Friends-Giving

Happy December!  We hope you had a great Thanksgiving.  We were lucky enough to spend our day with both of our families.  Double the turkey double the fun!  

We've had a weekend full of fun with friends and had an absolute blast.  We spend Friday with PT friends at a Pat McCurdy show.  Some friends that have been away from Madison for their clinical placements were there so it was great to catch up with them.  

Yesterday some of our friends came to town for Friends-Giving.  These girls were my roommates in college, some of my bridesmaids, and know WAY too much about me to ever stop being friends!  HA!  We managed to cook one of the most sophisticated meals the four of us have eaten together.  We've come a long way from Topper Sticks and Chips and Salsa!  Though let's be honest, I'd totally eat chips and salsa every day if we had a Chili's in Verona.

We decided to include ugly sweaters in our plans.  Apparently Paul and I took this a little more seriously than everyone else did.  I wish I had taken a picture of the looks on their faces when we walked out wearing our fancy outfits.  Priceless.  It's hard to tell in the picture but even Millie was decked out in her ugly hat!

No ugly sweater party is complete without photo props.  Notice that 2 of 4 of us missed the sweater memo.  Step it next year, ladies!  Cameraman Paul even did some fancy camera work to include the frame prop in our photos!

I got our tree today while Paul was at work and managed to get in in the house and set up ALL BY MYSELF!  I was pretty proud.  I think he was just thankful to avoid the "The tree's about to tip over, turn it around, no turn it back the other way." battle.  As a continuation of the handy camera work in celebration of our first Christmas while married we took some pictures of our rings with our tree.  Can you tell my ring hasn't been cleaned since our wedding?!?!?  Yikes!

Happy December!

This One's For You, Kayla!

We were at a friend's house watching the Packer game last week when one of the friends there quickly turned to me and said, "Hey!  You haven't had a blog post lately!  How am I supposed to keep up with what's going on with you and Paul?"  So Kayla, this one's for you!

Let's see, we need to rewind a bit.  October came and went in a quick hurry.  We didn't even carve pumpkins like we normally do but instead stuck Mr. Potato Head like pieces in one pumpkin and I quickly carved a moon into the pumpkin I used at school for a couple of lessons.  We did manage to attend a costume party for a friend's birthday.  Me as a Minion and Paul in his {supposedly couple's costume} banana outfit.  Apparently a Minion was the way to go this year since my kids at school are still talking about my costume!

November is slipping by as quickly as October did.  We celebrated Paul's 27th birthday with friends and family and had a great time.  He is about 1/2 what through his second clinical and only a few short months away from graduation!  We've managed to sneak in a couple of family game nights of course with our faithful fur ball nearby.  She'd hate to miss out on the fun!

Last weekend my mom, brother, and sister were out of town at a cattle show.  Anyone who knows our family well knows that if mom's not home, dad doesn't eat.  Well, not more than eggs, cereal, and left overs at least.  So, in exchange for fixing our toilet and my pencil sharpener we had dad over for supper.  Again, with the faithful fur ball nearby.

When we were watching the Packer game last weekend Kayla mentioned that in addition to knowing what's going on with Paul and I she can also use our blog to keep up on the latest Millie stories.  And of course, no blog post would be complete without one!  Let's go back to that dinner with dad.  I bought a bag of rolls to go with dinner and at the time we left for the Packer game the next day there were EIGHT rolls left.  Let's just examine the "crime scene" I found when we returned home:

Ok, I'm sure you saw where this was going.  We came home to find an EMPTY roll bag on the kitchen floor.  We instantly turned to Millie and honestly, laughed about how she ate EIGHT rolls in just a couple of hours.  And managed not to choke on the bag.  However, did you see this turn of events?

That's right, when I walked into the bedroom I found just one lonely roll on our bed.  Upon closer inspection...

...I realized that no, Paul didn't leave it there for a late night snack {kidding, though how thoughtful that would have been!}  No, our chunk-o-saurus dog was too full to eat the last roll and instead left it for later.  When I started laughing and called Paul into the room to look at it she jumped on the bed and just stared as if to say "Sorry mom, I just couldn't eat the last one, but it still looks really tasty!"  So, for the rest of the night our chunky monkey laid around looking like a kid who ate too much turkey on Thanksgiving.  

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We have many things to be thankful for this year and are glad we can spend our holidays surrounded by friends and family.  Oh and Kayla, don't worry - I didn't delete you from Facebook for stalking us!  :)

That Time We Went Camping

Alright, this story is long overdue.  The week before Labor Day we realized we had yet to use the camping gear we bought after the wedding with our registry discount.  The thought at the time was that if we didn't buy it, we'd never go.  Turns out we bought the stuff, and still hadn't gone.  So, in true Paul and Julie fashion we decided Monday to go camping on Wednesday.  No big deal since we didn't plan to go too far.

Wednesday arrived, I headed to school, and promised to be home by lunch.  Paul spent the morning packing the car and the cooler.  Not only packing, but preparing food, drinks, and more food.  It was fantastic.  I swear we had enough stuff to eat for a week.  

And then we stopped at A&W.  You can't drive by without stopping.  :)  Let's not forget that the day we went camping was one of the few super hot days of summer.  That's key to this story.  We set up our campsite, went on a short hike, took Millie swimming, and took a nap.  We slept in the tent.  That's also key to the story.

By this time it was about 4:00 and boredom was starting to set in.  We (mostly Paul) don't do well with boredom.  And for as bored as we were the dog was equally as unsettled by all of the noises and people going by.  We were spending most of our time trying to keep her from barking and were worried about the night ahead.  We made dinner, went to the camp store to buy an extra bag of wood thinking we'd run out, and made plans for s'mores and campfire games.  Around 8:00 Paul mentioned his idea - if we were still awake at midnight we should go home.  My response - Why are we waiting for midnight?  Enter: ATTACK of the mosquitos.  We instantly became a bug buffet.  So, pack it up we did.  And were home by 9:30 with the thermostat in the car telling us it was well over 85 degrees out still.  Ick.  But, we DID sleep in the tent.  It totally counts as camping!

Now our entertainment consists of staying inside and playing Princess, Hunter, Beast.  It's kind of like rock, paper, scissors except Paul insists we stand facing opposite directions then jumping around to show...

Beast

Hunter

and Princess

Princess wins over Hunter, Hunter kills Beast, and Beast eats Princess.  Unless you play by my rules.  Then Dragon wins over all.  Don't worry, we'll make it through a full night of camping some night!

Exhausted

Dishes are piling on the counter.

The mail hasn't been sorted through in days.

Laundry hasn't been done in 3 weeks.

The weeds outside are growing taller than I am.

All signs point to....the start of the school year.  And this girl is absolutely exhausted.  I LOVE my job and wouldn't trade it for the world.  But, I put every ounce of energy into my day starting the minute I walk in the door.  So, in my classroom?  There's no laundry, dishes, or weeds.  All of my notes, papers, and projects are neatly organized and put away.  I can't stand it when my classroom's a mess.  Not to mention all of the teaching and learning that goes on during the day.  Our house on the other hand takes a quick turn towards trashed alley.  It's get cleaned up...later.  

I'm not complaining or asking for pity.  I promise.  It's just what's real right now so I'm sharing.  And warning you to stay away because under no circumstances am I allowing anyone in our house right now.  To those of you that have a key - you've been warned.

The end of the summer absolutely flew by.  I have no idea where August went other than most of it was spent at school at all hours of the day and when not there then in our newly created home office working on school items.  Time for a story.  When we got Millie we bought her a lion.  His name is Leo.  She has slept with him in her cage every night since the day we brought her home.  I started to get worried that if we ever lost Leo or he became broken we'd be in trouble.  So I bought another one.  And then another.  She now has 3 Leos that rotate their way into her nightly bedtime routine.  {And a few more stashed in the closet.  I'm a loving and prepared doggy-mommy.}  Ironically enough Leo is the only toy she has never purposefully chewed up.  Apparently all of these extras aren't necessary.  

So, to my point.  All of my back to school planning in August totally put a stop to Millie's daily routine of snuggles, walks, and belly rubs.  And, she totally let me know she was missing out.  While working one day I found this little friend in my tub of school work...

I also received many of these "What in the Hello Kitty are you doing staring at the

computer so much for?" looks...

Before school started and Paul started his first clinical we snuck in a few goodbye parties for PT school friends, campfires, an outdoor movie, and the Taste of Madison.  Last weekend we made our last trip of the summer to Appleton for Brittni and Scott's wedding.  We had SO MUCH FUN.  My voice is still hoarse from singing over the band {and the first week of school and my new-school-germs-cold.}  Unfortunately we never took a picture of our dressed up selves, but I do have this fantastic picture of us girls getting ready.

This summer has by far been our most favorite ever.  We had so much fun and made more memories than we ever could have imagined.  Though we're sad to see it go we're excited for what the rest of the year will bring and are happy to have a bit more of a regular routine, as crazy as it may be, back in our lives.  So for now we'll look forward to changing leaves, pumpkins, and cooler days and night.  Oh, and Thanksgiving.  I saw a Thanksgiving related recipe on Pinterest today and am totally craving Thanksgiving food.  And the best news of recent shopping adventures?  Candy pumpkins are back in stores.  I may have eaten an entire bag already.  They are my absolute favorite fall candy.

We Made It!

Paul is done with classes.  Forever and ever.  Except a few continuing ed classes he'll have from time to time.  But, in comparison to what he just went through - we're not counting those.  He took his last ever final on Thursday then celebrated with his class Thursday night.  

It's a bittersweet feeling knowing that the people you've spent every day with for the past 2 years are headed all over the country and you won't see many of them again until graduation, and some maybe never again.  Luckily a few will be in the area still and we have Facebook, email, and phones to help us stay connected!

I was busy sleeping when Paul took off for class Thursday morning, so I didn't get to take a picture of him on his last day of school like I'd hoped to.  But, I did manage to find this one from his first day of grad school.  I'm sure he'll LOVE me putting this on here.  

So, cheers!  Cheers to grad school being {almost} done!  Here are a couple more pictures from this week that I stole from PT friends.  Their celebration stop Thursday morning and a class picture.  

Happily Ever Afters

There's probably some unwritten rule about no longer celebrating the anniversary of when you started dating after you get married.  Too bad.  We're celebrating!  HAPPY 5 YEARS TO US!  We're spending the day doing a whole lot of nothing.  We did go for a run, but beyond that not much.  That's ok though - we wouldn't have it any other way.  

Flashback:  August 3rd, 2008

We've been busy celebrating other happily ever afters too!  Two weeks ago we we went to Appleton for the wedding of 2 of our great friends.  Remember this post?  The one where I explained how much I don't like summer heat and how it had been the hottest week of the summer?  Well, Mother Nature listened and provided us with WONDERFUL weather for J and Ashley's wedding.  70's and partly cloudy is my kind of day!  {I did still manage to get sunburned.  I told you the sun and I don't get along!}  We had a great time and were so happy to be there.  And, we got to spend the weekend with our friends Jenny and Tyler as well!

Last weekend I headed back to Appleton for my friend Brittni's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party.  She was one of my Bridesmaids and I feel super lucky to be one of hers as well!  We had some GREAT girl time at the hotel, dinner, and out that night.  

College roomies with the bride

Room Upgrade!  We've got an extra room, a whirlpool tub, and robes!

Ready for our night out!

Tonight, Paul is headed to the bachelor party of one of his groomsmen.  Yup, it's definitely wedding season!  {We're not going to talk about how it's already August and summer is ending way too quickly.  Nope, not doing it.}

Fun In The Sun

Actually, not much sun.  Just fun.  You see, the sun and I don't really agree.  I either end up with some kind of over-heated sick feeling, or a major sunburn.  So instead I layer myself in mega-proof sunscreen and stay in the shade as much as possible.  For short amounts of time.  And sometimes only at night.

Sun or no sun, we have been having fun!  We kicked off our 4th of July celebrations with my Mom's birthday.  Her birthday's the 3rd and every year she is absolutely convinced that the fireworks are for her.  I think it's safe to say I get my "birthday princess syndrome" from her.  My mom and I both have a great amount of love for our birthdays.  So, to celebrate we had dinner at our house then headed to Madison for Rhythm and Booms.  This year we tried a new super secret spot to watch the fireworks.  I won't tell you where it is because it was awesome and we had the place to ourselves.  If you promise to bring your own drinks and bug spray I might invite you along next time.  There was one other family there.  Until we started playing Heads Up.  It's kind of like charades, but the person guessing holds the iPad on their head and then it videotapes everyone giving the clues.  We have a video of the point in the evening when the other family there apparently decided we were too loud and left.  You can see them walking behind all of us in the video.  Whatever people, we were having fun and the fireworks hadn't even started yet!

We spent the 4th at the annual Jones family party - complete with parade.  The first couple of years I went the kids had bikes, scooters, and big wheels.  Now they have 4-wheelers, go karts, dirt bikes, Gator/Rangers, and...well...Paul's poor newly licensed still without a car cousin had her bike.  Luckily we came to her rescue with some pretty sweet signs that I think might have made everyone feel a little bit bad for her.  There are rumors about a Facebook group starting for donations.

 {I fought with the captions for over 30 min on these pictures and have no idea where they went.  So, in a nutshell:  Paul protecting himself from squirt guns and silly string, the start to the parade, grandpa bringing up the rear, the boys and their sweet rides.}

We took a trip to the Farmer's Market last weekend and ate the entire bag of cheese curds that we bought by mid-afternoon.  Oops.  They were SO GOOD!  And squeaky.  We also spent a couple of hours at Lake Wingra on a kayak.  I didn't take the camera with me for obvious reasons.  It's a lake.  Think about it.  I think it's safe to say that I am too nervous of a kayak rider {I didn't paddle much, so yes, rider.} to go kayaking again anytime soon.  The good news is it was only $5 with my college ID.  That I still have and take full advantage of whenever I can.

In our quest to participate in as many fun things Madison has to offer that we possible can we also met up with Paul's Aunt and Uncle for Concerts on the Square last week.  So much fun!  Nothing better than drinks and music.  I think we also picked the best week possible to go.  This week is about 20 degrees warmer and 500 times more humid.

This week is the first time in 14 years that my family is not headed to the Dane County Fair.  It seems a little strange to think that we won't be going, but by looking at the forecast I am ok with staying away.  This is once again going to be the hottest week in July, as it always seems to be.  Instead of standing next to hot furry animals, I am perfectly ok with staying in the comfort of our air conditioned house with a much smaller furry animal who enjoys the heat as much as her momma.

This weekend we get to go to the wedding of 2 of our very good friends.  I feel so honored to be part of their special day and can't wait to celebrate with them!  I just hope there's some shade...

Paparazzi

Our wedding day has come and gone, but we have some AMAZING pictures and videos to help us remember our special day.  We're still waiting on "final products", but we do have some previews to share!  We put all of these on Facebook, but in case you missed them here they are!  Unfortunately I can't figure out how to insert them right into this post so you'll have to follow the link.  They're worth the extra click though.  I promise!

Our videographers made a "Love Story" video.  We spent a day filming in the rain to share the story of how we met, started dating, and got engaged.  

Love Story Video

We absolutely love the wedding sneak peek video that they made as well.  Follow the link below to view it.

Wedding Video Sneak Peek

Our photographers worked SO HARD all day and well into the night.  We've had so many compliments on the photos we have so far and can't wait to see the rest!

Wedding Pictures

The photo booth had a line all night long.  We have some GREAT pictures in our scrapbook.  Take a look at all of the fun pictures that were taken!  Password:  Schlimgen

Photobooth Pics

THANK YOU once again to our awesome photographers from Red Wave Pictures and our awesome videographers from Vaughter Weddings Videography!

It Beeps

Millie and I are still fulling enjoying all of our naps.  The only problem {and not really a problem at all} is that it has totally thrown off my sleep schedule.  During the school year I HAVE to be in bed by 9:30 otherwise...forget it.  The next day is just not good.  BUT it's summer!  Even though I was up at 6:00 yesterday, I took a little nap and was happily awake until midnight.  My kind of night!

UNTIL.....BEEP!  You see, I'm a total chicken so my initial reaction included thoughts of bad guys trying to break into our house.  With beepers.  Paul assured me that it was probably just the smoke alarm with dying batteries and if it beeped again, we would change them.

I waited.  For at least 10 minutes.  And did not hear any other beeps.  So, I fell asleep.  I had dreams of staying in a hotel and the hotel workers changing beeping smoke alarms {not joking, I did}.  The beeps continued to take over my dreams until I woke up at 6:00.  With only 6 hours of sleep.  And even though it's summer that is just not enough sleep for me to function on.

So, I did what any good, responsible, nice wife would do.  I nudged Paul and told him to change the batteries in the smoke detector.  He had to be awake soon anyway.  When I thought he fell off the chair he was standing on I ran to check on him.  Actually no, I yelled from the bed to see if he was ok {he had just jumped, he was fine}....all the while listening to BEEP   BEEP   BEEEEEEEP.

He couldn't figure it out so he brought the dumb thing into the bedroom.  Prepared to show him that it's NOT THAT DIFFICULT to change batteries in a smoke detector I took it from him.  Hmmm...seemed a bit more tricky than I thought.  Don't worry - I'm smart.  So I looked up the owner's manual online.  No such luck.  For real?  Oh wait, the dog needs to be taken out.

Ok, smart, obedient Millie.  You've been going outside ON YOUR OWN for nearly a week.  We stand on the porch, she WALKS (that's important) into the yard, does her thing, and returns.  YAY!  Our dog is growing up!  This morning?  I stood on the porch, she RAN (bad sign) into the yard, chased some birds, started barking, jumped up on our neighbor's door, and looked at me with those "I dare you to try to come get me.  I'll run away if you do."  eyes.  So there I am trying my best to quietly (it's 6 AM!) get our dog to come back, still in my pajamas, beeping smoke alarm in hand.  No wonder the neighbors don't seem to like us...

{I promise, the end to this story is coming.}

So, I tried AGAIN to figure out where the darn batteries were on the smoke detector.  Then put it inside a cooler in the garage.  No joke.  Felt a little like Phoebe on Friends when she wraps her smoke detector in a blanket and throws it in the trash chute.  My dad's coming tonight for mom's birthday celebration.  He'll come to my rescue and fix it!  So, smoke detector in cooler...I'm going back to bed.

BEEEEP!!!!!  Are you kidding me????  It's IN THE GARAGE.  In a COOLER!  How on EARTH can I still hear that?  Paul's solution?  He'd take it to school with him and leave it in the car.  Love him.

But no, that does not solve the problem.  Even though I've only had 6 hours of sleep and the smoke detector has won up until this point I am smart enough to know that if the smoke detector is inside a cooler in the garage there is no way I should still be able to hear it that loudly.

So again, sleepy Paul to the rescue.  After explaining this to him about 10 times he comes up with a great solution.  "Maybe it's that other thing hanging on the wall."

You mean the carbon monoxide detector?

Yes, it was the carbon monoxide detector all along.  With easily removable batteries.

Don't worry, the smoke detector is no longer in the cooler and I'm going back to bed.

Video courtesy of You Tube

{Ignore the Chinese subtitles}

The 5 Greatest

Summer is FLYING by faster than I thought it would and way faster than I would like it to.  I know it's not even July yet, but it is the end of June which means that nearly 1 whole month is gone.  We have already had an awesome summer, and it's really only been 3 weeks!  The first week was the week of the wedding.  Does that even count as a week of summer????  I'd prefer to not ever re-live the craziness of that week, but I do have to say we handled it like champs and with minimal Bridezilla moments.  Thank you, color-coded checklist and schedule!  Week 2 was wedding recovery.  So many things to put away and organize.  {Which, by the way, I'm still not done with...oops!}  Not to mention an incredible amount of sleep to catch up on.  So really, this is the first week of my vacation and it's already almost July!  Point proven that summer is going by WAY too fast!

So, our 5 greatest moments this summer (so far).

1.  Our wedding.  Of course it was number 1 - I don't think this one needs much more explanation.  We'll share links to more photos and videos once we have them.

2.  Our very last minute mini-moon.  We still have high hopes of making it to Hawaii for an actual honeymoon sometime in the next year-ish, but for now the Wisconsin Dells had to do.  I think it was Wednesday when we decided that we needed a getaway and it was 20 minutes later when we realized that if we didn't go this past weekend we wouldn't get to go until August.  That's not even an exaggeration.  So, to the Dells we went!  It was the most planning I could handle in the shortest amount of time.  But, we were determined to make it awesome and awesome it was.  Shopping, dinner, and massages!  And, the cutest baby tiger cubs in the hotel lobby!

3.  Nightly porch time.  We made it our goal to spend time each night together hanging out on the porch.  It sounds lame, but it's the only time we get to spend away from the rest of the word.  Otherwise we're in front of a TV surrounded by phones, computers, homework, and not actually interacting with one another. This way we get to relax and have meaningful conversations.  And laugh at the dog barking at fireflies.

4.  Paul's school schedule.  I don't think many people realize how much time PT school demands of him...and us.  I know I've mentioned it before, but he totally impresses me with the amount of time he dedicates to school and how he's stuck with it.  I would have quit a LONG time ago if it were me.  In fact, I've threatened to quit many times and I'm not even the one in school.  BUT he attended his very LAST first day of school last week.  Luckily their summer class schedule is pretty sweet.  Home by noon Mon-Wed, and no class (for now) on Thursday and Friday.  We can handle that!  It's even better knowing we're this close to graduation in May!

5.  Naps.  Afternoon naps, morning naps, evening naps....naps whenever I want.  With or without the dog sprawled out next to me.  It's pretty awesome to get all of the extra snuggle time.

We're looking forward to many more top 5's as the summer goes on and can't wait to share them with all of you!


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It Was Perfect

From start to finish our wedding day was absolutely perfect.  We would not have changed a single thing and feel so lucky to have spent our day and night with so many wonderful family members and friends.

Our perfect family totally pulled through and ROCKED the set-up that was to be done on Friday.  They had over 200 chair covers and sashes ironed and placed on chairs by noon - well before I anticipated we would finish that job.  I hope someone took a picture of our ballroom surrounded by extension cords, irons, and ironing boards!

Our perfect wedding party helped to make our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner so much fun as they helped to take away some of the stress from the day.  The food was perfectly delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

I got to enjoy one last glass of wine with my sister and college roommates back at the hotel on Friday night.  It was the perfect way to celebrate my last night of single life in the same way we celebrated so many other important life events when living together.  Many laughs were had by all!

The actual wedding day went perfectly according to plan.  Everyone was where they needed to be, when they needed to be there.  We had everything we needed and if anyone forgot anything I never found out.  There were even a couple of points in the day that believe it or not, we were actually ahead of schedule!  Our wedding party, parents, and grandparents all looked amazing.  Paul and I?  We looked pretty amazing too!  :)  The ceremony went perfectly and so many people were there to witness the start of our new life together.

We had a blast taking pictures and the weather cooperated perfectly.  The forecast for the day said it was going to rain in the morning and at 3:00 - the exact times we would be outside taking pictures.  Instead it was the perfect temperature, a bit windy, and there were just enough clouds to keep us from having to squint from the sun.

The reception was beyond amazing.  It was exactly as we had dreamed it would be and yes, absolutely perfect.  We have an amazing scrapbook of pictures from the photo booth and the dance floor was packed all night.  Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and Paul and I had a blast.

THANK YOU to everyone who was there to celebrate with us, or had to celebrate from afar but was there in spirit.  Our wedding day was beyond perfect and we have all of you to thank.