Update-a-roo

These Hibbard women have been keeping me busy!  I have to say, as stressed as I've been with Ryan being gone, they've done a wonderful job of keeping me occupied and not allowing myself to have a pity party.  Thank you Kim & Alysa!

On Thursday, we went to the church that Isabella and Charlotte go to for a bit on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  It was soooo cute watching the little 4 year olds and 3 year olds sing on stage.  Some of the girls were moving and grooving and some of the guys didn't move an inch or open their mouth the entire time.   Here's a quick pic I snapped of Charlotte and Isabella after the show:

That day, I came home to nice a little surprise from Ryan's work.  I thought it was such a thoughtful gift:

The card says on the front "Your thoughtfulness means the world to us" and the inside says "We believe the holidays are a time for families to be together.  As a token of our appreciation for sharing your loved one this holiday season, please accept this small gift."  How nice is that?

Last night we had a bit of a girls night with Kim, Alysa, and Kim's friend, Betty.  We went to a nice dinner in downtown Nashville and then went to see Handel's Messiah at the symphony hall.  It was a beautiful area and pretty cool to see.  I'd never been to a symphony before so now I can say I've been!  My favorite was when the choir and symphony sang/played Hallelujah...it was very powerful and gave me chills.  Here's a pic of us girls after dinner and before the show:

Do you like the spot we chose?  That conductor is doing some serious work in that picture.

Thankfully, I've been able to talk to Ryan everyday.  He's doing fine and keeping busy.   While talking to him today, I think he sensed I'm getting quite frustrated with carrying the entire phone conversation, so today he made more of an effort to talk and says something besides "not a whole lot to tell you here". Maybe by the time our 4 months is up, he'll know how to carry a conversation over the phone!  I can only hope ;)

Jimmy Kimmel

Do ya'll remember the video I posted back around the Halloween time frame about Jimmy Kimmel asking parents to tell their kids they ate all of their candy?  It's back!  This time, he asked parents to give kids a terrible gift to see their reactions.  I feel bad for the kids, but I can't help but laugh at what they say about their gifts!! Enjoy! 

Quick Update

A few things:

-Ryan made it safely and is now at the site he'll be at for the next 4 months.  He sounds really good, has adjusted to the time difference, is enjoying the work he's doing, and I don't think he misses me at all yet ;)
-I'm pretty sure I've worried myself sick.  I'm not handling Ryan being gone nearly as well as I thought I would/could.  It's been a little over a week and I feel like it's been months.  I can't sleep and when I'm up, I'm thinking about him constantly.  I'm not as concerned about his safety as much as it's just been such a huge change for my life.  I went from living with him, sleeping with him every night, and working 50+ hours a week to no work and no Ryan.  I've kept busy thanks to Alysa, Kim & Ron including me in everything and I'm thankful for that.  I just hope I become better at adjusting Ryan not being here, or I find a way to deal with this stress!  I don't know if I'm coming with something, but all I know right now is that I have no energy, my throat is on fire and my head feels like it weighs 20 lbs more than it should.  WAH! I never, ever get sick.
-Roadrunner needs to hurry up and send me my running stuff so I can start running outside.  I may or may not of accidently entered the shipping address to go to St. Petersburg, FL (oops), but I want my stuff, damnit!
-Kim is a really, really good cook.
-Isabella and Charlotte are such sweet little girls.  I'm so glad I've been able to play with them some and convince them that they really do have an Uncle Ryan and Aunt Ainsilie!
-Ellen is the funniest show ever.  You can't watch her show and not be in a good mood!!
-I'm almost with my holiday shopping.  There's 12 days left before Christmas!  I need to not work more often!

:)

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!

The dust has settled a little bit, so I have more time now to write and catch everyone up to speed.

The movers came on Sunday and helped get out all of our heavy stuff and into the storage place across the street.  We, thankfully, do not have any horror stories of the movers this time.  It was a much easier "move", but the company we chose were professional and charged us what was quoted.  Amen.

We had to stay in a hotel room Sunday night since we didn't have a bed to sleep on.  Poor Zoe had to stay in the kennel because the hotel was going to charge us $75 to let her stay in the room.  Zoe was soooo stressed out from the move and I'm thinking now that it's over, we probably should of given her some Benadryl or something to help with her anxiety.  Oops.

"Mama, please don't make me take this 9 hour drive. Where did my papa go?"

Ryan and I said our goodbye's Monday.   I'm not going to see him now until April and this makes me very sad.  It's going to be an "easier" deployment for us than some other couples that are in the military, working the front line, and not being able to talk everyday.  For us, he'll be gone 4 months and we'll be able to Skype everyday once he gets there. I think it's going to be hardest over the holidays without him.  I'm going to miss the little things like being able to kiss goodnight, hold hands, and just not being together a lot.  We've always been a pretty independent couple, but spending this long apart isn't ideal. :)

I'm settled now at Ron & Kim's (mother and father in law) and they've graciously let Zoe and I shack up through the end of Christmas.  I had pretty much my whole life packed up in suitcases, and I've yet to unpack or get any kind of organization in my life.  See for yourself:

For those of you wondering, I've been able to hear from Ryan twice since he started his journey.  He's tired, safe, and almost to his destination.  Please continue to pray he makes it safely and stays safe!!

Post Thanksgiving

No picture of Thanksgiving.  I convinced Ryan to go to Cracker Barrel in overalls, but when he realized this could potentially cost us $10 to purchase the clothing at a consignment shop, he changed his mind. :)

Who knew Cracker Barrel would be so busy??? We waited over an hour, but it was worth it!  My only complaint is that we couldn't sit around for hours and release the gut (aka loosen the waistband) because we subconsciously knew there were 2034820348 other people waiting on a table.  Our server was probably 60+ years old and socially awkward, but since it was Thanksgiving we graciously tipped her well over the expected 15%.

After lunner (lunch + dinner), Ryan wanted to check out Best Buy to see if there was a line yet.  You see, Ryan has had his eye on a tablet to take with him on his work adventure for the next few months.  My employee discount on a tablet just wasn't good enough (hmph) so he thought waiting outside with crazy people for almost 12 hours was a better idea.

Being the loving and loyal wife that I am, I dropped him off and went home to a nice warm place with non-crazy people.  I got bored after a few hours, so around 9pm I went back up to Best Buy to join him.  At that point, the line was wrapped around the back of the building.

After people almost got into fist fights, old people screaming ignorant racial slurs, and legit murder threats, Ryan got his beloved tablet.  We got home at 1 am, and I had to be up at work in the morning to work Black Friday.  Thank GOODNESS Ryan saved over $100 on his tablet!  If not, a part time job at McDonald's might of been in my future.  Shew!  We didn't have any crazy sales at work, but we had a good day, nonetheless.

Speaking of work...today was my last day.  It's hard to believe I'll wake up tomorrow and won't have to  go to work.  I'm pretty sure that a month from now I'll still have a voice in the back of my head saying "call your store, find out how they're doing" and "OMG how are we ever going to hit quota".

It was all bittersweet, and I can genuinely say my store has the best team I could of asked for.  The team is such a great mix of loyal, quirky, funny, and smart group to work with.  I really just got to take the credit for what they were able to produce, but I'm going to really, really miss working with them.  I won't miss anything else, but I think the group of folks you work with will make or break your job.  

I was surprised with a buuunch of flowers, and I'm grateful for them.  They definitely made my day and I didn't leave the store without crying.  Ugh why do I have to be such a girl.

This part right here is where I would complain about them and all of the bad things about them and the job, but I know they're sneaky sneaky and will be reading this :)

So, instead, I'll end with a big THANK YOU to my store for giving me this experience and the opportunity to work with ya'll, and I'll be smelling and admiring my flowers all weekend :)

Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving is just 2 days away!  I haven't even started thawing my turkey! OMG!

Wait...I know why I don't have a turkey thawing!  It's because I'm not cooking this year!  Woohoo!

Last year was my first year of attempting of making a Thanksgiving dinner.  It was good, but we also ate at 10pm at night.  Since I did a smaller turkey (5 pounds, I think?)  we didn't think it would take a month to cook.  It probably didn't help that Ryan and I kept opening the oven door every 3 seconds to see if the stupid red thing would pop up.

So, Thanksgiving dinner in 2010 was good, but late and a little sad since it was just Ryan, myself and Zoe.

We will be moving in less than 2 weeks and most of our kitchen goodies are now packed up, in boxes, and in a storage unit.  So, how are we going to satisfy our turkey & pumpkin pie cravings this year?

Cracker Barrel.

Yup, for just $6.99 a plate, we can get our filling of all of this and I don't even have to clean one dish.  I'm a little excited about it, but I'm also a little saddened this will be my very first Thanksgiving dinner I've had at a restaurant.  I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but I just hope it doesn't become a tradition :)

I'm still trying to convince Ryan to show up at Cracker Barrel in overalls and a toothpick hanging out of our mouths, but he isn't convinced just yet.  If I do, you better believe there will be pictures coming soon. :)

Sweet Surprises

When I got home from work yesterday, Ryan let me know that his Grandma Bev sent us a little something.

She is the sweetest!

How cute is this box?

I opened it up and a sweet, delicious, cinnamony (is that a word?)  smell hugged my face.  Grandma Bev made some of her famous home made cinnamon rolls!! I first had them when we visited her in 2008 and it was instant love.

I have no clue how she was able to make these while working full time, find such a cute box for them, and then ship them from Florida to Kansas City and keep them fresh and soft and full of happiness.  But, she did.  And we're thankful for them.

See how amazing they look?  They taste even better!

Grandma Bev is the best :)  If you're reading this, thank you!!!

Relief.

I finally did it.

After weeks of debating when, where, and how it should happen, it happened.

I gave my boss my more-than-2-weeks notice.  I was relieved and sad at the same time.  I hate to disappoint, and I know by me leaving at the end of this month it's inconvenient for my store and for my boss.

For those of you who didn't know, Ryan is getting deployed in early December.  We decided it isn't best for me to stay in Kansas City by myself working like a dog through the holidays and the new year.  We also decided that I'm happiest with family and friends, and since Ryan really doesn't care where he lives, we'll be (hopefully) settling down in Charlottesville when he gets back.  This is a big leap of faith considering we have no idea if Ryan's job is going to allow him to transfer when he gets back.

So, the plan is for me to work through the end of November, pack up all of our stuff and store it in a storage unit, and I live like nomad for 4 months on the East Coast until he gets back.  While I'm living as a nomad, Ryan will be working loooong hours and working hard for the money.  So hard for it, honey.

I'm extremely grateful for family and friends to offer up their comfy beds and even allow our b*tchy dog Zoe to stay, too.  There are lots and lots of mixed emotions right now, and here are just a few of them:

Stress - It ain't easy planning logistics with the move, and it's even harder with Ryan and I both working almost 50 hours a week on top of the planning.  We still have to pack, move everything into storage, and I still need to pack for 4 months of living out of a suitcase.

Sadness - Since Ryan and I started dating, we've never gone longer than 2 weeks without seeing eachother.  Now he'll be gone for 4 months and our only form of communication will be telephone and Skype.   Has anyone ever heard Ryan talk on the phone?  He can converse for the MOST 5 minutes in a day, so you probably haven't.  This isn't going to be easy for our relationship, but I know it will only make us stronger.

Anxious - I've spent mayyyyybe 3 weeks total with Ryan's family since we started dating.  Now I'm going to have more time to spend with them since I'll be at the in-laws house for the month of December.  Also, it's been over 4 years since I've spent more than a weekend in Richmond.  I'm going to be living there for a bit now and hanging out with everyone lots.  On top of this, it's been over 6 months since I've seen my niece Rena, and I finally get to watch her grow up a bit.

Comforting - I find comfort in the fact that we'll be able to settle down, buy a house, and eventually start a family of our own.  A permanent address?  No packing or unpacking for years?  Getting to paint the walls of our own house? Not having to quit a year after starting a job? Baby Hibbs running around everywhere? Yes, please.

I'm still not announcing the move to my store because my boss doesn't want me to.  He thinks it's best if I keep it quiet until after Thanksgiving.  I was very relieved to have my boss support my decision even though he wasn't happy about it.  His words, "You're very good at what you do, and I hate that you're leaving."  That made me happy to hear that :) My boss came from a military family and remembers how sad his mom was moving around a bunch, so he understands why we need to move and let me know he'd be happy to transfer me or give a recommendation for another job if needed.  This helps the situation.

SO, the next few weeks are going to be crazy, sad, happy, fast moving, and stressful.  Please keep Ryan in your prayers and I'll blog again soon!

What Happens When You Tell Your Kids You Ate All Their Candy!

Tooooooo funny!! The two boys at the end are the best! 

Happy Halloweeeeeenie!!

Hope everyone has had a great Halloween!! Did you see the Google webpage today? So cool!

I would post cute pictures of our carved pumpkins....buuuut we didn't carve any.

And I would post pictures of our fun costumes....buuuuut we didn't wear any.

AND I would post some pictures of our cute trick or treaters....buuuuuut we didn't have ANY!

What a pitiful and boring Halloween this year was :)  Guess this just means more Snickers & Milky Ways for me :)

Little more right now, a little less what's next

With all of the changes happening in the Hibbard household right now, I've decided to keep us sane we need to focus on the present and less about the future.  There's a country song by Eric Church called "Smoke a little Smoke" and although that's not really how we plan on living our lives (you know, drinking a little drink and smoking a little smoke), there's a lyric in the song that goes like this:

"Need a little more right now, and a little less what's next"

I think by focusing on the day to day, it will help Ryan and I focus on the now rather than the later.   November is just around the corner and life is going to only get more stressful from here.  My sweet, frugile, planning husband wants everything done like, right now, and I keep urging him to do things one at a time.  If he or I get too stressed, I just take Zoe, throw her in our faces and then everything is suddenly all better :)

On another note, I've been told by several women (not to name names ;)  ) that I need to come up with a "10 Reasons Why I'm Still Young" list.  So, here it is:

1.  No kids yet.
2.  I have lots of room to grow in my career.
3.  I still get ID'ed when drinking.
4.  I haven't had my 10 Year High School Reunion....yet.
5.  I can still wear clothes from the Junior clothing sections.
6.  No wrinkles, no gray hair, and I can still remember everything I did the day before.
7. I still have a lot of friends dating and getting married.
8.  We don't have a mortgage payment.
9.  I won't go to the gym for months, and one day I'll suddenly feel like going and can run 2 miles instantly.  Something tells me I won't be able to do that for much longer.
10.  I don't have saggy boobs yet.


Hope you guys like that list better than the Reasons Why I'm Old list :)

Reasons I'm Getting Old....

I don't know why, but I've found little things in life lately that have changed from when I was a kid, and this makes me feel like I'm not a young buck anymore.  I know, I know - being 27 is not old to a lot of people.  Let me explain why I've been feeling a little older lately:

1. My 10 Year high school reunion is next year.
2. When I was in high school, if we wanted to communicate with someone while in class, we hand wrote notes.  Not only did we write notes, we spelled our words in it's entirety.  None of this "lol, rofl, u, c, 2 stuff". Now, everyone in high school has phones and text message.
3.  As a kid, I would play outside for entertainment.  When stuck inside, I had this awesomeness to keep me company:

Now kids have this:

4.  The highlight of my weekends were TGIF shows:  Full House, Family Matters, and Step by Step.  Now, I have NO clue what kids and teenagers watch, but they can't be half as good as the TGIF line up.

5. I actually care about the weather.  I used to go outside in a t shirt even if it was 40 degrees because I really just didn't care.  I'd constantly have my mother yelling at me "Put a jacket on or you're going to catch a cold!".  I now tell her all the time you actually can't "catch a cold" just by being in cold weather, but her words must of finally gotten to me.  It was 70 outside today and I found myself putting on a fleece.  Whattttt??

6.  I can't eat whatever I want, whenever I want anymore.  This makes me sad.

7. When I come home from a long day of standing on my feet, I go straight to the foot massager.  In high school, I could go to school for 7 hours, play 3 hours of soccer, come home to dinner and homework, and still find energy to want to do something that night.  

8. PJ's are on by 8pm most nights and a fun Saturday night to me is a nice dinner and a snuggly movie with Ryan and Zoe.  5 years ago my night wasn't fun unless there was dancing, drinking, and/or boys involved.  

9. I like to eat vegetables.  Not only this, but I voluntarily take a daily vitamin.

10.  I'm spending my spare time creating a Top 10 as to why I feel old = I'm an old fart.

Marriage

I came across this story today and even though I don't know if it's true or not and it's a bit extreme, I thought it was an interesting one to share:



“When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.

Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why?

I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Jane. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!

With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Jane so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Jane. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.

In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month’s time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.

This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that every day for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.

I told Jane about my wife’s divorce conditions. . She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mommy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.

On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Jane about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger.

She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily.

Suddenly it hit me… she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.

Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mom out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day.

But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy. I drove to office…. jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind…I walked upstairs. Jane opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Jane, I do not want the divorce anymore.

She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Jane, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other anymore. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Jane seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away. At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.

That evening I arrived home, flowers in my hands, a smile on my face, I run up stairs, only to find my wife in the bed - dead. My wife had been fighting CANCER for months and I was so busy with Jane to even notice. She knew that she would die soon and she wanted to save me from the whatever negative reaction from our son, in case we push through with the divorce.— At least, in the eyes of our son—- I’m a loving husband….

The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money in the bank. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves.

So find time to be your spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!"

Girls' Weekend Golden, CO 2011

For those of you that didn't know, about 10 years ago my mother in law and her sisters, along with their mother, decided to get together once a year to have time alone with just themselves.  They travel to a new place every year...only if it's for a weekend!

Ryan's grandma passed away last year after a good, long fight with breast cancer.  My mother in law and sisters decided that Barbara (Ryan's grandma) would of been happy to have the daughter in laws start to come on the girls trip to carry on the tradition.

This is where Alysa, Anna and I come into play.  Kim, LeeAnn & Deborah invited us along this year to their trip to Golden, CO.  We had so much fun and it was so nice to have uninterrupted time with a family I'm still getting to know.

Our trip started on Friday where I met Alysa and Kim at the Denver airport.  We got into our rental car and drove to the cute and quant town of Golden, CO.  Deborah, LeeAnn and Anna drove to Golden, so we beat them to the rental house.  Anna is pregnant, so we clearly blamed their 8hourturned10hour drive on her need to pee every hour or so :)

Our house was nice and big (even though it spelt of moth balls and the study area reminded me of a scene from the game Clue) and we even had our own bedrooms! No Ryan and Zoe meant I sprawled out on my big comfy queen size bed and slept like a baby.

Friday night was spent hanging around the dinner table waiting for our very, very spicy taco soup to become more on the "A Team"s level and just talking about life.  On Saturday we went down to an outdoor shopping area where we got to see some local shops and whine about cold and rainy (and snowy!) weather.  It cleared up in the afternoon and we had a nice lunch at a French cafe and finished off the lunch with a locally famous ice cream shop called Bonnie Brae Ice Cream where we stuffed our faces with fattening and incredibly satisfying deliciousness.

We had dinner in Golden that night and woke up somewhat early the next day to prepare for our Banjo Billy bus tour!  Kim, Deborah and I took a hike up the hill behind the house in the morning which turned out beautiful.  We then got to explore more of Downtown Golden where allof us purchased absolutely nothing with the exception of Alysa buying gifts for her girls and Deborah buying gifts for us.  We headed into downtown Denver that night for the Banjo Billy ghost bus tour and a nice dinner at Ted's.

I'll stop boring you with words and show some pictures of our trip:

Snowmageddan!  Can you see it??

myself, Kim & Alysa before some shopping!

beautiful skyline while driving to Golden

Howdy!  This picture brought to you only because Alysa blocked all incoming traffic.

myself, Alysa, Anna, Kim, Deborah & LeeAnn at Red Rocks Amphitheater

Lower part of Red Rocks!  I imagined Dave Matthews singing to me here.  Who woulda thunk this would be such an exercise kingdom for Denveridians?

Banjo Billy waiting for our arrival!! 

Pretty restaurant area in downtown Denver

I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to, but Deborah & some others got some really good ones that I just don't have saved yet on my computer.  Ladies, thank you for a wonderful weekend away and I can't wait until we do it again next year!! I had so much fun!

In other news, Ryan and I have LOTS of changes coming into our lives in the next couple of months.  We're stressed/anxious/nervous/scared/excited/worried.  I'm not going to announce details just yet, but I'll leave with a prayer that has been helping me get through these last couple of weeks:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

Slacker Status

I've been meaning to update my blog and post about our girl's trip in Denver last weekend, but I just haven't gotten around to it!

The thing is, I took 1 day of PTO and scheduled my day's off of the week together, so coming back from Denver I realized I scheduled myself to work 7 days in a row.

Stupid.

SO, I will be posting soon with lots of pictures and details about our girls trip in the beautiful state of Colorado!  Stay tuned :)

SOON TO BE MRS. SAPP

If you could choose between the last name of Borton or Sapp, what would you choose??

Well, my very good friend Paige, doesn't have a choice!  Why??? She just got ENGAGED, and will be Mrs. Sapp by next year!!!!!!! (really she does have a choice but for my blog's post we'll pretend she doesn't)

CONGRATULATIONS PAYJEEEEEEEE!!

I met Paige my freshman year in college and we become closer over the years.  We lived together the last 2 years in college and lived together 2 years after college.  I spent many a night hating her for studying just an hour or two to Ace a test while I stayed up all night to scrape by with a B. We share a love for dogs, dip, and our boys.

I will never forget the first night she met her now soon to be husband, Jason.  Ashley, Paige, and I lived together in the Fan in Richmond and Paige decided to go out with her friends Susanne for the night even though she really didn't feel like it.

Ash and I hadn't gone to bed yet before she came home, and I can very distinctly remember Paige running in the door YELLING (if anyone knows Paige, yelling is not an uncommon thing) "I met the CUTEST boy Jason tonight and I HAVE to go out with him again.  He is sooooo good looking".

From there, they started hanging out regularly and she found out Jason is more than just good looks.  For Valentine's Day that year, Jason showed up at the door with not just flowers for Paige, but a rose for Ashley and I.   At that point, Ash and I both said HE'S A KEEPER!

3 years later (I think?), Jason and Paige have made the commitment to be together forever!  Jason proposed to Paige on Sunday at the Clock Tower in Richmond (Paige has loved that place for 20384038 years) and got down on one knee with one beautiful ring!!

See for yourself!

It's a blurry picture, but beautiful nonetheless!  That's 1.2 carats staring back at you!

Paige and Jason will be getting married in July or August or next year and I can't wait to be a part of their big day!  Kristin's wedding will be following shortly after (September 12) and couldn't be happier for her and Mikey.

I loooooove weddings, and I love even more when it's with my closest friends!!

CONGRATULATIONS PAIGE BORTON & JASON SAPP!! Love you both <3

Craft-astic

I don't know why it has taken me so long to discover this website, but now that I've found it, I can't stop.

There are so. many. cute. ideas.

What's the website, you ask?

www.pinterest.com

I'm pretty sure most women knew about this site a year ago.  I heard about it, but never took the time to go to the site and explore.

It's amazing!

There are SO many cute ideas on this website it's insane.

The idea of the website is to "pin" pictures and/or things that interest you onto your boards.  Boards range from recipes to styling to interior design and a whole lot more.

Because I've been on the website a decent amount this week, I wanted to do a little crafting and let my domestic side shine.

First of all, I went to Hobby Lobby & Michael's and got enough stuff to make a fall wreath.  With my 40% coupons and sales, I spent only $30 to make it!

It only took about an hour to put together, and I'm pretty happy with the final result:

Also, I had a strong urge to make Halloween cupcakes, so I grabbed some quick funfetti from Target and whipped some up.  Hobby Lobby had the cutest bone sprinkles which taste pretty freaking good!

We'll end up bringing all of the cupcakes to work because we always eat one or two and then they waste away until I throw them up.  I think our co-workers will enjoy them, too :)

Orange and black cupcake liners!  Halloween funfetti cake!  Orange funfetti icing! Bone sprinkles! Oh my! 

While I'm on the subject of Halloween, I have to say I don't like the person who invented candy corn.  Actually, I love them, but my body doesn't.  I can't stop eating them!!! Why does it have to taste so delicious??? Can't we have holidays without delicious foods being associated with them? 

Zoe pains.

Zoe, our 4 year old hot dog dog, has caused quite the ruckus in our house lately.

First of all, she had a run in with another animal last week.   Every night before we go to bed, I take Zoe out so she can pee before she's in the for the night.  We have a big spot of patchy grass right outside of our apartment, and I never have to put her on her leash.  I will stand inside the doorway while she runs outside, does her business, then runs back in.

This one night was different.   I was in my usual routine and I was letting Zoe out for the last time that night.  I turned my head for a second to pick up Ryan's shoes and when I turned back around to call Zoe in, I saw her face to face.....WITH A SKUNK.

Not just A skunk, but a HUGE skunk!  This sucker was probably 10 pounds heavier than Zoe and had 3 times the fur.  If I wasn't scared out of my mind that either she was going to attack the skunk thinking it was a squirrel, or vice versa, I would of taken a picture.

Zoe and Pepe were eye to eye and I FREAKED OUT.  I started screaming Zoe's name hoping and praying she would listen to me and come inside rather than face off with stinky.  As soon as she started to turn towards me to come back to the house, Pepe lifted up his huge tail and I heard a huge hissing sound.

Naturally I thought Zoe was going to reek of skunk smell and it was going to be a huge pain to get the smell out.  Lucky for us, the skunk sprayed the other direction and she just missed it.  WHEW.

My heart was beating so fast and I'm pretty sure Zoe had no idea that she was just eye to eye with a humungo skunk that could of done some serious damage.   It's so random that there was a skunk around our complex because it's a new apartment complex with no big trees and not a lot of woods around us.  I guess I'm just glad they didn't fight and Zoe still smells like Boysenberry doggie shampoo :)

You would think that would of been enough adventure for Zoe for at least a month.  Not our doggie.

I'm at work on Sunday and we're slammed all day.  I get a call from Ryan and something told me I should answer it.  I did, and Ryan begins to tell me he took Zoe with him to the grocery store, and while he was in the store shopping, Zoe ate an ENTIRE pack of sugar free gum.  We had no idea if it could harm her or not, so Ryan called the emergency vet -- just in case.

Come to find out, sugar free gum with xylitol is extremely toxic to dogs.   Xylitol absorbs in the dog's blood stream immediately and if they don't get treatment as soon as possible, it could cause liver failure and/or death.  We did not want her to die.

Ryan rushed her to the emergency vet and they started to make her throw up immediately.  Poor girl!   The vet told Ryan they could tell she got into a lot of gum, and because she is so small, they needed to keep her overnight in case she had seizures from any Xylitol that didn't get out of her system.

To make a long story short, she's fine now and acting her normal self.  I hope she stays out of trouble now for a while because it's pretty stressful having a sick pup!  She's basically our only child at this point!

I hope everyone is having a great week!  I'm heading out to Colorado with some beautiful and fun Hibbard ladies next weekend and I can't wait!!

That Australian accent...oh man

I just realized that I never uploaded any pictures or videos of the Keith Urban concert!  I still can't figure out how to upload the videos from my camera, but I will eventually!

My review: he's amazing in concert.  I didn't realize how many songs I knew and I sang along to ALL of them!   He is soooooo good looking so of course I enjoyed the huge TV since we were so far away :)  I think he did an awesome job of engaging the crowd.  My favorite part of the concert was when he walked through the crowd and sang a few songs at the very back part of the stadium (where we were).   At the end of one of his songs, he gave his guitar away.  That CAN'T be cheap!  Ooooh Nicole Kidman, you're one lucky lady.

Jake Owen & Keith Urban on stage, together! 

Ryan selflessly watching me drool all night to music he doesn't like ;) 

So close I could almost touch him!

If Keith ever goes on tour near me again then he'll definitely being getting another $50 from us :)  

Ryan and I 50 years from now...

Cutest and funniest video ever!  I love YouTube! 

Oh, You Know...

I did so good updating this blog in August, and now that September has rolled around I don't know where the time has gone!

First of all, we had an awesome time on our cruise.  We were incredibly lazy, ate too much and just enjoyed the beautiful views.  We did just one excursion and that was in Nassau.  We thought it was worth the money, and we're glad we didn't do anything more extravagant.  Ryan and I decided that we could never, ever live in Miami after spending a night there.  We don't go out clubbing every night and we can't speak full-on Spanish.  We're glad that we spent some time there, however, because they had some amazing Cuban food!! Here are a few pics from our trip:

My Aunt Karen & Uncle Rick surprised us with a bottle of wine!  Thank you...it was delicious and it didn't last long :)

Cool lizard in Freeport, Bahamas

Soaking up the sun in the beautiful Caribbean water

On our ship

Our ship next to Great Stirrup Cay island

I was paranoid about getting laundry done and picking up Zoe once we got back home.  I went back to work right away and had a LOT of catching up to do.  

Not even a week after we got home, I noticed Zoe was sneezing a ton.  Her throat just sounded different when breathing and she had a runny nose.  I started getting worried but I figured she just picked up something from the kennel and she'd get rid of it.

After a few days she wasn't sounding any better.  I was nagging Ryan so much about what could be wrong with her he finally told me to just take her to the vet and get her some meds.  

The veterinarian was supppppper nice and said she has some sort of upper respiratory cold or virus.  He gave us 2 different medications to give her, so we're hoping this will knock it out of her.  I don't like it when my little booger is sick :( 

On another note, I'm still trying to upload some of the videos I took at the Keith Urban concert.  Once I figure out how to do this on my camera, I'll post them :)

Also, my dad recently got in a car accident at work, and we're just glad he's okay and nobody got hurt!  

Oh, and one other thing....pumpkin spice lattes came back to Starbuck's last week.  I. love. these. drinks.  I could have 10 a day.  I'm really trying to limit myself for the sake of Ryan and I's bank account, but oh my...it's hard!!  How can I resist and it's only for a limited time!

Pumpkin.  Spice.  Coffee.  Cooler weather.  Happiness in a cup. 

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot going on in Hibbard land.  I feel like there are lots and lots of ladies that are pregnant, so I'll do a big old giant CONGRATS to all of the ladies I know that have a bun in the oven!  

Natural Destruction

Lots of scary things going on lately!

I was at work on Tuesday until one of the associates told me at my store I might want to call home because Virginia just had an earthquake.  I was wondering what the heck was going on, and then I check my phone and see my house called, and Ryan had texted me about checking in because he heard about the earthquake too.

I called home immediately and talked to my parents.  They were fine, thank God, and they told me that they talked to the rest of my family and everyone was fine.

The earthquake was a 5.8 magnitude, which is big time for the East Coast!  My mom said she was at her desk when it started majorly shaking so naturally she was scared.  Work sent everyone home for safety reasons and the big chance of a pretty large aftershock.

I'm glad to hear no one was hurt, but it does look like some pretty historic buildings had significant damage.  Here's a website in DC showing the damage done to the beautiful National Cathedral:

http://www.dcquake.nationalcathedral.org/

On top of the Earthquake, there's a nasty Hurricane Irene getting ready to hit the East Coast.  I'm hoping it doesn't cut too many people's vacation's short, and I definitely hope no one gets hurt!

The Hurricane just so happened to hit our vacation island that we'll be visiting in only 5 days.  Soooooo glad that we didn't chose to go this week, but soooooo hoping we have an island to visit in a few days!

http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2011/08/25/east-coast-checks-bridges-readies-plans-for-hurricane-irene/

Check out the link above for a video.  I told Ryan last night that even if there are storms when we're on vacation, we'll live.   A rainy day at the beach is better than a sunny day at work :)

Rena Brynn

My sister in law, Emily, created a cute video of my niece, Rena Brynn's, couple of "firsts".  I love watching this since we can't be there to see her do it ourselves!

Enjoy watching her cute little butt :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxc29kQlrjs

Watch out, Nicole Kidman!

While watching the CMAFest Sunday night, I realized it's been so long since I've been to a country concert and how bad I wanted to go.  Keith Urban has an excellent marketing team and I just so happened to see a commercial that Keith Urban was coming to the Sprint Center in KC this Friday, August 19!!!!!

I first checked my work schedule.  Opening Friday and closing Saturday.  Yessssss....that meant it was possible if the concert was at a reasonable hour and it wasn't sold out.

I didn't have high hopes when I was going to the ticketmaster.com website.  I assumed, being that it was a week before the concert, there would only be nosebleed seats available if anything at all.  OOOOOOH I was wrong!

I found tickets on the Lower Level for $50.....FOR TWO TICKETS!  Yes, you heard read me correctly. I'm still in shock.

I bought the tickets ASAP in fear that there was something wrong with the website and if I didn't do it right that second then I would lose them.  After I bought them ($52 after taxes, no processing or convenience fees, etc I might add), I realized I probably should of sold the idea to Ryan before doing this, but lucky for me Ryan reluctantly agreed to go if I drive and he gets to drink.  Done and done. :) :) :)

This is very clearly exciting to me since I'm dedicating an entire blog post about it.   Not much happens with the Hibbard's in the small town of Overland Park.  This is big :)

Mom - I'll record this song just for you if he sings it :)

YEEEEEEEEEEEHAWWWWWW!! ;)

Choking the Gecko

I admit I love the Geico commercials.  They're incredibly funny and innovative.  I do love the gecko, but I'm feeling like this right now:

I want to take a minute to vent about why they're making me so mad.

A long, long time ago (April 2011), our brand spanking new (to us) Rav4 was hit was some really, really bad hail damage.  I took it to Geico so they could create an estimate so we could get it fixed.  We were told it was going to cost over $4,000 to get it fixed because of the hail damage on the roof and on the side of the windows.  Good thing we weren't having to pay for it ourselves!

The estimate included paint repair.  As we know, Ron has a Toyota dealership and is very familiar with claims and body work.  He advised we should take it to another body shop to see if they were about to do it without getting any paint repair done to it.  Paint repair depreciates the car faster than it does with just dent repair.

Lucky for us, the Toyota dealership said they could get it fixed without having to do paint work.  A month later, my car is beautiful again and all is happy.  Even better, because there wasn't paint repair there was a $1000 left from the Claims check that wasn't used. I was told by the guy at the dealership that there are many insurance companies that issue the difference back to the owners.

I was curious, so I called before we had it fixed at the Toyota dealership. I called Geico not once, but twice, about assuring the money would get sent back to us (meaning Ryan and I and Toyota Financial) and not Geico.  Stupid me didn't record the dates or the names of the people I talked to, so now it's turned into a he said, she said battle, and we've lost.

My frustrations are this:
-We were mislead.  We shouldn't of been told that we would receive the difference from multiple people at Geico.
-I've called the Claims rep, Victor, for 2 months.  I left messages, and when I did get a hold of him, he would write down my name and Claim number and would tell me he would call me back.  He never did.  Not once.
-After telling Victor's supervisor my frustrations with having to keep following up with this, he proceeds to tell me that it's my responsibility to call him if I can't get in touch with Victor.  Ummm....what?? Am I going crazy here?  What's wrong with this picture?
-I explained to Victor that I work with customers and manage a team, and if one of my reps told a customer something, I would honor it, even if it wasn't correct policy.  It's called good customer service and doing what's right.  Because he's choosing to fight instead of checking into our account in more detail, he's going to lose 2 customers.  Basic math = is an $1100 check worth a loyal customer of 2 years paying $130/mo? It's definitely worth it for us to go somewhere who will honor what they say in case something like this happens again.

Stupid.  Stupid.  Stupid!  

Who can recommend some excellent car insurance companies??? I've heard good things about State Farm & Farmer's Insurance, yes?  I'm thinking we should get a local agent who can handle these kind of disputes themselves!

I'm done venting now.   :)

2nd Honeymoon = Booked!

In 18 days Ryan and I will be well on our way to what I'm calling our second honeymoon.  I mentioned in an earlier post that we decided not to do gifts, and to take that money and put it towards a trip.  I think a trip away is good for our relationship and much more memorable than some watches :)

I'm so glad we decided this because we'll soon be looking at this:

and eating this:

and doing this:

aaaaaand this:

this picture is a combination of relaxation and laying out, but I just thought this puppy was too cute to not post

After much debate (and when I say debate, I mean debate with myself.  Ryan didn't really care where we went), we decided on the Norwegian cruise out of Miami.  It's a 4 night cruise and there are no sea days. We stop at Freeport, Great Stirrup Cay (private island), and Nassau.  We plan on staying Friday night in Miami to explore the city before we fly back on Saturday.  A big thank you to Kim for finding this cruise because my eyes skipped it! 

We (meaning I) picked this vacation for a few reasons:

- We loved our cruise to Alaska.  It was soooo relaxing, and being that we don't have to pay for food the entire time, it's cost effective.  Yes, drinking and excursions add to the cost, but we think it's still cheaper than going to just one place for a week.

- We've only really been on 2 vacations together, and none of them have been tropical. We went to FL a few years ago, but Ryan got really burnt the first day and that pretty much took out any other beach days we could of had.  That trip was more to visit his Grandma Bev & to go to Disney, anyway.

- Norwegian is supposed to be a good cruiseline for younger couples.  The cruise will have bar crawls, White Parties, and lots of different entertainment.  This will be completely different than our Honeymoon, but I think we'll enjoy it.  We don't plan on drinking ourselves crazy all week, so don't worry.

- My work schedule didn't really allow us to leave for a cruise on Saturday or Sunday, so this was a good cruise that leaves on a Monday.

- We want to travel and see as much as the world as possible before we settle down with kids.  We would never be able to do a cruise like this even 5 years from now, so it's perfect timing :) 

I think I'm way more excited than Ryan, but once he starts packing I think he'll show more excitement.

By the way, I don't know if I've raved about priceline.com before, but if I haven't, I need to.  If I have, I need to do it again.  We were able to get a room at the Sheraton in downtown Miami for only $55!!!! Name your own price is amazing! On top of this, we have a rental car we're able to use Friday & Saturday for only $16!!!! How crazy is that!!!! Amazing!  Ryan will one day appreciate my thrifty spending :) Thank you daddy for showing us this :) 

In other news, my friends Cindy & Jared just welcomed their second little one into their lives.  Isabella Claire was born August 4th and she's perfect!  They have such a cute family!

Congratulations Barsanti family!! <3 We are so very happy for you and can't wait to meet her :) 

Random Thoughts

-The customer service industry is screwed.  So many customers expect so many ridiculous things I can't even handle it sometimes.  No, you don't get an extra discount on your phone because you've been with us for a long time.  No, you don't get a discount on your monthly plan because you pay your bills on time.  I pay my car payment on time every month, but I don't get a discount off of the car.  No, telling me that I did something wrong when in actuality I didn't have anything to do with the initial problem will not make whatever you're trying to get right.  I am not the CEO. Ugh.  I appreciate the customers that understand policies, and I'm glad there are more nice people in Kansas than nasty ones!

-The movie Crazy, Stupid, Love. is crazy, stupid good.

- I want Zoe to have a brother or sister.  Ryan still won't cave.

-The show Toddlers & Tiaras is depressing.

-Ryan and I will be on vacation together in 25 days.  Can't wait for our second honeymoon <3

-My boss is crazy.  I hope he doesn't read my blog.

-I miss my family and I miss my friends.

-I've read really, really good books lately.  I need more Nook friends so I stop spending $12/week on new ones.  Don't read the Jaycee Dugard book because it's really, really sad. People are crazy, but I'm so glad and so surprised to see she seems so "normal" for having so much wrong done to her for so long.

-Margaritas are so, so good in the summer.

-So many friends are having kids, and Ryan and I still aren't close to being ready.  I think once we have a house, I'll be ready as ever.

- I love, love, love my car. Love.

- My parents still amaze me in so many ways.

- I hate I can't see my niece Rena every day.  I hate I can't see my Goddaughter Riley and Elly all of the time.  I hate I can't see Jayden or Taiten or any other cute babies I know and love. I hate I can't see Graden and Abby grow up. I hate I'm missing all of them grow up.  I pray every night Ryan gets transferred to Charlottesville ASAP.

-My DiSC profile is "Inspirational".  I lead a team by inspiring and motivating.  My boss had me do a DiSC test and I had a 55 page report sent to me explaining all about me.  It was spot on.  Me in a nutshell: stubborn, sarcastic, hard working, fault finding, emotional, always right, and independent.  I handed the report to Ryan and told him this is my User Manual for the year.  He didn't read it.

-Monacan High School's 10 year reunion is next year.  10 years.  Graduated.  From high school.  I'm so, so old!

-More people should relax by taking bubble baths.  I am included in this "more people" equation.

-Zoe wakes me up in the middle of the night whining wanting to get water out of her water cup.  How did I let her get so spoiled and how do I make sure I don't do this to our kids?

-Why do people join Twitter?  An even better question, Why am I on Twitter?

-It's hard to believe Fall is just around the corner.  Fall is my FAVORITE season! Can't wait for it to cool down a bit!

Summer Slacking

I warned you guys in the last post that it would probably be a while before I blogged again just because of my Girl's trip and my mom coming to visit.  I didn't really plan on not blogging for a month though.  Oops! Forgive me, please.

Lots has been going on in the Hibbard world lately.  I'll try to update in chronological order.

At the end of June and over the 4th of July weekend, I had a week off of work and took a trip to Richmond and Wilmington, NC.  I had my annual girls trip with these beautiful ladies:

We had so. much. fun.  Our condo was perfect.  We went to the beach everyday.  We laid low some nights and had so much fun dancing downtown Saturday night.  I hadn't seen a lot of the girls since my wedding, so the time together was long overdue.  What's even better is we got together even though we're literally living all across the country.  VA, MD, MA, CO, KS, and GA! Erin was the only one who couldn't make it, and that's allowed because she's a nurse in Saudi Arabia right now.  We missed you Erin!

Before we left for Wilmington, I had 2 days in Richmond to catch up with friends and family.  Emily & Chris met up with me in Fredericksburg, VA for dinner and so I could see my cute niece.  I can't believe how much Rena has grown!!!! She can hold her head up, she's smiling all of the time, and she's really good at gagging herself with her hand.  I was so happy I got to spend some time with them.

Love her.

I also got to meet up with Cindy, Jared, and Jayden at Bonefish.  Jayden keeps getting so big and Cindy looks SO good.  She's 8 months pregnant and is expecting little Isabella in August.  Little Jayden was obsessed with Rena and kept pointing at her and saying "baby".  He's going to be a great big brother!!

I stayed at Nikki and Jason's house, and they were in the process of moving out of their apartment and into the house.  I hadn't met Riley yet even though she was born in April, and I loved her the second I laid my eyes on that fat baby.  Elliot remembered me (thank God) and she's knowing calling me "Ansi" because that's about as far as she can get out.

Blog world, meet Riley.  She's the best and fattest baby you will ever meet.

Don't you want to squeeze her cheeks so bad?  Nikki asked me to be her Godmother, and I happily accepted.  I love that we're going to have a close bond for the rest of our lives, but I just wish we were closer so I can spend more time with the little kiddos.  Riley will sleep 8+ hours a night, and never cries unless she's hungry (surprise surprise).  She's perfect and I'm so honored to be her Godmother.

Elly cheesing it up for the camera.  She has a sweet tooth like her Auntie Ains.

I LOVED my time away from work & seeing everyone, but I was really starting to miss Ryan and Zoe towards the end of the week.  Ryan picked me up from the airport after work, and he surprised me with some flowers.  He's so sweet, and it reminded me of when we first started dating almost 4 years ago and he showed up with flowers when I first met him family in TN.  I picked a good one (husband, that is).

I went back to work Tuesday, and then my mom arrived from Richmond the following Thursday!  I felt so bad going to work over the weekend and leaving her at home, but lucky for us, my mom is entertained very easily and didn't mind just hanging out with Zoe and watching The View and the Lifetime Network.  Ryan took her downtown to the Plaza on Saturday, and when I was off on Tue & Wed we went to the outlets and did some shopping.  She had a great time and told me about 20 times she didn't want to go home and leave us in KS by ourselves.  I'm not sure why she felt so bad for us, but I'm so happy she came to visit and got to see where we're living and had some time together.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures because I suck :)

In between my time in VA, NC & my mom's visit, Ryan and I started talking about what our plans were going to be for our one year wedding anniversary.  We already had gifts in mind, so when I found out Ryan was planning on spending $500 for my gift and I was looking at about the same for his, we realized we could take a nice trip somewhere when I'm off in August.  We haven't booked anything yet because we plan on just going somewhere on a whim with some of the Last Minute deals they have offered on Orbitz, Expedia, etc.  We're so excited!

We told each other tonight what gifts we planned on, and come to find out we were both going to get each other watches!  Great minds think alike!

Since our Anniversary is on Sunday, we do plan on going to a nice dinner Saturday night and I have the day off on Sunday to do whatever we please.  I can't believe it's almost been a year!

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot going on.  Work has been going well now that there's an Assistant Manager at my store.  My store ended #1 in the #1 Market in the country last month.  Yahoo!

I do want to wish a very happy birthday to my father in law, Ron!

We hate that we can't be there to help celebrate!! We hope you have an awesome day filled with German chocolate cake and better luck with your golf game :)  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!