I will be a little MIA for the week....

Remember in June how I said we had booked a cruise? 

The day has finally come!

God's sovereignty is so cool... we booked this trip last May and picked the dates based on Steven not missing a Sunday, the price, and being able to stop at 3 ports rather than just 2.   At the time, we had no idea what my job position would be like, and certainly NO idea how much I would be NEEDING a vacation at this point!

I am so excited to spend a week relaxing with my best friend!


 

This is late, but we had such a fun weekend last week!

We surprised my mom and celebrated her 50th birthday as a family!

Tyler and Lisa flew up early Friday morning, I took a half day from work, then Steven and I picked up my parents and Austin and Kyla at the St. Louis Amtrak station.   When they got to the car, Tyler and Lisa were hiding in the back seat!

We had a great weekend together- took family pictures, went to Eckert's Apple Farm, participated in a dinner theater at Bissell Mansion, had a game night at home, went to church, then had a picnic lunch to end the trip.  I'm so glad that we were able to do this for her and celebrate the mom, woman, and friend that she is to each of us!


 

What's in Your Wallet?

I love it when people do posts about what is in their purse.

I feel like you only REALLY get to know someone, when you know what they carry with them 24/7.

In honor of that, I have decided to do a "What's in Your Purse?" post.

First are the very basics...
Wallet (from Maurice's at least 5 years ago!)
Keys ("small wallet" from MSU and nail file from Bath and Body Works)
and Coupon holder (from Dollar Spot at Target).  I put all of my coupons, gift cards, etc in here!

Next is my camera (cutie case is from Target!)
Hand sanitizer (can't leave home or go a day without it)
And sunglasses + case (from TJ Maxx)

Next is my new phone!!
And spearmint Orbit gum.

A small spiral notebook to make lists or take notes at church in when I don't have anywhere else. (From the Dollar Store)
Hand lotion
And a small monthly calendar to keep track of what we are doing when!  (from Target)

I have a million pens in my purse.  I feel like I am always needing to write something.  I love the variety of colors and that like 10 pens came in a pack for $3 at WalMart.
A very small First Aid kit.
A big black permanent marker... never know when you'll need one!

Nivea Chap Stick for when my lips are dry.
And my FAVORITE lip gloss from Bath and Body Works.

Last but not least, all of that miscellaneous stuff that piles up in the bottom.
A sparkily head band.
Change (for my Quik Trip runs)
Ear plugs.
White Nail Polish.
A hair tie
And a pair of hoop earrings.

There ya have it!

In the Morning

This was my view this morning.

 (do you like all of the post-it's left from the evening receptionist last night?  There were even more on the "credenza" behind me!)

It's possible that I'm a little biased but I do love the desk I sit at for the first half of my day.
I love getting to greet everyone as they enter or leave the building. 
I love the natural light and bright cheery colors.
I love meeting the anxious new employees getting ready for orientation on Monday mornings and giving them a reassuring smile.
I love getting deliveries from all sorts of places... but my favorites are deliveries from the florists. 
I love the access to coffee across the room.  :)
I love that some of our Residents will drop off leftovers from their breakfast, or their desserts to me when they are leaving the Main Dining Room... even if they have taken a bite out of it.  :)
I love when the alarms sound that a Resident with a "Wonderguard" enters the building, and they or their family get embarrassed, and I tell them that they are going off because a Very Important Person has entered the building and how it makes them smile.  :)
I love that I am getting more and more familiar with the 100's of visitors who enter... who their family member is, or what their job is with the facility... getting to know their routines and things about their lives.
I love feeling being able to help people find answers to their questions and feeling like I know what I'm doing.

There is one family member who went to our ice cream parlor and got a huge scoop of ice cream for my pregnant co-worker (with a brownie from a Resident), because we are not allowed to get it for ourselves.  :)

I'm exhausted.  Hopefully going to bed soon.  Good night world!

The Good News

I have good news for you today.

Steven and I got new phones last week!

We both had extremely old Blackberries... his was taped together from before we were married.

Now we have ones that can use the internet and (one of my favorite things) automatically upload the photos online!!

So the good news for you is, that my posts will now have many more pictures. Here is a run-down of our last week in pictures.

 First night I had the phone- taking "family pictures" haha.

Barkley was a BAD dog on Sunday when I woke up to find him sitting on the couch nibbling on this frame that we bought during our honeymoon!  He may have gotten yelled at plus a few spankings plus time in his kennel...

 Barkley and I messing with my phone again!

Some friends from church invited us to the Ram's game last night.  They got free tickets from his job and it was so much fun!  Club level seating and $20 in food for each of us.  Plus we beat an undefeated team!  I can never watch Football with Steven on TV, but watching it in person is much more entertaining.

As "Kansas City Folk", we do not own any Rams shirts... so Navy Blue shirts was as good as we could do.  :)


Sitting in front of us were three generations of boys... An 8(ish) year old, his dad, and his grandpa.  I really wanted to sneak a photo of them because they were so cute together.  They had painted their faces blue and yellow and dyed their hair bright blue.  Steven took their picture for them and they said that they were from California and were Rams fans sense the day they were born.  I love that they went on this trip together and are making memories together!

Today I was pleasantly surprised to see a box on my porch when I got home from work!  My not-so-secret pal had sent me a package!  I love the coasters, and the coffee cup is perfect now that the weather is getting COLD.  Plus it's dish washable!!!  Thanks Dayna!

We BUNDLED UP... (I have a total of 6 layers on) to go to the CHS Homecoming game tonight!  The car said it was 44 degrees. We only lasted until half-time but they were winning 35-7 and we were freezing!

 We made a stop at Target on our way home, and now we are home to catch up on some TV shows.

Yay Friday!!!