Since I was off getting married and such, I completely forgot to blog about some pretty fun and interesting things that happened the weeks before the wedding. So, here is a (believe it or not) short version of the two weeks prior.

Couples Shower #4 (The Trolley Bus Awesomeness/Gallbladder attack)
Our very dear and awesome friends Derek & Kari threw us a “stock your bar” couples shower, Saturday the 12th. The plan was hang out at their place for some food and drinks then hit the town in a sweet ass Trolley. We did just that, hung out with some friends, ate amazing food, drank some amazing drinks, opened gifts (bar-themed related) and loaded onto the trolley heading to Star Bar. Right before we loaded up Nick started mentioning a pain he was having in his lower side/ back. Thinking it was just a pulled muscle we decided some aspirin and beer would do the trick. Halfway on the ride to Star Bar it got a little more serious, by the time we got to Star Bar we were looking for a ride to the hospital. Luckily our friend Luke lived close and was willing to shuttle us to the emergency room. To our shock and amazement we got in right away, though it took a while for a doctor to actually visit. During that time period Nick progressed to awful. He was doubled-over in pain, now nauseous and miserable. Doctor came in and determined it was one of two things: kidney stones or gallbladder issues. Morphine was given, tests were ran and three hours later the diagnosis was gallstones. The doctor advised us that it might be wise to remove the gallbladder prior to the wedding, but it was probably livable if Nick did wait. Noted. With some minor discussion and a referral to the surgeon’s office we decided to remove that gallbladder before the wedding. We arrive home around 12:30pm and in true Nick fashion wanted to find our friends and finish the couples shower. And that is what we did, we found most of them at Wellman’s Rooftop having a pretty good time. If anything, that is one memorable shower.

Gallbladder week
With the consult on Tuesday we found out that the earliest they could schedule Nick for surgery would be that Friday and even that was a stretch. Slightly bummed it wasn’t earlier, we decided still to get it done with before the wedding. Friday came and Nick’s surgery was scheduled at 1pm, we had to be there at 11am which was when the stupid tornado sirens were going off and the wind was awful. The whole trip there was kind of annoying. We sat in pre-op, he got prepped, where a nurse with a great sense of humor remarked on “his cute little legs”. However, 1pm came and they wheeled him off. I actually passed by the surgery board and saw “NL” - “Dr. Roe” - 1pm…it felt very TV Drama-ish. I sat with Deb and Paul in the waiting room until Terry showed up. He had quite a trip since he ran into all the bad weather. Around 2:30 we got an update, his gallbladder was infected and enlarged which meant they had to increase the incision which ultimately meant that the healing time would be much longer. Once he was in post-op we got to see him and it wasn’t good. Apparently his reaction to anesthesia is very similar to mine, not good. He couldn’t wake up, he had a massive headache. Eventually we got him in the car and headed to Paul and Wanda’s. Nick stayed there for the weekend because of my weird work schedule. They did an excellent job taking care of him and Terry stayed the weekend too. If you ask Nick what the worse part was he would say it was the extra gas they left in his stomach (which is normal).

Week before the wedding
Nick came home and we did some crafting, he rested up and felt pretty normal by Friday. I had appointments all week, including my final fitting, a make-up trial and hair coloring. It was a pretty busy week and to finish it off we headed to dad’s for his birthday party. It was a good time and it was good to relax with some family.

Wedding week!
This is the week of awesome. I worked Monday and Tuesday and the rest I took off, which was perfect. Nick and I still had some stupid crafting to do, we put ribbon on the menus and constructed some of the table numbers. Note to soon-to-be brides: I would say never again would I assign seating! Not only do you have to worry about the physical table numbers, the place seating cards and then the RSVPs and where to sit people…it was the most time consuming and stressful thing I did, no joke.

Wednesday: Met Kari for lunch at Gateway Market. And then hit the ground running, to do those last minute errands. That night we got everything organized for the rehearsal dinner.

Thursday: The only day during this entire wedding planning that I had a mini-meltdown. While heading to World Market I got a phone call from Mom telling me that Dee has been sick and there is a possibility that she wouldn’t be able to officiate. I was fine on the phone and once I hung up and Nick asked me what was going on I broke down. I think it was just the stress of the day. After a few conversations we came up with “plan b” and Nick and I headed to our final walk through at The Temple. The final walk through went so good, actually beyond good. It helped ease any stress I was having. Then we headed to Perry picked up the heaviest dress in the world. I never realized how big it was until I put it in my office and I had no room. That night was rehearsal. When we arrived everyone was there, yes, including our amazing officiant! And she looked great. Rehearsal went great, we got done early which meant we got to socialize a little. It was perfect. Dinner was at Centro, it was so yummy. The drinks so good, the family so awesome and our fantastical friends who I consider part of the unofficial wedding party Derek & Kari joined us. Afterwards some of us headed to Raccoon River for a little more fun. After Raccoon River Nick and I went home to make his scotcheroos and my “crack” dip for Friday. Note to soon to be brides: Thursday rehearsal are actually better, you get all day Friday to have fun and relax.
See Mom’s pictures.

Friday: What a Friday! Nick took off to downtown and I wouldn’t see him until pictures on Saturday. I woke up, got my ring cleaned, picked up a few things for spa day and then headed to The West Glenn Spa. The bridal party and moms were invited to a day a relaxation and food and it was the best ever. It was so good to hang and talk with everyone. We had the whole mani/pedi area to ourselves. Wine, water and tea were complimentary and we had quite the spread. I got a pedi, mani and one hour massage. The massage pretty much knocked me out, it was so relaxing I really couldn’t even focus afterwards, it was that good. It also was mom’s first mani/pedi and I was worried at first, there was quite a large scream when she first put her feet in the water (apparently it was too hot). After that it went real well. Note to soon to be brides: Do something like this to pamper yourself, it was amazing. That night I met up with Drea, Tia and Kari for some mexican food which was the perfect ending for the day.
See Mom’s pictures.