15/25

Petals on the Wind is the sequel to Flowes in the Attic. And it was as strange or even stranger than it's predecessor. The book for me was slow at times, but toward the end it really picked up. I find it weird that the author will jump through periods of times in a matter of sentences, I guess I'm not use to reading books that span so much time. It might be that the author will spend so much time describing a certain event and then skip through 3 years in a blink of an eye. I believe there's another book in the series, and I might read it. Overall I enjoyed the book, and it was interesting (although bizarre at times.) You never know what's going to happen and that does keep you coming back.

2010 in review

I thought it would be fun to do what I did last year, although I'm not sure how many pictures I'll have, I didn't take as many pictures this year, something I hope to change in 2011... check back Saturday for my New Year's resolutions.

January:
I had my first large (over 100) person conference in San Diego, CA. It rained the entire time we were there which I guess never happens.

We celebrated 3 years of having Stitch in our lives. It also marked 5 years since I adopted Pretty.


February:
I celebrated one year working for the government, 3 years living in our house, one year with Rowdy and two time winning the VA trivia night.
March:
I celebrated my 26th birthday - my friends really made it amazing this year. (note this picture is from a party in 2009, but I didn't take any good pictures at my birthday)
April:
I went to Indianapolis for my (second) big high profile conference.

We went to Cardinals Opening Day.
We also celebrated two years of Bozley

May:
I traveled to Tampa for work. It's the first time I was the on-site contact. And I ate at PF Changs for the first time - LOVE.

June:
My mom joined me on a work trip to New Or-leans. It's such a great town that I would love to visit again!
July:
We traveled to Virginia to visit Chad's parents for Fourth of July again. Since my brother was also in the DC area, we also got to visit with him and his girlfriend.

We also accomplished a series of home improvements.

I also traveled to San Francisco for work.

August:
We continued the home improvements.

Started the competition (which check back Saturday for an update on that)

I also traveled to Atlanta for work.

September:
We celebrated two years of marriage!!
I also traveled to Los Angeles for work.

October:
I traveled to Washington, DC for work.

And although I never blogged about it, I got a wonderful yearly appraisal at work.

November:
I traveled to Salt Lake City for work (final work trip of the year!!)

We also road tripped to Virginia for Thanksgiving with dogs in toe.

December:
Rowdy had to get surgery.

We celebrated Christmas.
And some other big news that I'll give more details about in another blog.

All-in-all 2010 was a pretty awesome year.

NFL Week 16 Pick

Carolina Panthers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals

New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills

New York Jets vs. Chicago Bears

Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns

Tennessee Titans vs. Kansas City Chiefs

San Francisco 49ers vs. St. Louis Rams

Detroit Lions vs. Miami Dolphins

Washington Redskins vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

San Diego Chargers vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Houston Texans vs. Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts vs. Oakland Raiders

New York Giants vs. Green Bay Packers

Seattle Seahawks vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minnesota Vikings vs. Philadelphia Eagles

New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons

Chad

Jenn

Both

I can't believe it... I'm not FOUR games behind Chad... boo

Chad: 139 - 87

Jenn: 135 - 91

First Book

Today I heard an interesting fact on NPR - one in four children's first book is a Dr. Seuss one.

It got me to thinking that I believe the first book I could read cover-to-cover was Green Eggs and Ham. I'm not positive if that's really true, but that's what sticks out in my mind as by first.

In our family, when we learned to read we got to pick out a special book. My special book was The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base.

It was a beautiful book, with these amazing illustrations. The story was wonderful too. One of the charecters (I believe the elephant) is having a party and invites all of his animals friends. They participant is all of these party activities and when they get together for lunch - the entire feast has been eaten. Then the reader must figure out who ate the feast. You do so by re-reading the book and looking at all of the awesome pictures to see what charecter might have time to eat the feast. After you figure out your guess you can read the sealed solutions section to find the surprising answer. Once you know whodunit it is interesting to look back and see how the correct answer what there all along. This is a wonderfully memorable book. I actually want to find my copy and reread it. I really hope to share it with my kids if/when we have them.

NFL Week 15 Picks

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

Chad is now up by two... stay tuned for our tally - Right now I've made the prediction of Ravens vs. Falcons in the Super Bowl - Chad agrees with me :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I actually decorated for Christmas weeks ago - but I've been a bad blogger... maybe that will be my New Year's Resolution... anyway, we have all 6 of our Christmas decorations up. I did it all by myself - Chad did help me carry up the Christmas tree. We only have one new item this year and that's our wonderful, sparkly, gold wreath.
Isn't it pretty? Last year my totally awesome wonderful Grandma got me this adorable Santa lamp.
I also have this awesome snow globe Chad got me a few years ago. This is actually the picture I took when I got it. It changes color and glitters - so much fun.
And finally here's the centerpiece of our holiday decorations - the Christmas Tree.
Sadly there weren't any Christmas presents underneath it yet (there are a ton now) You also can't tell that it's lit, but it is I'll take another picture later to prove it. Here are some of my favorite ornaments this year (seems like it changes from year to year)

First my new ornament that I bought with on a work trip.
Yep, that's right, it's a robot!! Also above you can see our pickle. Do you have a pickle on your tree? If not you should!! Do you know the story behind the Christmas pickle? So go out and get one if you don't have one. I didn't realize that people didn't know about it.

Here's the one that catches my eye every time I look at the tree - maybe because it's a eye level when I'm sitting on the couch - either way it's a skiing penguin.
You can also see in that picture our new Mark McGuire ornament Chad's mom got us. Chad didn't want to hang it up, but I'm over the whole Mark McGuire steroid thing...

I love the color and the glitter pattern on this one -
And finally I love the colors and circle glitter on this one. I also have this one in pink. I also love the black small one with silver glitter lines. I have a few of those on the tree as well.
So there you have it, Christmas time at our humble abode. Stay tuned for better tree pictures and of all the presents (there might even be one under there for you!)

Merry Christmas!!

NFL Week 14

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


Chad
Jenn
Both


Finally took thetime to add up the scores... Chad's ahead by one...
Chad: 117-77
Jenn: 116-78

Roller Derby

I have a new obsession - okay it's not really an obsession, it's more of an infatuation and that is roller derby.

A few months ago Chad and I went to our first roller derby match - the Arch Rival Roller Girls. It was so much fun. I really didn't know much about roller derby. The only things I knew was they were on roller skates and it involved hits and blocks. It was pretty easy to figure out how the scoring worked. It was just a fun time. The announcers were great (it was almost as if we were watching it on TV) and the atmosphere is electric.

Last weekend Chad and I went to our second match... and it didn't disappoint. This time we sat in the 'splash zone' which is the area that surrounds the track. We had a wonderful time. I'm really excited to go back for the third match in January.

What also has fed into this infatuation is the movie Whip It. I really enjoyed this movie, just light and funny and interesting and truly an enjoyable movie. You should watch it if you haven't seen it... don't let Drew Barrymore's directorial debut fool you - it's pretty awesome.

Honestly, I wish I had the skillz to be a roller girl. I think the main thing I'm lacking is aggressive-ness. I've never been an aggressive person - which I think is why I didn't do too well at team sports (track doesn't involve one-on-one aggressive interaction.) And if I were a roller girl, I would definately need to be aggressive.... ho-hum. I also don't know if my skating skills are up to snuff. I haven't been in roller skates since probably middle school... and the last time I had roller blades on it didn't end so well. And plus I don't scream roller girl style.

But man it would be fun and different to do... so I'll day dream about it...

Poor Row-dizzy

You might recall that we took the dogs to Virginia for Thanksgiving... They had a ton of fun... they got to run and sniff and run and wander and run and pee on things (that was mostly Rowdy) and did I mention run?

Well, while we were there Rowdy managed to injure of all things... the tip of his tail. We didn't even realize it happened until we found blood all over (on the walls, furniture, floor, himself) We bandaged it up, and hoped that it would get better. Mostly he had trouble keeping a bandage on his tail... that dang thing just moves so fast.

We gave it a week to heal, but he just kept breaking it open, so last Friday Chad took him to the vet. They cleaned up the wound and bandaged it good. They said that it should get better in 10-12 days. Then Friday night late (I had a wedding to attend and Chad was at work) Chad noticed a big chunk missing from his tail, which was worrisome. We cleaned it up again.

But on Saturday while we were out he really did some damage. He pretty much chewed off the end of tail... disgusting I know!! Since our vet wasn't open until Monday we kept his tail clean and covered and made sure he didn't mess with his tail.

On Monday Chad took him back to the vet and we got the bad news... Rowdy will need to have surgery on his tail... he will have to get about 3 inches removed. The bone or whatever is in the tail is exposed right now. It's just too far gone at this point to do anything else... poor guy.

The good news is while they have Rowdy under for the surgery, he will also get neutered and chipped. No more balls for this guy!! Sadly, we'll have to keep him from being active for a few weeks, which seems very difficult. This guy is always going, going, going... but it will only be for a few weeks. He'll also have to wear a cone, which will be sad and funny all at the same time.

I just hate when the animals have to go into the vet or get surgery or we have to leave or anything that we can't explain to them. He won't really know what's happening to him, and that's sad to me. I know he will be ok, and this is all for the best... but it still sucks for him.

I hope that he gets better fast and everything heals correctly and easily!!

Look at that innocent face!!

NFL Week 13 Picks

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

I'm behind on adding them up... Chad is still in the lead and that's all that really matters

NFL Week 12 Picks

Thanksgiving days were picked before the games...

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

Both

I will update sometime tomorrow with our to date scores, we just got back from Virginia and I really don't want to add up the points right now... Just know that Chad is +2 over me...

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I am spending it away from St. Louis... we are spending it in Virginia with Chad's parents. We've been here since Sunday evening and will stay until sometime next weekend. I've been looking forward to this trip for awhile. A time to get away from everything (especially work) and spend a low key week with family. We also decided to bring the dogs along with us. They did really well in the car for roughly 13 hours and now that we're here they are having the time of their life. They have so many places to run and explore and sniff and pee on (in Rowdy's case.) After our first full day here the dogs were pooped... more worn out than I've ever seen before.

Anyway on this Thanksgiving I wanted to list some things I'm thankful for:

I am thankful to have such a supportive and amazing husband. He makes me laugh and brings such happiness to my life. I am so lucky to have him in my life.

I am thankful to have a wonderful family. Family is extremely important to me and I'm so grateful that I have such an amazing one... especially my mom.

I am thankful to have awesome friends. Sometimes I do wish I had more friends, but the ones I have are truly amazing. They listen to me, laugh with me, comfort me... overall they get me and even if I've felt like I lost my best friend this year, I've been surrounded by fantastic people.

I am thankful to have a job and to have the job that I do. I may complain and there might be some hypocrisies but in the end I love it. I am also thankful Chad is happy working where he is.

I am thankful to have such amazing pets... Pretty Kitty, Stitch, Bozley and Rowdy all bring me happiness with their unique personalities.

I am thankful for all the little things in life that make each day worth living (wow... that's a corny one isn't it??)

I am thankful for all the yummy food I shouldn't be eating but exists to tempt the crap out of me.

I am thankful to live in a city I love.

To wrap up this Thanksgiving day post: What is Chad thankful for?? Socks.

NFL Week 11 Picks

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

Chad is in the lead again... boo...

Chad: 83 - 63
Jenn: 82 - 64

NFL Week 10 Picks

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

We're tied up... this week I went with my heart with the Rams... hopefully they don't break it!!

Chad: 77 - 55
Jenn: 77 - 55

Restaurant Rave/Date Day

Yesterday I had the day off work. And since Chad is working a new schedule, we aren't getting to spend as much time together, but yesterday we got to. It was super exciting to be able to lay in bed together and not have to wake up. Luckily weekends will be this way too :)

Anyway I asked if we could try out a new restaurant, and suggested The Shaved Duck. I've been hearing good things about this place for quite awhile, so I had some pretty high expectations... and this place did not disappoint. I ordered the pulled chicken sandwich with mac and cheese (I've been hearing how amazing their mac and cheese is for awhile and I LOVE mac and cheese so honestly this was one of the main reasons I wanted to try it out) and Chad ordered the pulled pork with mash potatoes with caramelized onions.

The food was amazing. My chicken was so good and it was really nice to have 3 choices of BBQ sauce. Chad's pulled pork was also too. You could just tell that the meat was quality. The buns the meat was on were perfect. The sides were amazing too. Chad's mashed potatoes had some real onion flavor to them, but they made you want to come back for more. My mac and cheese did NOT disappoint. So yummy and cheese and they put these breadcrumbs on top that add this bit of crunch... SO GREAT.

I believe we had a smaller portions since we went at lunch time (we also had a discounted price, holla!!) But the sizes to me were perfect, enough that I ate everything but didn't feel so full. Chad would have liked a little more food. We wondering if the sizes were indeed smaller at lunch b/c we'd like more food if we were paying full price, but other than that we didn't have any complaints and would totally go back.

After lunch we went over to Chad's friend's automotive shop to get some decals for a motorcycle club that he's trying to join. And the we headed back home, but first stopped and got some Dairy Queen. We ate our ice cream outside on the tailgate of his truck. It was a really nice day. It was fun spending time together outside the house.

Shopping

A few weeks ago I was really eager to start my Christmas shopping. It all stemmed from stumbling across an awesome find at the Tesson Ferry Antique Mall. Suddenly it all made sense to me... start shopping early instead of waiting until the month of December like I normally do. (the fact I had a dream a few weeks ago that it was Christmas morning and I hadn't done any of my Christmas shopping at all.)

So I'm excited to start getting gifts... and that's when it dawns on me - I have absolutely no clue what to buy anyone. Even people I normally have some idea (like my mom) I'm feeling pretty clueless on...

I really don't have a clue what to get Chad. Earlier this week I had a brilliant idea to buy Chad the Kinect... He wasn't putting it on his Christmas list and while he thought it was pretty cool he wasn't acting all that excited about it, but still it would have been perfect, it would be really cool to have in the house and a really nice addition to our Xbox. That's when I realized the Kinect is going to be the hot Christmas item this year. Remember a few years ago when hot item was the Wii... and people were fighting over them in stores? I think that went on for at least 2 Christmas's... anywho... I'm thinking that's going to be the Kinect this year. I mean, have you seen that thing? It's flipping amazing.

But I'm back to a loss as to what to give Chad. Last year the gift I got him was pretty perfect. I got him a cigar humidor (that included a cutter, ashtray, and carrying case) with a cigar sampler. He was really happy with the gift and I've seen him use all of it throughout the year... so how do I live up to that?? I'm going to have to come up with something...

But past that, I have a lot of people on my list that I'm just not sure what to get. I imagine at some point I'll have Christmas lists from some of these people and I'll be able to pick something off of there. I guess I'm feeling like I'm lacking some creativity. Like I should be able to come up with some pretty rocking gifts for some of my list and I'm just not able to concentrate on it.

I especially want to come up with some better gifts for Chad's family... hopefully he'll be able to help me out more this year, or we'll think of a brilliant upon brilliant idea.

What to do?

Just last week Chad got notification at work that he would have to switch schedules. He has been working Friday - Monday from like 5:30am-4:30pm. That schedule brought on it's own challenges... we didn't have any weekend days together and we were working completely opposite schedules. We didn't have any days where we got to wake up together or spend all day together... but on the upside we had every night together... we got to watch TV and eat dinner. We've been making out way through the Lost series and we'd watch a few episodes each night... plus it's always nice sharing our days together.

But he's got to be flexible at work and last week someone quit unexpectedly and that shift needed to be covered and Chad came to the rescue. Now he's working 4:30pm-12:30am. So now we'll have the weekends together, and we'll be able to go out on weekend nights again since he doesn't have to get up at 4:30am anymore. But on the downside we won't see each other during the week... He'll leave for the work before I get home and I'll be in bed by the time he comes home.

It's really going to an adjustment. I'm not worried about getting through it... but really I'm not sure how to spend my evenings. So what should I do? I'll probably watch more TV that Chad normally wouldn't like. I'll probably work on my cross-stitch project... but what else can I do??

I am challenging myself to something. Eat at home every night (unless I have other dinner plans, like tomorrow when I'm going to dinner with my dad and brother.) Tonight I made myself pasta (I usually make myself pasta.) This time I changed it up. I cooked up some ground beef (add some garlic powder), pasta, and tomato sauce. I heated up a piece of garlic bread and prepared a salad. It was a pretty tasty meal.

NFL Week 9 Picks

This looks to be an interesting week with 3 differences

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

Our record stands:

Chad: 69 - 49
Jenn: 68 - 50

On Days like today...

... I feel old.

Today, my little sister... almost 9 years younger than me... turns 18!! I can't believe it, I can remember the day she was born.

But before that, I can remember when my mom told us she was pregnant... I remember coming up with a long list of names... not sure why I remember that, but I do...

Today, 18 years ago, my brother and I didn't have school for whatever reason and we were at my grandparents house. She wasn't suppose to be born for another month, so you can imagine the surprise when my Grandma told us that my mom would be having her that day. I remember visiting her and my mom in the hospital...

And today she is 18... she's "legal," she can vote and buy lottery tickets... get piercings and tattoos... buy cigarettes and porn... oh the things you can do when you turn 18. I'm proud of her and I'm lucky to have her as my little sister. She's funny and interesting and adorable. She's got attitude, but if she didn't she wouldn't be Lindsey.

Lindsey, I love you... the happiest birthday to you.

On my college graduation day
In Prague
The family on wedding rehearsal day
My beautiful sister on my wedding day
On Thanksgiving Last year
And finally her senior picture

So what's been going on with me?

I realized recently that I've done a pretty craptastic job of posting what I've been up to in the last month... and I've done some really interesting things... so here's what I've been up to, in no particular order:

• A few weeks ago my mom bought the Groupon for the Gateway Arch Riverboats. Her and I took my Grandma for a boat trip. The weather was super nice and the boat ride was quite fun and interesting. I think Grandma enjoyed it.
• 

• After our lovely boat ride we visited another St. Louis classic spot... Crown Candy Kitchen. You may recall this place was featured on Man vs. Food. I love this place and just don't get to visit it like I'd like. I had a chili dog and it was quite tasty... my mom and I split a Strawberry shake for dessert while Grandma tried to tackle the banana split. To our surprise Chad showed up and joined us (I think this picture is funny... I made him hold the shake)
  

• Speaking of Chad... he's on a new schedule now working Friday - Monday. So we are on a completely opposite schedule. We're still learning to adjust and now weekend nights are super early for me... but it's nice we can eat dinner together every night.
• I went to Washington, DC for a conference a couple of weeks back. It was nice b/c I got to meet up with my in-laws and have dinner. We went to an awesome Mexican place called Rosa Mexicano. It's always nice getting to see them. Also while in DC, my coworker and I had an afternoon off and we visited Old Town in Alexandria, VA. Here we visited a Christmas store (talk about fueling my Christmas fever), the Torpedo Factory (where I found a bunch of things I loved but could never ever afford), and had a lovely dinner at The Fish House.
• Last week I had sushi for the first time... I was surprised how much I enjoyed it... and I'd be willing to go away... plus the dessert was A-MAZE-ING
• Me, my mom, sister Lindsey and brother Keith visited the pumpkin patch. In St. Louis there's two big pumpkin patches, Eckert's and Rombach's. In our family Rombach's is the place. I have a lot of family memories of this place... and I was excited to have our little family together again at the pumpkin patch. This is one of the traditions I'm excited to share with a baby... someday... no day soon.
• I saw The Social Network with a couple of friends... I enjoyed it.
• I bought my first Christmas present at the Tesson Ferry Antique Mall... I'm really excited about giving it. On a side note that Antique Mall is a lot of fun... it's really big and a lot of fun to look around in. The prices are reasonable, there's some really expensive things and some really cheap items. There's a good mixture... there's a couple of things I have my eyes on.
• Last weekend I saw Secretariat with my mom and grandma. I thought it was pretty funny after the movie I told Chad that I saw Secretariat and he responded "what's that" so I said "it's a movie about Secretariat... the horse... the last winner of the triple crown"... I guess he didn't know about Secretariat at all... which I thought was crazy. The movie was pretty feel good, I enjoyed it.
• My mom, sister and I tried a new restaurant - Three Monkeys. It was really tasty, I'm excited to go back.

Well, I think that's it for now, I'm sure I'm missing stuff... so I'll update if I think of anything else.

Is it that time of year again?

I'm trying to get this list out early... not to mention I've had a lot of things on my mind to get myself so it helps having a list.

What tops my list this year??
Nikon D3000 Digital SLR Camera

OR Canon Rebel XSi

A new big mirror for the bathroom (no bigger than 24" by 36") - Here are some examples of shapes I like (may not be the right size). (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

I'm very into dresses and found like a million I like. I think I'm a size 10 or probably medium... so here are like the million I found today that I like. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28)

Jeans would also be nice... I am a curvy style size 10

Note: Old Navy tends to run big.

Shirts I like, size medium or large: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22)

Sweaters, size medium or large: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Skirts, size medium or large: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) I also like knee legnth flowy skirts

Maybe a business suit?: (1)

Shoes, size 9.5: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) also, some flats with a bit of a heel (I saw some at Target, with my mom, but I can't seem to find them online)

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

Board Games:
Trivial Pursuit - Easy Medium Hard

Catch Phrase

Scribblish

Love Board games so up for some other ones too...

Earrings - I really like fun dangles (nice quality) - diamond (fake or real) studs (want a good metal on the earring... ideally white gold), silver hoops (bigger than small, smaller than big) and red or any other fun ones. I really enjoy looking at Etsy for this to get some originals.

Headbands, on the thicker side

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

Target

Bed Bath and Beyond

iPhone cover

Bamboo Palm

This coffee table

Leggings - in black, probably size large...

Tights - brown or black with patterns

Book light

A new Hand Vac - Dirt Devil Kurv or Dirt Devil Kone or Dyson

Citrone ring (size 7-8) - I'd like a real one here are some I like, not necessarily the right size... (1) (2) (3) (4)

The awesome, amazing blue Jaguar statue from the South County Antique Mall

Pitbull Shirt (size medium, women's light or jr. jersey) (1) (2) (3) (4)

Bumper Stickers (1) (2) (3)

Queen bed sheets in tan, brown or light blue

Donkey Kong Country for the Wii

Love this ring and this one.

This bracelet is awesome.

Check back for updates!!

NFL Week 8 Picks

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

Finally the tie is broken... can you believe the game that broke it was only a difference of 1 point and came down to the last 20 seconds... ho-hum... Chad's now in the lead

Chad: 61 - 43
Jenn: 60 - 44

NFL Week 7 Picks

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

We'll finally break this tie in next week!

Chad: 51 - 39
Jenn: 51 - 39

Happy Pit Bull Awareness Day

14/25

I finished this book about a week ago, but am just now getting around to writing the review.

My awesome friend Carrie bought me this book at a book fair. I have heard of the book, but I didn't know anything about it. They are making it into a movie that's due out next year. And I'm a big fan of reading the book before I see the movie. I really enjoyed this book. It kept me wanting to turn the pages. Water for Elephants tells the story of Jacob as an old man looking back on his time traveling with the circus. There were parts of this book that were hard to read, due to animal cruelty, but it was balanced well with good times and love. I really loved how the book ended... left me feeling good. I would recommend this book to others - I've already given my copy to my mom, who might some day actually read it (she's behind on my suggestions.)

Thinking Back about Travel

I was in Washington DC last week for a conference. I had quite a few people ask me if I traveled often. My typical response is I travel about once a month... and it really is true... since April I have traveled every month. It's been insane this year the amount of travel... but not insane in a bad way but insane that I've been able to this much. For the people in my same position I travel way more than anyone else... and for that I feel pretty lucky. I've been complaining lately that I'm just sick of it, and that's sort of true. I've really been dreading the travel beforehand, but once I'm there I typically enjoy it. I'm in nice hotel rooms, I get paid extra money, I get to visit different cities and I get out of the office. None of those things are bad. I do get sad to leave home and Chad and the animals... but I'm really getting a lot of experience and I'm getting much better at being at these conferences. The things to look for, the questions to ask, the things I can get hotel staff to do for me, etc.

I am also getting pretty darn good about navigating airports. I'm an expert getting my ticket, getting through security, boarding the plane, etc. I've also figured out exactly what kind of hotel rooms I want to stay in and what seat I want on the airplane. I know exactly what to get out of my bag and when to fall asleep. I also know exactly how to book my travel and complete my expense report upon return... I'm the go-to person in my area for questions.

There are still some I need to get better at. There are times I travel when I'm not traveling with someone who wants to do things, or doesn't want to do things I'm interested in. I need to be better about doing things on my own. Touring the city by myself, going shopping or to dinner or get a drink by myself. I'm trying to get better, but this is something I really need to improve on.

On every work trip I get a magnet to display at work. I'm gaining quite the collection... So where all have I gone?

Denver - June 2009
San Francisco - August 2009
Baltimore - September 2009
Las Vegas - September 2009
San Jose - October 2009
San Diego - January 2010
Indianapolis - April 2010
Tampa - May 2010
New Orleans - June 2010
San Francisco - July 2010
Atlanta - August 2010
Los Angeles - September 2010
Washington, DC - October 2010
Salt Lake City - November 2010 (haven't gone yet, but travel is already booked)

NFL Week 6 Picks

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

Obviously we're still tied... and we didn't do so hot last week

Chad: 42 - 34
Jenn: 42 - 34

Blah

I'm hoping that writing will help. I've been feeling anxious all week for a bunch of random stupid things, but tonight I'm really thinking about one of them. I have finally made the decision to move forward with grad school. I know that I need to get a masters to really get ahead at work and honestly I'm really excited about the degree program and the classes. What also helps is Chad is working a new schedule and I have some alone time that I really could be productive instead of milling around the house watching America's Next Top Model marathons.

I've decided that going through University of Phoenix would really work for me. They do not require me taking the GRE and my GPA is acceptable (which sadly is a concern for me.) The program is also completely online which works well since traveling is part of my job. I had talked to them back in December and decided that it really wasn't the right time. I am very excited to start and sadly right now the program isn't available in Missouri. The basicness of it is every state must 'sign off' on the programs saying they meet the regulation and blah blah blah. There is no ETA for when it will be available again.

I am really disappointed. There are probably other schools that would work... but I feel at a stand-still. I'm really not sure where to look and the other programs that I've look at (very briefly I will say) look scary for lack of a better word. I know I need to do more research but as with some things I feel very overwhelmed about it right now. It's just really been bothering me. It's been on my mind. I keep kicking myself for not starting the program earlier when it was offered instead of now. I'm mad at myself... and sometime I have a hard time letting go... not beating myself up about it. So any ideas? I know UMSL has a program that I plan on looking into more tomorrow... I need to call the University of Phoenix person back. He said it could be weeks or months...

I just don't know. Blah... work has also been pretty annoying lately. I don't want it to sound like I'm sad and pathetic but these last few weeks have just gotten to me more than ever and this education thing doesn't help. I just need to burn off some nerves, and I haven't gotten very good at knowing how to do that. I think I'm going to force myself to paint tonight... maybe that will also help to focus myself on a project. Yeah, maybe a project in general will be a good idea.

Maybe it will all work itself out... I guess let's hope for that...

NFL Week 5 Picks

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

And after 4 weeks we are STILL tied, can you believe it?!? (and it looks like we'll be tied into Week 5 too... hmmph)

Chad: 36 - 26
Jenn: 36 - 26

The Competition - Week 7

Whoops, I completely forgot to post about this...

As a reminder here's where we started:

Chad: 210
Jenn: 178

After week 1:
Chad: 208.5
Jenn: 177

After week 2:
Chad: 207
Jenn: 176.5

After week 3:
Chad: 208
Jenn: 177

Week 4:
Chad: 206.5
Jenn: 176

Week 5:
Chad: 205
Jenn: 175

Week 6:
Chad: 203
Jenn: 173

Week 7:
Chad: 203
Jenn: 173

And percentage of weight lost (weekly):

Chad: 0%
Jenn: 0%

This week neither of us dropped any weight, but we also didn't gain any weight... just a wash.

NFL Week 4 Picks

San Francisco 49ers vs. Atlanta Falcons

New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns

Detriot Lions vs. Green Bay Packers

Denver Broncos vs. Tennessee Titans

Seattle Seahawks vs. St. Louis Rams

Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints

Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Houston Texans vs. Oakland Raiders

Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Washington Redskins vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Arizona Cardinals vs. San Diego Chargers

Chicago Bears vs. New York Giants

New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins

Chad

Jenn

Both

After 3 weeks we are STILL tied!!

Chad: 28-20

Jenn: 28-20

The Competition - Week 6

First I'd like to say this is my 300th post!!!!

Now onto this week.

As a reminder here's where we started:

Chad: 210
Jenn: 178

After week 1:
Chad: 208.5
Jenn: 177

After week 2:
Chad: 207
Jenn: 176.5

After week 3:
Chad: 208
Jenn: 177

Week 4:
Chad: 206.5
Jenn: 176

Week 5:
Chad: 205
Jenn: 175

Week 6:
Chad: 203
Jenn: 173

And percentage of weight lost (weekly):

Chad: 0.98%
Jenn: 1.14%

Which means I've finally won a week... this brings my total weight loss to 5 pounds... it's so exciting to be losing this weight. I'm so proud of both of us!!

Catching up

I haven't posted a "real" blog entry in awhile... so here's a random post...

• Last week I was in LA... it was colder there than it was here in St. Louis.
• The conference I was in LA for went really well... I got thanked more there than I have in quite awhile. It felt really good to hear that I had been doing such a good job. I work really hard and I put a lot of effort into the things I do and I don't always get recognition for it, but last week I definitely did... it was really nice.
• I got to see the ocean last week, we took a trolley down to Manhattan Beach. It's a really nice area and it was really nice seeing the ocean.
• Yesterday I went to StrangeFolk festival in O'Fallon, IL. I didn't get anything, but there was a lot of cool things there. I'm sure that if I was with my mom I probably would have gotten something.
• We watched Hot Tub Time Machine last night... it was really funny... especially for the cast involved and the fact the movie is named Hot Tub Time Machine.
• I'm so happy the new line up for TV... Survivor is back as well as The (regular) Apprentice. I think Chad and I are going to start watching The Amazing Race as well.
• Oh... and football is back on TV... YAY!! And although the Rams aren't winning, they are looking MUCH better than last year.
• Our anniversary dinner was awesome. We went to the Melting Pot again and had a great time. We like it there b/c it's a nice leisurely dinner and wine and company. It was wonderful.
• Chad is working a new schedule these days. He's working Friday through Monday. It's some adjustment, but we have every night together which is more than when he worked nights. He's doing really well at work and it's all a good thing. I just hope they offer him a permanent job real soon.

Well, that's all for now... I'm hoping to start up a more consistent post... so look out for that. It's dinner time!!

NFL Picks - Week 3

San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Detriot Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings

Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots

Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints

Tennessee Titans vs. New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns vs. Baltimore Ravens

Dallas Cowboys vs. Houston Texans

Washington Redskins vs. St. Louis Rams

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Indianapolis Colts vs. Denver Broncos
Oakland Raiders vs. Arizona Cardinals

San Diego Chargers vs. Seattle Seahawks

Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets

Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears

Chad

Jenn

Both

After Week 2... we are still tied... I was throughly convinced that Chad was in the lead but when i was compiling the scores just now we are actually tied... SCORE!!

Chad: 20-12

Jenn: 20-12

The Competition - Week 5

Even though we weighed ourselves Monday, I was on travel this week and didn't have access to the spreadsheet, so I'm just now getting around to posting.

As a reminder here's where we started:

Chad: 210
Jenn: 178

After week 1:

Chad: 208.5
Jenn: 177

After week 2:

Chad: 207
Jenn: 176.5

After week 3:

Chad: 208
Jenn: 177

Week 4:

Chad: 206.5
Jenn: 176

Week 5:

Chad: 205
Jenn: 175

And percentage of weight lost (weekly):

Chad: 0.73%
Jenn: 0.57%

13/25

My awesome friend Carrie bought me this book at a book fair. She thought she had read it, but turns out she hasn't... but that's just a side note. My second Jodi Picoult book... and I've gotta say I'm starting to become hooked. She just engages you with the characters so well. She tackles these tough topics but does so in a way that it's easy to read. Plus I've noticed with her books you want to know what happens next... or how the heck is this book going to end. I would recommend this book to a friend. I am excited to read more of her books.

On a side note as a posted awhile back, I read My Sister's Keeper. I finally watched the movie last Friday and I couldn't believe how much they changed the story. I know books and movies never match perfectly (pun anyone?? ok, maybe not so much... anywho...) they completely changed the ending and that seems slightly wrong.

Two Wonderful Years

Two years ago today I married my best friend... These two years have been wonderful and I'm so happy he's in my life. I'm so excited to see what our future continues to bring. Chad, I love you more every day. Happy 2nd anniversary!!

NFL Week 2 Picks

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

Chad
Jenn
Both

After week 1 we've got a tie!!

Chad: 11-5
Jenn: 11-5