I just wanted to make mention that I have added a link to our wedding website on the left pane of this page. Check it out if you get a chance!

Go Cards!

Happy Sweetest Day! Huh?

OK- please help me out here…has anyone ever heard of this holiday? Well, in case you’re like me and didn’t have a clue…it is today. I was made aware of this fact in the sweetest way, which I guess is only appropriate…

I awoke this morning to Scot handing me a big box, and the conversation went something like this:
Scot: Happy Sweetest Day!
Kim: What?
Scot: Sweetest Day!
Kim: Sweetie’s Day?
Scot: Sweetest Day!
Kim: What?
Scot: Happy Sweetest Day!
Kim: What are you talking about?

Granted, I was still half asleep. But still, I didn’t believe Scot, and accused him of making it all up. He assured me that this was, indeed, an actual holiday. I finally believed him when I read the card and it was actually printed with, “Happy Sweetest Day!” What a great thing to wake up to on a Saturday morning, although I do feel quite guilty that I didn’t get anything for him. (The gift, incidentally, was some adorable sleeping pants, tank top, and hoodie from Victoria’s Secret.)

So, after I gained consciousness, I decided to look this “Sweetest Day” up to find out more information. This is what I learned…

Sweetest Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in October. It was started over 60 years ago when a Cleveland man, believing that the city's orphans and shut-ins too often felt forgotten and neglected, conceived the idea of showing them that they were remembered. He did this through the distribution of small gifts. With the help of his friends and neighbors, he distributed these small remembrances on a Saturday in October. During the years that followed, other Clevelanders began to participate in the celebration ceremony, which came to be called "Sweetest Day". In time, the Sweetest Day idea of spreading cheer to the underprivileged was broadened to include everyone, and became an occasion for remembering others with a kind act or a small remembrance. And soon the idea spread to other cities all over the country.

OK…so does Scot think I’m neglected or underprivileged??

Hopefully not. I continued to read about the tradition, and found out that it is now celebrated as a day to make someone happy. (OK- that seems more appropriate!) It is an occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, aged, and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed.

Sweetest Day is not based on any single group's religious sentiment or on a family relationship. It is a reminder that a thoughtful word or deed enriches life and gives it meaning.

Because for many people remembering takes the form of gift-giving, Sweetest Day offers the opportunity to show others that we care, in a tangible way.

So for those of you out there like me that had never heard of this tradition…now you know! Some of you may think this is just another artificial holiday created by Hallmark. Regardless, it made for a great surprise this morning! So mark it on your calendars…I know I will (so I won’t forget a gift for Scot next year!)

The Cardinal(s) Rule

Woo-hoo! The Cardinals are going to the World Series! Did anyone see that coming? I know we didn’t! But we’ll take it!

On a side note: Did you know that Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina began their professional baseball careers right here in Peoria?? Well, neither did I until today! They both played here in P-Town as Peoria Chiefs, our Class A Minor League team.

I couldn’t find a picture of Molina, but here is a copy of Pujols' card from when he was a Peoria Chief. Look how adorable he was!! I don't know if you can see it, but it says, "Top Prospect" in the bottom left corner of the card. Yeah, ya think!?

Please ‘Bear’ with me...

...Kimmy is the creative one in our relationship. : )

We have been very busy with wedding planning, so I was truly blessed on Monday night. My beloved Bears were on Monday Night Football, and Kim and I were out running wedding errands. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, my future father-in-law, Bob, was kind enough to keep me updated on the first half of the game. Maybe ‘updated’ is the wrong term. Perhaps, ‘taunting calls mocking the poor play of my Bears’ would be more appropriate. As we shopped, I began to cringe each time the phone rang with more cackles from the Cardinal fan. Oddly enough, the phone calls stopped as the third quarter ended. I thought there may have been some type of power outage or phone problem in Vegas. Out of strict concern for my soon-to-be father-in-law, I placed a call to Vegas a little after 11:00 pm central time. (Ironically, the call coincided with the end of the game.) Fortunately, Susan (Kim’s step-mom) answered the phone, so there had been no tragedy. Well, except for the one in Phoenix if you’re a Cardinal fan. Turns out, it is virtually impossible to dial a phone when you’re sobbing uncontrollably as your team displays one of the worst ‘choke jobs’ in the history of the NFL. Needless to say, I slept like a baby with visions of a Super Bowl dancing in my head.

-Scot

Editor’s note: The views in this entry are tainted by the ‘orange and blue kool-aid’ currently being consumed in mass quantities by all long suffering Chicago Bears fans and should not be held against the author.

It's me again...

Thanks to everyone for the great comments and well-wishes! I'm sorry for the delay in posting any new entries. As some of you have heard, Scot and I are planning to "tie the knot" on New Year's Eve (of this year!) So, if you do the math, that gives us approximately 74 more days to plan a wedding! Therefore, there hasn't been a lot of time this past week for blogging. However, I am happy to say that it has been a productive (less than) 2 weeks since we have gotten engaged. I'm not sure how, but we have managed to:

Book a venue for the ceremony and reception
Book a photographer
Secure a caterer
Secure an officiant for the ceremony
Start addressing invitations
Find Kim's wedding dress (yeah!)
Book our room for the wedding night
Book our honeymoon trip

In addition to all of this, we also managed a trip to Indianapolis, a trip back to Mexico, MO, Scot spent a day in Springfield, IL putting a new roof on his mom's house, and Kim took a 4-hour driver's course (don't ask- I'll just say that it doesn't pay to speed in Peoria.)

Whew! I'm exhausted just thinking about it! We still have a lot to go, but regardless, we have made great strides in pulling this event off. In addition, I've made a promise to myself to enjoy the process and journey, and not to get stressed by all of the tasks to do. (Wow! I almost typed that with a straight face!) :)

Harli le Pew

We (and by that I mean mostly Scot) have been doing several remodeling projects on the house lately. We currently are putting up drywall, and we recently learned that puppies and dry wall just don't mix well. I submit the attached picture as Exhibit A. Harli came running in the house, cut the corner a little tight, and side-swiped a wall that was still wet with drywall mud. The result was a "skunkified" puppy, who has now earned the nickname, "Harli Le Pew," (which is also due to the fact that she needs a bath!)

Game day!

Since moving to Peoria I have become used to Sundays being all about the football. Typically, Andy always has a football game on Sunday that we attend. Also, Scot is a huge Chicago Bears fan, so we always have to (did I say "have to?") watch the Bears play every Sunday. (Which hasn't been all bad since they've been having an awesome season... which I'm sure I just jinxed...oops!) Anyway, this past Sunday was still all about the football, but with a twist...

Andy got to go play football yesterday at the RCA dome- Home of the Indianapolis Colts. Pretty cool for anyone, especially a 12 year-old football fanatic. As part of his JFL league, the team and the parents got to travel to Indianapolis to watch the Colts play (Colts beat the Tennessee Titans 14-13 in what was, I must admit, a really exciting game.) This was my first experience at a NFL game, and it was pretty cool to feel the excitement in the stadium. Following the Colts game, the kids played a game on the field. It was a really neat experience for everyone. Andy's team won, although he was disappointed that he didn't get more playing time. I think the coaches tried to let everyone have equal playing time, considering the situation, which meant less playing time than normal for Andy. Overall, though, it was a great day and an experience he won't soon forget. Here is a pic of the kids on the field (I wish I could say that really was Manning in the foreground, but, alas, it is not), and one of the proud dad with his football star.

On a side note, there was one tragedy of the day. We returned home to find out that the power had gone out 1 hour before the Bears kickoff. I know it sounds like no big deal. However, the end result was that the VCR didn't record the Bears game that Scot had been so anxiously waiting to watch all day. So, if anyone out there has a recorded copy of the 10-8-06 Bears game, I know someone that would be very happy to share it with you!

New Beginnings

Well, I am happy to announce some exciting news....

Scot and I are officially engaged.

I came home last evening after a hectic day at work. It didn't take long for Scot to convince me that we should take advantage of the beautiful weather that day, and take a bottle of wine and go up to Grandview Drive to look at the views of the changing trees. For those of you not familiar with Peoria, Grandview Drive is a beautiful stretch of drive that has breathtaking views of the river and many beautiful historic homes lining it. There are several picnic tables along the way, and it is a perfect place to stop and relax with some wine! :) Here is picture of the view from where we were sitting. We sat up there for awhile observing the scenery, and then, yes, he got down on one knee. I'll spare you the mushy details from there, but, of course, I said "yes."


And to answer the question that everyone has been asking, no, we haven't set a date yet. But I'll keep everyone posted on that...

The Players...

I wanted to take a moment to introduce the "characters" in my life here in Peoria, so you'll know who I am referring to in my posts:

First off, there are the pets...

This is Harli, our miniature pinscher. She is 8 months old, and tips the scale at almost 8lbs. But, don't let her size fool you. She has the attitude of an 80 lb dog, and rules the roost. She definitely keeps us entertained and on our toes.





Then there are the cats, Allie and Sammy. Although they may not look like it, they are brother and sister. As you can see here, Allie is a bit of a couch potato (which explains her wide rear-view.) She loves to watch TV, and I guess you can say we are "enablers" because we even provide her with her own stool for doing so.










And Sam... Poor, Sweet, Sam. He is a true blond (no offense to anyone out there.) He was the runt of the litter, and has never seemed to catch-up with the rest. He is a lover, not a fighter (something that Harli frequently takes advantage of by kicking his butt whenever she can.) As you can see by the picture below, Harli has been getting Sam in headlocks since she was just a pup.

Then, there are the real animals, Scot's sons, Matt and Andy. Actually, they are really great kids, and we have a lot of fun with them. Matt, 14, is a Freshman this year, and really seems to be loving it. He is our technology guru and one of the most mature 14 year olds that you'll meet. Here he is just before the Homecoming Dance last weekend with his date. We had fun helping him prepare for the dance, including taking him to get his first "real" haircut and shopping for his outfit. I must say, we did a good job, because he looked quite handsome!

Andy, 12, is in 7th grade and he is quite the sportsman! He plays it all- baseball, basketball, and football, but football is definitely his real love. However, he does a good job balancing sports with school as he is also a straight-A student. Here is a picture of Andy (center, #31) in all of his "football glory" following a recent tournament.

And last, but certainly not least, there is Scot. I could go on and on about him, but I’ll just say that he is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. He is not only a great boyfriend, but he is a great friend anyway you look at it. Scot is a branch manager at a local credit union, he loves riding his Harley motorcycle, and he is a great dad and guy.

My first post!

Well- I have decided to jump on the proverbial band wagon and create a blog of my own. Several of my friends have blogs, and I enjoy checking them regularly to get updates on their lives. I decided that I would start one, as well, in order to try to stay connected with my family and friends that have all become so spread out geographically. As always, I have good intentions to make regular postings, especially since there seems to be a lot going on in my life right now! But then again, I can't make any promises since there seems to be a lot going on in my life right now! :) Either way, I hope you'll stop by periodically to get updates on life in P-town (exciting, I know), and your comments are always welcome and appreciated!

Love,
Kim