It's over.

Tonight was our last night of HomeBuilders.  It was really good.  We split up into guys and girls the whole time so I spend the whole evening talking just with the other girls in the group.  I noticed a few of the gals were more chatty this way.  It's a shame that just as we're getting to know everyone, etc that it's all over!  It was a good study though and now we'll be checking out the Young Adults group and see how that goes.  I'm looking forward to continuing getting connected with people at church.  It's been over a year and we still hardly know anyone from our area.  I think it's because I don't work with anyone my age...neither does Peter...so it's hard to get friends at work.  In any case, we're really getting to know people at church and Young Adults should just add to that.  

Today at work I didn't do too much.  I was doing a lot of what I like to call "personal" work.  Basically I was paying bills, writing checks, and sending emails to family about the upcoming Christmas season and when we'll be where and making plans to do fun things!  I'm so glad we'll be able to take a week over Christmas and get to see both sides of our family longer this year than last year.  I also spent some time talking to my boss and helping her with ideas for her 3 yr old daughter's halloween costume.  She's being rudolph and Roni (my boss) has been sewing her costume.  She didn't have any jingle bells so I brought in a box of mine for her to use.  She was so thankful!  I like that I really get along well with Roni.  She's a very reasonable boss and easy going on taking time off and going to dr appts, etc.  I really appreciate that about her.  

Yesterday I got 2 packages in the mail.  One was the bag I ordered from Ebay which is really cute!  This is the image from the Ebay ad.  It has a zipper closure which I really like and plenty of space with a few inside pockets.  It's kind of neutral but also has some color and a nice design.

I also got one of Peter's anniversary gifts that I had ordered online.  I was so excited and Peter's curiosity was killing him....so I gave it to him early!  It's a 2008 3 Stooges calendar :)  It's even got Sept 07-Dec 07 in it so he can use it now.  If you spent $12.99 on this website, you got free shipping so I also ordered this $2 12x12 picture so that I got the free shipping.  Otherwise, I was paying $4.95 for shipping...so it was actually cheaper to get this picture!  It matches really well with our bedroom so I'm going to mat it and frame it and hang it in there.  I have a bunch of pictures to still hang upstairs.  I have to finish painting the hallway first and then hang the pictures I bought for the hall and then finish with the decoration of both bedrooms.  This house is still a work in progress, but I love that it's HOME.   

I was just informed by Peter that it's time to go to bed because we've been staying up too late this week and need more rest....soo.....goodnight!

Pictures from the weekend...

Since it was dark when we arrived, I took this picture Saturday as we were waiting for my mom to be ready to go to the movies.  This is my parents' place in Hollidaysburg.

My dad really is happy to see us-really!  He just always makes this face...especially when waiting for my mom haha.

A picture of me and my love on a great fall day!

We waited until this morning to head home.  I was glad because I was looking forward to seeing the mountains in full color!  This is us starting our trip up the mountain...there were rolling hills for miles and it was really gorgeous.  Pictures don't do it justice.

The following are all pictures from our drive home.  We didn't stop at all so keep in mind all of these were taken from me in the passenger side as we were driving 65 mph on the highway...pretty good for moving pictures!  I loved the trip it was such a beautiful drive!

The colors were magnificent!  I think this might be my favorite picture with all of the tree trunks visible too.  I still can't believe I got such great shots while moving!

This is driving up our street...so pretty!

Home sweet home!

Our beautiful tree in the back has gone from green to multi color to bright red!  Peter took this picture :)  Can you see why it's my favorite tree in our yard?

Our little birdy feeder...empty because squirrels usually get it to swing back and forth and the food dumps out on the ground haha...smart squirrels!

We have some leaf raking to do this week--our entire yard and deck were covered with leaves... you can't tell how much from this picture but it's a lot!  

Shop til we drop!

When I woke up this morning I totally forgot where I was.  It took me the better part of a minute to piece together that I was at my parents' house in my old room haha.  Although, you'd never really know it was my old room by looking at it because all of my stuff is gone and in Pittsburgh.  I actually woke up a little before 8 after having gone to bed around 1 am.  I thought I'd be more tired, but I wasn't.  My daddy surprised me and Peter with donuts this morning since my mom always goes walking and to breakfast with her friends on Saturday morning.  He told me before he went so Peter and I were able to place our order which was hilarious in itself since we were all still half asleep trying to describe to my dad what kind we wanted.  Then Peter went back to sleep as I surfed the net and watched some tv for a bit.  

After my dad got home, I got up and ate my donuts in the kitchen and then went to take my shower.  I knew I'd be going out today but was in no rush to get ready so I didn't have to immediately start drying my hair.  I think that's my least favorite part of getting ready in the cooler weather.  I always dry my hair and it takes forever.  I usually take showers in the evenings and then pull my hair up during the night so it can get somewhat dry and it only takes about 15 minutes to dry it the next morning.  If I don't do that, it's like 30-45 mins.  Maybe I should invest in one of those beauty salon hair dryer things that you just sit under?  Yeah right-it would take about 2 hrs to dry that way!  It's really not that bad unless I'm especially tired.  

Around 11 am I announced I was going to the mall to return a pair of pants at Old Navy which sparked my mom's interest so she decided to come along.  Then Peter wanted to come too haha.  We ended up spending 2 hours at the mall stopping in all kinds of stores instead of just our targeted 2 of Old Navy for me to return pants and Macy's for my mom to buy a Christmas present for my sister's boyfriend.  I got a couple of things though because they were such great buys!  I bought a new bird feeder for my front garden at Kirkland's for 7 bucks.  I already have the shepherd's hook too.  It was pretty heavy though so I was glad to have Peter carry it for me.  He's such a sweetie pie :)  I also got a little santa tealight holder at Kirklands for 3 bucks.  I didn't really need it but it was cute and only $3.  Then I picked up the shoes I've been watching at The Shoe Dept.  They had my size (in wide which is hard to find sometimes) so my mom talked me into getting them.  They were on sale for $30 but still kinda steep for what I usually buy.  So if they go on sale more, which I hope they do, I'll buy and return them again to get the difference back.  I debated over the hat at JCP again that I saw a few weeks ago when Peter and I were shopping.  It was still only down to $18 so I'll just keep my eye on it a bit longer.  My final purchase at the mall was at JCP and was a great pair of dark jeans for $20.  They were originally like $50 on sale for $30 and I had a gift card so it only cost me $20.  I bought them because I have such trouble finding good pants.  Although I've had some luck this season having already purchased two pairs of dress pants.  

After the mall, we came home and made lunch and hung around for a bit until it was time to go to the movies.   We saw "Michael Clayton" which was good but a little slow moving at times.  Overall though I think all 4 of us enjoyed it.  Then we headed to Chili's for ribs-yum!  We all got the special of a salad, ribs and fries (or loaded mashed potatoes for mom and Peter) and choice of desert for $10.99.  We also got an appetizer of bottomless tortilla chips.  I liked that they served them warm-just the way I like.  I was also glad to hear they had honey because I'm not a big salsa fan but do love them dipped in honey!  We stopped at Ross's after dinner for a brief shopping trip.  I love Ross's but we don't have one close by at home so I always hit it up when visiting my parents.  I found some thicker tights and a cute pair of nine west heels (clearance for $18!) that my mom bought me for Christmas and will put away until then.  

By the time we got home, we were all rather pooped.  Peter vowed never to go shopping with me and my mom again haha.  And my mom kept telling him that what he experienced at the mall was nothing!  Peter and I are doing our geek routine of both being on our laptops sitting side by side haha.  I now have leopard on my computer and he keeps activating the screen share option which freaks me out.  I'm used to it now but the first time I thought my mouse was jumping around haha.  The weather was absolutely beautiful today.  Sunny and windy-typical brisk fall day-love it!  I'm glad we're going to drive back tomorrow during the day because we missed all the colors on Friday because it got dark too soon.  :(  I took some pictures today but will have to post them tomorrow after I get home.  

More Birthday Wishes..

This time it's to Nana celebrating her 75th birthday this year!  Happy Birthday!  

Work today dragged out for a long time and it seemed like 3 days had passed between the time Peter dropped me off at 9 and picked me up at 5.  Then we grabbed dinner at Wendy's for $6.16 haha and headed home to grab our things and came to my parents' house in Hollidaysburg.  We gave my mom her birthday present, which she loved and said she almost bought herself haha.  I'm not surprised....we are very much alike in many ways-decorating being one of them.  We talked and ate a bit for a while with my mom and dad.  Mostly about Wendy, Ryan, and Bryson.  What a terrible situation and very sad.  *Moves on before she begins typing 3285329582 pages worth of emotions and thoughts on this subject*

Then we watched "Mr. Brooks" with Kevin Costner.  It came highly recommended from my brother Mark and Ashley.  I liked it a lot.  My mom and Peter did too but it lost my dad's interest about halfway through...however I think it was more because he was tired haha.  

Tomorrow should be a busy, but fun day filled with shopping, eating, and movies--I better rest up!  

Barney saves the day!

Cadi officially has a home in Beaver Falls with Barney while we're away in Naples.  I'm so glad and very thankful!  I didn't want to leave her at home the whole time by herself and would have felt so guilty putting her boarding her at a kennel in a little cage.  She's such a roamer at home and to take away her freedom would've just been wrong haha!  Barney is also coming to the circus with us next week!  I feel like it's been forever since we've seen him so it'll be good to hang out and catch up.  

I've almost got all of my CDs imported!  I've been getting lots of good ol' country music back on my computer.  I lost my iTunes library in college and lost lots of good music I had...so now I'm getting it all back on with my CDs.  I'm so excited!  I've also just take some "magic swizzel" that the doctor prescribed for us with our sore throats to numb the pain so I'm good and numb haha.  And yes, magic swizzle is really the name of the stuff we got...I know, kinda crazy.  I thought he was joking at first haha.  

Only 1 more workday and then I get to spend the weekend with my cutie pie cruisin' to Altoona.  It's supposed to be a gorgeous fall weekend and the leaves are going to be in their prime color changes during our drive--yay!  I'm totally relishing in the weather and and beauty of this season.  

It's ordinary plain and simple

Typical this everyday love

Same ol' same ol' keeping it new

Same ol'-this everyday love

Emotional, so familiar

Nothing about it too peculiar

Oh but I can't get enough

Of this everyday love...

Road to recovery...

Peter and I are both slowly getting better.  Key word: slowly.  We both still have sore throats and my ear has been bothering me.  I even took a day off yesterday and stayed home to rest and just watched a movie and took naps, etc haha.  

Last evening we went to United Cerebral Palsy of Pittsburgh's 15th Annual Community Heroes Awards Dinner in downtown at the Westin.  It was a good time...we got dressed up and I met Peter at his office and we drove in together.  The dinner was really good but I wasn't a fan of the dessert.  It was tiramisu and I'm just not a fan of tiramisu.  The chicken and veggies and potatoes were yummy though!  We watched as UCP of Pittsburgh recognized local folks/businesses that have done important things for people with disabilities.  SHOUT (Peter's bosses are the founders/chairs of this company also) won the Community Hero Aware for their efforts in making alternative communication devices.  It was really awesome to see some of the people there with CP to be using the devices and be able to speak and carry on conversations and even give an acceptance speech!  It's hard to believe that not too long ago, most folks brushed people who had CP off as being "mentally retarded".  Just because they couldn't speak...it's a real shame.  I was touched to see the way these community heros have given the gift of language to people.  Without these devices, they wouldn't be able to say "I love you" to their family and friends or even just discuss their feelings, hopes and dreams for their own lives.  I was really turned off by Linda's(Peter's coworker) boyfriend though.  He's middle-aged and made a huge deal of not sitting next to Christian(a device user because he's in a wheelchair and can't speak).   Linda told Carolyn (another one of Peter's coworkers) that John(the boyfriend) was uncomfortable with it so make sure they had seats at the other end of the table.  I could tell the whole night he was uncomfortable too by the way he looked around and made disgusted faces.  It really made me want to punch him haha.  Christian was actually a delight to meet and get to talk to a little bit.  It was also nice to see Jutta (Chris's mom and Peter's german coworker) interact with him and see a bit of a softer side of her.  I really feel bad for John because of his attitude.  It's people like him that make prejudices still exist today.  I mean, even if he was uncomfortable, why make a big deal of it?  Just come in and sit not next to Christian and that be that.  But to tell Carolyn and have her tell us and to go on about it?  Come on, grow up!!  He'll never get comfortable with it if he just writes it off without even giving it a chance.  Peter and I had a good talk on the way home and I really enjoyed my evening.  I'm glad that I took off and rested because I don't think I would have been up to it with being sick and having worked for 8 hours too.  After we got home, I whipped out the crock pot and made BBQ ham over night and then made coleslaw this morning for our lunches.  It was so yummy!

Tonight after work, we just came home and did a few things around the house.  The toilet is officially fixed (we think/hope)!  And now it's almost bedtime, geesh!  Tomorrow we're going to my parents' house right after work and going to spend the weekend there.  We have plans to go to dinner and see a movie on Saturday but can't decide which movie between "Michael Clayton" and "Rendition"....I think we'll see "Michael Clayton" but we'll see on Saturday.  

Now it's time for cookies and milk!

Happy Birthday to Ashleigh too!

I forgot to put this earlier, but today is also Ash's birthday.  Wish I could celebrate with ya Ash-hope it's a good one!  Miss you!

Happy Birthday!!

Today is my mom's birthday! She's currently in Atlantic City with my dad celebrating for the weekend. I think they come home tomorrow....unless they win big, in which case my mom told me she'd "call me from Hawaii" haha. Peter and I are going to Altoona this weekend to see her for her birthday and go out to eat, etc. as long as we're not too sick. Yes, we--I am coming down with whatever Peter had. Pressure in the head (especially ears and eyes), sore throat....no fever yet though. I knew it'd happen even though I washed everything and used Lysol like it was my job. My mom had called over the weekend twice to see how Peter was doing and then yesterday when I told her I had a sore throat coming on, she said she wasn't surprised either and that I've always been a magnet with sore throats. :( It gives me a reason to start drinking hot chocolate already though because the heat feels so good on my throat! :)

Today is also Matthew's birthday, so happy birthday to him too! I hope he gets a break from studying for a little bit to enjoy his day.

Also going on today is a doctor's appt...ugh. Peter and I are doubling up and going to the doctor's to see what's wrong with us! Here's hoping that it's not too bad!

We're also supposed to have dinner at the church and HomeBuilders and all that jazz tonight, but if we're both not feeling well, I think we might just stay home, we'll have to see after work and the dr appt.

In other news, I've been searching on Ebay for a few things but keep getting outbid at like literally the very last second haha. I totally love the new Vera Bradley "Java Blue" Villager but they are $72! That's more than double what I've ever paid on a tote before. But they have new ones (with tags) on Ebay that sell for about $50. Still a little high so I'm still looking around. I've also found a couple handmade totes on there that I like that folks are selling for $8-$13....much more my style haha. They're very cute and have similar desgins to the Villager Tote, but different colors, etc. I've actually found about 5 totes, including the Java Blue one, that I like so now I'm just watching them and trying ot narrow down to what I want. I'm also looking for something else on Ebay, can't say what it is because the person might read this for who it's for, haha. But it's hard to find since it's been discontinued and apparently is in high demand? I keep looking though and hope to find it by Christmas! Can you believe Christmas is fast approaching? I've already been doing some window shopping for presents for people. I've got good ideas for several of my family members, which rarely happens! I love Christmas time and shopping for people and wrapping presents and everything that goes along with it.

I'm really enjoying the rain that started late last night. It's not storming or anything but just a steady rainfall. I fell asleep listening to it last night around 11 PM. I think rainy days are such cozy days and I love just being able to hear the rainfall and get lost in thoughts until I am asleep, it's very calming and peaceful.

Enjoying the day at home.

Since Peter still is under the weather, we had a very low-key day at home.  He wasn't feeling well in the morning so I took his temperature again and he was still running a fever of 99.4 degrees so we decided not to go to church and to just have him stay in bed, eat warm oatmeal, and take some meds.  The afternoon consisted of much of the same-rest, food, and meds.  We went outside for a little bit and burned a bunch of old branches and brush and wood in our chiminea on the back porch.  I also swept off the deck and got a bunch of my flower pots emptied and put together in a corner to get ready for the winter months.  In the next couple of weekends I'll probably put the porch furniture in the basement too.  I love fall but hate to think of the bitter cold coming.  I don't mind cold and wearing sweaters and coats, etc but when it's really cold out, I don't really like it.  Especially with no snow.  If it's cold, it might as well snow haha.  I love fresh snow before it's trampled over and turns slushy haha.  Back to today---it was really warm out today, almost 80.  

My front porch decorations are looking quite fall-ish with the pumpkins and indian corn we got at Simmons' a few weeks ago :)

The trees in our yard are looking very colorful. My favorite tree-the big maple in the backyard by the hot tub-goes from green to yellow to red as you go up the tree.  It's very beautiful but the pictures don't do it justice.

This is our front yard.  Mostly evergreen pines, but has a splash of color...

Cadi was meowing to come outside with us the whole time.  When we finally came back in, she was sitting right inside the front door, so cute!

We took showers when we came in because we smelled a bit like smoke and had some ashes in our hair haha.  After that, we watched some wild police chases on tv and I made some yummy dinner.  We had chicken tenderloins accompanied with bow-tie pasta with mushrooms and green and red bell peppers in a creamy chicken and parmesan cheese sauce.  I made up the recipe tonight and it was very good!  I also made some homemade bruschetta to go with it.  :)  I'll have a yummy lunch tomorrow to-leftovers!  

Hopefully Peter will feel better soon because this coming week will be pretty busy for us with bible studies, a benefits dinner, and going to my parents' house.  It's only 7 PM but feels later since it's getting darker out earlier.  It's almost time to fall back--which is good and bad.  Good because it won't be so dark when we get up in the mornings but bad because it'll get darker earlier.  

25 days til we leave for Naples!

35 days til our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

65 days til Christmas!

Music, Movies, and Ice Cream!

We've had such a wonderfully lazy day.  Though I was itching to be more productive at times, I really enjoyed just lounging around with Peter.   I'm very happy to say that he's doing much better and feeling better with each passing hour.  :)  We spent the whole afternoon and evening watching "Cops", "Pretty Woman", "The Good Girl", "Hitch", "Flip That House", and other various things.  I also worked on getting my last pile of CDs imported into iTunes...almost done and then we're going to sync all 3 iTunes library so they're the same so we'll have all of our music in one place.  I'll be glad to get rid of all my old CDs.  I used to order them 12 at a time from BMG music club so I had soooo many!  Plus Peter's whole collection.  We also at ice cream tonight since Peter's throat was sore and well...I just like ice cream!  Now we're going to watch an episode of "Pinky and the Brain" and then it's off to sleep!  It's supposed to be around 80 degrees tomorrow and Monday...what's with the ups and downs?  Let's stick with fall weather please :D  

Sweatin' It Out

Unfortunately Peter didn't get better yesterday.  In fact he got worse.  After work we decided it was best not to go to the farm with Jeff and Steph.  We took a rain check for another time.  When we got home, I made him some oatmeal and put him in bed.  He fell asleep within 10 minutes and I sat beside him watching tv and random things.  He woke up a few times and was very confused as to what time it was.  He kept thinking it was the middle of the night and it was only 7 pm.  He actually got a pretty high fever around 10 (101.4 degrees) and threw up because of it.  I felt so bad for him.  The rest of the night consisted of giving him water and putting cool damp cloths on his forehead.  He was burning up but said he had the chills on the inside so it was hard to battle.  He took a shower at like 11 and changed all of his clothes.  I had changed the bedclothes too so everything was clean.  He felt good after that and was a bit talkative so it was good to see him feeling better.  He was pretty comatose the rest of the evening.  He wanted to get up and do stuff and I had him sit on the bed and within 5 minutes he laid down and was fast asleep.  I grabbed some dinner for myself at that time and hit the sack myself.  

This morning he was feeling much better but still has a bit of a fever-around 99-100 degrees.  I'm just glad he's feeling better.  He wants to rake leaves and go bowling today haha but I don't think that'll happen.  Rest, rest, and more rest is all he's going to do the rest of the day.  I'm in the midst of washing all the multiple sets of sheets, pjs, towels, rags, etc that we went through.  And I hope to run out to Lowe's to get a washer for our toilet that still is leaking a bit.  Luckily, we don't have to dig up the floor or anything.  We'll have to repaint a lil piece in the kitchen next weekend after it dries out real good but other than that we just need a new washer.  Thank goodness!  

Where has the week gone???

Today is what? Thursday? Are you kidding me? This week went by SO FAST I can't even believe it! Wanna know what I've been up to all week? Read on...

Tuesday was a busy day...we always come home from work, have literally 10-15 minutes and head right back out to go down to the church. Usually in those few minutes I change into some lounge clothes and grab our books as we're out the door. We had a good discussion at HomeBuilders and everyone loved the crumble cake I brought with me. We actually didn't have time to finish the entire lesson because we all got too chatty with different things throughout, but that's ok because we had a good discussion the whole way through. We're just going to do the rest with our spouses and discuss next Tuesday. By the time we got home, it was almost 9 and I got a quick shower and just went to bed because I was pooped!

Wednesday was yet another busy day. I was busy at work doing a lot of clean out. I've been going through all of the stuff in my filing cabinet and the 4 huge tubs under my desk to clean out space. I didn't know what we had to keep and what we could shred when I first started so I just held onto it all. But now I realize that most of it's already been scanned into our electronic filing database and so 95% of things can be shredded. Which means I'll have to get someone to take it all upstairs to our huge industrial shredder and waste a day of my life there haha. It's basically a tedious job but I'm loving that my work area is being totally cleared out and I know what everything is now and have tons more space. My desk has literally had piles upon piles of paper on it because my entire desk-drawers, shelves, my bookshelf and filing cabinet---it was all FULL. Now that it'll all be nearly empty, I can take it over and organize it my way--much better than it was before. I love that I don't have to move piles around just to find a space to work everyday. It'll be another week or so until I'm all done with this though...*deep breath* I left work early on Wednesday to go to the dentist again. He wants to replace all of my old filings with new ones since they're all like 15 year old. So he did one and moved on to the next only to tell me this one is going to need a root canal too. I thought he was joking but sadly he's not. I'm not at all excited about it and am even considering going somewhere where they put you under while they do it. I just keep remember the last one and how painful it was for days after. :( After the dentist we went to Chick Fil A. I was still pretty numbed up (which Peter loves because I can't chew correctly or drink from a straw, etc.) He always takes me someplace like that after the dentist because I'm basically like a child and completely hate the dentist...but can you blame me?? After that we went to JCP and I found a couple of great things, but only bought some pants. I want to wait to see if the other things go on sale some more or if I can get similar things cheaper elsewhere. I love love LOVE to bargain shop. I think that anyone can buy great stuff not on sale, etc. It's when you find the bargains that are great. Like when you find something you really needed or wanted that's dirt cheap. Or when you keep your eye on something until it's 75% off. Or when random great deals pop out of nowhere! I just love it! I did get two pair of dress pants because I need some. They were buy one get one for 88 cents so I got them both for $36.88. Not bad. I've done better haha but not bad...especially since I have a pretty hard time finding pants that fit well and are long enough, etc.

Thursday was a busy day at work going through more stuff at my desk. I hope to get it done sooner than later because I'm supposed to be taking on a client and doing their HR stuff which will take a long time (and we'll need to hire an intern to assist me). I have been catching up with things that I've let go for a while though. Hopefully by this time next week I can say that I'll be all caught up and all cleaned out! After work we went to WalMart for groceries and things like shampoo, etc. I also got a new hairbrush :) I needed one so badly because my old one was getting to be so scratchy as all the little rubber tips fell off haha.

Tonight I actually got to cook dinner haha. I haven't cooked since Monday because we never eat at home Tues and Weds was the dentist appt. I made ham with a brown sugar and honey glaze, mashed potatoes, and broccoli with italian dressing and grated parmesan cheese. It was so good! Plus when I cook, we always take leftovers for lunch the following day so I'll get to have it again tomorrow. :) Lunches the past two days have been random things like yogurt, applesauce, porkroll sandwich and wheat thins with strawberry cream cheese haha. Not that I minded because I like all of those. After dinner, we discovered we have a leak in the toilet. We noticed the ceiling above the sink in the kitchen was getting discolored looking and peely. We investigated and found out that a washer inside the toilet tank had snapped a bit and was leaking just a drop or two a minute but it must have happened recently because we just noticed the ceiling. We hope that there isn't much damage and that we can just let it dry out and repaint the ceiling in that area. When we get back from the farm we are going to put a new washer inside the tank (we didn't have any to do it tonight) and hope that'll fix the problem. If not, looks like we'll need to find a good plumber in the area. We turned off the water and emptied the tank in the back too so no water can drip out while we're gone. That was a huge frustration for the night. We had already painted in the kitchen last year and just finished redoing the bathroom and are really hoping we don't have to dig the floor up or the ceiling out or anything. I guess time will tell. We didn't let that ruin our night though and even had a great time reserving our flights and rental car for our 1 year anniversary trip! I'll be off work from Friday November 15 until Monday November 26. I only have to take off 4 days though because we get Thanksgiving and the day after as paid holidays! :) I'm totally psyched to go back to Naples! We're really blessed to have such generous relatives as Aunt Grace and Uncle Michael...who I still need to meet. I hope to get to over Christmas sometime since we'll be in town for more than 1 day this time!

Tomorrow we are going right from work to Jeff's farm...should be fun! I hope the weather is nice and we'll get to see some great color changing going on! I've already seen such beautiful sights just from driving around Pittsburgh that I can only imagine the farm to be better! Plus we'll be making s'mores up there on an open campfire! :D

Peter's already snoozing away beside me. He wasn't feeling good after about 10 tonight, it just kind of came suddenly and out of nowhere. He had chills and felt warm so I gave him some tylenol (per his request haha) and hope he's feeling better tomorrow. I told him if he doesn't feel better we can't go to the farm because the best thing to do when you aren't feeling better is resting. I sure hope he's better in the morning because I think we'd all be bummed to miss the farm trip. Well I'm off to bed to rest up for tomorrow too....more cleaning at the office, yay! (Sense the sarcasm! haha)

1 Week Day Down....4 To Go

This week started out just like any other.  Wake up, pack lunches, go to work, haha.  Work wasn't too bad, I have been working diligently to get my desk cleared off.  A little more each day :)  I thought I was going to work very late, like 7pm, because Peter had a meeting and I was going to work late so I can leave early on Weds for my dentist appt.  Well Peter's meeting was postponed so we got to go home at our regular time...which was ok with me because I was tired at work for some reason.  Plus it was very warm in the office today.  I think because some of the girls were wearing summer clothes and it's obviously not that warm out so they cranked up the heat.  Plus I'm used to keeping it cooler in our house because 1. I like it better too cold than too hot and like to wear sweats and blankets and 2. it's cheaper haha. 

After work was tons of fun.  Peter and I made dinner together.  Salmon cakes, parmesan cheese rice, and corn-yum!  I also made a Cinnamon Crumble Coffee Cake, whew that's a mouthful.  I'm going to bring it with us tomorrow to HomeBuilders.  After dinner, we played some George Winston and I read some while Peter played Warcraft.  Then we did our HomeBuilders Project for tomorrow.  Such a simple and fun time!  Now we're winding down to get ready for bed.  I'm watching "The Bachelor"--such a ridiculous show but still fun to watch because of all of the crazy immature girls haha.  I actually just laughed out loud for a minute straight because of the ridiculousness haha good times.

Sweet Treats

Since my parents were coming today and we were going to meet them at a restaurant for lunch, I made dessert yesterday so that we could come back home and hang out a bit and have dessert.

Well, in the afternoon I made some homemade chocolate chip cheesecake--yum!!  I used my mom's recipe which doesn't require any baking so I put it in the fridge to chill.  Then after dinner I made a homemade pumpkin roll, forgetting I had already made the cheesecake haha.  Oops!  Oh well, we had both this afternoon and they were both very tasty!  And we still have plenty of leftovers after sending my mom home with some extras.  

We had a really nice time visiting with them today.  We went to church this morning and heard Pastor Tim preach.  He's a typical baptist preacher which I enjoyed.  Plus his sermon was great!  After church, we were heading to the bookstore to kill an hour until my parents arrived when it dawned on Peter that my parent's were still an hour away and by the time we got to the restaurant, ordered and had food, it'd probably be closer to 2 hrs until he'd be eating.  So to hold him over we went into the mall by Barnes & Noble and shared an Auntie Anne's pretzel.  We sat in a corner of the food court and had a great little time.  We had just made it into JCP to browse for a few minutes when my mom called to say they were approaching Monroeville so we decided to head out.  We met them at John Harvard's for lunch and heard all about the great time they had on the cruise they went on recently for their 35th anniversary.  Then we came back to our house and hung out for a while, saw pictures from their cruise, and ate yummy (double) dessert!  

Peter and I spent the rest of the evening relaxing together, having pork roll (that my mom brought us) for dinner, and watching "Madagascar"--cute movie :)

My house is so clean!!

Today Peter and I cleaned the entire house!  We were just going to clean the bathroom and change the our bed clothes, but it ended up with us:

---taking out our window AC unit and putting it in the basement (even though we have central air, we use this during the night when it's not too hot but it is too hot to sleep haha).  

---changing our bedclothes

---cleaning the bathroom top to bottom

---doing 5 loads of laundry (whites, darks, and 3 big blankets)

---sweeping and dusting both upstairs and downstairs entirely 

---cleaning the kitchen

Our house smells so fresh and clean and looks it too!  I love it.  Peter and I really cleaned our butts off today.  We also bought a new sweeper today for $34 (that includes tax).  It's a Eureka Altima and is 12 amps...4 times more than the little 3 amp Bissel we have been using.  Our house wasn't dirty or anything but the Eureka picked up a lot in the carpet that the 3 amp couldn't.   Plus Peter swept under the beds, dressers, and all other furniture so we got a really deep clean.  It was actually kind of gross how much was emptied from the bagless canister when we were all done!  So glad not to have that sitting around my house anymore lol.  

After our cleaning frenzy, we both took showers and ran out to do some grocery shopping and return some washers at Home Depot that we didn't use from the bathroom remodel.  I also picked up a small bale of hay and potted mum for my front porch to put with the pumpkins and indian corn we got from Simmons Farm a couple weekends ago.  I'll have to take a picture of it tomorrow because it's already dark out.  We grabbed some dinner at McDonald's and brought it home and ate on the floor.  We are so classy :P I love it!  Now we're both on our laptops and half watching "Mickey Blue Eyes".  

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and seeing my parents and Bryson!  Although I'm not excited that it's one day closer to the beginning of a new work week, yuck haha.

Saturday

I'm so glad to have woken up this morning on my own time....no alarm means it's SATURDAY!  Yesterday was a pretty easy day at work.  The morning for me consisted of getting everything ready for another orientation session and then 12-4 was orientation.  Orientation is all I do every 2nd and 4th Friday of the month haha.  It's pretty easy though.  After work, Peter and I came home and hopped right into bed.  I did first just because I was chilly.  I changed into some comfy clothes and jumped under the covers.  After a few minutes I realized how tired Peter was and told him to shut his eyes for ten minutes and I'd come back.  Well I went downstairs, made homemade bbq chicken pizza, cleaned up the kitchen, washed dishes, unloaded the dishwasher and returned to Peter 45 mins later to tell him dinner was ready.  He was still sleeping.  We ate dinner and then watched "Pretty Woman" even though I've seen it 25 times.  It was a good veg out movie for the end of a busy and long week.  We hit the sack early and I didn't wake up until almost 9 am this morning!  (For me, that's sleeping in haha.)  Now I just have a bunch of random house things today today and clean for my parents' visit tomorrow :)

Brr!

Going from 90 degrees on Monday to 54 degrees today has been a bit drastic!  I am totally loving this kind of gloomy, dreary weather though!  A bit odd, I know, but I am enjoying it.  I like the change.  I like that it feels more relaxed and laid back than when it's hot and everyone is out bustling around.  I feel like wearing my favorite sweats, curling up in a blanket and reading a book while Cadi snuggles beside me...and Peter too!  I'm a little bummed that we missed the transitional weather of 70's and breezy though.  Maybe it'll pop up sometime before winter hits.  

Today was a pretty normal day....work, make dinner, hang out.  Tomorrow will probably be more of the same.  Oh well, that's my life as I know it for now haha.  I'm not complaining though because I'm happy, healthy and so in love.  :)

My parents and nephew are coming in for the afternoon on Sunday so that'll be fun!  I have to find him a little birthday present though because his birthday is next Friday.  He's getting so old!  I'm sure anything Spiderman or Batman will do just fine haha.  

Happy Hump Day

Sometimes I start writing posts and even think I finish and post them and don't realize they get logged as a draft and not published....at least I don't realized it until I log in and am like "wait that's not the last post I made"...hahaha oh well, they make it from drafts to the published web eventually!

A good thing about having a long weekend is that the work week following it is always shorter!  Its Wednesday already.  I feel a little confused with my days, but two more til the weekend is all I care about!  

The weather has FINALLY cooled off starting yesterday and feels very seasonal today and should from here on out.  I'm totally excited about it!  This is my favorite season and the hot weather and humidity has really been putting a damper on fully enjoying it.  Some girls at work think I'm nuts but I was rejoicing over the breezes and clouds today.  This weekend I am going to put away flower pots and everything and get the outside ready for winter.  I hope to also put a dent in some of the yard work out front to be done still.  This weekend is going to be a catch up weekend at home doing lots of random things like that.  After this weekend, we are going to be busy busy busy on the weekends for a little while, so we'll get it in while we can!

Peter is taking a little snooze beside me on the couch right now.  I feel bad for him because I know work has been stressful and busy and pretty chaotic with his co-workers.  I'm glad to see him get in little naps like this.  I get caught up watching him too, he's so peaceful and cute looking!  I'm trying to resist the urge to tickle him or something and wake him up haha.

I got to talk to Em today for a bit which was good.  I miss her tons since she's in Virginia.  We made plans to get together in December around Christmas and hopefully before that sometime in November.  I can't wait!

Long Tuesday

Today was a loong day.  Having an extra day off I think makes it harder to go back to work.  Peter and I also stayed up late last night.  Well, late for us haha...almost midnight.  We were both wrecked when we got up and were dragging our feet the whole way to work.  Things didn't really change at work, I was pretty tired the whole time, even with having a cup of chai.  After work, we went home for 10 quick minutes so I could change into some comfy clothes and grab our bibles and books for HomeBuilders.  Then it was off to the church!  We had dinner and ate with Rob and Michelle and their little boy Wyatt and also with Pastor Doug.  It was a ton of fun and nice to talk to Pastor Doug for a while.  He is going to come over sometime to our house and chat some more, which should be fun!  HB was fun and we had a good chat.  With each passing week, everyone is more comfortable and open with each other.  We are already halfway through our study and I think I'll be sad when it's over.  Hopefully we can have another study of the sort and also get more involved with the Young Adults group too.  

For now I'm pooped and off to bed, hopefully to wake up not as tired tomorrow :P

3 states-1 weekend

This past weekend was very busy for us!  We left work early on Friday to drive to Mima's in NJ.  After getting there around 9PM, we chatted for a little while and then headed to bed.  Waking up early, working and 7 hrs of driving made for a long day.  Saturday we spent the morning with Mima and then went into NYC to visit Matthew.  We made the mistake of driving in and it was absolute insanity to say the least.  Never again will we do that haha.  It was good to see Matt and catch up a bit and see his place.  We ate at a diner in NYC.  It had great food, but was very crowded...typical NYC.  I'm definitely not a city kind of girl.  I like visiting and taking trips, but I'd never want to live there.  I think the main reason is that I feel like the city is always so busy and rushed and loud.  I'm more of the quiet, laid back lifestyle.  Saturday night we had dinner with Mima and played cards for a bit.  Then watched an MSNBC special and hit the sack.  Sunday was a great day of visiting with family.  We saw mom and dad Formica, Tim, Vasti, Bella, John-Paul and Laura.  Bella was adorable--such a daddy's girl!  We forgot our camera at home so we missed taking pictures during our fun weekend, but basically it was great to see them all and hang out for the day.  We were sad to go at 6 but knew we had a long trek home.  

Today Peter and I have been doing things around the house.  We also went shopping and made a big grocery shopping trip.  Now we are just resting up for the week ahead, so thankful that it's only a 4 day work week! 

Apples, apples, and more apples!

We have so many apples from when we went apple picking this past weekend.  Even though we only bought a peck, it's still a ton more than what we usually get at the grocery store.  I've made about 5 lbs of apple butter and 2 apple crisps and still have 5 apples left haha.  I made an apple crisp last night and took it to work today and then tonight I made another one to take with us when we visit Matt this weekend.  

In other news...I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday and that we're leaving work earlier and heading east to visit Mima and some more of the family!  Right now we're watching "A Time To Kill" on TNT.  I've seen it a bunch of times.  At one point I do believe I claimed it as my "favorite" movie...back in like 7th or 8th grade when I would read John Grisham books in a day or two because they were so good I couldn't put them down.  I should pick up some of his latest ones since then...I'm sure they're just as good. :)  

I'm off to watch this movie and do some packing on commercials...

What is with drivers???

Seriously.  Peter and I witness the most ridiculous things on the road to and from work.  There is this one part in particular in our commute where there is a yield sign for the right lane of traffic.  We're on the road already in the left lane.  Sometimes it gets congested and people think it's a merge point for some reason.  They don't even look or pay attention and just try to squeeze in.  No turn signal.  No looking to see if it's clear.  NOTHING.  Then they get mad if we don't stop and yield to them??? We've seen it all from me being nearly run off the road before when I was driving myself to someone calling Peter and a**hole and telling him to be nice (contradiction don't ya think?)  to old an old woman in a business suit giving the finger to someone completely flipping out.  This morning was the most ridiculous though.  There was a man driving some kind of company van and he wasn't even looking so Peter just kept driving.  Well this van almost smashes right into us because he thinks it's his turn.  He wasn't paying attention AT ALL.  Then he gets mad because he thinks that Peter was in the wrong even though he wasn't.  So he gets behind us and is driving really close and then backing off then flying up and hitting the brakes.  Then when traffic comes to a stop he gets out of the car and is calling for Peter to do the same.  I told Peter to just ignore him.  Then traffic started moving and we had to be followed by him for another mile or so.  It was completely nuts because he could have passed us at one point if he was in such a hurry but instead he chose to do his little crazy routine behind us of flying right up to our car.  If we were hit it would have totally have been his fault but neither Peter or I wanted to be hit at all.  I tried getting the number from the side of the van when he finally turned because I wanted to let whatever company he was representing now he was a complete idiot but I couldn't see the number.  Oh well.  

I wonder what kind of crazy people we'll encounter tomorrow.  I can't believe how folks act these days.  It just completely boggles my mind.  What I've just mentioned is only a slimmer of the crazy people we see making their own lanes, driving on the wrong side of the road to get head, going through redlights (even school busses around here do that!).  It's NUTS.

Busy Tuesday!

I had to go to the dentist today. :( I know what you're thinking--"weren't you just at the dentist like 4 times in the past 6 months??" Yes, I was. I had my root canal and crown and by the time we were done with all that, it was time for my 6 month check up! Today wasn't so bad...just a cleaning and check up. But I just don't like people messing with my teeth. Afterwards though Peter took me to Chick Fil-A! :) I'm like a kid who needs treats after the dentist haha.

We came home and relaxed for a bit after that and then headed to Home Builders at 7. Apparently Rob and Michelle decided to check out the 20 Somethings/Young Adults group that we usually go to for dinner from 615-7 right before HB and expected to see us there. Whoops. Oh well, there's always next week. HB was good-about putting the past behind you. Peter and I have a lot of experience in this area with all that we've done to deal with each of our pasts so it was nice. We had a lot to contribute and could really feel folks being real and open and it was nice to connect with others like that.

Now we're home and watching "Deal Or No Deal". Well I am. Peter's doing something with a weird Apple Airport Extreme thing to make a base station to boost his gaming abilities upstairs? haha I feel like he's building a space station or something when he says that. He's so cute playing around and mubbling to himself about what to do.

Tomorrow is already Weds! 3 more days and it's the weekend. Actually not even 3 days because we are both leaving early on Friday to drive to Mima's! Right now it's time to go make our lunches for tomorrow and then I think I'll have some ice cream! :)

It's just another manic Monday...

Whoever came up with that line/song must've known what they were talkin' about! :P Today after work Peter and I met my sister and Drew to look at a dining table/chairs set for her new apt. It was on clearance for $100 and I called to make sure it was still there and it was. Then by the time we got there it was sold! I tried having them hold it for me but the man I spoke with was kind of dumb. Then we asked to talk to him in store to see if another store would have it or if there was something we could do because Ash really liked it. He was just like buy a new one for $200. And when we asked if we could find if another store had it, he said WE would have to call. Customer service is dead! We drove to another store and they didn't have any of them. :( I felt bad bc I knew Ash liked it and was bummed. Oh well, what can ya do? I was going to just buy it when I saw it on Friday but you can't take back clearance and I was afraid if she didn't like it then I'd be out $100 and have another table and chairs haha.

It felt so late by the time we got home even though it was only 9PM! haha we're really turning into old foggies. I remember in college when it'd be 9 and we'd just be getting together to hang out haha. My how times have changed. :P