There will be a day...

As a normal start of my day, I turned on my computer at work, logged into my phone, and turned on my iPod. I was listening to my iPod and this song was in my "Love" playlist. I have about 200 songs that I can never get sick of. I have been jamming out to holiday music lately but it was just one of those days today.

This song came on and I had to listen to it twice. It brought me to tears in my cubicle world. Always a pretty embarrassing moment because someone usually busts you! Of course with my luck, I did get caught. I just said my eyes hurt from being away from the lovely florescent lighting for 5 days. So the 2nd part of this year has been a tough one for our family.  We have been through so much, on both sides. Why does it seem that when you are hit with the bad, you never look for the good? We always seem to find more of the bad. God did say He will never give us more than we can handle. I need to focus of that. Things happen. People pass away, friends change, jobs are lost, finances may overwhelm, but it's not anything we can't live through. One thing I do need to remember for myself, personally, is that my human life, my life on earth, is short. Yes 100 years (if you live to be that long) seems to be a long time if you look at it through a looking glass. Once you pull away, and see the whole picture, it's a very short time. I need to focus more on my forever, not just my earthly life. There will be a day, when the things of this earth will seem so small. There will be a day when there will be no worries and no pain. Until then, I need to remember, better is one day in Your house, then thousands elsewhere.

There Will Be A Day

By: Jeremy Camp

I try to hold on to this world with everything I have
But I feel the weight of what it brings, and the hurt that tries to grab
The many trials that seem to never end, His word declares this truth,
that we will enter in this rest with wonders anew

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

(Chorus)
There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we'll hold on to you always

I know the journey seems so long
You feel you’re walking on your own
But there has never been a step
Where you’ve walked out all alone

Troubled soul don’t lose your heart
Cause joy and peace he brings
And the beauty that’s in store
Outweighs the hurt of life’s sting

But I hold on to this hope and the promise that He brings
That there will be a place with no more suffering

I can’t wait until that day where the very one I’ve lived for always will wipe away the sorrow that I’ve faced
To touch the scars that rescued me from a life of shame and misery this is why this is why I sing

There will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place, will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face

There will be a day, He will wipe away the tears,
There will be a day.

There's no place like....hoooooooooome

We have made it home. No matter where you go or what you do, home is home. It's always nice to come home. We had a very successful trip home and a fantastic trip overall! It seems every trip we ever go on, I learn new things about myself and about the things that are important to me. On my way home, I compiled a list of these facts I have learned over the past few days:

1) You can always count on it being warmer down in Bella Vista, even if it's only 3 degrees, lucky for us it was 20 degrees!

2) No matter where you stay, the water pressure is non existent and hard as stone down there.

3) A sunrise or sunset will always amaze me and bring me closer to God

4) I am very fortunate to have a very well behaved child, I need to remember that

5) You can never throw a football too much, even when your arm is screaming out you, always keep going

6) My child will leave the house if no one is watching. Fantastic.

7) My husband is a stud! He makes my heart soar to places I never thought it would.

8) David gets me in more ways then anyone I know. I swear, it's his gift.

9) We need to really sit down and plan out baby #2, if there will be one, since both sisters are PG and asking

10) Jake and I are alike in more ways then I thought. It's me, but 25 years younger. Watch out.

11) It can never be too quiet.

12) If you turn on the GLEE soundtrack, your car will turn into karaoke 101.

13) Feeding the ducks will always be a favorite past time of mine, along with skipping rocks.

14) The boys (nephews and my son) are blessed with a very energetic "Papa" that is willing to wrestle with them and chase them around for hours

15) I can read 226 pages of a kids story book 4 times and survive. I have got Curious George down!

16) My child will never be a napper in the car, no matter how long the drive be.

17) Gerald's abs in 300 are better than I remembered or ever gave him credit for. Thank you!

18) Gigi, no matter what in her past, loves her family and would do anything for them. She is a very special woman.

19) I am very glad that Jake is not a messy eater. I think my gag reflux hit it's high peak this week

20) Arkansas Wal-Mart experiences could generate about 5 of those photo emails. It's called a mirror people.

21) Laying on a blanket, with the sun beaming on your face, will always be refreshing and should never be taken for granted.

22) I could spend my 401k on the "Twilight Saga" table at Barnes and Noble. (downfall again)

23) Angel food cake with vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries is a little taste of heaven.

24) Make sure to always check when Mizzou and Kansas play one another, traffic can be a pain in your backside in KC.

25) I missed my dogs, my cat and my house. But most of all, being the 26, almost 27 year old, married with a child woman I am, didn't realize how much I would miss my mommy and daddy!

Until next year, Arkansas 2010. We will have another Olsen on board, which will make it even more interesting! 

Yellow friday

Since it is black Friday, I am changing the name to Yellow Friday. Mostly because the sun was shinning bright, high in the sky all day long! 68 degrees and perfect!

We awoke early and the guys and myself headed out to brace the crowds. One bonus about Bella Vista, it's a retirement community so not too many people are out and about that early! We hit a few hot spots and made bank! We spent $150 at Old Navy and bought 27 items. What in the world?! That is some insanity! Everyone back at the house was trying to log onto Kohls.com, well the website was basically shut down. I felt bad for them! Sounds like they weren't the only people that could get online.

We spent the morning walking around the lake, feeding the ducks, reading out on the deck or dock. Just soaking up the sun. We headed to Gigi's for lunch. Good ole leftovers. After lunch we headed outside yet again. We hung Christmas lights for her and some of her neighbors. We picked up another few hours of throwing the football around. While some people napped, Jake and I sat outside on a blanket and read 215 pages of Curious George. It was so nice. He wanted to cuddle, hold my hand and read. I love that little boy. I am so blessed with him. He is honestly, one of the sweetest most well behaved children! After laying out in the sun, we played some games and had an early dinner. We said our goodbyes and game back to the house. I still can't believe we are already leaving tomorrow morning! This evening we have Laurel a break and are watching the boys. She is taking a trip to Target with her mom. I sort of feel bad because I got them down for bed by 8! Now, Michael, David, Andy and myself are watching 300! Lovely Thanksgiving weekend movie. Not really. Plus they are heading out to go see the Ninja Assassin movie at 10 tonight. Looks like I will be doing a lot of the driving tomorrow!

This has been a great mini vacation! The weather was amazing. More then I could ever hope for! The company was great and we had an amazing time together as a family! I give this trip an A+! Now if only David would get his papers graded!! =) I just let him read this line!

Thanksgiving

This morning we all go to sleep in!! So nice. The fog over the lake was almost a picture out of a movie. It was breathtaking. We all enjoyed breakfast and the kids played while we all watched the parade. This has been a tradition every year. We headed over around noon and the house already smelled delish! We all went out for our normal football warm up. We threw the ball around and get stretched out! Then we had our traditional family football blitz! It is starting to get interesting because the kids all seem to want to play! We got called in and we washed up!! Time for the feast! We ate till our pants had to be unbuttoned.

Every year at the end of dinner we let the food settle and we go around the table and tell each other what we are thankful for. One thing. One thing? Are you kidding me? I have way more then 1 thing to be thankful for. My family, my friends, my faith, my and my family's health, our freedom, I could go on and on. This year I think I went with "faith". We have just been through a lot this year and with out our faith, I don't know how we could have gotten through it. I have been truly blessed with an amazing support system this year and I can't thank all of you enough!

The rest of the afternoon involved my child somehow breaking out of the pack-n-play during "nap time" and ending up breaking out of the house. Only my child! Seriously! Michael, Dave and I took the 3 boys on a nice long walk and then went down by the lake to throw rocks in. Kids always seem to enjoy that activity! We went back to Grandma's for dinner and now we are getting ready to start a made game of Spades with watching "The Grinch" with Jim Carey! Yet another tradition! Hope everyone had a fantastic holiday! Tomorrow is the shopping extravaganza! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Road trip

Every Thanksgiving for the past 1,2,3....5 years now, I have been on the caravan to Arkansas to spend a few days with Michael's grandparents. This year, we are absent his Grandpa. =( So we are bringing an extra dose of pep! We awoke early, got the dogs off, had a fantastic family breakfast and then headed down south. For the second day in a row, rain welcomed us on the road. While we drank down our Starbucks, we set up the iPod. Instead of being "safe" and just going with a playlist, we thought we would jazz it up a bit and go the "shuffle" route. Sure fire way to have a fantastic time. Here are some highlights of our trip:

1) I love how 25% of our trip, I swear, is the northern, middle, southern and suburbs of KC

2) Trying not to crash as Michael dances and sings to Ricky Martins' "Ole, Ole, Ole", "Shake Your Bon Bon", and "Livin La Vida Loca."

3) Enjoying the slight traffic we cause per the above. You think I am kidding!

4) Turning 5724 songs on an Ipod to "shuffle"

5) Being in the groove, and then the next song on the iPod turns out to be a chapter from one of the 4 Twilight Saga audio books. (Side note: I did make Michael listen to the Meadow in book 1, the 'overnight' 1 and 2 and the 'overnight' on the mountain in book 3, and Isle Esme of book 4)

6) Having a rambunctious 2 year old say "Mommy" to everything we drive by because he knows it was annoying me. Don't believe me? Sit in a car for 6 hours with him and you see what happens.

7) Pulling the "Lloyd Christmas" as people pass you or as you pass people.

8) Starring people down in cars using dead eyes.

9) Singing at the top of our lungs to B Spears, NSYNC, Bon Jovi, 90's one hit wonders and many more

10) Realizing how awful I look in the sunlight without make up on!

11) Realizing how pale I am in the sunlight

12) Watching Michael play air guitar and head bang to "Enter Sandman" and then turn around and pull out a Zac Efron to HSM

13) Having a contest to see who can go longer without having to use the restroom....I so won! 
14) Michael acting like a tour guide as we pass towns

15) Having a 2 year old not take a nap the whole time in the car.
16) Actually seeing the sun!

Now we are here. We have a beautiful house on the lake and we are waiting for everyone else to arrive! Ready to get our football game on tomorrow! Yeah for Family, food, fun, football, faith and Friday shopping!!!

Emotion taking me over

I wasn't always this way. I swear. I would get emotional over the normal things. Funerals, some weddings, a sad movie, maybe a friend in need. Recently, this is not the case. The smallest of things can make me break down. No I am not pregnant or anything. This has been happening over the past year. I was starting to find myself shedding a small tear at the end of a happy movie. No big deal. Brush it off, it's a movie right? I found myself getting touched by a friends story. There are have been some cruddy things that have been happening to people around me and just hearing some of them, I would once again, find myself getting moved to tears. Then the small, insane things started making me crumble. A song...okay, many songs. I would be sitting in my cubicle, listening to my iPod and a song like "Gravity" would come on, and I would be a sobbing fool. This could happen even more then once in a day. Just depended on my mood. An email, this is definitely a new down fall of mine. A commercial. Commercials? Honestly? These aren't even Hallmark commercials. A State Farm and a Army commercial had me a blubbering mess the other night. I even cried at "The Office" when Pam and Jim got married. What is wrong with me? Then today. Today just had me wondering. We were getting ready and Michael had turned on VH1's Jump Start. A Nickleback song came on, "Never Gonna Be Alone." As the video progressed, I noticed a trend. By the time the climax of the story hit, I was crying on the edge of the bed. Michael then walked in and said, "Honestly woman, what is wrong with you?" Then I got emotional telling someone about it. I have no idea where this surge of hormones has come from. I don't mind being a little emotional and being someone with feelings, but not this many. If it gets worse, I am not sure what else I can do.

Here is the video from this morning. If you aren't moved by this, tell me how. I need to break free! Or tone it down a bit!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GWQ-oDMG6g

Gearing up for the Thanksgiving napfest.

Tomorrow is our family Thanksgiving! Start of delicious food week! We were having the debate with friends if the turkey or the sides are better. I still don't think we came to a conclusion. It's all just so amazing. There is just something about having potatoes come straight out of the oven, stuffing smelling up the house along with the turkey and the crescent rolls. My stomach is growling just thinking about it! We have double almost all the recipes so we can all have leftovers. Works for me. We are only here 2 days next week!

Since, not sense, we are leaving for AR on Wednesday morning we are starting to get everything ready now. I have 3 lists made! A Jake list, our list and our "extra's list". It's pretty sad all the things we have to take on this 5 day trip down to Bella Vista. We did do most of our grocery shopping here though. That was nice to do instead of going down there, the day before Thanksgiving and having to deal with the crazy retirees of Bella Vista! As long as we have 10 items or less, we will be out of there in 10 minutes or less! It will be nice to have a mini vacation. I don't really consider it much of a vaca though. Have you met my son? Oh well, I love him! At least it's suppose to be in the 60's all week so the outdoors will wear him out! For the first time in 5 years, Michael's parents are staying with Gigi. That means, our family, Laurel's family and David will have the rental house to ourselves!! Wooo hooo!! We are looking forward to hours of conversations and games!

One thing about going down to The Vista is we have quite a bit of down time! I have always been into autobiographies. Not matter who it is. It's always interesting to find out how someone because they way they are, how someone got to where they are at or just to see their point of view. A friend of mine highly recommended Sarah Palin's new book. I thought I would give it a whirl! Especially since this friend really isn't to reading and the book just came out and they are done with it. I think the next one I want to read is Michael J Fox "Always Looking Up" but I have to get through this one! I also want to read Hp 6 and 7 again. They were so good!

PS-

This is only for 1 person who had doubt. Did you see how much it made on Friday? $70mil! One and half stars doesn't stop the die hards! I still love ya!

The moment we have been waiting for

After months of countdowns, weeks of excitement and a day of being nervous and not eating, the big day finally arrived. I kept myself busy in the morning by setting up more Christmas decor and deep cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen. Finally, I started to get ready. I have noticed that I am starting to collect a wardrobe of "Twilight Saga" shirts. People keep getting them for me. It's rather sad. Oh well. I do have 1 HP shirt! Lol. I still have more Iowa shirts than the rest of Michael's and my clothing put together. I am a bit obsessed with the Hawkeye apparel. Another thing I need to add to my therapy list! =)

When I headed over the the theater, I really started to get nervous. Why? I still can't tell you. I think it was just one of those moments where you don't want to be disappointed. When Derrick and I got there, we went straight back! Fandango is a new friend of mine. We couldn't believe that we were finally at the moment we have been waiting for. Looking around, we were pretty much the youngest people there! It was full of stay at home moms that probably had kids in late elementary school or middle school. After drooling over Channing Tatum in his new flick, the movie started. All I can say is, AMAZING. Of course there were differences from the book, but oh well. First off, Edward...I don't care what anyone says. That man, playing Edward, makes my heart race and the butterflies fly. He is not the most attractive in person but playing the role of Edward, wow. They way that he kisses her, are you kidding me? I get tingles just thinking about it! Lol. Then there are the werewolves, can we say Yummy? I am not a Team Jacob person, but that body on him? Fantastic. All of them were beautiful creatures. I would say 75% of this movie has some very good looking men with their shirts off! I think I was most excited for the Vulturi. That whole part of the movie, was more then I imagined. Now the ending? Are you kidding me? If you haven't seen it, I will not spoil it for you. Let's just say the ending happened and everyone in the theater was like "WHAT?! No way!" I did not think they would end it that way. It did happen in the book, but still! Cliffhanger. Luckily we only have 220 days to see what happens. As a fan who have read the books, we all know what is going to happen, but still. I didn't want it to end.

As we were leaving, they were already setting up the ropes for the showings at 3:30 and the evening showings. It's so crazy to think how many people are addicted to it like me. At least I am not alone. Also, they already had the Eclipse poster out! I guess 220 days is not long to them! Oh June 30th, come soon! I was a little excited to see HP and the Half Blood Prince is coming to DVD on Dec 8th! I will have make a Target trip that day!

So, the movie was much better than I thought it would be! You can tell they had a much larger budget this time around! If you are a fan of the books, you will probably be somewhat disappointed, but you can't jam everything into 2 hours! I will be in line the day it comes out on DVD to get a copy! I will see in the theater at least one more time! I am a little sad this countdown is over with, but we have another one to start!

Side note:

We watched Slumdog Millionaire tonight. If you have not seen this film, I highly recommend it! It was a very good flick! I can see why it won all the awards it did!

T-Minus 10 hours....

That is all for today!

Any twilighters fantasy....

Today was just a plain old Tuesday. Nothing exciting in the cards, so I thought. I didn't really find that much out of sorts. I did not understand why Josie was staying until 2 when she was taking a half day. I know we are amazing and everyone wants to eat lunch with us, but she has been so excited to see her girls, the less she is at "The Wide", the closer she gets to see them. Something I missed was Sam. I saw her heading to the bathroom, wrong, I was so wrong. She had her purse and her phone so I thought she wasn't staying for lunch. I questioned her and she said something about a faulty bladder due to pregnancy. I believed her and she actually followed through and basically went into the bathroom and then walked back out. Now, TMI for some, but I pee quicker then most males, so that was astonishing to me how fast she got out of the stall! I went back to my desk, noticed a few people were missing but carried on with my work. I noticed Michael had tried to call me so I called him back. In the dialing process, Josie came over and asked me to go to lunch. Now, we go everyday between 12:25-12:30. It was 12:15 AND the rest of our crew was not with her. Then, I decided to be inquisitive. Why? I have no idea. For once I started asking questions. Where everyone was at? Why didn't Josie have her PB and J lunch with her? Where was everyone? Why we had to go to the 4th floor for a soda pop? Of course today, I decide to be aware of things around me. After we passed the break room on the 4th floor and I got all confused, we opened the door to a conference room. There, with their smiling faces, were my amazing co-workers. In the corner, stood a "life size" cardboard cut out of Edward, Jacob and Bella. At first, it scared me but then I believe I turned a tomato red and flushed. They threw a "New Moon" lunch-in. We munched on some very delicious pizza and some very tasty cake! There were even New Moon napkins. I still feel completely embarrassed and still turn red at the thought they did this for me. I don't think I deserved it and I don't think I did anything to be given such a wonderful gift. They are just amazing and very sweet. I will tell a lie, we did take photos with it! I think one involved me biting Edward and another one I was basically jumping on him! Then came the fun part. Having the 6 foot cutout in my cubicle. You would not believe the conversations and requests I had. I had 1 person ask if they could come by and pet it randomly throughout the remainder of the day. I had someone ask if they could lick it, someone else ask if they could kiss it, and even one person asked if they could take into an enclave for 2 minutes. I had 10 people at least, take photos of it or take photos of themselves with it! It was definitely a conversation starter. Met quite a few new people on my floor this afternoon. I got to know some people more then I would have ever wanted to. Somethings people really need to keep private. Examples: dreams and fantasies. It was somewhat nice to see people my age drooling over it though. At least I am not alone in Twilight Saga obsession/mania. The rest of the day I felt that I got nothing done. People just kept coming over and commenting. All in good fun. I did get a good ole JerBear laugh! Mike sure enjoyed watching me carry it out of the building. I did place it in the front seat next to me. I got quite a few stares all the way down Ingersoll. I moved it to the back seat when Jacob (my son, not the werewolf), entered the car. He kept laughing in the back seat. When I got home, I had to figure out the perfect way for Michael to find out that I had received this. I struggled between in the closet so when he went to change it would scare the "hiss" out of him or maybe behind the Christmas tree. I did place the trio behind the Christmas tree, maybe a new holiday card? I eventually landed on, in the bed. That is every girls fantasy right? He went upstairs when he got home and all I heard was "SARAH!" First off, he thought I bought it. Then I told him the story and he just laughed. He then told me to get it out of the bed and that it better not surface there again! He did comment that if he woke up in the middle of the night or in the morning and it is anywhere in bed, at the end of the bed, above the bed, or me on the floor with it, he would take it away, along with the rest of my gear! I am getting an odd look while I am typing this. Maybe because I am wearing my Twilight shirt from last year and drinking from my new New Moon mug! This made my week even better! I have a feeling I am going to be extremely hyper Thursday. This is me apologizing in advance!

Thanks again to my amazing co-workers! I didn't deserve this but I appreciate it! I love you all and you make that place worth going into everyday! It wouldn't be the same without you all and I am thankful everyday for you all to be in my lives! I am truly blessed!

3 days! 

 Photos per request...I got creative

Merry Christmas from the Janzens

How he was set up when Michael got home

OMG he is on my pillow

Coming through my window

So much better than a TV

At the foot of the bed. Yes I would love to wake up to this

All these places are now band per Mr Janzen. Fun hater.

 

Edward stuck between 2 Jacobs and an annoying Bella

Let the weekly countdown begin

It is about that time. The time where I set aside my tom boy side and embrace and let out my girly side. Derrick and I have been counting down since we were in the 200's, Tiffany and I have been talking about it since last November and Brenna and I have been squealing about it for months! The week is finally upon us. My excitement is overwhelming and I am about 5 minutes from screaming like a pubescent girl at a Jonas Brothers concert. Weeks of hushing friends when the trailer comes on is coming to an end! Thank you for putting up with me! I have started listening to the book on Audio book to prepare myself for Friday. I was getting sick to my stomach before he left her today. Why does this book series have such an influence on me? I do not have the answer so maybe someone else does! Although, I will say 06.30.2010 can't come soon enough! Yet another countdown for us to begin after Friday! I will look forward to next November when HP shows its face again! Reminds me...I need to buy those!!

4 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rewind of a pretty lazy weekend

For once...a nice quiet weekend! We welcomed it!

Friday:

We were lame-o's and stayed in. We ran a few errands to finish the lights outside and finish up some little projects. Other than that, we stayed home and we were lazy! You need one of those days every now and again. We had a fairly busy week so it was nice to just sit and do nothing. We vegged out to Smallville and caught up on The Office and Bones. I will always take cuddling on the couch! Especially now that it is starting to get colder out!

Saturday:

Michael helped my dad clean some gutters out of some guys house early that morning and I tried to entertain a 2 year old! That kid, wow. He is just, well, Jake. We watched Hawkeyes suffer a loss. But they played better than most of us thought they would! It was nice seeing the Buckeyes sweat! We then got the lights up on the tree and finished the outdoors! Nice to have it done! Not sure how the weather will be after this weekend. After running errands again and seeing some peeps, we got ready to go out for Jana's birthday! We got there a little late so we had "catching" up to do! lol. It was a lot of fun though. We got to see Becky! I love her. I have missed her terribly and it was great having the 3 of us together again! Quite few daiquiris and many laughs later we headed home. I am pretty sure I annoyed Michael all the way home! I was a little....hyper! I am sure the rum was talking more than I was! We got home around 10ish (old married couple, I know) and turned on a flick!

Sunday:

After Saturdays events, I totally forgot to set my alarm! Ugh! We missed church! I hate that. My whole week feels off then. We woke up at 9:30. Yes, even the child we call Jake, slept in! We got up and went grocery shopping. Always eventful. We then decorated the tree!!! It's so nice to have it up! For once we get to enjoy it! We just have to get the cat away from it. So annoying! Kinnick and Zoey I tell ya, partners in crime! That was the most we did today. We played with the babe, watched football and baked. I wrapped a few gifts and it made me think, I need to go shopping. Maybe a Target run this week work ladies and gents?! I did come down from a shower this evening and Michael had made a little "romantic" escape for us. He had cut up cheese, apples and layed them with grapes and crackers. He had 2 glasses of wine poured, candles lit and it all set up on a blanket on the floor. Due to conversation about Michael Buble at OTB, he wanted to see what would happen if he played it. Sure enough "Hold On" came on and he asked me to dance! So, we danced in the living room to lit candles, a lit Christmas tree and 2 dogs watching us. Corny? I don't care! I love when he does these random things. Reminds me how incredibally lucky I am! So that was my weekend. Not the most exciting but it was nice to have one weekend not so crazy! Now next weekend....oh my wow. That is going to be crazy.

Our Tree:

RENT-tastic

I was lucky to have the privilege to go to RENT...again. This time it had Adam Pascal and Anthony Raap! It was nice because you get so use to one person singing the part, then you hear it from someone else and it's just a different vibe. Like during Wicked I kept thinking about how Kristin Chenoweth preformed the songs, that was still an amazing show. Of course so was RENT! I could have sat there and sang every single song! The girl next to me was, she was a tad flat for most of the performance. I once again, had good company! She may have gotten out of control a few times and now there may be some crazy rumors flying around, but it was a great time! =) I will go again! And again and again! Willis Broadway Series...you are starting to be my new BFF!

Happy Veterans Day to all the Veterans out there!! Especially to my lova!! He is always a hero to me!

I will leave you with my favorite song of the night. It always touches me when it's sung...

Your Eyes
As We Said Our Goodbyes
Can't Get Them Out Of My Mind
And I Find I Can't Hide (From)
Your Eyes
The Ones That Took Me By Surprise
The Night You Came Into My Life
Where There's Moonlight
I See Your Eyes

How'd I Let You Slip Away
When I'm Longing So To Hold You
Now I'd Die For One More Day
'Cause There's Something I Should
Have Told You
Yes There's Something I Should Have
Told You

When I Looked Into Your Eyes
Why Does Distance Make Us Wise?
You Were The Song All Along
And Before The Song Dies

I Should Tell You I Should Tell You
I Have Always Loved You
You Can See It In My Eyes

Texan lovin' Tuesdays

You know at the end of Grey's Anatomy or maybe the Wonder Years, when some ballad with deep meaning plays as it shows the conclusions of all the events that have led up to the end? I am having these moments on Tuesdays. No matter what is going on in my life, good or bad, just sitting back for a moment at the dinner table puts everything on hold. I feel like everything is put on pause and I am in a cheesy Hallmark commercial where everyone is smiling and in slow motion. These people that surround me on Tuesdays and other days during the week, make everything A-Okay. I have been completely blessed in the friendship category. Somedays, I don't think I deserve it. Now, our conversation on the other hand usually turns Yankees vs Texans, bodily functions or very embrassing stories, it's all in good fun. Tonights topic: Spooning. It's actually not quite what you think. Not quite sure why that started but oh well. You know you are always in for a good meal and good conversation. Not to mention the hour following we spend very heavily in the Word. It always seems to refocus me. It keeps me grounded. These people make me who I am and I am grateful to all of them. Even when some can't make it often! Wether it's 12 of us or just 6, it's always a time of great fellowship and a whole lot of laughter. I am thankful for these people and am truly blessed.

Side note:
9 days till NEW MOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 day till RENT!

Random quick thought.

We played outside for an hour and now I am cleaning the stove and microwave while making pizza lasagna for dinner. Jake has "Curious George" on. I wonder if this is where balloon boys parents got the idea. In this episode, George and his dog friend take the hot air balloon out on the town. Everyone is freaking out because they don't know how to land it....hmmm. Turns out George is in the balloon but not his friend. Just a thought I am pondering. Sad, I'm pondering over a child's show where the main character talks by making monkey noises. Oh the life of the Janzen house.

Power tools, Christmas tree and Ipods = One amazing weekend!

I cannot explain how good it feels to get things done you have been dreaming about! We got so many things accomplished this weekend....it's crazy!

First mission:

   Move old TV upstairs, set up new TV and rearrange the entire living space! We got a new TV in April but had it in our bedroom. We have this huge dinosaur of a TV in our living room. The thing weighs a hefty 219lbs! Just looking at it makes your back hurt. Well, something came over us. Friday, we set off on an adventure! We hit up homemakers and got just a plain bed frame. We are trying to make more of space in the bedroom. Our old bed frame...huge. After that we went to Home Depot and got some needed materials! Friday night Michael started setting up our new entertainment system. Talk about a kid in a candy store!! He got the stand all set up and then the fun started! Of course, the cat thought it was his new bed.

He spent about 2 hours moving all his components and making sure all the wires were hidden. While he did that, my handy side came out. I used the power drill and disassembled the desk! I did it all by myself!! Of course it had a "woman's" flare because the screws were all in baggies and taped to the back of each board it belonged too. Michael laughed at me for that one. What? I like to be organized. That is my OCD coming out. It has to be clean and make sense. He finally got everything working and TADA!

He has his computer on the bottom. We have a wireless mouse and keyboard and basically you can check your FB in high def! Haha. That project was complete!  (Side note: yes that is a Christmas decoration!)

Second mission:

  We had a huge furniture movement! We spent most of Saturday helping my parents get rid of their hideous floral couch! (No offense Dad!) They bought this amazing new couch that totally compliments their living room and house! Michael and Fabio (my dad for those of you that don't know) took the floral hot messes away to the DAV and picked up the new couch. Of course my mom and I went shopping for a little bit. I swear, I could spend my whole paycheck on Christmas decor. It's horrible! I managed to only spend $50 and I felt that it was a good deal on a few things! After the manly men put the new couch in it's place, we ate lunch, watched the Hawks lose and then loaded up the truck! We are sharing our storage space! After my Grandma passed away, a lot of her stuff my dad received. Until they make room for it, we offered our storage place up. We took a ton of things over and then picked up the desk that I disassembled myself, and some other things and took it all over! I think we ended up bring more stuff back though. We had to get all our Christmas things out of there! After that was all completed we headed back home to work on the next job.

Third mission:

   The bedroom. Wow oh my wow. That thing has been our downfall. Our bed frame was so huge and stuck out about 2 feet extra on each end. Now if my bedroom was 20' x 20' this wouldn't be an issue. We had to rearrange everything to get that massive of a TV up there. Michael built a stand to put the TV stand and the TV higher. I took apart the bed (again, I got to use power tools and my muscles!) and got all the matresses moved! Lucky for us, David was passing through. David and Michael tackled so many things. They took down the treadmill to the garage! We are cleaning our garage over the next 2 weeks so that one stall can be the gym. They moved the TV, the stand, the old bed frame, and an old entertainment center out! I then set up the new bed frame and cleaned up a bit. We don't know how, but our room looks like it is a 20' x 20'. It's crazy! We still have a few little messes here and there, but I don't care at this point. We have worked our butts off this weekend and it's totally pays off!

This weekend all in all was a good one! We got our tree up! Yes, the tree is up. We have not decorated it though. We are testing out our cat with it! I will say we do have the stockings up! I got new ones on Saturday so they had to be put up! Christmas is only 48 days away...I have to get use out of my stuff!

OH YEAH! Best bonus of the weekend. I went to move the desk on Friday and there was my purse! Yes!!! My huge J Simpson of a suitcase purse!! In my purse: wallet, keys, camera, and of course...IPOD!!!!!!! Oh ipod how I love you and have missed you! Michael thinks he threw it on the desk and it fell behind. Nice to bring that up now after you swear someone stole it out of our car! It's back and I don't care! Now I have to spend the next week updating it! Lol!

All good things must come to an end...

I still love them. I always will! They did they best they could with what they had! It's a hard loss, but things happen for a reason! I love the Black and Gold !!!!

Grammie and a new baby.

This week has been a little stressful. Actually, more than stressful! Happy news! Michael's sister is expecting! Due May 20th! Down fall, she is on bed rest. She has a pretty sizable blood clot. She can't do much of anything. She gets extremely tired very quickly and can't pick anything up more than 10lbs. Of course, this is driving her nuts. She had her annual fall production that she is the boss of and she couldn't even go to the performances! Just crazy. They think she will be on bed rest till the end. That is about....20 more weeks! Wow, she is going to go crazy! We hope everything goes smoothly and that we will have a healthy sister and a healthy new nephew or niece!

Another. My Grandma. Turns out she went to the doctor and her lymph nodes were enlarged. They ran tests and on Friday we got out answers. She has stage 3 lymphoma. I believe it's taken over from her torso down. If she doesn't do anything, they don't think she would make it by Christmas. Not having it! She starts chemo on Tuesday (Nov 10th). They are every 21 days and very aggressive. All we can do is pray for strength for her. They already know they are going to be extremely hard on her. She can't be around anyone who could possibly be caring an illness. I just hope everyone can stay well enough to get together for Christmas! We just have to take it one day at a time.

I may have won the battle, but I might not win the war.

Earlier this week Jos's hubby accused me of taking his money! I justify this by saying "I am just introducing her to new things." I may fall upon information such as George Strait coming to town and I lovingly pass along. I know her love affair with that man. He said that whenever he sees my name, it's cost him money! What?! I don't think so! We then started to mess with the man a little. I started thinking of ways to really cost him some Mr Franklin s. I first sent an idea that Josie could stay in Texas a few more days and fly home. That would only cost about $420. Not that bad. Then I followed up with an email saying that she needed another dog. I chose a Mastiff because they are big and it would protect her since Derek is leaving. Well, then today happened. As a normal Thursday ritual, we were getting ready to head out to lunch. We got out of the elevator, looked at one another and decided to go to Target instead of the restaurant. This is never a good idea. We all piled into the Durango and Derrick started up the beast. First off, you have to be frackin Conan the Barbarian to get those seats down. Sorry, but I did not grow up on the wheel of death or whatever that thing is called. I believe all 5 of us tried. We all failed. I offered to jump over and slide into the back. Five jumps later, I think I got about 2 bruises, a sprained shoulder, and a puffy toe! All in good fun! It entertained the rest of the car load. When we returned from work, I once again, emailed Mark! This is the email I sent to him:

1) I am filing a claim after sitting in your 3rd row seating. There needs to be a disclaimer.
2) Jos needs a new car due to this vehicle is a monster and she made Derrick drive
3) I would like to see you climb over the 2nd row seating to the back 5 times and not have an injury somewhere. The seats would not fold down.
4) Another passenger was injured on the running boards. She too will be filing a claim.
5) The tailgate about knocked Derrick out, that is a hazard.
6) You need to make a sign warning people about motion sickness
7) Per above, you need to provide Dramamine or barf bags in your glove box
8) There is not enough cargo room for everything we buy
9) Once again, I cost you money! SORRY! =)

All in good fun! Until, I heard the horror stories of Marks revenge...now the waiting begins. I relate this to a Chuck Norris joke.

"Chuck Norris doesn't sleep, he waits." aka I am screwed.

Back to our Target trip, between 5 of us, I think we spent about $250!! That is one expensive lunch! And Mike didn't even come! I did manage to get some Christmas gifts and a few things I really didn't need! I do think this might become a common adventure during the holiday season! Again, sorry Mark!

Now off to watch GI Joe, with my GI Joe...wow, that was bad.

Congratulations...

you finally broke me.

51 days and counting, time to break out the music!

We are 51 days till Christmas! I will admit that I have brought out the Christmas music at work and just burned 2 more CD's full of holiday cheer. It always puts me in a wonderful mood. I wish the season could last longer!! It will always be my favorite time of year!

Ahh Novemer....it has it's perks!

First off, I love November. It means 2 things.
1) Halloween is over
2) Thanksgiving/Christmas is right around the corner!

I will have state for the record that Christmas is my all time favorite season! I am sure I will have a blog just about that later on!

Now that it's November, a countdown is almost coming to an end. Derrick and I have been counting down the days till New Moon since the end of May. It seems like only yesterday we were at 189 days. Now, we are down to 17! I think I could squeal like a 10 year old. This is one of the few girly things about me. Although it is very embarrassing, I still don't care. I read the books and then found out they were starting movies! How can I resist? I will say, I did take the "Harry Potter" challenge. I did successfully complete it. They were very good, especially 6 and 7. But I will always be an Edward Girl!

I have few friends and co-workers that can testify that I'm quite in love with the whole thing. To them, I apologize! I am sorry you have to put up with me! In about a year and half, when this is all over, I promise, I will calm down. I usually have a different picture somehow Twilight Saga related on my desktop! Everytime the New Moon trailer comes on, I shush everyone and make them watch it! I also enjoy looking at all the little things you can buy. Sad, I know. But this is me! Luckily for all of you, the next movie comes out in May. Once again, another countdown will begin and more drooling will start! =)

Another little countdown! 9 days till RENT!!!!!!!!

Hey, I did find a somewhat goodlooking picture or Robert Pattinson, non Edward:

Now, I think I am going to turn in! A lovely lunch at Rolling Wok is starting to catch up with me and my pillow is yelling my name! Sad, it's only 8:45. Oh well!

Matthew 6:34 says...

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it's own."

This verse has seem to fit the past few weeks or months I should say. It seems like everyone is going through trials and tribulations recently. It is so hard to see your friends and family suffer. Of course, being a woman, if you cry, I tend to cry also. People have lost loved ones, family members being sick, just sadness, it already seems like the holiday blues are hitting everyone also. There are times I just want to wave a magic wand and make everything disappear.

For me, I think the realization of the holidays coming up without a few important people being present is hitting me. For the first time in 5 years, for me anyways, Michael's Grandpa won't be there for Thanksgiving. Every year we go down to Arkansas for 4 days. It will just be a completely different atmosphere. Having someone that you are so use to be around, not be there. He was always so much fun when we watched football, worked on the yard or even when we all were playing with the kids. Not having him at the head of the table will just not be right. I couldn't even imagine having someone else sit there. Plus seeing how heartbroken Gigi is. Somedays, I feel like she is just lost. It's the worst feeling seeing it. I can't even imagine my life without Michael. I don't want to think of that day.

Then on the other end, my Grandma. I still get emotional about that one. There have been days where I just cry thinking she is not here. Again, happening now. Ugh. What is wrong with me? I think too maybe, it's because she was the last Grandparent on my Dad's side. Not having that, I can't even explain it. Just the feeling of having your Grandparents around. There is a different emotion you have and a different bond you share with them. It's on a different level. Not having that, it's heart wrenching. I am still working through it. I didn't think it would change me this much. I still have no idea how I might react on Christmas. I know she is in a much better place and so is Grandpa Jim but, I just wish they could come down and visit!

Plus, we have something else that started today. I am not quite sure where it's going and it's even scarier to me then what I have gone through in the past few months. All I can do is pray for strength for not just myself, but my family.

My heart goes out to everyone that is going through something right now. And believe me, that is quite a few of the people I love. But, God doesn't give us more then we can handle. I always have to remember, that even if I am just at the bottom of the barrel, there is someone that probably has it worst. I just need to remember that when I have something minor come up. It's not quite as bad as it could be. As for the hard stuff, well, faith and family (including friends) are probably the best medicine.

This is now on our fridge to remind us everyday where we can go if we think we have had enough.

"Come to me, all you are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

Eventful weekend and then some...

Well another weekend has come and gone. Can you believe it's November? This year has been moving so quickly, I wish time would just slow down! But it's coming up on my favorite season: CHRISTMAS!!!! =) Before we start on that, how about a recap of this past "holiday."

I am not a big Halloween person. I think I stopped dressing up when I was about 8. I enjoyed giving candy out more than dressing up. Just not my thing. Friday we spent our evening with good friends, good food and without the babe. My parents offered to take Jake. I was a little hesitant because I knew I would miss him. And I did. Although, it was nice having a break and not having to leave so early due to our tired child! We enjoyed good conversations, amazing treats, and a hilarious version of Twilight. I still feel bad, but Michael wanted to watch it. Weird I know! It was very comical though. We sort of poked fun of everything. The bad acting, the sighs that happened about every 45 seconds, and the vegetarianism of the vampires. All in good fun. I am still a Twilight girl forever! It's my one girly thing! Haha.

Saturday we got to sleep in till about 7:30! We went to breakfast alone and then headed over to see our munchkin! He was so excited to see us! I love that little man! He told us about his trick or treating experience and showed us all his candy. He loves Nana and Papa! I think this is the first time he ever spent a night away....wow, so crazy! We stopped to get our grocery shopping on before heading home to watch the game. The game...very frustrating. Then we hit half time and Jake hit his head! The kid is just crazy at times and he finally connected with the toy chest! He had a pretty good gash above his eyebrow. It kept bleeding so we headed to the ER. We went to the new Methodist West. Can we say AMAZING?! There was no one there which was nice. Everything is so clean and new and the staff was awesome! We were out of there in a half hour or less. They ended up using the glue to keep it shut! It's still a bit puffy and purple but he is okay! We got home just in time to hear the announcers talk about how much we sucked the 3rd quarter. In my frustration, I started yelling at the TV. A downfall of mine during football season! The yelling must have been heard because we had an amazing 4th quarter and pulled out a win! Gotta love them Hawkeyes!! Saturday evening some friends came over and we watched a "scary" movie. Now I might not mention the movie because it is still in theaters. A friend of ours got a copy of it. Lol. I had heard some people that were horrified by it and some that weren't. Let me tell you something...I screamed. Twice. I'm interested in finding out the ending that was in theaters. Our DVD had 3. The one that went with the movie, scared me so bad. I screamed and jumped. It was just nuts! We then had to watch a happy movie so we popped in "Elf!" I love that movie =)

Today we thought we woke up late! We didn't. We forgot to turn our clocks back. We didn't go to church because we thought we were late. It took us about 2 hours to figure out why everything was messed up! Mind you, we were reminding people all day Friday and Saturday to turn their clocks back. Then we forget! Go figure! Well it's about 1 and we are going to head up to visit my Grandparents in Story City!

Hope everyone had a great weekend and Halloween!!