Come to mama

Hello, my love:

Guess who's going to be reading the owner's manual tonight? I cannot wait to play around with our new addition to the family. And hopefully, those will be the last blurry/overexposed pictures I post on here for awhile:)



Other updates on life:

Nate got a 4.0 last semester! And of course, it was supposedly his most difficult one of the entire three year program.....so now I'm calling him Mr. Smart Ass. He graduates in May of 2011 for those of you wondering. I might need to add a ticker countdown to this blog someday, no?

I love designing albums for myself. Our 'everyday 2008' album is coming right along and I'm feeling rejuvenated again. Not that I don't love doing this for other people, too, but I'm digging the fact that there is no pressure to please someone else.

Anyone ever read Peony in Love by Lisa See? I just started it for my next book club meeting and I just can't get into it. Too bad we are meeting next week and there is no way I'll ever finish it in time.

I began my new rotation at work in the big, scary, ICU! It's a whole different world from my last rotation on the orthopedics floor but surprisingly, I like it a lot. I was worried that all of my patients would be extremely ill, near-death, and some might even die on me---but so far so good. I mean, I've got a whopping three days under my belt and all:) Change is a wonderful thing but it causes me SO much anxiety. Is anyone else with me on this one?

Is it spring time yet? Enough said.

It's that time again.

Goals, to-do lists, resolutions...whatever you want to call them. I like the idea of throwing my ideas out there to hold me accountable throughout the next twelve months. This was my post from last year.

I guess I did alright with my 2008 goals. It seems like so long ago, doesn't it?

1. Run a full marathon? Check. One of the most memorable days of my life.

2. Save 15-20k? Check...but just barely. When we figured this number we totally forgot that we'd be paying part of Nate's tuition....three semesters each year. I definitely didn't expect the big bill for his stupid books, either:) Somehow we also neglected to take into account that we had three out of town weddings and a pimped out anniversary trip headed our way in 2008. Whoops! But regardless, I'm very proud of the amount we saved. Down payment, what?? Someday, folks. Someday.

3. Obtain a professional wedding album? Check, if you want to call my own little business 'professional.' I'm incredibly thankful that I stumbled upon my new hobby of designing albums and J.Lorene Design has been a ton of fun for me this past year. Plus a little guilt free spending money never hurts, either.

4. Catch up on our traditional 'everyday' scrapbook? Check, but it's out of date again. I caught up our 2007 through NYE so I'm officially a year behind yet again. I plan on making a Blurb book [big surprise] for the whole year of 2008 and can't wait to get started on it. In fact, I'm taking a break from J.Lorene until February so that I can catch up on my own album....and I need to remember what free time feels like, too:) I know, it's a rough problem to have, isn't it?

5. Find a church and start going on Sundays? Not so much. We did great from January and February and then we moved away from our little church. There are always a ton of excuses that keep us from finding a new church around here but enough is enough....this goal goes back on the 2009 list for sure.


That brings us to my updated 2009 goals. I can honestly say that I'm pretty content with life right now and don't have a strong need to 'fix' anything major. But because I love lists and want to make 2009 as fabulous as 2008, here it goes:

1. Find a church and attend 2 of 4 Sundays each month. Gotta make it more objective this time:)

2. Go skiing with Nate. He's been begging, pleading, and dropping mad hints since the day we moved up here and it's about time I obliged his wishes. The only problem is this: I grew up in 'the south' and he's a northern boy. Therefore, he was one of those 4 year old kids flying down the side of a mountain with no fear of dying from a horrendous fall. My first and only time skiing was at the ripe old age of 21 and I hated those four year olds who zoomed passed me sans fear. I took my fair share of falls and could barely walk after two days on a ski hill....and my competitive nature didn't bode well with sucking at skiing.

However, marriage is about compromise. I don't love skiing like Nate does but I'll do it to enjoy the great outdoors [trying to look at the positive side of having multiple feet of snow on the ground] and to get cool pictures of the great outdoors. He swears he won't take me down a black diamond slope 'on accident' because if he does, I will spear him with a pole and cry like a four year old child. :)

3. Save 12-15k. It's going to be tough with tuition, the crappy economy, four out of town weddings, and those cursed books....but I know we can do it if we make enough sacrifices. My inner tight wad is all over this one, too.

4. Run in two half-marathons, a full if I'm feeling crazy. I know I want to train for more races but I can't fully commit to another full marathon. It's just SO MUCH TIME. Plus my ankle is still less than 100% and I'm getting old. And it's cold. And I like not running for multiple hours each day. Excuses much? Who knows, maybe I'll ignore my inner geriatric and embrace another full but for now, my goal is two halves. Maybe I'll just shoot for a half in under two hours as a goal but secretly my ultimate goal would be a full in under four hours. Yikes! Did I just admit that?

5. Be grateful, be present, and enjoy every day of 2009. This is my only wishy-washy, vague goal but it's an important one for me. I fully admit to being a pessimist at times and I worry way too much for my own good. Sometimes I lose sight of the many blessings in my life and that is simply unacceptable. I catch myself looking towards the future, striving for 'the next step' in life instead of enjoying the moment. And I have a feeling that I'll look back on these days with fond memories, wishing that I enjoyed our time before kids, before owning a house, and before we have two salaries.

I mean, I'm not going to lie: when Nate graduates and we have dual incomes I might shed a little tear and stare at our bank account in disbelief. But then we'll probably start paying a mortgage and we might even be parents and both of these steps involve major sacrifices. So until then I'm going to sit back, relax, and enjoy this 'easy' phase of life. I also plan on getting lots of sleep and drinking plenty of wine:)

So here's to 2009 being the best year yet. And hopefully it will bring less snow than 2008:)

Out with a bang

Wanna know what I did on NYE? Celebrated Christmas for the second time, of course. I must say that is one nice thing about having families in different states---multiple celebrations spread across a few days! Since both Nate and I had to work on New Years Day [boooooo!] we were forced to have a very "old" New Years, including hitting the hay before the ball dropped. Such old hags, aren't we? At least there were presents involved in our low key evening.

Speaking of presents, look at this baby
My mother-in-law is the bomb and bought us a KA mixer! We registered for one but never received it and I decided it wasn't a priority to buy for ourselves. But secretly I've always wanted to own one of these bad boys simply to make me feel more like Martha Stewart. Maybe it will inspire me to bake more often, right? It's so freaking cool....cookies are calling my name.

Also, you may have noticed that all of us are decked out in winter gear. Nate, me, Jon [N's bro], and Emily [Jon's girlfriend] all received a ridiculous amount of warm attire and I'm pretty sure REI's stock went up strictly because of our family. I counted NINE jackets/vests/pullovers/fleeces between the four of us. I mean, seriously?
That pimped out fuzzy brown thing on the right side is my new vest and I'm obsessed with it, along with my new long sleeved fleece. But Nate defnitely took the cake with five new outdoorsy garmets [plus two more from his Missouri Christmas!] It's a like a sickness, you guys, he just can't get enough Patagonia---and now he'd died and gone to REI heaven.

Speaking of heaven and other non-worldly things, please look at these cheese heads.
Nate got an old school Packers tee shirt and Jon's bumper sticker says, "And on the eighth day God created the Packers." So incredibly red neck....I love it!

I also love our new book from Jon:
Out of the 150 things listed Nate and I like at least 100 of them, making us extremely white. For instance, #1 is coffee. Duh! Then there is studying abroad, tea, international travel, microbreweries, marathons, brunch, apple products, hardwood floors, not having cash, and scarves. Yes, yes, and yes! The book is freaking hilarious and highly sarcastic if you can't tell already. In fact, I just can't resist quoting #27 right here for your entertainment.

#27 Marathons
In life, there are certain milestones of physical activity that can define you: a 40 yard dash in under 5 seconds, a 40-inch vertical leap, and so forth. To a white person, the absolute pinnacle of fitness is to run a marathon. Not to win, just to run.

White people will train for months, telling everyone who will listen about how they get up early in the morning, how they run when it rains, how it makes them feel so great and gives them energy.

If you find yourself in a situation where a white person is talking about a marathon, you must be impressed or you will lose favor with them immediately. Running for a certain length of time on a specific day is a very important thing to a white person and should not be demeaned.

See what I mean? Hilarious. I love making fun of myself.

Okay, let's move onto our dogs [which is #53 in the book, of course]. Here are Sammy and Henry looking cute with their new toys.
Here is Henry in front of my in-laws' tree.
And this is what Henry did while we opened presents.
Then he did the tripod pose on the back of the couch.

What a fun NYE/second Christmas. Hello 2009!

Also, I never posted about our stint in St. Louis over Christmas, but Kristen's shower was amazing. This was only part of the food spread and I'm drooling just looking at it now.

Then there was the adorable white Christmas tree that held each ornament we gave to Kristen. Do you see the massive number of presents down there?

Kristen got some adorable gifts at her shower like this apron. She will be quite the little homemaker someday:)

And it's official: Kim is leaving for Korea tomorrow! Their contract goes until February 2010 and they might even stay longer to travel around Europe. The cliff notes version is this: Kim was born in Korea and adopted by her American parents shortly afterwards. She never had contact with her birth parents until our senior year in college, when her birth father contacted her. He does not speak English and she doesn't speak Korean but they started to communicate. The first time they met was when he flew in for her wedding. Stop for a minute and imagine that.....a little stressful for the bride-to-be, no? It was awesome seeing them reunite at the rehearsal dinner and it was quite emotional as you could guess.

They continued to stay in contact and her birth father wanted her to come and visit him in Korea. Kim and her husband Mark decided that in order to fully understand Kim's Korean culture they would live there for a whole year, teaching English to little Korean kids. They had to sell their house in STL, quit their jobs, get someone to watch their dog for a whole year [probably the hardest part, right Kimmie?], and leave America behind for the experience of their lives. I am SO proud of them for doing this and cannot wait to hear about this journey in a far away land. I am going to miss Kim dearly but at least she has a blog to keep us all updated. It should be a fun ride if you want to tag along:)

So this is the last picture of our 'Fab Five' until 2010. I cannot believe it:( And of course, two of the five have their eyes closed which is totally typical.
And finally, let's get back to some dog pictures again, shall we?

Here is Henry and one of his best STL buddies, Bailey.

Henry traveling in the car, totally ticked as usual.
And my new favorite pic of our little man. Again, ticked.
What a way to leave 2008 in our dust: a fabulous trip down south to see family and friends, followed by a typical northern Christmas on NYE.

I am blessed, and am so grateful for it all. Bring it on, 2009!