Funny man.

Jackson is always making jokes. These jokes are usually highly sarcastic and told to people who totally miss his sarcasm (i.e. store clerks, etc.). I usually do not think they're funny because I'm busy making sure that people understand that he's joking. He did, however, make a few really funny comments this weekend.

Comment 1:

We're in Victoria's Secret looking for some assorted undergarments. I wanted some undies that read "Santa Baby" like I had last year. I had Susie ask the sales associate if they had any of those this year (Susie does not get embarrassed by such things). The lady said they did not, but they had some with snowflakes, some with stars, some with reindeer and some with nutcrackers. Jackson then screams, "NUTCRACKERS?! THAT'S THE LAST THING I WANT TO SEE ON MY WIFE'S UNDIES!!!" I wanted to die. That's my husband, folks. All mine.

Comment 2:

We're in the car talking about what we'd name our son (if we ever decide the have kids) and how his middle name would be Lincoln after Jackson's dad, Charles Lincoln and we'd call him "Link" for a nickname. I was telling Jackson and Susie about how I know a girl with a baby named Lincoln as his first name and she doesn't allow him to be called "Link" because it reminds her of a sausage. Jackson, outraged, screams, "I meet people named Patty all of the time and I've never run into that complaint!" I laughed so hard.

Situation 3:

This isn't a comment, but it is worth telling. I burned my finger today while making fudge. It was really hurting when I was trying to shower so I asked Jackson to come in and wash my hair. He washed my hair like I would expect the Beast to wash Belle's hair in Beauty & The Beast. He was pawing at me and making more tangles than he was getting rid of. He tried to help wash my face and nearly poked an eye out. It was pretty comical. Poor Susie was in the front room wondering what the heck was going on in that shower because we were just cracking up! It was seriously too funny. (Side note: my finger is finally starting to feel better- it really hurt!)

Mac the climber!

Listen, I spent a lot of time trying to make this video look right and it just doesn't. Deal.

Lookout Mountain

MacKenzie posing by our tiny tree. We didn't get a big one this year since we'll be in Europe for the holiday!

MacKenzie on the top of Lookout Mountain.

Susie wanted a photo of her in the snow because she leaves Colorado for Florida on Monday. Punk! ;)

I just really enjoy making my family do silly poses. :)

The view from the top of Lookout Mountain. It was seriously so pretty.

We went hiking and some of the trails were really icy so Susie decided to play it safe and slide down on her butt!

The Petefish family out for a hike!

Jackson climbed the rock and so did Mac. Susie chose to stay at the bottom and smile!

We had Christmas with Susie this morning. Then we ran errands and went for a hike. Our hike

was cut short by all of the ice (see Susie on her butt photo-lol). We drove up to Lookout Mountain and it was awesome. Then we bathed our disgustingly dirty puppy and went to dinner. Finally, we drove around looking at all of the Christmas lights around the greater Denver area. It was a really fun day! :)

BLACK Friday

I'm not going to lie- I LOVED shopping on BLACK Friday today. We all (Jackson, Susie and I) got up at 3:30 and were in line at Target by 4. It opened at 5. We got a really cute shopping bag for being in line so early. They also had a deal going that you got a $10 gift card for every $100 spent. I may or may not have wrangled our way into getting 4 of those! :) Woo hoo! I am finished with my Christmas shopping now and I totaled my savings (I'm an accountant, leave me alone) and it was $355. That's a lot of money to save!! :) I won't lie- the presents I got are pretty awesome this year.

We got home from shopping at around 8(!!) and had a little wrapping party. It was so nice to have some help with all of my wrapping. Jackson was in charge of doing all of the ribbon work. He did a nice job, too! What a team.

We all napped this afternoon because 3:30 was an early wake-up call! We then headed down to they Cherry Creek area of Denver to do even more shopping and have dinner at the Cherry Cricket. Yum!

Now Jackson and Susie are at the University of Denver hockey game. I had intended to study tonight, but school is closed. I took that as a sign to blog. :)

A pie made with love

Anyone who knows me know that I have a distain for cinnamon. It makes me sick. I hate the look and smell of it. I hate the word, even. I don't like cinnamon's little spice cousins: ginger, cloves, nutmeg, etc. As you can imagine, this time of the year is h-e-doubles for me when it comes to my cinnamon hatred. For the second time in our marriage I was able to cover my nose with my shirt and bake Jackson a fresh pumpkin pie. I would not do this kind act if I didn't truly love this man. It was a wretched experience, yet again. On the plus side Jackson says it is the best looking pie he has even seen. Perhaps he's just kissing up because my whole condo has the stinch of pumpkin pie. Who knows?!

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

"Turkey Day" GRR

Quick rant:
    I get really annoyed when people call THANKSGIVING "turkey day." Honestly people. We already cannot say "Merry Christmas!" in the business setting so we opt to take the Thanks out of the Thanksgiving holiday? Jeesh. It drives me nuts! Thanksgiving is about just that: giving thanks for all of our blessing. It is NOT a holiday merely about turkey!!

So to end this rant I will wish you all a:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

My feelings about Pumpkin Pie

Jackson's external counterpart sent this to him at work today under the pretense that it would be sent out to their producing financial advisors. Jackson got a real kick out of it and wanted the blog world to see. :) The photo came with the caption that is written underneath it. Sigh. Boys will be boys! (I do have to say that I think pumpkin pie with all of its cinnamon and spice glory looks like throw up. Think about that as you eat slice after slice. ;))

We are working on the pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving & hope to have enough for Christmas, too!

Hurting heart

My sister is 18 weeks pregnant. It feels like she's 18 years pregnant due to all of the complications in making little Alex. She has a shortened cervix (I must admit that all of this medical speak means nothing to me. Nothing. I'm just repeating what I've been told.) that may require surgery to close. She has 2 placentas which is very abnormal. She has to go see a high-risk doctor once a week until little Alex decides to check out of the "womb hotel." I have taken to calling it her "womb hotel" to try to convince her that he'd be crazy to check out early. :) Anyway, she's pretty down on herself right now. She thinks she is already a bad mom because she's not protecting him. I assured her as the logical sister (perhaps she's in trouble if I'm to logical one?!) that that simply is not true. I told her to blame our Mom for making her with a funny cervix! ;) (Just kidding, Deb.)


All of this to say, please keep Kylie, Nick (poor kid, he must feel so helpless) and Alex in your prayers. And as you parents give thanks this Thanksgiving, please remember how blessed you are to have a child. I will be thankful, as someone's child, that I'm here and healthy!

Christmas cookies!

Today, we ate at Buca di Beppo to celebrate our anniversary. It is a tradition and was great food as always. Tonight, I broke out my Christmas music on iTunes. I wrote a paper. Jackson grocery shopped. Then we started our Christmas baking for the dogs that MacKenzie will see when she's home. (Mom, the big Christmas trees are for Addison. I know. I cannot believe we made her so many treats either!) We really enjoy making these little cookies in all of their fun shapes. Ahh, the holidays are upon us. If only that didn't mean that finals were coming, too...

The Blind Side

I have been dying to see this movie and it finally came out today! Jackson and I headed to the Landmark Theatres (the ones with the free popcorn and sodas plus nice leather seats- LOVE IT!) to catch the 8:30 show. I laughed. I cried. I cried some more. (I'm kind of a weenie.) We both loved the movie. I cannot recommend it enough. It really makes one think about the impact actions of kindness can have one someone else's life. It really makes you think. So- stop reading this and go see it already! Sheesh. :)

BUSTED!

Here in lovely metropolitan Denver the stoplights are armed with cameras to bust those of us who happen to run a red light on occasion. Guess who got busted?! JACKSON! Oh man. It cost us $75 for him to run that light! They mail you the ticket. Can you believe that? Technology sucks sometimes. :( BUT, the best part is that they include a photo of the driver. Jackson had his mouth wide open in the photo. (The website will not allow me to copy the picture or print it! GRR.) Honestly, the picture was so funny to me that I didn't even care that we had to pay a fine. I guess I'm getting to be a push over in my old age. Ha. ;)


P.S. Jackson has allowed me to include the web address to his photo- please go see it! www.violationinfo.com Notice # 0050900120101 Pin # 4617

GONE, BABY, GONE

I am beyond excited to announce that the Petefish family no longer owns property in Westfield, Indiana! YAY!!! My wonderful mother was our Power of Attorney and closed on the home today for us. YAY! YAY! YAY! I cannot believe how wonderful it feels to be finished dealing with that house.

We are grateful to God beyond words for his provisions in our lives. The last few months were a bit of a rollercoaster, but God was in control and had a great plan the entire time. Jackson is really happy with his job here. I seriously love my new job. I'll get to finish school right on time. We love our new condo rental that is significantly cheaper than our old apartment. We sold my car really quickly and for a profit. God has just been blessing us right and left. We're now "bad" debt free. (I am, however, still accepting donations for my student loans if anyone is feeling generous. ;))

I just cannot believe the turn around from where we were on June 20th to where we are on November 20. Thank you so much, Lord. You're awesome! :)

Mac & Grams

I get a real kick of this email chain between "MacKenzie" and her Grandma Susie P from this week.

Hi Grammy.

I wanted to drop you a quick note to tell you how excited I am for you to visit me at Thanksgiving. We are planning on going for a hike on Saturday so you'll want to bring warm clothes for that. Tennis shoes, too. Maybe even a tennis ball?!!

I am so excited to spend Christmas with you, Kathi, CECE, Monty and Tommy. We'll have a (and hopefully play some) ball. I cannot wait to play with Boomer again. He's so dreamy.

Mommy wanted me to see when you'd be back from Evansville the weekend that they're home. She didn't know if I could stay in my cage Sunday and wait for you or if she needed to find me a home for the night. Please let her know. She worries about these things because she loves me sooo much.

Again, I'm looking forward to picking you up next Thursday at Denver's airport. It is one of my favorite drives. I'd better get back to my cage now before Mommy notices that I was on her laptop while she was at work! ;)
Love always,
MacKenzie P.

Dear MacKenzie,

What a nice surprise to hear from you. I hope you didn't get in trouble for using Mommy's laptop. I am so anxious to see you and Mommy and Daddy for Thanksgiving. I will be bring warm clothes so we can go hiking. I hope Mommy is planning on shopping on Black Friday.

We will have so much fun when you are here for Christmas. I know that Gracie will have fun with you and Monty at Christmas. I will have to call Boomer and let him know you are coming for a visit. Mary and Tom are going to be getting a puppy in January.

If Mommy will let me, I could take you to Newburgh on the 12th. But, if not, I could ask Carla to watch you as I am not sure when I will get home. I worry that the weather could get bad. Just let me know.
I will see you in about 8 days.
All my love,
Grammy

Grammy,

Thanks for getting back with me so quickly. Mommy is definitely planning on doing Black Friday shopping. She said that Target is giving away $10 in gift cards for every $50 spent before noon that day. She's hoping to do her shopping for Grace at Target!

Mom will send a stocking for me to open at Christmas. I heard Mary and Tom aren't getting a Schnauzer and I think that's sad.

I will be in Upland until the night of the 12th when Mommy and Daddy meet the Ducks for dinner in Muncie. Do you mind asking Carla to watch me on Sunday? I like her and tearing up her house plants. ;)
Love,
MacK
 
MacKenzie,

I will ask Carla to watch you but I won't say anything about tearing up her plants. What time would she get you on the 13? Boomer is so excited to see you. If Carla can't watch you then Boomer's parents will keep you.
See you soon.
Love,
Grammy

3 years...

A lot can happen in three years.

Three years ago today Jackson and I were married and set off on this adventure of being married. We've had our ups. We've had our downs. We've had our ins. We've had our outs. We've had a ton of fun. We've had a lot of laughs. We've shed a lot of tears. We've shared a lot of love. We got a dog. We fell in love with her. We're expecting another nephew. We've had a lot of fun with our niece. We've learned a lot about ourselves and each other. We've traveled. A lot. We've missed our parents both here and in Heaven. We've lost jobs. We've gotten jobs. We've seen God's hand in our lives and the lives of those around us.

Finally, we've hit our stride. We've started to really figure this thing out. All of that took only 3 years. Here's to many, many, many more years, Jackson. You are truly the love of my life. I love you more than words could ever express. Kiss.

Let's go, IU!

WOOOOO HOOOOOOO! Today, I was able to score the world's BEST anniversary present for my wonderful husband: tickets to see our Indiana University Hoosiers take on the University of Kentucky Wildcats. We're so excited to cheer on the HOOSIERS in Assembly Hall.

The game is on December 12th so I'm heading home with MacKenzie on December 10th to do some extra visiting. Jackson will join us on Friday night. The game is Saturday and then Jackson and I will head home on Sunday afternoon. MacKenzie, who has decided to stay in Indiana, will spend Christmas with Grammy and New Year's with Grandma and Grandpa Duck. It is going to save her a lot of time at Camp Bow Wow. It really turned out to be an awesome plan and she's pretty excited to see all of her doggie friends again.

I'm so, so happy. I didn't think that I'd get to go back to Indiana for a loooong time, but I do! :) And kind of soon! Happy Anniversary to ME Jackson.

Let's go play in the snow!

Denver got dumped on with more SNOW! So we all went out to PLAY!!

Jackson was taking the photos so you don't see him playing, but have no fear- he was out there, too! He pushed me down 3 times. Once he tackled me by stepping on my foot! If you're going to play, Jackson, let's play fair.

P.S. The is our 500th blog post!! Crazy, huh?!

HOOSIERS WIN!

We were extremely excited for the INDIANA UNIVERSITY HOOSIERS to begin their basketball season tonight. THEY WON!!

One would have thought that I bought Jackson a new car for how he excited he was that I called Comcast to add the Big Ten Network to our channel line up so we wouldn't miss IU games.

We will really miss Uncle Duane's 2nd row seats in Assembly Hall this year. There's really no place more awesome to watch a game than Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana. It is one of the very worst parts of being away from home.

We're hoping for a great season! Let's go HOOSIERS!

Dear AT&T

Dear AT&T,

You have a fabulous marketing department. The more bars in more places ads are genius. However, they're a lie. I spend hours each week in the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law where there is NO AT&T coverage. None. Zip. Zero. Do Verizon customers have service? Yes. Sigh. AT&T, you've let me down.

I'd just like to have coverage in the law school, please. I love my iPhone. I have enjoyed the customer service at AT&T. I enjoyed the awesome seats at Indiana University basketball games that I used to get thanks to you (and my Uncle Duane). I do not enjoy dropping calls. I do not enjoy a lack of coverage.

Let's work on this, please.

Warm regards,

Jenna P.

Burgers and Babies

Introducing Sir Alex Unfried!! :) Aren't these pictures just wild?! He already looks like Kylie to me...

Aww! Remember when the black and whites were all you got?

Just to give an idea of how little Alex really is...we're pretty sure Jackson's burger tonight was bigger than the baby! We're so excited for Alex's arrival. 16 weeks down with only 24 to go! :)

Blame it on the altitude

Did anyone else watch the Monday Night Football game on ESPN? You would think the Steelers were coming to play on the moon for as much as the commentators talked about our thin air out here in Denver. We just kind of laughed at these big football guys going to get oxygen masks. We're so used to the altitude now. Toughen up, big boys! ;):)

Purrfect barkday

MacKenzie had a lovely birthday. The weather was gorgeous in Denver today so we headed out to lunch at McAlister's Deli where they have a patio that allows MacKenzie to hang out with us. She got to eat some of my french dip and bark at people- life's good. Then we went for a long walk in Washington Park where there were about 600 dogs to sniff and all kinds of people playing with balls at which Mac barked! I believe it is her version of HEAVEN! She ate her puppy treats and even got a new bone to chew on. It was a good day.

She even got a new red bed to keep in my office! We had a fun day, too. I don't normally like living in Denver all that much, but I love a gorgeous day spent at Wash Park. :)

MacKenzie turns 3!

I cannot believe that my little puppy is three years old today! Sometime people ask me if my parents got MacKenzie for Jackson and me as bait to have grandchildren- I always tell them that if that was their plan it backfired. Big time. (Above is my very favorite family photo- EVER! And yes, that little black puppy had turned into our little white dog.)

When MacKenzie was attacked by a coyote this year my heart broke into 6,000,000,000 pieces. I felt like my world was ending. Dramatic? Not at all. I love this pooch. I felt so much anguish that she was in pain and there was nothing I could do for her. She was so scared. She was so happy to see us when we found her. I'll never forget crying my eyes out in the Vet's office at midnight. I had to catch a morning flight the next day. I slept on that plane like I'd never slept in my life. The emotional roller coaster of the night before left me exhausted. MacKenzie has since healed. One would never know that she was even hurt. I know, though. I'll never forget how close we came to losing her. She's such a special part of our little family. I cannot imagine life without her happy little spirit.

We have more fun with MacKenzie than I ever knew was possible. Jackson takes her everywhere with him: to the grocery, to the gas station, on hikes, etc. He loves that little dog. She sits beside us when we watch sports and barks when we (I) yell at the television. She loves to snuggle during sad movies. She's the perfect companion. When I think about how much I love MacKenzie I cannot imagine how a parent feels.

Anyway, she's our precious (Republican) girl. Happy birthday, MacKenzie. We love you!

Happy birthday, puppy!

MacKenzie's actual birthday is tomorrow, but she got presents and cards in the mail today. Above she is seen "reading" a card from Grammy. (Excuse my appearance- I've been studying and cleaning all day!)

Her other grandparents sent her a cookie with her name on it from the 3 Dog Bakery in Indianapolis which has not been closed! She doesn't get to eat it until tomorrow.

She also got a little travel case for her water and food bowls. She is stylin' now.

And finally she got a new Colts collar and some treats. YUM! Thanks so much for all of her birthday love!! :)

Current Events

Sometimes I watch the news and I am amazed at what we as humans are capable of doing. I RARELY watch the news for this very reason. After the Virginia Tech massacre I was terrified to go back to campus. After that I pretty much decided that the world could be filled with evil, but I didn't have to be bombarded with it every night from my television. Call that silly or whatever you need to call it, but I find my life is much better not knowing every single awful thing that is happening. That's not to say that I live in a bubble. I see the news online and occasionally read an article. I just chose not to let it control my life.

The last few days there have been some news stories that could not be missed:

An Army Major going and killing 13 people on an American base. The base was where these people lived and worked serving their country and they were killed by one of their own. Many of those who were killed had served in war and made it home only to be killed on their own soil. Disgusting.

A disgruntled employee goes into his old place of business and shoots people. He killed at least 2 and several others were wounded. Do you think those people went to work today thinking that they were going to be in the line of fire? I highly doubt that.

I think back to 9/11 when a bunch of people came up with a plane to kill a ton of people and succeeded. It blows my mind how one could get that many people to agree to such an evil plan.

Anyway, I often think about how disappointed I am in people. Is it so hard to control yourself? Is it really that hard to let people who did you wrong move on with their lives? I know that we all wish we could "deal" with certain people, but we do not do it because that is wrong. When did it become so hard for people to do the right thing?

I also know that for how much I am disappointed in people, God must really shake his head with tears running down His face. I simply cannot imagine the way he feels when one of His creatures does something so unimaginable. I, as a Christian, often struggle with degrees of sin. I think that being an American, I am so used to the legal system with degrees of crimes that I often place those degrees on sin. At the end of the day, however, I really do think that a sin is a sin now matter what. I am certain that things I do every single day let God down and for that I'm sorry. I think the moral of this is to focus on ourselves and what we can do to further God's kingdom. People will always let you down. Always. God will not so let's focus on him instead of all of the evil in the world.

Google

Do you all use Google regularly? I do. My answer to near every unknown is to "google it!" One of my favorite things about Google is how they change the letters for special days. For instance, today it is this:Now, who doesn't love Bert & Ernie?! Come on! It has been Sesame Street characters all week in honor of the show's 40th anniversary. Sometimes you see what they've done and don't know why so all you have to do is click to picture and it takes you to a Google newstory explaining it. I love it!

I have read quite a few business books about Google because let's face it: I'm a nerd. I love to see how businesses are structured and what kind of employee benefit plans they run. (Stop rolling your eyes. I'm sure you have weird things that interest you, too.) An interesting thing about Google is that a lot of their employees are millionaires thanks to stock options and the such, but they still come to work everyday and work HARD! Google has a campus Mountain View, CA that is supposed to be just awesome. I think is the coolest job at Google is the person who gets to make Bert & Ernie part of the homepage. I read about the guy once and he only works like one week a month doing all of these images. Rough life, pal.

Anyway, his job adds a smile to my face. Happy weekend!

Accounting...

I started my new permanent job on Monday. I'm working for a CPA who has an office in a financial advisory office. I'm not a huge fan of all of the brokers around me, but I think things will get better when my office is ready for me. Right now I'm hanging out in a cubicle. Boo. ;)

I have jumped right into my job. My new boss, Melinda, had my email inbox filled with projects. Whew. I feel like I've made a good dent into things. It will take a little bit of time to feel comfortable and like I know what I am doing. I miss knowing everything about my job like I did back in Indiana. :/

Jackson has been extremely busy at work- kicking butts and taking names! :) He has Friday off and so do I- yay! (I do not have to work Fridays until busy season which is January-ish.)

Other than that not much is going on here. My classes on Wednesday and Friday were both cancelled so that was awesome. I just have a few more weeks of this crazy quarter of school. Then I will have time to get excited for EUROPE! :)

We hope you're all doing well.

Birthday puppy

Madison had quite the birthday party!

Poor MacKenzie won't get a cake or treats for her birthday because all of our Three Dog Bakery stores closed.

Madison going to town on her treats!They also had trick-or-treaters come by the house. Madison was not pleased with the little boy poking her. Guy had to hold her back.
He kept poking at her. Look at how mad she looks! LOL! I love it! :)

Sigh.

Do you ever have days where it is hard to believe that there is such a thing as human decency? Sigh. Today was one of those days for me. Please keep my family in your prayers as they go through a time of transition. I know God will never give them more than they can handle. And I also know that there is a daybed in Denver, Colorado that's always welcoming visitors.

Madison turns 8!

We got Madison around Christmas in 2001. I picked her out and she has been my favorite pup ever since.

As you can see, each year Madison gets a cake. :) The year we tried candles kind of freaked her out so we don't do that anymore. She's been such a great dog. Below is my ode to Madison.
She was with me through high school graduation, college graduation, my wedding and getting my own puppy, MacKenzie. She has always been such a great little dog. As you can see, she's a wonderful nurse. I didn't have a photo of the times she kept me company after my knee surgeries so I found one of her nursing Duckie after an eye surgery. She knows to be gentle and she just rests with you. She's wonderful.

This is Guy and Madison at my high school graduation open house.

Christina visiting Madison during Christmas break in college. This was her life before Macy!She even helped my parents deliver a wonderful present: my red Volvo convertible! :)Macy and Madison make a great team. I say team and really it is Madison makes a great boss/leader for Macy. Madison is always in charge. Madison loves to help Mom get her work done. She often lounges in Mom's office while she makes phone calls. (The barking in the background really makes Mom's clients feel warm and fuzzy inside ;)) She also occassionally gets into the trash and frames Macy. That's always a good time.

This is one of the first times that I brought Jackson home to meet my parents. Obviously, his impression on Madison was very important to me. (He know talks trash about how mean Madison is on the occassion. He better watch it, she's the sherriff.) She and Macy took right to him. Little did they know we'd be bringing a terror over in a few years named MacKenzie. Madison doesn't love MacKenzie, but Macy does! Madison prefers to hang with me. I cannot blame her. ;)

This was a shot I took of Madison and Macy on my wedding day. Don't you see Madison pleading with me not to do it? (KIDDING! But I know she misses me because when I iChat with my parents she goes to the window and looks for me in the driveway! So sweet.) They were so cute. In high school Madison always woke me up right on time with a good jump on the bed and lick in the face. I miss that!

Madison and Macy (really just Madison, but Mom didn't want Macy to feel excluded) were guests of honor at our wedding reception. Madison didn't like wearing her wedding dress. I was a bit bummed, but she explained that she was prettier without it. I agreed. Macy sure looked cute in hers, though. (I'll never stop loving this photo as the look on Jackson's face is priceless. He was not too keen on a puppy reception but whatevs.)

Finally, Madison got to be there to show my new pup the ropes. I am sure she was extra tough on MacKenzie because she wanted her to be a good dog for me. She is a great dog, but she will never be my Miss Madison. Happy birthday, Boney! Thanks for 9 wonderful years together- I hope we have many, many, many more. I love you. :) It is always soo good to see your little face! I miss you!