Wedding Weekend Extravaganza

We had two (Count 'em, 2!) weddings this weekend.  It was such a bummer because we REALLY wanted to go to both weddings.  But I guess the positive side is that they were both in the same town so we were able to attend both instead of picking only one.  (That would have been awful.)

The first wedding's ceremony was at 3 pm.  It was Claire and Matt's wedding. 

The priest made sure to mention that he thought Italians cried a lot until he met this Irish family.  :)

But the tears only last for a short period before it was total jubilation for everyone involved, especially the gorgeous bride.  Look at how happy she is!!

Their photographer was a Photo Ninja.  (He called himself this.)  But he really was.  He would sneak all over the place and HI-YAH, awesome picture taken.  You never knew where he was but he was everywhere.  He did an excellent job. 

Claire and Matt went to Harry's Chocolate Shop after their wedding for professional pictures BEHIND THE BAR! No fair! How awesome is that? Their pictures turned out amazing. 

That's why he's the photo ninja and I'm.........

...NOT.  Travis accidently danced into my picture while I was trying to take it.  Oops.  But that's why the photo ninja got the big bucks and I have a blog read by 8.9 people a week. :)

The second wedding was at 6:30 pm.  It was Traci and Matt's wedding (hey, two Matts getting married the same day! Just realized that). 

Traci is a friend from college and her bridesmaids were all friends from college too.  Holly, Ashley and Bridget (or Briggie, as we like to say).  They really were happy for her as opposed to the looks on their faces at this point. :)

I LOVE this church where they got married.  It's St. Mary's downtown Lafayette.  It's so beautiful and the steps leading up to the church are so cool.  Hell for the girls in heels though. 

Another gorgeous bride!!!

Traci's reception was immediately following at the Holiday Inn Select so we had dinner there.  Mandy, Angela and Krissi were on one side of our table. 

Andrew, me, Maria and Mike were on the other side.  We had so much fun reliving old college memories, most of which I can't repeat here.  Andrew was impressed with our 118 Fowler Shenanigans. 

Speaking of, I asked Holly's mom if she knew (since both ceremonies were Catholic weddings) if I could take communion twice in one day (this is something I should know but I'm a bad Catholic).  She said, "Honey, if the stories are true, you need all the communion you can get."  BURN!

We ate dinner at Traci's wedding and then headed back over to Claire's reception which had started at the same time as Traci's ceremony.  We missed all the beginning stuff but we did not miss the Renegade dance.  You can see almost the entire Neal family doing the Renegade dance in this picture.

Annnnddd there's the other two.  Just couldn't fit them all into the picture. :)  This is a dance that Andrew started back in college and it became a phenomenon.  Now you might ask, "Where is Andrew in this picture?" Well apparently he wasn't drunk enough.  I didn't go out there either because I was STONE. COLD. SOBER.  It's a really hard dance to do when sober.  Your legs just won't twist in those directions.  :)

Another popular dance we usually get to see ONLY at the Indy 500, is "The Agitator."

  It is one of my favorite things so I was very happy to see it twice in one year.  He gets SO in to it! It's awesome! Star of the dance floor!

Here is Jen doing an Irish jig? I'm not really sure.  But then again, I didn't know what this was either! I guess just PURE AWESOMENESS.  Talk about a dance party reception.  Lots and lots of dancing going on. 

Andrew and I near the end of the night.  Again, did I mention I'm sober among some of the drunkest people I've been around in awhile??? :)

Case in point.

Just kidding! They were definitely middle of the pack for the amount of drunkeness I saw.  Very entertaining either way. :)

Here are the boys after the reception (Andrew, Jake, Aaron, and Travis).

I took a picture of this after the reception.  I yelled at Andrew to stop leaving his toenail clippings everywhere.  So gross. :)

Here's a picture of Mandy looking sweet next to a flower stuck into a straw which is stuck into a Budweiser can.  That's how classy Harry's is now.   Just kidding.  Not classy at all. 

Angela and I at Harry's.  I believe this was about 1:30 am.  Did I mention the sober thing? :) Haha!

Here are the 118 Fowler Girls at the table at Harry's.  I like Mandy's style.  Too bad Andrew cut her out of the picture. :(

The weddings were a huge success and we got to go to both even though we wished we could spend more time at each one.  Oh well, it all worked out fine and I got to shuttle everyone around which was nice (for them :). 

On Sunday, we got to play with Wyatt.  Just thought I'd add a little baby cuteness to the post.  Wyatt has a bike helmet for when he goes on rides with mom.  SO CUTE! He doesn't like it so much. 
But don't worry Wyatt.  You're new best friend is coming soon shortly after your first birthday!!  He'll be what makes all the soberness worthwhile!! Can't wait! :)

I Went To Jail!

This past Thursday, the MDA finally locked me up for "good".  It was really fun.  The off-duty firefighter came to pick me up, handcuffs in hand, ready to haul me away. 

The jail was in the Morris Bistro. They had bread and water (appetizers and drinks) to munch on while you were there filling out your bail cards.

When you go in, you meet with the judge.  The judge asked how I plead to crimes of helping raise money for the MDA so I said, "Guilty."  Then she said you can put money in the jar to change your bail amount.  Thinking well I certainly don't have $1300 raised yet, I added my last $4 out of my pocket to the jar.  She said, "IT IS ILLEGAL TO BRIBE A JUDGE. YOUR BAIL IS NOW $1304.  YOU ARE NOW SENTENCED TO HARD TIME IN JAIL."  Scared the crap out of me! But it was pretty funny.  They totally got me.

 

Then they took me to the "jail" to have my picture taken.

 Then when I was done, they announced how much money I had raised to the whole room. 

At this point, I have raised $1,010!!! WOW!!! Can you believe that?? It's all thanks to you guys for donating!! I still have some time to collect donations.  I believe I have 40 more days to collect money online.  If I make it to $1,300 (only $290 to go!), then they give me a 3 day/2 night hotel package to one of over 50 locations across the United States.  Sweet!! I'm hoping I can raise that much so Andrew and I can use that for a Babymoon! We're so close so spread the word!!

Thanks again to all who donated! I can't believe I raised so much. I was the 16th highest "bailraiser" out of around 100 people! NICE!

The MDA was really appreciative of all the hard work.  It's a wonderful cause so I'm glad that you guys could support me in doing this.  THANKS SO MUCH ONE MORE TIME!!

Happy Birthday to Mom and Isabel!

July 22nd is both my mom and my niece's birthday.  Isabel is 6 and my mom is... great! :)

Happy Birthday, birthday girls!

Andrew's Birthday Weekend and Birthday

Over the weekend, we hosted a party in honor of Andrew turning 30.  We also told our family members that we would reveal the sex of our baby that day too.  We put baby blue colored balloons on the door so that people would know the gender as soon as they arrived.  As it turns out, only mom and mom-in-law got it.  Whoops!  It was still really exciting to tell everyone. 

The weekend started when Erin and Doug came into town.  We ate dinner at Outback on Friday night.  Andrew accidentally forgot his wallet.  He ordered a beer and the waitress needed to see an ID.  Erin and I start defending him showing her our ID's saying he's got to be our age. We swear.  Plus it's his birthday next week. He's going to turn 30. 

She ended up believing us and serving him the beer, along with a birthday dessert.

That was YUMMY! There was a spoon fight at the end over who got the last bite.  Very intense!

Then on Saturday we had the birthday party cookout and baby's gender revealing.  Here's the cake that I almost screwed up.  Double layer cakes are kinda hard when you don't know what you're doing.  But I iced the crap out of it and you couldn't tell where I screwed up.  It was perfect.

My family has 6 July birthdays so we celebrated them all at once.  That's why Isabel is taking liberties with the cake.  Isabel is not really 30. :)

Later we opened gifts.  I got Andrew a SWEET Chicago Bear outfit.  Too bad it shrunk in the gift bag.

Then we played a few heated games of Bags or Cornhole or whatever you want to call it.  Brian looks like he's doing something naughty in that picture. 

So I hope Andrew enjoyed all of his birthday celebrations.  He was somewhat looking forward to turning 30. (Hell, if the man isn't afraid to play hockey without knowing how to skate, why would he be afraid of the age of 30???)

Happy Happy HAPPY 30th Birthday to my dear Drewfus!

20 Weeks: It's a WHAT?

TWENTY WEEKS! I'm half way done with this pregnancy! Can you believe that? Where has the time gone??

I'm starting to feel little movements every once in awhile.  One time was especially clear when Andrew got done drumming, I felt a distinct kick.  Awww, our little one is ready to pick up a set of sticks! :)

Babycenter.com: Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel- the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)

He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Fabulous! Would you like to talk more about baby poop, or would you like to hear about the ultra sound?

There's our little kiddo.  I think that's a head and a hand.  They didn't label anything so I wasn't quite sure when I got home. 

The nurse started the ultrasound.  She pressed the little device against my belly and we got the see the baby instantly again.  She switched back over to the data screen and typed a few measurements in.  Andrew noticed the screen said Female.  He thought to himself, "Oh wow! It's a girl!" Then the nurse goes back to the ultrasound, moved the device around a little bit and says, "Well he's definitely all boy, and he's not shy about it."  Andrew goes, "Wait, WHAT?" Apparently the data he was looking at on the prior screen was MY data.  I would happen to be that female. 

So YES READERS, WE ARE HAVING A BOY!

Andrew is the last male Thornburg in his family.  The rest of the grandkids are girls.  So now I guess you could say the pressure is off! :) We're having a boy.  The Thornburg name LIVES ON! How exciting!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my dad's 59th birthday.  Let's wish him a happy birthday by posting funny pictures of him on my blog!! (Poor dad.)

This picture is from Vegas. Lots of fun had on this day!

This is my dad playing with the band Suckerpunch at the Pub.  He always plays Gloria. Well now he plays the birthday version.  :)

I better start thinking for next year! Next year's a big one!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Reminders For My Faithful Readers

Hey Readers!  My billions of readers (Morganism)!

There are a couple things left that you might still need to do.

First one, ANSWER THE SURVEY!!
Do you think Baby T is a boy or a girl? Take a guess! Answer now! You only have a couple days left!
CLICKY CLICKY HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY!!

Second request, please donate to the MDA! Don't forget! It's a wonderful cause and every little bit helps! Please please please! CLICK HERE TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE!!
 July 22nd is the deadline!! Don't forget!

Maybe Brian can convince you. 

Mowing Down MC's Like I'm Mowing a Lawn

(For those of you who are not lifetime white boy rap fans, that line was a reference from a Beastie Boy song. $5 to the first person who can figure out the song!)

This weekend, I got to be an MC! A master of ceremonies! WHAT? Yes, I was asked to be the MC for the county fair queen contest back home. How did I get involved in this? Well, 9 years ago, I was in this very same pageant and I won 1st runner up. The following year, they allowed me to speak, to give a farewell speech of sorts (what were they thinking?) and I KILLED! I almost got a standing ovation for making a joke about how cold it was in the building (That's not really a Morganism because I said "almost" so shush!).  So when the long-time pageant announcer retired, someone thought of me to host pageant. They asked. I said yes. The rest is history!

I had my mom take pictures and videos because I'm such a geek and I was incredibly excited about this opportunity. 

The Hostess with the Mostest

The girls posing after their dance routine. (There is no talent portion in this pageant so this kind of serves as everyone's talent portion all at once.  That way, the audience doesn't have to sit through 9 different versions of the song "Memories".)

This is Darcy, the entertainment.  She sang songs so I didn't have to stall toooooo much.  She won Miss Congeniality a few years ago I believe. 

This is the winner of the 2009 pageant.  During the pageant, the queen gets to sit on one side of the stage and do a lot of clapping. 

Because, my dear folks, when I MC-ed this event, I had to stall while the girls changed from dance gear to professional wear to formal wear.  I had to stall a LOT.  I had to stall so much so that at one point during the pageant, I decided to start naming off sponsors.  There were only 7 big time sponsors so to make it take longer, I made the audience clap for each one.
"The first sponsor this evening is Castongia's.  Let's give them a round of applause.  The second sponsor this evening is The Doghouse.  Thank you, Doghouse!"
It was awkward.  And AWESOME!! :) Took up enough time to get me through!

During the professional wear portion, the girls had to answer an impromptu question. The girl in the picture won first runner up.  Most of the girls did fine.  One girl went all Debbie Downer on us and started talking about her parents divorce.  Not fine.  She did not win.  Wahh wahhhhhhh. :(

Here are the girls in their evening gowns.  Really really pretty dresses this year.  The crowd actually gasped at the blue sequined dress 5 girls from the left (that is NOT a Morganism, they really did. The audience was REALLY in to this pageant. It was like a firework show with the oohs and aahs, too funny).  The dress was gorgeous and it looked great on her.  I think it helped her win 2nd runner up actually.

This is the former queen giving her farewell speech.  Hey queen, guess what? Some day nine years from now, you may be standing up on that stage again!! (If you're lucky! I may not want to give it up! Ha!)

And finally, here are your winners.  The tall girl (she is SOOOO tall) won Miss Congeniality.  Blue sequins was 2nd runner up.  The queen is the third.  The winner of first runner up is on the end on the right.  She comes from a long line of Fair Queen court sisters and cousins.  Seriously.  I can count at least 5.  Those girls were meant to be in pageants, I think. 

Now it's time to show you the video.  I edited it to show the important parts.  Listen closely to how I say my name at the beginning.  Yikes.  I was really nervous and out of breath at this point so my name came out in a really sing-songy voice.  Mor-GAN Kei-PER Thorn-BURG.  Yowza.   Enjoy. 






Now even with all the flubs and the ridiculous stalling practices, they still asked me if I would do it next year.  I think MC Thornbizzle might have to show up for 2011! Yes yes y'all and ya don't stop! :)

If you'd like to read the hometown paper's review of the pageant, it can be found HERE.   I'm mentioned TWICE! Whee!!