Christmas

I can't believe today is Christmas. But I am very glad it is over. I love the holiday season, the family gatherings, buying people presents, and all the fun that comes with it.

We traveled to Butler, Missouri last Sunday, December 19th to have Christmas with the Mitchell side of the family. Most everyone was there, minus a few. They live all over the place so its hard to get everyone together. They are always such a fun group to get together. Lots of joking and laughing and of course Grandma's wonderful cooking. We enjoyed a wonderful soup buffet dinner and a fun filled gift exchange. You never know what you are going to get which is what makes it so much fun. Between the two of us we got a shake weight and the clapper plus (you know the clap on clap off machine) and two jars of Grandma's homemade jelly. Here's a picture of the two little ones playing outside between everything. If I remember correctly this was the first time for them both to be at Great Grandma and Grandpa Mitchells.

Christmas Eve morning we traveled to Ottawa to have Christmas with Justin's parents Tim and Marcia, his brother; Caleb, Caleb's girlfriend Haylie and her dog Leia, sister; Miranda, brother-in-law; Matthew and their dog Rocky and we brought our dog Jazz. We enjoyed a nice brunch and then exchanged gifts. This year we tried a gift exchange between the six of us kids. Justin got Caleb and Caleb got Justin, Miranda got Haylie and Haylie got Miranda, Matthew got me and I got Matthew. I dont think it could have worked out that way even if it was planned. We all went in and got their parents a years subscription to Netflix which they totally loved. Justin got a couple of video games and I got a candle warmer, a couple different TV series DVD's, and together we got an ornament with a wedding picture on it. The three dogs made for an eventful time, they played nicely together but each had their moments of not knowing how to handle each other.


Christmas Eve Evening we enjoyed Christmas with my parents. We cooked a small traditional meal which consisted of Turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce. After we were stuffed we opened presents. Justin got a few Star Wars figurines, some dress clothes, a few more video games, and a fireplace insert (which is pretty awesome). I got a few more TV series DVD's, a board game, a sweater, a new book, and a cricut (which Im totally excited about). After my parents left we played Rock Band 3 for about 6 hours. Needless to say my drumming skills have improved and Justin has learned several new songs. Jazzy got a new collar, bone and a stuffed animal toy that she can rip the stuffing out of trying to get the squeaker. Grizz got a crinkle tunnel and a new cube to sleep in as well as some treats. The following pictures are of Grizz sleeping in his cube and Jazz chewing on her bone while holding her stuffed animal.

Today, Christmas Day we celebrated at my Grandma and Paps house (my Mom's parents) which has been tradition for me since I was little. Most of the family was there. Everyone who lives in Topeka was there. Truly the only ones missing was my cousin Chris and the 3 kids who were celebrating their first Christmas with their new little sister that their Dad and Step-Mom just had. We enjoyed the big traditional meal ham, turkey, deviled eggs, rolls and of course pickles. We filled the big table and the "kid" table. We also do a gift exchange, Justin and I came away with a summer sausage gift package and some grilling items.Late afternoon we went to my Grandma Mabel's (Dad's Mom) and visited with her for a couple of hours. It was just Mom, Dad, Justin and I for the most part.

Overall, it has been a good Christmas. As I have made tradition for us, we took some pictures in front of the tree. I made fudge tonight for the first time ever. If it turns out maybe I'll make that tradition as well. We drove around last weekend and looked at lights. Always a favorite to at least drive through the Potwin area here in Topeka and also Winter Wonderland because the money benefits TARC. Anywho, I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed something o matter how big or small this season. Any of you traveling I hope you have safe travels and wish you and yours all the best. Here are some more pictures to enjoy.

Justin, Jazz and I

The Family

Our Tree

Justin's Grandma made us these ornaments for our wedding

Our new ornament

The tree with our new fireplace insert, very pretty and warm!

Our lights outside

Justin trying to nap but Jazz wanting some love.

Jazzy was tired too

Grizz wanted to nap with Justin too and of course Im not helping by taking all these pictures :)

The English Language is Hard

I'll admit that I ran across this by a status on facebook. I needed this giggle today so I feel like passing it on to those who actually read my blog of nonsense. Here it is.

 Reasons Why the English Language is Hard to Learn

• The bandage was wound around the wound.
• The farm was used to produce produce.
• The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
• He could lead if he would get the lead out.
• The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
• Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
• A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
• When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
• I did not object to the object.
• There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
• They were too close to the door to close it.
• The buck does funny things when the does are present.
• A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
• To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
• The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
• After a number of injections my jaw got number.
• Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
• I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
• How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England nor French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. 

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb through annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? 

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Park on driveways and drive on parkways? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on. 

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course

, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible? And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it? English is a silly language — it doesn't know if it is coming or going.

Anywho. Now that we've all enjoyed that. Tomorrow is "pay it forward" day, which encourages everyone to do a random act of kindness. 

November Beginnings

Well as most of you may have remembered we just celebrated our first wedding anniversary. Its hard to believe that its been a year already. We've been together 6 years total now. We got married on our 5 year exactly. We kind of celebrated all weekend rather than just on Nov. 7th. Friday I got back in Topeka from a 3 day work conference so Friday we didn't do much. Saturday we got up and went to my 10 year old cousin's soccer tournament and had lunch at IHOP. Which I know does not scream "Happy Anniversary" but we enjoyed it. Saturday night we went to the fall play at my high school. It was called The Curious Savage. It was interesting. We both enjoyed it but due to Justin being in his own share of plays, he was critical of it. Sunday we slept in, got up and went to lunch at the Olive Garden. Then went shopping and spent some gift cards that we still had from the wedding.We picked up our anniversary cake from the lady that made our cake for the wedding. And enjoyed a relaxing evening at home.

I would say the only thing I regret in the past year is that I haven't completed our wedding album. Im "online scrapbooking" it on shutterfly.com. I made a photobook for a co-worker of mine when I took her wedding pictures. Heres a link if you want to see it. http://www.shutterfly.com/photobook/viewPreview.sfly?fid=68aeae58a2eacc15f12f12eb75ef82b5 It turned out better than I could have even dreamed. I learned of shutterfly from my Mother-in-law. I absolutely LOVE it. If you dont know about shutterfly you MUST go to the website and check it out. www.shutterfly.com Its super cool you can make books http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books, cards & stationary http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery , calendars http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars and so much more. Especially with the holidays coming up they have some really fun holiday cards that you can personalize. To check them out you can go here to see all the cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery Here are a couple fun holiday card styles that I like.

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/cheers-plus-love-christmas-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93476

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/shimmering-ornaments-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93476

I think we will send some picture cards this year. We took some fun pictures to mark our one year anniversary that turned out pretty good. I can't decide to go serious or funny. Shutterfly is doing a promotion right now to give bloggers 50 FREE photo cards you can go here to find out more http://bit.ly/sfly2010.

Well the holidays are approaching. I love the holiday time. I love being around family and seeing everyone. I hate how much the holidays have turned to be about money. I hate it because I dont have it. I hate it because I dont have it to buy other people presents. I love giving, I feel like its a way to show how much you care and appreciate someone. Of course I love getting gifts also but I would much rather give than receive. I love putting up lights on the house and decorating but again money is a factor. I can never buy enough decorations for inside the house and outside. Im sure Justin hates this about me.

Anywho, Hope all is well with all of you.

End of October things

Well it's been a while since I last posted. We don't have anything major going on to update.
It's hard to believe next week is our one year wedding anniversary. Which also marks 6 years together. I don't know what we re doing yet but whatever it is it will be fun.

On a side note I won a free 3 month gym membership. Justin and I jumped on the opportunity of a free membership and have not only gone but signed up for a joint personal trainer. We both set some goals and should meet our goals by May 2010.

TGIF-Tomorrow!

Man it seems like the weeks go by soooo slow and the weekends flly by anymore. What happened to being little and not having a care in a the world. Man I miss that. I miss being 8 not having a worry, riding bikes with Kris Kirkendall and all was peachy. No worries about anything, fights were over who got to jump their bike first, we played 24/7 from morning to night and did it all over again the next day. Those were for sure the best days. I miss Kris. I hope someday we can catch up with one another. I hope some day Justin can meet the kid I grew up with and call my childhood best friend.

Sorry for going soft on everybody there. Guess its just been weighing on my mind lately.

Anywho, on a positive note we bought a new car this week. Its an 09 Chevy Aveo. That looks like the following picture...Obviously THIS is not our car. But ours is silver though.

 

So far I really love it. I was really sad to trade the X-terra though. I really liked the x-terra. It was just way too much money, especially when for work I drive 300 miles per month on average. Needless to say, I filled the gas tank on Monday....and as of tonight, Thursday night, Im down to 3/4 a tank. Its a beautiful thing really. A few years ago we rented one to drive to St. Louis and we loved that one. It seems small but is actually really roomy. Both Justin and I like it. We both wished we could have kept the x-terra to have something bigger but...in the end the smaller car is going to benefit us in the long run.

Justin is going camping this weekend with "the guys" Im glad he's going to get some much needed guy time. I work my part time job Saturday and will be helping my parents put up siding. Which is a whole another wonderful thing. Siding is on my parents house, it started yesterday only on the east side but still. Its very exciting. 

On a side note, a black and white kitten showed up at my parents house. They did not have any pregnant cats so we aren't sure where it came from. Its a little skiddish right now but he's not afraid of people. It cries and cries until he finds the food pile. So if anyone knows anybody wanting a kitten let us know!

20 Days until we fly to Chicago!

Step Up For Down Syndrome!

Saturday both Justin and I participated in the Step Up For Down Syndrome Walk in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium. We raised money for the Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City. As most of you know, or maybe you dont; I have a one year old cousin with Down Syndrome. His name is Evan, therefore we were Team Evan.

 

He is the son of my cousin John and his wife Veronica. He is an absolute joy to be around, however they live in Suffolk, Virgina so I haven't been blessed to be around him much yet. He was at our wedding if anyone remembers a baby from our wedding. John was one of my bridesmen. 

Anyways, the walk was amazing. I signed up to form a team and raise money.  I thought $200 was a good goal for our team. We hit that, so I raised our team goal to $500 and I thought that would be a great goal and would be a challenge for our team. I dont know the final count but confirmed we have raised $815 and I know we turned in another $105 that was raised from the wonderful Star Wars group that raised money for us as well. A friend of Mom's that she works with Kari, is involved with a group who dresses as Star Wars characters and goes around for causes and raises money for community events. Just by taking pictures with people they helped us raise an additional $105 while at the walk. I can not thank them enough!

This is Team Evan, minus a few!

It was truly an amazing experience. I can't wait until next years walk. My first goal for the team is going to be $1000. I think if we hit $900 our first year we can for sure hit $1000. our second! I am going to start early and try to get more involvement. I've already had people tell me they want to help next year, which is a wonderful feeling. There were 270 walk teams total. It was just an overwhelming experience, I can't explain. So many wonderful people at one place. 

Anyone interested, you can still donate to Team Evan just go to https://www.syssolutions.com/fr/FDFDS/2010StepUp/EvansEntourage and click "Donate to Team Evan"

The Week in a Nutshell

The past week was rather busy.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday I was sent to a training for work to learn the Parents As Teachers 3-K curriculum. By me being sent to this training we now have handouts and topics to discuss with parents of 3-5 year olds. The book is absolutely amazing and will open a lot more doors for us to be able to help. So for Tues/Wed I was in Raytown Missouri. Wasn't terribly exciting but wasn't horrible. Stayed in the Holiday Inn Express that is technically in KC MO was absolutely wonderful! I was almost late day 2 of training due to the big comfy bed I didn't want to get out of. It was a nice "get-away" until Chicago next month.

Saturday Justin and I drove to KC to pick up the t-shirts for the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk we are participating in this coming Saturday. I am so excited to arrive and see all the people who are participating. Registration is open until Wednesday so if anyone else wants to join they are more than welcome. Visit our team website for more details https://www.syssolutions.com/fr/FDFDS/2010StepUp/EvansEntourage

Justin and I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in KC. We didn't really even spend any money just enjoyed getting out and about with each other. My job hasn't really allowed us to do a whole lot lately so it was a nice change of pace. Once we were done shopping we headed to Ottawa to have dinner with his parents and then go to the Ottawa Car show downtown and watch the cars "cruise." I enjoyed it, I took a lot of pictures. I'll have to upload some at a later time.

We've been helping my parents put in windows in their house. We have put in all new windows on the lower level except for two of them. We took out the original windows which has been a fun and challenging process. Lots of square nails and surprises. We discovered that there is about a 3" gap between the original siding and the second layer of siding which explains the drafts in the winter time. Next step is siding. I hope that process goes smoothly, or more smooth than the windows has. It truly hasn't been awful but it hasn't gone terribly easy either. We'll see.

Guess thats the week in a nutshell. Thanks for reading.

Do you remember?

I am on call this weekend for work. I dont care for it but Im only on call every 5 weekends so I guess its not terrible. Its definitely nice on those "off" weekends to not have to worry that at any minute the phone could ring and I can actually enjoy my days off. Well so far I've received 3 separate rounds of calls so far nothing that required an extended amount of attention. Can't complain thus far. Definitely work with some who really make you think about life and how grateful I've had it with such a loving family and then there are the ones who really let you know that you are making a difference and tell you how much they appreciate you.

Well Thursday evening my Grandpa (the only one I have) was taken to the hospital due to having some abdominal pains. They decided to keep him overnight and run some tests. They ran multiple tests, an ekg, ct scans, stress tests, finding nothing wrong. They kept him for a second night just to make sure but he was discharged today. I was happy he came home. He hasn't seemed like himself here lately so I hope whatever it is goes away soon.

Today as many know was the anniversary of September 11th. I can't believe its been 9 years. As most everyone can, I remember exactly where I was when I first heard what was going on. It was junior year of high school. I was in Mrs. Lindstrom's junior English class, Brandon Perry and I were working on a project in the library. Adam Schreiner came in to get a TV for the class he was in and asked us what we were doing, we told him we were working on a project and shrugged it off like no big deal. He told us to go back to our classroom because the tvs were all on and that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. We shrugged and went back to class. I remember that Mrs. Lindstrom was in the hallway hugging another classmate who was crying and they were comforting each other that they both had family in or near the towers. We were dismissed for the next class period which was History and we had a test that day. Mr. Vinduska (our principal) came in and told us we had to go through with our test but when everyone was done we could turn our tv on. I think we all just bs'd our way through the test and turned it in as fast as we could. That day was a friend of mine's 16th birthday. So, where were you? Do you remember?

Happenings

There really is no big new exciting news but I felt like starting a blog. So here is the first post. Thought it could be a fun way to keep those who care to know our business up to date with the happenings here in T-town with us. So I guess if you are reading this, thanks.

Justin has started his fourth year of driving a school bus for USD 345. This year he asked for a different route, the one he drove the past two years was really stressful and dangerous. So his request for a new route was granted and he is now the proud bus driver of the short bus, literally :) He drives preschoolers to the preschool in the district. So far he seems to enjoy it. It is definitely a lot less stressful and the kids aren't so much of a handful.

 As for me, well Im still working at KCSL as a Family Support Specialist for first time parents who are at risk for abusing or neglecting their children. It has been a lot more stressful lately than it has been the past two years. I am currently carrying a caseload of 15 families. Visits vary between them, some I see weekly, some bi-weekly and one is monthly. They definitely keep me on my toes. Somedays I want to run screaming but there are the wonderful moments too however few and far between.

As for us. We just booked a flight to Chicago for October 28 - November 1st. Its the week before our one year wedding anniversary. I am super excited, thus I have never flown before. *gasp* I know, its weird but no I have NEVER flown, ever. Honestly it terrifies me, but I am excited to finally do it. Tickets are purchased and I want to go to Chicago so there's no backing out now.


We are also participating in the Step Up for Down Syndrome Walk on September 25th in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium. I am the "team captain" for Team Evan. Evan is my baby cousin who lives in Virginia who just turned one. The money for this fundraiser walk benefits the Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City.

I think that covers the big happenings right now. Thanks for reading the first post :)