Here to Welcome December is the Murray family...

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Catch up...

It's been a while since I posted and I've gotten some flack for not updating...

Here are some photos from a party Christine had for me to make our announcement. You see, we sent John's parents a fruit bouquet with a card that said "Roses are red, violets are blue, one of your kids is pregnant, can you guess who?" And all day there was speculation about who it could be. We officially told people at the party.



Last weekend, we DROVE to Atlanta in a van with John's parents, Bryant, Rachel, baby Marcel, Katie, Greg and us. I was so scared of this trip! I felt a little sick a couple of times on the way down and was perfectly fine on the way back! I can't believe how well it went! And, the baby was great too!! We went for John's cousin Dan's wedding. I took this photo and I really like it!



I've also gotten some questions about Opening Day. No, we did not get tickets. We just didn't have the money this year. And, I wasn't willing to stand outside for HOURS with a sign, I need food and a bathroom close by at all times. It just wasn't going to work. We did, however watch it on TV. It was exciting to see the baseball season start, but disappointing that they lost. To Kansas City even. But, they are going to lose 60+ games this season, so it's ok. Losing the first 2 games doesn't mean anything! We are going to the game on Friday, it should be fun!

And, BIG NEWS for any females in the age group of about 27-32. These 5 guys are getting back together and touring. Yes, the New Kids on the Block. This picture is current, they still look pretty good!

This is so cool.

Ok, it is really cool to US, but probably won't seem cool to most of you...



What are they? They are actual seats from Tiger Stadium. They went on sale a couple of months ago, for $300 for a pair. We talked about buying a set, but never did...

Fast forward to today, when John was checking out craigslist.com and saw someone selling some sets for $275. He called and talked to the guy, who said he bought 5 pairs and they are too low for what he wanted, so he needed to get rid of some. John called me at work and I told him to do whatever he wanted. He called the guy back and said "it's just too much money for us right now." They guy said he'd sell them for $200, and John said, "Ok!"

We are now the proud owners of 2 seats for $100 less than they originally sold for. These seats will only go up in value....our first idea was to sell them and make some money. At this point, we could already make at LEAST $100. Probably significantly more.

But. We like them. A LOT. We kind of want to keep them. Decisions, decisions.

In other, much more exciting news....MY NEPHEW MARCEL IS LIKELY COMING HOME!!!! And, likely before Christmas. Thank you to everyone who helped us, or anyone who prayed for him. We are so excited and can't wait to meet him! This Thanksgiving we truly have so much to be thankful for.

And, I don't like brussel sprouts.

Yum!

We made our first trip to our local farmer's market yesterday! This is our first step into living a healthier life...nutritionally...we are doing so good working out, but we aren't eating well.

We even bought brussel sprouts. John says he really likes them. I've never had one in my life!

Weekend Stuff

John and I went to the Franklin Cider Mill this weekend for some cider and doughnuts. I thought we'd get some Honey Crisp apples, but the darn things were $15 a bag! For apples! They are really good, but we aren't willing to spend that kind of money on apples. If you can though, try a Honey Crisp apple, they are delicious!




Then, we went shopping. As one of my birthday gifts, John got me a American Express gift card for the purpose of buying myself a new pair of designer jeans. I rarely shop for myself since we are trying to save money, so this was a really nice gift. We went to Macy's and Nordstrom. Nothing. I had forgotten how much I hate shopping for jeans. I really need help! I have no idea what is trendy...I thought it was straight leg skinny jeans, but if that is the case, why do all the jeans have a flared leg? I want a pair of nice jeans either skinny, or straight leg, that have a low rise and are under $100. Any suggestions are welcome!

And, we have not even started our halloween costumes! This is not good! We have a party on Friday and Saturday, and we don't even know what we are going to be this year! We have an idea, but it's not the best. We'll be busy this week putting those together.

I'm bored.

It's official. Our cable is gone. No more television for us.

No more Lost.
No more Heroes.
No more Biggest Loser.
No more Survivor.
No more House.
No more American Idol.
No more Days of Our Lives.
And sadly, no more Tiger baseball games.

It's because that list is so long that we are giving it up.

So, what should I do now?

Anyone know how the Tigers are doing?

It's Official.

I'm a geek.

I'm playing fantasy baseball this year at the request of my husband.

The 'live draft' is in an hour.

I can't even believe I'm admitting to this to everyone who reads my blog.

I'm such a geek.

I never used to be this geeky, I swear!

While I'm at it, opening day is in 5 days and we don't have tickets. Anyone know where we can buy even just one ticket??

What has gotten into us??

The other night John and I went grocery shopping and bought tons of fresh fruit, vegetables, cereal full of fiber, whole grain bread, and we are actually COOKING. Then, tonight, we decided to renew our Bally's memberships ($8/month, can't beat that!). We haven't been able to run because of the weather, so this is great! I'm really excited to start swimming again.

Crazy stuff.

Oh, and I'm up to 14 push ups.

Big Decisions

As a lot of you know, John and I have been trying to decide what to get ourselves for Christmas. We wanted to get something together, like a TV, stove, refrigerator, a computer, or a Caribbean cruise. We narrowed it down to a computer, or a cruise.

A lot of you also know that I am terrible with decisions. Basically I'm incapable of making them. It's hard enough for me to decide what I want for dinner, much less if we should get a computer or a cruise for Christmas!!

So, I asked everyone I know for their opinion. Ok, not everyone. But I tried. A few people choose the computer, and most everyone picked the cruise. Which, I liked, because I was leaning towards the cruise.

We bought our Christmas gift last night.



Don't even ask me how we came to this decision, I still don't know. But, it is going to be a super fabulous computer, and VERY fast. And, it has a 20 inch flat screen monitor. Maybe I can actually edit photos on this thing without is yelling at me that it can't handle this!

I am very sad about the cruise, but we haven't completely ruled it out yet...February is a ways off still...

And, now a word from our sponsors....

Ok, so this is a little commercial break for my blog. Now, if only Zicam would pay me for it!

I got a cold on Saturday. It's now Tuesday and my cold was very mild and it is now almost gone completely. My colds last 2 weeks and I cough for another week afterwards. I'm already in the coughing phase, and it's so mild.

All because of Zicam....a little swab in each nostril every 4 hours...this stuff rocks!

Now, back to the regular scheduled blogging.

159-379

A fire, some wine, and Scrabble. A lovely Friday night.

I am TERRIBLE at Scrabble!!

Really, really bad....that was our score, John 379, me 159. I really shouldn't have even gotten 159. I got some help with the word Qua, when I tried to use Quaf. Quaf is not a word, but apparantly, Qua is.

I had to watch the U of M/Ohio State game yesterday....and I'm not much of a football fan, so it was making me miss baseball games...so I did a page about baseball. Kind of. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! (You can click on the photo to see it larger if you'd like to read the journaling.)

Superfoods

Blueberries
Guava
Kale
Apples
Coconut Oil
Green Tea
Flaxseeds
Sardines

So, I read an article today, and these are superfoods. John and I are going to start eating much healthier, so we are going to be making these a large part of our diet. Well, except for the sardines.

We will need some help though.....I love apples, and I love guava, and green tea. So no problems there....but I've never been crazy about blueberries. I'm not familiar with kale, coconut oil and flaxseeds, so I need to know what to do with them.

Anyone??

Yes, that is a Rock Band...

...in my front yard.

 

Cool, huh?

Oh, you want to know why we had a rock band in our front yard? Well, the guy in the middle is our brother in law, and yesterday was our annual block party. These parties are kind of lengendary, and they have been pretty tame the past couple years. So, invited our brother in law's band to play. It was a lot of fun! Well, I should say it was fun once the threat of rain was gone, I spent all day worrying that the band would show up (they live all over the state!) and not be able to play because of rain! But, while it looked like it was going to rain all night, it never did! 

dress shopping! ugh!

Ok, so if you are reading this post, please comment and help me out!

I went shopping this weekend for for a dress to wear to my sister in law's wedding next weekend. On Saturday, I went by myself and didn't find a thing. I tried on a ton of dresses at Marshall Fields, and didn't like any of them.

So, then today, John comes with me, and we go to a different mall. We try Nordstrom and they have NOTHING. I had high hopes. We go to Marshall Fields at this mall, and they have a ton of different dresses than the other mall did. We found 5 that we really liked. 4 of them were basic black dresses, and the one we decided on was the only one that was different.

My sister in law's wedding is outside in a field, so I thought that a basic black dress just wouldn't fit. Although, she has told me that she doesn't want people to be more casual because the ceremony is outside. So, keep that in mind!

So, what I need help with.....is this a good dress for a wedding in field with an evening reception in a hall?

Secondly, I have a class reunion in August....I didn't want to buy another dress, but for some reason this dress isn't screaming class reunion. What do you think?

Here it is: (Keep in mind that my house has terrible lighting and no place for photos, which is why I'm in a doorway with terrible shadows! And I will be wearing makeup for the wedding!)
Click the photos to view larger




Funny thing...the day I shopped by myself, I found this dress that I thought was just a nice summer dress, and I could wear it to the rehearsal dinner...ended up looking a lot like the dress I bought for the wedding!

Cute or Evil??

Last night my sister-in-law and her fiance were at our house and we were talking outside on the patio....I was facing our neighbors garage, and saw something poking out of an opening in his garage behind his basketball net....I couldn't figure out what it was til I saw a head - it was a raccoon!



He started to pose for me...


And then when I looked at the pictures, I found this one - YIKES!!

Finally!!!!

Ok, so I've been having blogger problems. But they are now fixed!!!! BIG HUGE THANKS to Jeffery, who offered and started to help me, and Krystn, who figured out the problem! YAY!

My Caruso fix

Thursday night, me and John, and our friends Neil and Tara and Scott all went to see a concert...Caruso, a local 80s band. They are brothers, that now get together once a year or so for a little reunion concert. We met Dave several years ago, and when I found out he was a rock star, I decided I needed to be a Caruso groupie. Well, since they only play once a year, it's really easy to do! We always enjoy the show, and this one was no exception! Here are some photos from the evening:




In other exciting news...last night my mom and I cropped at the Zone with Ali Edwards! She's so super cool and down to earth...found out last night that she was a swimmer in high school and college as well. We are completely different (she's a sprinter and I'm a distance swimmer) but it's a common bond that not many people understand, either way ;)

Have a great weekend! 4 days til Mexico!