Two busy weeks

I can't believe August is already almost upon us! This month has just flown by, thanks in part to a busy trip back to Omaha last week. Kept busy driving around town with a few follow-up meetings with the cake and flower vendors and the Marriott wedding coordinator. We still have a lot of little things to finish up but the big picture is really starting to come together :) I also went in for a hair "test drive" last Monday and was really excited with how it turned out. And after almost going crazy with trying to figure out if my dress was going to get into Omaha before I left, my mom and grandma and I were able to go to the fitting the day before I left. Glad to have checked off a lot of things on my to do list!

But thankfully the week in NE/IA wasn't all about work. I was so glad to have the chance to have some down time with the Brockmeier girls, my future mother and sisters-in-law. We spent an evening with pedicures, dinner, desserts, and wine while chatting about marriage and life. It was a great time and I am very thankful to be marrying in to such a wonderful family :)

Last Saturday was quite the busy day as well. After spending some time in the pool with my niece Sophia we headed over to my aunt Julie's house for my bridal shower. It was quite the party with both of my sisters, the bridesmaids and their moms, all my aunts, and a good number of extended family members as well! I got a lot of really nice gifts that I'll probably have to share with the groom (mostly because he'll be the one doing all the cooking!) and it was great to see so many friends and family all together.

After the bridal shower my sisters and cousin and I drove to my friend/bridesmaid Kim's house for the bachelorette party. It was good to see so many of my old Omaha friends and catch up with them before the wedding. I got some nice (and some interesting...) gifts and then we headed to a bar in Midtown for some German beers. And needless to say after over 12 hours of being at one party or another I was pretty tired!!

Now that we're only 34 days away from the wedding, we're doing our final round of wedding planning/assignments but I think we'll be in good shape come Sept 1st. I finally feel like everything is coming together and Austin has been a great helper even though he's halfway across the world. And only 3 and a half weeks until he comes back home :D

Happy 5 year dating anniversary!

Today Austin and I are both thinking about the past 5 years of being together. What a truly special time filled with so many happy memories of being young and in love :) Mr. Brockmeier is such a sweetheart that he even had some gorgeous flowers sent to me at work this week. And after 5 years of being together, he's remembered enough about me and knows that lillies are my favorite!

While it's hard being apart this summer, we have so much to look forward to come the end of the summer and so many chances for new adventures and experiences for both of us.

Here's to the past 5 years and many more to come!

Fellow adventurers

...just happened to be on their adventures one year apart! And maybe also standing on the opposite side of the building (can't tell the angle very well).

Ginkaku-ji (silver pavilion) in Kyoto, July 2011

Ginkaku-ji (silver pavilion) in Kyoto, July 2012

I guess great minds think (and travel) alike after all :)

Self-empowerment Sunday

Notice anything different about my bike? Yes, it is upside down, but that's not it. It has a NEW tube in the front tire! OK so you can't really see the tube from the outside, but still...

I've had my bike for over two years and this was the first time I'd ever changed the tube. I was a bit intimidated to try it out and always got a little nervous on long bike rides thinking about what I would do if I got a flat. When my front tire started giving me problems this weekend, I decided to learn how to take off the tire and check things out for myself instead of taking it to the shop. Thankfully it worked! The valve on the old tube was just bent so I swapped the old tube out for a new one and it's working fine now. Oh the little joys in life when you accomplish a simple task for the first time :)

And no, Austin, I did NOT even get any grease on the carpets. Amazing, I know, with my tendency of becoming somewhat of a greasy mess whenever I do stuff with my bike. 

Time to enjoy the rest of my Sunday evening. Finished the gospel of John today and will start on Acts this week. Amidst my summer of self-empowerment I'm also trying to learn more about how God's power can act in us and how He can make us better than we could ever make ourselves. But this sort of empowerment will likely take more time to understand than a Sunday afternoon tinkering around in my apartment!