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! 

Weekend in Cocoa Beach: (Vacation Part I)

Since I’m sure many of you are anxiously waiting for the next segment of the Bunton Family Vacation, I’ll continue on. In case you missed it, that was sarcastic ^^ ;)

8:30 am: Mom’s tooth is fixed, gas tank is full, breakfast is being eaten (Krispy Kreme and Starbuck’s), and we are finally, FINALLY on our way to Florida. As you can imagine, it was quite exciting. We drove and drove, then drove some more. Friday afternoon, I got a call informing me that I was receiving $500 toward my spring semester! Financially, this semester has been (and continues to be) very tight, so this was absolutely an answer to prayer, as it allows me to be debt-free for a little bit longer.

While driving through Atlanta, in fairly significant traffic, this is the conversation that transpired:

     Emma: This is worse than driving through Madison!

     Dad: It’s Atlanta, Georgia!

     Emma: I don’t know where Atlanta, Georgia is!!

…Maybe you had to be there, but I still find it rather hilarious.

After grabbing supper at Chik-Fil-A that night, we made it to our hotel in Cocoa Beach around 3:30 am. It was 60 degrees—in the middle of the night!

The next day (Saturday), we headed to Ron Jon, which was within walking distance of our hotel. We got a few souvenirs, then had lunch at “a N.Y. Pizza House”. In the afternoon, Thomas tried his hand at surfing while the rest of us enjoyed quality time at the beach—soaking up the sunshine!

No day could be complete without some sort of—wrinkle. Before leaving our hotel that morning, Mom realized she forgot to pack any of her sandals! (We found out later she had left them on the ping pong table in the basement…in Wisconsin!). Much to the dismay of Emma, Mom, and I, we were forced to head to the mall for some shoe shopping. On our way back from the shoe shopping expedition, we stopped for ice cream at the “Ice Cream Junction”, a local place with delicious hand-dipped ice cream.

Sunday was another relaxing day for us. We headed for breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts. Dark chocolate hot chocolate and blueberry munchkins (donut holes) made my morning—I highly recommend both of these things, but am glad (for the sake of my jeans fitting) that there is not a Dunkin’ Donuts nearby J Thomas wanted to try surfing again, so Emma and Dad went along to watch. Mom and I walked on the beach for a while (which is *quite* the workout. Don’t believe me? Go walk through sand!), and collected some sea shells. Mid-seventies and sunny, white sand in between your toes, waves rolling in…you can picture it, right?? That afternoon, we came back to the pool and talked about wedding stuff.

Here’s the “funnies” from Sunday:

     Dad (in the pool): Look, I found a toy!

     Emma (laying out by the pool): I say so many things, and then think ‘wow, I’m an idiot’!

On our way to supper….

     Thomas: I wonder what kind of injuries you would get around here?

     Dad (quickly responds): Python squeezes!

At supper…

     Emma: I’m gonna move to Florida and just live off the government. That way, I can be at the beach every day!

…Maybe she’s on to something?!

That brings me to talk about food…again. We ate slightly ridiculous amounts of delicious food on this vacation. We tried out this place called “Florida Seafood”; it was a local, family-owned place about 10 minutes away. Food was amazing! Emma and I shared blackened Tilapia with garlic butter pasta. And our waitress kept bringing these corn fritters—think funnel cake, only better!

After our seafood dinner that night, we headed back to the hotel. Dad and Thomas watched football in the lobby while Mom, Emma, and I did some re-packing—We watched the premiere of Biggest Loser at 9. Watching people work out made us feel better about all the corn fritters we had eaten only a few hours prior J    

Monday morning arrived, and we spent the morning walking around some shops that were nearby. At noon, we shuttled to the port. Just prior to actually getting on the cruise ship, Thomas says “I’m gonna touch the butt”! (Finding Nemo, people…surely you’ve seen Finding Nemo?)

…This is just the beginning of our cruise, but I’ll have to blog about the rest of it later. 

3 day weekend

Another weekend with my fiance has come and gone. Fortunately, we both had today off, so we were able to extend our time together J 

On Saturday, we saw Lincoln (which makes me want to some historical research), did some shopping, and went to Meatheads for a greasy burger when it was all said and done. FYI: If you go to a movie on a Saturday afternoon, you will find yourselves in a theater full of senior citizens. Not kidding.

On Sunday, we went to church, had tacos for lunch, then spent 2 ½ hours in Bass Pro Shops! Yes, seriously—never thought I’d ever spend that long in such a store. And as much as I hate to admit it, we had a blast! We’ll never have a $27,000 “Party Barge” (aka huge pontoon), but I’m totally ok with that J We went to a Peoria Riverman hockey game, too—they played the Houston Aeros. The Riverman won 6-2. Micah made sure we had fabulous seats—right in the middle, in the 2^nd row, next to the penalty box J It was a fun time. After the game, we stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel (at 8 pm) on our way back to the farm…

…Did I mention that we’re getting married 11 months from today?! 

The week before vacation

It’s hard to believe that our vacation has come and gone already. In case you didn’t know, my family spent a few days in Cocoa Beach before heading on a Royal Caribbean Cruise to Coco Cay and Nassau, Bahamas! The trip was so much fun; it was relaxing and exactly what we all needed. The weather was PERFECT—75 and sunny in January…what could be better?!

But before we could actually leave for Florida, we had to deal with a week where things just weren’t going according to plan. On Thursday, the day before we were supposed to leave, my car started having issues (again!), dad got his stitches out (a few days early), and mom broke a tooth—I think those were the “big” things” ;) They left WI a little later than planned because Dad’s physical therapy appointment took longer than expected. Anyway, my family finally made it to Illinois on Thursday night, just in time for dinner at Avanti’s with all the grandparents and Jordan. We do love tortellini!

Rabbit trail, sort of— Dad called nearly 20 dentists on Thursday afternoon trying to find somewhere, anywhere, that Mom could get her tooth fixed before we left. She was able to get an appointment for the next morning at 8 am. Redbird Dental is fabulous; we were on the road at 8:30! This was such an answer to prayer, and it was super nice that it worked out so well J

TOMORROW!

Best news of the day? Leaving for family vacation tomorrow! We’re driving to Florida (yes, driving!). We’ll spend the weekend near Cocoa Beach, soaking up the sunshine! On Monday, our cruise leaves—we’ll go to the Bahamas! I’m so excited and so ready for this time with my family J It’s our last big family vacation as a family of 5…good and scary, right?!

I really need to finish packing, organizing, cleaning—my family will be here in a few hours! 

December Recap

A couple weeks ago, I finished another semester and then went to Indiana to spend time with my fiancé and his family.

2 really big things about that sentence ^^

1.       I finished semester #2 of nursing school. It was an insanely hectic semester, and I’m finally a senior in college! I’m so thankful for the people who prayed for me all semester long, but especially during finals—I ended up being pretty sick that week, and it was truly a miracle I was able to think clearly for all those cumulative exams!

2.       Fiancé? Did you catch that word? I LOVE being able to say that! More on that later…maybe ;)

For now, I’m moving onto Christmas Adventures…maybe Christmas Chaos would be more appropriate?!

Christmas Adventures began for Micah and I in mid-December, when I headed to Indiana for the weekend. We had a couple of get-togethers with his family. The weekend was full: My future sister-in-law had a cookie exchange at her house on Friday (so.much.fun); an extended family Christmas gathering on Saturday; church and another Christmas on Sunday. Those weekends make me even more ready to just be in Indiana and not have this back-and-forth nonsense!

The following week on Thursday, Micah came to Illinois. On Friday, we headed to Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas with my immediate family. The weekend went by WAY too quickly, but we had a really good, relaxing time. On Sunday night, Micah, Thomas, Emma, Neva, and I found ourselves back in Illinois.

Mom and Dad couldn’t come to Illinois for Christmas this year because of Dad’s surgery. He fell and shattered his wrist the week before, and had to have surgery on Christmas Eve! 1 shiny plate and 11 pins later, his wrist is back together again J He does not recommend falling on the ice and shattering your wrist—he claims it’s rather painful. Fortunately, he’s recovering quite well!

I had to work on Christmas Eve, then Micah and I headed to Indiana. We spent Christmas at his parent’s house; Micah’s brother, sister-in-law, sister, and nephew were there, too…It was a nice Christmas day, and I really do love his family J

Christmas this year was awesome, relaxing, fun, and different—maybe even a little bittersweet? It was full of firsts and lasts, too…First time I didn’t spend Christmas day with my family. First time I spent Christmas with my fiancé and his family, in another state. First time I’d traveled to 3 states in 4 days over Christmas break. Last Christmas before our wedding.  Lots of other “lasts”, but I’m assuming most people quit reading 3 paragraphs ago, so I won’t bore you with the rest of them J

I’m consistently overwhelmed with this crazy, amazing, wonderful life God has SO richly blessed me with! Looking forward to 2013 with great anticipation! “There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.” ~C.S. Lewis