2008

2008

1. What did you do in 2008 that you had never done before?
We went to Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., I started a new job as a receptionist and also joined the YMCA.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't even remember if I made any last year?? I guess I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions. If you want to change something about yourself or do something imparticular, why wait?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my friend Natasha at work. A healthy baby boy named Roman, he is so cute.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully not. And hopefully not this year either.

5. What countries did you visit?
Just Canada when we went to Niagara. We didn't go over to the US side.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
That I "lacked"? I cannot really think of anything...I love my husband..my job...my life =)

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
August 8th when my brother Nate and wife Emileigh got married. 08/08/08 cool date...

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my new job at Northwestern Mutual

9. What was your biggest failure?
Chris and I not following a budget

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Oh my gosh no...this year has been really great, I don't think I've hardly been sick which is a first. I contribute it to trying to live a healthier life style and eater better.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Probably the camera, our new Canon, it's pretty sweet, I love it!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My husband for sure. He has been really great with helping me out around the house more and he is busy with working and school so I give him a lot of credit even though I don't always tell him enough. Thank you honey, I love you.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I would say certain people that I worked with at my old job...

14. Where did most of your money go?
Mortgage, insurance, food, bills ughhhhhhhh

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The trips that we went on, the Holidays as always, and the coming of 2009

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Decode by Paramore

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? definitely happier!!
b) thinner or fatter? a little thinner
c) richer or poorer? more wealthy (just a little though)

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Pray, go to church, spend time with friends and family, work out

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
working!! which is impossible though....and spending money

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas day we were at my families in Vassar, but the saturday before we spent the weekend with my in-laws in Norton Shores.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
I was already in love. I am lucky.

23. What concerts did you attend this year?
I do not think that we went to any this year...sad.. =(

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Oh I always have a few, but mostly Days, The Biggest Loser, The Bachelor/ette, The Office

25. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn't dislike this time last year?
I suppose there are always people that you meet that you might not necessarily get along with....

26. What was the best book you read?
Hmm I read some good ones...the Twilight series, also Marley and Me. Right now I'm reading The Shack. It is so sad so far...

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Joshua Radin, Paramore

28. What did you want and get?
a new job!!! a food processor, an external hard drive....gift cards...

29. What did you want and not get?
to win the lottery hahaha

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Hmm I can't really think of a favorite off the top of my head. I love going to the movies though.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 23. I remember crying a lot about some family drama, it was very silly actually. I think we went to Muskegon and went out to dinner with my in-laws. I can't even remember where we went....hmm...

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Paying off our debt...

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Haha...this is funny. Well it turned from wearing scrubs to office attire...so I would have to say that my concept was ...progressive? haha

34. What kept you sane?
my husband

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
hmm I guess I try not to fancy public figures..

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
probably stuff involving the election. It was interesting...

37. Who did you miss?
my family, they live too far away.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
some of my work friends

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
My life is not my in my control, it's in Gods.
I can try to be a control freak but that might not change a thing....

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I cannot think of one right now....oh well!

I tag:
My husband Chris, Erica, Angela, and Dave =)

It's blizzarding outside!!!

Oh my gosh it is snowing like 3 inches an hour right now. It's awesome......haha. I can't believe our office is even open right now. Our home office in Milwaukee closed....I mean come on!! If they are shut down we should be too!! I have a feeling it is going to be somewhat of a slow day...and then Monday we are going to get our butts kicked with work making up for it. Should be interesting....
I know people hate this weather but I love it. I don't mind driving in the snow, especially if it's just around GR. My trek into work was real fun today...thankfully my amazing husband gets out of bed for me just to start my car and brush it off, what a sweetie. When I woke up at 6 I jumped out of bed because I was excited to see how much had fallen but at that point it wasn't too bad..by 7:20 when Chris came in from cleaning off my car he was like yeah...it's pretty bad out there....well I was like, whatever, it's only been over an hour, but dang!!!! Yeah it was way worse. I started driving and wow, not the right time to own a little corolla, they are way too close to the ground. The plows can't even keep up with it all. I almost got to work when the Amtrak train was stuck in the tracks. I'm like, are you freakin serious right now...haha. So I called my boss and told him I was going to be a little late but I was definitely on my...I pretty much had to drive all the way back home and turn around to get to the highway to get over the train tracks...fun fun!!! I was only like ten or fifteen minutes late, they didn't care though. At least I am here!!!
I sorta had some plans tonight and tomorrow we are supposed to drive a little ways to have Christmas with Chris's family. We will see what happens I guess!!

A not-so-restful weekend...

I always look forward to the weekend, because it means not being at work, but this week was different....thurs. night after work, I did someones hair. Friday night I did two peoples hair...on a friday night!! It was fun though because I got to hang out with my friend/coworker Karen and she is one of the coolest people I have ever met. Chris even came over to hang out with us when he got out of work, she is that cool. Not to mention she always lavishes us with food and beverage.

Saturday I had all these plans to get up early and work out and then go do some shopping and blah blah blah...I ended up thinking forget it. We stayed up too late anyways, and I wanted to sleep in with my husband, something we never get to do anymore....I know I say this alot but I am incredibly thankful for my job ...but seriously, every morning...I am so jealous when I am getting up and Chris gets to stay all nice and warm and curled up in our amazingly comfortable bed. So we slept in, and it was awesome...just waking up whenever, not be woken by an alarm. Loved it.
Well, I got up waaay too late, hurried up and got ready and left for Lansing. I miss it there sometimes. I went to the Eastwood Towne Centre and did some quick shopping, I love that mall. They had some new stores there that I might have to make a special trip there for sometime. After that I met up with my friend Kate and did three peoples hair. Work work work....it was worth it though. Kate is my old roommate that I lived with while I went to Douglas J and before I married Chris. I miss her and we always have fun catching up. Afterwards I went to church with her to Riverview's Saturday night service. I used to go there when I went to MSU and continued on until I moved to GR. The place has changed so much, I couldn't believe it. They expanded on to their building to accomodate their growing chuch, so I didn't even recognize the place. I was sad to leave.

The drive home sucked, it rained the whole way and I kept praying that I would have a safe drive and not slide off into the ditch. It's december...why the heck is it raining? Anyways, on the way home I picked us up some Sushi from OMI, it is one of our fav. sushi places. We have debated driving there just for the sushi before but never have. I met up with Chris after 10 pm and surprised him with the food and he finally got to take his lunch break.

This morning was the same thing...we slept in. Then I realized I had so much to do today. We got up and made some french toast for breakfast and then went grocery shopping. After we got home the laundry began....I washed everything today, and didn't get done folding until right before I wrote this. If it was in our house, and remotely dirty, I washed....clothes, towels, sheets, Niles dog beds, everything......I think I did atleast 5 loads. While that was happening I did another persons hair. That being numero seven in the past four days. When she left I cleaned the house, continued the laundry, finally took and shower and ate some food. Now here we are, it's after midnight and I gotta get up in like 6 hours. Seriously where does the time go???

Well I have an important meeting in the morning for work that I am nervous about. It's an all staff meeting and no one is sure what exactly it's about...so I need to get some sleep. Should be interesting.....g'night all.

Welcome to "The Office"

Here's a little sneak peak into my place of employment...welcome to Northwestern Mutual =)

Cool new glass sign that we just got for the wall:



This is the lobby/waiting area where people sit, it is across from the sign above. Oh and I get to stare at it all day long.



And this is my desk. Sort of one of the first things you see when you walk in. Yeah, I pretty much love it.


This is where I sit alllll day. It's not always that messy. Just when I get busy.


View from the side


Every Monday I get a new arrangement of flowers for the desk. This is what we got this week, they are awesome. I love the colors, it is so Christmasy!





This is my friend and coworker Chris....what the heck is he doing under there?? I think he was getting coffee out of the cupboard, haha.



That's all I got for now. The office is way bigger than what it seems, all you really see in these pictures is the area when you first walk in.
I love our new camera.
More random pictures to come...

Winter Wonderland

Saturday we got sooo much snow. Chris and I went Christmas shopping all day; we left at 11:30 am and didn't get home until 9:15 pm. And it snowed the entire time, the roads were crappy. And I loved it!!! It was gorgeous out. It was that nice fluffy snow, the kind where each snow flake is so huge that you can see it's individual pattern as it's falling down. It made walking to and from stores sort of a pain and there was a lot of water on the floor mats by the time we got home, but I still loved it. The snow made it seem like it was actually "The Holidays", besides the crazy amount of shoppers out and about. We haven't gotten to go Christmas shopping together in like a couple years so it was really fun. And I feel like we are always so busy, it's hard to really "feel" like it's Christmastime which stinks because this is our favorite time of year and it flies by too fast. One of our favorite things that we did saturday besides eat sushi was when we got Starbucks and walked around the mall, taking in all the decorations and shoppers bustling around...just being together. It was so nice.
This is a picture from when we were driving....well we were at a stop light when I actually took it, not driving:



We ended up eating at Toyko Grill and the sushi was great as always, like I predicted it to be. We wish we could eat it everyday. I should have taken a picture of it, it was so pretty...haha. These are from in the restaurant:



And this is me being stupid......haha



I also took some pictures around the house...the ones with the snow in them are from a couple days ago so we actually have a lot more now. We also have some cool icicles hanging all over, it's funny how they even formed themselves all around the Christmas lights. I know a lot of people would think I am crazy if they read this but I hope it keeps snowing. I don't mind it anymore, I love it!!! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....... =)

So thankful the weekend is here....

My mouth is still killing. The muscles in my jaws are just aching, pretty sure it's from all the anesthesia shots they gave me. I still can't chew very well because it hurts my teeth to bite down. They are also pretty sensitive to hot and cold now. I can't wait until I get my real crowns on in two weeks. Hopefully everything will feel normal by Christmastime so I can actually enjoy eating food.

Well anyone who lives in West Michigan knows we have got a pretty good amount of snow over the last 24 or so hours. I don't mind it, it is so beautiful outside. I took some pictures tonight when I got home from the Y, I will post them sometime this weekend, since I'll probably end up taking some more.

Tomorrow is going to be great. Chris has the weekend off so we get to spend the day together and try to get most of our Christmas shopping done. We are going to have sushi for dinner, I cannot wait. We will probably indulge and it will be amazing. I probably won't be able to eat that much longer anyways... Hopefully we will find most of our stuff tomorrow that way I can stop thinking about shopping. Christmas is coming so fast, only 20 more days!!! Once again my favorite time of year is flying by before I can even get a chance to enjoy it.
Sunday all we have to do is go to church. Maybe I will come home and take a nap...probably not but the thought is nice. I need to get on sending out Christmas cards asap. Alright well I am exhausted. And Chris is passed out with Niles on the couch by me and he just sat down...I think that it is time for bed.

Saturday at Riverside Park

Saturday early afternoon I decided to take Niles to Riverside Park for a walk/run.
It was absolutely gorgeous outside. The sun was shining, and it wasn't too breezy; it was a perfect brisk early winter day. Niles had been whining all morning because he was bored. It was an even greater reason for me to get out and get some exercise and also enjoy the weather. Here are some pictures that I took from the park with the new camera. The colors are great!

There are always tons of ducks and geese along the river.



Walking along the way...


Some pictures of one of the ponds





Niles playing and grabbing at his leash while I'm trying to take a picture of him.


And last but not least, here is a video I took of me playing fetch with Niles

Niles is so cute.

Some pics from our new Canon

My sister in law Emileigh, brother Nate, and brother in law Patrick.
Three of the best people I know.



My baby Niles.


Niles cuddling with me on the couch.


He looks like he is posing. His coat is so beautiful.



Our gorgeous tree!!

I officially hate going to the dentist.

I had to go yesterday afternoon. I needed to get a bunch of work done on two teeth and then have them crowned. I was there for over 3 hours, my mouth hurts like heck, and it cost us a whole lot of money, like a small, old used car.
But...
I do not want my complaining to be the main point in this post..
because..I do not want to complain.
I am thankful. Because I am lucky.
We at least have dental insurance. And jobs that provide us with that dental insurance. And if we didn't have that insurance....then that dollar amount would FOR SURE be something to be complaining about. Because it would be more like a nice used car. Like our Corolla for example. Not to mention I have a really great dentist.
I never got to go to the dentist as a child, and that combined with some bad genes make for the mess that my mouth is.
I am thankful that when we have kids, we will be able to provide them that need. It's an awesome feeling.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was fun this year. Every year I swear I feel more thankful than the last. We are so lucky and blessed. Chris and I both have good jobs, which I am especially thankful for since we live in Michigan and the economy is rough right now. We are so thankful for our family, friends, our House Church, and Mars Hill. We are so very lucky.
Like the past three years, Chris had to work. I hate that, but that is what happens when you work at a hospital. We thought for sure he would have it off since he's worked the past two but we are not complaining because that means he has Christmas off!! Anyways, he didn't have to work until 4 so we went over to his aunt and uncle's like we usually do. The food was amazing as always. Soooo good,I wish we had Thanksgiving like once a month. There is just something about green bean casserole and turkey and potatoes and gravy and pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll of course.....yum. Anyways, so we hung out with his fam. for a while and when he left for work I left for Indiana. My family was going down to Mishawaka to stay with my brother Nate and his new wife Emileigh. They had eaten earlier in the day and by the time I got there around 6 we all snacked on leftovers. We also played a new card game called 81, it was a lot of fun!! That night we looked at the adds and sat around and talked, it was fun. I love getting to see my family and catch up, we always end up staying up late and talking, especially me and Megan. We planned to get up early the next morning and go shopping!!! We always talk about going but never do.
Friday we got up around 5:30. We went to Wal-Mart first. That place was a mad house!!! I got hit in the back end with a cart by some lady, and also when we left I almost got hit by a car. We ended up shopping for like 6 hours. I got some good deals. My favorite buy was our new camera. I wasn't planning on buying one but they had such good deals that day. I ended up getting a Canon PowerShot SD 790 IS....it is AMAZING. I will be posting some new pictures and video that I have taken with it. I promise that compared to my last couple posts you will most definately be able to tell the difference between the pictures.
We also went out to breakfast at this little diner. After we were done shopping everyone came back to the apartment and ate leftovers for lunch. Then we all packed up and headed back to our homes. Driving two hours isn't fun on like 4 hours of sleep. When I got home I unloaded everything and took a loooong nap, and it was great.
More to come on my great 4 day Thanksgiving weekend!

My New Job

Well...it was new, three months ago anyways.

Back in the beginning of August our friend Joe called me one morning and told me about a job opening where he works. He knew how unhappy I was at Crystal Springs and that I was looking for something new. Anything would have been an improvement as long as I made at least the same amount of money. He told me that it was for the receptionist position, and that he thought that I would be good at it. Praise God...this may be the answer to our prayers!!! I was so excited.....I couldn't wait to call the Office Manager named John. I gave him a call and he wanted me to fax and email him my resume. When I got home from work that night I started working on it right away. I send it to him at 1 am in the morning. I wanted to hear back from him asap, I was so anxious!! I couldn't believe this opportunity had come along.

A couple weeks later John finally called me for an interview. My sister Megan and I were driving to the church the day of my brother's wedding, I was ecstatic! I was driving, and literally dancing in my seat. I remember Meg was so excited and happy with me! My interview would me on Monday morning. I couldn't wait to tell Chris about the call.

Monday morning finally came. I was so nervous. I wanted him to know that I could this job for them, which I had no doubt in my mind. I like being around people and I knew that I could be professional. He told me that he would call me by the end of the week either way, when he made his decision. It was all I could think about all week long.

Friday finally came. I kept thinking....why isn't he calling me?? I cannot take the suspense anymore!!! I remember that I cleaned like the entire house that morning. I don't think I could sit still. I was vacuuming in the bedroom right around 2 pm and thought hmm...if the phone rings I won't be able to hear it. I turned off the vacuum and went and picked up my cell. Sure enough, one missed call. Crap!! It was him!!! I dialed my voicemail so fast.....my heart was seriously racing. He left a message asking me to call him back and asking that if I could, please call before the day was over as he was going on vacation the next week, and that he looked forward to speaking with me. He looked forward to speaking with me?? What??? Did I get this job? Would he look forward to talking with me if he was telling me that I didn't get the position?!! I was freaking out. Oh my gosh I needed to calm down.

Then I called him back. He was very friendly. Then he asked me, "So do you still want to work with us?" He must have thought I was crazy,I practically screamed YES!!! into the phone. He was offering me the job. He also told me that I was his number one choice. Wow!!! Thank you Lord!!! Our prayers had been answered. That week I had seriously struggled with the fact that this was NOT in my control. I was constantly praying that God would bless me with this job and have mercy on me....I did not want to work at Crystal any longer. But what if that was not God's plan for me? What if He wanted me there, what if I was meant to be there, whether I liked it or not? I would have to accept that when the time came, but the thought was killing me. And finally I got my answer.

I remember when I hung up the phone I started bawling. I hadn't cried so hard in a while.....I called Chris so fast, and when he got on the phone I was like Chris!! I got the job!!! He was like oh my gosh are you serious.......it was such an awesome moment. Then I had to call his mom. By the time this was all over it was 2:30. OH my gosh I have to leave for work in ten minutes. I never showered so fast in my life. On the way to work I called Megan to tell her the good news as well.

So there's my story of how I got the job.

I have been working at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network for three monthes now. I started on Sept. 2, the day after Labor Day. It has been really great so far. I have a nice big desk. I answer the phones and transfer calls. I have to do a lot of policy reporting and put info into the computer. I validate parking, and get people coffee. Recently two of the girls I work with had babies so they are on maternity leave. I have been helping my friend Dave do some application input. It might not seem like much but seriously, my job rocks. I am comfortable there now, and I love it. I love my coworkers (well almost all of them...they are always a few....haha) and have made some really great friends.

Every day I wake up, and I am still so thankful.
I remember a couple weeks after I started I came home one night and Chris was like, "So how was your day??" and I was like really good!! And then he said...You know it is so nice, you come home at night and I can tell that you are happy. It's nice that you aren't worry about work...or wanting to cry, every night. It was cool to hear him say that.

And that was the awesome transition that took place in our life three months ago.
And like I said, I am still so happy and thankful.
Thank you God. And thank you Joe!!!

The Biggest Bar Night of the Year

We decided to go out and hang out with some friends on the night before Thanksgiving this year. We have never done that before, I figured it would be absolutely crazy, from my years of prior serving experience. Chris really wanted to go back to Graydon's Crossing in East GR. We went there a couple monthes back for our anniversary dinner and really liked it. Their food is awesome, and Chris loves their extensive beer menu. We only stayed for a couple hours but it was fun, we had some good food and good conversation. And it actually wasn't too crazy there at all. I was happy that we stayed away from downtown. Here are some pics from the night; Enjoy!

Our good friend Paul and his girlfriend Naomi

My coworker Dave and I

Watch out Dave!! I'm coming after your beer!!


My coworker Julie and I

Tour Behind the Falls

Here is a cool video from when we went to Niagara Falls. We were on the observation deck right next to the Falls, it is an awesome view!!

Washington, D.C.

So for our anniversary this year we decided that we would go and take a trip to D.C. I had never been there before, and Chris hadn't been since he was little so we were both really looking forward to it. My good friend Kevin and his fiance Lisa live in Arlington, VA so we stayed with them, which was awesome because hotels are sooo expensive. We learned that on our honeymoon. But anyways, it was really great because they knew exactly how to get everywhere and how to use their subway system which is amazing I might add. It was clean and inviting for the most part. The worst part about the trip is that we drove there and back which seemed like it took forever, especially the drive home. We wasted a day driving all together but it was worth it.

We left early friday morning and arrived there around dinnertime. We hung out for a little while and had some drinks and then went off to dinner as we were all starving. We ended up going to the Chart House which was this really nice seafood restaurant.

Lisa and I at their apartment

After that we went bar-hopping for a while, and walked around The Mall to see some of the monuments at night. That was a short night and we were pretty tired.

I have to note their cat, Bianca. This cat was hilarious....it was pretty cute, it's not very young but still the size of a large kitten. You think its nice until you try to pet it and she hisses at you and attacks you. She scared the crap out of us several times (thankfully she is declawed.) I wanted to take a picture of her, I could tell she was annoyed. Apparently I was bothering the crap out of her and when I took it she lunged at me....haha.

Saturday morning we tried to get a Capitol tour but got there too late. I took some really great pictures though.

Since we had some time to spare we walked over to the Library of Congress. OH. MY. Goodness. What an imazingly incredible beautiful building. Seriously, I loved it. I could not stop taking pictures of it. The painted ceiling was so beautifully detailed...it was one of my favorite things that we saw on our trip.

Here is a video from inside, I loved this building!!

Another thing that was very cool was that they had all if not most of Thomas Jefferson's library there. We weren't really supposed to be taking pictures of this area so I took some video.

After that we headed on over to the Holocoaust Museum. This was something that both Chris and I really wanted to see. I must say, it is very....well, words do not describe. Sad. Unbelievable. Disgusting. How in the world...did that happen?? How is it still happening now in Darfur?? I do not understand. You were not allowed to take any pictures at all in the museum, not that we necesarily wanted to. Although I have no desire to ever go back, it is something that I will never forget.

Then we headed back to the apartment to watch the U of M/MSU game. Kevin went to MSU law school so we were all pretty big State fans. We ate in for dinner and just kind of relaxed after all the walking we had been doing. Later on we went back into D.C. and walked the whole Mall to see all of the monuments at night.

The Washington Monument with the reflection of the Mall in the pool

These were at the World War II Memorial. One of my favorites; the fountains are really cool and make for some great pictures.

The Lincoln Memorial. Abe was HUGE!

I can't remember what memorial this was but we thought this was pretty funny.

This is the Jefferson Memorial, it was really pretty reflecting off of the water.

Last but not least we visited the White House. It seemed a lot smaller than I thought it would have been.

Sunday morning we went back to the Capitol to try to get a tour again but it turned out that it was closed, which they thought it would be open. We were bummed that we didn't get to see the inside but once again I got a lot of great pictures from the outside.

All of the colors there were still gorgeous. We love fall!

Once we realized the Capitol was closed we decided to spent the rest of the day at Mount Vernon and go see George Washington's house. We also toured where he made his flour, cornmeal and whiskey. It was pretty interesting.

Kevin turned the water in the cask to make the alcohol

Yep. That is George Washington's tomb.

After all the walking we did we were pretty tired again that night. Monday morning we got up with Kevin and Lisa and as they went off to work, we left to drive back to Michigan. I am thankful that we had to opportunity to visit someplace new. We are blessed that my friends let us stay with them for free. We are very greatful! Thank you Kevin and Lisa.