Sunshines and Creeps

• Creep to me. Has it seriously been a month since I've blogged?! I'm so busy trying to keep up with everyone else's blog posts that I don't seem to ever get around to my own. 
• Creep to google for getting rid of Reader. I seriously have no idea how to subscribe to feeds anymore. I don't want 1500 blog posts coming separately to my email each day. How are people dealing with this?
• Sunshine to THIS WEEKEND! My whole family and I are going to the MN Twins game tomorrow. They're playing the Indians (who now have one of my favorite players, Nick Swisher) and my entire family is going. We're talking my parents, brother (and family), aunt and uncle, their two kids and their families and my grandparents. We are a group of 18 people plus two buns in the oven (not this oven, it's simmering on preheat for awhile again). It is going to be a blast. I agonized over G's new Twins gear at Once Upon A Child for 30 minutes on Wednesday. If you're ever looking for great cheap(er) sports attire check yours out. I am now realizing that I don't actually have any Twins garb myself. Last year I wore a Sioux sweatshirt, so did Ross. Maybe I'll see if Target has anything on clearance.
• Creep to never getting to the gym but still eating like crap. All my hard work during my pregnancy to keep myself in check has gone down the tubes. Will power please come back again! Also requested is motivation, you've been missing lately too. The only time I seem to have to go to the gym is after G goes to bed. That is when I do laundry and get to actually see my hubby. And then I usually choose to catch up on my TV shows over going to the gym. Something has to change! When the weather was nice I would forgo dinner (until later) and go on a nice 3 mile walk with G but now it has been way too hot for our little guy to spend an hour in his stroller. So, boo. Next week I'll get myself in gear. I swear.
• Sunshine to getting to see Kristen and Michelle this week. It was an impromptu gathering at my house and it was seriously so much fun! I don't get out much (ok, not at all) so it was really nice seeing friends again. It was great catching up on all Michelle's new adventures in life and with Kristen's too but also important was a nice good chat about BB15 which is just out of control this season. I love it. I really want to see Amanda win it all. Kristen brought her boy Caleb and he is a busy toddler, which is a great reminder for what I'll be in for. I can't wait to learn all about trucks and all forms of transportation. I hope G is as adventurous as Caleb. It also showed me how much baby proofing I need to do, like get those wine glasses out of a child's reach.
• Creep to my new yummy drink being a bad idea to drink while nursing, AND finding that out AFTER I drank way too much of it. 
• Creep to G growing so fast. I feel like my baby isn't a baby anymore. This week he started to really be able to sit on his own and even sat up in bed twice! To be fair he was more reclined than lying flat on his back but it still shocked me, that's for sure. Today daycare told me that he's sitting in the baby seat on her swing set. Baby G I love watching you learn and grow but I feel like the days are going by so fast now and I barely get to see you. You're already om 9 month clothing and it doesn't seem to be too large, hopefully you slow down in that department too, we need to get a little more use out of these clothes mister!
  

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to Friday Creep to working over the weekend to start trying to make up some maternity leave time.

Sunshine to an absolutely wonderful baby shower last weekend. I had so much fun with all my ladies and they all spoiled baby J. I will post a picture of some of the loot when I get a chance!

Sunshine to Kris for staying late and taking a few informal maternity pictures for Ross and I after the shower. Ross and I are horrible at taking photos and even worse subjects.

Sunshine to making a trip to Fargo to watch Ross's 6yo nephew play hockey last Sunday. He was so excited to have us there and you could tell he was trying to show off the whole game. It worked too because he scored 4 or 5 goals, including one from their own net while he was the goalie.

Sunshine to running into Kris and her whole fam at the Fargo mall while I ran  in to grab some food and moisturizer on our way out of town! Their family is so nice and so much fun. They're good people!

Creep to getting back on Sunday and having to go straight to a two and a half hour meeting then to Ross's work Christmas party. It was a long day and my body was killing me by the end of the night which caused a major meltdown on Monday. Things have definitely gotten brighter since then.

Sunshine to getting closer to being done with Baby J's room. We will hang the artwork tonight and hopefully get it all ready to go. I also washed his first load of laundry last night with the second getting done tonight! I realized that I definitely have too many clothes for him but I don't think I am quite as overboard as I thought I was.

Lastly, SUNSHINE to February being here already/finally! It is BABY MONTH! I can't wait to meet my little man and snuggle him to pieces! On a side note I also can't wait for him to make his debut as he took up residence in my ribs again last night which caused me ridiculous pain and rendered me unable to sleep after about 4:30. This is "his move" He is nice and low all night until bedtime and then he wiggles his way ALL the way to the top of my uterus and snuggles his butt right up there.

The guy loves to snuggle obviously but I wish he would wait until he comes out to do anymore of it. He is already not listening to Mom, clearly he is my child.

Sunshines and Creeps - Tuesday Style

• Sunshine to getting back to the gym. It has helped my back immensely. 
• Creep to being so huge that I get the sympathy eyes from all strangers I come across when I tell them I still have three weeks to go. I am getting huge. 
• Creep to swelling starting to set in as well. My feet are flattening out and my legs/ankles are starting to get very puffy.
• SUNSHINE to the snowstorm avoiding us here in GF. I can't believe we got so lucky. It stayed nice here one more day and we were able to take Cooper dog to doggie daycare to get some exercise and his nails trimmed up.
• Creep to the cold returning tomorrow. Oh well, soon it will be spring, which is my favorite time of year!
• Sunshine to my wonderful shower this weekend. I wish I would've taken more pictures with everyone but I was having such a good time I didn't even think of it until almost everyone left! Short (practically pictureless) post to come.
• Sunshine to Kristen taking some informal maternity pictures for Ross and I. I just wanted some photos to remember this time by. The poor girl got a real taste of what it was like taking our wedding photos. We aren't the most photogenic couple. :) I can't believe it is the last three weeks of just my hubby and I and I am cherishing it! 
• Sunshine to getting the nursery almost all set up. Should have it ready to go this week, fingers crossed!

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to Dr. appointments :) Especially when they go well. We do have to get a follow up ultrasound to check on a dark spot but the Dr. wasn't worried so I am just excited to see our bambino again next week!

Sunshine to Ross having to get his flu shot and tetanus/whooping cough shots today. Paying it forward, I'm so glad it was his turn!

Cooper is clearly flying in this picture.
He misses Sophie too!

Creep to not sleeping anymore, ever. This morning I tried to embrace it and went to the gym to do a little water walking and stationary biking! It was great at the time but now I'm paying for it...

Sunshine to seeing my family this weekend! I can't wait! We are finally bringing Sophie dog home after a two month vacation with my dad and then he comes up on Monday to help us finish our garage HALLELUJAH! 

Sunshine to hanging out with Ross's family tonight.

Creep to this weather, it is terribly cold, windy and rainy.

Sunshine to election season winding down, I can't wait to be done with the campaign ads.

Maybe he will look like this little cutie
I would totally marry that guy!

Sunshine to another week closer to meeting Baby J!

Prepping for baby is hard work...

 Sunshine to Kristen's days off from teaching because I have been texting her like mad with my questions, concerns and thoughts about being a mom, and weather or not I can do this! A girl just needs a little advice and lot of pep talks to get through pregnancy!

Sunshine to seeing Steve Bushemi at the gym,
clearly he was in disguise with the hat, smart!

Sunshine and Creep to all the awesome TV shows on right now! I am loving it all. New favorites include 666 Park Avenue and Homeland. It is hindering my motivation to all my housework that I have to do though!

Sunshine to Widman's Caramel Apple time! Best part of fall if you ask me :) (That and wearing sweatshirts for jackets.) I made a trip down there for one, and left with four plus a box of chippers (chocolate covered potato chips) and a couple other chocolates, bad preggo!

Creep to a flat tire on a Monday, double whammy! Plus I really am saving up for a new car so it has hurt my pocketbook (and will to live really) to have to put on four new tires on my car in the last three months. PS I didn't take this well at all. There was screaming at Ross involved and perhaps blaming him somehow...Some days I feel so bad for the guy.

Overall a really great week :)

Cooper is watching Ross change the tire,
he was very confused.

Manic Monday

I'm going to try to post more, and my attempt to start that is with a new weekly Monday post. And because I am a product of the 80s, I'm going to call it Manic Monday, so I can dance to the song in my head.

This week my schedule isn't too bad! When I say that I usually know that I am missing something on my calendar and things will pop up before I know it!

Tuesday we are going to trek down south an hour and see my best friend Kristen's new baby boy, Caleb! SO exciting! I am also hoping for a little tutti frutti ice cream while there!

Sunday I am signing up for new member orientation at church. I'm sure more will come up

throughout the week but that's what I know about for now!

This weekend wasn't too exciting. We made a trip to one of our favorite restaurants that is a sushi/thai place in town, YUMMY. I can't get enough curry, seriously. Then it was the start of another AWESOME SIOUX hockey season. We got season tickets this year, so I am very excited. They were playing Regina this weekend for an exhibition game. Pretty big blowout!

Sunday was a little less exciting, I cleaned out the fridge and took Cooper to the dog park. Then I was officially a football widow for the first time! Ross didn't make it home until 11pm and I was fast asleep!

Happy Monday everyone!

Sunshine and Creeps

Today is my first friday as a married lady!

Time for sunshines and creeps!

Sunshine to BEING MARRIED! - I wasn't sure if it would feel different or if it would kind of be the same as before but it feels GREAT! I love being married so far. It just feels like we are a family now, there is just something about those vows that are so important.

Sunshine to getting our certified marriage license! I've used my lunch hours to switch things over ever since! I just need to do a few more credit cards and my driver's license. They, unfortunately, were closed the last portion of the week this week. We already did our banking and my social security cards!

Sunshine to a wonderful wedding weekend! It was a great weekend to get married in the great outdoors, minus a few bee stings, more on that later.

Sunshine to a great mini-moon! We went to Ross's parents' lake cabin and had a wonderful time. We went into town and did some shopping and lots of eating!

Sunshine to all of our wedding party making it to the wedding. Even my 9 month pregnant matron-of-honor! I can't believe she was able to make it! It was such a wonderful surprise.

You won't hear any creeps from me this week! It has been great!

Sunshines and Creeps for a great week!

Happy Friday, this one seems like a LONG time coming. It has been our fiscal year end at work so we've been super busy around work lately!

So here I go with this week's sunshines and creeps:

• Sunshine to finally booking a caterer - gosh I thought we would be picking up subway on the big day to feed people. It looks like we will actually have a pretty nice dinner instead.
• Sunshine to getting the favors ordered!
• Sunshine to having the girls order their bridesmaids dresses
• Sunshine to finding some great shoes for Kristi's wedding (and getting my dress in for alterations finally)!
• SUNSHINE TO SUNSHINE!
• Sunshine to peonies on my desk from a co-worker. they're my favorite!
• Sunshine to the long weekend, even if Ross has to work, it will be nice to sit at home with the dogs!
• Creep to Ross having to work :(
• Sunshine to going down to Fargo tonight to look at suits and maybe seeing Kristen and Josh!
• Sunshine to Independence Day in AMERICA!
  
• Sunshine to fireworks.
• Sunshine to the farmer's market
• Sunshine to Kristi's bachelorette weekend at her lake last weekend. Super fun!
• DOUBLE Sunshine to some quality time with my man this weekend!
  

Sunshines & Creeps

I'm going to try to post more...I swear.

I thought I would play along with Kristen's Sunshines and Creeps. I started this on Friday but my boss came in and said we could all leave at 3:30 so I never got around to finishing it! SUNSHINE to that!

Sunshine to lunch with my co-workers today at Al's Grill and to picking up a catering menu for possible wedding options!

Creep to the Sioux loss last night...heartbreaking to say the least. I think Coach Hakstol is cursed.

Sunshine to going to Green Mill last night with Ross, Jenny, Bonnie & Derek. It was fun to be out watching the game, even though it was devastating.

Creep to the Sioux loss. I mean really. It was very sad.

SUNSHINE to picking my wedding dress! I got to meet my mom, aunt, cousin, her two daughters, and Kristen in Fargo to do some wedding stuff and I made an appointment to look at dresses, even though I didn't think I was going to get one because I already bought two online. Well I fell in love with one (two actually) and one looked amazing on. So the two are going back and this one is going to the cleaners and alterations lady! I cannot wait for the big day so I can finally show Ross!!!!!!!!!!

Sunshine to getting Tutti Frutti in Fargo, Creep to not having one in GF!

Sunshine to getting some very beautiful flowers from my hunny bunny today at work!

I must also say Sunshine to not many creeps for last week, it was a great week!


Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Decoding the 12 Days of Christmas

via

Merry Christmas everyone, just in case I don't get a chance to write again before we leave for Hawaii!!! I will think of you all while I'm basking in the sun. Then it is off to the party of the year, my friend Kristen's wedding!!! Maybe we'll see Josh and Fergie there, they're spending the holidays in Fargo, ND.

I thought this was very interesting. It decodes the 12 days f Christmas song and give the meaning behind each of the true love's gifts - it also finally reveals who our true love actually is!

Catholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829 were prohibited by law to practice their faith either in public or private. It was illegal to be Catholic until Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England in 1829.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. In short, it was a coded-message, a memory aid. Since the song sounded like rhyming nonsense, young Catholics could sing the song without fear of imprisonment. The authorities would not know that it was a religious song.

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something significant to the teachings of the Catholic faith. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help Catholic children learn their faith. The better acquainted one is with the Bible, the more these interpretations have significance.

The song goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…"
The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn’t refer to an earthly suitor, but it refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. i.e. the Church.

First Day:
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them. The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus on the tree of the Cross.

Second Day:
The "Two Turtle Doves" refers to the Old and New Testaments.

Third Day:
The "Three French Hens" stand for faith, hope and love—the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (1 Corinthians 13).

Fourth Day:
The "Four Calling Birds" refers to the four Evangelists who wrote the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Fifth Day:
The "Five Golden Rings" represents the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Sixth Day:
The "Six Geese A-Laying" is the six days of Creation.

Seventh Day:
The "Seven Swans A-Swimming" refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord.

Eigth Day:
The "Eight Maids A-Milking " reminded children of the eight Beatitudes listed in the Sermon on the Mount.

Ninth Day:
The "Nine Ladies Dancing" were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control.

Tenth Day:
The "Ten Lords A-Leaping" represents the Ten Commandments

Eleventh Day:
The "Eleven Pipers Piping" refers to the eleven faithful apostles.

Twelfth Day:
The "Twelve Drummers Drumming" were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles’ Creed: belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, made man, crucified, died and arose on the third day, that he sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.

So, the next time you hear "The Twelve Days of Christmas" consider how this otherwise non-religious sounding song had its origins in keeping alive the teaching of the Catholic faith.

Handwriting Game

Kristen at Now You Know tagged me in a handwriting game (OVER A MONTH AGO!) and I am finally up for air and blogging again so here it goes!

I am not especially fond of my handwriting and would love to improve on it but it is really hard to do when it is such a part of you and such a habit, someday I will take the time to improve it, but for now I will stick to typing and using my scribbles, after all don't you expect that your doctors and lawyers have illegible handwriting?!

Write down the following, snap a pic, and post it!

1. Name/Blog Name

2. Left-handed, right-handed, or both

3. Favorite letters to write

4. Least-favorite letters to write

5. Write: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

6. Write in CAPS: CRAB, HUMOR, KALEIDOSCOPE, PAJAMAS, GAZILLION

7. Favorite song lyrics

8. Tag 7 people

9. Any special note or drawing

Fighting Sioux

The Fighting Sioux Hockey team is the greatest thing in Grand Forks (except for Ross, of course). Hands down. The Sioux bring this town together like none other. On game days you are hard pressed to find someone who isn't wearing Sioux gear and who hasn't talked about the game at least once that day.

A couple weeks ago Kris and her boyfriend Josh came up for a game with Jenny and Quinn. They had rockin' tickets. Ross and I scrounged up a couple tickets too. Which is the great thing about people here, someone is always looking to get rid of a few, and are usually generous enough not to charge you for them.

All the boys had one too many drinks, but Ross could barely keep his eyes open by the end of the game. This was actually a pretty big game and the Sioux were winning almost the whole game until...
They scored, and tied it up, while we were trying to take a picture, which ended up like that. Nice one Ross.

I made him try again.

Happy Birthday to Me :)

The most delicious thing on the planet. Homemade ice cream!

Yesterday was my birthday :) I will not be disclosing how old I turned (even though Ross's daughter blabbed it to everyone she saw). I really wish I could stop time. That is truly my biggest pet peeve in life, getting older. I wish I could stop and start time on my command, if someone knows that secret please share it with me.

Every year for my birthday my family makes me homemade ice cream. It is by far my most favorite thing on the planet. I wish I could eat it all day and all night but sadly, like most of the good things in life, it is horrible for you and must be enjoyed in moderation (and by moderation I mean eat as much as I can but only one time per year).

I actually ate the birthday ice cream the day after Christmas because my family was all going home the next day. So, lucky me, I got to celebrate my Birthday with my family that day and with Ross and his family on my actual birthday! They got me a Diary Queen cake, which is my other favorite birthday treat!! (If you can't tell ice cream is definitely my guilty pleasure)

Because my birthday is on New Years Eve I am fortunate enough to convince the people I care about to stay up past our normal bedtimes and celebrate me all night long. Just kidding, but seriously I love that no matter what I get to stay up late on my birthday and that it doesn't take much convincing to get other people to do it too! I also love birthdays because it forces my friends and family to call me (or at the very least text or facebook me) and I love talking to them under whatever pretense I have to! I also got the best shout out ever on the internet from my BFF Kristen on her blog. She really is the best. I couldn't make it through life without her.

After dinner and cake Ross and I came home and snuggled on the couch and watched a movie. Probably my ideal night for any occasion but getting to do it on my birthday and getting to share the special moment of the turning of the new year with him made me blissfully happy (the champagne helped too). We watched the Hangover by the way, and it was totally the perfect New Years shenanigan movie for the night.

I will be sad to see 2009 go because it brought me a whole lot of happiness in finding love and whole lot of friendship but I welcome 2010 and all the challenges and joy that are sure to come.

My new year's resolution is to be happy and not to let myself get in the way of that, which can be a little too easy every once and awhile.

I hope 2010 brings you all the happiness in the world.

My Borrowed (stolen) Christmas Tradition

One of my BFFs Kristen writes a blog. http://tiny.cc/KsBlog452 It rocks. Check it out. I am always impressed with her writing and her entertaining life. I am also incredibly jealous of her ability to be Suzie homemaker. She has a great eye for decorating, fun and unique craft ideas and can cook/bake with the best of them! She started a tradition with her bf to create an ornament together for each Christmas they are together with something they did that year that was special. http://tiny.cc/KsOrnament Super cute! So of coarse, I copied it. Ross and I decided before Thanksgiving that we would buy each other ornaments that reminded us of each other to get our shared collection going. Well, I realized this probably wouldn't be sustainable year to year. Enter Kristen's tradition. Like I said, I stole it. She is definitely a genius with this one. It is certainly a lot more fun to make an ornament together than try to shop for one alone. It is also kind of fun talking about all the possible themes we could use for the ornament. After the discussion though, I kind of copped out and just did a "First Christmas". However, I love it and it was a blast. I can't wait for next year!