Let's Go, Monarchs!!

Karen, Shaelyn, Michael and I went to see the Monarchs play ice hockey last night at the Verizon arena in Manchester. We hardly recognized Shaelyn when we got there since she got to cut her long hair after the wedding. We gave Shaelyn (and Karen) tickets as an attendant gift for being the best little junior bridesmaid for our wedding (and Karen for being an excellent auxiliary photographer.) Shaelyn has healthy vocal cords as she demonstrated with her chanting along with all the team jeers. There was a guy with a cow bell two rows ahead of us that was more than happy to beat along with Shaelyn shouting, "Let's Go, Monarchs!" She did great sitting through all 3 periods. We tried, but we didn't win anything with Chuck a Puck. The Monarchs creamed the Worcester Sharks. And we now will get free fries from McDonald's since the Monarchs scored 4 goals. Save those ticket stubs!
We are going to see the Monarchs again next Saturday night too as it is the annual Bed Pan Race and Concord Hospital participates in that exciting event.

I'm Truly Blessed!

I went to Nancy's beautiful home on Saturday afternoon so I could attend my bridesmaid Allison's baby shower. It turned out to be my bridal shower! Nancy's whole house was filled with my friends and family members, all there just to spoil me rotten. I felt truly blessed to have that many of the special people in my life all in one room. Check out the gorgeous chocolate cake from Frederick's that was adorned with cherry blossoms. And Shaelyn was proud to show off that not only was she wearing a dress to the shower, but she got her ears pierced too! She seems prepared to take on her junior bridesmaid duties. I don't think I have ever opened so many presents so quickly. I got many beautiful things, including a lovely hand knit that I don't think can actually post a photo of here and still have a "family" blog. I got to wear a cute little bride to be veil with flashing red lights on it. I am skimming very quickly over all the details of the shower. The roads were getting slick, and several people had traveled a long way, so they needed to get back on the road quickly.

And that was just half of the adventure! Michael had slipped a change of clothes and a pair of pajamas out of the house and to Allison on Friday. So I changed into a "going out" outfit, got to adorn a bachelorette sash and a glow in the dark "Last Night Out" button. A limo showed up in the snow storm and (after our driver got the limo out of the snow bank) Alison, Jacinda, Allison, Nancy, Sherry, and I went to Plymouth. We had dinner and drinks at Foster's Boiler Room at the Common Man Inn. And then the limo driver slowly brought us back to Nancy's house for a girls' slumber party. We watched a few old wedding videos and laughed at how much the styles and people had changed.

Shaelyn, Lucas & Elleigh

Michael, Lucas, Elleigh and I drove south last night to see our friends Shaelyn and Karen. We brought Shaelyn her belated birthday present and her Christmas present. It was fun to watch Elleigh and Lucas run around Karen's house and stick their nose in all the corners. Shaelyn was like one big squeaky toy as far as Elleigh and Lucas were concerned. Here's a cute photo that Karen snapped that made the three all look angelic. Both Michael and I think Shaelyn makes Lucas look big because Shaelyn is a pip squeek herself. I have never seen a Christmas tree with the girth on it that Karen's tree has! Shaelyn made us a Christmas tree ornament which we have already proudly displayed on our tree.

Shaelyn has her dress!

Shaelyn, my little junior bridesmaid, has her chocolate brown dress! Her mother, Karen, found it at JC Penney. Karen is going to add a little pink in the way of a new bow around the collar and/or something around the waist.

Despite the look on her face in the photo, Karen assures me that Shae is very excited about being in the wedding, and has even brought it up to complete strangers.

This is so exciting! I knew I would jump in with both feet (and drag Michael along) with the wedding planning when I got back from vacation, but Shaelyn getting her dress seems to have gotten the ball rolling for me. Hopefully for my friends and loved ones, it hasn't gotten the ball rolling on a bridezilla. But I do need to get moving according to the wedding counter, as there isn't a lot of time left. Not that I am counting or anything.