nobody said it would be easy

Happy Birthday to ME! I can't believe I'm 28 years old. For my birthday John took me away. We spent the night in a jacuzzi suite at Turning Stone. It was an awesome room, and we had a great time. It was so nice to get away, and both of us wish it could have been a longer time away. Unfortunately, real life is calling. I'm the lucky one who has tomorrow off, too. :) I feel bad John has to go back to work. But I have lots of house cleaning to get done, so it won't be a relaxing day for me either.

John's car drama continues. I don't know if I ever really told the story of what happened, so I'll summarize as quickly as possible. I forget the exact date, but I think it was around November 20th, when John was driving straight and the woman coming towards him turned left, right into his driver's door. Thankfully John wasn't hurt. Unfortunately, it did lots of damage to his truck. We've gotten the run-around from the insurance company and had to FIGHT them just to get a 30-day rental car (which is part of our plan!). We kept the car a few days past the 30, but then had to return it because we just can't afford to pay for a rental car everyday. I've gotten rides, John's brought me to work, and one day Sarah let me borrow her car. All this is happening because the door for John's truck is on back order. Has been this whole time. So today John got a call from the mechanic saying the door will be in NEXT Wednesday (January 7th) and it will take 4 days or so to finish it after that. YIKES! Now we're basically setting up our calendar for the next 2 weeks to see when we'll need a rental (or rides) and when we can get by with only one car (weekends, mostly). We're learning to be flexible.

I feel the need to do a "year in review". I'm trying to think of all the good things that have happened this year. My 2nd nephew Zachary was born. Jamie's son Cash was born. John got a new job! I got a raise. I changed classes at work, which has turned out great. We're doing better financially. John and I went on our second cruise. We celebrated our 2nd anniversary. I got pregnant. Christine got pregnant. Our house wasn't damaged by the huge tree that fell during the ice storm. Our families have been very supportive of us. My Dad fixed our furnace!

That said, there's obviously one event that has overshadowed every good thing that happened this past year. I try to be positive and look on the bright side...but I've come to realize that not only is that impossible, it's unhealthy. So sometimes I'm just sad. Certain things just randomly set me off. I know other people who have lost babies this year as well. My prayer for all of us who are still greiving is that 2009 will be a fresh start for us. I know I'm not going to wake up January 1st and be suddenly happy. But I am hoping that 2009 will bring us all what we desire. I know that's the only way I'll be able to move on from this loss. So here's to 2009 making us all a little happier, a little less emotional, and a lot fatter. :)

Happy Birthday to me.

I'm Trying

I can be happy most of the time. But it's hard sometimes. Right now, I feel like the rest of my life will be like this...sad days to remember. November 10th, our anniversary, is when I found out I was pregnant. Now it's going to be a sad day to remember. November 25th, 2 days before Thanksgiving, was the day I lost my baby. That makes all those days surrounding Thanksgiving sad for me. Then I'm thrown right into the Christmas season, which is all about a baby. And it's just hard. I know that I'll be pregnant again, and John and I will have a family. But right now, it just hurts so much, it's hard to imagine how happy we could possibly be in the future. I'm missing my baby. I would be 11 weeks pregnant now. I'm not angry for what was taken, I'm just so sad. And today it's really hitting me hard.

Is One of the Twelve Gifts of Christmas Procrastination?

About this time of year, the stress starts. I'm a procrastinator, and this year has been worse than most. I blame having surgery, that set me back a couple weeks. John says that isn't a good excuse. How is it that no matter what I do, I always end up finishing my shopping and wrapping on Christmas Eve? To make matters worse, we're down to one car. I'm having to find rides to and from work, tomorrow John's driving me and picking me up. Tonight after work I got dropped off at the Police Station where he was working to pick up the car, because I had errands to run. Now I have to go back and pick him up at 11pm, which sucks big time. In the meantime, I have TONS of wrapping to do. My blogging is actually just me procrastinating.

One of the Mom's at work gave me a huge thing of homemade cookies today. They have nuts in them, so I couldn't eat them at work. As soon as I finished my dinner I started chowing down, and now I feel sick because I've eaten so many cookies!! :) They are SO yummy though. It's so nice to feel appreciated by the families of the kids that I take care of every day. Makes it feel worth it. It reminds me that I should be more openly thankful to people that help me out throughout the year.

Today I got my wedding album! I absolutely LOVE it! I also got a DVD with the pictures on it, so I'll post a couple when I get a chance.

Tomorrow I work till 3, then we're having dinner and spending the evening at John's parent's house. I'm so excited. I love Christmas! Despite all the stress and craziness, it's my favorite time of year. I love giving people gifts, and, I'm not gonna lie, I like getting them as well. :) On Christmas day we'll have lunch and open gifts with my family, then at night we have a dinner with my Mother-in-law's whole family. Unfortunately I have to work on Friday. :( But then I have Saturday off, and Sunday we're going away for the night! My birthday is Monday, so we're just getting away for a night. I can't wait, I need to have a break from regular life, even if only for one day. Then I don't go back to work till Wednesday.

Have I procrastinated enough?! Merry Christmas to everyone, I hope you have a great holiday with family and friends. And if I don't make it back in time, Happy New Year!

The Aftermath

Wow. What a night. And day! Let me give you a run-down of what's happened around our house in the past 20 hours or so.

John and I went to bed last night around...10:30 or so. Didn't fall asleep for awhile. I was anticipating a delay (hopefully closing) and he was dreading having to get up early so he could make it to work on time. I think that John left around midnight on his first fire call. First of many. He had only slept about 10 or 15 minutes. I woke up around 1am. I think all the scanner chatter woke me up. I went to the bathroom, then listened to the scanner as I started to fall asleep. I heard John at a structure fire. Then all of a sudden I woke up because there was this bright flash and loud noise...I don't remember what kind of noise, but it woke me up. I got out of bed and looked out our bedroom windows. Nothing. Looked out the living room windows. Nothing. Looked out the laundry room window - and saw wires down, laying in the road at the end of our driveway. I called the police department, and they said they already knew. I'm sure lots of our neighbors called too. I kept watching for awhile outside, and suddenly realized that I was seeing fire reflecting off the ice and stuff. Something was burning a little ways down the road. I opened the window and smelled the awful electric burning smell. I saw neighbors out there with flashlights, so I wasn't too worried, but I knew I couldn't leave the house because of the wires that were right in front of our driveway. Then fire broke out closer to our house, basically right behind our shed, from my view. I guess it was actually several feet away, but I was scared everything was going to catch fire! Here's a picture of the reflection of the fire behind our shed:

I spent about an hour watching this out the window. I had the portable scanner too, listening to all the fire calls. They were constant. Let me tell you, if you have a volunteer fire department in your town, give them a big thank you. They were out (atleast in Rotterdam) all night for wires down, trees down, trees into houses, structure fires, flooding and many other things. These guys worked all night, obviously with no pay, so that we could be safe. I have a new appreciation for what my husband and many other people do. They put themselves in harm's way for our benefit, and I'm so thankful for them.

Anyway, around 2am I was still in the laundry room watching the fire department watch the wires. :) All of a sudden I heard a loud cracking noise, then a huge crash and our entire house shook. I was so scared that something was going to come crashing through the roof. I walked into the kitchen and shined my flashlight out into the backyard and I saw...well, I'll show you what I saw. Bear in mind I took this picture later, when it was light out. This is the view out our kitchen window:

That's our garage on the left and that massive branch hit the roof of the garage, and hit our grill (with the blue cover). I'm thanking God that it didn't hit our house! After this fell my adrenaline was pumping and it took me forever to get in bed. I didn't sleep. I kept hearing branches fall, and getting up to check and see where they hit. John was out on fire calls until 5am, then he came home, showered, and had to head straight to work. I slept for maybe an hour after he left, but then I got a call that work was closed (yay!) and I couldn't sleep anymore. I got up and took some pictures.

This is our patio, covered with that huge branch, plus others that fell. They took out our fireplace:

Where the fireplace used to be (more of the patio):


The icy branches on the right side of the picture are my lilacs. :( I hope they bounce back. One branch was broken, the rest are just so weighed down with ice they're touching the ground:

This branch fell in our front yard around 5:30am:


Branches covering our driveway, plus the wires down:

Wires smoking and sparking (we saw lots of flames too):

Backyard view of the back of our house and garage:

Damage to the roof of the garage:

Live wire right by our fence:

Through rain, sleet, snow...and everything else! :)

Amazingly, we actually had power, even with those power lines down. Around 2:30pm National Grid showed up and cut the power to work on the wires. It took them quite awhile to repair everything, and our power was back on at 8pm. Soon after that our cable, internet and phone were back on too. So life is back to normal. Now I'm going to sleep because I'm tired. No sleep will do that to you. Hope all is well with all of you!

Ice Ice Baby

Nothing like a little ice storm to welcome in winter in the great Northeast! Not that I'm complaining. There are definitely some benefits to me because of this nasty weather. School closed early, so I got out 2 hours before I normally would have. Therefore, John and I got to spend a couple hours together that we wouldn't have otherwise. He's now at a drill at the fire house. Another benefit, which hasn't happened yet, but I'm hoping does: SNOW DAY! Or atleast a delay. I'd be happy with either. :) I'm wearing my pj's backwards tonight. That's the surefire way to guarantee a snow day. :) Very scientific. Honestly, I'm assuming we'll just have a delay, but I'm hoping for the whole day off. (Watch, we won't even get a delay, with my luck.)

I actually braved this nastiness to go to Hannaford tonight. I wanted to get some water in case the power goes out, plus lots of baking stuff in case I have a snow day tomorrow (and the power is on...lol) Of course the roads were horrible, but Hannaford is so close I wasn't too worried. The worst part of my whole trip (besides forgetting batteries) was the nasty parking lot. (Am I favoring the word nasty tonight?) Seriously, the parking lot was a pond. I took one step and my feet were soaked. Granted, I was just wearing sneakers, not boots, but still. How annoying. Wet, cold feet. I came home and took a nice hot shower. I also bought some neosporin at Hannaford, because one of my incisions is kind of infected. :( Nasty. It's red and hurts and it has some puss coming out of it. Ewie. So hopefully that will help.

There was a down side to us closing today. Our Christmas program was scheduled for 4pm. Now it's rescheduled for next Wednesday. I was anxious to have it over!! Now we have to stress about it for a few more days. Oh well.

Now I'm relaxing with Zoe. :) If you're reading this Thursday night...wear your pajamas backwards for me!

Merry Christmas Baby

Today was my first day back at work since my surgery. It was not too bad! I'm extremely tired, and my incisions are sore. I did a lot more moving today then I've done in awhile. That's what happens when you have a room full of 2-year-olds to keep up with! The kids were excited to see me. They're so sweet. I really am glad to be back, even though my days are so long. Those kiddos make it worth it. I had a few cards from parents, and a few parents mentioned how sorry they were, and asked how I was doing. I appreciate it all so much, but when people say stuff to me I feel like I almost blow it off, because if I even start talking about it a little bit, I start to cry. So I just say, "Thanks, I'm doing great!" Even if that's not entirely true. But what else can I do? I'm not going to start crying while I have to be working!

I finally finished decorating the whole house - tree and all! I love our tree. We got in at a local fire department, and they delivered it, since John's car is still in the shop! It was perfect. Now it's all decorated and lit up...well, let me show you! :)

For some reason it's all orangey-red. But this is it. :) Hopefully there will be presents under it soon! :) Speaking of....I still have NO Christmas shopping done. And only about 2 weeks left. This is gonna be crazy.

I had my post-op appointment yesterday at noon. Well, it was scheduled for noon. I got there at about 11:40. My name didn't get called until 2:00. Over 2 hours in the waiting room! It was insane. All that, just for her to say everything looks fine. I'm supposed to wait a few months before trying again, which is going to be hard. I really feel like my sadness would subside if I could just get pregnant again! But I want to do what's best for my body, and for my future babies. Oh, I got to see pictures of my uterus and fallopian tubes that my doctor took during the surgery. Very cool. :)

All last week John worked 12-hour shifts. Very boring for me, since I was home bumming around, nursing my wounds. I tried to keep my mood upbeat since I didn't want to be laying around crying all day. Everyday around 3:30, John's usual time to come home, Zoe would go to the window and just sit and wait for him to show up. He wasn't getting home till either 11pm or 3am....so she had awhile to wait. :) One day I took a picture of her looking out the window, just waiting. It was so cute, her ears sticking up into the sunset as she patiently awaited her master's return.

Snowmen

There's one sure sign that Christmas is on it's way, and that's the parade of snowmen appearing in our house. For the past several years I've been a snowman collector. I don't even know how it really started. I love snowmen. There are so many cute, unique snowmen things. Through the years it has (pardon the pun) snowballed. I don't even buy snowmen things for myself anymore because I have so many, and continue to receive them as gifts! It's hard to pass up all the cute snowmen stuff. So last night I began pulling the boxes out of the attic. Not an easy chore since I'm not supposed to be lifting. I despise having to pack away the "normal" house decorations and unpack all the Christmas stuff. It's such a nasty chore. But I love the house all decorated. :) Anyway, I started yesterday, and then kind of quit in the middle (well, maybe not quite to the middle yet.) I got tired. So tonight I'm blogging and procrastinating instead of picking it back up again. But I plan to put on some Christmas music and get to work as soon as I'm done here.

Today was, I think, my busiest day since the surgery. Granted, I didn't get up until about 9am, but I showered (then lounged around for awhile), got BK with John, visited my parents for awhile, got my hair cut (thanks Becky!!), bought some new jeans at Old Navy, 2 new Christmas CD's at Target, then visited my parents again. Phew. I'm glad I did all that...kind of made me feel like a normal person again. But now I'm sore. I guess I need to do a little more everyday to work my way back up to normal.

We STILL haven't gotten our Christmas tree. John's truck is still in the shop (that's a whole other looong, annoying insurance-run-around story) so we have no way to get one home. I thought about caving and just getting a fake one, but I want a real one!! And I know if we get a fake one, he'll never want to get a real one again. I think one of the Fire Departments in Rotterdam delivers trees, so maybe we'll do that this weekend. The house doesn't feel Christmas-y enough until the tree is up and decorated. I hope I can have the rest of the house done by the time we get the tree.

We've already gotten 2 Christmas cards. DARN you early-bird people who already make me feel behind! We have yet to take a picture for our Christmas cards, buy the cards, update the list, fill out the cards, address them, buy the stamps and mail them! Some tasks just seem overwhelming at times. Maybe I'll skip them this year. :)

Well...here I go. Back to the snowmen. Maybe I'll post a few pictures when I'm done.

I have this incredible urge to blog, but nothing specific to blog about. A huge thank you, first of all, to everybody. All the caring thoughts, sensitive words and promises of prayer have meant so much to us. It's amazing to realize how much people really care. I know alot of people go through the loss of a baby very privately. That wasn't an option for us, as we'd already spilled the beans to anyone willing to listen. But because of the surgery, it wouldn't have been an option anyway. In a way, I think that's helped me. Everyone knows, and everyone is praying. That's what's sustaining us. There are definitely times when I just want to be alone and cry. Sometimes I don't answer the phone, because I don't feel like talking. But I am so grateful for the love everyone has shown us.

John went back to work yesterday, and I had a very productive day. I did laundry. That's pretty much all I did, but hey, I did something. I rested alot in between loads. :) Since John is working 12-hour shifts this week my Mom came to spend the evening with me yesterday. We just hung out and talked and watched Shrek the Halls and The Grinch. She brought me home made pea soup. Yummmm.

Today I ventured out for the first time by myself. It's been a week since I've driven! Weird. John had a special child he needed to buy Christmas gifts for, so I handled that. I also bought soap and toothpaste. I thought about buying ingredients to start Christmas baking, but I'm not up for that yet. I stopped at Subway and now I'm home to relax a little before I head to Sarah's house for dinner. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some more cleaning done. We'll see.

Life is slowly getting back to normal. More so once I finally go back to work. I'm assuming it won't feel totally normal for awhile. Thanks again to everyone for the prayers...keep 'em coming.

Giving Thanks

I've decided that I have a lot to be thankful for. Even though this past week has been the most tragic week of my life, so many other people have it much worse than us. This child being taken from us, for whatever reason, is the worst thing that has happened to us. But in the midst of heartache I have found so much to be thankful for.

My husband is the best in the world. Even before we knew what was wrong, John managed to get a couple hours off in the middle of the day to drive down for the ultrasound. He had to turn around and go straight back to work, only to leave again an hour later, or so. He walked with me down to the OR and kissed me and told me it would all be ok. He brought clothes to the hospital for me to go home in. He took care of the baby gifts I had already received so they weren't sitting right on the table when I got home from the hospital. He spent the night at the hospital with me, being woken up every time they had to take my vitals or bring me to the bathroom...or fix my annoying beeping machine. He took Wednesday off, no pay, to take care of me all day. He got my meds, bought me soup, and got my mylanta. :) He encouraged me to still go to the Taylor's, and checks on me often just to see if I need anything. I'm so happy that I'm married to John. I'm not happy we had to go through this, but there's no one I'd rather go through this with that him. I am so thankful for him.

I have a family that loves me and would sacrifice anything to be with me when I need them. I am so thankful for them. They dropped everything they were doing, literally at the second they heard what was going on, and rushed to my side. Each time someone arrived in my room I started crying again, partly because they all were crying, partly because I was sad about losing my baby, but mostly because it touched me to know how much they cared. They prayed for and with me, they visited me, they brought me flowers, meals, cookies and more. I am so thankful for my family.

I also have great friends. :) When I had been home from the hospital for a little while the phone rang and the called ID came up on the TV screen: Liscom. I immediately started crying and debated for a second not answering because I was crying, but I did anyway. After I said "hello" in a weepy voice I waited only to hear sniffling on the other end. (Sorry to bust you, Jame:) I'm so glad to have people that will call even when they don't know what to say, even when it might be awkward, but just because they love me and want me to know it. And to know that Jess was praying for me early in the day, when she found out I'd left work. She didn't even know the reason, but knew to pray. And today, I spent the morning at the Taylor's house. I had been planning on having breakfast there with Sarah since our husbands were working today. I'm glad I still ended up going. They're friends who are more like family, and I can be myself around them and know that they just care about me and love me. We sat around after breakfast playing games, I laid on the floor for awhile, just hung out. I'm so thankful for their hospitality and caring.

I'm very thankful for my job. It can be stressful, but I have a great boss who was understanding and flexible when I had to leave right away for the doctor. I've cried in her office more than once, and she's always very caring. I got a beautiful flower arrangement the day after my surgery from work, and it was so sweet of them. I also know that they're all praying for me, and I know every prayer on our behalf is helping us cope.

I'm thankful for my dog. She has been so sweet...almost like she can tell something is wrong and that I'm not 100%. It helps to have a soft furry dog to pet when I'm feeling sad.

I'm thankful for the peace I have that can only come from God. I don't understand why this happened, but I don't have to understand. Life doesn't always make sense. I just have to take what's happened and move on, a stronger person. If this situation allows me to help even one person who may go through this after me, than it's worth the pain.

There's a lot more I'm thankful for, but I'm tired. So I'm thankful for my bed, and that I can go lay down and not get up until....whenever I want. I'm a little sore tonight, probably from doing too much today. I've had horrible pain in my shoulder from where the carbon dioxide settled after the surgery. My incisions are hurting a little too, but the drugs help. Soon I'll be back on my feet and my only reminders will be tiny scars and empty arms. I pray that God will bless us again soon, because I want a baby so bad.

Thank you, if you've actually read this whole thing. I think I'm tending to ramble a lot now. One more thing I'm thankful for: people who have gone through this before and understand exactly what it's like. Even though every situation is different, losing a baby is hard no matter what. There are no more words. It's hard. It will continue to be hard. Somehow, we'll get through this.

Worse than I could have thought

John thinks I'm crazy for getting online (myspace, facebook, blog) but I just want everyone to know exactly what's going on, so maybe I'll have less questions to answer.

Because of increased bleeding I called the doctor Tuesday morning, requesting to be seen as soon as possible. I got a 10:45 appointment. They did a pregnancy test, which was positive, of course (I think that's the 7th one I had...). She checked me out and sent me for an ultrasound and 3 days of bloodwork, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday. So I went from the doctor's office to Bellevue for the ultrasound. I somewhat knew what to look for on an early ultrasound, and didn't see what I wanted to see. Of course, the tech's can't discuss it with you. So after it was done the tech said to stick around for awhile so someone could discuss the results with me, instead of going to get bloodwork right away. I thought that was a bad sign. I waited for awhile, and then the tech came back and said my doctor wanted to see me back at the office. Bad sign again.

I went back to the doctors to receive the horrible news that I had an ectopic pregnancy. I never expected this in a million years. I have done my fair share of pregnancy reading, so I knew exactly what it was, and what the outcome would be. I really didn't experience any pain, so I was taken by surprise. After waiting for an hour after receiving this news, the main doctor showed up to discuss it with me in more detail. She explained it was on my left side, even though the egg was released from the right side. Apparently it was a girl, because she had a very bad sense of direction. :) Cruised right past the uterus to the left tube. Crazy kid. Then she proceeded to ask me when I had last eaten, and that surgery was really my only option, which I knew. Didn't realize it would be so fast though! I drove myself from the doctor's office, back to Bellevue (calling John, my parents and Amy on the way). Amy asked if I wanted her to come since John had to travel an hour from work and my parents were coming from Indian Lake. I said no, not to worry, cause she had the kids and everything. Well once I got registered and settled into a bed a couple nurses came in followed by Amy! I was so glad to see a familiar face and have someone next to me to hold my hand. My sisters and John got there not too long after. Then my in-laws came. I'm so grateful to have so much family to care for me. Before I went into surgery Amy prayed for me. She also reminded me that my baby was meeting her cousin in Heaven. I hadn't thought of that yet. Dave and Amy lost a baby several years ago, so now they're partying up in Heaven, waiting to meet us someday. I'm glad they have each other.

My parents arrived immediately before I went for surgery. Dad only got stopped once on the way down. :) I was able to hug them both, then John went with me down to the OR. He couldn't actually go in, so we said goodbye outside the doors. I talked to the anesthesia guy...don't know if I spelled that right. He discussed what he was going to do. Then I got onto the table and they started prepping me with tight socks all the way to my knees and IV drips. I remember Dr. McCarthy coming in and saying hi, and the anesthesia dude saying soon the ceiling would start spinning. I looked up and it wasn't spinning. That's the last thing I remember.

Next thing I remember...mean people trying to pull me out of a lovely deep sleep. I did NOT want to wake up. But eventually I did. I remember my Mom and John being there, and someone told me that 4 people had to hold me down at one point. Maybe I was being combative...I don't know. Then I woke up again and my Dad was there, then Pastor Jim came. Soon after that I got to go to my room! I shimmied onto my bed and got situated, then the family came in. They left at some point...my times are a little confused I think. Then John spent the night with me. I was woken up a few times for vitals, IV refills and bathroom breaks. I got a bagel and coffee for breakfast, then got to come home.

Now I'm sitting here...not by myself, so I'm okay. Christine and John are with me, I got to talk to Jamie on the phone, and my parents should be here soon. I go back and forth emotionally. I know there was no other option, but I'm so sad. I'm sure I will be for awhile. I'm out of work through next week. Please pray for me, physically and emotionally. I know this is going to be a rollercoaster ride over the next weeks. God's plans are best, even when we don't understand them. Hopefully I'll be posting about a new pregnancy in the near future!

Once, Twice, Three times a baby!

One test wasn't enough to prove it to myself. Or my hubby. But it's for real! I decided to take a test on the morning of our anniversary, November 10th. Boy, was I shocked when it came back positive! It was the longest day of my life while I waited for John to get home from work. I wrapped up the digital test that said "Pregnant" and gave it to John with the other gifts I'd gotten him. He was so surprised! Then we both just kind of sat there in shock! We waited until yesterday to tell our family, so now the secret's out. Can't keep something that exciting a secret for long! This grandbaby will be the 4th on my side, and the 1st on John's! Our parents are all very excited.

I'm figuring my due date to be around July 18th. Yay, a hot summer pregnancy. :) That's ok. I'm just so happy to be having a baby! It actually doesn't feel real right now. Except when I'm feeling extra queasy, which seems to be mainly in the afternoon and at night. Our baby will be 4 months younger than Christine's baby girl due in March, 1 year younger than Zachary and about 2 1/2 years younger than Caleb! I'm excited that they'll all be close...and I'm sure there will be many more babies to come. :)

PS> I also took 2 more tests after those 3. :) I like to be positive.

Two Years

Two years ago today...was the best day of my life. :) It's so hard to believe that it's been 2 years since John and I got married. In some ways it feels like it was such a short time ago. But then it also feels like we've always been married. It's hard to remember what it was like before. John makes me so happy and is the best provider and partner I could ask for!

We had a fun night of shopping for work-out clothes. :) John's employer gives him an allowance he can use for that, so he bought some new sneakers and stuff for working out. There's also a nice gym at work that he can use, as well as the one at his firehouse. After that, we ordered from Marino's, the best restaurant in Schenectady. John had a chicken parm dinner and I had an antipasta. Yum! Now we're watching some shows we had DVR'd and just enjoying the evening.

Yesterday my parents had Eliel and his wife Heliani over for lunch. Actually, they're staying with them for a few days. Eliel is an interpreter that has worked with my parents in Brazil for years. Finally they made it here to the US for our church's Missions Conference. So we had a fun meal yesterday, just enjoying the company. It was great to finally meet them, as my parents go on and on about them every year when they return from Brazil!

My lovely 3-day weekend is coming to a close. Back to work tomorrow. I always begin the weekend with such high aspirations for what I will accomplish. Then I end the weekend thinking about what I didn't get done. But I did get some stuff done this weekend. I did all the laundry and all the dishes are caught up on. I vacuumed, did some dusting and...that's about it. I need to go clean the toilet before I go to bed.

here we go...

To blog, or not to blog. That was my question. Obviously, I chose the first option, since here I am. I'm an avid blog stalker. It began this past Christmas when a friend's Christmas card suggesting keeping up-to-date with the family by visiting their blog. (Thanks, Kristen!) So I was keeping up with the Miles for awhile. Then I started reading her favorite blogs, and I was hooked! I don't feel like I have quite the interesting life that will keep people coming back for more...but we'll see.

Nothing too interesting has been going on at our house lately. Same old, same old. Well, Zoe did celebrate her 5th birthday this past week. We can't believe our 'baby' is growing up so fast. :) John was out of town at a fire investigation class for her birthday, so my mother-in-law came over with some gifts, and I gave her a celebratory Frosty Paws before bed. Frosty Paws are doggy ice cream treats that she LOVES!

This is a picture of John and Zoe this past spring.

She's such a good dog, and loves people. She loves kids too, and is so sweet and gentle with them. After she's done licking and sniffing them, that is. My oldest nephew Caleb loves her, and one day when I was watching him, he spent about 10 minutes throwing a ball to Zoe! She was in her glory, all the attention.

Well, since it's Saturday and John is working I suppose I should do some laundry, dishes and cleaning. The stuff that doesn't really get done during the week. I'll leave you with a Cunniff family photo that we took at Sarah's birthday party. With so many police, fire and other emergency personnel in our family, it was amazing to get everyone in one place at one time! It doesn't happen often! This picture includes my parents; my brother, his wife and their 2 boys; my sisters and their husbands; and of course, John & I!