Presents in the mail!!

I love, love, love the US Postal Service. Every single day they play Santa! (I technically hate Santa, but this is not the time nor the place for that rant!) Today we got 3 exciting pieces of mail. YAY!! And not bills. :) (Does anyone actually every get bills mailed anymore? That seems so 90's to me.) I got a package from my parents that had a new red- of course- spatula (plastic handled as wood creeps me out and I was just wimpering the other day about having to use a wood-handled one...not anymore! yay!), some IU paper (ever the fan), some little notes with "J" on them, 2 Christmas ornaments- 1 that says "MacKenzie" and one that is a fancy "J"- love them and a little Coach perfume sampler (I think Mom stole this idea from Cort). Jackson got his IU calendar with the players photos on it that he gets every year. Thanks so much!! :)

We also got some fall photos of Grace. She looks so old in them that I feel I should address her as Grace and not Gracie or CeCe. While I loved the photos as she looked gorgeous, she also looked too old and I want her to stop growing!!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! We hope you have a safe and happy day! We plan to hand out a ton of candy to small children in our neighborhood then call it a night. (After we put our pumpkins in the garage- I learned that the hard way a few years ago!) I hate Halloween, honestly. I always look forward to it being over. :)This photo is actually a coaster. I linked to the store's website on my title of this post. They have them for all holidays. How cute! :)

Dance!

Yay! I have always wanted to go somewhere formal with Jackson. He found out a few days ago that his company has a fancy Christmas party on December 5th (this day also happens to be Susie's birthday!). I get to shop for a new LBD (little black dress for those of you who are unfortunate enough not to read US Weekly) and new shoes to match. Yay! I love events. I don't dance and my dress won't look the lady's in the photo but still. I am excited. :) I LOVE the holiday season. I wanted to decorate this Saturday for Christmas, but decided it was a wee bit premature. Boo. Sometimes when I have so much to look forward to: going home, heading to Palm Beach (yes, Grams, I am going to swing into Okeechobee), Christmas in New York City, home again for Duckwall-Christmas and then tax season (yes, I am excited for tax season-leave me alone) time goes sooo slowly.

He proposed! :)

Jackson proposed to me tonight! He brought me a dozen roses and everything. :) Ok, I know we are already married. Hush. My wedding ring lost some of its diamonds so it had been in the shop. Jackson picked it up for me tonight and decided to be super romantic. I love him. :) 

In other exciting news my sister's husband, Nick, found out that his lumps were not cancer. They are some kind of scar tissue and do not have to be removed. Jackson's Mom, Susie, was released from the hospital. Guy had a little health scare this week and it turned out to be nothing as well. God is so good. :) Thank you.

In weird medical news, I was outside with MacKenzie this morning when my eye started bleeding. WHAT?! That's weird. I couldn't see out of it for a few minutes. It turns out just to be a burst blood vessel. It looks icky but it does not really hurt. It just kind of freaked me out. I like being able to see! 

I booked my flight tonight for a girl's weekend in Palm Beach/ Stuart with my best friend/college roommate, Danielle. We're going to shop, hang out and just catch up. I'm really looking forward to it. I got my flight for $88 total. Yes, you read that correctly. A few months ago we had a flight messed up by Delta and they issued us $200 worth of credits. I used those credits tonight to get a great deal! I'll be there December 12-15th. Jackson's good friend David is coming out that weekend to ski. Jackson is pretty excited to ski out here. :)

Next Thursday we're attending a snow-shoeing seminar at our local REI store. We're ready to start snow-shoeing! This weekend we're going to Pike's Peak. We're riding the cog railway up to the top. It should be pretty awesome. We have not spent much time down south so we're excited!

We'll be home 2 weeks from Friday. I cannot remember the last time that I went 10 weeks without seeing my parents. Yay for home. :)

Dear Apple

Dear Apple,

I know that you do not care about accountants. This is made clear to me by your lack of compatibility with our software. You do, however, care about those of us who feel the need to constantly be "in the loop." I love my iPhone. I cannot imagine a better product. (ok, I have a few suggestions, but that is for a different letter.) My husband and I love our iPhones so much that when his iPhone went into the washer and was ruined, I got him another one. It was perfect really. I gave my husband my old iPhone and I got the new, sleek white 16gb model. Yippee. I finally have a newer Apple product than my Mom! The people at AT&T were super helpful and I enjoy having them as my carrier. Steve Jobs, give yourself a raise. No wait, do not do that. You'll get investigated. Again. We all know how that looks, sir. Do not back date stock options anymore. If you'll continue to make stellar products such as the iPhone you won't need creative accounting. And if you do need creative accounting then you would have to make software that does accounting on a Mac!! Also, could we a right click button on the MacBook? I really miss it.

Keep up the good work.

-Jenna

Success!

Good news! Susie (Jackson's mom!) made it through her surgery just fine. She will be hanging out in the hospital for the next few days, but everything went as planned.

We wish you a speedy recovery, Susie! We love you!

MacKenzie on ice :)

As you can see, MacKenzie was not at all afraid of the ice! I'm glad we kept her on her leash though. We parked next to some guys who had 3 large dogs: 2 huskies and 1 German Shepard. They beat us to the top, but we saw them at the lake throwing the football to the dogs in the water. We both questioned this because of how cold it was and the fact that there was still a lot of ice on the lake. Then on the way down we ran into them and they only had 2 dogs: 1 husky and 1 German Shepard. They explained that the other husky fell through the ice and drowned. No kidding. The guy was crying. I felt really bad for them. So sad.

"Glacier"

MacKenzie leading the way on our hike. "No one told me there was going to be snow." (Look at that face!)
Jackson and MacKenzie at the bottom of the "trail" up to the glacier. (Obviously the word trail is used as loosely as the word garden here!) I think of a trail as mulch or dirt- not boulders the size of my SUV!

This is my "Jackson, I'm not so sure of this" face. :)The lake at the top!

The glacier was really not accessible today as the snow was slick!

A view of neighboring mountains from the top 11,500 feet...

It was a really fun hike. Jackson only fell once. :) He skinned his shin up. :( Poor baby. MacKenzie is officially a mountain dog as she loved this trip! My physical therapist actually recommended this hike to me. I will be having a discussion with him about it tomorrow as my knee is THROBBING. :) Oh well, we had a nice time and there is always my trusty ice pack!

Laundry day!

Every Saturday morning (unless we are out of town, of course) I gather laundry. (I do this many times a week, but Saturday mornings are a must!) And each Saturday morning MacKenzie excitedly plays with the baskets. (Yes, I do use a colored basket for colors and a white basket for whites- get over it!) I swear she thinks that they are toys that I save for her. See below.MacKenzie dropping her ball into the basket.

MacKenzie then looking around for her ball.MacKenzie switching her ball to the other basket. She's an equal opportunity dropper.

I don't know why this cracks me up, but it does. And in case you're wondering- yes, her ball has been accidentally laundered quite a few times! (Also, Jackson accidentally left his iPhone in his pants' pocket and it was washed today. We're praying for a miracle to bring his favorite toy back to life! So he will be unavailable via cell phone until further notice. I cannot imagine. Ugh.)

In other cute news, I woke up to an email of this photo from my Mom this morning with the subject: "Addie playing (?!) with Macy" and I just died laughing. Macy's face is priceless. She is so cute! Addie, the big lug, needs a haircut!!

We're off to run a few errands then fill out paperwork at the new job. Tomorrow we're heading to St. Mary's Glacier to hike. Yippee. :)

Festive puppy

MacKenzie wearing her new Halloween scarf (thank you, Grammy!) and playing with her pumpkin toys. She's ready for all of the trick-or-treaters to come by...the more kids she can excited pee on, the better. ;)

I couldn't resist these cookies for MacKenzie at the dog bakery today. I must learn to avoid that place! (I think you are all seeing why I need a job- I'm bored!)

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

I have a few pieces of GREAT news:

1. I GOT THE JOB!!! :) I go in on Saturday to do all of the paperwork. I know. Saturday. Groan. ;) Just kidding. I will take what I can get.

2. I filled up my entire gas tank for $40 today. The sign shows 2.589 but I got it for 2.559 because of my Kroger card. Yipee. 

3. We got boneless, skinless chicken for $1.49 per pound at a new grocery store in town called "Sprouts" that we LOVE

4. Heidi (Hart) Porterfield also got pooped on today. You can read her story on my last post's comment section. It warmed my heart that I was not the only one who was poo'ed on today. :)

God is good.

POOP!

The photo above is of Katherine Heigl with all 4 of her miniature schnauzers. I chose to use this photo because a. it is really cute b. I did not like her until I saw her with her minis c. the dogs being in the car relate to my story.

This morning I had physical therapy. I really love it. The pilates reformer exercises are so much fun and super effective. My knee is getting stronger every day. I digress. Anyway, after PT I ran to Jackson's office (Jackson National Life, LOL hard to miss that it is his office) to pick up some paperwork. Jackson needed to do some data entry but did not have time. I volunteered my services. I was about 5 minutes from home when Jackson calls to say he gave me to originals and needs it back. Boo. I told him I'd make copies and head back. I felt bad about leaving MacKenzie in her cage so I tossed her in the car (after a quick pee!) and headed back to Jackson. I took the toll-road near our place because it is a ton faster, but expensive. Grr. Anyway, as we are riding along Mac starts shaking. I figure she is cold as it is a solid 33 outside so I turn on the heat. The next thing I know she has jumped on my lap and it is all warm. I push her to the passenger side (safety over her comfort) to find that she has POOPED ON MY LAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going 80 miles an hour (yes, I speed, hush) and have a lap of poop! I knock it on the floor and have to open the window to breathe. So now I am freezing save my leg where the poop has been. No, it is nice and warm. SICK!! I get to Jackson's office and she poops more outside. Jackson helped me pick up the poop from the car. The whole thing was awful. Gross! Gross! Gross! I know MacKenzie just had to go but come on! My lap? Sick. I came home and showered and my pants are in the wash. I have forgiven her as she is so darn cute. :) Anyway, I hope none of you were pooped on today!

I love Ruby!

Today I made Halloween cookies with my KitchenAid and I just love it. Ruby is more than a counter ornament- she's a kitchen must-have. :)

Yum! M&M cookies in spooky colors. :)

Ruby and fun, festive platter both courtesy of Susie Petefish. Thank you :)

Crazy dog!

Last night Jackson sat down his laptop to go get a Diet Coke. When he returned he found that MacKenzie had somehow pushed a ball under his computer so that he could not miss it. HA! :) She's creative.

Check point

We were amazed to see this sobreity check point as we were leaving wine country. It was pretty hardcore and really held up traffic. Cars were selected at random. I thought it was a great idea. We did not get selected. We would have been fine as I was driving and had no wine all day. Jackson only had 1 glass so he would have been good, too. I guess drunk driving is a real issue up there. I'm glad that they're doing something about it!

This was taken at night so do not expect to really see much of the check point. The commentary from Jackson in his silly voice is really worth the price of admission. :)

San Fran

We had a nice visit in San Francisco! We saw some sights and did some walking. :)

Friday evening we arrived and went to visit Kate at work. I hate hospitals! She works on the 11th floor and the sights are awesome. We just checked out the view and waited for her to finish her shift. We saw a few of her cancer patients. It always amazes me what she does for a living. I wish I could deal with blood and such- I'd like to make a difference in people's lives the way she gets to. Once she was finished with work, we headed out to a nice seafood dinner. It was such great food! We then headed for ice cream at a local place that was delicious!!! I love how the town is so friendly to walkers. We walked a lot that evening and I really enjoyed it. We were pretty tired after all of that so we played a bit more catch-up then headed to bed.

Saturday was a nice day. We headed down to the farmer's market at the ferry building. It was the nicest farmer's market we've ever been able to visit. I cannot imagine getting to go there each week! You've have such fresh food all of the time! From the ferry building we walked down the fisherman's wharf. It was a long walk!!! We had clam chowder.

As you can see Jackson said he did not want any and then helped himself!

I also had Jackson try an In-n-Out burger. He liked it! I don't know that it's charm was quite as strong on him as it is on the real Californians. Then we hiked back to the "muni" (the subway type train system) to head back to Kate's place. We got ready and headed up to the Napa Valley. Kate let us borrow her convertible. It was lovely! :) Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge was a really cool experience. The weather was perfect. We went to lunch and then headed to the spa.The view of wine country from our convertible. LOVE :)

Our mud bath experience was...different. Jackson was sooo funny. The mud is WARM and he was freaking out the whole time about how much he was sweating. The mud was different than the other times I have done that. It had like twigs in it. Weird! The whole place was rather odd, but the laughs were worth it. We headed back to city for pizza with Kate. We got to walk again to dinner, it was wonderful! I just love to walking lifestyle.

This is a "tree tunnel" that leads from St. Helena (Kate's hometown) to Calistoga (the spa town). I think it is so beautiful! :)

Sunday we headed to Half Moon Bay to walk a 5k. One of Kate's friends, Carrie, drove us down there. It was a gorgeous drive! Carrie drives a Prius. I actually liked it! I cannot believe it. I would actually drive one. I know. Crazy! The 5k was beautiful. We walked with Kate's roommate's boyfriend. He was quite an interesting guy. He made the walk quite enjoyable! Then we headed to the pumpkin festival.

I hate pumpkin food!!! There was so much cinnamon there! UGH! The festival was really cute, though. As we headed back to the city we were amazed at the traffic. People were wrapped for miles around the mountain waiting to get in to the festival. Crazy! They had the world's biggest pumpkins- I had read about them on CNN. They were HUGE!

Later we walked around the city. We took the photo below from the top of the Macy's building in Union Square. I hate heights, but it was a gorgeous view. We went to dinner with some of Kate's friends and a girl I went to IU with. We had a great time! San Francisco has some amazing (expensive!!) restaurants.

I had a really cool experience while we were on the muni headed to dinner that I wanted to share. As I said above, I really admire Kate for being a nurse and helping people in need. (All nurses are wonderful, I just happen to know and love my Cali Kate) We were headed to dinner, but we were running early. Kate asked if we wanted to do some additional sight-seeing. I, being the tourist to beat all tourists, eagerly agreed. As we exited the train Kate grabbed me and yelled, "Oh my gosh! LOOK!" I look up to a man falling down the cement stairs that lead from the city to the train underground. In moments Kate has rushed to his side, has called 911 and has control of the situation. We stayed with the man until EMT's came. This may not seem all of that out of the ordinary except that hardly anyone stopped for this man. Well after Kate was on the line with 911 someone walking by suggested that we call. She didn't think twice. She just stopped and helped. I was so proud to call her my friend! End of bragging. :)

That was really the jist of our trip. We had an early flight this morning- we got picked up at 4:50! AH!! And our flight was behind so I had to reschedule my job interview. It is now at 3:00 tomorrow. Annoying. We took a solid nap when we got home. Ahh. Traveling is so fun, but it is always nice to be "home" again.

MacKenzie was pretty tired from Camp Bow Wow, but that did not stop her from catching up on her Us Weekly gossip. :)

Good night!

Half Moon Bay, CA

The view from our walk today along the coast of Half Moon Bay, CA. 

San Francisco

My view of the Bay Bridge this morning while we were at the farmer's market.  It was so gorgeous! :) 

Headed out west further! :)

http://www.campbowwow.com/us/co/parker/CamperCams/tabid/1143/Default.aspx

MacKenzie is at camp again! She can normally be seen on camera 3. I am just so pleased with the Camp Bow Wow in Parker's staff. They all remember Mac. They even noticed that she had a new collar! They didn't have an issue with giving her the medicine she is on each morning and letting her take extra naps since she had been a little sickly. Don't worry- she'll still get to play plenty! There are 2 Scottys there today so don't be confused. Mac is tall with a short tail :)

Jackson should be home from work soon. We are stopping for lunch near the airport at the other McAlister's Deli here in Colorado- yay! (See post from Ft. Collins trip, I LOVE this place and there are only 2 in the state! Compared to 4 I can think of in Indy. Grr.) Kate has to work until 7:30 or so and then we're going for dinner at a place called "Hyde Street Seafood House & Raw Bar." (http://hydestseafoodhouse.com/) It looks delicious and has wonderful reviews online!! Kate is big on reservations and already has all of our meal places planned, I think. She's great at that stuff.

We'll try to post from San Francisco, but if not have a great weekend! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CORTNY!!! (I won't be on my home computer on Saturday so I had to post this early!) We hope you have a fabulous day!

Comfy dog?!

I saw MacKenzie sleeping like this and couldn't help but wonder if she is comfortable?! She kind of looks like a diver! :) Happy Wednesday!

Good news!

I finally got a call back about a job! yay! I have an interview Monday at 2- when I get back from San Francisco. :) I welcome your prayers that it is a good fit! Thanks!

I had classes this evening. It was a real snooze. So it is. I picked up the newest Nicholas Sparks book that I intend to read tomorrow. I feel a little more relaxed now that I have an interview.

In other work news...Jackson has an interesting relationship with his external wholesaler (Jackson is the internal wholesaler) who lives in L.A., David. David is quite chatty and calls Jackson way more often than he should. (They have not met yet, but will in January when David comes in to Denver to ski with Jackson) I always get a good laugh at the fact that David will not buy reps lunch during their first meetings. And if you know anything about financial sales representatives, you know that they love a free lunch. (Clearly they never learned that there is no such thing as a free lunch- thanks Dr. Pongracic) Anyway, David will absolutely not do lunch on the first meeting. However, he is hosting a meeting that is far from a rep's home so she needs to stay in a hotel. David is willing to pay $359 a night for her to stay there. WHAT?!?! $359 a night?! Holy hades! I do not understand this man. (He did make sure that his Marriott rewards card got credited for her stay- lol) Anyway, he is so fickle. Poor Jackson is having to learn how to best deal with this guy on top of everything else he has to learn! He is enjoying the new job- it's just his external counterpart is kind of a hoot.

I had to go to school today in the daytime to pick up some forms and whatnot. The parking on campus is so confusing. I only have a permit for after 4 so I parked along a city street that had signs about 1 hour parking. I only needed 15 minutes so I figured I was good. I looked at paying to park in visitor parking, but decided the walk was good for me. Big mistake! Instead of paying $1 to park, I paid a $25 parking ticket!!!!! GRR!! It seems that it was the 2nd Tuesday of the month and everyone knows that is street sweeper day. WHAT?! I didn't know that. Where is my sign to inform me of this madness? I think it is just an excuse to write tickets. Jerks. And on my ticket they wrote my license plate as IA not IN (like I'm from Iowa-puke!) so I had a large debate with myself about whether or not to pay it. In the end I decided I should just cut the check and be done with it- just in case they find me out somehow. I do not agree with it, but I just consider it another sign that I belong in Indiana! Hmp!

Nothing much else is going on here. We're just excited for our weekend in San Fran! :) (In case you couldn't tell from our last few posts- ha!)

Just too cute

I snapped this photo of MacKenzie today as we played ball. She looks so cute in her fall scarf! :)

Quiet day!

Today we did not do much! We accidently overslept church! We were up and then went back to bed for a bit and then it was 10:30! Dang it! We watched football, walked & bathed MacKenzie and played the Wii fit. We love the Wii and highly recommend it to everyone. 

Friday afternoon we are headed to San Francisco. Jackson is so excited. It is really cute. We signed up to walk in a 5k that Cali Kate (my friend that we are visiting) is "slowly jogging" in on Sunday morning. It takes place right along the coast in the early morning so it should just be gorgeous! yay! :) We are also going to do a couples spa- mud baths and hot springs. Jackson is such a team player! ;)

Please keep my job hunt in your prayers. I need to find something! 

Have a great week.

Quite the day(s)!

I am well aware that I am a bit behind on my blogging as we have been busy(ish) this weekend. Friday night after Jackson got home from a long week (the worst week ever in the stock market- for real) of work we headed to Colorado Springs for dinner and errand running. We went to Cracker Barrel (because what sounds better after a long week?). It was so good. As usual. Then we ran a few quick errands and headed home. It is such a gorgeous drive down that way!

Today we headed to Fort Collins to go to a pumpkin patch that Jackson found online. I'll come back to the pumpkin patch story because on the way to it we saw a sign for a McAlister's Deli! They only have some of the best food and sweet tea in the world! They are prevalent in Indiana, but not here in CO. Jackson quickly pulled off of the interstate and got me to McAlister's! It was so nice to eat there again. Yay!

Ok, back to the pumpkin patch story. It was a bust! My one requirement was that they have carmel apples. NOPE! So the photo below is my best attempt to smile at this rinky-dink pumpkin patch that has a fancy website, but doesn't live up to the hype! Grr. Jackson wants to make it known that they had a cannon launching pumpkins across a field that he loved.

The funny thing is that right across the field from the pumpkin patch was an Anheuser Busch brewing plant that we had never even heard of. They had a sign advertising daily tours so we decided to hop on in. (Get it, hop? Anyway.) The tour was really quite cool (both literally and figuratively as it was FREEZING today!) The plant was so clean! I was blown away by how automated it is. They really only have people on the bottling side. After the tour you get free beer. I was uninterested in this because I hate beer so they hooked me up with a Sprite. They were very, very kind and we really enjoyed our time there!

The actual bottling process.

These horses are in training to walk in parades and whatnot. They were such gorgeous animals. And it was by far the nicest stable I'd ever seen.

We walked around Fort Collins' old town for a bit, but it was raining and cold so we plan to visit again in the spring or summer. It was also homecoming so we wanted to be out of town before the masses left the football game! The campus was not as nice as CU Boulder, but it was a cute town. It reminded us of Lawrence, Kansas, but in KS we never saw kids with a huge, homemade sign that read "you honk, we drink" with a keg on their front lawn like we did at CSU. CLASSY! (Jackson, of course, honked and they promptly filled their glasses and tossed it back)

From there we decided to head up to Cheyenne, Wyoming for dinner. Why? Why not?! I have now marked Wyoming off of my list of states to visit. I don't know that I'll return for any reason really. We ended up eating at a Taco Bell because obviously the 55,000 residents of Cheyenne (the sign actually told us their population unlike CO's signs about elevation!) all go out to eat on Saturday night at 7:30. We didn't spend much time there but it seemed like a typical, American town. Nothing too exciting. It is marked off of the list and that feels nice! :)

MacKenzie seems to be feeling better today after 2 doses of medicine. We're hopeful that this will work. Tomorrow is going to be a lazy day for us as today was a long one! I hope you all are well! :)

**CORRECTION**

My poor, poor Mother. In her old age she has lost her ability to accurately relay information. (We sometimes call her Virginia!) It seems that Nick has not officially been diagnosed with Lymphoma, but that it is suspected he has it. I have been told that my sister does not believe that he has it, though. As you can see I get everything through the grapevine as Kylie and I never speak on the phone. (We do exchange the occassional text, I pray for her family daily, and I have been known to randomly mail her things so don't start on this "you two are sisters- you should keep in better touch" crap, thank you) Also, his appointment Thursday is the schedule the biopsy- not to have it yet. I still firmly believe that any happy thoughts or prayers you could send their way would be helpful and appreciated. **I think that this has all been corrected. I appoligize for my misinformation. I was unaware that Deb needed to be fact-checked. (I'm only kidding, Mom. I know you have a lot going on. I love you.)**

MacKenzie waiting and waiting and waiting in the vet's exam room. She's such a happy girl!

In other medical news, MacKenzie has a bacterial infection. The vet believes it came from playing with Sam (the neighborhood dog) who lives with 2 other dogs and 3 cats. MacKenzie is to avoid all contact with him from now on. I never knew that her playmates needed to be screened. I guess one can never be too careful. Anyway, she is on anti-biotics for the next 10 days. We leave in 6 for San Francisco so she has to go to the kennel while sick. :( I hate that. I wish we knew people out here that could care for her. She misses her Grammy and Carla weekend stays! The vet charged me another office visit even though Mac was in last week for the same issue. This would never have happened in Fishers. Grr! I also waited 1.25 hours for her to be seen today and she had an appointment. Again, never happened at Bridgeview. I got a little emotional at the vet as MacKenzie is such a big part of our lives and I hate when she's sick. Please keep her in your prayers, too.

Mac users: PLEASE HELP!

Attention computer gurus: my MacBook is CONSTANTLY dropping its internet connection when I am here at home. I have not had this issue at school. I also do not have that issue with all of our other wireless computers. Any advice?! I also would like to complain that Apple is releasing a new version of the MacBook on October 14th. Almost exactly 1 month after I finally got one. Typical! Steve Jobs...grrr.

MacKenzie has developed open sores on her head! :( She will be at the Vet as it opens tomorrow. Please keep her in your prayers. She is such a special part of our family. 

A new "sport coat"

Jackson has his formal photos taken at work tomorrow. He has to be wearing a sport coat (I thought it was a suit coat. Evidently a suit is matching pants and a coat so it is a sport coat, sorry Duckie). He did not have a "sport coat." Shoot! (No one plays sports in these coats so I am unsure of why they're name as they are) Just shy of $200 later we have a new sport coat. He decided to return his tie as it was not manly enough. We did not get new pants. Too expensive. We were quite impressed with the associate at Men's Wearhouse. He really knew his stuff. Did you know that you never button the bottom button of a suit/ sport coat? I promptly asked them why they put them there in the first place to which he had no answer. (Isn't that your first question when you hear you never button the bottom button?! I think he thought I was odd.) Anyway, we have Jackson ready for his big day tomorrow. He even got a haircut! (Finally!)

I applied for a job at the IRS. I know, I know. Traitor. It is in the tax fraud department. I think it would be awesome. Fingers crossed, please. Other jobs just do not seem the interesting, but I am ready to go back to work. I am bored. Today consisted of sleeping in, lunch with Jackson (Qdoba, yum!), getting my oil change and bumper fixed (good as new for $225!!!) and cooking dinner. Whew! I can hardly take the excitement. ;)

We did realize today that our San Francisco trip is quickly approaching. We are pretty excited for that. We plan to spend one day in the Napa Valley at the wineries and spas. And our other day exploring the city! Fun! :)

I start my physical therapy tomorrow. I hope this guy, Ken, is not a meanie. (Because PT's tend to be a little mean..kidding Kathryn, kidding ;)) My last PT lady had me losing weight like mad. Let's hope Ken keeps it up! MacKenzie and I did go for 3 walks today. It's like being back at Grammy's for her. ;)

I have been reading a lot in my down time. I love to read. I suggest to all of you ladies out there an author named Meg Cabot. She writes cute, fun chick lit that I really enjoy. (The books are on their way to you tomorrow, Danielle!)

Lastly, some news on my sister's husband (aka my brother-in-law but that just feels weird to type). He was diagnosed with Lymphoma this week and had a biopsy today of his stomach. His stomach is cancer free. Yay! Good news! He had another in-patient biopsy next Thursday where they will check on the lymph nodes surrounding his lungs that seem inflamed. Please keep Kylie and Nick in your prayers through this tough time.

I hope that you all are well.

Friends and babes

I had a great talk with my dear friend Meg today. Her husband, Kyle, is serving in Iraq until February. He's been gone since July 7. That's a really long time. And Meg is all alone in sunny Southern California (I think of worse places to be- but being away from your family and friends sucks no matter where you are- I, of all people, understand that!) so we have a lot in common right now. Once again, I firmly believe that God places people in your life for a reason. Thanks for the encouragement, Meg.

We have a friend that we worked with at American Funds who is having a baby boy in a few months. She shops a lot for him, lucky little man! Guess his name? JACKSON! Well, technically William Jackson, but they are calling him Jackson. She knew my Jackson. How could she not see that the name Jackson is trouble!? Each time I hear a mother scolding her son his name is Jackson. (My Jackson says this is selective exposure) It just cracks me up that she's having a Jackson. Anyway, seeing all of her purchases for little Jackson gives me the baby fever! And I am forbidden from the fever (by Deb Duck) until I reside in Indiana. I want to have Kate/Carter in mid-May. You see I love having a summer birthday (perfectly space for Christmas). I do not, however, want any chance of sharing my birthday with my beloved child. Call me selfish or whatever you need to- I do not care. I'm not sharing my day! As a tax accountant, I also do not want a chance of having a child during tax season (which is really mid-December through mid-April). So May it is. It seems safe to aim for mid-May because even if they're late (I was 2 weeks late! Ask Deb...she'll tell you all about it!!!) they still will not come on my day. We'll have to watch for them coming on Jackson's day, May 12, but what are the odds? Really. I mean CeCe was born on Tom's birthday (may 25) so the chances of that repeating are quite low in my opinion. All of this to say, I want a baby but I have passed my window for this year. Grr.

Care package!

Sometimes things come just at the right time to really make you smile. I have been extremely bored (already) with this whole job hunt thing. I've read. I've napped. I've cleaned. I've walked MacKenzie. I've applied for 6,000 jobs. You name it. Then I went for my daily walk (ok, I admit sometimes I stop in on my way home and skip the mailbox hike) to the mailbox- honestly a solid 5 minute walk- with MacKenzie and got a surprise! A care package from CeCe (Grace) and Kathi Coomes! I love these ladies! :) I got a sweet tea mix- yum! Some foot care cream- much needed! And bubble bath! Yay! They even sent Oreos for Jackson. Thank you so much ladies. You made me smile!
I also got my Proactiv Solution- thanks Susie! :) And our absentee ballot! I couldn't vote straight Rep. because of Dan Burton. So annoyed. I did my party though and cast my ballot. Whether you agree with my selection or not voting is really important! Rock the vote! :)
I think you can tell that I had my hands full on my walk home. Yay! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DUCKIE!

MacKenzie has her party hat on- just for you! She hopes Macy did an ok job of wearing the birthday bandana that she selected at the Dog Bakery.

Breaking news!

MARION, INDIANA IS GETTING A MOE'S SOUTHWEST GRILL IN FEBRUARY 2009!!!!!! Click the title of this entry to be linked to the Chronicle-Tribune article.



I cannot wait to move home! :) Yum! Moe's! :)

MacKenzie's cookies

I just couldn't resist posting this cute photo of little MacKenzie watching Mommy prepare dog treats. She always knows when we're cooking for her! I love it! She'll watch them in the oven the entire 20 minutes- I always leave the light on for her. ;) Speaking of, I had better go help Jackson with cutting out the shapes.

65,000 Race for the Cure!

Just to give you an idea of the masses...this is an on-ramp to I-25 in downtown Denver FILLED with people and they just kept coming! There were 65,000 walkers today. They raised $57 million today alone. Total Susan Komen has raised over $1,000,000,000 for breast cancer research! Rock on! (They have a fabulous marketing department that I just marvel at as a degreed marketing person)

This was a nice view of downtown Denver- the Broncos' stadium is on the right. They played today and won! (The Colts also staged a strong comeback today- we are proudly displaying our garden flag!)

Just another photo of the masses

And one more photo to show that there were people everywhere!

Crowds are totally not my thing (I contribute this to my paternal genes since we all know Deb doesn't meet a stranger) and I was having a bit of a panic problem at first. Jackson was able to calm me down and keep people from bumping into me pretty well. I hate when people bump into me! Arg! Anyway, we got there late (do not get me started on parking in downtown Denver-GRR) so we had to park like 1.5 miles away. Yep, 1.5 miles just to walk 3.1 miles! Crazy! We booked it to catch up with Meg for a little bit. She did so well! She's a champ! We then hurried to finish as we were starving and ready for breakfast. We went to Cracker Barrel since we were half way there already. ;) It was so yummy and full of other racers! I guess we all worked up an appetite! We had a really nice time and plan to participate in the spring when they have a dog walk! MacKenzie would love it!

We're finally feeling better so I had to clean the house today to rid it of germs. (This is a process that Jackson just does not understand!) Everything looks good and we're almost healed. Praise the Lord! We're very fortunate that a nasty cold is as sick as we've been in a long time.

MacKenzie's play time

Jackson throwing to all 4 dogs- notice the pretty rainbow in the background

The black and white dog is Chloe and the all black mutt is Sam- the fastest little dog ever

We thought you all might wonder just who comes knocking on our door to play with MacKenzie so I took photos during today's ball session. We had the windows open so Sam saw MacKenzie and just had to play. He's lightning fast and wears Mac out big time. She's already in bed!