Saturday, December 31, 2005

2005 - Year in Review

I've seen a some people do something similar to this so I thought I'd follow suit. Basically it's a bit about how my 2005 went. Needless to say I'm ready for January 1, 2006...

January - We had a Girls Weekend in OH. This was also my first time meeting Grace!!

February - I took a long weekend and went to FL to visit my grandparents. My brother got married.

March - I turned 26. I also let Peter cut and color my hair, which didn't turn out too bad. This was my first professional cut as my stepmom (who is licensed) normally does it.

April - Eric & I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. I went to OH for my friend Samara's baby shower. We had another Girls Weekend at my house.

May - We had a vacation with Eric's side of the family. I don't have those photos uploaded to Flickr though. :( I had my laparoscopy and they found some mild endo. My sister graduated from HS. Ava (my friend Samara's daughter) was born.

June - My first niece was born. My brother came home on leave. Went to the Dave*Matthew's concert. We also met some of our neighbors at a block party.

July - Another Girls Weekend in OH. Again first time meeting Ava. First family get together on my mom's side where everyone was present. Got a family pic! My brother has a fatal car accident.

August - Went to the Air & Water show in Chicago. Watched our 2 year infertileversary come and go.

September - Started therapy. My aunt got married to #5. Celebrated our anniversary of when we met 4 years ago. Celebrated Godiva's 1st birthday! Celebrated 2 years in our house. Found out one of my best friends has breast cancer.

October - Girls Weekend in October (sorry no pics yet). Decorated our house and gave out our usual full size candy bars at Halloween.

November - Went to flower shop open houses with my mom and grams, just like we used to a few years ago. My uncle John passed away. Ate too much at the numerous thanksgiving dinners we always have. Watched the Pacers from courtside for the first time ever. Had my first consulation with RE only to find out we need to pull $3G out of our arses.

December - Attended numerous christmas parties and again ate too much. Went to OH to help out my friend Jennifer during one of our chemo treatment weekends. Sliced my finger open with a paper cutter at work requiring 4 stitches. Spent Chrismas in Wisconsin with Eric's family. And today the last day of 2005 I got screwed (not in a good way) one more time before a new year begins...AF came...

So, can you see how 2005 was a horrible roller coaster. It started out great and then, after the climax around 4th of July, took a nasty nose-dive. I think I'm finally moving my stomach back down away from my throat and can breathe a little easier. Bring on 2006. Give me your best since it can't get any worse than 2005. As for 2005...Hit the road Jack, and don't you come 'round here no more, no more!

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Christmas Part 3 (Long)

We got up early Saturday morning (Christmas Eve) and headed to Wisconsin. It was a very nice, albeit fast. There was surprisingly very little traffic and we made great timing. When we got there we met up with the family (MIL, FIL, SIL, BIL) and had lunch at Kopp's. I was not very impressed. Eric was excited b/c he hadn't eaten there in 20 years. It was basically fast food and they had benches (and 6 round tables for 2) to eat on. Anyway after lunch we headed downtown to the Miller Brewery. SIL had called and they said it would be open until 3:30. Unfortunately they must have been having a slow day and decided to close early so we didn't get to partake in the tour of Miller. After that we headed to The Domes to walk around. That was a lot of fun. See for yourself...

Dome - Tree in Middle of one of the Domes
Dome - View in Desert Dome
Dome - Erik, Amanda, Erica, Eric
Dome - Erica & Eric
Dome - Christmas Scene
Dome - Viewing 2 from inside 3rd

After the domes it was still early afternoon, so we looked for something else to do. We decided to tour the Pabst Mansion. That was super neat, too. We walked around there for quite a while. Sorry no pics though. When we left there we decided to head back to SIL/BIL's house. We visited and sat around the house for a while, then decided to open a gift each. The tree was stuffed so instead of digging through we decided to open ours. I opened my new snow boots, Eric opened his light sabor (or his life savor as I like to call it). We got MIL a case of Asti, FIL a nice bottle of scotch and 2 crystal scotch glasses, SIL a weather station and BIL a coffee maker.

My new snow boots
Eric playing w/ his new toy
SIL opens weather station
BIL w/ Coffee Maker
MIL w/ Case of Asti
FIL w/ some nice Scotch

After that we headed out to find dinner. We ended up eating at Texas*Roadhouse, which was so so. After dinner we went back tot he house to visit for a while longer, watched a movie, ate some cake for Eric's birthday, then headed back to the hotel where we were staying.

Christmas morning we woke up and leisurely got ready and headed over to SIL/BIL's w/ a quick stop at Star*buck's for some morning java. My inlaws came up with this numbering system on all the gifts instead of putting names on them. It proved to be quite interesting. We spent the morning unwrapping gifts and snacking...

Eric surprised at his new snow boots (that he bought)
SIL looking through Cala Lilly Vase
A number system for the packages (+ a pine needle for added effect)
BIL got 2 awesome masks handmade and brought back from Hawaii
FIL jumps out for a surprise gift
I have no idea!
The start of my pots and pans
Tucking the Loot
My New Calphalon Pots & Pans!

SIL worked diligently over our afternoon feast. She prepared turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing, gravy, broccoli/cauliflower salad, rolls. It was yummy! She even set out cute little place cards for each of us.

Dinner
Place Settings

After dinner we relaxed and played some serious Uno. We had a record hand, which was nearly an hour and a half long. ONE HAND! SIL ended up winning the game. We spent the evening just snacking and enjoying each others company. We also watched "Must Love Dogs", which was a cute show. Finally we loaded everything in the tahoe and headed back to the hotel.

We got up very early Monday morning and headed home. The weather was nice and again the traffic was sparse. We did make a little stop at gurnee mills, but the mall wasn't actually opened yet (just a couple of the big stores), so we got back on the road quickly. We nearly stopped here, too. ha ha ha

Bong Recreation Area - Exit 340 (REAL!)

We made it home before noon. We spent the afternoon unpacking, doing laundry and trying to relax.

It was a great Christmas!

View all of the pics here! Yes, we like to take lots of pics and these are only the ones from our camera... We still have more to come...

Christmas Part 2

On Friday my sister & I got up early to head to urgent care to get my stitches out. She also had to get her head checked out b/c she had hit it on the corner of a metal shelf at work. Anyway, after we got back home she and I worked on preparing the meal. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, dressing, mac & cheese, rolls, and dessert. It was a very nice meal for the 5 of us. Of course we missed Matt tremendously, but we knew he was with us in spirit. Here are some pics from the present opening.

Here is Ashlee w/ some new plastic drawers.
12-05 Ashlee w/ her new drawers

Here is Lindsay opening her lovely sweater we bought her.
12-05 Ashlee, Lindsay, Mom

Eric w/ some cologne and a gift bear
12-05 Eric w/ new cologne

Godiva in her Christmas spirit although not happily...
12-05 Godiva w/ her cute little bow

Mom w/ her new PU sweatshirt from Ashlee
12-05 Mom w/ PU Sweatshirt

Me w/ an extremely bad hair day... No, really Ashlee bought me a hat on accident thinking she was buying the scarf that I really wanted. (I exchanged it later that evening)
112-05 Me w/ what was supposed to be a scarf...

Eric & the doggies after a day of eating and present opening...
12-05 Eric & the doggies sacked out!

Stay tuned for the final Part 3 - Our trip to WI & Christmas day.

Christmas Part 1

I thought I'd do christmas in 3 parts this year. Mostly b/c I've only downloaded pics from family events 1 & 2... :D Anyway, as you know last weekend (the weekend before christmas) was the get together on my dad's side. I have already talked about it, but here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

Here is sweet little Caidence all decked out for Christmas
12-05 Caidence

This is my dad opening the gift, which was the only idea he gave me.
12-05 Dad

Here is my step-mom and brother-in-law
12-05 Stepmom & Brother-in-Law

Caidence eating the paper as she pulls it off the presents
12-05 Caidence & Kisha

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Enjoy the Holidays!

I'm off to partake in the holiday festivities, which include a little jaunt north. I shall be back to the blogging world on Tuesday. Hope you all have a wonderful & safe holiday!

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

What is Your Christmas Elf Name?

I got this from Lisa and thought it was quite cute. Feel free to use it yourself. Oh and leave me a comment with your Elf Name.


Christmas Elf Name

My Christmas Elf Name is
Get your Christmas Elf Name at JokesUnlimited.com


P.S.
If I use my maiden name, my elf name is "Chipper Angel-Pants" ha ha ha

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

5 Things About Me

I've been tagged by B, so here goes...

1. When I was younger I had to take care of my brother and sisters while my mom was gone. I became the on-call babysitter. I hated it and resented my siblings! My sisters were holy terrors and would "run away" while I was babysitting them. When I say "run away" I mean they'd run to the field and hide. Anyway, many times I'd lock all the doors and go to my room and hang out b/c eventually they would decide I was not bothered about their leaving and would come home only to find out they couldn't get in.

2. I have a knack for killing bees, or so I thought. We had this bay window in my old house. They had drilled a hole in it to run the cable in for the TV for whatever reason. Anyway bees would sneak in that hole and I hated bees. So one day I noticed there were some bees in the window. I decided to torture them. I got some hairspray and a lighter and literally torched them. Unfortunately I melted the screen on the window, too.

3. I love fire when I was young and still do. My mom had a girlfriend over and they were in the living room gossiping and god knows what else. I was probably only 5 or so. Anyway, they weren't paying attention to me so I went off to do my own thing. Unfortunately (for mom) she had left a candle burning in the bathroom. I noticed this as I was sitting there plotting out my next adventure when I noticed the candle. I'm sure you have an idea what came next... I proceeded to pull of sheets of toilet paper, square by square, held them over the candle until they caught fire and then dropped them (quickly) into the trash can. So yes, I started a fire in my own bathroom. Luckily my mom decided to come look for me and was able to put it out before it did any real damage. Of course that didn't hinder my love for fire.

4. I hate feet with a passion. I can't stand to have them near me and especially them touching me. I don't mind it quite as much with socks on, but it still bothers me. I can allow mine to be rubbed if I know they are "clean", but I wouldn't dare touch anyone elses even if they have just been scrubbed with steel wool. I've had this feeling for as long as I can remember. My husband likes to torment me with it, but it literally makes me ill.

5. Eric & I live together in sin before we got married for a little over a year, I admit. However refused to live with him until I had a ring on my finger and a date was set for our wedding. I knew several people how became "comfortable" with just living together without the marriage committment and I wanted no part of that. It's funny now and I believe it was perfect for us.

I won't tag anyone b/c I know you are busy with all the holiday festivities, but if you get bored and need something to do, consider yourself tagged.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Weekend Wrap-up & Eating

So about the weekend... Right, well I've been super busy today at work, so I'm just now getting around to telling you about it. Thursday was Eric's birthday (see previous post), so after work we went out to dinner and then home. It wasn't the best birthday celebration, but Eric claims they aren't as exciting after 30. I disagree b/c I love birthdays. Anyway...

Friday we got up and headed to the doctor. Eric was getting 2 moles removed and I decided I better take the whole day off to be with him. Well and who wants to work when you have a legit excuse? Anyway the procedure itself went fine and Eric survived despite grounding himself when doc was cauterizing one of them. I nearly peed my pants laughing about this. I find it hilarious still. After we left there we headed to C'ville to hit the bank and a local mexican restaurant. We called my mom and grams and had them meet us for lunch. It was quite yummy as usual. After lunch we stopped by my brother's grave to see the grave blanket that mom had got for it. It looked great. After that we headed home. We spent the afternoon and evening watching 1-4 of Band of Brothers.

Saturday we got up early and I headed back to C'ville to get my hair done. We colored it again. It's light brown. She also cut it although it was pretty short already, so we couldn't do what I wanted. She angled it so its longer in the front, but it's not dramatic b/c it wasn't long enough to make it that much longer. It looks nice though. I'm content. She was a little mad at Pete for all the damn bangs he gave me last time, too. We have got to let those grow back out. It's ridiculous. I visited with my dad & Peg for a while then headed home. On my way home I stopped at Sears to get my dad's christmas present. OH MY how I hate shopping this time of year. I was livid by the time I left the parking lot. I'm sending Eric out for the 2 items left to purchase at the mall b/c I cannot and will not re-enter that mall until mid-January or later. Saturday evening we watched 5 & 6 of BoB. We had some drama with one of my sisters, which I am not compelled to write about just yet. I will say that she's going through a really rough time and is heading to some serious counseling soon. She has recognized her problem and is looking forward to getting over this speed bump in her life. I have faith in her and know she will be just fine.

Yesterday we headed to Indy to my get together on my dad's side. I got to see my scrumptious little niece (including getting puked on) and the rest of the family and it was fun. We ate too much, laughed, unwrapped presents, watched the Colts lose and just enjoyed each others company. It was nice. I have some pics that I hope to upload tomorrow. I have a christmas party to go to tonight otherwise I'd do it tonight.

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Tis the season to eat whatever you want in all the wrong (or right at the time) quantities. I enjoy eating all the good things during this wondrous season. Example my grams makes those cookies w/ the kisses in the middle. OMG! I'm salivating just thinking of them. Yesterday at our family thing she had those. I had them as appetizer, lunch, dessert, afternoon snack and 2 before exiting the front door. Yikes!

Today as I said I've been swamped all morning. Apparently when I'm busy the only other thing my brain can think about is food. I snacked all morning on a variety of things in my desk drawer. Granola, banana chips, a york peppermint patty. About mid morning I went to the main office and lo and behold they had food, too. I had a lemon bar, this chocolatey thing and this reeses' cooking thing. Yes, that was all before lunch. For lunch I had a 98% FAT FREE frozen lasagna. Woohoo! I think my body went into major withdrawl so after looking in my desk multiple times in hopes that something would appear I meandered down to the vending machine.

BAD IDEA!!!

What did I choose you might ask? The "Dangerously Cheesy Cheetos" of course. Why? Because I laugh in the face of danger. ha ha ha ha Cheese does not scare me in the slightest, in fact it probably enticed me. Oh boy, will January 1 ever get here? That of course is when we are getting back on our diet and to the gym...

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Happy Birthday Baby!!!

Please wish my loving husband, Eric a V-E-R-Y Happy Birthday! He is the man of my dreams and I couldn't ask for anyone better! Happy Birthday Baby! I LOVE YOU (with all my heart)!

Eric's Christmas Present

Here's a snippit of what he got for his birthday.

From me...The "Band of Brothers" Boxset
Eric w/ Band of Brothers Box Set

From his parents... Some color to his wardrobe and a cashmere sweater
Eric w/ New Yellow Polo
Eric w/ Orange Polo
Eric w/ Cashmere Sweater

Oh and here is Godiva singing "Happy Birthday" first thing this morning!
Godiva singing Happy Birthday to her Dad

Stitches

Here is a pic of my stitches. Its sorta hard to see b/c the bacitracin on it is attracting the flash, but you can at least see it is in a horrible place on my finger. Its getting better slowly and I'm figuring out what I can and cannot do with my hand. hee hee

4 Stitches (12-12-05)

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Weekend in OH & Paper Cutters

Sorry for the delay on the weekend post. I'll tell you why later. Our weekend in OH was great. I helped Jennifer out as much as she would let me, which in my opinion wasn't close to enough. Anyway, we got a huge snow on Thursday (7 inches), so we were a little nervous about driving. Once we were on the road we realized the roads were fine. On our way over we saw a "supersucker" truck.

A Truck we saw on the way over to OH

We arrived in OH around 5:30 or so. After we unloaded the car we immediately let Grace open her birthday & christmas presents. I think we were more excited than she was. hee hee

Grace Opening Her Birthday Present

Grace & Zeus amongst the wrapping paper

Grace Checking out her Christmas Present

We got her Lulu from Leap Frog and this little chair and nightstand. I think the chair was her favorite, but she learned very quick how to pat lulu's stomach to make her say different things.

Anyway, after that we took our bags downstairs and relaxed for the evening and caught up. Jennifer was feeling pretty good from her chemo treatment just a few ours earlier. We baked the pizza pasta that a friend of hers had brought over and heated up some soup for Jen. Unfortunately Eric wasn't a huge fan, so he ended up ordering pizza. I thought the bake was pretty good though. After that I helped (or watched) Jen give Grace a bath and put her to bed. She was pretty tired. We didn't stay up too much later ourselves. Jen was starting to feel sick and Eric & I were both exhausted.

Saturday we got up and played with Grace and was fairly lazy. During Grace's morning nap Jennifer & I started wrapping her Christmas presents. While we did this our husbands went shopping for a few things. We got about halfway through the presents when Grace woke up. We fed her lunch and the guys picked up lunch for us. After lunch Jennifer's friend stopped by to pick up some baby things Jen had borrowed from her. Jen & Grace took a nap and I showered and changed my clothes (from my pjs) and watched some TV.

Jennifer got up around 5 and we woke Grace up around 5:30. The guys were playing some xbox, so after they finished their game we headed out to dinner to Red*Robbin. It was busy, but we got right in and is was yummy. I got the teriyaki chicken burger. Oh my. Grace had her first meal ordered from the kids menu, Mac n' Cheese. After that we headed home. We put Grace to bed and Jennifer & I headed upstairs to finish wrapping her presents. We made a horrible discovery...

Evidence of Zeus Finding the

Zeus, Jennifer & Eric's pug, found a pot of gold while we were out to dinner... He moved to 8x10 picture frames that were sitting on top of the box, removed the plastic wrap and opened the box only to devour 23, count em 23, Hershey Pot of Gold Chocolate Pecan Clusters. Needless to say he spent the evening vomiting and waddling around with a rock hard stomach. We were all worried about him, but he was fine Sunday morning. In fact sometime during the night he even ate some crackers to settle his stomach.

Anyway Jennifer & I finished up wrapping presents then laid on the couches w/ our hubbies and watched TV before heading to bed.

We got up fairly early Sunday morning and were on the road home shortly after 8 am. Unfortunately Jennifer was not feeling well at all and I felt bad, but was glad she felt well while we were there this weekend, not that it would have mattered if she felt bad.

After we got home, we watched the Colts game, did laundry, took a nap & went to bed early. On Monday I was feeling blah when I got up and Eric was leaving for a business trip to Tennessee. I nearly stayed home, but then just decided to head to work and then leave a couple hours early. B-I-G M-I-S-T-A-K-E!! I should have stayed home!

About 2 pm Monday I was using a paper cutter to obviously trim some cardstock. Anyway, I'm sure you can see where this is heading, but I moved the paper and got it situated how I wanted. For some reason, when I was pulling my hands out of the way I brought my right hand under the blade of the cutter and sliced it pretty good. The slice is about 1.5 inches w/ a little triangle on one end where I apparently jerked when I realized what was happening. It didn't hurt much, nor was it bleeding much but I went to urgent care and ended up getting 4 stitches. It's in a bad spot, too, so it's really putting a damper on things considering I am right-handed. So there you have it. That's the reason for the late post and just for future reference, the reason for the lack of posts over the next week and a half. I don't get my stitches out til Dec 23.