Da Bears!

A few months ago, I decided to surprise Rob with tickets to a Bears game in Chicago for Christmas. Despite being a Bears fan for quite a long time now, he had never been to a home game. After searching high and low for tickets which can be rather hard to come by, I found some on Ebay and managed to win the auction. My surprise was almost ruined as Rob walked into our laundry room (which also is home to my desktop computer) just as the auction was finishing up and I was watching it to make sure I was the winner. Luckily, I was able to cover up what I was really up to. When the tickets arrived in the mail, I couldn't keep it a surprise any longer. I also wanted Rob to be able to share in my excitement as the game drew closer. The expression on his face when I gave him the tickets was priceless.

So, this past Sunday we left Alton first thing in the morning after dropping Ella and Payton off at Rob's parent's house. We stopped in Springfield at the Hen House for breakfast and then continued on to Rob's cousin Holly's house in Batavia. After some yummy pizza and time to visit with them, we finished our trek to downtown Chicago. We booked a hotel room for downtown Chicago in hopes that we could walk to Soldier Field and enjoy just being downtown. It was a bit of a hike to get to the stadium, but little did we know that the true exercise was yet to come. Our seats were in section 436 (right on the 40 yard line), row 32. Translation - about 8 rows from the top of the stadium. I think we had to climb the Stairway to Heaven to get to our seats. We found our seats with over an hour until gametime, but decided that we'd had our fill of exercise for the night and enjoyed people-watching for the next hour.

The game didn't turn out as we hoped since they lost to the Eagles 24-20, but we still had a GREAT time.

Here's a few pictures from our trip...

Uppercase Living

I just wanted to send another Thank You to those who placed orders from my Uppercase Living party. I plan to close the party out tomorrow. Sorry for the delay in closing out the party. There are several people who I have been waiting on to see if they wanted/needed anything. I will let you all know when the products come in! Thanks again for the orders and I hope you enjoy the products!

Christmas List

So, apparently my Mom needs our Christmas lists by Wednesday. I have no idea what to put on my list. Any ideas?

Goodbye, SIUE

This past Monday was my LAST CLASS of my Master's Degree. That's right, I'm done....finally done. After four and a half LONG years, I have met my goal of completing my Master's Degree. Sure, I had a couple semesters off along the way, but they were for good reasons. I had to drop my class one semester because of the car accident I was in. For that prof, apparently being in surgery wasn't a good enough excuse to miss class. Dropping that class seemed like the logical decision. I also took two semesters off when Ella was born. My due date was around the time of finals for the first semester and I didn't want to leave my two week old baby to go back to class.

Now it seems odd to know that I don't have a mountain of homework waiting for me at home. I don't have to spend my lunch hour working on homework. I don't have to tote a book bag with me everywhere I go. I'm done being away from Ella and Rob on Monday nights. I'm done asking people to help watch Ella so I can work on homework or go to class. I'm done writing checks for thousands of dollars for the purpose of a piece of paper to hang on the wall and three small letters to go behind my name. No more papers. No more books. (Wait, that seems like a song...)

One of the main reasons behind getting this degree was so I would have enough hours to sit for the CPA exam. So, even though I'm done studying temporarily, that study time is going to come back with a vengeance very, very soon as I prepare for the exam. I've been told that studying for the CPA exam will be the most intense studying I've ever done in my life. Frankly, right now, it scares the crap out of me. I don't want to be away from my family more than I already have been! I don't want to have to spend hours every day studying to pass the exam. But, given my profession, passing the CPA exam is a necessary evil. I just hope that I pass it quickly. I have several friends who have taken and passed the exam and numerous co-workers to encourage me and sympathize with me during this next step.

But, enough of the depressing CPA-exam-study-talk...for now, I will celebrate this accomplishment in my life. To each of you who have encouraged and supported me during this time, thank you. To those who helped with Ella during this last year and a half while I was at school or studying, thank you. To those of you who I will rely on while I study for and take the CPA exam, thank you, in advance.

Stay tuned for graduation pictures, coming December 19th (or a few days after)...

Dream House Savings Update - Month 1

Well, its hard to believe one month has passed since I started putting aside the money I save by using coupons. I must say I think it has gone well for my first month. I've bought a three-ring binder, baseball card sleeves, and tabbed dividers and have all of my coupons well organized. During this month, I have saved $143.30 by using coupons. I must admit, I have bought a couple things only because I had a coupon. One of these was a $6 air freshener, but I had a coupon for $6 off, so it was free. Another thing was a $7 candle, but again, I had a coupon for $7 off, so it was free as well. This $13 savings is included in the total above. I keep reminding myself that the savings from this month would be enough to buy paint for several rooms or hardward for a bathroom. Its a drop in a bucket compared to the price of building a house, but its a start.

Boo at the Zoo

This past Saturday, we were able to enjoy a beautiful moring at our awesome St. Louis Zoo with my friend (and co-worker) Jamie, her husband, and daughter Taylor. The Zoo was holding an event that they call Boo at the Zoo. This provides the kids an opportunity to dress up and walk a path around the zoo and collect candy and other freebies from local businesses that have tents setup. The morning started out on the chilly side, so I was very thankful that Ella has a warm costume.

Daddy & Ella

Our little ladybug

Carousel!

Snow White & Ladybug

Family Photo

"Smelling" the rose she received at the Zoo

My "purdy" face

Flu shot frustrations (that's putting it nicely)

Yesterday afternoon I called Ella's pediatrician to talk to them about getting her a flu shot. The nurse pulled Ella's chart and confirmed that she did get one last year, noted that she'd only need one shot this year since she got one last year, and said that I could come in this morning because they have a flu shot clinic on Wednesdays starting at 8 AM. So, about 8:10, Ella and I go into Dr. Hill's office, walk up to the counter, and I tell the nurse that we are there for a flu shot. She asks "What kind of insurance do you have?", so after answering her question she says "We only have flu shots available for people on Public Aid. We have the flu mist for anyone though". WHAT?!?!?!?!?! First of all, you can't get the flu mist until you are at least 2 years old, so that makes Ella unable to get it. Second, why the heck wasn't I told this yesterday on the phone? Third, and most importantly in my mind, why do people on Public Aid get a flu shot when someone with health insurance cannot? Why do Rob and I work hard to provide for our family and get health insurance for ourselves, just to get punished for it? Why can Joe Crackhead who doesn't work and has 18 kids, bring them in and all get flu shots? Sometimes the world we live in infuriates me. I left Dr. Hill a message to call me tomorrow. I'm anxious to hear what she has to say about the reasoning behind this "policy".

Luckily, after numerous phone calls today, I was able to locate a flu shot for Ella at the Jersey County Health Dept, so I'll be taking her there tomorrow. If that doesn't pan out, you might see my mug shot on the evening news tomorrow night. Will you help bail me out? :)