It's About Time

A wanted to give a shout out to my BFF, TJ, and his new fiance, Abbi.

Congrats!!!!  I'm so happy for y'all !!!

New Creations

This weekend I came to Murfreesboro, TN to visit the family and more importantly be at Laine's 1st Birthday Party.  The day before the party Becky and I went out to do some shopping and while were out the idea came to me.   The plan was for Laine to wear her hot pink tutu and a white onesie.   I thought putting a "1" on it would make her even cuter!   So we found some material that matched her tutu, made a "1", and I started sewing (with the help of mom).  Here's how it turned out ...

Up close

Long sleeve and short sleeve

Laine wearing her new outfit at her party.

Laine wasn't happy, but its a good picture of the LS onesie.

Later we decided I would make her another one, but for Valentine's Day.   Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of Laine modeling it, but here's the final product ....

Front

Behind

Up close of the heart on the front

So these clearly aren't perfect, but I'm learning and I guess that's all the really matters!

All Pottered Out

Todd and I just recently decided that we wanted to read the Harry Potter series.   (I think we might have been one of the only few left in the world that hasn't joined the HP craze.)  Although instead of reading it we decided we would do the books on tape.   This was both of our first time to listen to any book on tape.   If you've never done it I would definitely recommend it.  We started the first book on our way to my parents house for Thanksgiving.  The first book is somewhere between 8 or 9 hours along.  I'm not really sure but Todd said he thought the last book was 20 hours long.   That's alot of time to spend listening to a book on tape let alone anything else.  Anyways, I believe it was way worse for me compared to Todd, but I was to the point where all I could think about was hearing more HP.   We liked to use the word "jonesing" mainly just because it was funny to hear someone saying they were jonesing for more Harry Potter.  It took us just shy of 2 months, with alot of time in the car (our Christmas/New Years trip) and multiple days laying in bed or on the couch and listening to it all day long.  I can now say with pride that we have completed the HP book series!!!  I think I'm a little more excited about then Todd although like I said above I think it affected me a bit different than Todd.   I keep telling Todd that I have no idea what I'm going to do now since we are done with HP.

We have been watching the movies as well, but haven't finished them yet.  We watched HP and the Goblet of Fire last night.  We are hoping to be able to see Deathly Hallows Part 1 in the theaters.  Its really all dependent on how long it takes the combination of Netflix and us to watch the movies once we have them.  I'm sure everyone has the thoughts and opinions about the movies and books so now a bit of a tangent .... I would just like to say that I think the movies suck compared to the books.  It makes me wonder if the author was even paying attention to the screen plays once they were written.  What especially makes me mad is Dumbledore.   Once the second guy took over as him (although it might be because I liked the first guy better hands down) I thought he became mean.  Well, maybe not mean, but he wasn't as nice.  I don't think that nice is really the best word either, but I can't figure out a good way to describe him.   In the books he always seemed very understanding and never questioned Harry about anything.  In the movie he seemed like all the others who didn't really believe him.   So that's my 2 cents, of course I could say more, but who really cares ......

There hasn't been much else going on with us lately.   Todd is training for the New Orleans Rock'n'Roll Marathon.    Its a little less than a month away, its Feb. 12th.  So wish him luck!

In closing, we recently went on a hike to Mount Magazine which happens to be the highest place in Arkansas.  There weren't any super awesome views or leaves on the trees, but it was nice to get out.  Here are a couple of pictures to finish off the blog ...

Todd looking out on the Petit Jean Lookout

Conquering another states highest point

#1

I thought I'd give Auburn a shout out after winning this years BCS National Championship!  It's been a long time and all of the Auburn family is so proud and happy to be a part of it.

WAR EAGLE !!!!!!!!!

BTW, I've recently come across a good Auburn fan blog if anyone is interested .... WarBlogle.com

End of the Year Road Trip

Much like everyone else, Todd and I spent our Christmas and New Years holidays on the road.   A short description of our trip is that we covered 2453+ miles in 47+ hours over a period of 12 days.   For the extended version please keep reading .... 

We left Little Rock on the Dec. 22nd and made our way up to Scott AFB, IL.   While there we stayed the night with some great friends Mike, Sarah, and Yliana Good.  It was so great to see them, we hadn't seen them since our wedding, and it was the first time we were able to see Yliana since she was born.  We decided that while in STL we needed to check out the Arch which is what we did bright and early on the 23rd.   After paying for parking and tickets to go up the arch it was a bit of a let down (in my opinion).  Yes, it was super cool to be up that high, but after spending 5 minutes up at the top there isn't anything else to do.  The good news is I can now check it off my list of things to do.   Once we were done in St. Louis we headed up to Naperville, IL to stay the night with my Uncle Mike & Aunt Nonni.  We timed it just perfectly (and completely on accident!) to help them celebrate Nonni's birthday.   Like always, it was so great to see Mike, Nonni, and Kami (and not only because of the Portillo's chocolate cake!)

In the pod on the way up to the top of the Arch

Busch Stadium 

Checking out the view

Christmas Eve we were on the road early headed up to Racine, WI to spend it with the Beales' side of Todd's family.  I enjoyed eating a smorgasbord (I've always liked using that word) of food while meeting many new family members.   We also enjoyed a fun game of White Elephant.   I was lucky enough to draw #1 (in Todd's family its the best position to be in) so I was able to unwrap many presents.  In the end, I picked a lava lamp because Todd's always wanted one.  After finishing with the Beales' in the evening we headed up to Plymouth, WI to spend some time with Todd's parents and brother, Eric.   We opened presents and then played games the rest of the night. 

John & Karen with John's Mom

Eric, Grandma Beales, Todd, and me

Todd opening his present

John & Karen opening their gift .... a US flag flown during one of Todd's missions in Afghanistan

We spent Christmas day with the Reimer's clan (Todd's Mom's side) up in Bailey's Harbor, WI at Grandma Reimer's house.   This is located in Door County which is a very well-known area in Wisconsin specifically for its beauty.  Todd still has alot of aunts, uncles, and cousins that live in the area so like Christmas Eve it was another day of meeting alot of new people (and of course eating food).  After many hours there we headed back to the in-law's place to stay the night. 

The next day was another new adventure for the both of us - we went to our first Packers game!  It was actually both of our first professional football game too.   The game was the Giants vs Packers at Lambeau Field.  Turns out some of the Reimer side was headed to the game as well so we tailgated with them for a bit.  They were also nice enough to loan us some extra winter clothes to help keep us warm.  I think I would have froze if it weren't for their clothes!   When the sun was out it was somewhere around 25 degrees and only got colder as the sun went down before half time.    I had on so much clothing that I wasn't too cold or too hot, which means I had an awesome time at the game!   The Packers winning and keeping their playoff hopes alive made it even sweeter.   I think I took about 300 hundred pictures at the game, so I've decided to spare everyone with adding just a few ...  

Todd and Eric

I borrowed a puffy jacket and ski jumper for the game.

#27 is Brandon Jacobs, he played at Auburn when I was there

Only minutes left in the game

Packers win = big smiles by all

Packers beat the Giants - 45 to 17

After the game we headed even further north to the UP (upper Michigan).  We stayed in the UP for 2 days at the Gifford's house.  (When Todd was growing up he lived in the UP and spent alot of his time at the Gifford's.)  While we were there we really didn't do much of anything.  It was so relaxing and much needed!  

We then spent another night at Todd's parents house in Plymouth only to then to keep heading down south to Milwaukee.   Our first night and only night in Milwaukee was Dec. 29th, which was the day that Dave and Alison flew into town.  (Dave was a groomsman in our wedding.)  We went out that night with the two of them plus Eric to The Safe House.  This is a spy-themed bar that has loads to occupy your time.  A person could play black jack for drinks, watch the magician, sing karaoke, or just sit and with friends.  They also have a lot of secret tricks planted around the building like a men's bathroom door that when opened is a brickwall.   Its clearly something different then the typical bar.   

To cap our 12 day excursion, we spent the last 3 nights in Chicago for New Years.  Again, Todd and I didn't really do much, we had both already been to Chicago.  The one thing that we did go see was the Bean (aka Cloudgate), this was Todd's first time to see it. Other than that we eat, drink, and sleep.  We spent our New Years eating dinner at the Tavern at the Park which was delicious!!   Then on to the party at the Crystal Gala on Navy Pier with 4,000 of our closest friends.   Needless to say, this will be the last year that we do anything like that, we both agreed that we would much rather be at a house party or neigborhood bar with friends.   The point of our time in Chicago was to hang out with Dave and Alison one last time before we leave the states.  I think the overall consensus is that we had a great time and enjoyed the time together.

Todd under the Bean

Before heading out for NYE

We finally headed home on Jan. 2nd after dropping Dave and Alison off at O'Hare.  I believe it took us somewhere around 12 hours, but at least we had Harry Potter on tape to keep us awake.

In closing .... we hope everyone has a safe and happy 2011!!

Who opened the flood gates?

There's nothing that says welcome to your new home like water spewing from everywhere ....

Less than one week after Todd and I moved in to our newly renovated house (the date was Dec. 14th), we started having some plumbing issues. The day after we moved in we realized the toilet in our bathroom wouldn't flush on its own. Compared to what happened a few days later that was nothing ....

It all really started the night of our housewarming party (we had only been living here for 4 days). That night we found some standing water in the main bathroom. While cleaning it up we decided that it was probably from too much toilet paper and didn't think much else about it that night. The next day I came home from a 2 hour Zumba class to find Todd cleaning the bathroom floor again. Turns out the the water had started spewing from the bottom of the toilet once it was flushed. Awesome right?! I called the maintenance office for our housing area (the ONLY good thing .... we didn't have to pay for it or find a plumber) and submitted a request. Unfortunately for us, it was the weekend so we didn't get someone out here until Monday. To make matters even worse, not only was the one toilet flooding, the second toilet AND hot water heater in the kitchen started to flood as well. Monday morning finally rolls around and a plumber shows up, cleans the drain with a "snake", says its clean, and leaves. Monday night we had plans to go out to dinner with some friends, after Todd and I both showered and flushed both toilets many times (you guessed it ...) it floods everything again. Tuesday morning comes around and the same plumber shows up, uses the "snake" again, says its clear, and leaves. Within a maybe 2 hours of him leaving the kitchen is flooding again from the hot water heater (on the plus side, the bathrooms were in working order). The plumber shows up one more time on Tuesday afternoon, uses the "snake" again, pulls out some tree roots from the drain, and calls it good.

Since that Tuesday (before Christmas) we haven't had any plumbing issues ... although we were gone for 12 days ....

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it took until the same Tuesday (right before Christmas) to finally get some stinkin' internet at our house. We still don't have cable to date (today is Jan. 5).