Just to catch up...

Nothing too exciting or new going on here. We have been staying busy with work, friends, diy projects, church things and so on and so forth! We just signed up to help on Wednesday nights with the Truth Trackers program! I'm excited to be able to help out in that ministry along side my husband! I was recently asked to be the head coach of the girls varsity basketball team at the christian school here. That one is still in the works but I am kind of getting excited about it! At first I didn't know if I would want to do it but now... I might have a slight change of mind!
This week is also draft week for fantasy football!! I am not gonna lie.. I'm pretty excited about that! I am the only girl in the league, but that doesn't frighten me one bit :) I already took first in the boat race to give me 1st pick in the draft! How cool is that?! haha!!
Tonight I'm heading out with some girls to catch our tv show together :) I am looking forward to that!!
Those are pretty much the only exciting things going on here... It's been awhile since I have blogged so I thought I would just get you up to speed. This week is a busy one for us, but I am quite excited for what this week holds!

DIY project=complete!

 ok so here they are from the start again....

 

I spray painted the rings black

 

I bought some fabrics to match our bedroom

   

Finally, I put the fabric in the rings and they're finished.

Eventually they will be hung up on the brick wall above our bed :)
They were very fun to make and I think they turned out great!

Everett and I have really gotten into this re-doing things. We've been looking up ideas of re-doing furniture and such. We found an old record shelf that we decided would make a good tv stand.

Yes, it's bright! But it looks cool in our living room :)

We have also purchased a set of three small end tables that we will soon be re-doing. We have some ideas in mind and are excited to try them out!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

Thanksgiving in August?! That is correct!! Tonight we are having Thanksgiving dinner with the group!
Since Thanksgiving is always a time of getting together with family and leaving your friends, we decided to have a friends Thanksgiving in August :) Friends are family too, aren't they?!

I am quite excited for tonight! Friends, food and fun! Everett and I are bringing the mashed potatoes and gravy and the apple pie! Better get baking!!
Happy August Thanksgiving!!

DIY project!

I've been looking at some DIY projects and I decided on some wall decor that I'm going to make for our bedroom. I hit the jackpot at Goodwill with some things I needed :)
Maybe some day I'll be as artsy fartsy as my mom ;) This is just a start!!

Aren't they beautiful?!

I'm not sure how long it will take me to actually finish the project... but I'll be sure to post pictures during the process :)
Looking at DIY projects is pretty fun! Stephanie and I are coming up with all sorts of things we need to make!! We'll see what gets accomplished!

i LOVE weekends!

This weekend was a very exciting one! Ok, first of all I made one of my favorite meals. I was SO excited about it because it reminds me so much of home :) It is one of the easiest things ever... It doesn't look all that appealing... but oooh my goodness! Looks can be deceiving!!
There is this dish that my mom makes... but we have kind of changed it up over the years because I don't like how it is originally supposed to be made. We call it... "Unrolled Chicken Casserole".

Just add everything together for an amazing dish :)

I love the frozen veggies in the microwavable bags and I found these baby potatoes! They were SO good!

So, I know I would lose lots of points for everything being the same color and such, lol, but both tasted great!

         We also celebrated Everett's birthday this weekend! We had a great day on Saturday. We were finally able to sleep in and then enjoyed some coffee and donuts together :) (one of our favorites!) Then we went around town and did a few things and had lunch at Panara. For dinner we met up with some friends and had dinner at restaurant 2(oh!)4... Let me just say, that was a great experience! I will definitely have to go back! The food was excellent! (Thanks Grant!) I forgot to take pictures there because I was so hungry!
       Sunday was a pretty exciting day as well! My best friend, Stephanie, was flying in to Indy from WI so on our way to pick her up we made a little detour! I have always wanted a puppy and Everett has always said, "No!" The other morning he woke up and asked me if I still wanted to get a puppy. I just looked at him and then turned away and told him not to talk about it unless he was serious. He told me he had been thinking about it and decided he was ready to get one! Immediately I went online and started looking! That was when we first fell in love with our puppy!

I contacted the people and we headed out to pick up our puppy! We named her Nala! She is a Rhdesian Ridgeback. Ridgebacks were bred in Zimbabwe, South Africa as lion hunters! They are pretty hard to find so we were excited to get somewhat of a unique dog! At about 6 months a strip of hair on their back grows in the opposite direction. Hence the name, ridgeback.
Then after that, we headed to the airport!! I was finally able to meet up with Stephanie after much time being separated. It hasn't been the longest time we've been apart. But it's been long enough! I'm so excited to have her here for a few days!!!

Finally! (Idk why it just switched to bold on me.. but it did.. and I can't get it off) Since it was both Steph and Everett's birthday on Saturday and Everett's parents were out of town.. they took us out for dinner and ice cream Sunday night. We went to Ivanhoe's in Upland. MMMM!!!
They serve 100 different sundae's and 100 different shakes. Almost makes it impossible to decide.

Stephanie and I split this ginormous salad. It was a regular salad with grilled chicken and also had pasta and navy beans in it. It was delicious! The two of us couldn't even finish it! Then time for dessert!





















To top it all off... I don't have to go back to work til Thursday! I'm not sure how I'll top this "weekend!"

Where has the time gone?!

        I know it has been so long since my last post. I really don't like to do that, but my life has been crazy these last few months! We finally got a computer and now that we get high speed internet (from our neighbors... shh!!) it should make blogging a bit easier!


What has been going on in my life... well most of you know the most exciting news..
I married my best friend! Best day of my life for sure! Everything was seeming to be a bit crazy. There was a lot going on the few days leading up to the wedding. Rehearsal was quite hectic. Needless to say I was slightly nervous for how the wedding would play out. It was the most beautiful day I could have asked for! Everything was great!

Everett and me seeing eachother for the 1st time!

We had such an awesome wedding party and it made for such a great time taking pictures!

We had too much fun driving these around!

Our favorite picture :)

You've gotta have the jumping picture!

Everett had to help me out of the woods.

poor Lincoln and El struggled during pictures!

But they did a fantastic job during the ceremony!!

and we were married :)

So those are just a few of my favorites from the wedding! After the wedding, we heading off to Colorado for a fantastic honeymoon! We got to do some pretty cool stuff on our honeymoon! We got a VIP tour of Hammond's candy shop which was just amazing! We had so much fun! We got to go to this awesome restaurant where we had some unique foods. Camping was a highlight of our honeymoon. We camped for 2 nights way back in the mountains and just had a great time! Everett and I have traveled together quite a bit but this was definitely the best vacation yet :)
Now we're back in Muncie, getting all settled in. We're both working... I'm loving my new job at the Optometrist's office... Everett's job is just.. stressful and crazy :(
My family was able to come visit for a few days! I was so glad they could come see where we're at! I miss everyone from back home soooo much! I just want them all to move down here :)
Life here is always on the go! We've been to the fireworks, county fair which includes truck/tractor pull and rodeo, class reunions, movie nights with friends, sushi dates and tonight is girls night! I'm very much looking forward to that!
Everett and I just recently celebrated our 1 month anniversary. Which seems crazy... where has the time gone?! We're quickly approaching our 2 month! I don't understand how our 2 month is coming so fast! It's been an amazing adventure and I am so looking forward to what our future holds :)

Take a walk down memory lane..

Today I was going through my stuff. Since I'm going to be moving withtin the next few months, I decided I should get a head start on going through everything I own, getting rid of what I don't need and all that fun stuff! In the process, I found some boxes I had shoved in the back of my closet. I opened one and started down memory lane! My college years were some crazy times! Good and bad. Some of my absolute favorite memories are from Sophomore year. At the end of my freshman year I started hanging out with this crazy girl, Anna. We decided to be roommates the next year... even though we hardly knew eachother. Let me tell you, BEST DECISION EVER!!! Anna and I spent every second we could together Sophomore year. Our other 2 roommates were... interesting! Anna and I used to lock them our of our room so that we could listen to our favorite song over and over!! We used to read the crazy stories in magazines to eachother as bedtime stories! We made a little cave under my bed for our conversations that no one else could hear! We were crazy! One of the things I found in the box in my closet was a crumpled up piece of paper that had some of these lyrics on it that Anna had written to me. Oh how I miss my dear friend Anna!!
It's been forever since I've heard this song.. But Anna it still always reminds me of you :)

Spring is definitely NOT in the air..

Don't you just love Spring?! Well... probably not so much if you're living in Northern WI right now. Yesterday they were telling us we would be getting a huge snow storm. I was pretty excited when it only snowed about an inch instead of the 16" they said we were supposed to get. Last night we had quite the storm. It was snowing and blowing and lightning like crazy!! It was something else!! So I went to bed... and then I woke up to this...

Here is looking out my front window.

Out the back door.

Right up against the back door.

This is definitely not what I like to think of when I think of Spring. The worst part is, just last week we were in the 50's. We got quite the tease with that weather!

Today is a snow day from work! Looks like a good day to sit inside with a nice cup of coffee and work on some wedding stuff!! Where to begin....

Happy St. Patties Day!

St. Patties Day has never really been a big day of celebration for me. Today I'm heading to town with my bestest friend everrrrr!! Maybe we'll get a Shamrock shake from McDonalds :) This, however, will probably be the best St. Patties day yet! On my first post I wrote a list of all the things I love... random road trips with Stepahnie was one of them!! Usually our road trips take us to Michigan to visit my sister, but since she has moved, our roads trips usually lead us all the way to the great city of Green Bay! I can't wait for the journey to begin!

I just bought my airline ticket for the great state of South Carolina! In about a month I'll be heading there to visit my sister, brother-in-law and my amazing little man, Lincoln! I am SOO excited! I get to spend a week with them in warm weather.. what more can you ask for?!

Who wouldn't be excited to go see this happy little man?!

Oh!! I almost forgot!! A little update on our house in IN. I was talking to my Fiance last night and he informed me that he bought all of our appliances!! How exciting! I wasn't expecting to have all  BRAND NEW appliances! He sure is spoiling me ;)

Here's a picture of my favorite appliance! haha!!

            Isn't it beautiful?! We also got a microwave, stove, dishwasher, washer and dryer!! I can't wait to just go live there already!!

Bridal Shower!!

My mom has been getting ready for my upcoming shower! Actually, I'm not really looking forward to the shower. I'm not a person who likes to open presents. Even on my birthday it's hard for me to sit down in front of people and open presents. I have always been thankful that my mom and I have the same birthday because then I am not the only one opening gifts! But a bridal shower?! Oh boy.. I have to sit in front of people, besides my family, and open presents and "ooo" and "ahh" over... silverwear, dish towels, can openers?!
Although I am very thankful to be having a shower! I sure wouldn't want to go out and buy all that on my own :)

Incase you can't tell... I like bright colors! These are just a few things for the shower.
the brighter
the better
the happier

Oh, don't forget the rainbow jello! Now that I am excited about :)

The beginning...

I've always thought blogging would be fun. Never did I think I would make the time for such things! I decided I should give this blogging world a try! What can it hurt?! First of all, I should probably tell a little about myself. (Not that there will even be people reading this or that the people who do won't know me! But here it goes...)

Instead of writing about myself, here is a list of the things that make me me! The things that I love most in life...

1. My soon to be husband... Everett Sawslayer Callan
2. My family
3. My friends... STEPHANIE!!
4. Traveling
5. Basketball

6. Books by Kristin Hannah

7. Pasta

8. Sleeping in

9. SUMMER
10. Camping
11. Boating
12. Driving with the windows down and the music up
13. Coffee
14. Mt. Dew
15. Texting
16. The Bachelor/Bachelorette
17. Random road trips with Stephanie
18. Working out
19. Cake Boss
20. Hot tubbing
21. Inside jokes
22. Rodeos
23. Fresh fruit smoothies
24. Shopping
25. Facebooking
26. Skyping with my nephew Lincoln
27. Sushi
28. Parasailing
29. Mackinac Island
30. Family vacations
31. Juice

Alright, that's all for now! I was just thinking about it... I have never posted my engagement story and at first I know so many people were asking me to. I just never got around to it. Maybe because I didn't have any place to post it really! Now that I have this blog.. I think it's time for the story :)

This past Christmas day was unlike any other. My sister, brother-in-law and nephew were all here. It was great being with family. Later that day we went down to my grandma's in Green Bay and for the first time ever had ALL the family together

I had so much fun that Christmas night... but all I could think about was flying out bright and early the next morning to spend a week with my Fiance! That night I spent the night alone in a hotel in Green Bay. I was too excited to care that I had to spend Christmas night alone! The next morning I woke up about two hours before I needed to be up! The excitment was killing me!! My aunt and uncle were so kind in driving me to the airport and seeing me off! I got on my flight and everything was great! I was on my way! I should probably mention that I was hoping for an engagment this weekend but my parents sure had me convinced otherwise. So I arrive in Cleveland earlier than scheduled. I thought that was great! Everything was going to be so perfect and I'd get to Indy earlier than expected! At that time, there were HUGE snow storms out East and it was messing everything up. My flight was delayed about 15 min. "Ok that's not too bad" I thought. At least it wasn't cancelled like several other ones! That 15 minutes slowly but surely turned into 2 hours. FINALLY!!! I was able to get on my flight! It was the smallest plane I have ever seen!! I sat in the back row on this bench seat... pretty uncomfortable but I didn't care!! We had to sit on the plane for about 20min. til we started moving. When we did start moving we only went a little ways to the de-icing station. We spent a whole hour there! (Not to mention the plane was FREEZING and I couldn't stop shaking the whole time!) When we were finished with that we then took off! I stuck my headphones in and closed my eyes. It had already been a long day and I had been up since 4am. About 20min after takeoff I hear some rustling around and people talking. I take out my headphones and the captain is talking but I couldn't make out what he was saying. I asked the lady two seats away from me what was going on. She said, "A caution light has come on and we are turning around and landing." That was the worst possible news I could have received at that point! So we made our way back to Cleveland and landed. Once we got off the plane we were unsure as to what would happen next. We all just sat around while some people got very angry and were yelling at the desk people.. which was pointless because it wasn't like they could do anything about the dumb caution light that came on. They sent our plane to maintenance to see if it was something that could easily be fixed. Well.. it wasn't. They told us at one point we would probably be put in hotels for the night with a very early morning flight. At that point I didn't really care. I was SO tired. We sat in the airport for about an hour before they told us they had another plane and they were loading all of our stuff onto that plane. Great!! But wait... shortly after that they said.. "It seems this plane will not work either. Right after loading all the stuff and bringing it to the boarding station, a caution light has come on on this plane as well." At this point I was wondering if I would EVER get to Indy. My phone was dying, Everett was upset, I was tired and I hadn't eaten anything yet that day and it was about 4pm by this time. Sometime later we received news that there was a plane on it's way from Indy that would be heading somewhere else next but they cancelled that flight and had us get on that plane to go back to Indy. Sorry to those people who had their flight cancelled but thank you!! :) It took about an hour for that flight to get to Cleveland and as soon as did it, we boarded and were in the air! We FINALLY made it to Indy. It was well after 6 by the time we landed. Everett had been sitting in the Indy airport for about 4 hours waiting for me! Poor guy! What I didn't know was the whole time he was sitting there he was getting more upset because in his mind he should have already been engaged at that point but the stupid flights put everything off! So we head to baggage claim, gather my stuff and head to the car. In the car I'm just telling Everett how exhausted I am and just can't wait to go home and go to bed! But he had other plans. Everett took me to this park that overlooked Indianapolis. It was really neat because you could see all the lights and the christmas lights as well!! It was freezing cold out and I was just like ok Everett this is cool but I'm tired and I'm cold.. can we go now?! I was still in the mentaility of "Ahh I finally made it.. I'm so happy to just be here" that I wasn't even thinking "this is it!" So I had my back towards Everett for a bit just looking at the city and he comes up behind me and puts his arms around me and he's holding the opened ring box in his hand! I look down and I just can't believe it! I whip around to face him and he gets on his knee and says "Brooke VanLaanen.. I love you! Will you marry me?!" I couldn't do anything but laugh! It was a happy laugh of course!! Then I just grabbed him and hugged him for a long time just laughing!! Finally he pulled away and said.. "Is that a yes? Can I put it on you?!" So I said "YES!" ...about a million times!! After that we headed back to the car and opened Christmas presents from eachother and then ventured back out to the spot to take some pictures.

After that, Everett had this Sushi restaurant in mind that he really wanted to take me to! We both love Sushi so I was very excited about this! We got there and realized the place was no longer open. It was completely shut down! Sad day! There was another Sushi restaurant in town that Everett and I had been to before and I loved it so he took me there! We ate and talked and laughed and just had an amazing time together! After eating he told me what his real plans had been. He said "I bought tickets for the show 'A Christmas Carol'. We were going to go there first but your plane was too late so we missed it. I also wanted to take you to the park in the daylight because it was really pretty being able to see the city. Then I wanted to take you to the Sushi restaurant but it was closed. Nothing worked out." I felt kind of bad but also realized that everything about that night and how it had turned out had been just perfect!! The city at night with the lights was amazing, the restaurant we went to is probably one of my favorites and the fact that I was now engaged!! Could it get any better?! We decided then to go watch a movie. We weren't sure what type of movie mood we were in. All I knew was that I would never be able to sit through a movie where I had to fully concentrate to follow the movie!! We decided on the cartoon movie 'Tangled'. SOOO cute!! I LOVED that movie! I would definitely watch it again :) It was a great movie for right after being engaged :) After that we headed back to Everett's house and showed the ring off to his parents! That week was one of the best weeks ever! We had a great time and spent New Years at his family friends house and it was all just perfect! Right now I am in the midst of planning for the wedding! We are getting married June 18th 2011 and I couldn't be more excited! Also, while I'm wedding planning, Everett is busy working on the house we just bought! I am SO excited about that! We just purchased  a nice 4 bedroom 2 bath house in the country! I LOVE IT!!! I can't wait to get down there and make it our own :)

Well.. That's our story. Now you have it!