Some Events as of Late

Hello all. Here's a nice little update. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun! We all went over to my aunt Julie's for a yummy din din. We hung out there pretty much all day, which is fun. I went to the park with my two cousins. Yes, the three of us, 15, 17, and 22, were playing at the park! Chris had fun playing football with my brothers and cousin Ryan. I love getting together with all my family! Then Chris and I went to say hello to his mom and sistersin Austin. We first went to his mom Linda's, then later went to his sister Katie's place. It was fun, we hung out with her and talked for quite a while. She's taking good care of Chris' cat Nugs, except he has gained weight since Chris last had him, hahah, but that must just mean his is loved.

I cannot remember which day it was....but Gavin was our first sleepover at our townhome. He slept over on the couch! We watched some episodes of The Office and just hung out. Well, here are some picutres....

This is what Chris, Gavin, and I did when he came over, sorry mom, I let Gavin do whatever he wants when he comes over...





























Just Kidding!!!! It's sparkling apple juice!!!! yum yum.

Chris and I. It took a while to get Chris to cooperate....












































And lastly, Gavin practicing for his sleepover...

Happy Birthday Mama!!!

It's my Mama's birthday!!!!! I love you mom and I hope you have a wonderful day!!! Yay, you get to eat turkey and have a birthday all on the same day!!! Whoop!
Here's a pic. of my beautiful mama.

One Month!

It's our one month anniversary! I cannot believe it's already been a month. One month ago today we were all out dancin' it up at the reception! Times goes sooooo fast! Chris came home from school tonight and he had in his hand this pretty peach rose for me. I thought that was the sweetest thing ever :) I really love my husband :) It's feeling good to be here in our townhome. It's so much better now that everything is put away and situated. It feels like a home and not a storage unit now. The furniture completes everything and it's all very cozy now. Chris and I have been able to find bit and pieces of time together to hang out inbetween both our jobs and his huge job of school. Last night was fun, we got to watch a movie, Failure To Launch. Chris stayed awake for the whole thing! Tonight we went to McDonalds, after I got the flower, and we got pop and sat and chatted for a while. It was nice and fun. Now Chris is working on homework and I am watching "Little People" and thinking about getting ready for bed so I can maybe get up at 5:45ish with less pain. Well, that's my little update. I am just very thankful today for how blessed my life is. I have a wonderful husband that I love with all my heart, an amazing family, amazing friends, a good job, and a home! I also have the hope and joy of Jesus Christ in my life which makes all of my life worthwhile and purposeful. I hope you all have a good holiday!!! God bless. Love, Brianna.

Senior Year Survey

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be.

1. Who was your best friend?-Heather and I were “attached at the hip” but I had lots of great friends! (I just kept Hut's anwer, but changed the names :)
Also, Cara, Brita, Katie, Elizabeth, and Meghan F.

2.What sports did u play??- Gymnastics 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and Volleyball 10th grade.

3. What kind of car did you drive?-Green Toyota Corolla, but only for my senior year, I loved that car....it was friend's with Hut's car.

4. It's Friday night, where were you?-Baker Square, movie or at someones house doing randomness with some Phish Food Ice cream or Flips! (Keeping Hut's answer again)

5. Were you a party animal?-no never

6. Were you considered a flirt?-Hahah, no. Although Brita would probably harrass me for a certain year in band when I sat next to a flirt, heehee.

7. Ever skip school?-Um, no actually.

8. Were you a nerd?-Nah. I did my homework though.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?-no

11. Can you sing the fight song?-Yeah, I may get some words switched around but I got the jist of it and I will never for get the tune having played it a million times in band. Go Panthers! (Hut's answer)

12. Who was your favorite teacher?-My senior year?..... Mr. Mollie, Mrs. Picker, Mrs. Carroll.

13. Favorite class?-Ceramics with Heather! I loved that class. Also, Creative Writing, it was a tough class for me, but I learned a ton.

14. What was your school's full name?:-Century High School

15. School mascot?-A Panther

16. Did you go to Prom?-Yep. I remember sitting on the floor in the hallway at lunch time discussing with my friends as to whether or not we should all go together. We decided we should, so....we all went together, it was a lot of fun!

17. If you could go back and do it over, would you?- No, but I did really like highschool, looking back, I appreciate it more. But it's really a time that I'll remember spending lots of time with friends and making a lot of memories.

18. What do you remember most about graduation?- I remember having to meet and line up in the volleyball center and they played us a song that was supposed to be meaningful, but it was to echo-y and I couldn't pick up the words, so I don't know what the song was about. I also remmber the practice at RCTC and then being glad we ended up having it outside. I also remmeber when Lane Trisko got up to the front, he took out a camera and took a picture of the audience,hehee,

19. Favorite memory of your Senior Year?-Oh, everything, being with my friends, prom, band stuff, teacher aiding with Heather......("Whaaaat's thissss" ***looks at pile of mail***) ahhh!

20. Where were you on senior skip day?-In school!

21. Did you have a job your senior year?-Culvers!

22. Where did you go most often for lunch?-Café of the Century, sitting on the floor in the hallway near the painting of people dancing I do believe with Heather, Meghan, Brita, and Katie...was there someone else too?

23. What did you do after graduation?-We had the all night senior party!

24. When did you graduate?-2002

25. Who was your Senior homecoming date?-Heather, Brita, Katie, and Kelli

26. Are you going to your ten year reunion?-If my friends go I guess maybe.

27. Who was your home room teacher?-I don't think we had that.

28. Who will repost this after you?-Mmm, probably no one.

30. Who was President of your class??-I have no idea. sad huh. maybe yo momma.

Our Townhome!

Here are some before and after pictures of our townhome. We started work on it the end of August, and now about 2.5 months later, it looks like a place we're proud to call our own. It's been a lot of work and we've had a ton of help. A lot of what you see is the results of wedding gifts from all our great family and friends! Thanks to everyone who helped us make a cozy lil' home!

THE KITCHEN BEFORE....






































THE KITCHEN AFTER...
We painted over the green ivy, painted one wall
green and added a table and a bunch more stuff
and accented with dark red!















THE LITTLE BATHROOM BEFORE...










THE LITTLE BATHROOM AFTER...
We took off the wallpaper and painted
it bright blue with white accessories.



















THE LIVING ROOM BEFORE...














THE LIVING ROOM AFTER...
We got a new couch, love seat, endtables, and entertainment center.
We painted one wall green too!


































































THE OFFICE BEFORE...



















THE OFFICE AFTER...
We painted over the purple with
"Fresh Linen" and added 2 desks.
I still need to organize it a bit.














THE BATHROOM BEFORE...



















THE BATHROOM AFTER...
I pained it "Fluffy Bisquit"
added a shower curtain and towels
and such to match the colors of
teal, dark red, light brown and
dark brown.



















THE BEDROOM BEFORE...



















THE BEDROOM AFTER...
We painted the white walls a light yellowish,
added two dressers, a bed, two side tables, and such.
I really like the brown/yellow theme :)















Well, there ya have it, hope you like it! Now come on over and visit!!!

DISH IT UP!

Today Chris and I went to Dish It Up. What is that you ask? Well, I will tell you. Dish It Up is a business near Chateau Theatres in Roch. You go there and make food. It's really really cool. You get an apron and hat and then go around the place to different stations where the food is set up for you to make. It's like a cooking show were all the ingredients are in cute little cups and such. You put everything together with the detailed instructions they give you to follow. It starts with telling you what you need. So you go to a supply shelf and get like a container, bowl, and spatula. Then you follow the instructions and mix the stuff together. Then you label it and it gives you instructions on how to bake it once you get home, then move on to the next station! We got to make 8 different meals and seriously, they're huge. This food will last us FOREVER. We got a gift certificate for this place from the Erickson side as a shower present. It ended up being a perfect gift, because we could sure use a lot of food at no cost to us! So, we greaty thank everyone who contributed to this wonderful gift to us! We had a blast making the food, it was something new and different to do together and we really loved our first meal we tried tonight. Thank you!!! Here are some pictures from our night. I forgot my camera so I have no pics from Dish It Up, but here's what I got......

Our massive food collection














Tonight's Supper!














Yum yum.














Our freezer before......














Our freezer afterwards!!!














Our BBQ Chicken Calzone, very yummy.















Chris and I eating our calzones!

THE WEDDING!!!

This will be way too long if I say everything about this day, so I'll try to keep it short.
My wedding day was absolutely perfect. It could not have been any better. Everyone we love was there and all the planning and everyone's help made the day so beautiful and so memorable. I don't think I've ever had more fun than I did on that day. It was SO much fun!!!! I wanna re-do the day over and over again. It felt so important and so special and I got to marry my best friend!!!
I guess I'll start with walking down the aisle... It was fun. My dad laughed at me because he said I giggled a lot on the way down. It was just so cool and so fun and emotional, I guess it made me giggle. It was crazy to see everyone looking at me. I tried to take it all in, but it just went too fast. I saw Chris and I was very excited to be up there in front next to him. He looked sooo soo handsome! oofdah :) It was wonderful walking down with my daddy and having him and Chris hug and give me away to Chris. Then before I knew it, Brice and Megan were singing Hallowed. I almost started crying at that point because that song is so meaningful to me and then to hear my cousin and my brother sing and play guitar made it so much more meaningful. They did a fabulous job. Brice says he got off key at some point and this and that, but all I heard was awesomeness.
Then I think Brad and Julie were next, they read three bible verses that we picked out. Next, Aaron spoke. I really liked his message. He made it simple, yet important, and made it personal to us. He even made us and the audience laugh here and there. We said the vows, which was so awesome. I have heard people do vows so many times, in real life, on TV, in movies, and now I finally got to say all those words. When Chris was saying the vows to me, I could tell by the way he looked at me that he really meant them and was saying it right to me. I loved that part. I also liked saying it to him, because I meant it to! Next our moms came up at lit the two unity candles and Chris and I took those and lit the big one.
Meanwhile Katie Nordrum and my uncle Darin sang "Beautiful" a song I picked out for them. Honestly, I didn't get to appreciate their wonderful voices because I was too focused on the candles and then walking down to hug Chris' mom and my parents. However, I got many compliements and them and got to hear how great they sounded in the wedding video uncle Rick made for us. I was very excited for the next part, to be pronounced husband and wife! How fun was that! I loved to hear it. After waiting so long to be married, it's like no way! I'm Mrs. Lewis now! AHHHH. Then we got to kiss, which we had not done in like 1.5 years. So, that was also very cool. haha. Then we walked back down and hugged all the peeps in the church. Next we got to walk outside and have people blow bubbles on us! I seriously felt like a famous person walking down the sidewalk with everyone looking at us. It was so much fun! My dear sweet friends had decorated Chris' car and released balloons from the trunk when we got in the car. We waved to the peeps as Brice drove us away. We had an hour to spare, so Brice drove us to Taco Bell and we got pop. The Dietzman's followed us for a while and honked and took pictures of us! Oh how I love the Dietzies.
Next we arrived at Willow Creek Golf Course for the reception. The place looked amazing thanks to the many people who helped decorate it! We got to cut our beautiful cake and feed it to each other, fun fun. Then we were announced with the wedding party to come into the dining area. The DJ said our names and we walked on in. It was fun to eat at the head table. We weren't very hungry for some reason, but the food was really good! It was a buffet, but we got served at the head table, cuz we were special, heehee. People really liked to clinck their glasses so we had to kiss a lot, hahah. It was fun though.
Thanks to Brice, we got to watch a slide slow of Chris and I and our wedding party growing up that he and I put together. Then my Maid of Honor Cara gave her speech to me. It was very touching and hard not to cry. She is so sweet! Then she introduced Keith's speech. Keith was Chris' best man, but was in Iraq. So, he had made a CD of himself before he left and we played his speech up on the screen. It was so cool and also very touching.
Before I knew it, it was dance time. The first dance was Chris and I to "Beautiful" It was like I was in another world. I forgot everyone was watching and just had a blast dancing with my new husband. It was so so perfect. Then it was time for me and my dad to dance to "I loved her first" That was also very fun! My dad's become a pretty good dancer recently! It was very special to dance with him :) Then Chris and his mom danced. Chris told the DJ in advance to start by playing a rap song before the real, much slower, song. So the rap song comes on and Chris' mom just went right along with it. So the two of them are up there dancing their booties off while the rest of us are laughing our heads off. Wow that was sooo funny. Then the slow song came off and they finished the dance. Heehee, what goofs. I see Chris gets his moves from his mama. hehe.
Eventually a bunch of people were up dancing. We did the dollar dance, the hoeky pokey, the electric slide, and the chacha slide. We did the garter toss, which Nate Dietzman caught, and the bouquet toss, which Cara Dietzman caught! Dancing was so so so much fun, seriously the most fun night of my life. There were a bunch of people up there and it was fun to just dance around. I danced with Chris a bunch and then pretty much everyone else too, including Jensen, my 4-year old flower girl. Jensen was quite the dancer. I don't think anyone could have stopped her!!! What a sweetheart she was. She did an awesome job during the whole wedding process. I was so proud of her. It was very cute, she tried to learn the YMCA. I don't know what else to say to describe it all? It was just awesome. I got to dance with my parents, brothers, my cousins, my grandma, friends, and my husband! We were there right up until 11, when the dance was over! We left and found our way to our hotel. When we arrived we found the my aunts Susan and Julie had totally decorated our room! It was awesome. They put rose petals, kisses, candles, balloons, etc, everywhere! They are the coolest.
Our wedding day went so fast and it was so so so perfect. I was so touched by the way everyone put so much effort into helping us make it so much fun. So many people contributed to the day without expecting anything in return. It made me feel very loved to see how many people care about us. When Chris and I were driving to our hotel that night, we were going over the day in awe, talking about how perfect it was and how much fun it was, and I think Chris said it best when he said, "I realized today just how beautiful God's people are" And I thought, yeh, how true. I'm so proud of my family and friends who helped make our day so special and fun. I just saw God's love poured out on us through so many people and we were truly touched and honored.
Thank you to everyone!!!!!!!!! I love you all so much!

So, at the end of the day, I was married to my very best friend, Christopher Lewis! I couldn't be more happy. I feel so blessed and loved.

Well, make sure you keep reading on after the picutres.....there's more about our honeymoon after this!

~Mrs. Lewis.













My girls and I. Laura, Kellie, Heather, Cara, and Megan.














The Weddin' Party!














My flower girl Jensen and I
















Cuttin' the cake



















Me and my husband



















Kellie and I



















My brothers!!!



















My mama and me



















Papa and me!



















Mr. and Mrs. Lewis :)

THE HONEYMOON!!!

On October 23rd at 3:00am, Chris and I woke up to leave for the Minneapolis airport! It was hard to get up that early, especially since it was our first night in our new cozy bed. We made our way up to a place near the airport where we could park Chris' car. Before we new it we were at the airport. It went very smooth actually, I didn't get my luggage looked through like I did twice when I went to Hawaii with Heather. We ate breakfast at the airport McDonalds and then waited to get on the plane. The flight went well. It was Chris' very first time on a plane! Despite being somewhat nervous about it, he did amazingly well. I was very impressed. He wasn't a real big fan of looking out the window, but did did great. We had a layover in Memphis, Tennessee. But it all went very fast and before we knew it we were in Cancun, Mexico! We had to go through customs and such, but finally we were escorted to the "Worry-Free" people who would be taking us to our resort about 1 hour south of Cancun. It was so hot! We could feel the heat right away. It was in the mid-90s our whole trip, for the most part. It was fun looking out the window on the way there, seeing new stuff. They drive pretty crazily, but I've noticed that whenever I'm in a different country they seem to drive way more crazy then we do in America.
Finally we arrived at the Barcelo Maya Beach Resort along the Riviera Maya. Our resort was massive and beautiful. We spent the evening trying to find our way around and get settled. We went out to the ocean and just sat on the beach and enjoyed the view. We had seven days to be there so we signed up for 3 trips.
First we went to see some of the Mayan ruins. I climbed a giant old pyramid thingy, it was sweet, I could see way way out there once I got to the top. We visited a Mayan community and gave fruit to little kids and saw their houses with no walls and roofs made of leaves.
The next day we went on a shopping trip to Playa del Carmen. It was pretty awesome. It was a huge long street full of little shops. The shop owners spent all of their time trying to get us to come in their stores. We ate at a cute little restaurant and while we were eating, 3 amigo looking guys came up with little violins and said, "a song for the lady" the lady being me. So, they sang us a song in Spanish while we ate! I really like that place, so much to look at and we found some good stores that had good prices. There was this one store where the dudes would come up to us with a random piece of merchandise, hold it up to us and say, "how much would you pay for this?" We were like ummmm, uhhhhh, we'll come back later.....
The next day was our best trip yet. It was a four-wheeling trip! We four-wheeled through the jungle, through a city, to a zoo, to an underground cave and natural well (that I swam it) and back again. Chris and I were on a double one and took turns driving. It was crazy. We had to drive over rocks and bumps and such, but it was sooo cool!
We spent the rest of our trip playing mini-golf, swimming, hanging out on the beach, shopping around, finding a geicko in our room, playing pool, eating at the multiple free buffets, getting free diet coke around every corner, playin' cards, playing a giant chess game, exploring the resort, and going to some of the free shows in the giant theatre.
It's hard to explain what it was all like. All I know is that it was warm, beautiful, and unreal, like I was in a dream-land. It was a perfect honeymoon! We were, however, excited to come home because we missed our family, friends, and food like Culvers :)
Here are some pictures!!!
THE CLOUDS BELOW US!














OUR ROOM














CHRIS AND A SOMBRERO



















ON THE BEACH



















US and the CARRIBBEAN SEA














THE PYRAMID I CLIMBED!!

One Month!

I haven't updated in a month, haha.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD AND BRICE!!!!!

Today is Dad's birthday and Brice's birthday! Whoop!!!
We'll just say Dad is in his mid-40s, but Brice is going to be 20!!! Now I am not the only one in my 20s. I hope you both have a wonderful day. You are the best dad and brother a girl could have.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

PS: In case you read this Maggie, happy birthday to you too!!!!

The Best Day Ever At Work!!!

Hello all.

Well, this is amusing. I am at work. Normally work is terror, psychotic, and chaotic. There are two halls to my orthopedic floor. I am on the smaller side today. There is me, one other nurse, and the secretary. There are only 5 patients! Hahahah. This is amusing. The other side has about 6 nurses and about 18 patients. Therefore, today, I am fortunate. My head has not hurt even once today. I have been plesantly busy and occupied. As opposed to yesterday (I was on the busy hall side) when I thought my head was going to explode off my body and I have to just keep telling myself it'll get better and to suck it up and keep pushin' on.

I had 3 patients this morning, but one left, yipee, it's a good feeling when someone leaves, like you've completed something important. My patients that are left are so nice and sweet today. They are pretty comfy and happy. Wow, if only everyday was like this.

The secretary is playing Mah Jong on the computer and I'm blogging. Anyone who comes over here is like, um, wow, are you guys having fun or what?

Trust me though, I did many things before I resorted to blogging. I organized some drawers at the desk and made a little handy sheet of phone numbers and stuck them on the back of my badge: i.e. the pharmacy, the medical doctors, the catheter team, etc. Now I don't have to look all over tarnation to find the phone # I need. I also memorized the Joseph and Alfred numbers (those are the two halls I work on) But... not for long. We're getting a brand new, never used, still in construction floor on Mary Bright 8 in February! Our current unit will be "gutted out" and updated big time!! It will eventually be a new 2nd orthopedic floor. Right now our rooms are soo soo small. Orthopedics involves a lot of moving people and you need a lot of room for that. I knock stuff off trays and such daily with my hip, butt, hand, head, you name it. There's just not enough room! That's why we're all so excited for the huge rooms our patients are going to have in Mary Brigh, as well as plasma TVs, personal fridges, a couch, and ROOM TO MOVE AROUND!!!! YES!

Ok, enough about that. Also, today when the other nurse went on break, I was all alone on the Alfred side. Just me and 5 patients. hahahha. I felt so responsible! Nothing eventful happened. But I felt in charge, cooooool.
Okay, better do find something else to do, oh I see another drawer I can organize.

Bye y'alls.
Thanks for reading about my day's work :)

~~~Brianna~~~

A little bitty update.

I don't have a whole lot to say. I just had two glorious days off from work. Starting tomorrow I will work for 3 days, then one day off, then for 4. BLAH!!!! However, I'm going to go through all that so that I can have about 2.5 wks off!!!!! Yippee. I will have time to be home doing wedding stuff and not working. Then I will get married, go to Mexico, and come home and have like 2 days of freedom before I work. Ahhhhhhhh.

Yesterday, Mom and I got some things done. We bought the cake, found a place to rent some things from, finalized everything with the church, compared prices of things, and probably something else too. Later, Chris and I went to the mall and picked up my newly resized engagement ring and wedding ring! I can't wear it yet, but I'm excited to have it. We also got Chris' ring! It's so awesome, I love it.

Today, I went to lunch with Pa, went on a walk with Chris, called some peeps, then went to Gavin's football game. They beat JM!!!! YESSSSSS. Then my fam plus Gran and Gramps E. went to Culver's to eat and see Chris. heehee. After that we went to the townhome so they could see all of our painting/furniture updates. I'm so excited to live there! It'll be stange at first, not being in my house and my room, but eventually it'll feel like home too.

Now I am procrastinating my bed. Here is my dilemma:

"The Going to Bed Saga"
Written and Directed by Brianna M. Hemmer
Starring: "Night Self" and "Morning Self" played by Brianna herself.

Act I: The night before a work day

Night self: "I hate going to sleep. I want to stay up and watch cool shows like Miami Ink and Dr. 90201"

Morning self trying to break threw: "No night self, you must go to bed so that you don't feel like bawling in the morning"

Night self: "MMM......I think I don't care. It's night and I like to be awake, morning self will just have to suffer"

Act II: Work day morning, 5:45am
***alarm clock goes off***

Morning self "WAHHHH, oh why did I go to bed at 12:30?! I could have gone to bed at 10! Why oh why do I do this to myself! I wanna cry, I wanna sleep, how can this terror be upon me. Humans should not be awake this early. This is sick and wrong. Tear."

Morning self **grumbles** "I hate night self!!!" Tonight, without a doubt, I am going to bed at 10!!!!!!"

Act III: Later on that day, about 10pm

Night self "I should go to bed....nah, a good show is on, I'd rather lay in bed and be cozy and watch TV. Morning self will just have to suffer."

Morning self the next morning at 5:45am "AHHHHH, why oh why"



Well, that's that. I'll probably never change. Love you all, have a good day! I'm Ms. Hemmer for only like 15 more days!!!!!! Whoo hooo!!! Bye bye.

October

Hi eveyone. I thought I would change my backgroud. Then I realized it's the same as my mom's. I guess we have the same taste in blog styles :)

Well, I get married in 19 days! I'm excited. I have a bunch of things to do though.

We are finally done painting the townhome and we now have a new table, two desks, and a coffe table from my uncle Randy, whoop whoop, they are all very cool. I'm excited. I can't wait to put up more stuff here and there.

Hmm..what else. I work and plan stuff, that's about it. Work is hard, some days are good, some days patients make me cry, some days I feel like my head is going to explode, like when I have to do 20 things at the exact same time, and some days go really smooth. It's hard though, I hope it gets easier, I dunno though, even the peeps who've been there for 30 years sometimes look like their heads are going to explode too.

Welp, I guess I will go wait for Chris to come over so we can go buy our rings! Coooool.

See ya all later. Bye bye.

PS: I titled this October because it's one of my fav. months :)

The Erickson Side threw me a shower!

Susan and Julie threw me a church shower!