With Christmas coming up next week, we have finished our shopping for our families, but have not gotten anything for each other. We were thinking about taking a vacation in January or February (which we both would love), getting each other clothes (which we need), and doing a "surprise" present. With the wedding coming up, we limited ourselves to $100.
With that said, we had a discussion recently about the best kinds of presents. We TOTALLY disagree. TJ feels like the best kind of present is an indulgence, something that he would not spend his own money on, but would really like to have (like a play station 3). He thinks that a great present is something that you "want" not something that you "need".
I, on the other hand, completely disagree. I have a hard time thinking about things I just "want". I like to think of really functional gifts (car washes, ladders, a squeegee for the garage, socks, umbrellas, etc). Those are perfect gifts, things that you need and would use ALL the time! The little things that make life easier.
My two recent favorite functional gifts are my deep freezer (which my parents got us for Christmas) and my bread maker (that TJ's mom got me for my birthday). I LOVE them. I use my freezer to store all the stuff I buy at costco, leftovers, make ahead meals, and frozen treats. It's great! And I make 1-3 loaves of bread a week with the bread maker. I have not bought myself a loaf of bread for sandwiches since I got it. It's awesome!!!
So, I guess we can "agree to disagree" about the best kind of gifts, but for me....I like the functional ones :)
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Holiday Decorating Rules
I'm posting this again for those rule breakers out there!!!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE decorating for holidays. I have bins upon bins of decorations in my garage. Decorating is one of my favorite things to do.
What I despise is when people break the rules of holiday decorating. There are certain rules that need to be followed regarding time lines. So, I hope I'm not offending anyone, but you need to follow the rules. My calendar year revolves around what holiday comes next. Each holiday gets about a month to celebrate.
Valentines Day: You can put up Valentines day decorations in mid January, and taken down February 15th
St. Patrick's Day: put up the day after Valentines day, take down the day after
Easter: put up after St. Patrick's day, but may overlap if they are in the same month (or just chose 1 to decorate for)
Memorial Day: make sure you put your American flag out!
4th of July: put up in the beginning of June, take down July 5th
September 11th: make sure you put your American flag out!
Halloween: put up October 1st, take down November 1st
Thanksgiving: put up November 1st, take down day after Thanksgiving
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!CHRISTMAS: you can put up your outside lights/decorations if you find a warm day in November, however, this is very important......YOU CAN'T TURN YOUR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ON UNTIL THANKSGIVING NIGHT!!!!!!!
I have seen numerous houses with fully decorated lawns and Christmas trees inside with all of the lights on already........I'm sorry, but you are breaking the rules. You can have your lights on during Thanksgiving night, but not before. The day after Thanksgiving you can put out the rest of your Christmas decorations. They can remain up until January 1st. I hope these rules have helped clarify any decorating confusion.
So, this weekend I will be putting up my outside lights. However, I will not be turning them on until tomorrow night. Happy decorating!!!!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE decorating for holidays. I have bins upon bins of decorations in my garage. Decorating is one of my favorite things to do.
What I despise is when people break the rules of holiday decorating. There are certain rules that need to be followed regarding time lines. So, I hope I'm not offending anyone, but you need to follow the rules. My calendar year revolves around what holiday comes next. Each holiday gets about a month to celebrate.
Valentines Day: You can put up Valentines day decorations in mid January, and taken down February 15th
St. Patrick's Day: put up the day after Valentines day, take down the day after
Easter: put up after St. Patrick's day, but may overlap if they are in the same month (or just chose 1 to decorate for)
Memorial Day: make sure you put your American flag out!
4th of July: put up in the beginning of June, take down July 5th
September 11th: make sure you put your American flag out!
Halloween: put up October 1st, take down November 1st
Thanksgiving: put up November 1st, take down day after Thanksgiving
AND THE MOST IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!CHRISTMAS: you can put up your outside lights/decorations if you find a warm day in November, however, this is very important......YOU CAN'T TURN YOUR CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ON UNTIL THANKSGIVING NIGHT!!!!!!!
I have seen numerous houses with fully decorated lawns and Christmas trees inside with all of the lights on already........I'm sorry, but you are breaking the rules. You can have your lights on during Thanksgiving night, but not before. The day after Thanksgiving you can put out the rest of your Christmas decorations. They can remain up until January 1st. I hope these rules have helped clarify any decorating confusion.
So, this weekend I will be putting up my outside lights. However, I will not be turning them on until tomorrow night. Happy decorating!!!!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The Fat Cat
TJ and I took Mittens and Boots to the vet on Monday. Here is their weight break down:
3 months after birth:
Mittens: 2 lbs, 7 oz
Boots: 2 lbs, 6 oz
Year '06
Mittens: 5 lbs
Boots: 5 lbs, 10 oz
Year '07:
Mittens: 8 lbs, 3 oz
Boots: 9 lbs, 6 oz
Year '08:
Mittens: 8 lbs, 6 oz
Boots: 8 lbs, 6 oz
Year '09:
Mittens: 10 lbs, 15 oz
Boots: 8 lbs, 7 oz
Well, it looks like someone has been eating more than her fair share of food. She's gained 30% of her weight in a year!!! I guess she would be considered obese. The vet said that Boots' weight was good, she could even gain a little. She said that Mittens should lose 1-2 lbs.
Well, that's kind of tricky. Anyone with 2 cats knows that 1 of them is usually the "boss". That would be Mittens. They both eat from the same bowl. How do I keep Mittens from eating more than her fair share?
I put the bowl up on the counter so there is no food out, and when Boots comes in the kitchen I put it back on the floor. Mittens keeps walking in the kitchen with a look that says "Where's my food?" I've had TJ get out the laser light (her favorite) to play with her to distract her from eating and give her some exercise. I've been very good at measuring our exactly how much food they should have. So, we'll see if this helps.
Oh, I've also given Bootsie treats when Mittens is upstairs to make sure she's getting enough :)
3 months after birth:
Mittens: 2 lbs, 7 oz
Boots: 2 lbs, 6 oz
Year '06
Mittens: 5 lbs
Boots: 5 lbs, 10 oz
Year '07:
Mittens: 8 lbs, 3 oz
Boots: 9 lbs, 6 oz
Year '08:
Mittens: 8 lbs, 6 oz
Boots: 8 lbs, 6 oz
Year '09:
Mittens: 10 lbs, 15 oz
Boots: 8 lbs, 7 oz
Well, it looks like someone has been eating more than her fair share of food. She's gained 30% of her weight in a year!!! I guess she would be considered obese. The vet said that Boots' weight was good, she could even gain a little. She said that Mittens should lose 1-2 lbs.
Well, that's kind of tricky. Anyone with 2 cats knows that 1 of them is usually the "boss". That would be Mittens. They both eat from the same bowl. How do I keep Mittens from eating more than her fair share?
I put the bowl up on the counter so there is no food out, and when Boots comes in the kitchen I put it back on the floor. Mittens keeps walking in the kitchen with a look that says "Where's my food?" I've had TJ get out the laser light (her favorite) to play with her to distract her from eating and give her some exercise. I've been very good at measuring our exactly how much food they should have. So, we'll see if this helps.
Oh, I've also given Bootsie treats when Mittens is upstairs to make sure she's getting enough :)
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Save the Date!!!
Well, it official....save the date: October 16th, 2010 (which happens to be sweetest day). We have always wanted a fall wedding, the cool weather, fall colors. We're hoping it will be a beautiful day. We have our church: Faith Lutheran Church . We have our reception/hotel: Esplanade Lakes, and we have our photographer: Sarah Alair. So, I feel like we have a pretty good start. Plus, I love planning. Although my wedding planner, Ali Phillips, has been doing most of the work :). I think the DJ and videographer will be next. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them!
Thanks for blogging with us!
Thanks for blogging with us!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Our Engagement!
We were engaged on Saturday, August 29th, 2009. Here's our story:
It was an average Saturday morning (or so I thought). We had decided that this day would be our home improvement day. We had lots to do around the house (painting, sanding, running cable, etc). TJ woke up early (this doesn't usually happen) and said he was making some eggs and asked if I wanted any. So, I had eggs and toast in bed with coffee. He decided to get in the shower and told me I needed to get ready to go to the "discount audio/visual store" to get 500 feet of TV cable. He asked if I was going to shower and I said "No, why would I shower if we're going to be painting? I don't want to have to shower twice." I went to pick out clothes (lounge pants and a t-shirt...the perfect "working" clothes) and he asked "Aren't you going to wear jeans?" I responded, "No. Why? Should I be wearing jeans?" and he told me that we were going to go flying that day! He said he didn't want to tell me ahead of time because I would get too nervous (I had never flown with him before). I asked him if I had time to shower, and he said no because we had the plane from 9:30-noon and it was already 9:30 by that point. So, I quickly changed into jeans and a sweater, threw my hair in a bun, and put on some makeup. We were out the door within 10 minutes!
We arrived at the DuPage airport and they were having an open house pancake breakfast. I had some OJ and waited for TJ to inspect the plane before we took off. Here is our before flight picture:
He took me up in a Cessna 172SP. Here's a picture of that kind of plane:
We flew over our house:
My parent's house:
His parent's house (with the pool):
and the place where we want to have the reception (Esplanade by Doubletree):
Here we are!
We then flew into the city, over lake Michigan, and enjoyed all of the Chicago skyline. What a cool view!
Soldier's Field:
This was so awesome!!! We went back to the restaurant and showed the ladies my ring. We left and started to drive. I asked him if I should call my mom and he said to wait about 20 minutes. Oh boy...what is he planning now??? I thought it was over!
We pulled into hotel Arista and I asked "What are we doing here?" TJ said, "We're staying here." I said, "We're not staying here." He said, "We're staying here." I said, "If we're staying here, then where's my stuff?" TJ said, "I packed for you."
We walked in and were escorted up to our suite. Here are the pictures:
It was an average Saturday morning (or so I thought). We had decided that this day would be our home improvement day. We had lots to do around the house (painting, sanding, running cable, etc). TJ woke up early (this doesn't usually happen) and said he was making some eggs and asked if I wanted any. So, I had eggs and toast in bed with coffee. He decided to get in the shower and told me I needed to get ready to go to the "discount audio/visual store" to get 500 feet of TV cable. He asked if I was going to shower and I said "No, why would I shower if we're going to be painting? I don't want to have to shower twice." I went to pick out clothes (lounge pants and a t-shirt...the perfect "working" clothes) and he asked "Aren't you going to wear jeans?" I responded, "No. Why? Should I be wearing jeans?" and he told me that we were going to go flying that day! He said he didn't want to tell me ahead of time because I would get too nervous (I had never flown with him before). I asked him if I had time to shower, and he said no because we had the plane from 9:30-noon and it was already 9:30 by that point. So, I quickly changed into jeans and a sweater, threw my hair in a bun, and put on some makeup. We were out the door within 10 minutes!
We arrived at the DuPage airport and they were having an open house pancake breakfast. I had some OJ and waited for TJ to inspect the plane before we took off. Here is our before flight picture:
He took me up in a Cessna 172SP. Here's a picture of that kind of plane:
We flew over our house:
My parent's house:
His parent's house (with the pool):
and the place where we want to have the reception (Esplanade by Doubletree):
Here we are!
We then flew into the city, over lake Michigan, and enjoyed all of the Chicago skyline. What a cool view!
Soldier's Field:
and Lake Michigan:
He offered for me to fly the plane, which I was too chicken to try! We flew back to DuPage airport and while I went into the bathroom the pilots that work at the airport were all giving him the thumbs up (I didn't see this). He had to tell them that he didn't pop the question yet.
So, it was about lunch time and TJ suggested we go get lunch. I agreed.....but he never asked me where I wanted to go eat...and he ALWAYS asks me where I want to go eat. So, I let him just drive. I figured he already had a plan. I also figured he was going to propose, as we don't usually do extravagant things like this on the weekend. As we headed into Naperville, I figured we were going to eat at Key Wester since I had mentioned to him that I wanted to eat there. We drove right past. When we turned on Jefferson, I knew we were going to the Sushi House. It was the place where we had our first date.
We went in and they asked us if we wanted to sit at the sushi bar or table. TJ asked if we could sit in a booth (the little rooms where you take off your shoes and sit on cushions). So, we got to sit in a booth. I was VERY excited about this. I had never been able to sit in one before. Here's a picture of us at the restaurant:
So, it was about lunch time and TJ suggested we go get lunch. I agreed.....but he never asked me where I wanted to go eat...and he ALWAYS asks me where I want to go eat. So, I let him just drive. I figured he already had a plan. I also figured he was going to propose, as we don't usually do extravagant things like this on the weekend. As we headed into Naperville, I figured we were going to eat at Key Wester since I had mentioned to him that I wanted to eat there. We drove right past. When we turned on Jefferson, I knew we were going to the Sushi House. It was the place where we had our first date.
We went in and they asked us if we wanted to sit at the sushi bar or table. TJ asked if we could sit in a booth (the little rooms where you take off your shoes and sit on cushions). So, we got to sit in a booth. I was VERY excited about this. I had never been able to sit in one before. Here's a picture of us at the restaurant:
and our sushi:
We paid our bill and TJ "went to the bathroom". I peeked out of our room and saw that he did not go to the bathroom and was still in the restaurant. I knew "this was it!" So, I sat back down and waited. The waitress came in and said that it was cold in here and "I bring hot tea for you." I enjoyed my hot tea and continued to wait. The waitress came back a few minutes later and said "fortune cookie for you" and I put them in our to-go bag. I continued to wait and the waitress came back and said "I bring ice cream for you." I ate my ice cream....and continued to wait. The waitress came back a few minutes later with an unwrapped fortune cookie (homemade) and a note card. I opened the fortune cookie and it read "Your life will change forever today."
The note read: "Hi babe!!! You have been selected to go on a scavenger hunt, so whenever you are ready, get your stuff together and go outside. Go down the stairs, turn left, cross the street, and walk towards the fountain. When you get to the fountain on your right, you will see a drinking fountain. Further to your right you should see an orange ribbon that will contain your next clue. Please take the ribbons and clues with you. Find me at the end and answer one question correctly to receive your prize. Love you. P.S. There are scissors in your purse to cut the ribbon down.
So, I followed the clue. I got to clue #1 and it read "Good you found the first clue. Continue on the path away from downtown towards the river. On the stairs leading down the river you should find a blue ribbon with your next clue."
I was kind of nervous looking for the clues. I thought I might miss one, or get lost or something. People were looking at me to figure out what I was doing.
I got to clue #2 and it read "Nice job babe! Getting closer now. Continue along the river away from downtown. Keep walking under the bridge and past the bridge you will go under the covered seating area. Right past there look for an orange ribbon for your next clue."
I got to clue #3 and it read "Almost there, keep following the river path to the next bridge. Take the stairs right before the bridge-up. Then cross the bridge to the other side of the river. Look for a blue ribbon and your final clue."
I kept searching around for TJ or for anyone we knew.
I got to the final clue and it read: "Alright baby, come and find me!!! Head down to the left. You should be able to see the top of a gazebo. Walk toward that. Once you get there, turn and walk left along the pond and you will find your prize."
I followed all of the clues, found TJ, and he handed me a fortune cookie and got down on one knee. I opened it and it read "Will you marry me???" I started to cry and said "Of course I will." Here's a picture of the proposal (he found a guy to take pictures):
The note read: "Hi babe!!! You have been selected to go on a scavenger hunt, so whenever you are ready, get your stuff together and go outside. Go down the stairs, turn left, cross the street, and walk towards the fountain. When you get to the fountain on your right, you will see a drinking fountain. Further to your right you should see an orange ribbon that will contain your next clue. Please take the ribbons and clues with you. Find me at the end and answer one question correctly to receive your prize. Love you. P.S. There are scissors in your purse to cut the ribbon down.
So, I followed the clue. I got to clue #1 and it read "Good you found the first clue. Continue on the path away from downtown towards the river. On the stairs leading down the river you should find a blue ribbon with your next clue."
I was kind of nervous looking for the clues. I thought I might miss one, or get lost or something. People were looking at me to figure out what I was doing.
I got to clue #2 and it read "Nice job babe! Getting closer now. Continue along the river away from downtown. Keep walking under the bridge and past the bridge you will go under the covered seating area. Right past there look for an orange ribbon for your next clue."
I got to clue #3 and it read "Almost there, keep following the river path to the next bridge. Take the stairs right before the bridge-up. Then cross the bridge to the other side of the river. Look for a blue ribbon and your final clue."
I kept searching around for TJ or for anyone we knew.
I got to the final clue and it read: "Alright baby, come and find me!!! Head down to the left. You should be able to see the top of a gazebo. Walk toward that. Once you get there, turn and walk left along the pond and you will find your prize."
I followed all of the clues, found TJ, and he handed me a fortune cookie and got down on one knee. I opened it and it read "Will you marry me???" I started to cry and said "Of course I will." Here's a picture of the proposal (he found a guy to take pictures):
and me crying:
looking at the ring:
the ring:
and after:
This was so awesome!!! We went back to the restaurant and showed the ladies my ring. We left and started to drive. I asked him if I should call my mom and he said to wait about 20 minutes. Oh boy...what is he planning now??? I thought it was over!
We pulled into hotel Arista and I asked "What are we doing here?" TJ said, "We're staying here." I said, "We're not staying here." He said, "We're staying here." I said, "If we're staying here, then where's my stuff?" TJ said, "I packed for you."
We walked in and were escorted up to our suite. Here are the pictures:
Living room:
Bedroom:
Bathroom:
Calling and texting everyone:
After a few minutes there was a knock on the door and champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, and 2 roses were delivered. We relaxed for a few minutes and then started making phone calls and sending text messages. TJ then said to wear the dress he had packed and to be ready by 5:30. We were meeting our parents our for dinner at Key Wester. My mom wasn't feeling well, so she wasn't able to go. She had champagne sent to our dinner table (the same champagne that Obama used at his inauguration). We enjoyed dinner with our parents and then he said there was one more surprise coming to the room at 9pm. I asked, "Milk and cookies?" (We had been to a hotel that served milk and cookies at bedtime and I thought it was cute). He said it wasn't milk and cookies. I asked if it was a Harry Potter movie (as this is my all time favorite) and he said it wasn't. He told me to check his 'itinerary' and at 9pm it said 'couples massage!!! He had a couples massage sent to our hotel room!!! This was awesome!!!
We enjoyed a fabulous breakfast in bed the next morning and had late checkout at 2pm. So, all in all, it was the most awesome, perfect day/weekend of my entire life. I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life with someone as thoughtful, loving, and caring as TJ. I'm very blessed to have someone as great as him in my life.
Thanks for sharing in our story!
We enjoyed a fabulous breakfast in bed the next morning and had late checkout at 2pm. So, all in all, it was the most awesome, perfect day/weekend of my entire life. I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life with someone as thoughtful, loving, and caring as TJ. I'm very blessed to have someone as great as him in my life.
Thanks for sharing in our story!
Welcome!
We're the Hardys (well, I'm almost a Hardy). We blog about the happenings in our daily life. We look forward to sharing our engagement story and pictures soon. Thanks for taking time to enjoy our blog!
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