was stacked tight with boxes and stuff and so was the basement and basement bathroom but upstairs was pretty clean.  Then since the hubby works for a lawn care company he can not stand it when we walk up to a house that the lawn is not attended too and I would have to agree with him...come one people...you are trying toENCOURAGE us to buy your home...not discourage us :-)

On the other hand, we have seen alot of potential homes...some have completely renovated insides, some have ALL brand new storm windows, others have everything we would want--which is more then 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, garage, and a fenced in yard.

So you are probably asking, well if you found a house with everything you want then what is the problem? There is no problem, we just dont want to rush into anything...we are not dumb...buying a house is a huge committment! We are definately ready for the committment but want to make sure we buy something for us and not just because a family member, friend, or the world say we should get a house...

Home is not just a house...home is where the heart is and well right now our hearts are with our apartment...will our hearts be in a home soon...stay tuned to find out...

In-Laws

As with all marriages, I know have a Father in law and a mother in law...not to mention 2 brother in laws, and the cutest nieces and nephews EVER! Some people dread seeing or even talking to their In-Laws, not me though, I love talking to Pete and Kay and hearing about the new things the kids are doing or the new things in their lives.  They live 23 hours away in Phoenix so we don't get to see them very often, so when we talk to them or see them, we try to have fun and just laugh. (Make lots of memories!)

Pete is a III, His Grandpa Casarotto is Pete, his dad is Pete Jr, and then my Pete is Pete the III.  Around the time of the wedding when the Casarottos started to arrive it was fun to say to people "I am going to go pick up Pete to take to Pete and then we are going here..." People would just look at me funny.  But in all actuality, my Father In Law, Pete is a marvelous guy.  He has a huge heart and is fun to joke around with and hang out with. A few years ago, we went to Phoenix for Ty's wedding.  While there we went to Pete's work so he could show me what all they do.  WOW...there is so much going on there! Pete (my pete--the rest of the blog he will be referenced as MP (my pete)) would be first person to tell you that at first I didn't know if Pete Jr liked me...but we got to grow on each other and now I have an awesome man as a father in law.  I remember dancing with him at the wedding and joking with him telling him I was gonna call him my "Papa Pete" He just laughed at me and we kept dancing.  Great guy! I hope everyone is as lucky as I am to have such a great guy for a father in law.

Kay, is Pete's mom, she is a miraculous women.  She is a stay at home mom to Kady and Brent and through all that she always finds time to go the gym. (way better then me, because well...I say I find time for the gym but really I find time to spell out gym and not actually go to the gym!) haha :-) I love talking with Kay on the phone, she always has a new story for us about Phoenix, the weather, or the kids.  I wish I could just drive over to her house pick her up and take her for the day to a spa so she can be pampered.  hmmm...mother daughter in law spa day...sounds like a plan to me...lets see...flights to Phoenix $160, Spa Time (depending on where you go) $60-120 per person, spending time with my new awesome mother in law, PRICELESS   :-) :-) Kay came up in April and helped put together all the flowers for the wedding.  We spent 3 days buying flowers, putting them together, organizing them and everything! She did such a great job! The day before the wedding, she put together some floral arrangements (real flowers) for the front of the church and then we placed them on the cake table and they were so gorgeous! Kay is an amazing women and I really got lucky to have such a awesome Mother in Law.

Here is a picture of the my awesome In-Laws:

Pete also has 2 brothers, Brad and Brent.  Brad is the oldest.  I have met Brad a few times.  He also lives in Phoenix and then Brent is the 2nd oldest.  He lives in Idaho with his family.  Brent and Jennifer have 2 beautiful kids. So when Pete and I got married I ended up with 3 nieces and 1 nephew. You are probably asking where the other 2 kids come in...welll...that would be Brent and Kady!

Brent and Kady are a hoot! They are so much fun to play with and everything.  Brent was the ring bearer at the wedding and Kady was the flower girl.  Kady was at the hotel getting her hair done with all of us girls the day of the wedding and she had so much fun! I love it when she calls me Aunt Becky it just makes me smile...and she loved her dress so much! When my mom brought her dress to her she was soooo excited because it had a zipper!! When she came for the wedding she was so excited because she was going to be in Uncle Petes wedding and get to wear her dress! Brent was equally excited to be in the wedding.  When Kay came in April, Brent kept reminding her to bring his "Uxedo" home! He couldn't quite get that T on Tuxedo...however, while Kay was here Pete taught him how to say Tuxedo.  He was the cutest ring bearer ever...he definately loves his Uncle Pete! We even had him carry his ball glove as the ring bearer pillow and he loved it! Brent and Kady are so much fun and whenever we talk to Kay or Pete on the phone they usually always ask to talk to us...it is so much fun!

Here is a picture of the kiddos:

So to end this post I thought I would say, "I couldn't imagine my life without my new extended family.  They are the best! I am truly blessed to have them in my life!"

Hopefully seeing them soon in Phoenix!

Family

Well after much consideration over long walks on the beach, endless restless nights, and a few cocktails...I have officially stepped into the blog world. (insert applause here).

This last year has been quite the changing year for my family.  I now have a Husband (still can't stop smiling when I say that word!), 1 sister, 1 sister in law, 1 brother, and 1 brother in law and I couldn't imagine life without any of them.  Of course holding us all together is the amazing people who brought the original 3 into the world, Mom and Dad.  Our family of 5 has grown to a family of 8 and is stronger and closer then we have ever been. 

As you grow up people are always say, "You just wait..someday your parents and siblings will be your best friends" and when we are younger our reaction to that is "yea right - get serious" or something along those lines.  But now that I am older I can honestly say my mom, dad, bro, and sister are some of the best friends someone could ever have.  I can now joke with mom and dad about all those things I did when I was younger that may have upset mom and dad.  Now we joke about it and can't believe I did it and have definately grown from those things and experiences. I actually involve my parents in my life vs when you are younger that was "so not cool!" haha Love my parents for everything they taught me growing up and still teach me to this day :-)

Melissa, what can I say about Melissa...we used to pester each other to no end, however, I am pretty sure I was the one that did MOST of the pestering...ya know, the annoying little sister pestering...yep that was me! Now, we have a good laugh together and even shoot guns together! (That is a whole other blog) But even through all the speed bumps we had as little kids we both turned out pretty good and both have grown into Mature, Successful, Professional Women. :-)

Then there is my brother...well...Derek has always been...well Derek...he is a quiet nice guy and I used to hate it when people would say "oh your Derek's sister" or they say it like this "You are related to Derek?" Like that is bad thing that he is related to me? Derek is a great successful guy and is always there for us, if we ask.  I definately could not ask for a better brother!

Now to the in-law siblings...well lets see..Derek's wife, Marta, used to be my college roommate.  We lived together for a few years and she came to my parents house with me for one of my birthdays, I introduced her to my brother, and BAM she was a Hultgren.  :-) I always knew they would get married someday because, well, Marta could change her own oil and if that kinda women wasn't perfect for Derek then I didn't know who would be :-)  Then there is my awesome brother in law Clay...I knew him before hand as well through some great friends...he came in a swept my sister off her feet and the rest is history.  He is a great guy and perfect for my sister...he makes her happy and keeps her laughing!

Last but definately not least is my amazing husband Pete. If you would have asked me in college, if I ever thought I would be married to Mr. Casarotto, I would have said no, we are just friends.  But God has a funny way of making sure you end up with the person he wants you with.  After college I moved away to another state.  After about 8 months at this other job, I was let go due to the company shutting down.  I was upset, mad, sad, everything.  I started looking for a job right away.  I interviewed back in Omaha and went out with some great friends and saw Pete...I told him that night at the bar that If I moved back to Omaha we would soooooo date.  Pete smiled and said "ok." (I think he thought I was nuts and not going to move back) SURPRISE! :) I moved back and we started dating...after a few months we realized this dating thing just was not for us and decided to be friends again.  About 2 months after that we ran into each other and before I could really say anything, Pete told me he missed talking to me each day, he missed looking into my eyes, he missed my smile...well I told him he had his chance and walked away.  The next day we decided to go on a date and have been falling in love over and over everyday since.  I guess the old saying is true "If you love something or someone set it free, if it was meant to be, they will come back" On June 5, I married my best friend and am Mrs. Casarotto. We are enjoying every minute of our lives together and enjoy falling in love with each other over and over again.

I thought a family photo would be a great finish for this blog:

Well first blog down and I am sure many to come!