Our children

I sometimes wonder how people live their lives without animals.  I've had at least one animal for my entire life.  They are apart of who I am and I cannot imagine not having them around.  Josie and Bear, left, have been together for over 2.5 years. They are apart of my family!

According to Forbes: Ten ways to live longer "Animal lovers will be happy to know that having a pet can add years to your life, as well. One of the first studies in this arena, which appeared in "Public Health Reports" in 1980, showed that the survival rates of heart attack victims who had a pet were 28 percent higher than those of patients who didn't have an animal companion. "The health effects seem to be very real and by no means mystical," says Alan Beck, director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University. "Contact with companion animals triggers a relaxation response," he says." "

There is a reason that so many "old ladies" have a lot of cats! haha, I'm just joking, though maybe it is true.

Anyway, I've never not had a pet and I would never go without having one.  Though their life spans are very short in comparison to human life spans, they are still so important. 

Josie loves to get into my baskets when I'm trying to fold clothes!

And Allie loves to get into everything, don't mind the mess that is my entry way....

I guess I'm just lucky that I found a man that loves animals maybe more just as much as I do!

This was Allie's favorite spot as a Kitten, and she still is a Daddy's girl at the ripe age of 1.5 :-).  Every morning she gets up with him, follows him to the shower, patiently waits for him to finish getting ready and then leaps from the ground to his shoulders to lay down so that he can pet her.

With that said, I think animals do help relieve stress and I think every child should get to know the joy of having a pet to call their own.  It ws so important to me and taught me a lot of great things as a child.  I learned about ownership, patients, caring, responsibility, life and death.  It's definatly a great addition to my life and I will forever be an animal-lover.

As of today

I'm officially thinking we skipped fall and went right to winter.  I left the house this morning, it was 37 degrees, yes 37! In the beginning of October!!!  They're calling for snow flurries for this weekend! I.Can.Not.Believe.It!  I am so sad about this!  What happend to my month + of wonderful fall weather?!?!? 

On another note:  Since the weather will be so cold and crappy this weekend, I'm thinking throwing on some homemade soup in the crockpot & baking some cookies!  I've got loads of homework to do, which I'm not excited about, but at least I'm not missing out on any good weather! 

We have NO plans for this weekend.  Did you hear that?? NO PLANS!  This may be a first.... Heres the things that I may or may not do this weekend:

• Cook 2 delicious crock-pot soups
• Bake cookies
• Do a bit of Christmas shopping (after all, it does feel like winter, why not)
• Homework, not the most exciting part of the weekend.
• Cuddle up on the couch with my hubby and watch some movies.
• Go to dinner on Saturday night.  We got a 20% off for our anniversary and I am bound and determined to use it! haha
• Relax
• Catch up on sleep
• Maybe treat myself to a pedicure 
• Stop by the farmers market one last time for the year!
  

That sounds about right for this weekend.... I'll let you know how much of this hard stuff I get accomplished!
On another note:  I still have to do laundry and dishes, but that didn't sound like anything fun to post about!

Have a wonderful Friday and a fantastic weekend everyone!

Random Thoughts

So, this post will be very random, try to stick with me!

Does a certain smell or season ever trigger memories?

Today, its very chilly, very fall like.  Fall reminds me of the day my husband too me on our first date.  It was back in October of 06' and it was a chilly fall day.  For some reason, when it gets just a bit chilly, the smell of the cool, crisp air reminds me of that day so well.  It brings back memories of a first true love and of happiness.  I suppose maybe it's because this is a good memory that my senses always remind me of it around this time of year.  It's lovely.

It is my favorite season, mostly because it means the holidays are right around the corner, I can look forward to good food, family time and laying in front of the fireplace at my parents.  It also reminds me of apples, pumpkins, beautiful leaves and great fall TV.

Anyway, just wanted to share that with all of you, since I know you have nothing better to do than listen to me ramble on.

Tonight Grey's & Private Practice are back on!  I'm pretty excited.

Have any of you started Christmas shopping?  I've found a few things on ETSY that will be perfect for Christmas gifts!  Other than that, I really haven't started.

I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year, for the 3rd time.  Last year the meal was even better than the year before.  I'm hoping the trend continues!  I probably basted my turkey 75 times to make sure that it didn't dry out on me.  How embarrassing when I have people traveling up to 240 miles to be with us for the holiday!  I'm excited, it's my favorite holiday and I get to host it for my family and for my in-laws.  That is, if everyone can make it.

In other news, I'm feeling pretty blah about my job right now.... I think it's the fact that somethings aren't going just the way I like and the fact that I'm soooooo close to being able to have my license as a Professional School Counselor. I cannot wait until the day that I'm doing what I want to be doing.  I.Just.Cannot.Wait.

I also have baby fever, but that's a story for another day :-)  No, we aren't pregnant, but hopefully we'll have a baby within the next year or so.  Only God and Time will tell.

Have a wonderul Thursday and remember, Tomorrow's FRIDAY!! :-)

Our Anniversary Weekend

This weekend was perfect!  It gave us time to relax and just enjoy each others company without any distractions!  Before I tell you more about our weekend, let me catch you up to speed.

It was my husbands job to plan parts of this weekend because I planned most of our wedding.  Let's just say that he didn't disappoint. I cannot believe that we have been married for over a year now!  It just seems so odd.  Does that mean we are no longer newlyweds?  How long are you newlyweds??  Anyway, without further-a due, let me tell you about our Anniversary Weekend!

Friday:

We both took off today so that we could use this as a travel day.  We headed to my hometown to drop off our puppy at my parents, then went out for Mexican food with my mom.  Then we were on our way to Wisconsin to spend the night with my in-laws.  We went out for dinner that night with my in-laws, my brother in-law and his girlfriend.  It was so nice for everyone to get together for a change.  It doesn't happen very often.  After talking for about an hour after dinner, we called it a night.

Saturday:

We got to sleep in, which was amazing!  We woke up to spend some more time with my in-laws and had breakfast, which was delicious!  After breakfast, we spent a few more hours just hanging out before we decided to get on the road.  We arrived in Gurnee, IL around 2:30ish.  Jesse took me shopping at Gurnee Mills, which if you haven't been there before is a HUGE mall.  It took us about 4 hours to walk one direction in the mall and we only stopped at about 10 stores.  After shopping till we dropped, we headed back to our hotel to check in and get settled.  Jesse booked us a 2 night stay at Key Lime Cove Waterpark resort.  It was so fun!  Our hotel had it's own whirlpool and when we walked into the room, there was a dozen red roses waiting for me! :-) Yes, mr engineer himself got me the most impractical gift for our anniversary because he knew that I would enjoy it so much! I loved my flowers!  We then got ready for dinner and headed to a Japanese Steakhouse (sorry no pics).  Apparently, when its the slow season for 6 Flags, everything else is slow because we were the only ones at the restaurant!  It was delicious though and our cook was hilarious.  We went back to the hotel room to enjoy our whirlpool and a bottle of wine.  It was fabulous!

Sunday:

We slept in, went to Cracker Barrel for a delicious breakfast and then back to our hotel room to hang out.  We then ventured to the water park at our hotel, which was not as fun as we thought, but very cool for younger kids.  We then went to our hotel room to get some more use out of our relaxing Jacuzzi.  After relaxing, we got ready and went to The Rainforest Cafe for a light lunch before heading to 6 Flags Great America's Fright Fest.  We had so much fun going on all of the rides.  The best part was, the longest we waited in line was about 5 minuets!  We got to go on every ride we wanted to, went through a haunted forest and just spent some quality time together.  We also got a caricature done which was pretty fun.

Hubby playing an intense game at Cracker Barrel!

Our drawing and my beautiful flowers.  If you look closely, hubby put our rings in the picture too! :-)

Monday:

We headed back home today.  What a wonderful weekend.  I couldn't have imagined it better myself.  My husband did a great job with the surprises and we were just able to relax and spend some quality time together.  Thanks Jesse, for making this 1st Anniversary amazing!!! I love you! :-)

Bowl for Kids Sake

Hello everyone!

This year, I am participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters annual Bowl for Kids Sake.  This is our most important fundraiser of the year.   I'm writing to ask if any of you would be willing to donate to this cause.  It would be such a huge help if you would donate to this event.  Even just $5.00 will help me achieve my goal of $200.00, because every little bit helps.  Due to funding constraints, we do not have an online donating website at this time, specific to this event, but you can read more about Bowl for Kids Sake at our website: www.iowabigs.org

If you are not able to donate at this time, I completely understand.  Thank you for your time!

If you are interested in donating:

You can send checks of any denomination made out to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa

Please send checks to:
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Attn: Kayla Crane
2530 University Ave. Suite 8
Waterloo, IA 50701


Thank you so much for your support!

P.S.  There will be a small giveaway to a random winner.  Just comment that you sent in a donation and I will put your name in the contest to win something fun!! The drawing will be held on 10/19/09 so send them in as soon as you can!  All donations received by/on the 19th will be entered in to win!

Thanks ahead of time to all that read this!  Please tell your friends!

We're back!

Well, we're back from our weekend!  I'm busy putting things away and getting organized.  I will be back later this week with a post about our anniversary weekend and I do have pictures to include! 

I also have to show the surprise that was waiting for me at my door upon our return!  Stay tuned!  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Anniversary!!

Today is our 1st Anniversary!  I cannot explain how quickly this last year has flown by!  It's incredible.

I once heard the quote: " I hope the day you get married is the day you love each other the least".  I thought this was very powerful and o so true!  Your wedding day is and should be the most important day of your lives (obviously until children come, maybe or maybe not.). 

Each and every day when my husband comes home from a long day at work and he kisses me hello, it reminds me just how lucky I am to have found the true love of my life, my best friend, my companion, my soul mate, my partner in crime, my wonderfully, lovable, generous, forgiving, honest, hardworking, amazing husband!

I've decided to make a list of things of 10 things that my husband does that I love:
1)  He never leaves the house in the morning without coming back into our bedroom to kiss me goodbye.
2)  He always comes home happy (no matter what kind of day he had)
3)  He always kisses me hello and goodbye everytime he comes home or leaves.
4)  He always wants my opinion on everything he does, whether he thinks I understand it or not (engineers!)
5)  He would rather show me anyday how much he loves me than speak the words.  He once told me that actions speak louder than words and why shouldn't it apply to love?
6)  He knows how much it means everytime he says those three little words to me, so he does say them
7)  He knows I usually cal, e-mail or text him once during the day while we are at work.  If I don't, he finds it odd and calls, e-mails or texts me.
8)  He would rather stay at home with me and cuddle up to a movie than go out, any day.
9)  He is goofy and will do anything to get me to laugh.
10) He loves me regardless of my flaws.

With that being said, here are a few wedding pictures none of you have seen:

Jesse~  Thank you for all that you do.  Marriage takes work, compromise, and love, none of which are lacking from our relationship.  I never knew I would be so lucky as to have found you and to have fallen in love with you. My life would not be complete without you and I am so thankful that you are in my life.  I cannot wait to celebrate many more years with you by my side as my one and only, my husband.  I love you more than the day we got married and tomorrow, I will love you even more.  XOXO