Candace's Baby Shower...

...whew! What a weekend!!! First off, let me start off by saying that I just totally love Candace, Chad and their furbabies!!! They are great friends and they always make me laugh...my abs STILL hurt!!! We got there late Friday night and the boys started throwing back some Miller Light 16 ounces while Candace and I settled in for some late night Olympics. Saturday we all kind of bummed around until it was time to start getting ready for the shower.

Matt and I arrive early to set up about 12:45. From the moment I walked in, I could just tell by the look on the manager's face that something was wrong. Sure enough, they still had tables seated in the room we had booked when we arrived. No worries, the manager on the phone said we could have it at 1 to decorate, well.....1 turned into 1:30 with the shower starting at 2pm. The manager came over after about 10 minutes of waiting to tell me, "Next time (hello lady-there won't be a next time I live in St. Louis), you need to say you want to reserve the room at 1 if you want to start decorating at 1." Umm...excuse me? I told the guy on the phone I would be there at 1 to decorate so don't EVEN try to put the blame on me for lack of communication of your part. As soon as she said this, I could tell Matt had his, "Oh no you didn't lady...you have NO IDEA who you're messing with." Approximately 10 minutes from that and 20 minutes of waiting, she offered me a drink on the house. By any means, we got set up in town and everything turned out good...well except for the pizza mix up-more about that in a minute. Here are a few pics to recap the shower.

Here's Daddy Chad with his son's piggy bank. I brought the bank and on the invite I asked people to bring their spare change. The sign said, "Please donate to Baby Stracener's College Fund!!! He'll thank you when he's famous."

Here I am with Candace, one of my besties! Can't wait to meet her baby boy and be a good "aunt." I do have a little bit of practice you know!

Here are the AGDs that were in attendance. Left to right: Kristen, me, Candace, Lauren and Nicki Buckingham (I always have to call her by her full name).

This isn't a great picture but it's a pic of the book I made Candace. It's called "How I Met Your Mother." Guests sent or brought a picture of herself with Candace and then typed up a paragraph about how they met her written to the baby. I think it turned out really cute and she refused to read it there...it would probably have the same affect that monogrammed towels have on Angie.

So the actual shower went well except that of all the pizzas, they messed up Candace's!?! Go figure! She had requested Canadian bacon and sauerkraut (yuck-she said blame the baby)! Well, it came out with sausage instead. I didn't make a big deal out of it but when the waitress came around again, I asked if she would check what I ordered. She came back and quietly told me that yes, it was Canadian bacon I'd ordered so she'd take that pizza off the ticket. Okay, no big deal, right? She heads downstairs and then that stupid manager from earlier who tried to blame me on the 1pm deal came upstairs and asked how everything was going to the whole group. I nodded and said good. She then addresses everyone, "I heard that one of your pizzas was messed up? Well, we'll take that off the bill." Great lady! Thanks, I already know that and now that you've made this super awkward for everyone, you can leave!!! So really if that one manager lady hadn't been there, all would have been better.

Since we just ate a ton of pizza that afternoon, we couldn't really think of anything to do with prego that night so we grabbed some beer and stayed in for the night. Nothing like a good night of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and video games with great friends!!! I love you guys and I'm so excited for you two...well three!!!

Interesting Waiting Room Call...

...so yesterday I had to go to the girl doctor. I sign in, grab a magazine and sit down. There's myself, a woman about my age with her baby and her mom. After about a minute of flipping through my magazine, in walks a dad and his 17 year-old daughter. First thought, wow, wouldn't it be awkward to go to the girl doctor with your dad? Oh well, back to my mag...so they sit down and she gets called back right away. Dad stays in the waiting room and gets on the phone. O.M.G!!! This call was CRAZY!!!

So it's the girl's mom and the dad goes on to tell her about the conversation he had with the girl. Here's the summary...she's 17-years old, might be pregnant, won't go on birth control because she doesn't want to put chemicals in her body, dad text the boyfriend to tell him to threaten to break up with her if she didn't, boyfriend thought dad was threatening him, in dad's terms, "boyfriend is as stupid" as the daughter, the doctor was going to sit down and tell daughter her options then dad had to go tell receptionist that daughter wouldn't have insurance after she turned 18. WOW!?! Seriously, can you believe that??? The three of us just waiting are not making a word and this guy isn't even ATTEMPTING to be quiet. So as though its not awkward enough to have to go to the girl doctor with your dad, imagine how much worse it is when he's telling everyone your business?

OH IT GETS BETTER!!! The daughter comes out and dad, who isn't really trying to be quiet at all, asks what happened. Daughter, who apparently takes after her dad, lets all of us know that she got some sample packs of birth control but there's a chance she's 4 days pregnant so she has to come back and test again next week. Dad and daughter exit. I look at the other ladies waiting and comment, "WELL...now that we know her whole life story..."and the girl looks at me with huge eyes, "I know, right?" Then her and her mom go into a discussion about how awkward that whole thing was. I swear to you this is exactly what happened, I couldn't make that up!

And this my friends makes me nervous because if/when I have kids, I don't want to be sending Matt to the girl doctor with our 17 year old telling everyone in the waiting room her business...when did the world change so much???

Update About Mysteries...

...so I didn't want to leave you all hanging so I did a little research to find some of the answers from yesterday.

*I decided to search Saved by the Bell, here is the link I found. Apparently they never explained or had a reason for moving from Indiana to California so this mystery is left unsolved. I did find it interesting that Jaleel White (Urkel), Brian Austin Green (90210 hottie mchottie) and Johnathan Brandis (some Chuck Norris movie and a flying dragon movie or something) were all in the pilot episode...I would really like to see that! Maybe I'll search YouTube tonight. I also found the "Tori Paradox" interesting...again, no reason as to what happened to Kelly and Jessie other than IRL they didn't resign contracts. Side note: I remember watching the graduation show and I thought it was soooo cool because the graduated the same year as my sister!!!

*Olivia Newton John's boyfriend: Patrick McDermott...first off, she didn't report him missing for two weeks! Slam Dunk, help me out here, but this is NOT cool, right? Like if your significant other is missing, you should let people know IMMEDIATELY, right? And to top it off, it wasn't even ONJ that reported him missing-it was his ex-wife!?! And ONJ and him dated for NINE YEARS!!! They say he went missing to escape debt, come on ONJ, help the guy out! We know you're rollin' in the dough from all the royalties from Grease! OOOHHH!!! Apparently, the debt is from back child support...no wonder the ex-wife reported him missing, she wanted her money!!! Anyways, now he's living as a deck hand in Mexico and communicates via fax...come on Patrick read Amanda's blog and get with the times! You can read the story about him here. FYI-he went missing in 2005 and was "found" in 2009.

*Still have NO idea about the sign...hmmm...but Jess left a comment saying she found where I signed the guest book. I won't leave you a link but here's what I said, "Ace of Base is a really good group. When they first came out I loved them,but after awhile they got old,but now they are making a great comeback. i love Lucky Love. Ace of Base isn't my most favorite group but they're close. What other groups do you Ac e of Base lovers like? I like Mariah Carey,Alanis Morissette,Presidents of the U.S.A.,and LaBush. Where are all of you AOB lovers from? Ace Of Base ROCKS!!!!!"

*Em Static had a life mystery too so please let us know if you can help out. "Wasn't Roseanne's basement door on the other side of the kitchen (The stove side) in the first season? Then when David moved in it was on the laundry-room side.. Right?"

Sidenote...I am soooo tired!!! I had to work late on Tuesday and then a friend and her bf crashed at our house last night so I was up late waiting on them and visiting. Shadow has a new best friend as he CRAWLED in their laps last night. Tomorrow we're leaving for KC to throw Candace's baby shower...shoot, I'm going to need a weekend to recover from my weekend!

Life's Mysteries...

...now that I have this whole new Blog World open to me, I feel as though I can ask about some of life's mysteries and possibly have get some answers that I've been waiting for my whole life.

*During Saved by the Bell in the early episodes with Ms. Bliss, they all live in Indiana or something then in the later years, they all live in California. Why in the world did Zack, Screech, Lisa AND Mr. Belding all move from Indiana to California???

*Whatever happened to Olivia Newton John's boyfriend that disappeared in the ocean then turned up in Mexico last year? Don't you think it would've been easier to just break up with her, shoot send her a text, rather than cut off all ties from your entire LIFE!?! Besides, who want want to break up with Sandra Dee???

*What sign was Ace of Base seeing? Like, I saw the sign and I know what I want to do with my life or like, stop-you missed your turn, quit day dreaming sign? Used to (I haven't done it lately), if you googled my name (Alyssa and my maiden name) it would come up where I commented on an Ace of Base fan site when I was in fifth grade...I'm just that cool.

So please if you know the answers, let me know. What are your life mysteries? Maybe we can figure them out together!

Luxuries...

...you know you don't realize you have them until you don't. Yesterday at work, I went to the bathroom and stood up realizing that the toilet didn't flush on it's own. I didn't think too much about it, flushed it and went on my business. About 30 minutes later, a co-worker comes in and comments about the same thing and I thought I was the only one who noticed. Oh the small luxuries we have...don't worry a new sensor is coming for it tomorrow!

Funny story: While on the eliptical at work yesterday, I was watching "Ellen" and literally LOLing. It was hilarious...Dennis Quiad had an earpiece in and had to repeat everything Ellen told him to say to the lunch delivery guy. So he was saying things like, "Dennis Quaid is hungry like a wolf...HOOOOWLLL!!!" and asking the guy, "Do you think I'm pretty?" It was pretty funny...as I'm smiling and laughing while working out, I'm thinking to myself I must look like an idiot but I figured no one was watching me. Well, I was WRONG!!! About 2 minutes after this thought, one of the guys I know asked me if I was laughing at him...."No! No! It's just Ellen!" It was pretty funny!

Side note: Less than two weeks until Stairway to Heaving...I'm getting kind of nervous! A co-worker (not the same that was disappointed with the auto flushing) brought in a magazine today and was like, "Look Alyssa! This magazine has a training program for beginners for a half-marathon!" I looked at it, kind of puzzled because never in my life have I ever said I wanted to run a half-marathon but she planted that seed. So I'm really considering starting a half-marathon training program but the only thing is the one that I'm looking at has the word "HILL" in it and that is beyond intimidating plus add 13.1 miles-yikes! So what do you all think? Am I crazy? Should I do it? Should I get real and stick to 5ks? Let me know your thoughts and comments!

Angie's Baby Shower!!!

...Sunday afternoon was Angie's Baby Shower at Loretta's. The guest list consisted of her elementary school friends, high school friends, Supper Club, STL Wed Girls, Blog Friends...a wide variety of people from Angie's life. I'd met a few of them before at Angie's Halloween party so I had to ask what people were dressed up as so I could remember them...the referee, Snow White, half of H1N1 were all there but in their every day clothes.

Loretta had a giant pretzel in the shape of a baby carriage from Gus' plus delicious lime sherbert punch that we all guzzled down, chicken salad sandwiches, yummy salad, cheesecake and cookies! Thank you Loretta for feeding and hosting, it was great!

Here is Angie with Randall's super cute wrapped present, everyone commented on the wrapping.

Okay, I'm kind of afraid to mention the word monogrammed because it sends Angie into tears. She opened this m-word towels from Heidi and the water works started. It was so cute!!! Angie's going to make a great mom.

After the group shot of everyone at the shower (front row better be cropped from the waist down), we snagged a shot of our STL Blogger group. Left to right: Angie (she looks awesome and next time I see her she'll probably be a momma!), Randall, Heidi and myself.

Good luck Angie and we can't wait to meet you baby Nick!

Dr. Pepper Pork Chops-YUM!!!

...so Saturday, I "cooked" dinner which lead to a whole discussion of is it classified cooking when you just throw 4-5 ingredients in a crockpot? Thoughts? Comments? Anyways, I made Dr. Pepper Pork Chops. Can you say DELICIOUS??? I put them in about 10:30 am and we ate around 6ish...these things were fall off the bone good. I substituted Diet Dr. Pepper instead of regular and we didn't make the gravy or serve with rice. We like meat here at our household so we just ate the 'chops by themselves. I made four and I can't wait to eat the leftovers!!!

Matt left at 5am this morning to head to the farm with his dad then he's working the Sausage Supper at church this afternoon. I'm headed off to Angie's baby shower this afternoon, can't wait to see her and some of the other bloggers. OH! Last night, we went to Kohl's and I got this supper cute dress that doesn't make me feel like my hips are ginarmous. I'll be wearing it at Candace's baby shower next weekend so I'll post pics. Hope you all enjoy your Sunday!!!

Game Night-Girls WIN!!!

...yep, you read it right...game night #2 and the girls WON!!! It was tied after two rounds of Catchphrase but we pulled through during Family Feud (I'm still not sure I even understand how to play that game but oh well-we won!). Only bad thing from last night was that I was HORRIBLE on my diet!!! Oh well...I'll make up for it today.

There were five couples there, all of the girls went to college together so we pulled out some old school pics...HILARIOUS!!! I was looked at a picture of me and Kim says, "Alyssa! I forgot you even looked like that!!!" We all laughed and I showed Matt where Aaron says, "What is that shirt you were wearing?" I must admit the shirt was kind of funny looking but back in the day, it WAS the going out shirt!!!

Okay, off to bake cookies for the Sausage Supper at church tomorrow then to Matt's cousins' going away party! Have a great weekend!

Mr. Salty...

...can I just tell you that I love the 100 Calorie Mr. Salty Milk Chocolate Covered Pretzels? They are delicious!!!

Thank goodness it's Thursday...yesterday was a LOOONG day and today didn't start off much better. It's all part of this huge post that I've been working on since the beginning of February...I'll post it...sometime. In the meantime, send me some positive thoughts and prayers please! Thanks friends!

Weightless Wednesday...

...Happy Ash Wednesday everyone! Just wanted to check in and say hello AND the best part of this Wednesday? I pulled on a pair of pants I hadn't worn in a long time because last time I wore them they were umm....a little tight and not the best fit BUT this morning, THEY FIT and they were LOOSE! WOOHOO! Who cares how much I've actually lost if I can fit into clothes again that's the most important thing to me!!!

As stated last week, I turned up my workout yesterday and ran an entire mile (its been awhile since I did that) and it felt AWESOME!!! However, I decided that I'd run a mile then walk for 5 minutes then run the rest of the 30 minutes...big mistake, once I stopped, I couldn't get going again. So today, I'm going to just run until I can't run any longer THEN do the walking.

Today is Ash Wednesday, I've been trying to figure out what to give up fpr the past week (no I'm not Catholic, you don't HAVE to be Catholic to give anything up, it is a choice that I make) and this morning when I was taking out the recycle stuff it hit me-I'm giving up peanut butter. For those of you that know me, you know that I absolutely LOVE PB!!! Then yesterday, Adie and I were emailing back and forth on My Fitness Pal discussing PB and I realized how much fat and sugar was in it (although I know some of it is good for you), I'd rather spend my calories in another way. So good-bye PB, I'll see you April 4!

Tonight we're headed to church for soup & salad with the fam then to service at 7...so tell me, what are you giving up for Lent? How's your weight loss going? Do you measure weight by pounds loss or how your clothes fit?

The Olympics...

...so I've gotten into the Olympics despite my comment on Amanda's blog. I started watching Saturday night and wanted to post some thoughts on it thus far:

*Mogul-I really like this but holy hell-this has got to be HORRIBLE on your knees!!! As I was thinking that, the announcer would say, "And here's so-and-so skiing after their 6th knee surgery..." Wowser!!! I had one knee surgery and that's enough for me and I could never do this event...even BEFORE I'd had surgery!

*Speed skating-intense! Wouldn't you be pissed if you were skating and about to win then BAM! someone falls and takes you out? Also, it drives me crazy that Apolo's name only has one L!

*Seriously? Who makes up these events? Like curling or mogul? Do people sit around and say hmm...I have an idea for an Olympic event!

*I can't believe how flippin' young these people are!!! They said one person made their debut at age 11...can you imagine going to the Olympics at age 11???

Okay so there are my thoughts thus far...GO USA!!!

V-Day Recap...

...I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!!! I woke up to one of Matt's tricks..."Morning babe...what's over there?" I look and then a card falls into my lap! LOL...he tries hard, he really does! Later in the day, we were getting ready to go to dinner when he started whining he hadn't gotten a card yet (I'd hid it under his pillow) so I told him to go make the bed where he found it. Then he was all smiles! Then we headed to dinner to meet Mike and Amber at Shogun. I love this place!!! Our first Valentine's Day together in 2007, Matt and I shared breakfast at IHOP (romantic, I know but I had to work that evening) since then we've spent every Valentine's Day at Shogun (this was our third).

As we got to dinner, the snow is really coming down. We pull up next to Amber and Mike in the parking lot and find out that Mike got called into work to push snow!!! So our double date turned into Matt looking like a big pimp!!!

I hope you all had a great day too!!!

My Saturday...

...so I got up early this morning so I could get things done! First off, I dropped hubs off at the post office so he could mail my book for Chelsea's Book Swap then he walked to the grocery store (I'm pretty sure to get a Valentine's Card for me) and home while I headed halfway to Cape to meet my pop for lunch. First stop though was to my stepsister's to deliver a diaper cake my mom had ordered! Sweet, some spare cashola for me!

Then I stopped at Wal-Mart for the doggies, if I didn't well then they wouldn't have dinner. Can I just say Wally World on a Saturday AM is a BAD IDEA!?! I did score some sweet deals, Sara Lee bagels for $1.88!?! A pair of khakis for $7 (I go through khakis like crazy at work so I quit investing in the pricey ones)!!! I was pretty happy with my purchases even if I did have to wait in line for over 10 minutes (and almost EVERY line was open and checking!?!).

Then Butchie and I met at Ruby Tuesday. I brought my "Eat This, Not That" book and was showing it to him. I decided to get their white chicken chili and a small salad. He was funny because he'd ask me, what can I put on the salad? What kind of dressing should I use? I said, "Dad, you can put whatever you want on it! I don't want you to leave here hungry!" I'd never had their chili before and I thought it was great! It wasn't a huge portion and not too small but for the price we paid...wow! $8.50 each for soup and salad!

Then we decided to drive around to shop, Butchie was on a mission to find his own copy of "Eat This, Not That" but we couldn't find a Target or bookstore ANYWHERE and we were NOT going to brave Wal-Mart twice on one Saturday. Instead we found a Hibbit's Sporting Goods....can anyone say SWEET DEAL!?! I got Matt a Cardinals jersey original $90 for $18!!!! He's been asking for one forever but when he found out the price tag, he'd said never mind so at $18, I couldn't pass it up! I also found a cute Cardinals shirt for his sis...she is seriously the easiest person EVER to shop for.

After shopping, I headed back home (oh and I'd made my daddy some cookies so I hope he enjoyed those) to make Matt's Valentine gift...chocolate cheesecake!!! Only 5 ingredients, makes two servings...perfect for us! I substituted the whole Oreo for some of the crisps in my Oreo 100 calorie pack...only downfall to this recipe is that it's 290 calories each!?! But I guess we can splurge for one day. They are currently in the fridge cooling but I let Matt lick the bowl.

On last thing, I found over at Hope/Jill's blog, a link to My Fitness Pal. This website is AWESOME!!! You create an account (for free) and then it's like an online food journal and it'll calculate the calories, proteins, fats, etc...for what you eat plus you can track your exercise. When you set up your account, you enter your weight and your goal and it'll tell you how many calories to eat. As soon as I figure out how, I'll add a button to mine too. It does take a few minutes to look up your food but I think it's really interesting and totally worth it.

Okay, enough rambling for today...hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day-Mardi Gras Weekend!!!

Petco's Customer Service...Or Not So Much...

...so about a year ago, Matt and Shadow took a guys' day out to the farm. When they got home, Shadow had rolled around in some major FUNK that had him smellin' to the high heavens! I called around and found out that Petco offered a reasonable price for a 100lb stinky, mud-covered black lab. I dropped him off and picked him up, they were all super friendly and loving on Shadow, I felt great. Now keep in mind that this is a 100lb crazy dog and I was trying to control him, pay for the bath AND get him to the car without getting ran over, also, I figured they did this on a regular basis, I really didn't need to check him, did I? Apparently I did, as soon as I got home and I was petting him, I noticed that there was still mud caked on his stomach!?! It was only about 10 minutes until they closed so I called up there and told them what was going on. They were real nice and said that we could bring him in another time for a free bath-sweet deal, right? I think when they put him on the table, he must have freaked out and not gotten off his belly which is why they didn't get it clean.

So in the back of my mind, I always remembered this but never booked it until this week after my bout with poison because Shad had been at the farm too so I figured what better time than now? So I called on Monday and spoke to a real hater-ater who read the note on the account to me which was something like free bath make Kyle do it. So then she searched her books to make sure we scheduled Shadow during Kyle's hours so that "he couldn't get out of it." So now I'm kind of feeling bad about the whole thing even though it's not my fault...are they going to do a good job or not because apparently they're all mad about it.

So today was the big day, Matt dropped him off and told me that Kyle was PISSED about having to do this, he was wearing his nice Petco polo with "Dog Trainer" embroidered. Now, I'm assuming that Kyle was the one who groomed Shadow last time and that's why he was forced to groom him this time so I don't know if Kyle got a promotion since then or what but point is Kyle wasn't very happy at all about having to do this.

So at 5pm, Kyle calls me and tells me, "Shadow is ready to come home." It made me think of when I was younger and I'd go to my friend's houses and then when we couldn't get along any more because we both wanted to play with Jem, her parents would call mine and say, "Alyssa is ready to come home now." Anyways, back to the story, so Matt and I head to Petco and we discuss how much we should tip. Yes, the service was free but we both agreed that we should tip something, right? So Matt and I both walk inside so I can check the bottom of the belly and tip while Matt deals with crazy Shadow (who was even more crazy than normal because it was like 2 hours after his dinner time). So first off we pass a couple employees on a smoke break and walk into the grooming area. In walks who I'm assuming his Kyle, doesn't greet us just heads to the back and brings out Shadow (without checking for ID-I know this sounds silly and it wasn't a big deal but what if someone else had walked in and taken Shadow....two words-all hell!). Shadow comes out ready to go because he's STARVING, Kyle messes with his collar, doesn't acknowledge Matt, me or even Shadow, opens the gate, walks out and returns to his smoke break. REALLY???

Okay, so first off you do a crappy job washing my dog leaving mud caked on his stomach so you give us a free bath, sweet-I'm very much appreciative but wouldn't you think that they would really try to impress us this time around so that we'd continue coming back (granted it had been a year)??? Guess not and guess what else, Kyle-we were going to tip you so thanks for being anti-social and saving us a free extra bucks in our pocket for YOUR MISTAKE!!!

Now obviously, we don't take our dogs in much to groom (Emma would FREAK and in the nicer months, we just do it in the yard) but it was a good deal like $30-$40 for grooming AND nail trim but now I don't want to go back because of what happened and I feel like I'm the one that did something wrong because I simply wanted what I paid for so I guess I'll be on the search for a new place that is affordable to take crazy, wild Shadow!

Thursday Tidbits...

...a random Thursday so here are some random thoughts and stories...

*I shouldn't have posted about my weight loss. I'm holding steady for the past two weeks at -16...ugh! I've decided though what I really need to do is step it up and PUSH myself during my workouts. This has been a real choppy week with working out so next week I'm switching from the elliptical and going to start on the treadmill...I think I push myself more on that.
*Tuesday night we took SIL out to dinner for her birthday, during the course of dinner, she looks at me and randomly says, "I didn't know you went to Dr....(my girl doctor)." I replied, "Um yeah...how did you know that?" Apparently she had called the office, gave our last name and they asked, "Oh, is this Alyssa or Elizabeth?" Um...let's just say that talking about the lady doctor at dinner with your husband and SIL=awkward!
*I'm excited about Sunday, Mattie and I are going to Shogun...we love that place and it's kind of turned into our yearly Valentine's Day tradition. This year another couple is joining us and I'm going to make Mattie a cheesecake for dessert because he mentioned one the other day so I thought I'd surprise him. I hope it turns out good!
*Can I just state that I am NOT liking the new FB? I wish they would stop changing it every few weeks, just pick one and stay with it!
*I have to admit it and I'm probably the only one out there but my guilty reality tv lately has been "Bad Girls Club." I can't help it! They show all the episodes in one night and then I'm hooked! I still haven't seen an episode of "Jersey Shore."
*Can you guys believe that Mardi Gras is this weekend? Then Ash Wednesday next...duh, Wednesday??? Where has the year gone!?!? What are you guys giving up for Lent? Last year I gave up ice cream but being that I'm already kind of doing that with the weight loss (no desserts, sodas, fast food, alcohol), I don't really think that's fair. Hmmm...maybe eating out all together? But that'll be tough because both Matt and I's birthdays are during Lent...leave me a comment with what you're giving up so maybe it'll spur something in my mind.

Today is Thursday which means tomorrow is Friday and then Monday is a holiday for me! YAH!!! Happy Thursday everyone!

Birthday Celebrations...

...this past weekend was a birthday weekend! Haley's birthday was last Friday and sister-in-law, EB's was on Tuesday. Here are a couple pictures that I snagged.

Haley with her gifts from her favorite Uncle Matt and Lyssa. She got this magic scratch things and a HSM Ipod Docking Station/Alarm clock!!! She could have cared less about it being an alarm clock, she was just excited about all the HSM stickers that came with it!
Then on Sunday evening, we celebrated EB's 26th birthday with dinner and CARROT CAKE!!! We only had 24 candles on hand so don't count those and please disregard BIL trying to burn a piece of paper on the candles...yes, we always have to deal with him doing stuff like that.

Then here's the big birthday plate!!! Luckily, the cake covered the deflated cupcake I'd painted on there but hopefully this will be a tradition that continues with our family. I'm up next for birthdays!!!

Update on Poison...

...Okay, on second thought, I decided not to post the picture. Okay, so the poison, it's still here, I don't think it's spreading any more. I started on prednisone on Friday evening and by Saturday AM I could tell the yuckiness was gone but damn does it itch!?! I worked Saturday evening so it didn't bother me at all because I was so busy running around but then when I got home the itch started again. I've washed the sheets and pillowcases every day since Thursday along with every single pair of pajama pants I own. I've dug down to the bottom of every drawer to find pants and shirts that I don't mind ruining but so far Friday was the worst day and now it's better.

On the same lines of poison, SIL's boyfriend broke up with her and it was kind of out of the blue. We were having dinner for her birthday on Super Bowl Sunday (???) and she called around noon to see if she could stop by because she didn't want to be by herself but didn't want to deal with her parents yet. Now let me tell you, I'm not the best with dealing with break-ups and I think after being married, I'm even worst at it because I have no idea what to say or how she's feeling so I was a little worried. When she called and told hubs they broke up, he straight up said, "You know I don't know what to say to make you feel better?" I thought to myself, great...this is going to be fun but he surprised me and actually was really good. I let the two of them hang out and run errands, some good brother/sister bonding and just popped in from time to time. I think he took her mind of things and we didn't really talk about it so good job Mattie, I'm proud of you. I think Matt did better dealing with that than most situations when I'm upset! I love him except when he gives me poison...JK! I love him all the time, I just shoot laser beams through my eyes at him when he gives me poison! So there's the update on poison, hopefully, I won't have to post about this again for a long time!

Taxes...

...so hubs and I went to get our taxes done last Friday at 5pm...yes, this was our hot date night and we were supposed to go for a 550 calorie Applebee's meal but the wait was too long so we opted for Chinese instead (which I calculated when I got home and that meal was about 550 calories too!). Anyways, we were happy with our federal return but I was PISSED about the MO return. This is the first time that either of us have ever HAD to pay like we owe them money.

Our relationship is surprisingly funny because I'm typically the OCD, bill payer on timer, write things in the calendar person in the relationship but when it comes to taxes, Matt takes the lead on that. He gathers everything, knows what we're missing, sets the appointment and asks all the questions when we meet with the accountant. So during our meeting, I listen but I let Matt do all the talking, that is until I find out we OWE!?! Then I pipe up (keep in mind I have NO IDEA about this sort of stuff, Jess I know you're reading this so please leave a comment), "I don't understand. I know that I claim zero for everything so if I'm not withholding anything how do I end up owing?" He tried to explain it to me and told us the only way to get around owing would be to have extra money withheld from our checks. Okay, as stated above, I have no idea how this works but if the government is already taken out the most money they can out of my check then I still don't understand how the hell I have to pay them MORE money!!! After he explained it to me, I leaned over to Matt and said, "Well, that pisses me off." I though I only said it to Matt but then the accountant said, "Well, I'm sorry." LOL! I wasn't taking it out on him but it really pissed me off!!!

The guy also kept saying looks like you're getting close to getting that house paid off which he said more than once, the second time he said it, I looked at me then him and said, "I don't think owing $XX,000 is ALMOST paid off."

Anyways, so I'm letting it go about the MO taxes and just going to enjoy the fed return which will be used for the new truck...can't wait to post about that (but we haven't even started looking). OH! I'm going to update on the poison tomorrow and post pics so I'm just warning you all now!!! Happy Monday!

I'm Walking on Sunshine...

...I received an award from Veronica at Everyday Kings so I feel like I'm walking on sunshine! I just started reading her blog but I love it and her layout is so flippin' cute! (You all know that I have layouts on my mind!) It is the Sunshine Award and here in Missouri, we could definately use a little sunshine.
Now since I received this fabulous award, I get to share it!!! First off though, the rules:
-Copy that little orange flower pic and put it on your blog when you post about your award!
-Pass the award on to 7 other bloggers.
-Let the nominees know that they have been honored by leaving a comment on their blog (we all love comments!)
-Share the love and link to the person who nominated you!

And the nominees are...

1. Adie at Almost Perfect
-I just started reading her blog this week but I, once again, love her layout and her goals. I think we have a few things in common.
2. Krystie at One Fabulous Day
-I also just started following her blog but I relate to a lot of her topics and enjoy her posts.
3. Stephany at Stephany Writes
-First off, this girl can write! I'm so proud of the her for the goals she sets and how she accomplishes them...I kind of feel like her big sis.
4. Mrs. Dirnberger at A Day in the Hay
-Love her blog, love her little man and did I ever tell you that she lives in the town where I was born???
5. Angie at Damask is Divine
-Love this girl! She is my blogger friend turned real life friend. Her baby Nick will be making his debut soon and I'm super excited for her!
6. Cecelia at I'm Smiling on the Inside
-Another blogger that I've met IRL and she's awesome!!! I love her DIY projects and menu planning.
7. Alaina at Three Ladies and a Dad
-She pops in at my blog and leaves me comments which I love so thank you Alaina for stopping by.

You know as I type this and try to figure out who to nominate, I realize that I've "met" a ton of different amazing women (and one man Slam Dunk)thoughout the US all through this crazy little world of blogging. I feel so lucky to have each of you in my life and to be able to have such great blog friends out there. Alright, enough mushy mush...enjoy the sunshine everyone!

Happy Birthday Haley!!!

...my little Hay Hay is SIX today!?! Where has the time gone??? I still remember the day she was born. I was at school in St. Joseph, MO and my sister was due on February 4 but they decided to induce her on February 5. I told her to hang on until I got there! I had one class that Thursday morning that I HAD to go to so I stuck around for it. Well, it started snowing and I remember as soon as the professor (Dr. Blessing) released us, I ran to my car and got on the road. The normal 45 minute trip from St. Joe to KC took TWO HOURS!!! It had snowed so much that only one lane of traffic was open. My dad kept calling every hour to make sure I was okay but once I hit KC, I was on the open, snowy road. The trip which usually took 5 hours took a whole 7 hours!!! I got to the hospital just in time to see my sister then they kicked us all out of the room and within 30 minutes, we had our little Haley!

My dad and I went back to my sister's house to watch Max (what a good doggie, hope he's having fun at the Rainbow Bridge), do some laundry for my sis and upon her request, bring her an orange Gatorade the next day. The funniest story that I remember is my dad and I standing over her in her crib and my sister saying, "They say that babies can only see 8-10 inches in front of them," and without a moment's hesitation, my dad and I both swooped down real close to her face!

Anyways, happy 6th birthday you big girl! I love you!!!

Here is Haley and my Grandpa circa 2005, this is one of our whole family's favorite. Love and miss you Grandpa!
Haley and Emma...Emma's not too sure about this little person.

Matt came into our lives and Haley fell in love with him just like I did. Here's a picture of the two of them...no, they aren't playing dolls...

Haley this past Halloween as Dorothy...can you believe how much she's grown up!?!

Lyssa and H at camp last summer...we're two peas in a pod. My sister always does the thing we used to tease our grandma for doing, "Alyssa...no...HALEY!"

Love you little sister! Can't wait to share many more memories with you and watch you grow up!!!

Poison...

...yep, it's February and I already have my first batch of poison ivy thanks to hubs. First off, let me just tell you that I used to never get poison until like 5 years ago and now I can just look at it and I'll have a horrible case that won't go away. Being married to an outdoorsy man and his family, I tend to get poison quite a bit spring, summer and fall so I just keep a prescription of prednizone on hand at all times.

So Matt picks me up at work on Monday and shows me his arms, "Look at this rash. I wonder what it is, I know it's not poison ivy." Hmm...I look and shrug and go on with the evening. Being the good, naive wife that I am, I believed him that it wasn't poison. So Wednesday, my neck had been itching but I'd worn a sports bra to workout in so I just figured the tag was bothering me or something. After I got out of the shower, I asked Matt to look at it and he said, yeah probably just the tag.

I wake up throughout the night last night feeling the urge to itch but trying not. I laid in bed for about an hour before the alarm went off thinking to myself, "I've never had chicken pox...maybe I have shingles...but I don't feel bad, hmm...I'll google that later." So I finally get up and wake Matt up to look at it. "Oh yeah, I guess that is poison ivy on my arms." WHAT!? Then he goes on tell me he probably got it at the farm on Sunday when they were cutting up wood. So now I have it from my hairline on my neck all the way to mid right shoulder and it ITCHES SO BAD!!! I guess Matt must have had his arm around my neck and that's how I got it...that didn't sound good, arm around my neck not like he's choking me but like he's holding me...aww, sweet...okay, glad we're all on the same page now.

So I took a Claritin Hives pill this morning and plan on starting the prednizone tonight or in the morning. I'll be washing all the sheets, pillowcases, hubs' jackets, etc...tonight and I will never believe hubs again when he tells me he doesn't have poison because I really, really, REALLY hate having it!!! Please send non-itchy thoughts my way!

New Layout...

...so if you can't tell, I got a new layout! And I finally figured out how to add a picture to my heading. This is just temporary until I have time to really mess with this BUT I wanted to ask if you guys had any tips and websites that offer free backgrounds. I really the headers with 2-3 pictures. FYI-I am totally html illiterate so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Another Trip to Painted Pot...

...this past Saturday, Stevie and I made another trip to the Painted Pot. Stevie decided to make a giant mug to drink coffee out of, I told her the mug would be better for soup otherwise she would get coffee all over her face....potato, pototo though. She used this water, soap, paint mixture to blow bubbles and give her mug an underwater look. Here she is in action:
After the bubbles were popped, she threw on some fishies and seahorsies:

And here is my creation...I hate the cupcake, it looks like it didn't bake long enough and is flat. But here's what I was going for...I wanted to make a little saucer that I'm going to give to "all of us" in the Groeteke family. For birthdays, we always have dinner at Matt's parents house. I wanted to start a tradition that I could be included in SO whoever's birthday it is will get to eat their dessert off the birthday plate. Eh...luckily the dessert will be going over the deflated cupcake.

I'll post a pic of my plate after I get it back from being fired.

Safe Place...

...I saw this spotted in a bank's window the other day. Apparently they are a safe place but if you ask me, this picture doesn't look inviting...

October 2...

...so Matt and I have two weddings that day which creates some drama. Here's the story, so please leave your comments, advice, questions...

Wedding #1-Matt's cousin is getting married. She asked me to be her DOC and is really depending HEAVILY on me both the Friday before the wedding and the actual wedding day. I'm SUPER excited about it and can't wait to help out. Back story, this is Matt's dad's brother, I don't know the whole story but I do know that Matt's dad and brother don't talk at all, we don't share holidays with them, etc...When she asked me to help out, I okay-ed it with Matt first and he was all good with it. Today, his aunt tells me that they might be asking Matt to be an usher but it's not for sure yet which leads to the other wedding...

Wedding #2-Our best man is getting married the same day. We are great friends with his mom, sis and bro...him on the other hand...well, I'm not going to go into details but a lot of stuff went down with him leading up to our wedding and more and more stuff came out AFTER the wedding, stuff that you just don't do to people that you are supposed to be friends and care about...so when Matt asked him to be our best man, he said sure only if you're mine, this was in December 2007. Well, we got married October 2008 and Matt didn't talk/see him in person until June 2009 where Matt stood up to him and laid it all on the table. He apologized to Matt and Matt asked him to apologize to me...February 2010 and we've only received a couple of generic emails from him. We just assumed that he was planning on Matt not being in the wedding, a couple weeks ago, his sis told Matt that yeah, he's not the best man but her bro is still planning on Matt being in the wedding.

So there you have it, two weddings, one day, a little drama with both...HELP! Thoughts, comments, advice...please try to leave only positive remarks because this already stresses me.