Hiltz/Kaminski Wedding!

Stacey is married!!! This Saturday my good friend Stacey got married on the beaches of Traverse City, and then held a big hawaiian reception! She is one of my "cohort 9" ladies. At the reception we finally got a photo of my entire "C9" family!!!! I was so happy. All of us in this photo have grown SO close of ther past 3 years. I can't imagine my life without them!
The bride and groom enter the reception! Stacey is now a Mrs!
The table decor was so cute! Perfect for a hawaiian theme! Everyone could take home a pineapple too!
Adam and Justin enjoyed the evening and sipped on some beverages. Everyone was dressed in the hawaiian theme.
I had a dress sitting in my closet for months and I got to wear it finally! They had fresh pina coladas being made, mojitos, beer and wine. It was delicious! The reception hall had no air-conditioning and it was quite a muggy day-thus the shiny faces. We had a blast seeing everyone and catching up with my Cohort of friends. Several of us had class together for the past 3 weekends and it ended RIGHT before the reception began- whoo hoo! Another thing to celebrate- no more class this summer! Since the beginnging of our Cohort, three babies were born and a wedding was held. Congrats Stacey Kaminski!

Montana Roots

During the week of Cherry Festival my good friend Megan from Montana came to visit! She and I went to MSU together for 3 1/2 years. We had many classes together and had a lot of fun. She had never been to Michigan before, so I played tour guide for a day! I took her straight to the beach to feel Michigan sand....she's used to rock.
We spent the day basking on the beach and playing in the water. By evening we were ready for some cocktails! I took Megan to Firefly where Thursdays are 1/2 off Martini nights! We also shared some delicious appetizers including calamari and various dips :)
Megan's two friends came along-Sara and Alissa. They were a riot! Thankfully Justin was "man enough" to withstand all the estrogen for an evening (and took this picture). We had a great time sharing stories and sipping on cosmopolitans!
It was safe to say Justin was thoroughly entertained by us ladies. He enjoyed hanging out with 4 women :)
The beverage tent was the last stop for the evening. I took Megan there to get a $5 drink and an elephant ear (she had never eaten one before!). She enjoyed all that Traverse City had to offer. I'm pretty sure she will be back next summer :) There was ALOT she missed in the 3 short days she was here. I was so happy to have her here, and so excited to see her again in 3 weeks when we head out to Montana!

A week of Cherries!

Justin and I spent the week of Cherry Festival down at the open space enjoying "cherry foods" and late-night concerts by the bay. We had good weather this year, which made for huge crowds at every event!
Our favorite concert is the Beatles Tribute! It's an impersonating Beatles band that looks and sounds exactly like the real ones! People of all ages come out for this concert every year.
My friend Jessa came out to the "beverage tent" with us one night. She took a break from work to come up and visit for a few days! We had a great time people watching and hanging out.
Beverages were a steep $5 each, so we limited ourselves! It was a balmy night to hang out with friends and listen to music. The sunsets weren't too bad either. It was great just having Justin there with me this year. He hasn't been in TC for the festival in about 4 years!
Foods I must eat during Cherry Festival: Hot dog, elephant ear, Gibby's fried, and COTTON CANDY! This is my favorite, and I got a big ole' bag during the week. It's not uncommon for me to eat the entire thing in one night :) Great for my teeth too.
West Bay during the festival always looks so beautiful. Glistening, and shimmering....the sunset falls over the waves. There is a good reason why tourists from ALL over the states come up to Traverse City in the summertime :)
While I look forward to the Cherry Festival every year....it's always nice to know the tourists go home afterwards. The fact that my work parking lot was a carnival all week, and parking was impossible for 7 days is reason enough to wish away the masses :) While TC does appreciate the tourism, we also appreciate being "locals" once again.

4th of July

This year, the 4th conveniently fell on a Saturday. Mom, Justin and I packed up and headed far far away from the Cherry Festival crowds....to Empire beach :) We spent the day basking in the warm sun and splashing in lake michigan.

The National Cherry Festival began this year on the 4th. We made the trip in for dinner (mine included a large loaded baked potato) and fireworks!

People began securing their spots for the fireworks well before dark! The festival is always a good "people watching" event. We enjoyed the show while snacking on a huge bag of kettle corn :)

The fireworks were good this year, but don't hold a candle to Elk Rapids Harbor Days fireworks. We look forward to them every year. But I am the type of person who HAS to see fireworks on the 4th of July....or it's just not the same.

Justin and I spent our first 4th together in a long time(it had been a few years at least)....it was great! We sat on the breakwall (ignoring the "do not sit on rocks" sign) and watched the fiery spectacle! Happy Birthday USA.

Feels good to be qualified!

Justin and I are qualified for a home loan!!! We sat down with a mortgage officer at northwestern bank on Wednesday. She crunched a few numbers for us, and showed us how HIGH our credit scores really are....and qualified us for a home loan!! This is all very exciting for us! I was in shock that my credit score was in the high 700's! I guess having a credit card (and paying it off each month) really helps. Being 25 years old with NO debt of any sort also helped us too...the woman was utterly shocked :) This means Justin and I can actually look at houses now, for REAL! We rushed home and went online to find two we really like already. We plan to do some heavy "house stalking" this weekend.

It feels good to know we can truly start feeling as if we're a real engaged couple. This is a huge step for us....and the most important investment we will ever make. We're movin' on up....and out soon! Another big thing for us is that we qualify for the $8,000 tax incentive for "first time homebuyers". If we close before 2009 is over, we will get that money! Total bonus. Yay for being grown ups!