New York City

Here are some pictures of our trip! I took so many but uploaded a few of my favorites! The city is amazing and pictures really don't do it justice. On our trip Molly and Ashley became an engaged couple while we were in the Statue of Liberty! We were so excited for them and can't wait to be at their wedding! Molly asked me to be her matron of honor too! We saw many things in NYC including The Statue, Ellis Island, Grand Central Station, Times Sqaure, Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho, Ground Zero, Central Park, Broadway, and my favorite, The Brooklyn Bridge. It's amazing to me how big the city is and how much there is to do....you really could spends weeks there and not see it all!

The Brooklyn Bridge

The 4 of us out our last night in NYC

Molly and I with our cosmo's on our Sex and the City tour!

Neat pic on the bridge

Ground Zero

The beautiful bride and her MOH!

Lady Liberty

Right after the proposal

The city from the statue

Waiting in line for the ferry

Out to dinner

Central Park with my Hubby!

Rockefeller Center

Booth Theater

Times Square

It's a Boy!!!

Don't get your hopes up! Not an actual baby, but rather a new baby puppy! Meet Rusty!!! The latest addition to our family! 

Andy and I had been talking about getting a dog for a while now. I was really bugging him last summer, but we decided to wait until after the wedding and such. I really didn't have the urge anymore, but Andy was really wanting a dog and has been talking about it a lot the last few weeks. He saw a few adds for labs and was sending me adds through email every other day. I really didn't want a big dog but would have if he really wanted it. I just didn't think our house and backyard could handle a big lab. 

Well, to my surprise last Saturday Andy found an add for jack russell terrier pups in Loganville, about an hour away. Most of you know, I have my JRT Nelly, who now lives with my mom and dad in the U.P., so I was ecstatic that he would consider a terrier. I would have loved to take Nelly back with us, but she's been living with my parents for years now and going from a farm dog to a city dog would have not been an easy transition. Plus, my mom, dad and gram would never give her up, they love her so much!

Andy called the breeder on Friday and set up for us to go check out the pups on Saturday. We were going in slightly hesitant as we wanted to see the temperament of the parents. When we got to the farm the owners showed us the 15 pups in the litter first. They were all 7 and a half weeks old and so adorable! We asked to see the parents and they were the kindest, calmest dogs. They came right up to us and were very friendly. The pups were very energetic and loving the attention but there was one little guy that kept sitting right at Andy's feet as calm as could be. I held him for a bit and he snuggled right in my arms. When we put him down he was a rambunctious little guy and seemed to really like us. We spent about 45 minutes with the dogs before deciding to take little Rusty home with us!

It was kind of sad separating him from his siblings but he's been home now with us for his first night and seems to be doing just fine. He slept great in the crate last night. He whimpered once for about a half an hour but then went back to sleep. He loves his new toys and loves being around us and cuddling! We know the first week or so will be rough crate training him, but we're trying to stay strong so that he doesn't rule the roost! Andy is going to come home at lunch for a while until he gets used to being here and house broken. 

We know that Rusty will keep us constantly active and hopefully home more! :) We're both very excited to have a new little guy in our home! I hope that Nelly likes her new brother too, when he comes to visit her! Here are a few pictures:

Playing with Dad!

He is a little jumper and loves the furniture...

Taking a nap yesterday afternoon.

Cuddling, he loves sleeping right by our necks.

My toys are as big as me!

Valentine's Surprise!

Andy and I celebrated our first Valentine's as a married couple this past weekend and boy did he ever set the bar high! Saturday morning he came home with a card and stuffed animal lion and claimed that he had something else for me, but it hadn't arrived yet. I really thought nothing of it as we had both decided we weren't going to go crazy for Valentine's and that going out to dinner with friends would be our treat. 

My best friend from high school, Molly and her boyfriend Ashley came over for Milwaukee to join us for the evening. We were getting ready to head out and enjoy an evening together when Molly asked me what Andy had given me for Valentine's. I was in the middle of telling her what he had told me earlier in the day, when he jumped in and said, your gift came today....but I hid it! He told me to go look in his jacket pocket in the hallway closet. In the pocket I found an itinerary for 4 to NYC over my spring break in April! I was so shocked and didn't know what it was at first. When I walked back into the kitchen Andy, Molly and Ashley were all laughing! The 3 of them knew the whole time and have been planning a trip for the 4 of us to New York City for the past month!!! I am so excited and couldn't believe he tricked me! He had found a fantastic deal online and said he couldn't pass it up. Molly and I are starting to plan all of the things we want to see! Luckily, Ashley has been out there many times and is familiar with the city, so we have our own little tour guide! The Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero are my top two spots to visit!

A bunch of friends and my mom were asking, "How will he top that gift in the future?" 

Andy's response: "Now, I don't have to buy a Valentine gift for the rest of our lives!" 

Other than that, we had a great weekend with friends and cleaned our house! I have been really busy with school. Report cards were due last week, and this week and next I have parent teacher conferences. I am also taking another technology class through my district and recently got 3 mini laptops in my classroom. I started using a wiki with my students and we've all been trying to figure out the new computers and wiki together. So far it's going great! I am presenting on a book called Why Gender Matters for my class tomorrow. It's one of the best professional books I've read in a long time! Every teacher and parent should read it...it's very interesting to learn about the scientific proof in gender differences. I've been trying some gender guided reading groups and seating arrangements. I have noticed a difference, especially with the boys. If you have a chance, read this book, it's very worthwhile!

Ok, I know my younger sister is going to rip on me for talking school, so that's all for now! I'll add pictures this weekend!

My latest obsession in education! Great book, and Sax is a phenomenal speaker!

Awww....I'll be here in April! Can't wait!!!

The cute little lion that Andy got me! It roars and purrs! Ellie and I have matching Valentine lions! :)

12/20/08 Recap

Well, it's hard to be believe but our wedding has come and gone and even with as much warning and advice that friends and family gave me about how fast everything goes, I still am in disbelief that the big day is over! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding week. With the exception of a few snow storms :) everything fell together flawlessly! I feel so blessed and extremely lucky to have Andy as my husband. He is the most amazing person I have ever had in my life and makes me feel like the most important person on earth! 

We've been asked by several friends what our favorite part of the day was, and although there were many highlights, we both can honestly say that the ceremony was the best part of our day. Even though it was our wedding day, the ceremony was the only time that I truly felt like it was him and I. Once I stopped crying and shaking, it seemed as though there weren't 150 witnesses watching us, it was the most intimate and special moment that we have had together. 

The outdoor pictures, party bus and pre-reception party with our wedding party was so much fun! Our photographer Kyle was so great and made us all forget that we were taking pictures in 0 degree weather! I was SO happy with the Upfront, dinner, decorations, ornaments, bright colors, flowers, table linens and every other little detail that we spent months planning. It really was fun to see it all come together. The cake buffet was a definite highlight...although I didn't even get to eat any until our gift opening! :) My sister's MOH speech was perfect! I have re-read it probably 20 times now and still laugh every time! The band was amazing and made the night so much fun! They wrote down all 46 songs they played and signed their names for us as a keepsake. Andy already downloaded all of the songs and made a playlist. We've listened to it several times now and relive the night! Towards the end of the night I just sat back and watched. My mom thought something was wrong and told me to come dance...but I was just in awe at how much fun everyone was having and truly enjoyed sitting back and watching. Your wedding day is such a special day and I never believed it would make me feel the way I did. I get goose-bumps just thinking about the whole day!

We just received our professional pictures and I couldn't be happier. Kyle is so extremely talented and caught all the moments of the day. I have added some pictures after this posting, but couldn't add all 500 up, so here is the link if you'd like to look further! 

http://www.printroom.com/pro/ckunlimited   Click on Shannon and Andy

Andrew and I can't thank our family and friends for all the love and support and for being a part of our wedding day! We are so lucky to have so many people that care about us! Enjoy the pictures! My mom has instructed me to post more about the house and things that we have done! I had two snow/cold days last week and was able to get everything from after the honeymoon put away. We also bought a new hutch for our dining area and rearranged the living room. I will post house pics and Jamaica pics soon! 

 

Our favorite picture-I hope we always look at each other like this! :)

Another favorite! I just love lower harbor and the ore docks in MQT, so beautiful!

A shot of me. I am so happy I found my pink dress and followed my gut to go with it!

A view during the ceremony, just beautiful!

Can't even tell we're all freezing! Check out Wyatt, him and Shelby were having a blast!

10 Days Away!!!

Yes, I know, I've been terrible at this blog thing! Usually I have been ok...but for my classroom blog I decided to create a wiki and my time online had been more consumed with that! I know, excuses, excuses...

Anyway, we're only 10 days away! It's very hard to believe that the big day is almost here! We have been very busy running around getting wedding stuff completed as well as Christmas shopping. I had a snow day today which was SO helpful. I was able to complete my sub plans for the days I'll be missing next week and went and got my hair cut and colored for the wedding. Andy was a bit jealous as Strand doesn't have snow days! ;)

My students and everyone at school have been so excited for my wedding. The kids are so worried they won't be able to say Luehmann. Some of the classroom parents are having a little party next week...I don't know what they are doing and the kids were supposed to keep quiet about it, but they've been consistently coming up to me saying, "We know something you don't know!" It's cute, they were all hoping that they'd be invited! :)

We have Andy's Strand Christmas party this weekend...marking one year that we were engaged! Actually we got engaged on the 8th, but he proposed before we were heading to his party last year. It's still hard to believe that I'm going to be married in less than 2 weeks! 

We're both getting very excited to see everyone and celebrate the day! There is so much planning going into it, it's shame it's over in 24 hours! Fortunately, we're heading to Jamaica the Monday after the wedding for our honeymoon! It'll be strange not being home for Christmas but also very relaxing! I'm looking forward to some sunshine!

I apologize that I haven't kept up with the blog very well but hopefully after the wedding madness is over I can keep you informed more on married life! :)

Bridal Shower

On September 20th my mom, sisters and aunts threw me a shower in Trenary. It was so nice to see everyone and be able to spend some time talking and catching up with friends and family. Andy and I both were overwhelmed at how generous everyone was to us! We both feel so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends! Thanks again to my Mom, Sisters, Grandma, Aunt Bev, Aunt Gretchen, Danielle and Anna, Aunt Sandy and Julie for making all the fantastic food and decorating the hall. It was a perfect day! Only 77 days until our big day!!! I can't believe how fast the year has been flying! Here are a few pics from the day...if anyone has more or different pictures please email them to me. :)

SIL'S

Gram and Steph

The Best Sisters Ever! And Ellie, zonked out!

My mom and MIL

Toni, SIL's and Beth

Best friends since 4th grade! :)

3 Generations (notice Ellie passed out again)

The sign my sisters made! :)

Awake now!

Not awake!

Andy and I with Gram

My two favorite ladies!

Jan made it too! :)

MQT Magic Mom's-Patty and Amy

Ann and I

Nelly the Bridal Dog!

Brooke, Kelsey and myself! 

Ellie hanging out before the shower at home.

The Boyer side of my Fam

The Kaukola Side

The Luehmann's

Mel and Alexis

Super Bridesmaid!