Friday, February 27, 2009

Weekend Crazies!!!

Well, regardless of my hopes for a relaxing weekend...our plans basically consist of nothing anywhere close to that. Hubby has to work tomorrow morning and I have a trip to the grocery store & laundry on my schedule. Tomorrow afternoon Hubby is going to be spending some time with some of his guy friends and I have a baby shower at 2:00. Tomorrow night one of our good friends from small group is throwing her husband a surprise birthday party for his 30th!!! So...I'm going to be helping her out with the setup and my Hubby is in charge of keeping said husband occupied until 6:30 or 6:45 until all of the guests arrive.

Sunday, we have church in the morning and then I have a wedding shower at 2:00 for one of my cousin's. This should definitely be an experience as it always is when the ladies in my family get together. Finally to cap off the weekend we have small group at 5:00 on Sunday evening. It's certainly going to be a weekend of running around like crazy people--but seems likely to have some good memories!!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Roller Coaster Weather....

Up and down, up and down....it seems this has been the weather pattern for the past few weeks. Fairly warm the beginning of the week, even warmer in the middle and towards the end and then absolutely horrible weather for the weekend. This week is proving to be no different. Yesterday it was absolutely gorgeous outside today it's still really warm and tomorrow a cold front moves through which leaves us with highs in the 30s and a chance of snow on Saturday. Just a lovely day for what my Hubby was hoping would be a good day to head out to the golf course---guess those plans are completely shot. Hopefully Spring will be here to stay in a few weeks...I've already got tulips, daffodils, and crocus starting to come up and that will definitely turn on the Spring Fever!!!

Last night we were able to grill hamburgers for dinner and then enjoy a nice run/walk workout in our subdivision. Bogey-mon certainly enjoyed the run and he was worn out when we got back. He'll be having his 1st birthday in about 3 weeks and I can't believe it's been that long already! Our furry little son has grown into an obstinate teenager who loves to dig, chew, and tear up almost anything in sight! I'm so glad he's an outdoor dog. He may be trouble, but those times when he just runs up to you and can make you smile no matter how bad of a day you might have had completely make all of his trouble worth it (almost ;o). We honestly can't imagine not having him and he brings such joy to our lives everday!!!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

They're Here!!!

Well, since it's practically already mid-week I'll just skip right through my weekend with an abbreviated recap. We had a great weekend with lots of fun with some great friends & family. I love hanging out with Tony & Dana (our pastor & his wife)--they are great fun!!! My brother's birthday went well & we had a great dinner as a family! My sister-in-law also made a fabulous Cocunut Cake that was fantastic! Sunday, we elected to skip the workout session and spend time relaxing...a nap was definitely on the agenda for me. Of course I managed to go through the entire weekend with not a single picture...I'm really gonna have to work on this.


And now onto more important things...I know some of you have probably had them for a few days but today I got a very special delivery at work...no, not flowers...not another package from my dear mother-in-law...GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!! I don't know about anyone else but I love these cookies! This year I bought a box of Caramel Delites--or for those who remember the traditional names (Samoas) & also a box of Peanut Butter Patties. I definitely broke open a box when I got home and have already had my dessert for the night. I assumed Hubby would be hit up at his office and would buy a couple of boxes of thin mints (which are honestly my favorite)--however, he informed me a few days ago that no one came around this year. Lucky for me (& not so lucky for my waistline)...the girl who brought our order let me know they have extra boxes so she will be bringing me a box later this week. Girl Scout Cookies only come once a year right!?! So can't I be justified in having 3 boxes all to myself???? Hopefully dear Hubby will save me from myself & at least help me consume them all!!!!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Yeah for the Weekend!!!

So the weekend is finally here and I'm so excited!!! Not because we have anything real exciting planned, but this week has just seemed long to me (even though I didn't even have to work on Monday). Anyways, Hubby & I are having dinner and going bowling tonight with a couple from church. It's actually one of the pastors and his wife, but they are only about 5 years older than Hubby & I so we have a great time together.

Tomorrow is my little brother's 23rd birthday so we're going out to eat tomorrow night and then my sister-in-law is hosting a party! It should be a great time and rumor has it that she's made Paula Deen's recipe for Coconut Cream Cake...YUM!!!!

Sunday will be most likely be time for rest & relaxation--also known as going to the gym and doing laundry! Hopefully I'll actually take some pictures this weekend---I've gone too long without some recent photos!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Celebration of Life

While I had planned on my day off for President's Day being a relaxing and refreshing day, it really ended up turning into much more than that. On Friday, February 13th a little after midnight my Grandma's younger brother Jerry (my great uncle) went to be with Jesus. He was an amazing man of God who had truly just come back to Jesus about 5 years ago. He loved Jesus and loved to praise Him. He had been sick for quite awhile so it was certainly a blessing that God decided his time was now. His funeral was on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. and truly was a Celebration of His Life. We laughed & cried and I was able to spend time with 60-70 family members (most of whom I haven't seen in years!) It was such a great time even if it was a funeral. It's experiences like those that make me so thankful for the family I have and how they have always taught me to love Jesus with all my heart.


The hardest part of the whole day was watching Jerrys' wife, children, & grandchildren cry through the service at the fact that they wouldn't be seeing their loving Jerry for awhile--but at the end as my parent's sang Come to Jesus, by Chris Rice they lifted their hands and praised God for who He is and always will be. What a moving moment! It was also difficult to know that inevitably, I will be in that position one day and I can only hope that I will praise God as Jerry's immediate family did.


Uncle Jerry, you will definitely be terribly missed, but we all know that we will see you again at the gates of heaven!

(Uncle Jerry at our wedding--throwing petals as we left the church)

Monday, February 16, 2009

What a Wonderful Weekend!!!

Well, the weekend has obviously come and gone...but I am just now catching up on all the new posts and getting to post some details from our Valentine's Day Weekend. As I'd previously mentioned, Hubby & I both had to work Saturday morning & it was freezing outside so we didn't end up leaving town until about 3:00 Saturday afternoon. I had big plans of dressing all cute in something new, but with the weather and the fact that I still wasn't feeling 100%...I opted out of that option.
We headed to Branson Landing and did a little bit of shopping. We bought a large decorative vase to go in the corner of our newly painted dining area & I also bought some new sunglasses with the gift card I got from my mother-in-law. I just love them & they won't leave nasty lines on my face like the cheap ones I was wearing.
We had dinner at Cantina Laredo & I am soooo glad we had reservations. The wait when we walked in was 1 hour 45 min - 2 hours. YIKES!!!! They had even run out of pagers so they were telling people to come back in an hour and check to see if a pager was available. We were seated practically immediately and had a fantastic dinner. They have apple pie on a hot skillet with warm brandy sauce that is absolutely wonderful!!!
Once dinner was over we headed over to the Chateau on the Lake, checked in to our room and just talked for the longest time. With the busy week Hubby had & the fact that I had been sick practically all week, we had no big expectations for the weekend except to relax and just enjoy each other's company. That's exactly what we did and I couldn't have hoped for a better weekend. Sometimes it's so nice to just sit around with no television, Internet, or cell phones and just remember why we fell in love & got married in the first place. We had a great breakfast on Sunday morning and then we took our time coming back home. It was a short trip but so worth it & it was very refreshing for both of us.
I failed to take any pictures of us & the view out of our hotel room was great, but not really picture worthy so here are a few of my favorite pics of us from over the years.


Our first Valentine's Day together--February 2004--Wow, look at that hair!


STL Cardinals' games are one of our favorite things to do!!!

Another Cardinals' game...STL Cardinals vs. Springfield Cardinals...the inaugural season for Springfield
One of the best night's of my life...the night he asked me to be his wife!!!



Friday, February 13, 2009

Valentine's Day Weekend...

So...it's Friday the 13th, but instead of superstitions and old wives' tales, it seems that everyone is more focused on the fact that today is also the day before Valentine's Day and the Friday before a 3 day weekend (for those of us who have President's Day off from work). I'm certainly looking forward to the long weekend--especially since I've been feeling less than wonderful this week. I'm still not completely over my sickness, but my dear Hubby & I were so looking forward to getting away for awhile....so, we're still going & I'm still very excited. We both have to work tomorrow until noon, but then we are heading down to Branson for some retail therapy and just some relaxation. We have dinner plans at Cantina Laredo on the Branson Landing and I just love this place! It's actually upscale Mexican--which around here you don't get very often. The view is fantastic and you can see the beautiful fountain/fire show on the water. Hubby made reservations (with a little prodding from me) at Chateau on the Lake.It's beautiful and we've never stayed there, but everyone I've talked to says everything is just wonderful. The views are beautiful and I can't wait for some romance & relaxation!!! Sunday we'll probably just lay around do a little bit of shopping and then head back in time for Small Group...we're still in the Fireproof series and Hubby & I are absolutely loving it. Needless to say I'm super excited! & I'll be sure and take some pictures to post when we get back. Have a Happy Valentine's Day everyone and enjoy your sweetheart!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Sick Day

Well, I think today might have offically been my first sick day since starting work for my dad almost 3 years ago. I never, ever get sick enough to miss work---I guess there's a first time for everything. Basically I just have a really deep cough and I didn't want it to turn into something serious like bronchitis or something more serious like pneumonia...so I decided to go to the doctor and show up for work late this morning. Well, my normal family doctor is out of town until Monday--no big deal, I'll just establish a new doctor (which I need to do anyway) in my correct insurance network. Well, guess what? Yup, that doctor was leaving the office at noon and had no openings.
So, I head over to the local urgent care walk-in clinic since I felt I had no other choice. What a nightmare?!? First, I didn't see a doctor--just a nurse practitioner, and all she had to say was that I had a virus and we could only treat the symptoms. This is definitely what I expected but all she had to prescribe me was a cough suppressant. The drug she wanted to prescribe me had codeine in it (which I'm very allergic too) so she prescribed a different drug with hydrocodone in it. More on this in a moment. We finish up and I head for the door to pay. Note: Recently (by my choice) I switched to a high deductible health plan with no co-pay & no drug coverage until the deductible is met. It's a great thing if you don't get sick very often---which until today, I don't. So...I have no office visit copay and do you want to guess how much my bill was? $100...nope, $150...nope, $200...nope.....$248.42!!! Are you kidding me? $250 for an office visit were she did nothing but take my blood pressure, listen to my chest & talk to me about my symptoms for 5 minutes?!? Well, it was already done so I paid a portion of it and opted to have the balance sent to my insurance to be repriced. What a ripoff!!!!

Next, I head to Walgreens to fill my prescription. I've still got the thought in my head that my doctor told me I shouldn't react to this drug like I do Codeine. Well, I've got a coupon for 4 free pills (which is 2 days worth) and as my luck would have it...that's all Walgreens has, 4 pills. So, I get those (after waiting 45 minutes) and head home without paying anything since I had the coupon. When I get home, the whole codeine/hydrocodone thing is still bugging me so I Google hydrocodone...and guess what comes up?!? All sorts of results for codeine and the fact that the drugs are very similar and basically everything says don't take anything with hydrocodone if you're allergic to codeine. So...basically I spent 2 hours going to an Urgent Care to spend $250 for an office visit that did nothing to help me but prescribe me a drug that was going to cause me to vomit violently after I've taken it. Wonderful...
By this point, I've given up on goign to work and I call my mom an emotional wreck because I'm ridiculously frustrated & just ready to feel better. So...my mom calls our pharmacist to check on some drugs that she has in her cabinet and then my wonderful dad brings them to me on the way to a business appt. Finally...some cough syrup (yes it tastes nasty, but no I'm not allergic to it, and yes it has finally started to suppress my cough). The rest of my day was spent on the couch watching movies and trying to sleep a little off and on.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day and I'll be able to head to work. I really hate days off when I can't get anything accomplished....Oh, and did I mention that Hubby & I are supposed to be going out of town on Saturday & Sunday for a little Valentine's Day break??? Wonderful timing, yes...but I guess things could always be worse. ;o)

Monday, February 9, 2009

What a Weekend!

We had a jam-packed weekend with a few moments to rest in between. Friday night we grabbed a quick dinner and then went to Walmart & Lowe's to grab painting supplies. I've been talking for over a year about painting one of my dining room walls a shade of red. Well, my mom volunteered to come help me on Saturday morning so no more procrastination. We got the paint color I had picked out and went home to prep the room. I couldn't contain myself so I painted a big swatch on the wall---ORANGE!!! Wow, it was so orange and there was no way I was going to paint my entire wall that color. So...I got up early Saturday morning, headed back to Walmart & asked them to check the mix. Sure enough it was completely off from what it should have been. To make a long story short, they tried to fix the orange can & I also ended up buying a second gallon of paint in a similar shade. My mom and I ended up using the fixed can so now I have a perfectly good can of red paint with no where to use it. Oh well, it will probably go in our garage sale stash.

It only took us about 2 hours to paint the wall & my mom is coming back to my house tomorrow while I'm at work to finish up the trim & to do some touchups. I absolutely love my red wall! I'll be sure to post pictures once I get all of my decorations back up.

Saturday night Hubby & I headed to Springfield so I could spend some of my birthday money (I bought a fantastic outfit from Express for Valentine's Day) and make some returns. We also watched Taken (a very good movie by the way) & headed to Parlor 88, which is a wonderful place for appetizers, drinks, & desserts. It was a great date night & we had a great time.

Yesterday we had church and came home to work in the house. We spent about an hour cleaning our floor--I love hardwood floors but man can they get dirty! We also had small group and had a very interesting time as we continue our Fireproof series. I don't want to go into details but please just pray for our group & each couple involved--things aren't always as perfect as they might seem to an outsider & last night & today my heart is truly breaking...

Because of some of the situations, Hubby & I have decided we need to safeguard our marriage more than ever. We always try to do the "right" things and tithe to our church, and treat people with respect--but we've never been very good about spending time in God's word. Last night we made a resolution to have a short devotional together each day...no excuses. We always find time to watch our favorite shows or to work out, or to spend time with Bogey. How do we not find time to spend time with our Heavenly Father--the one who gave us everything? So...be praying for us that we would have the motivation and the commitment to spend time in God's word & to learn about God & each other in ways we never have.

Sorry this post is all over the place, but that just seems like how our weekends have been the past few weeks! Have a great week...Valentine's Day is on Saturday & I can't wait!!!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Fantastic Footwear, Culture & a little bit of Coach!!!

Well as you can probably guess from the title of the blog...I certainly had a fantastic birthday. Hubby, my parents, & my in-laws spoil me more than I deserve, but boy is it fun!!! I started off yesterday morning by getting up about 30 minutes early so Hubby could give me his gifts before he headed off to work. I also opened up the fun package my fantastic in-laws sent. I forgot to take pictures of it but it was wrapped of course & also had a "Birthday Girl!" ribbon on it as well. That present contained a sweater & cami from Banana Republic & a gift card for new sunglasses which I'm super excited about.



Then we moved on to Hubby's gifts....this must have been the year of the shoes because he picked out 2 fantastic pairs of shoes (a pair of black Coach tennis shoes & a pair of black & white Cole Haan tennies). You might be wondering why 2 pair? Well he found the Cole Haan's on sale for 70% off--how can you pass that up?!? My next gift was something I had definitely asked for: tickets to Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy at the Fabulous Fox in St. Louis. I love the theater & Cirque shows are just amazing!!! My next gift was definitely a surprise...apparently Hubby had already bought these before I asked for the Cirque tickets because he also got us tickets to see Lion King in Oklahoma City. I was so surprised--it will be a great little weekend trip at the beginning of May and I can't wait for either production! As a fun gift he also got me a pair of opera glasses--not sure if I'll use them all that much but a creative idea anyways. He also managed to leave a bouquet of yellow roses on our kitchen island that I didn't discover until I headed into the kitchen for breakfast. Have I ever mentioned how fantastic my Hubby is?!?


Anyways, then it was off to work for a busy day of meeting with clients while riding around with my Dad. It was definitely a fun day & better than being stuck in an office, but I can't help but feel a tad bit behind when I finally get back.
5:00 finally came, we headed to Springfield to eat at a nice restaurant downtown where we all actually ordered hamburgers & french fries. Not just regular hamburgers--these are made from left over steak meat & the salt/vinegar french fries are to die for!!! The basketball game was a little boring especially since I was ready to head home to open presents from my parents. The time finally came & they certainly didn't disappoint--they went overboard as usual with another pair of shoes, some clothes, some jewelry & my most favorite of all...
Needless to say I had a fantastic birthday & got way more than I needed. My mom informed me that I am now on my second 1/4 century of life--isn't that just comforting.

Today, was just another workday--although we did go out to lunch for my birthday with all my co-workers. Work was long and stressful, but it was 60 degrees outside with a forecast for 65 tomorrow!!! I'm so ready for Spring!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Busy Busy Busy & Birthday!!!

Wow, what a week and what a start to the week?!? I've been a little absent from blogging because we had a busy weekend and my week has gotten off to an incredibly busy start! Our phone has been ringing off the hook--oh well, at least this is a good sign--better busy than not.

Hubby & I had a great weekend. We just chilled on Friday night, went and worked out & watched a movie. Saturday we hung out around the house on Saturday afternoon and then had Date Night! Woo hoo! It definitely didn't turn out exactly as we had planned, we had a gift certificate to Olive Garden for Christmas so we decided to eat there. First problem, there was an hour wait at 5:00 for Olive Garden. We knew we'd be pushing it but decided to stay becuase we really wanted to use up the gift certificate. We actually got seated around 5:45 and were out of there by 6:20--still plenty of time to see our movie at 6:55 right? Wrong!!! We had planned on seeing the 6:55 showing of Taken--but when we pulled up the line to buy tickets was horrendously long and the show was already sold out! Bummer!! So, we headed to RedBox and rented Drillbit Taylor--cute movie but I'm glad I didn't waste money in the theater for it.

Sunday we had church & then headed to my parents' house for a Super Bowl Party-Early Birthday Party Combo! Who's birthday you might ask? MINE!!! I'll be 26 tomorrow and I just love my birthday--I also remind people several times that it's coming up (ok, well maybe not people but at least Hubby & my parents!) As if they'd forget. Anyway we had great food and fun at my parents' house even though we were slightly disappointed in the outcome of the game.

Yesterday was just busy at work and then I had dinner with 2 friends from college. One of them is moving to Boulder, CO on Thursday and it makes me super sad--however, what better place for a roadtrip! I also headed to the mall to exchange some shoes I got on Sunday from my brother & sister-in-law. They still had my size and better yet, they were on sale even more so I ended up with a $10 gift card and some super cute shoes. Tonight is a little laid back. Just dinner & working out.

Tomorrow is my offical birthday and we dont' have any huge plans. Just dinner with my parents & then we're headed to my college alma mater for a basketball game. We're planning a nice dinner out sometime in the next week that will include my brother & sister-in-law. I received my fun birthday package from my mother-in-law. I'll post some pics as soon as I can of some of my goodies!