Adios March...it's been a fun adventure.

March is over and done with. I shall never forget March 2010. It was a crazy and fun and ever-so-busy month for us and our extended family. I've decided to sit myself down and try to sort this past month out. I can already tell this will be a long post so bear with me.
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WEEK ONE:

{friends}
The month started off with hanging out with friends. My friend Brandy moved to a different state and so we spent a lot of time hanging out and cherishing the last few days that we had together. We also had one last girls night out with all 5 of us. It was fun hanging out with my girls and enjoying the fellowship and funny conversations.



WEEK TWO:

{shower 3.10}
My dear sister (in-law) Bethany got married on the 12th. Ruth and I threw her a personal shower a couple days before her big day. We had fun decorating my apartment and making it all girly. The cake I made turned out really well too (whew). We shared many laughs that night as we showered Beth with fun and playful presents. Here are a couple pictures of the glorious food. :D




{wedding 3.12}
Friday was an exciting day for the Gulbranson (and Harzell) family. I arrived at the church around noon to help the girls get ready. I had my trusty makeup apron full of my brushes and my fun makeup kits too. I enjoyed helping Beth with her hair and makeup. She looked stunning. It was a rushed process with doing the bridesmaids makeup, but we survived and I think the girls looked wonderful. The wedding was gorgeous and perfect. Simon didn't make it all the way down the aisle as the ring bearer, but he did make an effort and I have to say looked pretty swell in his suit. I love my kid. The reception was kind of a blur as we were chasing after our little one the whole evening. I think next time we go to a family wedding, we'll hire a babysitter to come with us to watch our kid(s) so we don't miss everything. Whew, where we ever exhausted that night when we got home - who knew chasing after a 19 month old could be such a workout (especially in heals). ;)





**All of these wedding pictures are courtesy of Abigail Stranz (and her sister Sarah). They did a wonderful job - check out Abby's website: http://www.wix.com/Abbiegirl/BeautifulMoments

THIRD WEEK:

{family drama far, far away 3.17}
My little brother Josiah (12 yrs) broke his left clavicle while riding his bike. My dear mom has gone 26 years without any of her kids braking a bone. Leave it to Josiah to break that record (haha, no pun intended). ;) It's hard living so far away when stuff like this happens. You just want to give the kid a hug (side hug in his case) and pamper and make him feel better. Poor little guy...lol, I say little, but really he's almost as tall as I am. Gah!

{baby 3.19}
This week was also a fun week for the Gulbranson family. Peter's older brother, Matt and his wife Jackie had their first baby on the 19th (one week after the wedding). Jackie should get an award for not having the baby the week before (we were all holding our breath and crossing our fingers that she would wait until after the wedding so they wouldn't have to miss it). Penelope Danger Gulbranson was born on a Friday, with a beautiful head of hair and a beautiful spirit. We went to visit them at the hospital that next day. She's such a gorgeous little baby and I can't wait to watch her grow up...and I get to spoil her too, 'cause I'm an AUNT!! :D Peter and I are both excited to be Aunt and Uncle for the very first time.


{house hunting 3.20}
Peter and I met with our Realtor on Saturday to look at a few houses...6 to be exact. This was our first experience with the whole house-buying process (other then applying and getting approved for a loan). We came away from the experience a little dazed and depressed. It's tough being on a budget and feeling like you're settling for less then you want. But that's how it has to be sometimes. Someday... ;) We didn't really find any that we were comfortable with (they all had characteristics that we liked, but sadly the bad outweighed the good).

FORTH WEEK:

This week was full of random things that kept us busy. We babysat for friends, I finalized and sent out my music CDs (see emotional music post), worked out, had a date with my husband, got my hair cut - AHH!!, saw an additional 4 houses (more on that later) and had dinner with Matt and Jackie (Shane and Jess) and baby Penelope (among other things that would simply bore you to tears).

{house hunting take two - 3.27}
So like I stated above we saw an additional 4 houses on Saturday. We were only impressed with one of the houses. It started off quite awkward as the whole family was there when we stepped in to see the house, and to make matters worse they didn't speak English. Awkward! We did end up poking our heads into each room to get an idea as to what the layout was like and how big the rooms were, even though there were people napping (including a brand new baby). We pretty much liked everything about the house (layout, neighborhood, landscape, lawn, garage and shed). The only downside was that they were in the process of fixing the roof. There was some pretty serious damage done to it and even though they're fixing it, it's made us a little nervous about going forward with putting in an offer. It's also a short sale house, so it could take quite some time before we could close on it (between that and the roof problem). It's all in God's hands and I know that if this isn't the house for us, then He has a better one waiting for us. :)

FIFTH WEEK:

{miscellaneous stuff 3.29-31}
Monday, we went and looked at the house again (along with another possible house that we were thinking of - that house needed too much work though, and we decided that it wasn't worth it). Tuesday, I worked out and had Small Group at our place, and Wednesday, I called my little brother, Matthew who turned 22 that day to wish him a happy birthday. I'm blown away at how fast my younger siblings are growing up. Crazy!

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So yeah, that was March 2010. We went through the whole month without a single snow flake, which is crazy because March tends to be the snowiest month of all here in MN. Apparently we haven't gone without snow in March for 130 years - pretty impressive, right?! I'm looking forward to April where the weather will be gorgeous, the grass will be greener and the trees will start to bud at a faster rate. Adios March, Hola April.