le creuset

i beat the man.
the registry special offers man.
williams-sonoma told me even though i qualified for a free le creuset dutch oven- they told me i couldn't have it because my dad purchased the six piece cookware set for me with his company discount. whatever.



i sent in the offer anyways for giggles.

well today guess what showed up....

my free 2.75 quart le creuset oval dutch oven.

ha. take that.

thanks le creuset, love the cast iron cookware.

baby sister....

Ya thats my left hand!!! (her text with the picture mail.)

...is engaged.

congrats copy cat and cameron.

heres how it went down:

MEGAN WOKE UP WITH A NOTE ON HER DOOR TO GO WHERE HER AND CAMERON FIRST
MET AND A TEDDY BEAR WITH A SIGN THAT SAID "WILL?"

SHE JUMPS IN HER CAR IN HER PAJAMAS AND GOES!!

SHE DRIVES TO MENARDS IN WEST OMAHA, FROM BELLEVUE, TO FIND A BEAR THAT SAYS "YOU" AT THE SERVICE DESK AND A NOTE THAT SAYS TO GO TO WHERE WE HAD OUR FIRST DATE.

SHE DRIVES BACK TO BELLEVUE TO THE MOVIE THEATER TO FIND A BEAR THAT
SAYS "MARRY" SITTING OUTSIDE OF THE THEATER... CAUSE IT'S CLOSED. THE
NOTE SAYS GO TO WHERE WE HAD OUR SECOND DATE.

SHE THEN DROVE TO SOME RIVER IN COUNCIL BLUFFS TO RETRIEVE A ENGAGEMENT
RING AND PROPOSAL IN SUBARCTIC TEMPERATURES WHERE THEY FIRST WENT
FISHING.

top five...

places i despise.
in order.


1. fed-ex kinkos: why should it take 5 hours to mail a box?

2. usps: why is there always lines that never move like fed-ex? and why do you take my packages to your office so i have to wait in these lines-instead of just leaving the packages like the ups guy?

3. the dmv: why are there so many forms to fill out?

4. the dentist: how do i get my card back into the cavity free club? i brush, i do.

5. the social security office: yes- ive been there twice- both times a total treat.

as you can see these are overall slow places that take up time we do not have to be waiting in lines for.

with the change of my last name i have gotten to go to all of these fun houses for one reason or another.

cupie cakes and kids...

i love both.
specifically the wedding cupcakes my new cousin erin made so deliciously for me and this little boy, ben (another new cousin).
this if one of my favorite pictures from the wedding.
i took this picture as i heard some hussle and bussle behind me when we were eating dinner. it seems that ben, among other people, could just not wait to get their hands on those cupcakes. instead of being a bridezilla and yelling wait!!! dont eat the cupcakes yet- i wanted to feed one to joel- i say hold on, grab my camera and spin around and say 'say cheese.' ben flashes his priceless smile and i snap. the rest is history. i can feed joel cake anyday. i wish i could see this little wippersnapper more.



i love this photo for the following reasons:

1. ben is the cutest thing ive ever seen.
2. that cupcake looks glorious.
3. i love cupcakes.
4. did i mention how cute ben is?
5. it was the happiest day of my life.

more photos...

thanks chris and jon from prairie pixel group for the amazing photos that keep rolling out...

key to my heart.

i remember when i was little my parents would always take us to sears to get our portraits taken. nothing glamorous, but just something with me and my little sister in matching clothes that grandma petersen usually sent for sears.

our hair was always curled and had big bows in it. megan always had a horrible cowlick and we would have to be crafty with the hairspray.

anyways... they would have these photo packages to pick from and i remember my mom picking a package that would always have a teenie tiny picture in it.

a picture for her locket.

she had a small silver oval locket on a long silver chain. there was a little pearl that was between the locket and the chain. and the locket had some flowers engraved on it.

i always wanted to look in there and see what was in there.

always a tiny picture of us right by her heart.

i liked knowing i was close to her heart.

i used to have a gold and red minnie mouse locket when i was little. i remember my dad went somewhere with work and brought it back from one of his trips.

one for me and one for megan.

i think i put of a picture of my cat felix in it.

sometimes a tiny piece of sand or lint...whatever would fit.

so for the past few years i have wanted a locket again- to put a picture of my love in.

they are hard to find these days. joel said borsheims didnt have any when he went to look for a wedding gift. that is sad.

i did find one at vonmaur the other day...

...and valentines day is coming up.

one day i will take portraits of my kids and wear them in a locket close to my heart.

penny lane and mr joel

they have a love hate relationship.
mostly love though.
he 'hates' cats. was 'allergic'

funny how he isnt anymore.
must be love that someone who is allergic and hates cats buys one for a valentines gift for his lady.

she snuggles with him more than she snuggles with anyone else.
he talks to her in a special little voice.
she gets into things she shouldn't and he yells in an extra loud deep voice.
he gets her ramped up and running around like nobody else.
he calls her a devil cat when she is bad.
she calls him the jerk when he ignores her.
he gets upset when she always trys to surf the web on his lap.

since my sister got her new cat he has been nothing but trouble.




me showing joel a picture of megans new cat gus.
joel: penny thinks gus is ugly.

gus loves bread.
he jumps up on the counter,
drags the bag down,
and puts it in megan's bed
and eats it all.

me: penny needs more food.
joel: penny go make yourself a sandwich...gus does.

konichiwa!!!!

as luck will have it...

i will be going to japan.

well not just luck i guess- years of friendship and free photography and pr...

and well not just japan...

a 28 day tour of Guam, Japan, Korea, Kwajalein, and Okinawa with my good friends the maynard triplets.

they will be singing 19 concerts for the USO from may 21-june 19 and i will be acting as their manager/publicist/assistant/photographer and emotional support.

i still have to tie things down with work- but it sounds like they are cool with me going.

the chance of a lifetime... the travel the world with a dear friend- and the best part- it's FREE!

i cant wait and am so excited i can hardly stand it.

mandy promised me she would take care of me someday...
and boy is she.

i heart you mandy.

the email that broke the ice...

i planned on reading this at the wedding sometime but totally forgot.

here is the story:

me and joel met the summer of 2001 at a zao concert at the cog factory- thanks to john. the funny thing is i had my camera that day and had jaimi snap a photo of us on our way to the concert. see picture above. look how cute and young we are.

we talked our senior years of high school and i drove to west omaha often to see him. he wasnt much of an talker and it took him a good year to talk to me candidly. the funny thing is for me to call him in omaha from plattsmouth it was long distance, but it was free for him to call me. dont ask me why. i still dont know to this day. but i was to embarrassed to ask him to call me back- that i would run the phone bill up and have to take the heat at the end of every month for my phone calls to joel.

after i moved to omaha for college me and joel started hanging out more and more. i wanted to date him for a long time, but i would get so nervous around him when i was about to ask him i just broke down and emailed him one day saying do you want to be more than friends basically... and this is what he said.

-------


From : Joel Schlegelmilch
Sent : Thursday, October 31, 2002 1:01 AM
To : 'Danelle Petersen'
Subject : RE: hello sir




Hey. I don't know if you will get this before i see you tonight, but i will
e-mail you back anyways. I think of myself as a kind of sally when it comes
to relationship stuff, so things sometimes come out tangled or not at all.
i think i have wanted to be a bit more that just friends with you for a
while, but i am shy and it is hard to say anything. hangin out and doing
things with you makes joel a really happy boy. i like watching movies and
chilling with you, it is great. dont worry about saying anything stupid
because you are the only one here that is brave enought to say anything, and
i am just really shy, even though i do think about you all the time, i just
don't say anything. i like were our relationship is going right now, so i
will leave it at that. ttyl..

your big sally friend joel


-------

i love you joel.

something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...

something old: the name petersen.
something new: the name schlegelmilch.
something borred: grandmas pearls.
something blue: my tattoo.

i guess i will always be a petersen, i mean look at this danish face. i know what ebleskiver's are and like them and even have the pan from williams-sonoma, thanks to cousin Jim and Abby. I've been to the danish windmill museum and actually have family heirlooms in there. i look just like my dad. i will always have the petersen chubby face and fingers. and i will always have a camera snap snap snapping tons of pictures like those darn petersen's do so well.

i will always be a petersen. i will always have an amazing family...whether they are petersens, cramers, seils, johnsons, stefanics and jensens. they are all great.

but now i get a new name and a new family. i got a new big sister and shopping warrior friend linsey (who i adore) a brother in law matt who can tell me everything i need to know about buying a house and investments, and a little brother named kyle who i can always count on to toss me an amazing pizza among other things. (oh and he has a hot little lady named rachael who the sweetest thing second to chocolate. a new mom who can cook the best fried chicken ive ever tasted and hug like the best of them. and a new dad. a dad who just happens to be one of the cutest people i've ever met. dont let the leather, earing or harley fool you. he is the biggest softy i know. he also is a hugger and one of the best ive ever met. oh and i get a lot of rad new cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents...

but most importantly i get an amazing husband. i have loved mr joel for quiet sometime. about 5 years. and everyday i love him more and more. we were married on our 50 month anniversary. thats pretty neat.

here are some of my favorite pics from the greatest day of my life. more to come...

greatest days of my life and pictures of course.