House photo...

Above is the front view of the house

Back of house...

Big News

We have made an offer on a new house, and it has been accepted! About 6 months after the happiest day of our lives, we have now had an offer for a home approved!

Now, it's a matter of getting through the process of getting to the closing. That will happen in 60 days. Here are a few photos of the place:

Above: The house from the outside

Above: The kitchen looking into the family room

We are very excited and are looking forward to sharing more about this next step in our lives as we move forward!!

-Bruce and Anna

What's Coming Up

So Anna and I are getting excited about the fall, and we wanted to update everyone on what we have planned. There is a great deal of fun stuff that will be happening!

• August 15 - 21 - Bruce in San Diego for the ASAE Conference where he will is beginning his service on the Communication Section Council. In addition, he will be interviewing two alumni for stories and visiting with others who are volunteers.
• September 6-7 - Anna's parents visiting us in Aurora
• September 10-12 - Bruce in Indianapolis for work stuff
• September 12-13 - ONU vs. North Central football game in Naperville. Will be visiting with Tim Glon, ONU's SID, and attending the tailgate and game!!
• Sometime in September - Anna to take her licensing exam
• Some other time in September - Visiting Don and Bridget to go to Cedar Point in Ohio!
• October - Likely attend ONU's homecoming in Ada!! Hope we can catch up with some folks!
• November 8 - Attending the Ohio State vs. Northwestern game in Evanston!
• Thanksgiving and Christmas - Going to Anna's parents for one of the holidays, and Bruce's parents' for the other... 

So, as you can see, we have a lot coming up in the coming months!!!! We hope that at some point, we'll also be able to visit Todd, Karen and the new baby, some other friends in Columbus, and some friends in the Cleveland area!!

Adios!

A Little Over Two Months...

since the wedding, and everything is going very well! We have had a great beginning to our marriage, and we are so thankful for everyone who has reached out and given us advice and information to make sure we are happy as we begin our lives together.

Earlier this month, we actually got to go to Anna's cousin Chad's wedding, and it was nice to be there and see the whole day from the other side - knowing how both of them were feeling throughout the day hoping that everything went well, etc. See a photo from that event below:

We also just wanted to let everyone know that as usual, we want to make sure that you know that if you can make it to our area, we'd love to see you! We'd obviously love to have you! We're planning on going to the Ohio State vs. Northwestern game, and that would be a great weekend if anyone is coming to the city. Just let us know when you're coming, and we'd love to see you!

Anyway, we'll continue posting every once in a while to let you know what's been going on! We're excited for a great summer, and hope you are too!

We're baa-aackk!!

Hey everyone!

We made it back to the States late last night, and have had a pretty hectic day picking up the cats from Anna's parents' house, and getting re-acclimated to not being on vacation...

We had a GREAT wedding, reception and honeymoon, and are completely happy with how everything went. It was a fabulous time, and we want to thank everyone who made it what it was - a wonderful opportunity to share our love with you all.

For those of you who wanted to see them, we have a Snapfish group room set up where people have uploaded photos they took at the ceremony and the reception. We have also posted our photos from the honeymoon, which are fantastic. Check them out at http://www2.snapfish.com/groupview/groupid=2586802/groupownerid=72828688/t_=72828688.

Speaking of the honeymoon, we went to St. Martin, in the French West Indies, which is located in the Caribbean. It was an amazing trip, and allowed us to relax a great deal and just enjoy one another's company. We were at the beach every day of the honeymoon but one, and had amazing weather - mid 80s and sunny throughout the day and mid 70s in the evenings. If you look below, you will see one of the amazing sunsets that we were able to see from our room in our fantastic hotel - Hotel L'Esplanade.

(Above) View from our hotel room's balcony

The area in which we stayed was called Grand Case, which is known as the gastronomic gem of the Caribbean. The restaurants were top notch, and we ate well every night...

Anyway, we will post some additional information on here as we move forward. Thanks again for making the wedding fantastic!

-Bruce and Anna (the new Mr. and Mrs. Hammond)

13 Days...

Less than 2 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very exciting...

- Bruce

Update - Continued Excitement

So we were down in Indiana yesterday to finalize the songs for the wedding, and I realized that I really hadn't been as EXCITED and ANIMATED about what has been happening over the last month...

First, we have gotten a great deal of the details completed! We are almost done with everything, which is a really great thing.

Second, the bachelor party took place the weekend of April 12, while at the same time, a shower was held in Youngstown, Ohio for Anna. Now, what happened at the bachelor party? Well, a great deal of fun was had, and we even sat outside in 35 degree, windy, rainy weather for a Cleveland Indians game! It really was great. A few photos are below:

(Above) Bruce and the hot dogs at the Indians game

(Above) Bruce and Dad

The weekend after, Anna had her shower in Indiana and bachelorette party in Chicago, which apparently was a great deal of fun! She mentioned all of the great times she had with all of the ladies who were able to make it.

The weekend after (this past weekend), Anna had her dress fitting (which she still won't let me see), AND we finalized the songs for the ceremony! It was really fun to get together with our singer and accompanist for the ceremony.

Anyway, looking forward to everything - only 19 days until the BIG DAY!!!

-Bruce