the little things

It was grand!

What an awesome Thanksgiving we had!  It started out with me oversleeping a tad, resulting in a delay in cooking the "mini turkey" I was doing for  mom, since her oven only fit the big bird :)

But, the rest of the day was a blast!  We ventured to mom & Phil's early. Turns out everyone had the same idea!  We pulled in right after my grandparents, and almost everyone was already there!

#1 Thankful this year?  My family. Plain & simple.  

We had SO many laughs my stomach hurt...and not just after we ate either! ;)   My cousin, Steph & her husband Matt drove up from Columbus.  The meal was Fantastic (that's right-with a capital F, fantastic!) I made little place cards for everyone this year-everyone liked them!  Five seconds after loading her plate, Tana spilt Pepsi all over the table!  It was funny.

We shared stories & laughter.

And one of my favorite parts was celebrating these two:

gramcracker & grandpa.

It's their 50th wedding anniversary December 6th!  We decided to surprise them & celebrate a tad early while the whole family could be here.  The original plan was tohave a big party for them-my mom had it all planned until gram told her she had already booked a room at a bed & breakfast! ha. go figure! :)

SO thankful for them!  Seriously, two of THE sweetest, most genuine people anyone could ever meet.  I am so blessed to have them in my life.  I made them a card (which is rare! haha) & they loved it.  Gram called me today to thank me again for it. How sweet!  They opened their gifts & we ate cake!   Their favorite-European Sponge-I thought it was beautiful and delicious!

This photo cracks. me. up!  This is what 50 years does to you I guess! haha.

Later, Tana, Zeb, Nate & I ran to Kmart to take advantage of their board games sale!  We're such big kids-we bought Candyland & Connect 4!  I wanted Hungry, Hungry Hippos in the worst way-but we were too late-they were sold out! ;) haha.

The family met Megan's new boyfriend, Shawn.  She's so happy-which makes us happy!

It took a while, but we finally managed to get a good family photo!   There's some people missing that couldn't be here this year (my step brother & his wife, my aunt, uncle & cousin who live in Virginia) but we had a wonderful time anyway.  This is a new family favorite now!

After we came home, Nate & I decorated the tree & the house.  I was so exhausted I just let things fall wherever! ha.  I tweaked some stuff last night & am much happier!  I will have some photos soon!

We decided to be brave & get up at 5 to run to Target to grab a few small things we caught in the ad!  It was actually kind of fun!  We only waited in line 20 minutes & even tho it was freezing it was funny watching people!  We got everything we needed (no tv's or digital cameras for us this year).  I even managed to run to Kmart & found everything I was wanting for Nate! yeyy!  He stayed in the car while I "ran" in! We had a great breakfast at Bob Evans, then came home only to head back out to my parents house to meet up with them & Tana & Zeb to go to Donzell's!

After Donzells, Nate & I (not thinking!) decided to go to the mall because I have Megan in our family gift exchange & wanted to get her gifts! Well, that was dumb of us! lol SO many people! Yikes!  But, we found some good deals...and I even snagged up a sweater & socks for myself!

Needless to say, today we are exhausted!  Nate worked last night & tonight & I seriously think we're just out of it! haha.  While he worked, I went to mom & Phil's while they put up their tree-free entertainment! ;)

I am so grateful for all this family time!  I love it!

Well, I've rambled on enough-it's time to go wrap up Nate's birthday gifts!!  We're celebrating on Monday & he (and me too, I guess!) can't wait!

Hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving too!!

something fun!

Well, my 2 day weekend has come to an end (I really am blessed that my normal schedule allows me to have Mondays off too!) and it was wonderful!  Yesterday Nate & I ventured to a new meat market run by lots of amish-with unbeatable prices-found lots of great baking supplies & deli meats at half of what we would pay in the grocery store-and it's only 15 minutes from our house!  

After her went to work, Tana & I went shopping.  LOTS of laughs, lots of good ideas for when our husbands go shopping together next week, and lots of good deals!

Nate's birthday is December 4th...and then Christmas-so it's a double whammy!

I picked up some things he was wishing for...and even a neat something that will be a complete surprise!

We're both trying to go practical this year-on a budget. It's a challenge, but I love shopping/budget challenges!

I finished his birthday shopping-now I just need to Christmas.  I have lots of ideas-we'll see what I go with!

Today, we overslept & missed church.  So, it was a bit of a lounge all morning kind of days. Love those!

Once we got up & going, I baked some Friendship Bread that a lady at work gave me the start of last week. Too bad I have no bread pans, so I had to call mom  & ask to borrow hers!

Her & Phil brought them by & ended up hanging out for a few hours-it was great!  The whole house smelled of cinnamon sugar-yum!   It makes 2 loaves, so I was handing it out left & right!  Now, I'm left with 4 starter bags myself-I wish it I could mail it out!  But, it was fun & delicious!

Cramcracker & grandpa stopped by to see "MyPlace" (that's what gram thought MySpace was called! haha) & gram had some medical billing of hers to ask me about & grandpa loved the bread!  

Tonight-I've been working on some design stuff for American Crafts- the new Christmas line is so much fun! I've been dying to use it-I dug right in tonight! haha.

Such a great day!

Before I go get ready for bed, I saw my sweet friend, Nichole (also with an H! awesome!) tagged me-so here goes, just for fun!

A. Attached or single? happily attached! :)
B. Best friend? nate. 
C. Cake or pie? red velvet cake.
D. Day of choice? sat, sun, & mon.
E. Essential item? a good pillow. :)
F. Favorite color? right now it's light yellow.
G. Gummy bears or worms? oh, either!
H. Home town? smithville, ohio.
I. Favorite indulgence? Ghirardelli chocolate.
J. January or July? July, even tho it's too hot-anything beats winter in Ohio!
K. Kids? none :(
L. Life isn’t complete without? love. faith. family.
M. Marriage date? october 14, O6 :)
N. Number of brothers and sisters? 2 sisters, 1 brother.
O. Oranges or Apples? Mmmm. i like both-but apples i eat more.
P. Phobias? mice. birds. black squirrels.
Q. Quotes? not a huge quote gal.
R. Reasons to smile? getting enough sleep. spending time with friends & family. having all the bills paid. nate.
S. Season of choice? fall...or summer.
T. Tag 5 people: i tag you all!
U. Unknown fact about me? i've never had a broken bone.
V. Vegetable? green beans & tomatoes from grandpa's garden!
W. Worst Habit? biting finger nails, cracking my knuckles, eating when i'm emotional, talking too much! lol
X. Xray or ultrasound? i've had both. fun. ;)
Y. Your favorite food? oh gosh-ummm...i love grilled chicken & lobster :)
Z. Zodiac sign? Aquarius...although depending on where you are reading I could be a Capricorn

I have WalMart to thank?

Last Saturday night I had a last minute hangout session with my grandparents & it was a blast!  Gramcracker had called me earlier in the day to ask if I could "show her how to make a card someday" ...Someday turned into a few hours later!  It was so much fun showing gram the basics of cardmaking (even tho I am not the best at it), I was still so happy to spend that time with her & watch her get excited about pop dots & stamps! ;)

So, when I saw these cute little stamps on a dreaded trip to WalMart Monday, I knew I had to get them to make a card for gram & gramp!

And tonight, with the help of Kristina Werner's blog, I created this just for them! 

I'll be sending it off tomorrow-with this super cold & snowy weather we've been having all week here in Ohio, I thought I'd send them some warm wishes! 

And that cute snowflake mug? It's from the dreaded ol' WalMart too. Who knew?!

I plan on filling it with goodies for a co-worker this Christmas!

I can't believe I actually have WalMart to thank for something cute! haha.

In other news-Nate is slowly getting better, happy about that!  I'm heading out for his birthday & Christmas shopping with my step sister, Tana tomorrow night-pretty excited for that!  And I'm working this Monday so I can have a 5 day weekend next week!  I'll have Thurs-next Monday off-looking forward to it!

I started a 1 week cleanse, called SlimQuick.  This is the 3rd day on it & I am really pleased.  It's gentle & rather inexpensive. The 1 week box was $14.99 & I feel better already.

I don't really think I've lost much weight since we got back from vacation-my heart is just not in it right now.

It's kind of a vicious cycle-I eat because I'm down & I'm down because I eat (fat!) haha.  

But seriously, Nate & I have been discussing join our local YMCA-while I hate to spend the money each month, I really think it's what we both need.  

We're not 100% set on it tho, still trying to decide.  Anyone belong to the Y or gym?  If so, how do you like it? 

I wish there was a magic wand that I could use to just be healthy! ;)  Wouldn't that be great?!  Oh, a girl can dream, can't she?!  

I've read only a few pages of a new book I bought off Amazon last week, called " A Patient's Guide to PCOS"-it's good so far.  I'm hoping to educate myself a little more & am praying it all just clicks with what I need to do to make this better.  

My hearts greatest desire is to become a mom, so I just get so frustrated with why I give up so easily.  I feel like the longer I wait, the worse it will get, and then that just frustrates me more!  I've just praying about everything a lot lately...God has a plan...I know I have to stick it out.

I hope you have a great weekend & please feel free to leave any suggestions on a gym, etc! I'd love to hear your suggestions.

i forgot!

I forgot to post this earlier...my scrap friend, Kelly Purkey is trying for something awesome!

crowdSPRING, hire Kelly Purkey for your new Community Marketing Manager!

one lucky girl

I called Nate just a little bit ago before I went to lunch...

Me: Hello!

Nate: Hi love! How are you?

Me: Good!  Did you see that packet of mexican seasoning on the counter?

Nate: It's already in the oven & has 16 minutes to go!

Overjoyed Me: Seriously?!! You're wonderful!

How is it that he just knows?  He gets me!  I am one lucky girl.

And the best part is-he does this kind of good stuff ALL the time!

I fall more in love with him every single day!

soup+grilled cheese

=the perfect chilly day dinner.

My cold has finally left me, but now Nate has it. So, after cleaning out the attic this morning, I called gramcracker for her Spice Pot soup recipe (so delicious!) & we ventured out to get the ingredients & some of Panera's tomato basil bread...and now, we're enjoying the fruits of our labor ;) & plan on bundling up in our Slankets & watching all of our shows on the DVR. We aim big around the Duenke household! ;)

It was a wonderful weekend, filled with some holiday shopping, card making with gramcracker, visits with the family, lunch with Tana & Zeb, crafting & laundry. :)

Thanks to this blog: Little Birdie Secrets, I even made these:

Cupcake bath bombs!  Fun stuff!

Off I go to make the most of this evening! :)

nothing is ever perfect

I''ve been a little MIA lately.

I blame it on this killer cold I've had all week.

It's not letting up & I'm exhausted!

I called off work Tuesday & wished I had today too, but I need to save my PTO for the holidays. ugh.

I had a not so good conversation with Megan tonight. 

That girl has more drama in her life than anyone I know!

Praying, alot.

I also found a body cleanse I'm hoping to try when I get rid of this nasty beast that's consuming me!

And ordered a book off of Amazon about PCOS. I want to educate myself some more.

If I owe you an email, I apologize for the delay, I just haven't felt much like sitting at the computer lately. I''ll write soon :)

It's 7:40 p.m. & I am officially heading to bed. I'm a geek, but I don't care...I simply have no more energy! Here's to a good weekend...hopefully! ;)

lucky.

I found a song by Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat today that pretty much sums up my life-

Lucky.

Lucky for an incredible husband who takes a surprise half off work so we could have a date night friday! 

Us-before going to see Madagascar. SO funny!

Lucky for a lovely morning at Kmart of all places for Hot wheels of all things! lol I know it sounds ridiculous, but we had a nice conversation with a local gentleman who loves Hot wheels just like Nate at an event Kmart has 3 times a year for Hot wheels fans (Kdays-ring a bell? haha).  I love meeting new people!

We also broke our eating out streak by having breakfast at Panera, which was a first and probably a last. I think we'll just stick to eating Panera for lunch or dinner, we discovered we're not much of a fan for their breakfast! The hot chocolate was good-very not organic, but good :)

Lucky for an impromptu trip to amish country in the afternoon. It was wonderful, even tho I forgot my camera!  We just went where the Jetta took us! :) Our first stop was a great craft mall where I found the cutest glass jar/votive holder with a soft little felt snowman on the front-I'll have to post photos when I set him out in a few weeks!  Then we found a HUGE indoor flea market/expo center! Who knew amish country would have an expo center?! Crazy! haha.  We paid the $1 to park & then ventured in. Whoa. Talk about lots of people!  Lots of good little booths & primitives everywhere!  A little bit of everything, including a section with THE largest selection of Hot wheels I have ever seen!  Nate was in Hot wheels Heaven! lol  I think he would have stayed there all day if he could have. haha.  He managed to find a few he doesn't have & I'm hoping to get back there sometime before his birthday to look for a few more...we'll see!

Lucky for an extremely fantastical time with my girls last night!  We had a delicious dinner at Macaroni Grill (I got so sick for that later-my body was not used to that stuff! So crazy how that works out! lol), did lots of much needed catching up, made a stop to Office Max so Tricia could get some ink & I had to take some photos  (of course! ;), came back to my house & got silly with photobooth:

 I decided to bring out the old high school scrapbooks. Oh my. Too funny!  We have all known each other since 1st grade, so I can't tell you how funny it was to look back on some old stuff...especially the senior trip album-wow. Lets just say I'm glad we've all matured...a little! (I guess the above photo is proof that we really haven't grown up much, huh?! lol). I am so lucky for these friendships.I am so lucky that we can be silly & laugh. I am so lucky that it usually takes months for us to all be able to get together, but when we do it's like we haven't missed a beat.

Today, we had an amazing church service & my Pastor really put this past week in perspective about many things & I finally have peace with it. Lucky. 

I'm dealing with a rotten cold & ear aches.  I want to sleep so bad, but I tried napping & just couldn't sleep longer than 20 minutes!  Bummer.  So, here I am. not so lucky. lol

I did scrap some yesterday, in between Nate leaving for work & the girls coming over!  Here's the one I actually got scanned in (even tho it's a horrible scan! ha)! 

I hope your weekend has been great!  I'm hoping I'm feeling better tomorrow because we have grocery shopping to do & hopefully heading to another little amish community to look for some Christmas gifts!

the smell of chinese food is killing me!

So, it’s lunch time here at work & a few people ordered in chinese food. I was asked, but I declined (even tho it would be delicious), but it smells sooo good! 

What is it with the smell of food that lures you in & wants you to go crazy eating it?!

Ahh.  Aside from my parents taking us out to dinner Monday night, Nate & I haven’t eaten out for 2 weeks.

It may not seem like a lot, but it’s a huge deal for us!  We usually eat out at least twice over the weekend, so it’s important that we’re not only going crazy with bad eating out habits, but we’re not spending all that money!

Even tho I have a terrible craving for Chik-fil-a right now! ;)

 

I’ve been working on some vacation pages here & there-I miss it. I want to be back in

South Carolina

!  Tomorrow is Kdays (hot wheels+Kmart=good time for Nate! lol), then some errands & then I’m going out with some dear friends in the evening…I can’t wait!

 

Tonight-I plan on doing some picking up & then scrapping some hopefully.  I also need to start organizing some stuff to do with Christmas-I can’t wait to put our parents gifts together this year!  I was also thinking of heading out & shopping for Nate’s birthday/Christmas-I wonder if anyone’s having any good sales right now?  Hmmm..maybe I’ll go check it out!

 

I hope your week has been good & here’s to a great weekend!!

bummer.

I'd be lying if I said I'm not disappointed that John McCain didn't pull out a win last night.  I'd also be lying if I said I'm happy that Obama will be our president for the next 4 years, but what can you do?

I feel good about sticking up for my beliefs & for listening to my heart.

I'm anxious to see if Obama can stick to his word about some things, but in the end, God has a plan & we must roll with the punches.  I pray for God to help him lead this nation just like I would have for McCain.

I'm not letting it get me down, what's done is done & I'm glad it's over with!

I am happy that our county sheriff is still on board & that the Ohio casino didn't pass tho! But, that's just me ;)

Off to make some turkey joes & hopefully scrap?!