Unfair I tell ya!

So I'm sitting in Yuma AZ... yes, lovely Yuma, AZ. Here ALL week long for work and not excited about it one bit. When all of a sudden I get an email from EW... subject line: You're gonna be jealous!!!

And this picture is attached...

That is right people! Cafe Rio opened in Denver today and Eric is there eating dinner! SO unfair!! Such torture for me! I told him he was not allowed to go there again this week until I got home. We'll see if he listens...

Week 17

Thought One: I really thought I would automatically feel married after Sept 27th. I'm not sure what that would feel like but I thought for sure I would feel it. Um, I didn't feel that. In fact I had a hard time not being the mid 30 year old single girl and didn't want to lose that identity. Don't ask me; it is just what I felt.

Thought Two: Eric and I both felt a strong need/desire to keep our independence. Over the course of 17 weeks I have visited my girlfriends quite a few times. Probably too many times in the eyes of some. Eric is hanging out with his friends this weekend in Vegas.

As I crawled into bed last night I noticed a slip of paper under the sheets. I turned the light back on as I read the sweetest note from EW.

Things aren't perfect and we do have our annoyances but I can say now that I do feel married and I like that feeling. And yes, it took me 4 months to get here and I'm glad I finally did. I pick him up from the airport in a couple hours and am VERY happy about it.

Week 16... a little late...

We were in Phoenix on my usual blogging day. We got back to Denver today so now I have some time and more importantly, my camera connector

EW's birthday celebration was very, very fun!! It started with a few presents the morning of his birthday. That afternoon we drove up to Vail and stayed a couple nights so he could ski. Then on Sunday we flew to Phoenix for the Sabres vs Coyotes hockey game. It was a present to me too; I was able to see some of my family! We stayed with my niece Katie and were able to see all the family in the Phoenix area including my cute, cute nieces Macie and Hallie and adorable nephew Tate. I seriously cannot get enough of them! They are at such fun ages right now!( I stole these pics from my niece Lindsay's blog. Hope that was okay Lindsay!)


We all got together for dinner Sunday night and then the girls played cards. I love me some cards.

Definitely the highlight of EW's birthday was the Sabres game. It was so fun watching him all excited to watch his team play. There were a TON of Sabres fans there which made the game all the better. Oh and the Sabres killed them 7-2.

Here we are ready to go!
Eric sweet talked his way into the tunnel where the players enter. We were the only fans standing there watching the players head to the arena. Man, they are big boys!
He did manage to get one autograph...


Here are the players warming up...
And here is EW with the puck Montador shot to him and that he caught with his bare left hand (he wanted everyone to know that).
Look how excited he is to be amongst all the Sabres fans and watching his players. Cute.
And here is his man crush... Lindy Ruff... the head coach. Yes, that is how close we were to him during the game. Just a wall of Plexiglas. We yelled his name and I swear he heard and acknowledged us. ;)

Last but not least (could this blog be any longer!), Eric got some great homemade cards from his nieces and nephews which he LOVED. There is something more personal about a homemade card from a child. All cards are proudly displayed on our refrigerator. And my nephew, Chad drew him this picture. It is a replica of Starry, Starry Night by Van Gogh. It will be framed and put in our office. Chad is turning in to quite an artist.

Happy Birthday EW! I hope my birthday is half as fun!! Actually it better be just as fun!

Haiti

Like so many others, I feel so helpless as I sit in my warm, comfortable home and watch the coverage on the disaster in Haiti and wonder what else can I do besides donate money. Money seems... like the easy way out... where time and service seems like a real gift. It would be nice to give a real gift. So I'm off to Haiti this week for a month... I kid, I kid. Although I really wish I could.

We were watching Nightline last night about the tragedy. The first story was about a family in Iowa (Ohio?) who have adopted a little girl in Haiti and have yet to go pick her up. They were beyond worried (rightfully so) wondering if their new little girl was safe and alive. A Nightline reporter found their little one safe and unharmed and reported back via Skype to the family. The family was in tears. Now don't get me wrong, I'm beyond happy that they know the new addition to their family is safe.

But what bothered me about this story was the statement "God was watching over our little one. He made sure she was okay. He didn't forget us. He answered our prayers." I cringed; I really cringed. Does this mean that God wasn't watching over the 10s of thousands whose story didn't end so nicely? That God didn't care enough to find a way to allow others to live? That God did not answer the thousands of other prayers? No. Absolutely not. God cares. Life happens. And unfortunately tragedy happens. I know what this family meant; I just wish it wasn't what this family said (on national t.v.)

So I continue sitting here reading and watching and knowing there is little more I can do than what I have done and hope that these people can somehow one day make sense of it and know that they have not been abandoned; that they live in a real world with real tragedy and that there is real hope beyond this life.

(off soapbox)

Guess who is having a bday?????

EW is!!! It is last year in his 30's. Stop and wish him a happy bday (he reads my blog). All he wanted to do was go skiing so we are heading up to Vail for a couple days. Yippee!!

Week 15

I actually don't have much to say for this week. We didn't do much. Eric went skiing for the first time this season to get his legs warmed up and I went shopping to get some much needed business attire and church skirts. See, we can be pretty boring people. We aren't always on the go.

Things to look forward to this week... EW's 39th birthday on Wednesday!! He might go skiing, we might go out to dinner. He will get presents.

Tyler

This one went into the Missionary Training Center today. First off, this one was born my first semester in college which makes me OLD. Sigh. Second, I could not stop thinking about him today; wondering what he was doing; if he was anxious; if he was nervous; if he was hungry; if he was second guessing his decision; if he was tired; if he was bored; if he was content. But most importantly... if he was as excited to be coming to Denver as I am to have him nearby!

Apparently he wrote a thank-you letter to my Mother and step-Father before he left. In the letter he wrote (in caps) "AND FOR PETE'S SAKE, DON'T DIE". The kid makes me laugh!!!

Good luck Tyler!! You will do great!

Week 14

Happy New Year, new goals, new aspirations, new workout regimen, new motivation to everyone! Already January 3rd. Doesn't January just fly by? I feel like we just get into the swing of a new year when February hits. I hope to make the most of January. I made some good goals for this year and I'm excited about all of them.

It was so nice to have another long holiday weekend. We definitely took advantage of it.

We did this...

Yes, added shelving to our small office closet! I had so much stuff crammed in there (see above pic) and got so frustrated when I wanted to get something out and it was at the bottom. I wasn't crafting nearly as much as I wanted to due to the fact that the closet drove me crazy. I feel like I can breath now when I walk into our office. Everything is up off the floor and we can actually move around in there. Ahhhhhh.

I made these...

We have two friends who recently had babies. It was great to get the sewing machine out again and start and complete these in one weekend.

We have a neighbor who is a professional trumpet player and performs with various jazz bands around town. He was playing right down the street one night this past week so we went and listened. Wow. He is good. He appreciated the fact that we came and made us want to support him in future gigs.

Our neighbors came over to show us their cute little girl Audrey. They had a surprise this past year when getting pregnant. The doctors had told them they would never get pregnant. Surprise!

And one last thing... one of my favorite parts of Christmas is getting Christmas cards. I seriously love it. We displayed all the cards on our table below the TV as they arrived. It made me smile. But this particular card was very cool and I wanted to share it. Our next door neighbor is a professional artist and a single Father. He drew this picture of him and his son. We loved it. We thought it was so clever and different. (the glare is from my camera)

Back to work tomorrow. Ho-Hum. :)

The last 2 things I learned in 2009

1. Wax paper should NOT be substituted for parchment paper when cooking in the oven at a temperature of 400 degrees. It may melt and start billowing lots and lots of smoke into the room.

2. When hanging Christmas lights on the windows make sure you can still get the windows open if ever there is an emergency.