Bride-to-Be's weekend getaway!

This past weekend, we headed down to Austin for Lea's bachelorette party. We rented a beautiful house with a an awesome set-up including a pool and hot tub and beautiful views of the Texas Hill Country. We had a great group of girls that came in to celebrate Lea's final days as a single lady. There were 16 of us in all, and everyone got along great. We cooked out, had drinks, and hung out by/in the pool on Friday night. Then, we partied in the pool during the day Saturday before getting ready for a lingerie shower for Lea and a trip out on the town. All the food and drinks at the shower were delicious; Lea got some great gifts; and we watched a video that Sarah and her husband Justin produced where Matt answered some questions about Lea, and a few of her friends' husbands answered questions about their wives as well, including Koy. It was adorable/hilarious and a really cool thing for Lea to have as a keepsake from the weekend. Sarah and Justin did a fantastic job! We watched the video and then had a party bus we rented take us down to the Rainey Street neighborhood where we went to a couple different bars which were once run-down bungalow-style homes. They were so cool and had great big back yards to hang out, drink, hula-hoop, whatever. It was so much fun! All in all, I think everyone had a wonderful time including Lea which is the most important. I have been friends with Lea since we met at church in elementary school. She is one of my oldest, dearest friends. So, it was extra special to celebrate this milestone in her life with her. I can't wait for the wedding in a few short weeks. She will be a beautiful bride!

The Bachelorette- Future Mrs. Sherstad

Erin, Mia, and Lea

Lea and me

All the ladies posing behind the pool

Silly pose

Serious shot

Nicole and me at Icenhauer.

Nichols Family Reunion

Last weekend, Koy and I headed down to the Kingsland/Marble Falls area for a family trip to Lake LBJ with his dad's side of the family.  We stayed in houses/condos very close to the water and had about seven or eight houses for everyone.  He has a huge family which is so much different than my own.  I only have one aunt, one uncle, and two cousins, where Koy has like 8 sets of aunts/uncles and like 50 or 60 first cousins just on his dad's side alone.  Needless to say, it was a very entertaining trip with that many people and so many little ones running around.  I definitely felt a little out of place not having any babies of our own yet, but that will just have to wait a year or two.  :)  We had a great time with everyone, going tubing, jet skiing and just hanging out on the boats and the shore.  I'm already excited for next year's trip!

 Here are the "adults" playing washers, and the kids playing with bean bags.

Kay, Jane, and Rita in her "doggles" on the jet ski.  She is so cute and would even put her paws up on the steering wheel.  Brave little dog!

 

Catch Up

It has been ages since I've posted.  So, I wanted to do a post to catch up on everything that has been happening in my life since last August.  Don't worry, I won't list every detail of the past 10 months.  I will just hit the highlights! 

In September 2011, Koy and I went down to Austin for ACL with our friends Eric and Jodi.  We went to the concert on Sunday and had a great time even though it rained a little.  We got to hang out with our friends Nicole and Zac that live in ATX so that was a bonus!



On October 8, 2011, I competed in my first olympic weightlifting competition- the Copperhead Invitational put on by Spoon Barbell Club at the Van Alstyn Fine Arts Center.  It was a little nerve-wracking but fun at the same time.  I got first place in my weight class, but I was the ONLY person in that weight class.  Ha ha!  I did manage to make one of my three attempts at snatch at 83.6 lbs. and two of my three clean and jerk attempts with the best being 108# for a competition total of 191.6 lbs or 87 kg.  I was a little disappointed since I have lifted more than that in the gym, but I was glad to have made at least one successful lift of each movement.  I'm not sure if I will do another competition in the future or not.  My wrist and back have been bothering me a little so I haven't been lifting quite as much as I was, but I might want to try it again sometime.  One big drawback of these, though, is the little singlet you have to wear.  It is definitely not the most flattering outfit, especially when everyone is starting at you.  Oh well.  :)



Koy and I went to Maui for a vacation on January 10-16, 2012 and had an amazing time.  My grandma used to take me and my family to Maui during Spring Break when I was little, but I hadn't been back since 2001.  It was great to be back and to experience it with my husband this time.  We stayed at the Westin Villas in Kannapali and really enjoyed the condo and the hotel amenities.  We relaxed at the pool and on the beach a lot, but we also did some excursions.  We drove up the Haleakala volcano one afternoon, but it was too cloudy to see much.  We took a snorkel trip out to Molokini and saw tons of beautiful fish in the crater and came upon a lot of whales and turtles on the way to and from the marina.  We went to Lahaina Crossfit for a workout one morning and enjoyed meeting the owner/coach and getting a good workout in.  He also recommended a great breakfast place called the Gazebo that we tried out later that morning in Napili.  It was literally a little bitty gazebo right on the water with a million dollar view and awesome food.  We had omelets and amazing pancakes with coconut, macadamia nuts and bananas.  I will definitely go back there next time we visit.  We also went to a Luau while we were there, went shopping, and drove around Kapalua which is where we used to stay when I was little.  We had a great time and cannot wait to go back! 





In March, I went with a few of my girl friends to Painting with a Twist on Lovers Lane in Dallas.  Everyone gets their own canvas, brushes, and paint, and the teacher walks you through how to paint the designated picture as a class.  You can eat and drink while you paint too.  So, we brought wine to sip on.  It was so much fun!  I definitely wouldn't say that I have much talent as a painter, but it doesn't even matter.  It is just a fun, different thing to do with family and friends.  My sister and I took our mom to the one in Arlington for her birthday in April, and we had a blast.  I definitely want to go back again soon.


A really big life event occured in March when we bought our first house! It is in Lake Highlands, has three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, an attached garage, and decent-sized backyard for Minnie. We closed on March 22nd and moved in on April 24th. We absolutely love having more space and not having to deal with the noise of apartment living any longer. We are doing some work to the house like installing hardwood floors and painting, and we are slowly getting it furnished. It takes some time when you move from a one bedroom apartment. We definitely are not used to having so much space. We are quickly getting adjusted, though, and love the neighborhood so far. I'll post more pics later, but here is a shot of Minnie enjoying the front yard while we did yard work a few weeks ago.

On April 6th, I turned 30! It sounds so weird and old, but I definitely don't feel old and am very excited about this year with settling into the new house and celebrating our one year wedding anniversary! Speaking of, April 9th was my and Koy's one year wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's already been a year. It has flown by! We went to dinner at Javier's to celebrate. It was amazing, as usual!
Koy turned 30 on May 11th and we celebrated at St. Ann's on Harwood that night. The following night, we had Lea & Matt's wedding party- Matt insisted it not be called a shower! :) We had a fabulous time celebrating the happy couple and cannot wait for their wedding in Colorado in August.

The last major event was the birth of my dear friend Heather's baby- Mattox Lucy Ellis. She was born on June 1st, and is so tiny and precious! I cannot wait to spend more time with her. Heather is such a great, laid back mom already. It definitely suits her well! Congratulations again Heather and Paul! xoxo

Girls Trip!

Back in August, I went on a girls' trip to float the river in Gruene/New Braunfels. Courtney drove Darcy, Heather, Amber and me down there on Friday afternoon, and Nicole drove down from Austin and met us at the condo we rented. It was really cute, right down the street from Gruene Hall, and had a balcony that looked out over the river. We got in pretty late on Friday night so we just hung out at the condo, had some drinks and chatted. Then Saturday morning, we made breakfast and got ready to go float. We weren't positive we were going to be able to float because the drought had been so bad and the river levels were really low, but we called the tube rental company that morning and they said it was floatable; it was just a "slow float". We packed up a couple of coolers of beer, water, snacks, and Courtney's drink "Savannah" which was a huge cup of sweet tea vodka and lemonade (I think) and walked down to the tube rental place. There were actually quite a few people on the river even with the water level so low. We really didn't have any issues except when I got stuck on some rocks and had to get out and walk down the side to catch up with my friends. Oops! We were on there for about 3 or 4 hours, played some games, and got kind of tipsy. When we got to the end, Amber had gotten out first and we were calling her name to help us out with our tubes and stuff, and some random guy in the river started yelling her name too and then a whole group of people was yelling her name. It was hysterical! One of the older guys working at the tube rental company said they would never name their daughter Amber after hearing that name so much. So weird, but we thought it was the funniest thing ever. When we got back to the condo, we ate and rested a little before getting ready for dinner. We went and ate at the Gristmill down by the river, and it was really good. Then, Amber, Darcy and Courtney went back to the condo, and Heather, Nicole and I went to Gruene Hall and watched some country band play for a while. They were pretty good and the place was packed.

The next morning, we cleaned the condo and got packed up and ready to head home. We were going to eat brunch somewhere with Nicole before heading out, but when we went to leave we realized that Nicole's car had been towed. It was so frustrating since she had a parking decal hanging on her rear view mirror. Apparently, the condo owner didn't give me very good information on the parking situation. So, Nicole's husband Zac came to pick her up and go get her car. I felt so terrible that happened to her. It was a bad way to ruin the trip, but overall we had a blast, and it was so nice to spend time with some of my best girl friends and get caught up. :) We'll have to do it again next year!

Here are a few pictures from the trip. Please excuse the quality. They were taken on my phone.

Darcy, Amber, Heather, Nicole & Courtney

Heather and me

View of the river from the condo balcony

Honeymoon

Koy and I left for Costa Rica for our honeymoon at the crack of dawn the morning following our wedding. It was a bit rough to get up so early after having so much fun the night before, but we made it to the airport with time to spare and made our flight.

During the first part of the trip, we stayed at the Volcano Lodge at the base of the Arenal Volcano. (http://www.volcanolodge.com/) It was surrounded by lush rainforest and of course had a great view of the amazing volcano. We went zip lining in the rain forest one of the days and had an awesome time! We were suspended almost a thousand feet in the air and rode 11 different cables between the trees. You could see gorgeous views of the volcano, lake, and waterfall, and forrest. We had some fun people in our group and the guides were hilarious as well. After the zip lining we did a horse back riding tour which wasn't quite as exciting after the adrenaline-inducing zip lining, but it was nice. We also went to some natural hot springs which was close to our hotel, which was kind of cool, but it also kind of just seemed like a water park of sorts.

The second part of our trip was on the beach at Xandari by the Pacific. It was in between Jaco and Manuel Antonio. We had our own little villa with a big open view of the ocean, a little kitchenette, and a cool shower that opened up to our own private little courtyard. I'll have to post more pictures of the property later so you can get the full effect. Here is the website for the resort as well: http://www.xandari.com/ We mostly relaxed while we were there. We hung out on the beach, got in the water some, laid around in the hammocks and by the pool, had great cocktails including Coronitas (Corona stuck inside a margarita) and a daquiri made with guanabana juice. It was so, so good. It kind of tasted like coconut. It was good by itself, but even better when mixed with a little bit of alcohol. :) One day we went into Manuel Antonio to go to the famous national park there, and we had a good time seeing all the monkeys, lizards, frogs, birds, sloths, etc., and the beaches were beautiful as well. The town was much more populated, though, and we were happy when it was time to go back to our secluded little resort. There were never too many other poeple around and it felt like we had the entire beach to ourselves. We had a wonderful time and definitely plan to go back someday.


Outside our villa at the Xandari.

View from our villa at the beach during the day.

The restaurant at Xandari with our Guanabana daquiries!

Manuel Antonio National Park

After zip lining by the Arenal Volcano.

We're married!!

So, now that we have been married for over 6 months, I decided it was about time to do a post about the wedding! I know I'm so behind! The wedding turned out beautifully! We got married outside of the Filter Building on White Rock Lake on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. The weather was gorgeous, the wedding party and our families looked beautiful and were super supportive, and almost everything went off without a hitch! The only minor problem was that the small cake that we had planned on cutting didn't show up to the venue. So, we had to cut the big sheet cake. Oh well. Definitely not a big deal. It wasn't the most beautiful wedding cake in the world, but it tasted amazing! (It was a gluten-free strawberry cake.) I really loved how the center pieces and the mason jars of flowers down the aisle turned out, the food was delicious, our photographers did a great job, and my friend Kellen did an awesome job DJ'ing.

I had a great time getting ready during the day over at Lea's house with my friends, mom, and sister, and had a great time dancing with them at the reception as well. Oh, and our little 7 year old nieces Taylor and Sydney definitely stole the show dancing up a storm at the reception! They were adorable and hilarious! My sweet nephew Phoenix who was about 20 months at the time was precious as our ring bearer too. My friend Allyson was such an enormous help being my day-of coordinator too. She really helped out more than just that day, and I'm positive that the day would not have gone as smoothly if it wasn't for her. We also couldn't have gotten through the day and the months leading up to the wedding without our wonderful families and our awesome wedding party! My girls: Lauren, Lea, Mia, Heather, Carlie, Amber, and Nicole. Koy's guys: Eric, John, Jordan, Blake, and Anthony.

The day/night just went by way too fast. I know everyone always tells you that, but it really did fly by. It felt like we were only there for about an hour, and I was sad when it was over and time to leave. It was an amazing day, though, being surrounded by so many friends and family and celebrating our love and union, and I will never forget it!

Here are a few random pictures of the day. They are not the professional pictures we had taken. I will try to post some of those later so you can actually see all the wedding party, etc., but who knows how long that could take!

Sign in table with the cute pinwheels I made. I love how they turned out~

Place settings, center pieces, candles, pinwheels and crossword puzzles.

Reception set up at the Filter Building on White Rock Lake.

My mother-in-law, me, and my mom.



Taylor, Phoenix, and Sydney

Dad walking me down the aisle. While the guests were being seated, Kellen played instrumental versions of Coldplay's "Yellow" and "The Scientist" and U2's "All I Want is You". Then, we went with more traditional songs for the processional. She played "Cannon in D" as the bridesmaids walked down and "Ode to Joy" for me and my dad. Then she played U2's "Beautiful Day" for the recessional.




We are married!




First Dance- we danced to Ben Harper's "Everything".

Jodi, Eric, Koy, and me.




Here are a few pictures from my bridal portrait session. They were taken by Kelly Alexander of Kelly Alexander Photography based in East Dallas. She and her team did an amazing job and were so much fun to hang out with. We took my bridal portraits at their studio and the Arboretum in March, and the weather and all the flowers were absolutely gorgeous!