I'm Here

Hi Friends,
I have not blogged in awhile so I just wanted to make sure and do one last post before the New Year.

I do not go back to work until Monday so I have been enjoying my long vacation.
All together I have 2 weeks off and only one day of this break did I actually sleep in our Apt. The other nights were all spent at my parent's home or Luke's parents home.

Currently I am typing this post in my sisters room which was once my room (it is the room with the built in bathroom, it didn't stay empty for long when I moved to college) while my husband sleeps in the bed behind me. I am trying to type very quietly but I'm not sure how well that is working. I am afraid to turn around and see if he is sleeping or just glaring at me to get in bed.

Oh I just heard him snore, good sound asleep.

Christmas has come and gone, and in its place it has left a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. Not a bad feeling just a strange feeling.

It is weird how fast Christms comes and goes, yet it happens every year.

It was our first Christmas married and I loved it with everything inside of me, yet it was kind of weird.

We spent Christmas morning with my family and then headed down the highway to Luke's family.

I cried like a baby.

I have never been away from my family on Christmas and I clearly don't deal with change easily.

In fact when I was born, I was 2 weeks late.

I believe this is because I didn't want to deal with the change that awaited me on the other side of the womb.

Change happens, and we are just expected to pick up and move on with it.

Sometimes that is really hard.

But change is also a time to learn, and I learned a lot about myself this year.

I learned just how much my family really means to me and how I love them so much.

I learned that time flies.

I learned that I gained an additional family, and though it will take adjusting, it is a good change.

Change is just weird, but good.

Actually some change is really good. The change from no straightner to a straightner was the best change of my life.

I don't think I mention enough on this blog just how thankful I am for straightners.

Seriously. Best invention ever.

This post is going down hill fast, it could be cause I am slightly delirious and haven't figured out why I am typing this and not sleeping.

Or it could be because I have spent the better half of my break trying to master my Wii Tennis skills.

Or I could be delirious because my stomach is growling and I choose to comfort it with Sour Patch Kids at 1:45 in the morning.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and you have a rocking New Year's Eve.

They say when you get married you get old and boring.

We are proving that point loud and clear this year. We have NO plans.

Today we were trying to figure out when we went from slight losers to full blown losers.

I believe it happened the day I wore my houseshoes to a theatre and Luke wore his to Wal-mart.

The best part is, we weren't even together, we later shared our stories and realized we both wore our house shoes in public, on the same day.

We are one step away from eating dinner at 4pm at the local buffet.

I believe this was the most random post I have had yet.

What a great way to end the year.

Peace Out.

P.S. No time for spell check or proofing, this girl is tired.

Just Want To Say.....

Merry Christmas!!!!!

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas filled with lots of laughs and love!

From, The Tree's!

Sick Again

I can't believe I am sick again. I have all the same symptoms I had last month: Runny nose, itchy throat, sore throat, a cough that goes way down deep into my chest. It is just miserable.

I couldn't sleep last night so I moved to the couch to watch some late night TV. In the process of doing this I found some leftover prescription pills I had from my last bout of misery. Miracle from God? I'm thinking yes.

So I took the pills which said they would make my nose stop running. I then began watching CMT Giants: Reba - if you are not familiar with this, it is a special presentation CMT did for Reba McEntire honoring her for all of her greatness.

I was in tears the whole time. So now I don't know if the medicine worked.

I don't know if my nose was still running from my cold, or if it was now simply running because of my love for the amazing Reba.

Usually my Sunday night posts are titled "Weekly Weekend Update" Friends, I have no update for you, unless you count sitting on the couch moaning about my congested nose and achy body an update.

I also could update you about our lovely apartment heater, and how much it is determined to suck all of the happiness out of my life.

It has been malfunctioning for about a week now, which causes me to go craaaazy.

It becomes my obsession to figure out what is causing the problem and then get angry.

Our heater will not shut off, which stresses me out because I don't want to pay an $800 bill, BUT to make it worse, not only does it not shut off, when it reaches the desired temperature instead of shutting off like a normal heater, it starts to blow FREEZING cold air out.

So I called the one source that I knew would help me solve this problem, good ole Dad. It turns out he was suffering from a cold also, and unfortunately is a bigger baby than me when it come to colds.

My Dad's advice: It is broken, call the apartment maintenance people.

He also, matter of factly informed me (over the phone) that it was not freezing cold air that was blowing out, but instead room temperature air.

Um.. you are not here Daddio, it is FREEZING.

SO I have made it my one goal to worry about my heater. Last night after Giants: Reba was over, I picked my self up off the floor, dried my tears, and realized that the heater had not shut off in approximentaly 5 hours. I then started freaking out and woke Luke up and said our heating bill is going to be $1000!

Let just say, at 4:00 in the morning, Luke is not really concerned with the heating bill.

I on the other hand was a mess.

So I started watching "Adventure in Babysitting" to clear my mind. Good movie.

Fast-Forward to present time:

I have now taken the prescription pills again, I plan on laying on the couch and watching anything on TV that won't make me cry.

I guess my DVR'd Lifetime Christmas movies will have to wait until tomorrow.

Oh. My. Gosh. Our heater just started blowing Iceberg Cold Air again. I think I just had a nervous breakdown.

Luke didn't even acknowledge my breakdown. Sometimes he gets on my nerves.

P.S. I think the medicine makes me a bit crazy, and I need sleep.

You Asked, I Answered

Wow! You girls really came up with some great questions. I was expecting questions like "what kind of dog do you want" Instead I got some really in depth questions that made me really think. I thought about splitting this post into more than one, or perhaps putting it into catergories, but that would take a lot of time and effort. So instead I just answered them all below.
I highlighted the questions, so you don't have to read them all, just find a question that you like!

Here they are......

Whitney asked
Besides your wedding and the day you accepted Christ as your Savior what is the most defining moment of your life?
I sort of answered this question in a previous post, instead of going through it again I will give you a link to that post, here
But in short it was my entire college experience. It helped shape who I am today.

Dawn asked:
If you could spend a day with anyone living or passed on and walk with them for journey through this life, who would it be and why?
This answer would of course have to be Jesus. I think it would simply be amazing to just walk with him for a day.
BUT Jesus, is kind of the standard answer, cause who wouldn’t want to walk with him for a day right?
So Jesus is my first answer

My second is:

Britney Spears, yes you read that correctly. Brit Brit. I just want to know what she is like on a day to day basis, is she really crazy? Does she just need somebody who is a friend to her because they want to show love to her, not because they want her money. I just think it would be interesting! Plus I would want her to teach some dance moves (clean dance moves) .

Marge asked:
What has been your favorite newlywed married moment?
SpendingThanksgiving together. Never in our 5 years of dating did we spend a holiday together. We both come from close families and we knew when we got married we would be going to each others homes so we decided to spend our dating years with our families. So this Thanksgiving it was so fun to be with him for the first time ever on Thanksgiving day! I can't wait for Chrsitmas!
Jenna asked 3 questions:
1. When are you coming to GA?
Well, whenever you invite me, AND whenever Big Al is ready for some serious karaoke competition!!

2. What are three goals you have for your life?
1. Stay home with my kids
2. Take up photography
3. One day I want Luke and I to build a home on lots of land and have lots of dogs and watch our kids grow up in the house.

3. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?
Sandwiches. Cause you can mix it up!

Jenn asked 3 questions also:
1. What has your hubby done that just totally disgusts you?
I have to say, he is much cleaner than I am. I probably disgust him a lot more than he disgust me! I haven’t really had a moment where I have been disgusted by something he has done.
However, at night, just to tick me off before I get in bed he crawls over on my side and ‘acts’ like he is going to sleep there. This completely disgusts me mainly just because it annoys the heck out of me. That is my side and I refuse to change!
Nobody is laughing Luke!

2. What is the one thing from your wedding you wish you could change…a regret?
Getting too stressed out. I let other people stress me out so much. If I could redo I wouldn't let others get to me so much!

3. You wake up tomorrow and find out you’re pregnant – what is your honest reaction?
HOLY FREAKIN CRAP!!!!!!!!! That would be my honest reaction.
Then I would get scared.
Then I would get happy.
Then I would get sad.
Then I would get happy.
Then I would get prepared.
Scared because it is a human life and we are not ready, happy cause it is a human life and we do want kids, sad because we are not financially ready for a baby and I would not be able to stay home with them right now like I would like, happy because we would be beginning the next journey in our marriage and then prepared for obvious reasons!

Amy asked:
When you are driving by yourself in the car….do you sing out loud?
The answer is of course YES. I belt it out like nobody’s business. In fact I think when I am by myself my voice magically becomes amazing, I can harmonize with the best of them. Luke tells me this is all my imagination, I don't think so.

Lindsey also asked 3 questions:
1. What is your favorite part of being married?
Going to sleep and waking up next to Luke. By far my favorite part.

2. What is your favorite memory of your wedding?
It sounds weird, but probably the moment we pulled away from the reception site. It was like OMIGOSH we are married, our wedding is over and it was PERFECT. At that moment it was just me and him and it was the beginning of our journey.

3. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
This will make Luke sick to his stomach, but actually right here in OK is fine with me, our families are here and this is just home! Luke however would like to live anywhere but here! ha!

Julia asked:
If you HAD to pick your favorite LOST character who would it be and why?
Locke, even though he is crazy, he has a passion for that island and he sticks to it no matter what. Gotta love that passion.
By the way, if you aren't watching Lost, DO IT. You don't know what you are missing!!!

Emily asked 5 questions:
1. When did you first know that Luke was the man you wanted to marry?
I have no idea. Ha! Honestly, I just know at some moment I knew he was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

2. How long did you guys date before you got engaged?
We dated for 5 ½ years before getting engaged and married (our engagement was only 4 months).If I said I didn’t whine and cry about not getting engaged for 3 of those years then I would be completely lying.I’m glad it has now become a family joke about how much I whined and cried. It keeps life interesting.

3. Where is your favorite place to travel to and why?
Walt Disney World. I went several times growing up and I loved it. I would love to go again soon. It is just such a magical place. I also love the mountains in a cabin far away from everything, oh and the beach!

4. If you had to pick one book that was your all time favorite…what would it be.
Redeeming Love - amazing!

5. If there was a fire, what would you grab?
If I'm not wearing it, my engagement and wedding ring. And then probably my wedding dress. But most likely I would have to grab my husband because we would probably be running around like a crazy man trying to get his musical instruments.

SassyEngineer asked:
What is your favorite book, movie, song, TV show ever?
Book: Redeeming Love
Movie: Father of the Bride
Song: It changes often, right now it is "All that is within me" by Mercy Me
TV Show: Drama: LOST Comedy: Reba Reality: Big Brother

Faith asked:
1. How did you and Luke meet?
We met my sophomore year and Luke’s freshman year of college. We met through a mutual friend, at a college event. I remember Luke sitting on the grass and looking up at me through TONS of hair that was in his face. It wasn’t exactly love at first sight!

2. What is your love language and spiritual gift?
Love language: Quality Time
Spiritual Gift: Talking/communication. I know that sounds weird, but I'm not generally shy and I enjoy taking to people and getting to know them, and sharing life with others. Hm.. I wonder why I blog?

Rebecca Jo asked:
What is the first thing that drew you to Luke and what did you fall in love with first about him?
This is the same answer for both. Luke’s heart drew me to him. I didn't know there were people like him! He is so caring, loving, and patient. He truly has a heart for others! And I knew he was patient when he could put up with me and all of my dramatics!! He cares so much about me and when I am with him he makes me feel secure and protected. Also, we just have so much fun together! He constantly keeps me laughing.

Misty asked:
What do you like most and hate most about being in the ministry?
Like: Relationships. You meet so many great people, form such awesome relationships and really learn about other people. Right now Luke and I are involved in a really great newlywed's small group. It is just so fun to be apart of each others lives while we are experiencing the same things!
Hate: Relationships. It is very hard to develop relationships with people and open yourself up to people only to have them unexpectaly leave your life. It can be very hard.

Carolyn asked 4 questions:
1. What do you do to stay so thin?
I would have to say moderation: I try to eat things in moderation. My motto is if you are craving something, then eat it. For example: If you are craving brownies, eat them, that way it gets them out of your mind and then you don’t crave them again for awhile. If you want a bag of Doritos, pig out! Get it out of your system and you probably wont’ crave them again for awhile!I have been told this is the worst motto ever, but it works for me! I don’t work out but I do try to go walking every so often to keep my heart beating.

2. How did you and Luke meet?
*see above for Faith’s question*

3. How long do you want to be married before you have kids?
Anywhere from 2-4 years. I really just want to get preggo on accident so that I don’t have to worry about it!

4. Do you think having a separate bathroom is something that could keep the spark in a relationship?
I was so scared about sharing a bathroom with Luke, but actually it hasn’t been bad at all. Seriously. It has been just fine. SO sharing a bathroom works for us, but I also live with a VERY clean hubby. That might have something to do with it!Maybe I should ask his opinion of this question since I’m the messy one!

Mrs. Cup asked:
1. What is your favorite room in your house? Can we see a picture?
Well, we live in a itty bitty apartment. SO there isn’t much to choose from. But I would go with my living room. It is where time is spent between Luke and I or with friends and family who are visiting. Whether it is playing games, watching a movie, or TV, or just talking it is the central hub of the APT. I would put a pic, but its really nothing special. Just an apartment. But I am thankful for it!

2. Have you thought about names for your future children? If so what are they?Girl: Anniston Grace
Boy: Elijah Kade (call him Eli) and Jakob
That’s all we have so far. We just love both of those names, who knows if we will use them or not!

3. What is your quirkiest habit?
I use my fingernails to pick the seams out of all my shirts.It is weird. But I do it. None of my T-shirts have a seam. They are all tattered, but I still do it to every shirt. I love doing it.

Heather asked:
I’m wondering how you always manage to look so pretty? Do you have hair and make-up tips for us?
Oh sweet Heather, this question made me laugh out loud. My family, (particularly my two sisters) think I am the biggest nerd ever and that I am in desperate need of fashion/makeup advice. Therefore I have no tips!My makeup consists of, base and powder, (Clinique), eye shadow (Ulta) and Mascara (Maybelline). That’s it. I have never been a big makeup person and I want to gouge my eyes out if I try to put on eye liner. I almost couldn’t wear it at my wedding because I couldn’t let that pencil thing close to my eye. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about it. As far as hair I just straighten it every day (Paul Mitchell Straightner). Each morning I think about how I am killing my hair, but you wouldn’t want to see me without a straightner! At one time I used really nice expensive ‘feel good’ shampoo. And then I got married.Now I use Aussie, and it works just fine. (However I don’t feel as glamorous when my hair is blowing in the wind).

So, thats all of them, sorry it was so long I am impressed if you got through all of them!

Stupid Sausage Balls

I was going to make a blog post about how I slaved away in the kitchen for like 10 hours making some sausage balls for a Holiday party I was going to attend.

I went to Target, got all the ingredients and then spent the better part of my night perfecting these delicacies. They were going to be amazing.

And then I was going to talk about how Luke was my tester and would test all the batches of sausage balls for me, approving each one, saying "they looked a little different than usual but tasted great".

I had them packaged and read for the party and then....

I had this conversation with my mom via email.

Me, sitting in my office, my mom in her classroom full of 4 year olds.

This is the EXACT conversation word for word:

Me: I made sausage balls last night for a christmas party I have tonight. I don't think I am a very good cook. I followed the instructions to a T but they look kinda burnt, but I had to cook them a long time to get the sausage in the middle cooked. I haven't learned all the cooking secrets yet!

Mom: Megan did you brown the sausage first? You were to cook the sausage first then mix it.

Me: WHAT. NOBODY TOLD ME THAT OMIGOSH.

Mom: Where did you get the recipe? I’m worried about them. You must brown the meat then mix with the baking mix.

Me: I threw them away. I have eaten like 10 I hope i don't get sick.I have no idea how to cook

Mom: OMYGOSH!!! The recipe should have told you!! It’s my fault. I should have taught you guys instead of always doing it. I’ll start now with Haley. [haley is my younger sister]

Me: Yeah the recipe didn't say to brown the meat.I feel like an idoit. I hope Luke and I don't get sick. We ate like twenty.

Things learned from this conversation.

1. Clearly my mom and I are very dramatic people.

2. I exaggerate badly. I went from saying that I ate 10 sausage balls to saying that I ate 20 in one email.

3. I will NOT be starting a cooking blog anytime in the near future

4. I will have nightmares of rotton sausage balls forever

and....

5. I find it hilarious that my mom lives an hour and a half away from me, did not help me make the sausage balls, was no where near me, yet she blames herself.
Gotta love moms!

Have you ever had a complete 'common sense blunder'??
Obviously I was supposed to brown the meat, I'm a somewhat smart person, common sense just left me for one night.

I ended up taking cupcakes from Target to the party.

Only one of them got eaten.

Maybe you only take cupcakes to your 2nd graders brithday in their classroom.

Not your work party full of professionals.

The sausage balls would have been a hit - minus the raw meat.

Christmas Card Carousel

So my good blog friend Faith is hosting a Christmas Card Carousel today!

So because I love Faith and Christmas Cards I had to participate!

Oh and also because my blog friends helped me with my decision of which picture to use for my card!

I went ahead and went with a wedding picture. I debated back and forth a lot but eventually decided it was the only year I could use it, so why not?

Also, I made the card online and I could not figure out how to save it to my computer, actually I'm pretty sure it wouldn't let me.

So not only am I showing you my Christmas card, but I am also showing you my photography skills......

Merry Christmas!
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year
With Love, Luke and Megan

It was very hard to take this pic without the flash interfering - it looks better in person!

Hot Chocolate

Luke and I are finally done Christmas shopping!!!! Yay!!!

It is such a relief to know that we are done and to really feel good about the gifts we chose for our family members. We are excited to give them away, I think they will all love their gifts.

However it seems every year I have just that ONE person who is so hard to buy for and I have no idea what to get them.

Do you have somebody like that?

Is there somebody on your Christmas list that you have absolutely no idea what to get them?? A boss, neighbor, teacher? I have the perfect gift.


A Hot Chocolate Maker!!!

Luke and I got this gift last year and we love it so much. It really makes such great hot chocolate and is perfect for cold dreary days!! Plus it includes a hot chocolate recipe book to help you get really creative when making hot chocolate.

It puts hot chocolate from the microwave to shame!

Or you can just go buy yourself one of these to entertain friends during the holiday/cold season!!

You can find them at pretty much any store that sells kitchen appliances.

Enjoy! I hope this helped somebody who needed just one last gift to buy!!

Let's Try This....

Edit: I won't be able to answer anonymous comments uness you leave your name! Sorry!

Well, clearly I have had a writers block lately. The blog juices just haven't been flowing and I have been reduced to write about Toe Nails and Pizza.


I have seen this on other blogs, most recently my friend Mrs. Cup and I thought I would try it.


Question Time.
Do you have a question for me? It can be anything...
Ask me a question and I will answer it.


This could be a success, this could be a failure. I have had both in my life and I have survived.
So bring it on!


However, If I get zero questions, I will be forced to come up with something on my own!!!

Weekly Weekend Update

After work on Friday Luke and I headed to my hometown to hang out with our friends from college. It is just a small group of friends but we have so much fun when we get together!

Luke and I headed East and first stopped by my house to see my family and play with the cutest little baby boy, my nephew.

Then we headed over to our friends Jodi and Kyle's house. When we got there they were already playing Guitar Hero World Tour. Have you played this game?? It is so fun.

If you have never met me in 'real life' you should be glad, glad that you never have to hear me sing. I am awful. I mean horrible. For some reason God decided to give me the worst singing voice ever. But I have learned to be ok with it.

I do not let my bad voice keep me from singing.

Singing is one of my favorite things to do! Forget the fact that I can't carry a tune, I love singing any song, any genre, fast or slow. I do not limit myself, I just sing whatever I want.

So when the position of Lead Singer for our Guitar Hero band was open I jumped at the opportunity, despite my singing abilities.

I took my job seriously. I was living out every dream I ever had of becoming a Pop Star.

When I was a little girl, I would make a stage and pretend I was on 'Kid's Incorporated'. 15 years later, I am still pretending. Life is good.

Our band:
Here we are jamming

The next day was our Christmas get together! This year our theme was 'tacky Christmas sweaters'.

Growing up my mom wore a different Christmas sweater every day in December. So I had no trouble finding something to wear. In fact, Luke didn't either.

Initially my mom was offended when I asked if she had one big enough for Luke, but low and behold we found one in her pile.

She said that when she bought this sweater 10 some odd years ago she never could have imagined that her future son in law would be wearing it!

The Tree's in all of their Tacky Christmas Glory:
Our tacky sweaters did not stop us from jamming outLuke in his sweater playing lead guitar......I have never been more attracted to him.

He contemplated wearing this to church on Sunday. He later decided not to. Thank you Lord for the gift of common sense.

Our annual picture of all the girls, with 2 additions. Luke and I had so much fun this weekend and we are so thankful to have such good friends that we can hang out and be ourselves with.

Hope you had a great weekend!

I Love Pizza

Last night I had to work until 7, not something I would want to do every night, but every once in a while isn't too bad.

When I got home Luke and I decided, in an effort to save money for a home, we would go out to eat for dinner. I'm sorry, no matter how many times you beg I can not give out our money saving tactics for free.

Anyways, after debating whether or not we should just eat food that is in our home that we bought when grocery shopping, or go out to eat, we eventually decided to go get pizza.

Ah, the finer things in life.

So upon arriving at the pizza shack (thats not really the name of it) we remembered that this was not our first time to eat pizza this week.

In fact, there have been nights where we have eaten pizza and enjoyed every moment of it only to remember that we had pizza the night before.

What can I say, we love pizza!

And we clearly have short term memory loss.

This weekend we are headed out to meet up with our college friends for a good ole Christmas get together. I just love this time of the year!

I am in charge of bringing an appetizer. Chex mix it will be.

Here is a pic of the girls from last year.

Since this picture was taken....two of the girls have had babies and I still have not chopped off that hair, I have added it to the list of 'things I realize I need to do after looking at myself in pictures'. Also on that list is 'never wear my hair wavy'.

My hair is wavy today. Oh well.

Oh and in the time that has lapsed since this picture was taken I got married, I wasn't even engaged in this pic, I was just someone who was whining and crying around about getting married.

Patience is a virtue. Or so I have been told.

Have a great weekend!!!

This is all I've got....

I have nothing to write about today. Which you would think that I just wouldn't write anything, but thats not how I roll. I have random thoughts that maybe somebody could relate to. So here they are. I apologize in advancess for the most boring post ever.

- I finally saw Twilight. I actually really enjoyed it. It has encouraged me to continue reading the series, even though I have given up on it numerous times.

- I have yet to buy any Christmas presents.

- I haven’t forgotten that I am going to do a giveaway – however I have decided that the giveaway that I was planning on doing was Lame with a capital L. So it might be until after the holidays before I come up with something worthy of my giveaway.

- Somebody found my blog by typing in google: ‘Toe Nail Trauma’ I’m guessing a picture of my scratched up leg was not what they were looking for.

- Thank you to everybody for your shoe rack help. I have no room in my closet for one of those hanging things, but I will remember that for the future. I had no idea so many people had shoe rack issues! Glad to know I’m not alone!

- The other day our TV quit working, just stopped. I was SO excited because that meant that I was finally going to get a new TV. Later I came home and it was working. I have no idea what was wrong with it or how it magically started working, but I cried a little. Goodbye 42” flat screen.

- I also have no idea why my TV wont’ die. It was passed down to us by a family member – and it was once a great TV, in 1990. Luke won’t buy a new one until this one goes out. Does anybody have a baseball bat I can use?

- After pouting for a bit about my old TV I rememberd my blog about being less materialistic and changed my attitude. My blog has become an accountability partner in my life.

- Does anybody else get teased by 'real life' friends for blogging? Those who aren't in the Wonderful World of Blogging just don't get it. Do you agree?

Happy Thursday!!!

Let it Snow

Today we had our first snow!

Actually, it was more like little pieces of white nothing floating around in the sky for about five minutes, but I like to imagine that it was snow.

And I like to enjoy the 'snow' while it is here. It is supposed to be 70 degrees on Saturday.

Welcome to Oklahoma.

This is me coming home from work in the snow. My hair is in my face because the wind was blowing like 6 thousand miles per hour. At one point it lifted me off of the ground.

This was also before I attempted the path of death - the stairs to our apartment. Those suckers are slippery when it is icy and you are wearing heels.

My excited look in this picture isn't because of the snow but yet it is because of what is in my left hand. Christmas Cards!!! I have been waiting ALL season to receive some cards and I finally got some! Not one but three!! I know we aren't too far into the Christmas season but I am an impatient person.

Next up: I need your help.

When Luke and I moved in together I had to start that whole 'submissive wife thing' and give him some closet space. Apparently the coat closet in the living room wasn't good enough for him. So I needed to get creative. Well I went and bought this amazing shoe rack to hold my shoes.

Or so I thought it was amazing. This is what I have come home to on more than one occasion:
That is all of my precious shoes just thrown to shreds on the floor by my trusty 'amazing' shoe rack.

Do you know how sick I am of picking up my shoes, reorganizing them and putting them back on this rack? And so frustrating when I spend time putting this back together, only to come home and find it looking like this again.

The first time I saw it I screamed, which caused Luke to come running into the room.

Let me just say, he didn't think it was worth screaming over.

So, does anybody have any good ideas of how to store your shoes? I am desperate!

Let me know if you have any ideas!

Weekly Weekend Update

My voice is back! Yay!

I went to the Doc on Friday, got some good meds, and came home and slept for the afternoon. Gotta love those sick hours I have racked up.

On to exciting things: Friday night was Luke's band's show in a Battle of the Bands and they won! Woo Hoo!

But I have to admit I had already left by the time they announced the winner. Nasty bars with scary people, sticky floors and chairs that I wouldn't touch with a ten inch pole aren't my cup of tea.

So after my boy's band played - I took out of there as fast as I could. I then enjoyed the rest of the night with my DVR while Luke breathed in germs that I can't even begin to speak of.

Anyways, Luke's band played really great, sounded really great, and their Indian lead singer was stinking cute. However this is me speaking 3 days after the event.

The night of the event I was a total wreck.

I don't know why, but I get SOOO nervous when Luke plays a show. It is so weird. Luke doesn't get nervous, I don't get nervous when he leads worship every Sunday morning, the band has never completely messed up a show or given me reason to get nervous, I just do. Luke thinks it is so weird that I get nervous.

I'm talking so nervous, my stomach is in knots, I can't eat, think, talk or watch the show. I usually don't even stay in the same room that they are singing in and I have NEVER taken a picture of Luke during one of his shows because I don't want people to think I'm 'that girl'. Clearly I have issues.

So anyways my friend Kelsey was nice enough to take pictures.

Here is Luke rockin' the show - he would be so embarassed by that statement. Good thing he will read this after it is published.

Me and Luke with Kelsey the photog for the night. Thanks Kels!
Before the show I went and ate with two of my friends Stephanie and Tambra. We all used to see each other almost every day, now we see each other about every 4 months, so we are excited when we get together! Growing up is hard to do.

This is a picture I tried to take using my self-timer. I get so nervous asking random people to take my picture (I'm really not a shy person) so I try to set my timer as much as possible. Our waiter was about 2 seconds from walking in front of the camera which is why we appear to be screaming.

I'm realizing how many weird phobias I have.

Pay It Forward!

Tonight I came home and the wonderful Liz had sent me a package!!!!! I was so excited!!!!
Don't you just love getting packages in the mail??

She sent me:
Two very cute Chrsitmas towels

1 christmas cookie mix with a cookie cutter

and..

A gift card to chick fila! She knows me well.

Thanks so much Liz I love it!

I also took this opportunity to showcase our tiny Christmas tree becaue I know my grandma would like to see it.

I would never write a post about my Christmas decorations because, well friends, you are looking at it. Just one little 4 ft tree. But I plan to go all out next year!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Keep Rockin!

Gone

My voice.

My voice is almost completely gone. And it is so frustrating.

I am almost to the point where I am reduced to communicating via pen and paper.

I have to go to the bank, but I definitely don't want to be the girl that hands a hand written note to the bank teller.

I was a bank teller once, and that would have caused me to hypervenilate. No quesiton.

I have had a cold since Thanksgiving weekend, and I have been trying to fight it on my own, but after my 6th sleepless night I decided now was the time to go visit the good ole Doc.

Luke's band has a show tonight, I am going with 2 of my favorite peeps so it should be lots of fun.

How the heck am I supposed to be a rock star's wife if I have no voice???

Hope everyone has a good *healthy* weekend!!

Not Paying it Forward

Almost every single morning since Luke and I have been married he has made me breakfast.

I am not a morning person, and before marriage I rarely ever ate breakfast. But since July it has been nice to eat a breakfast every morning.

This could also have something to do with why I have gained weight. I don't believe that conspiracy that breakfast helps you lose weight. Please tell that to my 5 new pounds.

Anyways, we are kind of in a slump where we have NO desire to eat at home. Do you ever get that way? Everything that we have to eat in our apartment just seems gross, and fast food seems so much more appealing!

So we have been eating out more lately, which really helps the money flow situation when buying Christmas presents.

Anyways...

This morning Luke left me some cash and told me to go ahead and stop and get something to eat for breakfast.

So of course I went to Chick Fila - are there other restaurants? I'm not really sure.

As I pull into the parking lot I remember reading several blog posts about the Chick Fila Pay-It-Forward and how people will go to Chick Fila order their meal and then pay for the meal of the person behind them.

I decided I was going to do this. Today was the day.

So I ordered my meal, then I looked behind me: It was one man, I'm sure his order wasn't too expensive - I was going to do this.

I pull up to the window the CF employee tells me my total I give her my cash, I'm about to tell her I want to pay for the man's meal behind me and then I FREEZE.

I'm talking completely freeze, no words, can't speak, scared out of my mind.

What if she thinks I'm weird?

What if the man behind me gets offended?

What if they all point and laugh?

What if?

What if?

What if?

There were like a million what if's going through my head.So she handed me my meal, I put it in my car and peeled out of there as fast as I could.

I think my tires even squealed.

As I drove away and came down from my nervous-high I became to ask myself, not What If? but instead.. What the heck is wrong with you??

What was I so scared of?

It would have taken a second out of my life and probably made that man happy for at least the morning.T

here was nothing to be scared or nervous about, it was a very simple process. And I let my mind get the best of me.

This was a classic example of me completely over-thinking something.

Do you ever over-think situations??Do you ever talk yourself out of something only to regret it? Something that is so simple yet you were scared or nervous for some STRANGE reason.

I'm going to attempt to do it again. I might need to take Luke with me for moral support because apparently I have a Pay it Forward phobia. So weird.

The Proof is in the Pictures

To show all of my blog friends that my toe nail story is true and I only slightly exaggerate I took pictures of my leg.

Actually I didn't, I had my student worker take these pictures today at work.

Good thing we pay them the big bucks.

So yes, I have pictures of my leg. I can't believe I am still taking about my toe nail.

Please excuse the pale flabbiness of my legs - remember I am trying to avoid the deadly rays of the tanning beds - but I'm about to give in:

Clearly there is nothing interesting going on in my life right now to blog about. Its a slow week in the Tree Residence.....

I'm a Loser

Each morning as I drive to work I listen to various morning shows.

I do not have a favorite I just listen to them all.

Well this week I have been listening to KLove because I was determined to win a trip to NYC that they are giving away.

I have been wanting to go to NYC for as long as I can remember, and going at Christmas time would make it like 100 times better.

So this morning they asked a question and I TOTALLY knew the answer to it. I immediately begin searching around my car for my phone, almost causing a car wreck.

I found it, on the floor where phones belong, and dialed up the number.

Nothing but a busy signal.

I never knew the sound of a busy signal could bring back so many memories.

Memories of calling the radio station my whole life trying to win something, but never ever getting through.

Which makes me think it is a conspiracy. It has to be a conspiracy.

I tend to think there are a lot of conspiracy's in my life.

Like when I call almost everybody I know, and nobody answers the phone and I think they have a conspiracy against me to not talk to me on the phone.

Or, sometimes I think the rapture happened and I am stuck here calling people on the phone.

But, back to the radio, I have NEVER called a radio station and reached a living human being.

So I'm wondering, has anybody out there won anything through the radio?

Come to think of it, I have never won anything. Nothing. Not even a game of Bingo.

It is tough to go through life never winning anything.

Sitting there while a person pulls names out of a hat, to see if you won that special door prize.

Watching a blogger's giveaway to see if you are the winner.

This is a lot of waiting and anticipating.

No wonder I have anxiety issues.

So in the spirit of being a Loser I am going to host my own giveaway. Cause if you can't win, just join them.

In other news: Yesterday I was sitting at my desk and I felt something weird on my left leg (the same leg that was mangled by my toe nail). Well I just dismissed it, but the weird feeling kept on, so I reached down pulled up my pant legs

and I kid you not

there was a wasp crawling up my leg

a wasp.
So I shook my leg, got it off of me, killed it and then sterilized my leg.

Because thats what I was worried about: wasp germs.

Seriously, what is the deal with my left leg? First a killer toe nail, now a germy wasp??

Details on the giveaway to come sometime soon.........

The Toe Nail Trauma

Before I married Luke, I had never shared a bed with anybody.

Yes there was the occasional sleep over with friends, or the yearly summer vacation where I had to share a bed with my sister who kicked me all night, but other than that I was a 'bed all to myself' kind of girl.

So needless to say sleeping in the same bed as somebody has been quite an adjustment.

Well yesterday morning I woke up and my leg was burning, so I looked at it and realized it was completly cut up.

I'm talking mangled like somebody took a chainsaw to it.

So of course there was only one solution, Luke's toe nails did this to my leg in my sleep.

I went into the living room where Luke was eating breakfast and watching his precious ESPN (I sure miss my precious GMA) and placed the Nail Clippers in front of him and: "I need you to cut your toe nails, you completely cut up my leg last night"

He looked at me and busted out laughing.

Not exactly the response I was looking for, but as long as the toe nails get clipped I'm ok.

So that night we are about to go to sleep and I gently reminded him he needed to cut his toe nails, he insisted that he was not the cause of my mangled leg, but he would cut them anyways.

Imagine my surprise when I woke up that night to find my legs crossed and my right big toe was slicing into my left leg.

I have no idea how this happened or why my toe turned on me, but it was painful, and I was the culprit.

I laid there for about the next 15 minutes wondering, Why.

Why, oh why is he always right???

Did I seriously just write a post about the toe nail happenings of me and my spouse? I might have just crossed the thresh-hold of TMI.

Christmas Fun!

I received this little Christmas thingy in my email from my BFF Jodi, so I thought I would go ahead and fill it out on my blog.
Basically I have nothing else to blog about....

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

I love wrapping paper, but I have been known to use a bag at the last moment! And there ar some gifts that you just have to put in a bag!

2. Real tree or Artificial?

I don’t know if so much love a Real Tree but I do love the process of getting a real tree, going out to the Christmas tree farm, finding a tree, and watching my dad chop it down. I did that my whole life and I loved it so much. But I will admit an artificial tree is so much easier to maintain!

3. When do you put up the tree?

This was my first year to ever have the privilege of putting up my own tree and I did it the day we got back from our families homes for Thanksgiving. But it is only a 4fter and took me about 5 minutes.

4. When do you take the tree down?

I will let you know in about a month

5. Do you like eggnog?

I have never had it, but Luke is an Eggnog crazy. It is weird how much he likes it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

Probably my pink bike, or this really cool neon coat I got. My love for clothing started young. OH it would have to be when my parents surprised me with a ski trip with my youth group (I thought I would be the only one not going) Now that was fun!!

7. Hardest person to buy for?

Hands down, my dad.

8. Easiest person to buy for?

Probably my mom or sisters cause they just want the same things I do.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?

No, but I want one. The problem is I have ZERO Christmas decorations, something that I am working on. I plan to go shopping the day after Christmas when they are all 50% off! I would love the Willow nativity scene

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

No question about it. Mail. I just made my very first Christmas cards and I am so excited to send them out. SO excited. Our Christmas card is nothing special, but it was all we could budget this year. I hope to have some better ones next year. I also LOVE receiving them. It is like my favorite thing ever! Oh by the way I did end up using a wedding picture on our Christmas Card. But not the picture that I put in that particular post. A different wedding picture.

11. Worst Christmas Gift You Ever Received?

I can't think of one.
One time I got a leather jacket, but it accidentaly still had the sensor on it so I had to wait a couple of days to wear it, but I still loved the jacket.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

Christmas Vacation

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

Every year I say I am going to start in October, but then I usually start Mid December

14 . Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

No. But I plan on doing it this year. Who will get the ‘special’ gift????? That is the question my family is asking

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Well lots of stuff, but my favorite will always be Cheese Potatoes

16. Lights on the tree?

I like special trees with special colors. A beautiful tree in the living room with white lights, and then various Christmas tree’s around the house with special colors (a pink one, blue one, purple and black one, multi one, etc) this is a goal of mine to have numerous tree’s throughout the house. But right now it is just a goal to get a house

17. Favorite Christmas song?

O Holy Night. That “Fall on Your Knee’s” part just gets me every time!

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?

Well I don’t really have a choice, so I will choose travel.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?

Oh you know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, but do you recall the most famous reindeer of ALL?? Rudolph!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?

Christmas morning!! In fact my family gets into a fight about this every year. I am a stickler when it comes to doing it on Christmas morning!!!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?

Well 2 things
One: Not having money to buy whatever I want for everybody
Two: Not being able to go home and be with my family on Christmas Eve cause we have a church service that night. So sad.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?

None yet, I am still developing my own theme.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?

Pants that fit, or a MacBook. I will take either.