Happy Anniversary to Us!! (And other stuff)

OK, so technically our anniversary was on March 8th, the date of my last post. I had intended to post the update that I did and follow up with a separate post about our anniversary. We see how well that worked!!

In any event, we have now passed the 14-year mark in our marriage. We've had some ups & downs, good times & bad...but through it all we have always been there for each other, and I think we're stronger as a couple than we ever have been. Brandon is truly my best friend, and I know I'd be lost without him! Check out the photo I found and scanned last week...What a couple of kids we were!!

So anyway, Brandon had orientation for his new job last Monday & Tuesday, training at his new job Wednesday & Thursday, and worked his last two shifts at his old job Friday & Saturday...Needless to say, there wasn't much time for celebrating. We had a mini-anniversary dinner on Tuesday at home with Greek takeout, a bottle of wine, and "The Event." This Friday, we have reservations for our real anniversary dinner at a restaurant we've both wanted to try for a long time. More on how that goes later! :)

Friday I enjoyed a little girls' night out in Florence with Jeannie & her daughter Madilyn. We hit Hobby Lobby & JoAnn's, really stocking up on the clearance racks. Check out the stash I got, which included 6 new sets of stamps, a gorgeous paper stack, chipboard, and a new Cuttlebug folder, plus a few other things, all for just under $40. Now I just need to make the time to sit at my scrapbook and use it! In addition to the craft stores, we also hit Aldi & Target (two of our favorites) and ate dinner at Crocodile Ed's. It was a fun night!

Saturday evening, my friend Kim came over with a movie. We ordered pizza and watched The Soloist. It wasn't exactly what I had expected, but Jamie Foxx did an awesome job in his role. And I love Robert Downey, Jr. Even if the movie wasn't the greatest, I did enjoy the company...I still owe her an apology for falling asleep though. Sorry, Kim!!

Not the Best Year So Far...

So, I've not been blogging much lately. It seems 2011 has decided to start out as worst year EV-ER, and thus has dampened my zeal for keeping this thing updated. A lot of personal stuff has been going on that has been super-stressful...things I won't blog about, but have definitely taken their toll on me. Then there are other things that I will at least highlight for the sake of giving an example of what the last two months have been like.

On February 10th, we lost a very dear member of our family. Brandon's grandfather in Seattle passed away at the age of 92. We are so glad that we got to see him in December so that we were able to see him one last time. We made another quick trip up for his memorial service. It was nice seeing all the family, but just wasn't the same in the house without him there. He will be sorely missed, especially by his wife of 65 years. Here's a photo of Brandon & his grandma the day after we arrived.

February 26th was our year-end inventory at work. That's a given every year and wasn't any worse than previous years, but it didn't help my stress levels any. Glad that's over!

Last Thursday, I received a phone call that terrified me - my father had just had a heart attack and was being air-lifted to a larger hospital. Brandon & I beat the helicopter there and waited for what seemed like forever in CCU to hear what was going on. A clot had formed around one of the stints he had put in previously and had caused the heart attack. Thankfully, the staff at the ER acted quickly and gave him the right medication so that it was dissolved by the time the helicopter landed. They kept him overnight, but he was allowed to go home on Friday. I'm so grateful he is OK!

One bit of GOOD news we have gotten this year was that Brandon finally found a full-time job. YAY!! He had orientation yesterday & today and starts his training tomorrow. We're both really excited about his new job because it means we will be able to spend more time together, something that has really been lacking for the past few years due to our almost opposite schedules. I can't wait for us to get into the new routine this is going to provide!