They say the first two years are the hardest....

  So it turns out, Kevin and I are the only ones who says that - then again, we say that about ANY amount of time....

Today is our 2nd Wedding Anniversary! Hooray!!

....And we have been On-The-Go ever since! What have we done since then?

- Honeymoon in New Orleans + cruise to Belize & Cozumel

- Kevin started school

- Packed up the Minneapolis House and rented it

- Bought the Minnetonka House

- Ripped out a kitchen, planned, built and installed a new one

- Remodeled a Master Bathroom

- Weekends at the cabin

- Kevin graduated from school

- Made it through another Finch's Boutique

- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando

- Kevin has surgery on his back and started a new job a week later

- Remodeled a basement...so much house work...

- Brought home a new puppy - and training him is the most challenging task yet!

...this list doesn't even seem to cover it!

Love you Kevin!
Sheesh! 2 years! Remember what a whirlwind day this was??

Looking forward to many more years!

A Gift Only a Brother Could Love

MY brother, Kyle, to be exact. As SOON as he and Heidi completed their registry at Target, we were online scoping it out - I like to buy off registries right away so I can get what I want to get and not just what is leftover.

  Since Kyle and Heidi recently moved into a new house, they had registered for all sorts of new home stuff - including a toilet seat. This struck me as particularly amusing since Kyle is pretty much the king of bathroom humor. Hey, there is nothing wrong with a good fart joke every now and then! (It just happens a bit more frequently in my family...)

  So I came up with a themed idea for Kyle and Heidi's wedding gift - and yes, it includes the toilet seat.

Step 1 of Operation Toilet Gift: Find the right box + buy the right gifts

This large high chair box will do the trick (leftover from moving...) - the toilet seat fits right on top nicely.
In addition to the toilet seat, we bought the crock pot (you know, for beans...), toilet paper holder, and corn on the cob holders from off their registry. + then we added a few more fun items...

some room refreshers for Kyle
and a potty book for Brooke (for when she ready to start training) complete with flush sounds.

Step 2 of Operation Toilet Gift: Wrap it all up in Wedding White

All wrapped up!
We used a 6pk of TP for the tank in back, reinforced that box, and bolted the seat on top.

Step 3 of Operation Toilet Gift: Add the finishing touches

a little "Just Married" TP taped to come in between the seats
open up and reach on in to pull out the gifts!
(The crock pot is in there too - they'll have to rip the big box open to get in there at the end.)
and a lovely TP card signed with love from Elisa and Kevin on top!
perfect!

Although it was kind of tricky to get in the back of the car and into the hotel reception,

it was totally worth it.

Kyle & Heidi's Wedding!

It's finally here! My brother, Kyle, and Heidi are getting married! Hooray!
Rehearsal and Groom's Dinner last night went well - fun! - now for the big show.

Kevin and I are about to jump into action:
- drop of Finch at Kevin's mom's
- get my 'hair did' (10am)
- pack up the cooler to take with us on the limo-bus later
- grab Kevin's tux, my dress, our overnight stuff, and GIFT! heh heh heh - we'll show you that later...
- to the hotel by 12noon to get ready

Here's a look at the invites, etc. I designed for the event

+ Here's a little something I've prepared for our niece Brooke - it's not every day that your mom and dad get married! so - Bride + Groom Love-Bird Nuggets! (in the wedding colors: Black, White + Pink)

Okay: Wedding photos to follow soon!

Let's begin then shall we?

Hello! We're the McBrides! And we're on the go...pretty much always.

Stats:

Kevin: Computer Networker, the cook, spontaneous

Elisa: Designer, the maker of cute things, planner/list maker

Finch: 83lb Fawn Boxer - really silly

I think it might make sense to back up a little:

Sept. 18th, 2010: Our Wedding!

Here we are on our wedding day!

We took on a lot of projects ourselves including wedding invitations that I ran through the sewing machine, arranging bouquets and boutonnieres, little shoe rosettes, bird's nest ring bearer pillow, centerpieces, table numbers just to name a few... Artists from Etsy created super cute yellow bird cake toppers, and my amazing jewelry along with a pearl and rhinestone bird hair comb. Talented friends made a lovely rosette/ribbon for our card box, and fabulous tote bags for each of our bridesmaids (and I added a fun felt hanging initial for each).

+ Let's flash back to Sept/Oct 2005 - Finch was only 8lbs when he came home!

little tiny Finch on his first day home!

family pics - out in the backyard last summer