Life. It'll Get Ya.

.  Yep, it will.  Right when things are going along as planned, life throws it's little twists and turns your way.  But that always seems to happen, huh?  Right when you least expect it...

Think about that one for a little while.

And while you do, you can read about what's been going on in my life as of late.  Nothing too exciting, actually, but just things I'd like to recap.  Because this is my blog, so I can ☺

Let's see...we're going to have to go back a couple of weeks to Labor Day weekend.  Okay, more like a month but who's counting?

For the long weekend, I ventured on up to Minnesota to visit with my fam that I don't get to see enough.  We didn't really have any plans but to do some shopping, relax, catch up with each other, and of course, hit up the best place on Earth: the State Fair.  

I'm fairly certain I've mentioned my childhood memories of the state fair before.  For whatever reason [I think my dad may plan it this way] we've always lived in states that have huuuuuuuuge State Fairs [i.e., Washington State and Minnesota], so they've always been a big event for me.  While I was in college, I wasn't ever able to get back home for the Great Minnesota Get-Together because of softball, but since graduation I've taken full advantage of my freedom.    

So what is it that you do at the fair all day, you ask?  Well...you eat.  And eat.  And you don't give a darn about the amount of calories you're eating.  Not sure if you've heard, but calories don't exist at fairs.  It's great.

Anywho, the absolute best thing we ate had to be the Deep Fried Mashed Potato Balls.  Okay, sounds heart-stopping but ugh, they were good.  It was the one item we all went gaga over and definitely could have had a second round of those suckers.  It was basically a fried ball of the most rich, buttery mashed potatoes possible with little chunks of bacon and ham.  And I'm not even a bacon fan, so these must have been as good as I'm saying!

I could recap all of the other items we indulged in [e.g., deep fried pickles, foot long hot dog, elephant ear] but you'd probably get a little grossed out.  And I don't want to do that to ya...

But all in all, my parents and I had an absolutely wonderful time filled with laughter and full tummies.  I seriously can't get enough of those two sometimes.  Can't wait for next year!!

Two weekends later, I flew back to Omaha to co-host Hollyann's bridal shower.  I had planned her bridal shower long before I ever had an inkling I'd be moving to Chicago, but thankfully her good friend, Angela, offered to host the shower at her house since I no longer had a place in town.  

The tropical- themed shower turned out wonderfully [and I hope her friends and relatives had a lovely time], but I'll be honest: the preparation part was a little hectic.  I flew in late Friday night and managed to whip up a couple of dips and the cake part of the Hummingbird Cupcakes [Hollyann's favorite].  Then early Saturday morning I made the rounds to Costco to get the rest of the food, Party City for decorations, plates, silverware, and glasses, and then traveled back to Angela's to drop everything off before I headed back home to finish the cupcakes, chop some fruit for the Ham and Pineapple Sliders, and get myself semi-presentable [which didn't quite happen].

Fortunately, Angela did a beautiful job of setting up most everything before I made it back to her house and just in time for the guests to begin arriving.  By that time, everything seemed to settle down a bit and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  We had some wonderful food, a fun bridal shower game, and of course presents galore for the bride.  It was an absolute whirlwind of a weekend but worth every minor stress to see Hollyann positively glowing and really in her element with all of her closest relatives and friends.  

Just this last week, Hollyann and her fiance, Brandon, were in Curacao where they had a private wedding ceremony and spent the next week 10 days in wedded bliss on the stunning shores of the Caribbean island.  Jealous much?!

Most recently, two weekends ago to be exact, I had the pleasure of getting together with my absolute favorite people in this world: my family.  My aunt and her family live in Naperville, IL, which is about 40-some odd minutes outside of Chicago.  My younger cousin, Larissa, had her homecoming dance this last weekend I was invited out to help her get ready.  Granted, I did absolutely nothing but watch my [not so young anymore] cousin get ready and curled a few strands of her hair in the back of her head that she couldn't quite reach.  But other than that, I was useless.  However, it was such a joy just being a part of her special day.

Unfortunately, I haven't been a part of Riss' life as much as I would like simply because of distance.  So now that I'm a stone's throw away, I fully intend of visiting her and her family more often.  Gotta take advantage of this while I can.  Sorry Aunt Sandy if I invite myself over for dinner  ten too many times ☺

But damn...did I feel old!  My aunt and I took Riss to her pictures before the dance, which included a huge group of high school seniors and a few kids Riss' age, and it hit me like a ton of bricks how far removed I am from high school.  Not in a bad way...but I basically felt like wrinkles is the next thing I have to look forward to.

And the dresses?  Were they for real?!  Fancy schmancy!  Blinged out to the nines.  I remember being like that for Prom!  But then again, our homecoming consisted of tie-dye, football, and a hoppin' dance after we lost.  So I guess that's not much comparison.

But Riss looked ever so beautiful and had a darling date to accompany her.  From what I gathered, she had a wonderful time and I felt so blessed to be able to take one hundred too many pictures of her.  Thanks, Chi-town!

Okay, that's enough for one post.  This last weekend marked the beginning of a jam packed month, so you can bet I'll be posting more life updates.  Yay for you guys!  Just kidding.

I hope you all have a lovely Monday though.  Happy Fall!  .