Merry Belated Christmas

What a wonderful Christmas. I am so lucky to have been able to spend this holiday with lots of people I love. Here is a little recap of the great time Bob and I had December 23rd-December 28th!

Bob and I traveled to Sibley to celebrate Christmas with my family, we missed out on half the clan being there as Nate, Pat & Ashley all celebrated elsewhere, we really missed them being around and it felt a little odd not sitting in our regular seats. Tuesday evening Bob and Cole put together a Wii bowling tournament with bracket and all. It was a double elimination tourney with 8 players ranging in age from 4 to 55. We had both our Wii and Cole’s playing on different tvs. Tom and Cole were in the championship game, with Cole taking the prize of $5 in Sibley Chamber Bucks. I am happy to say that I did get 3rd in the tourney; all losers were awarded a conciliation prize of a candy cane.

We were able to enjoy some family time on Christmas Eve with my dad’s side of the family and then our opening presents routine which like I said was a little different because my brothers were not there. This was the first year I sat on a chair but after re-looking at some of my presents I may move back to the floor because I could not see a dang thing. I seriously thought everything was a different color than what it was. We need some lights in there. It was so much fun to see Cole, Merrick & Macy opening presents. Later that night we went to midnight mass at church and then straight into bed so Santa could come. And guess what? He did!

Christmas morning Bob and I loaded up the car and headed to Roseville. We were able to get there by 11:15 to see that Santa came to two different houses, we must be really good. Christmas day was spent with Bob’s family enjoying a great meal and opening presents. Addy is just a little doll and we could tell she was enjoying this wonderful day of celebration.

Friday morning Bob and I headed to the Cathedral to meet with Deacon Jim for some marriage prep items. We now have some good starting points and we also took the focus inventory. We will meet with the Chaplain at Creighton to go over our answers, I hope we passed. Bob and I then met up with his family and cousins at the Mall of America to go on rides. I went on the new roller coaster and that was just about enough for me, it goes straight up and straight down, and upside down all inside the mall.

Saturday Bob’s parents treated us to see A Christmas Carol at The Guthrie. What a great show and we are so lucky that we were able to spend this time with his family. That evening we had their Christmas tradition of Wild Rice Soup, and it was delicious. We also were able to spend some time with Mesa and Tony on Saturday night. I really miss them.

Sunday morning Bob and I and his parents met up with my parents and my sister’s family for a breakfast buffet at their hotel. And then Merrick, Cole, Tom, my Dad, Bob and I headed to the Vikings game to watch them take the NFC North Division Championship. Oh yeah Purple Pride! It was so much fun.

I want to thank of course my parents and Bob’s parents for the great gifts that were totally unnecessary but completely appreciated. Also thanks for letting us stay with you both. We are so lucky to have loving and caring parents who only want the best for us. We hope that you are able to enjoy your presents this year as well.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you all didn’t get caught up in presents but remember the real meaning of this day. How lucky are all of us to have Jesus Christ born on December 25th?

But Baby It’s Cold Outside.

I just have to say it. I Love cold weather. Today is exceptionally freezing and it is stocking cap weather. I love the way everyone looks all bundled up freezing it just makes me think that people look better with clothes on. In the summer I hate it how everyone has barely nothing on because it is so hot. I think I love the cold weather too is because I know I will not get heat stroke. I have had that way too many times and it is such a gross feeling.

Well this weekend was quite pretty fun. I had to work a full day on Friday which was very strange for me but I tolerated it by blogging and playing games on my computer. After dinner Bob and I headed out to go Christmas shopping. He amazed me how quickly we could get things done. We were in and out of stores snapping up some purchases and then on our way to the next place. We hit Target hard and pretty much have everyone complete on our shopping list except for my mom, who is by the far the most difficult person in the world, not only to shop for, she is just difficult! But I do love her.

Saturday after some arousing water aerobics and Wii Fit, I ran some errands and then was lucky enough to watch An Inconvenient Truth with Bob. I had never seen it before and it was on tv. I later made an awesome meal of lamb burgers on pita bread with feta cheese. It was delicious. Saturday night Bob and I met up with Chris and headed out to the Creighton Basketball game at the Qwest Center. Creighton won and it was fun to watch some basketball as both Bob and I could not remember the last time we went to a b-ball game. We took a shuttle back to campus, the student shuttle wasn’t there so we hopped on a bus that took us to the Jay, a bar by Creighton. The bus was packed and there were girls on it doing cheers that spelled out Beer. Give me a B- B-you got your B you got your B. The funny part about the whole thing is there was a kid on the bus too.

On Sunday after church I did my typical Sunday thing of laundry and then we watched the Vikings rip apart the #1 Arizona Cardinals. Take that! My boy Chad Greenway had a stellar game and it was fun to see a win. That evening Bob and I went out to eat at my new favorite restaurant Jazz: A Louisiana Kitchen. We had popcorn crawfish and I enjoyed one of the best meals ever of Shrimp Creole with Dirty Rice. Yummy.

It was a nice weekend and I look forward to this being the last full week of work before the holidays. Boy am I ready.

My Christmas Songs

Well I have wanted to put on my top ten favorite Christmas songs but there are just way too many to only list ten, and I can't put them in order because I could never pick the best. I like all of these songs for different reasons. I included some of my favorite memories with each song title. I also have made links so you can look at the lyrics just in case one or two of these get in your head. Enjoy!

Angels We Have Heard On High This song is probably the reason I wanted to play the French Horn. I also remember loving playing the French horn to this during midnight mass.
Auld Lang Syne Just love the tune, have no idea what it means, but Bob thinks it is the worse song to sing about forgetting old acquaintances.
Last Christmas –Wham I believe we had a keyboard that had this song as a pre-set. It drove my mom crazy.
Deck The Halls This song makes me laugh because during A Christmas Story the Asian men sing farahrahrah.
Feliz Navidad Love it only for Taco John’s Nacho Navidads.
Frosty The Snow Man Comes from my favorite Christmas cartoon. I love Frosty.
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Because Christmas is really the most wonderful time of the year.
Jingle Bell Rock
Rocking Around The Christmas Tree Both of these songs were ones that I did baton recitals for at the nursing home when I was little. I still remember my x-large t-shirt with a stenciled Christmas tree on it, white itchy tights, and tinsel as my costume. Thanks Mollie's Twirlers.
Carol Of The Bells I love it from Home Alone, it is just a beautiful song.
O Come, All Ye Faithful I tortured my college friends with this tune because I had my own version of lyrics in made up Latin. Est to mey nee pahh too…..Christe atoo.
Over The River And Through The Woods This reminds me of 4th grade music class with Mrs. Glade, I believe I may have sang this for a concert.
Sleigh Ride The ultimate song to play in S-O High School Band. Love it love it love it.
White Christmas Bing Crosby, Christmas classic and you have to think of Kevin in Home Alone putting on the after shave. Ahhhhh.
Winter Wonderland I had to add this one because the lyrics are really odd, who is Parson Brown and why are we calling our snowman that? Also who just gets married when we go to town?Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer Always thought this song was funny and thought of my Grandma Judy getting run over after our Christmas Eve.
Happy Christmas (War is Over)- John Lennon Just a good song, nice calm lyrics, this had to be on the list.
Song For A Winter's Night -Sarah Mclachlan I ran across this song and I fell in love with it, makes me want to curl up next to a fire with some hot chocolate and think of the good times.
Let It Snow Because it needs to snow for it to feel like Christmas
Mele Kalikmaka This song makes me want to go to Hawaii, Merry Christmas to you!
The Chanukah Song- Adam Sandler For all of the Jewish people that read my blog…favorite lyrics are, "O.J. Simpson, not a Jew But guess who is? Hall of famer Rod Carew- he converted"
Little Saint Nick-Beach Boys The old Coca Cola commercial with the polar bears, makes me want to get up and dance.
All I Want for Christmas (Is You) - Mariah Carey This song is God awful. It haunted me one Christmas, I heard it at least 4 times a day. Hate it. But now you can have it in your head.
Baby It’s Cold Outside I love this song when it is in the movie Elf. Kind of a naughty song, but a fun little duet.
Christmas -Blues Traveler I could rock out to this song all year round, so many vocal parts and a fun message about what Christmas has become.

I'd love to hear what some of your favorite Christmas songs are...please?

To be continued.

So I am back to finish out last week. I realized that pretty much all I talked about was the food. Yes this is the highlight of my life. You don’t get to look this way without loving the stuff and when we go back to visit we are guaranteed some good food.

So. Monday-Thursday I honestly cannot remember what we did except for work and school. I know that is pretty lame. I did have my one year anniversary on Wednesday of that week. I had a performance review which went fantastic. I was a little nervous my boss had caught on to my complete lack of motivation to go above and beyond but I did exceed expectations on many categories so we are good to go. Bob started respiratory and was excited to have one of his favorite professors from last year-sense the sarcasm.

Friday I only had an hour of work left so I stayed home and made use of my day off by working out and then hit many stores for some shopping. Unfortunately it was not a good trip as I only accomplished one thing and that was a pair of shoes for myself. Oh year Christmas is about giving… Friday evening Bob and started our Christmas tradition by watching some of our movies. We watched National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. What a funny and great movie.

Saturday was like many other Saturdays. Bob woke up to go to school to study and I went to my water aerobics class. It is funny I didn’t want to take water aerobics and then Jamie and Angela started so I went with them. Now both of them are unable to attend on Saturdays so it is me. Oh well the work out is great and it is funny to see all of the old ladies in the class. Saturday afternoon I had another Christmas tradition by being a bell ringer for the Salvation Army. I rang outside the hardware store by our house from 1:00pm-5:00pm. I dressed warmly but after the first hour I was unable to feel my toes and by the time I came home most of my body was numb. I like volunteering as a bell ringer because I know that I am able to do some good with my time. It is also fun people watching. Saturday evening Bob treated me to the Olive Garden to warm up and then we did get a little shopping done after.

Sunday I was still too cold to try to go to a bar to watch the Vikings and I knew it could be a disaster so I stayed home to watch the game on my computer. Not quite the action you are used to but I was able to clean the house and do some laundry during the game. The game was a typical Vikings Lions game and I am happy we squeezed that out again. Bob was at school studying again, I feel bad that most of his weekends are spent at school.

Monday. Just so you know Bob did great on his respiratory quiz and we went out for Indian food with Cassy and Megan from his class to celebrate. And yes this is it, I am talking about food again-it was great!

So we both had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I am thankful for all of my friends and family, my wonderful fiancé, a roof over my head, a job to go to, a car to take me there, my health, and of course FOOD to eat.

Our Thanksgiving. A little late.

Hmmm,

Well I said I was going to blog about my Thanksgiving, and now it looks like we are really a week over due huh? I guess in essence that means I was kept somewhat busy at work that I did not get a chance to blog. Don’t get your hopes up I was pretty bored but at inopportune times to blog so here is a recap of things that happened and things going on. I’m sorry if I forgot something or did not dwell on something that we did.

Wednesday, 11/26/08, Bob and I drove up to Minnesota in perfect weather. The whole time he was driving I was in charge of changing the music, but most of the drive was spent staring out the window looking for deer. I really wanted to see some deer galloping along the road nicely not getting hit by cars. Needless to say this did not happen. We arrived at Bob’s house and were greeted by his parents who are so great to be around and treat Bob like the true prince of the house. He really likes being treated that way I think. We went out to eat at The Caspian, a Persian restaurant that is closer to their house. We were joined by Sara, Aaron, & Addy for dinner. It is fun watching Addy pick and choose what she wants to eat and telling everyone no by shaking her head. It is so cute.

Thursday, 11/27/08, Thanksgiving Day. I could not skip my family tradition so I made Bob wake up, bundle up and go out for a Turkey Day walk. We definitely needed the walk as we ate so much. We enjoyed watching the Macy’s Day parade and getting all of the food ready for Bob’s family to come over. Everything was delicious and a huge thank you to Bob’s aunt & uncle on his dad’s side, and Bob’s aunt & uncle on his mom’s side for the food that they brought. After eating and cleaning up we were able to play some Catch Phrase. Later that evening after the family had left we took the Azar family picture for Christmas and a few pictures of Bob and I that could potentially be used for an engagement photo, thanks to Aaron who is a great photographer.

Friday, 11/28/08 Bob and I did some of our first steps of wedding/marriage planning. We met with the Deacon at the Cathedral of St. Paul to start the process of Catholic marriage prep and planning at wedding at the Cathedral. It made me nervous and excited all in one.
Later that day we met up with Tony and Mesa for some great friend time. I just have to say I love hanging out with them. We actually did a little shopping on black Friday and then we hung out with them into the evening where we went bowling and out for dinner at Bonfire on Grand. Oh how I miss Grand Ave. We ended the evening at their house where Tony and I had some drinks, Mesa slept and Bob sneezed from cat hair. Needless to say my pictures are not great from this night so I will not share!

Saturday, 11/29/08 Saturday we were able to relax with Bob’s family. We were again treated to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Everest on Grand, which is a Tibet, Nepal restaurant that is delicious. We went with Bob’s parents and then headed over for some Greek coffee in Minneapolis-I can’t remember the name of the place, but it was great. Homayoun and I enjoyed Greek coffee and Bob and Judi had their regular “weak” coffee. Later that evening we met up with Bob’s friends Krista and Nick for Thai food, and some major Rock Band playing at Nick’s house. When I get a chance I will post a picture of Bob concentrating so hard while playing!
Sunday, 11/30/08 After one last Persian meal at Bob’s house we left to come back home to Omaha. We were of course disappointed to leave the Twin Cities, all of our friends & family, and wonderful food-we ate too much. We knew reality had hit and we had to head back to school and work and long for Christmas to come so we can do it all over again. We were able to come home in time to watch the Vikings kill the Bears. That was a fun game.

Well more to come about this past week. I promise it will not be this long.

Happy Birthday Tom

Well after the long weekend of fun and family it is back to the grind at work. Before I get too excited about everything this past weekend and post pictures I need to wish my Brother-In-Law a very happy birthday!
Happy Birthday Tom. I am so glad that 11 years ago you joined in the Fleming family, of course at first we were like, really Becky, Tom the guy that wore purple jeans to church? But then we realized that this Marine was a true softy at heart. You have really grown on me and I am so happy to have you as my only brother-in-law. Without you I wouldn't be the proud aunt of Cole, Merrick and Macy. You are such a great father to those kids and you are exactly what Becky needs to keep her life in order.
Happy Birthday-hope you enjoy your day.

Making Turkey

Ok, so I am not making a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, but I did make turkey cookies! I am a little proud of these guys so I thought I would share them with you-a picture that is not the actual cookies. I will be bringing these up to Minnesota on Wednesday for the festivities at Bob's family's on Thursday. A few broken turkeys did make it into the bellies of Bob and Ashley this weekend and boy were they good.

What a bunch of Mavericks

Bob and I went to the University of Nebraska Omaha hockey game at the Qwest Center last night. I know that Bob really misses being able to watch hockey and I am really starting to like the game, and it was something for us to do last night.

We knew we could just buy tickets when we arrived because we went to a game last year. So when we go there we were able to snag some really good tickets. We were in the 8th row on the side right by where the players came out.

3 of the starters are from Minnesota and actually the goalie for UNO went to high school with Bob so it is fun to hear Roseville, MN down here in Omaha.

Both teams were not very good but UNO beat Michigan State 3-1, Bob said that both teams played some sloppy hockey and even I could tell with my minimal knowledge that they were not very good. Here are some pictures of the game.

Fun weekend with the Bob

I guess I didn't realize how much he really does study during a normal weekend, until this week. Bob recently started behavioral medicine (psychiatry pretty much). This has never been one of Bob's favorites. When he took psychology in college he hated it because he is more of a hands on type person and this subject just does not interest him. The other thing is that Bob naturally understand behavioral medicine and he feels it is not as complex as say cardiology. So bonus to me he doesn't need/want to study it as much. This made this weekend absolutely awesome. Not only did Bob not have a quiz today -it is on Wednesday though-he really did not study all that much.

On Friday afternoon Bob and I began our quest on the Wii Fit starting our fitness regime. After both work outs and realizing we need to get in shape we headed out for some Little King Subs-a great sandwich, (way better than Subway, but I still love Jimmy Johns) we headed to to the new James Bond movie. We enjoyed some popcorn and the movie was not awful but it was not a good Bond film. We came home to play some more Wii and watch TV.

Saturday Bob got to do something he loves but does not get to very much and that is sleep in. I woke up went to water aerobics and came back to find that Bob had just woken up. What a sleepy head. He did study a little that afternoon but then accompanied me to the grocery store, something I dread doing these days. Saturday night was filled with making some gingerbread cookies, playing Wii and Wii Fit and watching the Wizard of Oz as it was on TBS this weekend.

Sunday we also slept in and then we went to a bar to watch the Vikings loose. It was sad. And now being 5-5 and tied for 1st in the NFC North is quite the embarrassment. Hopefully we can knock down Jacksonville this weekend and Chicago on Sunday night football.

Any way I am just way lucky to have been able to spend the whole weekend with Bob. I didn't realize how much I missed those weekends like we used to have before school started. Oh I really do cherish our time together. Guess it is a good thing I am going to spend the rest of my life with him huh?

We Wii

Yes! Last night when I got home Bob said that Best Buy had a bunch of Wiis in stock he rationed with me that if we both spent money on it for Christmas and other holidays we could get it for each other. So we put off making breakfast for dinner and headed out to Best Buy. We had also decided we were going to get Wii Fit as I have wanted it for a while and both of us need to get in better shape. We picked up our Wii but Best Buy did not have the Wii Fit in stock so we headed up to Target, Nebraska Furniture Mart, & Gamers and they were all out. We drove up to Game Stop and Bob ran in b/c there was not much parking and sure enough Game Stop had like 20 Wii Fits so Bob bought it and we came home had dinner and then both were excited to get started making our Wii characters and playing. This is not going to be good for Bob's studying but I guess if he is taking a break it is better he is up swinging his arms than sitting on the couch.

We also set up our Wii Fit and both set fitness plans up for ourselves. However the Wii Fit pissed me off b/c it told me that Bob was in better shape than I was-hello does he wake up every morning to go to the gym? Does he watch what he eats? They totally did not take into consideration your real BMI, just height weight and age, not muscle or gender. Oh well I will kick that Wii Fit's butt.

Bob and I will also have to ask for some Wii accessories and more games for Christmas like Mario cart with the wheel and I saw this microphone game that is Karaoke. Totally me. We do not have any plans to get Rock Band yet as it is a little spendy but someday.

So come on over and play Wii with us. Bob and I even made our child Cyrus and I made a Safe Haven kid and our President Elect so we need more characters.

What I did today.

So my office just replaced Microsoft Office 2003 with Microsoft Office 2007 and one of the new features in Word is a blogging tool so I thought I would try it out today. And what better way of trying it than by making a list of the top 10 things I did today at work.
1. Blogged
2. Played Spider on my computer, all three levels and winning at each.
3. Looked for jobs on-line
4. Shopped for shoes
5. Decided what I will be having at the Cheesecake Factory tonight for Angela’s birthday.
6. Became annoyed by co-workers because they did not understand something it must not be right.
7. Figured out exactly how many hours I would need to work for the rest of the week planning out which days I can come in early and leave later.
8. Stared at my computer screen when someone walked by to look like I was working.
9. Accomplished small errands over lunch.
10. Booked blood drives, scheduled donors, ordered publicity materials, contacted coordinators.
Yes I did do some work today, although all of it was done within a good 45 minutes. My boss and co-worker were out all day and my bottom hurts from sitting.
Although I complain about my job I am lucky I have it so easy and that I am getting paid. I know there are so many unemployed fully capable people in the world that would love to have even my 45 minutes of work. I pray that everyone is able to find a challenging position in life doing something they enjoy at least a little bit.

Happy Birthday Angela

Just wanted to wish Angela Carey a very Happy Birthday. I look forward to celebrating with the gang on Tuesday (after the tests of Med School) at the Cheesecake Factory.

Oh Baby

I wanted to say congratulations to Sara & Aaron, Bob's sister and brother-in-law who are expecting their 2nd child. I'm so happy for you guys. Sara and Aaron are already great parents to Adeline and I know they will continue to be great.

I feel bad that I have not blogged about little Addy, I guess it is because when I see her there are so many other things going on as well. She is a little doll with the absolute coolest hair that I just can't get over. Addy loves to play and explore, and is a really mellow go with the flow type of gal so she will be a great big sister to the new little baby when it comes in 2009.

Here are a couple pictures of Addy. One with Uncle Bob at her first Twins game this summer and one from this fall-a little country for this girl.

This weekend's fun

Here is my Nephew Cole, dressed up in his Halloween costume as Steve Urkel. We all told him that he is going to be blackmailed by these pictures someday.

Next is Nana and Merrick in their matching witch costumes. I was trying to get Merrick to say, "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too." But she must not be that wicked with her green face.

Of course I can't forget little Macy. She is such a cute and good little baby. Every time she was fussy and my mom was holding her I was able to take her and calm her down. And that did not make Lois too happy! It must be the fact that her mom and I are so much alike. Here is a picture of myself with Macy and Merrick.

Happy Be-lated Birthday Merrick

Of course I did not wish my beautiful niece/Goddaughter a Happy Birthday on my Blog yet, because I was busy celebrating with her.

Merrick Elizabeth Mae turned 4 years old on November 1st. Last year she had 3 pinkalicious birthday parties in Kansas City, this year she as able to enjoy a birthday party at a brand new hotel in Minneapolis where she was adored and everyone in the hotel knew she was the birthday girl.

Merrick enjoyed playing with her 2nd cousin Isaac who just moved to Minnesota and will turn 4 on Friday. She also was able to play in the hotel, open presents, swim, and play with her new toys (Lots of Barbie stuff)

Happy Birthday Merrick, I love you and you are so sweet.

Here is a picture of Merrick blowing out her candles-only one boyfriend!

Congratulations Mesa and Tony

On Friday, Halloween, I received two wonderful phone calls. The first was from my cousin Ali who has been dating Mitch for about 8 years. Mitch had just proposed to her while they were on a beautiful fall afternoon walk around Spirit Lake. It was funny as Bob and I had just ran in to Mitch last week Saturday and I asked him, so when are you going to propose... Congratulations you two!

Then Friday evening I received the best call I think I could get... Mesa and Tony are getting married! Tony proposed to Mesa on Friday evening ringing the doorbell like a trick or treater except it was Mesa's treat as he had flowers and a gorgeous ring for her. I am so happy for them. Mesa was saying now we can gush all over this wedding stuff together, at least I have an Allie when to go to now and not talk about wedding stuff because I think both of us are on the same page that we do not want all the hoopla of it.

I do think that is so awesome that Mesa, Tony, Bob and I are all engaged to get married when we are all such good friends and will be for many years. This is a really awesome time for you guys. Congratulations!

Happy Halloween

Just wanted to wish all you ghouls and goblins a very Happy Halloween!

Be safe trick or treating, do not eat too much candy, and do not get too scared of all the spooks in the night.

Enjoy Halloween Bob, I know we will not be together to hand out candy but nothing will ever be as fun as two years ago when you lived on Laurel in St. Paul and we rigged a pulley system from the 2nd floor to hand candy out. Dang that was cold, but lots of fun.

Enjoy this scary picture...

Rant and Rave

So I pretty much have nothing to do at work so I might as well make a blog post. Here is a little session dedicated to short tidbits about anything and everything on my mind.

• Nebraska's Safe Haven Law. How great is this state? I mean they are so open to letting anyone and everyone just drop their unwanted children off and they just offer to pay for them. I'm glad that now being a resident of the State of Nebraska I am now the parent of 24 Safe Haven Children, most just 10 years younger than myself. They have decided to hold a special session on November 14th to change the law. This probably means an entire bus load of children will be dropped off on November 13th. Great!
• Obama. ok I just have to say it. He is gorgeous and eloquent and I am excited for him to be President of the United States. Did anyone see his propaganda 1/2 hour special last night?
• Baseball season has come to a close. It was sad that an NL team won, but it was funny watching them pig pile on top of each other-ouch.
• Daylight Savings Time Ends this weekend. I always hate it when it gets so dark at night. Especially now that I will be driving home from work in the dark. There have been lots of deer when I have come in in the mornings so I am getting a little nervous now with the months to come. Just have to say it, hopefully I can find a job in Omaha before winter hits hard.
• Fall I love the changing of leaves and the semi cool weather. I'm so glad that I am able to look out across the hallway and see beautiful colors of trees changing. I hope each of you have been able to take a minute to enjoy the changes and remember we are lucky to experience things like this.
• Breast Cancer Month is coming to an end. My immediate family has been so lucky that we have not had this effect us, but we all know someone who has been struck with this horrible disease. Remember to give yourself an exam every month. I have learned that healthy breast tissue is lumpy, but if it is hard and does not move you need to get it checked out.
• Heart, Bob is currently studying Cardiovascular in school right now and boy I have loved the puns that it includes. I continue to tell him that if he puts his heart into it he will do just fine. Oh man I crack myself up!
• Bass Guitar, my brother recently blogged about some great bass guitar players, it really made me think that I should pull out my bass and start playing again. I miss it.

Okay so I think I have filled you all up with a little something to think about. Maybe tomorrow will be another blog post of random junk.

Out Sick

After a nice relaxing weekend, I went to bed last night ready to start another week of work. It didn't seem like it was going to be all that bad b/c I didn't have long days to work and at the end of the week I would get to see my Nephew and Nieces, Cole, Merrick, & Macy for Merrick's birthday and get to go to the Vikings game.

At about 12:30 I woke up with extreme pain in my stomach and it kept turning, I was getting motion sickness and I felt like the room was spinning. I continued to wake up in the night getting sick and then trying to get some rest before my next bout about every hour. At 4:30 I decided I wasn't making it to the gym and at 6:00 I was not going to make it to work. As soon as Bob woke up he assured me it would be okay to call in sick and so I did. I spent all day on my couch continuing to get sick and drinking lots of fluids as well as watching tv. The time goes by so fast when you are watching tv as I know my day would have just drudged on if I had been at work.

I am feeling a little better and will get back to work in the morning. Although I am not looking forward to it. Hopefully my day of rest will help the week go by a little faster so I can see Merrick on her birthday. I hope she feels better too as she got sick today at her babysitters.

Thanks Bob for the fun day on Saturday and for taking care of me today.

My Blog

OK bear with me. I was bored at work this week so I started messing around with my layout and format. Then my work computer decided to stop letting me work on it. So here I am with a blog lay out that is not very pretty, I can't add pictures and I have not had time to work on it at home. I am hoping to change it soon. I just don't want to be judged by my layout okay?

Anyway.
I received an email from Bob that made me laugh this morning. It told me what my sister's facebook status said, "Becky Gacke is excited that it is cold and rainy-good sleeping weather!" Then Bob proceeds to say that my sister and I are the same person, because I have been saying this all week. I love cold rainy weather b/c I get the best sleep during that time. I just love it! So glad my sister likes it too. And you know what, I don't think it is all that bad to be the same as my sister. She is great!

Happy Wednesday everyone and enjoy the rainy sleeping weather, and ignore my ugly blog.

Odd place of employment

I know I know I complain about work all the time. At least you don't live with me. Ask Bob how I am when I get home from Loony Land Lincoln. I really just need to tell you about the happenings this week.

Where I work just celebrated their 40th Anniversary so they had a series of events, an employee dinner, a donor event, and a blood drive coordinator appreciation breakfast. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It was all back to back because they had a speaker come from Boulder, CO to talk. I have included her link because she is amazing! http://www.americasblood.org/go.cfm?do=Page.View&pid=109

So Monday evening I was forced without pay to attend a social hour at 6:30 and dinner/program at 7:00. (Mind you I was working at 7:00 that morning) We were invited to bring guests but there was no way I was going to put Bob through that or make him drive an hour to come to Lincoln. It started off fine, the MC was a radio DJ who I have worked with before, then the speaker who really makes me look at what I do and believe that the blood banking industry does have some good to it. (oh the food was horrible though) Then a woman gets on stage with a mic and music stand and starts talking about songs from 1968 (the year the blood bank started). Then she started singing, her first track was Do you know the way to San Jose and she asked everyone to join in during that la la la la parts. Next she walked around and put her head on people's shoulders to, you guessed it, Put your head on my shoulder. At that point I didn't know whether I was dreaming this, what this had to do with blood banking, or why I was there in the first place so I grabbed my phone to record a little of what was happening. Next she decided to throw some history in about a Cross Over hit from Country music. She sang the song the Harper Valley PTA. This was just bad karaoke and I was completely annoyed. It was already 8:45 at this point and I was told that it would be over with by 8:30. Then she pulls out lyrics sheets and passed them around to everyone to join in and sing Hey Jude. She passed around the microphone and even a tambourine -no lie. Lastly she said, can I sing just one more, she started and was off key so she stopped and wanted to start the music over again, she stopped again in the middle of the song. Then they couldn't get the cd to work so we waited for 5 minutes to have them fix it so she could sing a song about having friends. I have no friends at the blood bank and this lady had pissed me off so much that I wouldn't consider being her friend. Then the program was not even over. We had to go through all of these awards and they were not even nice about it. They awarded a woman who has worked at the blood bank since the day they opened and still works here every day and they didn't even thank her. By the end of the night I wanted to shoot myself or at least the smoke alarm so I could leave. I didn't get home until 10:45 that night and I was so pissed.

Needless to say I skipped the event on Tuesday and it has not been brought up that I wasn't there.

Wednesday mornings breakfast continued with bad food (ice cold french toast sticks) and once again they didn't even thank the people for coming.

These people are nuts. And I didn't even go into details if you were there you would have been appalled too. Congrats on the 40 years, great speaker, crappy events.

Anniversary Day

Today is not only Bob and my 2 month anniversary of being engaged, but it also marks our 5 years of being together. Bob and I dated for about a month and a half before we officially became boyfriend/girlfriend on October 11, 2003. So in dedication to my new fiance I am going to blog the story of the beginning of us, if you didn't know already.

On one of the first nights back at college of our Sophomore year, I went over to see my roommate's (Mesa's) boyfriend (Tony) in his dorm room. As school had not started yet there were lots of things going on and of course lots of fun to be had. Some of Tony's new floor mates stopped by his room and we all began to chat and get to know each other. I was introduced to Rob Hess and Bob Azar, Rob and Bob. That night we played a card game and got to know each other telling about ourselves. Bob says he was interested in me because I was wearing a Twins shirt. I was just happy to be with some guys hanging out. We all soon became friends, my roommates, Tony, and Rob and Bob. We exchanged AOL Instant Messenger names-long before Facebook. Bob and I soon became chat buddies where we would talk on-line all the time. One evening at St. Thomas they had a casino night. All of the friends were playing games and I happened to win 2 free Burritos to Chipotle. As I won Bob walked by and said, "Hey, you should take me." And my response was, "Ok." So we had it all set up for the two of us go to Chipotle. The day of the Chipotle date all of the friends decided they would go to. So we loaded up in our friend's minivan and headed down the road. Honestly I was a little upset that all of them joined in as I knew this date was not going to allow us to get to know each other. After returning from dinner Mesa, Tony, Bob and I decided to watch a movie. So we went back to Bob's dorm room to watch Super Troopers together. After the movie was over Mesa and Tony decided they wanted to spend some alone time so Bob and I thought the evening was too early to end so we watched another movie. We put in Star Wars Episode 2. I had never seen it but loved the old movies and had seen Episode 1 in the theater. Needless to say, still really haven't seen the whole movie (I am intentionally leaving the rest out for your little minds to wander & wonder). So that was our first date.

Bob and I continued to talk and get to know each other. About a month later (October 11th 2003) it was St. Thomas' homecoming. Our group of friends had decided to all go to the Homecoming dance and all of the dances at UST were pretty much an opportunity for everyone to drink. Apparently my roommates had decided to do this as well. Hence why my face is red in the picture. It was a Hawaiian themed dance and the boys wore Hawaiian shirts and us girls wore flowers in our hair. I do not remember much of the dance, give me a break it was 5 years ago. But I do remember coming back to our dorm room and possibly having a few more drinks, then as the boys decided to head back to their dorm for the night I didn't want Bob to leave so I got down on one knee and asked him to marry me-he just walked away. We later decided that was our first night as boyfriend and girlfriend, but I knew that someday he would be my husband!

So like I said today Bob and I our celebrating our lives together. I love him more and more each day. Happy Anniversary Bob.

SKOAL

So I know I will hate myself for doing this later on in the year, but way to go Vikings! It was fun not only to watch them, but to watch them win. Skoal Vikings.

Stuck in a Rut

Although I enjoy my weekends I feel like everyone is beginning to be the same. And this weekend was no exception, but I think it may have been worse as I did not have a single game to watch. With the Twins being done for the year and the Vikings playing Monday night football I was all out of sorts yesterday. Bob had been pulling one of those crazy weekends at school studying for his final today. I just got in one of those moods and I absolutely dreaded coming back to Lincoln, NE to work.

However I shouldn't be all negative. Bob and I had a successful evening on Friday night finding him a great deal on a new winter coat, next we had one of "our" dates to Target. I used to make fun of these dates, now I love them even more. I don't know why I just do. Saturday morning while Bob had his nose in the books, I went to water aerobics, the farmers market and lunch with Jamie and Angela. I cleaned the house in the afternoon and made dinner for Bob on Saturday evening, I also was in the mood for a cake so I made a box cake for my sweet day. I was packing up some cake for Bob to take back to school when wham, there went the cake frosting side down on to the floor. What a mess and half of my cake was gone :(. That evening Jamie and Angela came over to watch Sex & the City the Movie. I have to say I just love that movie I really want Bob to watch it some time but he absolutely hates the show. Funny- how I watch his shows...
We may have worked out a deal for this weekend, but I am not going to get my hopes up.

I am working my 10 hour days again to have Friday off. Last week was such a killer week of work, granite it was a great week for blood collection but a tough mental and physical week for Ashley. I'm really not looking forward to work at all lately. I really would like to find a new job. One that is more challenging for me. I'm not growing at this current job and driving 2 hours every day is something I would like to put a cease to. I'm hoping that something will come up soon-real soon and maybe that would get me out of this rut.

I guess I can look forward to going over to friends tonight to celebrate the end of the Hematology/Oncology unit and to watch a little bit of the Vikings game. Come on Vikes!

Twins weekend

This weekend I spent most of my time with my good ole Dad. Friday evening I took off for Sibley so my dad and I could leave on Saturday morning to Minneapolis. We went to the Twins game on Saturday afternoon and watched them lose-was not a whole lot of fun. We checked in to our very swanky hotel and watched the tv for updates of the Chicago game to find out that they lost as well.
Sunday morning we ate breakfast downtown, drove past the new stadium, and then over the new 35W bridge to head up to Bob's parents. We had coffee with them and they gave us some rice for me to take home to Bob. My dad and I headed back to the dome to see the Twins win, while my dad listened to the Vikings lose on the radio. We left to head back to Sibley. It was a short trip up to Minnesota but it was nice to be back around the area.
This morning I left my parents to get home in time to do my regular weekend duties of grocery shopping and laundry. We also just finished watching the White Sox vs. Tigers game with an unfortunate ending. Hopefully the Twins will beat the White Sox yet again to become the Central Division Champs. Go Twins.

I have a busy week at work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so I will be looking forward to the weekend again.

Tatt Weekend

The Tattoo Trio, Mesa, Tony, & Ashley
A for Ashley Anne (Azar in the future)
II.XVI.MM for February 16, 2000 when Mesa and Tony started dating.

So, Bob and I have been missing home for a while, (Bob especially) and we were treated this weekend to some great friend time. Our friends Mesa and Tony made the long drive from Maplewood down to Omaha. They arrived on Friday evening and we were so excited to see them. Both Bob and I have been waiting to ask them to be our Maid of Honor and Best Man and they both accepted so we were very excited. We went out to dinner at Stokes in the Old Market, the food was great, the company even better. It ended up that Friday evening was an early one as we all fell asleep watching the Office.

Saturday we woke up got some Bagels and Coffee and planned out the day. We were trying to think of something to do and Tony said we should get Tattoos. So we looked around and found the place to go. Went to get some lunch and made appointments that evening for Tony and I to get our Tattoos. Mesa was getting a little nervous and didn't know if she was going to get one or not. We shopped a bit at Village Point (the outdoor mall) and back to get the tatts. Mesa decided that she was going to get one two and so the three of us got inked. We were so nervous and excited and we are all very happy with the decisions. Bob just sat and watched as we all made these choices permanent. Out to eat again at the Dundee Dell to celebrate our tattoos and then back to our house for some champagne that they had got for us for the engagement celebration. The boys smoked some cigars and then we all enjoyed some catch phrase.

We are so lucky to have some great friends and we were so happy they came to Omaha to visit. We can't wait to move back to be closer to Mesa and Tony but for now our new tattoos will have to keep us close.

Long weekend ran short with ups and downs

This weekend felt jammed packed with lots to do but today I feel like I had nothing accomplished.

Friday was my day off, I spent some time at the gym, then to the grocery store for dinner that evening. I cleaned out our pantry and re-organized it as it was getting a little crazy with boxes that were empty etc. I made Chicken Parmigiana, Cesar Salad, and Garlic bread. Bob and I enjoyed a nice dinner (at the table) on Friday night and then waited for the Twins game to be rained out so I suffered through a couple of his TV shows and then early to bed.

Saturday morning Bob ran off to school for the day to study-he has a final this morning. I went to water aerobics and then the farmers market with Jami and Angela. On Saturday afternoon I watched my TV shows, cleaned up a bit, and made cookies. I picked up Bob for dinner at Red Lobster and then took him back to school for the evening of studying. I went to the grocery store quickly as I knew Sunday was going to be busy. I thought great the Huskers game is on, a Saturday night I can get in and get out and not deal with people. Well I was in one of the aisle and a nice looking black man came up to me and shook my hand and said, I think you are beautiful. I smiled and said thank you and continued to walk down the aisle I was looking for something I needed when he came up to me again and said, If your not busy I was wondering if I could touch you? I said NO no no no and ran away from the aisle. I was all flustered but wanted to finish my shopping. I was continuously watching my back to make sure the guy was not around me. As I was checking out I was all flustered and was not able to swipe my credit card. I told the cashier (a high school guy) what had happened and he asked me to describe the man and looked around for him. He said he could not do anything about it but he called the assistant manager over so I told him and he said, oh that is weird and walked away. I was a little upset he didn't even acknowledge the fact that I was upset. The cashier made sure I was okay and the bagger walked me to my car safely. It was 7:00 at the grocery store next to my house, not really a bad neighborhood, but this is Omaha.
After putting away my groceries Angela and Jami and I went to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Angela getting a new job and the fact that our guys were at school all weekend.

Sunday morning I was picked up by my uncle and cousin to meet up with my Grandma's Cousin, Cousin Petey who was in town for his 50th Class Reunion from Creighton Med. We had a nice little breakfast and chat. I got home in time to change clothes and head out to a bar to watch the Vikings game. And it was a bad day for Minnesota Sports. I met some guys from Minnesota and watched the game with them. I was also told to calm down as I was getting a little vocal about how they were playing. We were also getting updates of the Twins game periodically which meant we were unhappy about that as well.

I came home to do laundry and a little cleaning and made dinner for Bob who came home around 6:30 from another full day of studying. I have to hand it to that kid, he really cracks down when he needs to, I'm proud of him and I hope he does well on his Infectious Disease Final. Tomorrow he will start Hematology/Oncology (Cancer) so it will be another long haul of studying but should be really interesting-for me at least.

Thank you friends

Last night Bob and I were invited over to our friends Jamie and Ryan Benson for a delicious home cooked meal. It was the perfect way to end our weekend. Jamie is a great cook and had made a roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, rolls and a wonderful apple pie which we enjoyed for dessert (make that two sweet days this weekend). Thank you so much for the fun evening, sorry we called it short but my early mornings make me have a pretty early night. Thanks Jamie and Ryan, Bob and I are lucky to have you as friends.

This weekend seemed like a short one because I worked late on Friday night. My boss misunderstood the event we were going to as she thought we would be busy from 5-8:30 with potential blood donors. Nope it was more like 5:00-6:00 and then we were done. They had a step off so we stayed to watch that a little bit (not the best I have seen) but it was funny to watch my boss as she thought she was into it. I returned home to watch the rest of the Twins game with Bob.

Saturday morning I was up and ready to take some Aqua aerobics at the gym with Jamie and Angela, after our workout we went to the Farmer's Market where I ran into my uncle, aunt and cousin Sarah who just moved to Omaha. Then it was lunch time so we went out to eat. Saturday afternoon I enjoyed some hot chocolate because it was so chilly out and watched my DVRed shows. Bob and I went to the mall after he returned from studying at school picked up some things for him and myself, then grabbed a bite to eat before heading to Council Bluffs to the movie theater. Bob signed us up for a $5 club at the theater where we can see movies that have been in the theaters for a few weeks for only $5. We saw the Batman Movie again. It was good the 2nd time, and so was the popcorn.

Sunday was church, grocery shopping and laundry and then over to The Bensons.

Thanks for the great weekend.

What about Bob?

I realized that after I posted a blog last night I only mentioned Bob studying all weekend and never mentioned why. Well yes he did study this weekend, I am used to it and it gives me some alone time with my TV. Anyway Bob had his first quiz as an M2 on Wednesday. They are working on Infectious Diseases right now and it sounded pretty complicated. The good news is he passed and received the score he was hoping for. He informed me last night that they have all realized these classes reflect how you do on the boards so it is no longer just pass it is do well. I do feel good about Bob's study habits, he is pretty strict with himself and I know he enjoys doing it. If he doesn't I just remind him that he could go back and work at Memorial Blood Centers as a phlebotomist and he is back into studying. He really needed that job to show him he could do so much more.
Yesterday Bob also had his first day in the clinic with Dr. K. He will go every other Wednesday afternoon and see the patients with her. He had so many stories from his first day of what he saw. He even got to see a once in a lifetime patient, he was explaining the medical problems to me and I was so lost.

Bob is just being the greatest right now. I know I keep bugging him but he patiently smiles and moves on. He puts up with me yelling and screaming at the Twins while he is studying upstairs. He even made dinner last night, probably b/c he is sick of my American cooking.

Thanks sweetie for being so great. I love you.-now everyone else does too.

Back to work's realities

Well after a wonderful weekend that began late Thursday evening I am back at the grind, thanking God the weekend will be here soon. Work is starting to get a little busier, or at least a few more things during different hours of the day, which is better I guess. Thursday evening I returned home from an 11 hour day around 9:00pm. I was happy to be home and start my mini vacation as I was off on Friday. I enjoyed my Friday off running errands, taking a nice walk, and making chicken on a stick for dinner. That evening Bob and I went for a walk in the Old Market and stopped in for a drink and some great conversation.
Saturday started with some sleeping in and cleaning while Bob studied. We had Jamie & Ryan and Chris & Angela over for a little Labor Day weekend BBQ, with good food, great discussions, and lots of Catch Phrase. I have to say that I am so glad I bought that game, if you don't have it, get it. I highly recommend it.
Sunday Bob and I both woke up early so he could go to school and study and I could go to church. I picked up lunch and brought it to Bob so he could keep on studying for the day. Later that evening we met up with Chris & Angela, Jamie & Ryan, & Nick to celebrate Chris' birthday (which is today Happy B-day baby Chris) at the Melting Pot. Bob and I had never been before, it was so good but I had two sweet days this weekend.
Monday was even more sleeping in while Bob was at school studying. I met up again with Jamie and Angela for some shopping and an odd experience at the Olive Garden-the man served me a glass of wine with a straw. Finished up my Monday with some laundry and dreaded work the next day.
I was lucky in that I did not have to go into the office on Tuesday as I had planned to make some visits that were closer to Omaha than Lincoln. I was out most of the day, but took my lunch break at Best Buy to purchase the 4th season of The Office. I made some home-made macaroni and cheese and watched the Twins. It was hard to drive back to Lincoln this morning but it felt good to know that it was already Wednesday. It is just too bad I have to work until 8:30 on Friday night and drive home after, so my weekend will not seem as long :(. I will have to make the best of it.

I am also so comfy as we have the windows open and I am sitting in sweats and loving every minute of it! I love this weather, just perfect. Also, didn't have a great day at work again so I had to add another sweet day with a pumpkin spice latte. It was just one of those days.

Happy Birthday Pat

Today is my brother Pat's 28th birthday. I wish him the absolute best and I know he will enjoy himself as he always does. Pat is the type of person that makes the best out of everything. He is always looking on the positive side of things and always has a good time. He is truly living out his dream with his band the Poison Control Center. Growing up Pat and I were always fighting, he was usually beating me up, or I was telling on him so he could get in trouble, and I had probably started it. When we were in High School Pat and I were best friends hanging out on the weekends together or having jamming sessions with him on guitar and me on bass. Thanks for putting up with me b/c I was so bad. I'm so glad that Pat has found the love of his life and she blends well with our family too. I hope you have a great birthday Pat and I am going to kick your butt when we play golf. Happy Birthday.

I was Ta-agged.

So I guess I was tagged by my sister to do a random blog. First I want to say that it is funny because I make fun of her daughter for having a southern accent and she would say tay-agg and in my non-existent Minnesotan accent I would say teg.

So I am tagging my fellow bloggers, Jamie and Angela to do this too, especially Angela who has not blogged in a month and a half.

The 10 weird things about me.

1. I have been engaged for 2 1/2 weeks and have done absolutely nothing for planning mode. Well I bought a book and looked at two websites.

2. I say I only have one bad tv show that I watch, but now that we have DVR I watch The Hills, Supernanny, Wifeswap, Say Yes to the Dress, Engaged and Underaged, The Girls Next Door, Full House, Gilmore Girls, The 1st part of American Idol, Sex & the City. I think that is it.

3. My favorite kind of alcohol is Jameson Irish Whiskey, but I love fruity girly drinks too.

4. I have OCD with certain things like the volume on a tv has to be on an even number or we have have a pile of papers that are a mess, but if I straighten them it is fine.

5. I hate most of Europe that I have been to, I only liked England & Ireland.

6. I feel like I can never do my dream job, motivational speaker, because I have lived a pretty good life, I don't do drugs and nothing terrible has ever happened to me.

7. My new years resolution every year is to always stop biting my finger nails and I never make it past that morning.

8. I have an odd obsession with cliffs, I think they are interesting and I want to jump off them (landing safely).

9. I'm the only one in my immediate family of 6 whose birthday is not in the summer, but I always received presents in August when I was little.

10. I could probably out eat anyone in a sweets contest if it was not timed.-Not something I'm proud of.

Happy Birthday Becky

Today is my best friend, my sister's birthday. Becky is awesome and today she celebrates the big 30! I promised her to come down to Kansas City and take her out and celebrate but that will have to wait as tonight she is getting to work at school and then to her son's baseball game. Becky is the proud mother of 3, wonderful wife of almost 11 years, brand new kindergarten teacher, best daughter to my parents, and most of all the best sister you can have. She is always there to listen and to give you real advice, not story book or anything else, just straight to the point. I love that she is so relaxed and calm and that drives both my mom and I crazy because we wish we could do that. She knows how to party and she knows when to be serious she has raised a little gentleman of a 10 year old, a crazy little care free 3 year old and now a gorgeous 1 month old. Becky is my best friend and I know I can always count on her I hope she has a great birthday. We will talk soon Becky, thank you and have a great day.

Happy Be-lated Birthday Brother Nate

I know better late than ever right? Well Happy Be-lated Birthday to my oldest brother Nathan. Nate has been a real rock in my family as he always shares in his worldly adventures with my family. I remember growing up and having a that guy 9 years older than me living up stairs. I remember when he visited the University of St. Thomas and how I wanted to go there someday. He went to a different school but I always looked up to him. Bob and I even spent our junior year spring break visiting Seattle and him. He is a great host to let people come and stay. He is always fun to be around and always has something new to share. I hope he had a good birthday in Seattle. Don't worry Nate you will get back to Europe soon.

God Hates Nebraska?

So I haven't blogged in a while, well not that long I guess, but I realized I have nothing really new or exciting to report. I never really have all that much to report, but I guess it has been a pretty exciting two weeks for me.

I am just ending up my last 20 minutes of work for the week and of course am bored out of my mind. It really amazes me how much time they allow for us to do something very quick. I don't think they have the Internet figured out.

I was told today that summer is over b/c football starts next week. Then I was reminded about Nebraska Football (ewww). I heard this really funny thing on the radio on my way to work this morning and thought I would share it with you. It is on You Tube, just a warning that it is very obscene. I don't agree with this man and how he feels about homosexuals, but if you can take a joke and you hate Nebraska. You will like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7_Z8ZQb1oM

chillin

I am so happy that we were able to stay at home this weekend. We have already done so much with my day off yesterday and today. Yesterday Bob and I helped out our friends the Bensons, well just Ryan re-paint some walls in their old apartment. Yes even after my bad painting job on Macy and Merrick's room I attempted to do it again, both Bob and I realized painting is not our forte and if we need to ever paint we will just have to hire someone. In the afternoon we went to a back to school picnic for Bob where he was supposed to meet his M1 buddy, who did not show. We talked to some of his classmates and then headed home to change clothes. We went out to eat at a fine dinning restaurant in Omaha's Old Market area called Passport. We enjoyed shrimp cocktail, a bottle of wine, salad and Bob had a steak and I had rack of lamb. Everything was really good and we didn't even have room for dessert. My lamb was finished at the table so they started it on fire right in front of us. What a great way to celebrate. We finished the evening by meeting up with the M1s and M2s at the Upstream, but we came to find out it was more M1s than we thought so we left after one drink.
This morning was spent cleaning the house up as we will be having some friends over to grill and enjoy each others company before school starts on Monday. We also just got back from the mall. I had wanted to get Bob an engagement present as it isn't fair that a girl gets an engagement ring and the guy gets nothing. So we picked out a new watch for Bob. As we were walking in the mall his watch had completely stopped so it was time for something new. We found one we both really like, we are hoping it lasts a long time. I wanted to get on one knee with it, but Bob said no. That may still happen though.
Tomorrow will be a calm relaxed lazy day of watching tv. We are both looking forward to that.

Going to the chapel/reception hall/beach/courthouse...?

Well, yes Bob asked me to marry him. I'm still at a loss for words about it. And we still do not know how, when or where we want to get married. For the past 10 years I have gone over wedding plans in my head and now thinking about real wedding plans is very overwhelming. It has been fun to tell all of my friends and family about the recent engagement and to hear Bob refer to me as his fiance. It has also been strange because of my refusals. I refuse to tell the people I work with, I know how they will react, and I don't want to share my personal life with them. I also am not calling Bob my fiance, b/c it is a french word and it sounds silly to me. I refuse to gush over this, yes I am ecstatic about marrying the most amazing man in the world, I know I am so lucky that I have found the person I will spend the rest of my life with but the relationship Bob and I have cannot be judged by others and I certainly do not want to have it scrutinized by someone that does not know us.

Anyway back to planning... the one thing I have always thought about is the music at my wedding, I guess I am a little like my brother in that sense. But I would love all of these songs at the ceremony, reception and dance. So at least there is that to look forward to.

A little shout out to my best friend and man I will marry. I love you, thanks for proposing, thanks for completely surprising me, and thank you for wanting to spend the rest of your life with me.

I also promise that my blog will not turn into a Bridezilla Blog about wedding planning. If that happens, take me down. I'm serious.

Where did the summer go?

Not this weekend but next weekend will be my first full Saturday and Sunday spent in Omaha since the beginning of July. I feel like I have been on the go non stop. Working during the week and then off on one of my many adventures up to Minneapolis or down to Kansas City. Like I said there is one more weekend full of things ahead.

Tomorrow I will head up to Sibley for my cousin's wedding while Bob heads over to eastern Iowa to see the Field of Dreams. Sounds like him and his friends have a day packed of sightseeing and I know he is excited for one of his last trips of the summer.

Next week the M1s will start school and Bob and his M2 buds start on the 18th so he will have one last week of freedom. Bob is helping out with some of the M1 things this coming week so he will have an early start to a big year. After this year Bob will take the boards or as I call them "Doctor or no Doctor." It will be a very stressful time for them, and for me as I will have to keep reassuring him that he will do a good job. Wow these tests are almost a year away and if I am stressing about them now I do not even know what next spring will be like. Hopefully by then I will have a new job and will be able to spend some more time helping out around the house.

I know I have complained about my job so much, but there is one thing about my job that I love and that is it is so flexible. I can work 4, 10 hour days and take every other Friday off. The weeks I do not take off Fridays I can take a different day. This week I worked a few hours from home on Tuesday and then Bob and I headed over to the Henry Doorly Zoo.

This was my 3rd time at the zoo since I moved in October. The first time we went with friends and really did not prepare ourselves for the monstrosity of the zoo. It is so big and there is so much to see there, we actually ended up missing half of the exhibits due to an injury. The next time it was spring and the animals were not very active as it was pretty chilly and I still missed things, and Bob wasn't there. This time the two of us were able to go at our own pace and do what we wanted to do. Before we got there we had agreed to not go into the Kingdom of the Night exhibit, both of us hate particular parts of that place b/c of the animals that are in it. We both got brave and went through it though and made it out alive, without any screaming, fighting, or crying. We were standing in line and noticed we were the only adults there that did not have any kids when we got there, but once we entered we realized that we both turned into 4 year olds. We rode the steam engine train around the zoo and saw the elephants, I think the train was Bob's favorite part. I also got to pet a penguin, I was also the oldest one in line for that!

We will see what else Omaha has to offer us in the next 3 years. Here is my list of hopes for it.
1. A job within the city limits of Omaha for Ashley
2. A calm relaxing environment with few distractions for Bob to study
3. Cheaper flights between OMA and MSP.
4. A chance to meet Warren Buffet
5. A quality medical education with lots of opportunities and a chance for a good match

Jen & Tony's wedding

This past weekend Bob and I made yet another trip up to Minneapolis for a wedding. Bob stood up for his old roommate Tony or (T-nag). On Friday evening we had the rehearsal dinner then Bob spent the evening in the hotel as Tony's last night as a single man. I spent the night at Mesa's. The next morning while the guys were golfing, swimming and getting nervous for the wedding. Mesa and I went to breakfast, relaxed and enjoyed a walk with her cats-yes Mesa has a stroller for the cats!

The wedding was great Jen is so creative (she is a graphic artist) and she was so organized. Everything was perfect. The coolest thing about the wedding was that all of the tables at the reception were themed with different things that were important to the couple. We had a great dinner and Bob made a really nice speech. The dessert was awesome and then Jen and Tony had their first dance-they had a choreographed dance like on Rock the Reception. It was really good but I didn't get to all of it so I hope it gets put on You Tube soon.

We had a nice weekend and I am so glad we were able to be a part of their wedding. They are such a cute little couple, Congratulations Jen and Tony Nagorski!

Macy, Merrick, & Cole

I went to Kansas City on Friday afternoon to meet my new niece Macy Ella Jane. She is such a sweetheart and is so small. Her foot is not even as long as my index finger. She is absolutely perfect and my sister is lucky to have such a wonderful little baby.

Bravo to my sister and brother-in-law as they make some dang cute kids. Most of my day on Saturday was spent playing with Merrick. Wow that girl has energy. From what I am told she is just like me when I was her age. Merrick knows that we are good friends because we have things just her and I can do, like play "Club." We also played many games and after a while I convinced her to play house, my favorite thing to do when I was little. Heck it is still my favorite thing to do. We even took turns holding her sister. Merrick is a great big sister and is very calm and cautious with the baby.

On Sunday I headed to Cole's World Series. His dad is the coach and they were playing in a pretty intense set of games. I got to see Cole make some good plays at third and get some good hits. The lost their first game in extra innings but they all played really well. They had to switch fields and then play again right away. It was so hot out, I can't believe those kids played in that, Cole caught in both games as well and I salute him for putting on the catcher gear. As most of you know I have a little problem with the heat so I would have never made it. The 2nd team they played was not quite at the same level as the Missouri Bandits (Tom & Cole's team). In the 2nd inning Cole and his teammates scored 14 runs. The game only lasted 3 innings with a final score of 23-3. I am glad I got to see him play. I hope they did well with the rest of the World Series.

It was nice to see the family and I can't wait to see the baby again soon. Hang in there Becky- she will stay a baby for a while, just don't forget to enjoy it.

So far this week.

It has been an exciting week with lots of things going on, and there is still more to come.

On Monday evening Chris & Angela, Ryan & Jamie, and Bob & I went to Council Bluffs to the Imax theater to see A Dark Night. The new Batman movie. I had not seen Batman Begins so Bob and I watched that last week so I would be all caught up. The movie was great. It was probably the most intense movie I have ever seen. There were no slow parts and lots of action, with a great story line. I kept making fun of Bob b/c he has seen all the Batman movies so he knew what was going to happen but he loved it too. Heath Ledger did do an amazing job, and his character was very scary. He was so scary that I couldn't sleep on Monday night b/c I was freaking out-that hasn't happened for a long time.

Of course on Tuesday the birth of my sister's baby came. I am going to see Macy and the family today so I am very excited and will return with some pictures I am sure.

Wednesday evening my brother's band was playing at the Waiting Room in Omaha with the Apples in Stereo. Bob and I went to the show and it was fun to see the guys play. The Poison Control Center is always fun but you have to be a little careful so you do not get caught singing in a mic or getting thrown in a pig pile. Bob stayed back as far as possible so I enjoyed their part by myself. We stayed to see a few songs by the Apples. It is great to see my brother getting to play with guys he pretty much idolized when he was in high school. I'm so proud of him. The band stayed at our place but I was asleep when they got there and they were sleeping when I left.

Last night Bob and I grilled some corn and he had steak and I had chicken. It was one of our relaxing nights. We ended up watching the movie The Bucket List. My mom had borrowed it to us and we hadn't had a chance to see it. After the movie on Monday I am afraid this movie was a little slow, but it was good. A good story line and very sad. Of course I cried and Bob made fun of me. He liked the movie as well. Probably more of an older crowd film but it worked.

Other than the big fun stuff. I have also been back to looking for new jobs so hopefully something will come up soon again. I took a little break as it has been nice to just hang with Bob his last summer break. I have to say I am jealous of him that he has been just hanging out since he got home from India. I know I get mad sometimes but I am glad that he has this time as I know it will be many many years before he will have a chance to relax.

I also wanted to wish my best to Chris and Angela who are moving from Council Bluffs to Omaha this weekend. I know how much moving sucks, I'm sorry I am not sticking around to help. I'm also sorry to Jami and Ryan as they are moving next weekend and Bob and I will not be around to help b/c we will be gone at a wedding. Good luck guys. STAY COOL.