Tree

Christmas Season

I have had a wonderful start to the Christmas season. On Dec. 1st David and I went to Rupp Arena to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. It was sooo good! I highly recommend going to see them sometime in your life. I was smiling the entire time. That weekend I went to my aunt's house and baked cookies and candies with my mom, grandma, cousins, and other aunts. It is a family tradition to bake homemade cookies and candies the first weekend in December. I had such a good time with my family. We made so much candy! I also learned how to make carmel- get a can of sweetened condensed milk and keep it in boiling water for 2 hours. Then take it out and leave it sitting for about 5 hours, take the top off and you have carmel!! On the 10th we had our staff Christmas party, which is always fun. I love the people I work with! On the 11th my friends and I went shopping for our Angel Tree child and then went to dinner at Bella Notte, yum! In between all those dates David and I got a live Christmas tree and decorated it. Callie is older now and is much more inquisitive about the tree. She likes to drink the tree water and eat the pine needles, which we have discovered does not digest well! She loves the snow, so we have taken her to the dog park several times to play. I can't wait to enjoy all the other magical moments of the season!

Final Check

I just wrote my last tuition check to Georgetown! They have now taken $13,000 from me but won't get anymore (unless I have to pay for my diploma). What a good feeling!!!

Productive Weekend

I was super productive this weekend, which made me feel so good! I have not been able to clean the house or do much because I have mono and am usually worn out by the time I get home from work but not this weekend! When I woke up Saturday I felt good, like my normal self. This weekend was the first weekend in two weeks that I was able to continuously do something without getting tired or feeling bad. I knew it was going to be a good weekend when I got home and was able to finish reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. David and Callie were not home yet, they went hiking at the Gorge. When David got home he and Callie fell asleep on the couch, they hiked 7 miles! I was able to finish my book and watch the first movie while they slept. I have read all the books but I want to start from the beginning and read them all from start to finish. My goal is to be done by the time I go back to school after Christmas Break.
I woke up Saturday morning, got a cup of coffee, and wrote the last paper of my graduate school career! It took me several hours to finish it but by 11:30 I had submitted the final assignment!!! What a great feeling! I still have 2 portfolios to do and turn in the first week of December but want to bask in this moment. I then cleaned the house, a good cleaning, and did laundry. David and I went to the mall and then to dinner at Outback. We rented Grown Up's from Redbox. I thought that it was very funny and enjoyed it. It was a wonderful Saturday! Today has been great too. Went to Southland, which is always a good way to start off the week. I scrapbooked 5 pages! The only bad thing was the Vikings lost :(. I was grading papers but needed a break, which means I probably won't finish. I am ready for the next week!

Fall Break

Fall Break is coming to a clothes (tear in the eye). I am always so amazed how fast times goes! It has been a good break, with one more day to go. On Wednesday my mom was in town so we ran some errands and went shopping. We went to the Talbots Outlet store in Hamburg. My mom got some good stuff for really cheap. I recommend going there if you haven't. Now Wednesday night was not good. You see, the Minnesota Twins were playing the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs. It really stinks that the Twins have to play the Yankees because for some reason the Twins just can't beat the Yankees, it is like the Yankees are in their heads. So anyways, we watched game 1 last night and I was a nervous wreck. While watching I thought some very unChristian thoughts towards the Yankees, (hate is a strong word but I really, really, really, really, really, really DON'T LIKE the Yankees). It was a sad night in our household after they lost. On Thursday I went to my parents house (they moved and live in the country now) and hung out with them while David was in school. I took Callie and she had a blast! My dad took me on the Side by Side and showed me all their land. On the top of the hill all you can see is trees and it is simply beautiful. Callie and my parents dog swam and chased us as we rode around the farm. Then Thursday night I had dinner with two of my friends who were on my team last year but not this year. We closed down Panera's after being there for 3 1/2 hours! It was great to catch up and chat! On Friday, David and I went golfing. Let me clarify- David golfed and I rode around in the cart. It was really nice outside. On Friday night David and I watched the old Airport movie and then the spoof Airplane. I liked Airport, I lost brain cells watching Airplane. The Twins are playing the Yankees now so I need to go torment myself and watch.

We are Aunts and Uncles!!!

Baby Bailey was born on August 5th. She is precious! David loves being an uncle, it is so cute to see him hold the baby :) We are now Uncle David and Aunt Abby!

Funniest picture ever

After I got off the Diamondback roller coaster I said: "I kept my eyes open the entire time!
Then we viewed the picture!!!

Summer Time

It is hard to believe that summer is coming to a close. I had high hopes that I would blog a bunch over summer but the time got away from me. David and I just got back from Minneapolis yesterday. We left on Friday morning, stopped in Chicago and watched a game at Wrigley. It was fun to go to Wrigley because neither of us have been there and we both love baseball. We saw a Cubs verse Cardinals game. We would like to visist as many baseball stadiums as possible. So far we have been (together) to Great American (Reds), US Cellular(White Sox), and Wrigley (Cubs). By myself I have been to the old Cardinals stadium and David has been to the Metradome. We still have lots of ball parks we want to visit! In Minneapolis we went to David's cousins wedding, hung out with extended family many of which I met for the first time (both of David's parents sides of the family live there), went putt putt golfing, toured the Twins stadium, and went to the Mall of America (David bought more than me!!! I only bought 1 shirt and he bought 3 shirts, 2 pair of pants, and Vikings souveniers). It was a jammed pack 3 days. They have a great bagel place called Brugers Bagels, I had a delicious asiago and parmasean bagel. It was fun to visit a place I have never been to and see people I have never met.

Other higlights from the summer:

• Midnight showing of Eclipse
• Reading 5 books
• Seeing Toy Story 3 in 3D
• Pool time
• Sleeping in
• Cuddling with Callie in the morning with my coffee and a books
• Kings Island
• Weezer Concert
• Weddings and Showers
• Going to the lake with my mom, aunts, and cousins
• Dinners with my work friends

Weezer Concert

We kicked off summer Friday night by going to an outside Weezer concert with Kirsten and James. We left Lexington around 5pm and headed up to Horseshoe Casino (used to be Ceasars) where the concert was held outside. There was a 60% chance of thunderstorms but it didn't rain. The concert was excellent! Weezer played all of their greatest hits so I was able to sing along with almost all of the songs. We had a blast!!!

Indy 500

The last weekend in May David and I went to Indianapolis for a small getaway. The purpose of our trip was to go to the Indy 500 Sunday. My cousin lives in Indianapolis so we stayed there Saturday night. We went to the zoo on Saturday and then the Indy 500 Sunday. The weather was HOT but nice all weekend. At the zoo we got a character sketch of the two of us, which was cool because I have never had one done. It is now framed in our house! Then that night we went to dinner at Red Lobster. Sunday was the Indy 500 and it was awesome!! It was a fun atmoshpere. The noise the cars make is by far the loudest noise I have ever heard. I have a video but that doesn't do it justice. We wore earplugs after awhile. The people we sat next to were so nice. After the race they invited us to tailgate with them because if we didn't we would just sit in traffic. They were right, people sat in their cars for an hour before they even moved out of the parking lot! We tailgated with them and their family for about an hour and a half. When we go back we will plan to tailgate after because it is way better than sitting in your car. We both would like to go back!

Jack Nicholson waving the green flag

Ashley Judd

Dario Franchitti- the winner and Ashley Judd's husband

Before the race began

With the tickets

Wonderful Husband

I have the best husband ever! On Wednesday I went in the bedroom and screamed ( a frustration scream, not a bloodcurdling scream) because I couldn't stand the mess of the house. We had a busy weekend and weren't able to clean up like I would like. When I came home from school on Wednesday the house was clean and there were fresh flowers in a vase. David picked up, vacuumed, took clothes to the dry cleaners, changed the sheets, organized the books on the bookshelf and his ties, and sprayed the house with Febreeze. I was so happy when I saw everything! It was the perfect way to come home!!!!

Susie Homemaker

Last weekend I planted my very own garden! My mom bought me cute garden gloves and helped me till it up. I planted tomatoes, zucchini, basil, and some flower things (my mom got them for me). I want to get some peppers to plant too.

The same day I planted my garden I also made a trifle for the first time. I made a lemon blueberry trifle in my new Pampered Chef trifle bowl!

Callie is 1

Callie turned one years old on April 24th!!! My baby is getting so big! My mom brought a birthday hat for Callie and a plastic swimming pool, Davids mom brought 2 toys, and David took her to PetsMart and got her a big bone. She had a good birthday!!! The plastic pool is actually for her and I, I plan on sitting in it and reading this summer while she lounges with me. If you need a place to swim this summer, come join me hahaha!!!

Just some thoughts

So I am watching Dancing with the Stars and there is a woman dancing in her bra and underwear! I can't believe that her outfit was allowed! I might be saying this because I am partially jealous of how she looked, but never the less she is dancing in a lacy bra and panties!!

I saw The Last Song this weekend and it was definitely not as good as the book. In fact I found myself upset that the movie was so different than the book. I sat next to a friend (Kristen I am talking about you!) and she and I giggled the entire time! At one point the conversation went like this:

Miley: "I Love You"

Kristen: Loud noise and then the comment "you only knew him like two days" (this was said in a loud voice)

Me: proceeded to laugh so hard I cried

100 Greatest Hits of the 90's

Last night David and I watched 100 Greatest Hits of the 90's on VH1. We only caught #37-#1 but it made me so happy! I sang along with the songs and got so excited when some of my favorites came on. David and I laughed at the lyrics of some of the songs we thought were cool back in high school, example: "Baby got back" have you ever really listened to those lyrics?? they are hilarious!!! Watching the show brought back some good memories:

• Celine Dion was my first concert
• Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" was the first CD I bought with my own money
• In 8th grade my friends and I made a music video to the BackStreet Boys, "I Want it That Way"
• One of my friends thought the lyrics to Waterfalls, was "Don't go Jason Waterfall" she thought that was the guys name

Here is the link with all the songs.

http://blog.vh1.com/2007-12-13/top-100-songs-of-the-90s/

Watching this show has made me want to put new music to ipod, by "new" music I mean busting out my Back Street Boys CD's and all the ones I loved in my youth (hahaha).

Best Book

I finished reading "The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks and it is wonderful! It is one of the best books I have ever read. I am going to see the movie next weekend, hopefully it will be good.

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Hiking

Yesterday David, Callie, and I went hiking at the Gorge. It was the first time Callie has been hiking and the first time David and I have been in a while. It was a great hike and Callie did so good off her leash. She would run ahead and then run back to check on David and I and then run ahead. She never went out of our site. She loved every minute of the hike! We hiked down to a creek and ate our lunches, it was really nice. The hike back up made David and I realize that we are way out of shape. Callie was showing off and acting like it was no big deal while David and I were huffing and puffing! We decided that we are going to do this more often.

Spring Break and other things

Last week Davids sister got married so we had a busy weekend. His dad and step-mom stayed with us for four days, which was fun. This was the first time we have had in-laws stay with us, so it was a big deal to us that everything be perfect. We put bedroom curtains up and cleaned like never before! David's dad and sister live in Utah so it was nice visiting with them. His aunt, uncle, and grandma flew in for the wedding so I was able to spend time with them too. We danced and had fun at the wedding. David and I were both in the wedding which was fun. While Davids dad was here he fixed our shower head, shower drain, towel rack, and vents!

On Friday we went out to dinner with David's parents and had one of the best meals. We at at Merrick and it was delicious!! I had the pecan crusted pork tenderloin mmmmmm good! Then we went to my parents house to pick up Callie and see the pictures of the house they are building.

On Saturday my mom and I drove up to Florence for my cousins wedding shower. It was nice spending time with my mom and seeing her side of the family. I got home just in time to watch the game. I thought I was going to vomit during the game because I was so nervous. Afterwards we were in serious depression. For the first time since we have been married, we went in different rooms to watch a movie. I watched Twilight to make me feel better and he watched Behind Enemy Lines. I felt so much better after watching Edward and Bella :)Thinking about the game makes me sad, so I am avoiding Sports Center and ESPN until further notice!

Today I finally made a shadow box with items from the wedding. I put 2 wedding pictures, dried flowers from my bouquet, and a program in it. I will put a picture up tomorrow. To be honest, I am impressed with the final product.

Recommended Book

I finished The Help on Sunday and I loved it! Carrie recommended it to me and let me borrow the book (Thanks Carrie). I don't think I would have picked this book up to read on my own, so I am glad it was recommended. If you are looking for a good book to read I suggest The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Good weekend

I had a great weekend! Friday night David and I ate at Malones, we used a gift card from Christmas, and it was delicious! Saturday I cleaned, did laundry, enjoyed the sunshine, played Wii Fit Plus with David, went to Crossroads with Stephanie and Hilary, and then had girls night! It is so much fun to get together with girlfriends! Today, we took Callie to the dog park. There were soooo many dogs. There were two other Brittany Spaniels at the dog park, which is rare to see that many of that breed at the dog park at the same time. They are not common dogs for this area because they are hunting dogs. Callie ran for 1 1/2 hours with the other two Brittanys. It made David and I so happy. I was so happy watching the dogs have fun and being in the sunshine. We also celebrated my dads birthday today, it is always nice seeing the family.

Interesting things:

• On Friday I saw a man riding a horse down Harrodsburg Road! Yes, a horse!
• I have attended 13 weddings in my life (that I can remember). This year David and I will attend more than half that- 8 weddings! Tis' the year to get married!

LOOONG Weekend

I have not worked since last Friday because we had Monday off and no school Tuesday and Wednesday because of snow. David had his classes cancelled on Monday and Tuesday because they had so much snow in Louisville. It was fun getting to spend those days home with David. We ran erronds together on Monday, watched the Olympics, and started watching Friends at the beginning. It is funny to see the clothes and hair differences from when the show started. David had to go back to school today so I have been home by myself :( It is not as much fun without him here. Tonight I am going to make a stake dinner since I have the time. I have enjoyed being home these past couple of days. The house is clean, all laundry is done, and I have had time to relax. I get to look forward to a 2 day week at school and then fun weekend plans!

It's Not Delivery, It's Digiorno

We had Digiorno pizza tonight because I was too tired to cook anything. David ate it and said, "mm, not bad. It's the best we have had." I said "It's not delivery, it's Digiorno!" I know it is corny but it was a funny moment! So, the commercials are true they have good pizza. I should get paid to say this!

Not much else has been going on with David and I. I had the stomach bug last week, not fun. I was sitting in grad class and I could tell I was getting sick. I planned my getaway if needed, located the trash can, and realized this could be an embarrassing moment. We got out around 7 and I sped home, praying that I could keep it down until I got home. What would I do if I threw up when driving? I ran over the scenarios in my head, none of which were good. I made it home just in time and spent the rest of the night in the bathroom. At one point I was crying cause my body hurt so bad, I have never hurt like that before. I missed school two days and was nausea for several days after. It is not fun being sick as an adult. My mom did come and bring me flowers, Sprite, and some stomach medicine :) Good ol' mom!

Christmas Break

I know it is kind of late but I had a wonderful Christmas break! David was off too so we got to spend a bunch of time together. Callie loved having us home all day too! We celebrated our first Christmas together, which was special. On Tuesday night we ate at Applebees and then came home and opened presents. David got me a new camera, which is why he wanting to do our Christmas early. It was also Callie's first Christmas (I know she is only a dog, but she is our baby). Then on Christmas eve we went to my aunts house to celebrate with my dads side of the family, there were 22 people at my aunts house. Then Christmas morning we got up and went to my parents. It didn't feel like Christmas until I got to my parents, I am not going to lie it was very weird not waking up at their house. We opened presents, ate a big breakfast (a tradition), and played Jenga. It was fun sharing Christmas with David. That afternoon we went over to David's parents. We ate dinner and opened presents with them. David got a remote controlled helicopter, the advanced version, and tried to fly it, which was entertaining. It was a wonderful first Christmas together!

Other things we did over break:

• went to an engagement party for our good friends and stayed in a cabin
• watched UK basketball and the Minnesota Vikings
• I had lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in 3 years
• Ate dinner at PfChangs with my wonderful teammates
• Celebrated an engagement of another friend and then had game night
• Meet a friend I hadn't seen since the wedding for coffee
• Read, read, read
• Went to see Sherlock Holmes, Up in the Air, and Avitar in 3D (all very good movies)
• Took Callie to the dog park
• Baked cookies :) I have decided I like to bake better than cooking dinner
• Played dominoes with my family and played dominoes with David's family (it is a fun game)
• Celebrated New Years with my old roommates
• Slept in- every morning Callie and I would get up together, I would drink coffee and read while she snuggled with me, I loved it
• Worked on my scrapbook- every year since David and I have been together I have made a scrapbook of our year. I am kind of late on this one, I usually give them to him at Christmas. This year has been very busy!! I got a Cricut and have been using that :)
• Had a Christmas movie marathon in our pajamas!!!!!

I can't think of any more things. It was my favorite break! I love being married!!!

Callie in the snow

We took Callie to the dog park Thursday and Saturday so she could play in the snow. She loved it!!! She ran around, rolled in the snow, and played with other dogs. She was worn once she got home.