Well, I've been thinking for awhile now about a good way to keep in touch with my family, and all of my girlfriends that I don't get to see nearly often enough. My "girls - " that is, my cousin and my dearest high school and college friends that know the most incriminating things about me...are all scattered in Iowa and I'm up here in Minnesota (all pictured above). There is also lots of family all over the country. It's hard to keep up now with everything going on - weddings, traveling, new jobs, babies...

So the intent of this blog is to keep you all informed about my family, but I can’t promise that I won’t embark on the occasional diatribe or thoughts on life in general. I am a thinking person (sometimes too much) and sometimes I feel the need to express myself. But mostly I’ll just try to focus on what we’re up to, and post some pics.

So what have I/we been up to so far this summer??

I Got Married!

Just 11 days shy of my 30th birthday (I swear that wasn’t planned), I married Husband, and acquired a stepson, Brandon. June 3rd was a beautiful day, and I have to say it was even better than I ever imagined it would be! We had a gorgeous outdoor ceremony, just like I always wanted. Our family and friends were amazing help, and it was all so much fun.

So I've taken on a lot of new titles lately: "newlywed," "wife," "stepmom." Not to mention the name change. I’m still getting used to it, as is everyone else. I did think about it, but it was an easy decision. I know there are some women who feel very strongly about maintaining their identity through keeping their maiden name, and I respect that. But changing my name doesn’t change who I am. I’ll still be an Overmohle until the day I die, and in the family history records that I hope someone takes an interest in after I’m gone. Having the same last name says that Husband and I are a team, and marks this change in our lives.

Here are a few more photos (non-pro):

Honeymoon

We spent the week after the wedding in WA, MT and ID. More specifically, we flew into Spokane, WA, on Sunday night, and on Monday drove across Idaho and up to Whitefish, MT, which is just west of Glacier National Park. We stayed 3 nights in a wonderful B&B called Good Medicine Lodge. This lodge is owned and run by Betsy and Woody Cox, who are the parents of Husband’s good friend Joe (a groomsman in our wedding). We had such a great stay there! Betsy and Woody really enjoy what they are doing, and their attention to detail is impeccable. It’s a lovely lodge with only 9 rooms, the largest of which was our honeymoon suite. I had a hard time leaving there, and we wish we would have stayed there at the end of the week instead of the beginning, because it was the nicest and most wonderful place we stayed. We got spoiled!

While in Whitefish, we visited Glacier National Park, went horseback riding at the Bar W Ranch, and took in some of the sites surrounding Whitefish. We left there on Thursday and drove up to the far corner of Montana, and into Idaho. We visited Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge near Bonner’s Ferry, and the next day headed down to Coeure‘d Alene. We spent the day and night there, and then spent Saturday in Spokane. We left early Sunday morning and relaxed at home Sunday afternoon and also Monday. All in all it was a GREAT vacation and a nice time to decompress from the craziness of the wedding.

WICKED

On Thursday, July 20 I went to see the Broadway musical "Wicked" at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. If you have the chance, GO SEE THIS SHOW! It was awesome! Tickets are a bit hard to get - I could only get 1 ticket for a matinee show. If you missed it this time around, keep an eye out for it in another year or two. For those of you who aren't familiar, this show is based on the book "Wicked" by Gregory MacGuire. It's a spin on the Wizard of Oz, telling the story of how 2 young girls named Elphaba and Galinda became the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch, respectively. This was a wonderful show and I especially enjoyed the performance of Kendra Kessenbaum as Galinda/Glinda.

Weddings and Birthdays

My cousin Alexis married Chris in West Point, NE on Saturday, July 22nd. They had a beautiful day, and Alexis looked lovely. I traveled to Iowa to meet up with my parents early that morning, and drove over to West Point with them for the wedding. Husband and Brandon stayed behind so Brandon could celebrate his 13th birthday that same day! We had Brett’s family over for a little party on Friday night, but they did “guy” stuff the rest of the weekend.