Is there something in the water?

Ok, I stopped and counted up the number of people I know who are pregnant and right now the number is up to 9. Here's a little list of my friends who are expecting:

Patty (cousin)
Jennifer ( cousin)
Lynetter (neighbor)
Karen (HS friend)
Tonya ( school friend)
Michelle ( school friend)
Katrina ( MTA/ church friend)
Karen L. ( Dan's cousin)
Heather ( TCC friend)

It seems like I am missing someone else. I'll add them when and if I can remember. :) I'm gonna have a lot of baby showers to attend and gifts to buy. Not sure I'll be invited to all these showers, but probably at least 6-7 of them!

I just keep asking myself, "Could I be next?" Who knows. I can't wait forever - I'm going to be 31 in July! "Ahhhh, the pressure!

First Serve

Just thought I would share about my experience with "First Serve" today. But first I'll give you a little background on what that is. Our church ( Glad Tidings) recently did a series on "Living Beyond Myself" and it was basically about getting out and volunteering more. They had a ministry fair during church one Sunday so you could see all the different areas that are available to volunteer. They were encouraging people to sign up for a first serve volunteer. You try it out and see how you like it with no comittment to do it again. Kind of a neat concept. Lots of times you might want to help out but are afraid once you do it then you're stuck there.

Ok, for my first serve I decided to try out the kitchen on Sunday mornings. GT has a "cafe" that serves breakfast on Sunday mornings and dinner on Wednesday night. So this morning I went and helped make food to order. I made omeletts and helped with the breakfast burritos. It was fun and I enjoyed the people that were in there. I think it's something that I'd like to do again. They commented on what a slow morning it was. I guess the kitchen is usually a bit more chaotic. Probably a good thing. If I felt too stressed I may not have wanted to go back!

Window to the Past

Here's a picture of my latest crafty project. I found this really old window frame at an antiques store a few months back. I painted the frame black, printed copies of some of my favorite old family photos, and then Dan helped attach them to the glass with some clear vinyl. I love the way it turned out. It's hanging in our hallway. Eventually Dan's mom is going to get me some copies of old family photos from his side and I'll use them to make a grouping on either side of this one. I have such a facination for family history and my mom's side of the family has some really beautiful old pictures. I am so glad that they are hanging up for us to enjoy every day.

Therapy, is it needed?

I was going through old pictures the other day and found this one of myself at age 2. Now I know why I love french fries so much... my mom dressed me in french fry pants as a child! It's all her fault! :)

Ever had a Grapple?

I noticed something new at the grocery store the other day and it sounded so interesting that I had to buy them. They were grapples (grape+apples). They are apples that have a grape flavor to them. They were packaged 4 to a container and even through the plastic I could smell the grape. Dan and I tried one last night and I have to say I am dissapointed. The grape flavor smelled stronger that it tasted. It was ok, it tasted like an apple with a hint of grape. But I am even more dissapointed in how they got the grape taste in there. I thought maybe it was some kind of cool new hybrid that someone came up with. No, all they do is soak the apples in a grape solution. Oh well...

C is for cookie

I have made a dangerous discovery at Wal-mart. There is a box of cookies that tastes very similar to the shortbread cookies at McDonalds. I love the McDonald Land cookies. Now that I have discovered these cookies.... I am in trouble. They are the Great Value vanilla cookies in the red box. At my Wal-mart they are right next to the vanilla wafers on the bottom shelf. And the best part is they are only .94 a box!!!! Now that is a Great Value. :)

I'm not Martha Stewart

Ok, it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post and I am feeling pressured to write something. I don't really have anything exciting to add, so I'll just put down a few details of what's been happening the last few weeks.

Martha Stewart's perfect chocolate cake isn't so perfect after all. For months now I have been wanting to make this cake, She made it on her show and it looked so good. I figured if it's from Martha Stewart's recipe book then it should be wonderful. Well, I have mixed feelings about this cake. The cake itself was good, although I over baked it a bit even though I took in out 5 minutes sooner than it called for. The ganache that went over it I could have done without. If I make it again I 'll do things a bit differently. I just get carried away with Martha Stewart stuff and always think her recipes are going to be better that what I've done in the past. Sometims, Kristin does know best!

My Grandma Eva has had to go live in an assisted living home. She's only been there a few weeks. And since it is a brand new facility, she is only one of three residents living in the memory loss wing. We, and by that I mean my brothers and sister and all their family went to visit with her tonight. The home is really nice and has a very upscale feel to it. Eva's not particulary happy about being there and would rather go home. But after her little adventure around the town where she lived, the family decided she needed supervision. We have discovered that our grandma has quite a fiesty side. Grandma and one of the other residents don't really get along. I guess they got in an argument last week that lasted 4 hours! They live in the memory loss wing... you'd have thought that they'd both have forgotten about the argument at some point. And grandma tried taking a swing a the lady. I didn't know my grandma had it in her. I hope that they get more residents soon...and hopefully they'll be people that Eva likes! :)

I am totally addicted to American Idol. I get sucked into this show every season. I really like the 17 year old girl, Paris. I think she's really good. For the guys, I think I like the rocker guy Chris. He reminds me of someone, I just don't know who.

Dan and I bought a new refrigerator on Saturday. It's getting delivered on Tuesday and I can't wait. It's so cute. It's stainless steel with the freezer on bottom and the french door refrigerator top. our kitchen is going to look so different... and smaller because our fridge now is dinky and doesn't even fill the whole space.

Well, that's enough ramblings for one night. Good night

My Funny Valentine

As someone who once spent years of being depressed and cynical on Valentine's Day, I can now really enjoy this holiday. I used to hate February 14th. It was just this horrible reminder that once again, I was not dating anyone. I'd watch co-workers receive beautiful bouquets of roses and discuss their dinner plans...and I would feel left out.
Now that I am finally married - I get to have Valentine's Day any day of the year. Yes, it's wonderful to get the extra attention and of course the presents on Feb. 14th , but my husband really does an amazing job of making me feel loved and appreciated every day. So now February 14th is a special day for us, but it's not the important date that I used to think it was when I was single.
Just to let you know just how wonderful my husband is, he had a dozen roses delivered to the house this morning and as part of my gift he wrote me another heartfelt love letter ( he gave me the first one last year on Valentine's Day).

To my single friends reading this, hang in there. Looking back, I'm glad now that I didn't waste Valentine's Day on men who weren't going to be my husband. All my memories of Valentine's Day are going to be about Dan and I. And I like that.

It's greek to me

I don't understand football, and I don't think I will ever care enough about it to even try and understand it. It's just a lot of people getting paid a lot of money to run up and down the field with a ball.

Cupid's been here

We've been "Struck". Dan went to work this morning and as he was leaving he found a gift bag on the front step. It was full of Valentine goodies. We were struck by Cupid's arrow. Now it's our turn to pass it along to someone else. So today I picked up some things so I can make 3 more goodie bags. Tomorrow night, Dan and I will "Strike" 3 other families on our street. It's fun to have neighbors who enjoy doing this kind of thing.
This game took place back in October also, but that month it was "You have been spooked".

What were we thinking?

Dan and I went to Chicago this past weekend with my parents for the sole purpose of eating at one particular restaurant. Berghoff's. This restaurant is closing after 100 years of business and my parents wanted to eat there one last time. Since Dan and I had never eaten there we thought we'd join my folks and experience this place for the first and last time. Little did we know that we'd have to stand in line outside the restaurant for over 3 hours! It was between 45 and 50 degrees and drizzling rain just about the entire time. We got in line about 6:30 (my aunt and uncle got there at 5:15) and finally sat down at a table at around 8:45. The food was good and it was fun to see the inside of this historic old building...but I think we were a little crazy to wait all that time.

day 1

Hey everyone, this is my first post. I'm just checking this out to see if I can figure out how it all works.