Another Weekend Comes to an End.

Well, another weekend has come and gone.  We are enjoying what is left of our Sunday, by sitting on the couch.  Kyle is reading in preparation for school tomorrow and I am blogging because I no longer have homework to put off until Sunday night.
I'm going to start with a little pre-weekend info.  On Thursday, I was overcome with the urge to rearrange and clean.  So, I lit my pumpkin spice candle in one room and my cinnamon spice candle in another and got to work.  Because we live in such a small space, there is not a lot I can do with my house, but I changed it a bit.  I put away my summery decorations and tried to make my house seem more fall-ish.  I brought out two cute owl candles I've been waiting to put out, and some brown and deep red tea lights.  I also put out a tray I bought a few months ago at a little boutique.  It's distressed and has a bouquet of flowers on it.  I like it and it looks nice with my candles on it.  All of that is on top of my AWESOME lazy susan that Pam gave me at a shower.  It is made from an old wine barrel, and yes it is as great as it sounds :)  Well Thursday morning all I did was clean and organize and change.  In the afternoon I babysat for the Suns.

This weekend was nice, the weather has been absolutely amazing!  Friday Kyle and I were with Gregory and his friend Parker for most of the day.  The Sun kids had a half day of school, so Olivia went with one of her friends and G had a play date.  Parker talks all the time and VERY loud.  He is a nice boy though.  We took them to lunch at Chipotle and then headed back to the house to wait for the repair man to come.  The boys played Pokemon Cards, swords outside, and what sounded like karaoke in G's room.  It was very entertaining to listen to.  They sang Katy Perry's song Firework at the top of their lungs and also Maroon 5's Misery.  It must have been quite a show up there, because we were downstairs and it sounded like they were right in front of us!  They also played with paper airplanes and were on "missions" to other "bases" (plants in the yard) and kept failing.  Thankfully, no one was hurt. :)  Friday night, Kyle took me on a date to outback, I want to try new places, especially not chains, but I was tired and he really wanted a bloomin' onion PLUS my list of all the places I'd like to try is currently missing.

Saturday morning we went to the Plaza Art Fair.  It was so nice outside, we walked around looking at all the different artist's art.  There were certainly some interesting pieces there.  I felt like heads were a reoccurring theme.  Yes, heads.  Weird right?  Maybe I'm just not "into" art enough to appreciate the heads.  We had lunch at a fun little place called Blanc Burgers & Bottles.  It is a gourmet burger place that has a huge bottled drink list.  Both of us really enjoyed it!  Kyle had the classic--he really liked it and I had the turkey.  Mine was delicious.  It was a turkey burger with baby spinach, avocado, fresh tomato, and a special blanc tangy tomato sauce.  Loved it!  We also shared truffle fries, which were SO good and were served in a small shopping cart.  Too cute, I forgot my phone and camera on Saturday so there are no photos to share.   Kyle worked Saturday night, and I got a lot accomplished at home.  I switched out most of our summer clothes and brought out our winter stuff.  I ironed all the ironing I've been putting off, I also took everything out of our storage space and organized and threw away.  I re-organized our small closet, put our guest room back in welcoming order, finished laundry, did my nails and managed to read.  Saturday seemed like a very productive day!  Oh and I also learned more about my camera and how to use it.  What all the buttons do and even more!  The internet is a wonderful tool.
Sunday.  We went to church and I got to hold Baby Asher for a while after.  Asher is our friend Jon and Becca's new baby.  He's a month and a half I think.  He's a sweet little guy.  Kyle and I came home to watch the games, the Chiefs and the Bears played at the same time, so we switched back and forth but neither of our teams won today.  Bummer.  Oh well, there's always next weekend.  I made shrimp scampi and alfredo for dinner and I also made homemade honey whole wheat bread.  Success!  I felt so productive.  Now poor Kyle has a headache, so I better go take care of him.  Cheers until next time!

Time Flies...No Matter What.

Well I realized Saturday night, that the month of September is already half way over.  Can you believe it?!  I can't.  I feel like it was just yesterday we were celebrating Labor Day at the good ol' Delavan Parade.  Now it's already September 19th.  I am shocked.  I really am, I feel like there are days that are never going to end, but then before I know it, we're starting a new week.  This year has flown by, I've had to adjust to a new life, a new place, and just normal life.  And I've realized that not matter what, time flies.  It used to be that "time flies when you're having fun," but I've realized now, time flies no matter what and there's no stopping it.  As I sit here typing this, I know time is going quickly past me, and what do I do?  I sit here, looking out at the beautiful sun-shiny day.  We've had a lot of rainy, cloudy, not so nice days in a row, and now today and hopefully the next 10 days or so are going to be gloriously beautiful!  I cannot be any happier either!  As time flies by me, I am also thinking about what's coming up next.  Even though October seems so far away, I know its not.  Sophie is coming the first week in October, then we're going back to Illinois, because we have 2 weddings on the same day.  We're also going to a Chiefs football game in October, on Halloween.  As for the rest of September, I'm not even sure.  We may be going to Taylor Swift on Saturday with Kyle's cousins, but it's still not concrete.  Basically, we're fly by the seat of our pants kind of people.  I know what most weekdays will be, but weekends, who knows.  We're usually up for anything or nothing.  Whatever fits with our moods :)  Cheers until next time!

So Long Sweet Summer.

Well, I thought summer had officially ended, but we've had more summer weather.  It was chilly and fallish last week, but gradually it worked its way back into the 90s.  Today is supposed to be in the 90s too.  So I'm not sure what this is.

Well our week was the same as usual, but our weekend was a not-so-predictable weekend.  Friday night, we attended a fundraiser for the Kansas City Heart Foundation.  It was at the zoo and the theme was Africa.  Apparently, we were supposed to dress like we were going on safari.  We didn't get that memo, but Kyle wore khaki pants with a light blue with white pinstripes shirt, and I wore a khaki zebra print dress.  Both of us were dressed casual, but nice too.  We did see people dressed as "marsupials" and a man in a zoo keeper's outfit with a bow tie.  The "marsupials" were too much for me to handle.  2 adults with black eyeliner nose and whiskers drawn on their faces, with homemade ears on their heads, and HUGE tails attached to their jeans.  It was pretty crazy if you ask me.  Anyways, When we arrived, it was pouring down rain.  I instantly was regretting our decision to attend.  It was freezing and wet outside, and the event was being held outdoors.  As we waited for more people to get on the tram, the rain slowed, and finally stopped. We rode the tram to the Africa side of the zoo, and were greeted with safari hats and a photo booth.  The entertainment for our night was African drummers and dancers.  It was very interesting to watch.  We also went on the boat tour, but the animals were already inside for the night, so we went for a short crowded tour to look at some trees.  It was wet and misty on the boat.  Not a favorite of the night, but a good idea initially.   They served African inspired food, and a very tasty "African" cocktail.  We had lucky elephant bookmarks to take home, along with a giraffe mask.  Overall, the night turned out to be much better than I thought it would.  It didn't rain the rest of the evening, but it was quite chilly out.

Saturday, Kyle had drill.  I dropped him off around 7AM, it was a late drill.  Which I appreciated and he did too.  I spent the rest of my day with my friend Sarah.  We met at starbucks and I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the fall.  It was so good!  We talked and eventually ended up shopping for the afternoon.  Pier 1, World Market, Michaels, and Gordmans.  It was a nice day, I picked up some delicious organic hard apple cider from World Market, and a cute little spoon rest from Pier 1.  I thought my day was pretty successful.  I picked Kyle up from drill, and later we went out for chinese.  That night, we taught his mom and dad how to play eurche, but I'm still not sure if they get the game completely.

Sunday was great, I didn't have to take Kyle to drill, so I was able to sleep in until 8!  I got ready and watched a little of the 9/11 memorial service on TV.  I left around 11 to meet my friend Faith, from Illinois, at the Plaza.  The Plaza is a shopping district with nice restaurants and great shops!  We shopped for the afternoon, I got a new butter dish at anthropology, and Faith bought really cute drawer pulls and a spoon rest there.  She also bought some tops at forever 21 that are so her, not cute on anyone else but her kinda tops.  It was so good to see her, and spend time with her!  I had a really nice afternoon.

Sunday was a day remembering 9/11/01, and seemed so sad.  I cannot imagine how hard it would've been to be there.  It was definitely not forgotten and never will be.  When I was in NYC last fall, we went to the memorial museum.  It is a heart breaking place.  The missing persons signs, the videos, the interviews, everything made me so sad.  And yesterday hearing a fraction of the names of people who lost their lives that day was just as sad.  All of them were someone's somebody.

On the other hand, a happier reason to celebrate 9/11/11 was, it was 9 months I've been married!  I can't believe we've been married for 3/4 of a year.  It seems silly to have so many thoughts about being married 9 months, but it's a big deal to us.  The time has gone so fast!  Some days it seems like the days are so slow, and the next thing I know it's a new month.  I don't know how to explain it, but 9 months just seems like a milestone, even though it's not.  I just can't believe it's been that long, it seems like yesterday I was fuming at Jos. A Bank.  :)  Nine months.  Whoa.

Well...lastly, I have to say I wish we were going to Illinois sooner rather than later.  Today is my Mom's Birthday and we're not there to celebrate it with her.  We did last weekend, but it's still not the same.  We have about a month until we get to go back.  It seems like a long time, but I'm sure time will fly by.  We're going in October there are 2 weddings on the same day.  It's going to be a challenge to make it to both, but we're going to try!  Plus we get to spend an extra day in Illinois because Kyle has fall break and doesn't have school on Thursday or Friday.  Hooray!

Cheers until next time!

Labor Day.

As I sit on my couch thinking about what to write about, I am not sure, I don't even know what to call this blog.  I guess I'll write about Labor Day weekend, nothing eventful happened, but it was still wonderful, and still our weekend.

Well, we spent Labor Day weekend in Illinois.  It was so wonderful to be back!  It had been about a month since we'd been back, and when it's home, that is a VERY long time.  Kyle and I both love being there.  We have a great time every single time we're there.  The time always goes way too fast, and we both talk about the day, when we finally get to move back. 

Well, we spent Friday in the car traveling and arrived at Mom and Dad's around 3:30.  It was hot outside, but a nice day.  Kyle and I went for a short bike ride after we got there.  It felt so nice to be doing something after sitting in the car for 5 hours.  The sun on my face, the wind in my hair, and my sweet husband riding beside me.  It was great.  When we got back we went for a swim with the whole fam, except Cole.  He's a party pooper.  We also met my cousin Veronica for the first time, not because she was just born, but because our family is so big it's hard to meet everyone in a timely manner.  Veronica is from Green Bay Wisconsin and visiting my parents for a few weeks.  She is 13 and I couldn't believe it was my first time meeting her.  I guess we don't make it to Green Bay very often.  She loves being at the farm, and seemed to be having a great time so far.  After dinner, the girls and my mom went to the movie at the park, but Kyle and I stayed to visit with Dad.  He always has great stories to tell.  We sat and talked and laughed all night long!  He is so loud and animated, probably the best story teller ever.  I know one day he'll tell my kids stories and they'll love them as much as I do.  

Saturday was a BUSY day.  All the guys go to karate every Saturday, Kyle loves it.  He's already an orange belt, and wants to be ready to test for his purple belt when we visit in October.  They are gone from 7:30 -11AM.  Normally we have a nice brunch when they get back, but this weekend was Delavan's Fall Festival.  The carnival was in town, and ironically, Mom and I were working at the information booth that morning.  From 11-1 we sat at the info booth.  We were there to obviously inform people about things happening at the festival, but we did not know anything.  We were also selling T-shirts and duck numbers for the big race on Monday.  It was very comical to work this booth, no one told us things had been changed for that day's schedule, we were less knowledgeable than the people asking us questions.  My excuse to everyone was, "I'm from Missouri."  Everyone just laughed when I told them.  It was also a lot more fun because Tabytha, Mallory, and Charlie came to hang out with us.  Deb stopped by to visit too.  After we were done at the booth, Mom, Deb, and I went for a much needed pedicure!  It was so relaxing and nice, I didn't want it to end!  It was part of Mom's birthday gift from us, we gave her her gifts a week early since we won't be there on her actual birthday.  I didn't get to see a lot of Kyle, but we both still had a great day.  He ended up going grocery shopping with my Dad and Cole, and they all went to dinner together.  It was a male bonding day for sure.  We ended Saturday with playing BINGO at the festival, none of us won, but it's always an interesting time hanging out in Delavan.

Sunday Funday.  We went to church and after, had a ton of people over for lunch.  As always Mom and Dad had enough food to feed an army!  The day was nice and relaxing, and ended with all of us going to the small firework display in Delavan, but not before we played a couple more rounds of BINGO.  I was 1 away from winning the BIG game, with a $106 prize.  It was fill your card, but 1 away doesn't win the prize.  :)

Monday, Monday.  We had the traditional Labor Day breakfast.  Dad makes every possible breakfast item imaginable.  No one can ever eat everything.  We had pancakes, blueberry pancakes, biscuits and gravy, eggs, breakfast burritos, sausage links and patties, ham, bacon, fruit, juice, milk, chocolate milk, and that's all I can think of right now, but you get the idea.  Milo and Cindi came over, and Dad's sister Dana and her family came too.  After breakfast we had to get ready to go to the parade.  We got LOTS of candy and beads there.  It was a good time for everyone :)  Nothing like Delavan's Labor Day Parade.  It's one of a kind.  After the parade we all went to Aunt Carol's house for our get-together.  Aunt Jac, Aunt Lori, Aunt Dana, Aunt Carol, Aunt Lana, and most of the cousins were there.  We had a nice lunch together, but eventually we were back at the park for one last go at the BINGO tent.  None of us were lucky enough to win this year, but there's always next year!  Kyle and I left Illinois and made it home late Monday night.  It was a great weekend with friends and family, and I cannot wait to have another one sooner rather than later. 

Cheers!