dvdonme

In the spirit of blog honesty, here's my question of the day: in a doctor's office, do you use the term boobs or breasts? I went to see a new doctor today for my yearly check-up. Though, I can't really say yearly, since I hadn't been for 5 years. Shame on me. The nurse asked me every question under the sun: are you pregnant? no. A smoker? no. Drink caffeine? Well, I don't drink coffee, or tea, and I drink pop maybe once a month. She checked "yes." C'mon! She began asking me about my family and their health. It was amazing how little I felt like I knew. Occasionally, I'd crack a joke here or there. The nurse looked at me expressionless. Me to self: "sheesh! is this the security line at the airport or something? SMILE lady!" Everyone at the doctor's office is serious. The woman who signed me in and updated my information was the same way. Cranky as all get out. When I told her I didn't have an insurance card, but knew the number, she about flipped out on me. I'm just going to have to issue the holiday cheer award to someone else!

Anyway, I wanted to go get a few things checked out, and in my questions ended up blurting out "BOOB" to my doctor! AH! Talk about a rookie! Later he referred to them as breasts, so I figured that was my answer. How embarrassing. I tell ya, nothing starts your day off more awkwardly than getting felt up by a doctor fresh out of med school. I remembered why I don't like going to the doctor for this kind of thing, luckily, it looks like everything is ok. He answered all my questions, and out the door I went.

Holly dropped me off and picked me up. We ran a few errands, including the usual trip to Wal-mart and Shopko. It was so great to bump into people I knew. That's one of my favorite things about coming back home...everyone is so happy to see me. SWEET!

So, here's the tip of the day: have you heard of Red Box? They're little DVD stations all over the place. In McDonald's, grocery stores, outside Walgreen's (as we discovered today). Here's the best part: enter this code DVDONME and it'll be free! I got it through an e-mail and wanted to share the love! Holly and I stood outside freezing our little fingers off while picking out DVDs this afternoon. We're going to do a 3 movie marathon, eat supper, and hurry the ball drop along. Happy New Year!

joy to the warsh

It's snowing in Minnesota. Big freaking surprise. It's freezing cold too. Now I remember why I wanted an internship away from here so badly! :) I took this photo out of the Bergeson's window right before we set out in it. Kevin and I drove down to Worthington once it got really bad. Dumb on my part. Kevin said it makes for adventure. I like his positive spin on it. I rode along and was glad I wasn't driving. I figured that since I wasn't driving, I should do something productive, so I created a new invention. It's called the "head-holster." Basically, you wrap a neck pillow around your neck, and then tie your head to the head rest in the car by using a scarf. The pillow supports your neck, while the scarf holds your head steady. It's guaranteed to knock you out in less than five minutes! And for only 3 easy payments of $29.99, you can have one too. Just start sending me money! :)

Ah...the tunes of children. Presley was taking a bath tonight, she had no idea we were listening to her, and we all giggled (and videotaped) as she sung at the top of her lungs "Joy to the Warsh, and ards needs come!" Presley, it's "Joy to the World, the Lord is come." World. Lord. Oh, (she continues on) "Joy to the Warsh, and ards needs come!" This song has provided us with lots of laughter these last few days!

I can't believe how big they are getting! Madison is walking around, holding babies, doing a little dance thing, and smiling all the time. Presley holds "school" all the time, has us sit on the stairs for class, then leads us in song and lessons. She's brilliant. The night concluded with some game playing, chicken & broccoli braid, snuggling on the couch, and another round of hide-n-go-seek. We had Kevin stumped for about 10 minutes. But, I can't tell you where we were hiding: it's our secret! :)

100th post

It's true: I'm a blog-a-holic. It's turned into my diary. If you want to know any little detail about my day, don't call me, just read my latest entry. Most of my family members do just that. I can go days, heck, weeks without talking to them and they say, "I read your blog, I know everything that's going on!" Well, you can still call, goofs! I'm glad to know others enjoy it as well!

This is my 100th post, and it's a good thing it happened today, because today rocked! Kevin and I went skiing with Lynda at Afton Alps. It was pretty cold, but felt so good to be out on the slopes once again. Only, we went later in the day, and that's when the crazies come out. Kids barreling down the hill at 90 miles an hour, not looking. I thought I was going to get smoked from behind, but managed to walk away without injury! Hallelujah! Lynda teaches out at the hill, so she gave us some great pointers. I'm already looking forward to going out again next winter. And let's face it, with all that adorable snow gear, who can blame me? It's fun dressing up and pretending to be a pro! :)

Then, after 4 months of separation, I was reunited with my good friend Andrea! Ah, Lieser therapy! Kevin, Matt, Andrea and I all met up at Moose Country for some yummy finger food, and got caught up on each others lives. It was awesome to see them! More soul food for me.

Such a good day, worth writing about! So, since I've provided you with 100 days worth of reading pleasure, I figure it's time you do me a favor, so here's my request: comment on this blog posting, include your name, and tell me what brings you back to this blog. Stories, seeing pictures, living vicariously through me, snooping :), etc. I'd love to know what you enjoy about it. This is mandatory, people!! I recently met a woman named Lisa (here's your shout out) who has been reading my blog since day one. Only, I had never met her. When I finally did two weeks ago, she knew almost everything about me. I was thrilled that I made a new friend all because of blogging. Who knew? Thanks for reading.

over the river and through the woods

Sunday morning: I went to church today and did NOTHING! It felt good. Of course, I was listed in the bulletin as a soloist for the day, but when I woke up with a swollen throat, I threw in the towel. Kevin did a great job preaching this morning. He gets better and better each time he does it. I can see a huge improvement since I left in August. It was good to catch up with the folks at First Lutheran. As I sat in worship, I started asking the question: "why do they do that?" Lessons, creeds, songs, etc. If there's anything I've learned at Good Shepherd, it's to think about why each element of worship is there.

Then over the river and through the woods to Grandma & Grandpa's house we went. All the way to Grantsburg, WI. They live in the most adorable little cottage out in the woods. Lynda bought new fleece jammies for all three of us ladies, so we snuggled up for a portrait in our new duds. Outside, birch trees, bluejays, deer, and a half frozen river surrounded us. We were able to take a stroll along the icy driveway, and saw a white tailed deer shoot across the driveway. That's one of my favorite places to photograph: lots of depth, and no one around to witness the snuggling! :)

On our way home, Dave & Lynda let us stop and check out this beautiful overlook of the St. Croix River. We've been over the bridge a ton of times, but never stopped. The frozen icicles, snow covered rocks, old sheds, and trees were breathtaking. We even saw two bald eagles fly overhead (Ok, Kevin spotted them and pointed them out)...but that was a cool sight to see! It's freezing cold here, but I really appreciate the wide open spaces. Privacy is easy to find around here, not so much in LA. Even some of the most secluded places turn into tourist traps out near Torrance.

I slept on the way there, all the way home in the car, then crashed at Kevin's for another 3 hours (5 total). I woke up feeling like crap, so we ran to Walgreen's to get some Zicam, found a Victoria's Secret gift card in the parking lot (valued at $15 yippee--I called the toll free number to check), loaded up on OJ and meds, got some Chipotle, and am ready to crash again. Kevin's not feeling too great eitherI slept way too much today. Gee, am I sick?

frosting and sprinkles

"Wake up Auntie!" Presley yells through my bedroom door. Only, this time, I grab her and pull her into bed with me. She loves it when I "tickle" (scratch) her back and head, so within 30 seconds of tickling her, she was sleeping with her head on my chest with one arm thrown over me. It was adorable!

One week ago today, Madison Jay celebrated her first birthday. Only, there was a major snow storm in Minnesota, so there wasn't much travel. Lucky for me, it happened TODAY! So, we were there to celebrate with her and the rest of the family!

Watching her just about go head first into her cake was the highlight of the day. Of course, she stuck her finger in it a few times, but then when only I was looking (and had my camera on her) she opened her mouth and tried to get one massive bite. She opened more presents, and I swear, between her, Presley, and Mersaydes, they got one of every Fisher Price toy available this holiday season. Presley got this bike riding game that hooks up to the television. So, she turned it on while we were all watching (and cheering)! When she finished, we'd all applaud, and she pulled a Lance Armstrong. Another 3 hours in the car has brought us back to St. Paul for a delicious supper of steak and twice baked potatoes at Dave & Lynda's. We opened gifts and headed back to St. Louis Park. The family gatherings are finished. How wonderful it was to see everyone!

top twenty

Man, is it good to be home. My top twenty favorites of the day:

20. getting woken up by the sound of Presley's voice

19. Christmas bows on heads and noses

18. watching Tinkerbell

17. eggs, waffles, and bacon for breakfast

16. over 100 hugs from Kevin

15. barbies, babies, games, and toys

14. dysfunctional family photos

13. teaching Holly how to pose like a true model

12. helping Mersaydes walk

11. mashed potatoes and sweet corn for supper

10. teaching Presley how to do the Albert Brenneman

9. chocolate covered Ritz peanut butter crackers (aka: wo fo's)

8. dance party in Presley's room

7. watching Madison waddle around the house like a little duck

6. crawling through the girls' new jungle gym and almost getting stuck in the tunnel

5. listening to Presley pray at the supper table.

Presley: "Thank you for mommy, daddy, Kevin, and Auntie."

Holly:"What about Madison, Uncle Eric, Grandpa, and Mersaydes?"

Presley: "No!"

4. hearing the story of Madison nearly driving the new Barbie Jeep through the patio doors

3. snuggling with Presley during "Made of Honor" (oh, and Patrick Demsey too)

2. opening a gift from Kevin: pink Rainbow flip flops! Kevin was excited to open his new camera too! He's still not quite as picture happy as I am!

1. quality time with those I love most.

There are way more to share, but twenty is already a little excessive. This is going to be one action-packed trip home. We're already having a ball, and it's only been 1 day! More fun is sure to come!

home for the holidays!

Sadly...the flight was not as expected. An hour and a half late gave me plenty of time to walk around LAX (about 2.5 hours), to take pictures of myself in the bathroom mirror, to snack on some fresh baked Christmas goodies from Amy, and to people watch. When we loaded the plane I sat next to a chatty girl who wouldn't let me sleep for the first 30 minutes. Turns out she went to Gustavus, knows my friends, the Lieser's, and remembers Kevin vaguely. Small world. Either way, I was pooped, so I finally put ear plugs in. She got the message! :) I eventually slept on and off the rest of the flight. But boy was I glad to see the lights of Minneapolis/St. Paul from the air. The sight of snow covering the ground, and even runway was a very strange sight. We landed, and I was on my phone calling Kevin even before the flight attendant said we could. Shh...don't tell anyone. He was already there waiting, so I got off the plane, and cautioned the people around me, "I'm a runner!" and took off for the exit door. One step out into the frozen tundra known as MN and alas, I was home! Kevin had a hat, mittens, and a jacket all ready to bundle me up in. The MSP airport police are nicer than those at LAX...we could've stood there all day and hugged, and no tickets would've been issued. But, it was freezing, so we made it quick!

Back to the Bergeson's for a 2 hour early morning nap, followed by a delicious brunch, some last minute present wrapping, and we were on the road to Worthington. I called Presley on the way: "Auntie, when you get here, I'm going to give you a really big hug!" Me: "It's not going to hurt is it?" Presley: "No, but it's still going to be really big!" Around 5:00 we walked into my mom's house with arms full of presents and saw one little 4 year old jumping up and down! Ah, PRESLEY RENEE! She kept her word and greeted me with one gigantic hug. We spent the evening eating a wonderful meal, opening presents, a Minnesota style surf session (when there are no waves, surf on your brother's back!), lots of new toys to play with, and the pictures to prove it all. Holly loved her new Coach bag, and my mom loved the personalized calendar. Presley is still a little mystified that there is "money" on the Disneyland gift card, but come March, she'll understand completely!

Presley rode with Kevin and I back out to their house. As we turned into the driveway, there was one massive snow drift. So, we did the responsible thing with a 4 year old in the back seat: gunned it and plowed right through! So fun!

merry CHRISTmas

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...I'll be home for Christmas...I'll fly away...any homeward bound song you can think of, I'm singing it! Only 8 hours until I'm in the air!

I got dressed alone, had a bathroom to myself, supper alone, and drove to church alone. This is the strangest Christmas ever. It’s just not the same as gathering around a table full of people for a meal, or fighting over who gets the curling iron first in the bathroom. It was definitely peaceful, but a little too peaceful. I’m ready for some noise!

Each of the girls did an incredible job of reading tonight. The cutest moment of the night came when a little first grade girl stepped up to do her reading. Mind you, she’s standing in front of about 150 people, so she was definitely nervous. She got half way through her passage in Luke 2, when she looked up at me and said, “I think I skipped a page!” The whole congregation burst out laughing, because her passage was taped to one side of the Bible. There was no page turn involved. She looked a little frazzled, so I walked up and helped her find her place again. Her chin was quivering the rest of the time until she made it to the end. The congregation burst into applause at her victorious finish! She ran down to sit next to me and burst into tears. “I messed up!” she kept saying. No matter what I said, she had that in her head. I can only hope this leadership moment hasn’t scarred her for life. She truly did a fantastic job.

Bob and Greg dressed up tonight in suits. Finally, an opportunity to get spiffed up for church! The sight of a few hundred votive candles and the sound of beautiful singing filled my Christmas spirit gauge for the night. Oh, and it helped that I got to meet Henry for the first time. I did everything in my power to resist bawling my eyes out when I first saw him. I'm so happy for the Wiedenmann's!

There was a strange sense of satisfaction I felt as I clip-clopped away from the church in my heels. My goal for the night was to lead prayers and a blessing by the power of the Holy Spirit. Check that one off.

I’m sitting in LAX right now waiting for my plane that’s already delayed 45 minutes. Kelly dropped me off in record time. The airport is so empty it’s eerie. All the traffic we predicted was a false alarm. So…here I sit. I was able to get my seat moved to an exit row window seat! YES! I can only hope I’ll sleep for a few hours.

Well, because I know tonight is going to be busy, I want to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I realize I look like a little girl in this outfit with my hair curled like Shirley Temple, but ah well...Christmas is all about cuteness! If only Kevin was standing beside me...then I'd be set! :) I love you all. Blessings to you tonight, tomorrow, and always!

Oh yeah, I printed a gazillion of these cards, but if by chance you didn't get one, please accept this digital version of it and my apology! We don't love you any less! :)

no more waiting

In less than 24 hours, I'll be snuggling in the arms of my love. Honestly, I'm ready to go home. Being alone during the holiday season sucks in the worst way. So, I'm declaring it Christmas week...cookies, more shopping, and outdoor fun need to happen while I'm home!

We had a run-through of the Christmas Eve worship last night at church to make sure the lighting, sound, video cues, praise team, readers, and yes, even preachers knew what they were doing. We're having young children read the lessons tonight. The 5 young girls I recruited look as though they'll do an awesome job. I'll be helping them get their mics on, and directing them up at the right time. Talk about added pressure! I'm also in charge of the end of the service. The prayers, offering & announcements, blessing and sending. I'm planning to do an extemporaneous prayer and blessing tonight, so please pray for me. The ambient art team has been working so hard to get the sanctuary ready for tonight, and it looks sweet. The Charlie Brown tree lot, dog house, and a wall full of snow covered birch trees have transformed the space into something right out of a movie!

This was my first year doing an Advent pull-open-thingy. And today was the last day. I finally finished it...and didn't even cheat by peeking too early. I'm proud of me. :)

Karishma and I woke up and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast made by Chef Bill Long. It was delicious! Then we headed down to Redondo Beach to collect some sand for K's shadow box. It started raining, but we didn't care. A few jumping pictures, some really pants, a sea lion spotting, and a whole lot of laughter! I just about sprained my ankle jumping off a rock to get this photo, but I guess it was worth it! The water has gotten sooo cold these last few weeks.

I'll head to the airport shortly after 7:00 worship is done and anxiously await my plane ride home. I'll be missing the 11:00 service because when I booked my plane ticket, I thought late night worship was at 10:00. I'm sad about missing it. The later one is more traditional with the organ. At this time of year, that screams Christmas to me. My plane leaves at 12:45 a.m. and gets into Minneapolis at 6:00 a.m. At that point, I'm crawling into bed and sleeping for 4 days straight! I'll need it!

(ssshhh)ort skirt

Two days to go: I worked all morning (yesterday) calling people to find readers for the Christmas Eve worship services. I'm the wrong person for the job, but did manage to find some people.

Then, I finally did it. The sparkly short dress I got from Goodwill came out of the drawer and made an appearance for ladies night! I figure it's ok to dress like a tramp from time to time! :) Alicia, Kelly, Amy, K, and I went to BJ's in the mall and enjoyed a super yummy supper. Alicia (who is the baking queen) brought little bags of cookies for each of us! So thoughtful! Then came the food: pizza, fettuccine, soup, egg rolls, salad, and drinks. I just about built up the courage to buy a big girl drink but figured it wasn't worth the headache, so I settled for a virgin strawberry daiquiri.

There's an awesome outdoor promenade at the Del Amo, so we stopped and took a few photos. Perhaps the funniest moment of the night (for the other girls) came when I had to get up and down from the ground to take our photo. My tripod was in the car, so this was the next best thing. That short dress made it a little difficult, not to mention the 3 guys sitting directly in front of me who were being entertained themselves. Dirty men. Oh well, I figure the humiliation was worth it because of the sweet shot we got. Note to self: give that dress back to Goodwill.

We heard NY & Company was having a sale, so we all charged down there and found a few things. I resisted the urge to buy new clothes by remembering how full Vera was on the way out to CA. K and I bought Christmas presents for each other and handed the NY & Co bags over and said, "Merry Christmas!" Now, that's the way to shop!

This morning we cleaned the Wiedenmann's house, got the dogs fired up to meet Henry, made a welcome home sign, and ran to the Del Amo to find a simple Christmas outfit. California people dress much differently than Minnesota people! Seriously! Looking for an outfit turned into a two hour fiasco that resulted in the purchase of a single red cardigan. So, looks like I'll be wearing a dress I brought from home.

s-p-i-r-i-t

Has anyone seen the baby Jesus? I can't find him anywhere! I'm officially IN the Christmas spirit. Thanks to the kids at Good Shepherd! The Christmas pageant today was the cutest thing I've ever seen. The songs, the lines, all of it was memorized and awesome! Ellen did an incredible job of directing the kids! It was called the Christmas County Spelling Bee. Each contestant was competing for a part in the pageant. Hilarious and adorable! There were tons of parents, grandparents, and relatives at the services, so our attendance was way up. Which sent my nerves way up as well. I was just about shaking when I got up to lead the prayers and announcements. I hope to get them under control for Christmas Eve. There will be even more people that night.

I was relieved to wake up and see the snow capped mountains today. Ever since the first day, it' been too hazy to see them, and I was kicking myself for not taking a picture of the beauty! This is the incredible view we get to see each and every day up hereK stayed home this morning and spent some time relaxing. When I got home from church, she had baked a yummy sausage pastry for lunch. Then we headed out to Trump's Golf Course to take a hike and of course take some more pictures. We had a great time climbing on the rocks, seeing little hermit crabs, we even found a lobster claw! It's amazing how clear the water is! We could literally see crabs of every size crawling around in the pools of water up near the rocks. In an attempt to be ultra modelesque, we posed on the rocks, and even laid on our backs for a few pictures...I'm going to need a chiropractor adjustment soon. :) I'm sure we both looked pretty hilarious to the numerous people hiking along, but we didn't care. Pain is beauty! As it was worth it; the shots were really cool. We watched the sun set over the Pacific, talk about soul healing. The hike back up was a blast. We took the hard way and were proud to reach the top.

We headed back to Torrance for church at 7, watched the kids yawn through their final performance, as we yawned too. I haven't slept well up here at all. The dogs get up early, and breathe their stinky breath in our faces, it's hard to sleep through that. I hope tonight is a little more restful.