Duh!

I was rereading my last post and realized that I had thought you weren't traveling for Christmas, but then I remembered that you said something about going to see your brother. How'd that go?

I did a little after Christmas shopping today. It was fun, I got a pretty new robe, slippers, and body spray in my new favorite scent. I also got a birthday present for someone whose birthday is just around the corner. Hmmm...I wonder who that could be? ; )

I tried calling you just a second ago to torture you with hints and whatnot, but you weren't there. Oh well, hopefully I'll talk to you before the new year. If not, have a great one! Miss you!

Happy Holidays!

Hey! Long time no talk! Did you have a good holiday? I know you said you weren't traveling this year, but did you & Josh do anything special to celebrate? I don't know if I mentioned it to you or not, but we decided to host Doug's family for Christmas Eve dinner. That was the most chaotic event of my life! I had 3 glasses of wine and I needed about 3 more before the night was over.

I'd write it all out, but it'd take me 3 days to do all that. I'll have to tell you in a phone call.

Doug is getting better and better at picking out gifts for me. This year he got me a beautiful jewelry box after he remembered me remarking several months ago that I needed a new one. It's HUGE! So huge that my pitiful little jewelry collection looks quite sad in it. I did get a promise that he would fill it up over the next 50 years or so! He also picked out a Paula Deen dayplanner (with recipes!) and some new pajama pants.

I went off of Doug's list this year for the most part. He got the recharging station for his wii controllers, the Superbad DVD, and some socks & underwear.

We also got some nice gift cards, some $$, and a DVD/CD burner from my parents. It was a very nice Christmas for us.

Hope things are going well for you. I'll call you soon!

I've Been a Bad NaNo participant...

I see you've been moving right along though, good for you!! I actually haven't written anything since Friday night. I'm back on it tonight though, so we'll see.

We can't wait to see you guys, Thanksgiving is going to be here in just 2 short weeks. How long are you staying? I have no idea what we are doing for the holiday. I know we're going to my parents on Thanksgiving and out to my grandpa's on Friday night. Who knows what with Doug's family though. They never plan anything until the last second. So annoying!

Lost

I'm feeling a little lost and sad today. Signing my new name is finally starting to feel normal. I catch myself thinking "no, not Sni, Bro-wait, it is Sni." I spent some time with my mom last night and for the first time it just felt weird. Like we weren't family anymore or something. I almost felt like I wasn't her daughter, does that seem odd? I feel guilty now for spending time with Doug's family. Not that we see them alot, but we haven't really spent any time with my family since the wedding. We've actually seen Doug's way more often and that never happens. I really didn't think anything was going to change when we got married, but it really does. I kept hearing things about how you lose a little bit of yourself and I thought that was the craziest thing I had ever read. But it's kind of true, I think. All of a sudden, I'm not me anymore, I'm "we." Everything I do has a direct effect on two lives now, not one. I don't know why that thought never occurred to me when we were living together or even engaged. I wonder now, if I will ever feel like my own person again? Does this little piece of myself that I'm losing ever come back? Is this all just "post nuptial depression?" *Sigh* I'm sure I'll feel better soon enough and I definitely don't want to sound like I'm looking for a pity party, I'm not. Just venting a few frustrations.

Hooray for me!

I'm already up to 2,607 words! I think that is already more than I wrote the first year I did it. The crazy thing is that I had absolutely nothing in mind until 2 nights ago and I didn't even have character names picked out until I started writing them and realized they needed names today. I think my story this year has some similarities to my first year, although who can remember it was 4 years ago. Once again there are 4 friends, but this time they are all married and each are dealing with a different issue in their marriage. I'm not even sure what that first story was about, but I really like this one. So far so good!

Get Ready!

One hour and 45 minutes from now, we'll be writing. HA! :)

Good luck to you tonight, if you're staying up for a bit. Good luck tomorrow if you're not. And remember, when in doubt, ADD NINJAS!

In a nutshell...

Just Checking In

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted! I guess now that the wedding is over and things are starting to get back to normal around here, I haven't had anything exciting to say. Not that that's an excuse! So how's everything going? Still enjoying your classes? Are you ready for NaNo? I'm still thinking about it. What's the last day to register?

BJ goes to the vet for his 2nd round of vaccinations, neutering, & declawing tomorrow morning. I had to take all the food & water away a little bit ago. I'm going to have some not happy kitties tomorrow morning! It's definitely time to get this done. I'd wait a little longer on the neutering, but I don't want to have to have him put under more than once and the vet recommended doing the declawing as soon as possible. Which is good, because I think he got Tess right above her eye the other day. Poor girl! And, she's losing her voice. I'm going to ask the vet about that in the morning. I hope it's nothing serious. I've looked it up online and I've found everything from "it's nothing" to "it could be cancer." This is why the internet is just not the most reliable source.

Anyway, I've got to get up really early tomorrow to take BJ in, so I guess that's all for tonight. Talk to you soon!

I'm an Aunt! (Again)

Diesel Marks was born 10-3-07 in Alameda, CA. He was 22 inches long and weighed 9.6 lbs!!!

Thinking about NaNo...

I'm thinking of doing NaNo just so I can get this shirt. Isn't it cute? I know you want one too, right?

New Fall Style

You might have noticed a difference in our blog. I decided we needed something fall inspired, wha'da'ya think?

Also, I had a bit of fun going back to the beginning of our blog and reading the really old stuff. There were a few cute Doug/Misty moments. Can you believe we've had this blog for 2.5 years now? Thanks for keeping it alive for us when I was a lazy slouch!

Magazine Years

I picked up a Woman's Day today and read it. And I liked it. In magazine years I am now 65. That is all.

Subscription!

Josh informs me that he forgot to stick a note in your present telling you that the Paula Dean magazine was coming with a subscription. Sooooo.... you should be seeing way more of Miss Paula in the future! :)

What I wanted to say...

Are we there yet?

AGH! It's THURSDAY already.

Couple of questions before we hit the road tonight. (We're leaving after my class and will stop in Des Moines before continuing on in on Friday.)

1.) What time is the Rehersal? Or should I just come to your house ASAP on Friday?
2.) Where are you and Sarah getting your dress steamed/pressed? I get my dress back today and the lady warned me on the phone that it needed pressing in a bad way.

Hope all is calm on your end!

IT'S PANTS!

Today I bought new jeans, size 16!!! That would be a bummer for most people, but I'm excited because I haven't bought 16's since 1999. Very exciting stuff.

In other news, you'll be married one week from today. Freaky! Looking forward to seeing you...

Woohoo...I didn't puke!!

Had the second part of my bachelorette party last night. I consider last weekend the first part. It didn't get off to such a great start...Angela had to cancel because Hannah was sick (she's feeling better today though). Half the other people invited didn't show up, but we still managed to have a good time. We had plenty of yummy margaritas to drink and lots of snacks. The Passion Party was fun. I managed to spend the rest of the money Doug thought I was going to spend last weekend...eek! He's over it now, I think. He overspent a little this weekend too. Not as much as I did, but we're both guilty. Oh well. Hopefully we'll make it up with some wedding money. After the Passion Party we went to a few bars (all the ones I said I wouldn't go to) and there some incriminating pictures of me floating around, I'm sure. ; ) Oh well, we had fun! I did 6 shots last night, Lindsey bought me 4 of them. Thanks, Lindsey! I think the only thing that saved me from puking my guts out was that after the bars closed we went back to Lindsey's and had pizza rolls & chips and dip and lots of water. I didn't get to bed until well after 4, but I had no nausea, no dizziness, nothing! It was great! Today I feel fine pretty much. My tummy is a little upset, but otherwise I feel good. I'll post pictures when I get them. :)

Back to School

Today is the first day of school for the kids here. No more annoying children in the library at 9:05!! We can't take it anymore! Plus it's cloudy and I think it is supposed to rain today so that may keep alot of people away...we can dream at least!

So how are your classes going? Have you had anything besides the archeology class yet? I really hope you share your work from your photography class. I'd love to see it!

Did you notice I changed our pic over on the right? That is just a really cute picture of us, don't you think?

Well, I guess I should get ready for work. Mom's coming over tonight and we are going to go the reception hall and get a feel for how we are going to set it up and then work on flowers. We got the boutonnières done the other night, and we have made one corsage, but we had to quit because it was getting late. Gotta get our beauty sleep! I promised I'd make dinner too. Nothing fancy, just baked chicken, rice, & veggies. I haven't cooked in so long though, I think I may have forgotten how! :) Have a good day!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank You!!!!

How fun was this weekend?? I had such a great time and it was exactly what I needed to get my mind off the wedding stress. I just want you to know how much I appreciate you coming down and the hotel and the dinner Saturday. It was all so awesome. And that we could manage to get all of us together for the whole weekend...wow, you are good! Okay, okay I'm rambling. I'll stop now. I hope you had a safe flight home and a great 1st day of school tomorrow! :)

Thank you again!!!!

All Was NOT As Planned

After months of waiting, we finally got the keys to our new apartment yesterday. Josh and I were pretty excited about it. We've had all this time to plan the colors we wanted to paint and talk about the look we wanted for each room. We imagined ourselves walking to the corner grocery store, sitting down for a chat at the cozy little coffee shop and walking a block down to the lake to watch the water and relax.

Unfortunately, things often don't go as planned.

When we got to the apartment today, the first thing we noticed was that there was only one, very small, parking space left available. We had been promised, and had written into the lease, two parking spaces. Then as we walked up to the front door we noticed that the lovely front porch was filled with THREE broken, ugly, ripped up couches that didn't even deserve a ride to the dump. They deserved to be set on fire immediately. There were empty coffee cups on a make-shift coffee table covered in dirt and cigarette ashes. A dead plant hung from the ceiling. A very, very bad start.

The vestibule, which had merely dirty before was packed with JUNK. There is no other way to describe the crap that lay all over the place. Our apartment was no better. The pantry and back room was still filled with crap from the previous renter. The property management company claimed they cleaned. Um, no you didn't you lying sacks of poo! There were things in the fridge and the freezer door was STICKY! I'm not even ready to start discussing the bathroom.

Thinking that some of our complaints were easily fixable, Josh went upstairs to talk to our new neighbors and see if we could work together to get the Vestibule and front porch cleaned off. Except, THE PIECE OF CRAP COUCHES ARE THEIRS! AND THEY LIKE THEM!

Josh is going to the property management company tomorrow with our complaints. Can anything be done? Not sure, but we sure as hell aren't paying as much as we are to live in a garbage heap!

Sorry!!

I forgot to have my mom take pictures tonight of my hair & my veil. I'm sorry! It looked really pretty though. And the hairdresser took my veil out before she left, I guess so I wouldn't have to worry about messing up the veil. I went ahead and ordered that slip tonight too. That's all for now!

Shower Day

Just curious how the shower went today (or rather, yesterday at this hour!).... Can't wait to hear!

Hotel for Girls Weekend

I booked it! :) Here it is.

Wedding Shoes

I finally bought shoes for the wedding. Now I can go and get the much-needed alterations done. (The dress is quite a bit more roomy then when I first got it. I hope the alternations don't cost an arm and a leg! Otherwise I may be forced to eat my way back into it! j/k)

Anyway, here are the perfectly adorable shoes I'll be wearing when you wed. (They're silver, I swear!)



Cuuuute, aren't they?

Roses & Lilies

We started on the wedding flowers tonight. All the bouquets are finished. Now we just have the boutonnières and corsages. Anyhow, Angela & Desire came over and helped and I thought you'd like to see the fruits of our labor. :)

Here's a picture of my bouquet on it's side.

Another one of my bouquet on it's side, but a slightly different angle.

Here's the straight on view. Remember how I said I only wanted white flowers? Well I forgot how pretty the other flowers I already had were and I decided to incorporate those as well. Actually, Angela was the one that put this all together, she just started gathering the flowers and the next thing I knew there was my bouquet. We all liked it so well that we went ahead and taped it up so we wouldn't mess anything up, only to find that the stupid cutter thing I bought wasn't going to work on the stems. :( Doug's probably got something around here somewhere that will work though. Then I plan to wrap the stems with ribbon and some pearl headed corsage pins.

Here's what you & Sarah will be carrying. Simple & elegant.

Here's the blooms close up...aren't they gorgeous?

Thank you!!

I played with my new makeup tonight! I'm super-impressed so far. I forgot how much I loved the Benefit line. :) And I adore the bag! So cute!! Speaking of makeup, what are we going to do for the wedding? Any ideas?

Hello?? Is anybody there?

Are you on another trip?? Lucky you, if you are! I haven't talked to you forever (okay, like 2 weeks), Miss Bridesmaid! :) How's everything going in Carmenland? Things are getting kind of hectic in Mistyville. I had to housesit all this past week for mom & dad. I got NOTHING done! So tomorrow, Doug promises that he will help me with the invitations. I think I'm going to let him punch the holes and I'm going to tie the ribbons. I also need to get the address labels. I told everyone that I was planning on running the envelopes through the printer, but I procrastinated too much and now I think I'm just going to have to break down and buy the labels. That way I can pretty much print them all at once. I'm not even sure I have all the addresses and I'm supposed to have the invitations ready to mail by Wednesday (my birthday!). Although, it won't officially be 6 weeks until next Saturday. So I've still got a little wiggle room, right?

Next weekend is officially the last Saturday that I have with nothing planned until the wedding. I'm working today, one Saturday in August and one in September. Then I have my shower, our girls weekend (can't wait!!!) and my bachelorette party and then the wedding. Hard to believe it's going to be here so fast, isn't it? I'd like for it to be over so I can come up with better things to talk about then the wedding! Unfortunately that is all that is on my mind at the moment.

I think my dress is almost finished. Sandy put the zipper in the other day and I'm a little afraid to try it on now. I'm so afraid it's not going to fit and I've been eating really badly the last few days. Lots of going out to eat and last night I had ice cream with my dad at 9:00. Not good! Anyhow, I was supposed to go try the dress on Thursday, according to the message on my answering machine, unfortunately I didn't get that message until last night around 10:00. Now, I know she knew I was housesitting, and I know she has my cell phone number, why she chose to call the house, I don't know! And for once she didn't call Doug to tell him that she was ready for another fitting. Ack! She frustrates me! Since I haven't returned her call she's probably all kinds of irritated with me too. I'll probably end up calling her later this afternoon. I need to get a slip soon, because I don't want her to put the hem in before I have it, even though she doesn't think I'll need it. The other day when we were fitting though you could see the line of the shapewear (that's supposedly seamless) through the dress, so I think I'll need some kind of slip. Although now that my shoes are a little shorter I may not have to worry about a slip pulling it up too much.

So anyway, I should maybe you know, do some actual work today. Give me a call when you get a chance!

Shoes!

Angela & Hannah went shoe shopping with me tonight and it was looking pretty hopeless. Fortunately, we went to Payless and I found these. They even came in wide width, so they should be pretty comfortable and much easier to walk in!

"In a good shoe, I wear a size six, but a seven feels so good, I buy a size eight."

Quoting my favorite movie because I need shoes! Wedding shoes, to be exact. My adorable, love them so much shoes, are not going to work with my dress. Doug's mom must have forgotten that I had my shoes on when I tried on the sample dress and she cut the skirt too short. So she was shocked when we tried it on again and she didn't have the 3 inches she intended for a hem. Anyhow, the easiest solution is for me to get different shoes. The shoes I have now have a 3 1/2 inch heel and it is a thin heel. Probably not the best for walking in grass, and probably really not good for wearing for 8 to 10 hours. So I'm looking for something around 2 inches and kind of a chunky heel. I still want open toe, because Doug has a thing for painted toenails and I want for him to be able to see them! ; ) I've looked last night at Penney's, but I didn't see anything there, but I found these on their website. They are cute enough and they look comfortable, but they don't seem "special" enough for my wedding day! I checked Target, Dillards, Payless & Kohl's website, but didn't really see anything there either. I'm kind of liking these too. Maybe since I'm off on Thursday I'll try to go shoe shopping. It's no fun by yourself though. :( Too bad you aren't coming until late in August so you could go with me!

Weekend Answers

One thing I can say for our friends, they are prompt with their responses!

So far, Desire says YES!!!!
and Angela says PROBABLY (she has to talk to Jay first...)

A good way to start a Monday morning, huh?

Oh Crap!!

I just realized after printing just about all of the reception invitations that I did not include the address of the reception hall. It just says:

"Knights of Columbus-Council 571
Saint Joseph, Missouri"

Do you think this is okay? I guess it is going to have to be, because I would have to buy a new box of invitations if it weren't. Surely people will look up the address and maybe we could just include a small sheet of directions in the invitations?? I can't believe I left the address off!

I just sent this to the girls...

Hey Girls! :)

I've been thinking that for Misty's wedding, we ought to do something special... What I've planned is a fun weekend, just the four of us on the town, painting it red. (Or pink actually, to tie it in with Misty's wedding colors)

Here's what I'm proposing:

Friday and Saturday (August 24th & 25th) night in a hotel by the Plaza in KC (I'm paying)
Dinner at the Melting Pot on the Plaza Saturday night (I'm paying)
Shopping, laughing, and general misbehavior the entire weekend! :)

So what do you all think, can we do this??

I'm hoping that I get answers in the affirmative!

Josh is Famous

Check out this site. Scroll about half-way down. I'm so proud of my lumberjack. :)

Melting Pot

I looked at the Melting Pot menu tonight...YUMMY!!! I really hope this weekend works out. :)

Link-tastic!

As per your request:

Stuffed Peppers: We substitute ground turkey for beef, brown rice for white, no onion (but I bet it would be good!), and add a can of mushrooms & sometimes a can of diced tomatoes. Cheese on top is optional. Easy & yummy!

Chateau Avalon: The Camelot Suite is kind of pricey (especially this time of year!), but the Renaissance Suite reminds of our rooms at the Excalibur, but better! And I misquoted the price earlier. That's the price for a Sunday night in September. It's a little bit more this time of year.

Also, not a link, but I'm thinking of doing a half-updo for the wedding. I know I said I felt more comfortable with it up, because I wouldn't have to worry about my hair falling, but I kind of figured that after all this time growing my hair out, it would be a shame to pile it all on top of my head for the day. So be one the lookout for a pretty style for me!

Weekend Away

A couple of weekends ago, Josh and I went on a camping trip up north.



More pics in Flickr.

Splurge

I broke down and ordered this tonight. I'd seen the infomercial one too many times, I suppose and there were some really great reviews on a message board. Probably doesn't help that I've been breaking out like crazy lately, either. Anyway, I'm excited about it. If it truly is flawless then maybe I won't have to worry so much about my makeup for the wedding.

*Sigh*

I started tanning yesterday, I haven't been since last year and my lotion was 2 years old, so I thought it was probably time for an update. So I asked the girl working what she recommended, and she pointed me to the anti-aging lotions. :( I know for a fact that this girl is only a couple of years older than me, if that (she's a library patron). Actually, I ended up taking her suggestion and buying this, and it is excellent! My skin has never felt so good after a tanning session.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I found out that our page's (she's 16) parents are actually closer to my age than I am to hers. How is that even possible??

It's Been Awhile

Wow...when was the last time you posted 3 blogs before I posted one of my own? Obviously, I've been slacking. Not really, this past week really just kicked my ass. Between it being the first week of summer vacation, the first week of the Summer Reading Program and babysitting Nate & Kaden before I go to work on Tuesday & Thursday mornings, I never thought I'd make it through this week. Next week is more of the same, but I'm hoping the library kids will settle down a little bit. They are always so excited that first week out. I'm starting to feel a little less hopeless about the wedding stuff. Mom & I got a ton of stuff accomplished yesterday (see the wedding blog) and I think that is what did it for me. All of a sudden I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it feels like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders. :) We're going to make it and in just a little over 3 months Doug & I will be married and all of this planning stress will just be an afterthought. I can't wait!

More Pics (but not of me)

Ian emailed tonight and sent a few pics my way. I showed them to my mom and now she wants to show them to the world. :)

Here is Ian and his wife, Haruna, at a street festival in Atsugi. (He's rubbing her baby bump! Isn't that cute?)



Haruna and Nicholas at the Outback. (Didn't even realize they had those in Japan!)

Dress!!!

Okay, it's blurry, but it's here as promised. (Mom took the picture)

Wasted Time

My nephew, Davidge (Fran's son) graduated from High School today. I sat in the front row of the bleachers and felt old and frumpy in my cutest skirt and slightly slimmer body. It seemed that the entire gym was filled with tan teenage girls wearing short denim skirts and layered camisoles. They chatted and laughed throughout the ceremony. The only time they fell silent was when the dipolmas were handed out. You could tell they were thinking, "It'll be me next year, or the year after that." I remember feeling that way, don't you? That deep-in-the-stomach flutter that came along with thoughts of adulthood and freedom?

In the middle of the ceremony, the guest speaker (a favored teacher) gave his speech. It was pretty much standard graduation garbage about how the graduates had accomplished so much and were going to on to do great things.

Hearing that speech, as generic as it was, got me thinking about life in a way it didn't when I wore my cap and gown. Back then I knew I was going places, that I was going to conquer the world in some way. But I didn't. I dropped out of college, got married (still the best decision I ever made) and settled into relative obscurity. Outside of you and a few others, Josh and I have no friends. We come home every night and watch T.V. or play on the internet and generally do nothing that is worth talking about or even remembering.

Looking at the graduates laughing and joking the way we once did, taking for granted that they have years until they are old and so many opportunities, I felt a feeling of loss. Loss for the nine years I've wasted doing nothing with my life, sitting on the sidelines procrastinating and saying, "Next year I'm going to do THIS!". Nine years. My head hurts just thinking about it.

So what am I going to do about it? I'd like to say I'm going to shake things up, that I'm going to storm the castle like I should have all those years ago. But the truth is, I've felt this way before, yet here I am in a boring job with equally boring hobbies.

Sorry to be a downer today. I guess I'm just wondering when it will be okay to just be me and not feel like I've wasted my life somehow?

Pictures of Doug & Tess

Our Downtown Digs

Well, here it is, our downtown home (Come August, that is...). We have the entire first floor, and the other unit takes up the whole second floor. It is two blocks from the lake and smack dab in the middle of cool shops and restaurants. It's in a very fun, liberal neighborhood, and I can't wait to be a part of it!!

Bridesmaid Dresses

Too bad we already got the bridesmaid dresses...Target has some pretty cute ones!

Darn Craigslist

Call me crazy if you want, but I'm in LOVVVVEE!

Even I think I'm nuts. I usually hate pink with a purple passion. I love retro dining sets though.

ETA: If this set were yellow, I'd have to buy it. As it is I'm not 100% convinced I could live with the Barbie color forever. So, I guess it's not love, just a crush.

The Dress is Here!

I tried it on and it still fits (though it needs some alteration)! The color is lighter than it looked in the store, but still very pretty! (I checked the label, it is Titanium).

I would have taken some pics, but my hair is a mess today. Excuses, excuses, right? :)

Retail Therapy

This weekend I:
1. ) Bought these two dresses. (The second one should be green, not brown)
2. ) Bought this cookbook.
3. ) Bought some Hipster under-roos. (As Josh says, "That's what Callie wears!")
4.) Bought THREE PAIRS of flip-flops, clearance skirt, black tee-shirt, black shrug and a pair of jeans.

In addition, I'm:
5.) Thinking seriously about this rug.
6.) Going with the Sunflower to match the cobalt.
7.) Considering this print for my living room.

What is the cause of all this retail therapy? Call it 1 part boredom to 2 parts being down a pants size and a pinch of getting a raise this week (But still not getting paid enough to put up with their crap!). The thing I'm most excited about is the cookbook. Everything sounds yummy and it's vegetarian food so it will be fun and different to cook. I'll post again when I figure out a menu for the week! :)

Dude...Where's Our Blog?

I think I've got movies on the brain today, the title of my post on the wedding blog was "Owies & Flowers & Chairs...OH MY!!!" I'm a silly, silly girl today! No, but seriously, I just wanted to say that it is really hard to keep up with 3 blogs. I'm doing my best, but I know I've been slacking over here. I hope you don't mind. Once all the wedding nonsense is over, we'll be back in business, right?

Bridesmaid Jewelry

Patty gave me a catalog to order bridesmaid jewelry from on Thursday. Really cute stuff in here and soooo cheap! Just the way we like it, right? Anyhow, you have to logged into the website for the catalog, and I don't have that info, so I'm going to try to find some comprable things and you let me know what you think will look the best, okay?

• Option 1
• Option 2
• Option 3
• Option 4
• Option 5
• Option 6
• Option 7

Disregard most of the info. I just want to know what style/shape you like. I'll post more later.

Bad Bloggers!

Uh-oh! We've been neglecting our blog. You had an excuse, you were on vacation for a week, but I've been here this whole time. Not that I have anything exciting to blog about.

I'm making chili today. I put it in the crockpot this morning, so it'll be ready before Doug leaves for work this afternoon and by the time I get home from work. Doesn't that sound yummy?

I've got 2 programs out of the building today, so my whole day is going to be spent running back and forth. Fun!

I can't wait to hear how the dress trying-on goes. I hope you'll take a picture or two. :)

Well, I guess I better finish getting ready for work. Talk to you later!

Things Are Finally Looking Up!

After having the worst week ever last week, we're finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. I don't know if it is just because Spring is here or what. I know I woke up today feeling alot better than I have for the last couple of weeks. It might have helped that I had a little retail therapy last night (shh...don't tell Doug.) Plus, I did manage to get a little exercise in the last couple of days too. Saturday evening, Doug & I walked around the neighborhood, I walked the parkway with Desire & Jackson on Sunday and I'll count the shopping I did at the mall with Amanda last night too. :) Plus, I've been remembering to take my vitamins the last couple of days. So maybe it is a combination of all of the above. Whatever it is, I need to keep it up! Maybe now I'll finally be able to be motivated enough to make wedding plans. Doug did talk to the pastor we wanted today and he will marry us and he's doing it for free. All he asks is that we make a donation to his church. Cool, I can deal with that. I need to call a couple more photographers still, but it's starting to get done. I really hope that you guys can make it out here, so we can hopefully decide on your dresses. Then we just need to do food, cake, and decorations. Yeah, like it'll be that simple. :)

It's going to be a bad day...

I hated Grey's Anatomy last night. For one thing, my DVR stopped right before the very end, so I don't know if I missed anything crucial or just the previews for next week. For another thing, I'm really not liking George & Izzie right now. And they used to be my favorites! I was reading the writer's blog and it was just making it worse, because from what Amanda told me about the spoilers she read they are all coming true and they aren't good.

And today is Boomer's last day. Doug's taking him this afternoon. We're holding up really well. No tears for the last several days now. Doug says it is because we have accepted it. I feel bad that I haven't been crying over him, but maybe that is good. We can remember his last days with us as happy ones.

Dishes

Here are the dishes I like. No seriously...this is it! I am not going to look for anything else. :)

Thanks for the tip about Firefox, btw. Logged onto online banking with no problems and is it just me or does it seem faster than IE?

Boomer in Pictures

More Updates

Thanks for your prayers yesterday. I know they helped. We went to see Grandma last night after Kaden's birthday party. She was looking alot better. She had the scope and they discovered 6 inches of inflamation, scarring and ulcers on her esophagus all from acid reflux. They also discovered another condition that I can't remember the name of, but the only way to get rid of it was through diarrhea (TMI, sorry). Anyway, that can last up to 2 months and that's with the medicine that you have to take. Apparently that's the only way it can leave your body. So since they know the problem now, they told her that if she could take her medicine and eat and keep it all down she could go home. So hopefully that will be today.



And to keep up with the good spirit here are some pictures of the birthday boy for you:

Kaden Eric

March 10, 2006

Look how you've grown!

March 10, 2007

One more thing before I go...do you think you could come out some weekend in the not too distant future? I think it would be fun to go shopping for bridesmaid dresses together. We'd love it if Josh came too. You guys could stay with us if you'd like. We'll probably have new furniture in our guest room by then and it may be repainted. :) Anyway, think about and see if you have time and funds for such an expedition. I'm pretty flexible about the weekend, so don't worry about when. Or if during the week is better for you, that's fine with me too. I don't know what you have for time off at work. I'll talk to you soon!

Update

My grandma is still in the hospital. She hasn't been able to eat or drink at all since she got there. I think they tried giving her jello and she couldn't keep it down. They are going to do a surgical scope thing later today. My mom says she's mostly just been sleeping. I went to see her on Thursday night, and I could tell she was really uncomfortable. I think we're going to try to go see her sometime today, probably after Kaden's birthday party. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers today, please.

Bonus Time!

It's Clinique Bonus time again. This is actually a pretty good one, so I might have to go and get it. In ours you get a make-up bag (always...it's actually cute this time!), mini powder, mini sunblock, mini Take the Day Off, mini Dramatically Different Lotion, and mini Black Honey almost lipstick. What I'm going to spend my $21.50 on, I do not know. I'm almost out of my Take the Day Off, so I might get that. I also could use some more 7 Day Scrub, but I use it so sporadically, I don't know that it is worth it. I definitely do not need anymore lipstick. I might get some Touch Tint. I finally ran out of my tube. I swear it last 2 years (yes, I know I should have thrown it away long before that.) Anyway, it doesn't start until March 11, so I've got time to decide.

Now for my unhappy...my Grandma Swartz is at the emergency room right now. :( She's been sick with flu-like symptoms for the last couple of weeks. Actually she went to the doctor last week and started to feel better, but I guess she woke up feeling really bad again yesterday. She asked my aunt to take her to the hospital, but my aunt talked her into just going to her doctor. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic and something for her stomach and sent her home. The antibiotic caused her to break out in hives and she still couldn't eat or drink anything. I talked to her this morning and she didn't sound good at all. She said my aunt was going to take her to the hospital as soon as she got off work and that she thought she had thrown up blood earlier in the morning. I asked her if she wanted anything and she said my dad was supposed to bringing her some Pepto for her stomach, but hadn't got there yet (my mom is at a training session in KC all week). I talked to my dad and he hadn't had a chance to get there and asked me if I would take it to her on my way to work. So I did, but I had just missed them. My aunt took her to the hospital about 5 minutes before I got there according to my uncle who was there doing some work on her house. Then I talked to my mom who was really upset that my grandma didn't call her sooner. My mom would have gladly stayed home today and taken her and she was upset because she thought my aunt should have taken her yesterday when my grandma asked her to. I'm sure at this point they will have to admit her just to get her hooked up to an IV and rehydrated. She said she hasn't eaten or drank much in the last couple of days, so she's probably severely dehydrated. Anyway, I got pretty upset about this morning. I don't know if it is hormonal (stupid period!) or what. My grandma almost never gets sick and never for long. Then I started to feel bad, because my grandma & I used to be really close, but as the years go by I talk to her less and less. I need to be better about that.

Okay, I feel better now that I have vented. Talk to you soon!

Here They Are!

Here's Sarah looking oh-so-bored.

The only reason she came was because it got her out of soccer practice.

Sandy's trying to mimic the look of the dress with the piece that laid across the front.

Here we are discussing how nicely the material lays.


Now here she's trying to do the ruching on the bodice.

Sandy apparently has the vision and I'm glad she does, because I absolutely do not. She hasn't taken my measurements yet either and that scares me a little because I mentioned to her a while back that I wanted to be down to a size 8 for the wedding and I'm afraid we only got enough material for a size 8 gown. I'm sure that is not true, but maybe that'll give me a little motivation. Something's got to.

More Dishes!

Are you sick of me blogging about dishes yet? I am! We were at Aaron & Lindsey's on Saturday and I noticed their dishes for the first time. Look familiar? They aren't exactly the same, but pretty darn close. And of course theirs are the more high end brand, which wouldn't bother me, but I know would annoy Doug. So I think it is back to the HGP stoneware or maybe I'll borrow a page from you book and go with the Fiestaware. The more I see it, the more I like the sunflower. And I figured out a way to do just 3 colors if I wanted to, get 12 place settings. Apparently that's what you're supposed to register for anyway. So we could do 4 place settings of sunflower, 4 of cobalt, and 4 of cinnabar. And then mix & match when we set the table. What do you think? I think I could probably even live with 12 place settings of sunflower, but I think the variety would be nice.

We got the material for my dress yesterday. Five yards of crepe back satin on sale for $5.59/yd. Now I need to pick out trim and my mom wants covered buttons. We took some pictures, and I'll upload them later.

Your Opinion is Needed!

I'm thinking of getting my mom either this or this for her "mother of the bride" present. Which one do you like better? I think the first one seems more joyful, but I think the second one looks more appropriate, but maybe a little bittersweet. What do you think? Maybe it is bittersweet that I am getting married? They have a mother/son one that I thought about getting for Doug's mom, but it doesn't feel right. He's just not that close with his mom. Besides, he needs to pick it out, right?

I really shouldn't have drank that chocolate coke tonight. I don't know if I'll ever get to bed!

Time to Celebrate!

Why, you ask?

Because we...

SOLD OUR HOUSE!

I'm relieved and happy, but it doesn't feel real to me yet. I thought it would feel real when I had the check in my hand (!!!!!!!!) but it doesn't. Not sure why.

So this means: No more mortgage payment.
And it also means: Big boost to savings account. We owed $36,000 on it, and sold it for - are you ready for this - $62,500!!! Granted, we're actually carrying part of that note for the buyer (they will pay us $100 for 3 years), but we still got a check for 10k.

Okay, writing all that out did make me a little bit more excited. I only wish it wasn't snowing so I could get Josh to take me to Ik3a!

Registry Goodness

Last night, Doug & I went to Bed Bath & Beyond to look around and decide if we really want to register there. We came to the conclusion that yes, we will be registering there. They have everything! We'll probably still register at Target too, but no deparment stores. Anyway, we found some dishes that we both agree on, although Doug would rather have something like this because you get all the pieces. He didn't seem to mind that it didn't match our kitchen at all. Silly boys! They actually have the Pfaltzgraff set that I like on their website, but not in the store and I have decided that if I haven't seen it in the store yet, I'm not going to get it. I need to be able to pick it up and feel it, you know what I mean? Something else I found interesting on their webstie was a Bridal Registry Checklist. Might come in handy, but I think we'll disregard more than half of it.

In other news, one (or both) of the cats peed all over our new rugs. We discovered it last night after coming home from our lovely evening out. I went to sit down on the couch and walked across the rug with my shoes off and was immediately rewarded with wet feet. After closer inspection, I quickly realized it was from the cats. And it wasn't just the big rug, it was the throw rug too. Doug's shampooing them today, since I'm at work, but we're afraid they will just do it again. I don't know if it was because of the smell of the new rug or the fact that Ronnie & Corey brought their dog up last weekend or something health related that caused them to do it. *sigh* We just might have to give up our rugs, I suppose. All that money, gone. I'm really glad we bought them on sale now. Maybe it won't hurt so much if we have to get rid of them.

Lots of Randomness

I loved the latest installment of Olivia's story, but I need more! :)

I cleaned my house tonight, well I surface cleaned it, but it made a HUGE difference. I forgot how much cleaning helps improve my mood.

Speaking of which, I've been in a horrible mood the last couple of days. I think it's PMS, because I'm super-bloated too. I hope so, because I may not have to worry about wedding planning at the rate I'm going. Doug might be ready to leave my cranky butt, if I get any worse!

It's our 3 year anniversary Monday. I think Doug is making me dinner tomorrow night, hence the cleaning. That makes me a little less cranky.

Something else that doesn't make me cranky, but is kind of scaring me is that I decided this week that I am ready to go back to school. Probably won't be until Spring of '08, because I don't even want to attempt to do last-minute wedding stuff my first semester back. I will more than likely finish my education degree. Whether or not I choose to use it, I don't know yet. I said something offhand to Doug tonight about being a kindergarten teacher and he said he thought I was "too highstrung" for the job. See, why he's making me cranky? What does he know about teaching kindergarten?? He wouldn't last 10 minutes with twenty 5 year-olds. I mentioned the idea to my mom last night and she thinks I need to be an ESL teacher. We've had a huge-influx of Spanish speaking people move here in the last year or so and I know for a fact that at the beginning of the school year there were several classes with kids who only spoke Spanish. Anyway, don't get too excited yet. I still have to figure out how I'll be able to work and finish school. *Sigh* Lots to think about.

Wedding plans: Mom & I went to Hobby Lobby last night and bought some different flowers for a practice bouquet. I wish you were here to help! I'll send you pictures when we get one made. On Sunday, I'm going shopping for dress material with my mom & Sandy. This should be interesting.

Olivia Gets Grilled

“Olivia, I’m Sheriff Bearis, and this is Officer Webb.” The man who had captured her said, gesturing toward the young, skinny cop who looked around the room with his mouth open, plainly wishing for a camera to capture the moment.

“Webb. WEBB.” Bearis rapped his knuckles on Webb’s back; not taking his eyes from Olivia.

“Yeah, boss.”

“Why don’t you head outside and radio the station. See how much longer till Mrs. Caine gets here. I want to tell Olivia about her new home.”

“It’s Sunday, Sheriff. No one will be at…”

“WEBB!” Bearis warned. “Go. Take you time. And give me that folder.” Bearis snatched a manila folder from Webb’s grasp. All joviality fell from Webb’s face, and for a moment, Olivia thought Webb would hit him. Instead, Webb looked right into Olivia’s eyes, nodded with a condolatory smile, and left through the battered front door.

Bearis crossed the room and sat, without asking, in Olivia’s green chair, the only comfortable piece of furniture in the room. Olivia had dragged the chair down from her bedroom after realizing that the living room was the warmest place in the house. Many times over the last six months she had come home late from work and fallen asleep in the chair, waking an hour later in a confused panic of time and place.

“You ready to talk about it?” Bearis asked, in a voice that meant Olivia should confide. I’m not talking to you, she thought, concentrating on Bearis’ strange beard. It puffed out on the sides and went flat at the end. In the movies, cops are always clean shaven. Suddenly, a desperate question formed inside her.

“Is she okay? My grandmother, I mean.”

Bearis waited a moment before he opened the folder in his lap.

Olivia leaned away from the sofa and peaked at the contents as he flipped through it. On top, a tidy batch of Denver Post news clippings about her father’s accident, below that, a few pages of lined paper filled with writing she couldn’t quite make out.
Bearis came to what he was looking for and removed it.

Just as he snapped the folder shut Olivia glimpsed a photograph she never wanted to see again. A Caine family portrait. Her father, his wife and young sons. Next to them, in the place that Olivia should have stood, was a Christmas tree. Olivia’s gaze dropped to the floor. Her discarded peanut butter and jelly sandwich lay an inch from Bearis’ booted foot.

“Camille Caine suffered a stroke on December fifth of last year. She has been in a coma since that time. Her status has not changed.” Bearis offered Olivia the fax from St. Andrews Manor in Portland.

Olivia waved it away and exhaled slowly. “She’s okay then.”

“As okay as she can be.” Bearis leaned back into the chair, confident that Olivia’s injury would prevent an escape.

“Now Olivia, I want to make it clear that while what you have done isn’t punishable under the law, you do owe us a few answers.”

“You’re sending me to live with her, aren’t you? That’s punishment enough.”

“Actually, Miss Caine, your placement with your stepmother is only temporary at the moment. Meredith Caine hasn’t yet decided… I mean she’s still in shock over you’re father’s death.” Bearis took out a pen, a bright, hateful smile on his face. “Now, first tell me why you chose to lie to everyone and live alone.”

A white-hot anger filled Olivia’s heart and invaded her brain. She jerked herself off the couch and stood over Bearis. The sharp pain that shot up her leg only added to her fury. “You have that file in your lap about me. You know everything. Yet you ask me why, after everything, I would want to live alone; to stay in this house. I’ll tell you your answer now, sheriff. I lied because I wanted to. Because I was happy here, and because one day my grandmother will come home and I’ll have a family again.”

Bearis continued to smile, though darkness had taken hold in his eyes. “Sit down, Olivia.”

The front door creaked open. A summer breeze flooded the room and the wind chimes played a loud and haunting tune. In the door stood the dark and hulking Evan Giatti, a year ahead of Olivia at school, but easily twice the size.

My Never-Ending Quest Continues...

Still trying to pick some dishes. I really like these. Actually, I've always really liked the Pfaltzgraff stuff. I need to go to Penney's and see if they actually have them at the store. I really don't want to mess with shipping dishes again. And I think I'll probably just register for them if Doug & I decide we like them. They are a little pricey, well compared to the ones I liked at Target. I think I really just like cream-colored or beige dishes. I like the bright colors too, but I'm nervous about picking a pattern or color that I won't love forever. This way if I get something neutral I won't have to worry about when I redecorate. Actually they kind of remind me of Fiestaware, with their bands around the edges. I'd probably go with Fiestaware if it came in cream or beige!

Hello?

What happened to the rest of those pictures? :)

Carmen's Picture Post

Yes! I am finally getting around to posting up some pictures! I've got alot of them, so I hope blogger doesn't freak out on me.

I'll seperate this into two posts; Milwaukee and Other.

Other comes first. (And by other, you know I mean my animals, right?)



This is the snow that fell last night. We're expecting much more. 11-15 inches on Sunday alone!



I took this pic of Maddie this morning. She seems to be asking, "Whatcha doing?"



Not ten minutes later, in her favorite chair by the window. She's getting sleeeepy!


I know you've seen this picture, but I love it so much, I had to post it here. Beautiful Casper on the Banana Boat! (She loves that couch because it keeps her cool, and because we're not always kicking her off to sit on it.)





My crazy kitty! This is the first picture I took with my new camera. Sorcha didn't quite know what to make of the flash! The box she's standing next to held my cobalt dishes!



Hands down, my favorite picture. She is such a pretty kitty, and fun subject for my incessant picture taking!

-------------------------------

Well, as I said, I've got lots more. I kitty just climbed in my lap though, and it's hard to do this with one hand, so I'll post the rest up later. My Milwaukee pictures are nice and include *gasp* HUMANS!

Finished!

As promised, here are pictures of my completed living room. I forgot that Blogger loads them backwards, but I don't have time to reverse the order this morning. :) Ready for the tour?

Here is our new big rug. It is a shag rug and a lighter color which I hope will disguise some of the cat hair. Although, so far neither of the cats have been really laying on it.

Here is the matching throw rug.


Here is a close-up of one of the pillows. I can't believe how well it matches the couch!

I wanted you to see the end table and lamp. I wish all our lamps matched, but Doug really likes the lamp his mom gave him and won't give it up. that's the one on the far right.

Another view of the living room. Wow...the walls really look blue.

Maybe that's just my screen though.

Last one that was supposed to be the first.

So what do you think?