I’m here
I’ve been a little bit bummed all week – Steven’s been in Denver for a conference (he comes home tomorrow evening). And even though I lived by myself for so long… even in a foreign country, my daily routine feels all off with him gone! I feel like I am rushing through everything so I can just get to bed and sleep another night away. Have I lost my independence? No, ha ha! I’ve just become very accustomed and happy to spend so much time with him.
Anyway. It’s been awhile. Here’s what’s new with me:
- I am an aunt again! Meet Thomas Patrick – born on Thursday! Isn’t he perfect? Don’t you love his hair? No, I am not biased. He’s actually stuck in the hospital for some time because his white blood cell count is too high. They say it’s not serious, but you can say a little prayer for him if you’d like.
He is my older brother and sister-in-law’s second child. They named him after my dad’s brother (Tom) that passed away. I can’t wait to meet him!
- We spend Labor Day weekend with my family at their cabin on the Mississippi River. What a perfect weekend. The weather was AMAZING. We grilled on the beach, went on boat rides, tubing, sunbathing… and ate TONS and TONS of food. I don’t want to say that it was the perfect end to summer – because I don’t want to admit summer is coming to an end – but with our cold temperatures and rain all week, I think it’s safe to say it.
- Our one-year anniversary was Monday! The cake tasted JUST AS AMAZING as it did on our wedding. I think credit goes to my mom for wrapping it in a million layers of saran wrap. And I think the 3/4″ fondant the covered it also preserved it. Yummy. (And I can’t forget to give credit to Andrew and Courtney for perfectly separating it from the rest of the cake)
We didn’t exchange anniversary gifts, but decided to buy something nice together. I am happy that is the decision we made. I’d rather do that then buy something silly for Steven that he doesn’t need/want.
- I’ve been doing a lot of shopping. At my one-year review in May, my boss politely told me that I need to dress less frumpy. That is not how she said it, and she was really nice about it… and… I knew she was right. I looked like crap because I felt fat and crappy. Now that I’ve lost quite a bit of weight, I’ve been buying a lot of clothes. I know it is materialistic, but it’s really made me feel better about my appearance. Before I just wore button-down tops everyday. Now I am trying more trendy, form fitting things. I’m still quite a bit away from my goal weight though – so I may be too small for these in another year! We’ll see. I’m excited to see progress from all of my hard work.
Themocracy
Congratulations on your nephew – he is adorable! I love his hair and am jealous of his cool style! 🙂 I hope his white cell count is stable by the time you read this comment. Your labor day sounds like it was great and your cake from you anniversary looks wonderful. My hubby and I did not do the cake thing as we knew that the saved cake would not be so good (but our cake maker was a good friend and she made us a mini cake specially for us for our anniversary so we were very fortunate). Anyway, I think the plastic wrap and the fondant may be a good secret for keeping the cake as fresh as possible for people who want to do that tradition. And congrats on the weight loss. I’m glad your boss knew how to say things nicely and that you took it well because now it seems like you are benefitting from it by trying some trendier clothes! I’ve added you to my reader so that I won’t miss any more of your posts! 🙂
Congratulations on you new Nephew. I can’t get over all that HAIR. My goodness he’s cute.
And congratulations on your first anniversary. And on the weight loss and the new clothes! You’re doing great 🙂
CAKE!! Happy congratulations all around!
I’m glad you are getting to a place where you can embrace your beauty and show it off a bit. How fun to get some new clothes to let your confidence shine!
Congrats on the year anniversary and the new nephew. 🙂
Well I don’t think I can say it better that Sizz does in her eloquent comment, but to steal from Dave: CAKE!!! Looks very tasty.
Congrats on the nephew, your anniversary, and your weight loss. I just noticed your ticker on the side: 31 lbs! That’s awesome. Enjoy your new threads!
teeni – I just found out today that my nephew gets to go home! I guess he has a broken collar bone, and that is how he got an infection. Maybe. I don’t have all the details, but the good news is that he gets to go home. A coworker was telling me about bakeries that give the bride and groom a new cake for their one-year anniversary so they don’t have to eat the old one. What a good idea!
Suze – Thanks! I hope his wacky hair stays that way! It’s just too cute!
Dave2 – Thank you! I didn’t realize how much I love cake.
sizzle – I feel so relieved to finally feel this way . It’s really encouraging me to keep up the exercise and healthy eating!
claire – Thank you! 🙂
Things seem to be going really well for you. And it’s great you finally got to spend some much needed time away from Chicago!
I think his white cell count was high because of the break which they didn’t see till this morning. Till they found that they were treating it as though it was an infection to be safe.
Thomas Patrick is darling! His name is a nice tribute to Tom. I’m so glad he got to go home today. Happy 1 year! Our cake was disgusting after a year, so we didn’t get to eat it. Bummer. Not wrapped well enough, guess I should have had your Mom wrap it. 🙂 Congratulations on your 31 lb weight loss!! You go girl! Sounds like you had a great time at the cabin. It was a totally beautiful weekend to be outside!
CONGRATULATIONS NICK AND COURTNEY!!!!!
He didn’t have an infection after all, they just thought he did because his white blood cell count was high because of the broken collarbone! They just hadn’t pieced it all together until this morning!! 🙂
i LOVE the picture of you and Steven at the top of your blog- it made me tear up!! you and Steven are so awesome!!!
YAY for you and your weight loss!!!! i am hoping to be in your shoes soon, buying new and smaller clothes!!
AND last but most certainly not least- Congratulations to you and Steven on your one year anniversary!! if your cake tasted half as good as it looked i would have been in heaven!!!!
Congrats on your nephew (he is adorable and has really kick ass hair)! I hope he is out of the hospital and home soon – he will be in my thoughts.
Yeah – shopping for skinny clothes is the best time EVER! I’m so happy for you!
I know what you mean – I hate when my husband travels. I’m pretty independent and like my “alone” time, but I HATE, HATE it when he is gone!
oh my goodness, I know JUST how you feel! Scott, my boyfriend, is in Chicago for the entire month doing a medical school elective there, and I feel so sad without him! I am so independent, I lived on my own forever and I am very used to being alone with only myself, but I am finding life to be so much less fun without him around. And I wake up thinking, “Oh another day to fill…” We should be helping each other thru!
congratulations on being an auntie again!!!! 🙂
congrats congrats congrats!!
i totally hear ya about the end of summer – it’s been chilly here in the city too, and today it seems like it’s been raining allllll day!!!
btw – I added some comment-counting widgets to my site, and of the most recent 500 comments and comments of the past month, you’ve been my #1 commenter! Thanks for your participation 🙂 🙂
I may have to go to a conference next year without Katie. She always goes to conferences with me because they are a mostly paid for vacation. But she’ll be student teaching… and it’s on an island…
So not fair.
Nilsa – It is funny how sometimes I just need to get away from home to relax! I relax when I’m at home, but it is not the same 😉
dad – I am surprised they couldn’t tell his collar bone is broken! Did they have to take an x-ray to find out?
Denise – I think it is wonderful that they named him after Tom 🙂 I am surprised our cake was still so good. I even had a little bit after dinner tonight! Crazy! I should call the bakery and tell them I am still enjoying the cake, more than a year later 😉
Christina – I am so happy they found out so he can finally go home! 😀 😀 😀
CourtneyInControl – Thank you on the photo 🙂 That is one of my faves 🙂 YOU WILL BE buying new clothes soon! I think your plan sounds really good! I know you can stick with it!
Amy – Isn’t it weird? I love my alone time too, but couldn’t see to enjoy it when Steven was gone. I felt like I was rushing through everything and not relaxing.
marissa – It’s weird how you get so used to being around another person! They somehow complete your day. We’re lucky to have things like cell phones, instant messenger and email to keep in touch (oh yeah, and blogs!).
*lynne* – And it is supposed to say chilly! BOO! 🙁 Yay! I am never #1 at anything! I better make sure to defend my ranking! 😛
kapgar – Oh man! You have to go to an island WITHOUT her? That’s so sad. I hope you can still have fun!
Congratulations on the new baby in your family. He is adorable! I love babies (which I guess is obvious since I have 4 kids)
Happy Anniversary! Cake is one of my favorite foods and yours looks delicious!
When my husband first started traveling for his work, I used to do the same thing as you do. I felt like maybe something was wrong with me that I wasn’t able to adapt so easily to him being gone. Now that he is away a lot, I have gotten used to it but it still isn’t my favorite. You should have told me! We could have gone out to dinner or something just the two of us!
tori – AH! I thought about calling you! Now I really wish I would have. We have been talking about getting together forever 🙁 Let’s seriously plan something!
Thomas Patrick is a beautiful name for that beautiful child! The tribute to Tom is soo wonderful! Happy Anniversary! I’m so sorry that I am belated on congratulating you on your milestone. I’ve been a bad, bad, blog reader lately.
I can not believe your boss basically told you to buy new clothes…!!! I would have cried, especially since i have that dreaded weight issue.
Congrats Auntie Kim!!! What a cutie!!!
Hey.. she’s out there still… LOL
Congrats on one year. I hope our piece of cake tastes good at the one year mark. We did the multi-layer of saran wrap, too…
Happy Anniversary and congrats on the new nephew!
Gina (Mannyed) – I was surprised when my boss said that too. And I didn’t really take it too seriously. I didn’t want to buy a bunch of new clothes when I was so fat. I couldn’t find ANYTHING that looked nice. It’s not my fault 😉
Lisa – Thank you!
martymankins – I hope the saran wrap works for you! I was surprised that ours didn’t have any freezer burn, or taste like anything else that was in the freezer.
Cheryl – Thanks 😀
This is a great post. Just a sweet, happy post filled with good news! Congrats on the 1 yr. anniversary- your cake looks amazing! Your new nephew is so cute- lots of hair on that boy, too cute! I love it! Your labor day sounds like it was simply the best. I’m really happy for you and congrats on the weight loss too- you are really going for it!
javaqueen14 -Thank you! I wish all of my posts could be this happy and cheerful. It seems like when I usually get all fired up to write something, it is kind of a rant. Nothing wrong with saying how well things are going!