Lara and Laura!

Hey guys, the next Cooking Craze night is Jan. 9th (Tues) at 6:00 p.m. If either of you want to join us just sign up online or give me a call!

Computers and Cameras and Cables-Oh My!

So, we've definitely slacked on the pictures lately. It seems like a drag to make a post without a picture, but it has been awhile so I wanted to post something. We took the digital camera into Best Buy last night. It works fine, but the USB port was not registering (we've tried 3 computers) so we can't upload any pictures. I'm glad we got the service plan on the camera when we bought it 3 years ago (it's a 4 year service plan) because it was sent in for repairs (for free). If the problem cannot be fixed, we receive the purchase price of the camera (from 3 years ago) to put towards a new camera. The store tech seemed to think that with the age of the camera it will probably be junked and we can pick out a new one. We do have the memory card so if it can't be fixed we didn't lose any pictures. Fingers crossed...For now I'm going to hold off on a Christmas blog post. I want to get the pictures on when I post it.

Engagement Pictures

We went and got engagement pictures taken tonight. They were digital so we got to see a few right away. Looks like we got some good ones, hopefully. We want to send a save-the-date card after the new year with a picture on it. If you are reading this we assume you are a friend or family member so please email us your current address to help with mailing. Remember, if you don't give us your address we will track you down! Also, if there is someone who you think we might forget who would want a pic please speak up. Thanks everyone!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Andy!!

Northern Lights

Got a phone call last night from a co-worker who lives 45 minutes from DBQ. She was telling me to go outside to see the Northern Lights. From our front yard we could only see a little glow so we hopped into the Jeep and drove out of town (and away from the glow of everyone's Christmas lights) to Sherill. From up on the ridge the view was amazing. The changing cloud cover kept changing the view too. We then drove down to Mud Lake and looked at them a little bit over the Mississippi, but by then the clouds had totally moved in. We then went to get a chili dog from this greasy bar we hadn't eaten at probably since college. Melissa, I hate to disappoint you...eating the chili dogs sober was not just bad, but actually gross. Kind of ruined the whole experience. I don't know if we will ever crave them again...

Blood Diamond

This one says "Worth-Just because you're necessary, doesn't mean you're important."

This one says "Meetings-None of us is as dumb as all of us."

In tribute to the movie Blood Diamond I thought I'd post a clip about diamonds courtesy of our friend Ross' webpage. There are plenty more of these found at the sites www.ishkur.com/posters and www.despair.com

I also posted a few more funny ones. Enjoy and thanks Ross!

Get your hair did

This morning I went and got my hair cut for the first time since before Andrew's accident. The woman who cuts it was shocked to see how long it had gotten. I knew I wanted it quite a bit shorter. I had been letting it grow simply because not going to get it cut or colored was an easy way to save $. Well, I ended up getting eight inches cut off. If I could have gone for two more inches I could have donated it to the hair charity Locks of Love. It may seem crazy, but I think I feel lighter on my feet, maybe the hair was weighing me down. I think Andrew wants a change of appearance too. Tonight he tried to put an earring into his once pierced ears...to his surprise and my horror, the earring slid right in. He looked at it for a minute before removing it. I don't think earrings will be on his Christmas list this year.

The Cooking Craze

Verna and I did the coolest thing last night, I'm really excited about it. We went to The Cooking Craze in Asbury. Each month the cooking craze has a new menu with 12 meals on it. You register to cook 6 or 12 meals and when you get there they have 12 stations with all the ingredients at each station. They provide not just the obvious things like aprons, etc., but also soft drinks and snacks. They also give you disposable aluminum pans and freezer bags to put your meals in. We each did 6 meals, but since each meal serves 4-6 people we divided them up even more and made about 10 meals apiece. Most of the recipes weren't too complicated, although the meatballs Verna made appeared to have quite a few ingredients. It really is a fun way to try to cook some new things without having to buy ingredients you won't use again. Three new things Andrew and I will be trying: Mahi Mahi Maui Style, Top 40 Ribs, and Stuffed Chicken Alfredo Shells. The cost of all this...if takeout Chinese or pizza costs us $5-$10 a serving, by comparison the cooking craze runs $2.75 a serving. I must say, it really is a good feeling to be driving home and know that the backseat of your car is full of meals. Next month: Seafood Enchiladas and Philly Cheese Steaks, Yum! Lara, tax season is right around the corner...I think you and Jeremy would really like this.

The new way to buy groceries?

On Sunday night I went online to our grocery store website and entered our shopping list. I uploaded it to the Hy-Vee website and on Monday @ 4:00 we went to the store. I went inside, they wheeled the cart up to me said that will be $5, and then I took the groceries and we left. It's a pretty cool service that I don't think we would use if we just needed a couple things, but we had purchased $90 in groceries! It ended up saving us at least an hour, plus the website saves your list so next time we can just hit buy milk, buy cheese, etc. and it knows your brands, sizes, etc. Not too bad. The only downside: two of the avocados and the cilantro we purchased weren't the greatest. Also, we didn't get the impulse buys ie. cookie dough, ice cream, rice krispie treats, all the stuff you don't need, but ends up in your cart. Call us lazy, but I think we are on to something good.

In my defense it wasn't our local branch...

We took the dog and ran some errands last night after work. Andrew was driving and we went through the drive-up at the bank. After the transaction was completed, the teller said, "Oh, I didn't see your little guy, would he like a sticker?" Andrew looked at the backseat puzzled, perhaps wondering what a dog would want with a sticker and I started to laugh. She was talking about me! I pulled off my stocking hat (gray with our work logo on it) to reveal my ponytail and the teller shrieked, "I'm so sorry!" She repeated herself like four times and by now the other two tellers had looked and were laughing too. Andrew said, "No she doesn't want a sticker" and with that we drove off. I haven't been mistaken for a little boy in over 15 years, but whatever. I can laugh about it now.

World's Most Pregnant Mouse

I'm doing this at work and I thought I'd snap a picture quick of the world's most pregnant mouse. You have to feel sorry for anything that has more babies then it does nipples to feed them with. My guess is 14 babies on Dec. 1st. Anyone want in the pool?

Grouting

Took almost all of the day Monday. We will post the finished pictures ASAP.

More Thanksgiving Pictures

Out of fairness I decided not to upload the group picture because there were some very unflatering poses. I know Uncle Bob and Kyle got some good shots though.

The true spirit of Thanksgiving...

Cheeseballs lined up on the counter.

Cheese coneys before we leave Ohio.

Indianapolis Colts milkshakes (blue & white) from Steak-n-Shake, when in Rome, right?

Grandma's Fried Corn.

You probably thought I was going to say something touching, like being with family, but no, I went right for the food. Everything was so good. I would post Maggie's recipe for cranberry salad (hands down the best I've ever had), but don't want to publish the secret. We hit up Skyline before we got back to Grandma's house. The coney tallies are as follows: Grandma-1, Abby-1.5, Andrew-2.5, Dad-3. Andrew says, "Well if I had know we were keeping score..."

The dog has a thing for leaves

We raked up 5 of the the 30 gallon paper bags to finish off our maple tree for the season. Don't know why, but the dog really likes chasing leaves.

He thinks he's a lap dog

Just so everyone knows, we don't like to do our blog this way. It stinks to put a bunch of posts on in one day, rather then one here and there, but alas, woe is us...still having computer problems so I thought if I got the chance to put some stuff on I would load it up because it might be a few days. Cash really is a big dog, he looks tiny in this picture!

Kitchen Tile

We have stayed busy this week by putting our kitchen tile up. It really makes the kitchen look nice and has a more finished look. We haven't used the grout yet, but here are some photos of the work in progress. Thanks to Nathan for helping, I'm glad this was a project I could help Andrew with a little more then some of the previous.

Man versus Wild

Andrew likes this show on the Discovery Channel called Man vs. Wild. For those of you not familiar with it the premise is similar to other survival shows where this man is taken to a remote location with very limited supplies and demonstrates various survival tactics (sometimes extreme). The last episode we watched showed "man" urinating on a towel which he then wrapped around his head and face to keep from dehydrating in the desert. Now we don't want an X-rated blog, but the camera angles they got photos at were quite revealing. With his British accent he was yelling, "Ahhh, my pee is so yellow!" Man versus Wild-totally gross.

Mice and Rats and Guinea Pigs

If you think this is gross you should see the freezer at work. (By the way this is our basement fridge-we don't keep our own food in here!)

Computer bummer

Andrew's computer might have seen it's last login. I can only see half of the screen when I use my laptop to do blogger stuff. Might be awhile for new posts folks. Sorry to disappoint....Haha

Lost Keys

On Wednesday, we put an ad in the newspaper because we found a set of keys on our walkway. We've had 4 calls so far, but none of them were the right keys yet. I can't remember ever losing my keys, but it must be a huge pain. Also, since we put the area that we found the keys in does it really seem possible that 4 people around us have lost their keys? Hmmm...

Doctor update

The IA City Dr. appointment went fairly well. Andrew's doctor thought he was making good progress and that the scarring looked good. He did some basic tests on his leg and said while he wasn't certain, he thought that it looked like he might get some of the dorsal flexion (sp?-upward movement) back in his foot. Right now Andrew can move some toes up a little bit, but not the foot. He also does not have any feeling on the surgical sites and some places on his foot. If the front of his leg is touched he feels it in his foot; hard for me to imagine what that must be like. He recommended continuing the P.T. and electric stim. At this time it was decided that Andrew won't be returning to work. The doctor felt it was still really early for that, but maybe light duty work in three months. His next Drs appointment is in Feb. There is probably more, but I can't remember anything else...Today at work was a total blur, Happy Election Day.

Mines of Spain

Took the dog hiking at Mines of Spain of Sunday. It was absolutely beautiful outside. Watch some football tonight and then off to IA City for Andrew's doctor appointment on Monday. Wish us luck.

Thunderbirds

On Saturday night we went to watch the Dubuque Thunderbirds take on the Quad City Express. We had gotten free general admission tickets from the Halloween parade via a friend from work. Very good game, in the third period there were 5 fights in 12 seconds of play. Best part was when the refs had restrained two players from the fight a Thunderbird player yelled, "I'll see you in 5 minutes!" as he was taken to the penalty box. We didn't get to see the fight though as he was ejected from the game. Too bad. The movies might be kind of grainy, but enjoy...

More fights

We went to the fight and a hockey game...

Happy Puppy

Happy Halloween!

Yes, there is a stingray attached to my T-shirt. Happy Halloween Everyone!

Twitch Foot

Watch very carefully...

Can you believe it?

So, I've had this horrible cold for the past couple of days, the dog is almost housebroken, but that's nothing because ANDREW RAN A MILE!! I couldn't believe it when he told me...I was so happy for him and so proud of all the hard work he has been doing over the last few months. He ran on the treadmill at physical therapy and his calf has been pretty sore since then, but he did it! I don't think I could run a mile right now, hmm, what does that say about me? We will try to get some video footage of his leg hooked up to the electric stim machine in the next week or so. It's pretty funny to see his leg twitching like crazy, ok not funny for him as much as me, but you'll see.

Epworth Auction

So last Saturday was the much anticipated Epworth Auction. Everyone was missing Grandpa Paul, but it was still so much fun to have the whole group together. I must now ask the question why? Why is it that we all get together, some of us from out of state, and I end up with some fantastic pictures of Zach and the dog? It's like no one else was around to take pictures of. Next time someone remind me to get a group photo please. Enjoy the adorable pic of Zach...

Happy Birthday Sis!

And Happy Early Halloween to all!

Yeah! More blogs!

Hooray! Dad has a blog and now Uncle Bob has a blog! Go Garners! Once you get your settings figured out you should try to put a link to mine on yours so we can switch between them easily.

Already?!

Tonight Andrew and I planted some tulip bulbs. As we were getting the final ones in the ground a light snow began to fall. Ugh. Where did the summer go? It's now 9:15, it's been dark for like three hours and I was ready for bed an hour ago. I am not going to enjoy winter.

Cash & Buddy playing frisbee

Cash going up and down stairs

Uncle Bob, These are my favorites...

Uncle Bob, these are my favorite Smokey pictures. Such a pretty dog. And Dad I hate to tell you this, but the alternate plural form of Weimaraners is Weims, not Weimers. I completely understand your mistake though with Weims being such a sophisticated breed compared to the ever-so common "Lab". Just kidding, I loved Bonnie too.

Not a fun day...

Today Andrew and I attended the funeral of our friend's infant son. It was such a devastating experience, we can only wish that no one would ever have to struggle with a pain like they are dealing with. We send good wishes to his twin sister that she may continue to improve in health and size.
Later in the day I went for a recheck of the scar I have due to my hawk encounter. The doctor said he was not pleased at all with how the scar looked in width and thickness. I was given two steroid injections in the scar and will go back in a month for more. If that doesn't get the results we want the doctor might cut the scar to remove some of the scar tissue. Hopefully the steroids will offer improvement.
Well, that's enough bad news for awhile. The rest of the week should go much better hopefully.

Thanks for coming!

It was so nice to see everyone this weekend. For those of you who couldn't make it we missed you and hope to see you next time. Thanks again for the yard work help!
Abby & Andrew

Meet Cash

The two puppies we didn't pick.

Andy & Cash getting ready to go home.

Cash taking his first bath.

Cash playing frisbee with Buddy.

So cute.

Okay, so we kept it a secret to surprise the family when they came to town this last weekend, but now the word is out...Yes! We have a new weimaraner puppy named Cash. He is 14 weeks old and about 23 lbs. He is very sweet, he likes to be right at your side (or Andrew's side since he is home with him more) and he doesn't like going into his kennel. Not totally housetrained, but has only had a few accidents. We got him last Monday the 2nd. We have some video footage of him that I'll put online as soon as I can figure out how.

Army Dad

This is a good one. I should of used it for your birthday card!
Oh well, you can enjoy it now...
Love, Abby

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!
Now that I have copies of all of these pictures isn't it great what I can do with them!?
See you this weekend!
Abby & Andrew

Ha Ha! Sarah Michelle Gellar!

I can only hope that face recogniton was hit by a virus...

Abby's Celebrity Look-Alikes