Advent Calendar

Ian's Ma made him an Advent Calendar:

He loves to do move the little santa multiple times a day, that could be out of excitement for Christmas or that there are mini hershey bars.  I'm going with the latter, the calendar is generally something Marcus and Ian do together as when Marcus was a little person he loved count down.

letter

Dear Husband,

I know you LOVE to LOVE Christmas as you have been listening to it at night as you fall asleep since late October.  And I too enjoy Christmas music but not before Thanksgiving.   So I have a compromise to offer to you, you listen to your Christmas music as much as you want at a reasonable volume by reasonable I mean so that I can't hear playing when I'm in any other room in the house except the bedroom and even then it should be just a faint sound. Agree? Agree!! Fabulous!


Love
Your Wife

Z house Debate

Ok so Marcus and I have been having a little debate over leggings.   I like them and think they are cute if worn properly.  The below are wearing them properly and this is how I would wear them myself. 

His argument not all people wear them properly and they have ruined the legging look in his book.  I too agree but don't think that should mean that they can't be apart of my wardrobe.  I got a pair of skinny jeans and you would have thought I told Marcus that I got a jumpsuit (no offense to jumpsuits I just can't see how going to the restroom can be done without stripping completely down, therefore they don't meet my functionality needs).

the below people have ruined it for Marcus by wearing them as pants...

Now, like I said I understand where he is coming from but I won't wear mine like that I PROMISE!!

Smile

A couple weeks ago we met up with our photographer from Knox Photography for 5yr anniversary, family and 18mos photos. We of course had a great time, we went to the school area that is right near our house where there is a Prairie and served as a great background.  I also wanted to get some of Ian on the playground since he is after all a 18mo old boy who doesn't spend his days wearing white linen pants or white button down shirts.

In the past...

5yrs we have:

Become homeowners x2

Become landlords

Become dog parents x2

Become human parents to the most adorable little boy who has us wrapped around his little finger

Have had our ups and downs

Have gained and lost the same 5lbs, *happy to report for myself I weigh less than I did on this day 5yrs ago. Trying on wedding dress tonight!

Been able to go on some great vacations, that make up for our not so good honeymoon

Survived finishing college, fire academy, work related classes, DIY projects and much more

It's been a great 5yrs and looking forward to about 50 more!

we're D.O.N.E

On Sunday we handed the keys to our first home over to our first ever renter.  The house in which we made our own and poured tons of sweat, money, time, energy, and frustrations into.  It was where A LOT of 1st happened for us and it was hard to hand those keys over.  The past month has not been easy by any means. Marcus coming home from work to change clothes say Hi/Bye and out the door till at least 1a if not later.  To wake up and do the jobby job and repeat all over again.  There was resentment on both ends, both of us feeling like we each did it ALL and the other did nothing. We have had little to no time together as a couple in the past oh 60 days or so. And after looking at our August calendar maybe we will shoot for a date night in September.  Although I guess this past Saturday we did have a date day if you count painting, weeding, and cleaning from 10a Sat-5a Sun. as a date then yes we have had time together as a couple.

Since July 5th(ish) the following happened at the rental house:
-Bathroom gutted, new drywall installed, tile tub surround installed, new light fixture installed
-drywall ceiling hung and finished off in basement
-trim installed in the bedroom #1 and basement
-carpets cleaned
-all rooms, ceilings, and trim painted "rental" white (thanks Daddy Jim)
-flower beds weeded, mulched down (thanks Mom)
-stairs going down to basement painted
-flooring replaced at the back door enterance
-ceiling fans replaced (with cheaper ones so we could put the pricer ones at our house) in kitchen and bedroom #1

I'm hopeful we have a good renter and that he will take care of it.  I'm going with no news is good news, although he did call today and to say I didn't cringe and ignore the phone call would be a lie. But alas he was calling to confirm we had received his rent check from his company.  I made sure all was well and that he and his dog were both happy. And they are so YAY!! 

We completed all that work in time for my SIL and her hubby to come up from Indy to help work on our new house.  They have some big ideas, the ladies will be inside painting while the boys play in the dirt possibly with heavy machinary.  This weekend we will hopefully tackle the organization of the garage in hopes of parking our cars in it.

lately...

Oh my goodness I feel like it's been so long since my last post.  But in fact a lot has just happened since june 30th and our plate is FULL right now.  So let's catch up:

1. Rental House (aka our 1st home): put a For Rent sign in front yard on June 14th and took it out of the front yard on July 5th.  During those 3 weeks, I had 60+ phone calls, scheduled 20+ showings, and had 4 apps. Needless to say I'm beyond thrilled to say we have a renter, not sure which I'm more excited about having a renter or having my phone number no longer on the front lawn. It's a tie I do beleive.  Renter moves in Aug 1st. it's single guy (he has a girlfriend, sorry single ladies out there) with a dog.  To say I'm not nervous I would be lying.  I mean this guy we really don't know him that well, we know his crimnal record is clean, his finicial history is clean but is he clean person as in does he clean the bathroom every week, mop the floors every week, etc.  Let's face it our blood, sweat and swear words are all over that house. He better take care it!

2. We are in our new house and I have yet to make it to work on time since we moved.  I still don't feel I have found the right routine yet to have smooth morning.  It will come just hopefully sooner rather than later.  Paint colors have been choosen for the kitchen, Ian's room, and both bathrooms.  So that just leaves the living room/hallway, our room and back bedroom.  The other night I took down the wallpaper in the half bath and came to the conclusion that the previous owner over paid her handyman by a lot.  Not only are the walls a mess but the medicines cabinets in both bathrooms have parts that were put on upside down.  And in the case of the half bath the cabinet was installed upside down. Back to the house, painting is put on hold there until the rental is up to par.

3. Back to the rental.  With renters comes gray areas when it comes to the initial walk thru and final walk thru.  Marcus wants to eliminate as many gray area as possible.  So all walls and ceilings are painted white, bathroom has been gutted new drywall has been hung, ceramic tile is going in tub surround area, carpets need cleaned and depending on how that goes maybe replaced, Marcus is hanging a drywall ceiling in basement and then the basement has to be painted. Once this is all done the entire houss will need a good cleaning.
Here's what's left to do on our list that we have a less than a month to complete:
1. paint master bed, bath, hallway, kitchen, and basement (notice living room and bedroom #2 aren't on list those rooms got tackled this weekend)
2. paint all trim
3. paint all exterior trim
4. tile bathroom tub surround
5. hang drywall ceiling in basement
6. clean
7. clean carpets, possibly replace
8. hang new ceiling fan in kitchen
9. paint cabinets (this project is halfway done at this point and will be over halfway done by tomorrow)
10. landscape enhancing
My eyes just crossed I think, that is a lot to do and in fact Marcus is staying home from vacay this month to get it finished.  It's not what he wants to do but it's one of those adult decision and one of us has to be responsible.  So tomorrow Ian and I will load up the car and head up north to my parents place to be with them and my sister.  We will then head even further north to Mackinac Island.  Sad Marcus isn't able to join us but having 4 days off with no interuppetions from a nagging loving wife or a clingy snuggly 18mo old a lot should get done assuming no issues come about. So till the next time...Oh geez I still have to finish vacay part 2.  Plus cute Ian stuff.


*Disclaimer I use the term WE very very loosely. 

Vacay

I know you are all waiting on the edges of your seats for house details and real quick we got the keys Sunday and wouldn't you know it I forgot my camera and what are details without pictures? So, you'll have to settle with vacay. And can I just say it seems like such a long time ago we went but really it was just 2wks ago.
This is going to be a 2 parter there just no other way around it. As we spent part of our time in Disney and the other part at the beach.  My in-laws joined us in this trip and we created some memories! We flew direct flight from our home town to St. Petersburg, FL.

Day 1 (travel day): Now, we have a very dinky dinky airport in which the be there 2hrs prior to plane departure does not apply you are good with 45min before departure.  We went in with the intentions of carrying our luggage on  however the plane was full and everyone was carrying on so they were checking bags for FREE. Umm...we didn't even have to think twice as we were only carrying on to save money not because we enjoy walking onto a plane with 2 carry on bags, diaper bag, personal bag and a 17mos old.  We all survived the flight Ian played with the reading material in the seat and then the window and then slept for about 1.5hrs the total flight time is 2hrs 20min.  We arrive safely retrive our luggage and rental car, load up and head over to Orlando.  About an hr and half later we arrive at our resort with the help of my sister on the phone, to say we had directionally challenged people in our vehicle would be putting it lightly.  A quick trip to the grocery store and a chance to freshen up (note, this is where I went into a bit of a tailspin as I learned I forgot my straightner, my straightner to me is what a curling iron is to my grandma's...IMPORTANT.  I quickly texted my sister to have her bring me hers) my sister (my hero) arrives to escort us to Downtown Disney to meet my grandparents for dinner.  We ate at Raglan Road which is a fun Irish restaurant with Irish dancing and all!  From there we headed to my sister's place for homemade apple pie, visiting and for Ian to run a muck of my sister's house.



Day 2 (Magic Kingdom): My sister and her entourage arrived at our resort to escort us to the park.  My MIL is still recovering from having the arch in her foot rebuilt, and bones realigned in her foot so she got a wheelchair (which is basically you're golden ticket to the front of every line, thanks MIL).  Our plan was spend about 4-5hrs in the park and then head back to resort so Ian could sleep. We parked hopped on the ferry and made our way to Cindy's Palace.  We did It's a Small World (Ian clapped and danced along w/the music), Pirate's of the Carribean (he stayed awake this time on it, last year he fell alseep), Country Bear Jamboree (he LOVED this one), Buzz Lightyear (gotta admit this one is so much more for adults than a 17mos old but it did kept his interest and he was able to do a little bit of it but I got way more into than he did), and Jungle Cruise (gotta love corny jokes) were our attractions for the AM.  Ian fell alseep on the monorail ride back to the car and then was completely awake and wanted no part of a nap once back at the resort so my sister and I put our suits on and Ian's suit and too the pool we went.  After a refreshing swim and some relaxing we ate dinner (well some of us did Ian got a milkshake) at Fuddruckers from there we headed back to Magic Kingdom for the Light Parade, changing of the castle (which is AWESOME), and the fireworks show (which is also AWESOME and starts right after the castle).  Now here's a little Disney tidbit for the fireworks the best place to stand is anyone on Main St that the train tracks cross. Stand there and you won't miss ANYTHING!!

Day 2 (Animal Kingdom): This a smaller park when is comes to attractions.  It has the most land out of all the parks though.  We sent out to It's Tough to be a Bug which is located inside the Tree of Life, on the docket next was Kilimanjaro Safari this is worth the wait (we waited 80min) if you can get a fast pass then GET ONE after this my sister had to leave us as duty called and she had little ones to teach.  When you get off the safari ride you walk right into the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail which is a self guided tour where you can see more animals.  From there we headed to the Wildlife Express Train which is a train ride over to the Conservation Station (do this early sometimes you can watch actual procedures, check-ups, etc being done on the animals that reside at Animal Kingdom), Affection Station (petting area).  We called it a day after that now if we hadn't then I would've gone on Expedition Everest and then called it a day.  Now, when Ian is older there is more that he would enjoy to do there but since we are still pointing, grunting and calling everything a doggie we aren't ready for fossil finding just yet. Future visit. We kept it simple that night and ordered Ian's favorite for dinner PIZZA and he ate NONE of it.  He barely ate any type of meal while were gone he survived on grapes, apples, puffs, french fries (when he would eat them), milkshakes, and milk.

Day 3 (Hollywood Studios and Epcot): this is our final day doing the park thing so it was go time with no time to waste.  We started with Hollywood Studios so that way we could end with Epcot and watch their firework show, but more on that later.  A must (so we have heard) is Toy Story Mania my advice is the 1st thing you do when you get to the park is gather everyone's ticket in your group ditch them at the enterance and run like you have never ran before to the fast pass distribution area for Toy Story Mania and get your fast passes. As it is apparently a great attraction, we were not smart and did not do this therefore we didn't get to experience the greatness. We did instead the following: Disney Junior (warning this is without a doubt for the kids, Ian loved it), we meet Winnie the Pooh and Mickey (we totally used our smarts on this as the line for Mickey was about 45min wait and the wait for Pooh was about 30min so as I searched for Marcus my sister waited in line for Mickey and then Marcus, Ian and I waited for Pooh for FIL was our line informer and right after Pooh we walked over to Mickey and my sister was next in line...PERFECTION. From there we headed to the Back Lot Tour, and then the Great Movie ride.  Now, if it was just Marcus, my sister and myself then we would've done Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. We headed back to the resort where once again Ian had NO interest in napping, after some freshing  up we headed over to Epcot where we visited all the countries.  Ian and I took a trip to the Yacht and Beach club which is the Disney resort my sister works at part time to meet her co-workers who I have heard so much about.  After a while we headed back to Epcot (it's all with in walking distance) and meet up with Marcus and my in-laws. We did more venturing around and waited for the clock to hit 8:45 at which time we headed to the bridge that connects England with Paris (best in-park spot to watch the fireworks if you don't book a pontoon at the resort my sis works at).

Day 4 (Downtown Disney and travel day aka My Birthday): we packed up and headed to downtown disney where we were meeting my sister for a sandwich from Earl of Sandwich and Ghirardelli ice cream and of course to fulfill all of our souvenir needs.  We also rode the carousel which Ian disliked A LOT, and played in the water fountain which after some warming up he loved.  Big thanks to my sister who during lunch took Ian outside so Marcus and I could eat without a Ian taturam although she did take him to the water fountain and he ended up shirtless I still thank her! We then hopped in the car and headed west.

Enjoy some pics of Day 1-4:

Fire

On may 31st after 9mos, 512hrs, and 36wks of training Marcus graduated from Clay fire territor's fire academy he has his firefighter 1-2 and EMT certification. He is now a probie and will remain a probie until he has completed his probie handbook it can take up to a yr to complete. To help complete the handbook he has to do 48hrs of station time and attend at least 1 training pre month.

Here are some pics from the event I will also note I was completely soaked from the oh the chest down on the left side of body as I had to walk in pouring down rain not to worry my hair stayed dried thanks to a box I had in my car. I should probably consider buying an umbrella to keep in my car...

we all survived

replaced the yellow recruit helmet with a black one!

Marcus and my cousin Adam

5yrs.

5yrs ago this month we purchased our 1st house and to say that was scary would have been a huge understatement.  I think I'm good at buying things and but I'm really good at having buyers remorse and returning them.  However I don't think the bank, seller or title company would have understood "after 30 days we don't think this is the right house, can we exchange for a different one?"  So, we said when we bought the house that this was out 5yr house.  Well, since we don't have a crystal ball and can't predict that the housing market would crash and the chances of getting what A) what we put into the house (new flooring, kitchen sink/counter, partially finished basement, new bathroom, new garage door, and the list goes on) or even B) we paid for out it back out of it.  We came to terms that we would be in our house for another couple years and that would be fine.  That does mean expanding our family beyond 3 is also on hold (for those of you who have been thinking it's time for us to become a family 4).  

Now, this all doesn't mean that we don't talk about what we want in our next house by any means.  We both have wish lists and as usual mine is longer:)  We are both willing to compromise in some areas and others absolutely no compromising what so ever, don't even try to touch the school district, garage, more square footage or bathroom those are non-negotiable.

Mine:
2 baths or more
attached 2 car garage
3-4 bedrooms
different school district
more cabinet/counter space in kitchen
bigger and more closets
in-ground pool
more square footage over all
open floor plan

Marcus:
brick ranch
different school district
more square footage
2 baths
pool or hot tub
good size yard

When we talk about square footage our dreams aren't too big as of right now we live in 790sq ft, yep 790 we are talking the size of a cracker box here folks.  So even 1000 is more than what we have.  We have learned to adapt and host parties/gatherings at my parents house.  So I guess when it comes to square footage we would like enough room to entertain without guests feeling like they are packed in like sardines.  We would like our next house to be our forever house so enough room to raise children in comfortably and then become **cough cough** empty nester's without feeling like we are surrounded by a ton of space that we now have to manage all on our own as our children will have chores while under our roof.  Some day our wish will come true we just don't know exactly when till then we will have monthly goodwill purge sessions to avoid being labeled hoarders. 

Happy 5yrs of homeownership!!

Catch up

Thought it was time to do a catch up random post of the happenings around the Z's household.

1. Marcus: fire academy is coming along we are coming to the end very soon. Right now he is working on trying to fit studying, station time, ER time, ambulance time, work and family time into the month of April.  We may need to re-introduce ourselves by the end of April.

2. House projects: in between all that Marcus has on his plate we also want to do a few things around the house.  We are quickly approaching being homeowners for 5yrs.  And 5yrs ago we said we would be out of this by now but then life happened and we are still here. Our short list includes: re-do cabinets (Marcus started this project yesterday and thanks to a small kitchen with not a lot of cabinets he is halfway done), siding house and garage, lay patio bricks in dirt area to create well a patio area, finish finishing off the basement with a ceiling and then maybe use said basement.

3. Me: Last year at this time I was training for a 1/2 marathon and I have to say I'm jealous of those who are training right now for the same race.  We are out of town reconnecting as a family during the race this year.  I would still like to train for something so I got a new pair of running shoes. Aren't they so cute?


Asics Gel Nimbus 10

 So anyways with new running shoes I intend to hit the pavement on a more regular basis.  But with not having anything to train for and the weather being gross on a more consistent basis then pretty it's been way easier to stay inside and do workout videos.

5. Ian, in a couple days you will get an ALL Ian update.  But real quick, sleeping habits are improving if we don't look at the past 2 nights.  He is battling a drippy nose, hacking cough and loss of appetite (he has 15mos check-up tomorrow). He is if at all possible getting cuter and cuter everyday.  Our latest battle has been eating (having a loss of appetite does not help).  I really thought that the transition from baby food to big people food would have been a smooth one but I've been proven wrong. As much as it frustrates me I am so very thankful to have been blessed with Ian and I can't imagine our lives without him.

There you have it a quick random update from the Z household we are over and out till the next go around.

sleep over

This past weekend was the only weekend Marcus didn't have fire academy or the bank. And my dad was on his four day with no plans to go out of town. So we took advantage of this rare occasion and Ian made a reservation to stay Saturday night with his Grammie and Papa Jim. Marcus are I were able to have our 1st ever day and night date.

Ian's Weekend:
I dropped Ian off Saturday morning at my parents where they had a big day planned for him. We went over bedtime routine, any bumps, bruises, scraps that occurred prior to arrival so they wouldn't be concerned that he acquired those while in their care. And I swear he only stayed about 24hrs yet I packed 3 bags for him. A food bag, clothing bag and a bag we were returning so I decided to use it to carry his blanket and monitor in.

They had lunch at house before their big adventurous day that included:, tool show, diaper shower for baby Jackson, dinner with Brian (a former ND student fire station live-in) and his girlfriend, bath and bed. Napping was also in the above mix. I think the above events assisted in Ian sleeping from 8:50p to 9:10a so I say SUCCESS and we will have to do that again.

Date day and night: after Ian dropped off, I came home and Marcus had showered we got the GPS ready to go and we were off to Ikea in Chicago and dinner.  It was Marcus' 1st trip the store that someone could easily spend an entire day in.  We made a few purchases and then headed across the street to the mall where we would indulge in the Cheesecake Factory and then we drove home where we got to sleep ALL night long.  And aside from the dogs doing the potty dance in the AM we got to sleep in.

We agreed that we will have a to make a point to try to do sleepovers for Ian at least once a month.  It's good for him and us and his grandparents love lil overnight guests.

Skidamarink I Love You

The title of Ian's current favorite book which was his V-day gift from my parents last year.  Luckily I have it memorized and can whip out the words at any point. 

Sharing his book with Lexus

Ian's other love...

Marcus and I aren't big into celebrating Valentine's day this year we all went out for breakfast.  It was delightful and  because we ate later in the morning no lunch was required and dinner will be leftover pizza.  Tomorrow Marcus has the fire academy so I will be spending the evening with my other favorite guy with a trip to the grocery store.

This weekend involved making Valentine's for Ian's party at his sitters for Valentine's Day.  I was tossing the idea around of just getting a box of Valentine's from the store and writing them and being done with it or making sugar cookies.  I love to bake and gonna toot my own horn here I make some pretty good sugar cookies with homemade frosting (toot toot) and I in general like to make my own stuff whenever possible.  So I went with what I love to do and make an good Ole Fashion Homemade Valentine's.  I only knew of one allergy and that is to red dye.  So for the big cookie I went with white frosting and red sprinkles but for the lil boy with the allergy I used sugar sprinkles.  All the kiddies also got 4 smaller hearts and those I did tint the frosting if nothing else his mom can enjoy them!



Treats for his friends at the sitters



All ready to go

up close of one.

Happy Valentine's Day to each and everyone of you!

Blizzard 2011

We survived Blizzard 2011, it was really windy the snowfall amount was not bad but the wind was AWFUL!  I'm lucky enough to make the decision as to if work is opened or closed.  I decided to close around 9p which resulted in sending out emails to over 100 people, update facebook status, making the note on our website and changing the voicemail recordings x2.  Luckily when we closed early Tuesday night I had already drafted emails for Wednesday. Wednesday our county was under a state of emergency and only emergency personal were to be on the roads.  And for once my hubby's work showed that they do have a heart and didn't open any of their branches.  Although Marcus' friend who works at the downtown offices of the bank and is the property manager had to go in and see to it that all the parking lots were taken care of and no damage to any the branches occured.

So we both had snow days, I however did work from home.  Now, I know most people who work from home look forward to being able to do so in their yoga pants and a sweatshirt but seeing as to that is what I wear to work. I look forward to working in our chair and half, my yoga pants, comfy sweatshirt. and in my socks.  Aside from working, I took a nap which I never do and of course worked out and while I was working on my 100 squats Ian wanted me to hold him so I squatted holding Ian for about 90 of the squats. My legs are pretty sore today. Marcus snow blowed and also napped and we both hung out with Ian and practiced his walking skills.  We had a good snow day and what is a snow day without homemade choco chip cookies?

taken Tuesday night 2/1 when it started snowing around 5p

what we woke up Wednesday 2/2, this is after Marcus snow blowed

Oh What Fun It Is To Ride In A....

Two Dog Open Sleigh!!!



No Animals were harmed



These pictured were featured on our Christmas Card that went out to our family and friends.  I will admit I was not a fan of this idea but it turned out great.  The orginal idea was for me to be in the pictured dressed as a Elf...I declined.  Marcus built the sleigh in about 3hrs on a Saturday morning from wood can you say...TALENT!?!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!!

feeling naked

*WARNING SUPER LONG (but if it saves someone else from experiencing what we've been through then it's all worth it)*

My ring finger that is. The jeweler has my wedding band and engagement ring in order to tighten the prongs before the diamond falls out and is forever lost for the 2nd time. Yes, you read that right. I'm currently on my 3rd diamond, a girls dream right?? NO!!! One would think I do manual labor for a living.

Let's back track 5yrs ago. In April 2005 I acquired my 1st piece of left hand, ring finger jewelery. June 2006 the diamond fell out and was forever gone (we were getting married Aug 2006). Off to the jewelery store with diamond bond in hand, where the manager Ron (I was going to change his name but decided to scrap that idea and since I'm scraping that idea I'll also scrap the idea of not revealing the name of the jewelery company: Gordon's Jewelery) said it would take 4-6wks (we barely had 6wks) to get it back. There is good news and that is with the diamond bond they have to match what you had or upgrade you to the same quality but larger carat weight, see I told you good news. 6wks go by and we get my ring back and to say we were not satisfied is an understatement. The new diamond was bigger but had a huge carbon spot dead center in the diamond, which did not meet the diamond bond policy. However, we had no time to send it back and have it back to us in time for the wedding. A few months after the wedding we ventured back to Gordon's where Ron said it would be another 4-6wks...lovely just what a new bride wants to be without her main piece of hardware for 4-6wks. Anyways, the 6wk mark goes by and we hear nothing so I start calling and Marcus starts making weekly visits on his lunch hour to basically drill Ron on the ring whereabouts. Turns out it came back but he wasn't happy with the newest diamond (so I guess this is diamond #4) so he sent it back without telling us till much later. Meanwhile we now are calling daily and Marcus is up to 2 trips a week to spend his lunch hour drilling Ron on a arrival date. A total of 3months go bye and my ring is finally back on my hand. Marcus picked it up and in his drilling Ron guaranteed us a lifetime warranty on the ring and went about making note of this in the computer system. Marcus asked if we needed anything and was told no it's in the computer.

Fast forward to this past week Ian and I were at the mall to get a new battery in Marcus' watch and while at the jewelers I decided to have them clean my rings and necklace. And during this process is where the noticed the prongs were lose and the diamond could fall out at any given moment. They obviously suggested we send it to the jeweler ASAP which I agreed. This is where things took a turn, they asked if I had the ESA (extended service agreement) I said yes and told them the whole story behind the diamond that was currently being held in by loose prongs. They do a search and tell me that I don't have an ESA and that I can purchase one for 149.00 or pay the price of what needs to be fixed, in the meantime I'm on the phone with Marcus whose response when I said my ring has loose prongs and they can't find the ESA was "you've go to be kidding me and we aren't paying for anything". I knew I had all ring related paperwork at home tucked away safely so Ian and I headed home which he was more than ready for our departure. I will save you all the details, I found nothing in our paperwork all we had at the time was what we were told almost 4yrs ago. I call the store and tell them what I know, the store manager calls me back and says there is nothing they can do, they want a happy customer though (umm hello NOT happy). I rely this info to Marcus and he is for better words PISSED and heads off to the mall. He comes home after about a 1/2hr and it turns out they found where in the computer Ron had put the note about a lifetime warrant. Oh I forgot to mention that Ron is no longer with the company (fancy that). The new store manager would have to run this by her district manager but they would cover the repair costs for the prongs. As the store manager was writing up the repair she said to Marcus "Oh I get it the wife sends in her big burly husband" (really lady that's what you want to say to someone?). I stop in on Friday to drop off my ring and the SM tells me that after this repair we will have to purchase a lifetime warranty or pay for repairs as they come up. I tell ok that I will rely the message to Marcus and she says "if you want to send him again that's fine I'll talk to him" (again not making any friends here). Now, the only reason Marcus went into the store was because he was the one who purchased the ring and dealt with Ron one on one. Not because his wife couldn't handle a situation. As it is I'm the main situation dealer in the family. Marcus has since emailed corporate in how the situation was handled and how he was treated.

We've been told to expect it back on the 18th, she put a rush on it. How nice!!

oops I forgot

I had more items to add to what I like about winter who knew that was possible?!?!

*Hot Chocolate, winter is the only time of year that our coffee cups get any use. I will need to look at getting a new tea kettle though.

*Christmas movies, now I have guidelines we can't start watching before Thanksgiving. So usually as soon as we are home for the evening on Thanksgiving day you can find us curled up watching Elf and then every weekend after that we watch every Christmas movie we own!! Our faves include: Elf, Christmas Vacation, Home Alone 1&2, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Santa Clause 1,2,&3 (I must admit by movie 3 they ruined it but still gotta watch it), Deck the Halls, Four Christmas', The Holiday (one of my faves, not Marcus'), Christmas with the Kranks, and Prancer (random knowledge: part of it was filmed in New Carlisle, IN about 20 min from where we live)

*Marcus loves Christmas and I made the mistake of notifying him that there is a radio station already playing Christmas music (they started Oct 1). He knows my feelings on no Christmas (aside from shopping) till after Thanksgiving so he changed all the presets in my car to this particular station, how nice of him.

*My sister comes home and I've already arranged for her to watch Ian one day while I go to work so I can the eve's of the holiday's off. Also while she's in town she will be offering some inductory swim lessons. These aren't your ordinary swim lessons either a post all about that a little later.

*Christmas cookies, you see every year since I've been married I get together with my mother in-law and we make in total about 25 different types of cookies. We do some together and some on our own. I think I will start baking my sugar cookies in the coming weeks and freeze them until it's time to decorate. One can only accomplish so much during nap time.



What things do you look forward too as winter approaches??

the other white meat

Now, Ian is no where near ready to have chicken nuggets but when he is he will only be eating homemade chicken nuggets. If you don't know what they put in the chicken nuggets at McDonald's or in the frozen food department then read this. And watch this The video link is from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution show he had on ABC where he went to a town in Virginia and attempted to make over their school lunches and their thinking about food. Food Revolution is where I first found out what was in chicken nuggets. I showed this to Marcus and in the video Jamie says that this is how they make them over the pond but I looked at the bag we had in our freezer at the time and it contained the same ingredients that Jamie in the video. That is when we started solely making homemade chicken nuggets when we wanted them. Before I would make them occassionaly but you know what happens you don't have time and excuse after excuse comes into play. Now, no excuses it's homemade or no chicken nuggets simple as that.

Now, I would consider letting Ian have them if a)we are in the middle of no where and this is our only option to stay alive and b)if we are in the middle of no where and this is our only option. Simple as that!

back to when it all started

It's really a quite short story. Marcus and I meet at church youth group (yg) and 10yrs ago today we went on our 1st date. We went and saw the movie Remember the Titans and then dinner at Steak n' Shake. We meet at church, and were very active in the youth group (yg). No one in yg knew we were going on a date so we show up at the movie theather and who do we sit next too? Two girls from YG with their mom. And who is sitting in the row in front of us? Two guys and their dad's. So the girls thought we were there meeting the guys and the guys thought we were meeting the girls. Gah...too funny, they figured it out by Sunday though.

Anyways, the story starts and stops there (pretty boring). Marcus was my 1st and last 1st date. We had our moments of ups and downs and questioning of what we wanted. But, I knew from that 1st date that I was going to marry him. Soon after we started dating Marcus started going bald, I don't believe the two go hand in hand at all I blame genectics entirely.

I would post a picture of use back then but they are all packed far far away. So here's a picture of us now. Just photo shop some weight off and add hair to Marcus' head and viola that's us 10yrs ago.

San Diego Part 1

This past week we hit the road then the air for a getaway and headed to San Diego, CA. If you recall here I mentioned that my dad was headed out there for his biannual (is that a word?) anyways his union conference that takes place every other year. And well seeing as though we had yet to visit the great state of Cali we took him up on his offer for us to join him, my mom and my sister there for a few days.

We stayed here, if you have never used vrbo.com before I suggest you look into before booking your next stay at a hotel. Anyways, my parents arrived on Sat the 21st, my sister arrvied late Monday night and we were to arrive late Tuesday. Well we arrived uber late on Tuesday due to a 2+hr delay in Indy. Fun times, Ian was a trooper and made friends wherever we went (who can resist a toothless, drooly smile and the laugh of a baby?).

He did great on the flights, yes flights. We flew from Indy to Dallas to San Diego. Security was uneventful, it was interesting to see the differences between secrutiy at Indy and San Diego as I was on edge as they were handling my liquid gold and testing it (no, I don't do anything crazy to my milk) I was concerned that they would drop a bottle before putting the lid back on. All they were concerned about was the milk and water bottle. Enough with that nonsense on that let's move onto the fun stuff

Day 1: I awoke around 7 SD time which is 11 back home (I can't tell you the last time I ever slept past 11 in the last 4yrs). Did my pumping, workout and shower while Marcus feed Ian then he showered and we hit the streets for a walk and exploring the area for a bit. Upon return my sister was presentable after her workout and shower so she looked up how to get to Balboa park so we hit the streets again and well her directions got us to a playground but not Balboa park and Ian was asleep by the time we arrived as well. So back to the condo we went as my dad was done with his stuff for the day. We hit the streets again in search of an eatery for lunch before adventure #1.


Adventure #1: We rented 2 tandem bikes, a bike trailer and a beach cruiser through Groupon. Once we found the bike rental place (which was an adventure in itself as the name of the place was no where to be found on the building) they informed us they only had 1 tandem. Lovely, my thinking all along was that my parents and Marcus and I would get a tandem and my sister would get the beach cruiser and pull Ian in the trailer. Well...instead I pulled Ian in the trailer and was stressed to the max. The bike rental people gave us directions on how to get to Mission Beach and well they forgot to inform us that we would be crossing a uber big bridge in which cars are just feet away going uber fast. So there I am trying to remember how to ride bike and learn to pull a trailer and in the meantime I've got Marcus and my sister behind me worrying the crap out of me about keeping the trailer on the sidewalk and making it up the ridiculously big bridge. I'm also laughing at myself trying to make it up the bridge in which I simply stop moving altogether and have to walk the bike and trailer up the rest of the way. We made it to the beach and Ian got to get out and visit the ocean he loved the water, the sand the whole thing!!




After our beach adventure, we loaded back on the bikes and Ian wanted no part of it. He cried the whole time and not just a wimpering cry but a get me the HELL (yep I said it) out of here NOW cry.

If anything he was our warning signal that we were coming through and if you are in our path you better move. We continued on for a little while and then it was best if we got back to the car ASAP. Needless to say that bridge was not going to get the best of me on the way and it didn't, those couple spinning classes came into use as I gradually built my speed to make it up without a problem!!

We headed back to back to the condo, relaxed a bit and got cleaned up for dinner and adventure #2 for the day.

Adventure #2: Padres baseball game at Petco Park against the Diamondbacks. I'm not a huge baseball fan but actually enjoyed it.


Ian got a bit fussy as he was still unsure of the whole time zone change so my sister took and and walked with him till he fell asleep although I really think she used him as bait to snag herself a guy. She denies it and maybe she is right as I was not told of any successful guy snagging. The Padres won and that wraps up day #1 and adventures 1 & 2.

Stay tuned for day 2 & 3 and adventures 3 & 4 & 5.