Thanks-mas

OMG it has been way too long since I last posted! But we have been insanely busy with holidays, family, friends, and Pampered Chef!! Haha! So I have decided to title this post "Thanks-mas," stealing the name from our friends Adam and Laura.

My parents came to visit the week of my 28th birthday, and it was so nice to see them after 11 whole months! For the record, that is FAR too long! We carved pumpkins, laid around, went shopping, while the men went shooting. They left and I cried like a baby, but don't I always?

Thanksgiving came and went like usual, but we were once again reminded of how blessed we are to live in the USA and have such wonderful and secure jobs. Mike and I took most of the week off, and it was just the vacation we needed, except I found myself doing nothing but cooking, cleaning, and organizing all week long... at least I wasn't at my real job! We had Thanksgiving dinner at Ryan & Laurel's (sister-in-law and brother-in-law) house with many visitors who were unrelated, but it was great. Laurel gave us an idea for a tradition that I would like to start once we start a family, based on the tradition of going around the table and saying what we are thankful for. Everyone had 3 small kernels of unpopped popcorn at their placesetting, without any explanation. At the end of the meal, Ryan passed a little bowl around the table, and one at a time, we had to say something that we are thankful for. The bowl went around 3 times, and hearing everyone's thanks really inspired each one of us to be thankful for everything in our lives.

In these economic times, especially with all the layoffs happening all over the country, Mike and I are very grateful for our jobs, even though we may not be happy in them all the time. Mike is in his dream job, while I'm still waiting for mine. He has been placed on a new project and will start that venture next month, which will bring many changes to his job description and to be honest, he's pumped. My company has hired about 60 people in the past 3 months, with no sign of slowing down. A big change for me is that starting on January 12, I will be working from home! This is something that I've been wanting to do for quite some time, mostly because I hate hate hate hate Indiana weather and don't see the point in risking my life each day in icy traffic to do a job that doesn't need to be performed in an office. Home will work just fine for me, thank you. Goodbye to the days of getting up 30 minutes earlier to scrape off the car and dig it out of the snow. Bring on work in the jammies. Bring it on.

The day after Thanksgiving Mike headed out to the stores to do his Black Friday shopping and I decided last minute (when I learned how cold it was and how early it was) that I would stay in the rack. I told him to call me if and only if he absolutely needed my help. Well, about 20 minutes later I got a call, and he needed some shopping help. I went to Meijer and struck out on the digital photo frames... all gone. Then I headed to the DVD section.... struck out again. Then he asked me to wait in line outside Target and he would meet me there.... well I was not dressed to wait in line outside... but I did it anyway... and we got the TV!!!! Plus, Mike had a $300 gift card so we barely spent a dime! YES! After that I headed to HH Gregg to get a digital photo frame for Nanny and Papa and finally had the sweet taste of success! Then I headed home and went back to bed. Nice.

Since then I have been super-busy with Christmas parties, baking, Pampered Chef Christmas orders, and getting ready for our TX trip. December absolutely flew.

On Thursday, 12/18 Mike and I headed to Texas to spend some time with my family down there. What a sweet time it was. I got to hang out with my sisters who I love more than anything and enjoy being a complete goofball. We got to double-date with Erin & Ryan Welsh, do lunch with homeschool girls, and see old church friends! And can you say LOS CUCOS? FREEBIRDS? RUDY'S? Oh it was wonderful! Finally some good food! I really did not want to come back to Indy.... every time I go back to Texas, I think to myself, "Now this is where I belong," even though I know that's not true. It's hard to be left out of so many relationships that I grew for so many years. I miss people's weddings.... babies.... new families... life events.... I hate it. If a family member happened to die, I would probably just have to stay in Indiana and deal with it. And I have 3 grandparents who are getting older every day.... and it stinks to think that every Christmas may be the last time I see them. However, I know that God has me here for a reason, and that is to do a good job at work, serve Him, and love Mike. Sounds easy, huh?

Anyway.... here we are, back in Indiana. Today is my first day back at work and BOY it was hard getting out of bed today! There was a bright spot this morning though... I walked into the office and saw my picture on our "Wall of Fame," where I was named "Health Educator of the Month" for October 2008! They spelled my first name wrong, but hey! Its still me!

Here are some other random things that have been going on since I last blogged:
-I'm in a great new Bible study with girls from church. It is Beth Moore's newest study, "Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman." It has been so nice to gather with these wonderful ladies and study this amazing book!
-I've been reading books like crazy recently, which is weird because growing up, reading was something I really hated doing. In the past few months I read: The Secret Life of Bees, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Get Out of That Pit, Corrie TenBoom, and I'm currently reading Mistaken Identity. Next up are Marley and Me, 90 Minutes in Heaven and Fahrenheit 451. Good luck, huh?
-Pampered Chef has been going amazingly well and God has really shown me that it is where he wants me. I would give my right arm to do it full-time, but part-time will work for now! I had a lot of shows and individual sales in November and December, and all of the money goes straight to our house savings!! Yes!! It's so good to know that I'm doing something so fun to contribute to our new home. Pampered Chef has allowed me to get out of the house and meet new people, and cook for them! Cooking is truly something that relaxes me, I'm just not crazy about the dishes.... I hit my $5000 in career sales in November, which was encouraging. I really love this business and all the ladies I've met along the way. They encourage me in what I do and give me constant affirmations, because I don't receive those very often in my regular job. If you would like to order anything or host a show, feel free to visit my website! www.pamperedchef.biz/mrscouts. I'd love to help you pamper yourself!

I am excited for the year to come, and I even have some New Years Resolutions! There are only 3 right now, and knowing me, this list is sure to grow.

1. Train for and compete in my 2nd half-marathon in May (2009 500 Festival Mini-Marathon)
2. Blog more (haha we'll see)
3. Read the Bible more consistently (hopefully this will be easier as I start working from home)

OK that's it for now. That was a long one, but hey it's been a long time since I last posted. Maybe pictures some other day. Then again, maybe not. No promises. Love to all my homies!!!

Rachel <><

The Great Grocery Debate

In the past few months I've become a lean, mean, grocery shopping, money saving, coupon clipping machine! It's become a new obsession to find the best deal in town on just about anything! 

And there's more to it than just the shopping trip! I used to go to the grocery store (Wal-Mart) on Saturday mornings, along with every other crazy person in town. I bolted thru that store and huffed at every person who got in my way. Mike told me that I needed to go to the bike section, buy a horn and put it on my cart. It would put me in the worst mood, and it really damaged my thinking. I was struck by something that our new pastor said earlier this year. When his family was moving from Michigan to Indiana, his wife said that her goal was to get through the moving process without sinning.... thus began my quest to hit the grocery store each week without sinning.

First I decided to try another store, and see if it would help my mood. And boy did it work. So here is my comparison of 3 major markets in our area, with the pros and cons:

Wal-Mart

Pros:

  1 mile away from home

  I know the aisles like the back of my hand

  I can get groceries AND home care AND personal care items AND clothing in the same store

  Open 24 hours

  Relatively clean shopping carts

  Very good prices

Cons:

  Every crazy person in town decides to show up when I'm there

  Very few decent product specials

  Warehouse feel

  Lackluster produce

Meijer

Pros:

  Clean atmosphere, don't feel like I'm in a warehouse

  1 mile away from home

  Good selection of hard-to-find foods (International)

  Beautiful produce, lots of variety

  GREAT specials

  Good coupons at the register

  Nice big shopping carts with a cup holder and a little tray for my calculator

  I can get food, clothing, and personal care items in the same store. And this is higher quality      than Wal-Mart!

Cons:

  Prices may be a tad higher than other stores

Kroger (I went for the first time tonight!)

Pros:

  Savings with the Kroger Plus Card

  The most gigantic shopping cart I've ever seen in my life

  GREAT specials

  3 miles away from home

  Decent prices

  Dollar sales

Cons:

  Kind of icky-feeling inside the store

  Not the best produce selection, but it had what I needed for the most part and what they had    was gorgeous

So there you have it, folks. I haven't quite made a decision on which one I will go to each week, maybe it will be a different one every time! Probably will depend on what kind of specials they have and also my selection of coupons!

Since we got married and I had to start cooking for someone else besides just me, I got into meal planning and it's been the best habit! Every Thursday or Friday afternoon I come up with a menu for every night of the following week, make the grocery list, and go for it! It's extremely helpful when we come home from work and know exactly what's for dinner!

Anyway, Mike just turned on Ironman so I'd better go. Great movie.

  

Funny

Last night Mike and I were on the way back to our apartment from seeing Aunt Dean in Methodist Hospital and we had the GPS on.  We were about to turn right onto South Crossing Drive, and it appears on the machine as "South Crossing Dr." Right before our turn, the lady's voice from the GPS says in a calm, but serious voice, "Approaching right turn on South Crossing Doctor." I just about died laughing.... and I needed it!!! 

I'm really not...

Pregnant, that is. It's funny. Ever since I got married last year I have to be so careful about what I wear! Anything that is baggy in that area, people start to ask.... it's fashion, y'all! Actually I think it's rather hilarious, especially since an unmarried friend of my exact shape and form could wear the same thing, and people wouldn't say boo. These days, shirts and dresses that are loose around the waist or have a high waist are in style. And if you have the least bit of a tummy, you look pregnant. Oy. Here are 2 perfect examples that make me laugh, even as I'm typing them:

1. At my company Christmas party last year I was standing in line at the bar, where everyone is allowed 1 "drink," which includes everything but water. I ordered a Diet Coke (my obsession) and a co-worker standing behind me exclaims, "Are you pregnant?" (this doesn't have to do with fashion, but it's still funny) I looked at her in disbelief, she was thinking that the only reason why I didn't order free alcohol was because I could be pregnant. Ha.

2. A few months ago in church I was wearing a blouse that I always loved, and it has a high waist, one of my favorites. As we were getting up to leave, a man pointed to me and asked Mike, "Is this your first?" Thankfully Mike is a smart person and quickly understood what the man meant and told him it was just a baggy blouse. Needless to say, that was the last time I wore that pretty blue top. Sad.

Come to think of it, I think I was wearing the pretty blue top at the company Christmas party. Hmm.

Trust me, even though I'm somewhat slow on this blog, all you readers can count on me that when there is news, I will most definitely post it! But don't hold your breath! :)

Mike and I are doing very well, enjoying our 2nd year of marriage! Can you believe it? We've been spending an unbelievable amount of time watching the Olympics, and I really don't like how it interferes with the work that I like to get done in the evenings. It's just so addicting and exciting! I know that once it's over I'll be getting so much more done! Mike is working tons of overtime and it's really exhausting for him, but it is also counting toward our house savings!

I am also enjoying my business with The Pampered Chef! Have I mentioned that on here before? Oh I am LOVING it!! In my first 30 days I met my 2 goals of holding 4 shows and having at least $1250 in sales. This company is so much fun and I'm learning more and more each day. At first I thought that I would only bring in a little money to help with house savings, but as I get into it a little more, it looks like I might make a substantial contribution!! Please anyone who reads this, let me know if you are interested in hosting a show or purchasing any of the products! They are SO fun! You can visit my website and have a look around: www.pamperedchef.biz/mrscouts.

Well let's see... there's not much else going on around here. I'm the only one here in my little shared office today b/c Bill and Ellen are both out of town and Kim is sick. It's actually quite nice to have "my own room" for a day.

In other blogging news, I have been cooking up a fiercely political post in my mind for a few days, and I'm not sure if it will ever come to fruition. I would like to keep my political opinions to myself because sometimes my method of delivery is not so tactful. :) So stay tuned. Maybe.

Have a great week everyone!

Recent Reviews

For anyone who doesn't know, Mike and I really enjoy going to the movies. We don't eat out a lot, we don't go to expensive events or anything like that, but we do enjoy a nice matinee at the movies. There is a Regal Cinema within walking distance from our apartment complex and it has been a great way to get away from the apartment, get some exercise, and have a few laughs. In the past 2 weeks we saw 2 movies that I felt compelled to blog about, as they both stirred up thoughts that I wanted to share. So here goes:

The Dark Knight
One word: DARK

Overall, I liked the movie. And I'll admit that I bought the hype. However, I think that it should have received an "R" rating. We rarely see a movie that causes me to bury my head in Mike's shoulder so often. Seriously! Heath Ledger was freakishly scary as the Joker, and really made Jack Nicholson's version of the Joker 20 years ago look like Ronald McDonald. As I watched his portrayal of this sick, loony villain, I could only imagine what frame of mind he had to get himself into in order to play that character. The sound mixing in this movie was incredible-- I love going into a theater and the walls shake from the intensity of the sound. The movie was also very long... CAUTION-- POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD-- with the introduction of Two-Face, I figured that we would have another movie on our hands, but no, it just dragged on. This definitely could have been 2 movies. And I thought it was weird that they had Maggie Gyllenhall (spelling is wrong, I'm sure) play the character of "Rachel," when Katie Holmes played her in the first movie. I get annoyed when movies and TV shows try to do that. Case in point, "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (the 2 Vivians). Despite all of this, I would still give it 4 stars.

Mamma Mia!
One word: Obnoxious

OK so when it comes to movies made of Broadway musicals, I am extra critical, but no less hopeful. I knew the plot of the show going into it, and this is one of those movies where you just have to check your brain at the door and enjoy it. But that's hard sometimes. I must preface by saying that I'm not a huge fan of some of the songs, but I know good music when I hear it. As a whole, the movie was fun, colorful, energetic, and the scenery was beautiful. But the casting was all wrong (the leading girl was good, but looked way too young for the part), the timing was inconsistent (it was never clear when this story takes place), and the music was somewhat ruined by... well... casting!

Being a Broadway musical fanatic, I become very annoyed when Hollywood studios make movies out of musicals, and hire actors who can kind of sing. They get big names in order to bring people into the theaters, and the actors butcher the music. Back in the olden days, if an actor couldn't sing, they valued the music enough to find someone who could sing, and dubbed the voice. For example, the same woman was the singing voice for Deborah Kerr in "The King and I," Natalie Wood in "West Side Story," and Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady." Have you noticed that? The music was beautiful and the acting was also good. But now it's hard to find a good musical... Last summer, "Hairspray" was the big blockbuster, and it was good overall. But oh my gosh Amanda Bynes could NOT handle the part of Penny... she's a white girl who has a deep, soulful singing voice that really catches Seaweed's attention. And it didn't work. Several good examples of recent musicals-to-movies were "Rent," "Dreamgirls," and "Chicago." The makers of "Rent" did the smart thing and hired most of the original cast of the show, which made it amazing. "Dreamgirls" is one of my absolute favorite movies and not only could all of the actors sing, but they sang WELL. And who doesn't love "Chicago?" Richard Gere was a little iffy, but the rest of the cast was pretty good.

As a whole, I enjoyed "Mamma Mia!" but only because I let myself. I was disappointed that the music was somewhat disrespected (whoever didn't put Meryl Streep's songs in her key should be fired). However they did cast Christine Baranski who is always hilarious. I love her. And SHE can sing. :)

OK, stepping down from the soapbox. I would give this movie 2.5 stars.

Any thoughts?

One Word

1. Where is your cell phone? nightstand (that's ONE compound word)

2. Your Spouse? sleeping

3. Your hair? blondish

4. Your Mother? musical

5. Your Father? tall

6. Your favorite thing? books

7. Your Dream last night? forgot

8. Your favorite drink? smoothie

9. Your dream/goal? mom

10. The room you're in? living

11. Your hobby? cooking

12. Your fear? failure

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? mom

14. Where were you last night? show

15. What you're not? unhungry

16. Muffins? banana

17. One of your wish list items? house

18. Where you grew up? TEXAS!

19. What are you wearing? jammies

20. Your pets? fish

21. Your computer? Macbook

22. Your life? blessed

23. Your mood? tired

24. Missing someone? family

25. Your car? truck

26. Something you're not wearing? socks

27. Store? Marshalls

28. Your summer? Busy!

29. Your favorite color? pink

30. When is the last time you laughed? tonight!

31. You cried? Monday

Try this... not that easy!

One year ago today.....

... I married the man of my dreams!! In a way, it seems like we've been married forever, but it feels like our wedding day was only yesterday! I have never learned so much in such a small period of time. Being married has been a blessing, but not always easy. I learned that God is gracious and I am not. I learned that real love really can conquer all. Last night I was lying in bed thinking about all the changes that have occurred since we got married... a year ago yesterday we would not lay in the same bed... Mike was not wearing a wedding ring (that was actually something that I had to get used to: "Oh, he's married... wait-- he's married to ME!!!)... a year ago yesterday I never would have gone to the bathroom with the door open... and those are just a few of the many incredible changes. Mike never really does any housework unless he is asked several times, but then again I'm very particular in how I like things done... but then again I would NEVER touch the finances. That's all Mike. We are so very different, but I'm so glad. This has been the most wonderful year of my life, and I'm thankful for every moment... easy and hard.

I'd like to take this opportunity to list some amazing (and funny!) things about my sweet husband, Mike:

• He's really smart with our money, and makes sure that every penny has a place. We hope to never be in debt! He is so dedicated to our budget which isn't so much fun sometimes, but we will have a house sooner rather than later because of this!


• He can swish Listerine in his mouth for 5+ minutes without it burning his mouth. Amazing.


• He likes his shirts folded in a certain way so that they fit just right in his drawers. I actually started folding my clothes that way now.


• He chooses what he will wear each day by the order that it comes in his closet. I have to keep an eye on this sometimes because the shirt and pants don't always match.


• He could watch Stargate for hours on end. Seriously, hours.


• He has a deathly fear of poison ivy, oak, etc. Let's say a football rolls into a patch of green under a tree... even if he knows there's no poisoned leaves, he still won't go and get it. "But there might be poison ivy down there!"


• He prays with me every night before we go to sleep.


• He prays with me every morning when he leaves for work (even though I may be half asleep at the time!)


• He doesn't like to take credit for very much... "I'm just doing my job. God should get the credit."


• He takes such good care of me by always taking my truck in for an oil change... I've never been good about that.


• He likes to eat eggs "over easy," which I learned does NOT live up to it's name. After a year of marriage, I can finally do it without breaking the yolk most of the time. (why can't he just like them scrambled??)


• He is a gadget junkie... if it has LED lights included in it, he's all over it.


• He has the amazing ability to eat straight out of a bag of chips and stop before he's had too much to eat. I'll just keep eating until someone takes the bag away from me.


• He has to be the undisputed KING of to-do lists. As I go through bags of papers in the den to decide what needs to be shredded, I find to-do lists from activities we did back in 2006. Some are pieces of paper folded up with 1 thing written on them, and some have 20+ items. As long as I've known him, he keeps crazy to-do lists, and they're very detailed. They even include things like "clip my toenails" and "pray with Rachel."


• He'll use the same bath towel for like 4 days straight. Ewww. Yeah, I know it saves laundry and we use it to dry our clean bodies, but ewww.
• When he comes in the door after a long day at work, even before I see his face I hear him call out, "Who's my pretty girl?"


• He looks very handsome when he comes home from the barber shop with a fresh haircut.

OK so that's all I can think of right now... but I know that there are more! I love you sweet Michael!

(Now we can eat that frozen cake in the freezer that's taking up about 10 cubic inches of space!! Maybe we can have ice now!)

This is the story of....

....Mike and Rachel on Vacation!!!

Day 1: 7/3/2008

We started out the day at 5:30

am with the intention of going to Holiday World theme park... so we got up early, packed the bags, and opened the door... to find that it was raining cats and dogs! You see, our apartment is incredibly insulated that you seriously can't hear the rain unless you are directly next to the window. Then on to Plan B: taking an actual vacation day by doing a lot of nothing!! YES! Just what w

e were looking forward to! Since it was 7am and we were wide awake, we went over to Bob Evans for a calorie-licious breakfast. Then back home to start watching Season 5 of 24! (The best season EVER) What a great day! After a while it continued to rain so we drove to Metropolis for a movie day! First was Hancock with Will Smith (a little weird, but good), then lunch at Panera, and Wall-E!

Here's a picture of us very excited to be on vacation:

Day 2: 7/4/2008

Alas! Plans once again thwarted by the rain! Our original plan for the 4th of July was to go boating but after checking out weather.com, we decided otherwise.... we pretty much laid around (what we really needed to be doing) and Rachel came down with a small case of cabin fever... which was somewhat cured by an afternoon of baking! Oh and just so you know, mint extract does not make a good substitute for vanilla extract in homemade chocolate chip cookies. Anyway, that night we really didn't feel like driving downtown and messing with crowds, so we went over to Plainfield to watch fireworks at Hummel Park, one of our favorite walking/rollerblading spots. The day was not a total loss! And yes, we were wearing sweatshirts!

Day 3: 7/5/2008

Finally a day out of Indy!! Saturday we headed to Santa Claus, IN (yeah I know) to Holiday World! Of course first came a trip to Bass Pro Shop in Clarksville, IN... and then we were off to ride the rides! We started out at the waterpark and it was so fun. Did I mention that this theme park has free unlimited soft drinks? Yeah you just walk up, grab a 12-oz cup and fill it up with whatever soft drink they have! Free of charge. Oh and they also have free sunscreen. At Holiday World, each section of the park is devoted to a different holiday, and the Christmas section was at the front. They had a life-size nativity scene at the front of the park, which you don't see every day. After the waterpark, we had some lunch and very large ice cream cones, and we were ready to hit the coasters! We were able to walk right up to 

one of the 3 rollercoasters at the park (all are extremely fast, wooden coasters), The Voyage, and I realized why there are only 3 coasters at this park. They will beat you up. I don't do well on wooden coasters because of the rods in my back, but I am stupidly fearless sometimes and just go for it. I was fine for the first 30 seconds or so, and then it got so fast and jerky and rough that I started to worry about my back. My screams went to cries toward the end and that's when Mike did the sweetest thing he's ever done for me. I'll never forget it... he let go of his bar and leaned over and wrapped his arms around me to keep me stable. I cried as we got off the ride, and I had whiplash the next day. After that ride, we both decided that we were definitely done for the day. It was all better later b/c we stopped at Sonic on the way home. Fun day overall!

  

Day 4: 7/6/2008

What a fun Sunday! After church we drove up to Peru, IN to Lake Mississenewa and went boating with our good friend Mike Rainey! Pro: I got to drive the boat, Con: I got sunburned! No really it was so fun. We only pulled the tubes around a little while, then parked the boat in a cove and talked for a while. Yeah, definitely could have used a girl-friend out there...

Day 5: 7/7/2008

On Monday we headed down to Petersburg, KY for the Creation Museum. What an amazing place! The whole museum was dedicated to the scriptures, and compared what the world tells us about "how we got here" to what the Bible says. It was so awesome, I would highly recommend it to anyone!

Day 6: 7/8/2008

Maybe not the best choice on our part... since it was the last day of our traveling vacation, we went into it exhausted. On Monday night we got a hotel in Lawrenceburg, IN and then went to Mason, OH Kings Island on Tuesday. Honestly we were too exhausted for another day at a theme park.... but we went for it anyway! After the water park we did one roller coaster and Mike was done for the day... but I was good to go! So I rode the Backlot Stunt Coaster (which is a ride based on The Italian Job-- the coaster cars are actually little Mini Coopers!) all by myself, which was a different experience. Maybe we'll do better next year!

So that's our vacation! Actually the last few days we slept in, read, did some laundry, watched 24, and just relaxed. NICE. It was a good time for us to focus on spending time with each other and saving money in the process. Only 365 days until our next vacation!!!

50 Nifty....

Today at work I was telling some co-workers that I can name all 50 states in alphabetical order in less than 30 seconds.  Then Ellen said, "Yeah I learned the song." At that moment, Ellen, Bill and I all chimed in singing "50 Nifty United States from 13 original colonies..." We all learned the same song... I grew up in Texas, Bill grew up in Illinois, and Ellen grew up in Indiana! I don't know, it was just funny!

I should have known....

Recently my company gave us an incentive of a $100 gift card for completing a health assessment. Sounds great, huh? Yeah I thought so too until I found out last week that it was taxed and taken out of our last paycheck....

So Happy Together....

Today my parents will celebrate their 30th Wedding Anniversary. Holy cow! My sisters and I consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have been raised in a home with loving parents who never even considered the option of splitting up or getting a divorce. Now I'm sure that from time to time they had their disagreements, and especially after being married for almost a year, I appreciate them even more! So many of our friends growing up had parents going through a divorce, and it was the norm. Sad, but nonetheless somewhat normal. My parents have not only gotten through 30 years of marriage together, but they have gotten this far and they are still so extremely happy! I love it! They worked so hard to raise us in a Christian home and I am incredibly thankful for that. They prayed that my sisters and I would find quality mates who would lead us in our own happy marriages... one down, two to go! They loved us when we were horrible (especially me at 13-14 years old) and when we were adorable (usually Holly). And for all of that, I am eternally grateful! They saved their money so faithfully so my sisters and I could go to college debt-free, all the while tithing 10% to the Lord. They also were able to pay for our beautiful dream wedding. Thank you so much! Maybe I'll be calling you in a few years for financial advice....

My mom has always been someone to whom I can call when I need to vent about something emotional, and there's hardly a question I'm ever scared to ask her. I had to call her last night and ask her how to cook corn on the cob, and she was there for me.

My dad has always been the biggest man in my life. You know that little girl/daddy relationship? We totally have it. And luckily (?) for him, I inherited his sense of humor. As I got older, he would find that I could often beat him to the punch on puns and sarcastic comments so you could say that I learned from the best! And if you were at our wedding last summer and saw the beautiful speech he gave as he gave me away... tears. Thanks Dad!

Mom and Dad, I can't thank you enough for all you have taught me and will continue to teach me. Probably the most valuable thing you taught me is how to have a good marriage by example. I'm so proud of you for meeting this milestone and maybe Mike and I will go ahead and start planning that 50th anniversary party! Look out!

Love you!!!!

Hello Blogger!

OK so for years I've been with Xanga, and you know... it doesn't have the look that blogger does, and so here we are. Also, xanga didn't work so well with my Mac and I had a hard time uploading pictures. I'd like to keep up with it as often as I can, like I used to so faithfully before Mike and I got married! 

Now for what's been going on with us for

 the last month b/c I've been a little slacking in the posts! The first weekend in May, Mike and I participated in one of Indy's biggest events (no, not the 500), the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon! Well actually, we did the 5K but still... it was fun. I was so sure that I would finish before Mike because I walk a lot more than he does, and I can really haul booty when I get in a race. Usually when we take our walks together, I leav

e him in the dust! When the race started, we were both running, mostly to get ahead of the slow people. I ran for about the first 1/2 mile, but Mike kept going! He ran the whole thing and that stinker actually beat

 me! I couldn't believe it! Of course I'm super-proud of him, but a little shocked that I didn't finish first! Way to go, honey!

Since we participated in the 

5K, we were given free admission to the Indianapolis 500 Opening Day celebration. He has been to the race before, but didn't really enjoy it because it

t was so hot and people were generally stinky and drunk. I've been to the track a few times for the car museum, but this was my first "racing event." I really like Indy, and it's cool to live in a city that is so well-known and famous for something.... racing. And blue eye shadow. And mullets. And homes decked out in loud checkered flag decor. Gotta love it!

Then a few weeks later, my Dad's birthday came and I had the birthday present of all birthday presents in mind.... I was on www.hannity.com (I've been Hannitized!) and noticed that Oliver North (Dad's a big fan) had written a new book, and was coming to Indy to sign copies! So after work one day I went over to the Lifeway Christian store in Castleton and after waiting for only 1 hour, I got the book signed! He was not posing for pictures, so this is the best I could do... cool!

We had a fun memorial day weekend! It was busy, but we had a good time! In the Couts family, 3 birthdays (Uncle Kerry, Grandpa, and Mike) all occur in the same week, so they always celebrate together, and we can usually count on Kerry being at the grill making some de-lish steaks! We went over to Kerry & Glenda's new place in Avon, and it was amazing! They have a nice new house, with a huge deck, a garage, barn, basketball court (1/2) and a huge backyard! We had a great time celebrating the birthdays and enjoying the weather that finally decided to be warm.

Mike and Kerry at the grill

My sweet Brother-in-law Ryan and his wife Laurel... they always make me smile!

Last Friday night was Mike's 36th birthday, and I surprised him with 2 tickets to the Indians game right behind home plate! We had so much fun!

Needless to say, we've been incredibly busy recently, so I'll try to keep up!