Call It An After-Christmas Miracle

Still working on the list of resolutions - procrastination what?

So in the meantime, here is my most current display of blatant narcissism (aside from the obvious blog that's all about me)...

A photo essay of....

Myself.

Of course it is.

These photos were taken from a 5k the day before my wedding (can you tell?) called the Lung Run. The run was to benefit lung cancer research, and since my dad died from it, I figured it was a nice way to have my dad present that weekend.

The visor was a gift from one of my favorite gals, Spie.

So enjoy me.

You're welcome.



What?!?! How did this little smooshie make it in here?! Okay, he can stay. Don't you just want to eat his face off? Yum.

Me and the Devs. Otherwise known as, "Boobs and Not."
MIL, Ellie, Smooshie, Devs, Me, Adrienne, new niece Kennedy, new aunt-in-law.



Must.Burn.Calories.For.Hawaii.Bikini.



Adrienne running me in....

"Haaaay bitches!"

Sweaty bride-to-be.

Obligatory sweaty armpit shot. Goodness, you'd think I ran 20 miles, not 3.1

Happy me.

Me and Ellie and Smooshie.

Gals.

Kennedy getting her nails done afterwards.

And that's it for now. Hopefully that Resolution post will be forthcoming....at some point...soon...in the future....

Foto Friday

Glorious Friday!

Five days ago, your arrival seemed near impossible.

But alas, through my perserverence, you are finally here!!

And because I try to be a woman of my word, I am again attempting a Foto Friday, an idea stolen like a college freshman's virginity during football season from Fool.

Top spot goes to baby brother Nolan and his wife, as I make my way down to Tennessee tomorrow for the baby shower!!


Sure is weird to see the little kid that once refused to wipe his butt after taking poop because he claimed that "the shower takes care of it," now prepping to be a dad to a baby boy himself. Circle of life, my friends.


And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't give a shout out to all those racing IMAZ this weekend? Of course, this race holds a special place in my heart, and it's always nice to flashback to that unforgettable weekend in Arizona last April 2008:





















Ah, it never gets old, or at least to me.

You, on the other hand, likely have one finger hovering on the mouse, ready to right-click outta here if this post doesn't get more entertaining.

Foreshadowing: It doesn't.

So this might be the best time to wrap it up, wish the racers best of luck - A, I'm looking at you - and say YAY! to the spectators, some of who have traveled long ways to get there!

Enjoy your weekend!

Everything I Have To Say....

...is usually reserved for Facebook these days.

Hence, the dust bunnies on El Bloggo.

But since many of my recent communications with my family follow along the lines of, "Dude, are you dead, or did you just forget you have a blog?" I decided maybe it's time to check into my little space in the blogosphere.

So what follows is a mash up of some recent (okay, maybe kinda old) pictures that I have frankly been too spankin' lazy to post.

Welcome to Hawaii.
End of our first day. I seem to be contemplating either:

a. How small we humans are when compared to the massive world and ocean.

b. How lucky I am to be married to my man.

c. How on earth I plan to organize all those grill pans, fry pans, tupperware, dishes, flatware, and vases we received in out tiny apartment.

d. How to get my bowels to open up after a 9-hour flight.

Malasados. Known to us mortals as a big donut-like puff covered in sugar and served hotly fried. As my husband says, "They're stick-your-dick-in-it-good." I apparently preferred to just give myself a facial with them instead.
Guess the stress of leisure reading was simply too much for my mind to handle. Thus, I must rest. And tan.
Hands off ladies. He's a married man.
Mr. Merman.
"How come I can't see any fish? What? Oh, my face has to go IN the water."
Me in my Donna Reed/Mad Men 60s-style dress at dinner.

Oh, and my husband was there, too.
I had to burn off my two plates of luau pork somehow, and what better way of doing it than dancing on stage in front of hundreds of people we don't know, and having the moment captured by forcing the strange, old British man who has the misfortune of being seated next to me during a buffet take our picture.
As any bride will tell you, I didn't eat and barely had a drink for the entire duration of the wedding. So when it came cake time, you know I knocked over the flower girl and lept over tables to get to my slice - white cake with THICK layers of fudge and Bailey's Irish Cream, then smothered in buttercream.

I know, right?!?!

I'll pause while you go take an insulin shot.

(Pause)

So imagine my horror when I stood to talk to Cheese's sister and friend for a split second (for a conversation the revolved soley around the shape and quantity of my boobies/cleavage), and my cake was stripped out from underneath my nose. Needless to say, this Cake Whore complained about all the way until we got home from the honeymoon the following Monday.

But leave it to my honey to welcome me home from work on Tuesday with a mini-wedding cake, and a card that read, "Every bride should have her cake and eat it too."

From Cake Binge to Fitness - About two weeks later, I went on the Pumpkin Ride with my sister Devin and friend Mark. Look closely and you can see the remenents of the Second Wedding Cake stuck right there to my hips. Yeah, right...over...there.... Sure was nice of Devin to help me hide the plump with her bike.

Sweet girl.
So I repaid her by laughing and taking pictures when she fell off her bike.

Heck, I'm laughing even now as I look at this.

But she recovered well, yes?
Sweet reward.
No post is complete without some shout-out to my littlest nephew, Aiden.

It's okay to admit you just want to eat up his face.
Even when he gets caught red-handed making poopies.
And if her hair wasn't enough to give myself whiplash with my eye-rolling, we now have Ms. Suri in her heels.

Yeah, because that's what make sense in this world.

A 3-year-old in heels.

Nuthin' weird about that at aaaaaaall......

"I Never Saw Two People Enjoy Their Wedding As Much As You Two"

So says my mother.

And I tend to believe her, mostly because from the second I turned the corner out of the hallway to walk down the aisle, I was in wedding bliss.

I carefully reminded myself all the tips of the days that were imparted to me by all of you:

"Take it all in."

"Go slow."

"Remember EVERYTHING."

"It goes so fast so enjoy."

And I did. All of it.

I remember just about every last detail - and the tiny group was just right to make sure I got a chance to talk to everyone, and still spend most of the night (and quite literally every song) on the dance floor.

In fact, my dress is ruined at the bottom from all the dancing.

So here are a few of the moments:


The cake, complete with the silver ribbon to match my dress. However, I have no idea who put those rose pedals around it.

Not my call.

But quick story - Cheese and I actually were thoughtful about putting together this cake - I mean, we all know how important cake is in my life, so I wasn't just going to show up with some Betty Crocker nonsense (well, to be honest, given our budget, I might have, but the fancy cake actually came with our food/drink package, so we took full advantage!) So we chose moist white cake with three layers of thick fudge and Baileys Irish Cream filling, topped with buttercream frosting -yeah, 'cause that's how I roll - if your not in a sugar coma, it doesn't count. But I never got to eat it. Remember that story - I'll finish it in the next post.....

The table - I post this for a few reasons - this first is that my sister (again) did all the centerpieces, and I loved them. So simple, so perfect. The little bags with the "d" on them are actually homeade chocolate chip cookies made by my mom, while those red labels are embossed by my sister Devin. She did ALL of them. The lower case "d" represents my new last name, and was also the same lower case font we did our invites in. I liked the casualness of it. My mom then decorated the rest of the table with the grey runners and the floor-length linens.

Cheese's nephew - but the reason I put this in is this: Look at what he's holding. It's a chinese take-out box filled with Swedish Fish, Mike n Ikes, Tootsie Rolls, Peanut MnMs, Red Vines and Reeces Pieces. If he turned it, you would see a similar red round label also embossed with lower case letters that read "thank you." Heck yeah - No wedding of mine was going to be without a self-serve candy bar!! And thanks again to Devin for the labels she put on literally 100 boxes.

Ellie giving a speech. I believe it went something like this: "Now, I know many of you don't know Megan all that well, but in addition to being kind and beautiful and smart, you should also know that when she gets raging drunk, she pees in closets and on floors."

*Insert crowd roaring here*



And then up was Devin. My favorite quote from her speech? "Cheese, I intially wanted to use my speech to call you an asshole for stealing my best friend, but I see how happy you made her, more happy than we have seen her in so very long."



Is that a tear I see? Did Devin actually *gasp!* cry?!? Dang, makes my stone cold heart all warm and fuzzy.

Mom, in the two seconds of her speech she wasn't sobbing.

The best man and speech.

Just chatting.

I *heart* this picture.

And now, for the first dance...

"Today is the day I make you mine" - Today, by Josh Radin

"You looked right through me, there was...no one else

I sat besides you and...became myself."

Cheese and Momma Cheese

And lest we forget my dance with my mom - "You'll Never Find Another Love" by Lou Rawls,which she used to dance around to while holding me right after I was born. Momma Q spun me around for four minutes while my dress hung on for dear life. Yeah, these are the G-rated pictures.

Me and Nolan

Flower Girl Kennedy and her dad- sweetness!

Momma Q

"I got a feelin'....that tonight's gonna be a good night...."

"Here we go, here we, now we on top!"

Daddy Cheese

"Apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur, the whole club was lookin' at her

She hit the floor!

Next thing you know -

Shorty got low, low, low, low..."

"I like the way you move - da da duh."

Devin and Patrick!

"Let the music play

He won't get away..."
"Just hit the groove and he'll come back to you....Let it play!"

Nicole, fellow blogger and probably the best dancer of the night - showed my ass up, for sure!

Nolan and Jenny

"Footloose! Cut loose! Kick up the Sunday shoes!" And then Colin dropped to the floor and did the catapiller. Hell yeah, he did.

Footloose wore him out.

Oh, looks like someone's crashing from the sugar binge of the cake, pastry table, cookies, and finally four trips to the candy bar!

"Rock me momma like a wagon wheel, rock me momma any way you feel"

"Oh oh! We're livin' on a prayer!

Take my hand and we'll make it I swear!"

"Pour some sugar on me!"

Check Jenny out!

Me and Nicole at the Dollar Dance - oh yeah. Have I mentioned this?

Apparently, anyone NOT from Chicago likes to participate in this thing called the Dollar Dance, where the maid of honor and best man collect money from people who want to dance with the bride and groom - it can be any amount of money. The point is to make extra money for the honeymoon - and I guess its all the rage in Kansas. I dreaded this, but we actaully made out with mad loot.

Who knew I am sort of a hot commodity when it comes to dancing?

Now I can't say for sure how much Nicole paid for a little "Megan Action," but I am p.r.e.t.t.y sure I made it worth her while *wink*

Lady: "You come here often?"

Kade: "No, my mom wants me home and in bed by 8."

Lady:"Well, can I buy you a drink?"

Kade: "Sure, I'll take a milk, straight up. You know what? Make it a double - I brought my cookies over from the dinner table."

Lady: "Your mom every talk to you about cougars?"

Kade: "Like the ones in the zoo? Oh yeah. She said to stay away because they'll bite me really good."

Lady:"Your mom, huh?"

KAde: "Yeah - she looks sort of like you. Do you know her?"

Love.

Is the night already over?!?!?! They had to literally drag our asses to the car to go to the hotel. I could have stayed many more hours. But bigger and sunnier and sandier things awaited!

Hope you have enjoyed it so far - I know we have.

So if you're not sick of this yet, tune in tomorrow for some pictures (I'll find that one of Devin!) and a recap of the rehersal and honeymoon.