stephanie on the move: Where to begin?

Old to new, new to old, just start with the middle?!

I think I will start from where I left off (over a month ago...BAD blogger). Shortly after my last post we took a few steps beyond "I do" and became parents for 36 hours. We went from DINKs to caring for two toddlers (and pomeranians) in the blink of an eye. Crick and Kyle bid adieu to their two little munchkins and headed up to Sonoma for Saturday night and Sunday. It was definitely a challenge but Tanner and Kayla are so cute they make it all worth it! I would never volunteer for such an endeavor in a home that does not allow Barney, Dora or Caillou though. I am pretty sure it should be written in a rule book somewhere that two toddlers in one home requires a television. Well, it's going in my handbook anyway. Not as an electronic babysitter...but as a means to get diapers changed, kids fed and bathed and possibly to stop banging the toy vacuum on the ground! This is obviously the EXTREMELY abbreviated version of the weekend but I am going to try and hold your attention for this post.

Miss K after bath time relaxing with Arnold

Tanner and the aforementioned vacuum!

Fast forward to Wednesday (a week and a half before the wedding). It was a normal evening at the Koonless household and we opted for a trip to the dog park with the poms. Arnold was gleefully running around smelling every dog and playing ball. Everything was going great until a misbehaving dog tackled our sweet little AP and he let out a supersonic sound that seemed to continue for an eternity. It was clear that he was not ok so we packed it up and headed to the emergency vet. It was a long night full of xrays, evaluating, waiting, a very distracted trip to sushi for dinner, and an eventual overnight stay for Arnold in the hospital for observation. He came out the next day looking very forlorn and not able to walk. It was strict 72 hours crate rest for the fluffy little pup and a few long days for me.

I look pretty much how I felt at this point. Exhausted.

My favorite sushi...note to self, need to make a return trip soon under different circumstances.

Luckily, AP is the laziest pomeranian on the planet so he didn't have to spend much time in his crate...he snuggled up on the couch with us 99% of the time. It was a long few days full of anxiety and nerves waiting to see if he was going to show any signs of improvement. All I could hear were the vets words, MRI, more xrays, nerve damage, vet students... My poor mom took the wrath of my anxiety over Arnold but we managed to power through and get A LOT of wedding stuff done in the midst of all the drama. I am happy to report that before leaving for our honeymoon he was much better and now that we are back he is like a new dog. I think he lost a few needed pounds and has a spunk like I haven't seen from him in a long time! PHEW!

Leading up to the big day it was a frenzy of present wrapping, table number assembly, in room gift bags assembly, program printing, finalizing music, finishing the seating chart, dessert box assembly, and about 100 other things. Friday, while the guys golfed, Allison, Derry, my mom and I pretty much worked and ran errands non stop. Somehow I managed to squeeze in a shower before the rehearsal dinner and arrive right on schedule. I will have to say, we stayed on schedule with EVERYTHING over the weekend. Pretty remarkable given all of the moving parts. There are so many people to thank for making this all happen...stay tuned.

Nope, still not to the wedding. FIRST, you have to hear about the week leading up some more. Monday, the guests began arriving. Lynne, Hot, and Cayce all came over for some drinks and Chinese take out. They were blessed with gorgeous weather and it was great to get to visit with them so early in the week.

Lynne, Hot, and Cayce

Tuesday-my wonderful EC1 (work) friends took me out from some drinks and appetizers. It was so nice to just kick back an relax after my last day of work. The only downfall, it was overly hot in SF and no bars/restaurants had a/c!

Wednesday-BBQ at our house! I think we ended up with about 20 people in the house for some burgers and hot dogs. While I was pretty tired from the night before, I highly recommend doing something like this. It makes the entire wedding so nice to be able to see people multiple times and actually visit with your guests.

The ladies of the family.

Thursday-Napa!! This was my bachelorette party and my mom also organized a bus of 20 people to head up. We all met up at Gloria for some bubbles before taking off on our separate Napa adventures. It was such a great day!'

Friday-I spoke to this above...errands, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and karaoke!! Once again, so nice to be able to visit with our guests before the craziness of the wedding. Karaoke was so much fun and my mom literally had to pull me out the door to go home and sleep for the wedding. You see, I have a condition...it is called FOMO, or, Fear Of Missing Out. Leaving a party or event before it starts to disperse feels like a punishment. If I could be everywhere all the time I would!