2009 in Review

Holy-crap-o-la 2009 is almost over... seriously? Where did all that time go?? This post will hopefully explain some of it...

January
Sadly we lost a new addition to our family... Bear
But we gain Rowdy (look how tiny he was!!)

February
I started my new job with the VA... this changed my happiness more than I can explain... sadly though... no picture...

March
Chad had his motorcycle wreck and we found out about the mass in his brain.

We also celebrated my 25th birthday.
April
We had one of the best named party "Brain Tumor Blowout" where friends shaved Chad's head


Chad proved to be a Superhero by recovering from his brain surgery in .3 seconds.
May
Looking back nothing really that interesting happened in May... with the events in March and April in May we just relaxed... I did have a nice visit to my friend Christina and her daughter.
June
We attended my family reunion for the first time in years.
I also took my first work trip to Denver.

July
Chad and I went on a Sunday trip to Elephant Rocks.
Our new living room furniture was delivered.
We also took a trip to Virginia to visit Chad's parents.
August
I finally finished the baby blanket!!
We celebrated Carrie's birthday at a drag show, which now has one of my favorite stories of the year.
And we traveled to Maine.
September
We celebrated one whole year of marriage.

October
We got a new rug for the living room...

and had a party.
November
I got 3rd place in the chili cookoff at work
And celebrated Thanksgiving where Chad got to carve the turkey.
December
We celebrated a very wonderful Christmas together.
Here's to making 2010 even better!!

New Decade

I keep forgetting that in a few short days we'll be entering a new decade. I cannot believe how fast time goes sometimes... I mean I remember Y2K and now we are about to enter 2010. So here's a quick recap on the last 10 years.

2000 - I was in high school... Sophomore/Junior year... I became a "full time" jumper on the track team. I also turned 16 and got my driver's license.

2001 - Still in high school, Junior/Senior year. Started to apply for college in the fall. Sadly, this is also the year we lost my Grandpa... I still miss him so much.

2002 - Graduated from high school. I also started at Truman State University. College was an adjustment. I also had my first real boyfriend. I got my bellybutton pierced.

2003 - Still in college, moved in that fall with a person I don't speak of these days, but had I not met her I would not have met my college friends.

2004 - Changed my major in college to business... Worked my first summer at the Arch. Moved in with a close friend into the apartment. Started dating my college boyfriend. I got my first tattoo.

2005 - Still in college... adopted Pretty Kitty. I turned 21. Worked my second summer at the Arch. Moved in with a boy (who was NOT my boyfriend.)

2006 - Graduated from college, re-met my future husband, Cardinals won the World Series, got my first "real" job. Bought my first brand new car.

2007 - Adopted Stitch. Moved into a house with Chad. Got engaged. Went to Cedar Point. Witnessed my best friend give birth to her daughter. Broke my leg.

2008 - Planned a wedding, adopted Bozley, bought a truck, oh and what else... oh yeah GOT MARRIED!! to the amazing Chad and went to North Carolina.

2009 - Adopted Rowdy, Chad's wreck and subsequent surgery, got a new job at a great place and all things that come with...

Here's to the next 10 year... tune in for a post specifically for 2009.

Christmas Recap

I just love Christmastime... it's kinda sad that it only lasts for a month. Lucky for us Christmas isn't quite over yet... but it's mostly over.

Thus far it has been a very great year. What I love most about the holidays is getting to see everyone. It's wonderful to be able to spend time with family for such a happy time. Everyone just seems like they are in a happy, friendly, loving mood.

I also enjoy being able to get gifts for everyone. I love finding that perfect gift for everyone. I feel like I did pretty good this year... there was perhaps one gift that could have been better, but I'd say that's pretty good.

Our family was so generous to us this year.

Some of the highlights in no particular order:
a corner shelf
PJs
lots of jeans
bunches of tops
a few pairs of earrings
a Coach purse
a stand-up mixer
brownie pans
Cardinals tickets (including opening AND closing day!!)
pink flats
a leather jacket
a popcorn maker for parties
a t-shirt from Bad Rap
a lamp for the bedroom
the Hangover
2 books (Super FreakEconomics and Cake Wrecks)
Last Word board game
a laptop cooler
Boogle
a cute pleaded skirt

I KNOW I'm missing stuff...

Overall it's been a WONDERFUL Christmas and thank everyone who has been a part of it.

And I'll post about my Dad's family's Christmas after Saturday.

"the best cookies ever"

For Christmas this year I decided to make just two types of cookies.

One - I made Cupcake bites. I bought Red and Green chocolate and they turned out adorable. I'm going to be making another batch for my Dad's Christmas this weekend, however they may be just balls and not in the "shape" of cupcakes.
How gross my hands get when I rolled them into balls
Aren't they adorable?


Two - I stumbled to this recipe and also heard about it via the web in other ways. (isn't it amazing how as soon as you hear something new you hear about it from multiple sources/places?)

These cookies made Chad make the above comment. He's been eating them non-stop. I'm going to make a second batch sometime this week. They are super easy. Everyone who has tried them has enjoyed them. This recipe is very much a keeper!!

First you mix peanuts, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl - this is for the topping, I made way too much.
Then you mix peanut butter and powdered sugar together
Then you make it into balls
Then you wrap the peanut butter balls in store bought peanut butter cookie dough and roll them into the topping. Then bake - I baked some in muffin pans since I ran out of cookie sheets and Chad actually liked those better so I may do that again.

And ta-da you have yummy cookies - these are the 3 cookies we left in the house.

Christmas Decorations

As promised here are some of our Christmas decorations. We don't go all out but the few that we have are special to me. And as the years go on the more we'll add on, I hope. Once we get the house more settled (why I'm so slow at getting the house settled is beyond me)... Anywho... onto the (few) pictures.

Here's the tree - I am so mad at myself for not taking a picture when I had all the presents wrapped underneath it... Oh... and the tree skit was never on properly b/c as soon as I would fix it Stitch would mess it up again... silly cat
Here is my newest addition, a Santa Lamp which I adore!! My Grandma bought him for me. I just love the jingle bell on the hat.
Here's my Snowman Snow Globe Chad bought me last year
I also took a picture of all my wrapping paper... I LOVE wrapping gifts and wrapping paper!! I just noticed that all of my ribbon isn't displayed.

Merry (belated) Christmas

Merry (belated) Christmas everyone!!

I've been a bad blogger lately... I have so much to catch up on...

Here's a list of upcoming blog posts (hopefully)

Christmas Decorations
Christmas Cookies
Christmas Recap

Also in the next week I want to do a 2009-in-review post...

And if you're lucky I'll let you in on a situation that's going on with a friend...

I'm going to go (try) to play Lego Indiana Jones with Chad so check back later for these exciting posts and more...

NFL Week 16 Picks

San Diego Chargers vs. Tennessee Titans
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints
Buffalo Bills vs. Atlanta Falcons
Houston Texans vs. Miami Dolphins
Seattle Seahawks vs. Green Bay Packers
Carolina Panthers vs. New York Giants
Oakland Raiders vs. Cleveland Browns
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New England Patriots
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
St. Louis Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals
Detroit Lions vs. San Francisco 49ers
Denver Broncos vs. Philadelphia Eagles
New York Jets vs. Indianapolis Colts
Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins
Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears

Chad
Me
Both

Chad's running away with it... dang it

Christmas

I'm not sure I've posted anything about Christmas yet (other than my list) which is crazy considering Christmas is my very favorite time of the year. So here are some Christmas topics...

1) Decorations are up... I find myself staring at the Christmas tree... or my snow globe snowman...

2) Rowdy peed on the Christmas tree... he just walked by, lifted up his leg and peed... yes... I get that he was just "marking his territory" but seriously?!? It's a fake tree peeps... silly male dog.

3) I absolutely LOVE wrapping gifts. It's one of my favorite things to do at Christmas. I have a whole set up and packages aren't complete without a bow. And there's finally presents under the tree which just completes that picture... and I'm done!! Pending one gift that's still on the way.

4) I baked cookies this weekend... I'll share in a different post.

5) Our shopping is finished... yay!!

6) I still want to get a 2009 ornament and a one for each animal...

7) I'm going to actually send out some Christmas cards... I only ordered 20 so the list is pretty small but I'm happy we're finally sending some out.

8) I've gotten so many awesome gifts at work... people here are so sweet. I got 2 bags of home-made cookies, a stocking with my name filled with candy, a candy jar with a J filled with puppy chow, a bag with candy, a lotto ticket, and pretzels, a gift card to Steak n Shake, a keychain with my name from Chicago, Bath and Body Works foaming soap, and finally a luggage tag with a J.

Again Chad and my Christmas schedule works out perfectly. I love the fact Christmas is on a Friday this year. (and a special thank you to President Obama for letting Christmas Eve be a half day) Here's our schedule:

Christmas Eve Night: We'll be headed to my aunt's for my mom's family's celebration. I love this b/c we eat (I arrange the cheese and sausage on a platter) then watch a Christmas Story (best Christmas movie!!!!) and then open presents and play rob your neighbor.

Christmas Morning: This year is the first year we have nothing planned for Christmas morning. Chad and I are going to do our own morning gift exchange (so excited) and then we'll head down for...

Christmas Day: Chad's grandparents house for his family's celebration. Obviously this is the newest tradition for me and it's such a great addition... it's low key but a lot of fun. We also might go to my Dad's family's celebration, but I'm not sure if we'll make it or not...

Day After Christmas: We're going over to my mom's house in the morning for "Christmas Morning" after we open gifts (which we do one at a time including stocking stuffers to extend the celebration) we eat a big breakfast and then play board games. (my mom has always gotten each kid a board game for Christmas.)

A week later: We'll do my Dad's Christmas... last year everyone brought a party foods which was a lot of fun - it will be a very nice way to wrap up the Christmas season... we do a Secret Santa gift exchange between the kids and each have a "Santa" gift.

NFL Week 15 Picks

Chad's running away with it... grumble...

Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Dallas Cowboys vs. New Orleans Saints

Cleveland Browns vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Jets

Miami Dolphins vs. Tennessee Titans

San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles

New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills

Arizona Cardinals vs. Detroit Lions

Chicago Bears vs. Baltimore Ravens

Houston Texans vs. St. Louis Rams

Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos

Cincinnati Bengals vs. San Diego Chargers

Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Seattle Seahawks

Minnesota Vikings vs. Carolina Panthers

New York Giants vs. Washington Redskins

Chad

Me

Both

To-date:

Chad: 144 - 64

Jenn: 138 - 70

NFL Week 14 Picks

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cleveland Browns
New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons
Denver Broncos vs. Indianapolis Colts
Seattle Seahawks vs. Houston Texans
Carolina Panthers vs. New England Patriots
Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Detroit Lions vs. Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Minnesota Vikings
New York Jets vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Miami Dolphins vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears
St. Louis Rams vs. Tennessee Titans
Washington Redskins vs. Oakland Raiders
San Diego Chargers vs. Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants
Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers

Chad
Me
Both

Chad is up 4 on me!! I can't believe it... I really need to stop letting him win ;)

::sad face::

I am so over this week... this week has not been fun...

I've started writing this post several times in the last week or so but I don't feel like I've been able to describe it correctly... I'm not sure if some would even understand unless they have knowledge of the government's hiring processes.

The basic-ness is there was a promotion available which I feel like I'm perfect for (among lots of other people) and I didn't make it to the interviews b/c my previous job experience didn't qualify me. I completely don't agree with this. It doesn't help that people who have been here less time (ie a temp whose been here about a month) got interview. I am the best candidate for this position... and I'm not stuttering when I say this sentence. I am the best candidate. It completely sucks... I am so mad and disappointed and upset.

It doesn't help that people here maybe expected me to get it... or at least get an interview... so I have to keep telling the story (b/c that's who I am)... everyone agrees that it's bs and some tend to get a little agitated by it, which is nice they feel the same way, but I'm just sick of it... I want the whole situation to go away... which it won't b/c someone will be getting that position, and it's one that I'll interact with on a daily basis. I'm just mad and sad and disappointed and upset. It's just the politics around here sometimes become draining...

With all of that being said... I am really happy where I'm at... I come into work happy (except this week) and I leave happy... I'm happy to know I'm making a difference and that I'm really good at my job. I'm knowledgeable and liked. I love the people I work with and this place is so amazing. I'm incredibly happy and lucky to have a job here.

So anywho... chili and Survivor tonight, that's a happy thing.

NFL Week 13 Picks

I gotta start picking better!!

New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills

St. Louis Rams vs. Chicago Bears

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers

Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Denver Broncos vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Tennessee Titans vs. Indianapolis Colts

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Atlanta Falcons

New Orleans Saints vs. Washington Redskins

Oakland Raiders vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Detroit Lions vs. Cincinnati Bengals

New England Patroits vs. Miami Dolphins

San Diego Chargers vs. Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants

San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks

Minnesota Vikings vs. Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens vs. Green Bay Packers

Chad

Me

Both

To-Date Scores

Chad: 120-56

Jenn: 118-58

Thanksgiving Tradition

HAPPY 200th BLOG POST!!!

Some of the best blog entries are those that talk about family traditions. I love hearing how different family traditions can be... and (possibly) get interesting ideas for a future family traditions...

Well I wanted to share a Thanksgiving one...

They go by the name of Pumpkin Cookies... As far back as I can remember my mom has been baking these for Thanksgiving. She bakes them one night and we decorate them the next night.

I don't have the recipe... but they are very yummy with pumpkin, chocolate chips and raisins. My mom shapes them into pumpkins with a little stem.

Then we come over and frost the cookies... green for the stem and orange for the pumpkin part. Then the decorating... we make faces out of candy. They can be silly or cute. But they end up being creative. My mom made the comment this year that she remembers the days when the challenge was getting as much candy on the cookie as possible...Which has changed throughout the years

In my eyes Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pumpkin cookies. (The one on the bottom right is suppose to be Marge Simpson, which is freaking adorable!! Good Job Lindsey!!)

Some other pictures from Thanksgiving...

A great one of me and my sister
I thought this was a nice one of my brother and grandma working on a crossword puzzle.
And finally... Chad got to carve the turkey which made him VERY happy and excited

NFL Week 12 Picks

Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions
Oakland Raiders vs. Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants vs. Denver Broncos
Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills
Seattle Seahawks vs. St. Louis Rams
Washington Redskins vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Atlanta Falcons
Indianapolis Colts vs. Houston Texans
Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Carolina Panthers vs. New York Jets
Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Diego Chargers
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. San Francisco 49ers
Arizona Cardinals vs. Tennessee Titans
Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens
New England Patriots vs. New Orleans Saints

Chad
Me
Both

I didn't add up specifically this week, but I do know that Chad is winning by one!!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

In honor of Thanksgiving I thought I would write out the thing that I am Thankful for on a daily basis...

I'm thankful for having such an amazing husband... It means so much to me to have my other half, my best friend... even more so I'm thankful that he's doing wonderfully... we went through a lot of medical issues in the last year and it just strengthed our relationship... but I'm so thankful everything turned out the way it did.

I'm thankful for my awesome family. I'm so lucky to have such a close knit family and supports one another. I'm not sure how I would have turned out without them around... I'm truly thankful to have them in my life... everyone!!

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday.

I'm thankful for my great friends. I know I'm luck to have suck great friends surrounding me. They support and listen to me... make me laugh and bring a joy to my life.

I'm thankful for my job. Not only am I happy to have a job... but to be in such in a job that I'm good at, that supports growth, and more so has co-workers that care... I'm truly thankful.

I'm thankful for my four babies at home. Pretty, Stitch, Bozley and Rowdy... they are the sweetest animals with such differing personalities that bring loads of joy to my life.

Party night

I know I just posted about the gift... but I wanted to post some pictures from the night as well... I'm going to limit myself to 5 (but considering I don't remember more than 3 of these pictures being taken I'm sure that will do...)

Keith, Me, Rachel, and Connor

Dad, Keith, and MeThe whole family - ignore my fattness... Chad, Rachel, Adriane, Janet, Keith, Connor, the other Chad, and my Dad
Chad and me
And shots... I'm sure this added to my stupidity this night... as well as the fact I don't remember most of the pictures taken... eek

Gift

I think that I mentioned a couple of times that I was making a gift for someone... well I'm finally able to post about it...

My step-mom turned 50 this year and we held a very nice party at Triumph Grill. I decide to kind of recycle/revamp a gift that we did for my mom when she turned 50.

I made a scrap book with every year in her life. When we did my mom's my sister, me, and my brother all did pages and did them by hand. For Janet's I did them on the computer.

I started out by going to Wikipedia and researching each year and picking out important or interesting events. Then Chad helped me format a square in Open Office's Powerpoint. I made one for each year and then printed them out on card stock. I used my new paper cutter to cut them out (the hardest part) and then cut out colored paper. I glued the card stock on the color paper and placed them in the scrapbook and voila!!

The book
The first page - a list of same day birthday
Some of the pages
And a close up (you can click on the picture to see it even bigger)

If anyone is interest in the template or the facts let me know and I can send them your way... I may revamp this project again... it's awesome b/c I learned a lot and it's a very awesome gift.

Master's Degree?

Lately I've been thinking more and more about getting a master's degree... but I'm not convinced I'm ready yet... On one hand I feel like a bachelor's degree just isn't going to cut it like it once did... I feel like a bachelor's degree just puts you in on the normal playing field and the only way to set yourself apart is getting the master's... I feel more ready now than ever before to get a masters. I finally feel like I have an area of study that both interests me can help me move forward where I'm working...

With that being said... getting a master's degree would be a lot of time, effort and work... I'm not sure I'm ready to commit my evenings to school again...

The most ideal program would let me do some online classes and some classroom classes... maybe thinking about Webster...

Now would be the time to do it... I don't have any kids running around... and it would be a lot easier to do the work now... but it's also a lot of money... What should I do?

I feel stupid

I really really hope I didn't make an ass out of myself on Saturday night...

NFL Week 11 Picks

Note: Even though these picks were posted on Sunday night we both made the picks before Sunday morning... just late in posting :)

Miami Dolphins vs. Carolina Panthers

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Indianapolis Colts vs. Baltimore Ravens

San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers

Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Giants

New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cleveland Browns vs. Detroit Lions

Washington Redskins vs. Dallas Cowboys

Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota Vikings

Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams

New York Jets vs. New England Patriots

San Diego Chargers vs. Denver Broncos

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Chicago Bears

Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans

Jenn

Chad

Both

To-date scores

Chad: 96-48

Jenn: 97-47

Chili Cook-off

For Veteran's day we had a chili cook-off at work. I was excited to participate since I LOVE the chili we make. So I entered our chili into the contest. It was a pretty good batch of chili for us...

I ended up winning 3rd place, out of 10 entries. I'd say that's not to shabby!!

I would totally share the recipe with everyone but Chad likes to keep that a family secret... so... you'll just have to find a time to try it :)

I won a $5 gift certificate to the Canteen, a retail store here at work... but bragging rights are better.

NFL Week 10 Picks

We're in the double digits...

Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Miami Dolphins
Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings
Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New York Jets
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
New Orleans Saints vs. St. Louis Rams
Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans
Denver Broncos vs. Washington Redskins
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Oakland Raiders
Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals
Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers
Philadelphia Eagles vs. San Diego Chargers
New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts
Chicago Bears vs. San Francisco 49ers
Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns

Chad
Me
Both

I know I'm behind in the to-date scored... but I'm leaving you in anticipation once again...

Christmas List

Posting my list on my blog last year seemed to work out really well so I'm following in that tradition. (plus it helps that I can look back on what I requested last year...)

Nice Camera - I want to start taking better pictures than I can with my point and shoot... I'm not an expert on this, but I was thinking something like the Canon Rebel XSi - I also saw the one that Ashton Kutcher advertises (Nikon D3000) I guess I want something I can change lenses out and it can grow with me (or me with it)New Luggage - Since I've been traveling more I would like cute luggage. While this is from Target I saw a bunch at Gormans. I don't necessarily need a full luggage set - I would like something that rolls and if fun looking.Brownie Pan - so we can get more crust - There's also the perfect brownie pan that's As Seen on TV

Stand up mixer - KitchenAid in Red

Mario Brothers for Wii

Mini fridge - Like this 16 can one, I want something small capacity...

Board Games - Lots of others, but some listed below

Boggle

Perfection

Trivial Pursuit - Easy Medium Hard
Things for the House is big on my list this year!!

Corner Shelf - dark brown

Trash can for recycling - We want silver, foot-step

Nightstand Lamp - something like the first one, but not that color, skinny and short I REALLY REALLY like the second one

Clothes!!

Cardigans - size medium (all solid colors) like these from Old Navy, I also really like 3/4 length sleeve... I like crew neck.

Skits - size large

Casual tops - usually size medium I've become a big Old Navy fan - I like all sorts

Jeans - A brand from Kohls (Elle) seems to fit well, misses size 8

Earrings - I really like fun dangles (nice quality) - would like a purple set, silver hoops (bigger than small, smaller than big) and red. I really enjoy looking at Etsy for this to get some originals.

Flat Shoes - colors/patterns rounded toe, size 9 or 9.5

Headbands - thicker

Citrine cocktail Ring- ideally this one from Tiffany

Gift Cards:
**Home Depot
**Michael's
**Hobby Lobby
Snapfish

Target

Bed Bath and Beyond

Old Navy

Subscription to People Magazine

DVDs

The Hangover

Harry Potter 6

This cookie table book - Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong

These lovely Coach Purses
Coach op art sateen maggie (1439

I also like this Etsy Seller

This jewelry site is awesome too.

And a shirt for a great pit bull awareness organization.

ADDITION: Reebok EasyTone size 9.5

Chad's List: http://chad-xmaslist.blogspot.com/