wordless wednesday. my first snow blowing experience.

nick talked me through starting it over the phone. phew! had shoveled about a third of the driveway before he was able to get in touch with me! was worried i was going to have to shovel the whole thing. might have been easier. my carpal tunnel is not a fan of the snow blower!

those tracks belong to the fed ex truck. i did not have the balls to try to get little miss hybrid over the snow plow hump and through the 10 or so inches to the garage! and nick had made a quick pass before we left for the morning. lake effect snow is bananas.  but hooray for this much light at 5pm. ;)

 {iphone photos 1.21.14}

ten on tuesday 1.21.14

- whenever i wrote/typed the date yesterday it weirded me out to see 20/14!

- shh, i'm typing this at work. not looking forward to my commute this afternoon. 20 inches of snow. ugh! i'm so over winter.

- saw nut job last night with ben. john and the girls invited us last minute. meh. glad to spend time with everyone but wasn't impressed.

- ben was playing a video game and i asked him what the name of it was... he replied, 'bad guys fighting the world.'

- cannot power through this last bit of allegiant. {divergent trilogy) i really don't like who that picked to play tris. maybe i'm boycotting?

- think little miss has her first cold. has had quite the runny nose. hoping it doesn't get worse!

- feeling lucky. love my friends. love the laughter they bring into my life. wish i saw them more. xo.

- have a terrible itch to go shopping. hoping i can reign it in!

- trying to make a to do list for this month and realized it's almost over. eek. maybe i can get one project done.... maybe?

- waiting for hubs to help me with new mac and external drive. {the new computer has no hard drive. well, a tiny bit.} when that happens, the wip posts will resume. hoping i can corner him sometime this week!

boo.

i do so well with posting and then this... nothing. crickets.
i suck.

i'm hoping to kick blogging ass in january. well, maybe starting the sixth, not the first. we shall see. it's been beyond hectic with the holidays and nick's work and a four year old and five month old! as much as i love looking back on the blog, there are just some days when i want the two hours i get to myself before my bedtime, when i don't want it to be spent blogging. there is a husband, and tv shows or movies, and cleaning or baths and books that sometimes win out.

so stay tuned. ;)

ten on tuesday. 12.17.13

- i am in love with this chapstick. that's saying a lot. i'm not a big 'chapstick' brand girl.

- have a new favorite shot: pineapple juice, grenadine, and vanilla vodka. so good.

- got a ten year present from work. didn't realize i received my coworker's. had the wrong engraving on the back. oopsie. guess i was super excited to open that ipad air!

- ben is so excited for christmas. he's counting down the days now that we're in single digits!

- think i need to start collecting gloves/mittens for ben. he lost one today. it was on mitten clips and he only walked outside to go to pee wee sports. not even for recess!

- it was snowing this evening and my mom was going to finish her christmas shopping. showed her amazon. she was done in 5 minutes. and she said i'm her favorite daughter. {ha!} ;)

- as much as i hate the craziness of december, i love that i'm getting to spend time with friends that i don't usually get to see. so thankful that everything fell on different weekends for the first time in years!

- i need to purge my closet. again. just did it when melie was born. think i'm going to start a home organizing/cleaning project in the new year. seemed to work well when i did it a few years ago.

- melie is starting to laugh spontaneously. so fun.

- cookie exchange and pot luck at work today. why do people call it a carry in? any who. my taco dips were a hit. made two hoping to bring some home and they were both gone!

20 things.

love this. hope it's not too tiny. couldn't find a source. had to copy directly from pinterest. ;)

apple trifecta

i'm not a fan of either photo. didn't have the patience to walk around and find good lighting. so i'm sharing two crappy pictures of three fabulous pieces of electronics. yay for the new mac book and iPad joining my trusty ole iPhone. {i've missed my macbook terribly and i'm super excited to play with the iPad!}

ten on tuesday. 12.10.13

- brr. i'm ready for spring.

- pretty sure that my christmas cards are going to be valentine's day cards instead. ;)

- after the giant blogging push, i have lost all motivation again. hopefully, soon!

- i've been told that little miss amelia has to wear her tutu every bears game from here on out!

- i think i only need to buy gift cards and i'm officially done with christmas shopping.

- elfred hasn't visited this year. maybe he will still pop in? {ugh, i suck this year!}

- forgot i had to walk through snow to get to work yesterday and wore my crocs. yeah, i'm a thinker at 650am!

- i found a new addiction: pink lemonade emergen c. think i have a new something to add to our subscribe and save purchases each month!

- ben is fighting the sniffles. hoping he holds em off and that melie stays strong too!

- got a new mario game. nick didn't even know about it. what kind of gamer is he? now to find the time to play it!

ten on tuesday 12.3.13

- i did it! blogged every day in november. thank goodness i did that challenge or i never would have caught up!

-  got my posts out of order, chronologically, again. i suck. oh well.

- got a new coat. hooray black friday sale. it's an omni-heat from columbia and it's super warm. which is saying a lot for me. i'm always cold. can never find a good coat.

- cannot believe it is december. where has 2013 gone?

- trying to figure out how to rearrange my living room for the darn tree! all this baby stuff makes it crowded!

- i really dislike migraines. especially ones that last for 24+ hours.

- really wanting to find time to go through all of the presents i've purchased and finish up my shopping!

- looking forward to friend time this weekend.

- i want to reread the hunger games trilogy again. feel like i forgot everything when we watched catching fire.

- tried to not be a mac snob. but i am. i can't help it. i just prefer em over other computers.

wip 11.9.13

friday:
ran out super early. got a pedicure. {still searching for a good one.} picked up amelia's birth certificate. how did we forget about it?! was hoping to get home before our peapod delivery. it was supposed to come after 11. i got home at 1030 and my mom was putting it away!

miss cutie pie loves her giraffe. 

and naps on her mommy.

called it a night early. had a busy day planned.

saturday:
trip to michigan with the girls. we had talked about it at one of our girl's nights. completely forgot about it and then saw it on the calendar. we decided to give it a go. even if it was way last minute.

val drove and shelli was copilot. raquel and i chilled in the backseat. shelli made us take the scenic route and pointed out the red and yellow trees. it was kind of late in the season so they weren't super plentiful. but still pretty. we passed aunt teek's. took me a minute to figure it out. they all had a good laugh on my behalf. 

shelli's shoes. only shelli would have a pin that told her what foot to wear what shoe.

it was windy. windy. had some strangers take our pictures.

i am not one to pass up a swing.

pretty lighthouse. such an awesome blue sky, too.

the water almost got her. ;)

just so pretty.

we walked the strip and did some shopping and a wine tasting. never heard of warner wines. the lady who served us was awesome!

i am in love! my garage smells so much better after this stuff! sorry amelia.

and my husband requested the adult version....

these were my favorite when i was little! 

lunch at the stray dog.

the best pizza: pesto, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and red onions. delicious!

drove around and started out winery tour. first stop: karma vista. love their vibe. we were not a fan of our server.

thankfully, they had pretty views to make up for the stinky lady!

had to do some non alcoholic activities.
chocolate garden. {if some of these look familiar, it's because nick and i did a similar tour about a year ago.}

i decided to go with the white chocolate ones. something different.

and cider mill since it's practically next door to the chocolate place.

silly girls went and played at the dinosaur farm.

i was distracted by the cool clouds and sunlight.

back to liquor!
round barn. so crowded. not very fun. usually i really like them. it was just too crazy and disorganized.

gravity. i really like it there. maybe not the best wines. but i love that it's paired. and you can sit quietly at a table.

got a text from nick while we were there. ben wanted meatballs so nick ordered out. {we did have meaballs in the freezer but i guess that's a lot of work!} and i asked if they even changed out of their jammies. he responded that they hadn't and it was wonderful!

i was distracted and a certain red shoe-d friend stole my chocolate and replaced it with a twix!

more cute boy pictures.

and a cute girl for good measure.

decided to try our this distillery.  had made some friends when we were shopping in new buffalo. we ran into them at every shop. then joked about the fact that we were all planning on lunching at the stray dog. couldn't believe it when we sat down next to them! chatted with them about our plans for the rest of the day. joked about meeting them for dinner. actually ran into them again at round barn and they had mentioned that they stopped here. decided to give it a go. was on our way back home.

brought nick a growler of cider something.

came home relatively early. was a long day. we were gone for 12 hours. had planned on staying the night and then something came up with one of the girls so we played it by ear and just called it a night.

sunday:
nick went to work and i hung out with the kidlets.

miss happy, chubby-pants found her feet!

hung out and enjoyed one another once nick got home. i really like having one day to do nothing and just spend time together. not rushing around or anything.

pulled up her activity center.
i think she likes it! doesn't stay in it for very long. still a bit too little. but so fun to see her interact with things.

30 days of thankful.

you're supposed to put what you're thankful for each day. i'm cheating and posting a few of them early. sue me. and some of them are pretty shallow. oh well, they all can't be earth shattering!

thinking thanksgiving is an appropriate time to post.

1. fridays off.
2. a fabulous group of friends.
3. lazy sundays to watch football and play outside.
4. my mom. her babysitting, support, and friendship.
5. a silly little boy who keeps me on my toes.
6. a healthy baby girl who finally rolled over.
7. caffeine. my coworkers enjoyed a super caffeinated shan today. coke and coffee before 10am!
8. pedicures.
9. laughter.
10. back rubs from cute boys.
11.  our veterans and freedom.
12. good health.
13. bubble baths.
14. amazingly supportive coworkers.
15. loving hugs from my husband.
16. quality time with friends i don't get to see often enough.
17. a roof over my head.
18. a positive meeting with ben's teacher.
19. discount haircuts in our home.
20. only having one car payment!
21. a heated mattress pad.
22. girl's night dinner dates with impromptu shopping trips after.
23. a great extended family.
24. technology. makes it so much easier to stay in touch. ;)
25. patients and a job that teach me how important it is to value every day.
26. christmas bonuses.
27. light work days and pot lucks!
28. my husband and my children. they are my world.
29. days off with my loves.
30. date night with a man who i love more than ever. twenty years laters and lots of ups and downs but there's no one i would rather have by my side.

and then i saw this. and it's so true. sorry. no source.

ten on tuesday 11.26.13

- i am not a fan of 'vanilla heat' coffee creamer. i think it's because i use so much creamer. that heat is totally over powering.

- christmas shopping mostly done! woot. just a few people left and it's mostly gift cards.

- looking forward to a four day weekend with my family. hoping nick doesn't get called out to work too much.

- ben keeps asking about the christmas tree. he says, 'but i miss it.' soon son. soon.

- amelia is now the owner of two new pairs of shoes. {i think they'll have their own post. i think ben's first pair did, so it's only fair.}

- i did it. ordered some essential oils. didn't go too crazy. and didn't go with the super crazy expensive ones. those you can ingest. not sure i'm there yet!

- ichabod crane is hot.

- told ben he was a good big brother. he said, 'no, i'm a small brother.' ;)

- this cannot come out soon enough. hoping i'm not disappointed.

-red velvet coffee from dunkin donuts is delicious!

wip 10.26.13

friday:
had a busy morning. yay for retired grandmas! went to a derm appointment. then had an oil change. then did my grocery shopping. (i think this crazy day rekindled my love for peapod.)

headed to dinner at a local sushi restaurant. i ate sushi. tried a bunch. that's major for me! no pictures. wasn't the most appetizing plate of food. oh well!

laughed a lot at dinner. poo-pourri and dubstep cat.  {they are both youtube videos.}

saturday:
boo at the zoo with the roldans. steph always has brunch for us and the kidlets before we go. so cool that they're so close to the zoo. 

only missing a few photographers! and bill and the girls who came later.

the kids were all really good. ben loves dolphins. {even the football team!}

a dolphin penny.

miss amelia just chilled in the stroller.

love that he's up for taking these silly pictures now. i believe he even asked for this one!

not sure who decided to hold hands but so cute that they did it.

monkey house.

steph snapped this while they hung back with the babies.

we couldn't get ben to use the stroller when he was the only child. of course, now he's obsessed with the darn thing. so grateful for girl friends who share theirs with us. not sure why we didn't think to take it with us. oh wait, because ben hates strollers. that's why!

family photo. someone was so thirsty that the lemonade couldn't wait one second!

got home at a decent hour. we were all pretty tired. ben wanted to snuggle and requested i take this picture of him and his sister.

sunday:
nick went frisbee golfing with the boys. i stayed home with ben and amelia. 
attacked little miss amelia's closet. i didn't want to see another hanger after that morning. 

she kept me company while i organized. so did this cute little giraffe that john, bill, and the girls bought her when she was born.

we did lots of coloring. and learning. and fighting bad guys.

she did lots of tummy time. still not her favorite. she's getting better though!