R is for Ronnebeck!

In posting about Joe and Heather's new little bundle, I realized that I totally forgot to introduce Amanda's newest little one as well, she was born in October (?) and her name is Alessi Colleen. Alessi's middle name is a tribute to both her Mom and her Great Grandma Colleen. Sorry Amanda - and Welcome to our Crazy family Alessi

A BIG congratulations to Joe and Heather on their new bundle of joy! She was born this afternoon! Jett and Cooper are sure to be good (protective) older brothers! We are all a little surprised and excited because in the Nielsen bloodline so far Brenda's kids have been the only ones to produce opposite sex kids! Congrats on breaking the streak!

Eric had a great birthday! We hung out most of the day and then Had dinner at the Muzuki Buffet in Southcenter with Tim, Kat, Reiner and Theresa! It was a fun night topped off by some hanging out with Tim and Kat! Just before midnight I made Eric blow out a candle on his pumpkin cookie since that's what he chose instead of a cake! Happy 36 babe it's gunna be a great year!!

Today is Eric's 36th birthday! I took the day off just so we could spend it together! This man makes me laugh, and forever keeps me grounded! We have been together for 7 years now and as cliche as it sounds, they have been some of the best years of my life! Eric, I hope you smile today and everyday! I love you so much and thank God every day that you are mine! Thank you for an awesome life! Happy Birthday!!!!!

1| Happy Tuesday! I am in a damn good mood today but I think it's because I only have a 3 day work week this week! I didn't plan it that way but we got Monday off for MLK and Friday is Eric's birthday and I always try to take it off if I can so, I am! 2| I don't know if I ever bragged about my Christmas gifts on here but my Husband is one heck of a gift giver! He is so thoughtful! Three gifts I am particularly thankful for this morning is my Brave Bear hat which is super warm, my isotoner gloves which have the fingerless option as well as a full mitten! And last, but not least my thermos commuter coffee cup! It keeps my coffee piping hot! I've discovered it can keep it warm from 5 am and it is still drinkable around 2pm! Crazy! Pictured below ! 3| this weekend was so nice! Makes me think I could do 4 ten hour days and have a three day weekend every week! If only it were an option! 4| I have started my Series 7 studying again, I don't have a hard date for...

Remember this beautiful bag?? The bag I fought with myself over actually purchasing and then had it for 5 wonderful months when it broke so I sent it into Fossil to fix it only to have them tell me, "sorry can't fix it, pick out a new bag but oh yeah we don't carry yours anymore!". I was heartbroken, I stared at the screen of the Fossil goodies and just said "But I want MY Bag. Eric finally helped me pick out a bag that would do, but I still had this little hole in my heart missing MY Bag, MY Seafoam Green Leather Maddox Satchel. So I did what every good bag owner does, I searched for it. For months, I've looked on eBay and on Fossil to see if maybe they had another similar. I searched online everywhere I could think of, and no avail. After a long search - It's back! Eric found THE bag in a couple auctions and this one showed up and we won it!!!! My hubby had it all laid out and waiting for me last night when I got home! I am so happy to have it back!...

This post is kind of random, It's just a few pictures I've taken with my iPhone (which iLove by the way) over the last weekend. My photos kind of get lost on my phone without ever getting the appreciation they deserve. So here we are, a photos of RANDOM. The first two are photos of the Memory shelf that I put together this weekend - we have a big 5X5 unit in our living room, and each shelf / cubby has a little character. I decided to clean one off and make it my Memory shelf for Grandma Nani and Momma. The Top photo are the things I treasure from my Momma, her Woody Wood Pecker Cup, Her Jiminy Cricket Cup, an Angel that a friend gave to her while in Hospice care, her Whisk, a photo of her when she was little, and one piece of her China set - a Tea cup and Saucer.  Behind that elevated on my Oxford annotated bible, is the picture I adore of Nani and I from when I was little, a clown that she had in her apartment / house for as long as I can remember, and the Smurfette glass s...

  When I heard about this play hitting a traveling show I KNEW I had to get tickets! I love a little religious satire and this is pretty much the epitome of it! There were things on stage that I never even knew they allowed on stage! I was surprised at how many times the word "Fuck" was said, and how much one show could offend pretty much anyone. That being said ? I LOVED IT! It was hilarious! I'd say go get tickets now and see it, but it's sold out in Seattle so you may need to catch it the next time around.  Tim and Katherine have season tickets to a few shows at the Paramount, and this was in their package, so they added a few seats for us, and we didn't get to sit together, but we had an awesome night out at the Tap House and then to the show! It was a lot of fun! And now, I have this song in my head.... And you're welcome, because now, so will you.

I’ve known Kat for nearly 10 years (which makes us both feel old). She was my camp counselor at NeSoDak. She made a wonderful impression on me, and I attribute some of my deep rooted faith to her. She made everything so accessible, but most importantly made it personal. Sure you’ll see Kat at church most every Sunday, but that’s not what makes her a wonderful image of a Christian woman, she LIVES her faith daily, and not just on Sundays. There are so many wonderful things to be said about this friend of mine… She is endlessly cheerful, she loves her planet, her family and her God. I often wonder how I find such wonderful friends. Most of the time when I’ve told Kat I’ve come down with a cold her immediate response is “oh, did you need me to make you some Magic Chicken Soup” which is a recipe of hers that magically cures any illness (or at least makes you feel good). This time, I texted her – Need Magic soup, and she not only made me a HUGE pot of it, she delivered it ...

Aaand… Just like that I’m back in the game! Well, sort of. Here’s the best 10 on Tuesday I’ve got in me right now… 1| I’m sick. Like snotty, congested, coughing, scratchy throat, icky feeling type of sick. I didn’t sleep hardly at all last night because I was up coughing so much, and then not being able to catch my breath. Gross. I hate having a cold, it’s the worst, though it’s not the Flu so maybe I need to be counting my blessings. I am at work, though I think I may have called in sick if we weren’t down a team member right now. I’m a team player like that, not going to leave my co-workers stranded. However, I think I may need to call in sick to my Relay meeting tonight, I don’t want to chance getting my Relay Family sick, especially since Donna’s in the middle of a bunch of surgeries and procedures right now for her Breast cancer. Though I didn’t think about that for Mindy – I’m terrible… Sorry Mind, I’ve got hand sanitizer for you! 2| That being said? I’m on my 2 nd ...

I have started, rewritten, deleted, and thought about this post over and over again. It's so tender and personal to me to share this, but I've never been one to be super private (hence the blog since 2008) so here it goes. I am unhappy with myself. Wow, that was tough to type. I am not unhappy with my life, there's a HUGE difference. I just get myself in miserable situations that I can see coming from a mile away and have no will power to stop. I can do better - and I'm going to do better. For starters ... 1| I am going to LOSE MORE WEIGHT - I know this is pretty cliche, but I have gained a TON of weight since I quit skating, and started studying for my Series 7. It was a combination of those two that helped me gain nearly 40 pounds again. My body is tired, I'm sick of being fat, I've been fat for years. When I was skating I was starting to see the pounds drop off, and I was getting excited. My knee blew and I sat on the couch and ate for pretty much 1...

 Welcome to 2013 - the year of More! More Blogging, More photos being taken, More exercise, and More dieting. More on that... later. Last night we spent in company of our wonderful friends Tim and Katherine. We rang in the new year by having a pork chop dinner together topped off with Monster cookies and Ice Cream for dessert! Mmmh! Good! Oh yeah, and I polished off a half bottle of wine... It tasted SO good. Then Kat picked up some Christmas Crackers for us - so at Midnight, we cracked them open and had to get a few photos of the crazy crowns that came with them!  The Dogs were NOT happy with all the fireworks going off outside. Aquaman was the least neurotic of the three which is pretty impressive. Cosmo just hopped up on Tim's chair, which is pretty out of character- and Seven ran around in circles panting so hard his toung was hanging sideways out of his mouth... Poor Puppies Bring it on 2013... Let's do this! Ps Aquaman even got brave and snagged a chew from Seven....