Trick or Treat

So I don't have a lot of time to write about the party we went to right now, but I will update with details and more pix later. All I can say is man did we have fun! McKenna was sporting her bumble bee outfit on the trip over to gona and baca's. They were kind enough to babysit while we went to my friend Scott's Halloween party.


We dressed up as white trash. Josh has been growing his beard out for weeks (he is SOOO glad to have shaved it off! He is sporting a mullet, fake teeth, very short shorts, dirty fingernails and a tshirt that says "free mustache rides." I am dressed in a tshirt that says "mess with me, and you mess with the whole trailer park, giant hoop earrings, full arm tattoos, ripped collar to expose my aerosmith tattoo, a black eye, cigarette, beer, and I am supposed to look 9 months pregnant.


Here is a close up, aren't we a cute couple?


More on the party later - HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

Kitchen Project

Josh has been interested in woodworking for quite a long time. It has taken all my energy over the past year just to stop him from buying a new tool each week. He has really done some amazing projects lately, and I had to put them up here to brag about.

When we moved into our house last year we LOVED the view, layout, and location. But I was not so happy about the kitchen. In fact, I hated it. Flesh colored walls, small cabinets, a BLUE countertop? The house was custom built with beautiful floors, fixtures, woodworking, etc. It looks like they ran out of money and threw a kitchen together.


So, we kept looking but came back to this house for a second look. We decided we love the house, lets gut the kitchen and start over! Before I moved to Iowa Josh ripped out all the cabinets and applainces. He repainted the entire room and ripped out the flooring in the kitchen. He converted the laundry room, that is off to the left in the above picture, to a pantry. He moved the laundry room into our walk in closet upstairs in our bedroom. We also coordinated over the phone and chose cabinets and countertops. Here is the end result:


I loved the new kitchen. We did all the tile ourselves. And, along with the help of a good friend, Josh hung all the cabinets and installed the counters. I purchased all the appliances with my lovely discount at Best Buy. The only part Josh didn't like about our kitchen was the wall he had to build for the bar. He said it didn't flow between rooms, and he didn't like the drywall. So he created a design on the computer, bought wood and stain, and made the bar flow better:


I love the result. He is so talented! And the best part is, he loves working in his shop. I will post some other pictures of what he has done later. Here is the kitchen from another angle:

St. Louis

SO in my neverending attempt to be away from home as much as possible - I went on ANOTHER trip for work. We went to the territory meeting in St. Louis and had a lot of fun! Flew down Tuesday night with my jobshare partner Lindsay. We stayed in a very nice hotel, newly remodeled doubletree and ate dinner at a japanese steakhouse (the kind where they fling your food around.) Had shrimp and steak with my entire District 4 team (probably about 30 people.) That night we stayed out way too late. The Cardinals were in the running for a spot in the world series, so every place we went all eyes were glued to the television.

The next day we went to the meeting at the Sheriton. Food was fabulous, speakers were impactful. We speant most of the meeting talking about how to improve the employee experience and retention. I like where we are going with this. I had to stand up and talk to the 300+ people about jobshare and how it was going. Lots of people are very excited about the idea. We could possibly be changing the company!


Josh and McKenna went to Aunti Ems. Josh is a little behind at work so he worked late while McKenna played with her cousins. This is a picture I took the other day of Rylee and McKenna. She LOVES watching Rylee and Sam!

While Mom's away...

This last week I went to General Manager's University in Minneapolis. It was very cool to see the corporate campus for a week. Over 5000 employees work there. There is a dry cleaner, car detailer, movie theater, and day care all inside the main building. There is also a mini-store in the basement, where new ideas are tested. I learned a lot about running my own store, and some interesting points on the financial impact of various factors of the business. I had a great time with Scott, another manager from my store. We checked out the flagship store - Best Buy's biggest and first store. We also had many interesting dining experiences including magianos, a family style italian restaurant - YUM. But, I could not wait to get home.

Apparently Josh and McKenna had a great time while I was gone. While I was in Minneapolis the temperature decided to drop 30 degrees. I didn't even bring a coat and I had to scrape the windshield there! I guess fall is over, and winter is here. So, with winter comes the bundling of the baby. Josh did a great job of keeping McKenna warm in her travels.


Here is a picture he took of her eating her high chair.


She also speant a lot of time playing with her jungle toy


I can't believe how much I missed my family. Normally work trips are a blast! We get to go out, play cards, pretty much have a great time at the expence of work. By about the 2nd day both Scott and I were ready to come home. We both really missed our families. Guess we are growing up!

McKenna is really getting quite the personality. She is so vocal now squeaking and screaming. She gets so excited and surprises herself by the noises she makes. She is getting very good at using her hands; much more coordinated. She is growing so fast, already 5 months old!

Dancing Machine

I am in Minneapolis and bored. I saw this online and had to post it.

Rollin Rollin Rollin

YAY! She did it. After weeks of practicing, McKenna finally rolled over on her own. It is mostly my fault; because, ever since she was born she's hated tummy time. So, I never put her on her tummy much. Over the last few weeks we have been trying more and more and she finally rolled tummy to back a few days ago. Although this is very exciting, it also means that she is now mobile and so it begins. The days of me setting her in one spot and her staying there are over. The next milestone will be sitting. She already loves to sit/stand whenever possible, with assistance. After a long day of rolling over she passed out on the sofa - must be nice!

Aunti Ems

McKenna has been spending a lot of time at Auntie Ems. When Josh picks her up from daycare he likes to go visit family. Nobody can make McKenna laugh like her cousin Kade. He does an amazing bunny hop that makes her giggle. Its fun to see them get older together. In this picture Kade loaned McKenna his socks, because she forgot to bring hers.

Tailgating

This weekend we had Gona, Baca, Emmi, Mark, Kade, Damon and Shelly over for a tailgating party. We wanted to celebrate our recent upgrade to high-def cable by watching the iowa vs ohio state game. We finally got to use our plasma tv in wonderful high definition. You could see the nosehairs on the players...you haven't watched football until you've seen player's nosehairs.

Needless to say iowa lost (sigh.) But it gave me a great excuse to make shish ka bobs, burgers, dogs, and try a new veggie dip.

Kickboxing is still going well. Dragging myself out of bed at 4:45 everyday has been difficult, but I am sure that it will be well worth it. I already feel a lot better!

Gramma Rue

Last Thursday Gramma Rue came for a weeklong visit. We picked her up on Thursday night and she got to stay for a whole week. We had so much fun. We went to the Des Moines farmers market, went to Gona and Baca's house for dinner, shopped at Jordan Creek Mall and Valley Junction, went to Hickory Park for her birthday and went to Perry to visit Grandma and Grandpa great and to ride in the combine.

Over the weekend McKenna got really fussy. We were certain she was teeting. She was drooling, cranky, and seemed overly sensitive to having her gums touched. But here it is a week later, and no teeth, so who knows!

On Monday Gramma Rue got to babysit while I had to go to work. Lots of time reading, playing, napping and eating. I think the best part of the visit was that McKenna really got coordinated with her hands while Gramma Rue was here. I'm pretty sure all the attention she got really helped! Although she lives so far away it is so nice that a quick 6 hours and she can come visit! We sure had a great time!