Fun Weekend!

This last weekend was so much fun! I came home from work Friday and Adam told me that our friends Keith and Katie wanted to go out. Yay double date! The four of us hung out at our place for a little bit before heading to dinner at La Mex. Afterwards we hung out at our favorite watering hole....The Legion! Here's a picture of the lovely ladies.







And the guys...yes, they are close friends and very secure in their manhood!

Then on Saturday Annmarie came down to visit from Chicago! She was our very first overnight guest! Here's a picture of me and Annmarie before heading out to eat at.....yes, that's right.....La Mex! (Hey, we love Mexican food!)

We met up with Veronica & Jen at Ebbey's, and we had a blast! Thanks for a fun night girls!

Tagged!

A- Attached or single: Attached!
B - Best friend: I have lots of best friends...can't narrow it down.
C- Cake or pie: One of each please. :)
D - Day of Choice: Friday - Sunday...oh how I love the weekend!
E- Essential item: lip gloss & hand lotion
F- Favorite Color(s): Pink & yellow
G- Gummy worms or bears: Worms
H- Hometown: Which one?
I - Indulgence(s): CHOCOLATE & ice cream
J- January or July: Most definitely July...I hate winter!
K- Kids: Someday!
L - Life is incomplete without: chocolate
M- Marriage date (If applicable): Sometime in the near future hopefully.
N- Number of siblings: Just one, my brother
O- Oranges or apples: Apples
P- Phobias or Fears: Spiders
Q- Quote: "Eat, drink, and be merry."
R- Reason to smile: Family, friends, and chocolate
S- Season: SUMMER!!!
T- Tag Three: Aubs, Jen, and Jamie
U- Unknown Personal Fact: My parents got my name from one of the actresses on Little House on the Prairie.
V-Vegetarian or Oppressor of animals: Oppressor...mostly against chickens.
W-Worst habit: Grinding my teeth
X- X-ray or Ultrasound: Can't say I have a preference
Y- Your favorite food: Pizza, pasta, or anything Mexican
Z- Zodiac sign: Aries

Adam's Birthday Celebration

Adam's birthday was April 30th, so last night we had our families over to our house to celebrate. He and I spent the whole day cleaning, getting chairs ready (our dining rooms chairs had these hideous old cushions on them that we had to remove), unpacking and washing the china my Mom gave me, and moving furniture around. It was wonderful though because I didn't have to cook a darn thing! Everyone else brought the food, and my Mom even picked up the birthday cake for me! We had an awesome dinner and really enjoyed having both of our families over at our place. We are both so lucky to have such great families!

Here are some pictures of Adam opening cards with his niece Karys and nephews Dakota and Keihn by his side. He loves goofing around with them. Karys had a dance performance earlier in the day, so that's why she's wearing so much make-up!

Since Adam's entire family was together (which rarely happens because we are all so busy), we decided we needed a picture of all of us!

Top row from left: Mary, Kristen, Karys, Damen, Debbie, Me, Adam

Bottom row from left: Keihn, Eric, Dakota, Dana

This calls for a celebration!

Today I got the BEST news I have gotten in a long time.

For quite some time my co-workers and I in the Human Resources department have been struggling with our workload. We are constantly taking on more work, and the hospital is growing by leaps and bounds in terms of number of employees. When I started working at the hospital in August of 2006 we had about 800 employees. Now we are almost at 900! My role in the department has evolved, and I have taken on a lot more high level work in addition to my daily tasks such as reviewing applications, checking references, tracking FMLA, etc. Work has become very stressful, and I have been working a lot of overtime just to keep up. We are an excellent group, and I know that we provide excellent service, but we are on the verge of starting to go downhill.

We have been begging for more help for months, and FINALLY today our wish was granted! We were approved to hire another part time person. I could not even believe when my boss told me this morning. We were all jumping for joy!!! This is a HUGE deal for us, and the news totally made my week!

Fiesta!

Adam and I puppy-sat this weekend while Mom was in Rockford. I love having Chloe around because she is such a good puppy and so much fun!

This is me and Chloe trying out my new chips & dip dish! Chloe looks like she's about to dive into the salsa!

Mmm....chips & salsa...

Testing our new margarita glasses...Chloe loves to try anything you have!

Our friends Keith and Katie came over and hung out with us for a few hours. We had a great time talking and hanging out. It's so nice to have a couple to hang out with!

My birthday continued...

So today my co-workers celebrated my birthday! We ordered out for lunch (we always love doing that because the cafeteria food can get a little old). Diane made this FABULOUS chocolate cake with chocolate chunks in it and cream cheese frosting. YUM! Everybody knows how much I love chocolate so I'm sure it was a no-brainer for them on what kind of dessert to make for me. All my co-workers got together and gave me the kind of dish where the chips go on the outside and then there's a bowl in the middle for salsa or the dip. They also gave me the the chips and salsa to go in it! How clever! Every day I think about how lucky I am to work with such a wonderful group of people. They're the best!

Diane insisted I take the rest of the cake home with me so we had Mom, Mark, & Maren over tonight for cake and ice cream. That makes THREE birthday cakes I got this year! I forgot to mention that we also celebrated my birthday Friday night with our Bunco group. Barb, who was hosting Bunco this month got me an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen! I totally lucked out this year...what an awesome birthday!

My first slick deal!

Holy cow, this slick deals website is AWESOME! I have been looking to get a new winter coat...something that is warm but nice looking to wear to work. I got on slickdeals.net today and saw that Sears is having a winter outerwear clearance. I got this $250 coat for $30!!! I can't wait to get it in the mail!