Summer is Here!

Well summer is here and Zach's garden is blooming! He planted tomatoes, onions, all kinds of peppers, zucchini, squash, broccoli, beets, spinach and I'm sure alot more that I am missing. The broccoli is the only thing that has come in so far and I've had it for dinner the past two nights and it is good! We have been busy on the weekends when Zach comes home, it seems like May is such a busy month for us. My dad actually comes this Thursday for my brothers truck race and the All Star race. It has been since Christmas since Zach has seen him and I haven't seen him in almost 3 months so it will be good to have my dad here. Diesel and Bella are good, they both were sick over the weekend but both were back begging for treats in the kitchen today so I think they are feeling better. June is going to be a good month, Zach has his annual fishing trip so he can't stop talking about that and I'm going to meet him up in MI after the trip so we can see his family up there. I'll try to be better about posting on this site this summer, we have some fun things planned to share!

A Drager Halloween

Halloween for us this year was last minute because neither Zach or I thought we would be home but I'm so glad we able to because Diesel and Bella got to wear their costumes! Diesel was a football and Bella was a cheerleader and they were so adorable!! Zach got us pumpkins to carve and candy for the trick or treaters, this was our first year in this house for Halloween so we weren't sure what to expect as far as how many kids we would have. Well it turns out, we had ONE trick or treater, I was so bummed because in FL we have so many kids come around the neighborhood and trick or treat. I guess that is a downside of us living in the country. I was also bummed because I wanted to show off Diesel and Bella's costumes to all the neighbors, Zach however was actually really glad because he was not a fan of us dressing up our babies. Little does he know I have already been scoping out their Christmas outfits at Petsmart already!

Honeymoon Time!

Zach and I headed to Mexico for our honeymoon the Monday after our wedding and we had a blast!! Before we even boarded our flight to Mexico, we hit up the Teqularia at the Charlotte airport and had a couple cocktails to get our week started off right, then we upgraded our flight to first class because you only get 1 honeymoon! Once we got to the resort we were so excited because it was absolutely beautiful!! Our first night there, the resort projected Monday Night Football on the side of the resort and Zach and I knew we had picked the right place! Tuesday we ventured into Cancun with 2 people we met at the resort and we ended up at a local market. This was probably the most interesting part of our trip, the locals will try to sell you anything!! We bought some interesting items, we even got a few bottles of tequila with the worm in the bottom of the bottle! The next day we were hit with an unexpectant suprise, a category 2 hurricane skirted the coast so we had rainy weather. Luckily the resort had a spa and we were able to relax and get massages while the weather was bad. It passed quickly and luckily we had beautiful weather by that evening. One of the best parts of our trip was that we got to meet up with one of Zach's buddies from back in MI who lives in Mexico now, Josh and his wife Amber. They took us to a local mexican place for lunch and as weird as it sounds, I had one of the best burgers I have ever had! They then took us to the tourist part of Cancun and we shopped and just had fun looking at all the local stuff. That night they took us to another fantastic restaurant where I had the best steak I ever had! Go figure I go to Mexico and have the best burger and steak! Friday was our last day and Josh took Zach and I out fishing on his boat. We didn't have much luck at first but then had some towards the end of the day. Zach and I finished off our last night with a nice dinner at the Italian restaurant at our resort and had coconut icecream and tiramasu for dessert! It was a great trip, but we were ready to get back home! We missed Diesel and Bella so much, Zach might have even had to ask me repeatedly to stop talking about them on our trip :)

We are finally the Dragers!

Zach and I are finally husband and wife!! October 9th was such a wonderful day and we were so blessed to have all of our family and close friends able to come to our wedding! The weather could not have been more perfect, we lucked out with the leaves changing and had beautiful scenery. The wedding week was a blast, most of our family was able to come early and everyone took part in helping us out. Zach's mom and grandmas and Gene's girlfriend Sarah were able to come help me and my mom set up the reception and thank goodness for them or we would never had been able to get it done! Then the next day my aunts and cousins were able to come help and put the finishing touches on everything! During all this decorating, our dads and my brother were running errands all over town and were a huge help! This was my favorite part of the week because both of our families came together to help each other out and were able to spend time together before the big day!! The rehearsal day was fun, I got to have lunch with two of my best friends Aimee and Beth and they were able to just be silly and fun and calm my nerves. The rehearsal was quick and then John and Colleen had everyone for dinner at the Bistro Roca. This was such a fun dinner where our families and bridal party could all relax and have a great time together. The dinner was fantastic and John and Colleen really did an awesome job making sure we all had the best time!

I had been hearing how your wedding day goes by so fast so I made a point to make sure I just took it all in. I had so much fun just getting ready with all of my bridesmaids, doing hair and makeup and just hanging out. Erin, Zach's sister did ALL of our hair and she did a fantastic job!! She worked so hard and we all looked beautiful because of it! I had Sarah do my makeup and have never felt more beautiful! The ceremony was beautiful on the top of the mountain and Zach did a good job of joking with me during the cermony so I wouldn't cry too hard. And I have to say Diesel was the cutest ring bearer I have ever seen!! The reception was incredible! Everyone danced and had a great time and the guests went through 86 lbs of candy at the candy bar, I was so proud of them!!

One last thought on the day, I have to thank my mom. I would like to take credit for planning the wedding because it was just absolutely incredible but I can't, that credit all goes to my mom. For the last 11 months Zach and I were engaged she has been organized and on top of every detail, even designing all the centerpieces herself!! I know I shouldn't be suprised because my mom always gives 110% to me but seeing all she did for us just blows me away! I'm so lucky she is my mom and Zach and I were so lucky to have such a beautiful wedding because of her!!

Ready For Some Football!!

Zach and I have been looking forward to September all summer long and no its not because our wedding is only 1 month away, its because football starts! Sports this month will rule our television, not only is college football and NFL starting, but this is the month before baseball playoffs and my Rays are in a close fight for AL Division Champs! Now in our house I have learned that there is no choice, everyone will be a Michigan fan. Diesel even got a MI bandana to wear from Colleen for all the games and last week we bought a huge MI flag to fly outside our house so all our neighbors will know we are MI fans! Last week MI played Conn. and we had Daren, Jenn, the kids, Gene, Sarah, Ben, Jaime, Marc and Jenny over to watch all the games and it was a blast! We had MI themed cups, plates and even cupcakes! Afterwards we had a huge bonfire outside and made smores :)

This week MI is currently playing Notre Dame, now my best friends Aimee and Ben are HUGE ND fans and Aimee (my maid of honor) has been trash talking with Zach over text message throughout the whole game! Currently MI is still up 21 to 17 and I hope they win cause Zach sounds like he's about to have a heart attack right now!

Bridal Shower & Bachelorette Party!

Well I have had a week to recover from one of the best weekends ever! Last Thursday, Beth and Aimee came to town to start off the weekend of festivities for my Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party! It was so great to have my 2 best friends in town to spend time with, I miss them so much! The shower was a 50's housewife theme and we got into it! We all wore 50's style dresses, had 50 style decorations and Colleen, Zach's Mom, got the cutest 50's style theme cake by the lady who is doing our wedding cake. The girls even put together goodie bags for each guest to take home equipt with things every good housewife should have, such as rules for being a good housewife, a spatula, cleaning gloves, a manicure set and a comb. One of the best parts of the weekend was that Zach's Aunt Kim came and suprised me for my shower! She came over to our house Friday night with Zach's cousins Benjamin and Blake and I was so happy we got to see them! Zach and I also were really lucky and received some wonderful gifts!! My 2 favorites though were a quilt my mom made for me and Zach. She worked so hard on it and wrote the best note to explain the colors on the quilt and even has our name and our wedding date on one of the squares, it meant so much to me that my mom would put so much time into that for us!! Also, I receieved my "Drager Ring" All the ladies in the Drager family have a ring that they all wear and Colleen gave me mine and even though Zach and I aren't getting married for a month, I feel like an official Drager when I wear it!

The next part of the day was my bachelorette party, and the girls did good! We got a hotel room at the Hilton in downtown Charlotte and had fun getting ready, then we met my mom, Zach's Mom, Aunt Kim and my Aunt Faye for dinner at Rock Bottom. Throughout the evening the girls had a bag of "dares" that I had to do and one from the picture above is that I had to find a guy to practice walking down the aisle with. Luckily we had a great waiter at dinner who was willing to participate! After dinner, we went out for a girls night in Charlotte and it was so great to go out with my best friends and just have a fun night!! Last weekend made me realize how lucky I am to have such wondeful friends and family who made last weekend so special for me and I am so thankful to all of them!!

Spa Day!!

This past Tuesday Colleen took me and Erin to a spa in Asheville called the Grove Park Inn and boy was it nice!! We had massages first then had the rest of the day to relax around the pools. The outside pool was beautiful and overlooked the mountains, the indoor pools had music under the water and there was a steam room with a temperature of 140 degrees! The pictures above are all from the Grove Park Inn, the actual Inn itself is just beautiful! We had such a fun day and topped it off with a stop at Coldstone on the way home!

This next week is one I have had circled on my calendar for a long time, next Saturday is my bridal shower and bachelorette party! My best friends Aimee and Beth are getting in on Thursday and my mom and Aunt are getting here on Friday! I am looking forward to a fun girls weekend!