Freerice

I went to freerice.com last night when I had a spare moment, and they've changed it a lot! Now it isn't just word definitions, they have languages, math, grammar world capitals, identifying famous paintings and chemical symbols, and you can change subjects and levels and it keeps your rice tally.

Also, I think the last time I posted about it, they gave 10 grains of rice for every correct answer. Its been 20 grains for awhile now, and hopefully with more subjects, they'll get more interest and more advertising and can do better!

There are approximately 7200 grains of rice in a cup, so start 'freericing'!

Where did our tiny little kittens go?

Can you tell which of these cats are the kittens, and which is Kiara, the 3 year old rescued stray? (Kiara is the one in the middle, Zoe on the left, Kya on the right). The kittens have gone through a sudden huge growth spurt! It seems like no matter how many times we fill their bowls, they're always empty the next time we go into the kitchen. Instead of scrawny little kittens, they have developed quite chubby bellies. They actually weigh more than Kiara now! (Kiara had a bad life before us, she lived in cage and most likely got less than adequate nutrition, so she is very petite and skinny.)

Kiara weighs 6.5 pounds, and the kittens have already passed 7! They're only 8 months old, they're quickly catching up to Ian, who weighs 10!

We have been posting some videos of the cats to youtube, if you want to check them out here.

This new video of Zoe is particularly cute. Click here.

A successful shower!

Yesterday, Belinda and I threw a baby shower for our friends Shante and Adam. It was so great! We went simple, just a couple of Its a Boy signs, flower bouquets on the tables, and I made little favors with Hershey's Hugs and Kisses wrapped in blue lacey stuff and tied with blue ribbon. We brought some food and some other women from the church made dishes to share. There was a LOT of good food! And instead of silly games, we passed around a book for everyone to write words of wisdom, and also had a blanket that had some stitching and some knotting to be done, and everyone worked on it together. 

Adam wanted a pirate theme for the nursery, so my mom made the cutest pirate cake, and we got a pirate hat and eye patch for Adam to wear at the shower (which he did, he's such a good sport!). Shante got to wear a Mommy To-Be sash and we got her a pretty corsage.  Adam and Shante had a great time and got lots of adorable stuff for baby Jeremiah!

1 year!

Well, we've been married for over a year now! In some ways it seems like we've been married forever, but it also seemed like the past year has gone by so fast and I can't believe its July again! We had a lovely anniversary, we began the day doing the things we love; Eric slept in while I went shopping with Belinda. 

After Eric woke up, we decided we should get it over with and eat our wedding cupcake that has lived in the freezer since the wedding. It was not good. We fed each other a bite, washed it down with lots of water, and threw the rest away. Its a cute tradition, but not a tasty one.

Later, we went to Volare for dinner, and it was sooooo yummy! We started with the Crudo, which was soo good! It was raw tuna with pepper on the outside, and in the center was a pile of avocado, capers, red onions, and some sort of little leaves. Then we had a salad with fresh parmesan, and then the paglia e fieno, which was pasta with chicken, artichokes, pinenuts, and tomatoes in a yummy sauce. For dessert, we ordered creme brulee. The waiter brought it with a lit candle in it and said he heard it was our anniversary, and that someone had anonymously paid for our whole dinner!!! We couldn't believe it! Whoever did that for us, THANK YOU SO MUCH! It really made our day!!!

   

   

We went to church, where the teachers have been meeting every other week to clean and organize (which was fun until we found we found chipmunk poo everywhere in the spare nursery and spent most of the evening sanitizing instead of organizing). Eric and Ron built a shelf in the old kitchen for all of the poster board and papers that have been in a giant heavy stack for decades. We're really making a lot of progress, I'm really excited!

After the cleanup my parents took us to Big Boy for dessert, and when we went home they had left a card and a bottle of champagne inside! We didn't get to drink it because Eric had to go to work, so we're saving it for another day.

Year 2, here we come!

My birthday!

Last Friday we went to Bahama Breeze for my birthday! A few people had to cancel at the last minute, but we still had fun. Eric got me balloons and cupcakes from Buttercream Bakeshop, Vlad and Brittney brought me flowers, and Sam got me a musical card and a gift card to Kohls (I got some cute clothes)! 

Bahama Breeze has such a fun summery atmosphere (although Vlad pointed out that it would be weird to eat there in the middle of winter) and the drinks were really good! I had a bahamarita, a pineapple-coconut martini, and a banana daiquiri, mmm! 

           

There is a movie theater right behind the restaurant, so we walked over and saw Wall-e, which was really cute. It was a fun night!

   

    

On my actual birthday, Eric woke me up with coffee and a cupcake with a candle in it. He got me a gps thing for my car!!! Its so cool! Too bad I don't have anywhere far to drive for awhile, but I've been using it on my drives to work! 

My mom had to leave for camp that day so we didn't do my birthday with them yet, but she did bring me a bag of tennis balls!

After church we walked down to the Thai restaurant by the lake and had some yummy food. The carnival was going on so we sat outside and ate and people watched. Then we bought tickets for the ferris wheel, which was SO cool to see Walled Lake from way high up! 

The white steeple in the top right is our church!

We went to my parents for dinner, and my dad made me a lovely dinner of Kana soup (soup from Kana), fish, and tater tots. Then we walked up to Dairy Queen and got some ice cream. They sang to me and I got to make a wish and 'blow out' a spoon standing up in my blizzard.

Well, time to go to Uncle Ricks! Happy 4th of July!

Grad School

I got my grades last night from my first graduate class at Walsh...

I got an A (98%)!!! =)

I signed up for BIT 541 - Electronic Commerce with Professor Ciaramitaro on Monday nights and BIT 551 - Database Warehousing with Professor Calvaneso on Thursday nights.

**Mr. Modest failed to mention that this 98% he just got was the highest grade in the whole class!**

Push ups

I've never actually been able to do 100 push ups at one time. Oddly enough, a few days ago I found the website http://www.hundredpushups.com. It has a 6 week, 3 workouts a week, plan for getting to 100 push ups.

I started on Sunday with the initial test and I was able to do a respectable 50 push ups.

Yesterday afternoon (my Tuesday morning) I completed day 1.
10 push ups - 60 second rest
10 push ups - 60 second rest
8 push ups - 60 second rest
6 push ups - 60 second rest
max - I made it to 30

I am looking forward to seeing my progress over the next few weeks. The program starts slow, but week 4-6 seem really tough...

Eric's graduation

Eco friendly baby

I just found a blog that showcases cute eco-friendly baby items from different websites. Its so cute! They did an entry about baby hats made from cashmere remnants, and kids shoes with recycled laces and recycled tire soles. 

www.greatgreenbaby.com

Poor Kitties

We got Kya and Zoe spayed on Thursday. They came through fine, and when we went to pick them up, our vet called us into the back room and said she wanted to show us something. There they were, laying so quietly together, so calm. She said "I thought you should see this now, since it won't last". She was right. As soon as we got them home and out of their crates, they started pulling at their stitches, so Eric watched them while I ran back up to the vet (luckily its only 2 minutes away) and got some cones for them to wear. They were not thrilled.

They have been healing well. Kya has been a little slower, but maybe she's the normal one, because the same day of her surgery, Zoe was running and jumping all over the place, being her usual trouble making self. Then last night, we noticed that even though she had her cone on, Zoe had discovered a position in which she could still reach the bottom stitch, and it was all puffed up. So this morning we took her back in, and they checked her incision and gave her an even bigger cone! Their stitches have to stay in until the 23rd, and since they keep picking, they're going to have to keep the cones on until then.