My Claytie....what a difference! There is a 1 1/2 year difference in these pictures!

Bachelor Party/Party

Mrs. Bruce's Bridal Shower

Mrs. Bruce's Bridal Shower -

My Bridal Shower cake...sooo cute!



Becky & I



Kristin & I

Bachelorette Party

This tank top says "Mrs. Bruce" in sequins!

BaChElOrEtTe PaRtY!!!!

What a fun night!! My sister, Becky threw an awesome bachelorette party! We went out to eat at Hullihans and then went on a scavenger hunt for different "lovey dovey...ohh la la" items at different stores. We played several games...and ohh yeah! I know my Claytie!! (I was quizzed!!) All of my friends brought sexy lingerie for me! I am so excited to wear it! I'm thinking that's all I need to take with on our honeymoon...and oh yeah, the 2 sex books! haha

me

Alright, it's been quite a while since I last blogged, eh? I am really going to try to turn that around.
Life since I've been home: I work NON-STOP!! Literally. Some days I work 14-15 hours. Yeah, that's right. Plus did I mention the fact that I have to wake up at 4:30am to go to work in the first place? As much as I hate working where I do, I for sure don't hate the paychecks...as they are quite fulfilling with me working so many hours! (oh yeah, I work weekends too!)

Living with my family has been pretty enjoyable...possibly because I'm never home (and I'm the one who causes all of the trouble in the first place).

Clayton and I have somewhat adjust to me being gone. I haven't seen him now today in 7 weeks and still won't see him until Thanksgiving. Honestly, I am having a really hard time with this. I HATE not being with him. This is the longest we have ever gone apart from each other. I miss his gentle touch, warm smile and embracing eyes. We have been faced with some issues of being apart (created by me), but I know that because we have such an enduring love that we will make everything work. Maybe this is a good time to kind of describe the history of Clayton and I.

We dated when we were in high school. I was a sophomore, he was a junior. That summer following I broke up with him to date someone else (for almost 2 years). Clayton and I didn't talk for one whole year. But then my senior year of high school I looked him up on the University of Iowa's webpage. Ironically there were two Clayton Bruce's. I took a guess as to which one was him and sent an email saying something really stupid about 'I don't know if you remember who I am...blah blah'. He couldn't believe the fact that I had done that. He wasn't sure if he was mad at how stupid of an email it was (asking if he remembered me...duh!!! I think we could have won the breakup of the year award!!) or happy/confused that I had contacted him.

Well he emailed me back and when he would come back in town from college, we would sometimes go out (yeah I was still dating that guy...and he didn't like this). But I was determined to go with him. The following year I went off to college at the University of Toledo. There Clayton and I talked several times and at the end of the school year I asked him if he wanted to go camping for the 4th of July. OK, may not seem like a big deal...but he ALWAYS would go out with his friends on the 4th, so being gone with some girl who broke his heart a few years back was kind of unsettling (for lack of a better word).

We went up to Minocqua, Wisconsin and stayed in his grandparents permanent summer mobile home type thingy (Clayton calls it a trailer...but I think that sounds trashy). We had the BEST time ever there! That trip was not only fun, it was so totally emotionally revealing. Oh my gosh, Clayton and I just let it all go. We talked and talked and talked, barely even slept. It was like we were at church, confessing all of our sins. We both cried and laughed, while our love grew.

We have had our fair share of trials and tribulations since that ever so memorable trip up north. But Clayton and I have something special I do believe. We know what it takes to make us work. I may mess up big time here and there, but with a love like Clayton's and a love like mine, nothing will destroy us.

I love him with all of my heart and am so excited to be marrying my best friend on December 17, 2006.

I love the life that he and I have built, I love our dogs, I love the fact that we wants/is a cowboy (ish). I love that he believes in me, that he wants me to accomplish my dreams and goals...and will stand by me the whole way through. I love that he is centered, focused, outgoing, funny, lovable, determined, seeking, grounded, smart, experienced. But most importantly, I love that he loves me...for who I am and what I was and who I will be.

Ear Piercing

Today Becky and I got our ears pierced again. I got mine double pierced...so now I have 6 holes in my ears! Yikes!

Our Georgia House

The front of the house. There are trees on both sides of the house as well as some huge whispy type plant by the mailbox...and I mean HUGE!!! taller than Clayton and about as wide as our car.


The entrance from the fenced in backyard to our fenced in privacy area. These wooden fence is 8 feet tall.











Inside the wooden fence area. Slab of concrete wiht a picnic table and above those bushes in another concrete slab just a little bit smaller than the one on the ground. Our grill is up there and chairs. To the right more (not in the picture) is another entrance door from the backyard and stairs that go up to the upper level. There is a door that connects to the inside of the house (to the familiy room) which the dogs use to go outside. When we let the dogs out they go sprinting, jump over these bushes--which are about 4 feet high) and then land and sprint out the back privacy door. It's quite a sight. It looks like they are divers on the swim team.

Pictures I took right before I left Georgia

My big boy not liking the fact that I'm on the other side of the fence as him...he's such a baby!!! (p.s. when he is laying and stretches all of the way out--arms and legs--he and I are the same height, ohh, and we both have the same wrists...he's a pretty big boy!)



Looks like Harley is smiling

Sleeping on the couch...I swore before we brought Harley home when he was a baby that I would NOT allow him to be on the couch...Opps!! But honestly, look how cute they look!!! Who in their right mind could make them move?!?! (I'm so bad at disciplining...and I've corrupted Clayton!! hehehe)

Sleeping on Mommy's bed...I woke them up. Harley and Bella Rose are the BEST of friends! Just look at them! They have NEVER once in their lives fought with each other or gotten mean. These two are the perfect match. They compliment each other so well. Bella has really (an understatment) helped Harley a TON with his seperation fear diagnosis. I honestly feel so lucky that they love each other as much as they do!!!

Clayton with our babies. Bella has the longest tounge in the world!! I miss all 3 of them soooo badly! I can't wait to get back to Georgia to be with them...yes, a realization that I have come to. I don't care where the heck I live anymore, as long as I can just be with them. They are the loves of my life!

Our Caliber...I don't think I ever posted a picture of it when we bought it. This car is the BEST family car for all 4 of us. The dogs have AMPLE room while Clayton and I can enjoy the luxuries in the front (even though half of the time, the babies come up and sit on our laps. ---for example, on the way to the airport when I was flying back to Illinois, BOTH of the dogs came up and sat on my lap, Harley like a human baby sitting on his butt with his ginormous head resting on mine sleeping, Bella with her body slung over my arm and leg with her head resting on the radio!!! What a scene! I swear these two just can't get enough of their Mommy and Daddy!!!)

Starved Rock

Hello!! I finally have found a moment to sit down and just blog!! My life has been nothing short of crazy since I've been home. I am working 12 hour days plus Saturdays and possible Sundays...yes that's right 60+ hours per week...I'm POOPED! Might I add that I have to wake up at 4:30am everyday to get to work? Yeah, it sucks! But it's good money and will hopefully pay off most of our elaborate wedding!!

Today my mom, dad, brother, and I went down to Starved Rock and hiked all over! It was some good family fun! :-)

Home Sweet Home...Illinois

I made it back to good ol' Illinois today...back to the roots. So my mom picked me up from the airport, two hours after I had landed (she was working, so it's OK). She is a car salesperson and had one of the new Mercury Milans with her. It's a nice car other than the fact that the clock is analog with just lines, you have to figure out the numbers...I hate clocks like that. I mention this to my mom and she is like "Stephanie, that's an analogue clock, the other kind is digital"...I swear!!! She thinks I'm like the dumbest person in the world! My mom is constantly trying to "teach" me things (that I learned in elementary school!!) I can already tell, this may be a long visit home.

Going Home

Just my luck...Georgia hates me! I cannot find a job anywhere! So now I am having to go back home in Illinois and work with my dad at my favorite place in the world...Rexam (ugh). I suppose I should NEVER complain about the job because of how much I make. I would just stay here in Georgia, jobless, but Clayton and I STILL have OVER $10,000 and I'll be able to make almost all of that in 3 months...thank God!

I had a flight to leave on Monday night, however, it was canceled due to bad weather, so I am not leaving on Saturday afternoon.

Our Kids

Being kissed by my second love!!!















I sit here on my couch watching our two CRAZY kids playing as if they were wild animals! Oh my gosh they are going crazy! Bella is chasing Harley, they are sprinting around our love seat, each going a different way trying to catch one another. When they finally run into the other, they both jump high in the air. Bella, our boxer is literally standing on her back legs punching Harley with her front legs (boxing). She is a master rough houser. She is so quick and agile...as is Harley, but he is almost 20 pounds heavier than her so he has a more difficult time changing his direction.

Wonderful, now Clayton has joined in the fun. All three of them are running around the couch trying to catch one another. What a sight! Oh how I love all three of them!!! (there is seriously no point in trying to keep this house clean...they all mess it up!!)

My Everything...

A Few Things On My Mind...

A Few Things On My Mind....

1. Drivers in Dublin...this is a 20,000 person town...yet EVERYONE was on the road today. Oh my gosh, they absoutley drive me nuts!!!! I thought Toledo drivers sucked, UGH these people just seem like they have no where to go!

2. The way the drivers in Dublin drove once it started raining! You would have thought we were in the middle of a hurricane today, but really it was just a sprinkle!!!

3. Complaining to a worker at the Dollar Tree today about not being able to get a job and that I have a Bachelor's degree!!! Her response was "fill out an application and I'll see what I can do, but make sure you bring it back to me".....Swell, I have a chance of getting a job at the DOLLAR STORE!!!!! (nothing against the lady...heck, she may be my only friend here!!)

4. Being excluded from family holiday plans. Having the excuse "you were going to get an invitation in the mail"...ummmm excuse me!!! I have a phone!!!! and just because I moved to fricken Georgia does not mean I am not apart of my FAMILY ANYMORE!!!!!

5. The way St. Charles has changed. Yeah, so I haven't really been home in 4 years, who cares. I grew up there for 18 years and it has changed so much that it's ridiclious! All of the stupid new stores and million dollar homes, the crowds that are everywhere!

6. The new people in STC. Yeah, the yuppies! Way to ruin a perfectly good town! Thanks! and just because you have more money than I do, doesn't mean you override everyone who is "FROM" there!! (ie: perfect example...on the bike trail, yeah people used to say "HI" to everyone, now you get all of these new people who are MEAN and won't way hi back!!!!" Each time I come home it's something new. The Geneva Commons (which I won't support by shopping there), the RIDICLIOUS neighborhood they built across the street from me....why on earth do you need a house the size of a small city?!?!? Peck Road...yeah it didn't used to EVER get driven on...now it's a major highway almost! (yeah another thing I won't support...I won't drive on it!) All of the stupid stoplights that crowd my cute little Wasco because our wonderful Mayor decided to allow all of this overpopulation (even though, when elected, there was not going to be houses built in certain areas...yeah way to make that one happen!!!)

7. Change. I HATE change. Yeah, maybe that's my whole problem here (or at least with my family and STC). I hate when the things I'm so used to have to change (even my house, my bedroom for crying out loud is a fricken guest room....not my room anymore...and who the hell every comes to visit???? except ME!!!!)

8. I want to come home so bad, but every time I do I get so upset with the way things are...I know that sounds so stupid! But I just want it to be the way it was when I grew up....including my family.

Sleeping Arrangments

Ironically when we brought Harley home on his 6th week birthday he weighed 7.1 pounds, now, exactly 2 years a 6 weeks later he weighs 71 pounds!!! When he was a baby, starting from his first night home he always slept on my chest with his neck on my neck (picture this if you will). Well his habit hasn't changed. Yes, that's right, EVERY night he sleep with his HONKING head arcoss my neck or chest. HE IS WAY TOO BIG FOR THIS!!! but try telling him that!! His sister, Bella Rose wasn't as clingy, she usually sleeps ACROSS my legs (so I can't move them). Oh yes, and by the way, she's 55 pounds.

OK, I have a QUEEN sized bed! One would think that this would be plenty big for me to sleep in...but with 126 extra pounds it's not. These two dogs (especially Harley) main goal in life is to be the CLOSEST that they can POSSIBLY be to their MOMMY!!!! Serioulsy, these dogs have some sick fetish with me! They can't be away from me (but who can blame them?!?)

Last night I awoke at some odd hour of the night to find Harley laying on his back with his legs extended in both directions (his famous sleeping pose) on top my pillows!!!! with his neck across my FACE!! and Bella snuggled up so close that her head was almost between Harley's and mine.
Seriously, I need a bigger bed or I need to invest in a doggy bed (like a real human bed) for the dogs.

You Know You're Getting Old When...

You Know You're Getting Old When...You're weekend off from everything includes...

1. Mowing your acre lot with your OWN lawn mower!! As you can see, my baby girl, Bella Rose, follows me around the whole time! I'm thinking about letting her cut the grass by herself next week.
(p.s. that lawn mower was made at Clayton's plant...where he works! Husqvarna designs and manufactures all Craftsman, Murry, Weed Eater, & Poulan Pro mowers).

2. When you find yourself recovering your own furniture!! The culprit is lounging there in the right corner...he has BEAR CLAWS!! and accidently sliced our ottomon lid, thank goodness we had bought extra fabric for such instances!!

-----> the finished product!! He did an amazing job!!!

3. You do your own laundry in your OWN washer and dryer!! I seriously did 10 loads yesterday...ugh!! (because I found TONS more of my clothes in the garage)

Yes that is still the protective coating on them...I don't want to take it off!!

Tubby's Tankboat and Seafood

Yesterday Clayton and I went to Savannah and Tybee Island. While inland in Savannah we ate at Tubby's Tankboat and Seafood, a super cute, locally owned restaurant/cafe. We sat outside on the upper desk and enjoyed music and dancing celebrations down below. I ordered a basket of fried shrimp and side salad. The house dressing was Creamy Cucumber Onion. I just had to try it! To my surprise I absoutley LOVED it! I do believe I have a new favorite dressing!

Aspen

---> Harley
Yesterday Clayton and I received a call from the breeders who we got Harley from, Ernie and Mary, an older couple. These people were the nicest people ever! They loved the Weim breed so much that when we had bought Harley they had had his blood line for 35 years. They absoutley have a passion for the Weims and only breed right before their female gets to the age of "shouldn't have puppies anymore", just so they will always have one from the same line.

Before we were able to take baby Harley home (we had to wait until he was 6 weeks, which is still a little early to be taking puppies home) we would go over and visit with Ernie, Mary, and the puppies. Ernie had been diagnosed with cancer and one day broke into a steady cry telling us about his dogs. When he was going through chemotherapy and come home the female that he had had at that time (Harley's grandma) would just come sit on his feet and just gave him all of her love (if any of you have a Weim you totally know what I'm talking about...how full of expression they are!!!) These dogs have meant a great deal to them, their children, and their grandchildren who have all received offspring of the bloodline.

For almost all of Harley's 2 years we had lived in Toledo and would frequently go visit with the family. They had kept two puppies from Harley's litter, both girls, Aspen and Anya along with their mother, Sadie. (Sadie had 12 puppies in Harley's litter and had to have a C-Section to deliever all of them). Occassionally his brothers would come and visit as well and we would have a fun day of doggie playing!

Yesterday, we received a phone call from Mary. She told us that Ernie's cancer really has him this time and that they are needing to downsize considerably in house size. Mary said that they won't be able to keep Aspen anymore and were looking for a home for her, and knows how great Clayton's and my love for Harley is and asked if we would take her. Honestly, I feel so blessed that she would even ask us this because it shows that we love our dogs so much and is recgonized by others.

Taking Aspen may cause a few problems:
1. Bella Rose and another female in HER house. When we took in Jed she had a few issues with him but quickly worked them out and became super good buds!

2. Harley and another female in HIS house. Poor boy will only have his daddy to relate to.

On the plus side, Georgia does not have regulations on how many dogs you can own (meaning you don't need a kennel lisence for more than 3 dogs). Since Clayton are looking to buy a house or property to build a house on, we've only been looking at lots that are 5+ acres. The dogs would definetly have enough area to run and be WILD!! outside of the house.

I simply feel so honored that Mary has asked us to take in Aspen. I know that this is such a hard thing for her to do, give up one of her family memebers, especially in such a sad time.

When I go home for a week in October, I'm going to drive out to Toledo and visit with them and see how Aspen takes to me and if I get positive vibes about her fitting in well with our family.

Funny though, Aspen is just as deviant as Harley. Aspen knows how to open the garage door by jumping up and hitting the button, Harley knows how to open the refrigerator and microwave!! We would definetly have our hands full...but in a fun way.

Please give me your suggestions (but bear in mind, anything is possibly if you are willing to make it happen/work).

My Mistake...

holy crap o'la.... i just ran prob 18-20 minutes and i almost died!!!!! the pavement was so hot, my feet were burning!!! i just checked the weather online and it says 99degrees, but feels like 109!!!!!...stupid me!!!

Antigua

Finally our plans for our honeymoon are finalized!!! We had been planning on going to Europe the entire time, however, with travel arrangments and time changes, and what's available through the travel agency we are not able to go anymore (so we'll have to go there for a 1 year anniversary or something).

However, we have now booked our trip to Antigua, an island by St. Thomas, the Virgin Islands, and about 800 miles away from Jamaica. http://www.jollyharbourantigua.com/ This is the website to our resort.

I'm so excited! There are so many things to do in the way of water sports, traveling, and sightseeing! I can't wait!!

We leave Chicago on December 18th in the early AM and arrive that evening and then come back home to on December 24th late in the night. We have decided that we wanted to be back for Christmas!! and time to relax and get back to Georgia before we have to get back to work.