Ah, Jamaica-Bound...

I'm thinking blogging will be non-existent this week as we rest and relax in Jamaica!!! :) Have a great week!

Baby has a Name!

Seth and I have finalized a name for our baby boy. We've pretty much agreed on only this boy name the whole time, and the more we said it, the more we loved it.

So baby's name will be....Carter Nicholas!!!

And, might I add, that little baby Carter was spoiled on his "not-quite-first" Christmas. Lots of books, clothing, toys, and blankets among many other things. Now we are super excited to get kickin' on the nursery! We picked out the bedding this week too and we love it.

Can't wait for you to all meet him! :)

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas! It hasn't quite felt like Christmas today -- namely because we've exchanged gifts and "celebrated" with our families already, we didn't do gifts (except stockings) because Jamaica is our Christmas gift, and I am on call for work and spent my entire morning and early part of this afternoon at work. BLAH!

Now, my extremely swollen ankles and I are going to plop down for a bit and relax before we head to my aunt and uncles house for the afternoon.

Hope you all have a blessed Christmas!

Because I Want to be Sure you Laugh Today.

Disclaimer: The story I am about to tell would be SO much better if it had visuals, trust me. But I am going to try to make it as visual as possible for you to get the full affect.

We got pretty bad snow on Saturday into Sunday. We were up at my parent's house on Saturday celebrating Christmas with extended family and stayed at my sister's house overnight on Saturday so that we didn't have to drive back home in the bad weather. We had taken the Jeep because it is better in snow, and therefore the three of us (Bentley was along), his crate, his bed, the dog, our overnight bags, food from the party, etc. were literally stuffed like sardines into the small Jeep Wrangler.

As we pulled onto our street on Sunday afternoon, I could already foretell what was about to happen. We were the only people on the entire street that had not shoveled their driveway yet and the plow had come down the street and pushed the piles along the sides of the road, thus making a mountain in front of our driveway. Surely this would be a challenge in the Jeep. Seth drops it into 4 wheel drive and guns it up and over the pile of snow, safely to the top of the driveway.

As I pushed the door open to get out, I asked him to help me out by taking all of the things I was holding on my lap the whole way home. I look out the door and see about 10-11 inches of unshoveled snow and lo and behold, I am wearing my heeled black boots--by no means "snow shoes."

I kicked my right leg out of the passenger side and put it down, where it instantly sinks the whole way to the bottom, filling my boot with snow and soaking my socks. Super. As I go to swing my left leg out of the car, it got stuck on something--might have been my purse, the junk on the floor, or the seatbelt, I'm not sure--but I started doing the one leg hop on my right leg to get unstuck.

Seth, now holding the gads of stuff from my lap, is rendered useless and unable to help me gain my balance when I frantically start flailing and fall face first into a giant 11 inch thick bed of fluffy snow. I mostly fell on my knees for all of you who are thinking "oh my gosh, she's PREGNANT and fell!" Trust me, it didn't look graceful but I (and baby) was fine. The landing felt like I fell into a bed of cotton and I sort of fell on my lower legs...it was soft as could be and considering that the jeep's door was only a little bit above the snow it wasn't very far.

But we got the biggest laugh out of it. I seriously laughed until I cried and Seth was laughing so hard his wisdom teeth (or lack thereof) were hurting...

Good thing only my husband saw me because the neighbors surely would have gotten a kick out of it! :)

Baby Boy's First Outfit from Mommy and Daddy

Baby boy got his first outfit on Tuesday after our appointment. Our ultrasound/appointment was quicker than we expected so we went straight to Carter's to buy his first "boy" thing.

We got this one -- it says "dog gone cute" on the short sleeved onesie with a puppy on the butt. And OF COURSE I couldn't resist little tiny suede sneakers to go along with it! The puppy theme worked perfectly with his big brother Bentley, who I'm SURE will be excited to find out that he no longer has to be dressed up because mommy will have someone else to play dress-up on. :)

Three Years Already!?!

Today is mine and Seth's 3 year anniversary! Insanely hard to believe it's been that long on one hand, and also insanely hard to believe it's only been 3 years on the other.

I remember our wedding day so vividly that it feels like yesterday. I can literally remember everything -- what time I got up, the note I sent to his room the morning of our wedding, getting ready, seeing him for the first time, it being 63 degrees in December, what hors 'd oeuvres we ate, how bad the DJ sucked and ruined out first song, how the servers at the reception gave me white cake instead of red velvet.

But most of all, I remember how absolutely content I was as the day approached, knowing that I would be spending the rest of my life with my soulmate. Not a single doubt in my mind that he was the one for me. The song we danced to had the perfect lyrics (if you could have heard them, MR. DJ! I'm getting over the bitterness, I promise. haha):

It's always been a mystery to me,

How two hearts can come together,

And love can last forever.

But now that I have found you I believe,

That a miracle has come when God sends the perfect one.

So gone are all my questions about why,

And I've never been so sure of anything in my life

Oh I wonder what God was thinking, when he created you.

I wonder if He knew everything I would need,

Because he made all my dreams come true.

When God made you, He must have been thinking about me.

He made the sun, He made the moon,

To harmonize a perfect tune,

One can't move without the other,

they just have to be together.

And that is how I know it's true,

You're for me and I'm for you

and my world just can't be right without you in my life.

Three years later, I still have no doubts...that you'll always be the one I want to wake up next to every day, argue about hanging outdoor Christmas lights with, have a cutie little baby boy with, go on trips with, hold hands with, hug, kiss, stand in line at the long deli counter for the right lunch meat for, laugh with, and cry with.

And, as always, I love you way more than I did yesterday, and far less than I will tomorrow.

Happy Anniversary, love!

It's a......

BOY!!!!

Less Than 24 Hours!!!!!

I'm fairly certain that I won't be able to sleep tonight...no, not because my bladder is at the control of another, because I can't get comfortable on my side, or because my pregnancy stuffed up head has stolen my control of nostril breathing...but because in less than 24 hours, Seth and I will find out if we will have a baby girl or boy! EEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

I think we are pretty much 100% settled on our names, have the furniture picked out, and bedding picked out for both genders (still some debate on that, but I feel like mommy might win that one.) Kidding!!!! Sort of. ;)

After our appointment, we are going to grab some lunch, but when I get back to my office (probably around 1:30 tomorrow), I will be sure to post the good news! We'll, of course, call siblings and parents.

Now, praying everything with measurements, growth, etc. is all perfect!

Yipee!!!!!!!

Show Us Your Life - Christmas Cookies/Treats

Today, Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life theme is Christmas cookies and treats. One of my favorite things to take places at the holidays is baked goods so I'm all over this! :)

Cookies for an exchange at work...chocolate crinkles...YUM! :)

Mini Boston Cream pies for a party!

And not technically Christmas, but since Seth's birthday falls so close, it is always tacked right in there with the Christmas baking! I love to make and decorate cakes (nothing fancy of course), so it's always fun!

....making this pregnant lady hungry! :)

19 weeks!

I'm 19 weeks today, and I only have to make it through the next few days until we find out if I can begin spending all of our money a normal amount of money on tiny little baby clothing that say cute things like "Chick magnet" or "Daddy's princess."

I saw that pretty much everyone (except 2!) thinks I'm having a boy. I'll be sure to update Tuesday when we get back from the appointment to let you know if you were right or not! :)

And we're off to NJ tonight to see family, celebrate Christmas and Seth's birthday with Seth's parents and his brother's family, and MEET BABY MADELINE!!!!!!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Because it is snowing and cold, and because it is Saturday and I am taking a break from cleaning, I thought I'd do this little Christmas thing I saw on someone's blog. :)

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Never even tasted egg nog, so let's go with hot chocolate :)

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? He wraps them...or in the case of Christmas 2006, he put the gifts in my stocking and stuffed wrinkled wrapping paper around them because he didn't know that in our newly formed family, we wrap them.

Colored lights on tree/house or white? White, white, WHITE. I think I almost refuse to have any other color of lights. The ONLY exception is if the multi-colored lights all match...no orange-toned, then non-oranged toned. Know what I mean?

Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. I can kiss my love whenever I want. ;)

When do you put your decorations up? Usually as soon as Thanksgiving leftovers are safely stowed in the fridge. Or in the case of this year, a week before. We were going to be exchanging gifts with Matt and Erin the day after Thanksgiving and I wanted it to be Christmas-y and not a mess from the night before.

What is your favorite holiday dish? No idea...hamloaf probably.

Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Waking up on Christmas morning and coming downstairs.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I have no idea.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I lived at my parents I think we did. We don't anymore, unless you can't the exchanging of gifts with my parents, siblings, etc.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights and the ornaments from when we were growing up (ones our parents got us every year, homemade ones, etc.)

Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it if I don't have to drive, hate it if I do.

Can you ice skate? Haven't ice skated in like 15 years, so I have no idea.

Do you remember your favorite gift? Honestly, no. I think there's a "real-meaning-of-Christmas" illustration in there somewhere...

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with family and friends and reflecting on Jesus' birth.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Red velvet cake

What is your favorite holiday tradition? We don't have many traditions yet but hope to change that when little Ran enters the world. For now, probably decorating the tree together.

What tops your tree? Star

Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I like both, but I think giving people gifts is SO fun!

Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? Yum, but only in moderation

Favorite Christmas Show? National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Saddest Christmas Song? Christmas Shoes, hands down.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? Hmm, probably O Holy Night...Josh Groban style.

Baby Appointment Details

Just had my 18 week appointment. She said everything looked good -- the measurement of my stomach, blood pressure, no protein in urine, baby's heartbeat (146...hmm, boy?).

She did say that I just need to watch my weight gain. According to them, I've gained 7 pounds since I found out I was pregnant (according to my home scale WITHOUT clothing, I've only gained 4...stupid doctor's office scales), but what really drove me crazy is that 1) I was wearing all of my clothing AND my winter coat to get weighed and they didn't adjust for that; and 2) the doctor immediately followed this comment up by telling me about a brand new clinical trial she started about women's weight (at all spectrums) during pregnancy. I'm getting a little hunch that she needed someone my size to enroll....funny how those academic medical centers work, huh? ;) Plus, I am almost 1/2 way...7 pounds doesn't really seem like THAT much.

Anyway, I came back and did some research and according to everything I have found I am right on target, ESPECIALLY if you deduct the pound or 2 from my clothing and coat for cryin' out loud.

But she said everything was going smoothly and she still sees no reason why we couldn't go to Jamaica. One more appt. before the big trip so that will be the final call.

Oh....and I felt baby kick two times last night while laying in bed. :) Felt JUST like Erin described at Thanksgiving -- a gentle finger flick and popcorn popping.

Next appt: Dec 15....the big one!!!!!!!!!! :)

17 weeks!

Today I am 17 weeks pregnant. Super hard to believe...seems like just yesterday we found out, thus leaving me to sit on practically every single bench at Hersheypark while Seth and friends went on rollercoasters and pretty much every ride of interest to me. :)

We will find out in 2 1/2 weeks what we'll be having and are SUPER excited. People ask me all the time what I think it is. Quite honestly, I have absolutely NO IDEA. I pretty much feel like it is going to be a boy. I can't pinpoint why but maybe it is because I always thought I'd have a girl first. But now that every female in the family is having a girl, I think we'll be the ones to work on evening out the numbers. Calvin and Logan need boy cousins afterall!

The pin on a string said girl....until I got giddy. Then it stopped moving in mid-air and violently switched to boy. It has said boy ever since. Truth be told, we'll be happy with a healthy boy or girl!

We find out on December 15th, so be sure to tune in then to get the results because I will try to share the news as soon as humanly possible! My appointment is at 10 a.m. and is pretty long, but because my boss rocks, she told me that when I'm done, take some time to go celebrate with Seth and take a nice lunch with him!!!

In the meantime, what do you think? I put a poll at the top of my blog...be sure to take it! :)

Step into Africa

Over the past 8 or so days, our church has been hosting something called the AIDS Experience: Step into Africa. Basically, the gym was transformed into an African village. Somewhat like the Holocaust Museum, each person gets headphones and as they walk through, are hearing a narrated story of a little boy or little girl who lives in a village overcome by HIV/AIDS. You are given the "real life" opportunity to see what life was like for them (all true stories and real props) before their lives have been transformed by World Vision, the sponsor of the event. We did this Sunday night for the first time.

As you end the tour, you are brought into a room with a long wall. On it was literally THOUSANDS of handwritten notes or prayers for these children in Africa. Seth wrote one for us, while I browsed the walls of children who are up for sponsorship through World Vision. We've always considered sponsoring a child, but never got around to it because apparently our privileged-go to work-eat a hot meal-sleep in a nice bed kind of life got in the way.

Being the way I am, I was immediately thinking that $35 a month is sort of high for sponsoring a child. But then Seth brought up a good point....we basically have to give up NOTHING to make up that $35 a month. Maybe it means we don't go out for dinner one single time. Or we don't buy a new shirt at the mall. Or go 156 minutes over our cell phone plan (hypothetically speaking, of course).

As I looked around, I was instantly drawn to a little boy named Henry. I have no idea why because they were all adorable. Maybe it was his little blue shirt that was clearly worn through. Maybe it was that he was from a country that this history-deprived girl has actually heard of (Uganda).

While we stood there and talked about it, I thought how could we not??? Knowing that our materialistic $35 a month was anything but materialistic to these kids and their families. That maybe, just maybe, they'd be able to drink clean water and wear a clean shirt--things we take for granted every single day as our clean laundry makes piles several feet high in the laundry room.

Now, if we were going to do this, we had to pick a child. As we walked around looking at them all, I wandered back over to Henry with Seth. And do you know when his birthday was? December 16. Our anniversary. Now we knew we had to not only sponsor a child, but this precious little boy. How cool is that? Just that final nudge we needed at the right time.

So Henry from Uganda is now our sponsor child. That night before we left the event, we were able to write him his first letter. I wrote every single sentence in a different bright color. Seth said I was going to overwhelm the poor 5-year-old but I tend to disagree. Kids love colors, and colors it had. :)

Do you sponsor a child? Or have you ever considered it?

Show Us Your Life - Pets

Today's Show Us Your Life at Kelly's Korner is all about pets. And you know I love me some of our baby (for now), Bentley! :)

We got Bentley in the summer of 2008, the day we got back from Florida. We picked him out the day before we left, and I talked about him the entire vacation. He's such a good dog -- super sweet, a little lot hyper, all kinds of adorable, and fairly obedient. We love him so much!! For now, he is hands down like a child to us. We spoil him just like he's a kid.

SO -- without further ado (adieu?), I present to you the cutest boxer in the whole world!!

That's our baby boy! :)

Bentley's 6th Sense

Bentley knows I'm pregnant. I can just tell and so can Seth. I've always wondered if dogs can tell and I think I have my answer.

Since pretty much the time I found out that I am pregnant, Bentley has been different around me. He just seemed to "know" something that I didn't. He's been super clingy to me, often times waking up from a dead sleep on the couch to follow me into the kitchen for a drink. When I'm cuddling with Seth, he'll push his way between us ("you did this to her, now get away!") and "fall asleep." When I go to the bathroom or take a bath, he'll lay outside the bathroom door. He'll jump up when Seth and I hug each other as if he's saying "hey, let me in on the hug, people!"

And more recently, when I lay (lie?) on the couch, he'll come up with me and rest his chin on my stomach. It is seriously the most darling thing I have ever seen. I wonder if he can hear the baby?? Dogs ears are incredibly good, afterall.

Hopefully he'll be this protective of his baby brother or sister too! :)

Happenings of Late

Again, I have nothing intriguing or exciting to say. Well, except congratulations to Phil and Bethany on the baby!!! I came home and checked your blog and sure enough, she was here. Very excited to see pictures!

Here's what's been up the past few days:

- I purchased a pair of maternity dress pants and absolutely fell in LOVE with them over the past week. I wish it was acceptable to wear the same pair of pants to work every day, but I'll settle for wearing them to all kinds of places where the same people don't see me (i.e. work, then church, then jury duty) Elastic stretch waistbands are like God's gift to women. Can I get an amen from the pregnant ladies out there?! :)

- I was summoned for jury duty and was there yesterday and today. No lie, on Monday they had about 150 people crammed into a room that was about the size of 2 conference rooms side by side. As soon as I walked in, I was scanning for the nearest exit should I begin to feel faint. It was like a thousand degrees in there!

- I was rejected and then chosen for my very first jury case ever. Unfortunately, the one I got rejected for was a more exciting one but I had a tiny little inkling that because I work at a hospital, the lawyers weren't really going to want me on their jury for a medical malpractice case. I'm just sayin'...good thing I got picked for slip and fall. Boy, are court cases humorous.

- In the process of cleaning up our house and prepping it for the holidays, we decided that rather than blocking the pre-lit, artificial tree in the storage area, we'd just move it out into the family room now, but not turn it on. Yeah right. I turned that puppy on in .2 seconds. And then I found a small bag of ornaments and hung them on the tree. And left it on all night. It makes me SO happy. And it looks SO GOOD in the remodeled basement.

- I officially now have a belly bump, hence why maternity dress pants are so lovely.

That's about all in Ran Land right now. What's new with you?

The Power of Suggestion

Last night, I thought it would be fun to do a little bit of Christmas shopping. Seth thought that sounded about as fun as having bamboo shoots shoved under his fingernails, but I begged and pleaded and he finally gave in. His only requisite was that I had to drive at least one way.

As I backed out of the garage (through the OPEN door, not the closed one), I casually mentioned to him that my car was being finnicky the past week or so and had sputtered when I turned the car on 2 whole times out of 9 days. He said that we'd have to get a battery soon and that was that.

While I ran into the store, Seth sat in the car with Bentley. He turned the car off but left the radio on and the windows down. I came out a mere fifteen minutes later and jumped in the driver's seat.

I think you know where this is going...

I turned the key and nothing. And I mean nothing. Oh I lie, the dash light might have flashed for .2 seconds, but then nothing. We sat and waited for a few minutes and I tried again. Even more of nothingness. Excellent.

Good news for us: we had jumper cables and a lovely couple asked if we needed help, so we were jumped in no time. Plus, Seth was with me. I probably would have freaked out if I was alone and had to jump a car with someone's help because for the life of me, I can NEVER remember that the colors are to MATCH UP on the cables, not be a 1 to 1 kind of thing of black to red. Chances are good that I will ruin more than just a battery some day with that lack of knowledge.

The other good news is that there is a car place just across the lot, so after we were jumped we headed over there, and the nice people installed a new battery for us. Nearly $100 later, we called it a night and headed home!

The point is this: if your battery is being finnicky, don't say it out loud.

Oh Baby, Baby...Stuff.

Seth and I aren't planning to register until after the holidays when we know if baby is a girl or boy. Not that it makes a huge difference because we planning on registering for all neutral "big ticket items" like car seat, stroller, pack and play, high chair, etc. so that baby #2 can use it too. But there are some things like bibs and other things that can be gender-specific, so I'd rather wait.

And wow can Babies R' Us be overwhelming. We had to run some errands around there on Friday, so we decided to stop in and just browse around and get a feel for what all we'd need. Lucky for Seth, I prepared a "baby gear" list of things that I want/feel we need. Some of the things had specifics like brand name/pattern, etc and some things just said "umbrella stroller" because I still need to do some more searching.

So, if you're a mom and/or know anything about baby stuff, what are some "must haves" when it comes to baby and what are some downright "Please, you totally don't need thats"?!?! I already know a few things I have to have and a few things I think are not necessary but there are literally thousands of things out there.

I mean, what are your thoughts on vibrating seats? Diaper bags? Monitors? Breast pumps (yes, I said it)? Learning tools like DVDs/CDs? Pack and plays?

I'd love to hear your advice!

Life's Going-Ons

It seems like I've been awfully tongue-tied and/or too tired to write anything lately, so it has been like a ghost town around here for sure.

Do not be lead astray. Please, oh please, allow me to grace you with the Ran happenings this week:

- We made a little visit to the ER last Friday night because Seth hurt his shoulder playing dodgeball at school. Nothing too serious or dramatic, but he was in pain and it was the weekend, so he needed the drugs. He got the drugs. The end.

- My parents came over Saturday while Seth was at work; my mom fixed the new slip covers to make them look lovely and not ghetto and my dad painted baby's nursery. Yes, I know we aren't due until May, and yes, I am impatient. But we had 5 gallons of leftover paint from the basement, and it happened to be the perfect color that would go with pretty much any single baby bedding I we would choose. And I knew my dad had nothing better to do with his time. :)The room looks lovely (but empty) and I can't waiiiiit to get furniture for in it!!!!!!

- My clothing is starting to get a bit snug. I bought a pair of maternity jeans a week or so ago and fell in love instantly with how comfortable they are. And then prompty got caught on our screen door and ripped them the 2nd time I wore them. Wonderful. Just what I was hoping would happen to my overpriced preggo jeans.

- I got paged during the night while I was on call about H1N1. Seriously. I'm going to get on my soapbox here for a second because I am about to go out of my mind with it. H1N1 is being blown out of proportion by the media. It is basically just.like.the.seasonal.flu. The H1N1 vaccine does not cause paralysis. Everyone is missing a very important part of that story. The 1976 vaccine (as well as the seasonal vaccine) had a few cases of people developing guillain-barre syndrome, a disorder which can cause paralysis. The number of instances was so low, health officials cannot even clearly link the 2. And yes, I am getting the vaccine when it becomes available for pregnant people (unless it is a waste because it takes so long and flu season is over). Though a fairly simple type of flu if treated, it can be bad for pregnant people because of not being able to take much of anything -- the CDC, the American Association of Ob and Gyn, and all 3 OB/GYNs I have talked to say absolutely 100% pregnant people should get it, no questions asked. Off my soapbox.

- I gave out glow sticks for trick or treat, and I was hands down the coolest lady on the street. Who would have thought tkids would be so enamored by them?!

- I totally finished the twins for Christmas today. That means I'm done with like 6 people now! Woo hoo! And also, one night when I got bored, I really wanted to break out my cute new wrapping paper so I wrapped Logan's and the twin's gifts already.

That's about it -- what have you been up to?

Details, Details, Details.

Well, telling people sure was fun. I've gotten a lot of questions, so this will help answer some of them! :)

How far along?
I am almost 13 weeks, due May 7 (day before Mother's Day). Yes, May 7th. As in 3 blissful summer months off...with Seth for 2 of them! YES!

Do I want a boy or a girl?
Well, of course I'd be perfectly happy and excited with a healthy boy OR girl, but let's face it...every girl wants a girl :) I want to put Mary Janes on her and put velcro bows in her hair. Plus, I can't find any cute boy bedding. haha

What do I think it is?
Boy, hands down. So does everyone else, except Allie. :)

Do we have names picked out?
Pretty much, and have for quite some time. Down to basically one for a girl and two for a boy.

Will we find out the gender?
Have we met? Yes, we will find out. :) If someone could hand me a post-it note with all of my Christmas gifts written on it tomorrow, I'd be the happiest girl alive. I hate surprises.

Are we still going to Jamaica in December?
Lord willing, yes, this will still be our babymoon. Except baby is joining us.

Am I going to go back to work?
Yes, right now in my life, I just feel that I worked hard to get my degree, worked hard to be successful in my job, and at 25, am not ready to stay home. I absolutely see being a SAHM in my future, but not yet. We'll find a loving, wonderful day care for our little one until that time comes.
Was I sick during the first trimester?
Nope, not at all. Tired, YES. (Seth can vouch for that!) But no sickness...knock on wood.

Am I craving anything?
Taco Bell, Red Lobster, and hot tea. Do we fulfill that craving? No.

FINALLY some fun news (I promise)!

That's right...Seth and I are expecting our first baby, due on May 7, 2010! We are into our 13th week already (I know, I bet you're as shocked as me that I was able to hold out this long!). Big Brother Bentley is very excited for his new baby brother or sister...I see loooots of puppy kisses in the baby's future.

Boredom Passer :)

The blog is feeling a little ho-hum lately. I'm not even sure if people are still reading to be honest!

Until I have something interesting to write, here are some questions I saw on a friend's blog...but you can only use one word answers. Kept me occupied for a solid 3 minutes! :)

Where is your cell phone? here

Your hair? blonde

Your favorite food? hamloaf

Your dream last night? None

Your favorite drink? tea

Your dream/goal? family

What room are you in? family

Your hobby? scrapbooking

Your fear? sharks

Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy

Where were you last night? home

Something that you aren’t? skinny

Muffins? Blueberry

Wish list item? porch

Where did you grow up? Pennsylvania

Last thing you did? tv

What are you wearing? PJs

Your TV? dying

Your pet? adorable

Friends? love

Your life? simple

Your mood? dreary

Missing someone? papa

Vehicle? Civic

Something you’re not wearing? socks

Your favorite store? Mall (I cheated I know)

Your favorite color? blue

When was the last time you laughed? today

Last time you cried? computer crash (can't answer that in 1 word!)

Your best friend? Allie/Liz

One place that I go to over and over? work

One person who emails me regularly? sister

Favorite place to eat? italian

Mondays.

Mondays have been pretty ho-hum around here lately. I thought I'd kick it up a notch this morning and back into the garage door when I was leaving for work. Always a fun way to kick off a week, right? Oh you mean you haven't tried that?!?!

The neighbor boy down the street is coming to let Bentley out today after school. When he does this, we usually give him the garage door opener to get into the house. We decided to give him mine since it is a bit more reliable, and then I would take Seth's for the day to be able to get in and out of the garage without having to get out of my car to shut the door.

When we did the exchange last night, a husband who shall remain unnamed Seth threw his garage door opener into my car.....on the driver's seat. Yes, he told me he did that and no, I did not remember that this morning.

So basically, I left the house, pushed the button on the wall to open the door, got in (and thus sitting on the button), threw the car into reverse, and CRAAAAASH. I covered my eyes because I was certain that I had just backed into a car in our driveway (not sure whose car because Seth was gone, but work with me here, it was only 6:30).

When I finally looked, I saw the garage door in my view. I quickly pulled forward, gasped (and almost threw up) and jumped out, at which point the garage door began going up, then back down to the point of impact, then back up, and so on.

The car was not damaged other than the scuff marks on the back window from the bottom of the door. The door appeared to be slightly damaged based on the fact it would not go all the way down anymore. I gave it a little punch to put it back on the tracks, and it went down. And then wouldn't go back up. After some praying and a panicked call to Seth at work, it magically went back up.

I backed out CAREFULLY and put it down. It did go all the way down, but I fear that it is just going up and down at home and Bentley is about to kill himself thinking someone is home, someone is not home, someone is home, someone is not home.

So just a little piece of advice (or irony as I like to call it): if your garage door opener is unreliable and requires it to be smacked to go up or down, it will NOT require those things on the one day you sit on it in the car.

Write that down.

Computer Update!

We still have some things to do with the computer, but my brother managed to save all of our photos, documents, music, and important things!!!!

Temporary Break

Our computer decided that today would be a great day to display the "blue screen of death" as Google liked to call it (and CLEARLY not easing my fears about its future life). It was fine when we went to bed, but at some point during the night decided that Danielle and Seth don't need six years of digital photos (including honeymoon, wedding, Bentley, my niece and nephew, mine and Seth's dating years, etc.), resumes, or writing samples anymore.

I almost just cried again writing that. It won't be the first time today and it certainly won't be the last.

So, here I am praying and hoping....and praying some more....that someone can fix our computer. Of course I want it to continue working, but at this rate, I don't care if it crashes .2 seconds after I get our important things off of it. (insert lecture here about how we should have been backing up all along and so on and blah blah blah...) Too little, too late! Prayers are all that will help now.

I've made a few calls to some computer repair places who tend to be all "oh no, that's not good" and all "we charge $100 an hour." So I did what any rational 25-year-old would do....I called my 17-year-old-brother. He wasn't doom and gloom and didn't seem to be phased by the blue screen of death. His text said he can almost guarantee he can get that stuff off for me.

Oh, what a big kiss my big baby brother will get if he can.

So....you may not hear from me much for a few days until we have a working computer. I can check e-mail and whatnot at work, but that's only for the rest of today and until 11 a.m. tomorrow and then we're into the weekend which will now be dubbed the ancient days--as in the days before computers and internet and light social stalking on facebook.

Adios! Here's to hoping I'm back soon!

Things That Make Me Happy Right Now.

- I came home from work to a cleaned up house, all of the wood scraps in the garage have been removed so that I could pull my car in, and dinner was on the table (sorry ladies, you can't have him! He's all mine!).

- There are exactly 45 days until it is acceptable to begin listening to Christmas music.

- Even though I don't particularly like cold weather, it sort of smelled a little bit like snow today and I kind of liked it.

- We ordered the deep red slip covers for the basement furniture which will officially complete the space! It will look gorgeous with a tree down here for Christmas (we'll have two -- a real one downstairs, and a fake one upstairs).

- Seth's dad, and his brother, Matt, helped Seth get lots of projects done* this weekend when they were here for a visit (guest room closet, basement closet, attic, door frames!). ((*done for now...the list always seems to cross one off, add one). Thanks for the help, guys!

- I get to sleep in until 6:20 tomorrow. Yes, 6:20. Pathetic that 6:20 should be called sleeping in, but hey, it's almost an hour later than normal so it counts!

- I am going to be spending quality cuddle time with my wonderful husband (see #1) from right now until I go to bed.

Happy Fall...

...from the cutest boxer pup in the world!

Disclaimer: 16-month-old boxers do not like to have bandanas put around their neck and have them put into the pumpkin patch for fall pictures when they'd rather be running around. Therefore, they will refuse to look at you for every single picture except maybe slyly out of the corner of their eyes.

TGI...Almost the Weekend!

I'm drained. My head is spinning from how busy we've been at work. But thankfully, tomorrow is my FRIDAY! I have off this Friday, which will be spent sleeping in (well, my new "sleeping in" of 7 am probably ha!) and hanging out with Matt, Erin, and Logan who are coming tomorrow night.

It's a packed weekend -- Aunt Polly and Uncle Dirk are coming for dinner Friday, Seth's parents are coming Saturday, and we are having brunch and apple picking on Sunday!

And, believe it or not, I've NEVER been apple OR pumpkin picking and I'm pretty sure the place we are going has both, so I can start those 2 traditions at once! :) And we're taking Bentley in hopes of capturing an adorable fall picture. I feel some coordinating orange and red clothing coming on....and with a brown dog?? Hmm, it just screams fall, doesn't it?

So that's about it -- make it through work tomorrow without falling asleep at my desk or losing my mind, and it's the weekend!!!!

There's a Mouse in the House....I Mean Car

It happened a week ago today, but I was far too emotionally scarred to tell you about it until now, when I've been able to heal somewhat. ha! I'm kidding, but I promise, there was mouse-related drama at our house.

Last week, Seth had to run to the pet store for mice for his snakes (which are still for sale for the low, low price of FREE!). I had no plans for the night, so I suggested that Bentley and I tag along. He could drop me off at the grocery store so I could grab some things, and he and Bentley could run to the pet store for mice and then come back and get me.

As he pulled up to get me and our groceries, he told me they could go in the trunk, but that the trunk is where the little box of mice was. Ah, no big deal. We're only 15 minutes from home..."we'll be fine," said the naive wife.

When we pulled into the driveway, one of Seth's friends was in our driveway. Turns out, he was working right down the street and popped in to say hello. Well, needless to say, 15 minutes of mice in the trunk turned to 30. I gave no thought whatsoever to it, and went to the garage to get the groceries to put them away. I popped the trunk and I am not even kidding you, I almost passed out because there was a little white mouse with red eyes staring at me from on top of our groceries.

I may or may not have screamed bloody murder for Seth and his friend. They both came running, because clearly, I was being held hostage in the garage. I ran back in the house while they frantically searched for all six (yes, SIX) mice that were in my trunk. They quickly found 4, and declared that one had "gotten away." Of course, like the rational person I am, I made them go through every single grocery bag in the comfort of the garage before it could come in the house.

And then I threatened his life. And our bank account. Because I promised him this. He will not go to bed until that mouse that was loose in my car was found. And if it wasn't found, I would drive his car to work every single day until he could find a time to meet me at the car dealership for a new car. I may have even said the words "and don't even think you won't take off the door panels." Seth's friend, Chris, informed me that one time a mouse got loose in his car, died in the a/c unit, and smelled for 4 months.

Awesome.

Well, good news for him, though. When I banished him to the garage for mouse duty when his friend left, he popped the trunk, and both (BOTH!) mice were sitting right there. He grabbed them and that was that. But two you may ask? He told me "one got away" but he really didn't know. No need to freak me out with the notion that there are two mice loose in my car, huh?

Nonetheless, all is well and we still have my Honda Civic. And we are still married. And we still have snakes.

Which need to eat again next week, starting this mess all over again.

End of the Weekend Already...

Well, that went quickly. The weekends always do, right? We had a good, full weekend but its hard to believe that it's time for work again already tomorrow.

Ben, Salli, and the kids came on Saturday for the weekend. We headed to the Apple Festival as soon as they got here...it's sort of becoming a family tradition of sorts since they also happened to be here this same weekend last year (so were M, E, and L!). As is customary with all outdoor activities when we have guests, it began raining within about 30 minutes of getting there. We only had time to eat in the non-rain weather, but we shopped in the rain, that's for sure.

Then, since I knew it was going to rain, I had planned to do cut and bake sugar cookies for the kids to bake and then decorate with icing and sprinkles. They had fun and I had a sugar high looking at their cookies! But they were cute! :)

All in all, a fun weekend. Bentley sure had fun with all the wrestling...he napped for 3 hours this afternoon!!

Sweetest Video

Saw this more precious video this morning of Beyonce singing a song to a little girl with Leukemia at her concert on Saturday. So sweet...bet there were no dry eyes in that arena.

Bad Things Happen in Threes?

You know that saying that bad things happen in threes? We'll I would have poo-pooed that until today. Let's just say Seth and I are going to just sit and do nothing the rest of the night lest we ruin something else.

Earlier this afternoon, I was opening all of the windows to get some of the nice breeze. We have never opened the guest room window before, and we found that it was painted shut from when we moved in. Should be as simple as running an exacto knife through the paint, breaking the seal, and giving it a good heave, right? Um, no. Doing nothing really wrong, Seth got his palms on the top of the window frame, gave it a steady tap and pushed. CRASH!!! I knew from the other room what had happened. The bottom pane broke out. Excellent. Luckily for us, it is double paned glass so we at least have a closed window until we get a replacement.

Moving on to outside yardwork. My flower pots were looking a little rough, and I decided I would pull out the dead flowers and put the pots away for the season. I grabbed the clay pot and picked it up, but I quickly felt it leaving my grasp towards the deck. CRASH!!! Good-bye, nice clay pot I got this summer.

Moments later, as we continue yard work, Seth picks up the leaf blower and gives the starter cord a good yank to start. RIPPPP!!! Super, the cord ripped in half, now making it unstartable.

Based on our afternoon-of-broken-things pattern, the next thing is on me, so I'm not touching anything in this house that I love for the rest of the night.

Long Time, No Chat

I will admit. I'm at a loss for words right now (huh? me?). As is normally the case when I disappear for an extended period of time, work kidnapped me. In early, out late a lot lately. But life will settle down when all of the commercials are complete.

I'm so tired from all of these out-of-whack work days that I thought it would be fun to take a snooze this afternoon. Bentley did not think that would be a fun idea so he licked my face, whined, and continuously hit the blinds on the back door to let me know he'd rather be outside. Except when he was outside he was barking at the neighbor who hates him. Nap fail.
Tonight Seth and I are going on a date night to a restaurant we've never tried. A few weeks ago, restaurant.com was running a serious special on their gift cards. If you've never used restaurant.com, you have to start. Basically, it is $25, $50, and higher gift cards for significantly cheaper (i.e. a $25 gift card that you purchase for $10). Anyway, so on top of that insane sale, they had 80% OFF! In all, we got gift cards for 7 restaurants ranging from $10 to $50 for a total of nine American dollars.

Needless to say, Seth and I are eating out for about $2 tonight (well, plus the overage)!!!! Very excited to get work off my mind and have a nice night out with the gorgeous husband! :)

Remembering...

Hard to believe it has been 8 years already...I'm sure like most people, I remember where I was and what I was doing just like it was yesterday.

Though 8 years later, while those indirectly affected may see it as just another historical event, those who lost someone or experienced it firsthand are far from ever seeing it as that.

Keeping those people, who experience the fresh pain of that day everyday, in our prayers.

It's Been Forever...

I know, it's been forever since I've taken the time to write anything on here. But oh my word, I've been busy at work. We are beginning to shoot all of the tv commercials for the next year, so it has been hectic.

Last night, I was at work until midnight. And I am very tired. Very. I did come in late yesterday because I knew I was going to be here so late, but what I did not plan for was the fact that from 4 p.m. until midnight we would not be sitting down at all because there was just too much to do.

Since we were shooting the tv spot that focuses on our trauma care (and therefore, the helicopter/ambulances), we were literally standing on the concrete helipad for 8 hours. How fitting that the focus would be on trauma, huh? Our backs hurt so bad until we were done.

And Friday, I get to do it all over again, starting at 5:30 a.m....but this time, shooting a different commercial for our specialized neuroscience care. I'm feeling like there might be an opportunity for sitting at that one.

So that's why I've been M.I.A. When I'm not working, I'm sleeping. Or cleaning. Or walking the dog.

Or stepping over the unpacked bags in the hallway from our trip to NJ this weekend. I just can't seem to get motivated to unpack right now, and we have plenty of clothing to supplement that task for at least a few weeks.

I'm kidding. Sort of. :)

In Which I Swear Off AT&T Forever...

Ok, seriously. I'm going to rant for one tiny moment. Why, OH WHY, is AT&T a bunch of liars? More bars in more places...riiiiight. And great customer service? Again I say it, riiiiight.

So tonight, my phone stopped working. No big deal (except it is). It happens all the time with their products. They can withstand nothing. Heaven forbid you put it in your purse and it bangs against your wallet.

Anyway, I went to the store where they gave me hassle about me not being an "authorized user" on the account...my FATHER'S account that is. Seth and I have been paying for my cell phone since we've been married, but AT&T has not taken me off my dad's account (my parents don't even have AT&T anymore) because they have some stupid policy that we need to be together in the store to swtich me off. Yes, that makes sense if I am ADDING to his account, but I am asking to be removed. Sounds fairly simple.

So after calling my dad while I stand there, they get into the account and tell me that I am 6 weeks away from renewing my contract and will have to pay an extra $75 on top of their already overpriced phones because I am renewing early. HUH!?!?!?! I am not CANCELING, I am RENEWING. Therefore, why would you charge your loyal customers an extra $75? Stupid...

Well, trust me, I am not paying that ridiculous amount of money for a phone I wouldn't have to get if their's worked consistently. Thankfully, my sister has an old RazR I can use for a few weeks until I can get a new phone....and maybe a new company, too.

Wonder how Verizon is....

Use Caution when Reading this Post!

Consider yourself warned...your eyes could bleed from looking at all of these absolutely adorable pictures of these babies!

I know I'm the doting aunt, but seriously, I could squeeze/kiss/cuddle/steal them all day.

Itchy!

I'm itchy today...really, really itchy. On Monday night while doing yardwork, Seth, Bentley, and I got attacked by a bee's nest.

I got stung a total of 10 times. And I'm allergic. Clearly not as allergic as I used to be, thank God. But today--2 days later--I am SERIOUSLY ready to scratch my skin off. I am itchy from head to toe (including my scalp, hands, feet), and the hives have now spread across my stomach and across my thighs. Plus, the hives are raised and burning hot!

I just scheduled an appointment for 2:00 this afternoon. I'm going to beg them to give me something good...probably in the form of something that will bring immediate relief.

AHHHHH!

Show Us Your Life - Baby Showers!

This week "Show Us Your Life" at Kelly's Korner is baby showers!! Seeing as though my sister just had twins, my mom and I had a great opportunity to plan one recently.

The theme of the shower was "Sweet peas" and everything had an orange, lime green, white, and dark green theme which we based off of the invitations. It was so much fun.

We had the shower at a cute little italian place nearby, complete with a yummy buffet of chicken, red potatoes, green beans, pasta salad, fancy pizzas cut into small slices, fruit salad, and of course cake! Here are some pictures of the shower!

The invitation and the favor (homemade chocolate dipped pretzels)!

The flowers pre-arrangement...all orange, white, and green!

The shower location - sort of a dark picture, but you can probably get the idea!

Another shot of the favors - we did some green and some orange.

The cake, which we modeled after the invitation!

Another picture of the cake!

You didn't think I could write a post about baby showers and not include a pictures of the babies that were born, did you?!?! :) Here they are at 2 months!

Happy Birthday, Allie!

Today is my best friend, Allie's, birthday. Her and I go way back....to 2002 when we met at Messiah.

When I met her the very first day of college freshman year, she was flighty and I didn't really like her. She thought I talked too much and had a tinge of attention deficit disorder and didn't particularly care for me either. Perfect, huh?

But once we did more than glare at each other (I'm kidding, we didn't do that...haha), we became friends. Like good friends.

We roomed together for 2 of our 4 years of Messiah, and across the hall for a 3rd, so we had a lot of time with each other. We stayed up late, watched A LOT of Friends, went to Florida together for spring break, went for "runs" at midnight (to Wendy's, NOT to the gym). She came to my rescue when my boyfriend broke up with me on my birthday (on.my.BIRTHDAY!), and she KNEW something was wrong when her phone said "17 missed calls." She has laughed with me, cried with me, ripped a whole in her favorite pajamas when she was running to assist me in a crisis.

We have argued, disagreed, got along, and agreed. We have made up silly surveys for our roommates to determine whether or not we would go to Atlantic City, Washington D.C., or Philly for our roommate getaway. We have sung patriotic songs for hours until we were both tired, and we have napped like CHAMPIONS in a pitch black room at 2:30 in the afternoon. We eat at Pizza Hut whenever we are together for more than one day in a row, and have been known to make hamloaf and easy mac while soaking our feet in rubbermaid containers to give ourselves home pedicures.

We have more memories in the 7 years that I have known her than are characters allowed in my blog.

She's by far one of the best friends ever...one of those friends that you KNOW will be for life.

And she is moving to Atlanta. [join me in a moment of mourning, won't you?] Booo...

Anyway, I love you, Allie!!! I hope you have a great birthday.

No Need for Stress Anymore!

You know how it's so easy to stress about something over and over until you get yourself all worried and nervous? Well, I do. :) I'm the one in our family of two who pretty much does nothing with the finances -- Seth, for the most part, pays the bills, keeps track of our money, yells at me when I spend too much , lets me buy what I want, makes sure we always have more than enough in savings, back-up savings, emergency funds, etc.

Well, ever since we decided to go to Jamaica for our anniversary I've been stressing (like normal) about it because those trips are expensive(!!), and Seth has been laughing and telling me to chill out, man--"we have more than plenty for the trip!" We paid for half of the trip a few months ago, and still had well over half to go until November 27, when the final payment was due.

Tonight, we sat at the computer while I stressed out about having enough money happily layed (laid?) out our payment schedule for the next 4 months. I clicked on "make a payment" to set up the schedule, entered our credit card number, and hit submit, thinking it would take me to the "confirm" screen where I would take a look over everything, divide the amounts over the 4 months, and hit "ok."

No, that most certainly did not happen.

When I clicked submit, I saw the words no wife-who-doesn't-do-the-finances should ever see:
Thank you for your payment of $x,xxx. Your trip has been paid in full.

With one click of a button, I accidentally PAID THE WHOLE THING....AT ONCE.

Seth laughed. I breathed into a paper bag. Oh, I'm kidding.

Sort of.

But this proves his point that I should not ever touch the online accounts. HA!

Show us Your Life: Favorite Vacation Spots!

This week at Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life is favorite vacation spots!! And this is easy peasy, since I love all things Caribbean--or with a beach, gorgeous water, nice weather and spending time with my favorite people.

I've traveled to a good amount of Caribbean islands and non-Caribbean places, but here are a few places I've traveled that are hands down some of my favorite spots!

Hawaii - Hawaii was absolutely gorgeous. Aside from the dreadful plane ride from the east coast, everything was awesome. We spent lots of time on the beautiful beaches with pristine water, stood on top of an active volcano, and did so many fun things. We went to the observatory on Mauna Kea, and saw the sun set above the clouds. So cool!

Turks and Caicos - I have never in my whole life seen water so perfectly clear and calm (and 80+ degrees). It's pretty much the only way I get in the water, so it was amazing. The island was so pretty, and again, the locals were so nice.

St. Lucia - As I mentioned last week, this is where we went on our honeymoon. Since it was December and freezing in PA, it was so much fun to go somewhere hot! The weather was wonderful...even when it rained, it was just for a few minutes. The food was awesome, the locals were so nice, and I got to spend 8 whole days in a tropical place with the love of my life! :) It was so romantic and I distinctly remember being so sad when we had to go home. We're hoping to get back there for an anniversary (maybe 5 or 10?).

Those are just a few of my favorites, and I have many places on my wish list:

- Italy

- France

- Anguilla

- Antigua

- Alaska (preferrably a cruise!)

- Grand Canyon

PI-VOT

I get bored easily. I wish I was one of those people who could sit around and relax all day, but I'm really not. It sounds great in theory, especially when I try to lay out on the deck and get a tan. I'm probably out there all of 30 minutes and I'm super bored and hot.

Yesterday, I had a crazy (long) day at work, and I was looking forward to coming home, eating dinner, and plopping on the couch for a night of TV. I watched approximately 16 seconds of TV before I could feel the boredom coming on.

So I did what anyone would do....I did laundry and yardwork rearranged the living room furniture. Our living room is not all that large, so finding a way to move a couch, a love seat, coffee table, and 2 end tables without moving anything out of the room was....interesting.

Know that scene from Friends where they are trying to get the couch upstairs in a stairwell and Ross is yelling "PI-VOT"? That's how it was. Except it was just me, and no one to help. I'm pretty sure Bentley thought I was nuts because I was sweating and blocking him in all sorts of weird places.

But I did it, and it looks pretty good!! We're going to give it a shot and see how it works.

Anyone else ever get these random urges to move things/rearrange?

Date afternoon

I'm desperately in the mood to get out of the house and "do" something today (you know what I mean, right??). After church and lunch, I've managed to talk Seth into going to see a movie.

Of course it will be a chick flick, but I can't decide which one. I've heard great things about The Proposal and pretty good things about The Ugly Truth.

Has anyone seen either of those? What do you recommend?

Show Us Your Life - Wedding Reception and Honeymoon

Kelly at Kelly's Korner is doing a thing called "Show us your life" where each week has a different theme. This week's was wedding reception and honeymoon. I just couldn't pass this up! :)

We got married on December 16, 2006 in Lancaster, PA. Our reception was at Willow Valley Resort, which has a lot of meaning to my family, since we've gone there the weekend before school for as long as I could remember when I was a kid. I loved having a winter wedding -- so pretty with all the reds, greens, and whites. The temperature was fairly warm though (in the 50s) for December so it didn't feel too winterish.

Just me!

Post-ceremony on the way to the reception

Again


Smoooooch!


being frisky...haha


Bouquet toss...I think Seth's cousin, Jessie, caught it

Then it was off to the honeymoon - We went to Sandals Regency St. Lucia, which I would hands-down recommend to anyone who is planning their honeymoon. I loved that it was all-inclusive and we never had to carry any cash, especially since tips were prohibited! It was so fun and romantic -- and lots to do...and eat. :)

Gorgeous, huh?

The Pitons!

Seth and I at dinner one night - with our "miniature leather sandals." During your stay, you can play games and do all kinds of stuff to ear points for prizes and those things kept coming up over and over. We had no idea what it meant until we got some at dinner!

The view from our room - it was like heaven! We can't wait to go back!!!