What a week!

Last weekend, Josh and I decided to take a quick trip to visit my parents in Cincinnati. My mom hasn't been feeling well lately so we felt like we needed to visit them. It is only a 5 hour drive but with Josh's schedule, we had to leave at 4pm on Friday and return on Sunday night. We decided to make it a surprise for my mom. Luckily, my dad was able to keep it a secret. (Even though he randomly asked my mom questions like, "Where do we keep the sheets and towels?") At least he was trying to be helpful! We had a really nice weekend visiting with my parents and Nick and Denise.

On Monday morning, my dad had to fly to Norwich for work which left my mom at the house by herself. She was still very "under the weather". After I called her in the morning, I felt very impressed that I should drive back down and take care of her. A few minutes later, Josh send me a message asking me if I would be able to take our friend James to the airport in Detroit. (His wife Mary was in labor out in California). Since this airport trip would take me an hour and a half closer to Cincinnati, I took this as a sign that I should be with my mom. I quickly repacked everything I had just unpacked and headed back to Cinncy. I love when you listen to your instincts. I arrived to my mom alone on the couch watching tv. She hadn't eaten all day, expect for some chocolate that was next to the couch, because she was too sick to make anything and of course she is too stubborn to ask for help. I committed to being her personal chef for the next few days making her cuisines like blueberry pancakes, grilled cheese, and homemade chicken noodle soup! We had as much fun as we could have under the circumstances. And, of course I forgot to take any pictures.

But here is a picture of the beautiful tulips Josh bought me this morning. He is a sweet husband!!

Street Hockey, and My Birthday

My birthday was a blast. We had dinner with friends the night before (which is a common occurrence since my birthday is on Valentine's day). After dinner everyone came back to our place for cake and ice cream. Guess where we got the cake from? JOSH MADE IT!! It was so much fun watching him bake. I kind of wish I had taken a video now. And the cake was delicious, I am a proud wife. I forgot to take a picture of the cake before we dug in. Josh also had flowers delivered. They still smell fantastic. On my birthday morning, Josh made me wait in the bathroom for a few minutes. I could hear him scurrying around the apartment. It had planned a scavenger hunt for me, which I love!! (Every year my dad always does a scavenger hunt on Christmas morning and it is one of the highlights of the day). He told me to start looking and I quickly found a Toblerone on the DVD player. I was super excited about this gift! He told me to keep looking. Josh has hid about 6 different kinds of chocolates and a card. What a great way to start the morning... eating chocolate! The weirdest part is Josh and I bought each other almost identical Valentine's cards. Obviously his was for "my wife" and mine was for "my husband" but the characters, words, and theme were almost identical. We agree we need to hang out with other people :)

We have gotten into playing street hockey with our other friends in the complex. The boys were throwing the football around one warm afternoon and suddenly came up with this genius idea to buy hockey sticks. Of course, Katrina and I thought they were silly and that hockey sticks would be a waste of money. But street hockey has turned out to be a lot of fun and quite the workout!

Warm weather in Michigan

Snow One Day... Spring The Next Day


50 degree weather in Michigan in February? Mother Nature, are you mad at us? If I promise to be good, will you please bring me some snow for my birthday!?

P is for Paperless Bill Pay

Paperless Bill Pay and Paper Reduction

My recommendation:

1. Open online accounts with all your major service providers (credit card companies, energy company, cell phone, land line phone, bank account monthly statements, etc., etc, etc.). All of these services and bills can be managed online at your convenience. Your mind can be at ease when you are on vacation. No need to worry about “Did that Visa bill arrive yet and when is it due?” Connect to the web, log onto a secure account, and view your account activity daily, weekly, monthly, or as often as you want. Many companies even offer an email reminder option so you don’t forget to pay your bills. Or you can just sign up for automatic withdrawal.

2. Stop junk mail. So much of our junk mail goes directly from the mailbox into the trash or recycling bin. Stopping all junk mail still leaves you the option of signing up for the mail you enjoy i.e. catalogues, magazines, coupons, etc.

3. Recycle paper- it is easy to throw paper into the trash. Once the paper is free from any personal information to eliminate identify theft, recycle it!

4. Avoid printing unless a hard copy is absolutely necessary

5. Reuse paper. Instead of using an entire sheet of paper to write down your grocery list, use a used envelope or a smaller piece of paper.

Here is what a few of your everyday companies have to say on the issue:

Verizon Wireless: “Switching to Paperless Billing has a positive impact on you and your world. For you, it is an easier, faster, and more convenient way to pay. And by signing up today, you will join us and millions of our customers in an effort to save trees and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

American Express: “By signing up for paperless statements and electronic billing, you can contribute to making Earth a much healthier planet simply by saving paper. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the pulp and paper industry is the single largest consumer of water used in industrial activities and the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter. If Americans saved all the paper and wood products we go through in a year, we could heat 50 million homes for 20 years. And just how much paper does the average American family discard annually? Approximately 2,460 pounds. By participating in something as simple as paperless billing, your impact can and will be felt.”

AT&T: “Save time and money; View and pay your bill in seconds, save on postage and supplies, no mail to open, no checks to write, and no stamps to buy. Reduce paper clutter, stacked mail and un-filed records. Help the environment and save some trees with paperless billing.”

Superbowl Fun

What a great Superbowl last night!! I didn't really care who won the game, although I was cheering for the Arizona Underdogs the entire game. After last years amazing game and celebrating the Patriots defeat, I was worried this Superbowl game would be a huge disappointment. Fortunately, the game was great but what was with those commercials? Maybe it was the fact that it was rarely quiet during the commercials but there wasn't a single commercial that stood out to me today. I did like the Coca Cola commercial with Troy Polamalu but only because it was a parity of the 70's Coca Cola commercial with Joe Green. The entire group got a kick out of the 3D series though. One of our friends stopped by a gas station on the way over and picked up a huge stack of 3D glasses. Not a bad Sunday evening. Now we are going through football withdrawal until Fall. Since I only took pictures during the 3D commercial, here is a picture of Josh scrapping off snow before school. We really love living in Michigan but what a difference in climate. In Dominica, Josh would have to stand under the air conditioner for several minutes before school. I think we prefer the snow!!