Post Number 100!

Congratulations to me! This is post #100. I can't believe I've been keeping up with this over a year. I think the proper thing to do is share some things about myself and give something away? So here goes...

What you may not know about me (but probably do because I'm pretty transparent; an open book!):

10. I am a grammar geek and spelling errors tend to drive me crazy.

9. I don't like to talk on the phone very much, and I'm guessing it's mostly because of working in a call center... and I've never felt good at it. I like face-to-face interactions most of all, and prefer that whenever possible. SO I am thankful for the inventions of e-mail and texting so I can premeditate my message and be clever and less awkward.

8. Turquoise is my favorite color (I know, you and all your kids know it too).

7. I love a bargain and the temporary high it gives you (unfortunately, the buzz wears off a bit when I come home and even when it's a $100 item for $5, my husband is not as jazzed about my deal as I am).

6. No matter how well I organize (and I do love to organize) or clean stuff up, our computer desk still ends up with a huge pile (or piles) of papers. And then it gets so huge it is just overwhelming.

5. My favorite job would still be the Juniors department at Von Maur- opening the boxes of new stock was like Christmas each day, and then getting to dress the mannequins and do displays, and then show customers the fun new clothes we got in...it's playing and getting paid for it! It also taught me more about myself than any other job.

4. I don't think I've met a musical I didn't like (some I don't LOVE, but I don't think I've seen one that I despised)... and so far, Annika is a lover of showtunes too, so that bodes well for me! From "Hello Dolly" to "All That Jazz," "OOOOOOOOOOOOOklahoma!" to "You Can't Stop the Beat," she laughs and dances along. Hooray for showtunes. [Okay, let's be honest here: she dances to EVERYTHING, from showtunes to praise songs, along with commercial jingles and sounds from toys, so that really doesn't mean a thing but that she likes to dance, which still bodes well for me because I do too.] :)

3. My love language is, without a doubt, quality time (which is why I spend most of my days off work crawling around the floor playing!).

2. I love being a mommy and wife more than I ever imagined.

1. The me before Christ would never recognize the me from today... and I continue to be in awe of that and how He really does make all things new.


And now, the giveaway part. Please include a fact about YOURself that people may not know, and you'll be entered to win a set of 20 personalized, handmade cards with envelopes. It will be something like this (but with your initial, of course):

Entries due by next Friday... winner will be picked next weekend.

Caught on Film...

so proud of her- it's exciting, but yet it's sad that it's going too fast...

I can't decide...

I need some wisdom from you, friends! And hopefully you're willing to share some.

I can't decide what to get for my Christmas present from State Farm. This is really a dilemma because I want to get something useful that I need and, well, will use. I don't want to get something that will just sit and collect dust and get put on the garage sale in a few years, you know? I have plenty of that kind of thing.

What struggles I have, right?!

So I've narrowed it down to:

-Coleman queen size air mattress (is that silly to get when I have a guest bedroom with a bed? Or is an air mattress something that you really use and are great for slumber parties, which will start in a few years?)
-Casio label printer (to help with organizing, which I enjoy! It seems like it would be helpful with all of the STUFF kids have- though a Sharpie can do almost the same thing...)
-Royal paper shredder (ours is really close to not working anymore, so we will use that, but it seems pretty boring)
-West Bend food processor (sounds cool in theory; all the cooking shows seem to use them... do you use them? And would I?!)

What are your thoughts?

Resourcefulness

A funny side effect of being a mommy: resourcefulness.

I don't think I had it before.

Today by the time I got to work my pants were stretched out and getting pretty saggy (I know Mom, I wear my pants too big). I asked my friend if she had anything like ribbon, string, something like that to help me (because I didn't want to be in our meeting with the VP today with my pants falling off!). She happened to be wearing a sweater with a tie around it (black, just like my pants), and it was the perfect emergency solution. Brilliant! She saved the day.

So... do you have some examples of a mommy's resourcefulness to share?

Nine Months Old

Nine months old... it sounds so grown up. She turned nine months on Friday, while my friend and I were having our garage sale. Such a rainy weekend, but the garage sale turned out good... good being profitable for her, and just fun for me. :) Our daughters behaved great, and it was just an enjoyable few days.

Blowing raspberries at Daddy before going to Grandma's on Monday Andy's mom made this Packers outfit (and Annika is showing off her love for that dumb fake bottle; she'd carry it around all day if we'd let her).Speed. I am speed.
(Where did that girl learn to be so goofy?!)

Other news: Andy's knee is improving slowly... he has progressed from crutches to just limping around, so that's good news!

Grammar Geek

Oh utter horror. I made a grammatical error. Multiple errors, more specifically. Constant errors, every time I type. Andy informed me recently that one of the grammar rules I lived by through all my years of writing changed after I graduated, while he was in grad school.

You may not understand how devastating this was for me. Yes, I am a grammar geek. I will edit the best-written pieces, and find errors in books, magazines, and newspapers.

Andy just informed me that when using a computer, after every period, it is ONE space- not two. After all these years, he just informed me of this! My friend and I verified that this indeed has changed (http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/spacing.asp). It's a hard habit to break too. So my apologies for all of my e-mails and posts with this error!

Here's my question: how am I, a college graduate who no longer has teachers to update me, supposed to keep apprised of official grammatical (and/or spelling) changes? So I was wondering if any of you use any online reference tools for this sort of thing (and no, spellcheck does NOT count).

Welcome New Blogger

I think he's funny at least. See what you think.

http://www.seriouslywhatisthedeal.blogspot.com

Because Uncle Brock is relentless and goes to great lengths to get me to post new Annika pictures...

Found a secondhand car (her first car!) that happened to be pink...

She wasn't sure what to think but overall played it pretty cool.

Smiling so you can see her pretty teeth.

Other news at the Feucht house: Tuesday night Andy injured his knee (his good knee that is) playing basketball. Wednesday morning we went in for x-rays and it wasn't broken... so for now it is just a sprain and he's on crutches. If it is still painful after a few weeks, we will go in for an MRI to see if he tore something. Always an adventure here!

The Roanoke Reception: Part 3 (People)

We all worked very hard the days before the event... poor little overworked Annika.

One of her famous waves...

She patiently sat in the Exersaucer outside while we set up outside Friday/Saturday/Sunday.

The bride and groom greeted people at the door (isn't she beautiful?!) while tropical tunes played. Heather playing in the kids' area with her little cousins. What a sweet girl- I think this is so cute of her.

The Roanoke Reception: Part 2 (The food!)

Yummy, yummy. I'll give you the [yummy] menu in case you're interested:

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Chicken kabobs

Cheesy Potatoes

Pasta Salad

Green Goddess Dip/Chips

Lettuce with Strawberries/Blueberries/Pineapple/Mandarin Oranges

And dessert... OH the desserts! (Not sure if you've noticed that I love food...)

Chocolate mousse cups, key lime bars, little pina colada pie tartlets, and strawberries for the chocolate fountain.

The Roanoke Reception! Part 1

I'm going to do this in a few parts... Brock and Jen's Roanoke reception- a tropical affair at Mom and Dad's house.

Part 1: The decor... I think it turned out so great.

The tables: runners with sand on top, candles and fishies!
Inside:
After the sun set, the party continued... I think the lanterns on the deck looked so cool.