The time has come!

Hey, what do ya know!? It's October!! The summer just flew by with a whole lot of stuff happening. It's 2am and I can't sleep, so I thought I'd post something. It's been several months and I'm sorry I've been slacking!

Let see...

Dan & I went to Texas to surprise my mom & dad...and boy did we! Mom was so flabbergasted, she thought we were going to Las Vegas. On our last night there, we all took dad to the ER because he wasn't doing so well. It's a good thing we did, because finally someone was able to tell us why his health had been going downhill. Mom said he's been doing a lot better though and continues to improve. Unfortunately I haven't gotten any of our pictures from that trip, because the SD card reader I have doesn't support the HD SD card I used in our camera...stupid technology!

Our nephew, Connor Alan, was born on the 25th of September!! We can't wait to see him in person! From all the pictures and videos we've been getting, he is just the cutest little guy.

The countdown has begun and we are just about moved. There isn't much left here at our apartment in Madison. We're down to the bed, some clothes, our TV, and odds & ends. Our official last day here is Oct. 17th....so in 12 (hopefully short) days we'll be outa here!! I've transfered to the Mt Prospect Menards, and Dan is going to the Morton Grove store. We're still waiting to hear from a dealership in Highland Park. Dan is one of their top 3 choices and should get a call for a 2nd interview sometime this week. So keep your fingers crossed!

That's all for now! I should probably try to get some sleep. It's a good thing I have the day off :)

Here's some pics of Connor, I'm sure everyone has seen them...but I'm a proud Auntie, so you'll see 'em again! :)

Is it October yet?

Well, its official...I have a job when we move to Illinois in a couple of months! My transfer was accepted by the Menards in Mount Prospect :) My last day at the Madison store will be Oct. 16th and I will start at Mt P. on the 26th.

Dan & I were just down by his parents to prepare our room for the move. We also drove to a couple of Infiniti dealers so Dan could drop off his resume and talk to the service managers...that's not looking so good though :( With the way the economy is no one is hiring, in fact one of the dealers just laid off a bunch of techs. So as a back up plan, we stopped by the Pep Boys that Dan worked at before moving to Madison and it sounds like they'd hire him back in a heartbeat. Of course, he's always got Menards too :)

We're really looking forward to getting out of Madison. Not that its not a nice place to live...we're just tired of missing out on everything.

Oh well, nothing else new & exciting to report. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

A Good Time With Family

Last week we were lucky enough to get 4 glorious days off of work so we could spend time w/ my parents. They flew up from Texas and spent over a week in Illinois. My mom went to an ObesityHelp seminar and got to meet Dr. Garth Brooks from the TV show Big Medicine. She's been doing amazing since her gastric bypass surgery last year!

(sorry Mom, this isn't the greatest picture but you're still lookin' awesome!)

Dan & I picked Mom up from the hotel Sunday morning and headed over to Uncle Ken & Aunt Sue's...we got there just in time to find them pulling out of the driveway, "We're headed to Shannon's, follow us!" Okie Dokie! We found out everyone was meeting at Shannon & Alan's to go watch the parade for the Oak Forest High School Softball Team, because they just took the State Championship. Go Lady Bengals and Emily (Gatorade Player of the Year!) We also got to meet the newest member of the Gormley family, Maggie Joan. She's was just 5 days old! We had a great time at the parade and loved watching all my little cousins run around. The kids definitely had a good time. After the parade we headed over to my Gramma's to pick up my Dad and hang out w/ his side of the family. They had a surprise party for my cousin Jacob's 8th grade graduation. It was a great day! Of course, no one remembered to take pictures and in fact I forgot to take our camera when we left...ugh :) On Monday, Mom & I hit the stores. We shopped till we dropped for my soon-to-be nephew. It was definitely a successful shopping day and that boy will be one sharp looking baby in his duds. Tuesday we took a bike ride around the neighborhood and up a bike path. I commented to Mom that we haven't been on a ride together in more than 15 years! It was awesome to see her out & about on Uncle Ken's bike! Shortly after returning from the bike ride the rain came, so we just hung out in the screened-in garage and watched some tv. Mom & I worked on our current crochet projects. Wednesday morning we had breakfast at Chef Klaus (It's got a different name now, but I can't think of it). Dan really wanted to go there again, because the last time we were there he was too hung over to enjoy his breakfast! Afterwards we came back to Uncle Ken's and relaxed with Shannon, her sister-in-law Kathleen & the Irish Kids. That evening we headed over to Jack & Michelle's to celebrate Jack's birthday. Oh, and if I forget to email you Michelle....can I get the recipe for that pasta salad you made?! It was sooooooo good! We had a wonderful time with the family all week and are so glad we got the time off. Dan & I are looking forward to moving to Illinois in just a 4 & 1/2 short months and hope to see our families way more often. It'll be nice to be closer to everyone! I feel like it will be a long time before we get another mini-vaca like this, so we made sure to cherish every minute!

Fishing Fun

Last week Dan & I went fishing w/ our friend & roommate "Moyer". I haven't been fishing for a looooong time, and Dan had only been once (which was a couple days before this trip). Dan decided he liked it enough that we needed to get our own fishing poles. So after work we stopped at Farm & Fleet and got some poles and a fishing license for me. Then, it was off to the lake by Henry Vilas Zoo for some fishing fun.

It was a little windy and not much was biting...except the trees!

Eventually, we managed to get a few bites. I pulled three fish out of the water and Dan got one. They were de-hooked and thrown back in.

Fun in Mexico

We were not about to let the swine flu keep us from spending time with family in Riviera Maya, Mexico at the end of April. My cousin Don and his fiance Beth were married on April 30th just a few feet away from the Caribbean. The weather was perfect, the drinks were flowing...we couldn't have asked for a better time!


Ugh, I've been working on this post for over a week and because the file size for the pictures are too big, it's taking forever. All of the pictures we took are on Facebook and I'll be adding them to my Photobucket page as well :) Sorry for the delay in posting!

Easter Greetings!

Wow...its April already! Let me start this post w/ birthdays:

April 1st - Uncle Mike
April 2nd - Kevin
April 11th - Colleen
April 14th - MOM
April 19th - Lisa
April 21st - Me :)

I think there may be one or two I'm missing (like Marlene?) Please let me know who I left out!! Happy Birthday to everyone!!!!

Also, Happy Easter! Sadly, Dan & I are working this weekend so we are not able to spend time w/ family :( We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday!

So this morning Dan & I participated in the American Cancer Society's 5k/10k run/walk at Warner Park here in Madison. Neither of us have ever done anything like this and we had a blast! We only did the 5k walk, which is slightly over 3 miles. There were a couple of steep inclines so we got a pretty good workout. I saw a flyer for the 12th Annual Susan G. Komen Madison Race for the Cure on May 30th, so I think I might sign us up for that one too! It felt good being outside for the walk today, even though it was only 35 degrees.

All the walking has definitely had a good effect on me. I'm about a pound away from 20 lbs lost since I really started dieting/exercising in February. We haven't made it to the gym for the last couple of weeks, but watching what I eat and getting in about 2-3 miles a day of walking have been beneficial. I haven't noticed too much of a difference myself, although I think my favorite pair of jeans (which I wear to Menards) are slightly loose. I've also been lifting weights a couple days a week and I have noticed a slight difference in my arms from that :)

Speaking of Menards......I'll be a full-time Head Cashier as of April 19th. Our office manager is trying to find a job where she can use her college degree, and she keeps asking if I want her job....of course I do!! So I'm hoping it'll only be a matter of time before I'm posting that I'm a Front Office Manager! My last day at Z was Friday. It was sad leaving everyone that I've worked with for almost 2 years, but it was definitely time to go. I'm still planning on having lunch w/ some of my Z co-workers and visiting before we move in October.

Well, its been long day and I'm ready for bed so I'll end this post.

Have a Very "Hoppy" Easter!

March Madness

I'm definitely not a big basketball fan and haven't watched a game in years. I don't participate in brackets or pools of any sort. However this evening, Dan & I had dinner w/ our friends Dan & Lana and spent a very nice evening watching basketball. Lana & I took a short break to run to Walmart and the two Dans did some work on Lana's car. Ultimately we ended up in front of the TV watching game after game. I must say, it was quite enjoyable. As I type this Wisc & Fla St are in overtime, as are Siena & OH State...we're back home & I actually still have the games on! Weird!

In other news...we're getting closer to our move. So far I've gotten the kitchen & downstairs bathroom repainted and will work on the dining room wall & loft bedroom tomorrow while Dan is at work. Also, I have exactly 3 weeks left at Z. I'm looking forward to some free time before hopefully going full time at Menards in May. I got a little promotion at Menards to Head Cashier, which means a raise and some extra hours probably :) I'm also going to start working every weekend at the end of May for extra $$.

At the beginning of February I decided it was really time to kick it in gear and lose weight. Of course that was one of my New Year's Resolutions. So with the help of SparkPeople.com I've managed to lose 13 lbs so far. My goal is to lose 25 lbs by the time we leave for Cancun at the end of April. My overall goal is to lose about 75-80 lbs. Dan & I have been trying to make it to the gym at least twice a week, some weeks are better than others. However, I have been walking during my lunch hour at Z. By using a pedometer I discovered about 3 laps is equal to a mile and I've been walking about 7-8 laps 3 to 4 times a week. Water has also become a huge staple in my daily routine. I take a 16.9 fl oz bottle of water w/ to work in the morning and usually drink most of it on the way in. It gets refilled numerous times throughout the day. I'm only drinking soda w/ my lunch and its either Sierra Mist Free or Diet Rootbeer, so no calories or grams of fat :) When we ran to Walmart tonight I picked up some wrist and ankle weights to vamp up my daily walks.

Oh...Wisconsin just won...GO BADGERS!

Also...I've been given permission to announce I'm going to be an Aunt! YAY!!!! I wish I had more details than that, but I don't.

Well Happy First Day of Spring everyone!!

Making Paczkis

Just a quick lesson in Polish....Paczki is pronounced poonch-key (don't ask me how the "n" made it into the pronunciation!)

Last Saturday, Feb. 21st while Dan & his buddies were at the Chicago Auto Show I spent the day with my mother-in-law and her mother making paczkis. We started around 9:30am and finished about 4:30pm. Yes, making these scrumptious Polish doughnuts is an all day process! It's only done once a year (but now that I know how to make them Dan is hoping to get paczkis more often).

I had a wonderful time "bonding" with Dan's grandma and felt very lucky to take part in the process. Not only did I mix, knead and cut...I also got to put the doughnuts in the deep fryer and take them out...something Dan's mom was never even allowed to do! (I let her help me though) It was a long day, but well worth it in the end! Take a look at some highlights from that day:

While we were having fun, Dan & his friends were stuck in an elevator at the Hyatt Regency!! Ask him about it next time you see him :)

Low-key weekend

Even though I've been sick all weekend Dan & I still managed to have a good time. I slept in a bit on Saturday morning & then basically loafed around 'til noon. I got another tote & box packed. Dan had to work till 3, the poor thing :( Our friends Dan & Lana picked me up around 3:30 and we met my Dan at an apartment we've decided to share when our leases are up. We'll get a 6 month lease and our rent will fall to below 1/2 what we're paying now...which will save us plenty of $$ for our Illinois move. We filled out the rental apps & put down a holding fee, so we should hear later this week if we've been approved (I don't see why we wouldn't be).

Saturday evening we went to Fast Forward (the rollerskating rink in Madison) for Lana's birthday. Dan & I both tried roller skates for a few laps & decided to switch to rollerblades. We stuck w/ the blades the rest of the evening. I think its been at least 8 years since the last time I did something like this. I have a pair of rollerblades, however I haven't managed to pull them out of the closet & dust them off yet. Maybe this summer :) After skating we all went to the Great Dane for a few drinks. I was exhausted by this point and ready to take some Nyquil and go to bed. But we hung around till 11:30 or so (late for us :).

I didn't sleep well Saturday night and woke up this morning feeling worse. I feel like I haven't been able to me more than a couple inches away from a box of kleenex all day. We went to the Cub Foods on Verona Rd. to do some grocery shopping, because they're closing the store everything was on sale. Everything had pretty much been picked through, but we were able to find a few bargains. We did the rest of our grocery shopping at Copps. Now we're home, I just cleaned out the litter box and there's laundry in the washer/dryer, so it looks like I've got plenty of things to keep me occupied until bed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll be able to sleep better tonight.

Well, I hope everyone had a good weekend. For those of you up north here, I hope you took advantage of the awesome weather we had! Could winter be over already?

25 Random Things

I keep getting tagged for this thing of Facebook, so I thought I'd put it in my blog, because I much prefer blogspot to facebook :)

So here's my 25 Random Things About Me:

1. I really miss everyone in Texas...even though I just saw a majority of my family I know that I'm missing out on soooo much!

2. I couldn't be more proud of my mom. She's truly an inspiration and I just wish I could get my rear in gear like she did.

3. I worry about dad...but there's nothing I can do from here :(

4. I'm super excited to move to Illinois, even though we're postponing it for another 6 months. The sooner we move, the sooner we'll be able to get a house and the sooner we can have kids!

5. I've eaten more Mexican food since moving to Wisconsin than I ever did living in South Texas!

6. I love when Dan cooks. Sometimes you just never know what's in the dish...at first that didn't sit well with me, but I've learned to enjoy it. He kindly makes sure to let me know now what he's put in the sauce, and we both have a lot of similar dislikes when it comes to food, so I know he'd never put anything I don't like in whatever he makes.

7. I hate packing! Every time we move we've got more and more stuff to pack. This time we're selling off a lot of the big stuff so we don't have to store it.

8. Even though I complain about having to get up for work at 6 or 7am, I know that I'm lucky to get to sleep that long...because I know once babies come along it'll be a miracle to get to sleep at all.

9. Where do my bras keep disappearing to? I have like 8 of them and when I got dressed this morning I couldn't find any of them!

10. I remember thinking my freshman year of high school "Holy cow! 4 years of this, I don't know if I can make it!" Next year will be my 10 year high school reunion. That's even scarier!

11. I miss my truck. We just bought a 2003 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, but it's Dan's....so I don't really get to drive it often :(

12. I got to this point and decided it was time for bed...I'll do the remaining 13 tomorrow night!

13. I actually look forward to working weekends, because that means that we have something to do and we're not out spending money

14. I worry about certain friends....more than I should, but I can't help it.

15. I got my first (and only) Coach purse. Dan knew how much I've been wanting one and as a wedding/Christmas/birthday present he said I could pick one out. Luckily, I found one on eBay for 1/2 the price....Dan says that I'm not allowed to buy another purse for the next 30 years, but that's okay, I love the one I got! (I even found a matching wallet & coin purse at the outlet in the Dells)

16. I have about 69 more days left at "Z", and am really looking forward to leaving! I'll have a few weeks of working just the part-time job and then I'll go full-time there. I'm going to miss some of my co-workers, but I know we'll keep in touch.

17. Right after I leave "Z" Dan & I are going to Mexico for my cousin's wedding...and we are sooooo looking forward to it! We're trying to get all our traveling out of our systems now so we can hunker down and save for our house.

18. I really want a dog...but the apartment we're in doesn't allow dogs, and when we move to Illinois we'll already have the 2 cats and Dan's parents have a dog, so it'd definitely be a full house. So I have to wait for a couple more years :(

19. I'm almost done w/ the thank-you's! I think I have about 30 more! This stuff is more time consuming than I thought it'd be

20. I love to crochet! I'm working on a blanket for a co-worker and luckily I had leftover yarn from a previous project...unlucky for me that there isn't enough to finish the blanket and even more unlucky - none of the craft stores carry that yarn! So I had to order it online :(

21. I keep wondering why 60 degrees feels a heck of a lot colder up here than it ever did in Texas. It may be 4 outside, but its 60 in our apartment and I'm still freezing!

22. I seem to be the master at ruining surprises. Since we're working on our taxes Dan took all the receipts out of his wallet so we can make sure to deduct all his tool purchases from work. Well, I was picking up the wad of receipts that were scattered all over the table and noticed one for a nail place in the mall. It was a date that Dan didn't have to work and I knew he'd run some errands. So like an idiot, I asked if he'd gone to get a pedicure....No, of course he didn't! He kinda mumbled to himself and gave me "that" look, which told me I'd just ruined a surprise....yup, my Valentine's Day gift.

23. I don't know if I'm not getting enough sleep, but I've been super tired lately...I almost fell asleep at work today! I'm going to try going to bed early tonight and see how I feel in the morning.

24. My one regret from the wedding...well, not really a regret I guess, more of a wish...I wish my bouquet would have survived! I loved my flowers but they were mush by the time we got back from the honeymoon :(

25. My biggest fear is losing everyone I love and dying alone (I know, its morbid, but its true)

A New Year

Wow! Where did the holidays go? I can't believe its January 7th already!

So New Year's Resolutions....every year I make them and usually they don't last :( But I'm hoping this year to do better!

The first, of course, is to lose weight! As if my own wedding wasn't motivation enough last year, I was too exhausted from working and planning that I couldn't find the energy to drag my butt to the gym. But this year, we have a wedding to attend in Mexico so my goal is to drop 30-40 pounds and feel a little better about myself in a bathing suit! So far so good, I weighed myself just after the 1st and again yesterday morning and I'd lost 5 pounds. Let's hope I can keep it up!

Second, sadly, is to work more. Putting more hours in at Menards means we'll be closer to being debt free and even closer to getting a house sometime in the next two years. (The up side of this is we're closer to the gym, which means we'll go more often)

Third, is to get our Thank-You's out by the end of February (but I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can finish them by the end of January). I've got 10 done so far, and I figure if I can do a couple during my lunch hour each day I should be in good shape!

Fourth, cook more. This may be a little bit of a stretch since starting next week I'll be working 3 evenings a week at Menards, and the week after it'll be 4 nights. But on Thursdays when Dan & I are both off, it'll be nice to have a hot, home cooked meal.

Fifth, keep up w/ everyone's birthdays better. Let's start with January...please correct me if I'm wrong because I'm terrible w/ dates! We have Aunt Susie on the 9th, and Denise on the 18th. Who else!? I've got to be forgetting about someone!

Sixth, spend more time with our families. Even though we had all the wedding hooplah last year, I still feel we didn't spend very much time with family. Of course, in about 4 short months we'll be up to our ears in family :) By now I'm sure everyone knows that Dan & I will be moving to Illinois and staying with his parents until we get a house. We're also planning on going to Texas for Christmas, which I'm super excited about!

I think that's about enough resolutions. If I add any more I may not get the first six accomplished!

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2009!

This will be a very interesting year!