Bachelorette Party and Back to School!

It's been a busy week starting with last weekend and my first bachelorette party! My sisters threw a party for me in Appleton before the school year started! We started the day off by heading to the spa to get pampered and later out for dinner, drinks and some dancing! It was so much fun to get some of my best friends together for a girl's night! Everyone had a blast! Here are a few pictures from the night...

The girls at the spa

Cindi, Mel and Natalie joined the group at the Melting Pot

My amazing sisters! Thanks for such a great weekend!!!

Mit and Krit met us out

And...the sash was on my head at the end of the night...

This past week has been so busy heading back to school! I absolutely love my 3rd graders! I have such a sweet class this year and so far everything has been going great! Going into my 2nd year in 3rd grade I was so much more relaxed and confident. My first year of teaching was definitely a roller coaster kind of year. It was also nice to have the summer to really plan and think about the curriculum and create new lessons to use on the smart board. I am so lucky to have my own smart board in my classroom. It has changed the way I teach and the kids love it! 

It's also been nice to get back into the school year and not focusing so much on the wedding! Andy was ready for me to head back to work as well! He said I was getting obsessed with wedding planning! ;) I don't have the time like I did during the summer, but that hasn't stopped the planning. I had several phone calls this week, the flower girl dress is in, champagne flutes are in, and on and on....not to mention my mom calling several times about this and that! :)

Luckily all of the big things are set...but I know there will still be a lot to plan! I'm very excited for my shower in the U.P. on Sept. 20th weekend. Andy has also set his bachelor party date for the Penn State at Wisconsin football weekend...I believe October 10th. 

The weather seems to be heading towards fall here as we've had cooler low 70 degree days. Andy, Whitney, Kurt and I headed to the Wisconsin vs. Marshall football game today. I love this time of year, and living in Madison and being around Badger football makes it so much more fun! Although we're Michigan fans all the way, it's hard not to get excited at the Badger games. Wisconsin people are crazy about their sports and it's contagious! 

Andy is standing in Eric and Lauren's wedding next weekend so we're going to have a busy Sept with that and the shower....but that's nothing out of the ordinary for us! 

Quick Update

Just wanted to update you all on the knee situation...

Last Wednesday (6th) after many phone calls and driving the receptionists at Dean crazy they managed to schedule me in to meet with a surgeon. (they were going to make me wait until the 13th, just to find out the results to my MRI!) Anyway, I met with Dr. Stidgen and after another evaluation and reading my results he informed me that I had loose cartilage and a possible torn meniscus. The pins from my first ACL surgery, in 2002, were blocking parts of my mensicus, so they wouldn't know for sure until they were in with the scope if they had to repair the meniscus or not. 

Dr. Stidgen said the cartilage was causing my pain and thought a scope would be my best option. Whew! At least it wasn't the ACL again! After meeting with his nurse she let me know that they could fit me in for the scope, tomorrow! 

SO less than 24 hours later I was waiting in the hospital lobby to have surgery...with my nurse Andy! He took the morning off from work to stay with me during the scope. He did a good job of keeping the atmosphere cheerful by giving the nurse a hard time about letting me sit in the comfy chair rather than him. He also made sure to tell me, "Shannon, if you see the light, just go to it!" 

The process went very fast. I was put under at 9 a.m. and we were in the car on our way home at 11:30. I used the crutches for hobbling back and forth to the bathroom on Thursday and Friday, but went without them on Saturday. My knee feels great now, some soreness at the end of the day, but this whole process was a cake walk compared to having ACL reconstruction. I will have PT for a few weeks, but Andy claims that between his knee injuries and mine we could open our own therapy center. 

I am just happy I had it fixed and I will be pain free for the start of the school year, and the wedding! Andy's frequent comments about buying me a wooden leg or carrying me down the aisle kept me smiling throughout this whole thing. I sure have been seeing a lot of Paul coming out in him these past few weeks! (A side note for Shelly...Paul called me to see how my knee was and said "I didn't want to call you, Julie made me...if it was Pearl having surgery I would have been down there right by her bedside!" :)

Thanks to the Luehmann's and Mueller's for the beautiful flowers as well!!! :)

I'm heading home this week to make one more dent in the wedding planning before the school year starts. I still can't believe that in 3 weeks I'll have 23 little 8 years olds back in my life! More wedding updates coming soon!!!

Pictures From the Summer

Our group for Amanda and Jeff's Wedding...look what Kara and I had to put up with all night! :)

Andrew and I

Grandpa on the 4th selling pop in Trenary

Steph and Nelly around the campfire

My fam sporting our Holmquist Feed Mill tee's

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Us and the Hedstrom's at Jack Johnson

I

Love him!

Mom, Dad and some of the Feed Mill guys in the Trenary 4th of July Parade

Sara, Steph, Anna, Allan and Jake in the parade...Brendan was on there with them too!

Ellie was so excited about the Trenary parade that she needed a nap!

And the Ellie show...she loves her exersaucer

Umm, hello my thighs are way to chubby for this thing!

Busy Summer

It's been quite a while since my last update...and I really have no good excuse other than I've been thoroughly enjoying my first summer off! :) I've been doing a lot around the house and going to the gym as much as I can. Andy and I have also had some very busy weekends and a couple weddings. It's been great to have so much time to do whatever I want! Here's a quick highlight of our summer so far:

June:

*Andy's sister Elizabeth had a beautiful weekend for her and Matt's wedding! We were up in Ishpeming and Marquette visiting with family and celebrating their big day!

*Andy and I also went to see Jack Johnson at Alpine Valley with our friends Kurt and Cindi. We had a blast, like always with them and are heading back to AV in August with a group of friends for a Dave Matthews concert.

July:

*Our friends Jeff and Amanda tied the knot! We were also home over the 4th visiting family and friends! 

*I met up with my college girlfriends Jackie and Lynn in Wisconsin Dells for the Waupaca volleyball tournament. It was great to see them and catch up! We didn't do as well as we hoped but have a better idea of what the tourney is all about for next year. During our last game I turned funny on my right knee and heard a little pop. I was nervous it was one of my major ligaments, but have still been walking and working out. (Don't worry I'm staying away from any contact sports or a lot of quick or sharp movements). I have an MRI on the 31st of July to determine what is going on. I am hoping if anything it will be my meniscus...I really don't think surgery 5 months prior to our wedding would ease any stress I already have. PLUS, I'm a month away from the start of the school year! Hopefully it'll be something that will heal up fast! Andy was in the Dells also this weekend for his friend Eric's bachelor party!

*Andy and I drove up to Appleton to my sister Stacey and brother-in-law Colin's house for a bean bag tournament/party! It was a blast to see everyone and have some more time with Ellie!

*Sara, Javi and Javi's friend Antonio came to Madison for the weekend to visit and do some sightseeing around the area. We spent a day up in Wisconsin Dells at Noah's Ark water park.

*Finally, we had our first weekend home in a LONG time! It was so nice to not travel! We spent this past weekend cleaning and doing some landscaping. Andy also hung up some of our pictures and a few other things around the house. It's slowly coming together!  

I hope you all have received our Save the Date magnets in the mail! I was very excited to get those sent out! It's hard to believe that our wedding is only 5 months away! The summer has been flying by, and I know once school starts up again that December will be here before we know it! I'll try reallllly hard to be a more efficient blogger from now on! :)

Our House

We have been having a lot of requests to put up some pictures of the house, put together. We bought some flowers this weekend and both have the bug to decorate the house some more now! We're trying to wait until the wedding to really decorate or hang up things on the walls...but I don't know if I'll make it until December, especially with the summer off! :) 

These next few weekends are going to be busy for me. I'm heading to Las Vegas with some friends over Memorial Day for a bachelorette party. I've never been to Vegas so I'm really excited! This week with the kiddos is going to be a long one!!! I also have my Breast Cancer walk the last weekend of May coming up, which I raised all of my $1,800!!! Thanks again to everyone that donated! 

We're enjoying the beautiful weather here in Madison and doing well! Feel free to come down and visit...we'd be happy to show you around the city and there is always a place for you to stay!!! Check out the latest pics of the house:

                                              View of the front with the new flowers!

                                         A closer look at the flowers! I love them!!!
                                             Livingroom

Thanks MOM AND DAD for the new lazy boy! We love it!!!

Spare bedroom...can you guess who that comforter belongs to???

Bedroom

Backyard...Andy is SOOO proud that he as a lawn to mow!

We have a band!!!

I'm so excited!!! We decided on our band today!!! They are out of Chicago and called What About Bob. How great is that name? :) I heard them play while at my Avon Breast Cancer Walk Benefit and loved them! They performed a variety of classic rock from the Beatles to 80's hits and all the way up to some Matchbox 20 and Maroon Five! They were so much fun! I'm so happy that we have that off out plate! If you want to check them out visit http://www.whataboutbobband.com

On another note...I just wanted to thank everyone so much that has donated towards my Avon Breast Cancer Walk coming up here at the end of May in Chicago. I have committed to walking 36 miles with many others to raise money to find a cure for breast cancer. My friend Lynn and I are doing this together in honor of her friend Laura (who is 26) that was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I have to raise $1,800 to walk and contribute my part. I am currently at $1,600 with 33 days left. I can't believe that I was able to raise this much already. It's really been amazing hearing the stories from so many people that have been affected by breast cancer. One of Andy's college friends that I have met once donated $250 to me, I thought that was pretty amazing! If you'd like to check out my personal web page, take a look here

http://walk.avonfoundation.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1450&px=3962928 

The house is looking better and better every day! We're both so happy in our new home! I'll post more pics soon! :)

More Random Pictures from the past few weeks!

Hi, my name is Ellie and I'm the cutest baby ever!

Grandpa with Ellie

Playing with mommy

Grandma gives me lots of kisses!

Watching a little b-ball with Dad

Andy's Birthday Cake! We closed the day of his birthday so I had a lady from my school make him a cake that resembled our house! She did such an amazing job!

I don't know why this came out sideways...but this picture makes me laugh every time I look at it! My niece Ellie just as happy as can be!

Ellie was a trouper during bridesmaid dress shopping over Easter break! 

With mom just before she let us know that she was DONE wedding shopping!