Midweek Randoms

Better late than never. I realize I never posted these last week, so I've just added to the list. =)

• Well last week was spring break. I don't work in a school so I didn't get the week off BUT I got two days off... which is two more than a lot of people so no complaints here!

• It was kind of a hectic week. I mentioned my grandpa had to go in for an emergency bypass that Monday night. Tuesday, I took off early and went up to the hospital. He was doing pretty good considering. They needed to do a triple bypass but were only able to complete a double. He was fairly alert, knew who I was, etc... it was good.

• Wednesday, I came back to work and then that night we went out to eat with Val, Cori, and Steve to Montana Mike's and then went and saw 21 Jump Street. It's one of those dumb comedies but I probably haven't laughed that hard since Bridesmaids. =) Hilarious. Then we got Braum's. Always a happy ending! Anyway, when I listened to my messages I learned that Grandpa had to be sedated and put back on ventilation. =( His breathing was real shallow, his kidney levels were elevated, he had fluid in his lungs (lots of it, too), and his heartbeat was irregular. I think he was pretty well sedated and on the tube until Friday if I'm remembering right.

• I spent the day up there Thursday then on Friday, Dac and I went up to the heart hospital for Grandma Jo's heart cath. It went really well!! No blockages and she got to home that day. Then, we headed over to see my Grandpa again. He was still sedated most of the time but they brought him out of it every now and then to ween him off. That was hard to watch. He was restless, a little confused, probably in pain... who wouldn't be?

• That night we met up with Val, Steve, Cori, and Charli again for supper at Texas Roadhouse. We were all pretty quiet - exhausted I think.

• On Saturday, I did some stuff around the house while Dac mowed our yard and the church's. Poor guy spent all day doing that stuff. My Dad and Aunt Diana came over for a visit and then we went to Pizza Hut for lunch. It was good to get to visit with both of them! That night is when we went to see Hunger Games. I liked it. I, of course, haven't read the books so I don't have those to compare it to. It was hard to watch at times but I thought it was really good otherwise. Braums after that too. =)

• Sunday, I rode up to the hospital with my parents. Stayed the majority of the day then came home. Grandpa wasn't doing real awful hot that day either.

• That brings us to Monday. I spent the day completely exhausted and barely functioning then had an eye appt. that afternoon... perfect peepers!! I probably won't need glasses until I'm in my 40's. Holla. Then Dac and I went on a walk to enjoy the weather.

• Tuesday was a work day from Hell. It was just one of those days where nothing seems to go right. We went on a walk that night which seemed to help.

• Wednesday I took off and went to Wichita with Val and Cori. I had to get some blood work ran... part of the monitoring process and Cori had a twinsies appt. =) Got to see those sweet girls again so that was fun. We ate lunch at Panera, shopped at Babies-R-Us, and got treats at Sugar Sisters Bakery downtown. We also stopped by to see my Grandpa that day. He had taken a major turn for the better and was in a regular room!! This was nothing short of miraculous. A complete 180. Awesome!

• Thursday we had Wii Night. We grilled hamburgers and I made some no bake cookies. I forgot how much I liked them. =) Just what I needed... a reminder. ha! We had fun. I think everyone was tired again though. We chatted about taxes and stuff like real grown ups but we ended the night watching Caillou with Charli. So it evened out. Also, Grandpa got to go home last night! =)

• We have our first session in months tomorrow! Kind of excited kind of nervous! =) It's been a great break but it'll be good to shoot again.

• I need new nail polish... something orange... I have my eye on this.

• Friday, I picked Charli up after work. After Dac got home we walked to the park for a while. On the way home, Charli bit it and ended up with scraped, bloody knees. =( Made me so sad. She was screaming bloody murder on the sidewalk a few blocks from our house. I kept telling her she was super tough and that seemed to help. We made it and she requested my Strawberry Shortcake bandaids. One knee needed a bigger bandaid so we just put Strawberry Shortcake on top of it. =) She wanted to rest after that so we just watched a movie and ate mac-n-cheese. I also painted her finger nails and took her home a few hours later. Fall aside, it was a fun play date!

• After that, Dac and I got ice cream and tried watching The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. What I saw of it, I liked (minus the graphic scenes) but of course I fell asleep. =( Fail. I'll have to watch it again before the 2nd one comes out.

• We didn't do a whole lot on Saturday. Stuff around the house mostly... then we had our first session of the year that evening. It went well. I felt rusty but got the hang of it. We got ice cream after that too. =) In case you had a doubt.

• We went to church Sunday morning then I went with Cori and Charli to the zoo that afternoon. It was a lot of fun. Call me 5 - but I love the zoo. =) It was a little toasty and I was still tired for some reason but I still loved it! Glad I invited myself to crash their party! haha.

• Monday, I stayed home sick from work. Had a really bad headache Sunday night that carried over with an upset stomach Monday. I ate lots of crackers and watched The Event on Netflix.

• Last night, we went to see Wrath of the Titans... NOT impressed. I really thought the preview looked kind of cool... at least the graphics, etc... but no. Not so much. Dac and Steve liked it I guess but we girls pretty much hated it.

• Criminal Minds is new tonight and I have a long-overdue date with Heather. Look out!! =)

Shimmy Those Shamrocks

Oh where do I begin? At the beginning I guess! I've known Krystle since middle school... and she is one of my sister-n-law Valerie's good friends so I've gotten to know her a lot better since then.

The day started with Krystle's bridal shower. After that we headed to eat at SUMO's in Wichita. They didn't know what they were getting themselves into there. We took over!

Here I am with the bride-to-be.

Krystle and her cousins doing Saki Bombs.

Val and I looking HAWT for a night at the club. =) LOVE her.

Amanda, Jamie, and Val

After dinner we headed downtown to check in to the hotel, give Krystle some perfectly not-so-tasteful gifts, and hit the bars. We ended up at a club. It wasn't where we really intended to be and it wasn't top notch. BUT - the music was loud and the drinks were cheap so there we were. haha. We danced, I came to the sad realization that I'm too old to be hit on, danced up on by sweaty gross dudes, etc... I mean really, there was tons of scantily dressed 21-year olds in there... meanwhile, they attacked the group of older, t-shirt and many of us ring-wearin' girls. Like they stood a chance? Puh-lease.

Party on party girl.

Anyway, we shut the place down, grabbed some snacks, and went to bed. After some fun of course. Lights out. =)

My guess is K-dawg was feeling it the next day... what do you think? Boop Boop!

Midweek Randoms

• It's Wednesday and oh has it been a whirlwind of a few days.

• Let's see... last Wednesday I found out Mark and Kayla are having another little girl!! Exciting! =) Seems like girls are the trend right now.

• That night she and I got Subway for supper, went to Wal-Mart to get some pink peeps so she could announce it to her class the next day, and then watched Criminal Minds. It was great to hang out for a while! =)

• Thursday was dinner and thirsty thursday at La Fiesta. Cori was visiting family, so we missed her. =| But otherwise it was fun... a little redneck-tacular but fun none-the-less.
• Friday was the epic bike ride.

• Saturday was epic too. I got up that morning and went to take care of my parents' animals because they were out of town. I grabbed some breakfast from McDonalds then jammed out to Adele on the way up there and back. =) DUH-RAMA! Love sining to it.

• Then, I went to our friend Krystle's wedding shower that afternoon. Then it was game on for her bachelorette party! St. Patrick's Day for the record books!! =) Anyone who knows Krystle knows that the party doesn't stop. I'll have a whole other post on this complete with pictures... but here's a sneak peek of me shimmying my shamrocks! haha.

• Sunday was full of laundry, a quick power nap, 24, and then cheese fries and not impressive calzones with Dac, Val, and Steve at the casino.

• Monday morning I got a call saying my grandpa was having severe chest pains in the night and was in the ICU here in town. HOURS later (don't get me started) they transferred him via ambulance to Wichita. He had a heart cath done and they determined he needed a triple bypass the next morning. Well not long after that, he crashed. =( Called the family in and decided he needed an emergency bypass or he'd die of a massive heart attack that night. They also said there was a good chance he might very well die on the table but it was a necessary risk. They were only able to do a double bypass because his veins were too small and he became pretty unstable in the operating room. They hurried to finish it up and he pulled through. So far so good! I spent some time up there yesterday and he knew my name and talked to me as much as he could (which wasn't a whole lot). He even ate a cup of jello. It's still a critical time but he's hanging in there and he told me he would make it. I believe him. He's tough stuff. =)

• I'm off tomorrow so I'll probably spend most the day up there again.

• Monday night I didn't sleep worth a dang. Maybe a couple hours and even that wasn't good sleep. Last night however, I fell asleep watching 24 at probably 8:15-8:30 and slept until 6:10 this morning. Still tired.

• Oh, real quick, I just want to say how stinking blessed our life is. We have some of the best friends and family around. I had several people call/write checking on my grandpa, tons of people praying, and even had a couple people offer to drive me up to see him. It's kind of humbling and I would do the same for any of them without blinking an eye. We are so fortunate.

• I got my hair trimmed and my eyebrows did finally. You're welcome.

• We had a contractor come look at our house today. Kinda excited but we'll see what $ amount is attached to that.

• It's rained all week. I don't mind too awful much... I'm a rainy and overcast lover... not gonna lie. BUT - it is starting to get old and I know several places are getting way too much rain.

• Not much else random to say I don't think. Have a great week!

Born to be Wild

I did my first task from the "30" list. I faced a fear. I rode on a motorcycle. That's right - it was moving even! =)

Our friend Steve has been hounding me for weeks to give it a try. It's not that it's never sounded

fun, it has. BUT - they're dangerous, right? People die on these things. But after Steve sent me a few statistics, reminded me that people die when cars hit deer too, promised me he'd be nice, Cori assured me it wasn't that bad, I realized I could count this as my fear on the list (instead of meeting a serial killer), I decided to suck it up, put on my big girl panties, and feel the wind.

Then, I sent him this: Too much? haha, we decided that might make things a little too close for comfort.

Friday was the big day. I was SURE it was going to rain. Steve heard a lot from me that day, poor guy, I'm sure I was driving him nuts to the point of just saying "forget it". Anyway, It didn't rain. Sigh. I talked to Cori and Val online asking what the heck I was thinking and I ran every possible worst-case-scenario I could think of past Dac so he could talk me down from a panic attack. He managed to pull that off so I put on my Let's Get Rowdy shirt (Yes, I really am this cool. Don't hate, congratulate.) and my game face.

Steve showed up and I wanted to run and hide. (I guess maybe it's important to note that I am a total worrier. Big time. I work myself up into big frenzy easily). BUT - I didn't. I slowly shuffled my feet out the door, with my head hung low, while constantly repeating "quit laughing at me guys". Then, as luck would have it, I couldn't even get Cori's awesome dragon slayer-looking helmet buckled. (Seriously? Who doesn't know how to put on and buckle a helmet?) Fail. Then, I struggled to even get on the bike. I am a little bit short and a-lot-a-bit un-flexible. Double Fail. Then, once I did get on the bike, I burnt my leg. I didn't notice it for a couple minutes but then BOOM. It hurt. Tuh-riiiiipple fail. Once we were moving, I instantly wanted to throw up. I'd say that lasted a good 5-10 minutes. It didn't help that Steve disregarded like three of my regulations in the first 30 seconds of the trip. To bring you up to speed, here is one of our recent conversations:

S: So do you want to stay in town. Take the highways. Or see how it goes first?

A: I don't really care... if we can avoid dips, sharp curves, railroad tracks, and bridges, that's probably best. =)

Pause.

A: Not funny, huh?

Well right away we were crossing a busy highway, going over a rickety bridge, and hitting high (high from my scared point of view, but safe none-the-less) speeds. THANK YOU Steve. =) BUT - then I was able to relax and had a lot of fun!! He was really good to go slow (like practically walking the bike) around corners and take it easy on bumps. By the end of it I was able to put my hands in my lap (instead of holding on for dear life to the back of the seat and making my hands go numb...) I was also able to stop squeezing him with my knees. Thigh workout? Yes. A little hawkward? Also yes. Still, it was better than me throwing arms and legs around him in a panic like I may have halfway envisioned. Success.

Anyway, the ride really was pretty awesome and I wouldn't think twice about doing it again. I'm glad they talked me into it and am pretty excited I survived, for one, and also that I was able to cross off a 30 task so quickly. Special thanks go to Steve for taking me and for not making fun of me tooooo much, driving good, and keeping me alive. =) Also, to Cori for letting me borrow her husband and rockstar helmet for a while. These guys rock and are some of the greatest friends you could ask for!

I was planning on having some killer pictures to share but I was too nervous to care too much when it came down to it. SO, I had Dac take these the next day.

In this one, I'm trying not too laugh to much at how incredibly ridiculous I must look.

Here, I'm saying "I'm WILD son!! And I'm out!" hahaha

In other news: If you're a prayer, please pray for my Grandpa Ed (Mom's dad). He went in for emergency bypass surgery last night.

30 before 30

30 is the new 20 kids. Ever since seeing 13 Going On 30, I've been certain that 30 is going to be IT. Thirty, flirting, and thriving... haha. The bee's knees. The cat's meow. The good days. The time of my life. =) Hey 30, no pressure! In honor of the impending big day (June 2014), I bring to you my list of 30 things to do before I'm 30. With over two years to go - there's definitely time. Who knows if I'll pull it off... but I'll give it a good, solid effort!

1. get to my goal weight (lose 50+ lbs)
2. take a conceal/carry class
3. finish our spare room and bathroom projects
4. have a fenced back yard with a cool patio for bbq parties
5. have a bbq party
6. go to California
7. get something fun (besides just a cut) done to my hair
8. face a fear
9. spend a day at the spa
10. do a styled photo shoot of someone just for fun, just for me
11. book a destination wedding and take some extra time to vacation - just the two of us
12. find my “go-to” karaoke song
13. master the art of the pancakes
14. music festival
15. do a pay it forward type-project
16. try 30 new wines/beers/cocktails
17. furnish front of house
18. travel Route 66 - at least part of it - and eat at a few diners, drive-ins, and dives
19. have or attend a costume party
20. try gluten free for a month
21. purchase and wear tall boots
22. buy a new or new-to-us vehicle
23. have an organized office/studio space
24. canoe trip
25. walk/run in a PanCan race
26. ride a tandem bike
27. read a book
28. see at least 3 musicals/plays (maybe even get a season pass?)
29. go to an OSU football and basketball game
30. re-finish/re-carpet all floors

Midweek Randoms

• It is nice and I want to play outside instead of sitting inside a window-less office all day. Also, why is it I have work meetings when it's nice out? I'd rather go on a walk or something. Sigh. It wouldn't be quite so bad if I didn't have to still be dressed up and look nice.

• I think I need to have my eyes checked. It's been a couple years (maybe more?) and I feel like I'm straining all the time... I blame sitting in front of a computer in a windowless office all day for this.

• Since Dac turned 30, I've been thinking about things I'd like to accomplish before I'm 30 (a little over 2 years from now) and I've decided to make a list of 30. Let me know if you have any ideas and I'll be sure to share the final list.

• My list so far includes things like losing weight, vacations, house projects, and one of my most worrisome ones - "face a fear". Let's just hope it's an easy fear and not a "face a serial killer in the night" kind of fear.

• My muscles are sore. Dang zumba. My calf is especially tight. Ouch!

• I'm failing miserably at my diet. Seriously. Somethin's gotta give. Probably me... into salads.

• What has sounded good to me lately? Pancakes, jolly rancher jelly beans, bananas, chocolate chip cookies. That's sort of close to salad, right? A little bit?

• I've still been doing a pretty good job of straightening my hair. Holla!! I didn't straighten it last Thursday or Saturday. But have otherwise. =) Are we proud of me, or what?

• Speaking of hair - mine needs cut. Bad.

• In other hair-related news - my mom offered to give me some sea salt spray she bought and doesn't use (just like the smoothing cream she sent my way recently! score!) for the days when I don't straighten. Sounds good to me!

• Also, Kayla gave me this shampoo and conditioner!! I saw them recently but hadn't picked any up yet. She knows I love Burt's Bees AND orange smells, so she picked them up for me. =) I'm so glad she thought of me and I can't wait to try them out!

• I'm excited because I feel like our spare room/bathroom is getting closer to done. I'm hoping and praying it's ready next month!!

• I would like a new wardrobe, please.

• Guys, I have a joke for you. You have to promise not to be intimidated by my extreme humor. K? Ok, here goes.

Duck: I'm not feeling too well, I think I'll eat some toast.

Goose: Yeah, toast is the greatest thing since sliced bread....... oh ....... wait.....

• I read a lot of blogs. A lot of them are photography blogs, or home design blogs - but a lot of them are just random personal blogs I've come across and gotten hooked on. Several of these are girls who have struggled with infertility and/or related issues. I've been following Amy's blog for a long time. She and her husband Dusty have struggled with infertility for around 7 years. Just last week they were called about adopting a baby girl. Since then, they found out they've been accepted and are finishing up the legal process before bringing the baby home this week. She said they're going from zero-parent in about 14 days! How nuts is that? And how awesome!? =) No, I don't know Amy personally but I couldn't be happier for them. I bought the bath towels and wash cloths off their registry and had them shipped straight to them. =) Couldn't resist.

• Dac and I went on a walk last night after my meeting and after I did some laundry and he worked on the spare room a bit with his dad. This is how it went down:

Dac: Do you want to go on a walk...

(I don a skeptical face.)

Dac: I'll buy you ice cream after....

(My face perks right up.)

Alisha: Ok, so you mean like walk to Braums and back?

Dac: No... we have to walk to at least Pizza Hut.

Alisha: Ok - I guess I can do that.

Alisha: I'd like a chocolate mix with oreos please!

• Ice cream or not, it was fun, it felt good to finally be able to enjoy the nice weather, and I'm glad we went.

• We're still plugging away at 24 - season 5 now. Loving it. Season 4 to me wasn't quite as good as the others but this one seems to be better.

• More meetings at work today and then it's Criminal Minds. ANNNNND I get to find out if Mark and Kayla are having a boy or a girl today!! =) EXCITED!

Kneecap Recap

This post really has nothing to do with my knee cap... it just rhymed. I'm a poet and I didn't even know it! =)

I've had quite the eventful week/weekend. Last week was crazy busy with work meetings. I also went to Zumba Thursday night and pulled a butt muscle. It was a sad night.

Friday, I took a late lunch and went shopping for crazy Zumbathon attire with Val. We hit up the Sonic, the Wal-Marts (3 times I might add), ate a Reeses Peanut Butter Egg (somebody stop me - seriously), Maurices, JC Penny's, and then met Terese, David, and Grandma Jo for Chinese food. She was feisty that night - cracked me up. =) After supper we went BACK to Wal-Mart and then settled in for a night of crafts. Krystle joined us as we watched ridiculous YouTube tutorials and listened to Zumba tunes. We each cut up and crazified our shirts for the Zumbathon.

Saturday, Dac and I slept in for a wee bit, then grabbed breakfast at Braums before heading to Target. Oh Target... I feel like it's been too long. Anyway, we picked up a fun little prize for our little friend Ruby before meeting her and her parents (John and Anna) at The Anchor. Dac and John were each able to try a fun beer and we all ate some lip smackin' good food including fried pickles, hummus and pitas. Dac, John, and Anna all got fish and chips (some with sweet potato fries and others with regular). Last time I was there I got the fish and chips too (pretty tasty) with sweet potato fries, so I branched out this time (Dad and Dac... please take note of this!! haha) and got a cheddar burgar on jalepeno bread. The bread wasn't exactly what I was picturing, but it was still pretty good. I got the regular fries this time too. Oh - and I drank my weight in jumbo Diet Dr. Peppers. ALL DAY, I did this. It was so great to see them (again - in such a short period of time) and to see Ruby this time too. She is growin' like a weed, I tell ya. =) After lunch we stopped by the beer world for Dac and headed home.

I downed a few birthday cake Oreos and some jelly beans before getting into my ridiculous outfit and heading to the Zumbathon. It was a fundraiser for ALS and it was super fun. It was 2-hours (although, thankfully, we took breaks) of booty-shakin' fun. The music and the girls there made it a blast. Afterward, we met Dac, Cori, Steve, and Charli for supper at our regular spot - La Fiesta. Fun times! Then, I set the clock forward. No bueno.

The back was all cut up too... I'll spare you that pic though. =) Ooh - and Animal glows in the dark. haha!

Sunday, we went to church (that's two weeks in a row if you're counting), Val and I went to Wal-Mart AGAIN for some groceries, then stopped by Sonic for some breakfast and drinkages. We ate and hung out with Dac for a while, practiced the ol' planets-are-aligned broom trick, and then she went home and I did laundry and cleaned up our casa. Oh boy! =) The fun never ends.

I also made some of Paula Deen's mac and cheese. LOTS of it. Holy ravioli I didn't know the big box would make quite this much. haha! This always happens to me.

Dac went to his soccer game, Val picked me up, and we went to David and Terese's to eat for G-ma Jo's birthday. It was pretty fun and the food was delicious (chicken fried steaks, etc...). Normally when we hang out with Val, Cori, and Steve... we end up on teams. There's a number of team combinations but a lot of times it ends up being Dac and Cori against Steve and I with Val being a neutral party (or picking a side - depending on the topic). I think this explains why we get along so well. I can be good friends with Cori b/c she's so much like Dac, etc... Steve would have you believe he and I are EXACTLY alike. I smile and nod, but the truth is, I'm quite a bit funnier. Oh... no? =( Well, I at least have prettier hair... when I fix it! =) Well yesterday it was an all out Guys vs. Girls challenge. It went back and forth for a few rounds but ultimately the girls won in the final round with two back-to-back zingers from Cori. haha!! My goodness, you'd think we hated each other the way we go back and forth. It's all in love though. Right guys? RIGHT!?!? =) PS - did I mention Val and I decided Steve needed to put on his big girl panties earlier in the day? Wellllll.... I made him these. =) He didn't find them nearly as amusing as I did... but c'mon - that's pretty good!! I even woke Dac up from his nap to show them to him - I was so stinkin' proud!

We finished the night off with another load of laundry, the installation of one of our new smoke detectors, and two episodes of 24. In other news, I didn't sleep worth a dang last night and am not looking to this particularly long work day.

Midweek Randoms

A day late.

• The weather this week has been dee-vine. Upper 60's - low 70's... yesterday storm clouds rolled in and it was perfection. Today... nooooooot so much. Cold, rainy, sleety, snowy, etc... etc...

• I have a major addiction to McDonald's chocolate chip cookies. Weird right? But they are SO good. I mean, they're not mom's or anything but at 3/$1 in a pinch... they do the trick. Might need an intervention. Just sayin'.

• Had some super fun girl time with Kayla and Heather last week. Kayla and I hit up McDonald's (and no, I didn't get cookies that time...) then Heather came over a little later for Criminal Minds. We always do lots of laughing! Hooray for great friends!

• We had Wii night last week. Cori and Steve made breakfast. I love breakfast. I love breakfast even more than I love McDonald's cookies right now. MEGA love. =) Hooray for great friends!

• Friday, we ventured up to my parents house for dinner. My dad grilled steak and my mom made some yummy additions + dessert. I did nothing but sit and chat. It was good to catch up.

• Saturday... hmm... can't remember. Oh wait... Dac and I went to Ponca to hit up Lowes and a couple other places. We ate lunch at Pizza Inn. Kayla and I used to eat there all time a few years ago (ok, not all the time... but some) and when I saw the sign, I thought it sounded good. Well guess what. It. Was. Awful. It was filthy. There was hardly any pizza to choose from and what pizza was there, was nasty. Like... I didn't even eat it nasty. If you know me, you know it must've been bad. I got an iced tea instead of pop (trying to be somewhat good) and it was nasty too. I took two sips and was done. We stopped at a gas station on the way home and got pop and m&m's. Mine were peanut butter. That's how I roll.

• Saturday night I went with Kayla and Cori to see The Vow. Honestly, I was not impressed. That's the kind of movie you need to get emotionally vested in. I hardly shed a tear and it was hard to enjoy the movie. I think it was due in part to the massive quantity of 11-13 year olds there running around and cackling at the first sight of a naked boy butt. But I also think the movie left more to be desired. Still, it was fun to hang out, mow down some popcorn, and laugh at each other's snide comments. haha!

• We went to church on Sunday and stayed for a bridal shower after... then Val, Cori, Charli, Terese and I went to Gambino's for lunch! =) Oh - and to the Walmarts for some groceries.

• Ooooh - big news here. I wore my hair straight 3 days in a row. My mom gave me this special fancy cream stuff that works like a dream and makes my hair feel like rainbows and cotton candy! =) ha! Anyway, I was going for a 5-day streak but then I woke up late today and it was raining... sooooo... yeah. 3 days it was!

• Dac and I finished up season 4 of 24. LOVE that show. I also love that Dac hasn't been as busy with editing so we've been able to spend more time together... at least in the same part of the house. =) This little break was very needed!

• Let's see... what else... I'm participating in a Zumbathon this weekend. That should be fun! Two hours of zumba... If I survive, I'm getting ice cream afterwards. K, Val?

• In honor of zumba, I've been listening to Kelly Rowland's "Work" song over and over again. I like to break it down... in my office chair. I'm cool like that.

• Edited to add: I can't believe I totally forgot to mention that I saw The Lorax... AND loved it!!! =) Total musical love and it was well done. I was kidnapped by Val and Cori. We met Steve and Charli for mexican food before going. I'd already ate but enjoyed a whole big plate of sopapillas by myself. =) Dac couldn't come because he's running lights for the high school play this week so Steve was quite the pimp. He is the luckiest guy I know. Constantly SURROUNDED by hotties. Anyway, it was fun. Our ratio was 4 adults per child and everyone else's seemed to be 1 adult per 4 children! haha. We are so rad.

Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving

Last weekend Dac turned 30! =) The plan was to go to The Anchor for some eats, drinks, and good times. They have a huge selection of craft beers so I knew Dac would enjoy that.

After a bit of a reservation debacle, we ended at Granite City. Not quite the same but the company was so that's all that really matters! =)

John and Anna were even able to meet us! Here's Dac and John. Dac apparently thinks I'm funny since he's giggling like a school girl! =) haha.

Anna and I. I could have sworn I looked cuter than this when I left the house! ha!

Cori and Val.

Steve and Cori. Steve loves it when I take pictures. LOVES it.

Some drinkages.

It was fun to bring a couple different groups of friends together. We had a good time and I hope everyone else did too. After dinner, John and Anna headed back and the rest of us hit up Target (duh) and went to see Act of Valor. The movie was good. Sad but good. I mean the Navy Seals weren't exactly the best actors but they are NAVY SEALS for crying out loud so I'm gonna let it slide. =) After that of course we went to Quik Trip for cokes and donuts (double duh). We got home way later than I'm used to but it was fun times.

Alisha+Charli Fun Day

You may remember me mentioning that we had a mini house guest a few weeks ago. It was fun - an entire weekend with Charli! =)

Her mom and dad brought her over that Friday evening and we read lots and LOTS of Fancy Nancy books! We read and talked about the books for quite a while, made little miss a big pallet on the floor, and watched a couple movies before hitting the hay.

The next day we got up and ate waffles, colored, played with Peety and then went and got Sky. The three of us went to the Wal-Marts to get some play-dough (I couldn't find mine at the time) and a pizza. Then - we made Oobleck. What I was thinking... I don't know. I guess I wasn't... clearly. =) It was fun and the girls had a blast but it was a total mess!

Charli looking a little too grown up in her apron! =)

So far so good... and Sky was so good with Charli.

Turning it pink...

And BAM. Mega Mess. This picture does NOT do it justice. Trust me. It. Was. Everywhere. Dripping down all the cabinets, in and on everything on the counter. Oy. =)

While I cleaned up the kitchen, Sky and Charli practiced a puppet show for me. haha. After their lovely production we took Sky home and Charli and I made play-dough cookies.

Kissy face.

Later that day Charli and I had a dance party. Our tune of the day was "I Love You Like A Love Song Baby..." Then Charli took a nap before we met Dac's family for BBQ.

Sunday morning, she was pretty sleepy still and slept in a while so we skipped church. I made breakfast while Dac helped her build a Lego fortress. =)

Charli took a bath, we watched some cartoons, played and colored some more, then went to help Terese fix dinner for Austin's birthday. Well... I helped. Dac and Char had a photo shoot. haha!

On the way home I got to see Mowzer - David and Terese's neighbor's dog. He's a JUMBO lab. He's huge and completely loveable. I want to dognap him and take him home with me! =)

The weekend was a blast and I'm so glad Steve and Cori let us steal their weekend with her away! =) We're so lucky that they trust us with her and that Charli treats us just like her actual aunts and uncles! =) Makes my heart happy.