Better Cram This In....

Tomorrow is the last day of August and I am busy, so I figure I had better cram this post in a bit like those pesky home teachers who HAVE to come see you by midnight on the last day of any given month. I feel a little harried in that way. :) That's ok, September's New and Different is in only a couple of days, so I need to get this one done whether or not I'm completely ready!

This month there were two big "new and different" activities for me. One that I sought out and one that I didn't, but was presented to me and I went for it with gusto.

The first was the opportunity Maren and I had to volunteer with a local branch for a program called the Idaho Meth Project. This is a program that is raising awareness for the prevention of using meth, even just once. It does this by using public service announcement, fundraising, and community outreach. What an awesome deal, all by itself!

The Idaho Meth Project's latest fundraising event was a concert put on by the country artist, Josh Turner. Josh came into town on August 25th and held a concert during which all the proceeds from ticket sales went directly to the IMP, not to him. What an incredible person he must be to be willing to do a "free" concert.

Maren and I didn't get to meet him as we were selling tickets in the ticket booth and roaming the field making people put out their cigarettes, but we got to watch! And holy cow, I am here to tell you... that man is amazingly hot! Wow! I think we got about 15 feet from him and oh... my.... :) Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to have cameras as volunteers, but I took one before we left:

Don't mind the violently green shirts. People had to be able to tell us apart from the regular patrons.

And Janna, Maren's sister, took one while we were there with HER camera:

(Photo coming soon)

After the concert, we had to stick around and kick people out of the stadium so they could finish tearing down the set. All-in-all, it was a great experience. We got to help out a great cause and got to watch Mr. Hottness Cowboy Crooner Extraordinaire! Whoo hoo!

The next day, my mom, her friend and I all headed down to Utah to help my sister, Melissa. And this is the 2nd New and Different I hadn't really expected, but did it with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. See, Melissa is 24 and got engaged back at the end of July. It's hard for me to think about my sister being all grown up and getting married because I perpetually think of her as about 13. But, she asked me to be her Maid-of-Honor (shouldn't I technically be a Matron at this point? Oh well.) and as the official duty of MoH and Big Sis, I couldn't NOT go down to help shop for wedding dresses.

The first night we were there, we went into a couture wedding gown shop just to see what she would like and she fell in love with one. I'm not allowed to show pictures of her 3 favorites, btw, by penalty of death. :( But there were plenty that she thought were mediocre.

You can see the fear on her face. She's never tried on wedding dresses before.

But she got into the swing of things pretty quickly.

Sister is so "selly"!

The next day, again with the dress shopping... for hours... at David's Bridal where she found 2 of her favorites. One of which, I must admit, made my mom and I burst into tears. She went around the corner, put a veil on and walked back to us like she was walking down an aisle and the floodgates burst open. We (my mom and I) are going to be blubber babies the day of, I tell ya! Again, I'm not allowed to show the 2 best ones.

This one and the two following this were my favorite dress. I loved it on her. But, it was too modest for her. Go figure.

But this ONE is my ALL TIME FAVORITE! READY? .........................................................................

Simple, Fun, Inexpensive and Easy to Get In and Out Of! What more do you want!?
BTW, that's the slip, for anyone who doesn't know. LOL

That night, we had a great time going to IKEA and back to Melissa and Dustin's (the groom, btw) house to watch a thunder/lightening storm for 2 hours. Awesome!

Sister and Mr. Dustin

I have to say... this new and different experience was hard for me. It was so hard to watch her try on these beautiful dresses and not instantly think of her and I as little girls putting sheets and towels over our heads and marching down the hallway in our old house. She's my little sister. She will always BE my little sister.... but for that 24 hours of wedding dress frenzy... she was more than that. She was one of my best friends. And I'm so proud of her and love her so much. I'm so excited and happy for her.

It's been a good month.