R is for Ronnebeck!

 The tale goes something like this... I was young, 3-5 age range (changes every time I hear this story), My Grandma Nani was working at the Coffeeville cafe in Watertown as a waitress, and Mom and  I had come to pick her up after work because we were in town for some reason or another. I desperately wanted a little girl from this gumball machine outside Grandma's work so my Mom kept handing me quarters, and these little troll / ugly guys kept coming out, not the little girl I wanted - my Mom and Grandma were both laughing so hard at my unfortunate luck with the ugly men that I of course lost it and cried. The next year, forgetting all about that ugly little man and of course the little girl when they both arrived in their very own lime green casket in my Christmas gift. So the very next year - guess what Grandma got for Christmas? And it's been that way ever since. The little ugly guy is hanging out with me now, so guess what Grandma's getting for Christmas? Don't ...

1| I threw my back out of whack this weekend somehow so Now I'm drugged up on Ibuprofen and using a heat pad at work, I'm so DONE with 2011 and all it's had to "offer". 2| On the plus side, I got a 30 minute massage after work yesterday, those things are so worth every penny. 3| I found out last week that my good friend Mariya and her family are uprooting and moving to Colorado. I'm going to miss her and our girlie get-together extravaganzas! (Note: VEGAS!) 4| I talked with a 91 year old man at the bus stop yesterday and he shared with me about his urination issues post bladder cancer. I hope when I'm 91 I feel that open to tell strangers about my bladder... then again... 5| Tully's has a rewards program. DANGER! 6| I got a free coffee this morning because of said rewards program *Score*. 7| It was fun to talk to everyone on Thanksgiving! Boo on my stinky brother for not answering his phone, but yay for the rest of you! 8| Christmas is ...

 This is me Mocking my husband. "My mustache is soo cool... bla bla bla"  This is the husband in week 4 of Movember, loving his creeperstache more and more every day.... Not his normal look, but I still love him - even with the creeperstache.

It's never a dull moment when Katherine and I go gallivanting on a Sunday afternoon. Kat managed to spend a hefty sum on polar fleece for blankets for chairty. I managed to spend a hefty sum and get nearly all of my Christmas shopping done. All in all, a success! Thanks Kat for Sunday fun!

 I was so productive today! I told Eric I was a "Eggnog Latte fueled Christmas decorating fool!" He agreed with part of that, we're not going into what part he agreed with. I had grand plans to get the house all decorated up and then the boxes put away so I had a nice clean house when I was done. You know what they say about the best laid plans, our house is all decorated, but I did get a little side tracked this morning wanting to get our bedroom finished up, and so I still have Christmas boxes laying everywhere.   Aquaman and Gracie were a huge help and by help I mean Aquaman was under foot the entire time, and Gracie made sure the tree box didn't go anywhere as is tradition for her. She loves that box and spends most of her night in it once I get the tree out of it and set up and then she plants herself in the corner behind the tree on the tree skirt. She makes a good decoration down there though!  While I was spending time in South Dakota in June Shannon and I ...

 This year did not disappoint in our tradition to go to Tim and Katherine's for our Thanksgiving feast! Eric and I were in charge of the Turkey and the Pies (as tradition goes) and Tim and Kat took care of the rest of the goodies.  This one ---------> Had to stay home, one, because she doesn't like dogs and Cosmo and Seven would want to play, and two, she's decided to try and scratch my new couches, and I am NOT pleased...  I digress.... Every year I take the Thanksgiving pictures from the same angles so It's hard to tell the difference from year to year. But for the most part it looks like this. We arrive, Tim starts to carve, Kat finishes up a few touches and Eric helps with the potatoes... Me? That's right, standing in the corner taking pictures - exactly where you want me in a kitchen.  I couldn't love this photo more... That's Seven trying to get just a little sniff... or bite!  My little guy just hung out and watched from under the table - you kn...

By His hand, we are all fed. Give us Lord, our daily bread. Please know that we are truly grateful, For every cup and every plateful. Amen. Blessings from our family to yours on this Thanksgiving day!

I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having you here.

1| I totally spaced Ten on Tuesday yesterday, did anyone notice? I didn't right up until I read another bloggers ten, and then it hit me like a ton of bloggy bricks. 2| This week has me totally turned around - perhaps that's a good explanation for #1? 3| I am so happy today is Pseudo Thursday - One day off between now and Friday when I can wear Jeans and only work till Two. Sweet Life. 4| It's a little sick how excited I am to decorate for Christmas - normally I'm a good kid and I don't rush the holidays but I am looking forward to all the pretty. 5| Kathy, Erica and Shannon made Lefse this week at Kathy's - I miss Lefse making. I was invited to go to Kerri's and do it this year, but work got in the way - darn it any ways. 6| We had a little piece of perfect in our life yesterday as Gracie jumped up on the all ready too full couch with Eric, Aquaman and I , and then she Snuggled - you heard it here first folks- she SNUGGLED in to hang out with us f...

Lifes a Happy Song Everything is great everything is grand I got the whole wide world in the palm of my hand Everything is perfect its falling into place I cant seem to wipe this smile off my face Life's a happy song when theres someone by my side to sing along When your alone life can be a little rough It makes you feel like your 3 feet tall When its just you times can be tough When theres no one there to catch your fall Everything is great everything is grand I got the whole wide world in the palm of my hand Everything is perfect its falling into place I cant seem to wipe this smile off my face Life smells like a rose with someone to ping with someone to pose Lifes like a piece of cake with someone to pedal Someone to break Life is full of glee with someone to saw and someone to see Life's a happy song when theres someone by my side to sing along Ive got everything that I need right in front of me Nothings stopping me nothing i cant be with you right h...

Here's week 3. 21 glorious days of 'stache. He says it's his new best friend and he's looking into some mustache wax for when it starts getting longer and he can "twist" it ala Rollie Fingers. I see it as 9 days tll he will shave it, except for he says he wants to keep it for awhile. We'll see what happens.

I have a lot of cousins... On Mom's side and on Dad's side. Today I got to meet my 11th Cousin... she's the newest addition to my Dad's side of the family. Uncle Gene & Christina just had Demitra (Demi) in June. Gene moved out here in late August/September, and Christina just came out to visit this weekend. They'll all be moving out here sooner or later, and I look forward to getting to know them better and watching little Demitra grow. Thanks for lunch ! It was great to see you three - Looking forward to your future here in chilly Washington.

Last night I sat down at my computer and purchased my Nutcracker tickets! I am so excited to get all dressed up and go to the show! Thank you Jackie for the early Christmas gift! We'll be sitting in the first balcony and I'm beyond excited!!! The other purchase I made was our Rat City Rollergirl Season tickets!!!! Eeek! Last year after the first couple bouts it was apparent that I never wanted to miss another one - so Eric and I decided to skip the search for tickets once a month, and just buy the whole season up front! Just because I have a bum knee doesn't mean I can't WATCH roller derby! Okay, I better Log off, I've been posting in hopes to avoid the cleaning projects that Eric and I have set up for ourselves today. So, I've finally hit the part of my computer experience where I know it's time for me to just walk away... Happy Saturday everyone!

I can't believe this is next week... NEXT WEEK. Where did the time go? I am so glad today is Friday...  It's been a week.  I'm thankful for work, but dear Lord. And today, I will start working on the "Thankful" week... Thankful for things that I am blessed with and for people I'm blessed to have in my life.... Thankful... Yes I am.

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So... have you discovered http://pinterest.com/ It has so much crafty fun goodies I don't even know where to start... but I guess I'll start with a crappy short blog post so I can go to above mentioned site... bye!

Here we are at week two...  Eric is thrilled at how his Mustache is coming along... I on the other hand, have my reservations still, but I remind myself it's only 30 days. This is the longest he's gone pretty much ever with facial hair, It's coming in nice and thick, so we're excited to see what it will look like on day 30. See this post to compare from last week!

1| I am Tired. That's with a capital T. Liz and Kolby wore me out. Thank you guys! 2| I have been dressing in fall (ish) colors, and it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I am so SO happy that fall is here, sometimes the colors take a little while to turn around here and after driving from one end of Seattle to the other, I now know that fall is officially here. 3| I've been BUSY at work (that's all capital letters). What a crazy crazy week (month). 4| Me, my husband and The Walking Dead have a hot date tonight- and I'm SO excited, thank you Comcast On Demand! 5| It's kind of bizarre and exciting that Thanksgiving is next week - yummmm Thanksgiving. 6| Speaking of Thanksgiving - my knee is swollen like a Thanksgiving ham, oye vey! Me and the Ice pack also have a hot date tonight! 7| Me and my Series 7 need to bond. NOW. 8| I am starting to cogitate on getting a REAL Ipod, any suggestions? 9| For some reason I feel like I need to get my laundry pil...

I think I need a weekend from my weekend s o, here's to a less busy (but still kind of busy) Monday.  As Bill Watterson says...       " Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless." We just dropped Liz and Kolby off at their hotel after a night of Proletariat and Full Tilt, my heart is sad, because I hate saying "see you later" to friends, but we had such a great time together! Safe Travels friends - till next time!

 Wow did we have a busy day TODAY!  We started with Breakfast at the Cafe on the Ave and then walked around the University of Washington's campus (see above breath taking photos).  We then drove over to Wallingford and enjoyed a Trophy cupcake, and some shopping. Then we went up the street to the Sock Monster - which is every sock fiend's dream!   Then we went to Archie McPhee's.  There's really no way to describe what Archie's is, you just have to trust that it is the weirdest store you will ever step foot in. So... Here it is, Liz outside of Archie's with the weirdest thing we could possibly find to take a picture with - a two headed baby doll. Then we headed to Ballard, and got some local coffee and I picked up a Cupcake Royale cupcake for Eric.  Then we hit up Fremont to visit this big guy - which is possibly my favorite thing in the city - the Fremont Troll. He's such an ugly guy, but you can't help but to love him!  Then we hit Kerry ...

 Sometimes living in a city makes you not look around you and enjoy what you have...  Like the view from the top of the space needle... at night...  So when friends come, and want to check out what Seattle has to offer, it feels like a mini vacation in a city you love so I figure it's my mini staycation which I totally needed.  I love friends, pictures, and an excuse to drink coffee two or three times a day!  I even rekindle my love for the Monorail!  "GQ monorail"  We have a love for bathroom mirror photos.  We were enjoying the view... the coffee... the sights... the sounds!  Can't get enough of that wonderful Duff!  I have several pictures like this with several people, I might have to dig them out and post!  Then, there's the gum wall...  I love this candid shot of Kolby, it so describes our view of the gum wall!  Oh Viaduct, I will Miss you. And taking a ferry ride to some wine tasting? Yes please! Thank you Liz, Ko...