www.feelingGood.com

Motivated. That’s what I was on Saturday when Nick realized that the Ohio State – U of M game was on (which we WON!!) and our original plans were going to have to wait. So Now I had the whole day to do whatever I wanted. I wrote out a list and was going to stick to it. Well I started off well, I started calling my Canadian friends (which was on the list). While talking to Karen - I decided to paint the wall in the kitchen that I had been wanting to paint for a long time, soo I hung up with her and started painting the wall (not on the list). Well, while I was in the painting mood I painted every wall in the kitchen. Nick helped me a little with the primer on commercials and then after the game helped me finish the painting.

By the end of the afternoon we were feeling pretty good about it. We had 1 more coat to put on but had decided earlier that we were going to watch The Blide Side. Nick has been waiting to watch that movie for a long time, so we got there - later than I wanted to go and of course it was sold out. (But it's OK because now we'll go see it with Ross/Clare & Eric/Rhoda) So we went to Applebees to celebrate our 6 month anniversary (which is actually today) and bought some border for the kitchen. We arrived home and finished the last coat. I worked on a making a present. It was a good day. (for pictures check out my facebook- until I have time to add them to this post)

Then Sunday after church - we didn't go out for chinese like the last couple weeks which we missed, but understand. We got home and put up the border. The kitchen looks amazing now!! Why didn't we do that sooner? It looks so clean! I made chocolate chip cookies, and meatloaf - Nick style and scalloped potatoes - talked to more Canadian friends, and soo much more. I really accomplished a lot!

I love being home with my husband! I love who I am when I'm with him. Tis good stuff. We are soo looking forward to heading the Ohio direction this Tuesday afternoon - food - family - and friends are calling our names!!!

www.sooLong.com

Wow – it has been soo long since I have Blogged. A Week!! I’d like to say that it's because I’ve been busy but really besides work I’ve just been lazy. However, today is as good a day as any to post. There are lots of special days in November. Today is Mel’s 24th Birthday, and today the babies are 2 months old. Saturday is MG & Jakes 1 year together. Monday, Nick and I have been married for 6 months. The following Saturday is Nick and my 3 years dating anniversary. Not to mention Thanksgiving is next week!!!! Sooo excited for the break and the visit to Ohio!!!! Yeah for family and friends I haven’t seen in a while.

That’s all.

www.stuff&info.com

I love having 2 days off in a row. I feel like I get to actually spend time with my Nick. I was still away from him for part of Tuesday for String Ensemble. Our concert is next week!! Yikes! I e-mailed Dr. Brown about one of our songs that he said we were going to play but that we never got music for. Soo hopefully I will find out if it is on the schedule for next semester. We also cleaned our house a lot – Nick was a great help!! We got a few things done that just needed to be done that you never want to do….

Wednesday when I got off of my first job – I had the hugest headache! And I’d been having headaches straight for over a week, and this was the worst…so I took a nap – hoping it would go away. When I got up it was still there but we headed to Ann Arbor – Nick drove. We met up with Jennie at the Ronald McDonald House. I gave her this book that I had read before and that my mom picked up for me at Gospel Text! It’s called I’ll Hold You in Heaven. Then we went to look at the babies! It’s amazing how easy it is to just watch a sleeping baby…. This world is caught up in fast paced entertainment, yet like a campfire, I was just mesmerized, as I’m sure they are too! Both Nich & Jennie have gotten to hold Brennan and Brooklyn. We also ate dinner with her at the Ronald McDonald house - such a great place! The food was pretty good! The company was great! The chocolate chuch chocolate cookies were amazing!

These are exciting days! They are able to touch their babies now, they can bathe them, feed them. Even though they are still just shy of 2lbs, these moments together are soo special! Most people say that they never stay little long enough, before you know it – they’re all grown up and you can’t hold them in your arms anymore. Jennie and Nich are going to be blessed with way more time to hold their little ones!

On my day off I taught myself how to set up my Facebook so I can text my status updates right to my page, and I also learned how to have any updates that Nich or Jennie add to their pages go right to my cell phone!! I was telling Jennie this and she is hoping to do the same! (Reminder for you Jennie). It’s a pretty cool thing to do that. I also have a few other peoples set up to send me a text message as soon as they post!

www.anAbundanceOfFriends.com

I can't even begin to explain what the last 4 days has done for my spirit. It began with Thursday night, enjoying playing violin for Spring Arbor - an institution that I love. The previous blog gives insight into that evening.

Friday I worked but it was interspersed with a phone call with Mel, then I spent my 1hr dinner hour with Mel - talking... and then we decided that that wasn't enough time, so we decided that after Mel and Kevin were done with dinner at his parents house, instead of driving back to Monroe - which was their plan - they should come over to our house, hang out and then sleep over!! Which is what happened! I love hanging out with friends! So Saturday we woke up with guests - enjoyed talking around the kitchen table until around noon. Then instead of the busy day we had planned, we decided the friendship connection was more important and had a lazy rest of the afternoon.

Around 3:30 we headed in to Jackson wit the hopes of going to CiCi's but found out that it had closed!!! We had to go to Target and ran into Seth and Crissie King with his parents in the parking lot. So we visited with them. Then we drove to SAU where we enjoyed the Marino's pizza buffet, and then picked up Anna to head off to Concord for Kazia and Mike Siler's wedding!! It was wonderful to see her again and I totally predicted her dress exactly! At the wedding we got to visit with Anna, Travis Traxler, Matt Francis, the Jewells, and more fun friends for SAU!!!

So after the dessert reception we returned home, amazed by the beautiful moon and amazingly warm weather for November! This morning we got up for church - totally excited to go. We arrived on time and sat on the right side which is unusual for us, but the church is sooo full (waiting for the much needed addition begin built). After the first 2 songs, the offering and into the 3rd song - Nich and Jennie walked in and there was only 2 seats left in the whole church and they were right beside us!!!! I was so excited and gave Jennie a great hug. They whispered to us that they were ON TIME.. but of course were stopped by lots of people! They had left Hailey with Nanna so after the service they asked if Nick and I wanted to go for lunch with them. We stuffed our faces at a chinese buffet!! Then wandered through Art Van together for a bit!! It was wonderful to spend time with them again and are thinking we'll head up to Ann Arbor on Wednesday this week!

Nick and I talked and we decided as much as I love the idea of moving to Toledo - we love the Jackson/Spring Arbor area, we are familiar with it, we love Nich and Jennie and I feel like we need them and they need us (especially now that a certain family is moving far away!) and we love our church and we don't want to leave. Soo now we shall focus our job searches more here....

Now to spend the afternoon with my husband!! What a wonderful weekend!

www.FeelingOld.com

I saw my name written in the program for the Dedication of Michindoh Conference center which has been given to SAU. The String Ensemble played 2 selections. We got a lot of compliments and dinner was fantastic.

Anyways it said Brittney Everett (Class of 2008). I felt old. Then I rode back to SAU in the party bus. They passengers were all freshman, or just goofball college students.... there was dancing, there was lights flashing, there was singing... a couple of the girls were looking at my wedding book and they thought I was soo cool since I was married!!

It felt weird to feel old. Then work today megally sucked which is what happens when you are old.

However I talked to someone tonight who I feel was put in a place to get a chance to talk to so hopefully life will proceed due to the conversation I had with her.

www.HotBliggityBlog.com

I feel like a new woman - therefore a new background! I found this one at Hot Bliggity Blog!!

So I have a new old computer. It is the exact same model as my old one, so its just as old but not nearly as used! The screen is clean and really bright, the keys all work and the letters aren't rubbing off. The little red dot in the middle is clean and looks red still (instead of burgandy due to the dirt in the little grooves). My hard drive is in the computer so I don't even have to set up the computer the way I like it because its all the same!

Next I got my hair cut! Except it looks the same length, but styled! She trimmed very little off the bottom, but layered it all cute, and thinned it a bit, and gave me a cute little bang. Right now its still the straight straightness that comes from the really awesome professional hair straighteners so I'm loving it!!!! Woot!!

Thats all.

www.soImportant2spendTime.com

Halloween.

'Tis an interesting phenomenon.

It has been years since I went door-to-door, and as I watched the phenomenon on my way home from work I thought about how weird it was... a friend of mine's child expressed it well....

"Another door opened and I got candy!" - Conner (1 of twin boys)

How weird is it!?? REALLY!

I have decided that when I am a parent, I'm taking my kids trick or treating at Wal-mart and to our friends houses only... in our car. Its way too cold for kids to be outside that late at night and the last several years it has been rainy! Wal-mart hands out free candy to kids Halloween night at every register, and department! How cool is that? Soo needless to say, we don't get a lot of kids in the pharmacy and they are supposed to hand out candy starting at 7pm, but we close my 7pm so we had a whole pumpkin bucket of candy to eat by 7 pm. By about 6:30pm I was wired!!! I was just about being done working another 58hour week of work....

About 6:35 I see my brother peak around the corner with Sarah!!! They were out shopping together to buy ingredients to make caramelized peach smoothies. So being ridiculously hyper, I said why don't you make them at our house!!! He looked at her, she was cool with it, so they did. They had to go back to SAU to do something though, but arrived at our house about 20 mins after I had gotten home from work!

The Michael and Sarah thing: they are not dating.... yet. I don't know what the plans are, (I think she still has a boyfriend at home) but those 2 have been hanging out since the last week of August. She has gotten him to go to church almost every week, and not only to GO but to get up early and go to the early service which sings hymns - which they both enjoy!! Sooo I figure if they are out shopping together they are going somewhere....

Anyhoo back to our "double date". We were all hungry since I had just gotten off work, and they had been shopping, none of us had eaten, so I talked Michael into making stir fry! It was delish! The stir fry was full of noodles, chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, corn and peas - seasoned with a General Tao's sauce. Thanks Steph for the wok and the oil and the noodles!

(this isn't a picture of our but its close...ours was better)

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We watched some Simpson's, and then we watched Monsters' Vs. Aliens. Half way through the movie we paused it and made the caramelized peach smoothies... Michael wasn't as impressed with them as he wanted. (pictures to come...). Overall it was an enjoyable evening.

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We've been married 5 months and this was the first time we spent a significant amount of time with a "couple" at our house... unless you count Ben and Gavin. Nick and I both loved having the male/female interaction. They left around midnight. - That's my kind of Halloween!

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Then Sunday morning.... we set our clocks back like we were supposed to.... however my alarm clock/cellphone didn't get plugged in and died over night. Sooo it didn't wake us up like it was supposed to. We were very disappointed because we really wanted to go to church. Kazia and Mike were there again and we missed them! Anyhoo so we awoke at 10:45, showered and ate cereal. While we ate cereal we watched the Crystal Cathedral service on TV. When I found it on TV the first thing I saw was Sean Groombridge playing the piano. Sean played/assisted my mom at the wedding we sang in a couple weeks ago. Soo I yelled up to Nick and he came running and was sooo excited! We know him!!! Then after such an exhausting morning I fell back asleep for an hour.

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The rest of the day was soo relaxing, I think all I did was cooked dinner .... and lay around. Dinner was a "lemon chicken pasta toss" (pictures to come). It was wonderful and needed. By the end of the night I was more in love with Nick and wishing I had more days off!!! It is soo important to actually spend time with your husband! The end of the day for a couple hours half asleep every night doesn't cut it!
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I love him.