Today is...

My BFF Kaye's birthday! Top Ten Things About Kaye:

10. She and I share a brain. Its creepy and cool how we feel the same way about things.

9. She is super smart. S-M-R-T. No really, she graduated with a 4.0 from BGSU. Wowie Kazowie.

8. She was one of those lucky kids who had a pony growing up. 

7. She lived just up the street from me for a lot of my childhood. Some of my fondest childhood memories involve hijinxs at her house.  No pony involved, thanks.

6. Kaye and I love the books Watership Down, the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, and Life of Pi.

5. Kaye and I used to have a huge crush on Val Kilmer.

4. Kaye and I still have a huge crush on Val Kilmer.

3. Kaye is going to be one of my bridesmaids! She's what we refer to as the "model" because everything looks great on her! The blue eyes and blonde hair (natural, thank you very much) don't hurt, either.

2. Kaye reminds me of Benvolio, the voice of reason, from Romeo and Julie.

1. Kaye could never, ever be replaced. She is, has, and will be, one of the closest friends I have ever had. We should all be so lucky so get one friend like this maybe once in our life. Love ya, girl! :)  

Photo Update!

Fun times from the past month: Here are some highlights!

This is me and my friend Brent on New Year's Eve. We are doing my signature "pouty face." Brent works with me often at the hospital. Swell guy, and he knows a ton of stuff! He's in his oral pathology residency and is not yet near sighted from all the microscopes. 

This is a classic picture of my great buddy, Ashok Kumar. I can't believe I actually got him on camera! He's kind of elusive outside of the hospital. He was so nice to take me and some other work pals out for dinner and to to see the movie "Slumdog Millionaire." It was sooooo good! Funny, sweet, sad, and a (spoiler alert).......................happy ending! I love happy endings!

Me and Jer-Bear at Frog Bear...Jeremy is working on his dance moves for our wedding...but he has the "white boy overbite" move down pat. 

And later that night we met my good pal Janelle and her dude, Ryan at Frog Bear! So fun and happy birthday, Janelle!

And happy birthday, Jeremy, too! Its not every year you get to celebrate at Hyde Park with Kourtney Kardashian!  ;)

Dinner with a movie star!

Okay, so we really didn't have dinner with her, and she really isn't a movie star either, but we did get placed next to Kourtney Kardashian last night at Hyde Park. Seriously, she was like, 4 feet away for about 2 hours. Apparently, she was in town for a special appearance at Lodge Bar.

She is very pretty in person. She is also very small.

Jeremy wanted to get an autograph, but I didn't let him. Instead he just took lots of intrusive pictures with his camera phone. 

Just kidding about camera phone part. The dinner was AMAZING; a little distracting, but amazing. Happy Birthday, Jeremy! :) 

20 days without a post!

So here's something fun and cute and easy to brighten your--probably snowy-day! :) 

This is the cutest picture I've ever seen that doesn't include my nieces or my fiance or my dog.

Merry Christmas!

Woo woo! We're are just getting back to our normal lives right now. Jeremy and I have had a great couple of weeks...Christmas...New Year's Eve...we've been all over the place!

The holidays were super! Why can't they last all year? I loved hanging out with the Rindler girls! So cute!

Also, I get to announce a new member of our family:

Our new Kitchen-Aid mixer. I love it, love it, love it. I received it from my mom and dad, but incidentally, Jeremy's mom also got one for me. I have used it at least 3 times already. Try yours out with this recipe, from my gal pal Kandice (who just had her third little munchkin, Audrey, on New Year's Eve! Kandice is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside): 

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 C. cooked, mashed sweet potatoes

1 C. sugar

1/4 C. butter, melted

2 eggs, well beaten

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 evaporated milk

1/2 C. brown sugar

1/4 C. flour

2 1/2 T. butter, melted

1/2 C. pecan pieces

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl mix the first six ingredients and place into a 2-quart casserole dish. Combine last four ingredients and sprinkle on top of sweet potatoes. Bake uncovered at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until crispy. 

I made that yummy casserole for a Christmas day feast with Jeremy's mom, sister Erin, and Grandpa Hatler. (unfortch, Jeremy's grandma is not well and is in the hospital for the holidays).  The night before, we celebrated with Jeremy's dad, stepmother and sister, and then I went to Midnight Mass at St. Joe's in town. I had never been to Midnight Mass, and it was pretty cool! Next year Jeremy better go along, or I'm going to re-enact some passive-aggressive mood swings like I did this year.

Anywho, Christmas day was a great day. Jeremy and I spent the whole day together, eating and opening presents and hanging out with this family. I felt like a real grown-up...check out the sweet apron Santa brought and Jeremy's new "Lundberg" shirt (remember, like the boss from Office Space?).

Hope you had  a Merry Christmas, too! :) Up next: Me getting around to blogging about New Year's Eve! And Jeremy's new job! :) And trying to avoid the January Blues! ( I get them every year...) 

Weekend

Friday: Cocktails and hors d' oeuvres at my house before the AMAZING Columbus Symphony Holiday Pops

Saturday: Cocktails and hors d' oeuvres at Nationwide Children's Hospital's annual Medical Staff Holiday Social (and that was following Roomie Carla's super fun cookie exchange party...thanks Jeremy for making my cookies while I was working Saturday morning!)

Sunday: Cocktails and hors d' oeuvres with the pedo residency interviewees at Dr. Griffen's home in Victorian Village

Whew! Jeremy and I are exhausted from so much socializing! But it was tons of fun while it lasted! And, is it just me, or is the "gourmet slider" becoming the hors d' oeuvres of choice for the catering crowd? I miss White Castle. PS, White Castle now has sweet potato fries! OMG! I have to try them...sweet potato fries are my abs fav!

A Christmas Story

Here is our very first Ironton Christmas tree:

Here is the Christmas Story

Once there was a young pair of newlyweds. They were living a migrant workers' life in Tennessee. It was their first Christmas together, and needless to say, like many newlyweds, they did not have a lot of money for the holiday. So, the smart, resourceful young wife went to the bargain store, and bought Styrofoam balls, wire, glue, and glitter to make homemade ornaments for their first Christmas together.  

I bet it looked a lot like this: 

The young couple is actually my mom and dad. The story is true. My dad played minor league baseball for a number of years; there are many stories about them "just getting by" that my mom has shared with me. Like, they moved 6 times in 4 years all by themselves; or, once, they tried to return to a previously rented place a year later, only to find it condemned. There are many, many stories (most of them are true) about cockroaches and my sister Kelly (she was an infant through all this). I think this is where Kelly developed her irrational fear of insects. There are a lot of stories about being lonely and far from home. There are lots of happy stories, too. Most of them involve draft beer. 

I wish I still had one of the ornaments that my mom made the first Christmas my parents were together. The story reminds me of all the hard work you have to put in to end up--hopefully--safe and secure in your middle ages with happy, healthy children and a secure life to enjoy. It reminds me how their hard work has let me live the fortunate life I have had thus far.

Anyway, thanks mom and dad. :) 

And, truthfully, it wasn't all sad-sack. He's on a baseball card for crying out loud. How cool is that?