Miss the Family

Today I was to be in Palestine IL with tons of family and relatives. Unfortunally I was unable to make it due to weather. I was hoping to go, but with Wisconsin weather you can never be sure about driving. We got probably a good 5 inches of snow here yesterday and it was hard just to drive in that. So I didn't want to risk driving to far by myself.

But tonight I will be getting a phone call from the family while they are opening presents. I always make a calendar for my grandpa .I worked on the calendar for a good month or so. So I always look forward to hearing others comments on what they thought.

Not to much longer though and I will get to see the whole family. Come May 17th, everyone will be in Madison Wisconsin for our wedding.

Everyone drive safe out there...

Merry Chrismas and Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas to all !!! This christmas is the first year I will not be going home for Christmas. I"m kind of sad about that. But family understands and that's why I love them so much. This year I didn't ask for anything for Christmas. I think it's becoming to over rated but that's just my opinion. Plus Andy and I have the wedding coming up and I imagine we will get a lot of gifts at that time. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas and I miss all of you. Can't wait to see you in May!!!

Yummmmmy In My Tummmmmmy

Do you ever get in that mood where you want to make or bake something. I do! Tonight I decided to run to Target after work and pick up some Vanilla and Baking powder so I could make my choc. chip cookies. I had all the other ingredients but that. So I got home, ate dinner and made some cookie dough. I haven't baked them yet, but the dough is sure good! MMM good!!!!!

Scrapbook Calendar

For the last 5-6 years I think it has been I have been scrap booking a Calendar for my grandpa! This calendar is 12 pages full of our whole entire family. I usually wait till the last minute to start working on it but I have decided this year I'm going to start early. So this past weekend I got all the pictures that I wanted to print and had them done at Walgreen's. I think the photo lab guy knows me by name now since that's where I go. Anyways though I had tons of great pictures from Christmas 2006, Labor Day 2007, Brandice and Kenny Wedding 2007, and some misc pictures that family members have given me. And let me tell you there are some good ones. This Christmas I will not be able to come down . I have to save my vacation time up for the wedding. But my family understands that. I will miss each one of them though. So I have to get the calendar done so I can ship it to Palestine IL.... I can't post any pictures because they may be in the calendar. I have to keep them a secret .

Words from a Wise Cousin!

After my cousin Brandice got married , I asked her what some of the Pro's of Cons of things she did at her wedding. Things I can use to learn from on our upcoming wedding. Here are the tips she gave me, have any others please let me know...

Tips

Make sure to write your thank you cards out ahead of time and make labeled envelopes with money due and thank you notes to pass out to people.

Make sure your dress and bustle work and fit properly ahead of time.

Call the photographer and see when they are going to start taking pictures before you book your appointments for your hair and make up and leave some time in between in case your hair takes longer than planned, like mine did.

Designate someone ahead of time to keep track of all of your stuff. Maybe dived different things up among people.

Bring comfortable shoes to wear at the reception.

Maybe bring an energy drink because you will be running around all day long and it really wears you out.

Take some time at the reception to step away with your new hubby and relax for a moment and see all of the crazy stuff that is going on.

Make a list of must take pictures for your photographer.

Practice cutting a cake together and maybe practice slow dancing. Me and Kenny never did and we were both cracking up because we didn't really know what we were doing.

Make sure to get up and start talking to all of the tables before your do or photographers pull you away because that happened to me and when I came back some people had left and others were up walking around so I didn't really get to say hi to everyone

Thanksgiving Day and Wisdom Teeth

This Thanksgiving we went to Andy parent's house. I was in charge of making the Green Bean Casserole. Pretty easy I have to say. I pretty much lounge around the house all day and munched on food and snacks because the next day I have to have my wisdom teeth pulled. I wasn't looking forward to it all. I think I have been putting it off for about 3 years now. They never really started bothering me till this year. So I had my final meal on Thanksgiving and stuffed myself full. I couldn't eat anything 6 hours before time nor drink.

That next morning I woke up not wanting to go. Andy was getting ready and I was sitting on the couch starting to tear up because I don't like the dentist. So I called my mom and she calmed me down as always. She talked me through what was going to happen and your going to be OK. The things that mom always says. When I arrived my heart was racing and I was nervous. When the lady called my name I looked at Andy with a scared looked.

I told the nurse I was nervous and she said you have nothing to worry about your in good hands. I was indeed! They had me sit in the famous chair and relax with some laughing gas. By that time I had calmed down some. The doc came in and said , alright I'm going to start the IV. He started it and I don't remember a thing...

I was so happy when I was done and I was so tired and drugged up. They give you some good meds, that's for sure...

It's been about a week or so now and I'm just now to the point where I can eat normal food again. I was so happy. Still a little pain when I chew on certain sides but all is well. It was a good experience to say the least.

Famous People at Work

It was a cold day out and all of sudden there was a lot of buzz happening around the dealership. People were asking me do you know so and so ? And I was like uhh not really. Then I went up to an advisor and asked is it really true, Is James Cromwell in our dealership? Yes he is... For those of you that don't know the name, he played in movies such as , Spiderman, Longest Yard, has a star role on Six Feet Under, I Robot , ER, and tons of other movies... I couldn't believe it.. He was passing through from New York and we just happen to be the closest Audi dealership. I can't remember what he was having done, but he hung out and then he went to the bookstore all day. When he came back to pick up his car, I had the chance to help him check out. I had his phone number and his autograph on his bill. It was so awesome to meet someone like him. Other customers were looking at him, like is that really him... Something that doesn't happen to often in our dealership happens... WAY COOL!!!

Engagement Pictures

When we chose our photographer for our wedding we had also received a complimentary package of having an engagement session done. I really wanted to use that time to see what type of photos the photographer would take. Andy really care if we had our pictures done or not. Anyways though we went to this place called Olbrich Gardens. Beautiful weather on a fall day. We had about 300 pictures taken digitally then we had to wait for almost 3 weeks to get them back. I have attached a link to check them out at. Enjoy!

http://www.greyoaksphoto.com/

Click the link and then on the bottom of the page you will see a spot that says images to purchase, click that and then you will see our pictures with a lock on that. Click that and it will ask you for a password. Pretty simple password...

These are some of the garden we took pictures in.

Shelby and Willow are Home!!!

The week after the wedding, my sister Shelby and her daughter Willow came all the way from Colorado to visit. Unfortunately I was unable to make it due to work . I was sad I missed out on all the fun, but Mom sent me some good pics of what all happened. Shelby and Willow will be at the wedding though so I"m really excited to see them . I haven't seen them for I don't know almost a year if not more. Craziness I tell you!

My Cousin's Wedding

I was in my cousin Brandice's wedding this past Oct. I was one of her bridesmaid. It was a whole lot of fun. Andy and I took off on Friday morning since neither of had to work and drove to my cousins house . One highlight of the trip was we got to drive there in a Mercedes. With the company I work for I can rent a car for the weekend and take almost anywhere. So I wanted to get a Mercedes. Andy of course got to drive , he doesn't like me driving because I have a lead foot so he says.. LOL Anyways though we had a wonderful rehearsal dinner. Saturday morning we all woke up, the guys went to play golf, I went shopping before the wedding. Then it was off to the church we go hair, makeup and all. Tons of pictures before the wedding of course which is a good thing. Had the ceremony and then off the party!!! TONS of fun!!! My family was there and my grandpa and other relatives. It was a whole lot of fun. Here are some pictures from the rehearsal, wedding and after party!

BMW Golf Tournament

One night Andy and I were talking and watching TV, we were listening to the golf channel of course since there was a big tournament going on. I said we should go to the final round since it's in the Chicago area. Andy got up and went to the computer and looked up tickets and next thing I know were getting up early in the morning to drive there. We arrived at this really pretty golf course and we brought our folding chairs with us to sit in and it was a nice day out. PERFECT out almost! We got in just to see them warm up at the first hole and tee. Who did we see, Tiger Woods and some other famous golf players. They were the last group to play through I think. Anyways though we watched them and then walked a little further and Tiger Woods walked right past me. He was only like 5-10 ft away from us. It was so cool... Then to top it off he won the tournament on the 18Th hole. It was a really fun day and I told Andy that we should make this a tradition to go to a golf tournament every year.

It's been sometime now

I have been a very bad girl and haven't posted anything in awhile. My cousin emailed me the other day and said when I'm slow at work I look forward to reading your blog. So I thought I better put some new post on here.. Some of these things may be old news but who knows. Enjoy

Wisdom

W H Y do they call them wisdom teeth? So my wisdom teeth have been coming in for the last two years now. And I finally made an appointment to get them taken out. Why do some people have 4 and some only 2.... I was one of the lucky ones that only have 2. I'm not looking forward to it at all. All I know is, they better put me to sleep while they take them out. Mine area also weird, the come in and then they go back down under the gum line. Wisdom teeth., got to love them.

Costochondritis

C O S T O C H O N D R I T I S- Say that 5 times really fast.... I can hardly pronounce it.... Anyways though this past week I had been feeling some chest pain and some hard time breathing. For the first 4-5 days I thought it was just stress from work, but Andy finally talked me into calling the doc. I called for an appointment and they couldn't get me in right away of course, so I had to wait another 3 -4 days till they could. Of course the nurse is asking me all these questions to rule out a heart attack or whatever else. So I finally get in and they decide the want to do all these test on me. I really dislike the doctors office.. They did x-rays, and blood work and EKG.... And all that for a word I can't even say.... It has to do with the Lungs and the cartilage around them being inflamed. Yet they don't know what causes it. Mmmm and they get the big bucks... Anyways though today I'm feeling better but still sometimes it's hard to breath... They said I could have this for 3-6 weeks and it will just disappear on it's own.

Cooking

This past week I decided I was going to make dinner before Andy got home from work. Normally I would wait because I hate cooking, I think I get that from my mom. Anyways though I had a craving for stuffing, like you eat at Thanksgiving, so I went to the store and got a box and I was going to make that with some chicken and veggies. That didn't happen so much. As I was standing in the store, I started to read the back of the box with some recipes on it. If you look on that back of the box you will find it saying, 1 box 3 meal ideas ,30 minutes... So I started liking this recipe for Easy Chicken Bake... Sounded easy and what not and I had all the ingredients. So I followed the directions and it says 30 mins, wrong, it cooked for like an hour just because of the chicken. But in the end Andy came home we ate dinner and he liked it and I was proud of myself for cooking something besides stir fry... Here's the recipe if you would like to try it....

Easy Chicken Bake- Stove Top

Ingredients

1 pkg.(6oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1 Cup of Hot Water

1 - 1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut into 1 inch pieces

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1/3 cup of Sour Cream

1 bag 16(oz) of mixed vegetables

1.Preheat over to 400F. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the dry stuffing mix evenly on bottom of 13x9 baking dish and set aside. Add hot water to remaining stuffing mix, stir just until moistened and set aside.

2. Place chicken over dry stuffing mix in baking dish. Mix soup, sour cream and vegetables, spoon over chicken. Top with prepared stuffing.

3.Bake 30 mins or until chicken is cooked through.

E N J O Y

Fall is here!!!!

So it's finally fall here in Madison Wisconsin. That is probably my favorite season here, all the colors of the trees and the nice cool air so you can sleep well at night. Fall also means there are tons of new shows on. Some of my favorite shows that I'm watching this season are:

Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor,Grey's Anatomy ,Private Practice, Deal or No Deal, Oprah, Rachel Ray,CSI and Young and The Restless

Of course these are all shows I tape and watch on the weekends or late at night when I get home from work if I have time....

Also in the Fall time Andy's schedule changes, so once I get familiar with one he has to change it for the fall time because of bowling. That's OK though we still see each other through out the week...

Did I mention that FALL was my favorite season.

Big Brother Update

So this summer I watched Big Brother 8, what a show. Never thought I would get hooked on it, but boy did I..... This was a good season, lots of drama and lots of good game strategy... Anyone watch this season? Dick won the final game with his daughter coming in second place. They did a great job playing the game... Can't wait till next year.

BMW

So I know I have been bad about writing on here , but I have been busy... So after Labor day we got back into town. That next weekend one of the Pro Golf tournaments was happening near by. I said to Andy lets go... He looked up some tickets and off we were... The best part of it was , I was like 3 ft. from TIGER WOODS...... I watched him and many others play the BMW Championship. I told Andy that we should make this one of our traditions. We went to two different golf tournaments this year and both were a blast..... Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from there because they didn't allow cameras.Maybe next time...

Labor Day Weekend in Palestine IL

Every year we go to Palestine Illinois for the big rodeo and a family get together. It's pretty much a tradition. I have been going to the rodeo since I was born I would have to say. If you don't know what the rodeo consist of ,it's bare back , calf roping, barrel racing, and bull riding. And then there is a funny clown that is there and his name is Rudy!!! People come from all over, the states. Anyways though this year I didn't make it down there till Sunday . So I missed the up town sales and the chuck wagon breakfast and the best part, lunch with the clowns... This is a time for family to get together and visit and catch up on what everyone is doing and things. Here are some pics of the family and rodeo. Oh yeah there is also a parade on Monday morning... Tons of Candy too..... We all wait for the Hershey truck to go by and grab all of that...

Mr.and Mrs. Kovell Married on 9-1-07

So it's been awhile since I wrote on my blog so I thought I better update it. This past weekend was a lot of fun. I went home on Friday night to go old Champaign IL.... Saturday afternoon was one of my best friends wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Kovell. It was a very pretty wedding... Here are a few pics. Congratulations you two!

What a great weekend!

This weekend was the first in almost 2-3 weekends that I didn't have to do a thing. I got to sleep in and do whatever I wanted.

Saturday I got to sleep in... I ran to walmart to do some things and while I was there I picked out some earrings. It's been 6 weeks now since I had my ear's pierced . Can't believe I actually did it and nothing bad happened to my ears. Anyways though I found some really cute ones I have to say. I finally took out my others and tried the new ones. They felt funny in my ears since I hadn't changed me earrings. But now I can wear earrings all the time if I want to. I want to get some funky ones too though just for fun. But we will see. Other then that my weekend was so nice to just sit and relax. Back to work on Monday of course. Everyone have a great week!

Wedding Bliss

This week Andy went through the wedding list and determined it was time to cut the list off and that is our final number of guest. I think we came out at like under 140 people to attend. In my mind that's not bad at all. I have seen weddings where it like 500 people. Can you imagine? I never really wanted a big wedding anyways. Small weddings mean more I think, you get to hang out with more people your not always wondering did I get a chance to talk to them or whatever. So small weddings are fine with me. So the guest list it set...

I'm getting very excited because our engagement pictures are coming up soon. We told the photographers that we would like to have them taken in the Fall time. Don't know where we will have them taken yet but somewhere outside for sure. Maybe next to a Mercedes, NOT.... Any suggestions?

Funny story, a senior high school kid called in today and he asked if he could have his photographer come here and take some senior pics of him by the Porsche and Mercedes. He really must love cars.

Anyways though , that's about it for wedding planning right now. More to come !

Big Brother update!

It's getting good on Big Brother. Now the game is getting a little mixed up and who is siding with who. This week Kail finally went home. Poor Kail, I thought she was kind of rude and a liar. But now Jessica is the HOH. NOT GOOD for the other team. We will see who gets put up on the block on Sunday. Hopefully not Dick or his daughter. I like them. Who is your favorite character if you watch?

Deleted Blog

Well I have deleted the other blog that I used to have, regarding Andy and I wedding. I"m never one that one and I don't think many of you check that one as often as this. Plus I only had three postings on there. I'm much more on this blog then anything. Just wanted to let you guys know.

I'm sitting at work right now playing on the computer. I know I should be working but I have to work till 8 tonight to train a new girl on how to close on a Thursday night. So I really don't have to do anything till closer to 8:00. So I just get to hang out and do nothing really.

I think I will look at things online at Target since that's one of the places we are going to register at. Time to go Surf the Internet.

COOKOUT

Today at work we celebrated our 1 year anniversary in the building. So we had a big cookout. We had brats and hamburgers and us girls had some cheesy hot dogs. Boy were they tasty. I love Oscar Meyer Hot dogs with cheese in them. Anyways though it was a really good lunch and it was free. And then they has some Choc.Cheesecake for dessert. To much!

Other then that this week is flying by I guess. Not much going on, I have to work tonight till 8 which isn't really fun. Then I get to work on Saturday too. That will be one boring day I might say. Back to work I go!

GIFTS

Well this past Saturday I had to fill in and work. What was I to do but surf the Internet. I did just that. I went on to Target.com and Bed Bath Beyond and all sorts of stores. I decided to set up account with these stores and start a gift registry list. Nothing really is on them yet but at least we have started. So Sunday night I told Andy I started one and he said what did you put on it, so I brought up the website and showed him, by the time I was done showing him all the things I put on , I don't think there was anything left on it. What do you put on a gift registry list, is it the things you WANT or is it the things you NEED?

Do people even use that for help to buy a couple a gift? I know I don't. I think it's cheating! Why because the couple can go on anytime and know what they are getting. I would rather be surprised about what I'm getting, do something different then what the normal person would do. YA know.

Just my thoughts though, we will have a gift registry list for our wedding, just don't know what will be on it yet. There are things that we want but don't need, so what do you do? Any suggestions?

It's the Madison Mallards

Last night I went to a Madison Mallards baseball game. It was very exciting to watch. Last year Andy's family was a host family for one of the Madison Mallards. His name is Bobby Hubbard. He's from N.C. This year he was here for the summer again. So last night we went and watched the team play. We have almost pretty much the best seats in the house if you ask me. You can see everything including the sun... Anyways though it was a great game. Bobby scored the first run and then the other team came back and scored one. It was up to our team to score again to win the game, and they went into extra innings to. The ball was hit almost out of the park to score the winning home run. 2 to 1 Madison Mallards win!!! Great game!!!! This is Bobby , the house guest of the Poole House. Almost like a foreign exchange student but they speak good English... I will never forget about the time when my older sister when she was in the foreign exchange program. The girl we had at our house was from Russia. She was very nice, the only thing was, we had to go in the bathroom every morning to turn the water off. I guess in Russia back then they didn't have to pay water bills. So she didn't know to turn the running water off. It was funny... Good memories!!!! These are some more pictures from previous games that I have taken.

A story everyone should read!

This was a story that was sent to a bunch of us at work today. It's a very true story and it happends to all of us. It also makes you think too. Read it and then let me know your thoughts!

A story about four people named: Everybody, Somebody,Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done!

Big Brother Update

So tonight is Big Brother. There is a new Head of the house hold which means someone got kicked off... Well it was to either Kail or Jen, but the game changed with Mike got nominated. I don't like Kail so much, I think she lies to much. Mike was the one who got kicked off and he deserved it I think... I think this week it should be Kail, but we will see. Stay tuned to see what happens.....

Friday off! Saturday day!!!!

This weekend I took Friday off which was nice. Everyone needs a day off here any there. Anyways though Andy and I and his parents took off to go to the Toughest bowling tournament around. This tournament has been around since 1921, can you believe it. Andy and his dad were bowling at 8:30 on Saturday morning so it was the perfect time to take a day off and to do a little shopping before the bowling. We got up early on Saturday morning and left around 10:30-11:00 or so and started to drive. We were excited because we were stopping at Ikea! One of the greatest stores around.

We arrived and we wanted to check into the hotel first. So we did that and then we ate at Fridays... Yummmy.... Let me tell you they were more efficient with are order then I have ever seen. They had these cook hand held PDA to put our orders in and swipe credit cards. It was pretty cool looking....

Then it was off to IKEA... Andy's mom had never been there so she was looking forward to it. If you have never been it's 3 story's of home furniture and anything else you can think of for your house. This store is mainly for college students who need to budget. Things were cheap.... We had a lot of fun just looking around.. I bought a few things but nothing to major...

We went back to the hotel and we kind of rested and later that night we took for dinner to a restaurant called Teds something. They had bison to eat.... It was a pretty cool place. Something new...

That night we went to the bowling center to watch some past champions bowl. Carrie and I kept our self entertained by the girl who was trying to show off... That's another long story...

Saturday we all had to be up and dressed by at least a quarter to 8. Took off to go to the bowling center ( this bowling center was so cold I was in jeans and a sweatshirt) ... They have to keep it nice and cold for the guys... Andy's mom and I watched for a little while and then we went around the corner to do a little more shopping. Didn't find anything to major. I got a couple of 2008 cheap calendars. ( can you believe it's going to be 2008) By the time we got back the guys were almost done bowling.

We left from the bowling center and we decided to take a drive to Barrington. This place is known for the huge mansions... And boy were they huge... If your ever in the Chicago area take a venture out that way. Anyways though it was a fun trip but I'm glad to be home to sleep in my own bed with my own pillow...

Come check out our Slide Show

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

These are some pictures I put together of Andy and I... Hope you enjoy....

Cakes and Pies

Today was Cake and Pie day. Justin and Katie , two of my co-workers are leaving our company . So today we decided to have some fun and wish them a farewell. It was also birthday cake day. Every month they have two cakes with all of our names on them. My name was on this months. It was pretty cool. It was a Hello Kitty Cake... The pies that we had to , were yummmy.... Here's a pic of one just to make your mouth water.... Doesn't this just say eat me.... All those Calories....

BIG BROTHER

BIG BROTHER 8

So I never watched this show till this year. Andy's parents like to watch this show during the summer time. So I finally watched the first episode of this seasons and now I"m hooked on the show. Tonight it's on and they decide who gets kicked off. Kail or Jen , I wish they both were to get kicked off but that won't happen. Then they get to decide who gets to be HOH( head of the House hold) Anyways though it's a good reality show and I have got hooked on it.... It's a show about a bunch of strangers living in the house and they have to get along and kick people out and so on. It's a pretty cool show....

Whistling Straits in Wisconsin

So Andy and I had the oppurtunity to go watch the golf tournament at Whistling Straits. I had gotton tickets from one of my managers at work. So it took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there but of course we stopped for breakfast along the way. I couldn't go with out my English muffin and hash brown... Anyways though it was to be like 98 degress there today and boy was it... We got there and parked and the time you walk from your car to the first hole, your out of breath. We were standing at the 1st hole and watching the golf and all of sudden it was beginnging to be hard for me to breath. I told Andy I have to go to the shade, and of course this course had no shade what so ever. Lucky us we had two club passes that I also got. We went back and sat in there where they had air conditioning. I sat there for a good 20 mins or so and cooled off and regained engery. The lady was nice to tell us with our tickets that we could take the shuttle to the 18th hole and sit up there. So Andy and I went to the gift store and I got a hat to protect my face from the heat and then we caught the shuttle to the 18th hole. We pretty much stayed around there the whole time . I found some shade and it was fine and cool there... It was an exciting adventure and I look forward to going to other golf tournaments.... Here's a picture of the club house. It's so pretty there, and it's on the lake!!!

Chicago here we come!

This weekend my cousin Brandice was in town from Vegas, she was at home getting all the final preparations ready for her upcoming wedding that I"m in. Andy and I took off on Saturday after work and went over to hang out. We got lost on the way because there wasn't very good signage. When we got there Clarence had the food ready to eat. Andy and I watched everyone play Horseshoe for a little while and then Andy played while I chatted. It was a fun night. That night all 8 of us kids sat around the table and played this fun game called head bands. We had teams of 4, guys vs. girls.... We had a lot of fun playing that... The next day we woke up and Clarence made a gourmet breakfast of course. He's famous for his cooking at least in my book. Then Tami and Brandice took us around town to show us where the wedding and reception was. Here are a few pictures of us playing the game....