Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Our dear friend Joe put it quite well when speaking of the birth of our Christ, so I am going to direct you to his site.

We spent much of yesterday attempting to travel. I say attempting, because for those of you living in caves, the midwest has been hit by a blizzard! AAAAHHH!!!! We anxiously watched the weather for days leading to the upcoming trip. We planned our routes based on forecasts and set off early in the morning. We had one stop to complete, but more about that later.

It started with rain and winds as we left the city. After we passed through Ottawa, it began to sleet. Stop here or continue on, we wondered? After phone calls to various friends along our chosen route, we decided to press forward in our journey. Soon we noticed an evident slowing of cars, the beginnings of snow gathering alongside the roads, and finally saw it: the first of many cars sliding into the ditch. Jeff began to sweat as our car began to slide sideways. We slowed our speed to under just 5 mph. Semi after semi after car after car after car appeared in the ditch. I made the decision. My sweet husband volunteered to keep pressing on until we could go no further. I pulled the plug on our mission 11 miles before and we headed back to the city.

It is now Christmas day, we are spending the day as a brand new family together. Our one and only attempt to leave the home this morning for mass was thwarted swiftly as it became stucker than stuck.

On the bright side, Duncan absolutely loves the snow, has been disappearing in and out of drifts all morning, and has made the disappointment of being from my extended family (and Jeff's until the roads are clear) more bearable.

For our stop, for those of you curious and still paying attention, we went to visit our wedding photographer and pick up our AMAZING photos! :) They did such a GREAT job!!!!! We are really pleased!!!!!!!!!!! There will be instructions on my facebook page on how to access and view them, and if you are merely a reader of the blog and not my FB friend, I ask that you please email and ask for instructions. :)

Merry Christmas to all!!! May God bless you as you celebrate the birth of His son!!!

Welcome to Florida, home of the U-Turn

Hi faithful readers! I pray this finds you in good spirits, wonderful health, and even better luck as the Christmas seasons falls upon us.

We are back safe and sound from our honeymoon. For those of you who do not know, we went to Fort Myers, Florida, home of the U-turn. And some other stuff, I'm sure. But mostly the U-turn.



Day 1 of our honeymoon brought us untold adventures. Upon arriving, we rented a Mustang Convertible. It was excellent, loud, and gave Jeff the opportunity to get us lost time after time without feeling his manhood threatened. :)


Vroom vroom! That said, our first big purchase on our honeymoon was a GPS, who we lovingly named Tabby. She caught the Florida spirit near the end of our honeymoon by instructing us us to make U-turn after U-turn after U-turn (and even had us circling city blocks several times before admitting our destination was on the right). As our previously Googlemapped directions took us to the property rental office (and not our beloved condo), we felt this was a necessary purchase. Hooray for Day 1! :)

Day 2 brought untold adventure as we went in search of the necessities: groceries, parking passes, and Bank of America. Now, let me tell you, this is when Tabby began to show her sarcastic nature. From our starting point, the nearest Bank of America was around 12 miles away... after an hour of driving, Tabby took us to a location on the beach. Literally. No Bank of America anywhere. We then drove through barrios and ghettos before U-turning ourselves until near dark. You'll be happy to know we later realized a Bank of America a few mere blocks from our beginning destination.

Day 3 was wonderful and wonderous, as we explored the exciting winter homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. We were especially excited to peer into the rooms , guest houses, pool house, midnight garden, home office, garage, and laboratory of these fine gentleman (it was honestly really cool). As walking their acre of property took much of the day, we continued the adventure by wandering the area around our condo (which was actually inside a spa/resort facility and was on the beach and BEAUTIFUL!). Pictured are Thomas Edison's home and Jeff and I breaking the museum rules by entering a restricted area to be next to the SAH-WEET car!



Day 4 was Thanksgiving. For our first meal as a married couple, we decided to be really traditional... so we had fish and rice. And then we walked around on the beach, gave thanks for the wonderful weather and beautiful views, and retired to watching movies and cuddling the remainder of the day. Happy Thanksgiving to us!

Day 5 we learned a LOT more about Florida driving as we journeyed to Tampa Bay to visit the Florida Aquarium. It was nice, but I was a tad disappointed because I expected larger and more oceanic fish with us being in FLORIDA and all. However, I really enjoyed looking at fish at a location other than Red Lobster. Behind the Aquarium was the SS American Victory, an old ship dating back to WWI. Jeff and I promptly left the Aquarium and toured this wonderful ship. We even got to go into the cabins and on the top deck. It was really neat. Lastly, we found something that took the rest of the day: IKEA! I was so excited I make Jeff stop. We spent the remainder of the day browsing the aisles and remarking at how smart those Swedes are.

Day 6 we found ourselves journeying south to Naples to the Naples Zoo and Botanical Gardens. After going around the same block twice, Tabby admitted the location of the entrance. As with the aquarium, I found myself searching for many more wildlife than was found at the zoo. It was certainly an enjoyable time, but I was a little disappointed as we missed alligator and snake feeding time. They also had wonderful trees and plants to look at. We also took a boat tour to see the monkeys and that was pretty neat. That evening we had reservations at Ellington's Jazz Club and Restaurant, an upscale establishment with live jazz entertainment. Our waiter reminded us of Marshall from How I Met Your Mother in every way, shape, and form and this kept us pretty entertained. Overall, the food was good, the staff was curteous, and the band was awesome! The band surprised us by announcing our recent nuptials, dedicated a song to us, and the hostess brought over a rose. It was really sweet and definitely really cool.



Day 7 was spent at the beach. It was gorgeous and only took us about 14 U-turns to find (relatively cheap) parking. :)


Day 8 brought us back home, bringing about the wonders of flying First Class (do you know all drinks are free in First Class?!). Let me tell you, we did not allow any of the "advantages" of flying First Class go to waste. I am thankful there was a car service to pick us up for the ride home.

While we REALLY miss the wonderful view and warm weather, it is good to be back home! We started missing Duncan the second day and the long phone calls with him just weren't really doing the trick for us... plus he kept dropping the phone, etc. :) Hope all is well with you and yours! :)

11/21/09

We're hitched now!!! Leaving for our honeymoon in the morning. We will be enjoying the (hopefully) warm weather and beaches in Florida. We are hoping to get some fishing, sightseeing, and relaxing alone time... tall order, but we aim to fill it!

Thank you to all who supported us over the past 3 1/2 years, who celebrated with us in body or spirit, and who assisted in every single last crazy whim that accompanied our wedding day. We love you all!!! :)

2 weeks to go

Well, as I'm sure you can see by my title, there are less than 2 weeks to the wedding. Please excuse me while I take a moment...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, now that my moment is over... here's what we've been up to: most of my clients have realized I am going to be gone soon and have piled the work on me (such I have noticed is the same for any vacation I have ever taken from work). I have been doing wedding stuff in between appointments (running errands and picking things up) and working until pretty late in the evenings. Jeff typically has saved me some dinner to warm up and I fall into bed, exhausted, soon after. Also, I havce been sick for the past month and finally took the time to go to the dr... After a stern lecture and much head shaking, she sent me and my severe sinus infection and bronchitis out the door with some fairly strong antibiotics. Today is the first day that I've really felt like being up and around, so I hope that continues.

Jeff is now starting to get sick... I know, I know, we both need a dr on our staff to see about everyday up until the wedding. He's got mostly headaches and scratchy throat stuff going on, so I don't think it's the same thing I had. Hopefully, our first wedded kiss will not contaminate the other!! :)

We are also hard at work getting out those early bird thank you notes... the notes we ordered are pretty stinking cool, if I do say so myself and I have really enjoyed getting to use them. :)

Also, as I'm writing this, Duncan is trying to steal the Halloween candy Jeff has stockpiled so all MUST be well here are home with him. He is quickly growing into a fine young man. As of his last vet check, he's 26 lbs, which is double the weight of last month... he is a healthy, growing boy.

Well, I hope you can make sense of my random, rambling thoughts. Now time to focus a bit more on getting some wedding stuff done. :) Hope all is well with you and yours.

Birthday weekend

Happy Birthday to me! Getting older was never so much fun! My friends and family all drove into town from Spearville, Topeka, Ottawa, and yes, even Olathe. :) In addition to all of the birthday festivities, Jeff and I had our bachelor and bachelorette parties.

Now, I happen to think that Jeff and I operate a little differently than the rest of the free world. For instance, while many take the "bachelor/ette" parties as an opportunity to "have one last night out on the town," Jeff and I marveled at how each of us informed our attendants (independently of each other and without previous conversation with each other regarding this viewpoint) that our parties were more of a "celebration of the exciting ways our lives were about to get better." Like I said, we operate a bit differently.

Here is a picture of my attendees standing in front of our sober ride in full bachelorette get-up:



Also, as of yesterday we were at the 3 week mark for the wedding... AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!! You know that feeling when you are going somewhere, and the faster you try to go, the slower you end up going? Like spinning your wheels in mud... yes, that's how I feel wedding planning is going. I'm working on the checklists, but it just never seems to end. I know it will be fine int he end. I just keep telling myself that all we need is Jeff and I, 2 witnesses, and a priest, and at this point no matter what all of that is covered. We've even got the marriage license to make it all nice and legal. So repeating this should bring about less stress on the whole ordeal, right...??? Um, I'll repeat it A LOT more times this week and let you know next weekend... :)

Also, we spent our Friday evening having a "Housewarming Halloween" party for a few friends. It was, if I do say so myself, a FANTASTIC time. Jeff and I dressed up like Superman and Superwoman (originally planned for Jeff to go as Tinkerbell and me as Peter Pan, but we couldn't find a Tink costume big enough for him), and Duncan went as Spiderdog. We were truly an awesome crime fighting family this weekend. Saturday was Jeff's Uncle John's birthday, and we had a wonderful steak dinner at our place. Sunday brought all kinds of wedding errands, and I honestly feel a lot more calm about our upcoming nuptials. Now all we need is for things to keep happening as quickly as luck has had it today, and we are all set!!

Hope all is well with you and yours! :)

Dad

Hey all, just a quick update on Dad. Found out late last week that he would be needing to have a heart cath early this morning... they suspected some blockage in the veins surrounding and/or valves in the actual heart. They had planned on doing the heart cath followed by placing a stent(s) where appropriate.

Dad pulled through this morning fine and did not even need a single stent! Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts! :)

Mystery of the Missing Music

Is it so hard to order music online and get it? Apparently it is.

I originally found all the music for our wedding the first weekend of September. During the period of time surrounding the move, Jeff and I were labeling the music to mail to our musicians and *ahem* ONE of us decided it was a bit too drab. AHEM. :)

So we went in search of happier mass music (that we felt would encompass and represent the joyful theme of the day). Enter Mass of a Joyful Heart. Excited, I ordered the music immediately online. We went about our busy lives, and it occurred to me a week ago that the music never arrived. You know, the music that I ordered and paid for? Yeah, that music.

I called the lovely people, who told me that the ordered had been stopped in their computers... nobody could tell me why, but that the music had never been shipped because someone had STOPPED the order. Oh, it was still paid for and sitting there ready for me. Just never shipped. Promised to be shipped by the end of the day, and that it would be in my hands by Friday.

Well, Friday came and went. I thought maybe the time difference could account for the missing music (after all, it WAS being shipped from Oregon). I even considered that they would be sending it via the Oregon Trail... ok, that was a lame joke. But still, I was willing to give them every reason for it to not be here by Friday. Monday came and went... Today I called again and stressed the importance of receiving this sheet music BY TODAY.

I have now been promised that it would arrive within 30 minutes. A very understanding woman in the customer service department shared with me that she had just gotten married as well (have I ever talked about this "gift" that I have????) and detailed some of the stressors she dealt with before her nuptials.

30 minutes later, nothing. 45 minutes later... still holding my breath. Finally, almost an hour later, it arrived. Wedding music is here! HOORAY!!!

Hope all is well with you and yours. :)

Updates

Here are a few quick updates on what Jeff and I have been doing:

Wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding, wedding... well, you get the idea. We were able to get the invitations finished last weekend and mailed (well, except for the few that we are now finding out were never on an original list but need invitations as well... if you are in this category, please remember that we love you very much and this was not an intended oversight).

Also, we have been working on the house in between working, trying to sleep, and wedding planning! I think I now have a bookshelf unpacked and set up. Yay me! Moving sucks! :)

Duncan is getting better at sleeping at night. By this, I mean instead of waking us every 2-3 hours, he now waits until 4:30 am before waking us on the hour every following hour. He's better than an alarm clock and much more persistent.

My Dad is having a relatively normal procedure Wednesday morning, but please keep him in your prayers. Everybody else seems to be doing relatively well. It sure is hard being this far from my folks, but at least I will get to see them this weekend. Missing everyone. Hope all is well with you and yours. :)

Life as we know it

... busy. Blurring. Insanely busy.

Friends, we have hit the 6 week mark until the wedding. Invitations out? Not yet, but close. Bridesmaids dresses in? Some. Prettier than I imagined. I cried when I saw them... and then the saleslady did too. Pulled out all the hair on my head? Not ALL of it. Not yet, anyway. :)

Duncan is doing well, too. He's growing! Even after dropping him off at Doggy Daycare this morning and picking him up this afternoon I feel like he's grown at least a few tenths of an inch. We are crate training him, and so far it is going well... anytime Jeff and I can't come home in over a 3 hour span, we take him to Doggy daycare (typically 1 or 2 days per week). Best part? They have schedules for play, train, and even asked for, grooming. Can I go????? :)

Things with the house are also going well. It is pretty frustrating to me that a majority of our stuff is still in boxes, I can't find all of my shoes, and who knows where the blankets and towels ended up, but I also recognize that moving is a process and radically accept that it will be like this for awhile but will eventually get better (I know it's a super long sentence and I'm feeling sassy today so I am not going to go back and re-write it :).

I have been scheduling my clients later in the evening now that school has started for them and typically get home later... this means more time to play and take pictures. Here are some of my favorites!










Hope all is well with you and yours! :)

Adventures of Duncan the Hound Dog

I have to share the latest Duncan story (and yes, I will try not to be one of those annoying people who do nothing but talk about their puppy).

First, let me begin by saying we have been having a hard time keeping Duncan from eating the grass. He has been chowing down on the grass like we have not been feeding him real puppy food. I've heard from several sources this indicates an upset stomach, but I think with everything we've been trying it is simply a legitimate like for the feel of the grass in his mouth.

The other night Jeff awoke to the sound of Duncan puking. Yes, puking. Grass makes you puke. He quickly woke me up to tag team the cleaning/removal of Duncan from the puke (which he was at this point standing/rolling in). Jeff released him and I began attempting to get him to down the 2 flights of stairs to the safety of outside. He ran from me, trailing puke down the hall. By the time he got outside, there was a definite trail leading to the backdoor in a zigzag pattern of puke on the floor.

I went outside with Duncan to console him and clean him off as best I could while Jeff took care of the mess inside. The door closed and locked behind me. Welcome to 4 am at 40 degrees in our new backyard. Without a sweater or jacket. In my pajamas.

Jeff finished cleaning before letting us back inside. Apparently the cleaning supplies were not enough to get rid of the stench, so Jeff used the next best thing: FeBreeze. Now, I like FeBreeze as much as the next person, but the potency of this stuff left us coughing (seriously, he must have poured it on instead of using the spray nozzle).

I opened some windows to make sure we did not die of chemical inhalation when trying to go back to sleep. Of course, with it being 4 in the morning and 40 degrees outside, it was a bit chilly. Never fear, though, because we have blankets... somewhere... somewhere in the midst of boxes surrounding us (because we just moved and have not unpacked everything yet), there were blankets. I was sure of it.

... But as it was 4 in the morning, Jeff and I spent the remaining time fighting for the comfort of the sheets and thin blanket covering us.

We spent the next day going over the backyard with a fine-tooth comb (again) to rid as much as we could that may be a danger to Duncan. I was convinced everything that could pose a problem was removed, so imagine my surprise when we were outside playing and he came up to me with several large paint chips in his mouth. Who knows where they could have come from, but I am guessing we still have our work cut out for us.

Hope all is well with you and yours and that this post makes you smile a little. :)

Posting from the New House

Ok, so here it is: the first post from the new house. We moved Saturday. It was the smoothest move I have ever been involved in. Our friends began showing up around 8, and by 12 the trucks were loaded up and we were arriving in front of the new house. Another 4 hours later, Jeff was returning the rental truck and we were surrounded by boxes. Later that night, our living room was set up (including all of Jeff's fun electronics), and we fell asleep on the couch, exhausted.

Overwhelmed, I think, is a good word. There's definitely more boxes than I ever could have imagined, more freedom than we've had in a long time (seriously, we didn't even turn down the tv last night when the clock turned 10), and Duncan has a backyard with which to run, jump, and play without feeling crowded. Life is good. :)

In addition, I was forturnate enough to have friends gather in my honor yesterday to celebrate Jeff and I's upcoming marriage. It is truly wonderful to know we are supported and loved. What a wonderful weekend!!! Now I think I'm going to put on my sweats (it IS a little chilly here) and go play with Duncan in that backyard. :)

Today we carved out a slice of the world for ourselves

An approximately 11,800 sq. ft. slice of the world (give or take 200 sq. ft.). That's right. In the great tradition of American citizens, we purchased a house.

It is located off of Johnson Drive, in western Shawnee, KS, between Monticello and Lakecrest. Our beautiful new home (aged appropriately to fifteen years) is a spacious (approx 1600 sq. ft.), atrium split (the layout is like an unshuffled deck of cards). Big selling points for Jeff include a three car garage (the third car garage is a tandem for future...stuff), a modest kitchen and a backyard with a fence, wooden deck and a concrete patio. Yes folks, Jeff can finally grill again after three plus years of apartment living. Selling points for Heather include and are not limited to the fact that it is NOT an apartment, it is OUR place and the puppy can be as LOUD as he needs to be (yay for crate training!).

The house came with all appliances except the washer and dryer. Thankfully, the "Neb" has our backs there with crazy financing deals.

We are almost all packed and our move in date in the new house is 9/25. We will be painting three of the rooms before we move in so that the spaces will suite our tastes in wall colors (Jeff requires boring Johnson County beige). Also, a Jones brand delousing will be necessary as well. We will learn how to mow a yard again and the other copious joys of home rearing.

Stay tuned. It will undoubtedly be a fun move!

Home at Last

Hi, my name is Duncan. I am an 8 week old Lab. Well, I think I am a Lab. My doggy-mom was a Lab, and my doggy-dad was a Lab... I'm not sure what that makes me, but I think I heard someone say I was a Lab...

I came to live with my Mommy and Daddy today! They started coming to see me about 6 weeks ago. They came at least once a week to play for a few hours... sometimes they only sat and petted me while I slept, but they came every single week. Mommy heard about me through someone she works with, who goes to a jazzer-cise class with the nice lady who helped rescue my doggy-mom.

My doggy-mom, Bella, wandered into a shelter the day before I was born. Can you believe they were hurrying up to euthanize her before she delivered so that me and my brothers and sisters (all 10 of us) would die so they didn't have to take care of us?? But then some people came in and took out all of the animals that they thought could be adopted, but were about to be euthanized, and put them in foster homes until they could all be adopted. It was very lucky for my doggy-mom and brothers and sisters and me that they came. I was born the very next day! My would be death-date turned into my birthday! I'm told that day is also extra special to my Mommy and Daddy because they celebrated their 3 year anniversary on the day I was born!

So far I've spent a lot of time sleeping, sleeping, and sleeping. In fact, Grandma Jaye just called to see how I was doing (I went to visit her a little while ago and peed all over her rug... to be fair, it WAS green and looks a bit like astro-turf). While Grandma Jaye was on the phone I fell asleep TWICE! My Mommy thinks it's really funny. I don't sleep for long, though. I have also been trying to figure out how to get around the doggy-blocks they put in the living room to keep me here. They are getting ready to move and don't want me getting into any of the stuff they may have accidently left out (but I understand they've spent the last week puppy-fying their apartment getting ready for me). Overall, I'm very excited to finally be home, and I really like playing with my Daddy. Well, at least when I'm not sleeping. :)

Duncan Jones

Tuxes and Florist

Horray!!! We got tuxes and our florist this weekend!!!

For those of you wondering, we were helped in Men's Wearhouse by a very non-impressed young woman with a lot of black eyeliner and piercings.

Our florist appointment was AMAZING (thank you Allison and Michael for hooking us up with her!!). Let me tell you, flowers have been one of the more difficult tasks thus far of the wedding planning. First, we had an appointment at the grocery store near our apartment. Jeff set up the appointment, the guy cancelled 2 times, and refused to meet during anytime that we were available. Jeff finally consigned to taking off work early to meet with him (he was adamant that he would not stay past 5 for our appointment... a problem since Jeff doesn't get off work until 5 about 30 mins drive from the store). I met with him alone, he was a jerk about the fact that my Mom is allergic to roses and I told him we could not use any (seriously, a JERK who kept making remarks like "Well if we COULD use roses... but I guess this will work, too"), and laughed when I told him Jeff would be in charge of the booking, call backs, etc (after all, Jeff is the one who had been making all of the arrangements thus far). I received phone calls from him, and Jeff did not, so that was the end of our non-existant contract.

The second lady was no better... at the next nearest grocery store to our apartment. Jeff took off work early because she could not meet us anytime OUR schedules would allow, and she did not show. End of THAT non-existant contract.

Finally, we were given the name of the lady we would book. Village Gardens. She was creative, gave us free reign, and actually listened when we talked and gave suggestions when we asked. Ah-mazing. So far in our wedding planning, we were able to get 2 of the big things out of the way, which leaves paying for some of the big things, but no other "big" things to book. :) *Sigh* Good weekend, all in all. :)

Hope all is well with you and yours!!! :)

Made Me Laugh

This has no reason for being on this page other than I was having a rough day, received this, and smiled. :)

I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

That's enough, Nickelback.

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger!!!

The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

There is a great need for sarcasm font.

Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.

I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

The other night I hit a new low at an open bar. I had already hopped on highway blackout when, inevitably I had to find a bathroom. Eventually I decided it was probably on the other side of the bar so I tried to walk over there, but ran into a guy coming the other way. We played that, Both go left, Both go right game to no avail, so I finally put out my hand to guide myself past and that's is when I realized, yup, that's a mirror I just tried to walk through. And the guy on the other side is me. Even cats can re cognize their own image.

How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

Was learning cursive really necessary?

Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."

I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

Bad decisions make good stories

Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem...

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that when Chinese athletes don't win, they are executed.

I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

I think that if, years down the road when I'm trying to have a kid, I find out that I'm sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.

Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimate d that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

Time Flies

Dearest readers: So sorry this has taken so long. We have recently taken to being jetsetters... that's really a fancy term for "never home anymore." Our calendar is jam packed with events, wedding planning, and work.

A few weekends ago we were fortunate enough to go on a float trip with some really good friends. It was a great chance to catch up, relax, and forget the stresses of everyday life for a few days. Thank you to Carrie and Joe, Allison and Michael, and Jill and Adrian for making this happen. We are truly lucky to have friends like you in our lives.

My mom came up the following weekend. We did some wedding planning in overdrive! Our invitations were ordered and came in a mere few days later, and Mom and I spent an evening and next day addressing them. While we will not be sending them out for another few weeks, I feel fortunate that we have them completed and ready to go. We also got a head start on putting together the centerpieces. Who knew it would be so difficult to find the needed items for making them? Trying to find these took up a majority of our time, but it is nice to say that we were able to locate and complete 9 pieces! 21 to go (a rough estimate... once we start receiving RSVPs, this number may change)!!!

Finally, this past weekend, time simply slipped through our fingertips. We were out of the apartment more time than in, and, while we did not make much gain on the wedding plans, began to organize and finalize other areas of our lives.

Finally, friends, big news: Jeff and I have decided to expand our family. No, Moms, I'm not talking babies. We have come into contact with a foster mother of puppies... her organization goes into shelters that euthanize and remove any and all animals that are adoptable and foster them until they find homes for them. Needless to say, the mother was a mere hours from being euthanized (along with her litter) when she was rescued and taken to her home. The puppies are thriving and we will be bringing one home in a few weeks. :)

I think I have pretty much caught you up to date on our typically mundane lives. It is difficult to understand that we are less than 100 days from the wedding and even more difficult to realize that in a little over 100 days our lives will begin to slow down.... we hope!! :) I pray that all is well with you and yours. :)

El Mall-o of America-o

ROAD TRIP!! Ok, so I got the opportunity to travel to Minnesota with 2 of my besties. We hit the Mall of America by storm, cleaned out the IKEA store, and spent the remainder of the time driving around... sometimes lost, sometimes knowing full well where we were. In any case, it was a wonderful chance for me to catch up with my 2 MOHs and spend a relaxing weekend away from home.



We were at the Mall on Spongebob weekend, which means we got to meet many characters. Kym and I even stood in line to see Spongebob and Patrick!!!



Also on the celebrity list for the weekend: Dora and Diego, the Backyardigans, the Rescuers, Underwater Adventure Shark, Bubba Gump Shrimp, and a possible David Hasselhoff (which is the only one I did not get a picture of after Haley reminded me to "not Hassel the Hoff").

I also found my new favorite store: IKEA!!! For those of you not "in the know" (and I was not "in the know" until I walked into the store), IKEA is like a Home Depot meets Bed, Bath, and Beyond meets Sam's Club. It was AMAZING!!! Those crazy Swedes and their WONDERFUL stores!!!



Besdies carrying our cameras with us everywhere and taking pictures of everything, we also stopped at the state signs for photos. Somewhere along the way (or before I left, AHEM JEFF), I managed to catch the plague. Seeing as how Jeff was sick while we were away and I managed to produce the same symptoms upon my arrival home, I am choosing to blame him and his stinking boy cooties. It's been difficult slowing down to be sick for the second time in such a short time frame, but I am trying my best. At least I was able to pass it along to my client who got me sick the first time. :) "Gift" repaid!

Other than that, we have not been up to much. This past weekend we missed a birthday party due to still being contagious (my client and fellow road trippers proved the the virus was still very much alive and share-able). We have also fallen behind on keeping up with all our friends and family due to sleeping so much (sorry to all who are still waiting for a return call).

Anywho, hope all is well with you and yours!!! :)

Jefther: 3 Year-versary

Yep, I bet all you teachers reading this are mortified by my use of made up words. :)

I spent some time reminiscing about the last 3 years. Can you believe 3 years and a few days ago I received the text message that would change my life: "Can I monopolize your Friday evening?" or something to that effect... My immediate response of "IT'S ABOUT TIME!" was NOT well-received, I am sure. Then began the butterflies... I am not sure why they were there; it was not as if I did not see Jeff every single day anyway. We hung out between then, of course (the asking and the actual date, that is) and neither of us made mention of text or what lay before us. We were both on the phone with friends who were offering advice, clothing, and even step-by-step "how to"s of impressing the other.

Then the Friday came. I was so nervous, I changed clothes a million times (Jeff informed me he had come from his mother's house, where she chose the outfit that made me catch my breath). I finally settled on my "hot jeans" (much to the chagrin of everyone who voted for a dress) and basic black top. Jeff wore a yellow-golden button down with jeans and flip flops. I knew I was in trouble. And so it began...

You know, it doesn't really matter what we did. I know, I know, those were the activities that began forging our relationship. What struck me most about today as I was remembering that night was that we couldn't say goodnight. We went to dinner, hit golf balls, looked at pictures and watched home videos at my apartment, and then went to Old Chicago. It finally ended because we were too tired to hold our heads up, not because it was the end of the night.

Looking back, this is still something that I see in us. We both still talk into the wee hours of the morning or until someone falls asleep mid-conversation (this has been me, more often than not). We still want to squeeze every waking hour in with each other. Although we may not look the same as we did on that first night (my "hot jeans" stopped being a clothing option about a year ago), the true essence of who we are remains the same. And now, instead of excitement coursing my veins at the thought of our first date, words cannot express my anticipation for the wedding.

Jefther: 3 years going strong today. :)

By my estimation...

Hey, everybody! Just thought that I would drop you all a line and let you guys know where we are at with everything. If you have been reading Heather's posts, you will know that we have been very busy lately. We are coming down to the wire with our wedding plans (okay, so 135 days isn't exactly down to the wire, but it feels like it). We, apparently, have plenty of more stuff to do than I had estimated we had left.

Religious obligations. We have to see our priest, Fr. Anthony, about completing our marriage preparation classes. Before we do that, I need papers saying that I am a good Catholic boy with all my papers in order. Heather has hers. I'm jealous.

Invites. Yes, invites. Those glorious announcements that we will indeed be having this wedding thing and that you, the recipient, have been cordially invited to our shindig. We have things yet to decide like if we should go with a color that matches our chosen colors, what font describes us as a couple, what color should the letters be and other fun things like maps, places of registry and the like. I thing lemon chiffon will do quite nicely (turns out I'm wrong).

Flowers. They smell pretty, look pretty and make me feel pretty. Er... That is not what I meant. We have yet to secure a vendor for this aspect of the wedding, but we are drawing a bead on one now.

Cake. Already have a person for the cake, I just need to tell her that she officially has the job and that I have the design for the groom's cake (I'm not telling yet).

Guest gifts. Heather is working on those. We can't decide between personalized mints or personalized pens or personalized shot glasses or personalized... There is a lot of stuff out there.

Grooms gifts. I got 'em. They are nice.

Other gifts. Haven't figured it out, but will soon. We are giving people.

Houses. Okay, so not really wedding centric. We are looking at houses (no big shocker there). Yep it is time for us to stop "throwing equity away" and start owning something in this big, bad world to call our own. Yes, mortgage debt. It is honestly scary to think about plunking down X.X% at one time and realizing that money represents 4 to 5 paychecks that you have spread out saving over the past N months. But it will all be worth it. After all, it is only money.

Various other stuff. Haven't figured it out yet, but it will hopefully come up before October 21st and give us plenty of time to react to it (as life is not "fair", I doubt that the plenty of time thing will happen).

By my estimation, we will be ready for the wedding by January...well that's not right.

:)

Wishing you all the best.
Cheers!

9 Reasons to Celebrate America

I read this on the BBC, and it made me smile a little. Even the world recognizes the trivial reasons that America is great. Enjoy. :)

Nine reasons to celebrate America

As the US is marking its 233rd anniversary of its independence, the BBC's Kevin Connolly gives his own list of reasons why America should be celebrated.

I have left out such obvious American inventions as electrical light, water-skiing, space travel and the pop-up toaster on the grounds that someone else would probably have come up with those sooner or later.

This is more about the American genius for making daily life more convenient, more entertaining or just more fattening.

First - air conditioning - testament to the American ability to conquer the harshest physical environments and to expand American life towards improbable horizons.

For more than a century now, America has been making machines that blow cold air into hot places - without it Florida, Arizona and southern Texas would be uninhabitable.

Florida's population has gone up 10-fold since air conditioning became affordable. It caught on as a way of cooling cinemas when hot projection equipment made them unbearable in July and August.

Without aircon, going to the pictures would be as seasonal a pastime as ice-fishing.

Ice cubes , too, reflect the same happy knack for making light of the hostility of circumstance.

Every floor of every motel building in the country has an ice machine; every convenience store sells it by the sackfull, and every drink you are served contains lumps of ice big enough to sink a battleship.

All cold drinks in America are served at a temperature which could cryogenically freeze human tissue. I know you find ice cubes elsewhere, too, but in Europe bar staff hoard them as though they were precious stones. In America, they flow in rattling abundance.

Third - valet parking. President Barack Obama says America invented the car, which it did not. But it did invent motoring, and the pinnacle of the American motoring experience is the practice of having someone else park your car when you arrive at a restaurant or hotel.

It makes the list to symbolise the American genius for making money out of simple services done well.

I have paid people to valet my car and then watched mesmerised as they proceeded to park it just a few feet away from me. Somehow, I never feel I am being ripped off.

Item Number Four is aviation. America did invent the aeroplane but it was rather a dull device at first and spent its early years being flown short distances in wobbly straight lines by plucky pioneers.

Before long though, America had invented barnstorming, and intrepid entertainers were performing the Charleston on the wings of bi-planes as they were flown under low bridges. A pointless but brilliant feat.

I put it down to the manner in which the Declaration of Independence promises the right to the pursuit of happiness.

Fifth - chewing gum. One of America's more enduring gifts to humanity requiring no comment or explanation.

Except, perhaps, to note its surprising antiquity - juicy fruit flavour gum was invented in 1893. Odd to think it would have been a familiar taste already to the Americans who came to Europe to fight in the Great War.

1893, in fact, was a bumper year for people who do not worry too much about their fillings since it also saw the invention of Cracker Jack , a mixture of popcorn and peanut coated in toffee which is the baseball fan's snack of choice.

It is really on the list representing all processed food since the genius of it lies in a manufacturing process that prevents all the small lumps from sticking together in one big one.

And while we are on the subject of food, achievement number seven is American cheese - an industrially processed foodstuff chiefly valued for its ability to melt evenly on to a hamburger.

Often sold in a shade of orange - also used on motorway workers high-visibility coats - it exhibits a quality which I think is called hyper-plasticity which means once its ever been melted it never quite returns to its solid form again.

That is a lot of science behind the cheeseburger.

For anyone travelling through an airport this weekend I thought I should also mention the invention of metal detector in 1881 by Alexander Graham Bell, he of telephone fame.

One of its first deployments was a failed attempt to find a bullet in the body of the assassinated President James Garfield as he lay dying from a gunshot wound. Might have worked too if he had not been lying on an iron-framed bed.

Finally, for this year anyway I give you the space pen - a miracle of engineering which allowed astronauts to write in outer space.

Do not believe the urban myth that says Russians achieved the same effect as the Americans without spending millions of research dollars by sampling using pencils in their spacecraft.

Actually, pencils are dangerous in space because wood is flammable. The Russians use the space pen, too, apparently.

I leave it there because I have run out of time [space] rather than because I have run out of examples of American ingenuity.

Indeed so lavishly have the blessings of providence and the bounty of human ingenuity been bestowed here that by the time America's 234th birthday rolls around, I might well have compiled an entirely different list.

We will see - but for now, happy Independence Day.

Independence Day

Hey all, Happy early 4th of July to all our readers out there. Wanted to take an opportunity to examine thoughts and memories surrounding the Fourth.

The question was asked on the radio the other morning as I was driving into work what the most memorable 4th of July you ever had was. There were several that popped into my mind, and I wanted to share one or two of the most special memories I had with you.

The first most memorable 4th of July I had was when I was a kid. I think I may have been around 3rd grade-ish, because I vaguely remember Spearville afterwards. We happened to be in Kingman. My parents and grandparents were there, and I think I remember my uncles being there as well. We were popping off my favorite firework at the time: Black Cats. I remember seeing all the boys sitting there lighting them and then throwing them up in the air to pop. This was amazing, beings how I was lighting them via punk on the ground and running from them before they made the loud "POP"-ping noise. I began lighting them in my hand as well, and found delight to find they popped exactly as the grown-ups did... in the air. It was so much more exciting! Well, as my parents were supervising me (like good parents would around fireworks at such a young age), they told me NOT to do this!! I couldn't believe it. I decided that I was going to continue doing it... after all, I had shown them I could do it already. They said "Don't come crying to us if you get hurt." Well, as most of my stories continue, I did get hurt. There came that one firecracker that had the fuse that burned quicker than the rest, or maybe it just had a shorter fuse. To this day, I still cannot figure it out. In any case, it went off in my hand. My hand was covered with blood blisters, and when I cried, as my parents always did, comforted me and took care of me. I learned my lesson, and from that day on stayed away from the Black Cats!

I also remember being in the front yard at Spearville, and having my parents light Sparkler after Sparkler for me (what, you think they would turn me loose after an incident like that?). I played as the neighbors' fireworks popped in the dim hours, practicing my ribbon dancing skills and praying one day they would make ribbon dancing with Sparklers an Olympic sport.

The fact that my Dad was out there with us now particularly resonates with me. I now hate the celebration of the 4th of July in the manner that America has chosen. I enjoy watching the wonderous fireworks displays, but absolutely hate all the popping that the Black Cats invariably make the week before and weeks after the holiday. Now while I am working, as soon as I hear the pop, I immediately am transported to that shitty, tiny, cockroach infested apartment where bullets flew. I am taken back to the time when I waited, uncertain of my destiny, for authorities to "rescue" me. My time of dodging bullets lasted a few mere hours... I cannot even imagine what it must have been like to have dodged bullets for days, months, and even years.

I cannot begin to understand the strength that Veterans hold. I only know my reaction and understand that what I went through was not in a foreign land where help could not possibly arrive soon enough (and was often an uncertainty).

I want to take this moment to thank my family and all Veterans who so courageously fought for our freedom, so that our Independence Day could remain.

Also, I want to hear about YOUR most memorable 4th of July. What is something that sticks out in your mind??? As always, Happy 4th of July, and I pray all is well with you and yours.

Ice Cream and STDs

This weekend was a relief from the recent struggle to complete our Save the Dates (STDs for those of you following along at home).

Haley and Brodie (MOH and CL, respectively) made the trip into town to take Jeff and I out for lunch to get our minds off the wedding stress. We began the day at Noodles & Company before touring Oak Park Mall in a slow, relaxing manner. After seeing all that OP had to offer, we ended our excursion at Sheridan's, where we were able to eat a deliciously healthy dinner of ice cream (who knew I could get a "pothole" in my ice cream filled with nothing but caramel and pretzels?! Haley did!)

It was truly great to be able to catch up with them. I remember living in Ottawa just around the corner from their house, spending summer evenings grilling out, having pajama movie parties, and talking philosophy until the sun came up. Life intervened, and soon the warm winters at their house turned into me moving up here and I slowly stopped being able to "pop around the corner." They moved as well, and now I don't get to see the beautiful ladies I have adopted as my family away from home nearly enough. It was great just to be around them, cracking up at old jokes, putting new spins on the meaning of life, and seeing the man that I am going to spend the rest of my life with fitting in perfectly with the people who are my chosen family.

After relieving much of this stress, Jeff and I got back to the process of completing our STD cards. This time, our battle was not labels printing in the printer, but with EVERYTHING on the addresses printing. For instance, about half of our labels were printed with no zip code or combined zip codes. Therefore, instead of all of our labels being printer printed, some of our guests will be delighted to find that our STD cards are handwritten (and a few even a combination of both the printer label with the zip code written in). Overall, most of them are completed and were mailed at this morning (WOOHOO!!!). Our living room is now our living room again, not an amateur post office look alike with stamps and envelopes strewn about.

I also got to attend a fascinating DBT training for three days last week. I am very excited about incorporating these skills into my practice. I already used a few on Jeff, and he did not even know I'd DEARMAN'ed him (number 8).

Overall, it was a very productive weekend for us. We were able to begin the end of our STDs (we still have a few more to go) and relieve a lot of the stress (thanks H&B!). On top of that, Mom is still at home doing well. Hope your weekend was just as good, and that all is well with you and yours. :)

Save the Dates

Ok, so we've been working on our Save the Dates (or "STD Cards," as I call them). Here is a tale of our weekend adventures with the STDs...

Friday: I returned home from doing errands to see a UPS truck about to pull away. After rushing to the door, I saw there was a notice saying I had a package come in. I chased down a very unimpressed UPS driver to sign for the package.

Saturday: We bought hundreds of dollars in "wedding stamps" to ensure we could mail our STDs, invitations, and thank you cards in style. Spent a few hours figuring out how to print of Return Address labels. Found out the 3,200 labels I spent $1.20 on at Office Depot were honestly too small to double as both return address labels AND address labels as was intended with the purchase (but hey, if anyone needs any return address labels, we will end up using less than 1000...). Spent around 2 hours stuffing envelopes with the STD cards and putting return address labels on them.

Sunday: Asked Jeff to print envelope seal stickers with our full names on them. Our STD cards do not have our full names, as we were intending to mail them as postcards to save on postage. They are too long to send as postcards, and our return address labels do not have our names. It was suggested that we put our full names somewhere on there for relatives out of town who maybe want to do some sort of "name play" for gifts.

Went to Wal-Mart at 1 pm to purchase actual Address Labels while Jeff printed envelope seal stickers. Weekends at Wal-Mart are definitely adventures in and of themselves... my calves are now bruising from the large number of carts rammed into me during said adventure. Returned home to find us unable to import/export Outlook contacts into the version of Word installed on my computer. Spent the next hour uninstalling, re-installing, and re-merging lists.

Address label template for purchased address labels could not be found or installed via new software. Had to crawl the internet and download shady template compatible with labels and version of Word.

2 hours down. Finally got compatible software. Word would not recognize printer. Spent next hour finding printer. Merged list would not show correctly so anyone with a significant other would be listed as "John and Smith" or "Smith John and." Spent next hour trying to fix this.

Printer was critcally low on Yellow Ink. Even though trying to print in Black. Printer shut down. Went back to Wal-Mart to get Yellow Ink. Got rammed once while in printer ink aisle.

Installed Yellow Ink. Printer now dangerously low on Magenta Ink, which was at medium levels before second trip. Back to Wal-Mart. Rammed twice in line to check out. Cashier called me a "frequent flier" and asked if I had everything this time.

First page of merged list printed outside margins. Stopped printing, which confused the printer. Now critcally low on Blue Ink, which had previously been listed as near full. Back to Wal-Mart. Nobody came near me, I'm guessing because of the steam coming out of my ears.

Address label paper stuck in printer. Jeff and I both trying to get paper out without ruining printer. Re-started printing. 1 page printed OK out of 5. First page down. Second page stuck again in printer. Stopped and fixed. Third page labels came off onto printer roller. Stopped and fixed. After another hour, another page printed ok, the rest had address labels stuck to the roller. Jeff threw in the towel and requested we postpone until next day. I was still determined. Back to Wal-Mart for different brand of labels.

Come home, realize the labels were the same ones I bought the first time. Scoured the kitchen for ingredients for a night-cap. None to be found.

Decided I refused to let the rest of the day waste (at this time it was 9:30) and spent the next 2 hours sealing, sticking names stickers, and stamping envelopes.

We will resume our address label print-off tonight. Wish us luck. Our printer may just get "Office Space"-d.

Update on Mom

I want to thank everyone who has said prayers for Mom. She was released yesterday morning from the hospital in Dodge. They think they are ahead of the infection and are still closely monitoring her enzymes and other levels. It was truly very scary for awhile, but Mom is a fighter and is now back home.

We love you, Mom.

Update on Mom

Hey all, for those of you who don't know, Mom had to go to the hospital. She was taken by ambulance on Wednesday morning after she collapsed. It's been a crazy couple of days, but she has been fighting and is making a recovery.

She had an infection and the Dr put her on antibiotics she was allergic to... TWICE. This caused her infection to go into overdrive and her diabetic meds and sugar levels to go nuts. They think at this point the infection is under control and are now just trying to regulate her blood sugar level, which continues to skyrocket and bottom out.

A big THANK YOU goes out to the EMTs and First Response crew in our hometown, as well as the families and neighbors who have been visiting, calling, sending cards, and showing support. Thank you to many of the nurses and nurse aids who continue to care for her long after they kick us out at night and before we arrive in the morning. It is difficult to entrust the care of such a special woman with a group of people we don't know. You have all been instrumental in her recovery. Thank you.

Engagement Pictures!

Hey all, we have been running around like crazy doing wonderful wedding things. This weekend we were able to finally decide on Bridesmaid's dresses, Candle Lighter dresses, tuxes, official color scheme for the wedding, and get our engagement pictures back (taken over Memorial Day weekend).

The day we took our pictures was very hot and humid, but Stephanie was truly a trooper! She followed us around Loose Park and the Nelson-Atkins art museum looking for photo opportunities (seriously, email me if you want to give her business... she was GREAT!). We had dinner at her place this weekend with some other friends and were SUPER pleased when we got the pictures back!!!! :)

Here are a few of our favorites:










Also, this weekend brought an end to the ultimate dress search. My parameter for BM dresses and CL dresses were that they covered in a modest fashion and did not make my friends and family look like street walkers. It was definitely a far more difficult task than I could have ever anticipated. However, with a few deep breaths and lots of support, we were able to put a style number with the vision in my head (trust me, it is usually pretty difficult to match reality with my ideas). :)

The wedding plans are definitely coming along pretty well... I would have NEVER anticipated this much going into them!! What an awakening I have had these last 7 months!! :) So far all seems to be working out, and I hope you enjoyed our pictures!! :) Hope all is well with you and yours!! :)

The Art of the Chip Sandwich

So, as many of you know, I started my first "Big Kid" job last week. I am doing in-home therapy services and am loving it so far. One thing that I am NOT loving: I am SOOOOOOOO tired!!! The first day of work I came home at 6 and tried to crawl into bed at 730. Jeff did not buy my reasoning that the sun was going to set soon and we needed to be in bed to prepare for the sleeping. That is essentially the way the rest of the week went; brain overloading during the days and trying to go to sleep as early as possible in the evenings.

As you can probably imagine by the title of this particular blog entry, I reconnected with an old friend: The Chip Sandwich. I was reminded of how much I missed it, and Jeff was reminded of why he banned them from our apartment last summer. For those of you still wondering what the heck a Chip Sandwich is or how to make it, I have decided to give you a step by step instruction.

Ingredients needed: 2 slices of bread, 2 slices of American cheese (I use Borden's), Chips (I use Lay's Cheddar and Sour Cream potato chips, but feel free to experiment)

1) Take the chips and put them on 1 slice of bread. Pile them on high.

2) Take the 2 slices of cheese and put them on top of the chips.

3) Place the 2nd piece of bread on top of the cheese and smash down. If you don't hear them crunch, the sandwich is not going to fit into your mouth.

4) Microwave for 15-25 seconds. Keep in mind that the more you microwave, the more moist the bread at the bottom gets after you take it out. You want the cheese to be slightly melted but not cold. I typically go for 20 seconds, but this is really an approximation.

5) Eat. Pieces of chips will fall out as you are trying to eat, but that just means you get to have a Chip Sandwich with a side of Chips. ENJOY!!!

I tried to take pictures to go along with this blog, but for some reason the Chip Sandwich disappeared long before the camera could capture the true essence. Also, I didn't want to risk getting drool on my camera. I hope you understand.

So this is how the week went, but the weekend was different and full of excitement... I will let Jeff tell you all about that. :) Until then, hope your Memorial Day weekend was restful and that you took a moment to remember the fallen. Have a great day!! :)

Graduation!

For those of you who live under a rock or deep in a cave, I was hooded at graduation this weekend!!! The last two years culminated into one eventful day. My family and Kym drove from Spearville, my Uncle Frosty and Cathy came from Salina, and my longtime friend Kerri came from Wichita to celebrate the day with us. Here are a few pictures.

Amanda and I entered the program together and made it through together!

My family in front of the Jayhawk

Allison and Michael, Adam and Amanda, and Jeff and I in front of the Hawk

A group of us that had classes together

Jeff and I shared a quiet moment before graduation began

But of course, as usual, we made a bit of time for shopping. :)

Can you believe it?? I DID IT!!! :)


A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to everyone who supported and encouraged me through it all... it's been a BIG 2 years!!! THANK YOU to everyone who came to the graduation party. It was great to celebrate this accomplishment with people I love!!! :)

Hope all is well with you and yours!! :)

Officially Employed

Yesterday morning I accepted an offer for a position as an in-home therapist. :)

This is GREAT news!!! Even better news is that once the job starts, I will have medical insurance, vision insurance, and dental!!! AND even better I will be able to help with groceries, bills, and rent! Yippee! :)

It all happened pretty quickly. I was offered the position on Friday and accepted yesterday morning. Because the job is through a hospital, they require a pre-employment physical. I arrived the same day for said physical and received quite the surprise. Yes, friends, gone are the physicals of yesteryear where the Dr simply checks your vitals, bones, joints, and then has you bend over to make sure there is no curvature of the spine. Today's pre-employment "physicals" hoisted me into shock as I was patted down, inspected, and measured.

First, because my wearing glasses was not proof enough that I need glasses, I had to pass rigorous vision tests. Next came the measuring of me. Apparently my BMI is crucial to my work ability. Finally came the part that still makes me break out in anxious sweat: the pee test.

It's not so much the pee test that freaked me out. It is what happened surrounding the pee test. Ok, first, she patted me down. PATTED ME DOWN. Had me remove everything from my body that was removable and locked it up. Gave me the key. Asked me to pull up my pants to my knees or the top of my socks, whichever was higher. Ok. Done, no problem. Next, she gave me a quick tutorial on the cup with the built in temperature gauge should I try to use someone else's pee (the gauge was, of course, located mid cup which certainly allowed NO ROOM for mistakes, if you know what I mean ladies).

So she shows me to the bathroom, sprays blue dye all over, yada yada, turns off the water, blah blah, tells me she will be standing by the door when I am finished, yada yada .... wait, what? That's right. She would be standing right next to the door WHILE I WAS GOING to LISTEN and make sure I wasn't trying to "cheat the system." NOT COOL NOT COOL NOT COOL!!! The "accuracy cup" (as I like to call it) wasn't bad enough, now this lady was going to listen to me pee???

My anxiety kicked into overdrive. Needless to say, some pee anxiety hit and it took me a lot longer in the bathroom than anticipated. Furthermore, her anticipatory throat clears (her attempts to make me hurry or her attempts to remind me that she was there...???) did not help the situation and I'm fairly certain only served to make me look like more of an idiot.

However, I got through the day, managed to get lost TWICE on the way to the main campus location to sign papers, and called it a day!!! WOOHOO for employment!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Post-exam

Ok. So to catch you up on my pathetically boring life, I passed my exam, have been filling out applications for employment praying desperately that someone will need my services BEFORE I run out of loan money, and reclaiming my title as a Domestic Diva. Ok, you 2 in the back row can stop laughing, because there was a smidgen of hope for a minute that this could happen.

I also had the opportunity to repair things that had been neglected in my time at school. Case in point: I decided to re-pot a plant. I have seen my old roommate Jamie do this many times (and I say "old" not because she's actually old, but because she is no longer my roomie). I figured it would not be that hard. After all, it was just moving one plant from a bowl thing to another bowl thing and adding extra dirt. All in all, I'd say it went pretty well.


It can still pull through, right? I'm rooting for it.

Saturday Jeff and Adam decided to take Amanda and I out for a nice dinner at McCormick and Schmick's on the Plaza to celebrate us passing our licensure exam. The food was fantastic and the company was even better.

It was apparently Prom night around town, because we got to see some wonderful dresses and suits. There were even 2 guys dressed up like Harry and Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber that Adam made stop in an intersection so he could get pictures of them. I was surprised by the amount of Party Buses driving around; High School has sure changed! (Anyone remember moving the combines out of Kathy's shed so we could have space for a pre-prom dinner and after-prom party?!) I also recognized the Mayor and his wife out for a walk, so I decided I should probably be neighborly and wave and say hi and take a picture. Adam got pictures of them looking terrified and quickly walking away from us. Next stop was Brookside for their annual art show. It was awesome, but by that time everyone's shoes were starting to get pretty uncomfortable and we headed home to nurse our ailing feet and ankles. All that dressing up and walking around is hard!

Then I filled out more applications.

Sunday our caterer invited us to crash a wedding so we could see the food layout and take home some of the deliciousness. I'm sure the Bride and Groom didn't mind, right? And even if they did, I was the best Chuck Vindaloo there could be (from the movie "Wedding Crashers"). It will be difficult to decide on our menu, as we are being forced to choose between DELICIOUS, DELICIOUS, and DELICIOUS. All in all, though, I think our wedding guests will be pleasantly surprised with whatever we pick. DELICIOUS.

Monday I filled out more applications (noticing a pattern?) and worked on the plant. Tuesday was my last Grief and Loss class, which I am partly glad. For those of you who know me, I do not do grief well and crying once a week was starting to get old. Also, Jeff says that I am incredibly morbid now and he does not seem to be appreciative of my efforts to pre-organize our estate should we pass in an untimely fashion.

Next up is my last Solution Focused Brief Therapy class, and then on to Graduation! Hope all is well with you and yours! :)