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.