Deck the Halls!

Jenny (randomramblingofaragingraven.blogspot.com) tagged me with this survey, so let's give it a whirl! :)


Eggnog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate. I like eggnog, but hot chocolate with whipped cream is so much better

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree?
Now that we're older and get "smaller" gifts, they're wrapped. When we were younger, our "big" gift (playhouse, bike, etc.) was usually sitting under the tree.

Colored lights on tree or white?
Colored, although when I have a house and I can do more than one tree, I think I'll do one of each.

When do you put your decorations up?
The weekend after Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
My grandma Eleanore's creamed corn. So yummy.

Favorite holiday memory as a child:
My brother and I would always look outside our bedroom window, hoping to see Rudolph and Santa. If we ever saw a red dot, we were sure it was Rudolph!

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I think I just kind of figured it out when I was 8 or so. I asked my mom, and she wouldn't tell me. So I asked my dad, and he did. My mom wasn't too happy with him for that :)

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Sometimes; it's usually pajamas, if we do.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
We have the "traditional" tree with multi-colored lights and brightly colored ornaments.

Snow! Love it or dread it?
I love the snow! Absolutely love it!

Can you ice skate?
I'm certainly no Olympian, but yeah, I can ice skate.

Do you remember your favorite gift?
My grandparents got me Super Nintendo when I was 8; I LOVED that. Also, since I'm a huge bookworm, my parents would always get me lots of books ever since I was little, and those invariably ended up being one of my favorite gifts. And, when I was 9-10, I was really into Barbies, so those were always a big hit :)

What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Being with family. I love being with my parents and brother, and Dan's sister and her husband. I just wish we could be with Dan's mom, too; then it would be complete!

What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Probably my mom's pinwheel cookies. They are SO addicting!

What is your favorite tradition?
We have dinner on Christmas Eve and then go to the 11:00 candlelight service at my parents' church (Lutheran). Even though Dan and I are not religious, we love going to this service and hearing the Christmas carols sung. Then we come home, hang up stockings and read The Night Before Christmas while sipping hot chocolate. We usually get to bed around 1 am.

Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Giving. I love giving presents. There's something so wonderful about picking out the perfect gift for someone! I always get so impatient, wanting to see them open it, that I'm tempted to give it to them ahead of time! I always hold out, though ;)

What is your favorite Christmas Song?
What Child Is This & Oh, Holy Night

Candy canes! Yuck or yum?
They're ok, but I can really only eat one at a time.

Ever recycled a Christmas present?
Never.

Don't Be A Scrooge! Tag your friends to Deck the Halls...
I tag:

robnangiew.blogspot.com
nancycoatesjournal.blogspot.com
mulling-it-over.blogspot.com
soggycheerios.com

Our weekend

We had a typical December weekend--filled with holiday parties and yummy food. On Friday, Dan and I went to my friend Liz's apartment for a holiday dinner. She made the BEST chicken picatta I've ever had, Meghan & Drew brought some delicious butternut squash soup, Dan & I brought a mandarin orange and sugared almond salad, and Melinda and Steve brought homemade cheesecake. Everything was so good, although with my luck, I've probably gained back the seven pounds I've lost ;)

Saturday was my work's Christmas party. As usual, we were picked up in limos (so fancy!) and went to Marll's (one of the owners) house for dinner and drinks. The food was absolutely delicious! After that, the limos took us to Frida's, which is this cool Mexican restaurant/bar downtown. Since we're a fairly small company, I always enjoy our parties because it's not like there's a million people you need to try and talk to; instead, you can converse with everyone and their dates. It's nice :)

So all in all, our weekend was great!

Congratulations, Austin!

I know, I'm doing two blog posts in a row, but I thought this deserved its own post. My little brother (he'll always be little to me, even though he's almost 25) is graduating from Weber State University today! Congratulations, Austin!!

I am so proud of him; he is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in History with a minor in Legal Studies, and he's graduating magna cum laude. I really, really wish I could be there, but sadly, I don't have enough vacation time to go (especially since we'll be out there next week anyway). I am just so incredibly proud of him; it's been a long road (for awhile after high school, he didn't even think he wanted to go to college, and now he's graduating with honors!)

So, CONGRATS!!!

I love living in Wisconsin

I really do. The other day (Tuesday, I think it was) we had a snow day from work. A snow day from WORK!! In my entire 12 years in the public school system in Utah, I think I had one snow day ever. And now living in Wisconsin I get a snow day off work? Heaven, I tell you!

I got so much done, and it made me realize how much easier it would be if I didn't work outside the home (but we'd also be a lot poorer, so it's a tradeoff ;D). I got three loads of laundry done and put away, my bedroom was cleaned, my Christmas tree got put up, my living room floor was vacuumed (which, in hindsight, I should have done after I put up the tree, since now there are needles all over my floor again. Oh well), and my kitchen was cleaned. Oh, and I was able to work out for over an hour. I loved it! Ok, ok, I probably wouldn't want to be home full-time (until we have kids, that is--then I'm definitely being a stay-at-home mom) but if we could swing it, I would love to only work part-time. My home would be so much more orderly!

Tonight we're going to my friend Liz's house for a little holiday party. That should be a lot of fun; I don't get to see my friends as much now that I don't work with them, so I'm looking forward to it! Dan and I are bringing a mandarin orange and sugared almond salad (yum) and I spend last night baking (in between watching The Office and 30 Rock, that is) so I'm bringing cute little tins of frosted sugar cookies, toffee, and white chocolate and peppermint popcorn. I made that for the first time last night, and it is SO good!

Our weekend

We didn't really do much this weekend, but that's ok. We have plenty of stuff coming up with holiday parties, etc. in the next couple of weeks! Saturday was Tracy's birthday, so we watched the girls while Dan took her out, and then we met them for lunch at Paisans. Afterward, Rori and Kirsti were kind enough to come to Target with me (ha, like they needed convincing!) and help me pick out the toys for our Angel Tree girl. She's 9 and wanted a Barbie car, so we got her that, two other Barbies and some cool Barbie outfits. Rori didn't seem to get it at first; she kept saying, "Now who is this for? What's her name? How do you know her? Why are you buying her a gift?" :)

Oh, and Dan put up our outside lights last night. They look good; I'll upload a picture when I get a chance. And we still don't have our tree up......*sigh*.

OH, and we have a freaking mouse in our house! Ick, ick, ick. We had suspected it for quite awhile, and then the other night, Dan was sitting on the floor putting away the laptop, and he opened the flap on the laptop case, only to have a freaking mouse leap out of the bag and over his shoulder! Ewww. I'm so glad I wasn't there when it happened (well, I was there, but I was in bed). That would have scared the you-know-what out of me. So now we have a trap in our kitchen, so when I get home from work, I will not be able to go into our kitchen for fear that I will encounter a dead mouse. It's just not my cup of tea.

I'm back

Well, not that I really went anywhere; I just didn't feel like blogging during Thanksgiving break :) I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We sure did. We went to Tracy and Dan's, like we usually do, and oh. my. gosh dinner was absolutely wonderful. We had the standard turkey, gravy, stuffing, and all that jazz, and it was wonderful. Dan H. is certainly a great cook :) Our contribution to the meal was Chex Mix (me) and apple pie (Dan). Dan seriously makes the best apple pie EVER. It's so yummy. Afterwards, we hung out and played Monopoly, which has become our Thanksgiving tradition. We jokingly call Dan "Old Man Potter" (from It's a Wonderful Life) since he just wipes the board with us. He should go into real estate in real life, then I could quit my job! (Although, with this economy, maybe not!)

Then, on Black Friday we actually went shopping. Yeah, we're crazy. And we know now to never do it again. On Thanksgiving evening, Tracy was asking me if I wanted to go to Boston Store and Kohl's, just to see who was out and about. I said sure, and then she said, "Ok, I'll pick you up at four." FOUR?!? Who in their right mind goes out at 4? Well, we did, and it was a freaking madhouse. The stores were just crammed, the prices weren't even that great; we honestly don't understand the hype about Black Friday. We even tried to go to Target at 5:30 (a half hour before it opened), and there was a line around the store! What the hell, people? It's November in Wisconsin, and you're standing outside? So needless to say, we just went home.

When Dan heard me come in (he stayed home to sleep, since he had to work that day) he just mumbled, "You're back already? Did you guys even go?" Yes, we went, and it was our first and last time :) Don't get me wrong, it was kind of fun to see who was out that early, but it's definitely a one-time thing.

On Saturday we saw Four Christmases. It was SO funny. I literally laughed out loud numerous times. I love Reese Witherspoon, and Vince Vaughn is freaking hilarious (plus, he looked a LOT like Dan in this movie--Dan gets told all the time that he looks like Vince). It's one of those movies I'd like to own.

We still didn't get our tree or lights put up, but we'll do that this weekend. Dan was actually out of town in Milwaukee on Tuesday and yesterday for work; he didn't get back until late last night. So I figured we could wait until Friday or Saturday to start the decorating :) I'll get pictures up when we do!

Probably not the best idea....

But it was fun anyway! Last night, some of my coworkers and I went out to The Brass Ring to celebrate the fact that Kathy, one of the salespeople, was told that her chemotherapy and radiation were successful, and the tumor is gone from her lung! We were all so excited when she told us (she was diagnosed in August) so when she said she wanted to get together, we were all for it. It was a chance to see my friend, Nikki, too, since she no longer works here but wanted to get in on the action :)

I only intended to stay for maybe two drinks; after all, The Office was on and I didn't want to miss that. Yeah, that plan just kind of flew out the window! I ended up staying until 10 or so (we got there at 5); luckily, I had the foresight to call Dan and tell him that he needed to drive me home, so he came at about 7. His verdict is that my coworkers are certifiably crazy :) Sadly, I am NOT feeling the best today (and I have a magazine going to print! ACK!). Oh well; I'm not too under the weather, since I was able to work out at lunch.

So I'm sure tonight we'll just take it easy, especially since tomorrow we're going to the Essenhaus to celebrate my friend Melinda's birthday. That should be a good time :)

Met my goal!

So my sister-in-law, Nancy, got Dan a Wii Fit for his birthday (I got him the Wii). And we absolutely LOVE it. I've been doing it for little over a month now, and today I met my goal! I actually got up at 5:30 to exercise (I know, I know, so uncharacteristic of me) and I weighed myself, and I lost the five pounds I wanted! I'm so excited!

Of course, now I have to lose five more, and five more, and five more.... you get the picture. But still, baby steps, right? I'm just thrilled the first five pounds are off!

My favorite exercises are the advanced step aerobics, the boxing, and the hula hoop. Those three exercises (especially the boxing and the hula hoop) totally get my heart rate going. I love it! I usually do that routine Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and then on Tuesday and Thursday I do more yoga and strength training, like the lunges and torso twists. I also work out in the gym at my work 4-5 days a week.

So yeah, it's been an exercise filled month or so, but I'm happy I finally met my goal!

A Relaxing Weekend

Dan and I didn't really do jack this weekend, and you know what? I LOVED it! My living room and kitchen are now clean, my dining table is cleared off and dusted, and the only things on it are two pilgrim statues that I have out in honor of Thanksgiving. Oh, and our laundry is now put away (all 5 loads of it!), our bed had the sheets changed, and our bathrooms are cleaned. I LOVE it! Oh, and Dan got paid on Friday, so we mailed in our last payment on our bed, which means we paid it off two months before our "no interest/no payments" time frame ended. Yay!

Well, we did do a few fun things, too. Friday night we went out to eat and then went to Borders, since Dan had a gift card from my mom that he wanted to use. We had both decided that we spend too much time just vegging out in front of the TV, and we really want to spend time doing more meaningful things, like reading. So we each got a book; he got one called The Eight (I think it's a conspiracy novel or something, much like The Da Vinci Code. Don't quote me on that, though) and I got a Sandra Brown one called Envy. OMG, it was so good!! I read the whole thing in a weekend; it was one of those that you truly can't put down. And, it was really well-written, too. I highly recommend it!

Now I'm reading a book that Dan got me for Christmas called Mademoiselle Boleyn. That, of course, is excellent (and right up my alley). I absolutely love books like that. The only problem is that I don't want to read too many of them, since one of my goals is to write a historical fiction novel before I die, and I worry that reading a bunch of these books will replace my own ideas with the authors'. Oh well. It's an excellent book, though. I think I also need to read Twilight; there are so many people raving about it, and the movie comes out this Friday. I resisted reading them for awhile, since I'm a contrary sort who doesn't like to read something that everyone is all gaga over, but I learned my lesson with Harry Potter. I REFUSED to read them for the longest time, thinking, "Why on earth is everyone so crazy about a damn wizard?" Yeah, then I read them and I was HOOKED. I think I read the entire series in a month. I got so invested in the characters that I cried--repeatedly--in book 7. So, I learned my lesson, and I'm going to give Twilight a try. Vampires and whatnot aren't really my thing, but then again, wizards weren't either, and we all saw how wrong I was about that!

Old Navy Sale

So there's this coupon I had for Old Navy: 30% off your purchase. Good deal, right? Hell yeah! I went to Old Navy and got $125 worth of clothes (two pairs of jeans, three sweaters) for $87.00. Is that a deal or what? Plus, the coupon can be used again and again. Sooooo, if you are planning on going to Old Navy and you want to save some money, email me (amandaarmendariz@gmail.com) and I'll forward the coupon on to you. It's good through Sunday the 16th.

Good new recipe!

Ok, I actually made dinner last night. I know, I know, it's a rare occurrence. But it finally happened! It was called Smoked Paprika Chicken or something like that; I just found it online. But it was really, really good (and super easy; I think it took me like 5 minutes to prepare or something). Here it is:

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds, quartered, or chicken parts
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon Spanish smoked paprika (Is this different from regular paprika? That's what I used)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced (I just used garlic powder and it worked fine)

Preparation:

Heat oven to 400°. Line a roasting pan or jelly roll pan with foil.

Wash chicken parts and pat dry. Arrange chicken, skin side up, on the baking pan; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. (I just used boneless skinless breasts, since that's healthier. Didn't affect the recipe at all.)

Combine remaining ingredients; rub the paste over the chicken pieces. Roast, uncovered, for about 50 to 60 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165° when inserted into the thickest part of a thigh. Juices will run clear when the chicken is pierced with a fork. Remove the chicken to a serving platter; cover loosely with foil and let stand for 8 to 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 4.

So yeah, it was really good. Of course, I was slightly miffed, since I forgot to point the timer alert on the oven thermometer. So I'm working out to the Wii Fit, and I'm thinking, "Gee, it hasn't reached 165 degrees yet?" I go over to look and it was up to 190 b/c I didn't have the damn alert on! Grrrrr. Of course, that's my fault, but I'm going to blame the thermometer instead :)

Yay, we won!

Dan and I had a good time at the game last night. We went out to eat first at the Brass Ring, which used to have good food, but something happened. The cheese curds were very bland, and the chicken fingers tasted like they came out of a box or something. We were both unimpressed. Oh well; it was still nice to not have to cook!

Then we headed to the game; we were a bit late because it took us awhile to find parking, but that's ok. The game--it was men's basketball--was really exciting. It was close throughout most of the game; we were usually only ahead by 2 or 4 points. At the end, though, we beat them 61-47 or something like that. It was fun to cheer on our alma mater!

On a different topic, one of my favorite radio stations around here is playing Christmas music non-stop as of the first of November. Now, I love Christmas as much as the next person (it is my favorite season), but it's only November! And Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet! Plus, it really irks me that they then quit playing it on December 26. If you're going to get technical, the 12 days of Christmas start on the 25th and go until January 6, so if anything, they should not be playing it in November; but they should play it into January! But no one listens to me :)

Oh well, it's still fun to hear. I can't wait to put our tree up and get all the decorations out; we'll probably do that the weekend after Thanksgiving.

It's Tuesday already?

Ugh, it seems like it was just the weekend!

On Friday, Dan and I went and saw Changeling. It was a very well-made movie (Angelina Jolie is amazing in it and there's never a dull moment), and I love period pieces (this takes place in the 20s), but I was also disturbed by some of the storyline. Let's just say that if you prefer not to think about children getting axe-murdered, you might be upset by some portions of the movie.

We went to dinner beforehand at Pizzeria Uno; they have this great "Dinner and a Movie" deal, where you can get your tickets from them for $7 (instead of the 9.25 the theater charges) PLUS a free popcorn! We saved like $9 from eating dinner there, which we were planning on doing anyway. So I think this may become a ritual with us :)

Tonight we're going to a Badgers' basketball game. The owner of my company had some extra tickets, so he called me and asked if Dan and I wanted to go. It should be a lot of fun; I'm really looking forward to it! It starts at 7, so I'm thinking we'll go out to eat beforehand. Not sure where, yet... maybe the Nitty Gritty?

Right now I have 45 minutes left until the end of the day, but I want the day to end NOW. I'm reading the high school writing contest submissions (my magazine has a high school writing contest about 4 times a year), and I don't mean to be rude, but some of them are just painful to read. And I think I have 10 or so to go. *Sigh*.

Oh well. I'll let you guys know if the Badgers win!

The Election!

Ok, so anyone who knows me knows that I am a pretty staunch Democrat (and if you think *I'm* bad, you should talk to Dan!) So, needless to say, I was thrilled with the election last night!

Dan and I voted in the morning before work; we thought it would be a huge line, so we got there at 7:20. Ummm, yeah, we were out by 7:35 (not that I'm complaining!) But if you listened to the news reports, they made it sound like you'd have to sign your life away to cast your ballot. So we were pleased to find that was not the case.

Dan and I both worked all day, then after work, we went to Tracy and Dan's house to watch the results come in. I brought over champagne, since I was feeling optimistic early in the day. But as we were watching it, I just got more and more scared. I knew I couldn't take the disappointment I had felt the last two times when Bush won. Tracy and I were literally on the edges of our seats; the two Dans went to go pick up our Chinese food because they were too nervous to watch.

We knew it was getting close to the end; if Obama could just take California and Washington, he'd be set. But.... as we know from the last election, nothing is for sure. We wanted to *see* the victory. So when our local anchors said, "Now, we'll cut to the local NBC 15 news," we were both shouting, "NO! We don't care about this; we want to see the election!" So Tracy turned to Dan (Foster) and started talking to him, and I assumed we'd have to wait another hour or so to know anything (and this is important for me, I'm usually in bed by 9:30, so I wanted to hear the results as soon as possible!)

So I was just sitting on the couch, kind of staring at the screen in a daze, when all of a sudden the local newscast is interrupted and I saw the picture of Obama, his name, and the words "44th President of the United States." I practically shouted, "WHAT is that?" and suddenly we were glued to the screen again, and it took us awhile to actually believe it. For a second, we thought they were just showing us the "possibilities," like they would also show a "John McCain 44th President" sign as well (you know, kind of a "One of these men will be our 44th president by the time the night's over!" type thing). But when we realized Obama actually had taken it; there are no words!! Both Tracy and I started crying, the Dans looked extremely excited, and it was such an amazing night.

I cried when that one Senator (can't remember his name; he was African-American) talked about being a part of the civil rights movement, being next to MLK, Jr. and beaten bloody because he was standing up for his rights, rights that white Americans like you and I often take for granted. Just 40 years ago we considered someone like Obama a second class citizen who wasn't allowed to sit in the same section of the bus as white people, whose children would have to go to substandard "separate but equal" (yeah right) schools, and now he is freaking president of the United States! We've come a long way, baby!

McCain's speech was extremely classy and eloquent--and more importantly, sincere. I do think McCain is a good man; it's just that I disagree with his policies. But the way he conducted himself last night showed me that if he had won, he would still have our country's best interests at heart (it was his running mate I didn't agree with). And, being the softie that I am, I still felt kind of bad for him losing; he looked so sad.

And Obama's speech? Wow! Talk about inspiring hope in Americans! I was so excited that I was able to help vote in the first African-American president of the United States. Racial relations still aren't perfect, but this is a GIANT step in the right direction!

Halloween pics!

Well, one picture. We went to Tracy and Dan's for Halloween to see the girls in their costumes and hang out like we always do. Kirsti was a punk rocker, and I wasn't able to get a picture of her, since she had already left by the time we got there. Rori was Jasmine; she's so cute. :)



She was so excited it was Halloween, although she said she "only wanted to go to 10 houses." And she did! She came back with just a little bit of candy, and she was fine with that! Plus, she was sharing it with all of us! She is such a doll; I just adore her.

Halloween was remarkably warm here; she didn't need to wear a jacket or anything. And the heat wave continues. On Monday, the day before the election, Dan and I had some coupons for a $4 movie. So we walked to the theatres, which are about 1/2 mile from our house. I was wearing a skirt and flipflops; it was 65 degrees at 7 at night! And it's supposed to hit 72 today. I'm not complaining! (Oh, and we used our coupons to see Eagle Eye; it was very good!)

Happy Halloween!

Ok, wow, so I haven't blogged in over a month; oops. Well, it's been a busy October!

I had to be in Chicago twice for business trips, which was fun, but yet a little stressful at the same time. I didn't get back until after 8 on Dan's birthday, so we couldn't celebrate then. Luckily, we did that weekend.

I surprised him and took him to Ruth's Chris Steak House. Kind of a weird name, I know, but it was so good. I had the petite filet mignon medallions topped with jumbo shrimp; yum. Dan's meal was even better; he had a delicious breaded beef tenderloin topped with a red wine reduction sauce. We also had lobster bisque, au gratin potatoes (well, Dan had the potatoes; you all know my aversion to such things!) and a complimentary apple tart for dessert. It was really fun, and it was nice to go out on a "date" again.

Tonight, since it's Halloween, we'll be heading over to Tracy's house to see the girls decked out in their costumes. Rori is going to be Jasmine, and Kirsti is going to be a punk rocker. I'll be sure to post pictures tomorrow!

Well, I suppose I should get some work done. Have a great Halloween!

Can't really think of a creative title...

But then again, can I ever? Not really. :) Well, things have been kind of crazy for us. I just got back on Wednesday night from a publishing conference in Chicago. That was really fun; very informative. I loved the editorial track; I was able to take away a bunch of new strategies for my magazines. Woohoo! And, of course, Chicago's always fun. We went to some awesome restaurants, paid for by my boss, so that made it even better! We tried this delicious steak house one night, an Italian restaurant the next, and then a seafood joint on our way home. I actually tried mussels, oysters and frog legs. Can you believe it? I'm such a picky eater, I never thought that would happen! The mussels were ok, the oysters I had to spit out because I thought I was going to throw up, and the frog legs were actually quite tasty. Hmmm. It looks like I'm expanding my repertoire.

I actually have to leave for Chicago *again* next Sunday for another conference; this one is put on by one of my publications. Agh; I love Chicago, but I'm feeling like I'm there more than I'm in Madison! And, Wednesday the 8th is Dan's 27th birthday, so I'll miss that (since I won't get home til late Wednesday night). Oh well; I've planned out where we're going to go for his birthday (we'll do it on the weekend); it's this new Brazilian steakhouse right downtown. It's supposed to be really good, so I'm excited to take him there! It's going to be a surprise, so that should be fun.

This weekend was kind of laid back; we went and saw Tracy's play again, which was hilarious, and we babysat Rori a lot too. She's such a doll; I just love her. We were watching her yesterday, and she wanted to help me make banana bread, so we had to pretend that we were on a cooking show, and if I forgot to narrate what I was doing, she would remind me that "the audience doesn't know what you're doing if you don't tell them, manda." She's such a hoot; I can't even take it. I LOVE spending time with her; I can't wait until I can be a stay at home mom to my own kids!

Other than that, nothing really going on. Dan and I are both kind of sick, but I've been so stressed at work that there's no way I could call in. Ugh. Oh well; I'd rather be too busy as opposed to bored!

You know what I love?

Working 11 hours a day, especially on a Friday. Yep, that's what happened today. Had to be at work early, so I got there at 7, and I didn't leave until after 6. Oh, and I got a whopping 10 minutes for lunch when I ran to Cousins' Subs. Yay, right? Agh, I'm so frustrated. I had TWO magazines going to print TODAY, so that was obviously a huge contributor to the stress. And, one of the other editors for one of my magazines (I'm the sole editor for Parcel, but for Inside Wisconsin Sports, it's both Erin and me) was gone for vacation. So not only did I have to do my stories, I had to do hers as well. And on top of that, I am going to be gone Monday-Wednesday at a publishing conference, so everything absolutely had to be done today. *Sigh*. It was quite frustrating.

Luckily, I got out of there at 6:15 pm, and I'm now sitting on my couch, relaxing with a beer. I don't think Dan and I are even going to do anything tonight, since we're both so stressed from work. Oh well. At least the conference in Chicago should be fun; I'm looking forward to that (although when I get back from that, I have yet another magazine going to print.) AGGGH. It's going to be a crazy couple of weeks :)

My mom's a celebrity!

Ok, well, not really, but she DID get mentioned in a newspaper in California. She, my dad and my aunt and uncle (along with some other relatives) went to California this past weekend for the UW game against Fresno State. Not only did UW win (woohoo!!) but my mom and aunt Janet got interviewed by a reporter who was covering the game.

You can see it here; just scroll down aways.

Go Badgers!

Weekend Recap

Well, we had a fun and relaxing weekend. Our living room and kitchen are now clean, which is always the sign of a successful weekend. On Saturday, Dan and I went to see Righteous Kill, with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. It was pretty good; one of those films where you think it's going in one direction, and then at the end, they totally throw you for a loop.

Today we went to lunch with Tracy and the girls at Lazy Jane's, which is this hippie type restaurant on the East Side. Afterward, we took the girls to Target, since they always like to go shopping. We bought Rori a computer game that was on sale, The Disney Princess Royal Horse Show, as kind of a "back to school" type gift (we had bought Kirsti some stuff the week before). Needless to say, Rori was thrilled (she loves ANYTHING with Disney princesses) and she played it for a good couple of hours. It's so funny to see a five year old so adept at the computer; when I was 5, computers were barely coming into popularity, and it certainly wasn't something that every residence had, like now! Computers are just second nature to kids Rori's age; it makes me feel kind of old, and I'm only 26! :)

So, we didn't do too much, but it was still fun. The only problem is, I feel like I'm coming down with a cold and sore throat, and I have a busy week at work coming up.... ugh. This is so NOT the time to be sick!

Seven Years

It's crazy to think it's been seven years since September 11. I was reading this article that asked, "Where were YOU when September 11 happened?" and I got to thinking about that and how much time has passed since then.

I remember that September 11, 2001 happened on a Tuesday. I was a sophomore in college and living in my lakeshore dorm then (that was my favorite residence through all of college!) On Tuesdays, I only had one class; my French III class at 12:05. Being the typical college student, that meant I usually stayed up late on Monday nights and then slept in until around 11 or so on Tuesday mornings.

So there I was, sleeping peacefully on my futon (which, as you know, is a staple for all college dorm rooms), and my phone rings. The first thing I think is, "Who the heck is calling me so early?" (10:30 was early to me back then.) I groggily answered my phone, and it was my mom. "Did you hear that the Pentagon was attacked?" she asked. That made me sit straight up, suddenly awake. I, of course, had not heard that, being that I was asleep up until that moment.

I turned on the TV then, and I really couldn't even grasp the horror of what I was seeing. It just seemed so surreal to me, like it was a movie. And no one really knew for sure what was happening; people were mixing rumors and hearsay in with the facts, since it was so hard to get a straight story at first. I called Dan (this is when he worked during the day at WPS, and only went to school at night), and he said he had heard about it, too. I think both of us were in shock at that point; it honestly didn't seem like something that could have happened, you know?

I went to my French class then, but my professor dismissed class almost immediately. She herself was from the East Coast (Boston, maybe?) and UW has a ton of out of state students from the East Coast, so I think that hit home for all of them. I went outside after she dismissed us, and I sat on the grass of Bascom Hill, just studying. It seemed so odd to me that I was sitting there, on a gorgeous, sunny fall day, healthy and safe, with all my loved ones safe and accounted for..... and there were Americans who couldn't claim the same thing at that moment. I couldn't really grasp it; in fact, I still don't think I've fully understood what those people must have gone through. It must have been hell for the survivors, the family members, and those who were lost.

Blah; it's Monday again

We had a great weekend; I'm just sad that it's over, and now we have to go back to work. Blah.

On Friday night, we went to see Tracy in her musical, The Full Monty. It was HILARIOUS, and she was amazing. I was laughing so hard throughout almost the entire thing. The end part was a surprise, however, since the guys really did, um, go the full monty. But it was only for a second, so Dan's not too scarred for life.

We did end up going to the Cafe Montmartre first, which was delicious. I'm slightly miffed at them, however, since they used to have this great, high-end turkey club that was amazing. They have since taken it off the menu.... grr. But Dan and I shared this delicious four-cheese pizza, and throw in a few beers, and it was all good :)

Saturday we just kind of hung around, cleaning up and trying to get our apartment in living condition once again. That night, we went to see Hamlet 2, which was fairly entertaining. Not "oh my gosh, run out and see it right away" funny, but good for a few laughs.

Yesterday we went to brunch with Tracy and the girls, and then we took the girls to the mall. They LOVE the mall; it's so funny.

So, now it's back to the grindstone. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Yay! It's the weekend!

I love having three day weekends, because today seems only like Thursday to me, but it's actually Friday! Yes! (Dan actually didn't believe me last night when I said it was Thursday; he said, no, it's Wednesday. We went round and round about it until finally he got it. He finally believed me when we went to Pedro's for dinner, since they have half-price margaritas on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and as soon as we walked in we saw the sign saying, "1/2 price margaritas." I'm like, see?? I know what I'm talking about ;) But I digress.)

Anyway, tonight we are going to go see Tracy in her play, The Full Monty. It should be HILARIOUS. I love seeing musicals, and it's even better when you know someone in it! We were originally thinking about going out to dinner first, but Dan H. is working late, so I don't know how that will all work out. We'll see. There's this wonderful little restaurant called Cafe Montmartre right next door, and we often go there before shows. But I don't think we'll be able to do that tonight. Oh well.

I worked out again during my lunch hour. I just have one question. How long does it take to get in shape, for crying out loud?!? Man, oh, man. When I was working out hard core, I rode the stationary bike for 45 minutes on level 5. Then I took a 4-month break from working out..... Oops. So now I can only do level 2 for 22 minutes. What's up with that? I get so frustrated; I just keep thinking that I want to be in the shape I used to be in. Oh well; 22 minutes is better than nothing, right? Right? Gaaahhh.

Well I hope everyone (all 4 readers of my blog, LOL) has a great weekend! I'll let you know how the play was :)

Rori's First Day!

I can't believe it; our "baby" Rori started kindergarten today! I remember the first time I held her; she was 46 hours old, and now she's a 5 1/2 year old in kindergarten? Where does time go?

We went to the Hines' house (luckily they live only 4 minutes away!) to see her get on the bus for the first time. She looked so cute, and she was so excited. She showed Dan and me all her folders and notebooks (puppies and Disney princesses seemed to be the common theme there!) and she was so excited. Although, when she got on the bus, she did kind of look back at us, like, "Wait; I'm supposed to get on here by myself?" But she was a little trooper, got on the bus and sat down in the front seat, and we waved to her until the bus drove off.

Then Tracy, Kirsti, Dan and I (Dan H. had to go to work, so he couldn't come with us, but Kirsti doesn't start school until tomorrow so she came along, which was nice) went to the open house that the school had, and we got to see her classroom and teacher. It was cool; the governor was even there, and he spoke to us and shook our hands. I was like, whoa, that's crazy that the governor is here! He chatted with us for a bit, then went off to visit some other schools.

Anyway, Rori's classroom was really cool, and her teacher seems great. She sat down right away and started coloring the pictures they had laid out on the table. She looked really happy, and she was talking to some of the other kids at the table, so she seemed to feel pretty comfortable. Here are some pictures of her (Sorry some of them are sideways; blogger won't let me turn them around. If you click on them, though, you can see them in a larger size).

Getting on the bus:


At home before the bus comes:


With Kirsti at home


Coloring at school:

Labor Day Weekend

Well, I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! Dan and I sure did. We went up to the cabin in Turtle Lake, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Warm, sunny weather, the water temperature was like bath water; in short, it was perfect. We mainly just lounged around relaxing; Dan got a lot of fishing in, and I read two books that I'd been wanting to read for awhile.

We went boating once on Monday (in my uncle and aunt' s boat--they were up there too, so we got to spend time with them, which was a lot of fun) and that was great. I absolutely love spending time on the water, and I think boating is one of the best ways to do it! I went tubing on Sunday, and while it was really fun, the water was so choppy that I really had to strain my arms just to hang on. Yeah, I'm still sore, and it's Tuesday. I feel like I went through a really tough workout ;) But it was still fun. The rest of Sunday was just spent lounging in the water on a raft, reading, so it was very relaxing.

Sunday night we went to the Five O'Clock Club, which is this excellent restaurant about 20 minutes from the cabin. It's very high-end food, but you don't have to get all dressed up to go there, which is nice. Dan had the salmon, like he always does, and then I had this delicious dinner called the Dynamic Duo; it was filet mignon topped with lobster stirfry and bernaise sauce. It was de-freaking-licious. The only problem is, they give you so much food (we had clam chowder and homemade bread before the main course came) that it was impossible to eat our whole dinner. Oh well, it made for good leftovers the next day!

Monday morning I actually got up early with Dan to go fishing. Yeah, that's something I *never* do, and he's been begging me to come with him, so I thought I might as well, since it was our last day there. It was actually quite peaceful, and I really enjoyed it. (I didn't fish though; I just sat in the boat with him and read). I would do it more often, I just wish you didn't have to get up at 6 am in order to get the good fishing in. Can't someone talk to the fish and have them change their schedules to, I don't know, 10 am-12 pm? That would be the perfect fishing time for me, in my opinion. ;)

We ended up leaving at 3 pm on Monday and got back to Madison by 7, which is pretty standard. I was surprised that we didn't run into more traffic what with it being the holiday weekend and all. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I can't post pictures, but it was absolutely gorgeous. We're hoping to go up again some time in September, so I'll get the pictures of the leaves changing then!

Weekend Recap :)

We had a pretty fun weekend; just enough to do so that we didn't feel it was wasted, but not so much that we felt we never got time to relax. Friday night we just hung out at home, and Saturday we did a major cleaning extravaganza; our apartment was terrible (at least I think it was!). After getting that cleaned up, we took Kirsti, Rori and Kirsti's friend Caitlin to the Sun Prairie Corn Festival. It had all these fair-like rides, which the girls like, and the sweet corn was delicious! Kirsti and Caitlin went off on their own and went on the "grown up" rides, so Dan and I took Rori on the little kids ones. She went on the carousel, the bumper cars (I went with her for that), the tilt a whirl (she went on that with Caitlin), the "balloon" ride (which was just like any other little kid ride; she sat in this cool hot air balloon type seat and just went round and round) and then the Orient Express, which was this roller coaster shaped like a dragon. Since she's obsessed with Mulan, she LOVED this ride, since she likes anything Asian.

Then we came home, and since Tracy and Dan were out, we watched Rori at home while Kirsti played with Caitlin. Rori is so smart; she got this princess flash cards for addition and subtraction, and we went through them with her. After just a couple tries, she had it down pat! Sure, she still used her fingers to count out some of the answers, but for a little girl who hasn't even gone into kindergarten yet, she did amazingly!

Sunday, we just hung out at home and ran errands. After we had dinner, we watched the Murder She Wrote marathon (yes, we're nerds; we're 26 and we love Murder She Wrote) and then decided, on the spur of the moment, to go see a 9:30 showing of Mirrors. Yeah, it was scary. I was kind of scared to go to sleep, and I was even more scared to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and look in the mirror! Ah, well. It was fun to do something spontaneous on a Sunday night, instead of just hanging out at home like we normally do.

Ipods and water do not mix

Especially when that water is actually melted ice mixed with the remainder of a Hi-C orange drink from McDonalds. Dan set the ipod on our end table as we left for the lake. Someone had set a McDonalds cup there (I honestly don't know who it was; it could have been me) and over the course of a couple days, it leaked out and destroyed my ipod. Yep, I got to use my beloved ipod for a total of 30 minutes before we left for the lake, and when we came back, it was destroyed. *Sigh*.

Luckily, my AWESOME sister-in-law, Nancy, has an ipod nano that she got for opening up a bank account, and she said she never uses it, so she sent it to me. It should be here any day; thanks, Nancy!!!

I did work out today, using my cell phone for music instead of my beautiful blue ipod, but somehow, it just wasn't the same.......

Lesson we've all learned? Do NOT set any electronic equipment anywhere near liquid, even if you think said liquid is safely contained in a cup. Bad things ensue.

Dan's finally finished with school!

Yep! I know he walked in May, but he still had two summer classes to take, and on Wednesday, he turned in the last lab report, and he is officially done! Now he *really* feels like a college grad! (Well, he says he won't completely feel like one til he gets his diploma in the mail, but that's coming).

We're still having fun with my mom here; on Tuesday night, we actually went and saw Mamma Mia again. This time, it was my mom, Dan and me. I'm not too sure Dan liked it.... he was sitting there with a rather bored look on his face. It also didn't help that, as he put it, he was "the only straight guy in the theater." But I loved it; I actually want to see it again, and then buy it when it comes out on DVD.

Oh, and my grandparents are out of rehab and back in their own home! We're so happy for them; finally, 10 weeks after the car accident, they are back under their own roof. We went over there last night for dinner; my mom was staying there to help them, and my aunt Chris and cousin Karissa came up too. We didn't get there until around 8, because I had this work event I had to go to at the Overture Center, but that's ok. It was a lot of fun to hang out with my family, and it's so nice knowing that my grandparents made it through this terrible ordeal ok, and they're back home. :)

Our weekend at the lake

We had a great time up at our cabin in Turtle Lake! We didn't get up there until around midnight on Friday night, but that's ok. We weren't that tired, so Dan, Austin and I actually hit up the casino for a couple hours, which was fun. I didn't win anything (well, I may have gotten a few quarters from the slot machine, but nothing too substantial), but it was still fun. Oh, and we tried a game of blackjack. I was completely lost; I know *in theory* how to play it, but it was kind of nerve wracking being at the table with the dealer, who's shuffling all fast and whatnot. But it was still fun. I have no idea how people count cards, though; there's no way I could remember all that!

Saturday we got up and lounged around, which was really fun. We also had fun setting up our "room" at the cabin. The cabin has three bedrooms, and since there's three owners (my parents, my Uncle Fred [my dad's brother] and Aunt Kathryn, and my Aunt Missy [my dad's sister]) it works out that each one has their own space. Since my mom only gets up there a couple times a year, she hadn't decorated our room yet, but we did this weekend. She ordered these gorgeous beds, and since the carpet down there is a gold/orange (from the 70s), she decided to go with that color scheme (since my grandma Eleanore loved those colors). So we got these really cool bedspreads that are red, orange and yellow, with just a hint of pink/violet. It looks really good down there; very 70s.

That evening, we had Austin get my dad to walk the dogs with him, since we needed to set up for my dad's surprise birthday party. He turns 60 on the 25th of this month, but since we were all up there (my Aunt Kathryn, Uncle Fred and Aunt Missy were up there too) we decided to do the party now. We decorated with some cute 60 decorations, and I got a cake, which my mom then decorated with all the candies from their childhood; you know, wax bottles, chuckles (whatever those are), smarties, etc. Uncle Fred had some Beatles music on his ipod, so that kind of set the 60s mood, so to speak. Some of our neighbors also came over to help celebrate, so that was fun. We had to laugh, though; my dad came in, we all shouted "Surprise!" and he just looked around like, "What is going on?? Anyway, I have to go to the bathroom" and then he just went in the bathroom and shut the door. We were all laughing, like, did he even hear us?

But it was a fun party; my mom made this delicious brandy slush, and we had really tasty salads and bratwurst. I'm glad we were able to do that, since I won't be able to actually spend his birthday with him.

Sunday was spent relaxing yet again, and then we went to the Five O'Clock Club for dinner. It's this delicious supper club featuring steaks, seafood, pasta, etc. It is SO GOOD, but we honestly almost felt sick by the time we left, we were so stuffed. I had steak and shrimp with fettuccine alfredo; delicious. Their clam chowder was excellent, as was their bread. It was so yummy, and my dad treated us, so that was nice.

We stayed up there all day Monday, too, since I took off work, and we didn't end up leaving until 8 o'clock, which meant we got home at midnight, so I'm exhausted today. Oh well; it was worth it. It was a great weekend!

Working Out

Well, I took the plunge and decided to start working out again. Despite the fact that my office has a workout facility upstairs (that's right, not next door or down the street, but up-freaking-stairs) I haven't worked out in a looong time. So I decided to remedy that today and walked for 25 minutes on the treadmill. Was it the most intensive workout ever? Not by a long shot, but a girl's gotta start somewhere, right?

My goal is to lose 30 pounds by my mom's 60th birthday in February, so we'll see how that goes :) I have a feeling, however, that working out is going to be much more motivational once my blue ipod nano arrives (and it should be here tomorrow!) Yep, after seeing Kirsti get her ipod nano, I decided that would be the perfect motivational tool for helping me work out, so we bought one. I'm going to look forward to working out a lot more once I have that in my hands!

Our Dells Vacation....

Was so fun! Dan and I got up there around 7:30 on Friday night (everyone else came earlier). Dan H. grilled out and made hamburgers and hot dogs, which were really good. We just kind of hung out that night, played some cards, and generally just enjoyed being together.

Saturday we got up and spent most of the day at the pool. Dan, unfortunately, spent quite a bit of time in the lobby working on his final project for his summer class, but he was still able to spend some time with us in the pool. It was so hot out, so being in the pool felt wonderful. Rori is turning into such a little swimmer; she will swim a little ways to someone all by herself, and it's so cute that she's so proud of herself! Dan, Kirsti, Rori and I also enjoyed playing Marco Polo, and either Dan or I would hold Rori so we could go in the deeper end. That worked quite well, except Dan decided it was a good idea to use Rori as a human shield so that he didn't have to be it :) That's ok, though, she really liked being it, and we just moved to the shallow part for that round.

Saturday night, we went to Ishnala, which is this GORGEOUS supper club in the Dells. We went to celebrate Kirsti's 13th birthday (which was actually on June 1st, but because of the issues with my grandparents and their hospitalization, we weren't able to celebrate until now). She's very into Native American things, and Ishnala actually means "By Itself Alone" in Winnebago. So it was the perfect setting for her celebration. I'll post pictures when I get home, but you can get quite a good idea of the setting by clicking on all these links :)

The food was absolutely delicious; I had filet mignon and shrimp, and it was honestly some of the best steak I've ever had. Kirsti's uncle Greg came up, as did her grandmother Roberta, her grandpa Marty and his wife Carol, and good family friend Kerman. They're all so nice, so we enjoyed hanging out with them. Afterwards, Greg, Kerman and Roberta came back to our condo to watch the wedding video; we wanted them to see it since Rori and Kirsti are in there (not to mention Dan and Tracy). We also watched Kirsti open her gifts (her favorite by far was an ipod nano, which is THE thing to have in middle school!) and afterwards we played a game of Euchre.

Sunday was spent just relaxing as well and then Dan left early on Monday morning, since he had class. I took the day off work, however, so we spent the rest of the day just lounging by the pool (you can use it all day, even after you check out). It was a lot of fun; we just encountered a *slight* problem when Dan H. was loading up the van, and he realized that we wouldn't have room for all the people AND the luggage. So my Dan actually had to drive back up to come get my mom and me, but that's ok :) The Dells are only 45 minutes away, so it wasn't a big deal.

All in all it was a great vacation; I'll post pictures soon!

Mamma Mia!

We went and saw Mamma Mia on Tuesday, and it was AMAZING! I went with Tracy, her girls and my mom (who is here visiting; yay!) It was such a great, catchy movie, and I really want to see it again.

Wednesday, Dan, my mom and I took the girls to Concert on the Square, which is a regular summertime event here in Madison. We brought blankets, snacks and drinks and just spread out on the Capitol lawn, listening to the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. It was a lot of fun; we also got a game of Euchre in there (Rori was on my "team;" she's quite the little helper!)

Today I have to work a full day (ugh) but then we're heading up to Wisconsin Dells for the weekend. We always stay in this condo in the hotel called Wilderness on the Lake, and it's absolutely beautiful. (You can view a slideshow of it here; this is exactly what our room looks like. It's awesome!) It's very relaxing and just fun to hang out with family. After the stress of this summer and my grandparents' accident, it will be nice to get away!

The Dark Knight

Well, we saw it.... and it was REALLY good. Heath Ledger was amazing! It was kind of dark, but yet funny at times. Christian Bale was great as Batman, too. We went to the 2 o'clock movie, and even that had a line practically out the door. But we ended up getting good seats anyway (even though we were next to a bunch of annoying teenage guys, but that's ok).

Then we went to the Dane County Fair with the Hines. Rori had a blast going on all the rides; she and I went on the bumper cars together, and it was so cute to see her so excited! Kirsti and I went on this awesome ride called the Fireball; she's so sweet, she gave me three of her tickets so I could go on it with her, since I was all out. Other than that, we just ate a bunch of yummy fair food and hung out for awhile. It was really fun!

Tomorrow is the Ehrke company picnic, so I will be going to that with Tracy, Kirsti and Rori. It's held at a park with a pool, so that should be fun!

Benvenuto's and Hellboy; our Friday night

Dan and I decided that we were sick of just sitting home on Fridays, like we normally do. So, we decided that last night, we would go out on a date like we used to. You know, dinner and a movie and all that jazz.

So we had dinner at Benvenuto's (this really great Italian grill right by my work; their cheese bread is to die for!), and that was a lot of fun. Then we headed to the movie theater to see The Dark Knight (the new Batman movie).... or so I thought. Turns out, even though we got there at 8:30, the nine o'clock AND ten o'clock movies were already sold out. Agh! I did not want to wait to see the 11 o'clock one, so Dan persuaded me to see Hellboy instead. I really didn't want to, but we were already there, so I agreed. He'd been wanting to see it forever, anyway.

It was actually tolerable; it was about some comic book superhero, so not totally my cup of tea, but that's ok. I still want to see the Dark Knight, though; I think we're going to go to a matinee today in the hopes that it's not as popular!

WE DID IT!!!

Yay! I'm so excited! We did it!!!

What is "it," you may be asking. Well, I'll tell you.

Last year, in August, I decided that I really wanted to have more control over our financial future. You know, pay down debt, save for a house, retirement, etc. So I got this great book called The Total Money Makeover. It's great, has lots of practical advice for paying down debt, etc.

One of the things the author recommends is setting small, reachable goals so you don't get overwhelmed. So, I decided that for my (our) New Years Resolution, we would pay off $5,000 of credit card debt during 2008. (Luckily, we have 0% interest, so all money we pay goes to principal).

Well, today was the day that we achieved our resolution!!! Yay! From January 1st, 2008 to July 17, 2008, we paid off $5,000 of credit card debt! I'm so excited!!!!! And, I'm doubly proud because Dan was in school for most of this time, so we were only living on two full-fledged incomes since mid-May.

True, we still have more debt to pay off, but it feels so good knowing that we made a resolution and achieved it! Hope I don't sound like I'm bragging; I'm just very excited!

Mackinac Island!

Dan and I had a great time in Mackinac Island, Michigan. For those of you who don't know, Mackinac is a beautiful, small (only eight miles across) island in northern Michigan. It retains the quaint, turn of the century atmosphere in large part because all automobiles are banned on the island. Transportation is by bike, horse-drawn carriage or by foot. We loved it; it was very relaxing and peaceful, with just enough to do to keep it exciting.

Here's our room; we stayed in the Murray Hotel, which was a very cool Victorian hotel, right on Main Street.







Here's our hallway leading up to our room



The outside of our hotel...



Our pool area, where we spent quite a bit of time (and now I have a tan!)







Yes, that's Dan's bookbag; stupid summer school! :) He had to study a bit when we were on vacation, but nothing too stressful. I got to read while he was doing it, so it was all good!




Here's the street; you can see how "quaint" it is. This is the Lilac Tree Inn, where my family and I have stayed before:


Here's the Main Street Inn, which also looked nice:



Us on our bike ride (we rode around the island twice; once on Friday, once on Saturday):



Some views we saw on our bike ride:






Me standing in Lake Superior (I think?); it was really cold but felt REALLY good after 4 miles of biking (we were about halfway around at this point):








Me at the entrance to Fort Mackinac



I just thought this lamppost was cool


Here's a really cool stone church from the 1800s; if we had gotten married in the Midwest, this church would have been a top 10 consideration!



Here is the Grand Hotel, where the movie Somewhere in Time (with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve) was filmed. It is so gorgeous, constructed at the height of the Victorian era. Unfortunately, they instituted a $15 charge/person since I last came here, which you have to pay to even get into the hotel OR the grounds. Pssh; I'm not paying that! So this photo is as good as we got. Next time we come, though, Dan and I are going to save up to have a fancy, romantic, five-course dinner here at one of their restaurants. I'm hoping they don't make you pay if you're coming in to eat!



Here is the hotel as viewed from the ferry



And, finally, our view as we left the island on the ferry. (It's actually a great picture, and I've always said that if I have a boy, I want to do his room in a Cape Cod/nautical theme, so maybe I'll blow this picture up and frame it for when Kurt comes along!) All in all, it was a great trip!

Happy Anniversary, Nancy & Jason!

Dan's sister, Nancy, and her husband Jason were married one year ago today on 7-7-07. It was a beautiful wedding and we were all so happy for them. Happy anniversary, you guys!

Updates on the Grandparents

Well, my grandparents are still doing fairly well, thankfully. Unfortunately, my grandpa had to have his lower right leg amputated due to gangrene that appeared at the wound site, where his bone went through his skin. I can't remember exactly when his surgery was, but it was at least a week ago; maybe Friday the 27th? Anyway, he luckily seems to be in good spirits; he put a positive spin on things, saying that this leg has bothered him for more than 60 years (it was the leg paralyzed in the war), so maybe now he will actually have more control of things via a prosthesis.

But still, it makes me so darn angry that some jerk thinks he can just drive all recklessly with no regards for others. ARGGGH. It infuriates me just thinking about it!

Speaking of reckless drivers, Dan and I saw quite a few of those coming back yesterday from Mackinac Island. Aggressive drivers in their huge SUVs or pickup trucks had to speed up and pass everyone, and since it was a two-lane highway, they were often right in the way of oncoming traffic. We saw quite a few narrowly-avoided accidents; it really irks me that our culture is so "me, me, me" that we can't even think about the safety of others even when we're doing something so potentially dangerous as driving. But that's another tangent....

I'll post pictures of our vacation when I get a chance. Hope everyone had a good 4th!

Well, things WERE going better

*sigh* You think things are looking up, and then, WHAM. Something you didn't expect throws you for a loop.

Well, the weekend started off well; I had summer hours at work (although I didn't get to leave at noon like usual, since I had work to do, but I still got to leave at 2:30) and then I came home and read Harry Potter as I sunbathed by our pool. Dan and I just hung out that night and watched some TV, and on Saturday we got up, cleaned up a little, ran some errands, and then went to see my grandparents.

They seemed to be doing quite well, which is good. We stayed there for about an hour, then went and got some dinner at Applebees. We then went to see Get Smart, which was HILARIOUS. I was literally laughing out loud through most of the movie. Definitely a must-see!

Then on Sunday, we did some more stuff around the house, and I FINISHED the Harry Potter series! It was amazing; now I want to read the whole series again! (And I can't wait until the movies come out....)

Anyway, so things seemed to be looking up for us. Today, however, I got a call from my mom, and she was (understandably) upset. It turns out that the nursing home where my grandparents are recuperating gave my grandma both her medicine AND my grandpa's! What the hell??? He's on morphine, some heart-regulating medicine, and some other stuff. Stuff she should obviously NOT take, since it's prescribed for my grandpa! I mean, what, just because they have the same last name, they don't check the first name?

Anyway, the first six hours were critical; they kept a very close eye on her, had the ER on standby, etc. Luckily, she seemed to pull through with no ill effects (when we went to visit her and my grandpa tonight, she was weak, but other than that, seemed fine). But what a scary six hours!!! *sigh* So just when you think nothing else could possibly happen, it does. I can't wait until they're recovered and back in their own home!

A (Fairly) Fun Weekend

Aside from the fact that my grandparents are in the hospital (which is obviously a HUGE worry), this weekend was actually quite fun. On Friday, I met some friends for happy hour at Eno Vino's, which is this cool wine and tapas bar on the west side. I'd never been there before, but it had a really cool atmosphere and delicious appetizers. So I'm sure we'll be heading over there again.

Then Dan and I met my Aunt Chris, Matthew, Tracy, Kirsti and Rori for dinner at the Old-Fashioned. The food wasn't as good as it normally is, but it was fun to see everyone :) Then we headed to St. Mary's to visit my grandma.

Saturday Dan and I watched Rori, and we had such a good time. She is such a doll; I hope my kids are even half as good as she is! We went swimming in my complex's pool, which was a lot of fun (although it was super windy, and we honestly thought a deck chair was going to come flying into the water. Luckily, it stayed put). Then we hung out at home, watched movies, and made star-shaped cookies for Flag Day. We headed to Outback that night for dinner, which is always good, although our server was a little on the, um, grouchy side.

Sunday we visited both grandparents at their respective hospitals and then went to Paisans to celebrate Father's Day with the Hines. All in all it was a fun weekend.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially my dad, who's done a ton of stuff for both Dan and me. He often used his frequent flier miles to bring us home for Christmas (when we were poor college kids who had no other way to get home), provided me with an awesome college education, and, aside from a few moments that seemed like they belonged in the movie Father of the Bride (I'm just kidding!), had no qualms about giving both Dan and me the wedding of our dreams. Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Some updates!

Well my grandparents are getting better and should be released into a rehab facility tomorrow (or maybe even today!) It's been a long road but I'm glad they're at the end of their hospital stay, and I know we're all wishing them a speedy rehabilitation.

Please continue to keep them in your thoughts! On an unrelated note, when I get home I think I will FINALLY be able to post some pictures from Dan's graduation and our subsequent trip up to Horseshoe Lake :)

A Quick Update

Well, Dan's graduation went really well, and my family had a great time up at the lake. I'll update more later; it's been kind of busy right now since my grandparents (Fred & Juanita) were in a car accident on Tuesday. They're both still in the hospital, so we've been spending a lot of time downtown. :( Keep them in your thoughts; we're all wishing them a complete recovery!

The Big Day Approaches!

Only two more days until my husband's a college grad!!!! I am SO proud of him (and I am SO excited for our families to come visit us)! I will be sure to post pictures of the ceremony, luncheon, etc.

For those of you who will be joining us, we can't wait to see you!!

Happy Mother's Day!

All right; since Mother's Day is May 11th, I thought I'd write 11 things that I absolutely love about my mom (and yes, I shamelessly stole this idea from my sister-in-law Nancy! :) )

1. My mom is without a doubt the most generous person I know. She really epitomizes the saying, "It is better to give than receive."

2. Holidays are SO magical at her house. Seriously, I love Christmas now almost as much as I did as a kid--all because my mom goes out of her way to recreate a feeling of "magic." Christmas is my favorite holiday because of this!

3. She's my best friend; even in high school, she was the one I could tell everything to, and we hardly ever fought. I was always surprised by my friends complaining about their moms; I just sat there thinking, My mom is awesome; I don't have anything to complain about!

4. She went out of her way to give me the fairy-tale wedding of my dreams! I had the most wonderful day that I could ever imagine, and I couldn't have done it without her (and my dad, of course). She and my dad also went out of their way to ensure that I would be able to continue my college education at the university of my choice, even though UW-Madison was super expensive!

5. She is so kind and loving, especially to the "underdogs." If she hears of a child or animal in trouble, she does whatever she can to help.

6. Speaking of animals, even though she's not a "cat person" per se, she is so loving towards our "baby," Maxine. She always makes her feel welcome when we come home for Christmas.

7. She's always available to talk whenever I need her.

8. She's an amazingly talented musician, and I'm so glad I learned to play piano from her, the best of the best!

9. She's so optimistic, even if something in her life doesn't go exactly as planned, she refuses to dwell on the negative and instead focuses on all the good in her life.

10. She's so funny; she has such a good sense of humor.

11. She is still so stylish and full of life, and sometimes I think she has more energy than I do! She is my inspiration for how I want to be when I'm older.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I love my mother more than words can say.

To Gail, my wonderful mother-in-law: Thank you for raising the most wonderful man I've ever met. He's everything I ever hoped my soulmate would be: loving, respectful, intelligent, kind, ambitious, funny, and faithful. If I raise a son only half as well as you did, I will be blessed. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful mother-in-law. I love you.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Now it's really starting to feel like summer

Yesterday was so nice; I think it was in the low 70s. So I came home from work as soon as possible, poured myself a glass of red wine (Lambrusco, of course) and sat out on our patio reading Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. It was so relaxing; I think I was out there for a couple hours, and it was so nice to just be outside in the fresh air. I even put Maxine on a leash (which normally she doesn't like) so she could scamper around the patio without me worrying that she'll run off (not that she's ever done this, but I don't want to risk it!) She had a good time exploring all the nooks and crannies of our patio/garden.

Weekend Update

Well, not that there's much to update, LOL. We didn't really do much, but that's ok; sometimes it's nice to just relax. I got my bathroom clean (woohoo!) and our living room tidied up. Oh, and we spent a TON of time looking for a coffee table. We got our tax rebate from the government (the "Bush Bucks") on Friday, and we were planning on being responsible with half of it and using it towards debt, and then using the other half for a new coffee table and end tables. Well I found a perfect coffee table: solid wood, exactly the color of the trim on our couch, etc., but it was 425 dollars! That's not too bad, I guess, but then I'd also want the matching end tables, which are 325 each. So that's WAY over the 600 we budgeted for ourselves.....grrr. So now I need to decide if I want the coffee table without the end tables, or if I should just look for something different (and cheaper).

Then yesterday we went to the Hines house for dinner like we usually do on Sunday. It was a lot of fun (as always) :).

Made of Honor

This was actually a pretty good movie! I'm glad I only paid matinee price for it, but still :) Tracy called around 3 today and asked if I wanted to go with her and the girls to see it at 5:15. I said sure, since I was kinda curious to see it, but I knew Dan would never want to go (it's ok; I don't want to go see Ironman, either, and that's next up on his list!) So it was pretty cute. A pretty predictable romantic comedy, but Patrick Dempsey was hilarious (he's really growing on me! I originally didn't get what people saw in him, but the more I see him on screen, the more I understand his appeal!) and there were some really cool songs. Oh, and the scenery was GORGEOUS (half of the movie took place in Scotland). So it was definitely cute, but not a "must-see" or anything. Still, I'm glad I saw it.

Other than that, I don't know what our plans are for this weekend. I still want to see Baby Mama and Prom Night, but Dan's busy studying for finals, so I don't know if he will want to go and do anything. We'll still grill out on Sunday at the Hines' house, like we always do :)

Other than that, I'll probably finish Harry Potter, Book 4. I NEVER thought I would be so obsessed with these books! People always raved about them, and I just thought, eh, I have no desire to really read that. Well, after my friends Liz and Meghan kept badgering me about how I had to read them, I gave in, and WOW. I breezed through the first three books in about a week and a half, and now I'm on Book 4; I just can't put them down! She is such an amazing writer, and these books truly are for people of ANY age, not just kids. I can now finally see what all the excitement is about, and I totally agree!

Some more pics...

Like I said in a previous post, Dan and I planted flowers this weekend, so I thought I'd get some photos to show you :) Right now it looks a little sparse, but I'm hoping by June they'll have grown in a lot! Oh, and the other two pics are of Rori, just because I think she's cute and adorable :)

Starting to Feel Like Summer...

Even though it's still not the warmest here (I think a high of 63 today?) I'm still feeling like summer is fast approaching, and I couldn't be more excited about it! Last night, Dan and I were talking about all our plans for this summer, and I can't wait. If only I didn't have to work; those 40 hours a week really cut into vacation time! :)

Anyway, first up is my family and Dan's family coming to his graduation; yay! I can't believe that's in just a few weeks! Then we'll head up to the lake and spend Memorial Day (and our first anniversary) there, which will be fun. Dan and I are going to spend the 4th of July on Mackinac Island; we are SO excited. I haven't been there for probably 10 years or so, and he's never been, so this should be fun. We're staying at the Murray Hotel, which is right downtown. For those of you who aren't familiar with Mackinac, it's this really quaint island in Michigan (the UP) and it doesn't allow any motorized vehicles, so everything is horse-drawn carriages, bikes, or good old-fashioned walking (it's only 8 miles across, so it's not like you have far to go). I can't wait to visit; it should be fun!

I also want to hit Great America, the Dells, and a bunch of other fun weekend excursions; why oh why can't we be like the Europeans who have 6 weeks of vacation?!?!? This 10 days stuff really sucks, especially since I use half of it to travel home for Christmas (hint, hint, everyone should move to Madison to be by us :) ) Oh well. I figure when I'm a stay at home mom in just a few short years, I'll have unlimited vacation!

Some pictures!

Ok, so I promised some pictures. The first two are of the BEAUTIFUL bouquet that Dan surprised me with for our eighth anniversary. He is so sweet; I love him :) The third is of Maxine, who seems to be content no matter what, as long as she can curl up and sleep. Sounds like my kind of life! :)

Back to the Monday Grind

Well, it's back to work; ugh. At least we've had a fun couple of weekends! Last weekend, Dan and I went to see 88 Minutes, that new Al Pacino movie. I thought it was EXCELLENT; very captivating. Then, of course, the critics absolutely slammed it and said it was the worst of Al's career; go figure. Anyway, I liked it.

Wednesday, April 23 was our eighth (!) anniversary; Dan got me some BEAUTIFUL flowers and sent them to my work; I was so surprised! (I'll post pics when I get home). We just went out to eat that night at Red Robin (not exactly the most romantic place, but oh well!) and then on Friday, when we had more time, Dan made me a delicious dinner of steak and salmon with bernaise sauce. Yum!

On Saturday we did some mundane stuff, like grocery shopping and running errands, but yesterday we went to Jung's Garden Center and got some flowers for our front yard. Yay! We can actually plant flowers now! So we hurried and got about half of them planted (and they look great, if I do say so myself; I'll post pics of those too when I get home) before leaving to take Kirsti and Rori to that new Jackie Chan movie, The Forbidden Kingdom. It was all right; I think Dan and Kirsti liked it a lot better than I did! But it was still ok :) Then we grilled out at Dan and Tracy's house, which was really fun; the two Dans are masters at the grill!

All in all it was a fun weekend; I'm just sad it's over!

Yay for the weekend/update on Dan's job!

Anyone have any fun plans? I don't know what we're doing yet; I know I want to finish cleaning my bedroom (that was my project for last weekend, but somehow I didn't get around to it), clean out the fridge and clean out the guest room closet. Doesn't exactly sound like a weekend of excitement, now does it?

It's ok; we'll work in some fun stuff too :) I really want to go see that new Al Pacino movie 88 Minutes. I love psychological thrillers, mysteries, etc., so this sounds right up my alley! However, I also want to see In Bruges, since that looks kind of quirky and different from your standard movie. And, part of me wants to see that cheesy slasher flick Prom Night, but part of me doesn't (because then I have to sleep with the lights on and Dan gets mad :)). So we'll probably skip that one!

Other than that, we'll probably just hang out. Dan has a lot of studying to do, which means that our options are kind of limited in terms of going out. Oh well. I did get sucked into Harry Potter, so maybe I'll finish book 1 this weekend. For years I REFUSED to read it, because when things are SO popular, I almost refuse to like them just on principle (I know, it's kinda weird, but that's how I am. That is why I don't like the Packers; so many people are so gung-ho about them that I just have to be contrary and say, "Meh, they're not that great.") But I digress. Anyway, my friends Liz and Meghan (I work with them) are OBSESSED with Harry Potter, and they're always telling me how great the books are and how I need to read them, etc. So on Wednesday night I went to the library and got books 1 and 2, and I started book 1 right away. I have to admit, the first page alone just got my attention, and I was completely captivated within a couple of paragraphs. So now I'm more than a third of the way through the book, and I just can't put it down! So I'm sure I'll finish that this weekend and move on to Book 2.

By the way, did anyone watch The Office last night? Oh my gosh, Jim and Pam are so damn cute together! I honestly thought he was going to pop the question (and it was doubly sweet because Dan did that same thing to me; acted like he was tying his shoe, but then really proposed). Scrubs was pretty hilarious, too. I'm so glad the writer's strike is over!

Oh, and I wanted to add that Dan started his part time work at his new job three or so weeks ago, and he loves it! His official title is a Test and Validation Engineer, and they already printed out business cards for him, so I'm guessing they want him to stay! Right now, he just works 10 hours a week, because they were so excited to get him on board. Then in June, he'll go up to 24 hours a week (because he has to take summer classes on Monday and Wednesdays, so those days are out) and in August he'll go full time. I'm not sure exactly what his company (TCS Basys Systems) does; it's something with heating systems for industrial buildings???? I don't know, but it's tied to his electrical engineering degree, so he's happy! :)

Well, I suppose I should get to work, since my magazine goes to print on Wednesday. Have a good weekend!

Jesus Christ Superstar!

Last night, Dan, Tracy, Dan & I headed down to Milwaukee to see the "original" Jesus: Ted Neeley, who portrayed (the ever-so-attractive, I might add) Jesus in the 1973 movie Jesus Christ Superstar. We saw him last January, and it was excellent; we couldn't even really tell that he was older (he's now in his 60s, which sounds weird, but he's the original!) This year was fun and entertaining, but my, what a difference a year makes! He just sounded so much older; his voice had that kind of wobbly vibrato that comes along once you hit a certain age (or so I've been told). Dan leaned in to me several times to whisper, "Look, it's grandpa Jesus!" which of course made me snicker. But all in all, it was excellent. (Although we both had a hard time not laughing when he sang, "After all, I've tried for three years... seems like 30," because I whispered to Dan, "That's because it has been!" Ah, yes, sometimes the most innocuous things make us laugh. :)

We went out to dinner beforehand, and we had actually made reservations at this steakhouse, but I (stupidly) wrote down the wrong address, so we ended up in the wrong place. Since we were already short on time, we decided to go to Mader's, this German restaurant that was right by where we thought the steakhouse was. We had said we wanted to go there anyway sometime, so we figured, why not do it now? It was delicious; Dan and I both had lobster bisque, while Dan enjoyed the authentic German beer and I had some of the best Lambrusco I've ever had. Tracy had some delicious sauerbraten, which I tried and actually (gasp) liked!

We ended up being a little late to the show and missing the first song, but oh well. All in all it was a very fun evening. I'm just sad that Ted is getting so, well, old! But he was still wonderful to see; and we had fantastic seats where we were in like the 8th row up from the stage. So we were very close, which helped at the curtain call, when I started waving and screaming, "Ted! Ted! Over here!" (Dan complains that I screamed in his ear and he's now deaf; I don't buy it.) He looked in our direction, but I don't know if he actually saw us. Ah well. It was a fun night!