Wedding Shower and Sunday's Adventures at the house

Last Friday my big sister Melinda threw my open house bridal shower. I had to work all day so I had texted her eariler to see if she needed help with anything. Of course she told me no. But around noon I got a call from my mom asking me to pick up some ingredients to make the punch drink. I got off work around two and called to make sure I still needed to stop at the store on my way home, so I got home close to three. By then I was tired and starving.

Melinda was already at the house, frosting the different kinds of cupcakes she'd baked for the shower. We got caught up on a few things while I made myself some lunch and then helped her out by doing the dishes, helping to set the table, and then bringing things in the house when Grandma and Grandpa Condie arrived. They had my present for me, which was the same thing she made for Alex and Maggie. I'm not sure what you call it...and I'm having a brain freeze day because I can't seem to understand a word people are saying to me today. In one ear and out the other I suppose. It happens every once in a while...at least once a week. Usually people don't notice because I just smile and nod at everything they say while not taking anything in. Usually my eyes go blank as my mind wanders and that can give me away, but that doesn't happen very often. Usually I am a very good listener. :)

Anyway Grandma, Grandpa, Melinda, Mike, and I had picked out pictures that we liked and Grandma had Grandpa put them in small individual slots on a picture screen type thingy for display at the shower and reception center. Sorry if that isn't right but like I said I don't know what it's called. I didn't know which pictures Melinda had selected so when Grandma asked me if I liked them I admitted that I hadn't had a chance to get a good look at them yet. So she told me to go look at all the pictures, and it was probably a good thing I did. In one of the little photo spots there is a paper that says Candace and Mike and then our wedding date below it. When I read that I blinked and read it again, but I was not mistaken. It said 27 November 2007. According to that little piece of paper we are already married and have been for almost two years. I told Grandma so she made me go make a new one with the right date. I had a hard time trying to find the same shade of blue she picked - and of course she didn't remember so I was going through blue after blue trying to find a shade I liked. Then when I printed it out it didn't look big enough and I didn't like the shade of blue that much so I had to search for a different shade of blue while making the font bigger so you could see it better. It was one of the things Grandma told me to do since I was fixing it anyway.

It didn't take me long and we hung out in the kitchen and talked for a bit, but not long after that Brent came with dinner for Melinda and Mom. Grandma said Grandpa was bringing her dinner in a few minutes so she was waiting for him.

The first guest arrived for the shower was Sue Olsen. She got there about quarter after five and we all chatted with her. She ignored the "Give Candace Advice" table because she said she doesn't give advice. A few minutes after that my friend Melissa Moyer arrived. She and I talked and got caught up with each other. She asked where the party was and I said besides Sue and the family that was it so far. She thought that was funny. She grabbed a cupcake and we went and sat down in the living room, still talking. I was so caught up with Melissa that I didn't notice when a lot of other people arrived. It seemed like one minute it was just the two of us, then Sue Hardy arrived and she had to explain her gift to me, especially her 'house wife' scrub brush. I put that by the sink in our kitchen and told Mike that that was what I was going to look like in a year's time after being a house wife. He thought that was funny. I took her out of the flower dress packaging though, so now she's naked next to the sink. Mike thinks that's funny too. Not that she's naked, because it doesn't show anything, but because I said she's naked.

Rose showed up a little after six, and I think she wanted a little break from the baby because she stayed later than any of the other guests. Missy Mauch came as well and it was good to see her. And I got to see the trio from the old ward Susan, Tammy, and Lisa. It was really nice seeing them there. None of them have changed much and that is something I'm really happy about. I've always loved them just the way they are. Gae showed up not long after they did but couldn't stay because she and Blake had something else they had to go to. But it was wonderful just seeing her there as well. Susan went out to the car for her camera before I got to the Victoria's Secret bag that I knew held the gift from my sister. I was hoping for a smaller crowd when I opened that one. Of course, when I did my face went bright red when the first thing I lifted out of the bag was a pair of royal purple lacy underwear. I dropped that quickly back into the bag and lifted out the top but not before everyone laughed at my embarrassment. Rose was still there after everyone else left and she and I talked for a bit, she said my face was so funny. I don't think she has ever seen me embarrassed like that before and she couldn't believe how fast my face went red.

I got a lot of really cute things from the shower. I love the dinosaur cupcake pans Rose gave me, the apron from Trisha (and I don't even like pink that much), the cookie cutters from Tammy (Mike likes those too, we are hoping to do holiday sugar cookies when we have kids - and for Mike. And they will be great for homemade play dough, something to keep Mike busy while I'm cooking dinner :) ) I loved the storage jars from Missy they are perfect, I loved the cook books I got, I can't pick a favorite because I love the book itself that Arla gave me but I love the fun creative ideas, especially in the kid's section that Missy gave me. I'm excited to try some myself. I loved the gifts from Melinda and Grandma and Grandpa Condie of course they were both perfect, even if I was little embarrassed by the lacy underwear. I loved the house wife scrub brush, I plan on using it to be my role model of how a house wife should look after being only a house wife for a year. Mike still thinks that's funny. And of course all the food storage and pans, muffin tins, and cookie sheets are all perfect. I was so grateful for everything I got. I know I'll be able to easily use all the cooking utensils/cutlery items I got with as much as I cook and now our walk in pantry doesn't look so empty thanks to all the baking goods that people gave me. It actually looks like we have food in our pantry I am so excited! I'm going to have to take pictures of the house and post them on here some time.

So Saturday, having the day off, I spent most of the day working on thank you cards and packing up my goodies from the shower so I could take them down to the house. That was until dad and I got in a fight. So in desperation I went to my room, but was only there about ten minutes when Mike arrived. I bounded into his arms and told him I couldn't stay at home, so we drove out to the house. We didn't bother loading the packed boxes, rather saving them for the next day. I just grabbed my computer and we left. We both fell asleep watching Jaws at the house and then we decided to go to his parent's condo to watch a couple of other movies. We selected The Horse Whisperer and Hoodwinked. We only watched The Horse Whisperer though. Mike had no idea that it was so long and it was after 11:00pm by the time we finished it. I figured it was late enough to go home so Mike dropped me off right around midnight. I told my mother good-night and curled up in the bed with Jack. He snored all night so it kept me awake. I tried watching a scary movie, but Jack Nicholson was in it and with the way his eybrows are curled and his eyes are always slightly narrowed it gave me the creeps. So I rolled over and fell asleep with the movie still playing.

After church on Sunday I quickly heated up a roast, baked potatoes, and rolls for lunch and Mike and I waited to hear from Victoria since she wanted to go to the house with us that afternoon. She called me a little after five and said she'd be ready by five-thirty. So Mike and I loaded up the boxes in both of our cars and he said he'd meet us up there. I loaded Jack in the back seat and we went and picked up Victoria. We got there a little after six and we worked on unpacking everything from the shower and setting up the kitchen. Mike and Victoria just talked and let me set up the kitchen and pantry as I wanted. I think they were afraid to help in case they put something where I didn't want it. Victoria told me that I changed things around in the cupboards three times. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out where I want things. Who knew that setting up a kitchen could be so frustrating?

The house was getting really cold because Melvin hasn't been in to install the new furnace yet, so the four of us went upstairs to watch some Supernatural cuddled up underneath my Supernatural blankets. Jack sprawled out on my lap and he is very heavy. He was trying to be as close to me as possible all evening. Even when I was running back and forth between the items on the counter and the pantry he followed me like his nose was glued to my pants. After one episode of Supernatural however, I was tired enough to call it a night, and so was Mike. So we loaded Jack back up into the car, I kissed Mike good bye and Victoria and I started for home.

I dropped her off at game night since it was still fairly early and Jack and I went upstairs in the empty quiet house. Dad had gone to work and mom was spending the night at a friend's house so I had the house to myself. I decided to finish the scary movie. I didn't make it. I fell asleep just after one-thirty. But when I woke up at five the next morning I finished it. It wasn't even that scary. I was rolling my eyes and shaking my head most of the morning. So disappointing. Guess next time I'll have to find something scarier. Guess I should have known. Stephen King's books are so boring it is no wonder that his movies are the same. I don't see why they scare so many people? Of course Dean Koontz books aren't much better. My friend promised me a good scare with this book - and I was so bored the whole time. There is no way I'd read another one. I've seen scarier things than those books on Supernatural, and Supernatural isn't even scary! I don't know...maybe because I was always terrified of everything when I was younger I've just come to face my fears and I know the difference between reality and fantasy.

I mean the big bad wolf used to scare the daylights out of me - and now wolves are one of my favorite animals! I faced my childhood fears and I learned all about them, even did a report on them for my wildlife biology project in high school. I think people would be less afraid if they just faced what scared them. I know I did, now I'm hard to scare. I get creeped out just like everyone, but there's a monster outside the bathroom door at night that's just waiting for me to open the door so it can grab me...those days are long gone. Now I can go watch a movie like My Bloody Valentine or Friday the 13th and come home to an empty house after dark and be totally ok to be alone. I've got friends who are older than me who went and slept with their parents because they were so scared. Kind of makes me laugh that those kind of things don't bother me anymore.

This Thursday's adventure at the big house

Well, it wasn't an 'adventure' adventure, but it was pretty funny. As usual Victoria had Thursday off, so after work I came home to pick up Jack and Victoria as well as a few things to take over to make dinner with. When we got there Mike wasn't there so I let us in and started to fry up the stew meat. Victoria busied herself with putting the DVD's back that she had borrowed and browsing in my library while drooling over my Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles signed photos in the library. Jack kept me company in the kitchen, licking his lips and sneaking closer and closer to the oven. I was expecting Mom to come and see the house for the first time as well, so I was trying to tidy up a little bit while keeping Jack away from the garbage can since I had thrown the container that had held the meat in there. He was curious about the fresh blood smell.

When the meat had browned all the way through I put it in the crock pot to simmer while I cleaned up bits of spattered grease from the stove top and then chatted with Victoria about Alan because she thinks he is cute. Mike came over right before I put the meat in the crock pot, and it was then that I discovered I had forgotten to get sour cream. So we all got into Mike's car. Victoria started to open her door and I pushed it closed again so Mike could do what he feels is polite and open the door for her. She isn't used to being treated like a lady because all the guys she knows are jerks and don't treat her well. So she keeps forgetting to let Mike open and close the doors for her.

We ran down to Smiths and got some sour cream and I quickly put it into the pot on our return home. We let Jack out of the library, where he bounded down the stairs happily, easily forgiving us for shutting him up in there to keep him out of trouble while we were gone. We went to the living room on the second floor and discussed which movies we are going to do for our scary movie night on Halloween. Victoria is bringing The Ring 2, then we are going to do Cry Wolf, Boogey Man 2 & 3, and if we have time The Village. But I'm sure we will be tired by the time we finish the first four.

Not too long after that Mom arrived, Jack barked furiously at the door and when I went to open it I saw why. She had Mike with her. I had not seen Mike since January when we went and saw My Bloody Valentine in 3D together. He said he was replaced by a younger Mike - but I told Mom to keep Mike on call just in case I need a back up. :) They got a kick out of that.

We gave them the grand tour of the house, walking them through each level, teasing Mike (not my Mike) about his height as he is taller than the rest and can't always go as far in as we could...at least not without ducking his head.

After they left I served dinner and we ate the beef stroganoff and potatoes. Jack licked his chops hungrily so I quickly grilled him up a chicken breast and he gobbled it up. It is better than him licking the floor. He also ate a giant fly for dessert. He found another one upstairs. :) It didn't take him as many tries to get this one down as it did the one on Sunday.

We went to the library after that with a flashlight, turned off all the lights and read scary stories. But it didn't scare any of us. I was falling asleep on Mike's lap when Victoria relieved herself. She blushed an apologized. Mike started to laugh and me, being only half conscious, could feel the laughter bubbling in my stomach. When she apologized again and when Mike asked for what and she again relieved herself it brought me closer to consciousness and Mike and I both broke into a fit of laughter. Victoria was rolling on the floor and we all laughed about it. The scary stories mood was broken, so we ended the reading session.

We decided to call it an early night because there was no new Supernatural episode this week (stupid CW already putting reruns on) so we packed up Jack, what was left of dinner and we went home. I still laughed to myself about the library incidentj, and Victoria and I giggled about it half way home. Man...the things we release around friends. :)

Maybe there is some truth to the song?

Maybe there is some truth to the song "The Cat Came Back"? I always thought the song was kind of crazy, but fun to sing - the cat dies a million different ways and always manages to come back. But hey, maybe the person writing the song knew from experience that sometimes the thing you are trying to get rid of has a habit of popping up again.

When Jack and I got down to the house today, Mike was already there - and he had news for us. Fred had shown up again this morning. Yep, Fred. That silly little bird who likes to bang his head on the windows to try and escape our house. Mike had managed to chase him out before we got there and finally boarded up the window that Fred keeps getting in through. Hopefully Fred will be smart next time and won't return. As nice as it is to see an old friend, even a silly one like Fred, he belongs outside in the wild.

The most exciting thing that happened besides Fred's return today was that Mike and I managed to get our DVD shelf put together! Yay! We had run into a snag when we had picked it up from Wal-Mart over a week ago. There were no holes for the pegs in one side so we went and bought a drill gun today and made our own holes. They worked and now our DVD's are a bit more organized. Or they were. I had had them all done until Mike surprised me with some DVD's he found in the garage. Now I've got more work to do on Thursday. Guess its a part of life though - just when you thought you finished something, something happens and you have to do it all over again.

Adventures at the house

Well these past few weeks have been interesting. Very trying at times, especially with some people that have really been pushing my buttons. It is has been really frustrating but I usually end up biting my tongue and counting to ten - then, when that doesn't work I recite Metallica lyrics in my head and count the beats to their songs and that helps calm me down.

Mike and I have been busy moving my stuff down to the big house downtown where we will be living until we move to Florida in June. Yes Florida. It's offical now. Mike is going to work on saving up enough money so we can afford to move down there, but Disney has already said they'll take him back so we will be moving down there so he can finish school. It'll be a change - but hey, no more snow! I can live with that. :)

This past week we've had a couple of adventures up at the house. Thursday for instance, my friend Victoria wanted to go up and see our house again, so after work I stopped and picked her up, grabbed a few things from the house and we headed up. When we got there I was a little surprised that Mike wasn't there yet, so I gave him a call. He said he'd be there in a few minutes and that the basement door was open. Not that it matters because I have a house key. So I went in through the basement and started up the stairs, hesitating a little when I heard something banging upstairs. I am still getting used to the noises of the house so I shrugged it off and let Victoria in.

The kitchen is just inside the main doors on the main level and I usually leave my bag there. So imagine my surprise when I walked into the kitchen and something smacked hard against one of the windows. It was a bird! It had flown in through an open window upstairs and was trying desperately to get out. Victoria and I tried to shoo it towards the back door but the poor thing was too scared to think straight and kept smacking into the windows, finally flying into the parlor and living room, trying different windows. I had an idea on how to get it out, so I opened the front door, closed the kitchen doors, the parlor door, the living room door and any other door I could in a chance that I could chase it to the front door, but it could still go upstairs so I was doubtful. At that point Mike came in, in a very bad mood, and I told him we had a new pet. When he simply looked puzzled I pointed to the bird hitting the far parlor window. Mike frowned and walked back into the kitchen to grab the broom to try and shoo the bird towards the front door. I told him we named the bird "Fred". He said Fred wasn't the first bird to come in the house, and I'm sure Fred won't be the last. Once we chased Fred from the parlor he saw the open front door and made a break for it. Fred flew away and was very happy to be free. Hopefully Fred won't be back.

Today Jack and I went down to the house, hoping to finish cleaning the kitchen. Mike said to just head down whenever, so after quickly getting ready and prepping lunch, but not cooking it, Jack and I piled into the car and headed down for the house. Mike was still in church so while Jack napped on the kitchen floor I bustled about grilling two chicken breasts for the homemade chicken pot pie. When Mike arrived I was just putting it into the oven. Mike was in a very good mood after church today so we talked while we finished cleaning what was left to clean in the kitchen then sat down and waited for the pie to finish. After lunch we went upstairs to watch a movie, cuddled underneath two of my Supernatural blankets. Mike brought all the cushions from the loveseat downstairs into our small living room on the second floor so we had some extra comfort. The room was chilly, so Jack snuggled up next to me under the blanket and Mike curled around my other side, I was sandwiched quite comfortably between them. I never finished the movie, and Mike didn't either. All three of us took a nap curled up together. We woke up a couple hours later and I was disgusted to see a large fly had flown into the room and was sitting on the carpet not far from me. I told Jack to go eat the fly, not thinking he'd do it. But once he actually understood what I wanted he pounced on the very large fly, licked it up, spit it out, pounced on it again, licked it up, spit it out, pounced on it a third time, licked it up and it was gone. I couldn't stop laughing while Mike was trying hard to hide the disgust on his face. He didn't do a good job but I was laughing too hard to pay much attention. Jack looked pretty pleased with himself and came over and sat on my lap. He is such a mama's boy.

The house is starting to feel more like home now. All my books and movies are down there. Mike and I decided that the library will be my study, so I have set it up as such. And thanks to some organization it actually looks like it has some stuff in it while still looking neat. Victoria was drooling over my signed Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles photos on Thursday. I took my first bouquet of roses from bridal pictures out this week and now that I know that Mike and I are going to be doing the beluga whale tour again on our honeymoon I pulled out my Arctic tour experience frame and will put a picture of us in it when we get back.

Mike and I hung out in the library after a quick game of cards this afternoon. We read scary stories from one of my books and then had fun giggling at some poetry books I enjoyed when I was little. After that Mike wanted to read some more so I selected Wait Until Helen Comes from my large selection of books and I read the first chapter to him. We decided to make reading with each other a habit, something fun and relaxing that we can both enjoy. I read the first chapter to him, but then we decided to call it a night. He has one assignment he has to turn in today so he wanted to go get that done.

Hopefully we will get more done this week, but that could be doubtful. What with his school and me working full time and then the bridal shower this week...I can't believe it is here already. Time has been flying so fast...I'm going to be married before I know it.