Obedience 101

Today was Tucker's first obedience class and I think I give him a D.

He's a little ahead of the agenda, he can sit, stay, and lay down on command but he is absolutely horrible and paying attention when there are 11 other dogs around! I think I have rug burn on my hands from holding his leash so tight as he tried to pull away. All the other dogs (and there were other big dogs, bigger than him), that would tug a little or just sit and not tug at all while he's over here going nuts huffing and puffing because he's pulling so hard. I must just not have any muscles either. He's very bad at pulling when he walks, so we had an exercise where you wrap the leash around your body and then hook it to him so he has to stay close by. Then you give him a treat every few steps. Well this didn't work for a few reason:

A) We were in a line with 4 other dogs walking and he just wanted to run and play-not focus on the task at hand

B) I was in pain and couldn't breathe because he would pull so tight the leash would wrap around me and it felt like my body was being cut in half at the waist.

I'm not quite sure how this works with big dogs. Maybe one day he'll get the trick....I hope so!

I guess I could just be like Nic and try and tackle him....hmm probably not the best idea!

I always give into the fashion

When new trends and fashions come out I usually don't like them and I always swaer I'm not going to end up wearing them. Take for example, capris, when they first came out I thought they were so dumb and looked ugly. Take a look in my closet now: You will find many pairs of capris.

So when skinny jeans came out I swore I'd never get them. Well, I caved today and bought some. Mostly because I see cute skinny people wearing it with really cute boots and a shirt and then I think it's cute. However, I put them on and it just makes my hips look wide. However, I did still buy them and hopefully with a little help from the fashion fairy (and maybe the workout fairy), I'll be able to pull off the look....we'll see, in the mean time, I'll just cross my fingers that skinny jeans don't give me nerve damage in my legs (refer to earlier post)!

Trying on clothes when you have your period...also not something a women should ever do!! I'm crabby, and I feel fat in EVERYTHING. Jeans shopping is hard enough for me with my midgit legs and thick thighs, and then a smaller waist, which require a different size for all three parts....seriously finding jeans that fit me is like finding a needle in a haystack. Ugh! I tell you, the things women go through to look good, so not fair when you see what men do to look good. Darnit Eve, why did you have to eat that forbidden fruit!

Sorry, that was completely random, my mind is in a million places tonight! I guess when you work 10 hour days it does that to you!

Are you ready for some football??

Wow, what a Vikings game!! Football is not my favorite sport, but I love watching games when it's not just all a running game and they actually throw it. The last play by the Vikings to win the game today was great...maybe having Favre won't be as bad as I thought!

I actually had a pretty boring week, busy, but boring. A lot of networking events and trade shows. I had a networking event on Friday on a big boat that went down the Mississippi River, and I ended up having to eat lunch right next to the window. That didn't help my motion sickness, I was a little wobbly when I got off the boat.

I had my Romanian bride wedding on Saturday, there was so many small details that went into that one that I knew it would be a late night, I didn't get out of there until around 10pm :( yuck. It went very well though so I was really happy! One of my brother's friends parents from high school were there, it was a little akward running into them, pluc I didn't get much of a moment to even talk!

Tonight is the season premiere of Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters! And so the season of TV begins...I hope I don't like many shows this year or I'll never get anything done!

Another crazy weekend

It's another crazy wedding weekend! I have 2 weddings today, 1 rehersal this afternoon for my wedding tomorrow and 2 weddings tomorrow! I sometimes wonder if I do so many weddings that I will just be so burnt out come the time when I have my wedding....I hope not!

I've booked a few holiday parties for the winter, but I'm really looking forward to having my weekends all to myself. I love Minnesota for the change of seasons, as much as I hate winter come March, I'm always excited for the first snow, the changing of the leaves, and the idea that my birthday and Christmas are just around the corner. I love Christmas because it's the time I get to see my whole family. I love how we all have our own traditions that we can pass down to each generation and each generation can start their own.

On my mom's side for Christmas we always get together and have our Lefsa and Cod meal or some good old Chili always made by my grandma. There's always little goodies sitting on the coffee table in one of her Christmas tins (chex mix, yummy carmel chex mix, nut goodies, etc.) We always go to the midnight Christmas Eve service at their small church in Story City (even though I'm the only one usually wanting to go, I use my influence (actually I just get very pushy) and we all go). I love candle lit services.

On my dad's side, we would always go to my Grandma and Grandpa's house and have another great spread of food (I swear I gain 20 lbs over Christmas). We always have ham, potatoes, pie, it's great! In that family it's all about the games. We always play a mean game of marbles, sometimes we even have tournaments, then usually end the night with a good movie. If we are there on Christmas Eve we will always go the Christmas Eve service at my Uncles Church where he is the pastor, where we hear the Christmas story to the tune of some of my cousins singing some beautiful christmas songs.

Then with just my mom, dad, brother and sister we have our own Christmas when we get home. We've made a tradition to always make appetizers (some of our favorites) on that day. Open all the gifts from each other and spend the day playing with all the goodies we got :) Of course it wouldn't be our Christmas without my Dad whipping out the video camera and forcefully nudging us to sing a christmas carol in front of the christmas tree. As the years have gone by you can see my brother sister and I's enthusiasm to sing those songs dwindle by the tone and expression of our voices on the video....maybe we can talk him out of it this year!

I'm not sure what got me on the tangent of Christmas for this post, but I think what it all comes down to is just the great time spent with the people you love the most and the awesome memories and traditions each year brings. It's in those times that we know every person we've loved will live forver in the traditions we all passed down :)

Have a great weekend!

Awkward Moment

Awkward things always seem to happen to me. I'm not sure why I have stamp on my head that says "if you plan to do/ask something uncomfortable and out of the ordinary, please involve me".

Anyways, I had a meeting tonight with my wedding couple for next weekend. Today we finally got together to plan their wedding (in a week, mind you), so I knew it would take a while. It's kind of an odd couple to begin with, he's probably in his late 40's early 50's and she's a young Romanian girl (probably 20's or 30's). One of my co-workers threw around the "mail order bride" word, but I dont' know, I never asked the story of how they met.

Anyways, after 2 1/2 hours of sitting with them we got up to walk around the room and see how they wanted it set up. Half way through us figuring it out, they must have said something cute/funny to each other and they then started kissing. I saw her go in and thought it would be just a quick kiss, no harm done, but nope, there was a good minute or so of lip smacking going on! So awkward, I seriously didn't know what to do, I obviously looked away, and then in true awkward Jenni fashion, decided to just keep talking about where we should put the guest book and gift tables like everything was normal. Finally they stopped, smiled at each other lovingly, until I broke the moment and said "what do you think?", hoping that would stop it and it did. But holy cow, awkward. Who does that? I'm not a huge fan of PDA's as it is, but that was a little over the top. Now all this encounter needed was a man coming up to me and asking me if I knew Buddy Big Bear (haha a few of you will understand this), and the whole akward journey of my life would have been complete.

Word to the wise-when planning a wedding, don't put your wedding planner in an awkward situation, save the loving for home! :)

Where did Summer go?

It looks like fall is right around the corner! I was driving through St. Paul yesterday and saw that some of the trees had already changed, wow, it feels like Summer never even really began and now it's over! That's the sad part about Minnesota that Summer ends here in the blink of an eye, but when it is here, it's amazing! There really isn't anything much better than Minnesota Summers, I guess they have to be pretty darn good for people to actually stick around here for the Winters.

This weekend seemed pretty long, I had 2 weddings on Saturday. They both went really well except for a minor incident at one of mine. I offered to help set out all their ceremony items while they were getting ready and taking pictures. It was an outdoor ceremony across Raspberry Island (where the boat club is), so everything had to be brought over there. Instead of doing a unity candle or sand, they were going to have a tree, and let me tell you, I envisioned a small tree, nope this was a giant life size tree you would plant in your front yard. Anyhow, guests were to write a wish or advice on a ribbon and tie it to a branch (It's something that peopel will do over in Japan and this bride had lived over there for a while). Anyways, the ribbons were in this really nice vase (really thick glass), and I set down the box that I had it on top and it slid right off of it and shattered into 50 pieces. It barely fell at all, but apparently it didn't need much to just shatter. So I improvised and found another jar. However, when I told the bride's mom she gasped and looked just horrified, so I felt just awful. I've come to the conclusion it was either very expensive or a family heirloom, please God let it just be the first one! So I'll have to write her a very long apology on Monday. I hate when things like that happen! Other than that, peice of cake that night was :)

Friday and Saturday nights I hung out with a few of my good friends, it was really nice because I felt like I hadn't really seen anyone in a while!

Today, my sister and I went shopping at the mall, and she either drugged me before we went or I just decided to be a very generous person, because I bought her a cover for her phone as well as an Adrian Peterson Jeresey (Viking's player), for us to share. Then we took Tucker to the dog park near my parents house and he had a blast, I on the other hand got eaten alive my mosquitos in the 20 min we were there. I think I have at least 15!

"I learned there are troubles of more than one kind.Some come from ahead, others come from behind.But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready, you see.Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me."- Dr. Seuss

The Mile High State

Here are a few pictures from my trip....

I'm back from Colorado, unwillingly. I, like many, wish that vacations could last longer than they do. It was so nice to be away from work and away from the hussle and bussle of my life to just spend some quality time relaxing and enjoying life!

I flew out on Thursday, it was actually a great flight, they showed us the movie the Proposal, so that took my mind off the flight and I was there before I knew it. My friends Emily and Colin picked me up from the airport and we went and had a nice sushi dinner. Of course, leave it to me to get lost in the airport. I walked around for about 20 min trying to find the baggage claim, and instead of asking someone where it was, I just continued walking, stopping for a nice carmel cooler from Starbucks. I wasn't in too much of a rush. Then when I went out to meet Emily and Colin of course I was on the wrong level. Directions and me don't work out the best. All I know is that if I were ever in charge of following a treasure map to the treasue, my group would never find it and we'd probably end up on the opposite side of the island! haha. My friend Emily is pregnant and due in a couple weeks so it was great to see her, I can't wait to meet the little guy! I may have to make another trip out to Colorado once he's born.

Friday we got up and headed to Golden Colorado to the Coors Brewery.

It wasfun to see how beer was actually made, I did learn a few things, and it wasn't too shabby to have that nice cold, free beer to try at the end! Then we drove up into the mountains, because I wasn't able to see them when my family went into Estes Park the day before. I love the mountains, it is so fun to just stare out the window and see every rock and curve and edge.

The wedding was gorgeous! My cousin looked absolutely stunning and the venue was unbelieveable! It was literally built into the side of a mountain so it overlooked the mountain range and and all the valley's. They got married outside, and right as Marcie walked down the isle a double rainbow appeared over the valley. We said it was my grandpa, who passed away 2 years ago, making sure he was able to be a part of her day. The irony of it is the day my cousin got married was the same day my grandparents got married, so it was their anniversary. Of course I bawled...who wouldn't when something like that happens! I had to do a reading in the ceremony, a cute poem about True Love, and it went off with out a hitch. I'm not a big fan of speaking in front of large groups of people, but it worked out alright. My unlce was the pastor and I think I was a bit more comfortable doing it with him being up there. The reception was great! I even got to take my first stab at crab legs, boy are those hard to eat! Prickly little suckers :) It's funny being in the industry I am, I look at things differnetly than another guest attending, I never get away from work! My weddings for work I guess ended up going great, so that was a big sigh of relief!

The wedding went so well that by the end of the night I was driving my aunt and uncle home! haha. My uncle had gotten so nervous that after the ceremony and speech was over, he had a good time! It was fun being with everyone. I decided my cousin, Diana's little boy, may have to come visit me a bit more often, he's the cutest little thing. It made my biological clock tick a bit faster I think.

Oh and can't forget that I caught the boquet. I stood in the back row because I really didn't want to catch it, I hate attention on me, and literally she threw it and it landed right in between my feet. I looked down and stared at it for a bit before one of the other girls picked it up and handed it to me. Haha, oh geez. I looked over at my family and they were all cheering, my grandma was on the hunt for a man for me that night so she took that as a BIG sign! In all the weddings I've been to/been in, I've never caught the boquet.

Sunday was the gift opening back and my aunt and uncles house and it was fun, they got a lot of nice things and it was fun just having one more day to spend with all of them. I don't get to see them all that often and we always have a great time!

The only down side of the trip is that I decided I love Colorado but I don't think it loves me! The altitude really bothered me, I felt sick the very first night I got there, almost like I had the flu, it got better, but I continued to have a bad headache most of the weekend. I guess it can affect people differently!

Now it's back to the grind of things, weddings this weekend! I'm booked straight through every weekend until November...I never thought I'd say I'm excited for winter.

Leaving On a Jet Plane

I leave tomorrow to go to Colorado for a long weekend for my cousins wedding :) It will be SO nice to have a few days off of work, I am just completely burnt out with that! Even though my high maintenance bride is on Saturday, that is the only day I'm going to have my phone on me (unfortunately that's the day of my cousin's wedding as well). NO Work this trip! I have to figure out how to stop my work e-mails from going to my blackberry so I don't get them.

I've been packing my life away, can't believe how much stuff I bring, it's hard being a girl! Plus I felt like I had a child when I was packing up Tucker, he has so much stuff! My best friend Abbey and her husband Justin will be watching Tucker while I'm gone and I'm soo thankful! I really didn't want to put him in kennel while I was gone. I'm sure I'll miss the little bugger, but he'll have fun! I had to take the whole family plus my grandma, cousin and her son to the airport early yesterday, they are already enjoying the scenic Colorado mountains...jealous! Soon enough! My friend Mon is going to take me to the airport after I work a half day then I'm free!! Woohoo, you have no idea how excited I am. Hopefully I'll get to meet up with my good friend Emily for dinner, she's about to have a baby so I wanted to see her for a bit!

I hope you all have a fabulous Labor Day, I'll be back next week :)

"That's the way things come clear. All of a sudden . And then you realize how obvious they've been all along" -Madeline L'Engle