a weekend for the record books.

Its not even 7PM, and I feel like I should've been in bed hours ago. The weight of working more hours combined with other commitments have left me feeling like I haven't had a day off in weeks. Couple that with planning a wedding and shopping for Christmas and that's my life right now. I'm pooped.

I meant to blog earlier this week just to recap on what a wonderful weekend was had. Weekends like last come along once or twice a year, and I was sure to suck the marrow out of every inch while it lasted. And as quickly as a blink of an eye, it was gone. I'm so thankful that God instilled in me a love for pictures. Without that love, I would never have been able to capture the snapshots of this life.

Steph and Shaina came over on Thursday to help me bake Christmas cookies. Besides the fact the Shaina had to leave 15 minutes after arriving, the night was a success. Even after the failed attempts at frosting making and only using one cookie sheet, we ended up with these beauties...

Ever since 2007, I have had an insane love for Michael Buble. Adam bought us tickets to his concert in Grand Rapids for my birthday in November. And this past Friday, we finally were able to indulge our jazzed up appetites.

Adam bought us wonderful floor seats that made an arena filled with 12,000 people only feel like a couple hundred. What a blessing it was to discover that we were aisle seats as well! We were happy when we saw that we could leave whenever we wanted without crossing over people's laps, but we were ECSTATIC when we realized Michael Buble was coming down the aisles to see the fans! On his way back up to the stage, I reached out desperately -- yes, conjure up the image in your head: me screaming like a ten-year old getting ready to see justin bieber. holding my heart with one hand, scraping and searching for a piece of his clothing (or hair) -- to touch him. And instead of just touching him, he looked me directly in the eye and grabbed my arm. As in, HELD MY ARM. I screamed for the remainder of his walk up to the stage, but then fell into a comatose-like state. He touched me. Michael Buble just touched me.

After Adam and I each finished work on Saturday, we drove home to my parents to spend the night around the fireplace. Drinking coffee and snuggling with furry animals. Its one of our favorite places. After checking out the venue for our upcoming wedding, we went Christmas tree shopping with my parents to find the perfect 9', blue spruce, live tree. Rich with pine scents and pokey needles (that Dad will no doubtedly regret buying as he puts on the Christmas lights). We bundled in parkas and scarves, drank in cups of hot cocoa, and toured the gift shop that nestled perfectly in the southwest michigan countryside (okay, we bought a couple ornaments too!). After arriving, I was desperate for my Canon60D, but I left it in Holland. I'm so thankful that my iPhone could suffice!

isn't my mama gorgeous?

Monday hit hard. With long work hours, a daunting schedule for the week, and snow. Lots of snow. Holland received over a foot during the day on Monday, and although the soft flakes are gorgeous to look at through my sliding glass door, those flakes pair up with other flakes and create drifts and slush and then the worst...ice. I'm so thankful everyone in my family made it through our first snow storm safely. Here's to our next storm this weekend! I'm off to wedding plan and sort through Christmas presents. It's almost Friday, right?