Too Much Fun

I have to say, this weekend started out pretty terrible.

Friday morning I woke up with a jolt at 6am (which is waaayyy before I get up) due to left eye pain.  At first I thought I was finally getting sick with that horrible virus that has been going around, so I took some meds and went back to sleep.  I thought about getting up, but if I was sick, I'd just have to call in.  So, I wanted to see if I'd get worse.  The eye pain got worse, but it wasn't sinus pain.  It was surface pain.  I think Dan smacked my eye in the middle of the night in his sleep.  There was no bruise, but it took 2 days to heal, and there was a little swelling.  Needless to say, I was in a bad mood Friday night.  It hurt to chew, talk, blink, anything that involved in left eye.

Saturday morning, I woke up, and still had pain.  I was so frustrated.  Plus, I had to work this weekend.  Sucks.  Plus, as I'm walking out the door, Dan cancels going to the hash.  I was not happy.  So, I went to work, came home, and cleaned.  Whenever I get frustrated, I either clean, or I cook.  Saturday, I cleaned for 4 hours.  I cleaned floors, dusted, cleaned air vents, washed walls, cleaned bathrooms, started laundry, and even shampooed Daisy's room.  I was so exhausted when  I finished.  All I wanted was to relax and take a hot bath.

Just as I was getting the motivation to walk back upstairs, Dan came home from his meeting with a bottle of wine and potted calla lillies.  What a good man.  Immediately I felt better.  Not only did he apoligize and promised to take me and the dogs to Brown County Saturday, but he remembered that calla lillies were my flowers when we got married.  And, they are potted, which means I get to try my hand at keeping yet a 5th house plant alive.  So far, the 3 from the hospital stay are still going strong, as well as my Aloe plant from Megan.

After a nice relaxing hot bath, we both were ready to restart the weekend.  We headed out to BW's in Broadripple for dinner and the UFC with Clint.  We were able to spend about an hour together before Clint came, which helped refocus the weekend.  We had a great time hanging out with Clint, having a couple drinks, and enjoying the fights.  Afterwards, Dan and I went home to watch some tv, and we ended up staying up past 3am!  We haven't done that since Dan worked evenings!

Sunday we woke up early so we could catch the noon Pacers game with my good friend Angela and her husband Basili.  Running on little sleep, I started to feel like I was in college again.  We had a great time watching the Pacers vs. Suns.  Unfortunately the Pacers lost in overtime.  We then headed over to Scotty's for "linner" full of great conversation and good food.  We just made it before the game crowd.  Dan and I tried to grab me a Pacers shirt before we went back home, but the shop had closed.  So, we spent the rest of the night playing with the dogs, watching bad movies, and the Oscars.

Tax Check

We received our tax refund check today!  Silly me forgot to change my W-4 at work when Dan and I got married, so they were taking way too much out for taxes.  I'm torn as to whether I would've rather had the extra money each check, or if I prefer having a large tax refund.  Last year, we weren't able to save any money, so as my Dad put it, this was our savings account.  But, at the same time, it would've been nice to have that extra income while Dan wasn't working.  Either way, my W-4 is now changed.

This morning we paid off 2 Dr Bills and 2 Credit Cards (Christmas and Dan's).  Phew feels good.  We also bought our Bonnaroo tickets (I cannot explain how exciting this is), and Dan opened a new savings account for our vacation fund.  Everyday our trip to Europe gets closer and closer!  I tried to pay off my car, but I forgot to update my address when we moved (a year and a half ago, seeing a trend??), so I'm waiting for that to be processed. 

But, the most exciting part for me, is that today, I get to take out my "allowance" for spending money.  I just realized that I can finally afford to go see a hair stylist that all of my girl friends keep raving about, Cortland at Ciao Bella Salon.  Come Monday, I am calling and scheduling an appointment.  It has been YEARS that I have been able to go to a real hair stylist.  And now, I can go and not feel guilty.  I can even get pedicures, and buy new clothes!  Oh to be girly and waste money on things that don't matter.  I have a wonderful husband who puts up with these usless wishes, and actually enjoys seeing me endulge in them.

Thursday Morning Thoughts

The first real rain of the year always makes me think of Spring.  I don’t know if I’m more excited because it’s not snow coming down, or if it’s because I know soon, my flowers will be sprouting.  Soon, I will see people seeding my back yard, and my husband, dad, FIL, and brothers putting up a fence.  And soon, I will be planting trees, flowers, and vegetables.

This morning, on my rainy drive into work, I didn’t think about all the above fun, exciting, Spring things to look forward to.  Today, instead, my non-caffeinated brain thought it would be better to think about Relay for Life.  Sure, this is the time of the year to start planning for it, but this year it will be different.

Last year my mom walked as a survivor, as I’m hoping she will again this year.  This year, my husband will join her.  To me, this morning, this brought on a wave of confusing emotions that I have not been able to shake.  I am very concerned at the alarming rate of increase in the number of people I know walking as survivors, but I am also very proud and excited to see them walk together.  “Survivor” is so much better than “Patient”.  I’m not sure how I will feel watching 2 people I love among the crowd of strangers brought together by such an ugly thing.

Dan and I don’t refer to him as a survivor.  I actually spend most of my time ignoring the elephant in the room.  I will refer to his cancer as “before you were sick,” or “before the surgery”.  I don’t know if I have properly dealt with things, or if this is my way of dealing with it.  This, in turn makes me wonder, if I’m not dealing with it, how am I helping my husband?  Am I being as supportive as he needs? 

All I know is that these thought processes should not be done before work, on a Thursday when I have to be here for 11hrs, especially before coffee, 5 days before his next Oncologist appointment.  But, I do know that we are going to have one hell of a 1 year cancer-free party this summer.  And, I would love it if every one of my readers could join us for Relay for Life this year in May. 

Maybe that is my way of coping. 

Budget

I've always thought I've been good with money.  Before I met Dan, I had minimal student loans, no other debt other than my car, and a savings account.  I had even started saving for my wedding, if I ever found Mr. Right.  Then, I met Mr. Right, and we moved in together, and went on vacations, bought furniture, moved a couple more times, and got married, bought a house, and have had horrible luck with cat/husband health.  Here we are 5 years later (on St Patty's Day), and we have minimal savings left, and we constantly overdraw our account (ok, usually by just a couple bucks, but the fees!).  Granted, Dan was unemployed for 17 out of the last 24 months, and we had to pay for his hospital bills.  But these are all excuses.

We have been paying of debt very slowly for a while, and on Friday we will be paying off my car, Dan's credit card, and the last 2 small doctors bills.  But, we still have a long way to go.  We both have student loans (we've paid one off, and have 3 to go), Dan's car, my credit card, and the large hospital bill (that we have on a payment plan with no interest).

So today, we put out a budget together post-payoffs this week.  Its actually really exciting to see it on paper.  After paying bills, we will each get some free to spend, carrying around money!  I can go out to lunch, go shopping, save for a vacation...anything.

Now that, is true freedom.

Cake Pops

Note: You can make your own cake and frosting recipe, but to be sure these turned out as promised, I used the store bought. Some people have claimed success using donut holes which would save a lot of time.

What you’ll need:

18.25-ounce box cake mix

9-by-13 inch cake pan

Large mixing bowl

16-ounce container ready-made frosting

Large spoon
Wax paper
2 baking sheets
Plastic wrap
Lolly Pop Sticks
32 ounce (2 pounds) candy coating
Deep,microwave-safe plastic bowl
Resealable plastic bag or squeeze bottle (optional)

Directions:

Bake cake according to box, and let cool for at least one hour. I let mine cool ON, because I didn’t have time to finish it all in one day.

Crumble cake into a large bowl and slowly add frosting. You want to add just enough to have the cake come together. I think I added just a little too much frosting in mine. Stick in fridge. I let mine stay in for about an hour.

Form cake into balls. Mine were a little large. I used a melon scoop and my balls ended up being about 1” in diameter. I ended up with about 25 balls, so I may half the size to get around 40 (which is what people online are saying this makes). Stick in fridge.

Melt chocolate candy according to the bag (1/2 power for 1min, then stirring adding an additional 30sec until completely melted). Take one Lolly Pop stick and dip into the candy. Then place ¾ of the way into the cake balls. Let set. (I let mine set in the freezer overnight, but Bakerella said this can cause your candy to crack, which mine did. I tried 15min in the fridge, but the cake balls fell off. I also don’t think I got ¾ of the way into the cake balls. So, maybe 20-35min in the fridge?)

Once the sticks have set, dip into melted chocolate candy to cover. Don’t twirl the balls too much, but try and dip straight down to cover the entire ball. Mine didn’t cover all the way and the cake balls started to come out the bottom. After dipping, tap on the side of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Set in Styrofoam and let set. (mine set in about 10 min).

I decorated mine with white chocolate candy melted, and mixed with red food coloring, but this was added after the cake pops had set. As a result, the pink décor fell off some of them.

So, I had some issues with mine, but they tasted fantastic, and I think they turned out pretty good for a first run. I might make some for St. Patrick’s Day just so I can try and perfect the process.

Good luck with yours!

Frustrating Monday

I went into work this morning in a great mood.  Dan got up and made me a protein shake and coffee for breakfast, which was a really nice way to start the week.  I hate having to decide what to eat for breakfast when I'm rushing to get out the door and my coffee isn't kicking in yet.  Plus, he promised me he would, and he makes fantastic shakes.

I went to work, and had a really good lab meeting.  Except I had to talk my boss into moving an experiment so I didn't have to work this weekend.  And he tried to say I didn't do a part of a study, when I did.  Then, 2 hrs later he schedules another experiment so I have to come in this weekend.  Sigh.  So, tomorrow I have a meeting with him to try and again try and talk him into moving the experiment, again.

I left work so frustrated and angry because I had such a great week last week, and an amazing weekend, only to come back to work to issues.  I came home, resolved to finding joy in my Valentine's chocolates, when I realized that I could still have a good night.  I am not going to get angry and frustrated, but instead, I'm going to cook.  I've made protein breakfast bars and cereal so I don't have to worry about breakfast this week.  And for dinner, we are having some comforting fried chicken with a salad and squash and zucchini in butter.  Yum.  Tonight will be a lot of fun, relaxing with the hubby and watching some House.

For my readers, here's a little food porn:

P.S. I even did my push ups.  Warrior Dash OH, watch out!  And I did have a piece of chocolate.  One Milk chocolate covered cherry.

Lazy Sunday

Yesterday was a fantastic day.  Not only did we get a great workout in with the dogs, but both Dan and I were able to see our family.  Mom, Dad, Rebekah, Eric, and Andrew came up for the day.  Eric had a wrestling meet for his kids, so the rest of us met up for dinner downtown at Bucca di Beppo's.  I am always a little disappointed when I eat there now that they were bought out.  Its still fantastic food, but it lacks some of the spice and originality, and the prices have doubled.  It was still great to eat dinner with the fam, plus some really good ravioli and chicken parm.

Dan went to NC to visit with his family and to take his brother to see True Grit.   He said the movie was really good, but I'm just not a Western person, so I'm glad he was able to see it with his brother.  Plus, they got in some really good teenager/big brother life lesson talks.

After dinner, the fun didn't stop.  Last night, we had a special Girl's Night for my very good friend Megan.  She is pregnant and due hopefully any day, so we through her a little "Sprinkle."  My cake pops turned out fabulous, and we had a great time opening presents, having a little wine and catching up.  I always leave in a great mood, and its always too short.  The next Girl's Night my mom is going to come up and give us a cooking lesson.  No one has given any ideas yet, but it is going to be yummy.  Plus, my mom will be there, so it will be Girl's Night with family.

Today we have no plans other than try to tackle the mess that is our house and the mountain of laundry that has built up this week.  This morning Dan said, "You know we've had a good weekend by the amount of dishes that are in our sink."  I guess I should get some cleaning done.  :)

Brown County Trail

This morning, Dan and I headed down to Brown County with the dogs after breakfast.  We did trail 8, and it took us about 1hr and 15 min.  It was the perfect day for a run.  The sun was out and it was around 50 degrees.  The ground was a little wet from all the snow/ice melt, but it felt good on our knees and hips.

I very quickly went into denial about the difficulty of the trail, when after the first 5 min we came across a very steep hill that we had to go up.  I made it about half way running.  I convinced myself that was going to be the hardest part, but I was wrong. :) There were several points where we lost the trail and it felt like we were hashing looking for any signs of the trail continuing.  There were several trees to weave through and jump over and about half way through the trail we came to a mountain of stairs.  I thought I was going to die, but we both made it up!  After one very frustrating moment of being lost, we found the trail, and made it back to the trail head.  Daisy and Penny did really well.  Penny kept wanting to run around the other side of the trees, so we were slowed by tied up dogs several times, but by the end she learned to not put the trees between us.  Daisy didn't get tired one bit until the last couple minutes.  The trail ended going up hill, and she decided she was done.  Dan had to coach her, but we all made it.  We all had a great time, and we can't wait to go back.  This next Saturday there is a hash, and I think we'll be able to take both dogs, which will be a lot of fun.  It will be Penny's first and Dan will get named.  Is anyone else going??

I was afraid that I was slowing everyone down, but based on how lazy the dogs are, I think we all got a good workout in.

Friday!!

What a great week!  My supervisor was away for a conference all week, and I was able to be extremely productive.  It feels so good to get some real work done with out the frustrating distractions.  I am really looking forward to our lab meeting on Monday to show the progress on the projects.

Also, Penny and I had a great run on Thursday.  We weren't able to run far before it got dark out, but we did see 4 deer cross the road in front of us.  Plus, this was the first time I tried to run with Penny, and she did so well.  She stayed right by my side and would give me this look of pure glee.

I needed to go shopping for the baby gift and cake pop supplies, so I was able to take the dogs for a car ride and go shopping.  It was such a great time.  The Christmas Tree shop has all their lawn and garden supplies out, and I am getting excited to start working on my yard and garden. 

Our good friend Clint came over to hang out.  I made a TON of chili (so we could have left overs for lunches) and Clint brought over some local beer.  The boys jammed out while I worked on the cake pops and macaroons.  It was a lot of fun.  I mean, what more could you ask for than to be serenaded to by your husband while you cook?

I am really looking forward to our trip to Brown County tomorrow and I cannot wait to see how these cake pops turn out.  They already look tasty.

Fitness Challenge

I don't  know if it's because of the cold weather, or if I'm just being lazy, but I have fallen off the 100 push ups challenge.  I am a very single minded person.  I really like the timing of Day 1 on Monday, Day 2 on Wednesday and Day 3 on Friday, but with the fitness test at the end of week 2, I am no longer on my schedule.  So, my goal is to start week 4, following column 2 instead of 3, on Monday.  I can't give up now, I'm half way done!

Dan and I have decided that this year we are going to do the Ohio Warrior Dash.  We first heard about this last summer, but it was too soon for me to get ready for it.  This year, I really want to give it a try.  It looks like fun.  So, Dan and I are going to train by running hiking trails in Brown County.  The warrior dash is 3 miles with several obstacles, so hopefully running up stairs and jumping over downed trees will make the obstacles a little easier.  I still want to finish the push ups challenge so I can start on the pull up challenge.  There is a wall climb for one of the obstacles and I really don't think I can climb over in my current fitness state.  

So, starting this week, I am going to get back into gear.  Today I took Penny for a quick run around the block, and ended with 40 pushups.  Saturday, Dan and I will be heading down to Brown County, and next week I'll start week 4 of the push ups challenge.

How are you coming with your new year workout resolutions?  If you've forgotten, given up, or have been distracted by left over Valentine's treats, its not too late to jump on board.  Get moving this week with me!

Valentine's Day

 This year, Dan and I were both very excited to celebrate Valentine's Day.  The winter blues had set in, and after the ice storm, we were both experiencing a little cabin fever.  Dan and I are also that cheesy couple that you hate to see out and want to make you gag.  We just really enjoy spending time as a couple, so Valentine's Day is just an excuse for us to really spoil each other.

Dan wanted to surprised me, so on Saturday, he took me to the Rathskeller for their Valentine's day Dinner and Dance.  We lucked out and got some warmer weather.  I borrowed a beautiful dress and jewelry from my friend Windi, bought a really cute new pair of grey heels.  Dan looked as handsome as ever in his black suit and suspenders.  It's always fun to dress up and go out.  This was the first time either of us had been to the Rathskeller, and it is a beautiful building.  The vibe is very relaxed, and the food is all Dutch or German. 

We had our own 2 person table with candles, and Dove chocolates.  For dinner, we both order the filet with stuffed shrimp.  The filet was wonderful.  They topped it with cooked mushrooms. The shrimp was ehh.  They stuffed it with clam, lobster and cheese, and it ended up tasting like potato au gratin which neither of us are a fan of.  We also both ordered the roasted rosemary potatoes, but they were cooked 15min too long.  Dessert was fantastic.  We had a chocolate raspberry torte cake and it was served with a glass of champagne with a strawberry.  Yum.

The band, Living Proof, starting playing about half way through dinner.  They were fantastic.  The female lead singer started off singing Etta James "At Last."  She nailed it.  They continued playing soft dinner music until around 9.  They then played a mix of 70's, 80's, and 90's dance music.   It was so much fun.  My feet gave out in my new shoes, but we had a great time.  I recommend this next year for someone looking for a romantic evening.  It really gave us time to talk about us, and ways we both would like to see our relationship grow.  We talked about things  we would like to change.  It really was just what we both needed.

For Valentine's Day, I made Dan a special candle light dinner and dessert.  I made Caeser salad, Lobster tail, oysters in a lemon garlic sauce, and my own roasted red potatoes.  We topped it off with a bottle of Chardonnay which paired really well with the sea food.  For dessert, I made white chocolate strawberry truffles, to eat while we enjoyed one of our favorite shows, House.  Yum.  (I'll share the recipe on a later post.)  This was a nice dinner, because minimal work was involved for me, but it was special enough for us to feel spoiled.  Oh, and Dan came home with a box of chocolates for me that he hand picked out.  So far I've had 3 pieces, and all three have been fantastic!

I hope everyone was able to have a Valentine to share the weekend with, and you two were able to do something romantic for each other.

Fun with Football

Dan and I are both sports fans. Dan is much more so than I, but we have some sport on tv everyday, and no, this doesn’t include ESPN news shows. Needless to say, occasionally I get tired of it, but there is rarely anything else good on tv. To entertain myself, sometimes I’ll crochet, or play with the dogs, or on the computer. I’ve even made drinking games based on how often the announcers say something. But sometimes, to make things interesting, I’ll make bets.

Our latest bet was concerning the Super Bowl. I like watching football, but I’m a Colts fan. I like to watch Colts football. Since they were not in the Superbowl, and we rarely get to watch the Packers or Steelers play, I decided it was time to make a bet. If Dan won, I was to give him daily back rubs for a week, and to make him protein bars. If I won, Dan was to take care of the litter boxes, and bring me coffee in bed for a week.

So, this week Dan has decided that instead of 2 litter boxes, we are going to have one. I have also been getting coffee in bed every morning. I have a great husband who tolerates me wanting something ridiculous every once in a while. But, this has turned out to be such a great deal! Not only do I get woken up by my handsome husband bringing me coffee with a kiss, but my Miss Penny Layne! She is so cute. She runs to the bed and jumps in my lap laying down. I’m still not sure how she manages to not hurt me or her in the process. She then cuddles her head into the nape of my neck and lays there until I’m ready to enjoy my coffee. She seems to really enjoy this new routine, and I have been in a much better mood.

In conclusion, getting woken up with love is much better than alarms.  Now to convince Dan that this should continue indefinitely…

Family Emergency

I got a very scary phone call from Dan while I was trying to secretly shop at Target last night. His sister (who is just a pre-teen) hurt her leg somehow, and it had gotten so bad that she was having a difficult time walking. So, they went off to the Dr. to get it checked out. After several hours of x-rays and testing her knee and hip mobility, they came back with a diagnosis of a Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis.

The patient's left hip (arrow) shows that a slight shift of the head of the femur occurred through the growth plate.

(Courtesy of John Killian, MD, Birmingham, AL)

Like everyone other than orthopedic surgeons, I had no idea what this is. Apparently, the femoral head of her femur shifted off her femoral head growth plate. Ouch! They scheduled her for emergency surgery for this morning to put a screw in to hold her femoral head in place.

A screw is inserted to prevent any further slip of the femoral head through the growth plate.

(Courtesy of John Killian, MD, Birmingham, AL)

They have no idea what caused this, but Dan’s sister was such a trooper. Dan was able to take the first half day off from work, and I took the whole day off. We spent the morning waiting with his family while his sister had the surgery. We weren’t able to wait for his sister to wake up, but she did fantastic. She wasn’t nervous going in, she was in a great mood, and when I talked to her this evening, she was recovering quickly. She’ll stay tonight in the hospital, and she’ll be back in school Monday.  She won't be able to play basketball the rest of this season, but she should be able to next year, and she should be able to continue to cheer.  There is a small risk of her other femoral head slipping, but I hope not. 

The very odd part of this was Dan's sister was in the same OR prep room as Dan, and we went into the same office to hear the results of the surgery.  I hope next year we can go without anyone needing surgery, or else they will have to put a "New" plaque on these rooms.

Do you Swag?

I absolutely hate it when my facebook newsfeed is full of advertisements for games, sweepstakes, or whatever.  I get a little irratated whenever I have to click "hide from newsfeed."  However, lately, I have been spamming everyone's newsfeed and my own profile with information from Swagbucks.  But, I have an obsession.

So, what is Swagbucks?  Its simply a search engine, where you earn points for free merchandise.  I am very skeptical of these things, but I read every fine print, and yes this site is free.  You search like you do in your little google tool bar, and occasionally you'll earn 7, 8, 9, 10+ "swagbucks."  They even have a toolbar you can download so you can quickly search.  Its always fun to win, because who doesn't like winning things?  Slowly your points add up.  But, there are also "swagcodes" you can enter, and earn an extra 5-10 swagbucks.  Thats it.  They have other ways to earn, such as watching videos, filling out surveys, playing games, watch tv, ect.  Basically, you play around on their site, ignore the ads, and you earn swagbucks. 

So, where does the free stuff come in?  Well, they have a Swagstore, where you can redeem your bucks for free stuff.  I signed up Jan 3rd, and so far I have redeemed $30 in amazon gift cards.  Totally free!  We had to get a new computer charger because my stupid cat keeps chewing on the cord, and we didn't pay a cent.  Thank you Swagbucks.  They also have other merchandise you can redeem it for, like paypal gift cards, target, things for kids, pets, ect.  We are saving up for Christmas, because Amazon gift cards don't expired when you add them to your account.

I don't do a great job at explaining these things, but if you go here or to Swagbucks, you can get your questions answered.  I made a gmail account, just for filling out the surveys and special offers.  In fact all of my coupons, department stores, and other places that you give an e-mail but don't really want to recieve it go to this e-mail account, so it doesn't clog up my personal e-mail.

Already a Swaggernaut?  Well, add me as a friend!  If you're interested, sign up using this Referal Link, and we'll already be connected.

Happy Swaggin'!

Travel Plans

Well, the ice-storm ended up being pretty bad after all.  Dan and I were stuck inside for 2 days.    Monday night I cooked the majority of meat in my fridge (to prevent it from spoiling in case the power went out), scoured the house for candles, did a few loads of laundry (so we wouldn't be stuck with only dirty clothes), stocked up on firewood, and dug out our flashlight.  Thankfully, we didn't lose power.  I always feel like if I prepare for it, it won't happen.  At least I was able to work from home for part of the 2 days.  I really didn't get much work done with Dan and the dogs around.  We need to get the 2nd computer working so we aren't fighting for entertainment from the laptop.

It was nice to have an extra weekend stuck in the middle of our week.  We spent a lot of time talking about travel plans.  We have decided that in the Spring of 2012, we are going to Europe!  I am so excited.  We haven't decided on what countries/cities, but we are opening a separate savings account for it.  We have also decided come Fall of 2013, we are going to Rio to celebrate both of us turning 30.  So, if anyone wants to plan on going with us, it would be a lot more fun to be lost with other people we know.  :)

As far as traveling for this year, we are going to Wyoming with Dan's family.  We are excited to visit Yellowstone and Devil's Tower.  A fun tidbit, Devil's Tower was the first national monument by Teddy Roosevelt.  Dan has already decided that we are going to make it to the top, even if he has to carry me on his back.  I'm pretty sure you have to rock climb to the top, so we are going to be looking into rock climbing classes here before too long.  The sad news is I think we are going to drive.  It will be a 2 day trip just to drive out.  But, hopefully we'll see some Bald Eagles, and a bear or two on the trip.

We also are looking into our trip to Gatlinburg.  I think we are going to shoot for Memorial day weekend if the cabin is open.  I'm really looking forward to that trip.  Hopefully we truly will have an early spring, and the trees and flowers will be in bloom.

Lastly, we are hoping to make it out to Seattle this year.  With our trip to Europe, we will have to see how our budget is going.  It may be a shorter trip then we originally planned, but I am really looking forward to that trip.

Its going to be a fun couple of years traveling throughout the world.  I am so excited to see different culture, and historical places.  Time to look into taking a couple foreign language classes!

Stay warm out there.