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.