Miles and Miles to Michigan and Back

Chris and I left around 3:00 on Thursday and headed to Michigan. I drove the first several hours and then he took over. I think I slept from the Iowa border all the way to Chicago. We were making great time but got stopped due to the never ending construction in Chicago. We made it to Ann Arbor around 2:00 a.m. and crashed on Mike & Carrie’s sofa bed. Marshall must have been excited to see us because he was up before the crack of dawn – 6:00 am! We snuck in a little bit more sleep and then got up and ran some errands while Marshall took his morning nap.

The guys left to head to Kalamazoo around 2ish and Carrie was at work so Marshall and I hung out with Mom and Dad Nicholson. We had a great time relaxing and talking and taking a walk. After Carrie got home from work, we ate dinner and played some games. And Marshall decided to show everyone his new game – playing peek-a-boo with his bedroom door! The wee one was supposed to be sleeping but he has learned to stand up in his crib. And on Friday, he figured out he could reach his door and open and close it, laughing hysterically every time he saw one of us. It was quite the fun game – until Mommy moved his crib away from the door and the wall.

On Saturday we scrapbooked and relaxed, spent some quality time with our friends Bill and Amy and their little guy, Liam. Amy and Bill are awesome people! I am excited for when we move to Michigan knowing we have great friends there in them. It also makes me so happy to have such a great brother-in-law and sister-in-law in Mike and Carrie. They love Chris so much and have welcomed me with open arms. I had such a great time spending the weekend with Carrie and Marshall. My in-laws are also wonderful! It was so nice to hang out with them and get to talk a lot. Chris’ dad told me several cute stories about him – how fun is that?!

I left Ann Arbor pretty early on Sunday and headed to a camp northwest of Goble, MI to pick up Chris. I was able to get in some quick visits with several of our friends before we headed for home again. We made fantastic time and got back to our house around 8:30 on Sunday night. It was really nice to get home before midnight – our usual return time.

So now we’re home again for a few weeks. We have a couple of small jaunts planned over the next month – one up to Sioux City to see my parents, another up to northeastern and north central Iowa to see some friends and then we head back to Michigan at the end of the May.

Not much has been happening since we’ve gotten home. We are still making decisions and doing some research in regards to renting or selling the house in Michigan and have been spending time on that every night. Other than enjoying the weather, we’ve been having a fairly low-key week. On Saturday, we’re heading to Omaha and the Build-A-Bear Workshop. We’re going to build a Nikki’s Bear, with a portion of the proceeds going toward autism research (see my post below for more info). And hopefully by then I will know how I did on my written comps. Still no news for now.

Hope you are all having a great week! I leave with you some photos of the weekend...

Our friends - Bill & Amy and Liam

Super Smiley Liam (Check out all that hair!)

My Fantastic Sister-in-Law Carrie with a tired Marshall

My Happy Little Nephew Marshall

Marshall Jumping for Joy

Marshall Playing with a Final Haven Dagger

Weird Facts About Me

Yeah! My first tag - thanks to Lisa over at The Shizzle! Visit Lisa here.

1. One of my favorite foods growing up was ground up meat. My family would take chunk bologna and dill pickles and grind them together in a meat grinder. Throw in some miracle whip and then eat on crackers or a sandwich - YUM! (Chris thinks this is SO gross!)

2. I go through phases with foods - especially sweets. For a month, all I'll want is peanut m&m's. Then I can't stand them again for a good 6 months. Just got done with a Hershey Kiss with Caramel phase. Right now, I'm loving rice krispy treats.

3. I used to have to have it completely pitch black in my room to sleep. Since my house was broken into a year ago (with me in it) I now have several night lights and light from the yard light that have to be on.

4. I don't really twirl my hair so much as twist it and smell it. I think I am obsessed with having nice smelling hair, especially since my husband can smell it. Weird, I know.

5. My pillowcase is an old Raggedy Ann/Raggedy Andy one from when I was little. It stays cool better than any other pillowcase I've ever had. I also have a little blanket my mom made that stays cool. I keep it up near my face - Chris likes to try and steal it since he likes how cool it is too.

OK, I am so tired I'm not going to tag anyone but play if you're up to it - and let me know if you do.

Update on our weekend and the whole Michigan trip tomorrow. Plus pictures of my oh, so incredibly brilliant and adorable nephew!

Livin' la vida loca

Hope this finds you all well!

It seems like life is constantly busy lately. Our week flew by in a rush and all of a sudden it was Saturday. I think I mentioned before that Chris was playing the repentant criminal in our church’s Passion play “Watch the Lamb.” As a criminal, he was basically dressed in a loin cloth, with a rope around his wrists. And he had to be rubbed down with baby oil so the blood (made of Karo syrup and food coloring) wouldn’t be so hard to get off. So the wives of the two criminals and Jesus were recruited to rub our men down with baby oil. Anyway, this meant that both Chris and I had to be at the final play practice on Saturday morning at 9:00.

We showed up at practice only to get some bad news: Jesus was in the hospital with kidney stones. OK, actually it was Ron who was playing Jesus who was in the hospital. Our friend Mike, who was supposed to play the violent criminal, stepped up to play Jesus and another Mike stepped in to play the second criminal. So practice was a little intense that day with people trying to learn lines and get used to a semi-new cast.

We finally got done with play practice, stopped up to visit with Ron’s wife in the hospital, picked up groceries and headed home. We had about 2 ½ hours before we had to be back at church for the play so we put away groceries and crashed on the couch to watch a movie. We had to rush to get ready and get back to church but it was so nice just snuggling and relaxing for those 2 hours. Despite the wild weather and tornado warnings, the play went very well. It was incredibly powerful and very emotional. The mother of the director wrote it based on Ray Boltz’s song “Watch the Lamb.” My friend Brian took pictures with a special lens. He’s supposed to be posting them to a website soon and I’ll be sure to post the link here.

So we headed home and finished picking up the house and getting things ready for Sunday. We went to the early service and it was great. Our pastor has really been on fire lately and it was so awesome to hear him speak and lead our congregation. Instead of Sunday School, our church holds an Easter brunch between the services. I could not believe how many egg casseroles there were! We headed back home and started getting Easter dinner ready. Our friends, Brian and Sharon, and their little guy Noah, Dan and Tina, and their kids Martin, Harrison, and Marie, and Cherie and Brett all came up for the afternoon. We had an Easter egg hunt for the kids and the rest of us visited and relaxed. We sat down to a HUGE meal – ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, Snicker salad, deviled eggs, homemade bread, fruit salad, fresh veggies, and coleslaw. Then to top it off, Sharon and Brian and Noah had made a bunny cake that was delicious! After everyone left, Chris and I relaxed and took a little nap. We ended up skipping small group because I started not feeling well. Instead, Chris let me take a long nap while he cleaned up.

This week has already flown by too. It’s already Wednesday and today is my Friday! We head to Michigan sometime tomorrow afternoon. We are both hoping to get out of here around 2ish but it may be a little later. At this point, we are planning on driving straight through to Kalamazoo. We’ll find a place to stay overnight there and then check out the campground in the morning. I think Chris is going to drive to Ypsi with me so he can see his family too. Then he and Mike will head back to Kzoo around 1:00. And I get to stay with my sister-in-law Carrie and my nephew Marshall until Sunday! I’ll get to see my awesome in-laws on Friday too! Then on Sunday I’ll head back to the campground at Kzoo to pick up Chris and head back to Iowa. I am so looking forward to the whole weekend – even the 20 hours of driving. It’ll be nice to have some girl time with Carrie and to get to spoil Marshall a little. I’m also hoping to see my friends Amy and Bill and their little guy Liam.

Tonight is all about packing and loading the vehicle. I’m also hoping to get laundry done, a semi-healthy dinner prepared and still find a little time to snuggle with my husband – and get to bed at a decent time.

Probably won’t blog again until we’re home. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Because doing nothing is not acceptable...

As many of you know, my 10 year old nephew, Patrick, was diagnosed a few years ago with Asperger's Syndrome, one of many Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Shortly thereafter, Patrick's little sister, Kateri (now 5), was diagnosed as being fully Autistic. In addition, two of my little cousins have been diagnosed, one as fully Autistic and one with Asperger's. Obviously, this is a cause very close to our hearts.

April is Autism Awareness Month. Click here to get more information on autism. Many businesses and organizations are holding fundraisers or offering special deals to contribute funds toward autism research. One of my favorites is Build-A-Bear Workshop's Nikki's Bear. During the month of April a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Nikki’s Bear II or Nikki's Bear III will be donated to Autism Speaks through the Build-A-Bear Workshop Foundation. Click here for more details. And, please, keep praying for a cure.

Currently...

Currently...
Current clothing: Jeans, purple NRCS polo, black flip flops, hair clip and RED toe nail polish! (can you tell I love my cute toes?)
Current hair: brown with gray, pulled up into clip
Current mood: Very Good! Still basking in the glow of having passed my orals yesterday, looking forward to spending time with Christopher tonight.
Current refreshment: Coke
Current annoyance: none really
Current avoidance: trying to avoid thinking about what happens if I fail the written comprehensive
Current smell: Peach hand lotion – yummy
Current thing you ought to be doing: working on a plan
Current thing or things on your wall: lots of maps of my watershed and county, pertinent info I don’t want to misplace
Current IM/person you're talking to: Zero
Current jewelry: Small silver hoop earrings and my locket and rings
Current book: Besides comp books, just finished Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers - awesome book about redemption and forgiveness, planning to start Big Girls Don’t Whine by
Jan Silvious
Current worry: Not really a worry, but trying to make a grocery list for Easter Dinner at home and Easter Brunch at church
Current favorite celebrity: Reese Witherspoon
Current obsession: none really
Current love: My nuggle buddy
Current longing: just time with Chris
Current disappointment: Not a one
Current lyric in your head: “Blessed be your name…” Matt Redman
Current music: Ross M. Levy, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Josh Kelley
Current favorite book: Wicked, reading it before we see the show
Current favorite movie: Chronicles of Narnia
Current wish: to have passed my written comprehensives and to know soon!
Current happy thing: I’m DONE with comps – and I passed Orals!
Current undergarments: none of your business
Current desktop picture: picture of my almost 4-month old nephew, Ryan
Current plans for tonight/weekend: dinner with hubby, snuggling, laundry, decorating for Easter

Catching up again...

So on Friday, my wonderful husband took me on a date to Dave & Buster's. For those who don't know what it is, it's basically a Chuck E. Cheese for adults. Except the food is really good! I had a fantastic pasta dish with tomatoes and mushrooms. I would go back just for that! D&B's also has skee ball - which was totally monopolized by the little kids! Most D&B's have a set time when kids can't be there anymore. Our's is so small that they don't have that rule. But it was still fun. We played a shoot'em up game and then lots of skee ball. Yes, I am a skee ball addict! We stopped at Michael's on the way home so I could pick up scrapbooking stuff. I'm not a huge scrapbooker but we are heading to Michigan in a few weeks and my sister-in-law, Carrie, and I are going to work on scrapbooking our wedding photos while the guys spend the weekend camping and playing in the woods. So we got a bunch of stickers and paper and then headed across the street to Target. At Target we finished off one of our gift cards from the wedding (they are SO handy!) and bought The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. Chris was psyched and had to watch it as soon as we got home. I watched part of it with him but got scared and decided to tackle laundry and prepare for orals.

The plan for Saturday was to head up to Waverly as soon as Chris got home from play practice. He is playing the repentant criminal in our church's passion play this weekend. He got home around 1 and we headed across the state. We got to Katia's around 5:30-6ish and relaxed with her and the boys. Ian was SO excited to see Chris. We went to church on Sunday morning and followed that up with brunch at the Red Fox. It was yummy! After we got home, Katia and I decided to make a quick run to Walmart to pick up some Easter stuff. We left Sean and Ian in Chris' trusty care. Shortly before we were ready to leave Walmart, Chris called my cell phone and asked if there was anyway we'd want to stop at the hardware store. Can we say RED FLAG!? He and the boys were playing basketball in the driveway and the ball got away from them and busted a basement window. We hurried home to find glass all over the basement! Katia cleaned that up while Chris and Sean headed to the hardware store and I kept Ian busy upstairs so he wouldn't get into the mess. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. We grilled brats and hamburgers and had those along with a great salad for dinner. Later on we headed to Dairy Queen for a late treat. The boys (including Chris) finished off the night watching SpiderMan while Katia and I talked and watched a Gray's Anatomy rerun in the other room.

We were up early as my orals were scheduled for 8:00 am on the UNI campus. Ian refused to say goodbye to us and even instructed Katia to tell us to stay. With his 3 1/2 year old logic, he thinks if he doesn't tell us goodbye then we won't go. Sorry Buddy! Chris and I headed to Cedar Falls and made it to campus (and a great parking spot -Thank you, GOD!) in plenty of time. I found a spot to sit and go over my notes and Chris headed to the library to use the internet. Orals were tough - lots of questions and I felt like I was talking non-stop. I didn't realize this, but at the end of the time (1 hour), the professors ask you to leave the room and they decide whether you passed or failed. Then they call you back in and tell you. And I passed! Yeah! One step done. It'll probably be another 2-4 weeks before I hear how I did on the written section but I am SO glad to be done with orals. Yeah Me!

After Orals were all done, we grabbed breakfast at Granny Annie's (AWESOME cinnamon rolls!) and then headed to my Dr. appt. Got everything done and we started for home. We got to Chris' office around 4:30. He needed to do some trouble shooting before heading to play practice so I dropped him off, picked up groceries and went home. Spent quite a bit of time cleaning, unpacking and doing laundry. When Chris got home, we caught an episode of The Apprentice and headed to bed. We were both beat from the long weekend.

It's going to be a busy week too. Tonight Chris has a meeting, tomorrow night is our last BYF of the spring, Thursday and Friday we have stuff scheduled. Saturday morning is the last dress rehearsal and at 7:00 Saturday night is the performance of the passion play (I am so not sure about letting everyone see my husband in nothing but a loincloth!). Then Sunday is Easter! Yeah! We have a church potluck breakfast between first and second service. And then we are having a dinner with our friends Brian and Sharon and Noah. My mom and dad and sisters may come down too. Lots to look forward to.

Hope you are all having a great week!

Done

For better or worse I am done with my written comps. Whew.

It was an incredibly painful weekend but I am so thankful it is over! Thanks for the good wishes and prayers!

My husband is absolutely amazing! Chris stopped at the grocery store on Friday night on his way home. He walked in the door, took out a bag of Hershey Kisses with caramel, opened them and set them beside me at the computer. He then went and grabbed a glass of ice and a coke and set them down too. Then he left me alone to work on my comps. When we got up Saturday morning, he made me eggs and bacon and sliced oranges, then made me lunch, and supper - and cleaned the house in between! He did laundry, sorted stuff, did dishes - and continually brought me healthy little snacks. How incredible is that?! I am SO spoiled!

And the poor guy - it's his birthday today. We didn't get to celebrate this weekend obviously but tonight we were able to relax and spend some time together. I got a tiny little cake at the store and made his favorite appetizers. We crashed on the couch for a bit and now he's playing a game. He said it was a great birthday. Tomorrow we're going to meet some friends for dinner at a local pizza buffet and this weekend we have plans to go pick him up a new game, so he's pretty content.

I think we are both totally exhausted. We actually took a quick nap when he first got home. I'm not sure we would have woken up at all except for the ringing phone.

So sometime in the next 10 days I will go through my oral comps. The department defines the oral comps as a "conversation among colleagues." Will someone tell me how you can fail a conversation??? Yep, there's still a pass/fail on orals too. Oh well, I'll go chat with them for an hour. I should find out in about a month how I did. I'm sure I'll post the results here.

Hope you have all had a great weekend and that the week ahead is looking great!