Holiday Traveler

I hope everyone enjoyed a very merry Christmas, filled with lots of fun and joy.

The first leg of my holiday traveling was cut short. I had planned to go to the Illinois vs Mizzou game in St. Louis on the 23rd, picking up my friend, Karen in Effingham, and then meeting Nikki and her Dad, who were coming down via Decatur. Tuesday afternoon we had another ice storm, and I-57 was 100% ice covered so it just didn't make sense to risk the drive... especially with Karen in the "family way".

Wednesday I headed up to Eric's at about 12:30 (after getting the furnace fixed... nothing major but still not particularly convenient). The drive was uneventful until I got to Galesburg when it the road were very slick and it was very windy with blowing snow. Several cars were in the ditch and it was rather scary, but after a little over an hour of alternately praying and swearing like a sailor I made it Eric's safe and sound. We decided it still was a little risky to drive over to Iowa for Christmas Eve service so we spent a nice quiet evening at home with a Frank's pizza, watching Muppet Christmas Carol and Polar Express before Eric read the Christmas story from the Bible just before we wen to bed. We skipped the gift giving this year... instead focusing our budget on others and the new house.

Thursday we headed to Eric's Mom & Dad's house, and were joined by Travis, Steff, Katie and Alec. After lunch it was time for presents. We received some wonderful gifts, and I really felt so welcomed into the family. Katie and Alec were tons of fun to watch opening their presents. Friday, Eric had to work so I returned a few things to to the mall, and then bunkered down to start addressing wedding invites. I made lots of progress... so hopefully when I get back to it after the move in a few weeks it won't be too overwhelming.

Here are some pictures of Alec & Katie enjoying their gifts, and Uncle Eric struggling to open one of Alec's toys for him :)

Saturday Eric and I both braved fog and horizontal rain and drove down to my parents house for Tjardes Christmas. It was a nasty drive, but our sour moods quickly faded with some great food and fellowship. My Mom likes to get a little ornery with her gift giving and has taken to hiding our Christmas money in unique ways. The best this year was wrapping up pair of my brother platform dress shoes circa 1979 for him... we busted out his letter jacket just to complete the look. She also hid money in socks that Lane and Jeremy had left at her house and then sewed the socks shut. We enjoyed a great time, and it was nice to get caught up with everyone... especially the Fab Five.

For New Years I am headed back up to the QC, as we close on our house on Friday. New Years Eve we are going to Dave & Janice Roome's house for some festivities. Dave is my best friend, Jenn's older brother and a long-time friend of the family. He and his family live in Geneseo, about a 15 minute drive from our house... so it makes the move even better knowing that I will already have some ready-made friends in the area.

Here is a picture of Phil showing off his fancy shoes, and Jeremy doing his best impression of his Dad :)

Having Our Cake and Eating It Too

So I have been woefully remiss with the blogging, but I think that is just the way it is going to be for a few months. Eric managed to dodge the bad weather and make it here and back safely for the weekend. (Seriously folks, is it just me or is it kind of crazy to have this much nasty winter weather in December?) On Saturday morning we had our final pre-marital counseling session with my/our pastor, Andy. Just one more meeting to finalize the ceremony details is left. I really enjoyed the pre-marital counseling... I feel like we have strong and healthy relationship, but are both committed to nurturing it and growing it, especially with the help of God.

That afternoon we went to a cake tasting, and now we have a "cake lady" for the wedding. Yippee... the cake was delicious and Marissa was a lot of fun to work with. Thanks to Amy from my small group for recommending her. We don't have the final cake details worked out, but we have a general idea. After cake we stopped off for a couple of beers before heading out to Assembly Hall to catch the Illini game. It is slightly weird for me to be a spectator instead of working, but I got used to it, and enjoyed hanging out with Eric.

After the game we grabbed a bite to eat with Nikki and her parents, Debbie and Jerry aka Captain Map, and it was lots of fun to catch up with them. Eric headed back home early Sunday evening with clear roads until the last few miles.

Please pray for continued travel blessing as I will be hitting the road tomorrow to St. Louis for the Illini basketball game vs. Mizzou, the up to the QC on Wednesday for Christmas with the Noyd's and then back to CU/GC for Christmas with the Tjardes' on Friday/Saturday.

I hope everyone has a happy, safe and joyous Christmas, and enjoys special time with family and friends as we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

A Toast to Champaign

Hi everyone. I have been a total blog slacker, but I have been super busy what with getting ready to move, buying a house, try to get organized to list a house for sale, planning a wedding, Christmas shopping, oh and trying to see my fiance who live 3 hours away for another five weeks anyway.

So our department at work moved at the end of October/beginning of November from downtown Urbana to downtown Champaign. For the most part I love Champaign, with three possible exceptions 1) not seeing the sun as we are in the lower level, and 2) my office is right next to the employee break room (which is usually a plus) but not when the lunch crowd cranks up the volume to 50 on the TV (for reference I think 25 is plenty loud) and 3) Judy (my bank Mom for lack of a better term) is still in Urbana

But I like to dwell on the positive so here are the reasons I enjoy our new office:

10. At this location they have the liquid non-dairy creamer for our coffee... vanilla even... not plain powder for me!

9. My desk is just off the break room.... except for the loud TV upon occasion this totally rocks... quick and easy access to the creamer in #10

8. The biometric access (when it works, and it has been lately) is so very Jack Bauer meets Star Trek... I put my finger on the reader it scans my finger print and voila... door unlocks.

7. My cube is next to Josh's cube... thus more opportunities to use my "Friends" lingo and refer to him as "Josh-U-A" like Rachel Green did back in the day.

6. Harold the maintenance guy in the Champaign building is totally setting me up with lots of boxes for moving.

5. I have only forgotten and started to drive to Urbana for work once.

4. I am closer to the mall/shopping and basically everything else in town for more productive lunch hour errand running

3. I now takes me less than 10 minutes to get to work

2. Improvement walking distance lunch options... although I rarely take advantage of this.

1. With the shorter commute I can come home for lunch and manage to watch a 1 hour TV program I have DVR'd each and get back to work in exactly one hour.

P.S. In a random wedding update, there are now four pregnant couples on our guest list that are expecting the first baby in the month of April.

Giving Thanks

I had a great Thanksgiving weekend at Eric's, allow it was shortened a bit by the weather forecast. I headed northwest Wednesday after work, and Eric helped me make deviled eggs for Thanksgiving. We spent Thursday with his family at Travis and Steff's house. Lots of good food including scalloped oysters. Kind of funny, I thought my family was the only one that ate those... but they are a Noyd staple as well. I guess that is just one more reason Eric and I are well suited for one another. Alec and Katie proved to be entertaining as always, and I got a couple of hours in cuddling with the one month old baby Travis and Steff are fostering. She was just so sweet and precious. Of course no Noyd gathering would be complete without me beating Travis at a game... I reigned supreme at Brew-opoly.

On Friday Eric and I lazed around during the day, but did manage to get lots of various wedding things done like ordering engagement pictures, updating our page on theknot.com, and go over some of the DJ song list.

Friday night we ventured out and Eric took me to the QC Flames hockey game at the I-Wireless Center. It was lots of fun. Eric is a pretty big hockey fan, and the more games I go to/watch the more I enjoy it too. I am still learning some of the finer points of the game, but Eric is a good teacher. The Flames won 6-4 so it was quite a high scoring affair, with a few good fights thrown in for good measure. We plan to try to get to a few more games later this season after I move up. We both really enjoy them.

I fixed us dinner on Saturday night, and we woke up to a surprise snowfall on Sunday. We went to church and then headed back home for lunch. After checking the forecast for Sunday evening we decided it would be best if I headed home early so I could drive in daylight and get home before the next round of snow hit. I took advantage of the extra time at home and packed up a few more boxes. Speaking of boxes with the upcoming move I have developed the biggest box obsession. The folks at work have been hooking me up though... especially the maintenance man, Harold. I asked him to be on the look out and he sent me home with 15+ boxes the other day. So many I took some up to Eric so he can start packing for his move in February.

So that was Thanksgiving in a nutshell, but I will leave you with the short-list of things I am thankful for. #1 A loving God, who is good and gives me Grace, #2 Eric! He loves me like no other, truly understands me, takes care of me, and always makes me laugh and smile, #3 Friends and family who make everything brighter, #4 A country that gives me many freedoms and opportunities that most people in this world don't have, #5 DVR's. Okay so #5 is a little shallow, but come on folks you have to admit that technology is remarkable and life changing. I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Happy Birthday Sarah J!

Okay, so this is a day late, but I am just now recovering from my Turkey coma. Yesterday was Sarah J's birthday. I heart Sarah J... she just totally rocks! Back in August I got so spend some extra time with Sarah J, when Nik and I stopped in Vicksburg, MS on our way to Houston. Sarah lives their with her girls, Daisy and Madison... the funniest dogs ever.

Besides just being fun and smart, and pleasant company I have Sarah J to thank for turning me on to this website http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/... a year of crock potting. She also tried to take me to the drive-thru bar across the river in Louisiana. How can you not love that kind of well roundedness.

So Sarah J... sorry this is a day late... but HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

The "football place", Tjardes Executive Business Center and other odds and ends

So I don't know if I mentioned it but my friends Jeanne and Ted recently moved to St. Joseph from Florida. Typical... they are now 15 minutes away from me vs. a plane ride... and I am moving in a couple months. Anywho, Ted is working from home for his former professor as an independent contractor and they haven't been able to hook up the cable Internet at their house because they want to put it in the business name and they are still in the process of setting up said business. So, Ted has been working from my house several days, using my Internet connection. It has been good times to hang with Jeanne and Ted on a more regular basis, and they jokingly started calling my house Tjardes Internet Cafe. The later dubbed it Tjardes Executive Business Center because it wasn't too crowed or bustling and I was not offering scones. One of these days I am going to make some scones and leave them in the "office" for Ted. Ted (and Jeanne) sent me flowers at work yesterday to thank me... it has be great fun telling everyone who asks about the flowers "My friend's husband sent them to me!" and then offering no further explanation.

Last night I went with Nikki to Memorial Stadium. She started working there this season in the Colonnades Club, and they had a friends and family night so we could check out the new stadium renovations. The stadium is pretty sweet looking, but the highlight of the night was definitely Jeremiah (2) going through his routine of what he says and does all the time when he comes to "the football place" as he calls it. I attempted to capture in on video with my digital camera... not sure how well the sound picked up but he is saying "Go Illini" and "Touchdown!". Sorry it is sideways, I couldn't find the rotate. He is too cute.

In other random news I am Aunt Jane again... on at least a temporary basis. Travis and Steff (Eric's brother and sister-in-law) are fostering a newborn little girl, and she is super cute. Not that Katie and Alec aren't super cute, but I can't hold them in my arm like a football. She will nearly a month old when we get together for Thanksgiving. Hopefully she will be a permanent addition to the family, but please pray for her happy and safe upbringing wherever it is.

Oh, so under the category of ironic... let me tell you about the bridesmaid dresses for the wedding. Eric and I told Jenn and Nikki, "Please pick out whatever dress you want at David's Bridal... any style you choose as long as it is the color "pool" and knee length go for it. So from three states away, with probably hundreds of dresses to choose from, and somewhat diverging taste they each picked the same dress. I think that is hysterical, especially when Jenn called from the store asking for a description of the dress Nikki was getting and then asked "Is it okay if they do match?". I thought is was so funny it worked out that way. The dress they picked is very nice and universally flattering, and I know every bride says this but in this case it might actually be true "You could totally wear it again sometime" :)

Birthdays, Registering and Packing... Oh My!

Okay, so first off I was at Eric's this weekend and didn't get a chance to blog on Saturday about two my favorite birthday boys. Happy Belated Birthday to Jeremiah and Nate.

Jeremiah is my "other boyfriend" as Eric and I like to refer to him. He turned two and I am good friends with his parents, John & Marla. I can't believe he is 2 already... he is growing up so fast. Jeremiah and I enjoy talking about the Illini and the Cardinals. We have had a few short visits at the Illini football games this fall, and he cracks me up with his "touchdown signals". He has become quite the talker these days... please check out his blog for all sorts of cute photos and stories. Happy Birthday Jeremiah!!!

Nate is one of my Assembly Hall buddies, technically my boss (kind of weird but whatever) and exactly 20 years older than Jeremiah. Coincidentally Nate and I also enjoy discussing the Illini and Cardinals but he is little bit easier to understand. I can't believe Nate is 22... he is growing up so fast. It seems just like yesterday I bought him a beer when he was under age to celebrate the Cards winning the 2006 World Series... never even crossed my mind that he was under age at the time... ooopps!! Happy Birthday Nate!

On Saturday Eric and I hit a couple of retail establishments and got the wedding registry underway. It was exhausting, but lots of fun too. In case you care, yes we did register for storage tubs for the big basement at the new house. We spent lots of time together this weekend and it was nice. We bought a new game (Brew-opoly, Monopoly for beer lovers) and played it several times. We both realized that we REALLY enjoy each others company. Yes, we both know that "lovey dovey" stuff will fade but we are enjoying while we can, but it was just so great to have it reinforced that the person you are about to commit the rest of your life to really is someone you simply adore talking to about countless topics, hanging out with and being silly with. On the flip side though that made for another one of our "Sunday Evening Sucks!" moments when I had to head for home. Neither one of us likes saying good-bye but this one was more difficult than normal, but we did figure out that we only have about 10 more "Sucky Sundays" before I move and then we will get to see each other nearly everyday.... woo hoo!!!! That also means I have about 10 weeks to pack up everything I own too... Yikes!

Home Sweet Home

So Eric and I started house hunting a couple of weeks ago, first just driving around on our own and then a week ago Saturday we worked with a realtor and looked at 12 houses in five hours! There was a standout, so we went back and looked at it again on Sunday. Last week we got our financing ducks in a row and we made an offer on Saturday... and after several rounds of negotiations we reached an agreement. Yippee!!! Provided inspections etc. go as planned we will close January 2nd, and I will move up a few weeks later in the middle of January. I don't look forward to packing and moving, but I have over two months to work at it and I think my garbage man will be getting quite a work out.

So the house... we both really love it. Some might think it is a little big for two people, but we hope to do a fair amount of entertaining. Plus I will be working from home, so one bedroom will be my office. The house is just north and west of Geneseo in a somewhat wooded subdivision that sits up on a hill. Winter driving could be challenging at times but the CRV has 4-wheel drive and Eric will only have a 10 minute commute to work, and I will just have to walk across the hall to get to work.

Here are a few pictures. We are really excited to be buying a house together, and we hope to welcome all of the loyal readers for a visit!

A view of the back of the house from the road below... the screened in porch is one of our favorite features. If you continue up the road, turn left and then turn left again you will be on the court where the front of the house is.

The front of the house... could use some landscaping touches to make it more welcoming.
One view of the kitchen... it is so much bigger than my current kitchen... I am so excited to put it to good use!
This is only a portion of the huge storage room in the basement... woo hoo lots of room for our stuff. I am thinking we may register for storage bins for the wedding... is that wrong?

So that is the latest. Hopefully I will be a little more faithful blogging, but until May... don't count on it.

Happy Birthday Old Block!

Happy Birthday Mike Noyd!

Today is Eric's Dad's birthday. I like Mike, he cracks me up. On of my favorite moments was being at Mike and Linda's house for dinner and card playing one night… perhaps just the second time I ever met/hung out with the Noyd clan… and Mike asking me during a lull in the card game "Do you fart in your sleep?" I thought it was great because one, it is an excellent question, and two, the look on everyone else's face was priceless. Eric was pretty cool, he knew me rather well by then and knew I would think it was funny… but Travis was beside himself with "Gee Dad, she's new did you have to quiz her about farting so early?!". The answer to the question was "I assume I do, but I haven't ever been awaken by said farts so I can't confirm" If this topic sounds familiar it is because I blogged about it when it happened.

Mike is also quite the Cash Cab player. When we were in Springfield for the Masonic Grand Lodge (state meeting for Masons) were were killing some time before a dinner in Mike's hotel room. Eric and I introduced him to our favorite show Cash Cab (a game show you play in a cab in NYC that is on Discover) and he was totally into it. We definitely need to get to NYC sometime and take a cab ride… I think the three of us make a good team and could win some serious cash.

I see a lot of Mike in Eric... that's a good thing by the way. You might say that Eric is a "chip off the old block"… hence the title of this post. They both have kind of a quiet side where they are content to take in the surroundings and situation and wait to jump into the conversation only when they have something of consequence to say. The both can be quite literal and punny, and even silly at times. They both know their Bible and are truly men of God, and put family first. I must say that as I write this I am very thankful that my future-husband has had his dad as a role model… I think I will be in good hands.

Happy Birthday Mike!

DW, The Preacher, That Weird Guy from Florida, The Happy Couple and Darn It I Love The Guy in the Funny Blue Hat!

Hang on everyone, I have lots of random things to blog about.

Friday night I went to the Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz game at the Assembly Hall. I was supposed to go with my three nephews but Eric Pfeiffer (now referred to by his last name as not to be confused with my Eric, Eric Noyd) has to cancel because it was senior night for his golf team, so my Dad filled in.

I was great to see Deron Williams... former Illini and Olympic gold medalist. He is big time now... as you can see in this picture, he has his own stretcher now. Lane was totally geeked out to see DWill and even wore one of his retro DWill Illini shirts, oh how we miss #5. He was yelling and cheering for him all night.

Jeremy and I were very entertained by all of the non-basketball stuff as well. We are now huge Benny the Bull fans, especially when he was sporting his Illini shirt.

A pleasant surprise was getting to see The Preacher, former Illini Roger Powell play for the Bulls and he actually scored six points. I think it was perhaps even more exciting than seeing DWill because we all knew Deron would do well in the NBA but who knew we would get to see the Preacher... you have to admire that kind of perseverance.

Another Bulls player is Joakim Noah, or as Lane referred to him before the game when we were talking about the teams that were playing... "That Weird Guy from Florida". I don't really have much against the guy... he plays hard, but I have to agree he is kind of weird... the goggles and the fuzzy hair don't help much either.

Saturday I headed to the QC to see Eric. I had gotten a voicemail from Nathan and called him on the drive up. He had some very exciting news... he and Stacey are engaged!!!! Yippeee!!!! I am so happy for them. Nathan and Stacey started dating about the same time that Eric and I did, and it just took me back to a conversation Nathan and I had one afternoon last winter about how we thought that we had each thought we had found "the one" and that we thought is was just so crazy that it happened at the same time and that we didn't know who to be happier for... ourself or the other one.

Saturday night I went to a Scottish Rite banquet with Eric. He was awarded the Moline Cross award for service to their organization. FYI, Scottish Rite is a Masonic organization... kind of like the Shriners is a Masonic organization but without the funny little cars that they drive in parades. Eric did get a cute little blue hat that he gets to wear. I am really proud of all of the service work he does. He takes care of everyone else just as well as he takes care of me.

In other random news...Kudos to Busey Bank. They are going to let me work from home, which is awesome. First, I like my job. Second, I have 12+ years in there and just really wasn't looking forward to starting over somewhere. Third, now Eric and I can start looking for a house now and I can move up and get settled before the wedding. Fourth, with moving and planning a wedding I just don't think I had it in me to search for a job as well. And finally... I will get to work in my pajamas!!!!!

Happy Birthday Lil' Sis!

Happy Birthday to my Lil' Sis, Nathan. You can read last year's post to learn the history as to why Nathan is my little sister. I think it is a cute story... what is not to love... it involves MC Hammer.

Today is Nathan's 30th birthday. I don't know about the rest of you, many of you are not 30 yet, but a lot of you are... but personally my 30's have been fabulous. I think I finally figured out that you don't have to have it all figured out and just starting enjoying life.

This year Nathan is spending his birthday with his main squeeze, Stacey. They started dating about the same time that Eric and I did. New Year 2008, was really good for us sisters!! It has not worked out for me to actually meet the wonderful Miss Stacey, but I already know she is fabulous. She makes Nathan ridiculously happy, and she enjoys good beer... what is not to love?

Happy Birthday Nathan! Sorry we will be missing your birthday party, but I hope we make it to Chicago to visit again soon... we can celebrate then.

I am just not that big of a person...

So the Cubs went down in flames in the playoffs. I wish I could say I was a better person, and that I didn't take at least a tiny bit of delight at their demise... but I did. There are delightful Cubs fans out there, my pastor, Andy, Greg from my office, Allison's husband, Abe, and the other Allison and her husband Bill. For Cubs fans like you I kind of feel a little bad the Cubbies didn't come through for you. But... then there are those less than delightful Cub fans... you know who you are... that it is kind of fun to watch suffer. I am not proud of that... wishing suffering on folks, but there it is. As to the reason for the Cubs demise, I can only go with my original theory, Jim Edmonds signed with the Cubs in order to bring them down from the inside.

At least Cub and Cards fans alike can sing in harmony this year.... "Well there is always next year!"

110... My Beer Hero

Saturday Eric and I headed to Peoria and met Scott & Tara for dinner at Old Chicago. Eric finished his World Beer Tour... it took him about four years, but he managed to drink 110 beers. He is my beer hero! He went with a Harp as #110, a tribute to his Irish heritage, and well I think it make for a good picture.

I am at #24, only 86 more to go!

A Day Late, But Worth the Wait

So I have a couple of birthday blogs... actually their birthdays were yesterday, October 3rd, but well... time got away from me.

Happy Birthday John & Steff!

John Thomas is my friend Jenn's husband. Although we met via Jenn I would like to think that we would friends anyway. We enjoy the Illini, good beer and good coffee... what else to we need...oh yah... Jenn! John says that when he retires from the military he is going to be a spiritual advisor to rap artists, and change his name to White Mocha. How can you not love someone who has a brain that works like that.

John has had a couple of tough months. He Mom passed away recently, and he is living away from Jenn and the girls. He was transferred to Colorado Springs and Jenn and the girls are still in Omaha until their house sells. So... keep the prayers coming their way folks... I am sure they are appreciated.

Steff, is my future sister-in-law. She is married to Eric's brother, Travis. I am excited to get know her better when she and Travis come visit for the weekend for the Iowa football game. I already know I like her, when I had to use the restroom at the fire station when we were there for the memorial service, she guarded the door because it really wasn't designed as a public restroom. It reminded me of grade school when our bathroom stalls didn't have doors and your friends would say "I will be your door". Steff is a great mother to my future niece and nephew, Katie and Alec, and put on a yummy Father's Day spread at their house.

Happy Birthday John and Steff... albeit a little late. Hope you both had great days!

Sweet Potato Ale

Hi everyone... I know I have been a total blog slacker... my bad. Things are coming together as far as wedding planning. Pastor... check, banquet hall... check, DJ... check, dress... almost a check, Mom is coming to give thumbs up or thumbs down on in a few weeks, photagrapher... meeting with one on Monday.

Right now I am at Eric's, and we have done a whole lot of nothing this weekend, something we both needed. Last night after dinner we stopped at our favorite local brewery, Bent River. We tried their fall brew, Sweet Potato Ale... two thumbs up. A tasty ale, and the sweet potato very subtle with just a hint of cinnamon. We got a growler of Uncommon Stout to bring home. We will break that out in just a bit and settle in to watch the Illini vs. Penn State. Frank's pizza at half time.

We are treating ourselves with a little Illini football, after working on guest list stuff this morning. A big kudos to Eric's mom, Linda... the queen of family addresses.

Okay, so it almost game time.

Go Illini!

Hey! I like your hair

So I am at home on my lunch hour, and just had to share. When I was leaving work to come home from lunch, I walked across the street from the bank to get to my car. I crossed in front of a woman stopped at the stop sign at Cedar & Springfield. Once I was across she yelled "Hey" from her window, when I turned to see if she was talking to me (she was), she said "I like your hair!" I told her thanks, and I think my blah kind of day is getting a little better.

Kudos, stranger lady!

Meet the Parents

Eric was down this weekend along with is Mom and Dad, Mike and Linda. We had a great time. The rain held off and we were able to tailgate both before and after the Illini football game on Saturday. The game itself was a win but not a pretty one. After the game we got out my new Illini tent and took it for a test run... it is pretty sweet. I see Eric and I using it for years to come, but I failed to take a picture of it.

Sunday after church we met my parents for a fabulous brunch at Silver Creek. It was the first meeting of the parents... and all went well. After about five minutes I think both Eric and I were feeling like we really didn't need to be there... they were all getting along just fine without us.

I am very blessed, not only is Eric the most wonderful man on the planet, but his parents are pretty awesome too... a great package.

We are starting some wedding planning... nothing set in stone but April 4th, 2009 is where we are starting. It has been quite an emotional roller coaster this past week, and I have to brag up on Eric. I have been a bit of a spaz at times and he has been so loving and supportive, thank goodness he is the one I am going to marry I honestly don't think I could plan a wedding with anyone else! :)

I Heart the CPD

So I am not sure how many of you are up to speed on my history with the Champaign Police department... they have a tendency to stop by in the middle of the night. Allow me to explain.

A few years ago when Karen was staying with me while she was doing her student teaching. We got a knock on the door in the middle of the night when some idiot ran into Karen's car which was parked on the street in front of my house. His car ended up just over the curb in my yard, and Karen's was pushed two houses down and totaled.

About a year after that incident I heard arguing in outside, and thought is was perhaps the new neighbors. It kept up and then moved towards the front of the house, I looked out the front window and a mas was being arrested in my front yard. Later the cops were in the back yard with flashlights, so I got brave enough to go out and ask what was going on. Evidently several blocks away the cops were called three times to a house when the ex-husband kept showing up, he took off the last time and the cops chased him on foot and caught up to him when he tried to jump the fence in my back yard. The cops were using the flashlight to find the magazine clip he lost on the fence climb. The next week when I was mowing I found his handcuffs and returned them to the police station.

So on Friday night Eric was in town with his parents, Mike and Linda. On the way to dinner I was telling them my CPD stories, and we were all laughing. Eric joked that it was about time for another visit. Well who knew... Eric can be kind of prophetic sometimes.

At about 5:15 a.m on Saturday morning I was sleeping on the couch (a gracious hostess always gives up her bed for her guests... plus trying to impress the future in-laws never hurts) and I heard urgent voices outside, it let up and I heard it again, then a bright light was shining in through the front window. I got up to investigate and just as I was looking out the front door, and officer was approaching. I stepped outside to talked to him, and noticed he had a nasty cut on his cheekbone, it was swollen and bleeding. After after him assistance (he declined and said the ambulance was on its way) he proceeds to tell me he may have damaged the fence/gate near my garage when he chased a guy around my house... about then another cop comes from said gate/fence with a rather sassy suspect in cuffs. Evidently he possibly burgled a house 4 or 5 blocks away, they saw him walking near my house. The cop pulled in my driveway, and told him to stop and he thought a better idea would be to run around my house. They kind of bent up my fence when he was apprehended. Anywho he was super nice and took my information and said they would take photos of my fence... not big deal it just needs to be bent back.

He came back to let me know they were finishing up (calling me by name) and that he was going to the ER for a few stitches. I took another look later and the other officer was wandering about, I opened the door and he asked if I had a hose... we went back and he just needed an outdoor water source not a hose because the first officer had to use pepper spray on the suspect, and he was the one that took him to the squad car and he got the spray on his hands and then in his eyes. So he proceeded to wash his eyes out in my back yard.

Meanwhile Mike & Linda slept through the whole thing, but Eric had heard the commotion and we laughing hysterically at the timing of it all. We were really rolling but we had to be quiet as to not wake his parents, plus I didn't want to laugh in the face of the very nice police officer who obviously was having a tough night.

FYI, he was totally cute and tall and Eric was getting tickled at the fact that I was trying to look for a wedding ring (not that they always wear the on duty) so I could set him up with Nikki.

Anyway all is well, and hats off to the CPD for keeping all of the bad guys off the street and dragging them out of my yard!

I said YES!!!!

Yes, to what you ask? Saturday night Eric asked me to marry him, and I said yes! We had discussed the subject, and I knew it was coming at some point, but I really had no clue as to when. After the Illini football game on Saturday afternoon we came back to my house and took a nap. After napping I had the fixings for a nice dinner, and I decided it would be nice if we didn't wear our pajamas for dinner :) Eric took it as a good sign that it was the right time to ask when he suggested that maybe we could even dress up a little bit for dinner, and my response was "Sure that would be nice." and so the stage was set.

After dinner we were sitting on the couch listening to one of the music stations on the TV, and enjoying a nice bottle of wine. I thought I might have felt a ring box in his pocket, but said nothing, figuring it was probably just his inhaler. Near the end of the bottle of wine Eric got down on bended knee, told me he loved me and asked me to marry him. I said yes! After the initial round of hugs and kisses, I asked him what was in his pocket. He soon produced a beautiful ruby engagement ring. The picture below doesn't really do it justice, but my camera was not really cooperating for me.

A ruby ring, an unconventional choice for an unconventional girl. Many of you may have heard me say over the years that I didn't want an engagement ring, but instead something more practical like and engagement couch or something of the sort. Well I am actually not that practical, but just really not a diamond type of girl... hence the ruby. Eric picked the ring out himself, but we had discussed it earlier in the summer and even did a little bit of "window shopping" so he had a general idea of what I wanted. The ruby came about for several reasons, primarily because it is Eric's birthstone, and well frankly I just find them attractive. The red color also represents love, the blood Christ shed for our sins, and of course... the St. Louis Cardinals, one of our shared passions.

We really don't have any details figured out about the wedding other than sometime in 2009.

I am so excited!!! It took me 38 years, but Lord Almighty Eric was worth the wait. I love him like no other, and I know he loves me just as much. I am so truly blessed to have Eric in my life, along with special friends and family who have been sharing our excitement as we have made phone calls to share the big news.

Oh, another great engagement moment. A few minutes after Eric had proposed, I was wearing the ring and we both had calmed down to the point where we could breath... I realized that the song playing on the TV music channel was none other than "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and The Waves. Many of you know that this is one of my most favorite songs of all time. It only seems appropriate that this song was playing... does Eric have great timing or what?

I will leave you with the lyrics...

Oh! Ohhhh yeeeaaaah

I used to think maybe you loved me, now baby I'm sure

And i just cant wait till the day when you knock on my door

Now every time i go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down

Cos i just can't wait till you write me you're coming around

I'm walking on sunshine, wooah

I'm walking on sunshine, wooah

I'm walking on sunshine, wooah and don't it feel good!!

Hey, alright now

and don't it feel good!!

hey yeah

I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it's true

and I don't want to spend my whole life, just in waiting for you

now I don't want u back for the weekend not back for a day, oh no no

I said baby I just want you back and I want you to stay, woah yeh!

I'm walking on sunshine wooah

I'm walking on sunshine, wooah

I'm walking on sunshine, wooah and don't it feel good!!

Hey, alright now and don't it feel good!!

Hey yeah, and don't it feel good!!

Walking on sunshine

Walking on sunshine

I feel the love, I feel the love,

I feel the love that's really real

I feel the love, I feel the love,

I feel the love that's really real

I'm on sunshine baby

Oh, I'm on sunshine baby

Oh I'm walking on sunshine wooah

I'm walking on sunshine wooah

I'm walking on sunshine wooah and don't it feel good!!

I'll say it again now

and don't it feel good!!

Happy Birthday Tara!

So today is a new birthday to blog about. It is Tara Barker's birthday. Tara and her husband Scott are two of Eric's closest friends… any I have to give him credit, Eric did a fine job in the friend department.

I got to know Tara much better in July when we all went to Indy for the weekend of the Brickyard 400. It was there that she introduced me to the most wonderful contraption ever… a pineapple slicer. It is amazing… it slices and cores a fresh pineapple in a matter of just seconds… plus you then have a hollowed out pineapple "shell" to use as a serving dish with just a quick cut of the core. I highly recommend you pick one up if you happen to like fresh pineapple. You can save money by not buying the pre-cut ones at the grocery store. I know I sound like a complete dork getting all worked up about a kitchen gadget, but seriously it has been life changing… Thanks Tara!

Tara's other miraculous talent is finding kick-butt parking spaces in crowded parking lots. It is freaky… awesome spots just appear for her. Oh she might have to circle once, but it isn't like she is stalking everyone leaving the store for 10 minutes… she just totally has "parking chee". My favorite part about this, besides not having to hike long distances when we are shopping together… it completely gets Eric's goat… which is just fun to watch. In general, Tara and I can always find something fun to tease Eric about. Now that I think about it, in general I think most everyone bonds with a significant other's friend by teasing the significant other. I know John & I love to tease Jenn, and Nikki & Eric have shared a few moments teasing me (Case in point, I forgot to mention this when blogging about our trip. I provided two very "Duh, Jane!" moments. First when Nik and I stopped at Wal-Mart in Arkansas on the way downt to Sarah J's. I started to say "Wow, they have a Starbucks here!" when I realized the green sign lettering on the beige building said "Dollar Tree" instead of Starbucks. Then, this is classic. At Minute Maid Park, I leaned over to Eric and asked him "What are the orange things in the cargo car of the train that runs behind the outfield, pumpkins? It is still August, it isn't fall yet, kind of early for pumpkins!" Eric's response was "Dear, I believe those are oranges… we are at MINUTE MAID Park!"… Duh, Jane!)

Okay, so back to Tara. She is also enjoys good beer, and she is doing the World Beer Tour at Old Chicago as well. I think we even make the same "Oh that was bad beer" faces.

Beyond pineapple slicers, shopping and beer… Tara has just been a great friend to both Eric and I. She and Scott have been very gracious in sharing Eric with me. I also remember some very encouraging words she gave to me early this spring when I mentioned something about the trials of a long distance relationship in an email… "Hang in there, you and Eric are both worth it!" I couldn't agree more. Happy Birthday Tara!

Sweet Home Champaign-Urbana

Hello All! Home at last. Sorry about the lack of blogging, and if any of you were concerned that we had suddenly disappeared. Basically we just got too busy to blog, but we also received some sad news on Wednesday... Nikki's Grandma Hinman passed away. Needless to say blogging didn't seem quite as important when put into perspective. Nikki went ahead and finished up the trip as planned. Grandma Hinman was a big supporter of our road trips and Nikki and her family decided that she wouldn't want Nik to cut it short. We carried on and enjoyed the rest of our trip, although there were some teary moments along the way.



I will do a quick post to update you on the rest of our trip. We have plenty of more video footage that hopefully Nik and I can download later as time permits.



I think we left off with Wednesday. Sarah J went to work that morning to finish up a few things and Nikki and I headed to Jackson to do a little shopping. We met Sarah at the airport so she could drop off her car and it would be waiting for her when she flew back to Houston. We left Jackson that afternoon and drove down through MS, across LA and into Texas and stayed the night about an hour from Houston. Thursday morning we traveled along the gulf, and took the free ferry across to Galveston Island. It was Nik's first ever ferry ride and we all saw dolphins in the water during our 15-20 minute crossing. We had lunch on Galveston and spent the afternoon walking along the beach. The gulf water was nice and warm. We drove up to Houston that afternoon and got settled in our hotel. After dinner and a movie (we watched Hairspray on Nik's computer) we ventured to Houston Hobby airport to pick up Eric. It was great to see my Sweetie.



Nik & Sarah J at the beach, enjoying the warm gulf water


On Friday we all went to Space Center Houston at Johnson Space Center. Ideally we would have had more time there, we are all kind of into the space thing... but we made the most of it. My personal favorite was the tram tour and getting to see historic Mission Control where the famous "Houston, we have a problem!" was first heard. We all resisted the temptation to purchase clever t-shirts that said "It's Not Rocket Science!... Oh wait, yes it is... Space Center Houston" Late that afternoon we headed back to the hotel for a quick change and then off to the ballpark for the game.



Eric & I with the Saturn 5 rocket.

The Cards were swept by the Astros for the series, so nothing positive to report baseball-wise on this trip. Friday was however Brad Ausmus (aka "the cute Astro") bobble-head night, and after a few clicks on Google images Nik and I managed to introduce Sarah J to her new baseball boyfriend, Brad Ausmus. At the game we discovered that the female Astro fans are insanely fanatic about center fielder Hunter Pence. Seriously all weekend the Hunter Pence shrieks were over the top. Personally we don't really get it... he is kind of cute but nowhere near being as attractive as Brad, and frankly his baseball is pretty much just average.



Brad Ausmus: Attractive, and obviously a dog lover... no wonder we got Sarah hooked


Saturday, us old folks (Eric & I) were lazy bums and slept in, while Nik and Sarah J checked out the aquarium. They gave it a thumbs up. We met up for lunch at Flying Saucer where Eric and I sampled some good Texas beer, then we headed off to take a tour of Minute Maid Park. At the end of our tour we got to take in the Astro batting practice from the diamond seats behind home plate. We didn't think of it until later, but we should have asked our tour guide to point out George and Barbara Bush's seats... darn! Here are my thoughts on the ballpark. Overall it was a pleasant experience, the folks were friendly (I had been warned that we would be heckled, but didn't have any problems) and it is a nice park. The concourses are very open, and it reminds me of Miller Park in Milwaukee a bit. The roof was closed all three games due the heat, but we did get to see it open on Friday night for the fireworks show they had post-game. The purist in me finds the indoor baseball with the roof closed to be just plain wrong, but I have to admit the air conditioning was oh so enjoyable. It is way hot and humid in Houston. They have some great food including BBQ, and some awesome baked potatoes.





At Minute Maid, during Astros batting practice

On Sunday Sarah J flew back home, and Eric, Nik and I took in our third game. Another loser. After the game we started our very long trip home. We thought we would stay near Little Rock for the night, but had to press on until 2 a.m. and stopped less than an hour shy of Memphis as all of the Gustav evacuees had taken all of the hotel rooms. We got home at 1:30 Monday afternoon and dropped Nik off. Eric and I grabbed lunch, and then headed to the QC. I came back to C-U today and crashed until just a few hours ago.

Dry Town

After dinner tonight we decided to go get a drink... this is what happened... enjoy!

Shaker Showdown: The Big Muddy

Hi Everyone- We arrived in Vicksburg Sunday evening, and have been enjoying a grand time staying with Sarah J and the other Jersey Girls, Daisy & Madison. We went to El Ranchero for dinner on Sunday so we didn't need any pepper, so no GTA news there. On Monday Sarah J went to work, and Nikki and I slept in then ventured out to explore Vicksburg a bit. We followed the "Scenic Tour" through downtown and along the river. Some of the tour was very scenic, some of it was not so much (possible video to come later). We also hit the outlet mall, and had great success at Bath and Body works (you can never under estimate the importance of moisturizing, right Eric?) and the Gap.

We stopped at Sonic for lunch, and then again later for Happy Hour. Kind of hard to rate the pepper shakers there since they use the paper packets... pretty much a "tear and sprinkle" not so much a shake, a lazy man's pepper if you will, right Sergeant Pepper?

For dinner we went to the Heritage Buffet at the Ameristar Casino. It was fabulous with an awesome salad bar, mac & cheese and fried chicken, not to mention the dessert bar to die for.

The pepper shaker left a lot to be desired. It definitely needs work. Sergeant Pepper gives it two shakers. It really only deserves one based on the pepper itself, but the dessert bar makes up for the poor pepper shake.

After dinner we went back to Sarah's and were entertained by Madison and Daisy, the funniest dogs ever.

I think today were are going to check out some of the shops downtown while Sarah J is at work, and then tonight we have something special planned... you will have to tune in later to see what we do.

Shaker Showdown-Lambert's Cafe

We would like to introduce you to Pepper....George Pepper. He prefers his pepper shaken, not fresh ground.

You may recall from previous posts that Jane's dad George is very particular about his pepper shakers. This is a fact that Jane likes to bring up when we are out eating somewhere. It is determined if the pepper shaker would be "GTA" or "George Tjardes Approved". It's an approval rating that's sweeping the nation. Ok, maybe not the nation but at least close friends and family. Anyways, Jane and I felt that it is our civic responsibility to report back to you, the loyal blog readers, on the GTA ratings of the many establishments we will be patronizing in the coming week. We will be rating the pepper shakers on a scale of 1-5 shakers to be shown at the end of each post by our new friend, Sergeant Pepper. Without any further ado, we give you Lambert's Cafe...

Officially Seageant Pepper is giving this one a GTA rating of 4 shakers. They got 1/2 a shaker for style points for the cute Coke bottle shaker that was effective as well (plus we can't make a 1/2 shaker picture).

Til next time! Happy Peppering!

"Roll"-in on the River

Hi y'all! This is Nikki, guest blogging for Jane this afternoon on Day 1 of our trek south. Why am I blogging and not Jane you ask? Well, Jane is a great multitasker but I personally feel much safer that she is not trying to blog and drive at the same time. Right now we are coming to you live from I-55 courtesy of my new laptop and Verizon Broadband card which we are so loving right now. Being able to surf the net on the road is great. When you are not exactly sure how to get to Lambert's you can instantly look it up online. However I would recommend getting a power adaptor in which you plug the laptop into while traveling. We had a to make a pit stop at Wal Mart (what trip would be complete without a trip to Wal Mart?) in Blytheville, AR to remedy the dead battery problem. But we are back online again and are adding a new feature to the blog this week......video blogging. When I got my laptop from Dell the nice people there sent me a free gift....a Flip video recorder. Jane and I have had more fun with this video recorder in the last 5 hours....it is our new favorite toy and we already have multiple video ideas for this trip so be sure to check back for the latest.

Ok, back to the point....we headed out of C-U this morning around 7:00. The trip was fairly uneventful until our arrival at Lamberts' Cafe, Home of the Throwed Roll in Sykeston, MO. If you have never been there it is quite the experience. When they say they throw their rolls, they are not lying. We witnessed rolls being chucked the length of the dining room. Jane and I have decided that we would like to be a roll thrower for a day. We could totally walk around yelling "Hot Rolls!" and throwing them at random people on request. We have also decided that this would make a great celebrity fundraising event. Chris Carpenter needs some rehab work? Head on down to Sykeston and throw some rolls for a day. That could totally loosen up the arm. A few people on our celebrity throwed rolls wish list:

Adam Wainwright: He is a southern boy and could totally feel right at home in a place that serves chicken gizzards and fried okra.

Britt Miller (Illinois linebacker): We're not sure if linebackers can throw but he would definitely make it entertaining. He would be awesome at working the crowd.

Brett Favre: When he retires for real he could still go back to throwing something.

Carrie Walsh and Misty May-Treanor: They could spike your roll at you. A whole new spin on the roll throw.

Matthew McConaughey: This is completely dependent on their no shoes, NO SHIRT policy.

But back to our visit. The food was great as was the service. Jane and I both had a little crush on our waiter Andy. He was super cute and had a major southern accent that was adorable. We got there just in time too. We had absolutely no wait for a table but when we left there were probably 50 people waiting outside. Overall Lambert's is a great place to eat (see more of our Lambert's "rating" in our next post). I highly recommend stopping if you are in the area. Here is a little video clip of our trip to Lamberts.

Living a Blog Free Existance

So it has been brought to my attention (thanks Jenn :)) that I have been a bit of blog slacker of late. Actually that is a bit of a good thing. After being on the on the road every weekend for over a month, last weekend I simply went to the QC to just hang out with Eric. After watching the construction all spring and summer, the Sonic near Eric's house recently opened, so we finally got to go there... twice... supper Friday night was so good, we decided to stop in for breakfast on Saturday morning. Other than that we did a whole lot of nothing, stopping by Bent River to pick up a growler of our favorite beer to go with our Frank's pizza on Saturday night, and then church on Sunday. It was great to have a lazy weekend and rest up before we head to Houston next week.

Right now I am blogging between Benedryl induced comas. There is something in the air the past day or so that has left me with some seriously boogered up and itchy eyes.

The past two weeks I have been checking out the Olympics. So far my favorites are Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh... I will admit I got a little "misty" myself watching them celebrate their gold medal win. My former Illini Justin Spring and Deron Williams are doing me proud too. Justin Spring (gymnast) ties with Usain Bolt (Jamaican sprinter) for best Olympic name ever. A gymnast named Spring, a sprinter named Bolt, does it get any better than that?

Okay, time or more Benedryl and my next coma.

Big Win At Wrigley, and other Windy City Highlights

This past weekend Nikki, Eric and I headed to Chicago. We stayed with my "lil' sis" Nathan and went to the Cubs vs. Cards game at Wrigley on Saturday. I had not been to Wrigley since I was about eight, and as you might expect not too much has changed. I have to admit, even though it is the home of the rival Cubs, Wrigley is kind of cool. The ivy is truly unique and I enjoyed the "old school" vibe. We also managed to see the only game that the Cards won that series... they beat up Big Z pretty good. Eric tossed out a new name for Skip Schumaker at Wrigley as well. I usually call him "Skippy", and Eric usually goes with "Schu", but for some reason when he came up to bat Eric took it a little further and went with Let's Go "Schu-man-chu"... evidently Skippy is a fan of the new nickname... he went yard!

It was very weird and wrong to see Jim Edmonds as a Cub. I still love him, but as long as he is a Cub I will root against him. You can tell he still has fond feelings for me, when I was there in person he struck out a lot.

It was great to hang out with Nathan for the weekend. I had missed my lil' sis. He was a great host, making us pancakes on Saturday before heading out to the game, and then we all pitched in for a community effort on grilling out an awesome dinner. We also hit Sheffield's for some good beer before the game. He even drove Eric & I to the Metra station on Sunday evening to catch the train. I was a little disappointed to not me able to meet Nathan's squeeze, Stacey, but she was actually packing up her stuff in Nashville, TN and will be moving up to Chicago to be with Nathan later this week. On Sunday we went out for breakfast and met Nathan's college buddy, Maureen, and her boyfriend, Erik with a "K" who were back in the area from Boston visiting her parents. It was kind of cool because Nathan, Maureen and I all started dating Stacey, Eric and Erik right around the New Year and all of the relationships are working out fabulously.

Nik headed out of the city after breakfast on Sunday, but Eric and I stayed and met my friends Abe & Allison (see a link to their blog at the right) Sunday afternoon. They have been married just over a year, and like Eric and I met on Eharmony and had a long distance relationship. It was great to hang out with them, especially to bond over the ups and downs of the long distance relationship.

I like Chicago... at least to visit anyway. It was a great weekend with great friends.

Best Day

On Sunday Eric and I had one of our best days together. We decided to stay over in STL on Saturday night after the game and spend the day together on Sunday just doing whatever came our way. As it turned out the game on Sunday was moved to a night game for ESPN so we were able to tour Busch Stadium on Sunday after breakfast at our hotel. FYI, the breakfast included at waffle station... one of my favorites. Eric said my waffles were better, but these were pretty good and they were included with our stay.

The tour of the stadium was lots of fun... and a little bit different than the one I went on last season. We both really enjoyed it, and our time together. I snapped a fun little picture of Eric doing his best Tony LaRussa impression on the dugout steps.

After the Stadium we headed about 10 minutes west to the Schlafly Brewery Bottleworks. We have enjoyed the Schlafly beer in the past and wanted to learn more. We had an appetizer and a pint at the bar before we took the tour of the bottleworks. The tour was very interesting and educational, and other than a couple of very college girls who were enjoyable and asked really good questions, we were the only ones on the tour. The free tour included three different tastings. Afterwards we headed back to the bar for an actual meal (late lunch/early supper) and one last pint. We had the best time there chatting with each other, the awesome bartender/waitress and the various other patrons. I swearr if we didn't have to head home we would have stayed there all day and night. We have already decided we are going back on our next trip to STL, either The Bottleworks or Schlafly's Tap Room downtown. The food was fabulous, the beer was great (between the two of us we sampled quite a few and really enjoyed them all) and everyone was so nice and friendly... we felt like Norm at "Cheers!"

All in all it was just a great day. Eric and I got to spend some special time together, just hanging out and enjoying each others company and some of our favorite things... baseball and beer. We both agreed it was just the "Best Day"!

A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

Saturday I went to picture day at Busch Stadium... we have had been patiently waiting for this since Spring Training. Essentially, they let the fans down on the warning track before the game and then the players come out and "walk the rope line" waving, posing for photos, just bascially chatting it up with the fans. We we made our rhinestone "Franklin 31" shirts in Florida Frankie asked if we would be wearing them in STL, so of course April, Ang, Nik and I rocked the rhinestones. April even made a 5 foot banner that said "Frankie's Fan Squad". All the players that saw the shirts and banner took note, and once again Frankie was totalling loving it. I believe his quote was "Man, if they would let me stop I would give you all hugs" or something to that effect. Brad Thompson and Aaron Miles had the best reactions. Aaron Mile was just cracking up, and Brad Thompson's said in response to "Frankies' Fan Squad"... "Me Too!"... evidently he and Ryan Franklin are buds. It was really hot but lots of fun.

I got a great picture of Nik and Ang with Rick Ankiel... he wasn't playing that day so he spent lots of time working the crowd. Eric joined us, as did April's Mom, Jane. Eric was a trooper... I know it got way girly for him at times but he was genuinely amused by the players' various reactions to our shirts and banner. Oh, and finally Nikki got to see her favorite, Joe Mather, play in person. Joey Bomb was super friendly with the crowd and Nik was beside herself with the "Aws!" every time he posed with a small child... I will admit he is pretty darn charming.

The Cards lost the game, which was kind of a bummer. Eric was disappointed that his original adjusting of the pins on his floppy hat wasn't successful, and has already done some additional tweaking for our next game in September.

The Birthday Blogs Continue

Okay, so July is over and you would think there would be a break in the birthday blogging since "Everyone I know was born in July", but August starts off with two birthdays.

August 1st is my Mom's birthday, and my oldest niece Ashley's birthday. I will start with Ashley. It is hard to believe but she turns 21! When did that happen? I am alternately excited and completely freaked out that Ashley and I can actually go out for a beer now, with neither of us being under threat of being carted off to jail. Ashley is currently recovering from knee surgery… kind of a bummer summer, huh? Oh well, I am sure she is making the best of it… she is good about that. It is still hard to believe that she is 21, I guess that makes me old. I remember very well when she was just a little tot, planting marshmallows in her Mom's flower bed in an attempt to grow and harvest one of her favorite foods. I also remember that when she was learning to talk, they taught her to say "Ciao, baby!" instead of good-bye… how Italian Riviera. I must admit, it was pretty hysterical. Anyway, Happy Birthday Ashley! I was going to say that I would buy you a beer the next time I see you, but instead I think maybe you should buy me one!

Happy Birthday Mom! Today is my Mom's 71st birthday. Ashley (her first grandchild) was born on her 50th birthday. My Mom is the least annoying person I know. I know that is perhaps a strange thing to say, but it is true. You know how pretty much everyone you know, even the people you love with all of your heart, do something that just bugs you but it really isn't that big of a deal so you just bite your tongue because you are just being petty and you love them and you know if you said anything it would hurt their feelings… that kind of thing? Well, my Mom doesn't really have an annoying something or other… I love that about her, but at the same time am sort of jealous about it too because I know I am not like that. Maybe that is her "annoying thing"… the fact that she is not annoying! My Mom makes me laugh… a lot, and the best part is she is never really trying to make me laugh, she just says stuff that cracks me up. She also loves the Cardinals, but she is very low key about it. You don't really think she is paying all that much attention, then like she did the other night when Eric and I were at my parents house, she notices that Julian Tavarez (aka "High Cinco" by Allison Sit) is pitching for the Braves, and says "Hey, he pitched for the Cardinals, right?" Heck, even I have lost track of High Cinco over the years and didn't realize he was with the Braves. I like that kind of attention to details, Mom. Happy Birthday Mom!... High Cinco on the big 7-1!

Happy Birthday Sweet-E!

As promised here is a special birthday blog for Eric, my Sweet-E. Happy Birthday Eric! Better late than never, but I actually celebrated with him that day/weekend so I think I am good.

I love Eric! I love him for lots of reasons but a short list is because he loves God, he loves me and he loves the Cardinals... in that order. I am so blessed to be dating a man who has such a strong faith in God, because it just strengthens my faith that much more. One of my favorite things is that every night before we go to bed and say good night, when we are talking on the phone, Eric and I each pray. It is wonderful to share these things with my partner.

There were several specific instances early in our relationship when I knew Eric was special. The first was in an email, his 9-point answer to what he learned from his divorce pretty much knocked me off my feet. Before we actually met... we talked on the phone for 5 or 6 hours or something ridiculous like that. You kind of have something special when you can talk that long. The next is the night of our first date/face to face meeting. We were meeting at Granite City restaurant in East Peoria. I had gotten off at the right exit, but didn't see the restaurant right away. I decided to pull into the Wal-Mart parking lot and call Eric so he could give me directions. When he picked up the phone and asked where I was, before I could answer he said "Never mind, you are at Wal-Mart", and he was just a few cars behind me and saw my car. I can't describe it, but right then I had an idea that this guy just might be my Prince Charming.

I love Eric because he "gets me" like nobody else I know, and he seems to truly love and appreciate even the wackiest of my quirks. He lets me pick up and straighten because he knows that is what I do, but always seems to have just the right way of getting me to sit still and relax without ever really saying "Sit still and relax". A long distance relationship can be kind of crazy at times, I get overwhelmed and sometimes cry for no reason. This doesn't freak Eric out at all, he just helps me cry, encourages me to just "get it all out". No one has ever done that for me before... it takes a lot of patience and it takes a lot of love... Eric has plenty of both.

I love Eric's little quirks too. He is so literal, and is quick to point out to me that it would be much safer if I just "stepped into the shower" instead of "jumped into the shower". Arrgghh... it drives me crazy, but darn it, I love it too. The best was this past weekend when I was quick to catch him saying he was going to "jump into the shower". I love that he wears his floppy hat to the Cardinals games, and added another pin to the hat for our last game because it had always been a winning hat before, but had lost its mojo at our games in April... the extra pin did the trick. The floppy hat is cute... I like that it isn't conventional.

I love that Eric and I enjoy a lot of the same things, in particular watching baseball and drinking good beer. One of the reasons the River Bandit games have become so special to us is because we can do both there... they serve one of our favorite beers, the Uncommon Stout from Bent River. He also introduced me to one of my new favorites, Whitey's ice cream, a QC favorite. I am hooked, no trip to the QC is complete for me without my Whitey's fix. Eric also just does really sweet things for me, beside the "Eric's Girlfriend" tiara and sash, he rode the Carousel at the children's museum with me last weekend... probably not really his thing, but he knew I wanted to ride it with him... I like that. He also always makes the coffee when we visit each other... it is usually much better than mine.

Eric just knows how to love me, and he knows how to take care of me, and he is very good at letting me know how special I am to him, and how well I take care of him. He also knows how to make me laugh... sometimes it is a look, sometimes he will say something, or sometimes he will just start tickling. I try to tickle back, but he really isn't that ticklish, but I think he ends up laughing anyway because I keep trying to tickle him anyway... I am stubborn that way.

So I guess I will stop now... I could go on forever, but y'all probably think I am being sickeningly sweet already. Maybe I am, but I really don't care... I am so in love with my Sweet-E I just can't stop myself.

Happy Birthday, Eric! I hope to celebrate many more with you!