April 2009...Part of it anyways.

-The 18th- Anna's Prom!! I headed out to mom's about 1:00 & helped Anna get ready. We then convoyed to Jro's house for pictures. It was cloudy & kinda gloomy outside but we managed to squeeze in pics before it rained! Anna & the girls looked amazing & the boys looked super studly! ;)

(GLAMOROUS!!)

(Huge group!)

(Their pimpin ride!)

After we watched the prom walk-in at the Pipac we went to Zsavoos for some dinner! I was freakin starving!!

(Mom was there too but she was taking the picture. Not sure what's up w/ Joe?? ;)

(-The 19th- Little J was born!! I already did a post on this but decided to post some pics anyways! He's too cute not to want to look at him! ;)

(Chunky Monkey!)

-The 20th- New Grainger Building!! The Grainger call center has always been in what use to be the AT&T building on Tower Park Dr. Well, we were kinda outgrowing the place so they finally decided to build us a brand spankin new building down the street!! It wasn't quite finished when we first moved in but it was still awesome! We've really enjoyed it!

(Lobby)

(Break Room)

(Mailroom)

(My desk is now located in front of the 11th window from the left!)

-The 21st- Nicole's Birthday!! Nicole & Grant had purchased a NEW home just before Little J was born so they took their parents over to see it on her birthday...which also happen to be a day after they got home from the hospital. So, while they were gone, Nick & I snuck over to their old house to surprise Nicole when they got back! We ended up having a nice, relaxing "surprise" b-day dinner! (Extra bonus...we got to see Little G & Little J!)

(Me thinks he likes the frosting...)

(Baby Boy!)

P.S. I would have put up some pics of Nicole since it WAS her b-day but she wasn't really all about the picture takin since she just popped out a kid...I think she looked amazing for just giving birth but what do ya do?? ;)

Ready...Set...RUNDOWN!!

Ok, so here is my plan...I'm going to go through each of the last few months & do a rundown of the bigger events! Now I'm just going to have to figure out how the hell I'm going to cut down my pictures to only 1 or 2 per event?? Wish me luck! :D

Remember Me??

Well, as most of you know I recently got married...make that JUST got married...on Sat!! So, needless to say, I have been insanely busy for quite some time! I have to say that the last few months have been the most stressful time of my LIFE!! It is crazy amazing how much work & time & money goes into one day! I am over the moon about being Mrs. Clough but I'm pretty sure that I could have done w/out the BIG wedding! Don't get me wrong...it was a fun day but I am EXTREMLY glad it is over!!

I now have time to RELAX & get back to my blogging! I'm going back & forth on whether I want to do a rundown of the past few months or just start fresh?? It turns out that I had written a few posts back in May & had never added them so I might just finish those & THEN start fresh?? Not sure yet?? Anyways, I'M BACK! ;-D


**Update!** I added the two posts from May & they are below. Still not sure if I'm going to try to run through the last few months...?? More to come!

He Has Risen!

On Easter morning Nick & I went to church in Washburn w/ Mom, Darwin, Nana, & Anna. We then headed over to Cornerstone for some breakfast. I knew that I had much to eat the rest of the day but I was super hungry!

We then went to Teresa & Gary's for Easter lunch w/ Nick's family. Little G was dressed up in the suit that Nick wore when he was baptized! It was so flippin cute!! Since he is the only child in the family so far he had it pretty easy w/ the Easter egg hunts...yes hunts, plural...he got to do one inside & then one outside! He got plenty of candy & little gifts! Such a spoiled boy! Next year we'll have Little J but considering he'll only be about a year old I don't think Little G will have much competition! ;)

(Easter Basket!!)

(Easter egg hunt #1!)

(That is A LOT of eggs!)

(Counting them up!)

(Are you ready for some football!?!)

(Future quarterback??)

(Easter egg hunt #2!)

(Getting some help from G-pa Will!)

(All the spectators! Look @ that belly!!)

(How cute is he!?!)

We left Teresa & Gary's around 3:00 & went over to my mom's for Easter dinner. I was pretty full but I managed to stuff more in...the food was too good NOT to eat!! After dinner, Anna & I rolled ourselves up the stairs to her room to watch The Breakfast Club. I'm not gonna lie...we busted out the Easter candy too. Nothing like practicing one of the 7 deadly sins on Easter....gluttony is defiantly one I need to work on!

No place for a truck...

The Fri before Easter we had dinner over at Dad & Diane's since we were not going to see them on Easter. It was super good & after dinner we sat around in the garage & bull shitted for a bit. Nick had to work late so he didn't get there until after 8:00. I was tired & decided to be a loser & go home to bed at about 10:00...on a Fri night...pretty pathetic, I know. So, I headed home. Nick decided that he didn't want to be a loser w/ me so he went to the bars in Hudson to hang out w/ his friends. I had wanted him to come home w/ me but according to him, he "was just going to play a few games of pool & then come home." Riiggghhhtttt...

Fast forward 4 hours. It's 2:00 AM & I get a phone call from Nick. He went off the road & his truck was stuck in a flipping creek outside of Hudson!! Yup, he was on a gravel road & he got sucked into the ditch. The ditch was pretty shallow so he figured he could just drive out...slight problem though...there was a creek in front of him! He didn't realize this & drove straight into it!



So, I went to pick him up. There was a lot of..."I'm an Idiot!", "I should have just listened to you!".....it felt pretty good to be right! I was too tired to get mad & yell so I just told him that nothing like this better happen again or we were going to have a HUGE problem. He ended up having to shell out $100 to get his truck out. Luckily, there were no problems w/ it. Stupid boys.....




Well, he always did like mudding...

It's Egg Colorin Time!

I went over to my mom's the Thur before Easter & colored me some eggs! Even though I'm 25 I still find it fun! I can't wait to have kids someday so that I can share this tradition w/ them!

(All set!)

(Oh? Your not suppose to drink it??)

(Can you tell that Ruzz was super excited?!?)

(Mama!)

(Finished product!)

Easter was only a few days away.....!!

Ladies & Gents...The Princess of Pop!!

The Britney Spears concert was the first Fri in April! Steph, Bridge, Anna, Chelsie, & Jessica all met up at my house at 1:30 & then we were off to Minneapolis! I drove us up there in dad's minivan. Now, I am not use to driving in big cities at all. We almost got squished a couple of times. Once by a semi & then by some buses...those damn buses! Downtown Minneapolis is like downtown Waterloo but 10 times worse! There are tons of one ways & we ended up having to drive around in a circle to get to our hotel! We made it up there alive though...THANK GOD! It took me a good 20 minutes to calm down once we parked!

(I LOVE this pic!)

(Look! Fat statues dancing!! Ha! Ha!)


(We saw Britney's BUS!!)


(I have a thing for cool buildings...)

We stayed at the Hilton which is a few blocks from the Target Center where the concert was being held. We got there early enough so that we would have enough time to get ready & grab a bite to eat. The plan was to find someplace cheap to have dinner but we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant, SkyWater. Yup, it was a little too expensive for our tastes! A burger & chips combo was $15.00! We ended up splitting our meals. Chelsie & Anna split a burger & accidently ordered it medium rare! It was funny! Then, Jessica & I split a meal & Steph & Bridge split an appetizer. I got a Bud Light draw too...a $6.00 Bud Light draw that is...crazy!

(Inside the Hilton.)

(We HEART Bud Light!)

(Besties!)

(Hot girls!)

(Bridge wanted to say HELLO to Minneapolis!)

So, like I said, the hotel was just a few blocks from the concert. It was kinda chilly & most of us were in heals but we decided to walk instead of drive...driving=NO FUN! There were a TON of people walking to the concert besides us so it was easy to find. We just followed the crowd! Bridge stayed back at the hotel while the rest of us went to see Britney. She never actually got a ticket but she came along for the ride.



We were soon inside the Target Center & at our seats! The place was flippin packed! You could just feel the excitement in the air! The Pussycat Dolls opened & it was amazing! They are super hot! Great start to the show!

(Waiting...)

(...OH the suspense!!)

(PUSSYCAT DOLLS!!)

(Nicole beltin it!)

There was an intermission after the Dolls so we wandered around & got some drinks & souvenirs. Since the theme of Ms. Spear's concerts is circus there were circus performers who entertained everyone before Britney actually came out! They were AWESOME! There was this dude who spinned a chain link fence & this huge square box & this chick who balanced on two small pedestals & jugglers & martial artist & a hula hoop girl & clowns! My favorite act was this lady w/ these two guys. She would balance on their shoulders & then jump off & flip & land back on them!! Then, they got this long flimsy board thingy. Each guy took an end & then she would stand in the middle of it & jump up & do more flips & land back on the board thingy! I know my description is pretty great...just look at the pictures!! ;)

(Chain link fence guy! He's twirling it on his back!)

(The huge square box thing!)

(Balancing on two pedestals!)

(Jugglers!..There were midgets!!)

(Everybody was kung fu fighting!!)

(Hula Hoop Girl!)

(My favortie!)

(CRAZY!)

It was finally time for the main event!! There was this HUGE round screen enclosing the stage. The show started w/ a clip of Perez Hilton dressed up like a women. He was at a circus w/ all these circus freaks. It was creepy! He had a walking stick w/ a baby doll head on the top of it & he was biting it...weird. He also said something about Fucktastic Bitches! Anways, he introduced Britney & at the end of the clip she shot him w/ an arrow!! Crazy stuff! After the clip, the big screen lifted & there was Britney descending from the ceiling on a ring! Awesomeness!! :D

(Creepy huh?!?)

(*IT'S BRITNEY BITCH!!*)

(Circus!)

(You wanna Piece of Me!?!)

(Radar!)

(More Kung Fu!)

(Ooh Ooh Baby!)

(They cut her in half!)

(She went into the box...)

(...and DISAPPEARED!)

(THEN, she appeared at the end of the stage!)

(Hot As Ice!)

(Boys!)

(If You Seek Amy!)

(Me Against The Music! Bollywood style!)

(Everytime!)

(Freakshow!)

(Get Naked!)

(Breathe On Me/Touch Of My Hand!)

(She sat on these two people who were hanging from the ceiling & they went up & spinned around a few times!)

(Do Something!)

(Slave!)

(Hot As Ice!)

(Dancers!)

(Toxic!)

(Baby One More Time!)

(Womanizer!)

The show was flippin amazing...even if she didn't actually sing! ;) There were so many props & special effects & dancers! They even had magic! She "sang" some old stuff along w/ her new songs...she couldn't skip on Baby One More Time!! The tickets may have been a little on the on the pricey side but it was well worth it!!

After the show, we walked back to the hotel & got into our comfy clothes! We were all STARVING! We had some trouble finding a place to deliver food at 1:00 in the morning but we managed to find one. After scarffing out food we all went to bed. Bridge & Steph we nice enough to sleep on blow up mattress while the other four of us shared the beds...well, five of us...I had my Edward blanket! ;)

(Some dude outside the Target Center!)

(Prince's bar!)

(HO...tel, I'm SO mature!)

(Pretty...for some reason I just like this pic!)

(The side of a building!)

(Sweet! Chelsie has an Evening Special tonight! Event Rate of $10.00!!)

(Some statues inside of The Hilton.)

(I got a FREE mask so Chelsie tried it on...cute huh!?!)

(Anna & Jessica were gettin freaky in the window!)

(FOOD!!!!)

One of Steph's aunts live in Minneapolis so she went to spend some time with her the next morning while the rest of us went to Mall of America to get some lunch & wander around. We ate at The Rainforest Cafe. Anna had a headache so she wasn't much feelin the jungle noises & thunder that they have playing. Poor Anna. After lunch we walked around for a bit & then grabbed some ice cream & chilled until Steph came & met up w/ us. It was then time to head home. :(

(Very nice!)

(Anna thought that she was getting a full sized bottle of water for $1.25...this is what popped out.)

(The view from our window in the hotel.)

That night was the last Black Hawks game before the playoffs. We played Cedar Rapids...we lost. Stupid Rough Riders!!

(Last hockey pic of the season!)

(Zombie Tommy Hawk!)

(Two radio DJs did some sumo wrestling!)

(Tommy Hawk was rocking out w/ his little toy piano!)

(Tommy Hawk & the Famous Daves pig beat up a Rough Riders doll...to bad the Rough Riders beat us!!)

We had a blast of a weekend...except for the Black Hawks loss...& the fact that I had a bad cold all day Sunday! All in all though...great weekend!! :D