Here and Gone!

I can't believe how fast 2008 has gone. Looking back it has been a total whirlwind! We got engaged, Robby and Christal got engaged, my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, Alan's parents celebrated their 35th anniversary, my beautiful nephew was born, I have several friends who were blessed with a baby or are pregnant...so many happy things :)Alan and I were also both laid off...but we realize there is still so much to be grateful for and know that God has something great in store for us :) We are blessed to have each other, our health, and amazing family and friends. We have always valued this more than money or material things and are so grateful for that.

We have no idea what 2009 holds in store for us. Right now, we don't even know where we will be living! It is exciting though and we are both looking forward to what the future holds. It will be very interesting to look back here next year and see how far we have come.

We are so excited to be at the year where we will officially become husband and wife and start a family. We hope you had a great 2008 and wish you all happiness and love in 2009 :) God Bless!


Love Kel and Al ;)

Happy Birthday and Anniversary :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!! I miss you and wish I could be there to go out for shrimp with you, hopefully soon!!! :) You are the greatest, I love you and hope you have a fun day!!!

Today is also me and Alan's last anniversary before our official wedding anniversary will begin! Awww....8 years today haha. Last night we were looking at old pictures and I said, "look at us, we've been together almost a century!" Oops...he said, "you mean.....decade?" haha, yep. Maybe it just FEELS like a century lol. We've been through so much together, I love him and am so grateful for him and excited to marry my best friend soon....it'll be here so fast! Happy Anniversary Lovie! :) We are going out for a steak dinner (for free!) at a place called The Grill at the Scottsdale Princess. Guess I have to wear heels?

OH...and my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on December 9th!! (And Claire's birthday was that day too, happy 5th birthday Louie!!) Robby and I were blessed with such amazing parents, thank you for all you do and I hope you had a great anniversary :)

Ok, some Christmas pics to come soon, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year too :)

heyyyy!

Hi all! Guess what....we got a new camera! We were home from 12/6-12/13 and my parents gave it to us as a Christmas present, YAY! It was a great visit! Of course the best part was meeting our amazing nephew :) He is WONDERFUL, too sweet and precious for words. And guess what, Robby proposed to Christal! They are getting married!! Here is how he did it...

isn't that the CUTEST! He took her to a really nice dinner and stuff and My Mom and Dad kept the baby and had that on him under his clothes when they picked him up. When they went home she was putting him in his jammies and that was on! I hear she cried :) I'm very excited for them :) Congrats guys!!

On the Tuesday we were home I went to Chicago to go shopping with my Mom, my Aunts Sandy and Terrie, and my cousin Michelle. It was really fun and while we were eating dinner at The Walnut Room, my Mom said she had something for me and it was a Dirty Dancing ornament, and she surprised me and had tickets to go see it live at the theatre! SO FUN, I LOVE that movie haha :) My parents and family are so awesome and I am so blessed! Thank you everyone for everything while we were home! We also had dinner at my cousin Michelle's (with Jason, Madelynn, and Lauren), my Grandparents came over for our Christmas dinner while we were home and my Mom made a big dinner, I had lunch with Kellie, Brit, and Michelle and breakfast with Ash...and basically spent everyday with Brody except for Tuesday ;-)

Alan has been busy to say the least. He flew to Pennsylvania for an interview while we were at home, then the day after we got back we went to the Minnesota Vikings/Arizona Cardinal football game (Alan is a HUGE Vikes fan)...then Tuesday he had an interview locally, Wednesday he flew to Tampa Bay for an interview and didn't get home until about 1:00 A.M., and today he flew to Minnesota for another interview. I had to drop him off at the airport at 4:45 this morning and he won't get back until about 11:30, should there be no delays! And on top of it all, he is sick! I feel bad for him, he is such a trooper :) And trying so hard....I hope one of these is meant to be!! Pray for us! I hope everything is going well for all of you and you are having a great holiday season! Here are some pics from our trip home :)

Our beautiful nephew, Brody

4 Generations :) My Grandpa, Dad, Robby, and Brody

Uncle Alan and Brody, awwww

Snoozin on Aunt Kelly, I'm in heaven haha

Sweetest Baby Boy

More to come :) Have a great weekend all!

It's December 1st...

Time to elf yourself!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/5Q9pLmqNGM7kD63u1vdx

Here's Alan and I gettin' down! Enjoy!

Turkey Time!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I hope you all have a wonderful day today :) Alan and I are going to eat with his Grandma and 2 Great Aunts and then I think I may try to talk him into going to a movie, but typically football wins out!

We are going home in early December and Alan is flying to Pennsylvania for an interview with a Minor League team. He is really crossing his fingers because it would be a big step in his career, it's for the Director of Group AND Season tickets. I just want him to be happy and this would definitely be good on his resume :)

AND....the Portage Indians AND the LaPorte Slicers both were REGIONAL CHAMPS!! WOOT WOOT! So proud of all of the girls and of my friends who are coaching them (and myself LOL...gotta give myself a little props for choreographing right!?!) But the girls are amazing on both teams and I hope they do a great job at Nationals in FLORIDA!! Have fun girls, I love you all and am SO PROUD OF YOU!

I'll leave you with a picture of the first turkey Alan and I cooked last year for our church dinner. We had SO much fun and must have checked on it 1,000 times. Believe it or not, it turned out great! And then they had a drawing for a free Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings and Alan won! Worth it because I can eat Thanksgiving food everyday of the year haha...he really is so cute and loves being of 'assistance' as he says in the kitchen :)

Have a great day! And if you are shopping tomorrow on Black Friday, Good Luck and Have fun!

Sedona :)

**cheer note!** MID-AMERICA REGIONAL CHEERLEADING COMPETITION IS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck to the Portage Indians and the LaPorte Slicers!!!!

So, a couple weeks ago Alan and I went to Sedona to spend the day together. If you have never been, I highly recommend it! Sedona is amazing, it is beautiful...it isn't called God's country for nothing ;) Here are some pics from my phone that I took, we are still without a camera since ours broke haha...

We had a really nice time. We went hiking and then went into town for lunch (BBQ yum it was soooo good) and browsed around the little shops they have. Then we got ice cream and headed home! Definitely worth it.

Alan heard back from Milwaukee and they hired internally...I guess he was going to get offered the job but this Monday someone from within stepped up and said they wanted it...so I guess that one wasn't meant to be. He has 2 phone interviews on Monday for different teams so we will see how that goes. It's wierd, we have been home together for awhile now and we were talking yesterday about how we always have a good time and never get sick of each other. I think that says a lot, he is the only person I can be with 24/7 and never get tired of him ;) That's all for now, I hope we get some good news soon on the job front!

Friends :)

Hi all!

So, Alan was in Milwaukee on Monday and Tuesday of this week and he said his interviews went well. Wednesday he interviewed with a company here locally and he said that went well too. Now we are playing the waiting game...boo. Thanks for the prayers!! What's meant to be will be, right? It's in God's hands, I just hope we know something soon.

As promised, here are a few pics of when three of my greatest girlfriends from home came to town! They arrived on Thursday night around 8:30 and we went to Applebee's to eat and catch up. Then on Friday we spent the day at the pool and went to Saddleback Ranch that night where they have a mechanical bull...which Ashley rode! It was going brilliantly until she fell...it was about 9:00 at this time and the story ends with her and I getting home from the ER at 3:30 that morning....yea, she hurt her back pretty bad. But with some extra Ibuprofen the next morning she went to the mall with us b/c the doc said it would hurt worse if she laid on it. Saturday night we went to a local chill bar and had a GREAT time. Good band, then a good DJ....worth it. Sunday was total lazy day, we watched Cheerleaders on CMT (the Dallas Cowboy ones) and ate pizza ;) I'm so glad they came, it was nice to laugh and hang out with friends. LOVE YOU GUYS! Thank you Ash, Kellie and Brit!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!




Here is Brodysaurus!! SO CUTE!

I hope everyone has a nice Halloween! Tonight better hurry up and get here or there won't be any Reese's cups left for the kids - oops....

And just an update, Alan is flying to Milwaukee next week to interview and also interviewing with a company here next week as well...then, assuming he gets offers, we will decide together whether to stay or move! Lots going on, we are a little stressed but praying it will all work out...and SOON.

Ok, have a great Halloween and weekend!!!

And Ash, Kellie, and Brit, thank you again for coming, I'll post on that next week with some pics, I had a great time and love and miss you girls!!!

Searching...

FOR A NEW JOB. About 2 weeks ago I found out the company I work for is closing. Then, this past Friday Alan's entire department lost their jobs. Double whammy! It's ok, I always tell him it could be worse! It'll be a little stressful for awhile but we are both interviewing and keeping our fingers crossed. Alan will have a tough decision to make....either we stay in AZ and leave sports or stay in sports but leave AZ (he has an interview with the Milwaukee Brewers tomorrow.) So we shall see, it's in God's hands and I trust everything will work out. Sort of puts a damper on our wedding plans though....for now, they are on hold I guess. Boo economy, BOO.

On a happier note, three of my girlfriends are coming to visit this weekend! YAY! It will be SO INCREDIBLY NICE to be able to go out and boogy a little ;) Ashley, Brittney, and Kellie, love you guys and can't wait until Thursday at 8:05 when you land!! GAME ON!

AND...LaPorte and Portage both placed first at their first District cheer competition!! LOVE YOU GIRLS, GREAT JOB!!! Good luck at Regionals!!!

Alan and I went to the zoo last weekend and had a great time :) He almost got his finger bit by a big ostrich (it was really funny) and then we were attacked by a duck while we were trying to get food from a feeder to feed it (again, it was really funny) but we left without any bites haha :)

And my nephew Brody is GORGEOUS and they send me pics all the time and I love them. Also, my cousin Danny had a son in July who is just beautiful (Ayden) and Brody will have a great playmate for sure! Danny claims they are going to be a tag team in the WWF....

That's all for now, pics to come after my friends leave on Monday :)

Did I mention it's still 96 degrees here? :)

Sweet Baby Boy :)

Here are some much clearer pictures of the little bean :) He is just precious...enjoy!!

More Brody....

Here are a few more :) Christal and her son, Robby and his son (looking much happier in this one haha) and then Brody :) I AM AN AUNT!! YAYYYYYYYY!!! Isn't he precious!?!?!

I am so proud of them!!

BRODY DAVID!!

HE IS HERE!!!!
He just arrived about half an hour ago. He weighs 7lbs and is 18.5 inches long. He is absolutely marvelous. Brody David...Happy Birthday sweet boy, we love you!!

Waiting Game!

Christal is at the hospital and as of right now has had an epidural, is dilated to a five, and craving Arby's :-) What a trooper. Her blood pressure is elevated so they are keeping a close eye on her.

Blurry pic of Christal, sorry I am just getting cell phone pics from my Mom right now. She is so cute!

Here is Robby, don't mind the expression, he isn't big on getting solo shots lol...

And last but not least, here is my Dad. He is in the waiting room playing Littlest Pet Shop Guess Who with Michelle and Madelynn...too cute ;) That is my cousin Danny sitting next to him.

And here is my Mom and Dad with Madelynn and Lauren playing Uno :) Dolls.

And yes, when babies come in our family, we ALL head to the hospital to be there :) I am sad I can't be but really glad for picture/camera phones right now...I'll post as soon as I have a pic of the new little man. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers....

Happy First Day...

of Autumn!!! FALL IS HERE YAY!!! Fall is my favorite, favorite time of year! I am so excited to get our decorations out this weekend :-) And to carve punkins for Halloween! AND I get so excited for Thanksgiving!! Fall is the best.Also, I have a baby update! Christal went to the doctor today and she is dilated to a 3. They scheduled the appointment to induce her this Thursday at 7:00 A.M. if he doesn't come naturally before then. My family is so excited, a new baby YAY!! I have a feeling this week is gonna drag until Thursday gets here...

Remember Me??

So, I am on the computer working on wedding 'stuff' and apparently I am not paying enough attention to my darling fiance, who made his way around the cords, and the computer, to plop his head smack dab in the middle of the action....my lap. :-)

Football is back on now so he is watching that....on the couch....which is 2 feet away from me.....love him haha ;) We just ordered Chinese for dinner and we both got new things (big for me, I get the same thing all the time...) and are getting ready to relax on the couch for the evening. I love Sundays...snugglin Sundays as I call them haha...pretty sure it's my favorite day of the week.

Bye Shirt...

So Alan came home from work on Wednesday and said, "oh man, I have a rip in my very first shirt." What he meant was, it was the first dress shirt he bought before he went on his interview for his first internship, in Maryland. I remember b/c I went with him on that trip and ironed it for him (he was a nervous wreck, but he got it!) It's been a good shirt, but we had to say goodbye...He got new glasses too, they look good :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBBY!

My little brother is 26 today!! Love you, miss you, I hope you have a great birthday! :)

Flashback

My Aunt sent me this picture the other day - my cousin Michelle is on the left (my matron of honor) me, and my Mom. It was taken about 13 or 14 years ago (heyyyyy bangs)....and I know several of you will recall my wear-a-wig-out-on-the-town days....(heyyyyyy Purdue)....clearly there is no question where I get it from. My Mom RULES.

I'm Back!

Well, I am back in AZ! My visit home was awesome and I had a really great time. My Mom and I accomplished a LOT, she is awesome, such a big help :-) Friday, some of us girls went and got the bridesmaid dresses picked out. Saturday and Sunday I coached which was GREAT, Saturday night I went to dinner with Allie, Michelle, Kellie and Ashley. Sunday I went to dinner with my parents, my grandparents, Robby and Christal. On Labor Day my Grandparents came over, and my Aunt and Uncle and we had a small cookout, it was really nice :) I missed Alan really bad (sappy I know) so it was nice to come back :) My parents are the best though, thanks again for everything! (And I know you are wondering....no, still no baby!)

While I was gone there was a monsoon with 85 mile an hour winds...and a tree happened to land on my car (3 cars to be exact) and it caused $2,300 worth of damage, boo.

Here is a picture of the tree, my car is 2 over from this one. It tore the roots out of the concrete....lots of damage all around....Here is my car from the back.And here she is from the side. It broke the windshield and the front lights, dented the hood, the roof, and the right fender. I don't think I get her back until next week sometime...But that's ok, it could've been worse right!? I hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Update...

....no baby yet. I am in Indiana as I type this. Christal went back to the doctor today and she is not dilated and everything still looks ok, so they made an appointment for her to go back a week from today. They will talk about inducing at that time. However, it has been a really busy visit, and I have gotten a LOT of wedding stuff done :-) My Mom and I got up today and left the house at 9:00 and didn't get home until 10:30 tonight (we were done with 'wedding day' at 6:00 though.) We...
-went to a few cake tastings
-met with florists
-went to scope out some invitations
-picked the flower colors
-went and saw the hall (I LOVE IT :-)
-went to Hobby Lobby
-visited Robby and Christal (their nursery is so cute!)
-had dinner with Darlene, Peggy, and Allie
Tomorrow we are going to look at bridesmaid dresses. Yay :)
It is ok that Brody isn't here yet, it's in God's hands and we just want him to be healthy. Please keep them in your prayers.
Ok....off to read a little before bed. It's nice to visit but I sure do miss my lovie (as I call him haha.)
Have a good week!

Got my Card!

I got my blood donor card in the mail :-) Don't mind the Trident covering my last name, I don't know if any creepers might come across my blog so I thought I would cover it up haha! (No offense creepers.) I finally know my blood type now too. It's so easy to donate! And it only takes about 7 minutes, literally. And the people treat you so kind, and you get free cookies!! (Well, I picked cookies of course but there are lots of things to choose from.) In my pamphlet it said that only 30% of people who first donate ever go back. I will be in that 30%. Your blood is used within 48 hours and you are helping someone who needs it....worth it :)


Next, I am going to get on the bone marrow registry. I think it's worth it...

Sidenote: I go home a week from today, I'm excited to see everyone....and Brody is now officially 2 days late...I am crossing my fingers he arrives before I get there!!!

So happy about...

Us.

I love this man with all my heart.

I am so thankful to be planning our wedding, and getting to marry my best friend.

Some people have been asking how we met, so here goes...

Alan and I had a class together our freshman year of college at PNC. Speech class of all things. While I broke out into hives everytime I had to get up in front of the class, Alan loved every second of it. We never said a word to each other the entire semester. I thought he was so incredibly 'hot' as I said back then, and referred to him as 'speech boy' to my friends. Fast forward 2 years, and I am at Purdue in West Lafayette and Alan is attending Indiana State in Terre Haute. It was Thanksgiving weekend and I was freshly single haha. My friend Nikki wanted to go out and said that her boyfriend Chad had a friend in town who was 'a player but a lot of fun.' (We were both home at the time for Thanksgiving break.) So we headed to Pepe's in Valpo and I was minding my business when she says, "oh, Alan is here." She and I kept talking and I wasn't paying attention and when I looked up there he stood and said, "you're the girl from speech class...." UM....this is when my heart skipped and I thought I was going to throw up (lol). I said, "your the guy from speech class." Nikki said, "ALAN IS SPEECH BOY?" And she and Chad laughed at us for awhile. I was totally shy and embarrassed so I had a bit more to drink to take the edge off, and we ended up dancing and hanging out all night. He kissed me before he left (hehe) and the rest is history :) We've been through LOTS of long distance, college 'fraternal bliss days', multiple knock down drag outs, incredible highs...and I wouldn't change a thing. All of it has made us and gotten us to where we are today. Now 7½ years later, we are planning a wedding :) WE DID IT haha! And I couldn't be happier...

Oops!

So someone left a brand new loaf of bread on the toaster this morning while it was in use...and melted the plastic all over...except that it isn't the first time it's happened, just the first time an entire loaf was ruined....oops........

Come on Brody!

This is the latest ultrasound that Christal had, which was just within the last week or so. It is a Level II Ultrasound so it really looks so clear, look at his precious little face! Christal is due in SIX DAYS! We are all so ready to meet him! I can't wait to be an AUNT! Christal and Robby, we love you and are praying for a healthy delivery! He is going to be such a peanut!! Babies=worth it.

Olympics!

YAY OLYMPICS 2008!

I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. All weekend I have been glued to the TV, literally. Alan had to work on Saturday, but he was just as glued as I was on Sunday. And when our boys won the 400 relay, I cheered out loud. PHELPS IS AMAZING, and LEZAK was the greatest anchor of all time. What a great race. And there is no way the Chinese girls gymnasts are all 16. I am pretty sure one of them is starting Kindergarten in the fall.

GO U.S.A!

Gone Home

On August 5th my sister and friend, Alison Kline, was called home.
She is in heaven now, cancer free and pain free.
Please keep her husband Tom and family in your prayers.
Rest in peace, sweet Alison.

Twenty Nine

Today is my 29th birthday. I am leaving work early to go donate blood for the first time. Then I am going home and having cake :-) Tomorrow I am going to Flemings for a steak dinner with my fiance :) This time next year I will be 30!?!?! WHERE DID IT GO lol.....I'm grateful for another year. Thank you to Alan, my family and friends for making it a good one so far! I got a gift card from Ash, flowers at work from Michelle (in a HUGE margarita glass!), flowers from the men at work, a gift card from my parents, money from my Grandparents....so nice of you all! Oh and cards too from friends at home, I LOVE EVERYONE! Thank you again and happy 29th to me :-)

Official Date :-)

ENGAGED!

Can you believe it friends!?!?!? Alan asked me to marry him!!! I was home this past weekend for R0bby and Christal's baby shower and on Friday night I was going to dinner with my family for my birthday. They said they wanted to go to Pepe's in Valpo which I thought was odd since there is one down the street from my house but I go with the flow :-) When I got out of the car Alan's family was pulling up...I was so confused and said, "um, there's the Bowmans..." My Mom said, "Surprise that's why we came here!" Ok...made more sense. And just a little past history, that is where Alan and I officially met, had our first kiss...lots of history :-) Anyway, I was reading my menu and happened to look up and there he was!!! He flew home to surprise me and said it was for my birthday. We ate dinner and afterwards Alan said he wanted to make a toast. He congratulated Robby on the baby, his sister on her new teaching job, then said he wanted to ask my Dad's permission to keep going (at this point I broke out in hives.) He recited the opening lyrics to Me and You by Kenny Chesney (I always say that is our song haha) and said super sweet things and how I'm his best friend and that is where our life started and the next thing I knew he was standing me up and dropping to a knee!! It was perfect and I am one lucky gal haha. Anyway, that's the big news for us! I need to say thanks to my Mom and Amy for keeping it secret and helping him with the plans! And also to all of our friends and family who made it SUCH a great weekend for us, we love you all!! Now we are going to start planning a wedding for next fall. Here are some pics from that night.

This does it no justice haha! It's really so pretty and sparkly!

Ok just wanted to share the good news :-) Hope you all have a super week!