Direction update if coming from the WEST!!

To anyone comign from the WEST, there was one sentence missing from the directions that were given in the invitation.  These are the correct directions below.  The sentence that was missing is highlighted in green. 

Directions to St. Hubert Catholic Church from the West:
From I-90 East (coming from Rockford/Madison), exit at IL-59 (toll). Turn left (north) onto IL-59 (Sutton Road). Go 0.7 miles and turn right (east) onto Higgins Road (Rte. 72). Go 5.7 miles to Grand Canyon Parkway and turn right. (This is shortly after passing Golf Road.) Go approximately ½ mile. Church is on your left.

Sorry for the inconvience, hope everyone gets there safely!  Can't wait to see you all!

Wedding Par-tay! (male edition)

Best Man
Shawn Meyer - Josh and Shawn met in college.  They both went to the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and were in the same Fraternity (TKE).  Shawn's nickname is "B," so that was all I knew him as for a while.  Since I don't really like people calling Josh by his nickname I made sure to try and call Shawn by his real name as much as I can. 

Groomsmen
Ivan Brown - Another one of Josh's frat brothers.  Ivan has both punch and kissed my brother one right after the other.  It was a weird day.  But seriously, Ivan is a great guy who would do anything for Josh (and at this point me since Josh loves me!)

Dan Marta - Yet another frat brother, Dan is sometimes called "Dr." because his middle inital is "R." Interesting, Dan and his wife grew up in Hoffman Estates and went to the "other" high school in the town that I grew up in.  Dan's wife is also expecting a baby!  Congrats Dan and Jessi!

Matt Hanley - This is a brother of a different variety, mine.  Matt is pretty much the best brother a girl could ask for.  While not much of a fighter, Matt would have made an effort to beat up anyone who had ever tried to hurt me.  Once I thought he was going to try to attack a golfer who's ball came close to hitting me.  He has been someone I could rely on and look up to from the tiem I was born until right now. 

Ushers
Dan Jankiewicz - Josh's brother and the father of the Lily (the flower girl) and Oren (the ring bearer)

Kevin Jankiewicz - Josh's cousin.  They went to high school together and Josh and I went to Kevin and his wife Jen's wedding when they had just started dating. 

Michael Majewski - My cousin, who I always used to call my "little" cousin.  now he has graduated from college and teaches 4th grade, I guess I should stop calling him little now...

Congrats Allison and Scott Fornander!

And so the wedding season rolls on!  Josh and I went to Allison and Scott's wedding this past Friday.  The day and the ceremony were beautiful, and the party was awesome!  Once again, a good time was had by all!  Congrats Scott and Allison!

The wedding par-tay!! (female addition)

So, with the wedding quickly approaching, there is no time like the present to introduce all the people who will be right up there with Megan and Josh.  So, here are my lovely ladies...

The Matron of Honor - Sara Burton

Sara is my cousin.  Fortunately for me, I come from a family that believes in seeing each other as much as humanly possible and Sara is only one year younger than me.  We have been friends since the first time we met, which neither of us remember since we were both under two years old.  Here are some highlights of our memories together:

-jumping on the bed in Door County

-putting on plays for our family during holiday parties

-staying at the Miraval spa in Arizona (thanks Oprah!)

-meeting her beautiful daughter, Elaina

Bridesmaids:

Sara Schooley - Sara lived next door to me my whole life young life.  We were in the same class throughout elementary school.  As our lives have gone on, we have gotten farther apart, with her in Milwaukee, Virginia, and then Oregon, and me in Kenosha.  Sara is one of those people that no matter how long it has been since we have seen each other, or even talked to each other, it really doesn't matter.  It's like we just saw each other.  Also, Sara is getting married in Oregon this summer!

Morgan Jankiewicz - Morgan is Josh's sister.  When Josh and I first started dating, he asked me if I wanted to go out with his sister.  I, of course, said sure.  We had a great time and to be honest it was that day that I knew that Josh and I were going to be something special.  Family is important to me, so it was great to see that it was important to him too.  Morgan is also a very talented artist and made the jewelry that all the girls will be wearing on the big day!  Make sure to take a look!

Lynne Hanley - Lynne is my sister-in-law.  She and my brother got married two years ago, and I couldn't be happier to call her my sister.  I'm glad that I finally have a sister and she couldn't be a better match for my brother.  She is also a great teacher and has been a great person for me to go to with all my "career" questions.  You also might see her with my wonderful nephew, Mark!

Jr. Bridesmaid

Kalli Majewski - Kalli is my cousin.  She has been a part of many weddings in her life, so she is practically a pro.  For this wedding she has been "promoted" from flower girl to bridesmaid, as Josh says.  She is a really amazing kid who is constantly involved with some kind of charity.  Most of these projects, from selling cookies to earn money to buy toys for the children's hospital, to cutting her hair off for St. Baldricks foundation, she comes up with on her own! 

Congratulations Kyle and Jenna Kaneiss!

Megan and Josh would like to send our well wishes to Kyle and Jenna, who celebrated their marriage this weekend!  It was a beautiful day and Josh and I certainly enjoyed some wonderful singing and dancing!

Girls night!

Last Saturday night was one of those that reminded me what great friends I have.  My LAST NIGHT OUT!!  Well, not really my last night out, just a really great excuse for me to go out with the girls.  While there, is of course, no photos of this night either, I can tell you that I had a really great time.  We started with dinner at Cafe Barareeba in Chicago and continued on to have a great time Howling at the Moon!  Thanks so Sara (my cousin and Matron of Honor) and Lynne (my sister-in-law and bridesmaid) for all the work they did setting everything up for me.  It was just the thing that I needed!!  and there is no photos of what went on...  right?

Two showers un one month, but I don't even smell!! (Wait, be maybe I do...)

So, I think that I have finally been able to process the last part of our very busy weekend.  So, if you have been paying attention, the schedule for the weekend was Bachelor party on Friday, Wedding on Saturday, and I thought sleep and recover and relax on Sunday.  Then Grandma called.  My grandma is an amazing woman and an amazing seamstress.  She will be making the veil for my wedding day and on Saturday she asked if I could come down on Sunday afternoon and help her figure out things she needed to get started.  (length, what netting and beads I liked...) Since this didn't fit into my relax on Sunday plan, I suggested we meet on Monday after school.  That was not going to work for Grandma, she needed to get started now!  Well, I can't really argue with Grandma, so I agreed. 

So, when I arrive at my Grandmas (in jeans and a polo shirt) and she opens the door, I suddenly knew that this wasn't really about a veil.  I could see Josh standing in my grandma's kitchen in the reflection of a mirror in my grandma's house.  And I thought cops were always aware of their sight lines... 

After that, the day was filled with one surprise after another!  A group of people were there to surprise me at my Grandma's house, my mom had clothes for me to wear, so that I didn't have to continue on in the jeans and polo, there were a ton more people waiting for me at the clubhouse of my grandma's complex.  Even my Aunt Maryanne and cousin Kait had flown in all the way from New York to be there!  The rest of the day was kind of a blur and it has taken until two weeks later to remember all the details. 

There was an ice cream theme to my shower, complete with ice cream bar (which included NERDS!!  my favorite!!).  Every detail was absolutely perfect.  There were more pictures of me eating ice cream than I knew existed decorating the room, an ice cream crossword to see how much people knew about Josh and I, ice cream flavored Jelly Bellies (from the Kenosha Jelly Belly factory), and a game with ice cream cone head pictures on Josh and I.  I know that every member of my family, especially my mom, my Aunts Nancy and Shelley, my sister-in-law Lynne, and my cousins Sara (and baby Elaina!) and Kalli, did a tremendous amount of work to make this day special for me and they definitely got every detail exactly right.  It was a wonderful day that is still just sinking in. 

Thanks to everyone who was there to celebrate with Josh and I and thanks for all the wonderful presents.  It was great to get a chance to see everyone, even if I didn't feel like I had enough time to see or talk to anyone in particular.  I was truly surprised I hope everyone had as much fun as I did!