Weekly Rehash 8/4/14

Once again I have had quite the busy week! This weekend was the big day for my brother so final wedding preparations took first priority. Because of this I took some time off from work and only worked one day this week. After work I decided to head to see my parents in Fort Wayne before going to Chicago for the wedding. My tomato plant was producing tons of tomatoes so I picked some to bring to my mom. She was very surprised and we ended up using them on the pizza we made for dinner that night.

The second day I was visiting with my parents we decided to go see my aunt in Warsaw. My grandma who lives in Arizona was staying with her until the wedding and we all wanted to see her. It was also my cousin's birthday so we did a little celebration for him while we were all there. I always love seeing my extended family and this was no exception.

On Friday we started the drive to Chicago. My sister is about to go into high school and she decided she wanted to do marching band (It seems like just yesterday that I was in the band). She is so into it that she did not want to miss a second of band camp so we let her go for two hours in the morning and then picked her up to start the long drive... and I mean long. There was a lot of construction and traffic on the way. The trip took us a little over 5 hours when the GPS told us 4. It could have been much worse though. My aunt who was only 20 minutes behind us at the start of the trip ended up taking over 7 hours because there was a bad accident on the highway with a flipped semi-truck. Good thing we left when we did or we would have completely missed the wedding rehearsal!

This was taken right before senior night with my sister. Now she is going to be the one in the uniform! I cannot believe how time flies.

The dinner was at Lou Malnati's, a restaurant that served Chicago style deep dish pizzas. It was really good but unfortunately I could not get any of the main meal without dairy so I ate very little of it. They did however make my dessert dairy-free upon request. The service was exceptional and everyone seemed to enjoy the food.

My sister, Shaina, and the maid of honor, Alyssa.

After being stuck in several situations this week where I was unable to get dairy-free options, I decided to take the plunge and look for some Lactaid in stores. I found some and decided to use it at the wedding because I knew it was going to be impossible to avoid the dairy there also. I will need to try it a few more times before I can truly say it works but so far it seems to have really helped with all the lactose. For example, I was able to eat most of the cheesy potatoes and the only problem I had was some mild nausea which is very good for what normally happens. I still had some discomfort but the Lactaid was amazing since every item on my plate had dairy and there was no way for me to avoid it. I am still going to stick to my lactose-free diet as much as possible but the Lactaid pills will be perfect for tricky situations such as this. 

Finally, the day had come for the wedding and everyone was up bright and early to prepare. Me and my sister did our hair and headed to meet up with the other bridesmaids and the bride. Tons of pictures were taken and the ceremony went very well. Amy looked beautiful and they both looked very happy. Everyone had a lot of fun dancing and Amy and Dan were able to book a room at the hotel for everyone to hang out at after.

The bride waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Riding in the limo after the ceremony. We were on our way to the park for some more pictures.

I had a lot of fun at the wedding and cannot wait to see all of the wonderful photos the photographer took. The food was delicious and my brother even had a cookie bar because he loves them so much. I thought it was a really clever idea.

Sorry about the grainy photo. The room was really dark for all the dancing but I really wanted to show off the cookies :)

I hope everyone had an amazing week. I know I will be spending a few days relaxing and recovering!