Good News/ Bad News

The good news is that if it was kidney stones causing the pain it could have been two small ones that I will not have any more problems with. My pain is A LOT better. There is still a twinge today but I might feel comfortable enough to go shopping today! But they don't think this is what caused the pain. I'll get to that in a minute. They don't see anymore stones in my right kidney (CELEBRATE!).

The bad news is actually in two parts. The first part is that there is still a stone in my kidney, but it is in my left kidney. When I say still I mean that when I started I had multiple stones in both kidneys. This stone is old, but there. It is about 4 cm (anything above 5 they operate on), but they don't think it will move for a while... it is at the bottom of my kidney and has to travel up.

There are two parts to this bad news, and the second part is what is probably causing my pain. They found a cyst on my right ovary that might have partially ruptured, causing the pain. I have an appt today to have an ultrasound done to look at it a little closer and find out about it.

What I am thankful about is that this is all being found now, instead of a month from now. On January 12th I start an INSANE semester of school, and they told us up front that we need to have our surgeries and everything taken care of before the semester starts because if we miss more than one day of classes then we will be removed from the classes that semester and would have to retake them. So if any surgery has to happen I will push for it to be done within the next week or two at the most. Lets hope it doesn't come to that.

Continued prayers would be fantastic!

Nothing has changed

Nothing has really changed, except I might feel a little worse than I did yesterday. I hurt when I move, but when I'm sitting still, like right now, I don't hurt. But walking around, shifting my weight, or putting any type of strain or pressure on my right side hurts. Jeff is off work tonight so if it gets worse then at least I have a ride to the ER, but we are really hoping that I just stay this way or get better between now and Monday. If nothing has changed by Monday I will get my CT scan done, (provided the pregnancy tests results came back negative... I still haven't heart, but I'm very doubtful that they would be positive), and then find out what is going on and if it is a stone, then I will probably be scheduling surgery. I'll keep you updated. Please keep me in your prayers. I don't really want to go into the emotions that I'm feeling right now so I'm pushing them away and just concentrating on how I physically feel. If I go into my emotions then I get very upset and angry and cry because this is just a lot to deal with. I've been very angry about this, and angry with God for making me go through this again. I really need prayers for my emotions and my physical state as well.

We had an earthquake!

We had an earthquake last night!!! Actually, the earthquake was in the neighboring county but it was strong enough that we felt it here. It was a 3.3 on the Richter scale. It shook the whole house! The ornaments on the tree were shaking like crazy! The dogs went absolutely NUTS! They were sleeping and when it started they went absolutely crazy. Running around barking, not quite sure at who or where to bark. The news said it was at 12:04am, and it lasted for about 30 seconds. I thought it was a huge truck going by at first, but unless they are delivery trucks, trucks aren't allowed in our neighborhood. then I was thinking that maybe it could have been someone's house blowing up or an oil tank or something, but when it lasted for a while I knew it was an earthquake. This was the first one I actually felt! I've slept through all the other ones we've ever had.

I need prayers

I might have another kidney stone. I was supposed to have dr's appt and CT scan done today but neither happened. Here is why:

I drove down to have the CT scan done and go to my appt, and they didn't want to do the CT scan until they knew for sure whether or not I was pregnant. I went and had bloodwork done and then sat in the waiting room waiting for my results. An hour and a half went by waiting for the results, and by then it was too late to go to the dr's and I had to schedule an appointment for Monday morning. The tech that was waiting for my results so she could take me to do my CT scan came out and told me the machine broke and they had to send my blood over to the hospital to their machine for the test and it would be another hour at least, but that if I was still going to get a CT scan that day, that I would need to go to the hospital also and get it done there because they were closing too and they don't have weekend hours. Well, I am going to go back Monday before my appt and get the CT scan and then go to my appt. So I know nothing. In the meantime, they gave me a pain Rx if I need it, and they said if the pain gets too bad that I should go to the ER.

The thing about my last appointment was that he didn't do a CT or ultrasound or xray to see my kidneys for sure, so he didn't know 100% that I didn't have a stone, but since there were no red blood cells in my urine sample he didn't think I had a stone. Well today I started to feel sore in that area so I am nervous and want it checked out. I think it is a stone, but what throws me is that I really only feel the pain when I am walking or shifting my weight and using that side (my right side). Otherwise, like right now, when I'm sitting still I don't really have pain... and that doesn't seem like a stone because stone pain never goes away. The thing I think is that it might not yet be moving, but it might be in an area that is causing pain if I move around on that side.

I really need prayers, both for my emotional state and my health. I am so frustrated and upset right now for many reason. The biggest reason is that I'm dealing with this AGAIN, and 4 days after I was told I was clear. I am so tired of going through this, both physically and emotionally and I just want to have a normal life. Also because I sat in the waiting room for an hour and a half and found absolutely nothing out because I couldn't have anything done or see the dr.

This is going to be a really long weekend. :(

Merry Christmas!

Ok, I know it is early but I just wanted to say Merry Christmas! I probably won't have a chance to post between now and then. And here is the Christmas picture we sent out to family and friends. I love it!I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with their family and friends and takes time to step back from the hustle and bustle of the holidays to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Not Me Monday!

Time for my weekly installment of "Not Me Monday"! If you'd like to join, click on the icon above and it will take you to MckMama's blog, where you will find the directions.

Ok-
1. It was not me who threw a balled up newspaper at Jeff yesterday because the Patriots scored a touchdown and I wanted to throw snowballs like all of the fans in the stands were doing after every touchdown! Nope! Definitely not me who threw that! Who would act like that at my age???

2. It was not me who ate McDonald's today to celebrate good news from the Dr's office! No way!

3. It was not me who forgot she told her district she could sub tomorrow and then made plans and had to turn the district down when they called to get her to sub! Woops!

4. It is not me who has to go to physical therapy at 3:30pm, braving the wind to drive a mile to go, haha.

5. It was not me teared up hearing "Christmas Canon" on the radio this morning because it reminded me of walking down the aisle to Pachelbel's Canon.

6. But it definitely WAS me who got good news from the dr's office today!!!

7. And it definitely IS me wishing my Aunt Patti a very happy 50th birthday and my friend Ashlee a very happy 24th birthday!!!

Update on my appointment

My appointment went well! They didn't find any red blood cells in my urine, so that is a decent indicator that I don't have a stone (especially because when I have a stone mine is LOADED with red blood cells). He wants to see me back in 6 months where he'll do an ultrasound to check out my kidneys, and he'll have me do a 24-hour urinalysis (I have to collect my pee for 24 hours! NOT FUN!) to make sure my medicine is effective. He even said two words today that I'm afraid to believe but he thinks I am, and these words are ringing in my ears: "STONE-FREE"!!!!!!! Let's hope!!!

I was even able to stay pretty calm! Last night I was able to fall asleep pretty well, with the help of Edward and Bella (I'm rereading the Twilight series). I was also able to think other thoughts this morning when I was getting ready instead of stress over the appointment, and in the 45 minute drive they played all of my favorite Christmas songs so I concentrated on the music instead my appointment. The only time I really stressed about the appointment was when I was actually there waiting to be seen.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. They worked!

Now I can truly enjoy the Christmas season. I am so excited to really get into it, as long as I don't blow away! It is REALLY windy outside! The dogs are barking at the wind because of how loud it is!

Thoughts and Prayers please

I could really use some thoughts and prayers. Tomorrow I have a checkup on my kidneys. I really am so nervous that they will find something and I'll end up needing surgery again. I am not sure I'm physically or emotionally ready to deal with that. I just need prayers for my nerves especially, as at this point I'm not really even able to eat because I am so nervous. I also could use prayers that they don't find anything. This has kinda put a damper on my holiday spirit. Christmas really is my favorite holiday and everyone who knows me knows just how excited I get over the holiday, but having this appointment tomorrow is really killing my excitement because I know I have to get through tomorrow before I can even get to Christmas eve and Christmas Day. Right now they just seem so far away because of the appointment. This is just taking so much out of me having to deal with these stones constantly. I just could really use prayers. My appointment is at 9:30am, and I will be sure to update everyone as soon as I know something.

Website

Here is a link to a website that was set up to follow the progress of the little girl I posted about below.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/hannahgarman

Last night there was a parade for her with 50 police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances. When they got to her they delivered thousands of Christmas cards. This is so touching to see a little girl's last holiday wish come true. It makes me cry to think about it. She shouldn't be thinking about her last holiday wish. She should be wondering which doll she was getting for Christmas, and which toy she wants more. She's been through so much, between the passing of her mother two years ago and now dealing with her cancer and her impending death. It is so sad. It is so nice to see people send cards in droves. Please send one of your own!

Here is a link to a news story that was about the parade and the little girl. I believe there is video in it as well:

http://www.wgal.com/news/18312086/detail.html

Christmas Cards for a Sick Little Girl

Hey everyone... here is one of the few emails I've gotten about this and I really ask that you help make this little girl's last holiday wish come true. It is a true story. My aunt is friends with the family. She is from the area I grew up. There is a picture of her at the end. I'll also post a link to the news article that was run about this.

This is the true story of a 5-yr old Lititz girl, Hannah Garman, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a rare and incurable brain tumor. She has been given 12 weeks to live and is currently in her 7th week. She was going to be the flower girl at a wedding in May, but was diagnosed a week after we asked her to be the flower girl. This is especially sad because her mother died 2 yrs ago from breast cancer.

Right now she has lost most of her motor skills. She is confined to bed and cannot really do anything or play with the gifts she is getting from people, but she LOVES getting cards - she has gotten so many from people she does not know and just loves to have grandma read about the people who send them and see their pictures and is so proud of all her cards. Her room is just filled with cards.

When asked what she wants for Christmas she said she wants to see how many Christmas cards she can get. Many people have passed this wish along to their churches, prayer groups, friends and family. There are school groups where children are making her cards. People are including pictures so she can see who it is that is sending her the card.

If you would like to help with her wish, you can send a card to her at:
Hannah Garman
704 Orchard Rd
Lititz, PA 17543

THANKS! Feel free to pass this along to your own prayer group, church, school, etc. Let's see if we can have the cards coming in big postal bags for her this Christmas, since it will be her last holiday.



Here is the link to the news article:

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/231539

Please help make this little girl's wish come true.

Not Me Monday!

I promise to do a real post soon! I just needed to get myself back into the Christmas spirit, and I will hopefully do that today. BUT without further ado... here is Not Me Monday!



1. It was not me who ate a whole box of mini-pierogies yesterday over two different meals and it certainly wasn't me who enjoyed every bite of them.

2. It was not me who considered messing up my husband's haircut as I was cutting his hair because he was being a big grouch.

3. It was not me who ignored housework all last week and weekend.

4. It is not me who is going to be cleaning my house today. (I wish it wasn't going to be me!)

5. It is not me who wants to spend my credit card rewards on something I want, rather than something I need or a gift for someone.

6. It is not me who didn't shower at all yesterday. Nope, not me at all who, after grocery shopping, laid around and watched football all day (happily I might add... Yea Pats!).

7. It is not me who can't think of a thing for number 7.

Breathe in, breathe out

I've been non-existent lately, except for a few downer posts. But I am back! I am happy to say the semester is OVER!!! This was a difficult one for me. The classes were a lot of work and one especially was not very enjoyable. I had all 3 of my finals today. I also got back a HUGE project that I handed in last week and got 100% on it!!! :) I am EXTREMELY happy with that. Now I have a few weeks break, and some subbing, until the next semester. I do need to do some studying for the next semester because the first week I have a bunch of tests. Ack! Apparently next semester, which is my professional block, is the worst of all of the semesters in my department. Fun!

I am so excited for Christmas and the Christmas season. I've bought a lot of gifts already, but still have a lot more to get. I am going to try to knock out most of them tomorrow. We are almost fully decorated, although there is one or two more thing that I need to put up and we need to get the boxes away and then I need to give this house a GOOD cleaning.

Jeff surprised me by starting to paint our built in cabinets in the kitchen today. I am so excited! I can't wait to see what they look like when they are finished! :) Our kitchen will probably look a lot better, although still crappy because it needs new floors, new paint color, and it needs the other part to be closed off and renovated. I think we might be doing that in the summer, but I'm not sure for sure.

Nothing else really is going on right now so I am going to say ciao!

Cool video!

I hope I can get this to post! Otherwise I'll just post the link. Someone posted this on a website I go on a lot and I thought it was really cool. Check it out!

Prayers needed please

My posts haven't been too upbeat lately. I promise to post one that is upbeat soon.

I could really use some thoughts and prayers. Many of you know that I've suffered from kidney stones in the past. My body naturally produces them. I had 3 surgeries for them between Feb. 2006 and Feb. 2007. I am under the care of a specialist and on medicine to flush out my kidneys. I just scheduled my checkup appointment for December 22nd. I am so nervous that something will happen, that they will find another stone and then I will have to go through it all again and I don't know if I'm emotionally or physically ready to go through that again. I could really use thoughts and prayers for my nerves and that there will be no stone.

Trying

"It is hard to wait around for something you know may never happen, but its even harder when you know its everything you want." ...especially after its been over a year and everyone around me seems to be getting exactly what I want, whether they want it or not.

Sorry, this was a depressing post. I'll post a happier one in a little while.

Happy Thanksgiving! (A day late)

Happy Thanksgiving!

My husband and my marriage:

My pupper-wupps

My family, both pictured and not (both sides!):
Jeff's family, both pictured and not:
My beautiful niece!
My friends, both pictured and not! (Oh yea and Twilight)
My house
And everything else that I haven't pictured! I am so thankful for all of this and more!


And now I head out to brave the crowds and shop! Yikes......................!

Not Me Monday!

If you'd like to get started, click on the picture above to go to My Charming Kids' blog and see the directions and other Not Me Monday posters.

OK it is NOT me who is sitting here in my PJs with a TON of work to do for my projects due tomorrow and blogging instead.

It is not me who is going to see Twilight again this week.

It is not me who has a sink full of dishes and a dishwasher full of clean dishes.

It is not me who read all four Twilight books in a matter of 4 days total (and each book is NO LESS than 400 pages and no more than 800).

It is not me who is extremely happy that the puppies are sleeping.

It was not me who ate a dozen peanut butter blossoms throughout the day yesterday (oh my!).

It is not me who is dreading going to physical therapy today and wishing I didn't have to go at all even if that means that my knee will never me 100%. Sigh...

Ok this week's wasn't that good but not that much happened.

Procrastinating

I *should* be working on one of the two papers I have due on Tuesday, but I don't feel like it so I figured I would just update my blog. :)

I went to see Twilight yesterday!!!!!! It was pretty good. The book was WAYY better. The book was much more descriptive and really sucked you in. I was constantly comparing the movie to the book. There were some scenes or things I really wished they put in the movie, and they didn't, and then there were some things that I wished they would change about the movie. There was also a lot that I wished they developed more in the movie. It was still good and I still loved it because it was Twilight. Edward sure made the movie... and there was one particular scene that I really love din the movie, but I don't want to say because I don't want to give away the book or the movie for people who haven't read or seen it yet, but for those of you who have done both, I'll just say it was the sparkle scene. Enough said. :) Here is a picture of me with Kylene and Ashlee, who I went with:Kylene is wearing a shirt that says "Jacob Stinks! Team Edward"
I am wearing a shirt that says "Isle Esme is for Lovers" (Breaking Dawn readers would understand that)
And Ashlee is wearing a shirt that says "Culledn Baseball" and on the back it says "Cullen 17"
Ashlee and I made our shirts... Ky took the easy way out and bought hers. :)

Yesterday we had a surprise snow "storm". It did cause much of a headache around the area, shutting down highways and bridges, and ice was EVERYWHERE from it. Of course, I subbed for Kindergarten yesterday. they really weren't bad, but SNOOWWWW. Haha. Poor things were talking about making a snowman when they got home with the 1/4" of snow on the ground. Of course when they got home was when we got hit and got 1 1/2" in a half hour. It was crazy! The roads were TERRIBLE! Who would have thought that little bit of snow would do that much damage, but one of our major highways was shut down for 2 hours and left people abandoning their cars on the road, and then left the highway to a crawl for the rest of the night (of course I happened to be on it on my way home from the movie when that happened).

BUT it was the puppies first snow!! At first they were a little confused about it, not really sure, didn't really want to stay outside. THEN they went out and started to lick it and sniff it and eat it. They were so cute. I have a few pictures of them out in it:

This is Kota in the snow.This is Maggie in the snow with a pile of snow on her nose, haha. (Excuse the outdoor coffee table that is knocked over... they stand on it to knock it over ALL THE TIME and we are in the process of creating a "no puppy zone" in our backyard so they can't get on our furniture).

And this is both of them sniffing around and running around in the snow.

Enjoy the pictures!

Kreativ Blogger Award

OK so TWO people tagged me with the Kreativ Blogger Award. Jennifer over at This Girl Loves Pink and Danielle at Random Ramblings both tagged me as a Kreativ Blogger. I feel loved. :) Anyway, so this is how it goes... I'm supposed to list 6 things I'm thankful for and then tag 6 bloggers. I hope that I have six bloggers to tag!!! Sorry if I don't tag you! It isn't that I love you! It is probably because you've already been tagged, haha. But here it goes:

1. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband. He is everything to me and I love him!

2. I'm thankful for my family, because they are a wonderful support system!

3. I'm thankful for the Nest! Haha! It is my outlet and I get to meet some great girls!

4. I'm thankful for my dogs (who are joining me on my loveseat right now... it's a bit cramped as their 60 lb bodies sprawl out on the loveseat and I try to vy for my spot at the edge!), because they truly keep me laughing and entertained, even when they are driving me nuts!

5. I'm thankful that my husband has a wonderful job and we can afford for me to go to grad school right now.

6. I am thankful for my house and a roof over my head.

Ok... lets see how many bloggers I can tag (this is harder than I thought... most of the girls I read have already been tagged!):

1. Susie at Be Strong & Courageous... she is one of the strongest women after what she's been through and truly a role model.

2. Marialena at Just An Old Fasioned Girl... her blog is so fun to read!

3. My Two Red Shoes who made my WONDERFUL banner and is so creative!

Half there! Maybe I can do it!

4. Katie at The Poop Scoop... I love her house and she is a good friend. :)

5. Angelica at My Corner of the Universe... for loving Twilight just as much as me. :)

6. McMamma at My Charming Kids... who gave birth to a miracle a few weeks ago and who has incredibly creative blogging names for her family!

Good luck! You girls are great!

I've been MIA!

But I have a reason! I've been READING!!! For PLEASURE!!! What is that? I have no idea. This was my first stab at it in a long time because of how busy classes are so me and books had to make up and become friends again. And we did... oh did we! I've been reading "Twilight". What an AMAZING series! If you haven't read them, what are you waiting for??? I read the first on Friday, in less than 24 hours (over 400 pages). I read the second on Saturday, in about 8 hours (over 500 pages), I read the third on Sunday in less than 24 hours (over 600 pages!) and then I just finished the last yesterday... it took me a day and a half because I couldn't stay up late reading (over 700 pages). I couldn't put them down! ANNNNDDD the movie comes out TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! I have tickets to go with two friends and I am so excited to go! :) We are all making shirts and everything! WAHOO! I'm wearing one of my shirts today. For you Twilight readers, it says "Forks, WA: Makin' it sprinkle so you won't sparkle." Ha! :) I'm making another shirt tonight to wear to the movie tomorrow but I need to figure out which one I want to do because I have a few I like.

Nothing really new has been going on. Sorry I missed Not Me Monday! I know a bunch of you like it. I thought about it the next day. Darn! I'll get it this Monday though.

Jeffery has off this weekend. I am so excited! :) Other than tomorrow night it will be nice to hang out together all weekend. :) He doesn't want to come to the movie though. Darn.

I am subbing for a kindergarten class tomorrow. I am nervous and excited. I know it will help the day pass fast though!

OK... onto my next post....

Not Me Monday!

It was not me who turned down a sub job this morning because I was up late doing homework last night.

It is not me who is still in my PJs and I definitely do not need a shower.

It was not me who slept through my husband's phone call to me this morning.

It is not me who has laundry sitting in my basement needing to be carried upstairs to be put away. (Although in my defense I can't carry anything like that because of my knee).

It was not me who had a piece of cinnamon streusal for breakfast and is soon going to have a piece of cake for desert for lunch.

My 50th post!

Haha... what an accomplishment, huh? Not really. But still one worth celebrating. Life has been insanely busy and yet not busy lately. This has been a difficult semester, mostly emotionally, as it's been very stressful and frustrating (although frustrating for different reasons other than schoolwork a lot of times). I am very ready for it to be over. Only a few more weeks, but now is when all of my projects are due and this week alone I have two huge projects due. I am very ready for Christmas this year.

I've begun to sacrifice my body for the puppies. Actually, they didn't cause the injuries, but they happened while I was doing something with the puppies. I've never been the most coordinated person anyway. This was a few weeks ago:I was playing ball with the dogs and dislocated my thumb. It is feeling a lot better. It was sore for a while after I did it but I really do feel a lot better and that is the LEAST of my worries. I posted a while ago about doing something to my knee and I'll tell you the details here. Maggie was hiding behind a bush and I was trying to get her inside the house and turned my leg when I was walking down the steps. I went to the doctor and had xrays and an examination done and he said that I dislocated my kneecap and tore one of my ligaments (he said which one but I was just kinda shocked about what I did and they all have really long names that I missed what he said). I have to do physical therapy for a while and hopefully that will fix it and I won't have to have surgery. But I also have to wear a kneebrace for 6 or more weeks. Luckily it is one that goes under my pants and you can't really tell that I'm wearing it. It is to hold my kneecap in place and support my knee. Fun times, huh?

So yesterday was the "meet the baby" party for my niece. Jeff got to meet her for the first time and hold her!!! It was so precious and I couldn't get over watching him hold and cuddle with a baby. It was nice to see, and hear him say he was excited to have our own. Here are some pix for the day:

Jeff's first time meeting her.

Cuddling with my niece.

Jeffery cuddling with his niece.
Another adorable picture of them together!

And one more picture to introduce the names of my parents:

She is holding a Lollipop for a reason... her grandparents' names (my parents) are Lolly (or Lolli, or Lollie... she isn't sure how she wants to spell it yet) and Pop! Isn't it adorable? Haha! So at the party they had a BIG bowl full of tootsiepops, and she gave out this giant lollipop to the person who named her (Good job Vicki!). For those of you who don't know, my mom had a "name the grandmother" contest. She didn't want to be grandma, because my grandma goes by grandma so she didn't want two of them, and she didn't want to be Nana for the same reason. My dad was "Pop" in honor of his grandfather, who was his best friend, and she didn't want to be Grammy in honor of hers because she said the shoes were too big to be filled. She didn't want to be any of the semi-ordinary grandmother names because they just didn't fit her (Oma- we are German but it didn't fit her, Nanny, Nonny) or any of the out of ordinary names (Ma Bubbles, Bumpa- Bumpy for short, Anya, etc). She considered Granddeb, but didn't want to be called that because Jeff's mom's name is Deb so that would be confusing when we have kids, plus it just wasn't as cute as Lolly. So Lolly it is! We even had "We represent the LollyPop guild.... and we wish to welcom you to munchkinland" (from Wizard of Oz) playing on the speakers on the porch as people walked in (the song was my idea, haha... it just fits perfectly! They do represent the LollyPop guild and we now have munchkinland!), as well as "Lollipop, Lollipop oo la la Lollipop" playing.

It was a fun and exhausting day! Jeff and I went to bed at 9:30pm, which is rare for us! He was even asleep on the couch for an hour before that!

Alright, well back to my schoolwork. I could definitely use some prayers and encouragement as I try to get through these next few weeks, and also for a few more things both personal, and non-personal (like my knee). And now onto 100 posts!

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged! I don't know if I have enough people to tag anyone else, but we'll see and I'll at least follow through on my tag. :)

7 Random ThingsI've been tagged by Vintage Girl, who happens to have a pretty cool blog so check it out when you have a chance.

Ok... I'm not sure how many random facts I have about me so bare with me as I stumble through them. I'm not that interesting of a person.

1. I love buying books or receiving books. I just love love love book! I love the smell of them, the feel of them, the look of them, and I love what is in them (usually). I think I actually devoted a whole blog post to them a while back.

2. I'm OBSESSED with the New England Patriots. What makes that random? We live in PA... in the heart of Eagles and Steelers country. But I can't help myself. I love everything about them, and anything IN New England... I would move to MA if my family would move with me. It isn't just the Patriots though, I love football. I love watching it, and can talk it up with the best of them. I even have my own fantasy league (yes LEAGUE, not just team! I invite a bunch people to play in my league).

3. I used to be fluent in German, but lost most of my fluency from not using the language. I can get by but I'm not confident at all with the language.

4. I passed out on a roller coaster once. It was at Cedar Point in Ohio and it used to be the tallest roller coaster in the world, Millennium Force. Well, Jeff and I were on it and we were going down the hill and next thing I know I wake up feeling like I'm falling out of my seat and we are near the end of the ride. Apparently the G Forces were to much for me. I've only ever met one other person who's had this happen to them. It was scary.

5. I've been to all 48 of the continental states, plus most of Canada, Germany, Mexico, and Belize. My goal is to get to Alaska and Hawaii in my lifetime, plus more countries.

6. Fall is my favorite season. I love the cool, crisp weather, walking in the leaves, watching football, going to fairs, eating chicken corn soup, drinking hot chocolate, and wearing fall clothes. Winter is a close second to fall.

7. I love everything about the time between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day! It is just a wonderful feeling! (Plus I love presents! I love to give presents and get presents!).

OK... I don't have 7 people to tag (I really need to start commenting on more blogs!) so Here are a few:

I tag

Manalyzer

and

Katie



Oh... and as I wrote this Jeff popped popcorn, and brought in three bowls, but there are only two of us sitting here. Yup, the last bowl was for the PUPPIES! Spoiled dogs!

Not Me Monday

It was not me who slept in until 9:30 this morning.
It was not me who ate more than my fair share of the sugar cookies I made yesterday.
It was not me who then had ice cream for desert.
It was not me who is sitting here watching football instead of reading for class.
It was not me who left the dishes for Jeffery to take care of.

Eh... it wasn't an eventful day today so there isn't too much else to write.

Happy November!

Happy November! I am so happy it is November. I like October, but I like November better. It feels more like the holidays, which are my favorite time of year. I'm not really a Halloween fan. I think it is a really greedy holiday which circles around evil, but at the same time it is fun to see the little kids dressed up in costumes and seeing the excitement in their faces as you hand them a piece of candy. I can't wait to be able to take my own kids trick or treating some day.

Yesterday was kind of crazy though with trick or treaters. I can't say I wasn't warned, because I was. One of my neighbors warned me that apparently they bus kids in from the city into our neighborhood to trick or treat here (our county has it set up so that trick or treating is on different nights, not necessarily Halloween night). I looked up the schedule and thought that because the city had trick or treating the same night as us, that it would be less kids. NOPE! We had about 300 KIDS!!! And THAT was only for the 40 minutes I handed out candy until I pretty much ran out! Yikes! Next year I am going to have to buy more of the one kind of candy that had a lot in the bag. The kind of annoying part was that there were A LOT of teenagers. I don't think they should be allowed to trick or treat. Maybe next year I will buy carrots and candy and give the carrots out to the teenagers, and candy out to the kids. Haha! That is a sure way to get my house egged!

Today was Millersville's homecoming. Jeff and I went to meet my parents there for the alumni breakfast and the parade. It was a lot of fun! We came back later for the "fall fling" thing they had there. It was a bunch of cool stuff for kids, plus then a craft fair. I got a few things to decorate our house with for Christmas.

Anyway... in between the parade and the fall fling, we went to Jeff's work's family day (I am not going to say the name of the company he works at just for safety's sake). For those of you who don't know, Jeff works at a factory that produces ice cream, milk, iced tea, and lemonade. He works in the lab testing the products for bacteria, etc, to make sure they are safe before they are packaged. It was SO COOL to see where he works and to meet some more of his coworkers and see the places he talks about a lot. He also always brags about how good ice cream is right off the line compared to when you get it in the stores and BOY IS HE RIGHT! The fun thing is that the tourguide wasn't going to let us try any, but Jeff went and just took a half gallon of the line for me to try and then tourguide went and got some "liquid chip" on it (pretty much chocolate that when it freezes it turns into the mint chocolate chips). It was SO GOOD! MUCH BETTER than out of a carton from the stores. You guys don't know what you are missing!

My knee is still bothering me. I am going to try and get an appointment for Monday to see an orthopaedic surgeon. I am really hoping that it isn't anything serious, but I really have my doubts.

And I am going to leave you with a funny picture today:Maggie says: "Don't bother me! I'm working!" :)

A few prayers please

If you have a few minutes to spare, please pray for my aunt, who just had knee surgery, for a swift and as pain free as possible recovery.

Also... I could use some prayers. In 10th grade I had knee surgery for a few things that I tore. Well, yesterday I did something to that same knee and it is pretty painful. I am going to try to get in to see a doctor on Monday to find out what is going on. I really don't want to have ANOTHER surgery.

Not Me Monday

Well... I was too late to sign up on the site this week, but I am still going to do it this week. We'll consider it practice. ;)

I did not stay in pjs until after 1:00pm today.

I did not sit around all day basically doing nothing, even though I have plenty I could be doing.

I did not make brownies just so I could eat some of the batter, but play it off that I was really making them for Jeff.

I did not get lost on the way to my aunt's house TWICE because I can't follow the directions that I've written down.

I did not eat an ice cream cone that I didn't need, especially with 38 degree whether outside.

I did not not ignore an errand that I needed to run, passing it off saying I could always do it Wednesday.

I did not watch a mindless TV show tonight just because it makes me feel amazing about my life.

Ok... that was my first installment, but it was a practice. Next week, if I remember, I'll do another installment and this time make it official.

Gaurdian Angels

I have this picture I took while kayaking. It is actually in my blog banner, but I'll post it here too. I'm pretty skeptical about ghosts and stuff, but I took this while kayaking one day and it kinda creeps me out, but not really. I think of it as my guardian angel and in a way of my great grandmother who died when I was 17. I put a box around it and the arrows are pointing to the hair, the nose, and the chin. You can see the whole profile view of the face... forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, neck, hair. Here is the picture... can you see her? (If you want to see a bigger version of it, just click on it).

When I turned 16, my mom gave me a clip for in my car that says "Never fly faster than your guardian angel can fly". Well... after this picture I've decided to also come up with one for kayaking... "Never paddle faster than your guardian angel can swim".

Boy is life busy! I like it busy, and I like it slow. Last week was just insane. Every day was something new.

I subbed for the first day last Monday for a 3rd grade class. They were a very active class. They weren't the greatest behaviorwise, but the teacher warned me of that. I was pretty proud of how well I handled the day. It went SO FAST! I subbed on Friday also, this time for a 1st grade class. They were a great class. I can see myself teaching both grades. They were both very different, but there were aspects I liked about both.

I already blogged about my niece being born on Tuesday... here is a new picture of her:
Tuesday and Thursday I also had classes, and Wednesday I spent at the hospital visiting the baby and then reading to the kindergarten class I read to for my service learning project at school.

This weekend I had a baby day. :) I went out to eat with my mom and some good friends of our family and then went to visit Jaycie at home. Then on the way home I stopped by to see a friend of mine who had a baby a month ago... the only boy to be born recently. I didn't get a picture of him. :( But then Jeff and I went to visit a friend of ours that he grew up with that had a baby 3 weeks ago. She was precious. Here is a picture of Jeff holding her:
It just melts my heart seeing him holding a baby! :)

The puppies are definitely giving us a run for our money! This is the "surprise" I woke up to on Monday:


Yup... That WAS their dog bed. Jeff and my dad kept telling me we should put the dog bed in the cage so that they have something nice to lay on and so that they aren't cold at night. Well I did and THAT is what I woke up to. Jeff got to clean it up, haha.

Nothing else is really going on right now. School is very stressful for me and I am ready for November to be over so that I can just relax and not have to worry about school for a little while.

I'M AN AUNT!!!

My brother's girlfriend had their baby! She was born this morning at 6:00am on the nose. She is 6lbs 7oz, 19.5 inches long. Her name is Jaycie Lynn.

Yesterday they had a dr's appt to discuss induction, since she was due last Wednesday. They set up an induction appointment for Thursday at 4:00. Well, when she left the dr's office she started to feel contractions. She was 1.5 cm dialated at the appointment, but you can be dialated for a long time, and even have contractions for a while. Well, this was real. Chris got home from running an errand to her in tears. They went to the hospital and she was admitted at 3 cm dialated and 90% effaced. They called me down because they wanted me in the room. I came wearing my Patriot's jersey, ready to catch if I had to! Well, she wasn't progressing too much but was in pain so she asked for an epidural. They kicked me out of the room while they were giving it to her so I went and sat in the waiting room for an hour. Well, I left to go get Chris some hot chocolate at Turkey Hill and he called and said she was going to take a nap and he was probably going to too. So I decided to instead go home and sleep, seeing that I had been up since 5am and subbed for a difficult class that day. I was exhuasted. At 1:00, just after I fell asleep, Chris called to say they broke her water but that they weren't expecting her to deliver until somewhere between 8am and noon. I told Chris to call me when she was 8cm dialated. At 5:55am my phone rang and all I hear was "Its happening." I guess that means what I think it meant! We didn't think I would make it in time... and sure enough, 5 minutes later I get a phone call: "It happened". HAHA! Apparently they woke her up at 5:30am to check her and the baby's head was there ready to come out! 3 pushes and she was out!

Anyway... here's what you've been waiting for... the pictures!


(She looks like she is praying in the above picture).



Proud Mommy and Daddy!
Your's Truly! The proud Aunt Abbie! (Not a very good picture of me, but a good one of the baby!)

Dear Dogs and Cats

PET RULES

To be posted VERY LOW on the refrigerator door - snout height.

Dear Dogs and Cats,
The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate of food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years --canine or feline attendance is not mandatory.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough!

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets

1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it "fur"niture.)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

Remember: Dogs and cats are better than kids because they:

1. Eat less
2. Don't ask for money all the time
3 Are easier to train
4. Usually come when called
5. Never drive your car
6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends
7. Don't smoke or drink
8. Don't worry about having to buy the latest fashions
9. Don't wear your clothes
10. Don't need a gazillion dollars for college, and
11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

Ahhh Sunday

It is Sunday morning, well sort of. We are 6 minutes away from it being noon and I have a feeling by the time I post this blog it will be after noon. I am still sitting here in my comfy PJs with no desire to go change. Jeff's brother is coming by in a little to watch football so I am going to need to go change before he gets here. I am looking forward to a day of watching football and eating wings.

Nothing new is really happening. I got my first sub job for next Monday for a 3rd grade class. I am nervous because it is like starting a new job every time you sub and I hate that feeling. But I am also looking forward to it.

Since we moved there are things that I can not find ANYWHERE and one of those things is our cake cutting set from our wedding. I remember moving it. I remember it being here and showing it to someone after we moved the china in (we moved the china and dinnerware in during the week before we moved into the house so that it didn't break). I do not remember seeing it since and it is driving me absolutely nuts. I really want to display it in our curio cabinet. I hate not knowing where anything is! I am so glad that we are pretty much all settled otherwise.

I am watching Bridezillas right now and I have no idea how these girls can treat the people who are in their life and love them like they are treating them! It definitely goes to show that some people really take others for granted. I would never talk the way some of these girls talk to their fiances, husbands, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, extended family. It is just awful. I really appreciate my family.

OK... I'm going to go put off getting dressed some more, haha. And I was right... it is now 12:11pm. :)

Oh and GO PATRIOTS!

Surprise!

Jeff came to bed this morning and he told me he had a surprise for me. What the surprise REALLY was was that he had vacuumed the carpet and swept and mopped the wood floors! BUT this is what the puppies SURPRISED me with this morning:

Yes, that would be newspaper in and surrounding their crate. SOMEHOW they reached their noses through the crate to the newspaper piled on the bench next to them and pulled it through and had a field day! I left it there for Jeffery to see because this picture does not do what I saw justice. I really wish I would have taken the picture with the puppies IN the crate because they just made it all the more funnier.

Here is a picture of the "soccer ball" and "football" aka the soccer squish and football squish that we bought them, which they ruined in a matter of 15 minutes per ball. We thought the football would last a little longer, but no.
Needless to say, life is NEVER dull at our house! But here is an adorable picture of the puppies sleeping on the couch with Jeff (or in one of the puppies cases, ON Jeff!):

Prayers

I've been following a blog of a girl who posts on The Nest. She found out around 12 weeks into her pregnancy that there was little chance her son would make it after birth. She gave birth via c section today and her beautiful son was with her and her husband for 16 minutes before he went Home to be with God. Please pray for her and her husband for peace in this difficult time.

I've also been following another blog by a girl named Katie. Tomorrow she is scheduled to have a kidney transplant. Please pray for her and her sister, who will be donating a kidney to her. Katie lost her son a few months ago and after she lost him she found out it was due to a kidney disease and had to be on dialysis from then on. Please pray her body doesn't reject the kidney and that she and her sister have quick and painless healing!

Living for today

I read a blog today about living for today and it really hit home. I feel like I'm always living for later, for tomorrow, for the weekend, for next week, for next month, or next year. For the next big moment. But I need to realize that I need to live for right now. I need to live for today. I need to enjoy every moment I have, whether I am doing something eventful or taking out the trash. I don't want to look back when I am 50 and say "wait, where did my life go? When did all of this happen?". So now I resolve to live for every minute.

I've kind of been down lately and need to pick myself back up. We are needing to put something on hold for a few months and so it's really had me down. It is pretty difficult to deal with, especially after hoping for an entire year and then having to now wait after that year expired and nothing happened. I don't want to get too into it, but I could use some thoughts to help my mood and my attitude as others achieve what I am longing for and right now can't have.

I am really loving fall. I love the cool weather. I really love wearing jeans and sweaters. I am LOVING watching football. I am having fun walking the dogs with Jeffery every day. And the leaves are just beautiful!

Ok... I am off to read and then bed. Its nice to snuggle up under the covers and have my nose cold but my body warm. A friend of mine told me to update more so I will try to post more often now that I know someone reads my blog! Haha!

LAST DAY!

Today is the LAST DAY to register to vote in PA, and many places across the country.

This has to be the best ad convincing people to vote that I've seen in a while.


http://www. youtube. com/watch?v=0vtHwWReGU0

Today is the last day to register in PA. If you're not registered please consider it.
You can get all the info at

http://www. votespa. com/RegistertoVote/HowtoRegister/tabid/214/language/en-US/Default. aspx

If you care about your life, your kids, your family, your friends, your money and everything VOTE, but if you don't care then don't vote. But then you also have no right complaining.

Ugh Puppies!

The puppies have been driving me CRAZY today! It hasn't helped that the last four days we have had nothing but rain, so they can't be outside playing and running out their energy, and we can't even take them for walks without getting SOAKED. It looks like it won't rain for the next few days so hopefully the ground will dry out so they can play in the yard, but they WILL be going on walks. Today they have been fighting with each other all day, they are into everything, they jumped against the gate keeping them away from the stairs and scratched the wall, but the kicker was what I discovered as I was cooking dinner, just as my brother-in-law called. I thought they were licking the floor, like they strangely like to do. Nope! Instead they were having an appetizer to their dinner! They were pulling up and chewing on the floor in the kitchen! Gee whiz!!! We hate the floor and are going to be replacing it when we renovate our kitchen, but it needs to last us until we get the kitchen done. I guess they decided to help with the destruction process. Can't blame them though... it is ugly floor! Haha

Somewhere near our neighborhood someone was setting off fireworks tonight. We live near the semi-pro baseball stadium, so it could have been there. Anyway, the puppies heard the fireworks and were FLIPPING OUT. They were barking like CRAZY! Maggie was scared to death. She came to hide over near me and kept climbing on the heater behind the couch and running around all over the house with her tail between her legs. Poor thing was so scared. She is laying here next to me drooling, which she doesn't do so you can tell she is definitely nervous and stressed out. Poor thing. Good the fireworks stopped! She should settle down now.

Of course, she is laying next to me and of course while she is doing this she has AWFUL gas! I am going to suffocate sitting here! I don't have the heart to move her because she was so scared and she finally started to settle, but come on! This is awful!

Either way I hope they sleep through the night tonight because they made me SO TIRED!

Jeffery got them a soccerball the other day. (What else would he get them? He was a soccer player!) This is what is left of it:
Oh, and all the little specks on the floor? Yea, those are piece of the soccer ball. And I had just vacuumed the night before. I vacuumed again today and it is better, but mainly because we took the soccer squish (it really can no longer be called a ball. It doesn't resemble one at all) away from them.

Oh well. In all my frustration with them today they are still awesome and so full of love and fun to have! I was trying to wear off some of their energy by playing ball with them and I would throw the ball and normally they would bring it back to me. Well, today they were instead fighting every time they got to the ball. I kept saying "get your ball!". Well, instead they came, sat down in front of me and gave me their paw. Both of them. Crazy dogs, haha. I had to laugh. It was so funny that they both did it at the same time!

They are worth the frustration for sure. You have to laugh, even when they are being frustrating. :)

New Look

I got a blog header!!! A girl from the Nest offered to make one and I LOVE what she did! I love it! Here is her blog site. She designs them. I will hopefully be putting a link to her blog on my site so you can access it whenever, also.

Cars!

I hate them. Jeff's car went up. This time it needs a new head gasket and a new computer. His car seems to CONSTANTLY needs something these past few months. I just want to scream every time it goes up. This is going to cost around $1500, money that we CAN NOT afford to put into a car right now. We have some medical bills from my surgeries that started to come in again, we have the house stuff, school loans, etc. We needed a little bit in savings and now this. I feel like we can't get ahead. I feel SO GUILTY for being in graduate school and not able to work full time, and starting in the spring I won't be able to work at all as I finish my last year of school. I feel like it is my fault we are tight with money. But then I also feel selfish because I know we are very blessed. So many people are struggling a lot more than we are. We are blessed to have each other, and own a house, and have two adorable puppies. But goodness gracious can we please get ahead for once? Can we please have cars that work until we can afford to buy a new car? I feel selfish for posting this post, but I really needed to get it off my back.

Tonight I'm drinking a glass of wine.

September 22, 2007

One year ago today Jeff and I were married!!! I can't believe it has been a whole year! A lot has happened in a year, both good and bad. We had all of our married "firsts", like first married Christmas, etc. We bought our first house, adopted two puppies, I went through job and school changes, surgeries, but through EVERYTHING it still has been wonderful. it is great to know you have that person who will be there through it all and be there when you get home. I really did marry my absolute best friend. Marriage is WONDERFUL!

Here are a few pictures from our wedding:









I can't wait to eat the top of that cake today! I hope it survived in the freezer.



Happy anniversary honey!

Awesome!

A friend of mine told me to watch this video by Josh Groban at the Emmy's. I was definitely NOT expecting this! (For some reason it wouldn't let me post the video, so I'll just have to post the link. But you have to watch it!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7xD59eAnUc

Marshmallows!

I gave the puppies marshmallows the other day. It was hilarious! They didn't quite understand them. They put them in their mouths and chewed and chewed and chewed, and then spit the marshmallow out (or in some cases it slipped out of their mouth because it was slippery) and the marshmallow didn't look like it was chewed at all! I got it on video because It was just too funny not to record it. It doesn't have sound, but you can see it. Oh, and there is a part after Maggie finishes her marshmallow where the camera goes in and out, I was trying to portray success, instead it just looks terrible. I did it again with Kota. Sorry! Enjoy watching them try to eat marshmallows!

Lots and nothing

A lot has been happening, and at the same time nothing has been happening. We are just enjoying our house and our puppies and our few weeks with no major plans. It is nice.

I had an interview with the Spring Grove School District on Monday for substitute teaching, and they want me to sub! I have to do a few observations, and go through an orientation, and then they are ready to start calling me. I am so excited and so nervous!

Classes are getting busy now. They have a lot of reading and a lot of work in them, but I like my schedule. I have classes all day Tuesday and Thursday and that is it. Of course, I haven't started to sub yet, and I haven't started my field study yet so both of those will make my semester get very hectic, but that is ok. Busy means that the time will go fast, which means that this semester will end soon, haha. Although, looking ahead, I have a lot ahead of me for this semester.

Our first anniversary is on Monday! I am really looking forward to this weekend. We are just going to be spending the whole weekend together. Jeff finally has a weekend off, especially after working all weekend this past weekend. Saturday we are going out to dinner to the place we had our rehearsal dinner, and then going to the campground we got married in and had our reception at. My parents are going to be camping there, and they are going to dog sit for us while we go out to dinner, and then we are going to go back and sit around a campfire with them. I am looking forward to it. I was really hoping to stay in the cabin we stayed in on our wedding night, but it just isn't in the budget this year. :( Oh well. It will be such a blessing to spend the weekend with my husband.

Maggie and Kota are getting bigger by the minute. Kota really is in to digging right now, which is causing a headache for us. There was a few days where all we had was rain. We got so tired of the dogs being inside and underfoot that we let them outside for a little while. This is what Jeffery came carrying in:

(She had more on her face, but turned her head just as I took the picture, so I didn't get how much was covering her face.)

And this is what our bathtub looked like (Notice the mud on the wall!):Needless to say we couldn't wait until we had some dry weather for a while. We need to find a way to break her of her digging. Our yard has HORRIBLE holes in it. Any suggestions?

I went to visit my students from last year today. I miss them terribly, but it was almost a little closure. The teacher and paras that are with them definitely don't seem comfortable with the kids yet, or in the school even. I miss working with those guys every day. It was so nice to see some of the people I had gotten to know last year. I am hoping to go back again to visit once more, but that depends if the teacher is OK with it. She seemed a little intimidated that I was there, although I tried to be as nice and understanding as I possibly could. It was just interesting that they were trying to explain to ME about some of their behaviors. I dealt with those behaviors every day last year, so I know, haha. I know that one doesn't focus well, or that another gets overly excited. But they are learning that now, and I really really hope that in the process they learn the kids' personalities too, because they haven't learned them yet at all. Oh well. It's their class now. But I still think of them as my kids... :/

Oh well... I'm heading to bed now. I have a long day of classes tomorrow. But then it is the weekend for me... and probably the last 4 day weekend I'll have for a while. Oh well. That is ok! At least I'll get money!

Yesterday's win...

...feels like a loss. :( GET WELL SOON TOM BRADY!

And to the Jets fans, and the rest of the fans around the league who were CHEERING because he got hurt... how sick of you to cheer because someone got so hurt that they can't play for the rest of the year. This is a human being. Think outside of the game of football. We have a human being who now is so injured he has to have surgery to repair his leg. How pathetic to cheer because he got hurt.

GO PATRIOTS!

I would die for that

It's in my blood

I love buying new school supplies. I love the smell of the paper, and there is nothing like cracking open a new notebook and writing in it for the first time with a new pen or pencil.

I also love buying new books. I love to smell the pages, and touch them with my fingers. I love the feel of the glossy pages if they are children's books, or the smooth pages if they are novels. I love looking at the pictures and the covers and just reading the books.

My mom says it is in my blood. She is a teacher, and many of my other family member's are teachers. I am in grad school to teach. They all love the same things. There is nothing like it to me. It is better than buying new clothes or new sheets or anything. I just love books. Today I had to buy a lot of them for one of my classes. It was so fun being in the bookstore (although not fun when I found they didn't have many of the books I was looking for... but that means I get to buy more books when they are ordered in!).

I know, this was a boring post... but I just love books and new school supplies... it is in my blood.

Awesome weekend!

This weekend was fantastic! My grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and our family planned a surprise party for them... well more like a surprise weekend for them. We threw it for them at the camp they met at. It was so awesome! First there was the luncheon, which was just family. They were so shocked! My mom and dad made a slideshow for them, and my aunt made a double wedding ring cake which looked just like their rehearsal dinner cake. There were many people there that surprised them because they didn't think they would be there because of health reasons.

Then we surprised them by telling them that starting at 2:00 we would be having a drop in party for them and people from all of the churches my grandfather was a minister in, as well as friends, were going to be coming. It was just fantastic. There were a lot of people that came and it was a lot of fun.

After all of the festivities, we (my aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents, cousins, and us of course) all stayed at the lodge in the rooms. It was so nice just to spend the night hanging out, talking, eating pizza, blowing up balloons and putting them in my grandparents bathroom, sitting around a campfire, and many other fun things. This morning we had breakfast and then went to see the old part of the camp (that is still used!) to see where my grandparents each stayed when they were there, and all of the places they talked about (like Vesper Hill, and the dining hall). It was very moving and fantastic! It was so emotional to see my grandfather (who has trouble walking) walk up a hill to go to Vesper Hill, where they used to walk up and have their meditations and worship services at camp (it was a church camp). He also said the dining hall hasn't changed a it in 53 years! We also went to check out the cabins that they stayed in. My grandfather apparently carved his name in the cabin and we wanted to find it. We did! It was really cool!

My grandparents were so appreciative and were so surprised about the whole weekend. It was so nice to spend such an extended period of time with the whole family. I am sad it is over so fast!

Incidentally, on their anniversary, which was on Saturday, it was also two years ago that day that Jeff and I were engaged. And now soon we will be celebrating our first anniversary! It is wonderful to be surrounded by so many strong marriages. Both sets of grandparents have been married 50+ years, my parents have been married 26 years, and many of my aunts and uncles have been married 15+ years, or have been in extremely long term relationships that have just been married recently. It is awesome!

The Impotence of Proofreading

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjhOBiSk8Gg

The the impotence of proofreading
By Taylor Mali
http://www.taylormali.com/

Has this ever happened to you?
You work very horde on a paper for English clash
And then get a very glow raid (like a D or even a D=)
and all because you are the word's liverwurst spoiler.
Proofreading your peppers is a matter of the the utmost impotence.

This is a problem that affects manly, manly students.
I myself was such a bed spiller once upon a term
that my English teacher in my sophomoric year,
Mrs. Myth, said I would never get into a good colleague.
And that's all I wanted, just to get into a good colleague.
Not just anal community colleague, because I wouldn't be happy at anal community colleague.
I needed a place that would offer me intellectual simulation,
I really need to be challenged, challenged dentally.
I know this makes me sound like a stereo,
but I really wanted to go to an ivory legal collegue.
So I needed to improvementor gone would be my dream of going to Harvard, Jail, or Prison
(in Prison, New Jersey).

So I got myself a spell checker
and figured I was on Sleazy Street.

But there are several missed aches
that a spell chukker can't can't catch catch.
For instant, if you accidentally leave a word
your spell exchequer won't put it in you.
And God for billing purposes only
you should have serial problems with Tori Spelling
your spell Chekhov might replace a word
with one you had absolutely no detention of using.
Because what do you want it to douch?
It only does what you tell it to douche.
You're the one with your hand on the mouth going clit, clit, clit.
It just goes to show you how embargoone careless clit of the mouth can be.

Which reminds me of this one time during my Junior Mint.
The teacher read my entire paper on A Sale of Two Titties
out loud to all of my assmates.
I'm not joking, I'm totally cereal.
It was the most humidifying experience of my life,
being laughed at pubically.

So do yourself a flavor and follow these two Pisces of advice:
One: There is no prostitute for careful editing.
And three: When it comes to proofreading,
the red penis your friend.