Turkey Day!

Yay! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Here is a cute picture for you today!!


I am so thankful for Bryce, and all of my family and friends! For God, my animals, my job, our house, my hubby, my health, my craziness, my accomplishments, nature, tv shows, happy people, harry potter, non-profits, nice people, chocolate chip cookies, cake, t-giving dinner, blankets (especially heating ones), cozy beds, fireplaces, the sun, trees, cameras!, phones, computers, fresh air, boots, cruises (eek! 15 more days!), life, church, oh the list could go on and on, but I'm off to see my family and eat lots of food! Yay!

My Kitties and Pup!

Our animals looooove the snow. Behren just prances through it like a gazelle and would stay out there all day if we let him. Nina and Jinx are indoor cats, but I let Jinx have a little taste of the snow, and she wanted more.

Here is Behren and I playing in the foot of snow!

Our kitties love their Grandpa Gary's house. I knew they would love getting on top of the cabinets . . . and here is proof! They are up there all the time.
And here are our three kiddies all snuggling together!! They are just too cute sometimes!

I Got $2 . .. I Got $2 . . I Got $2. . Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

It finally happened folks . . . gas is under $2!! (I know . . . this happened like a week ago. . . but I'm a little behind!)


Good thing since I burn like 60 miles a day!

But Brycey! I Thought You Loved Me!

We got to babysit Bryce the other night! She is just too cute!


I bounced her to sleep and she slept for ehh . . . 15 mins . . . and then "The Office" that we started . . stopped.
And then she decided to flick me off . . . .times two!!

And puke in my hair when I was burping her . . . ick!!

I thought you loved me Bryce!!! It's ok . . . I still love YOU!

Coach Cooper's Retirement Party!

Aww! Yay! We had a surprise retirement party for Coach Cooper (Shane and I's head coach from track and field @ Behrend)! The cross country team just got back from a meet and had their "team meeting" in the chapel because the Junker Center was "too busy". And here is all of us surprising him!

Our food was catered by Ricardo's! Sooooooo yummy!! We got salad and ziti and rolls! Ricardo's has always been so gracious to the athletic department at Behrend, and I am so glad, because their food is amazing!

Cassie, one of my best friends from track (who also does cross country), put everything together, and made an awesome power point slide of pictures throughout the years.

Everyone got to say something about Coach Cooper, and it was very emotional. Coach has made the track & field program at Behrend such a huge thing. It has grown substantially even since we were there, and every year, the team gets closer and closer.

Here is the yummy cake from Giant Eagle!! They have such good cakes! Shane decided he would try to get his hand in the picture, and I really don't know how it happened and turned out so "not blurry" because he kept moving it really quick.
And a nice pic . . .
Coach cutting the cake for good retirement luck! He wants to spend a lot of the time in the woods, hunting and such (which I don't necessarily agree with :-P, but hey . . . I just hope he doesn't catch anything . . . he he. . sorry Coach) . . . I'm just too big of an animal lover. He also owns a putt putt place in Union City called "Runners Miniature Golf". He took us all there once and we got to putt-putt for free! It was a lot of fun!! You should definitely go there!

Coach is still planning on coaching during track season, so it wasn't AS emotional as it could have been, but it was just so great seeing all the people show up to support coach. He is an amazing coach, an amazing person, and we wish him nothing but the best in his retirement!

Not A Big Fan of the Bus . . .

So . . . the other day (last week . . oops . . a little late in updating this . . but I haven't had internet! :-( . . but now I do! :-)) . . . my parents and I went to a sold out speaker series at Penn State Behrend, where Jerome Bettis talked about "championship choices".

The tickets were free, and thanks to my good friend KC, who hooked us up, we were able to get the tickets before they were sold out . . . to I guess 2,000 peepz!

So here is my daddy, me, and my mommy! They are so cute and I'm so glad we are home so I can see them more often! (Shane still wasn't home yet . . but he is now!! Yay!)

Ok . . so on to Jerome Bettis . . . everyone was super psyched he was there . . people were sporting their Steelers jerseys and busting out the terrible towels! His speech was ok. . . talked mostly about his football career and then ended it with saying that to be a champion you need dedication, good work ethic, and something else . . or something like that.

I'm sure some people were there to hear his speech, but a lot of people just wanted to get his autograph/pic/etc. . . . and he wasn't having it!! They ran him off to a secret room and snuck him out the back. People were so upset . . . and although I do feel bad, because I'm sure you get sick of signing millions of autographs and having people harass you everywhere you go in public . . . I also feel bummed and sad that he didn't sign any autographs or pictures. I feel like it is part of his job . . . I mean . . it comes with the NFL football star title. And I feel bad for all the little kids that stood there waiting for him to come out . . . for that little black scribble on a towel, or poster, or ball . . . that they will never have.

And I am a pretty big fan of the Steelers . . . but all I have heard lately is how rude and mean the Steelers players are, and that bums me out . . . so come on guys!! Be nice and step up to the plate . . . er . . . the field!

Moving All Over!

Yay!! Internet is back!! :-)

Well, we moved into Shane's dad's house this past weekend. He lives with his fiancee in Millcreek, and was nice enough to let us stay in his house in Edinboro for a while!

It is definitely a treck to work every day . . . it takes me about 30 mins - 1 hour to get to work (depending on weather/road conditions/etc).

Of course, the first day to work from Edinboro, we had to have a MAJOR snow storm . . . I've always been nervous driving in snow, and was scared out of my mind . . . country roads don't really get the attention that main roads do . . .

I made the mistake of going on a road that doesn't get traveled very often . . . I would've been ok if I could've stayed in the middle of the road, but of course . . . . a gigantic plow truck comes barreling down the opposite side . . . and so I had to get over as much as I could . . . aka . . . I had to go into about 2 feet of snow (I don't have 4 wheel drive and I don't have snow tires . . and the tires I do have . . suck.) . . . so I am freaking out b/c I'm like . . . there is NO WAY I'm getting out of this . . . so the plow truck goes by (barely squeaking past me) and I try to go again . . . no luck. So then I start to panic, and back up a little . . . go forward a little . . . back up a little . . . forward a little . . . no luck . . . do it again . . start sliding around . . . then Shane calls and says "how's it going?!" . . to which I reply . . "baber!!! I'm stuckkkkkkkkkkkk!!! :-( " . . . so I was very scared. Very stuck. So I kept putting it in drive . . reverse. . . drive. . . reverse. . .drive . . . and finally God helped me out! I was soooooooooo thankful!! And thank goodness, no other cars came down that road, so I just drove on the left side the rest of the way.

But overall, it has been very nice here. I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE the country!!! Shane's dad owns 10 acres, and it is one of the most beautiful things to see. I do love driving through the country on my way to work and back. Everything is just so beautiful . . . it sounds corny. .. but I just feel more in touch with nature and truly appreciate it more. The things that God makes just amaze me.

Shane has already gone snowmobiling in the backyard, and we have taken Behren out for several "run/play sessions" in the back yard. I cannot wait until it gets warm again (I know . . . I have a while) . . so we can just sit out on the back deck and take it all in. Just relax. You can see so many more stars at night, and it is just beautiful.

(yes that is a golf ball in the dishwasher. . . we found it in there when we opened it the first time . . gary's response . . "it needed cleaned")

We have made some minor improvements to the house so far (with Shane's dad's approval of course). We cleaned it up a bit (Shane's dad thought it was clean. . .which it was to an extent, but sometimes I can be a neat freak . . .). We also updated the sink in the bathroom with a new faucet (the old one was too close to the sink so you couldn't get your hands under it very well) . . soooo happy with the new one!! It looks great! Shane is also making us some coat rack thingies for our door to the back yard and the door from the garage. We moved the furniture around a bit, and I think I might make Shane paint the bedroom with me (Sorry Shane . . . Shane hates to paint) . . . right now it's white, but I want to paint it a khaki color like our old bedroom . . it's just so much more cozy!! I will probably buy some pictures/mirrors/plants/etc. . . just to make it more a "home". Warm it up a bit!

Nina likes the new sink too!

Well . . .other than that . . I have been working. By the time I get home and eat, it's time to sleep! . . . and then do it all over again . . . I'll try to keep you up to date!

Oops!

So Marissa's sister, Chelsea, just told me that "Virginia" in my header is spelled wrong . . . oops!!

I think this is funny for a couple of reasons:

1. KT has always been known to have a slight spelling problem (love yoU!!)
   
2. Obviously . . . . all of my friends and I have a terrible reading problem b/c we didn't even notice!!

So if you were one of the people that noticed and had to deal with that every day. . . I'm sorry. You should've told me!

But if you are one of the people like me that didn't even notice . . . good!!

Hopefully I can get KT to make me a new one soon anyways . . b/c I'm in ERIE now!! :-)

p.s. - Thanks, Chelsea, for the good find!

Countdowns!

Yay!! So today marks a couple big countdowns . . . .

1 month until our cruise!!! My best friends from highschool (KC, Mase, KT, & Nikkie) and I are going on a cruise to Mexico! It's our first "real" vacation together. We went to Canada two times, eh?! But this is BIG. . . driving, flying, cruising, snorkeling, not getting lost (as long as I'm not in control of the directions), eating, drinking, excursioning, swimming, gym-ing, picturing, activity-ing, sleeping (hopefully), creating lots of new quotes . . . . all together. Can't wait!

thanks for the pic KC

2 days until I get to see my hubby!! He has been in Virginia without me . . sniff sniff . . . or I guess I have been here without him . . . anyways. . . he is finally coming home for good!! . . . ::: WARNING:: SAPPY ALERT:::. . . I have missed him sooooo much. I miss hugging him when he gets home from work everyday, I miss watching all of our crazy ten million tv shows together, I miss getting two q-tips out, I miss getting both of our toothbrushes out and putting mint toothpaste on mine and kids toothpaste on his (shhh . . don't tell Shane I told you). I miss snuggling with him at night. I miss his smile, his face. I miss making mac n'cheese for dinner every night . . . with an occassional pizza dinner . . . I miss playing soccer with him. I miss helping pick out his clothes . . ok maybe I don't miss that. . . since he wouldn't remember to ask me until I was already in bed and comfy. . . I miss making him dance with me . . . I miss his laugh . . . I miss my Shaney! Hey I warned you! :-P


2 or 3 days until I get to see my beautiful niece, Bryce, again!!

Her cute outfit and jacket!! How adorable is she!?

Ha! One of my fav pics of us! This was her first time to church. She was such a good girl! I just think it's funny that she already knows how crazy I am. She's so smart.

It's already Thursday (almost) . . . how awesome is that?! My countdown activities are coming so quick!! I love it!

Epoxy Pro!

So . . . I liked my uncle's garage floor . . . so we did our garage floor (in grey) . . . my other uncle liked it so he did his garage floor . . . and then we helped Shane's mom do her floor (in tan) (she owes us funfetti cupcakes ;-))! We are just the epoxy paint pros! I think my dad wants to do his floor at his shop too! That would be fun and would look so nice!!

Before

After

This was Shane crawling up in the beams so he could unplug the garage door so it would stop an inch before it hit the ground so it could dry (the epoxy paint came out a little bit past the garage door). He's such a monkey!

But yeah . . . since we can't do our own house projects anymore, we are doing other peoples!

p.s. - our house is still on the market . . . we were told we should lower our price AGAIN . . . which would be over $30K less than what it started at. ugh. . . .
p.p.s. - Shane tried to call our mortgage company to talk to them about a short sale and every time they transfer him to that department he mysteriously gets disconnected . . . coincidence?!

Poor Jon . . . .

Yay!! So Shaney and I met up with some friends from track the other weekend. We decided to go to Buff Wild Wings so we could watch some of the games as well. It was packed!

Marker (Mark), Kevin, and Jon! Mark and Jon were both jumpers with us. Kevin is a long distance runner! Seriously, track is one of the best things I have ever done in my life. The Penn State Behrend track team was always like a family. We had so much fun, all got along, and were very successful for not having a track to practice on.

Shaney and I @ Buff Wild Wings

Yay! The jumpers! Love those guys!

Ha . . . and Jon alwaysssss has problems with his cars. . . . his actual car (b/c this one in the pic is his mom's) was in his hometown getting fixed . . . and then his mom's car blew a belt . . . thank goodness my daddy is a mechanic and told Jon to just get it towed to his shop.

Love my trackies though! So glad we are back in Erie so we can all hang out more often!

Welcome to Erie . . AKA . . . Winter.

Well. My first official day of snow came today! . . . For this year . . . . although I feel like it's been FOREVER since I've actually seen snow or had snow. But it was both exciting and freeeezing! Today we tied our record temp with a low of 33 degrees! I really expected it to be lower than that, but I can't argue with Tom Atkins (I had him as a meteorology teacher in college . . . . hmm . . .I thought it had to be less than 32 degrees for it to snow?! Yikes . . . maybe I shouldn't say I had him as a teacher so I don't embarass him!!)!

Behren playing in the snow this morning . . . just racing back and forth! He loves it! Definitely his father's son!


You saw how far I have to walk at work . . . well imagine THAT in this weather (although it was definitely sleeting like crazy and windy as heck when I was walking in). . . and not to mention . . my zipper broke on my boots, so I had it safety pinned together . . . yeah . . . safety pins don't keep out 3 -4 inches of slush and rain puddled in the middle of the parking lot . . . so needless to say my sock and foot were completely soaked and freezing cold.

Thank goodness we have off tomorrow so I can find some boots that are made for Erie weather. But still . . . I'm not complaining . . . I just love being home.

My Behren . . .

Well one of these days I will tell you the history of Behren, but for now you just get some fun pis of him! So glad to be home with him!

When we met Bry & Sommer & Bryce in Grove City, we got Behren a treat! He lovessssssss food. Seriously. Way too much. But he is still obedient and waited until I said "ok" to eat it.

Behren chowing down on his halloween treat!

Now sleepy nappy time with Daddy. I don't know how is big self can curl up into a ball that small!

Being handsome with a bandana!

I get to meet my parents for lunch every day (yay!), and Behren stays with my dad during the day because of his separation anxiety (story to be told someday), so I get to see him too! Like I said . . Behren loves his food. . .

Notice the waterfall drool . . . . ick!

Seriously though. . . one day I will get around to telling you his story.

Missing the Fam!

I am home and still loving it!! Although, my hubby is still in Virginia. . . but coming home soon!! Yay!! He went to Dan & Marissa's house this weekend to visit. I wish I could've been there too! I miss them!!

Had a fun weekend . . . went by waaaay too fast! Got to go hang out with the girls at KC & Mase's new apartment! It's always good to see them! I just can't believe how fast the weekends go by though!!! At least I get off on Tuesday!! Yay!

And I Could Walk 10,000 Miles . . .

Yay! I survived my first week on the new job! And I can honestly say . . I am still sooooooo overwhelmed. . . there is an infinite amount of information to learn, but I can also say I am sooooooo excited about it. I really enjoy what I have been learning so far and it is such a fast paced, friendly, integrity-based atmosphere! Everyone you pass on site says hello to you, and that is just such a great thing to have at a job.

I think I have also lost 10 pounds this week . . . the pic above is from where I park . . the tall building in the distance is the building I walk to every day . . . and because I like to get in as much exercise as I can (without actually going to the gym) . . . I walk up 100 stairs (4 floors) each time I go in and out of the building . . I think I did that 3 times today! So GE is my exercise workout too! Love killing two birds with one stone!

But overall . . . so far so good!

Oh . . . and I got a free flu shot today! My arm is sore. Which is a bummer, but also good because I feel like I lifted weights so it makes me feel like I did something! Yay!

Bryce Update!!

Yay! So on our way home (to Erie) last weekend, we sent everyone a text message that said something like "Yay! We're on our way! Home for good!" and our brother & sister (Bry & Sommer) texted us back and said to meet them at Grove City for lunch! So we were excited and met them at the food court at the Grove City Outlets.

So Shane and I had some pizza and Bry & Sommer split some chinese food. And I got to take lots of pics of my favorite niece, Bryce!




And the weirdest thing happened . . . . as we were there, the Penn State Behrend Cross Country Team showed up!! We got to talk to the coaches and I ran into Cassie, one of my best friends from the team. I am too old now . . . I don't know anyone else really . . :-( But it was so great to see them! They were on their way to the AMCC meet (guys placed 1st, girls 3rd!)!


And then Shane got really mad at me because I made him go into THREE stores there . . . at least I actually found stuff that fit me though! Usually I go shopping and never find anything!

But yay!! We are home! Well . . Shaney will be coming home soon and I can't wait!! But so far it has been absolutely amazing!! I get to see my parents every day!! I get to be with my little boy (Behren, my pup) every night, every morning, and I get to see him at lunch time! And Erie has been nice to me . . . it is easing me into the cold weather!! High 60's this week and sunny!! Absolutely beautiful! It is so good to be home. You have no idea.