The News We've All Been Waiting To Hear...

I heard a bit of good news this weekend that could be written 3 ways...

JUSTIN AND MICHELLE ARE HAVING A BABY!

or...

MY PARENTS ARE GOING TO BE GRANDPARENTS!

or...

MICHAEL AND I ARE GOING TO BE AN UNCLE AND AN AUNT!

Any way you look at it, it is fantastic news and we are all so thrilled. Justin and Michelle were very sneaky and kept it a secret for almost 4 months so they could tell us in person!!


So about the weekend....

Michael and I picked up Justin and Michelle late Friday night. We caught up for several hours and finally went to bed a little after 1a. It was very odd, Thumbs usually ignores Michelle but as soon as Michelle sat down, Thumbs jumped in her lap and stayed there for most of the evening. Those cats know their stuff--Michael and I will never have to take a pregnancy test, we'll just wait for the cat to tell us! On Saturday we spent the day at Utica Square and Zieglers (Justin and Michelle brought a picture they wanted matted and framed) and then came home for dinner. Michael and I prepared quite the feast: shrimp cocktail, salmon, a potato dish, green beans, rolls, and banana pudding for dessert. I was a little stressed while I was cooking but it turned out pretty well and we had a blast preparing the meal. Afterwards we watched Stranger than Fiction (one of our favorite movies) and they both became fans. Michelle wore Justin's University of Tulsa t-shirt all day and there was no way you could tell she had a baby under the Golden Hurricane.

Sunday morning we went to the 9:30 worship service and then mom and dad met us at home shortly afterwards. Justin and Michelle brought out a gift for the parents and of course I immediately thought, "Where's my gift?!" :) They opened the present and there were 2 brightly colored books. THEN all I could think was, "Those books are so bright and tacky, where are mom and dad going to put them?" Little did I know they were "The Grandma Book" and "The Grandad Book." I couldn't see the titles but I heard Michelle say, "We're expecting!" It didn't sink in for another 5 seconds (I'm a quick one...) and then I started jumping up and down and screaming. She is due October 31 and we are all so excited. We went to Gina and Guiseppe's to celebrate and spent the entire lunch talking about babies. It was fantastic.

The rest of the afternoon was great, it is always nice to have all 6 of us together. Michael made the comment that this is the first piece of really exciting news announced in our new home. I can safely say we will remember it forever. The girls took off for Babies R us so Michelle could introduce mom and I to the world of babies in the 21st century. It is absolutely crazy how many things they have now--I was surprised but mom was in total shock. And of course we had to look at all of the clothes. Mom and I tended to look at the girl clothes but Michelle went straight to the boys section. Sunday night Michael was a master chef at the grill and we enjoyed a big meal around the table. We were all sad when mom and dad left that evening, it was such a fun day.

On Monday we lounged around and had lunch at Chilis before we took the soon-to-be parents to the airport. Next time I see them they will be a family of 3! I can't believe it! I kept trying to convince them to move to Tulsa but they wouldn't have any of it. I do believe we will be visiting Chicago more than we ever did before. :)

As soon as we got back to the house we started cleaning and getting ready for some friends to come over at 7p for another cookout. Everyone brought a ton of food and it was all delicious. Most of Steve's (Kait's fiance) friends live very close to us but we had never had a chance to invite everyone over. We met Randy's girlfriend, Gina, for the first time and really liked her. Other guests were: Steve, Kait, Emily, Ryan, (Randy, Gina), and Adam. The guys spent a lot of time outside and the girls stayed (where else) in the kitchen.

What a fantastically wonderful weekend! I'm sure I missed things but as you can tell it was a pretty full weekend! Below are some pictures from the past several days--unfortunately we forgot to take some of the group last night.

Is there anything better than hearing wonderful news and then following it up with a 4-day week? I didn't think so either...











(Notice Thumbs next to Baby B...)


Soon-to-be proud parents...


Future Uncle Mikee and Aunt Merdi

Thumbs, Birds, and Turtles (oh my...)

We have created a monster. The weather was beautiful the other day so Thumbs and I played on the driveway while Michael mowed our hideous excuse for a yard. I thought it'd be good for the massive feline to get some fresh air but little did I know she would fall in love with the great outdoors. Michael and I now have to be extra careful when we open the front or back doors because she is quite the escape artist. Yes folks, Thumbs has actually used her legs for more than pillows. Last night we were watching tv and heard pitiful meows and an occasional tap-tap-tapping on our door. (Rap-rap-rapping? But we don't have a chamber door...) I look up to see her impatiently waiting at the front entrance with her paw frozen on the door. What have I done?!

I took her out for a bit yesterday and got some cute pictures (we love our new camera):



Her face in the picture below is hilarious!!


We also have new housemates. I find it quite rude that they didn't call and ask before they added another square foot to our home but I suppose it will help when it's time to sell ($100 a square foot, right?)! We don't mind the nest but we DO mind the mess they leave on our front patio. I took a picture of it but realized you are creative enough to visualize it yourself. I want to keep this blog G-rated.




Since we're on an animal kick, Michael and I found this turtle especially funny at the North Park Mall in Dallas. All of his friends were by the heat lamp and he was in his own world with his feet hanging off into the water. Have I mentioned that Michael and I have discussed getting a turtle? We both love them and it'd be nice to have a pet that actually moves slower than Thumbs.... we hope.




And to end this post, we finally found a toy that Thumbs enjoys. It's a mini soccer ball--Michael is so proud. :) I came in this morning to find her nesting on the soccer ball and tried to get her to actually play with it. She'd paw at it for a second and then stretch, kick it a bit and then yawn. Soooo active, I tell you. She eventually left it for a piece of paper....








Happy Memorial Day weekend to you! Justin and Michelle arrive tonight and I cannot wait to see them!!

Hwy 75 Brings Bad Luck

Michael and I drove to Coppell this weekend for Amy and Anthony's wedding, Craig and Jessie's wedding shower, and to spend some time with his parents. The trip started and ended pretty terribly but the middle part was great!

My boss was kind enough to let me leave early on Friday so we could get on the road at a decent time. We were all packed up and on our merry way at 3:45p with an ETA of 8:00p. We decided to forego mapquest due to the simplicity of the directions: Stay on Hwy 75. I'm not sure where things took a turn for a worse, but I believe it happened while the following conversation took place:

Me: Michael, these fries are GOOD!
Michael: Really? How so?
Me: They have so much salt on them!

It would be nice to think we missed the turn because we were discussing politics, religion, or heck, even sports would have been acceptable. But no, we were discussing sodium chloride on a fried potato. How embarrassing. Diet starts ASAP!

We continued driving with an occasional statement of, "this doesn't look familiar" from Michael and a "I don't remember all of this construction!" from me but did we stop? Noooo. It wasn't until we were about 30 minutes from Arkansas (I am not kidding) that Michael finally called his dad and learned we were in the middle of nowhere. Argh! We stopped at a gas station and I asked the guy in front of me where we were. His answer? "Uh.... I'm not really sure." Awesome. I bought a $6 map and got back in the car. Our 4 hour trip turned into a 6-hour nightmare and boy were we happy to see his parents' home at 10p!

We went to North Park Mall on Saturday and had a great time window shopping. I found a lovely dress that was a mere $1300. I literally pulled my hands back from the price tag and lifted them above my head so I wouldn't harm the fabric. What made it even worse was all dresses thereafter paled in comparison. Oh well.

Saturday evening was Amy and Anthony's wedding. It was BEAUTIFUL! She looked gorgeous, the flowers were so pretty and most importantly, there was a potatotini bar (you thought I was going to say "they were married and so happy" didn't you?)! If you have not experienced a potatotini bar, I truly feel sorry for you. It is GLOOOOORIOUS. Michael and I had a good time catching up with all of his high school friends--I am still amazed at how many of them are still very good friends and keep in touch regularly.










We "slept in" until 8:45a on Sunday, had lunch at Mi Cocina with his parents and spent the afternoon with Karen and Myers. Craig and Jessie's shower began at 7:30p and was a lot of fun. They had a ton of food and it was a very similar crowd to the one at Amy's wedding the evening before. I am so excited for Craig and Jessie's wedding--it is going to be a blast and they are such a fantastic couple! Craig also let me know that he occasionally reads the ol' blog to catch up on our lives so here is my first formal "shout-out": Hellooo Craig! You should be studying for the bar right now!! :)





We'd originally planned on waking up uber early on Monday and driving in for a half-day of work but after 3 nights of staying up past 1a we changed plans. After a quick stop at West Elm, we were on the road (the correct road) and on our way home. I was the driver and sped for the second time in my ENTIRE LIFE (ha). A cop pulled us over and clocked us doing 85. I pulled out my insurance card and noticed the expiration date was January 5, 2008. What?! So I started looking through my glove compartment, etc. Found 5 more insurance cards, all expired! The guy must have thought I was an idiot. Michael laughs when he's nervous so we were quite the team of him half-laughing and me with my deck of expired cards. I promised the officer I did indeed have insurance. He took the expired card (ugh) and my license and was gone for several minutes. Ended up just giving me a warning, I was so surprised! I called our insurance place this morning and asked that they send me a new card ASAP and am thinking about mailing a copy of it to the officer with a big "THANK YOU" card once I receive it in the mail. Very thankful for nice cops.

Last item I'll mention before I end War and Peace part II... I received a postcard from Save the Manatee Club (my parents adopted a manatee for me when I was much younger). It was addressed to my maiden name but had our correct address! I have no idea how they received my address but I went to the website and caught up on the latest information. Apparently there was a proposed budget cut of rescue and emergency treatment programs in Florida, which would be terrible for the manatees. The website had updated news that was fantastic: "On May 1st, the vessel fee adjustment bill was passed by both the Florida House and Senate. Upon being signed by Governor Charlie Crist, this bill will provide funding for the manatee rescue and rehabilitation program, University of Florida Marine Mammal Veterinary program, and retention of 66 law enforcement positions for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)." Hooray! I found the manatee my parents adopted for me on the website. Her name is Dana and she is still alive and kicking (born in 1988)! I think we're going to adopt again--not sure if it will be Dana or another manatee I found especially cute--his name is Floyd. Maybe we'll go crazy and adopt both. Anywho, a shameless plug for my favorite gentle giants--go adopt one yourself or donate to a great cause: www.savethemanatee.org/donation.htm. It's only $25, which is 1/2 tank of gas or one lunch at Panera. You'll be so glad you did! :)

Bring Me Another!!!

A delicious dinner at Melting Pot and an entire bottle of wine leads to excessive happiness. And yes, this is one of those pictures I mentioned in an earlier post. Thank you TV stand (or in this case, bookcase). :)

Thank You :)

Today is my birthday. I wish I could say it's not a big deal to me but (sadly) it still is. I love birthdays, cards in the mail, cakes with my name on them... I love attention. But for this post, I'd like to move to a much more important event that happens in the month of May.

Mother's Day.

My parents came to visit this weekend and Michael's and my measly gift to mom was a card and lunch at Queenies, one of her favorite spots in Tulsa. In an attempt at frugality, Michael and I decided that this year we would only buy Christmas gifts for our parents. I broke last week and said the least we could do was buy her lunch, and so that was what we did. A lunch. Here's a quiche Mom, thanks for spending hours upon hours taking care of me, laughing with me, crying with me, moving me to Tulsa, moving me back to Fort Smith, moving me once again to Tulsa, the list goes on and on.

I'm not trying to say "money buys happiness" or that an expensive gift would have been a better token of our love because there isn't a gift out there that would ever be good enough for her. She's priceless.

Some of my favorite mom memories...

1. When I was much younger (and much shorter), I would put on her shirts and belt the waist so I would be wearing a gorgeous dress. It wasn't complete without size 6 heels on child-sized feet.

2. Laying out by the pool in the summer. For the longest time I hated laying out (I'd much rather be in the pool) but I would try so hard to sit still in my chair so she and I could talk. Most of the time that lasted 5 minutes, but it was worth it.

3. Driving to Tulsa to shop when I was in junior high. We would make an entire weekend of it and I always had a blast.

4. Seeing her every day in high school. Most kids couldn't wait to get away from their parents, I couldn't wait to be near mine.

5. Packing up my freshman year dorm room into one car. I will never forget opening the sun roof and throwing the last bit of things through it (if we opened any of the doors we would have had a massacre).

There are so, so many more. Mom, I can't thank you enough for always being there for me. Your optimism and wisdom have helped me through some of my darkest times and your constant encouragement has allowed me to see that I am so lucky, and so blessed. You are always finding that silver lining, even when it is far away.

Your heart is so big--I've never understood how it could fit in such a tiny person. Thanks for giving me life and showing me how great this life can be. I love you.

No Really, The Grass IS Greener On The Other Side...

2 posts in 2 days--I believe that is a record!

I actually went to Sonic yesterday and picked up an order (er... two) of the macaroni bites. First order was delicious. Second order made me realize that even fried goodness has its limits. I might have to wait a week or so before I return.

This past weekend Michael and I went with his friends to an O.A.R. concert. I wasn't super excited about going but I actually had a really fun time. His work friends are great and so friendly to me. I sometimes wonder if that is because I'm so much older than them and I remind them of their mom. Yikes! We went to McNellies and had a few drinks before we went to the concert. The girls wanted to take an "easy shot" so I dug back to my college memory bank and pulled out what I remembered to be quite easy and quite tasty: the kamikaze. Well folks, I was WRONG. It was not good and I received several looks of, "last time we trust YOU again, mom."




Since this is my blog, I'd like to make two rants. I'll keep them short and sweet. The first: Our yard looks like crap. We are not sure if we have dead sod or what (a lawn professional is coming by tomorrow to see if the sod is still on life support or if we indeed need to call the time of death) but it is by far the worst yard on the block. If you squint your eyes and stand back 100 feet or so, it looks like we have a somewhat green yard. And then you walk closer and realize all of that green? Yea, it's all weeds. Apparently sod is not under warranty so if it is indeed dead, we are in charge of re-seeding it. I find that a little hard to accept since we closed on this home in January--dormant season--and if it died, it died long before we took over. Hold your breath people, this is not pretty...



Even Thumbs wouldn't step foot in our yard. (Can you blame her? The girl has standards...)





And here are some pictures of the backyard. It is CLEARLY impossible to tell where our yard ends and our neighbors yards begin. :)




What we do NOT have in our front yard is a horrid, ridiculous contraption that reminds me of my darkest days. Yes, my friends, I am referring to Gigantor, aka the Jenks trash can. I could fit 4 Michaels, 6 Merediths, or even 2 Thumbs in this beast. And for some unknown reason all of our neighbors think it adds to their property value--they will NOT put the thing out of site. I've already read through our neighborhood covenant TWICE trying to find the rule of "you must keep Gigantor from showing his face" but have yet to come across it. Normally my non-confrontational self would have put an anonymous note in each of their mailboxes letting them know their laziness and lack of pride was astounding but Lord knows I have no right to complain at the moment.





Rant is over. Will keep you posted on our "mostly dead" sod (thank you, Princess Bride).

GLOOOOOORIOUS!

They. Are. BACK.



I actually cheered last night when the Sonic commercial aired, announcing the return of greatness (Macaroni Bites). If you can't find me for the next few months, check the Sonic parking lot. I'll be the fat one in the corner with a HUGE smile on my face.

Hooray for May!

I realize I might be a bit biased, but I just love the month of May. Temperature is perfect, flowers are in bloom, and it just happens to be the birth month of one of my favorite people... (ha!)

This past weekend we drove with Steve and Kait to Kansas City for Summer's wedding!! It was a beautiful weekend, she was a fantastic bride, and it was another great reunion for the TU kids. Weird to think that Summer and I were roommates almost 8 years ago. It is so nice to still be friends with someone so many years later.

We took a ton of pictures but they start to get a little repetitive--I've posted a few below.












Before we left for the wedding Michael laid out some of his shoes for packing purposes. The next morning he was brushing his teeth and noticed one of his shoes in our bedroom was staring back at him. Good ol' Thumbs wanted so badly to belong! Thank goodness Michael's foot is not that wide!




Last night Michael and I went to see one of our J-Life students in her middle school play. It was a modern version of Midsummer Night's Dream. The kids did a really great job and we were both impressed. It was weird to be sitting in an audience surrounded by middle schoolers who all wore more makeup than me and were texting on their cell phones throughout the evening. I definitely felt old. Michael and I discussed whether we would have been the kids in the play or the kids in the audience and both decided we would have been up on the stage. (Believe it or not, Michael used to be the young actor--took drama A and B and had a few leads in school plays. He told me this last night after I doubted his decision that he would indeed be on stage with me.)

I almost don't want to say (type) this because I'm so terrified of jinxing the beautiful moment, but Michael and I have a FREE weekend this weekend. No wedding, no traveling, nothing! I am going to savor every second of it since we go back to busy weekends immediately afterwards.

Last but certaintly not least, Michael gave me my birthday present a few weeks early. In our 3 years of being together, we have NEVER waited until the appropriate day and this was no exception. Last Friday as we were getting ready to leave for KC he said, "I think I want to give you your gift now so you can take it with you this weekend." It is a beautiful purse that I spotted several months ago! He bought it before Valentine's Day so it even had the Valentine's Day wrapping (talk about thinking ahead)! I immediately switched all of my stuff to the new purse and carried it all weekend. What a great gift!!



I believe that is it for now. Tonight is the grand line-up of television: Office, Grey's Anatomy, and Lost. 3 great shows, 3 totally different story lines, 1 perfect night of television. Happy May Day to you!

Misty Water-Colored Meeeemories, Of The Way We Were. Scattered PIC-tures..

A bit of the "small print" before we begin...

WARNING: This post might end up being uber cheesy. We're talking, end of Pretty Woman cheesy (saw it on tv the other day and forgot how cheesy it really was).

SIDENOTE: The title of this post is a shout-out to one of the greatest movies ever, Big. I am not, nor have I ever been, a Barbra Streisand fan. See, I don't even know if I spelled her name correctly. Anywho, moving on...

The last two weeks in April are a pretty big deal for Michael and myself. I guess I should start at the beginning, which would be three years ago TODAY (Happy Earth Day, by the way). Anyone who reads this post knows the story so I'm not going to get into it, but Michael and I met for the first time at an Earth Day party. I will be honest when I say I had high expectations from the very beginning. I didn't leave that weekend thinking, "I hope this will work out." Instead, I left praying, "I hope he is the one."

There are a few things about Michael that everyone knows. He is good-looking (I prefer "hot" but I think that might be rude to say--It's like saying your child is attractive. You know it's true but you can't really say it outloud), smart, shy, and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Most only scratch the surface of him, but still realize these four attributes rather quickly. He doesn't enjoy being the center of attention, loathes it actually, so you miss a lot because he'd rather listen to you than talk about himself. And he's fascinating. So many people (ahem, ME) love to talk about themselves and usually have three things worth mentioning before they're done. It'd be nice if they stopped there but it is that type of person (ahem, still ME) that continues talking. Perhaps it's because he is so quiet, but he has a billion things he could tell you that you (a) didn't know and (b) would find interesting. I consider myself so lucky because I've learned a million of those things already, and I still have so many million to go...

We celebrate our dating anniversary on April 28. Michael has politely told me that we no longer celebrate the dating anniversary once we're married, but I will never forget it. He came to Fort Smith the following week after the Earth Day party and together we drove to Conway to see a Jimmy Eat World concert. I took off work the next day and we spent the entire day together. He kissed me that afternoon (right as I heard the garage door open, signifying mom was home from work) and so we've declared April 28 our anniversary day. He drove back to Tulsa that evening and I started thinking about wedding colors.

This is not our first picture, but it is one of the first. I think it was taken in the summer of 2005 when I was visiting him in Tulsa. We set the camera up on his tv stand and to this day it is one of our favorites.



After dating for almost a year, I moved to Tulsa and began working at FPC on April 17, 2006. Michael and I wanted to make sure that we could be together in the same place, every day, and still love each other. It was so nice to be able to see each other on a Wednesday--for an entire year we weren't able to do that. It didn't take us long to realize we'd made the right decision.

On Sunday, April 20, 2008 we celebrated our 6-month wedding anniversary. Everyone told us the first year was the "hardest" and we've just had a blast. We realize we've been very lucky so far and that there will be forks in the road that might not be so easy. But for now, we can safely say that getting married was the best decision of our lives, and we're so excited to see what will happen next.



It's neat for me to think about that first picture. I wonder what we were thinking when it was taken? Did we have any idea that that captured moment would end up on the front page of our wedding website, welcoming visitors to read our story and learn about the wedding weekend? I wonder if we knew that three years later we would be living together in a house in Jenks, or that we still occasionally set up the camera on a tv stand to take pictures of just the two of us. I often think "If I knew then what I know now..." but when that flash went off I already knew. I just didn't know at the time that October 20, 2007 would end up being so significant.

I always felt awkward saying "fiance" but I can't say "husband" enough. Life is good, and I am so blessed.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." -Colossians 3: 14-17 (Scripture read at our wedding...)

LOST = life

I've never been a huge fan of television. I have a few shows that I enjoy and try not to miss, but I despise an entire evening of television for the same reason I do not enjoy 3 hour movies: I get impatient, my legs start losing feeling (as does my brain), and I just start feeling... worthless.

I have had to put these feelings aside for the past 3 weeks in order to obtain our lofty goal of watching all 3 seasons and 8 episodes from season 4 of Lost by next Thursday. Tonight is the season 3 finale. Michael and I have become my worst fear: Lost junkies. We talk about them on the way to work (on a first name basis, naturally), discuss them via email throughout the day, research Lost theories, discuss our excitement of watching the next episode as we drive home, and then BAM! At precisely 4:30p we are on the couch with Thumbs Magee and our eyes are glued to the television. If only it stopped there (it does for Michael)... I then proceed to go to bed and dream about drowning, guns, and, most recently, cancer. Justin pulled a gun on one of our neighbors, I drove off a bridge and woke up right as I was drowning, and last night I found out Michael had cancer. YEESH! And now I'm wasting a blog talking about it.

Hi, my name is Meredith, and I'm a Lostaholic.

A small part of me is dreading when we do finally catch up--right now when there is a crazy ending we just pop in the next dvd and immediately find out what happens. Having to wait a full week sounds pretty obnoxious. For our own sake, however, it's probably best. It's much healthier for me to talk about "Kate" and be referring to my best friend and not a Lost character.

In other news (yes, fortunately I have other news to discuss), it's been a nice 2 weeks. I went to Fort Smith a few weekends ago to visit the parents, Julie, and attend Leah's shower. It was a very quick visit but I had a great time. I also went to dinner with someone who used to be a labor and delivery nurse. I thought raising kids was terrifying--it sounds like a piece of cake next to birthing them. I'll keep the stories to myself, but I now believe the storylines on Grey's Anatomy (minus the whole "everyone hooks up with everyone" ridiculousness).

This past weekend we had a new member dinner on Friday, dinner with Cari, Aubrey, and Kait on Saturday, and a Dave Ramsey party on Sunday. We recently bought a charcoal grill and I learned Sunday evening that Michael can make a mean burg and hot dog. We had about 18 people over--we all decided we needed a breather after 13 weeks of learning about mutual funds, mortgages, etc.. I'm hoping we'll form a small group out of some of the couples, there are several that Michael and I really connect with and I'd love to continue hanging out with them.

Last night was the Feist concert and I ended up not going. I had one of those headaches all day yesterday where you see spots (probably from 456+ hours of watching television) and the thought of going to a very crowded and very loud place made me see even more spots. Cari was very gracious and found someone to take my ticket. I'm sure I missed a good one.

Michael is feeling better, still Coughy McCougherson but improves a bit more each day. He has his TU soccer alumnae weekend this Saturday so mom is coming up to join me for the day. Last year I went and watched him play and felt incredibly awkward. There were tons of wives there but they each had multiple youngsters tagging along. None of them seemed interested in talking to me and I can't say I felt differently. Michael politely told me that I did not need to go this year and I think we both breathed a sigh of relief when I decided to pass. :)

Aaaand I think that is about it from me. Happy Tax day!

And Many More....

This is my 50th post on our blog! Well, it is my 49th post since Michael wrote one last year but since we're a couple we shall celebrate as a couple. Unfortunately, 50% of the couple is at home sick.

Yes, Michael E. Haynes is sick. The other day he mentioned he wasn't feeling well, with the same intensity I use when I tell him I have a miniature headache. I didn't pay much attention to it (I know, bad wife) since he seemed so "eh" about it but realized the severity of the sickness when he woke up approx. 843 times to cough, spit, etc. The morning began with him mentioning his throat was closing up (as if it happened every day), which led to me researching the web to find the closest urgent care clinic. We made the trip and discovered that Michael had a mix of horrid allergies and a viral throat infection. The doc gave him some meds and sent him home. After doing everything I could to help him out, I came to work late and spent a great deal of time thinking/worrying about him. When I came home I was exhausted so I took a long nap. Woke up to my sick husband making us dinner. On a scale of 1 to 47, how bad do you think I felt with that one?!

He's feeling better today, but not great. And once again, I would rather be at home taking care of him. Sigh.

On a happier note, we made the decision on Monday to take an entire week off this summer so we could have a 9-day vacation. This vacation will include sleeping, eating, and relaxing. It will not include a plane trip, stress, or the purchase of a wedding gift. I am super excited about our cheap vacation, it is going to be great for us both.

Reasons why April is a great month (brace yourselves for a lot of exclamation marks):

April 6-7: Get to see my parents and Julie, as well as lunch at Rolandos!
April 12-13: Possibly a visit from Karen and Myers!
April 13: Dave Ramsey party at our place! :)
April 20: Michael's and my 6 month wedding anniversary!
April 26: Summer Buerge's wedding weekend!
April 28: Michael's and my 3 year dating anniversary! (He... and well, everyone else think I'm ridiculous for still celebrating this but come on, 3 years! Woohoo!!)

With all of the aforementioned items, I can deal with a few April showers!