DRESS SHOPPING!

This past weekend some of my family and I went DRESS SHOPPING!!!!





And what fun we had!!!!!!!!!





This is something that I have dreamt about since a little girl so the antcipation was killing me to get started! I preped that week by working out hard and a little bit of tanning!!!!!


My mom, aunt Karen, and grammie went.

We had a great time!

It was very interesting because I went into the day thinking I knew exactly what I wanted but to my surpise I ended up loving something different.

We didnt find the one that day but I know the one for me is right around the corner! Sorry to say though once I do find "the one" I wont be able to post pictures because my Groom is a frequent visitor of this blog!!!

Next post: Will you be my flowergirl???

Wedding Update #1

I have been busy blogging this week, and I hope I can keep it up. I have decided that once a week I will do a wedding entry. I am thinking it could be anything from what I am working on that week, to my feelings of preparing for the event. ANohter great thing is that Joe has decided to guest write and give the groom's perspective. I am beyond EXCITED to see what he writes. Joe is extremly talented at writing so get ready for some great blogs. We have picked the date:

AUGUST 21st 2010

What the Bride has to say: Well. .. . First I must say that I have dreamed about my wedding since I was a little girl. I would beg my mom to buy me wedding magazines when I was 12 years old and she fed my obession well. One thing I have come to realize is that I want to cherish every minute of this process. I know that I must remember that when I become stressed about something to do with the wedding I must remember "why am I doing this all?" because I want to spend the rest of my life with Joe forever and ever. I promise my next wedding entry wont be so sappy but for all you gushy people out there enjoy!

What the Groom has to say: I may not have dreamed about my wedding since I was 12 but I have always wondered who I would spend the rest of my life with. I found everything I could want in a woman when I met Erin. The wedding process is an interesting one, you would think everything would fall in line for your perfect day but it takes some work. The only thing that really matters is that Erin and I are next to each other on August 21st, then everything will be ok. I look forward to the whole process, no matter how it goes and it looks like I may be updating everyone on things as well as my wife to be on this blog.

Thanksgiving

This year was my first year in Iowa!!! It was great to be with both the Zanoni and Haluska side. Joe and I started our Thanksgiving drive bright and early and made our first stop with the Zanoni's side. We got to meet Tammy's niece Baby Dylin who is cuter than a bug's ear!!!! After that we headed down the road to Pella, Iowa!!!!!

Once we arrived at the Howard House Joey and I were greeted with many hugs from the following:

Ellie and her blue eyes!!!!!

Here is a picture of the whole gang!!!!!

Thank you Haluska's and Zanoni's for a great THANKSGIVING!

The Birthday Boy

Joey turned the Big 26 on November 22nd and I wanted to make sure it wasnt a birthday he would forget!!!!!!!

We spendt the weekend in Des Moines and let me be the first to tell you. . . I ADORED DES MOINES. It has great shopping, resturants, night life and did I mention SHOPPING!!!

We started off his birthday weekend with a visit to Indianola to visit with his dad, step-mom and sister. We headed into the Jordan Creek area with everyone for a fabulous dinner at FISHBONE. If you like seafood this is the place for you. Saturday we headed to Jordan Creek Mall. WE started at a sports bar with a few drinks and the Iowa game. After the game Joey was gracious enough to be my Shopping partner. I tried to make it less painful for him with a trip to Shiel's and some birthday gifts.

After our shopping trip we headed got cleaned up and had another great meal at Johnny's Steakhouse!!!! After that it was to a Martini Bar.

Sunday morning we met Joey's Nana, Mom and Brother Mikey for wings at BW3 (Buffalo Wild Wings. It was great weekend and made us both look forward to more weekend trips to the Des Moines area.

Below are some picutes of the weekend! Enjoy!

JOEY ENJOYING A GLASS OF HIS BIRTHDAY WINE!

JOEY AND I AT JOHNNY'S

JOEY AND MIKEY READY FOR SOME WINGS!

THE WHOLE GANG AFTER SOME WINGS

NEXT POST: THANKSGIVING!

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well most of my readers have already heard the news but . . . . . . . . . .

I'm ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And even better to the best man in the world, my best friend, somebody that makes me laugh, a man that pushes me to strive for the best, and a man that I admire.

I am BLESSED

I thought to change it up I would answer some questions about Joey and our relationship and he is going to do the same.

Erin's Take:

How did you meet the groom? I meet Joe at his company Christams party. My mom works for the same company and ironically enough they knew each other. The first time I meet Joe I thought he seemed extremly personable, and had a great hand-shake. In all honestly though NO ONE could of told me this was the "ONE"

What was your first date like? Joe asked me to go to Church and dinner with him. I knew right from the beginning that his faith was important to him and it would be important any the relationship as well. Afterwards at dinner the conversation took right off and it came to an end way to fast.

What is your first funny memory with the groom? Adter a couple of dates I was getting out of his car one night and feel down. In my defense, his was parked on a hill and I had heels on but I swore after he said good-bye that he would not want date Ms. Clumsy

When did you know they were the one? I think there were so many things that all came togehter for me to know he was the one. When I saw Joe's love and passion for his family, when he showed me unconditional love, when I watched him with my family and friends, and how he let me trust him and never regret it.

What are you looking forward most to about the BIG DAY? This is going to be really hard to sum up but I really think the moment after we kiss on the alter and we turn to see all our family and friends rejoice on such a special moment between Joe and I.

Joe's Take:

How did you meet the bride? Her Mom introduced us at my company's Christmas party.

What was your first date like? I picked her up for Sunday evening mass and then we watched a bought candy from Casey's and watched a movie together

What is your first funny memory with the bride? After a date, I dropped her off at her apartment and getting out of my car, she tripped and caught herself on my car. My first thought was, i hope her jewelry didn't scratch my car.

When did you know the bride was the "one" for you? Once she met my family, she joined in like she had been there for years. Once i saw that, i knew i didn't need to look any longer.

What are you looking forward most to about the BIG DAY? I am looking forward to getting all of our friends and family together and celebrating with everyone. Our friends and family are important to us both, so it will be great joining both families and having one hell of a party. Hope to see everyone there.

I SWEAR WE DID NOT TALK OR LOOK AT OUR ANSWERS WHEN WRITING THIS

Hope everyone enjoyed getting to know us a little better

Next Blog topic: JOE"S BIRTHDAY

My Idea Book

For some time now I have been aspiring to become more of a DIYer and crafter!!!! Although I haven't been up to this long I started a book to chronicle different projects that I want to tackle, yummy recipes, centerpieces, "how-to's," pictures that inspire etc. I call it "MY IDEA BOOK" I keep it in a three ring binder and typically every couple of weeks when I have time to go through my stack of magazines I sit down with a diet coke, scissors and start clipping!!!!! Once I pull the articles I start organizing into different categories such as: decor, recipes, how-to's,. Once I have them organized i file them into plastic liners and separate into the appropriate category.Since I have started this I have really gotten into it. It has also helped when I stumble upon the felling of "what next????" I thought I would include some basic pictures of mine and the magazines that contain a wealth of info!!! ENJOY!!!!!

My IDEA BOOK!!!!!!!

These are some of the magazines that I get alot of the articles I use from!!!!!

These were some of the articles I pulled today a great fall pic, a black and white themed halloween, white wine sampler, and yummy Fall recipes!

All filed away until next time!!!!

Rain Rain Rain

The past couple of days in Davenport have been filled with clouds, drizzling, and rain. It is interesting to me how rain can make people feel differently some people feel sad, other people like to have lazy days in bed watching bad television. My dream day of rainy weather be sitting on a porch swing with a book and a diet coke! It has become very apparent to me that summer is over and that fall is approaching fast. Although I cherish hot summer days and I am actually looking forward to fall. Already the weekends are filling up with different activities like football games, going to the apple orchard, fall parades, raking leaves, and planting bulbs for next spring. Another reason I love fall is because it closer to CHRISTMAS which is one of my favorite holidays because of FAMILY!!!! I will save the Christmas talk for another blog though! I wanted to attach some pictures that have been inspiring the Fall spirit within me!!! I would love to hear what other people are looking forward to or have planned for this fall season!!!