My Busy Life

Life has been extremely busy the last couple of months. I finally got a job in February working as a care manager with elderly clients. As of tomorrow I have been there for 6 weeks. It's been crazy 6 weeks, but I love it. It still doesn't really feel like a "job," which I guess is good. After my first paycheck I literally thought "Wait...they're paying me for this?" :) I think it was because it was so different from anything I had done before other than internships which, obviously I hadn't been paid for.

I have also been busy with school. This weekend was my last session of my first class. I'm a bit worried about how I'm going to handle the three classes that start in 2 weeks, but I managed before, and I'm sure I'll manage again...right?

Anyway, hopefully I'll get my act together and find more time to do all of the things I was doing before I started working again...like reading, exercising, blogging, and cleaning!

Happy Birthday, Kristin!

Kristin's birthday was on January 13. She said she didn't want a party or a cake. I honored her no party request but couldn't pass up on getting the cake. I decided I would order a cake saying it wasn't a birthday cake, just to be funny. The cake people messed it up though, and this was the result:

Dumb. Not only wasn't it a cake for Kristin, but it wasn't a birthday for her either. Oh well. It was cute and tasted DIVINE, so I guess that's all that really matters.

Happy birthday, Kristin!

Christmas in Arizona

This year we went to Phoenix for Christmas! It was my first Christmas in a warm climate, and it was a little weird. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that it was, in fact, December, but we had so much fun I didn't spent too much time thinking about that.

Some of the highlights included: going to The Nutcracker, me getting some quality time with Santa (or his floating head, anyway),

Kristin getting into a minor fenderbender (most would consider this a lowlight, but I got to meet Immanuel because of it which was just lovely), Kristin and me finding the perfect gift for Lon (from Ginny, of course),

Going caroling on Christmas night,

Church outside in the Christmas sun, staying at cousin Erin's house, and going to Walgreens with Ang. ;)

The trip was awesome, and I was so happy we had the chance to go! Thanks to Ginny, John, Erin, and Pat for being such wonderful hosts to all of us!

Happy Birthday, Me!

I've never been one to celebrate my birthday much, and this year was no different. I wanted it somewhat low key, so we went to Beninhana's with Jehn (becoming a yearly tradition), and hung out at home. It was perfect!

Winter 2010

This winter has been harsh. And it's only January 1. It just seems that it's never-ending snow, snow, snow.

After last winter, I told Kristin we had to get a snow blower. To me, it seemed that last year was horrible, and the meteorologists were saying that this year was sure to be worse. So we found one we liked (using tips we had received from Kristin's dad last year and my brother) and ordered it. It came in just in time. Just a day or two before our first big storm.

Kristin took to it immediately and has found she loves to use it - which is great for me because I can just shove the upper walks and not have to deal with the monster of a machine!

Since then, it has snowed A LOT here. And after each storm I think "I am soooo glad we got that!" Last I heard we had already passed the total snowfall for all of last winter in December. *sigh* Looks like this week should be more dry, but very cold...nothing the snow blower can do about that. :)

All I Want for Christmas Is...

Dear Santa,

This year, all I want for Christmas is a new butt.

Or a pair of jeans that fit the nonexistent one I seem to have.

I have never been very picky about the fit of jeans. I would just go to the store, search forever to find the right color of jeans, buy them based on color, and head home a happy girl. But over the past few years I have lost a bit of weight. I still have a ways to go, but I've lost 75% of the weight I want to lose. I'm wearing smaller sizes in everything, but I'm down 5 full sizes in pants. Which is great. The problem is that I have lost more from my butt than I have from my waist. So now, when I shop for jeans it's not just looking for the right color but for the right fit for a butt that isn't big enough for my waist, I guess.

Regular women's jeans in my new size all have the woefully unattractive saggy butt. I tried juniors, but hello, they are all ultra low rise these days which does nothing for an almost 32-year-old woman with a stomach that needs to catch up in the weight-loss race . I tried men's jeans, and while the butt fits great, the legs are way too wide.

So now I'm on the hunt for the perfect jeans. Or a new butt. Or a smaller waist that is proportionate to my butt.

Is that too much to ask, Santa?

Sincerely,

Me.

Happy Halloween!

This year was a pretty low-key Halloween for us. I went in to Kristin's classroom on Friday to help out with "pumpkin math" and brought the kids some cupcake treats...

Sunday we carved pumpkins which was a lot of fun. This was only my second year carving, so I stayed with a simple design. I used a stencil, but Kristin just dug in...

I thought the final products were awesome...

And of course we had to take the annual "Ellie with the pumpkins" photo (and yes, that is a rose still blooming on the rose bush!)...

Sunday night the doorbell started ringing around 5:30 and over the next 2 1/2 hours we got around 200 little ghouls and goblins. I love that this neighborhood has so many kids!

And now we head into November where we're sure to see our first snowfall and the fun of shoveling and bundling up begins!

A Strange Shopping Trip

So today at the store the woman ahead of me in the checkout line (we’ll call her Jane) had a very full cart of items. Groceries, household items, office supplies, clothing, etc. As the cashier was finishing up with the person ahead of Jane, Jane began taking items out of her cart and holding them up one by one, inspecting them. Holding up a pair of jeans, shaking them out, turning them around, checking the size. Holding up a gallon of milk, looking at the expiration date, turning it around in her hands, shaking it a bit. Holding up a package of pens, reading the brand, straightening out the plastic, inspecting individual pens within the plastic. This went on and on. She was sorting the items into two piles. One she put on the conveyor belt, and the other she set aside. This was a long process, and both the cashier and I were just waiting. I could have gone to a different line, but to be honest, I was curious to see what Jane was doing.

After she had finally finished sorting everything, Jane put the “other” stuff back in her cart and pushed the cart up to the cashier. Jane told the cashier that she didn’t want the stuff in the cart. We aren’t talking about one or two or three items here. She had well over half a cart of stuff she didn’t want. Jane also told the cashier that she would need a second cart to take the things she did want out to her car, and could she (the cashier) please have someone bring her one?

I thought I was going fall over. It seemed so surreal. The cashier, however, didn’t seem fazed. Is this something that happens with any sort of regularity? Do people really do this all that often? And if they do, can’t they make these decisions before getting into the checkout line? Has anyone else ever seen something like this happen?

Craigslist Addicts

We just went and picked up a reel mower that Kristin found on Craigslist. I love my self-propelled mower, but it is tearing the steep hills in our yard apart, so I wanted to get a lighter mower to do those with.

After we picked it up I realized we have A LOT of stuff in our house from Craigslist. We have probably saved thousands of dollars over the past few years by purchasing so many things second hand.

Here is a quick list of some things we have purchased that we are still using (I'm sure there are more, but this is what I could come up with in a few minutes):

Entertainment Center

Bookshelves

Couch

Kitchen Table and Chairs

Cat Perch

DVD/CD Storage Unit

Wardrobe

Day/Trundle Bed

Dishwasher

Reel Lawn Mower

Deck furniture

Bathroom Storage Unit

Plastic Wardrobe Units

Dog Bed (converted camping mattress)

Butcher Block

Hmm...I'm sure there's more...but that's a lot of stuff...all of which we got for very cheap or free (the couch was a little spendy but much less than we would have paid had we gone to a store to buy it!).

Thanks to Kristin for finding all the deals...I'm not big on perusing Craigslist, but am always happy with what she finds :)

In Memory...

This past week has been a hard one for us. Roger, Kristin's dad, passed away a week ago today. He had been battling cancer for eight years. In the many years I have known Roger he quickly went from Kristin's dad to my friend. And when he officially became my father-in-law, I considered him my second dad. He was (and still is) truly one of the greatest men I know.

Roger loved to laugh. And to make others laugh. He always had a joke ready to share with us when we called or went for a visit. His smile was infectious. And he had a way of making those around him feel better. About themselves and about the world. Roger loved music. All kinds of music. From Celine Dion to Santo and Johnny to the Gaither Brothers to Johnny Cash. I will never hear a Johnny Cash song without thinking of Roger and Kristin's brother, Mike, singing along to Folsom Prison as we watched Walk The Line together.

Roger, I thank you for your smile, your laughter, your kindness, your love, and your acceptance. You will truly be missed.

It's Raining Cats and Dogs!

We are having a storm here and the weather guy said that hail would reach Saint Paul at 6:11. It was 6:05, so we ran outside to move one of the cars into the garage. We were out in the rain for less than a minute and the following was the result. Of course as soon as we came in, the rain let up, and as of 6:29...no hail. :)

Cassi Visits!

Cassi came to visit this weekend! We didn't do much but had fun exploring all Saint Paul has to offer...like Ax Man, the Minnehaha dog park, Bibelot, Mall of America, America's smallest dedicated park...and more that I can't really remember...but I'm sure it was fun...because I know we had a good time. :) As I was looking through the photos we took while she was here, though, I realized we didn't get any of us together! Ah well, we'll have to remedy that during the trip to Denver in three weeks.

Cassi and Ellie along "my" trail by the Mississippi.

Cassi snapped this picture of Ellie at the dog park. I loved it. :)

Proof we were at Albert Park. :)

This is where we found Ellie after Cassi left (in the bed where Cassi slept while she was here). She stayed there for a long time. She misses her favorite Aunt Cassi!

It is a GORGEOUS day here today so I decided to take Ellie for a walk down by the Mississippi River. She had a blast playing in the river, and I soaked up all the sun I could get. :)

Graduation!

On Sunday I graduated from Saint Catherine University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Work.

My journey from high school to college graduate was a long one. Thirteen years long to be exact. Sometimes it seems disappointing that it took me so long, but as I look at everything I have done over the past 13 years I realize I wouldn't change those experiences for the world. I have grown so much as a person and those experiences will be invaluable in my future career. I have come to realize that going back to college 2 1/2 years ago was something that happened at exactly the right time.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past couple of years as I worked my way through school, working full time, internships, and more.

First and foremost, to my dear Kristin who listened to me complain incessantly about the homework and the time it was sucking out of my life. Who listened to me cry at midnight because I had a huge paper due the next day and had yet to start it. Who listened to jokes or funny stories from class that didn't sound nearly as funny outside of class. Who understood when I was too tired to clean or too busy to cook. Who read papers and gave suggestions even when she didn't have a clue what the assignment was all about.

To my classmates who also listened to me complain and complained right along with me. Who were there to offer support when life got crazy. Who made group work bearable. Who each in her own way taught me invaluable lessons about life, friendship, perseverance, integrity, hard work, and survival.

To the professors. Who all cared about us as students and human beings. Who were passionate about social work and instilled that passion in each of us.

To my sister, Cassi, who always answered her phone (even if I had already called her 10 times that day) to answer questions or just lend a listening ear.

To my parents who were always willing to read a paper one more time.

To my various coworkers, managers, and friends at Dow Jones who were always supportive and flexible - allowing me to leave early or come in late to accommodate my school and internship schedule.

To friends who have been understanding when I've had to cancel plans at the last minute or who have sat here and listened to me complain (I seem to have complained a lot over the past 2 1/2 years, haven't I?!?) without complaining back. Who called at 6 a.m. to make sure I was up cramming for a Spanish test. Who always had answers when I asked questions.

And finally to the person who once said "if she can go all the way to China to follow her dreams you can certainly go a few miles down the road to St. Kate's to follow yours." Who always told me I could do it even when I insisted I couldn't. Who never gave up hope and assured me over and over that I am not now, nor have I ever been, crazy. :)

I couldn't have made it through the past 2 1/2 years without the help and support of all of you. So thank you.

And now...a few pictures from graduation...

A large portion of the group of amazing women I had the privilege of spending every other weekend with for the past two + years!

Kristin and I after graduation.

Elizabeth, me, and Becky

Kristin and me!

An official St. Kate's aluma!

Social Work Graduation Celebration

Last night was the Social Work Graduation Celebration. I wasn't planning on going for a variety of reasons but decided to about a week ago - and I'm so glad I did! It was nice to be able to be there with friends and professors who I have grown so close to over the past 2 1/2 years. I'll write more about the whole "idea" of graduation later...still trying to work out what i want to say.

This was a portion of the graduates who were there...not sure where the rest of them went - probably said "RUN" when they heard "group photo." :)

Me and my pal, Leela. I told Kristin that we look very "coupley" in this photo. She said she was fine with that. Ha!

And as we were trying to find where the program was being held we totally got lost...It's not like I've been going to that school for 2 1/2 years or anything. ;)

Costco

So today I went to Costco for the first time. For years I had a Sam's Club card. I first got it when I was living with my parents and was able to get a card for free through my mom's work. Back then Costcos didn't exist. At least not in Utah. Anyway, so I had a Sam's Club card, and I kept it even after moving to Minnesota, but I didn't use it very often. Occasionally I would go to get pineapple or muffins, but that was about it. So I finally told my mom to just cancel my membership. Someone, somewhere was paying for it, and it was a waste of money.

A week or two ago Kristin said that the Costco people were coming to her school and wondered if we should get a membership. I've heard excellent things about Costco for years and told her if she wanted one to go ahead. So she did.

We finally ventured to the nearest Costco (10 miles away in Maplewood) today, and, unfortunately, I was disappointed. Maybe it was the fact that so many people had talked it up so much so I was expecting something grand or spectacular, or maybe it really is just a disappointing place...but disappointing it was. It wasn't very busy at all. Everyone says "don't go there on the weekends! It's crazy busy!" It actually wasn't too crazy at all today - probably due to Mother's Day - so I can't blame that for my disappointment either.

Anyway, here are some of my observations:

First of all, the prices weren't stupendous. Now before everyone starts getting all defensive and telling me about the great deals they've found there - I'm sure there are great deals to be had. But we walked nearly every inch of that store, and I didn't see any great deals on anything I buy regularly. $8 for two boxes of cereal? I don't think I have ever spent $4 on a box of cereal in my life. The items that did seem to be good deals were either things that would spoil before we could ever eat all of it or things I would never buy in the first place.

Secondly, the selection didn't seem to be very big. I knew enough going in not to expect grocery store selection, but Sam's seemed to always have a lot more variety as far as food goes and just more "stuff" overall. It felt like more of Costco's aisles were dedicated to free sample people and large items than to useful things I would be interested in buying.

Thirdly, the layout of the store seemed haphazard and confusing. Maybe that could just be chalked up to it being our first time and not really knowing where anything was...?

On a positive note, the employees were extremely friendly...except one...but maybe she was having a bad day.

I'm not ready to trade my membership card back in yet. I am definitely willing to give the place another try, but I'm pretty sure that the only time I'll be driving 10 miles to do any kind of shopping is when we need pineapple or muffins (feels a little reminiscent of my Sam's Club days).

Anyway, in the end we left with a small box of items that cost $85 which apparently should feed us for a week since that's what I typically spend at Target for a week's worth of groceries...I'm just thinking we'll be tired of eating muffins, hummus, and pistachios before the week is up.

Ha! Cheater!

Yesterday I went to the eye doctor. For some reason it always makes me nervous to go. Granted, I have a fear of the medical doctor, and I have a fear of the dentist, but the EYE doctor?

My adventures at the eye doctor began after an eye test at school in third grade. I remember standing there and some woman rubbing my back and telling me it was okay. I remember thinking she was weird because no, I couldn't read the letters on the piece of paper half a gym away, but I wasn't worried about it...I certainly didn't need someone rubbing my back telling me it would be okay.

A few days later I went to the eye doctor (who totally freaked me out with all of his weird machines) with my mom and we ordered glasses. Big, pink, plastic glasses. Hey, they were popular at the time (at least I thought so). After they arrived I wore them and was amazed that trees actually had individual leaves! They weren't just a trunk with a blob of green on the top. Nice! Then came the first day of school with my glasses. I had made a diorama of some sort and hid the glasses in there. As soon as I walked in my teacher asked about where my glasses were (sometimes, people, good communication between parents and teachers sucks). I told her I didn't want to wear them. So we started the day with a discussion about people who are different. The teacher asked if anyone had any experiences they wanted to share about being different. One boy said his brother got called metal mouth all the time because he had braces. One girl said that her sister got teased all the time for wearing glasses - people called her four eyes and nerd. This discussion was doing nothing to encourage me to wear my new pink plastic glasses. The teacher asked what things people who had glasses could do that others couldn't. Answers were all over the place and included "read" and "play." And for some reason, this made sense to my third grade mind...even though I had obviously read and played before and everyone else in the class who didn't have glasses could read and play without them. But I took them out, and I put them on and that was that.

Anyway, so it's yesterday, and I check in at the eye doctor. I notice, once again, that I'm the youngest patient there by at least 40 years. The clinic I go to specializes in all sort of surgery stuff, so I assume that's why...but it always makes me feel weird. Anyway, so I'm wearing my contacts and the woman at the front desk asks if I brought my glasses. Oh! My glasses! Does she mean the ones with the broken nose piece, the bent ear piece, and the lenses which were chewed up by the cat? Yes! As a matter of fact I DID bring those with me. I hand them over muttering about how they're old and I don't really wear them, slightly embarrassed at the state they're in, but the front desk people always have to "analyze" the glasses for some reason, so I hand them over.

Eventually, I get called back (Duh-Neat? Duh-Neat? Is Duh-Neat here?...oh! That's me. Silly girl. Blame it on the low battery in my hearing aid), and the doctor comes in and makes a little small talk (Every year he talks about St. Kate's and tells me about how he graduated from St. Thomas and that the speaker at his graduation was so old the doctor thought he was going to fall over dead right in the middle of his speech. While this was a fine story the first time he told me it has now become somewhat funny and I giggle a little as soon as he starts in..."so a looong time ago I graduated from St. Thomas, you know."). After the small talk, he begins with the whole put this machine in front of your face and read the bottom line. I absolutely hate this test. You know...where you get down to the bottom line and then he starts saying "is this one better or worse?" "Do you prefer one or two?" as he flips little pieces of glass around. I always feel like he's trying to trick me - like if he says "one or two" and I say "two" and then he moves things around but really keeps them the same and says "one or two" and I say "one" that he'll jump up and say "ha! cheater!"...or what if I say one is better than two but really two is better than one...then I'm stuck with a wrong prescription for a whole year...I know, I know, I'm a little neurotic, what can I say.

Anyway, after he finishes that and he asks if a resident from the U of M can come in. Apparently my eyes look "perfect" and "young" (uh, yeah, remember the waiting room?) and he wants her to see them. So in she comes. He puts the drops in my eyes and gets all up close to look inside. Then he hands it over to the resident and she gets all up close. The thing is that she can't seem to figure out how to use the eye looker thing...he tells her that when people are near sighted it can be harder to get it in focus and explains how she needs to do it. So she keeps trying and trying and trying. For 4-5 minutes I sit staring straight ahead while she shines a light in my eye and keeps her face no more than 1/2 inch from mine. Ah well...anything in the name of learning and science, right? (She thanked me profusely afterwards and I wished her good luck with her residency.)

And with that, I was given my new prescription (one step blinder than a bat in each eye than I was last year) and left. And now I can say PHEW. Done for another year (and he didn't even call me a cheater).

Spring Has Sprung!

I have always liked spring, but this year I am enjoying it more. I don't know if it's because of the unseasonably warm weather or the fact that we now own a house and trees and flowers and it's fun to watch everything grow or because I'm home more to enjoy it, but it's wonderful!

Here are a few pictures I snapped this morning from our yard...

Ellie

Three Things...

Three things I have purchased lately that I love, love, love:

A Pampered Chef food chopper! Buying this was actually a hard decision for me because it was a little spendy ($40), but it came highly recommended (thank you, Cassi!), so I went ahead and bought it. I LOVE it and use it almost every day. :)

A cookie scoop! I know, sounds stupid, but I've wanted a cookie scoop forever and finally picked one up. I kept thinking "why would I spend $10 on a cookie scoop when a spoon works just fine?" But I am so happy I did! Makes prepping cookies a million times easier, and I don't have to deal with my cookie balls being all different shapes and sizes. :)

I've always been a bit annoyed by old dryer sheets. I would find them all over the house, in clothes, under the couch, in the dog's mouth, etc. So I was thrilled to see that Bounce had come up with this bar idea. I decided to try it out and it's worked great! No more random dryer sheets laying around!

Any cool new household items you've acquired?