Our new favorite pasttime...

We survived!!

Aaron and I crammed more in 2 days than I think I ever have before.

1.) We started off on Christmas Eve with Aaron's extended family. It was a lot of fun to be with everyone and participate in the gift exchange (although Aaron's family needs to learn how to steal presents!!). We got to play with kids, one of my favorite things to do, and sample everyone's Christmas cookies.

2.) Then we headed up to my mom's house. We made it there right after Santa, so we ate goodies and discovered what was in our stockings. Then we opened all of our great presents and had the annual "present hunt." We have a Santa ornament that opens up and my mom always hides a clue in it. The clue leads us to several other clues around the house until we arrive at our big present of the year. Aaron and I got a Kitchen Aid mixer this year!!

3.) We got home just after midnight on Christmas Eve and were up early the next morning to have our own Christmas. Aaron created a chocolate relaxation themed stocking for me. He made a chocolate milk bath and a chocolage facial and gave me chocolate lotion, soap, pedicure soaks and a bath soak. I had said I wanted to go to Hershey, Pennyslvania sometime so I could bathe in chocolate, but we didn't see that trip in our near future, so he brought it to me!!

4.) We went over to Aaron's parents mid-morning and ate more Christmas goodies before we even had breakfast!! This is the first year that Emma has been excited about Christmas, so it was fun to watch her open her presents. Our big present from Aaron's parents was a video camera!! We've had a ton of fun playing with it already!!

5.) On Christmas afternoon we headed over to Cedar Rapids to have celebrate with my dad and Roarke. My dad had lots of good munchy food and we had more cookies (can you tell that I love Christmas cookies?!?) Roarke opened his presents in record time. If there are any career opportunities in present-un-wrapping I think Roarke's perfect for the job!! I had the pleasure of playing Old Maid and Hungry, Hungry Hippos when the un-wrapping was over.

It was a long couple of days.... We got up at 5:30 am on Sunday and worked for 9 hours before starting the 5 Christmas celebrations, but we were lucky enough not to have to be up early this morning, so we slept super late!! (at least in our world...until 9!!) and are well on our way to being "fully recuperated".... but it was a great couple of days, not only because of the presents :-D, but because we were able to spend so much time with our families!!

Out of the mouth of an Independent Energy Auditor

We got a free home energy audit through Alliant Energy yesterday. If you have an audit, then they'll give you a rebate on additional insulation, replacement windows and doors...whatever they deem necessary. Paul seemed like a nice guy and he brought us some free stuff, but I was not expecting to hear...

• "You seriously don't have a wood-burning stove?!?"
• "You need to turn your heat up."
• "Do you ever run your air conditioner??"
• "You spent as much to heat your house and you with your water heater last year."
• "I looked at your bills from the last year. I really didn't think anyone was living here."

Christmas Cookies!!

Aaron and I have the "dilemna" of not being able to choose just a couple things to make for our family Christmases, so we end up making a ton of things and then doing our best to distribute them among everyone we know. I think we have 10-12 things on our list for this year. We'll be baking like crazy next week and I'm so excited about it!! Aaron loves Christmas music, so we'll have that blasting the whole time and we'll use practically every dish we own and then some. It's a fun tradition we started our first year together, when we both had a bunch of things we wanted the other to try. Every year so far we've made a few different things so that we can keep sharing and trying new things. I love it!!

What is your favorite Christmas cookie??

We have a dog down...

Ok, well, it's not stopping him that much, but he's definitely milking his 'injury' for everything it's worth. He sits around with his paw hanging in the air:

...because he has a toenail that's cracked. He still runs around most of the time, but when he's not running around, he just sits there with his paw hanging in the air, shooting you a look like "Oh, jeez. I'm hurt so bad! You better pet me!! LOTS!!" Crazy dog!!

Driving in a Hail Storm

It's amazing how the weather can change in a 15 mile range!! I left a friend's house in Ames last night, where it was dry. By the time I got home I had encountered, drizzle, big fat rain drops, heavy, blinding rain and hail. Lots and lots of hail!! I can't remember ever seeing hail before and I know I've never driven through it. That was a scary and unexpected experience (especially since it was December 11th!!)

Extravaganza Days 3 & 4

Day 3 (Friday)

We had to work on Friday. Part-way through the afternoon, a special delivery arrived for Aaron. I had ice cream shipped overnight from Ohio for him. We went to a really great ice cream place when we were out there for Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd surprise him with a few pints.

The ice cream was packed in dry ice. Aaron definitely had some fun playing with that!!

We left work a little early and headed to Iowa City for the basketball game. Despite the fact that we almost got crushed on the way there, it wasn't a bad trip and we made it through all the traffic and into the game with a few minutes to spare. It was fun even though the Cyclones lost. After seeing how the Hawkeye fans acted, we're proud to be Cyclone fans!!

"Lets try to smile even though the Cyclones are losing and we're surrounded by Hawkeye fans..."

Day 4 (Saturday)

We spent Friday night in Cedar Rapids at my dad's place where we were greatly entertained by his kitten, Garfield. On our way home, we stopped in Iowa City and met Ambre at HuHot for lunch (yes, the same place we went for his birthday dinner on Wednesday!!) We took a quick nap when we got home (yay for naps!!) and then headed into work for a bit to help out with some holiday parties.

Garfield had no problem finding trouble to get in to.

Birthday Extravaganza - Day 2!!

Aaron's birthday extravaganza continued yesterday. Yesterday was the day. It was his birthday. It was, however, probably the most low key day of the whole extravaganza.

We got to sleep in together (past 7 a.m.!!) and hang out for a while in the morning, but I did have to go to class. Aaron went up to Ames to get a haircut, which is quite a treat, because he goes to Sport Clips and gets to have a head massage and watch sports during his hair cut. Then, in my break between classes, we had lunch together and Aaron went shopping with his birthday money. While I was in class for the afternoon, Aaron went home and watched a movie (the first Pirates of the Caribbean). Then we spent the night making dinner together and lounging around. We also drank some Bacardi, because it was his birthday (imagine us singing our own versions of that song all night...)

That was it for yesterday, but the fun continues today. There's a surprise for Aaron and we'll be heading to Iowa City for the Iowa vs. Iowa State basketball game (which was supposed to be a surprise, but he accidentally guessed it).

Day 1 of Aaron's 4 Day Birthday Extravaganza!!

The extravaganza started today. I took brownies to work so he could share a birthday treat and we went to dinner at HuHot with the family tonight. Aaron has been looking forward to going to HuHut for close to a month now, so he's a happy, and full, guy now!!

More to come tomorrow!! And tomorrow's the day!!

10 things that make Blakely smile

(in no particular order...)

• When Aaron does a "jig" for me.
• When it's time for bed, we let the dogs out one last time. When they come inside Nick the dog runs around the house until he finds me, then turns around and runs downstairs. It's like he just has to say "good-night mom!!"
• Cookies. And chocolate. Especially chocolate chip cookies!!
• Referring to Aaron as my husband! An old friend from high school found me on facebook recently and asked if I had gotten married. I was practically giddy to be able to reply and say, "Yes! And my husband is wonderful!!"
• Kids. They're simply wonderful.
• Our wedding pictures. Our photographer did a great job of capturing the day and I love looking back on the day that Aaron and I became husband and wife.
• Getting personal mail. Both email or 'snail-mail', as long as it's not junk or a bill!!
• Thinking about the future. It's a little daunting at times, but I'm so looking forward to growing and changing with Aaron and creating a family.
• Thursday nights. Maybe this makes me a TV-junkie, but I love sitting down and watching 3 hours of TV that I love. We snuggle, we eat popcorn and I don't have to think about school or work or bills or anything in the 'real world.'
• Doing something nice and/or unexpected for Aaron that makes him smile.

The Top Ten Things I Love about Slater

10) There's a llama farm here. How many small towns can boast that?!?
9) The ladies at the post office know who I am and our PO Box # without me having to say a word.
8) The first letter of each street name in the trailer park spells "Slater." Sycamore, Locust, Ash, Teek, Elm and Redwood. The other street names are numbered (going east and west) and the counties of Iowa, in order (going north and south), so you won't get lost ;-)
7) We have the "Log Cabin." It's a great little community club that can be rented out for only $25. We used it for our rehearsal dinner.
6) We have a grocery store. They sell Ben & Jerry's and they have a great meat counter!
5) We know our neighbors. They know us. Our neighbor to the south bought his house from Aaron's grandpa 40 years ago. Aaron's dad grew up there!!
4) There's a group of old guys who gather at Casey's every morning when it opens at 6am. Rain or shine, they stand outside and drink their coffee and eat their donuts.
3) Slater's Christmas on Main. Burgers, Brats, fire pits to make s'mores in, a turkey raffle, and a giant Christmas tree on Main Street.

2) Slater hosts the Fourth of July every other year, alternating with Sheldahl. There's a carnival, beer tent, a parade and better fireworks than Ames!!

1) My husband and I can feel comfortable raising our kids here someday! (And for now, it's a pretty good place to raise our dogs!!)

Did I really see that?!?

Aaron and I got tickets to the Guns 'N Roses concert through work on Friday. It was an interesting night with some definite "firsts."

• It was the first time I'd seen a burlesque show. They had a group called "The Suicide Girls" as one of their opening acts.
• We witnessed a young couple having intimate relations a few rows behind us. I expect to see a lot of different things in Hilton Coliseum, but that was not one of those things!!
• It was the first time I've witnessed a celebrities 'pre-madonna' attitude first-hand. Axel Rose decided that he "just wasn't feeling it" and Guns 'N Roses didn't take the stage until after 12:30 a.m., four-and-a-half hours after the concert started.

We got to hang out with a lot of friends from work while were were there, so it was a fun night, but I definitely don't need a repeat of the "firsts" any time soon.