Happy Days

poor little neglected blog

2011-10-23T20:13:00.002-04:00

No posts since November 4th of last year? Oh My Word. I've been trying to think of a name for a new blog that doesn't have my name in it... so when my name is googled my whole entire life doesn't show up. Anyways... Because of that I have been not posting for a while. And because I'm lazy.

We're still alive.... Life is going really well but only because God is so great. As soon as I come up with a better blog name I'll post all about our life. :)

working girl

2010-11-04T20:28:00.004-04:00

I started work this week. I liked running a cash register again... but was really cranky when I came home the first day after only four hours of work. I need to be better about working. I was very blessed (and spoiled) to not have to work all summer long. I really can't complain. I only work 10 hours next week. It's technically a seasonal position, so I may only work there a couple of months. I sound like a negative nancy today don't I? I have a cold... maybe that's why.

Jaz and Steve came out to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We did the usual stuff-- visited the Malt shop, ate lots and lots of Grandpa's homemade bread, and went up North for the day. Photo below it compliments of Jaz/Steve.

I turned 22 last week! John had six days off so we were able to do lots of things together. It was probably the best part of my birthday. John let me listen to Christmas music, we were able to go to church together and stay all day, I got so many things chocolate to eat, and John rubbed my feet so many times. It was perfect.

John and I got skype. Now we can talk to Mom and Dad Klotzle sort of face-to-face! It's pretty cool.

We still haven't turned our heat on. It's super awful cold. That is one of the good things about living in an apartment. We may hate that on lawn day the leaf blowers are so loud John can hardly sleep, and that the lady above us gets very active around midnight, but the low heating bill is going to make it so much better.

i don't like blogging.

2010-09-28T13:02:00.006-04:00

It's September now and I don't think I've blogged in many months. I'm not really sure why I blog. I share most of my pictures on facebook... we don't have kids that are super cute and changing... we don't really DO anything... it's not really an inspirational blog... it's not really a funny blog... oh well. With as much as I read other people's blogs and LOVE when they update even if it's a post about nothing, I should do it too.

This is John and I at Jon and Brooke's carving pumpkins!

John was kind of protective of the pumpkin. He did all the scooping of the insides out, he did all the marking of the pattern, and he was pretty sure that no one was allowed to touch the pumpkin but him. And then I got that look on my face, and told him it was "OUR" pumpkin not "HIS" pumpkin. He felt bad and gave the pumpkin to me. By this time though, I didn't want the pumpkin given to me out of pity. I wanted him to WANT me to help him with the pumpkin (yes, we're still at that phase of our marriage). By the end of the pumpkin we were both happy, I got to touch it a little bit, and I let him enjoy the carving without trying to make him feel bad for not wanting me to help. He did an amazing job by the way. This is his pumpkin all lit up. We call it "the howling wolf".

By now it's a little mushy, but we still proudly display it on our front porch!

I love fall :)

We are Hoosiers now!

2010-04-29T19:22:00.003-04:00

We're living in Indiana now. Yeah. We've been here about 3 weeks. Here's my excuse for not blogging-- I don't like blogging without pictures. MY computer is the only one that we keep pictures on. However, my computer also does not like Gmail which is how I sign into Blogger. Combine that with no internet, and you get very little to no posts. Here's the last month in bullets. Our life isn't THAT much different than before. We don't have to mow the grass anymore because someone does it for us. The cell reception in our apartment is kind of bad... we can't talk on the phone in the kitchen or bathroom. Not that we really need to talk on the phone in those places.

Adjusting is going okay. I'm not sure how much of it is me just pushing all thoughts of anything sad out of my mind, or if I'm really doing okay with the move. A few people have really made the effort to make me feel welcome here, and I'm so thankful for them. I can stand by them in church when I feel awkward and alone and they don't mind (whitney, that's you! :)). I know it's only been 3 weeks. I can't expect to be friends with everyone in the entire church/area already, but I wish I could be. In the meantime, I'm getting my scrapbook started/finished! :)

moving...

2010-03-11T13:45:00.002-05:00

We are moving! I know I'm about a week and a half late with this post, but it's finally here!

I have tons of time to tell the story since the baby I'm babysitting for is sleeping and I'm here all alone with nothing to do... so prepare for a loooooonnnnggg boring read! :) Last October John received a job offer for a Maintenance Quality Assurance Inspector position in South Bend, IN. Neither of us were excited about it for some reason (in spite of the fact that John has an awesome cousin living there... who is moving away from there now... funny huh?) and didn't feel good about it so John turned it down. Fast forward to February of this year, and John applied for the same position with the same airline but in Fort Wayne IN. He figured he either had a really good chance because the interview was with the same guy that offered John the job in October, or basically no chance because John had already turned him down once. Turns out, the guy offered John the job on the spot and he starts on the 21st. Oh by the way-- the airline is shutting down the South Bend base soon. I love that God knows the future and what happens when we trust HIM to direct our life. :)

Whew. We are very happy about moving to the Leo area. We have an apartment for now, and I'm just looking forward to getting established this summer. No work for a while for me... my wonderful cousin Kaitlyn is going to be in Leo for the summer (SO excited Kaits :)) and I've heard that Leo is amazing in the summer. I don't really know that much about John's job other than that he's very excited about the things the company is going to certify and train him in. It will benefit him greatly when/should he decide to leave this company.

All in all it will be a good move for us, however, I am sad to be leaving behind all of the friends I've made here.... living next door to Laura has been a blessing words cannot describe. I am incredibly thankful to have been a part of so many children's (and their mom's) lives while we've lived here.

We are looking forward to what God has planned for this next season of our lives! :)

candy crazy

2010-02-18T19:33:00.004-05:00

Happy February!
John woke up after only 5 hours of sleep today so he's napping on the couch before he has to leave for work again. He's rarely complains but I know it has to be so hard to try to sleep during the day. He's my hero :)

For Valentines day John and I went to a marriage conference with my parents in Frankenmuth Michigan. It was a Love and Respect Video conference. If you have never read the book I would highly reccomend it. The book is basically everything in the conference... I have it if you would like to borrow it :)

We got to eat lunch at the Bavarian Inn. Apparently Frankenmuth is known as "The Little Bavaria of Michigan" and they do everything they can to be Bavarian in every way. Across the street from our hotel was a Coffee Haus.

We got back from the conference on Tuesday (we stayed a little longer at my parents house) and we leave for Florida this Sunday! SOOO excited. Poor John is trying to fit homework in between our trips and working full time which is probably why he couldn't sleep today. It stresses him out pretty badly.

Oh. My wonderful neighbor and friend Laura convinced me to try to give up extra sweets with her until she goes on HER family vacation to Florida. I've gone one and a half days, and that's only because I'm calling Junior Mints MINTS instead of candy. It's pretty much just giving up candy, cookies, brownies, etc... which I eat WAY too much of. Not sure I can make it until April :)

Christmas 09

2009-12-30T15:25:00.003-05:00

We're back from vacation! It was absolutely beautiful-- only one day was super nice weather, but there was no work, no dishes, no worrying or thinking and lots of family!
Below is the day we spent in Cozumel MX (the super nice day)

John and I at dinner one night

The entire family (minus Grandma and Baby Cosette) all strapped in for the zipline in Honduras.

Suzy, Kristen and Me waiting for the comedy act.

Christmas with my family the day after we came home from the cruise. I think each of those stockings were stuffed almost entirely with candy of some form. Our freezer is now full of chocolate.

It was such a nice vacation. It's such a blessing to get along with and enjoy John's family so much. It helps so much that I knew all of them as friends beforehand.

Now it's back to real boring life. FYI John hasn't heard anything back from that job in Texas.

Happy New Year everyone! :)

countdown to vacation time!

2009-12-04T20:31:00.003-05:00

I've been sick for about a week with an energy-sucking head cold. The laundry hasn't been done. John has made dinner the past two nights. Good luck finding whatever you're looking for if you left it on the floor because it's a popular place for everything from tootsie roll wrappers to coupons that fell off the table to cranberries from stringing cranberries and popcorn the other night. Working six days this week may also have contributed to me wanting to just sit on the couch and sleep. John has been a trooper though and has run errands for me, not complained about wearing the same clothes to work days in a row, and gotten me medicine when I don't feel like moving. And now he's coming down with it. It'll be my turn to take care of him next :)

We leave for vacation in 13 days. SOOOOOO excited. We're so busy until then, I think it's going to fly by.

John has an interview this upcoming Wednesday morning, and we would appreciate any prayers people would be willing to give on our behalf. It would be such a great career move, but as with last time, leaving our friends, family and home would be difficult.

I think that's all. Just for fun I counted the pairs of shoes that are on the floor in our living room and NOT in the clost-- 5 pairs of shoes. Think we're lazy?? :)

changes

2009-11-19T20:45:00.004-05:00

Lots of changes in 3 months... or at least there should be.
First of all, I turned 21 woo-hoo!

And John's birthday is next week but it's Thanksgiving so we celebrated together early. I made him pose with his candles... I think he hates it.

The picture below is his birthday LAST year. I thought I would post it to show how pathetic I am... not much has changed since then at all. I used the same pan to make him brownies two years in a row... I really need something new.

Other than lots of birthdays we've just been working, visiting family, John has been hunting and killed a deer, I've been shopping and killed the bank account-- the usual.

Oh-- I love Christmas even more than I love back-to-school shopping in case you can't tell.

I have been learning to be proficient in driving a stick shift lately. My car has some gas pressure problem, and so until John fixes it, on days that is is feasible I drive his car. It started out very jerky and tense, but I think it's going well... I am going appreciate my automatic car so very much once I get it back.

Our next door neighbor/friends had a baby this past month, and he is so so so cute. We get to see him through the window sometimes.

I signed up for a mini-marathon with my cousin Kaitlyn. Now, before you get impressed and think I'm some fantastic runner I should let you know that I can barely run 3 miles right now. And that's a big barely. It included a lie-down-on-this-bench-to-cure-my-side-ache break, and some stops at traffic lights (Kaitlyn if you read this don't worry, I'll keep training!).

Other than that... John is constantly looking at and applying for jobs so if one day I post that we're moving to Puerto Rico, or Texas or Alaska don't be surprised. I married an adventurer to be sure.

And to end this post... Some pictures of John and my sister Taryn... I think they get along in their craziness very well...

Kettle Corn

2009-08-14T17:04:00.002-04:00

John and I were going to have a movie and popcorn night Wednesday night, and John decided that MAKING kettle corn would just make the whole experience more memorable. Someone gave us real popcorn kernels as a wedding present, and we had everything else so I didn't object too much (I believe "but it takes sooooooo long" came out of my mouth several times). John started heating the oil and sugar and all was going well-- I was getting just a tiny bit excited for the homemade popcorn that I was waiting so patiently for. Then I heard a pop and John screaming. Like a serious scream of pain. I went over to him and the oil had popped and a big chunk of sugary-oil had landed on his toe. Layers of skin instantly came off his toe. It was gross.

End of the story-- I went to Target while John sat on the couch nursing his toe to get burn cream, gauze, and microwave kettle corn.

And to think he says he would try it again...

Back to School Shopping

2009-07-29T16:20:00.002-04:00

It's that time of year again. The seasonal section of Target is filled with bins of markers, crayons, pencils, and highlighters; Hannah Montana and Hello Kitty notebooks fill the aisle also. Ahhh I used to love looking at it all. Being homeschooled I never needed much... maybe 2 folders that I only needed because I said I needed them for cuteness purposes. John is going back to college this fall, and I thought maybe, just maybe he would need some supplies (think really big scheming smile on my face). My dreams of filling a cart with notebooks, highlighters, pens in every color, post-its, paperclips and on and on were on the brink of coming true!! I turned to John and asked him if we could go back to school supply shopping and he said "oh, I probably only need one notebook."

.........

We HAVE one notebook sitting somewhere in our desk. So much for back to school shopping. Our kids are going to have school supplies coming out of their ears and noses someday.

Aside from that not too much is new. We've been traveling a lot, our dryer is broken, we're addicted to watching Gilmore Girls, and John and I are having a race to see who can lose 5 pounds first. Not sure what the prize for winning will be...

Boston Day Trip

2009-07-07T10:10:00.010-04:00

John has been wanting to take advantage of the free standby ticket air travel offered to employees for a while, so this week when our days off coincided for the first time ever (it seemed that way at least) we took a day trip to Boston! This was us at the start of the Freedom Trail (above).

This is the Bunker Hill Monument. It has 294 steps, and for some reason I wanted to climb it. John wasn't super excited about it, but he went along with it... and got to the top twice as fast as I did.

SOOO not worth it :)
John and his yummy clam chowder.

It started raining around 1pm and since we were getting around the city almost entirely on foot, we decided to head home rather than be miserable, wet and grouchy. However, the storm delayed all flights in and out of Boston... with a 2 hour delay on flights, all of the people on the later flights were going standby for the earlier flights that were leaving when theirs were supposed to. This is a line of people waiting for rebooking for connecting flights.

So John and I sat at the airport from about 2:30 to 8:30. We had a good time though. buying Starbucks always makes the time go faster. Next time we're going to check the weather first guaranteed :)

sunburns in april

2009-04-25T18:24:00.005-04:00

It's finally spring! John and I have been out walking this week enjoying the weather. It was absolutely GORGEOUS!

John planted some flowers a couple of weeks ago when it was nice.

John went fishing with my Dad, Gramps, and Uncle today. It was the opening day of walleye fishing. My mom and I went to the Freeland area garage sales, but after about five stops, and the sight of a traffic jam of fellow garage salers in a one stop-light town we gave up and went to Applebee's where Christi works.

John is doing two more weeks of training, but in Detroit this time rather than Minneapolis. He gets out every day by two, so it's like two whole weeks of vacation. One more week of the day training schedule and then it's back to nights for him!

The end.

hurray for the library!

2009-04-04T15:20:00.002-04:00

John and I went for a drive today. Not really to do anything or go anywhere... just out for a drive, looking at houses, seeing what there is to see in Canton. I remember when my parents would do that with us and it would drive me crazy... :-O We ended up at the library where they have internet!!!!

John and I both have this entire weekend off, so today we're trying to get some stuff done around the house. We're trimming an insanely ugly and thorny bush, rehanging a mirror, planting some flowers, moving a big comfy chair out of our kitchen and back upstairs where it belongs... lots of little stuff. We'll probably move out of this house before we have everything painted and hung. OH! Completely unrelated -- John bought me wii fit :) :) :) SOOOO happy.

We're going on a family vacation with John's ENTIRE family next month. It was a blast last year without Suzy, Jim, 0r Krissa, so it can only be better this year.

John is going to be working third shift for another six months for sure. He's slowly (I think) getting more used to the schedule and able to get better sleep during the day. He's even stopped taking pop to work to drink on his lunch! I still love working at Panera only for the people I work with. I am SO not cut out to be in a service industry of any sort, other than serving children. I get way too irritated when people behave in a way that I don't think they should. I really do like going to work though.

--Amy

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year... and everything else I missed

2009-02-19T15:21:00.004-05:00

So... it's been a while. It's really a bummer not having the internet, and Panera's wireless is kind of iffy so this is the one thing that has fallen through the cracks. In the past two months John and I celebrated our first anniversary (with a trip to Florida... picture below) and that's about all. See! No one missed much.

I also make John babysit with me sometimes. The kids kind of liked him and wouldn't let anyone else hold him. And I can't figure out how to make this NOT underlined.

We babysat FOUR kids and I don't think John freaked out once. He's actually really good at it.

I'm still working at Panera Bread and actually really like it. It's not very cool, but I love the people I work with. Last week some of us girls from work went out for dinner and ice cream. The employees at this Panera actually become friends :)

John and I are figuring out how to make the night working thing work a little bit better for us. I stop making him feel guilty for sleeping and leaving me all alone and he sleeps easier, better and longer. He spends a couple minutes talking to me, and then I'm okay to be without him for the rest of the day. Too bad it took us almost four months to figure it out.

John has an official title at church now. He's the sound system man twice a month. Now, he already missed his one Sunday because we were in Florida, and the Wednesday night because he had to work... but I'm sure he'll actually run the sound system one of these days. I think MY objective for the lunch hour at church is to snatch as many babies as I can. Am I right Caitlin? Detroit has an abudance of children under the age of 5 who are super cute and have mothers who are willing to give them up for a little while.

We leave for California Saturday to visit the family.

That's all. I'll post again in June :)

Country Inn & Suites

2008-12-16T11:44:00.004-05:00

John has been in Minneapolis MN for the past week and a half for more training, and I was able to fly out last Wednesday after work to be with him, and enjoy the company paid for hotel room :)

John's bro and sister-in-law also live in MN, so we were able to spend some time with them, and get to know Krissa better. They took us to lots of neat places in St. Paul, and let us crash their Christmas party. I think John wants to move to MN now... except for the fact that it's been under 0 degrees many of the days we've been here.

That's the only picture we've taken the whole week. It was an amazing week though. John and I love eating out, but don't do it that often as it gets kind of expensive. So this week of HAVING to eat out and having his work pay for most of it has been a dream come true :)

time to take the garbage out

2008-12-09T17:12:00.002-05:00

My pictures showed up backwards, so this post is going to be the same. The first few pictures are of Thanksgiving! Here is the shoe pile by the stove.

The huge bowl of mashed potatoes.

John's 23rd Birthday!
Sam, John and Kyle! Our first company at our new house.

JOHN AND HIS DEER!

Nothing much is going on here still. John is in Minneapolis this week and next for some training, so I'm flying out to be with him (at a hotel with a pool!!! :)) for a long weekend. I forgot to take the trash out today, and I'm going to be gone NEXT Tuesday so... John is coming home to a smelly, overflowing trash can. Good thing we have a shed to stash it.

I started working at Panera in Canton and it's going well. The people are very cool and I am working my ideal amount of hours. :)

I'll have access to the internet all day when I'm in MN so there will definitely be some more posts in the next few days!

nothing eventful to report

2008-11-18T16:12:00.004-05:00

Not having the internet has really been a change. I feel disconnected from my facebook acquaintances because I no longer see all of the status changes. If I want to know where something is, I have to guess. Or realize it really isn't that important and I shouldn't go. Overall I think it's going to be good. AND it's saving us money. Speaking of saving money, John was on a money saving roll yesterday. He called our car insurance provider to let them know we moved, and because of our new location, we save over $100 a year. Apartment complexes must really be dangerous for vehicles :) We also switched to a lower minute cell phone plan. Maybe our Crown study is paying off... Speaking of Crown, this Saturday is our final class. It's kind of sad :(

John and I went to Chicago this weekend to see my cousin Kaitlyn, and I would post pictures, but I left my camera at home. Next time. It was SO much fun. She lives above a little flower shop, and we walked or took the el everywhere. Thanks Kaits for a great weekend and yummy food!

Nothing too much is happening. We're s....l....o....w...l....y putting our house together. John put the light in the upstairs bathroom in today. For the past two weeks we've had a lamp on the counter.

That's all. Really. Except for a picture of John sleeping with Taryn's kitty. I think it's cute.

WE MOVED!! (... and have no internet)

2008-11-04T14:23:00.002-05:00

YAY! Saturday was our official moving day, and we spent our first night there. John has been sleeping there during the day every now and then, but that doesn't count. Our place looks great. And I just finished my interview at the Canton Panera (the only reason I'm able to blog, because we don't have internet at our house yet)... it was SOO not worth stressing over. The very word "interview" makes my heart beat faster and my stomach feel sick. Turns out all I had to do was write down my name and address and tell him my availability. Super easy. And I got a free coffee out of it, so now as I sit and take use of the free internet, I can drink free coffee too!! I'm being good to the budget today!! :)

Other than moving not too much is going on. We have the downstairs totally put together, and I'm pretending the upstairs doesn't exist.

I had a great birthday with John. He took me out for dinner, and even walked around Bed Bath and Beyond with me (this was a big deal. He had worked the night before and hadn't slept all day either. I told him he could sleep in the car while I walked around the store, and he STILL came in. He loves me :)).

That's all. I think we're going to Bay City this weekend so John can kill us a deer. I'll let you know how that goes :)

the dreaded question...

2008-10-29T20:54:00.003-04:00

Caitlin tagged me a very long time ago to share 7 random facts about myself. Can I make my number one be that I hate, hate HATE having to share "interesting facts" about myself. You know when you go somewhere and they use that as the ice breaking, introduction. :) And yet I'm still doing this. Because I like Caitlin.

Fact #2 When I am home alone I have to have the shower curtain open. If it's closed I am convinced that someone is hiding behind it, to the point that I am too scared to open it and check. I open it now before John leaves for work at night. (waaaay too active of an imagination once it gets dark).

Useless #3 Tomorrow is my birthday :) Someone mailed me a balloon and I instantly blew it up and taped it to our wall. I love birthdays.

FOUR. When I was little, all of our animals (except the dog) had less than a one year life span. Chickens, turkeys, cats... they were either eaten (by us or wild animals), hit by cars, or ran into the woods. Our pets were "seasonal."

Fact #5 I LOVE hot drinks in the winter. Today I have had a mug of coffee, one of hot chai, and another of hot chocolate. Another favorite is hot apple cider.

number 6- My feet are always cold. I wear fuzzy socks, slippers, put that all underneath a blanket, and sometimes my feet are still icy to the touch. I wear socks to bed just to keep from freezing John out when I touch him. Unlike me, he is always hot and wears shorts to bed. So my feet could very easily find skin. Sometimes I do it just to see him jump.

FINALLY 7. Once at work, someone's total came up to $6.66 and she freaked out and made me add a bottle of water so that wouldn't be her total anymore. I like where I work. Another time, I met this guy who knew John back when John lived in Lafayette Indiana and worked at the airport. Pilot worlds are small.

THATS ALL FOLKS!!

I tag... Suzy , Kaits, and Heidi already did it, as did Peggy. And maybe some bold reader will feel inspired to share seven random things about them. THAT would be fun :) Even just one thing??? If seven people do one thing, maybe I'd still technically be following the game rules.

Chocolate Mug Cake

2008-10-09T20:41:00.005-04:00

So... after three lovely days off (I worked all three days) John returned to work about 40 minutes ago. Remembering a comment I received on my last post from my lovely aunt about chocolate cake... I knew I'd be fine tonight :)
Here is the cake pre-assembled/microwaved:

It was SO easy to mix together. I only made half of the recipe, because there was no one to share it with... and I wanted to still feel slightly virtuous ;)

Here it is cooking...

And three minutes later, the finished product!!

It was sooo yummy! I didn't have any chocolate chips, but that would have made it even more scrumptious. But being the peanut butter junkie I am (and per my husband's suggestion) I dipped my fork in peanut butter before I took a bite. SO good :) :)

a spontaneous erruption of words

2008-10-04T20:49:00.003-04:00

I keep intending to post something on here. I tell myself that I'll do it when John leaves for work... but when John leaves for work I get bummed out. And there are always dinner dishes that just bum me out further. And the fact that I have to get up and work on a Sunday morning. Basically, having a husband that works third shift and leaves me alone lots at night just puts me in a negative mood.

Since I haven't posted in FOREVER I'll update you on the important things. John quit his flying cargo job. He spent a month not working, and just started working as a mechanic for Mesaba airline this Wednesday night at 9 PM. He works 9PM to 7:30AM and then drives home and sleeps until about four, and then we hang out/eat/he showers, etc. until he leaves home at 7:50PM to do it all over again. The benefit of the ten hour shift is that he'll get three days off... but until then I kind of miss him. I know, I know. 3 and a half hours together isn't bad... but when you're used to THE ENTIRE DAY (or at least 2-10) it's a HUGE adjustment (for John too :))

John and I went to California for his brother Jim's wedding a week ago. That was an absolute blast, and I'll post pictures and tell about the fun stuff some other night. Probably not tomorrow, because posting two nights in a row would just be too much :p

My parents and Taryn came down this morning, so I could hang out with them on my day off (John was sleeping). They helped me pick out some more paint for our new place we're moving into (a duplex this time, up from an apartment! AND closer to John's work, so he won't have to leave as early). Oh. And Taryn made us some animals out of paper.

This evening was gorgeous. John and I drove down to the airport with some travel mugs of hot chocolate, opened the sun roof, and watched airplanes land. It was fun :) John also informed me tonight, how fun it would be to buy an airplane instead of a house and just live in the hanger with the airplane. I'm pretty sure he was kidding, so I said it would be tons and tons of fun.

I should blog more often. This almost feels like I'm talking to someone. Well... I really should do the dishes tonight. Otherwise I'll have to do them tomorrow night after I come home from painting the duplex after coming from Crown Bible Study AFTER coming from work. I think I'll be tired. But tonight I'm home alone and bummed out :( Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night my honey has off... maybe they can wait until then :) :)

My trip to the neurologist

2008-08-18T23:06:00.002-04:00

For lack of good material, I thought I'd post about my latest trip to the doctor. I normally don't really mind going to the doctor, so long as it's not to get any shots. The nurse had mentioned something about blood work though (okay, said they were going to do it, but I was just HOPING against everything, that it was just a maybe). Anyways, I was a little mentally preoccupied when I got there and started filling out my new-patient paperwork. I got back to the exam room and was sitting on the crinkly paper bed SOOO stressed about the possibility of bloodwork when two male doctors walked in. Ahem. I made an appointment with a girl doctor. Hellooo!! That was my first clue that something wasn't right. Then he started asking me questions about who referred me, and I realized that his white jacket said "NEUROLOGY!" The front desk lady gave me the wrong paperwork, and so I got the very wrong doctor. They fixed it, and I waited for the new doctor.

It was cool, her daughter had worked at Panera before, (I work there now) and I was starting to think I liked her. Then she dropped the bomb. "How would you feel about doing some blood work?" I told her I had a fear of needles, started crying like a baby (maybe the neurologist should have stayed), and she said she still wanted to do it. They used a teeny tiny needle they use on babies, and the doctor actually held my hand. All in all it was okay (I only freak out before and after, not so much during). I survived my first drawing of blood from my body, and that gives me hope that maybe I WILL be able to make it through the blood work involved in a pregnancy. Take hope mother and mother-in-law... John and I may give you grandchildren yet!

this is getting old.

2008-08-02T20:29:00.002-04:00

This is the third night this week I'll be going to bed alone. Oh, he's always there when I wake up, I'm okay with waking up alone. I get to leisurely check my email, shower, whatever I want. I really don't like going to sleep alone. The apartment makes more noises at night.

John and I were just starting to get to the good part in our movie, but it wasn't scary yet thankfully. Anyways. I just went into the kitchen because I was hungry, and I almost got a carrot out of the fridge because I haven't had my 3-5 servings of veggies today, but then I saw the donuts on top of the fridge and was like "you know what... THREE times this week. It's Saturday night and I'm alone. I'm eating an entire donut." So I did. And it was fantastic. Thanks mom and Christi for the donuts.

Oh well. At least it's a short trip and he'll be home before morning. Maybe he'll even get to go to church with me :) Yesterday John flew a passenger trip instead of cargo. It was a team of doctors that he flew from Cincinnati down to Texas to pick up some organ from a person that had just died, and then flew them back to Cincinnati to do the transplant. He said they actually got on with a cooler. He got home at 2:30 AM with an incredible amount of energy so we stayed up and talked for a while. And then slept in until almost 10. I guess there are some perks to his job. It's going to stink royally when I start my job though!

Okay that's all. I just don't like being all alone, and blogging feels like talking. Which is probably why I blogstalk people when I'm alone...

gun pictures are serious

2008-07-30T13:27:00.004-04:00

John and I have been looking at houses lately. We so don't have money for a house, and we're not even sure how long we'll stay in the area, but it's not like we have a lot to do, and it's fun! Yesterday we went and looked at one, and when John tried the door (something my parents taught us... ) it was open so we went in and looked around. It felt kind of dangerous, but very fun. They had a fish tank built into the wall in the basement.

This morning John scooped what he thought was pepper off of the counter into his scrambled eggs... it was actually my coffee grounds. He didn't find me laughing at him very funny.

We went to Bay City last weekend. It's fun being at my grandparent's house. They live almost in the middle of a forest. At one point during the weekend John and Christi went out behind the garage to shoot a gun... just because they could.

Christi told John he wasn't allowed to smile in a picture with a gun.

That's all. Now John is on his way to Mexico and then Canada and then hopefully home. Who knows how long that will take. At least I don't have to make dinner ;)

Happy Birthday Jim!

2008-07-23T16:29:00.003-04:00

We hope they smash your face into a GIANT cake in Mexico... even if you can't eat it.
Have a great birthday Jimmy boy.

possibly the best picture ever...

2008-07-16T20:26:00.002-04:00

Furry Friends

2008-06-29T19:38:00.005-04:00

I think I should begin by clarifying that this is John writing, not Amy. A post about animals from Amy would more likely be titled "I <3 Animals...they're delicious". Actually, our differing opinion on pets is what inspired me to write this. We can't seem to agree on pet topics: type of pet, indoor/outdoor, timing, etc.

Our most recent discussion was about ferrets. People tend to have one of two initial reactions to the word ferret (assuming they know what a ferret is...for those of you who aren't quite sure, keep reading). The first is negative: they're abnormal, they creep me out, they're mean, they smell bad, "Who in their right mind would get a ferret for a house pet??" The second is more positive: they're cute, they're unique, they're entertaining, "A ferret sounds like an amazing pet!!" Needless to say, I tend to favor the idea of a cute, cuddly, well mannered, unique pet while I believe my wife's reaction to the idea was, "I'll tell you what, you can have a ferret right after you find a way to solve world hunger."

Before I get any further, let me introduce you to Sonny and Jasper. Their owner Jan Smith insists "They are beautiful pets...their antics are incredible." And they are "the ideal pet for living in small inner-city apartments." So...how about some fun ferret facts?

Fact 1: The name ferret is derived from the latin furonem, which means "thief." Ferret owners can attest that this is a well deserved name, as they will happily steal anything they can get their paws on and hide it in their house.

Fact 2: Ferrets come from the same family ("Mustelidae") as badgers, wolverines, sea otters, skunks, mink, weasels, black footed ferrets and polecats.

Fact 3: Common nickname for ferrets: Carpet Sharks.

Fact 4: Ferrets live on average about 6-8 years but can live as long as 11.

Fact 5: Sizes vary between 12-16 inches in length and 3/4 - 4 1/2 pounds.

Fact 6: Contrary to popular belief, ferrets are completely domesticated and cannot survive on their own in the wild

Fact 7: Ferrets are litter trained (they go in the litter box like cats) and have no fear or aggression towards humans.

Fact 8: Ferrets sleep 16-18 hours a day and are most active at sunrise and sunset but adapt to the schedules of their owners as they are extremely social animals.

So...there you have it, they sound like the perfect pet to me.

I know what Amy thinks:

Do you agree?

VBS

2008-06-27T17:55:00.003-04:00

This past week was Vacation Bible School at our church, and since I have no job, I was able to go every day, and play with/watch-so-they-don't-escape the little kids that were too young to go to VBS classes with their moms. It was fun-- I got to experience the good part of kids. Two hours a day, when (most of them) they aren't tired, are fed, and other people change their diapers. I also got to hear about weaning kids, trying to get them to sleep through the night, allergies, and watch them not share and hit each other while their moms try to figure out who had the toy first, and all that NOT fun stuff. The whole week was a blast though; I actually got to get out of the house and see people!

Recently...
Our power went out for a day, and our ice cream melted :(
Tom and Jody came to see us (well, to vacation, but they did see us :)) and that was lots of fun. It was a like a mini vacation for us too!
My family moved back and are living with my Grandparents only an hour away!
John and I started reading "Waking the Dead" by John Eldridge. We really like it-- I would recommend it.
Blogger has spell check! I know this because I spelled recommend wrong. But before I could embarrass myself with a huge spelling error it caught me!

I think that's all that has been happening. Its horribly hot out. We turned our AC on :(

I think I might go to the grocery store tonight or tomorrow. Hershey bars are on sale, and John and I's latest favorite desert is s'mores. The microwave creates almost the same effect as far as taste, and we're out of chocolate. Although maybe I shouldn't... I think in the last two weeks we have had 12 Hershey bars :-$ Maybe it was three weeks... that sounds better huh?

our own kind of cool :)

2008-05-30T17:52:00.004-04:00

I don't know who reads this blog, so in case any of you don't know, I'll explain my husband's schedule a little bit. He is a pilot for a private cargo company that does on demand/emergency cargo shipping. So from Monday morning until Saturday morning John has to stay close enough to the airport that he can show up in uniform ready to fly within 20 minutes. He can get a call anytime; from 6AM to 11PM to 4AM to 5PM... anytime. That 5PM one is the reason I'm sitting here in Panera on a Friday night all alone :( Anyways! Because his schedule is so unpredictable, and he only flies about once or twice a week, I don't work so I can see and spend time with John.

All that said, we have a lot of time on our hands. A LOT! And there's only so much you can do when you can't travel too far away, or get involved in something that can't be stopped. So, as a result of all this information, we have taken up a new hobby-- one that my sister would describe only as LAME in the purest form.
...
Puzzles.
Yes! Our dining room table has been taken over by a 1,000 piece puzzle of flowers and grass.

And behind the puzzle are our two kayaks. Gotta love the places you find to put things in a small apartment. :)

In other news-- John and I totally had plans to use his weekend off doing fun things. We were going to have a date breakfast at Panera, and then go kayaking afterwards. But... seeing as how he won't be sleeping at all tonight, and may not even be sent home from Utah anytime soon... I may get to do all of that alone :( Stupid schedule. This is his second "weekend off" that got interrupted by a late Friday evening flight. I'm not bitter, I promise. I just needed to whine, and I try not to do it to John. Even though he reads this. I love your job John!

photo blog

2008-05-19T18:09:00.006-04:00

I'm not really in the mood to write, but we have been doing a lot. Instead of writing about all of it, I'll just put up some pictures that don't really show what we did. I went to California for Mother's day and saw both of my mothers. It was kind of cloudy most of the time, but I it was so great to see everyone from Altadena again, and get to spend an evening with Christi and Suzy, and share a room with Taryn again. Here are a couple pictures from that:

JodyMom told me about this "eating for your blood type" diet which says basically that every blood type metabolizes and responds to foods differently. A+ people are not supposed to eat red meat, most dairy products, bananas, oranges, and random other things, so here is me and my dad holding up the "bad foods" for us.

John and I also went to Leo for Kyle's birthday. That was fun. Happy birthday Kyle.

posting weird pictures of my husband did not deter him from making his face again.

And these are some stones he put in when he was landscaping with Paragon landscaping a couple of summers ago. This doesn't have to do with anything, but he's just so fun to look at...

That's about all. We painted some more.
And made a batch of brownies but just left the batter in the fridge and ate them slowly over a couple of days.
And John bought a kayak.
And my family is moving back next month.
And Christi gave me a bunch of her old clothes so I look better dressed (and she can get more).
And our shower needs to be cleaned because we cleaned out our paint brushes in their and it's all orange.
Oh. The sink too.
Basically the whole bathroom actually. Just be glad there are no pictures of the bathroom this time!

Silence

2008-04-25T18:45:00.004-04:00

To my one faithful reader (my dear mother) I apologize for my blogging silence. It shall not happen again.

Since my last post...
-I cleaned the bathroom.
-John came home.
-We had our first and second company -- thanks to Christi, and David & Traci, and Kaits! It was fun, and between both sets of company we consumed 2 gallons of ice cream.
-I quit my job.
-And I think that's all. I do have some pictures though, which are more fun than words most of the time.

This picture has been posted in hopes that John will see it and never look like that for a picture again :)

Being home for hours upon hours causes you to do crazy things. (Seriously though, the magazine came with some of the pages inverted)

This is John throwing away our bagel bites. Using Jim as our health role model, we're going to try to be more healthy. Throwing away our ho-ho's and bagel bites was the first step. We had strawberries for desert tonight. They were yummy, but somehow they didn't cut it. I found myself wanting to make no-bake cookies SOOOO badly. I think I like processed sugar too much. John wouldn't let me make the cookies. He IS taking a nap right now though...

My week as a single person (again)

2008-04-03T11:33:00.002-04:00

Friday - discovered flowers, chocolates, and a card on the table left for me from my love; promptly cried and ate cookie dough for dinner; developed my noise making system to ward of scary nighttime intruders.
Saturday - Bought donuts and ice cream and watched movies all day in a state of self pity and depression.
Sunday - Church, Starbucks and Target with Caitlin--the ultimate pick-me-up.
Monday - I went to Bill and Trudy's, discovered sweet potato french fries, and was given a tour of the "high end" shopping of Somerset and Birmingham by Trudy. We walked through all the sweet home decorating stores, scheming of ways to do it cheaper at T.J. Maxx
Tuesday - Diane Kaisner and I went out for dinner and a really cute Mexican restaurant and talked about outrageous AC weddings where the girls carried flowers! I finished my half gallon of ice cream this day.
Wednesday- found out John is coming home on Friday. Feeling motivated now... After I got home from work I painted, got groceries, exercised, did the dishes and took out the trash.

I'm glad he's coming home.

On a side note: I haven't cleaned the bathroom since John left. I pretty much just use what I need and then put it back on the counter. I think it saves time. I don't think John will like it very much though. What do you think, should I clean it up before he comes home? :) :)

Taryn

2008-04-01T14:36:00.001-04:00

She seriously has the sweetest faces ever.

Someday I want to be as cool as she is.

Home Alone

2008-03-31T11:05:00.004-04:00

John has been gone since Friday afternoon.
I've never stayed home alone before in my entire life.
I was kind of scared that I would have nighttime intruders and I wouldn't hear them... so I devised a plan...

I set this up every night-- that way if someone so much as cracks my door open I'll be able to hear them, grab John's K bar he left behind, and hide. :) Actually I'm hoping the noise scares them away.

Apple Crisp

2008-03-27T09:08:00.003-04:00

Last night I ate an entire pan of apple crisp.

It started out simply enough-- we had just finished dinner and I needed something sweet to eat (like I normally do). We had four apples that were getting a little old, so I thought I'd just throw together a small pan of apple crisp. I didn't really measure anything and just sort of did what looked good. When I guessed it was done, the apples were really mushy. I didn't know if baking it longer would make them crispier or MORE mushy, so I just decided to eat it the way it was. It didn't taste like "normal" apple crisp, so John didn't even try it. For some reason, I then felt like I had to prove it was good by eating the entire pan... which I did. Sigh. I then complained the entire evening about feeling fat. Oh the tragedies of my life. On a happier note (sarcasm), John leaves tomorrow :(
So my question is: (mom, since you're the only one that knows about this blog) would cooking the crisp for longer have made it crispier, or more mushy?

Introduction

2008-03-26T09:02:00.001-04:00

Once upon a time...
I promised myself once that I would never become a blogger, but here I sit writing my first post. Having hours upon hours with nothing to do while at work, I discovered the joy of reading blogs of people I don't even know. Not content with merely reading, I created my own. There are benefits of blogging, right? I can stay in touch with my family and friends without calling them ALL... I can waste time... and maybe it will inspire me to take more pictures :)

*Currently*

John is in groundschool for IFL Group and is leaving Saturday for simulator training in Texas.
I work as a receptionist for a general contracting company.
We live in an apartment with the craziest neighbors of all time.
We love cookies.
We've been painting our apartment for two weeks, and we've only finished one wall.