Snow.

Seriously, I’ve seen more snow this winter season…than I have any other year.  I live in Southern Illinois for goodness sakes…it’s not supposed to be this “wintery” down here!  (At least that’s what I’ve been told.)  Now don’t get me wrong…I absolutely love snow…and the fact that we have 4 very distinct seasons.  It’s just that the weather here right now is crazy.  One day it snows…the next day it all melts…then the next day there’s an ice storm…and then it somewhat melts…and then it freezes again…and then it snows on top of it.  I’m so ready for spring right now.  I never thought I’d say this…but I’d give anything for it to warm up enough so I could go for a long run outside.  I’m even starting to wish it was warm enough to ditch my coat and just wear a sweatshirt.  Until then…we’ll continue to curl up in our jammies night after night with a warm cup of cocoa. 

And I’m Back….

So life has been busy…which means I haven’t blogged in awhile.  In the past week or so we’ve managed to go home to visit my family for my dad’s birthday…which was a lot of fun.  While we were there we got to try out my brother’s family’s new hot tub (as they now live like 2 steps away from mom and dad).  Anyway…we give the hot tub 2 thumbs up.  If we had a bigger house…and a lot of extra cash laying around….I’d buy one.  (Donations for the hot tub fund are always welcome!)  We also got the chance to see our oldest nephew (Doug) play in a basketball game…which was also a good time.  Even better was the fact that I haven’t been in my old gradeschool in I don’t know how long.  The rest of the time was spent just hanging out with mom and dad…and eating…which was great as usual. 

Another exciting thing happened this past week.  After much thinking and concentrating on the matter…Jared and I bought I-phones.  I was apprehensive after the initial shock of purchasing them…but woah…they are too cool!  Jared’s pretty much attached to his…and I’m pretty hooked on mine as well.  It’s pretty much the coolest cell phone/PDA that I’ve ever experienced…and it’s all mine!!!  (Woah…totally just sounded like the youngest child in the family there.)  Anyway…it was a fun purchase. 

 Other than that…I’ve been busy with work and getting the house back into order.  The cleanliness of the house took a major nose dive when I had the flu….and honestly…I’m just now catching up with all of the laundry and cleaning.  It’s almost back at 100% though!  We did take some time to relax this weekend though.  We ordered some pizza from Mario’s (our favorite local place) and watched “The Good Shepherd” (not so great) and “Once” (an AMAZING indi-modern day musical). 

 Anyway…now we’re caught up…for the most part.  Adios!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Well since I’m finally feeling better…and have kicked the flu to the curb…I decided to celebrate by making ridiculous amounts of cookies.  (I pretty much use any excuse to go crazy with baking!)  I made a few different kinds for Valentine’s Day…nothing like Christmas though.  I made sour cream sugar cookies (and piped frosting on them all), red-velvet crinkles (like chocolate crinkles…only red velvet), chocolate chip with Valentine M&M’s, and some fudge.  Then…just like momma tought me…I made a couple of huge cookie trays for work.  I sent with Jared and kept one for my office.  This morning I was once again dubbed “The Office Baker”…a nickname I’m a-ok with!  It may sound silly…but I love the looks on peoples faces when they see a big tray of cookies…it’s priceless.  If I had the money…I’d quit my job and open a bakery.  The rest of the day’s been good so far as well.  I was surprised to find a calla lilly plant awaiting me as I left the house this morning….and then the world’s biggest box of chocolates was waiting for me in my car.  I have a great hubby!  So now to finish up work…and then off for some Valentine’s Day BBQ and a movie!

I hate the flu…

So it’s been exactly one week since the madness began.  A week ago today I reluctantly left work at 4:00 when my throat started to hurt and my head felt a bit dizzy.  Assuming I was just a little tired…I headed home for some shut eye.  A week later…I’m finally back to “normal”.  I’ve never had (from what I can recall) a bought with the flu that lasted more than 24 hours.  This was something fierce that I hope to never experience again.  I won’t go into details…because trust me…you don’t want them.  Suffice it to say…that it was single-handedly the worse bit of being sick I’ve ever experienced…up to this point.  (Worse than strep…and mono.)  I finally broked down and went to the doctor yesterday.   After he insisted that I could be pregnant (no..I’m not…don’t freak out!)…we proved that theory wrong and he sent me on my way with some drugs to help with the nagging cough and some pills to keep me from puking all the time.  So today the meds are beginning to work…and the room has finally stopped spinning!  I’m back at work too…which was a huge relief.  I love my house…but being stuck in bed all day long for nearly 6 days about did me in!  Not to mention the lack of quality television programming during the day.  I did however catch a marathon of “Tim Gun’s Guide to Style” on Thursday…so that was exciting.  I’m also pretty sure I never want to see chicken noodle soup or 7-Up again…ever.  So there you…you’re now caught up on my life.  Pretty exciting eh?!  Until next time…adios!

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head…

The snow is gone and it’s been raining all day…again…what’s with the weird Illinois weather?  In other sad news…Value City (the Greenville branch) is closing.  Gotta say…that pretty much ruined my day when I heard the news.  For those of you who know me well…know that I love that stupid store.  Alas…it looks like I’ll have to find somewhere else to buy cheap shoes and house decor.  They close at the end of the month…so I plan on visiting at least once a week until that point…so I can keep track of what’s on sale.  There are a few items in there that I have my eye on.  Value City…I’m gonna miss you!

Fog in February?

So this weekend Greenville was covered in snow…and now we’re covered in fog.  Weird.  It was a great weekend though.  Friday night was spent curled up with pizza…my hubby…and the “Bourne” movies.  All of which…were amazing.  We stayed up too late…and slept in quite a bit on Saturday.  I actually got a lot of errands taken care of on Saturday…and spent a good chunk of the day FINALLY taking down the rest of the Christmas decorations.  (With the exception of my snowmen…they get to stay up for a few more days.)  I also got most of the house cleaned…which also needed to happen.  Between all of the cleaning…I spent time making a yummy meal of roast beef, gravy, mashed potatoes, and corn.  I really love cooking…I just never have the time.  So it was nice to just relax and cook a good meal on a Saturday.  I also worked on getting some snacks together for Sunday (Super Bowl Party).  I made banana bars and choc. chip cookie bars.  (It’s a wonder that I didn’t eat them all before the party!)  Anywho…to celebrate a most productive Saturday…Jared and I got bundled up and headed out to Buzzard’s Bay…at 10:30 p.m…to go sledding.  I’m pretty sure you’re not suppoed to be out there after dark…but we wanted to sled!  So sled we did…and in the morning we realized that it was possibly not the best idea.  I’m still sore from the snowy adventure…but it was definitely fun!  I’m glad I have a husband that I can be silly with.  Yesterday we headed to the Murphy’s after church for the Superbowl party.  Lots of food and friends…which is always a great combination.  I really didn’t pay much attention to the game…but I did have fun watching the new commercials and Tom Petty at half-time.  At any rate….a good weekend.

It’s here…

…the snow that is.  Lots of wonderful….white…fluffy…drifting…superbulous…SNOW!  I took a half day from work today to finish up my mid-term for class and some other bits of homework.  So now it’s 3:30 and I’m anxiously awaiting Jared to get home from work so that we can go sledding!  (Or at least to play in the snow a bit.)  We haven’t had this much snow in Greenville in quite some time…so I’m going to enjoy every last bit of it!  Hopefully it’s not 70 degrees out tomorrow…or something silly…and we can enjoy the snow for a few days.  (Snow around here has the tendency of melting pretty quickly.)  With that thought…I’m going to sign off…and get my snow gear together!  Adios!