The Coolest Front Door Ever

I WANT THIS DOOR!!! How awesome is that!

This is the house it was on it was for sale too- I tried to convince Steve to buy it for me, but no such luck! It is on the road to the reception place, so you may get to see it as well- I'll be sure to point it out.

Maker's Mark Whisky

On our way home yesterday we took a detour to Loretto, KY a small town in the middle of nowhere to visit the Maker's Mark Distillery. I was looking forward to the tour, but was surprised at the end how much I truly enjoyed it!

We found it! Seemed like it took forever on those long windy country roads...

The buildings were all painted "Bourbon Brown" with Red shutters that had the shape of their bottle carved out in them.

This is inside the fermentation room- these vats are 12 feet around and 12 feet tall! They take the cooked corn, wheat, and barley mixture and add the yeast and it sits here in this room for 3 days. Pretty nasty looking- and to top it off the tour guide had us each stick our finger into this vat and another one to taste the difference from day one to day three.

Steve and I in front of two of their stills... If you look in the glass area you can kind of see the liquor- it's crystal clear and colorless at this point (and pretty strong tasting- we got to sample this "white dog" as well as the finished product at the end of the tour).

The bourbon is stored here in these barrels for seven years where it ages and gains it's amber color.

Bottling and Labeling (we saw their printing press where they still print their labels "by hand" on an old fashioned printing press). Pretty Cool!

Dipping souvenier bottles that we purchased in the gift shop with their trademark Red wax.

Steve's turn...

The proud dippers in all our protective gear- aprons, sleeves, gloves, and saftey glasses. Our three dipped bottles are cooling over my shoulder...

A Weekend Away...

Well, just about 12 hours ago Steve and I arrived safely back home from a weekend getaway down to our favorite place, The Smokies. We left on Friday afternoon with the camper in tow and headed down south. We had a great time and it feels like we were there for so much longer than we were! The one disappointment was that we didn't get to see any Black Bears :( I guess that we were just a little too early to see them this time...

Douglas Dam- our campground was here

This picture was taken when I was standing up by the dam looking back towards the campground. We did get to see the dam running and it was amazing to see how much water came through there generating power for the area. You can see how low the water is in this picture, but I can assure you that those rocks were all underwater when the dam was running.

Steve at Cooters Garage in Gatlinburg with the General Lee. Yes, he was a Dukes of Hazzard kid... this was a lifelong dream for him :)

Speaking of being a kid... Just had to check and see how cold the water was...

A Squirrel Named...

STEVE!

For the past couple of days I have been working from home and both Steve and I noticed this little guy would come by every afternoon to munch on the corn that we have outside for the squirrels. We get a whole bunch of them that hang out on our patio everyday, but he stands out because of his hair loss (just like Steve... hence the name!) We're a bit perplexed as to how he has lost his hair, but he's still cute! Please excuse the screen in my pictures...

Easter

Steve and I had a very nice Easter this year. We were able to spend time with both of our families and ate way too much! We had brunch with my Mom and Mike at a nice country club- ate way too much and didn't eat again until around 8pm that night... Then we went and spent a few hours with Steve's family. I actually brought my camera with me and was able to catch a few pictures.

Our Niece (and flower girl in the wedding) Kelsey- What a cutie!

Kelsey and Steve's Mom Linda

Kelsey took this picture of Uncle Steve! (Love those dimples)

Aunt Carrie & Kelsey (self-portrait)

Grandma's House

This picture is the view that you see from my Grandma's house down in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Steve and I took a long weekend last weekend and flew down there to spend some quality time with my Grandma and my Dad. We flew in on Friday and flew back home on Monday afternoon. We had a great time hanging out together and showing Steve the sights of Las Cruces. It was so windy down there on Sunday that you couldn't see the mountains in the picture above when you looked outside- I took video, but can't figure out how to get the computer to read the DVD so that I can post it too. Other than that the weather was great (almost 80 when we got off the plane on Friday!!)

This weekend- Sunday to be exact is Steve's 32nd Birthday! He has to work on Saturday morning, but then we're going to go out to DC's Country Junction so that I can break in my new cowgirl boots that I got last weekend. Not sure what our plans are for Sunday yet, but I'm thinking that we'll head downtown Chicago for dinner or something! Happy Birthday honey! I just know that you're gonna love your presents! :)

For Mandy :)

Ha! How's that for a title to a post AMANDA!!! So, it's been a month since my last post- thanks for reminding me that I'm a slacker!

Anyways... What have I been up to? Well, here's a quick run down...

• Broke my middle toe on my left foot by tripping over/landing in the tool box when Steve and I were trying to hang a picture in the apartment- I think that was on Jan7th... So I was all gimpy for a couple of weeks (it's almost healed- still sore if I bend it)
• Went downtown for the day on Jan 21st to register!! We hit up Bed Bath & Beyond and Crate & Barrel. How much fun is it wandering around stores and picking out things you want people to give you!!
• Got to spend a couple of days in FREAKING COLD Minneapolis on Jan 23rd-25th for work- Woo Hoo! What fun...
• Got sick when I got home from Minneapolis and am still getting over it- I finally broke down and went to the doctor on Tuesday and got me some antibiotics to clear up the sinus infection.
• Went with my mom, Kristen, and Amanda to a Bridal Expo on Jan 27th- fun, but I didn't win anything :(

Well, I think that's about it- really not that exciting huh? I'm just looking forward to not being sick and having a good toe so that I can get my butt in shape for the wedding... SIX MONTHS TO GO FROM THIS COMING MONDAY!!!!! Yeah!