Keeping Warm.....

Wow, 3 post in one day -- I'm on a role!!

I left work and walked outside in the dark to find it raining/sleeting. It's definetely winter outside. I'm waiting for Nick to come home from a meeting and then my plan for the evening is to lounge out on my couch and watch my Monday night TV. I've got a crock-pot full of Chili that's been bubbling away all day, I've slipped on my Taz Slippers to help me keep warm, now all I need is my blankie!

Weekend Getaway.....

We ventured on a little Road trip to Iowa Friday afternoon. Our first stop was in West Des Moines to the Jordan Creek area. We stayed a really nice, I think fairly new Holiday Inn, our room was Ginormous!! There was a Johnny's Steakhouse in the hotel and with our stay we received 2 complimentary drink tickets (um, hello of course we're eating there) It was so good!! After dinner we drove around a bit (tried not to get lost) and ended up at a movie theater where we saw "Eagle Eye" -- great movie!!

Saturday we drove up and over to Waterloo/Cedar Falls and met up with a classmate of mine and Nick's really good friend Stephanie. Her and her husband, Jom, just had a baby girl the end of August -- Olive. She is super cute!! It was also the weekend of Steph's 30th birthday and Jom had a plan to surprise her at this local bar that they hang out at. First was dinner with another couple Bambi & Jeremy. Jeremy was in Wayne while Steph and I were in High School, but he left before our Junior Year. We ate at this really awesome Japanese Steakhouse where they prepare the food on a flat grill in front of you...it was really fun and the food was excellent!

The rest of the night was spent at the bar, catching up, drinking and meeting new people. We had a blast! It was a nice getaway from work, Wayne, and adult duties!! :)
Thanks guys for a great weekend and we'll be out there again sometime soon!!

Bambi, Jeremy, Jom, Stephanie, Nick and I

Getting My Rock On....

Thursday night Nick and I attended a Metallica concert. We saw them 4 years ago for the first time and so when Nick found out they were coming back, he was there! Now...I'm all up for concert going but for some reason I just wasn't as excited to see this concert as I am to see New Kids On The Block this coming Wednesday (a blog post to come!!) I like Metallica and all, maybe I just wasn't in the "rocker" mood...But I went.

The first two band were a little hard core -- I don't even remember their band names, I do remember that the second band consisted of two former Pantera band members (from what Nick told me). The first band was all yelling, and I couldn't make out the lyrics...the second band was okay, still a lot of yelling and dropping of the f-bomb by the lead singer -- every 3rd word mind you.

Metallica finally got on state about 8:30 or so with a good stage presence of lasers and pyro. They sang 2 or 3 of their new songs but mostly their old stuff, which most of them I knew, so I was pretty pleased. They sang my two favorite songs "Nothing Else Matters" and "One". I have to admit that I did enjoy them and I threw up my Devil Horns during one of the songs. Maybe it was just the second-hand pot smoking that was going on infront of us that got me in the Metallica mode. I was not too please with getting pelted on the head with soda from the upper deck (at least that's what I hope it was) and all the drunk people that had to stand behind us in the handicap section instead of attempting to find their seat -- which they paid money for, but whatever. And everytime we attend a concert there is ALWAYS a line of people at the elevator and 3/4 of them are able body people and can walk down the stairs -- instead they are too drunk and stupid to try, so we are usually waiting at the elevator for at least 30 minutes before we actually step foot on one (at this point Nick is complaining). We were finally out of the parking lot at Midnight and to our cousins house by 12:30 and by the morning, we still didn't have our hearing back!!

Zoo Fun.....

Nick and I woke up at 6:30 am to hit the road for Omaha on Saturday to go to Henry Doorly Zoo. We got there right before they opened the gates at 9:30 am, which is always nice because it's not so crowded yet, and the weather on Saturday was just perfect, not too hot, and just enough breeze to keep it nice and cool.

This was the first time this year we've gone, so I had been anxious to go, I LOVE the zoo!!! I was even more anxious this year because they just opened the Butterfly Pavilion and I LOVE butterflies!! This exhibit has to be one of my favorites -- besides the Aquarium (I can't resist the penguins!). The butterflies just flutter around you and just too cool for words!

If anyone has been to the Henry Doorly Zoo you have to know that it is full of hills! This is okay for some people, but since 90% of the people that attend the zoo are either pushing strollers or pulling wagons -- in my case, pushing a wheelchair, it can get very tiring, very fast! But this time was different -- we recently inherited a motorized wheelchair from Nick's aunt LaRene (Thanks Rene!). This came in really handy for our zoo trip, no pushing Nick up steep hills and Nick had more freedom to roam around. He was a little hesitant going into some of the exhibits, only because he wasn't quite used to this new chair and it's got some speed! (he about ran me over a couple times!)

I think if we lived in Omaha or were closer than 2 hours I'd probably go to the zoo every weekend!! Here are a few pictures, I couldn't post ALL of them, but you can check the rest out on our Shutterfly.

Nick's new ride!

The Desert Dome

One of the many butterflies

This one was nice enough to pose for me!

Long Time No See.....

It's been a LONG time since my last post -- Sadly not too many
things have happened -- I lead a very boring life!!!!

One exciting thing that happened -- Marisa came home for a week and a half for a visit from Taiwan at the end of July. We had a great time catching up with her and I think she had a good time home, but was ready to go back to what she's been used too the last year!

Nick and I FINALLY bought a new car!!!

After months and months of looking and getting shot down with cars we finally found and bought a 2008 Chevy Impala. This car will mainly be Nick's, but I'll get my share of driving it!! :) We are in the process of getting a wheelchair topper for the roof of the car and hand controls. The topper is an enclosed case that will hold Nick's wheelchair, so he is able to drive a 4 door car. This is definitely an upgrade from what Nick was driving (an 1989 Buick LeSabre) and has a TON of room to travel with instead of my little Chevy Cavalier! I'll make sure to post before and after pictures once it's all finished!

I turned 29 the end of August.....celebrated with my friends with dinner and a movie, it was nice and low-key. Next year I'll celebrate with a BIG PARTY!!!
(mark your calendars for Aug. 29, 2009)