It's a Wonderful Life :)

 Over the weekend, my mom, sister, and Neva came to Illinois--it was a busy time for me, with clinical on Friday, then work Saturday and Sunday. But we still managed to squeeze in time for some fun :) After Neva's dr. appointment on Monday, we did a little shopping. I think we have found shoes for my bridesmaids, which is pretty exciting. They are fabulous, and will look great with their dresses!

This ^^ was today. It looks absolutely beautiful out there! And I came home today to a house that smelled most wonderful. Crockpot chicken chili was a hit with "the boys" {Sam and Jordan}. Thank you to my mom for throwing this in the crockpot this morning! I'll definitely make it again.

"Just" another weekend..."just" another Tuesday. But again, I'm doing my best to be intentionally thankful for this wonderful life that God has so graciously given me :)

A Weekend @ Home!

It’s time for another earth-shattering blog post :) This past weekend, I was able to go home {to WI} for a much-anticipated, long-overdue trip. I hadn’t seen my family since we got back from vacation—about 5 weeks! And in my world—that is a LONG time.

Anyway, on Friday, we got out of clinical early because our instructor had a conflicting appointment…Instead of getting out of the psychiatric unit at 3 pm, we got out at noon—a whole 3 hours early! In other good news of the day, I found out about an A on my public health exam {truly a miracle}. You can imagine my excitement.

Eventually, I made it to Chetek, just in time for half-price appetizers from Applebee’s. Dad and I headed to Rice Lake to meet up with Kaydie. Thomas met us there, too. {Emma and her friends were there celebrating a birthday, but we weren’t cool enough to sit with them!} You know the “Happy, happy birthday” song they sing at Applebee’s, right? Well, the waitresses started clapping, so you knew the song was coming. And I said to the boys, “You guys should go over there!” Before I had even finished the statement, Dad had literally jumped out of his chair and was on the other side of the restaurant {by Emma and her friends}. He clapped along with them. People cheered—and not just for the birthday girl ;) It was hilarious.

Saturday morning, Mom and I headed to Eau Claire for a day of shopping. We ate a restaurant that was new-to-me, and had the best chicken, ever. I was skeptical about trying a new place and ordering chicken, of all things. Who does that?! Mom said it was the “best chicken ever” and it would “melt in your mouth”. And she was right—it was delicious. In fact, I could eat it again…right now. The restaurant had antler chandeliers; it was pretty rustic, but actually kind of adorable. As usual, we found some good deals while shopping, too J

We got back to Chetek a little before 5, and picked up Dad and Neva….because I just *had* to go to Casa. If you’ve never been to Casa Mexicana, you are seriously missing out. They have the best Mexican food you will ever eat. Be warned: I don’t think they have heat, so dress accordingly…

Sunday morning, we went to church, then to Culver’s {Sunday tradition}. Most of the afternoon, Emma and I worked on homework, because we are truly exciting people ;) It was back to church, then home in time for Mom’s BBQ chicken pizza. So good.

Monday came all too quickly—Mom, Dad, Emma, Neva, and I headed back to Eau Claire. We ate lunch together before I headed back to Illinois. I’m so glad I was able to get home, even if it was below zero while I was there! My family is awesome, and I love the time we can spend together. 

**In re-reading this post, I see that we look like a family of fatties—which is not entirely false. However, we don’t always eat like this, promise! 

Locked Out and other randoms

On Saturday, I locked my keys out of the car van I was driving —only part way through my 13 hour shift at work. This is the second time in my life that I have tragically locked myself out…

Before lunch, I decided to work 4 hours over my scheduled shift, so I would get off at 7pm. Basically, I would have 11 hours from the time I left work that night until I had to be back in the morning :/ But for the sake of paying the rest of my spring tuition, I decided to stay. I grabbed some lunch at Subway, then called my mom, who was doing my taxes and needed some information from me. I opened the door, locked the doors, got out of the van (with my phone in hand!), shut the door, took 3 steps—and I knew the keys were still in the ignition. Talk about frustrating. But there was nothing I could do about it!

Like anyone would, I immediately called my mom back. She said I would have to call a locksmith. The extra set of keys were in WI, which did me absolutely no good! When I got back to work, I found out that the Morton Police would come get your keys out—for free! I called the non-emergency number, and this cop showed up about 5 minutes later. So, for future reference, if you happen to lock yourself out of your vehicle while in Morton, call the police.

When the cop got there, he asked a couple logical questions.
Cop: Who does the vehicle belong to?
Me: My parents
Cop: And they’re out of state?
Me: Yes
Cop: Can I see your license?
Me: It’s actually in my purse—in the front seat.
Cop: Do you have your work ID?
Me: Umm, no…it’s in my car. My other car.
{Awkward pause}
Cop: I’m going to assume a couple things right now. Number 1, you don’t look like someone who would steal a vehicle. Number 2, if you do steal a vehicle, I have absolutely no idea why you would steal this. Number 3, if you steal a vehicle, I don’t think you would call the police to get the keys out.
Me: Correct.

Approximately 30 seconds later, the doors were unlocked and I got my keys. Needless to say, I am fairly certain the cop thought I was sketchy. But seriously, I was driving my parent’s mini-van with out-of-state plates and just-so-happened for the first time ever to not have my work nametag {because it was in my car}. Why was I not driving my car, you may be wondering. Let’s just say—it received a little damage and needed to be repaired ;) And seriously, *that* wasn’t my fault!

On a completely unrelated note, I got a beautiful calla lillie plant from Micah today. It came in this Snoopy Mug, and it gives me the perfect excuse to go shopping for a cute little pot :) 10 months and 10 days from today, we are (finally!) getting married!

And on Saturday, I'm heading home {to WI} for a super quick trip to see my family. I'm SO excited! 

Adventures in Indiana

In case you are still one of the 3 people who actually reads this blog, I’ll just state the obvious: I really blog so I remember the “little things”. Sure, I’ll blog about the rest of our vacation at some point, but I want to remember the simple, everyday occurrences because I can so easily take them for granted. I want to be purposefully thankful for what God has given me!

After clinical on Friday, I headed to Indiana. Micah and I went to his brother’s house, and this is what I saw…Micah’s brother, “J”, is standing in his dining room with a blowgun. He proceeds to tape balloons to his back door and subsequently use them as targets. These were not just any balloons—they were heart-shaped, but only partially blown up. They resembled a cat once a face was drawn on them. This IS how you entertain yourself on a Friday night, right?!

With my school schedule this semester, I had a few assignments that required attention on Saturday morning. Mom texted me to ask about invitations, but the picture didn't come through. Eventually, I was able to see the picture, and I told her to buy them :) She also bought programs. According to her and Emma, they are going to "tweak" the invitations and programs quite a bit--I'm excited to see what they have in mind :) And, since were on the wedding topic, I'll just add more one thing: Micah and I may have found our "unity candle". It's a little...nontraditional, sort of. But Emma thinks with a little bedazzling, it will work just fine :)

On Saturday afternoon, Micah and I (along with 6 other family members) headed to Indianapolis for some shopping and a hockey game. We went to Circle Center Mall, which is 4 levels. Think Mall of America. Anyway, Micah’s nephew, “W”, had never been to an indoor mall in his life. An 8 year old that had never been to a mall—“W” didn’t really know what such a thing was or why you would want to go in the first place. He became more impressed with his mall experience after finding the candy store!

We all had supper at the mall, then Micah and I got a Cinnabon. (That’s totally NOT on my “wedding diet”!) Don’t tell Emma! ;) Eventually, we made it to the hockey game. Our team lost, but hockey really is a fun sport to watch. However, I was disappointed they didn’t let the guys fight—that’s one of the best parts!

Sunday came quickly—we went to church, then to my future in-laws J We all had lunch together, then celebrated Micah’s birthday. His mom had made one of her delicious pies—this one was cherry. “W” made Micah a card—on the front cover, it said “What is ugly and sweet?” On the inside, it said “Micah and pie!” It was hilarious! The day was fun.

It was another adventure—and seriously, you can’t make this stuff up! ;) Today is Micah’s birthday; it was a little sad not to spend this day together, but I’m thankful for the time we had over the weekend. I’m seriously so blessed to have him in my life!