the little things

It's good to be geeky!

Couple of things.

1^st-I picked up my new glasses today! I look crummy today, so I edited the tint in this photo-but you get the idea, I think! These are so something I never thought I could pull off, but everyone at the eye doctor, including Nate approved the look...so we’ll see! :) They have this cool green stuff along the rims in the inside. Fun!

2^nd-I managed to do a lousy job at creating last night…only completed one layout! I blame my photos. Haha. I dunno. BUT, I did create these the night before, so it can’t be all that bad, right?!

3^rd-I am uber inspired to do a page about a VERY special friend that I am so, so grateful for. I’ve never even met her in real life, One day, right, K?!) but it feels like I’ve known her forever! Hoping to get to work on that soon!

4^th-poor Nate had to stay home from work today because he was down with a terrible migraine all morning & half of the afternoon.  As he kept getting so sick in the bathroom, asking for a warm washcloth & puke bucket (!) I just kept reminding myself ..”in sickness & health, Nichole. Just do it!” LOL ;)

5^th-thanksfully, later tonight he was feeling much better, so we went shopping! Spent some of our gift cards we got for Christmas! Such a blast!  Best Buy was a good time. I picked up

Reno

911 Seasons 1 & 2 (I’m addicted to that show-it’s ridiculous!), Roseanne Season 9 (I need 1-8, but they didn’t have any of them. Ack!), Because I said So, and

One

 

Republic

’s cd..and Nate picked up 2 PSP games, Transformers & double pack of Meet the Parents & Meet the Fockers.  Our new dvd case is already packed! It’s insane.  After Best Buy, we went to Kohl’s-Nate got a new pair of pretty hip happenin’ Adidas kicks! Haha. And I got a new pair of Nike’s. Hey, whatever it takes to help get me motivated to walk after the new year! ;) I also found a cute new sweater & Nate picked up a thermal shirt for work.

Then, we topped it off with dinner at Applebee’s, courtesy of my boss. And groceries at Walmart thanks to Nate’s grandparents..we got everything tonight for $1.89 :) Can’t beat that!

Anywhoo..I’m off to catch up on some things!

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

homeade soft tacos are good.

(just thought I needed to say that. ;))

anywhoo, I have a mission tonight.

and it is…

to take this stuff & make stuff!

layouts to be exact.

and to have fun! and be free. and stop caring about what’s “in” & what other people are doing.

Just create. Be unique. And most of all enjoy it!

Happy weekend, all!

What are your plans?

New Years plans?

The best place to be

It seems like these last few days have been such a whirlwind, but so fantastic! Last Friday I was up for 22 hours..busy..work, cleaning my dad’s, grocery shopping at one in the morning with Nate, etc! Saturday we picked up our new piece of furniture; kind of a Christmas gift to each other-a new DVD stand! Which, mind you is made to be a bookshelf, but I managed to marry like the BIGGEST fan of all things entertainment! Haha. I’ll have to take some photos & post soon-we love it!

Later that night, my cousin, Steph & her husband, Matt stayed with us while on their visit from

Columbus

. It was a blast! Nate took a half day so he could enjoy our guests too. We had a yummy dinner at the restaurant my mom works at, and then came home to watch A Christmas Story (classic!), but 3  of the 4 of us didn’t make it all the way thru! (Nate was the only one who stayed up for the entire thing!) we were all so exhausted!

Sunday morning we got up early to head to grandma & grandpa’s for a delicious breakfast made by none other than Miss “who cares if I was just in the hospital 2 and a half days with a heart condition, no one can stop me!” aka, gramcracker! Haha.  She was unstoppable!  Steph & I tried to tell her no, but she wouldn’t take it for an answer! (typical, right?!) It was one of the highlights of my 5 days off. Seriously so good just being together. Enjoying the company & good food. I love that! God is so good. I can’t praise Him enough!

Sunday evening while Nate was at work, I joined mom & Phil at church to watch the Christmas play, which was so good! I hated that Nate had to miss it.

Monday was another busy day. Megan spent the night Sunday night & her boyfriend stopped by our house Monday morning to pick her up to head to gram & gramp’s for our traditional Christmas Eve gathering.  Nate & I bought him all kinds of goodies for his new apartment (he’s just starting off & doesn’t have many necessities).he loved them all & it felt good to be able to help him in such a small way. Another highlight of the week off!

Before going to grandma & grandpa’s, I got a phone from my doctor (obgyn), saying that the appointment I had been told to make for this Friday, was going to be cancelled because she had mistaken me for another patient when she told me last week to schedule it for another consultation, that “we’re going a different direction with you! I have some new things I want to try for you!”-needless to say I was excited last week & completely devastated this week.  I plan on looking for a new obgyn…this is just an addition to the few “mistakes” she’s made lately, not to mention she has a completely grouchy & unhelpful receptionist who makes me wanna scream everytime I go in!  But, I didn’t let that get in the way of enjoying the holiday!

Grandma & grandpa’s was such a good time, like it always is!  The food was..ahhh! Too good! Haha. I ate way too many cookies & chicken wings & dips of all kinds! LOL We shared lots of stories at the dining room table..laughs all around! I love reminiscing like that!

That same night, Nate & I went to my dad’s. Had a really nice time there as well.  He surprised Nate with the Black & Decker Gecko level, after giving us our gift. Nate was in Heaven! You would have thought my dad had just given him a winning lotto ticket or something!  It was sweet spending time with dad. 

After dad’s we met Tana & Zeb at the movies. We saw, “P.S. I Love you.”  So good. We all really enjoyed it! After we came home from the movies, we opened our stockings…we didn’t get each other actual gifts this year, instead we decided to spend our money differently…on JB, on small shopping trips, on furniture, etc.

Tuesday morning, we went to mom & Phil’s for our family gift exchange & traditional ham & dumplings. Yum! Phil had me & he bought me the most beautiful jewelry box that I really needed! I love it! And once again, I ate way too many cookies! Ahh. LOL

After mom & Phil’s we headed for

Findlay

. And had a GREAT visit!  Had a yummy dinner at my mother in law’s house, opened some gifts, lounged & played with Nate’s cousins little boy, Lucas. What a blast he is! Sooo cute!

We spent the night in Findlay, had breakfast with Nate’s mom & Lucas yesterday morning & made a quick visit by our friends Kurt & Jessica’s to see their new baby!

Then, we rushed home, so Nate could get changed for work & leave. It was a crazy time crunch, but we did it!

Last night while I was home by myself & had no motivation to do much of anything productive, I drove over to Kohl’s!  I picked up a cute

Henley

shirt & a really cute wintery sweater for mom. They had some killer sales going on that I just couldn’t pass up!

I went back to work today & here I sit. One more day of work tomorrow & then off again for 4 more days! I love it! I could really get used to this! Haha.

I’ll have to post some photos from the weekend when I have more time. But, for now...bed is calling. :) 

I scrapped tonight, but my scanner was being really finicky, so that share will have to be for a later time as well!

Oh, and back on Weight Watchers is my plan starting next week, January One, baby!

We shall see…

Hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas!  I can’t believe this is the last week of 2007! I’m ready for it tho! I need a fresh beginning!

Merry Christmas!

Between grandma & grandpa’s and my dad’s tonight..and mom & Phil’s and an overnight trip to

Findlay

tomorrow I don’t believe I’ll have too much time  to get here to wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas!!! (remember, no replacing the CHRIST with a lousy X! ;))

I hope it’s wonderful & blessed for you all! I love this time of year!!

Merry Christmas from the Duenke’s!   

Praise Him.

Just a quick update on gram. She was released from the hospital early this afternoon and is feeling well!

Praise God! :)

Thank you all so much for your kind words, thought & prayers! My family & I thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

I talked to her this evening on the way home from cleaning my dad’s house, and aside from being tired & tired of hearing the phone ring (hehe!) she is doing really well!  She said after we left last night, she felt so at ease, and was finally able to feel rest assured this was all in God’s hands and fell right to sleep!

When she woke up at

11:30

she felt her hearts rhythm get right back to normal!

That was all God.

The doctor checked her this morning, gave her the script for blood thinner for the next 6 months & sent her on her way!  I have cried tears of joy all day!

It was so good to be able to talk to her tonight, and know she was at home, with grandpa & so happy & feeling better!

What a blessing!  And it looks like Christmas Eve celebrations are a GO for gram & gram’s house! She refused to have it any other way! Haha.

I am super tired tonight. I’ve been gone since 6 this morning..got home at 8 tonight..now I’m counting down the house until Nate gets home & we make a midnight run to WalMart for groceries because there is no way in heck I am going anywhere tomorrow!! :)

I can’t believe Christmas is just days away!! So exciting! 

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend & thank you to everyone who lifted up my grandma in their prayers-I am so grateful!

Gramcracker.

It was just last Tuesday I created this page about my grandma, aka gramcracker. I love this blurry photo of her washing dishes when she & grandpa came to my house last month for lunch! Hehe. Gotta love grandma’s who just don’t know when to stop!

I love her dearly. She inspires me to be better. To be a better wife, a better friend, and a better Christian. She is one of the greatest people I have known, and one of the sweetest people anyone could ever meet. She can sometimes be a 4 foot 9 ball of fire too! I love her. Her & my grandpa have been for 49 years, and their love inspires me everyday..actually, it inspires a lot of people. They’re inseparable & I love it.

Last night she was admitted to the hospital for her heart. It was beating 200 beats a minute…she had lots of testing & bloodwork done, including an EKG and she’s still there thru at least tonight.

This is all very scary for her & our family.  She’s the strong one, the feisty one. I feel so bad for my grandpa too because he’s had to be alone without her for 2 days now.

I just got home from visiting her. I have to admit, I cried a little. I tried to hide it so much while in front of her..I tried to be strong, but who am I kidding?  I love her & don’t want anything to happen to her. I started to tear up about 6 times while there, but had to quickly make a joke to avoid it.

She said that they gave her some good medicine to lower her heart beats & it’s working.  They’re checking her at

6 a.m.

to see if it’s regulated out & if not, they will probably have to shock her heart.

I am so worried for her. All we can do is pray.

So, if you could please say a prayer for her, my family & I would all greatly appreciate it.

I am stressed beyond stressed right now! But, I’m trusting in God to make her well.

I hope to be back soon, and with great news for once!

Thanks for the feedback about sewing..hopefully I can get to that one day soon too!

Try something.

Lately, I’ve had this urge to try something different.  Something I’ve never done before, or never thought I could do.

So, I thought long & hard. My final decision on what to try?

Sewing.

Yep, sewing!

I’m super anxious to try it!

I have ideas brewing galore.

I have no idea if I’ll even ‘get it’. Or succeed, but darn it, I’m gonna try!

Nate’s mom can make just about anything. She has mad God gifted talent when it comes to needle & thread! So, I’m hoping she can go over some basics with me when we go to Findlay Christmas day. And I’m also hoping she has patience (uh, hello, Nichole..she raised Nate. Of COURSE she has patience! Hehe.*wink*)

Because I am an uber slow learner!

I seriously have a great idea that I would LOVE to see accomplished. Hopefully in the near future. Just something fun, but useful.

Fingers crossed I can do it! :)

How was everyone’s weekend?

We finished our Christmas shopping today..and I ordered a surprise that should be here by next week! Ooooh! Can’t wait!

Ps-is it totally pathetic that I teared up yesterday at church when my mom brought a newborn into the fellowship hall??  I felt so lame. I couldn’t control it. So selfish, but I wished it could be me.  The toddler room was a good time yesterday, tho.  Nate read the kiddos a short version of the Christmas story (oh, that was another thing that got me! He was so cute reading it & so expressive! The kids love him!) after the story, they made the cutest little gingerbread house gift bags! Well, I should say, they decorated them with such cute stickers of candy & gingerbread!  After they were finished we filled them with pre-made baggies of candy & hot chocolate. They loved them! So excited to show mom & dad after service!

Anywhoo..I’m off to browse the web while Nate plays PSP. *sigh* ;) hahaha.

Ummm..

I couldn’t think of a title for this post, because basically it’s just going to be randomness anyways!  I have been so busy-I haven’t even had time to update the blog! The last week & a half has been go-go-go.

It’s taken bad weather, nothing good on QVC (ha.), and a hubby to be gone to work for me to get here!

My Bare Escentuals came last Tuesday! Yeah, as in I ordered it Saturday, and 3 days later it was at my door step! I love it! It’s much lighter than I thought, but the coverage & feel are great! I can’t wait to get more someday!

Nate & I went to Beachwood Mall & Legacy Village in Cleveland

last Monday. We had such a blast! I got sample & smell lots of Philosophy at Sephora & came out with just what I wanted: the Purity Made Simple face wash & Hope in a Jar (thank goodness for boxed deals because that stuff is uber expensive!)-I love it! Such good stuff! Plus, I found out I love Cinnamon Buns & Birthday Cake body wash! See, I can’t even pick body products that aren’t delicious, fattening things! Haha.

After the mall, we had lunch at Chipotle in

Legacy

Village

, making it 6 different Chipotle’s I’ve eaten at, and 7 for Nate. We have this little thing about that. Yeah, we’re weird. *sigh!* ;)

They also have an Apple store there that Nate just HAD to go into, so we did..and oh boy. BIG mistake. I so want a Mac now! (as mentioned below!) Thank you all for the excellent info on Macs. Very useful & helpful!  We haven’t made a decision quite yet, because honestly, there’s so much more we should do with our money..so who knows.  But, at least we know how much we love them now, just in case!

I started new medication Monday for all this baby stuff. Other than that, nothing new to report on that. *sigh*

Last night Tricia & I went shopping. We had a blast!  I was able to get all of Nate’s stocking stuff done, Kohl’s was having a ginormous sale, so I picked up some dish towels & such for a “practical” gift Nate & I are putting together for Megan’s boyfriend. We were out til after 11…I didn’t go to bed until 2, and after being up since

5:30

in the morning, I was super sleepy!

The forecasters were calling for a bad winter storm this weekend, so Nate & I headed out early this morning to get most of our Christmas shopping done. We almost succeeded and had one more stop to make at Bath & Body Works, when it started snowing & within 20 minutes the roads were completely ice. Ugh. There were cars backed up everywhere, people were sliding every which way..it was completely nerve wracking!  Needless to say we quickly decided to just go home. But, a trip that would normally take us 15 minutes, took us an hour! It was that bad! I couldn’t believe it & in such a short amount of time! What really burned my buns was during that whole time, we didn’t see ONE salt truck! Ack. Gotta love

Ohio

!

We were happy to make it home safe & sound and yes, I was a bad wife & made Nate go to work! Haha. Only kidding. He did go to work, but I didn’t make him.  The thing is, it’s supposed to get wayyy worse by tomorrow-they’re actually calling for a blizzard. Oh yey.

So, Nate just might take tomorrow night off instead, which would be nice. :) We’re scheduled to be in the toddler room at church tomorrow, but who knows right now.

Anywhoo, I took some random photos today..so let me share.. 

1.) a peak into our living room from the dining room hallway. I love how it's always dark except for the tree (oh, and the tv! haha) 2.)Our street tonight. Covered in snow. Now I'm wondering if Nate can get in the drive! oops. haha. 3.)Kohls. WalMart. gift cards under the bags. Yey for icy day shopping! 4.)Some favorite ornaments of mine on our tree. Mrs. Potato Head & a new one this year from our good friends, Claudia & Jim.  They picked it up as a gift while in Frankenmuth, MI. Love it!

Oh! AND Tricia colored my hair Thursday night! Goodbye dirty blonde, hello light brunette! :)  I was so nervous because I've never had my hair colored anything but blonde...but I decided to go for it this time..and am so happy with the result! She trimmed the ends & gave me more layers..I'm a happy girl! (sorry for the crummy photo-I took it a few minutes ago..I'm tired, my contacts were drying out on me, I'm in my lounge-wear!..blah, blah, blah..haha) I love that it's a subtle change, nothing too extreme. Anywhoo, Nate will be home in 30 mintutes, so I'm out! Hope everyone is having a great weekend & Holy Cow! Christmas is like 12 days away!! yeyy!!

Oh, and I have no idea what Typepad is doing tonight. So, sorry for everything being everywhere!

there's always something..

it never fails..I always manage to find something else I want.
I blame Nate this time tho! ;) LOL

We went shopping in Cleveland today. Totally went to the Apple Store. Totally fell IN LOVE with the Mac.
ahhh.

Nate's been trying to convert me forever...where have I been all this time?!
PURE Heaven!
wow.
the things you can do on that thing!

For those have a Mac, do you love it? How much? Is it truly the best thing since sliced bread?!

I wanna know. Because we're seriously considering one around tax time.

We actually need a new computer now, as both our pc's are broke, and Nate's (old) laptop is sooo slowww! But, we're probably just going to have to wait it out for a while...but I'd still like to know what others think in the meantime.

Hope everyone's weekend was well! We've had a blast! More updates to come later! :)

Broke Down

so, I totally broke down and ordered this  this morning!

they say it should be here by December 17th! woot.

I am pumped! It was too good of a deal to pass up...and it was seriously meant to be..got out of the shower, turned on the tv (which just happened to be set to QVC! *wink*) & there it was. just calling my name!

it's been a good day so far..stopped by Kmart, had some lunch at Panera, dropped by Verizon to get Nate a new Chocolate since his last one wigged out..stopped by my fave primitive store just down the road from our house, where I picked up the 07 Willowtree ornament & now, here I am..about to catch up on some emails and tidy up the house before I go on a Target run with Tricia later!

happy Saturday everyone!

PS: check out Nate opening his PSP last week. sucha big kid! ;) and look! we've started using the wood burning fire place! so warm & cozy!