Chris is the BEST!!!!

Becky got a new pink Razr cell a few weeks ago. I was just a little jealous. My cell phone is almost 2 years old and I was just tired of it. DH has always said that he thought Razrs were a waste of money. Of course, I had to disagree and have been dropping hints for the past week or so. Since we have Verizon, we can get the light pink one that no other carrier has. Of course, this is also the pink that Becky really wanted but couldn't get! :)

So Chris agree to let me go look and to see if we were eligible for an upgrade on our phones. Turns out that HIS phone was eligable, but mine was not. Being the ROCK STAR husband that he is, he agreed to let me have the new phone. Thanks to the AWESOME rep at the Verizon counter, Chris was able to keep his phone and I got my new pink Razr....



Of course, Chris is now taking every opportunity to remind me that I am now in his debt. Everytime he wants something, he just says, "Pink Razr" :)

I am spoiled... and I love my husband!

End of An Era...

A 1992 Cavalier… strange to consider this car as a symbol of an era… but it was just that.

My parents bought this car for me when I was a freshman in college. It was my lifeline to life at home and I spent HOURS driving between Normal and Antioch. It was my first real time of independence. I could go wherever it would take me. I traveled to schools for practicum and eventually to my student teaching placements. It allowed me to have a job off campus that I loved. I paid dearly for parking spots on campus and even had to fight my roommates for the sacred spot in our apartment complex.

We used the car as collateral to pay for our wedding. It was in this car that we took our first real vacation as a married couple. We drove through 8 states in 8 days that Spring Break. It was our reliable car as Chris was driving the Geo Metro at the time. IT was not always reliable, and required several alternators and batteries over the years. However in the end, it always came through for us.

As much as I liked the cavalier, it was time to move on and get a newer car. I was now a professional and wanted a “grown-up car.” We bought a Kia Sportage for me to drive and Chris started driving the Cavalier. We still depended on it, and it made the long commute with Chris to work each day. Eventually, it became apparent that we needed to upgrade once again. Chris bought a Malibu and the Cavalier became our back-up car. Sadly, that was really the last time it was driven. I was now driving a larger SUV and Chris had his Malibu.

The cavalier has sat in our driveway for 5 years. I guess part of me just didn’t want to get rid of it just yet. We talked about getting rid of it all the time, but just never followed through. It stopped working and had really started to show the miles and years. Chris finally arranged for our neighbor to come and take it to the junk yard. We were paid $50 and off it went.

So it is the end of an era… I am now more responsible and more grown up. We’re in our 30’s now. But I honestly had a pang of sadness as I watched him take our 1992 Cavalier away!

The Plague

has hit... okay maybe it us just a bad case of the flu, but I don't think I have ever been this sick for no apparent reason. YUCK! I've now missed four days of school and haven't been out of bed since Sunday night. I haven't had anything other than saltine crackers to eat since Sunday either. YUCK YUCK YUCK! I have finally stopped getting sick but now I just ache from head to toe. I did get caught up on General Hospital, though!

I am so lucky to have amazing people in my life. Chris has taken such good care of me. He was so worried yesterday morning and really wanted to take me to the ER since I kept getting sick and couldn't keep anything down. He was so worried. He was up with me all of Sunday night and even came home in the middle of the day yesterday to take care of me. He brought me pepto and sprite yesterday and has done a Gatorade run for me today. I just hope he doesn't catch this. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy!

Becky has been my lifesaver when it comes to school... I really don't know what I would do without her. She is one of the most generous and giving people that I know. When I called her yesterday morning, she was trying to get me to go to the ER all the while writing lesson plans for my sub. She has saved the day for me more than once. She stepped in so I could go to Florida, and has had to keep my classroom running for the past two days in addition to her own. It is hard to believe that we have only been friends for two years. I know that I could call her in the middle of the night and she would move heaven and earth to do whatever I needed. I hope she knows that I would do the same for her.

Chris' mom is here for the week. She is taking a class about the new embroidery machine she bought here in Gurnee. I had to clean up my scrapbook room as that doubles as our guest room. I am itching to get back in there to scrap... but since I haven't been out of bed for two days... I have some design team things to get done as well as working on some of my CKU projects. My mimi tote is still packed from CKU... all my goodie bags have yet to be unpacked!

Hopefully life will really get back to normal soon! Back to work tomorrow and Thursday and then we have a three day weekend. Hopefully my students will be ready to work when I get back! :)

Whirlwind

I am so excited to be heading to Florida thanks to the generosity of one of our swim parents. I will be spending some time with Chris, who I haven't seen for a week now. :( I am happy to be going... but feeling rushed and crazy!

Getting ready for CKU was a whirlwind. It was worth every hectic moment. I couldn't have imagined a better weekend. I'll post more photos when I get back from Florida.

I am just wishing that I had some quiet time... you see my head is full of all of the things that I feel that I "need" to do. I really need to get the house clean before I leave... I really need to get the rest of my things packed and ready to go tomorrow.... I really need to unpack from CKU still... I really need to clean my scraproom... I really need to write a few more articles for one of my DT's... I really need to finish a project for another DT... I need to finish my CKU album... I need to do lesson plans for the days I am going to be gone... I need to set up some IEP meetings at school... I need to.... I need to... I need to.... I need to relax!

Ok... it feels good to just get that out. My good friend Becky keeps reminding me that I need to just relax and enjoy the time with Chris in Florida. I know she is right... so maybe I should go do a few of those things that I "need" to do!

Elements of Style ROCKS!

This past weekend was probably one of the most amazing weekends in my life. Attending CKU was AMAZING! I am exhausted but very inspired. I loved my elective classes, but I could have skipped all of them to spend more time with the amzing Junkitz Ladies! Stacey, Janna and Teresa were AMAZING and made every moment of our album track fun and inspirational.


I love this album more than anything I have ever created before. It is like having a piece of my soul in a scrapbook. It is far from finished, but I can't wait to have the time to work on it. As much as I love my album, I loved the experience of creating it even more. The Junkitz Girlz are so real and took the time to get to know each and every one of us. The track was designed to make each album unique. I am just not a cookie cutter type of gal. This was a PERFECT track for me!

I was also blessed to have a great dorm... Robin and I joined last minute and they welcomed us with open arms. We were in the "Aged and Distressed" Dorm and had cute hats and nametags made by one of our dorm mates. Here is a photo of us with Tim Holtz:


I was also blessed with my table mates at my track... they made an already amazing experience even more fun! We shared lots of laughs and even a few drinks... It is amazing how quickly you can bond with complete strangers who share a common passion. Thanks girls for a great time... I hope we can get together again sometime real soon!



I really need to do some laundry and grades... Chris left for Florida this morning. I might try to make a short trip out there later in the week...we'll see if that works out. I really miss him... especially since I spent so much time working with photos of him! :)

Off to get some rest... and maybe grade a little....

Off to CKU!!!!

I am so excited to be off to CKU later this morning. I still have a list of things that I wanted to get done and didn't.... Oh well! :) I am excited to spend the weekend with 700 women as passionate about scrapbooking as I am. I was at dinner with coworkers last night and they just didn't get it.... it will be nice to be with people who get it! :-)

The downside is that Chris and I will be apart for 10 days... longer than we have ever been apart in our marriage! I get home on Sunday and he flies out on Sunday morning early. I am a little bitter about him heading to Florida without me... but I am more sad about being home alone for a week. Good thing I have the attack dogs here at home!

Just wanted to post a quick entry... off to try to get a few more things done!

After 6 years, you would think I would learn...

that I am not ever going to get pregnant on my own!



We are still in Miineapolis this morning... we decided to stay an extra night. We hadn't really had a chance to check out the mall. After dinner on Saturday, the swimmers wanted Chris to come back to the hotel and swim with them. It's hard to resist such cute faces! :-) So we decided to stay so that I could get my mall fix. A new bra from Victoria's Secret, Old Navy goodies, and some new shoes were all my treasures. (I also managed to hit 5 different scrapbook stores while Chris was at the meet on Saturday and Sunday!!!!)

So we had a nice dinner... just the two of us. Headed to the hot tub and enjoyed it until it seemed that the entire pool area was being over-run by little people. I don't think I have ever seen that many children in a pool area. So much for a quiet night. We came back to our room... and that's when it happened. Mother Nature ending my hopes that just maybe we would get "lucky" this time.

Since my surgery in November, we haven't done anything as far as treatment goes. I have had fairly regular cycles... anywhere from 35 to 50 days long. Every other time I have had some cramping or some other tell tale signs that my cycle was about to begin. NOT THIS TIME! I even thought I was "tricking" it... I pretended that I wasn't thinking about it. I had a beer with dinner, went into the hot tub... of course I am not pregnant. But in the end, my heart felt differently.

You would think that after almost 6 years things would get easer. That just isn't the case. It seemed that EVERYONE we saw at the mall had children... even children themselves! Life just isn't fair. We've paid our dues. We've grown as a couple. We're not perfect, but neither are any of our friends and others that we know who have been blessed with children.

I really thought I was numb to all of this. I don't even really know why this month is hitting me so hard. I just feel so defeated. I love my husband dearly. We have two crazy mutts who we adore. We both have careers that involve children. WHY CAN"T WE CATCH A BREAK?????

So here I am... awake at the crack of dawn while Chris finally gets to sleep in. I can't sleep as every dream I have is related to chilren or the lack of them. On a bright note, I am headed to CKU on Wednesday. I am going to throw myself into getting my homework done for that. Maybe I will be able to get my mind off things for at least a few days.