...CELEBRATING!!

Ok, so we haven't gotten to celebrate YET, but guess what happened on the 21st?? Ryan and I had our 5 year anniversary!! It's true, we have been together 5 whole years, can you believe it?! Yep-May 21, 2005 was the day (middle of the night) we started dating and boy has it flown by!!

Unfortunately, Ryan had to work on our anniversary so we have not yet gotten to celebrate. We did, however, exchange cards and gifts when he got home from work Thursday morning at 4am :) Yes, we are that crazy!

Ryan was so proud of his gift and had wanted me to open it all week, which I refused to do. So I promised that I would wake up when he got home from work and we could do our exchange then. And of course, I lived up to my promise.

When Ryan walked in the door he had a HUGE (16") cookie cake waiting on him that said "Happy Anniversary Ryan" on it. I had ordered it from Great American Cookies, a cookie store in most malls that is Ryan's absolute favorite! I, personally, don't care for the cookies (the "double doozie") as they are so sweet and have two cookies combined with icing in the center, but it was for him, not I. I know ordering a cookie this big is a littler over the top but hey-how many 5 year anniversaries do you have?!




He also had a card, letter, and gift waiting. For his gift, I had pilsner glasses made for him. I ordered them off Pottery Barn and basically, they are Chicago Cubs pilsners that I had personalized (monogrammed) with different words. "Ryan", "Beary", "Go Cubs Go", and "5 years" were the different monograms. I got him these because I know they are something he would never in a million years buy himself but would want, he can keep forever, and will be put to good use!
Also, they are something personal versus clothes or shoes. I think I did rather well :)

As for Ryan's gift to me, he, of course, outdid me. He had a card, a perfume that I've wanted, and a day at the spa for me!! He first gave me the card and the perfume and I was more than thrilled. The perfume, Nanette Lepore, is not easy to find but of course, Ryan got it. So with this and the card that nearly made me tear up, I was totally satisfied. He then walked in the other room and brough me back another card and said that was the rest of it. He then handed me my spa package!! I was/am SO SO SO excited for this, I can barely contain myself!! He put a lot of thought into his gift and gave me more than I could ever ask for. He is amazing!!

So, after gift exchange and talking, we went to sleep. The next morning (the actual day of) we got up, had lunch, and he had to run off to work. I am sad we didn't get to celebrate that evening but on the other hand, such is life, and I'll look forward to celebrating when we DO have time.

Five years with Ryan has absolutely flown by. In 2005, I never would have guessed we'd be where we are today. Ryan truly is my best friend and my better half, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner in this life.

"I hope that one day, this day, will seem like a drop in the bucket compared to all the other years we will have spent together and the experiences we will have shared."
-The last paragraph in the letter I wrote to him on this special day. :)

...THINKING OF YOU.

I miss you and think about you every single day.

...SPENDING TIME WITH FRIENDS.

It is that time of year again when Ryan gets very busy at work. There are a few positives about this (the overtime pay, bonus checks, keeping busy, etc) but there are also some negatives (less time together, different sleep schedules, me home alone) which actually mean more than the money :( So, instead of staying home and pouting about it, I have spent my one week, (yes, only one week since school got out) with friends.

Ryan went back to work Wednesday and that night Rachel and I went out for dinner. Emily texted me wondering where her invitiation was so we told her to come on up. One thing led to another and we ended up staying out all night, literally. Our group of friends (mainly the boys) and us were the only ones uptown and we had too much fun. Poor Rach had to work the next morning but she made it!

We decided to take it easy on Thursday and Rach came over for awhile and then we went cruising around town just talking. It was fun, got us out of the house, and gave us some good 'girl talk'.

Friday night, us three met up with the boys and went out again. Cassie was working (uptown) so it worked out perfectly that we were all together. We just sat up at the bar chit chatting and laughing away. There were SO many people out I hadn't seen in a long time, it was so strange yet fun!! Rach went home early because she had to work yet again (poor girl) but Emily and I stayed out. We went to an after party and made it home later that night.

Saturday, I slept it until nearly 2 pm!! Crazy, huh? Ryan got up, got showered and left for work and Emily had texted me asking to go run errands with her because she had to run to Target. Well that worked out perfectly because I needed to run a few errands and get my eyebrows waxed so without showering or anything, we just took off. When we got back, I dropped her off and came home and crawled into my bed. Curt and Josh were in the living room playing video games so I just thought I'd take a nap. Well it wasn't a half hour later that Emily showed back up at my house! With no plans, no shower, and nothing to do, we laid in my bed for hours! We literally just laid there talking and talking and talking. Finally, after Curt made fun of us, we decided to quit being lazy and got up. Only we got up to order Mexican food and play Mario Kart on the Wii :) After doing nothing productive for several hours, she left and I finally showered.

This past week has been a "high school" experience all over again. I mean, everything we did was exactly how we were in highschool!! From partying to laying in bed together doing nothing. It was so strange and kind of "freeing" to be able to worry about nothing and do nothing for several days. That's definitely not me anymore but it was nice!

I will, however, admit that I am ready to be on a schedule again and have some responsibilities! Anybody that knows me knows I write to-do lists like its my job. I will even plan out my days hour-by-hour and that kind of structure is exactly what I need!! My classes start up bright and early tomorrow, so my summer break ends today; a week after it started!! :)

...STILL IN LOVE WITH BELLA'S PLAYFUL PERSONALITY.

My youngest child, sweet Bella, will be four years old this year. She still acts though, like she is a puppy. Curt always says how she is the only dog he's ever known to have so many "favorite" toys. She plays from the time the sun rises until it sets and then some! She runs, jumps, bounces, and every other verb I can think of!! I am always saying to her "walk, don't run!"

She is not bad though, at all. She rarely barks (Dezi is the loud child) and would never chew up a thing, she's just wild!!

If I had to estimate, I would say Bella kicks up her legs (like dogs do after they potty) nearly 30 times a day. No, she doesn't do it after a potty, just for fun. We have never known why she does it but she's done it since she was a pup. Also, it gets really out of hand when we don't pay attention to her--she'll do it for like 5 minutes straight.

Another thing she does is "spins". Anytime she is on a bed, on a rug, or if there is a blanket laid out, Bella does spins. We don't know why she does these either!! She is the strangest thing. She has gotten so good at them she is like lightening! Sometimes, she will spin so many times she can't walk straight because she is dizzy! Too funny.

So here are a few videos of her doing spins last night while Ryan was putting the sheet straps on our bed. The other video, is from 2007 (when she was just over a year old) doing the same thing so you can see how long she's been doing the exact same thing!!

**THROWBACK THURSDAY**

I think I've already uploaded a picture of Ryan and I are on this bar crawl for "THROWBACK THURSDAY" before, but here are a few more from that night. The reason I uploaded pictures of him and Joey (one of his best friends) is because Joey is back in town this month and they got to hang out a little bit and reminisce about old times over a few beers.

I didn't get a picture of them the other night, as they were out without me, but if I had to guess, it would have looked something like the ones below!

Funny comment: I was telling Joey last night how well Ryan did this term (he got straight A's!!!) and Joey said "It's funny how well you can do when you're sober" I guess that sums up their college experience :)

...SO SO EXCITED!!

Remember a month ago when I told you all we bought a new bedroom package?! Well, it FINALLY came!!! Woohoo!! Tuesday the moving truck arrived at my door and I couldn't have been any happier!

We knew the bedroom set was coming Tuesday, and though it was finals week, we had to rearrange our entire house/bedroom. We had to take apart our bed, move everything around, make room in the computer room, etc. for this new furniture. As stressful as it was, it was quite exciting!

Monday night, Ryan and I got everything moved around, our bedroom cleared out, and our bed taken apart. We were about as old school as you can get and slept on a mattress (yes, just a mattress) on our bedroom floor Monday night. Tuesday morning he had finals so he left for school bright and early and I got up with the girls and cleaned the house a little bit. I then woke Curt up to help me move the mattress into his room and prepare for the movers.

About noon they showed up and ever since then... my life has been pure bliss!! I have uploaded a few pictures of what our furniture looks like but nothing has been decorated...I mean nothing!! My last final was today so my goal for the weekend is to get our room in tip-top shape!! Please forgive the lack of decor :)

The unveiling of our new room AND the comforter I searched so hard for!!








I found the comforter set at Macys.com. It is named the "Bastille" set and is absolutely gorgeous!! The brown "comforter" underneath I bought separate (at Target) just to use to sleep with as I don't want to use the embroidered one. They go perfect together. Once we get some more pillows, we will be good to go!! :)

...NOT A MUSHROOM HUNTER.

For the second year in a row Ryan and I have attempted mushroom hunting. As you all know, neither of us is the outdoors type. Well, needless to say, we found zero...again.

I like to go every year, just to look, or at least I think I do. The idea always sounds so fun when mushroom season is upon us. Then, once the day comes, I tend to find myself regretting the idea!

I woke Ryan up early Sunday morning and told him "today is the day." I had heard a lot of people were finding mushrooms everywhere and they were easy to spot this year..pssshht. Yeah, right! So, Ryan and I, in our best apparel, headed to the great outdoors. We stoped at the shop, got Bob's 4-wheeler, and went on the hunt.

After several hours (like 5) we had no luck. We had walked about 800 miles, or so it seemed, and found nothing. So, with that, we came home for the afternoon.

Ryan and I make bets OVER EVERYTHING and so it was only natural we made a bet over who could find the first mushroom. If I won, we could go and buy new pillows for our bed. If he won, I had to give him a back rub for 30 minutes! Well, neither of us found any mushrooms but I still "won" the bet and got to drag him to Target :) I kept teasing him saying I found so many mushrooms I didn't want to pick them because I would feel bad that he didn't find any. He, in return, told me he found some but ate them all out in the woods hahah, yeah right.

So, a day spent in the wilderness yielded no results. Better luck next year!


Funny comment of the day:
Curt walked in the door from work and started complaining about how bad of a day he had. He went on and on saying he had to pick up 140 cubes of something or another. Ryan, as serious as can be and with a look of exhaustion, looked at Curt and said "Curt, I spent $160 on PILLOWS today."
I will first add that this is NOT true (at all) and then add that it was the funniest thing ever. We all just started laughing and laughing.

...CRAZY BUSY!!

These last couple weeks have been absolutely insane for Ryan and I. We have been so so busy, I feel like I'm drowning! What have we been doing, you might ask?
-studying
-homework
-writing papers
-studying
-studying
-studying
:) you get the point!

And in the midst of all of that, we got our carpets cleaned!! It just doesn't end.

With our new bedroom package on the way and spring in full-swing I figured we should get our carpets shampooed. In order to do this, we had to basically rearrange the entire house, pikcing up nearly everything, and leave for the entire day. Not easy when you have two little monsters to haul around.

So, Thursday morning I got up bright and early (Ryan had to leave for school at 6 am) and picked up the remainder of things on the carpet so the cleaning guy could come. We hung out until around 8:30 when he showed up and then left.

Dezi, Bella, and I went to the bank, ran several errands, and then looked at the clock and realized it had only been about an hour!! What were we going to do with the rest of the day?! We had planned on going out to Ryan's parents to sleep/relax but it just so happens they are remodeling their house (kitchen area) and it is a complete disaster.

So, as a spur-of-the-moment decision, the girls and I headed out and about. We went to the mall and walked around (they don't open until 10) and then bought some shampoo, looked at a few things, and then left. With several hours still to spare, I took them to the dog park. We have only been to this particular dog park one other time and were less than impressed. But, when push comes to shove, you have to do something!! Luckily, we were the only ones there (thank God, because I looked like a homeless person with no makeup on and my glasses!) and the girls and I just chilled ALL MORNING outside.

Dezi ran every square inch of the place looking for an escape hole and trying to figure out just how many dogs had been there before her, and my sweet little Bella just sat on the picnic table with me most of the time. After several hours wasted away doing nothing, we headed back into town.

Our carpets were still pretty wet but we had no other choice but to go home. Ryan made it home that evening and we just aired out the whole house and spent the night tip-toeing around. The smell, feel, and look of getting them shampooed was worth the time wasted though!! Awww spring-I love you!!