That's a Winner!!!

...On October 28, 2011 the St. Louis Cardinals won their 11th World Series Championship. Some fun facts about the 11s:
*11th championship earned in 2011
*David Freese, World Series MVP, has 11 letters in his name
*The game lasted 3 hours and 17 minutes, add that up and get...11!
*Add up the date they won (10/28) and get...11!
*The Cards made it to game 7 by winning in game 6 in the bottom of the...11th!

What can I say? 11 is a good number!

Here's what we did and my thoughts on the World Series:
*We went to our friends house and watched the game because they didn't have a babysitter. During the 5th inning, I pulled my first ever tooth and Cody had his first ever tooth pulled! I apologized before we left since I ended up costing his mom and dad AKA the Tooth Fairy $1.
*When we won, we could see fireworks going off in the three surrounding towns!
*I got up at 6am the next morning and went to the gas station to get a paper for my dad but it hadn't been delivered yet. I headed down the street to the grocery store, got a donut and chocolate milk and sat on the bench to wait for the paper to be delivered. After 30 minutes, I headed home. At 9:30, I stopped back by the gas station and luckily, they still had some. Turns out, they didn't even get delivered until 9am!?!
*Is the world only made up of the US and Canada? I wonder this because it's the World Series but teams that compete are only in the US and Canada.
*David Freese TOTALLY reminds me of David Eckstein from the 2006 World Series.
*My friend Facebooked me to let me know that Lance Lynn reminds her of Matt...it must be the hair.

Congrats to the Cardinals on your awesome, comeback season! I'm proud to be a part of Cardinal Nation!!!

Newest G-Card!!!

..well, it's a new season which means new G-cards at Michael's! I'm actually kind of loving this one and I might have to go back and get more.

Happy Friday all!

Not Cool...

...When I let you borrow a book from me, it's not cool when A. you keep it for over 2 months and B. you return it looking like this:

Seriously?

Another Wedding!!!

...this past Saturday, we attended the last wedding of the wedding season. My co-worker Stacey got married! We only attended the reception. She had a gorgeous day for an outdoor wedding but since it was a smaller venue, she didn't invite everyone to the ceremony.

I must admit that I thought I looked pretty cute. First time for me in leggings! Too bad I didn't get a full length photo-sorry! Here I am though with my co-worker Paula (R) and my good friend Stevie (L). I'll be in her wedding next April.

Here's the beautiful bride. Her dress had so much detail on it, it was gorgeous! Yes, we are in the bathroom. This was the only time I ran into her!

Have fun on your honeymoon and see ya when you get back!

World Series Baby!!!

...I am seriously the LUCKIEST girl alive! Not only has my dad taken my sis, H and I to an NLDS game AND a NLCS game BUT last Wednesday, he took us to our first ever WORLD SERIES game!!! It was Game 1 of the Cardinals vs Rangers at Busch Stadium. Thank you Prince Fielder (of the Brewers who we beat in the NLCS playoffs) for giving the National League the home field advantage by hitting a bomb during the All Star Game.

Unlike the first two games we went to, the temperatures were going to be frigid! I had on two pairs of socks, long underwear, jeans, a tshirt, longsleeve shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, stocking cap and when we sat down, I wrapped up in a fleece blanket. This girl was NOT cold! It did drizzle a bit but we hardly noticed with all the layers we had on.

We got to the game and found out we were in section 166-sweet! H and I were pretty excited, "World Series baby!!!"

This is me, my dad and my sis. Photo taken my 7 year old H which explains the angle.

Michelle Obama and Jill Biden came so security was "extra tight." Other than secret service on the roof of the stadium and you couldn't bring in outside drinks (thanks ladies for making me pay $5 for a bottled water), it wasn't tight at all. They must have left about inning 5 or 6 because the men on top of the stadium were gone by then.

We got there early enough so we ventured down to the field and H snapped this pic of me and my sis.

Probably like 100 military men and women came out and presented this HUGE flag for the National Anthem. It was pretty awesome!

Freese on second!

We won!!! H was so excited that she started crying. When we asked her why she said, "This is just SO awesome!" She's so sweet.

3-2 baby!!! Love that I caught this guy on the screen.

Let's go Cards!!! How about 11 in '11???

Goodbye Lola...

...it is with great sadness that I found out fellow blogger, Lola, passed away this week. Almost one year ago, Lola was diagnosed with hypoplastic myelodysplastic sydrome and needed a bone marrow transplant to change save her life. Lola fight hard but in the end, it was her decision to stop the fight. Luckily, I had sent her an email back in August to check in with her and she'd sent me her CaringBridge site to keep tabs on her.

Straight from her father's words on her CaringBridge site: "Many have asked me what they can do to help or honor Laura's memory. I will share with you this fact & you can be guided accordingly. What kept Laura alive during the 8 months before and the 3 months after her bone marrow transplant, was the weekly transfusion of blood and platelets. Those blood products are ONLY available because of the generous & selfless donors who took the time to donate blood. It truly is the gift of life and the most direct way any of us can save another persons life. Please donate when you can."

So please next time you see a blood drive, stop and save three lives and do so in memory of Lola AKA Laura the Strong. Many prayers for her husband, parents and family and thank you Laura for being a part of blog land. Your strong will and fight is an inspiration for all of us.

Monster Munch...

...so at my Game Night, I had high hopes of doing Halloween themed food but then I defaulted back to my usual...meatballs and chips/dip but I DID try to make Monster Munch. Let me tell you that the sauce is AMAZING...chocolate, peanut butter, marshmallows and butter. LOL-what's NOT to love??? Okay on to the recipe:


Ingredients

* 2 bags (3.3 oz each) ACT II® Butter Microwave Popcorn
* 4 cups corn-and-rice cereal
* 2 cups tiny pretzel twists
* 2 cups miniature marshmallows, divided
* 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
* 1/2 cup Peter Pan® Creamy or Crunchy Peanut Butter
* 1/4 cup Parkay® Original-stick
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1 cup peanuts, optional

Directions

1. Prepare popcorn according to package directions. Remove all unpopped kernels. Combine popped corn, cereal and pretzels in large bowl.
2. Melt 1 cup of the marshmallows, chocolate morsels, peanut butter and Parkay in medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Drizzle marshmallow mixture evenly over popcorn mixture, tossing to coat.
3. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar over mixture, tossing to coat. Spread mixture in single layer on large piece of waxed paper; cool completely.
4. Toss the remaining 1 cup marshmallows and peanuts, if desired, with popcorn mixture before serving. Store in tightly sealed container.

Here's my finished product, not pretty but oh so delicious! And this recipe makes a TON! I had two HUGE bowlfuls. Matt was happy because he got an entire bowl to himself which he deserved because he spent Friday night cleaning the house while I worked. Thank you Pretty!

The only bad thing was that I had powdered sugar EVERYWHERE!!!

It's All Fun & Games House Party!!!

...I won a House Party for a game night that I hosted this past weekend. Who doesn't love game nights? And now I've got 2 new games to add to my collection: "Quelf" and "Logo."

Apparently, "Quelf" is a pretty crazy "sit on your neighbor's lap" kind of game so we opted to play 2 games of Logo. Marcy won the first and Cece won the second. Basically, each round is a brand and asks 4 questions about their marketing. Some were really easy and others, I had no freakin' clue. Jen, of course, was great at this game and it even prompted a YouTube search of Pampers "Poop There It Is." FYI-I HATE that commerical.

Jen with her thinking jacket on:

Luckily, Matt got home in time to eat all the food we were gorging ourselves on and snap this picture.

It was a fun time and now we all have to get together again to play some "Quelf!" Thanks House Party!!!

NLCS Game 3-Go Cards!!!

...my sister, H and I have been VERY lucky ladies when it's come to Cardinals' Playoff games this year. My dad took us to Game 3 of the NLDS a couple weeks ago and last week, he took us to Game 3 of the NLCS. We got there early to check out the rally and so H could get her face painted. Here's H and I outside the Stadium with the Arch in the background:

If you haven't heard of the Rally Squirrel then you're missing out! I love the Rally Squirrel since squirrels are the mascot of my sorority. Here's H and my dad with the famous Jack Buck saying, "Go nuts, folks! Go nuts!" Turns out we couldn't take the signs in because they had advertising on the back-LAME!

Despite a Fredbird freakout (H is TERRIFIED of him!) and having to wait in line FOREVER to get her face painted (like 5 grandmas were in front of her and wanted some big elaborate decorations), I was SUPER excited we made it to the rally. Jack Clark and MIKE MATHENY were there and you could get your picture taken with them. Now let me tell you about Mike Matheny...he was the catcher for the Cardinals before Yadi. At Old Busch, you could hang out where the players parked and after games Matheny was the ONLY big-name player that would stop and talk to fans. And I don't just mean one or two, I mean EVERY game, win or lose, traveling the next day or not, Matheny would get out of his car and take a picture, sign autographs, shake hands with every.single.person. He is what every baseball player should be...loyal to his fans. I have a few pictures with him after games from back in 2003-2004 but, of course, now I can't find them because digital cameras weren't big then.

So we waited in line and finally got up there to take a picture with them. I told my sister before we went up there, "I'm standing next to Matheny!" I shook his hand and freaked out in my head when he put his hand on my back and then as our photo op ended, I knew I HAD to say something. I turned around and blurted out talking quickly, "OMG! I'm such a huge fan! I loved when you played for the Cardinals!" My sister nodded, "She is! She has pictures with you from then." H just stood between us smiling and wondering why we were acting so goofy. Matheny was super nice and laughed and smiled and thanked us. He's a pretty awesome guy in my book! My dad was being all chatty with Jack Clark and I had to tell him to stop talking during the picture. That's why him and Jack look funny.

We got to our seats and some people from Cape were seating just 2 rows behind us! They took this picture of us. Matt and his sister went to the game on Thursday night. My dad was there in the same seats we were in the night before. Turns out, Matt and his sis were in the exact same row just one section over!

The Rally Squirrel telling us to GO NUTS! FYI-last time the Brewers and Cards met in post season play was during the 1982 World Series (I wasn't even born yet!) AND...the Cardinals won!

And we brought home a winner! Cards won and took the lead in the series. Come on Cards-keep it going!!!

Thanks Dad for taking us!!!

A Burning Bush Story...

...last Thursday, I totally had a burning bush story happen. I had a dentist appointment at 1pm. I went to the bathroom when I got there and when I was done with my appointment, I kind of had to pee again (that's what happens when you have free refills with your lunch!). I decided I could wait until I got home. On the way home, I realized that I had to have my TB test checked. I started debating whether to stop at home to pee or just see if I could go at the doctor's office. I decided to stop at home. Of course, I got sidetracked and started checking my email and all that stuff that easily distracts you. I finally headed out.

As I turned onto the main, busy street, I saw this old chocolate lab (lots of gray in his muzzle). I kept driving then I stop at the stop sign and thought, I've never seen that dog before. I pulled over and got out of the car. I walked towards him and started calling, "Here puppy! Come here!" The dog trotted right up to me and was a wet mess, someone had been swimming! I grabbed his collar and called the number. The lady was so appreciative and said her husband was on his way. The guy was a LONG way from home to and on a VERY busy street. Chance, the dog and I sat on the curb waiting. He was the SWEETEST dog! Didn't try to pull away, sat when I said sit...almost in my lap! The husband came and thanked me and loaded Chance into his truck and left.

So see, total burning bush. I had three different places to go to the bathroom but I was lead to go home so that I could get Chance home safely. Happy Monday!

Time to Start Thinking About Christmas...

...true, Halloween isn't even here yet but I've got to start going through our photos to make sure we've got Christmas card quality photos for our 2011 holiday card! Last year, we got our holiday cards through Shutterfly. And we'll definitely be doing that again this year. Once I pick out the photos then it's on to pick out the cards...that's the tough part!

I really like this one but with 2 dogs, there's never just ONE photo that's good of our four of us.

So I'm thinking something more like this and I love the bright colors!

Shutterfly has holiday cards, calendars and other photo gifts too! I love getting cards with photos on them, I think it's much more personal...what do you all think?

Oh and are you a blogger? Want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Then register here: http://goo.gl/DDw7Q Have fun looking through the huge selection of cards to pick from!

We Made It To 3 Years!!!

...lol! Yes, Mattie and I are celebrating our three year wedding anniversary today-we made it!!! It's amazing to think back to three years ago...boy, we had NO IDEA what was in store for us! But you know what? It wouldn't have mattered if we DID know because we're strong people and together, the two of us are even stronger.

We may fight and bicker until the cows come home, which is a really long time for us considering we don't have any cows. He may drive me insane by his night snacking and I might make him slightly crazy by my OCD and routines but you know what? It works, we work...it's just how we are. He supports me, I support him and together we're pretty unstoppable.

We may not always be the best at communicating and might sometimes double book ourselves. But when it comes to the important stuff, he can tell by how I answer the phone what kind of mood I'm in and I can tell by how he walks in the kitchen door, without even seeing him, how his day was. Sometimes we don't even have to speak to agree on things but other times, it's a week long battle to get the other to see our point.

But the bottom line is that despite our differences...in personality, in opinions, in house cleaning skills, we're better together. It's been a long, crazy, rocky three years but I wouldn't rather have anyone by my side than my Mattie. So happy anniversary Pretty!

Even though this was three years ago, I still remember why we were both smiling in this picture...and no, it wasn't because of the wedding. We both gave each other "the look" and started laughing as we worried that the sand was going to pour over the jar. We had an amazing, fairy tale wedding and we're working on that happily ever after, and as long as we're working on it together, that's the best part.

Post Season Playoffs...

...UGH! This was supposed to post last Thursday-sorry! Hope you all had a good weekend!

Last Tuesday night, my sister, dad, Haley and I went to game 3 of the post season MLB playoffs. It was a gorgeous day and we had fantastic seats. While we didn't bring home a winner, we sure saw a great game! Here's my sister and my dad:

H and I wth our rally towels from our seats:

The Arch from inside the stadium!

The clydesdales!!! They even made two rounds around the stadium!

H with her rally cap on and enjoying a good 'ole ballpark hot dog:

It was a school night so we had to study spelling words inbetween innings!

Thanks for the great night out Dad! We had an awesome time!!!

Bollinger Mill State Historic Site...

...the wedding this past weekend was held at Bollinger Mill State Historic Site. The view was incredible and it had me pining for a DSLR...maybe ONE day. In the meantime, enjoy the pics I snapped of the surroundings.

Nat Gets Married!!!

...a very good friend of mine got married this past Saturday. I've known her since 5th grade, we met at swim team but geez, we'd both freak if anyone saw us in a swimsuit these days! She moved in 7th grade to Indiana and we thought our world was over. I went and visited her in her small town each summer and even went to her high school graduation. Her family is like a second one to me, I was even in her sister's wedding 11 years ago as a candle lighter!

Anyways, it was at Bollinger Mill and she had an absolutely perfect day!!! Here's Matt and my dad going across the covered bridge.

Me and my lovely husband who refused to smile

The beautiful bride and her sister

They handed out fans which I thought was a super cute idea!

Me with my two dates and the Mill in the background

I absolutely LOVE this picture! This is her sister signing the marriage certificate, the bride and groom laughing in the background and in the far left, their mom watching.

Unfortunately, her grandpa was in the hospital and despite every effort, he did not make it. At about 6:15, the wedding party hadn't arrived yet but they said we go ahead and eat. The wedding party didn't show up until about 7:30pm because she and her new hub had stopped by the hospital to see her Grandpa.

My two "dates" weren't very attentive. I went to drop off the gifts and saw them at the bar. Then they came over to me and I was like, "Where's my drink?" Yeah, they didn't get one so I went and get a cranberry/orange juice and the lady was like that's $1. I said, umm...hang on. I didn't have my purse so I was frantically looking for the boys and surprise-they'd both disappeared! I FINALLY found my dad and I was like, I need a dollar! I walked back to the table and I told them they weren't very good dates! LOL!

It was great to see Nat and her family and I wish her all the best! Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day.

Giveaway Winners!!!

...thanks to everyone who participated in my giveaway! Geez, just when I think no one is reading my blog, I take a week off  because, well honestly? Because I had nothing blogworthy to blog about!  But I only posted once and some friends are all over me! So I'll do my best to blog more this week, deal? Okay, on to the meat and potatoes of this post!

The lucky winners are:

Ghost Pillow-Hilary
Pumpkin Pillow-Julie
Cat Pillow-Whit
Scarecrow Pillow-Angie D.

Please contact me so we can figure out how to get these cute pillows to you or leave me your email address. Congrats ladies!