Merry Christmas

I just wanted to tell everyone that I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! Nathan and I are going into Boston today to spend the day and the night there. Our hotel used to be the old police headquarters, and now it's an Irish-owned hotel. It looks to be quite nice. For those of you that don't know, Boston (and all MA for that matter), is split between Irish and Italians. My town is still mostly that way, with the Italians living on one side of town and the Irish on the other. Anyway, tomorrow we're going to see the Nutcracker. I'm quite excited about it, as I've never been to see it before. I'm doing Christmas at my house this year, making the dinner and everything. I'm just a bit nervous about that, but it should be fun. It will be a good opportunity to try out our new video camera, which was our Christmas gift to each other this year.
The week after Christmas will find me in MI, helping my family move. We're both quite sad to see them go. Things definitely won't be the same without my family here. It will be good though too, to have an opportunity for Nathan and I to live away from family for a time.
Nathan and I wish you all a merry Christmas, and look forward to hearing about your holidays.

Wild weekend

Things have been kind of crazy around ol’ Seattle the past few days. We had an unbelievable windstorm last Thursday night with gusts over 100 miles per hour. It knocked out power for pretty much the entire region, including our neighborhood. So by Friday morning the temperature in our house was about 45 degrees.

Adam’s sister Kendra was in town visiting, so the three of us all huddled up on the couch together to keep warm, the animals snuggled in around us. I didn’t go to work on Friday for a few reasons, but mainly because until the afternoon the roads weren’t safe to drive on – there was debris everywhere. Our little storage shed in the back yard was torn to bits – quite a few pieces are missing. I imagine they’re in Montana by now.

We stayed at a friend’s apartment on Friday night so we could at least have heat and warm showers. Saturday morning the power came back on for our neighborhood, so we were able to go back home. A lot of people are still without power right now though, and let me tell you, it is cold here. Not just Seattle cold, but that biting type of cold that you do not want to be in without heat.

Adam’s mom and sister are going home today. It was a short trip, but it was great having them. We spent almost the whole weekend shopping. It was fun, but I’m so over Christmas shopping now. I only have a few stocking stuffers left to get, and they might just come from my office supply closet.

Love you girls!

nothing

Hey girls! I'm sorry you've all been sick lately. Yuk! I have a touch of a cold/cough too but it's not too bad. I hope everyone still has enough energy to enjoy the holiday festivities. We've got our house decprated for Christmas. Although it's not a whole lot, we go pretty mild on the decorations. I didn't even put a tree up this year because Seth would just try to pull the ornaments off all the time. Instead of a month of joy and holiday cheer, it would have turned into the month of weeping and gnashing of teeth from all the spankings Seth would have been getting for disobedience. So I decided to avoid that stress for all of our sake. Seth doesn't care yet anyways, we'll do a fun childproof tree next year when he's more into it. I pretty much have everyone's Christmas shopping done. I hit Toys R Us and then did everything else online. I love the internet at Christmas time! And if you do it right, you can pretty much avoid shipping too. So, speaking of Seth... he loves phones as some of you know. Well this morning I was rushing around to get the kids ready for Lilah's doctor's appointment and I had my cell phone on the kitchen table (we have no home phone). So when I wasn't looking, Seth grabbed my phone and hid it. I spent 20 minutes looking for it and was late to the doc app. So I called Josh from the doctor's phone and left a message for him to call me all day until I answered so that I could find the phone. After I got home, I was looking for the phone again and remembered that I had seen Seth walking around with a diaper wipe before we left. So I found the wipes container and opened it up... my cell phone was inside the diaper wipes container with the lid closed and buried under the entire stack of wipes. I don't even know how he did that.

So, Josh interviewed in Ohio last week for residency. The interview went very well. So, it looks like we will most likely be moving to Columbus. As long as they rank him, we'll be putting Columbus first on our list and that's where we'll go. Which is OK with me because Columbus is a very nice city. I'm just dreading moving. I hate moving and we are going to miss Tulsa and our churh and friends, etc. Well, that's about it for us. Miss you girls and love ya! Happy Holiday Season!

Shhhh!

This is a secret from my husband and I find myself having to tell everyone but him in order to keep it from him! Wednesday of next week I will be going to Galva IL to put a deposit down on our new puppy! Mom and Dad are making babies just this week - a black mama and chocolate papa. (We're shooting for a chocolate male) If the breeding takes, puppies will be born in February and ready to go home in April. The real test here, is trying to keep this a secret from Chris as long as I possibly can! the last time i tried to keep a secret from him, i lasted a whole 32 hours. So far, I've lasted over 48 hours so I'm doing pretty good!!! This sounds totally wrong, but ladies... pray fervently that I can keep this from Chris! My first goal is keeping it from him until after I pay the deposit. Short goals here... yea :)
http://www.crickethollowfarm.com/Puppypage.htm - we're expecting a puppy from Izzy and Boone!

I guess we share everything

Good gracious! We seem to share more than I thought. I spent the entire week after Steph's wedding, and part of Thanksgiving week sick as well. I finally got put on drugs a couple days before Thanksgiving so I could enjoy my holiday. Tis the season I guess.
Oh, and while Tulsa and the entire midwest has been buried in a snowstorm, it's been 70 degrees in Boston! What craziness is going on in the world? We're actually supposed to get our first snow this Monday. Gotta love that temperature change. Well, I'll just cross my fingers for a snow day. Well, I hope we are all back to good health very soon!

siiiiiiiick

here, here, kimmie - I'm sick too. And we have 8 inches of snow! If i were smart, i would have just stayed home today. but instead i made Chris plow our driveway so we could go to work, only to both return home at noon (me due to this blasted cold and Chris to take care of me). Anyway, I'm glad I live in the north, where people know how to drive in the winter-wonder-land conditions. oh, except I'm not thankful for the Florida driver who cut me off this morning and then continued to drive 15 miles an hour ON THE INTERSTATE!!! I'm also very thankful today for my husband who stopped by Blockbuster on his way home to bring me 'over the hedge', of which I've been dying to see for quite some time now. Ta ta, my nose is a faucet!

I'm sick. And it sucks.

Apparently, being sick not only turns me into a quivering puddle of whining and coughing, it also aggravates my emotional side a little bit.

I stayed home sick from work today because I had a fever of 102 this morning. Add that to the fact that the city of Seattle has turned into one giant ice skating rink, and there’s no way I’m leaving my warm pile of pets and blankets on my couch.

So I watched Akeelah and the Bee. And if it weren’t for my pitiful sick state, I probably still would have liked the movie. I mean, a cute little girl from South L.A. who can spell and who goes to the National Spelling Bee? That’s just heartwarming for everyone. But add to that a feverish, emotional girl, and I was practically crying my eyes out.

Then, I check out Jen’s blog today and find that she wrote the most beautiful things about me a few days ago, and I started the waterworks all over again. I miss you girls! I remember being sick in college, and knowing that a comforting hug or a cup of tea was just down the hall. If we were all together right now, I’d pop in You’ve Got Mail and sit back and enjoy the chitchat and laughter that always follow us wherever we go.

strange dream

Last night I dreamt that Liz and Nathan decided to have another wedding (out West this time). So there we all were at Liz's second wedding. The wedding was thrown together very quickly and we were all running around like headless chickens. But it was beautiful (and pink). Here's the strangest thing... I was the minister! I hadn't a clue what I was doing but there was lots of laughter. So, Congratulations Liz and Nathan! It was a beautiful wedding even if the minister was a bit crazy!

Back to Reality...

Hi ladies!
I want to let all of you know how special it was to me that you all came to the wedding. For some of you, I know it was a big deal to get there and I am so grateful to have great friends. I have a new appreciation for my friends and family now, after dealing with some situations that have arisen from Shawn's side (which aren't worth mentioning). I am so blessed!

Our honeymoon was perfect, aside from the fact that it was too short. I would love another week of doing nothing! That would be fantastic! We got back on Wednesday and got busy moving stuff and setting up our home - there is still a LOT of work to be done, but since we will be moving AGAIN in the next few months, we're trying not to get too settled.

Shawn is taking his time finding the right job, and even though it will be a financial struggle for a little while, I think it's for the best. I want him to be happy and truly have job satisfaction. We are just laying low and praying about direction now - enjoying just being with each other and not having a wedding to plan! :-)

I hope all is well with all of you and I plan to make phone calls to all of you in the next few weeks. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and you all get to spend time with loved ones. We are going to Lee and Kathy's for dinner and then putting up our Christmas decorations. Anyone can feel free to give us a call if you get a chance! Love you girls!!!

'Tis the season

So it might be more than like six months away, but it’s never too early to start planning the next Sapphire Reunion, right?
June 15 – 18 (Friday to Monday) is the weekend we’re shooting for. I’ve got some ideas in the works, but if anyone has any suggestions, I’m open to them!

We’re having a potluck at work today. So much good food – I’m going to have to roll home tonight. I made my cheesy corn casserole, the one dish I know how to cook, but had to use a new Corningware dish since I blew up my other casserole dish. So it doesn’t look quite right. But there’s enough cheese and sour cream in there to make cardboard taste good, so I think it will be okay.

I can’t believe the holidays are upon us already. Thanksgiving is next week. That’s just crazy. And that means I need to get going on the Christmas shopping, although thanks to Julie’s jewelry plus the fact that we’re flying and can’t take very much with us, I don’t have a whole lot to buy.

Anyway, just wanted to say hello. I miss you all so much. There always seems to be a sapphire-shaped hole inside of me after our weekends together.

Love you all!

Catch the last plane to Tulsa and I'll meet you at the station

Waiting at the airport in Denver. Got online to kill some time because we have a three hour layover.
So excited to see everyone, I can hardly wait!

Time is ticking away...

Can't wait to see everyone in a week!

speaking of loafers...

Ok so, speaking of loafers, I had to explain to my students what penny loafers are. So now I officially feel old. I've been enjoying being the cool, hip, young teacher who knows the jive and what new movies are out and all that. But the minute I explained penny loafers to my students, I knew I was dating myself. Oh well. At least for now I can appease myself with the knowledge that some of the teachers on my team were teaching the year i was born:)
I'm sorry you were unable to find fall colors Kimmie. You should take a visit out here. We've had some awesome ones this year. Other than enjoying the New England fall, all is status-quo out here. Just keeping busy as usual. Life at school is never dull. We're contantly inundated with new methods of school safety. My students are as unpredictable as New England weather. Today one bolted and ran out of the building, and another one refused to go to language arts. Never a dull moment. Ah well, this is the life they tell me I signed up for. What was I thinking? Naw, somewhere deep inside, I love it.

The brown loafers are sucking up all my creativity

Why is that weekends go by so fast while the workweek sometimes seems to drag by? Ugh.
I just finished munching on an apple that we got over the weekend during our little jaunt into the mountains with some friends. We were looking for some fall colors. But Washington, we forgot, is the Evergreen State. Meaning there are lots of evergreen trees. So there weren’t too many fall colors. But it was still a pretty drive.

Adam and I had our first appointment with the doctor last week to start this whole fertility process. She was really young, but very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. So we’re both getting tested (my test being a whole lot more pleasant than his), then if everything looks okay, I’ll start taking some drugs in a few months. It was an encouraging appointment – she was very positive about the whole process. But it was also a little scary just because we are going to be finding out some answers – and I’m a little worried about what those will be. Her main advice was just to keep trying and be patient. So that’s what we will do.

She asked me if I was doing anything to help along the process. And so, of course, I told her I’m trying to get healthier – i.e., working out, eating healthier, losing weight, the usual.
So she asked how much I wanted to lose. I told her I really just wanted to get fitter, but I wouldn’t mind losing around thirty pounds or so.
“Thirty pounds? Really?” she said. Then she left the room.

So I’m sitting there, thinking, “Oh my goodness. She thinks I need to lose even more weight than that. I’m fatter than I even thought I was. I’m so fat, I’m probably going to break the stirrups off this flimsy little table. Why do I even eat at all? I should just start one of those liquid diets. Or maybe just start eating celery. Nothing but celery.”

So at the point that my self-esteem was probably the lowest it’s ever been in my whole life, the doctor came back into the room with some good news.
She went through a list of things we could start doing now to help along the process (cut down on caffeine, alcohol – stuff we already knew) and then she said, “And it’s been my experience that women who lose around five to six pounds can jump-start their ovulation just by losing that little bit of weight. I don’t think you need to lose anything like thirty pounds, but five or six might help.”
Whew. Really? That’s all? What a relief. I thought she was going to say I needed to have my stomach filled with a saline balloon or something.

So I’m starting a new workout regime. Which basically means, I’m starting to workout. Adam already had been doing really well with the healthy eating and exercise, so now I’m hopping on board too. I still would like to lose a little more than five or six pounds in the long run, but that’s an easy goal I can start with. And I’m all about the attainable goals.

Love you girls!

Stay at home wife?

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. I do get to read what you all write, and I love it!!

Steph -- I will be at the wedding for sure!! We are driving 1/2 way Thursday night and the rest of the way on Friday. I can't wait to see you on Saturday all dressed up. :) You are going to look so beautiful!!

Nothing much going on here. I've been on Fall Break for the past two weeks, and I have no idea what I've actually accomplished. That's not true...my house is mostly clean, laundry is almost done and I'm almost finished with a baby blanket I'm making. I'm not too sure about the baby blanket...but everything else is coming out ok. :) I definitely couldn't make this a full a time thing...I have too much down time. :)

My sister got married two weekends ago now. That was a beautiful wedding. Now...all the Marsh girls are married. I think my parents are grateful and now looking to moved. :)

Fall has seemed to disappear slightly here. We had our first winter storm Tuesday night. We got about 6 inches of snow, that of course by today is almost gone. Jen you would have pulled your mittens out, but don't put away the flip flops...they are calling for 70 next week. :) Ahh...weather in Colorado...you never know what it is going to be like.

another one bites the dust

My brother also got engaged this weekend (that's Jason in Michigan, in case you were wondering which one). They are shooting for a September wedding next year in Michigan. That leaves the youngest, Stephen, as the only un-wed of the family. Other news - my Dad is in the hospital with cellulitis in his leg. He also has pneumonia so please keep him in your prayers.
This thursday and friday I am taking my very first business trip to Marshall, MN! I'll be visiting my team at USBancorp, with whom i have worked with for the last 4.5 years and only met 2 of them face to face. I feel oh so professional.
I think we'll be getting a dog in the spring! I've had puppy fever for a while now and recently, I've passed the fever on to Chris. We just have to decide between a chocolate lab, yellow lab, or black lab. Chris doesn't know this for sure yet, but I'm pretty certain :) I want a big dog that will scare people away with his bark - WOOF!

so excited

Ok girls, I just have to say that I'm sitting here reading all of your blogs and I am SOOO excited to all be together in just a few short weeks for the blessed event of Stephanie's wedding! I cannot wait. First of all, Steph, it is ridiculous that we live in Tulsa and still do not see each other that much. PLEASE call me when you get a chance and tell me when we can get together. Because you are much busier than me. Don't forget that I am having a jewelry party on October 21st at 6pm. Please come. I'm actually selling the jewelry now and need you to come because I'm afraid nobody else will and it will be embarrassing. That's my news girls, I'm selling a quality fashion jewelry called Cookie Lee. It's kind of like Arbonne or Mary Kay except that it's really cute jewelry and there's no sales pitch or pressure. Just fun jewelry! Basically I just show it to my friends and when they have something they need new jewelry for they can buy it from me if I have something they like. I'm also doing some home shows and office parties and craft fairs to make some extra money. I thought this might be a fun thing I could do from home that could help provide some supplemental income for us. I keep some jewelry inventory in stock but you can also order anything out of the seasonal catalog. If any of you happen to be interested in seeing it, let me know and I'll mail you a catalog. No pressure! Just for fun. =) Anyways, enough about me. Liz, thanks for the Michigan tips, we'll take it to heart. I also want to add to Kim's blog that she was not only the one writing her crushes names in her journal with hearts around them, ... but I even remember a time when she wrote her love interest's name of the moment in the pockets of her jeans and I'm pretty sure that we could also find a variety of romantic infatuations listed on the inside of her closet door frame. hehehe =) So, quick update here. Seth has been sick all week. YUK! I haven't seen the light of day since Monday (5 days ago). I'm going crazy! Lilah is good. She's getting fat. But it's cute. My brother got engaged last weekend. I've attached a couple of his pictures from the evening of the big event. His fiance', Lauren, has threatend me with ugly bridesmaid dresses if I continue to laugh at Daniel's stupid attempts to woo her. (He's been calling her to recite messages of Love that he stole off the insides of all my Dove Promises chocolates.) He was attempting this last night at my house and she heard me laughing while he was on the phone with her. Anyways, that's it for us. Miss you all and love you!

My Fair Autumn

Where dost thou goest my fair autumn?! Autumn has slipped away. if you look closely, ah yes, there you go... snow pellets! It's freakin October people!!! The leaves on my two front trees are still green and fully intact. This is of utmost rediculous behavior! I wore my winter coat and mittens today... MITTENS! While this may be perfectly acceptable in climates such as Alaska, Colorado, and the North Pole... it certainly is not in Illinois. I'm really disappointed if you can't tell.
Oh, but i did get new tires today on my car, which makes a huge difference. So I guess I'm ready for the snow, whenever it comes. Now we'll be safe traveling to T-town next month. And this time, i've decided to have my tires regularly rotated because i did learn my lesson there. Oh, Chris and I just watched 'Stick It', that gymnastics movie that closely resembles 'Bring It On'. It was cute with some definate laugh-out-loud parts. I recommend it for a girls night... or if you, like me, have a husband who likes teen-age girl chick flicks. I love this man :)

Blast from the past

So I just upgraded my Yahoo e-mail account to the Beta version. And, for some reason, the little Yahoo gnomes re-sent some of my really, really old e-mails as new messages. My inbox was flooded with e-mails from around the time of our wedding, three and a half years ago.
It’s so weird. Like the me from the past was trying to communicate with the me of the future.

Anyway, I highly recommend this to anyone who’s a little bored – go back and read a couple e-mails you sent or received around three or four years ago. It’s really quite entertaining … and a little humiliating – sort of like reading your diary from jr. high where you wrote down a certain boy’s name over and over, surrounded by flocks of little hearts. Of course, I never did that – but I know some of you did.

Showers and weddings

Hi ladies!
So I thought I would post since I know it will be another long while before I'm on here again. I absolutely love reading all these posts - especially the ones about Grey's.

And, yes, Kimmie I am completely jealous, and that's honestly why I haven't been able to bring myself to call you lately! :) Just kidding. I am jealous though...the Grey's cast is SO much better than my incident with Garth. Thanks for the shoes for the wedding...I LOVE them and they'll be perfect for that day and after. They look way cute with jeans, too. :)

Liz - it's so good to hear a little from you! I hope we can connect tonight! I can't wait to hear your voice again. Too bad you can't meet me in Boston tomorrow!

Jen - I hope you're feeling better! You've been on my mind a lot, so give me a call when you get a minute.

Juls - Why is it that we live a matter of minutes from each other and we both seem to be too busy to get together. I have a shower gift for you and I want to see if you can do a trial run with the make up with me sometime soon. Of course, that means that we'll have to SHOP for make up. If you're ok with that. :)

Angie - I miss you mucho. I am so glad that we're getting better about our daily emails again, but somehow it's just not the same. Thanks for all the help you've been giving for the wedding! We'll chat about that soon.

Jamie - I CANNOT wait to see you and I am so glad you'll be able to make it in for the wedding! I hope school is going well with you and you have a great class this year! :) Have fun!!!

Ok, so as for me: I had two showers at the end of Sept / beginning of Oct. The second one was for my church and I got the best gift! They all got together and bought my mom a plane ticket to surprise me the night before the shower!! I was out bowling with church and my mom shows up at the bowling alley. Yeah, I freaked out. It was great. So she was here for about 3 days and that was wonderful.

Since then, I have been trying to do wedding stuff (32 days), but I was scheduled at Pottery Barn last week and I put in a bunch of overtime at SPARKS, so I didn't get much done until Sunday. It's coming along, but I still feel pretty far behind. This week, however, is dedicated to Jacqueline and her wedding. I will be out in New Hampshire (and Boston) until Saturday morning. I can't wait and I think it will be very fun.

Anyhooo...I can't think of much else to say, so keep in touch - keep blogging. Let me know when ya'll are getting into town so I can plan accordingly!

Love you girls and miss you lots!!!