120-126: Week Eighteen/Picture a Day for a Year

120/365: Our cherry bushes are starting to flower- so pretty! I made Jazz stop on our walk yesterday so I could take this picture. He just laid down and waited for me.

121/365: Its May Day! I had this idea yesterday to give some lovely people flowers. I took pictures of the arrangements outside today- ITS 36 DEGREES. Happy May in Minnesota. Ugh.

122/365: Dad looked at my scrapbook tonight. It makes me happy.

123/365: The view above where I was eating dinner at the Panera patio on Nicollet Mall. A beautiful May day (finally).

124/365: New sign on the employee entrance at work. I hate bad grammar and now I have to look at it EVERY DAY. Options that would make this wording better:
1. Patients enter at the front of the building
2. Patient's entry at the front of the building
3. Patient entry at the front of the building
I'm annoyed.

125/365: When I left the gym tonight, I had the windows rolled down and the sun was shining- then it started to rain! I tried to take a picture of the sprinkles on my windshield but I think I failed. Still, look at the sky that produced rain! I love sun-rain.

126/365: One of the physical therapists emailed us offering "chocolate covered strawberries on steroids". I had to see what this was so I went and got one. She got them from her husband for mother's day and the strawberries were HUGE (and tasty, of course).

#20: Wedding Fever

Last September, one of my best friends Allison married Phil Wolpers. See the wedding pictures here. Phil has turned in to part of our big friend family and I love him like a brother.

I'm excited for another best friend Jaci and Ryan to get married next. I'm excited for wedding plans and parties and dress shopping. The other day, we found a bridesmaid dress online that Jaci liked and Ryan approved of so I'm excited about that. It sparked my wedding fever to make a few inspiration boards for Jaci.

I picked out a bunch of wedding dresses I thought Jaci would like (or at least would look really good on her) and then she laughed and asked if I picked them out for her or if I was picking them out for myself... I can't help that I love weddings and secretly want to plan my own. Plus I have to admit I was surprised at the dress Jaci did chose- its beautiful and I know she'll look gorgeous in anything but it is more formal than I was expecting! I guess I'm just excited for when I get married so I can do all of the off-the-charts, not-so-ordinary ideas I have swarming around in my brain.

Anyway, here are the inspiration boards I created for Jaci this time around (I included ideal ceremony/reception sites as well). I'm excited to really start planning this summer, though they may be pushing back the wedding another year... either way, I think it'd be nice to get some ideas set in stone or at least to get her really thinking about what she wants.

Don't forget to click on the pictures to view their full size!

This board includes the dress in the color that Jaci seemed to like the most so it was my starting off point. She also originally liked a dress color called "Sangria" that was kind of a dark fuschia so I figured throwing the pink in to play would be fun.

At first I paired the apple green dress with this board (and it would work well if she prefers it) but then I realized how cool the silver dress would be with this scheme. I think it would be so cool to get married at Minnehaha Falls.

When we were looking at all the dress colors, Allison mentioned that she liked the black version. I wasn't sold at first but when I looked back, I realized how beautiful, clean and simple a black and white wedding could be. I don't know if it'd be too simple for Jaci though.

This has been my idea from the beginning (when I found out they were engaged)- using the jade pendant Ryan gave her as inspiration for everything. That brought me to succulents and perhaps one of my favorite plans so far. The midnight blue dress was another favorite color when we were browsing and I think it would fit well here.

So there you have it- four ideas for a far out wedding that I can't stop thinking about.

113-119: Week Seventeen/Picture a Day for a Year

113/365: I saw this sign outside of a boutique while I drove down Excelsior Boulevard today. I don't think I'll be shopping at that store anytime soon...

114/365: Liz went to Chutes and Ladders to play with her friends last night. When she came home she walked inside and said "I'm injured". Turns out she totally rolled her ankle and it swelled up to the size of a softball and she was in pain. I laughed a lot but only because I felt sorry for her.

115/365: I purchased these little letter cookie cutters a while ago knowing I would someday have the perfect opportunity to use them. Today is that day. A new physical therapist starts at work tomorrow so I cut out letters that say "Welcome Kelly" to put on some cupcakes. I took this picture so I can put the letters back together in this tiny tin.

116/365: Liz rolled her ankle on the playground on Sunday. This is what it looks like today. YUCK.

117/365: This is at the creepy 50s memorabilia shop "Happy Days" at EPC- Roy Rogers! Mom took the picture of me so I can show my grandpa. :)

118/365: I was attempting to channel spring with this headband. It did not work...

119/365: Another strange sign. What does this mean???

106-112: Week Sixteen/Picture a Day for a Year

106/365: Dinosaur cupcake liners = awesome. I threw these cupcakes together last minute for my grilled cheese party. I just realized that we didn't take any pictures of paninis at my party. Boo.

107/365: This is my dog. When I'm on the computer and he wants my attention, he will either put his paws all over the keyboard or lay down in such a way that blocks my view of the screen... or he'll just start gnawing on my hands so I can't type. He's too smart.

108/365: I love yellow flowers- they're the best reminder of summer there is. Sunflowers are my favorite. This is a lovely bouquet sitting on our kitchen table that will remind us there is hope when we get 3-6 inches of snow tomorrow. Ugh.

109/365: Eggs in my pocket to make them room temperature when I made more cupcakes today. Yay for my lovely apron!

110/365: I forgot to take pictures of my Easter cupcakes on this cool cupcake tree that I got from Dana but I did remember to bring it to work for our potluck to display the lovely cakes. Hopefully in the future I'll remember to use the tree for pictures!

111/365: One of my patients was talking about how he was going to Red Lobster after his appointment today and Kyle and I were jealous. The patient said "I'll bring you some biscuits" and I said no, he didn't have to but he totally did. Yum!

112/365: Mitch was very excited to introduce me to his turtle tonight. He got him when he was the size of a quarter so he had to get a quarter to compare the turtle's size now.

#19: maurices Main Street Model Contest

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I decided to enter a modeling contest.  My mom was reading the paper or a magazine the other day and mentioned this "maurices Main Street Model" contest.  I laughed about the thought of entering but then I decided to look up the contest details.  I qualified in the age range and all of the other requirements so I figured, why not?  Part of my plan now that I'm going to be home for a year longer than I expected is to try new things I wouldn't otherwise try and to push out of my comfort zone a bit.

For the contest, I had to upload a 30 second - 2 minute video that describes me.  It had to be just me, no friends, family or pets (Jazz could have made a good addition to the video but oh well).  The guidelines for this video were vague and there was no example so of course, this was the hardest thing for me to figure out.  I need specific direction.  I ended up just talking about smiling.  They wanted to get to know me in this video and I boiled it down to one thing I do every day- smile!  So it was kind of a fun video to make even though the thought of other people watching it makes me anxious.  There's just something very nerve-wracking about putting myself out there for people to see.  Here I am, out of my comfort zone.

Another entry requirement was head shots with and without make up, a full body shot from the front and full body from the side.  I enlisted my dear sunflower Abby to take pictures of me when I was in Winona last weekend.  I love photo shoots with the girls (and it was on my list of 23 Things to Do Before I Turn 24) so I was really excited.  My friend Heidi came along and we had a blast taking pictures outside my home away from home,  Lourdes Hall.  These are some of my favorite pictures from that day:

Voting goes from today (April 10) through April 24.  You can vote once a day and I would love it if you would.  :)  After this round of online voting, the top 50 contestants move on to the next round where judges (including Christopher Staub from Project Runway- a MN native) pick the top 12.  I know the top 12 get a photo shoot in their hometown (I had to write a short essay about my hometown- I won't lie, I wrote about Bloomington AND Winona) and then a maurices gift card or something.  Honestly, I'm more excited about the hometown photo shoot if I were to make it to the final 12.

Here is the link: http://www.mauricesmainstreetmodel.com/3395/mary-palin

Obviously I only want your vote if you think I deserve it.  About 550 women entered this contest so it'll be interesting to see how voting goes.  I'm excited about the possibility of winning but I'm not going to get my hopes up (too much this year has ended up the opposite of how I wanted it so I'm not going to hold my breath for this one).  Thank you in advance for your vote!!

99-105: Week Fifteen/Picture a Day for a Year

99/365: I took this while I was driving (stopped at a stoplight to be exact) but I had to take a picture of this store I noticed in Burnsville- HOT geeks! Its a computer repair store! I was so amused.

100/365: Yum yum yum- I made grilled asparagus for dinner! Asparagus is my favorite vegetable!

101/365: I bought beautiful new drawer knobs at Anthropologie to finish off my dresser drawers. This is my favorite, not anew one, and perfect in my turtle/St. Croix inspired room!

102/365: Got the cute side braid to work- I was pleased that I made it work and that my feathers were displayed as well!

103/365: Jazzle is just too cute for words sometimes.

104/365: I had a great day at work but then it was an "I need a drink" kind of night when I got home. Sometimes I really just need to move out...

105/365: I love jelly beans becuase they're easy to organize. I have a little bit of OCD.

92-98: Week Fourteen/Picture a Day for a Year

92/365: This is Ally Talley's bed that I get to sleep in when she's home for the weekend. SO MANY PILLOWS! I never think I put it back correctly (I'm sure she has some sort of order... at least I would).

93/365: Our backyard is currently a muddy mess which means the dog is too when he is done playing. This tiny pile of snow is all he has left to cool off on (he likes to sit in the snow and eat it after running around). The only thing I miss about the snow is that it kept his paws clean.

94/365: Our puppy likes to hide.

95/365: LEMON ICE AT CULVERS! Thank you spring!

96/365: This is Janelle's graduation present. I failed at wrapping but I glued the coyote/wolf on it and attached the flower so its good enough.

97/365: More lemon ice with raspberries! It makes me so happy. I'm now the Mayor of the Culver's in Savage on Foursquare. Be jealous.

98/365: We played video games at Jaci and Ryan's tonight. Nunu sat on my chest and slept for a long time while we played Tetris. It was fun!