Hello being busy, I have missed you.

Being on the go constantly for the past 5ish years and then having nothing to do has definitely been a big adjustment. I mean, I had just gotten really good at discretely changing my clothes in my car. Luckily, I am easing back into doing more than just walking the dog.

Today I took Pearl to be temperament tested so she can potentially be boarded while we spend a night in Chicago. She passed with flying colors of course. After that I volunteered at hospice doing some holiday baking prep for a couple hours. I LOVE baking and had a lot of fun working in a big kitchen and knowing that doing something I enjoy so much, while very simple, could make someone's day. Pearl and I still fit in a walk before Ned got up. I decorated our Christmas tree, ran an errand with Ned and had dinner.

Tomorrow I am babysitting.. who knew I would have something to do two days in a row? Amazing.

The "to do" list maker in me is back in action... and it sure feels good! There are 201 days until our wedding and things are starting to fall in place pretty well.

Our Thanksgiving trip to Michigan was great. We squeezed in a lot of fun in only a few days. We made a trip to see John, Amy and Mikah. It was nice to visit with them and meet the newest member of the family. I am very happy I got to hold him while he is so little- he is growing so fast, I'm sure he will seem huge the next time we see him. Ned's parents came down to share Thanksgiving day with my family. My grandparents and parents enjoyed visiting with them as well. Later in the day we got to visit with the other side of the family and Pearl got to meet her "cousin" Coal. She didn't seem to be intimidated by the size difference between a Boston Terrier and a black lab. They had fun playing together and hopefully can wear each other out again at Christmas. My mom, Ned and I did some early morning black Friday shopping and found some good deals. Ned and I spent time with friends two nights- definitely took advantage of having free puppy care... such good Grandparents Pearl has :)

Apparently if you want there to be a snowstorm you plan a trip to Chicago. We wanted to do some shopping- Ikea, Outlet malls, etc-- stay the night and enjoy some together time away from this place. I guess we will wait and see what happens-- but I really hope we can still go!

Time for bed... hopefully I sleep as well I used to when my days involved more than sitting around the house!

Lots of love.

Oops

Oops... 2 months since my last post. So much for making a hobby out of this... Maybe I'll start trying harder to update more often.

So, as the top of this page reads, I suppose I should write about what we're up to.
We are gearing up for a much needed trip to Michigan on Tuesday morning. So far the weather looks promising. Just some rain and not cold enough to freeze anything.

I love being home but am already starting to feel slightly overwhelmed with everything I want to fit in. The list keeps growing: haircut, meet our friend's baby Kate, meet my new cousin Mikah, possible trip to the west side of the state to meet Ned's cousins' baby Lukas, (I am renaming our Thanksgiving trip "Baby Tour '09"), go out to our favorite restaurants, do some early morning shopping, MSU vs UW hockey game, SPENDING TIME WITH MY PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS, treasure hunting, more wedding stuff,... and so on and so on.

I hate packing and typically over pack (which drives me even more crazy when we come back with twice what we left with and only needed to take less than half of what we took). As everyone knows I love bargains and already have one overflowing box of treasures that I have found for gifts for Christmas- one thing I am excited to pack and will be happy to store at home and not in my closet.

Job search update.. I turned in an application on Monday and am crossing my fingers for an interview. There are supposedly two openings so maybe this will be where my unemployment ends :) Let's hope so!

Pearl update.. she is great. She gets her stitches out tomorrow morning from her spay surgery 10ish days ago. I am not a veterinarian but it looks like she healed up well. She has been such a good puppy (I'll take her attempt to slowly push me off the bed as the night goes on as her attempt to get closer to me and keep me warm while Ned is at work). When the holiday travel is over we are hoping to find a good puppy class to take her to.

Wedding planning update... most of the "save the date" magnets were mailed this week. I held on to those for people we will hopefully see while we are home. Sorry to anyone who loves getting mail.. hand delivery will have to do!

I like to think of myself as a happy, optimistic person. I am thankful year round for how fortunate I am on so many levels. A few of my friends have been writing one thing that they are thankful for each day on facebook.. I haven't jumped on that band wagon but I'll touch on the topic here.

I could say it frustrates me beyond words that I don't have a job yet but instead I will say I am thankful to have the world's best fiance who has always taken amazingly great care of me who has a job that we can get by on one income for the time being.

I could say I feel defeated that I can't use what I have learned for the past 5 years to help anyone yet but instead I will say I am thankful that I have time to start volunteering at Hospice (in the kitchen- yay for making a mess in someone else's kitchen!!)

I could say I hate sitting at home all day but instead I will say that I am thankful that I have time to take Pearl for daily walks while it is still light outside.

Now it is time for me to get some rest. Today was day 9 of the p90x workout plan I am doing. 10% of the way in seems like nothing exciting and a milestone at the same time.
I love it. I love exercise and I love feeling fit! I love that it wears me out and makes me sleep better at night.
The struggle is going to be sticking to the schedule while traveling... we'll see how this goes. It wouldn't break my heart if I just end up picking up where I left off when we get back... family always comes first and family time is my number one priority for our trip.

Hopefully my next post will be less than 2 months after this one.

Much love.