life & times

back

2009-07-07T20:09:00.002-05:00

We're back from our vacation. Insert sad face here.

We made it back in last night after a rough couple of days on the road. But, we made it all in one piece.

Pictures are uploading as I type, but it may be a few days before a dedicated post.

two

2009-06-30T08:02:00.008-05:00

I will...

Two years ago, on the most perfect day that ever was and in front of our family and friends, Matt and I joined our lives in marriage.

We exchanged promises. Vows of love on that day and for every day. Hopes for building a home full of love and peace together.

I gave everything to my best friend. And received the same in return. It truly was the most perfect day. The party we threw after it all wasn't too shabby either. Under a blue moon, we danced the night away. Even the local wildlife couldn't stay away!

It's been two years. And yet, it seems like it was almost yesterday. I am just as happy today as I was that day. Through these two years, we've seen ups and downs. Relished in the highs and supported each other through the lows. We've laughed, we've cried. We've been made all the better.

To my Matt: I love you. Then, today, always.

[ Photos by Melissa Plantz Photography ]

I am on Vacation!

2009-06-26T13:14:00.001-05:00

Or, not quite, but soon enough.

I am sitting here today, counting down the minutes until 5:30 rolls around and I can run outside and throw myself into the car as Matt rolls down the street and we can set our GPS to take us west. We are leaving tonight and I imagine Matt is frantically packing the car while I am at work. Yes, we're driving. All the way to Colorado. Gasp! Get over it. We do it every year. We haven't died and/or filed for divorce yet, so we must be doing something right!

You guys, I am so freaking excited. This is my first day off (aside from normal holidays like Easter (oh wait, that's on a Sunday) and Memorial Day) in 2009. This is practically a sin in my world. And, the fact that it's not just A day off but 10 glorious days of vacation makes me a little bit giddy. We're taking the dog. And the motorcycle. And our mountain bikes. It's our TWO YEAR anniversary. It's my dad's birthday. AND our friend Jayme who relocated to Denver last fall will be making an appearance for a few days! It's going to rock. Kick some serious bootay, if you will. Yes, I am excited.

So, this is Sierra, out.

See you on the flip side.

Overslept

2009-06-19T13:18:00.003-05:00

This morning, I overslept. The usual hour and a half that I spend getting ready in the morning turned into about a half an hour. UGH! I hate that. I hate scrambling in the morning and I hate being late. I have a very set schedule in the morning and I know exactly where I need to be and what I should be doing at each time. For instance, the time I woke up was the time I should already be starting to dry my hair.

Anyway, Matt was a saint and totally helped me out by making my coffee, breakfast and lunch. He doesn't drink coffee and doesn't know how to make it. But, he did. He also tried to make me PB&J for lunch. Which, REALLY? I hate PB&J. But, I intervened just in time and I ended up with Peanut Butter and Honey instead (which I love).

But the best part was that he even cut my sandwich in half for me. Too cute! I had a silly grin on my face during all of lunch because of it.

Oh, and I wasn't even late to work today. Magically (and through much prodding and help from my husband) I walked out of the door earlier this morning than I did yesterday.

on swimming

2009-06-11T11:41:00.001-05:00

Re: the swim. It's been tough so far, I won't lie. I won't say I hate it, because I don't. But, it's certainly the most difficult part of this triathlon that I'm up against.

I have good news and I have bad news.

The good news about my horrid swimming is that I've finally figured out what I am doing wrong. Which, in my opinion, is pretty huge. I can't improve if I don't know what to fix, right?

The bad news is that I cannot for the life of me fix it. I KNOW what I'm doing. I know what I need to do. I go over it in my mind. I practice standing in the pool, bent over in the water. I feel like I can do it. And then I start moving and I can't do it.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I can fix it, it's just much, much harder than I thought it would be.

I've been in the pool at 5:30 a few mornings a week. Each stroke, I am making a conscious effort and thinking about everything I have to do. I curse the swimmers that make it look so easy! This morning, however, I felt like I had improved since Tuesday when I last jumped in the water. I was really focused and there were a few moments in which swimming was actually kind of easy and fun. Of course there were many more of the typical Sierra Swimming Moments (SSM's if you will). The ones that I can only imagine cause the rest of the swimmers to stop in their lanes to gawk and possibly wonder if I'm drowning.

I take comfort in the fact that I know I can swim the distance needed. It may not be pretty and I may use a variety of different strokes, including backstroke, to get the job done. But I can get there. What I am worried about is getting through it with enough energy to still complete my bike and run. I absolutely cannot burn it all up on the swim and I refuse to let it happen. So, I will continue to work at it and eventually, I think I can get there.

Anyway, any sort of improvement in the swim at this point is a positive and while I still have a long way to go, I will take these baby steps and try not to run with them.

time to move the beast down the page

2009-06-10T19:45:00.006-05:00

Okay, it looks like the bat has been at the top of the page for long enough. Time to send him down. Unfortunately, it's going to be a few random thoughts flying through my head.

First of all, Matt and I spent last Friday night with our favorite couple, Larry and Renee. They are moving back to Kansas City at the end of the month. Actually, he already left Sunday and will come back at the end of the month to move everything with her when she is done working. While we knew that they would be moving at some point in the next few years, we were really surprised to hear that it was happening NOW. It was all so sudden. We could not be happier for them, as they have a great opportunity awaiting them, but I think I speak for both Matt and myself when I say that the selfish sides of us are really, REALLY sad. We are going to miss them so much!

That's about the extent of the sad stuff that I can post. I don't handle that well.

What in the bleep is up with the weather? It's JUNE, Wisconsin! Or didn't you get the memo? It's supposed to be warm and sunny. Not 50 degrees and cold. Let's get with the program, eh? I've got a farmer's tan that still needs evening out and my sanity depends on spending time at the lake.

Speaking of the weather, someone at work today told me that she heard from her sister who heard from her neighbor across the street who heard from his maid that saw on the news that we're not even going to get summer. Something about too many cold fronts coming through and it will never really warm up this year. I am too terrified it could be true to try to go and confirm this ridiculousness.

At least it looks like it will be nice on Saturday.

I'm about a week and a half into my official triathlon training. To be honest, it's really all that I have going on. There are days in which I'm all "YEAH! This is great. I can TOTALLY do this! I am sooooo going to own this!" and then there are other days in which I'm like "dude, this is going to kill me. For serious. Or, if it doesn't kill me, the next event will. WHAT was I thinking?!?!". I realize that I'm going to have good days and bad days. And, some of the events (ahem, running, biking) are much easier than others (swimming, I'm looking at you). It truly doesn't matter if I'm good at running, because I have to get through the swim and bike before that. This has all confirmed what I've read over and over that 1+1+1=1 when it comes to triathlon. It's so true and I find myself having those "AHA!" lightbulb moments during my training.

I have an appointment tomorrow with a personal trainer at the gym. My membership came with a few free sessions and I decided to take them up on it. I'm not really sure what I'm hoping to get out of it, but I did tell them that I'd like to begin some sort of weight routine. I really think that lifting regularly will help me overall, not just with my training. I just hope she doesn't kill me. My appointment is after work, but I will have already gotten a swim in before work, so we'll see how I feel. I've also requested The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess from the library. It's received rave reviews on a few of the forums I lurk on, so I figured I'd at least thumb through it.

We're going on vacation in a little over two weeks! I'm pretty freaking excited if I may be so bold. We're loading up the car and trailer with our dog, our mountain bikes and the motorcycle and heading west to Telluride. We will be gone for 10 glorious days. Who knows, maybe I won't come back. No, I'm kidding. Of course I'll come back. Or am I?

a visitor

2009-05-31T21:14:00.001-05:00

Today, Matt and I went out to the lake house, much like any other weekend. We rolled up, unlocked the door and went inside. Indy was running around outside, I went to put my things in our room and Matt started opening up the blinds.

My husband is a brave guy. Bugs and creepy crawlies do not make him squeamish. This is one of the reasons I like him, I'll be honest. So, when I heard him scream from across the house, I immediately knew that something was not right. And, while bugs and creepy crawlies don't make me terribly squeamish either, I was not about to run right over to see what the cause of his outcry. It didn't matter much as he began calling for me while coming over to me.

"I need your help."

"After hearing that scream? No thanks, I'll pass." [laughing]

"No, really. I need your help. We have a visitor. It's small and furry."

"Augh! In that case, no, I REALLY don't want to help!" But, my curiosity is totally getting the best of me. "Wait, no, what is it? Where is it? Can I see it? No, just kidding! I will NOT help you. Okay, fine, I will. Let's see what it is."

Matt pointed me in the right direction and I crept over to the corner.

"What is it, Matt?"

"It's a bat."

"A WHAT?!?!"

[Totally freaked out]

So, what happened was this: The bat was on top of the blinds, somewhere. When Matt opened them, it fell ON HIM and then landed on the ground. He thought it was dead because it didn't move. Nope, not dead, just sleeping. And then suddenly very, very awake.

Wait. Wow, this would be a good topic for a blog post. I wonder if Matt will think I'm really weird for thinking that, of all things, right now. "Can I take pictures of it???"

"Uh, sure. But be quick."

We took the bag off of him and he bared his teeth at us, ready to pounce and eat us. It sent me screaming into the back hallway like a little girl. I am not making this up.

Here, let me show you a close up of this beast. Please note the spider in the background as well.

I'm pretty sure he was actually really scared and did not, in fact, care much about eating us. Matt grabbed some grilling tongs from the kitchen. What he planned to do with those, I haven't the fainest clue. But, it didn't seem like it would work. We trapped him with a plastic container, which he really did not care much for.

I was alternating between wanting to get good pictures and freaking out and running away screaming. It was quite the sight, I'm sure. Oh, and did I mention that Indy was outside going nuts?

I got this last final video of the thing only because my pictures did not capture the truly creepy sound Mr. Bat made while trapped. Seriously, he was freaked the heck out! Yeah, I'm a jerk. But, really, listen to that noise and tell me it's not creepy!

At this point, I actually really started to worry about the bat and how scared he was. I didn't want to hurt him and I wanted to make sure he would be okay. Bats don't come out in the day. Will he be able to see? Will he be blinded by the sun and die? Has it been starving and stuck in the house for weeks? The animal lover in me came out in overdrive and I was really, really worried for him.

I am happy to report that we got the bat outside just fine. We set him on the table where he sat for a moment before flying off. In my head, he said "thanks you guys for saving me and not killing me!" as he flew off. But, in reality, he probably totally has us marked for certain death the next time we come near that house.

seriously, blogger?

2009-05-31T21:12:00.003-05:00

I've got an awesome post that just wouldn't be complete without the accompanying video. Why should it have to take me over an hour to upload said freaking video??? Ugh! Is it really too much to ask?

Update: Ah, FINALLY! Please see above.

eleven weeks

2009-05-30T08:49:00.001-05:00

The triathlon that I want to do is in 11 short weeks. The training plan I've been loosely following with the promise that I will start to follow it religiously once it is the appropriate time away from the race is an 11-week plan. That means that if I want to do this, I need to start Monday. Um, what?

A part of me is regretting this crazy decision right now.

It's crunch time. Do or die. Or whatever other silly expression you want to insert here.



Long Weekend, Short Week
2009-05-28T20:58:00.004-05:00
The good thing about long weekends is that, well, they're long. The other good thing is that the following week is short. The bad thing is that it seems to fly by and before I could blink or take a breath, it's already Thursday evening. You win some, you lose some. Really, I don't mind and kind of would like to work 4-day weeks every week.

So, let's see, what did we do on our awesome long weekend? For starters, I ate. A lot. My entire weekend seemed to have revolved around eating.

My parents rolled into town sometime in the early morning hours on Friday. I was lucky enough to get out of work early on Friday afternoon and that, combined with the long weekend ahead, just about saved my life. We met up with my parents, my grandmother and Matt's parents for dinner at the Bavarian Inn. Have you ever been? It's like a walk back in time and Matt and I always joke that we're the youngest people there. Is it really a joke if it's true though? We happen to really like their Friday Fish Fry and German beers. The polka band is only an added bonus.

Saturday, I woke up and went for a run, which was the only physical activity I've had in the past six days now. We took my mom and dad to the Maharaja for their kick ass lunch buffet at which I managed to put myself into a food coma with very little effort. It's just all so good! The weather on Saturday wasn't the greatest around these parts, so we spent the afternoon driving my parents past our dream houses and introducing my dad to some of our favorite neighborhoods. We ended up at Matt's parents' house and stayed there for several hours. Matt had made pulled pork shoulder for dinner Saturday night. You may find it interesting to hear that even I had some. I can eat some pretty strange things, but you put barbecue sauce on just about anything and I'll eat it. Including meat!

On Sunday, we were determined to get out to the lake. The weather seemed iffy, but we decided to go for it regardless. I am SO glad we did. It was FREAKING GORGEOUS out in Oconomowoc! It was easily 15 degrees warmer out there than it was at our house--it really is cooler by the lake! We didn't have any of the boats in the water yet, but we enjoyed just sitting out in the sun, eating and drinking. I scored myself a rockin' farmer's tan on my arms. Indy had a ball and jumped off the pier into the water approximately 1,842 times. To say she was exhausted at the end of the day is an extreme understatement. My dad had never been out to see the lake house, so I was pretty excited that he finally got to see it, even though it wasn't quite all ready yet. We grilled brats that night (not brats for me!). Delicious!

On Monday, I could not have been happier when my alarm went off bright and early as usual and I got to turn it off and then go back to sleep. It was pure heaven! The weather looked pretty nice again, so we decided to go to the lake again. Matt's sister met us out there and we were a little more productive than the day before and we got both wave runners and the ski boat in the water. We went out on a cruise around the lake to really show my dad where we spend our summer weekends. The weather really was in our favor and we totally lucked out. It started to sprinkle just as we were closing up the house to go home. I scored myself a rockin' spider bite on the back of my leg.

We definitely ate a lot, but I was quite surprised to step on the scale Tuesday morning and only see it up 3 pounds. For me, that's nothing considering my weight fluctuates about 5 pounds each day. It just completely killed my get up and go and I've been a lazy blob all week.

And, back to that spider bite. I noticed a bump on the back of my leg on Monday afternoon and, out of habit, immediately started poking at it. Monday night, I looked at it and saw that it was red with bruising in a ring around it. Not really thinking, I figured it was bruised because I was poking at it and/or I bumped it. I mean, let's be serious, I'm always covered in bruises that I don't remember getting so the fact that I had a bruise was hardly earth shattering. Tuesday at work, I happened to be using the restroom and noticed it again (had totally forgotten about it) and thought hmmm, it's really bruised, I bet it's a spider bite. I did what any logical person would do and WebMD'd it. Have you ever punched your symptoms into WebMD? It will tell you you're dying, every time. The pictures of the spider bites that came up were NOT something I wanted nor needed to see during lunch and only convinced me I had been bitten by a black widow and I was sure to die or, at the very least, lose my leg in a matter of moments. Since it is now Thursday and I've neither died nor lost my leg, I am happy to report that, while the bite is still there, it has not gotten worse. Success! Unfortunately, the farmer's tan has not seen such improvement. I guess it's a good thing that our dress code at work doesn't allow us to wear sleeveless shirts.

Unfortunately, as I'm sure you've noticed, this post contains approximately no pictures to prove my weekend was as awesome as I claim. You'll just have to take my word for it. The camera works, I had it with me, but I didn't use it.

It was tough going back to work after such a great weekend. I had so much fun seeing my parents again--I just wish they'd come visit more often! And, this weekend really got me itching for summer and I can't wait to spend as much time as I can out at the lake.


wears a lot of black
2009-05-17T15:19:00.003-05:00
This past week, all I wore to work was black. Monday, I wore black pants and a black cardigan. Tuesday, I wore black pants and a black sweater. Wednesday, I wore grey pants and a black sweater. Thursday, I wore black pants, a black and white shirt and a black cardigan. Friday, I wore tan pants and a black shirt. Anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

And, it's not just this past week. It's every week. I own a few pieces of color here and there, but the majority of my wardrobe consists of the following colors: black, grey, white, black, black, blue, black. I try to add in some color, but even at the store, I gravitate toward the blacks. I do feel like I can wear my black clothes more frequently and it won't be as noticeable. Whereas if I wear something bold on, say, a Tuesday and then again the following Monday, people might whisper and say "she just wore that not even a week ago". Since black is so basic (see also: boring), I feel like I can get away with the repeats more often. Right? So, what I'm really saying here is that I'm lazy when it comes to putting together something to wear.

Sure, black is classic, black is slimming, black goes with everything, blondes look good in black and everything else you've ever heard about it. Those are all excuses. The real story is that black is easy.

But, really. Sometimes, I need easy, so I take it where I can get it.


I love him!
2009-05-13T19:52:00.004-05:00
Today, I came home to this:


Pretty spring flowers from my hubby! Say it with me: awwwwwwww. A lot of the flowers have yet to open up--tulips and irises, mostly--and, apparently, the woman at the shop claims this bouquet should last for a few weeks [we'll see]. I also LOVE hydrangea* and couldn't stop staring at it.

My husband rocks. I love him.

___________________
*It was formally decided (just tonight, of course) that my "real" house will have hydrangea bushes outside of it. Because I can.


to tri or not to tri?
2009-04-30T19:33:00.001-05:00
There it is. The question that I've been battling for the past several months. Remember my goal? This is it.

I have absolutely no idea how the idea to even consider a triathlon entered my mind. I can't remember. It's almost as if I woke up one morning and said "I want to do a triathlon" and suddenly, it's all I can think about. I vaguely remember thinking that this was a better goal to strive for than agonizing over the number on the scale.

Obviously, I am not considering anything more than a sprint. I guess when this "plan" (if we can even be so bold as to call it that) formed in my crazed brain, it began as "I am going to do the Danskin Women's Triathlon". A sprint that is women only seemed like the perfect environment for  a first-timer. Plus, a half mile swim, 20k bike and a 5k run? I can do that. Right? If JLo can do it after having twins, I can do it. I'm not going to fool myself. My goal is just to finish. Of course, I'd love to not come in last and a time under two hours would be excellent, but I would settle with finishing.

The run part, I can do. I've been running regularly for the past few months. And, I actually enjoy it, which is a complete surprise to no one more than me. The bike part, I can do. Twenty kilometers is about 12.5 miles. I can do it. Now, the swim part? That's more of a problem. My swimming skills are, oh, non-existent. This is a little bit of a problem considering that a triathlon is SWIM, bike, run. So, I sort of need to complete that first part to even be able to do the bike and run parts.

Clearly the biggest obstacle to the swim part is that I need a place to do it. I live in Wisconsin and I'm a realist, so outside is definitely not an option. That leaves inside. In a lap pool. Unfortunately, for me, swimming laps absolutely TERRIFIES me. To the point that the thought of it makes me want to scrap this entire crazy plan. Sure, I can swim. If by swim, you mean save myself from drowning. I can scuba dive and that requires swimming. I had to swim 200 meters to even get certified, so I can swim. I'm just not good.

I've dug up a few training plans that I like and I think this 11-week training program from trinewbies.com seems best for me. I also have found beginnertriathlete.com to be a good source.

I am still not sure on which race I want to commit myself to. I had originally planned on Danskin. I've just heard great things about the course and the event. And, in the past, it's been held in mid-July, which seemed perfect. In the beginning I also considered the Devil's Lake Triathlon, in September. For even a few crazy days, I thought to myself that I could do Danskin in July and if I loved it, I could maybe do Devil's Lake too. Unfortunately, Danskin isn't until September 27 this year. Which is the same date as the Race for the Cure that I do every year. If it wasn't the end of September and the weather that time of year wasn't so iffy, I would probably bail on the Race and do Danskin. I am also looking at the Spirit of Racine Women's Tri on my birthday weekend (which is really beginning to push it if I go with that 11 week training program) and the Pleasant Prairie Triathlon in August that is on the same course as Danskin. There are a few others around the state that I've considered, but, like I said, I just can't commit.

In addition to all of the concerns I've already expressed, there are a million more that torment me daily. Do I really want training to take over my life? What if the race comes and I don't feel ready? I've never done this before, how will I know what to do? What if I panic during the swim and burnout before I even get on my bike? What should I wear for this? How will I handle the transitions? I am going on vacation for 10 days a few weeks before Spirit of Racine, will that totally screw up and ruin all of my training?

What do you think? Can I do it? Should I do it? Should I stick to running for a while? Has anyone done any of these races and can offer some words of wisdom or advice?


alive
2009-04-29T21:32:00.005-05:00
I'm still here. Still alive. Work and life and everything have just been crazy busy right now and blogging hasn't been top priority. I don't ever want blogging to feel like a chore that I must do. So, if it does, I just won't. I really can't believe May is just about here. But, that's totally fine with me, as I've never been much of an April fan anyway.

Otherwise, here are some random thoughts from the last few weeks:

-OMG, has spring finally come to Wisconsin? Last Friday, the temperatures were in the 80's, which, if I may be so bold, I would say is almost surpassing spring and going right on to summer. We pulled the bikes out and went on a long ride Friday evening after work and it was glorious. I've heard mumblings from the family that it won't be long before the pier goes in the water!

-Indy has a hurt paw. She ripped the pad on her front foot to shreds playing fetch a few weeks ago and is riding out the recovery period in a state of anger and pent up aggression. We've tormented her by making her our entertainment and do tricks for us. She can now roll over without even being asked.

-I think I kind of want an iPhone. I know, I know, I don't need one. That's why I said I want one. We have a small tax refund coming our way (before July, maybe? That's what we get for filing on April 14th) and it could be going to the iPhone fund.

-Have you seen the new show Pitchmen? It's Billy Mays! Tell me you don't want whatever that man is selling. Anyway, we're watching it tonight and they're trying out all sorts of infomercial products. I do love me some infomercial products. I have been known to happen upon the As Seen on TV aisle at CVS quite often. My favorite is the one that keeps the sharks away. They're testing it out while throwing chum in shark infested waters all while a warning that says "WARNING: DO NOT THROW CHUM IN WATER WHERE SWIMMERS ARE PRESENT! IT IS VERY, VERY DANGEROUS!". Um, duh? The only thing this show is missing is the SlapChop guy (I really wish I could say "stop having a boring tuna, stop having a boring life" more often without getting weird looks).

-In an attempt to save money and eat healthier, I have gotten really into making lunch each day for work (instead of taking a frozen meal or leftovers). Just about every day, lunch has been really, really good and I've spent the majority of the morning in anticipation of lunch and the rest of the afternoon relishing how good it was. Yeah, so maybe that makes me a dork. So what?

-Do you know what a Monchichi is? I didn't. I had seen them before, but didn't know what they were called. Man, did I feel dumb today when a coworker was talking about them and I just gave her a blank stare. Now I know. What else did I miss out on as a child?

That's my list and I'm sticking to it. If anything else happened in the past few weeks, it clearly wasn't earth shattering as I certainly can't remember it. I welcome you with open arms, May!


2009-04-12T09:15:00.003-05:00
Why did the Easter Bunny hide the eggs?

Because he didn't want anyone to know he was messing around with chickens.

Happy Easter!


One of the Best Things to Happen to Me Since the Internet
2009-04-05T19:31:00.005-05:00
Well, maybe not that extreme. But it's a good thing that's happened nonetheless.



I have discovered (and given into) Peapod. And, friends, it is magical.

For those of you not familiar, Peapod is a grocery delivery service. You visit their website, stock your cart, choose a delivery time and checkout. At some point during your selected delivery time, a friendly driver arrives at your door with your groceries. Walla! Groceries without ever having to leave the house! Now, I ask you, is this NOT awesome? Of course it is.

I really, really strongly dislike grocery shopping. I would even go so far as to say I hate it. As soon as I get to the store, I want to leave as quickly as possible and often forget half of the things on my list. This only upsets me further because it means I will have to go back. The aisles are tight, some items are hard to find and fighting for a parking spot on Sunday afternoon is an absolute nightmare.

We have periodically been receiving mailings from Peapod with tempting coupons and special offers, all of which promptly went into the trash. I mean, really, how lazy and/or busy do you really have to be to need a grocery delivery service? Yet, the idea was somewhat tempting. After one especially busy and stressful week in which I refused to deal with the grocery store and we starved as a result, I caved and decided to check it out. Just to see what it was like. I promised myself that I would give it a fair chance, but if it didn't work out, I wouldn't force it and I would continue doing my regular grocery shopping. I was most nervous about the produce, as I tend to pick through each and every piece to find something that I approve of.

I placed my order online and was pleased with the user-friendly interface. It was very easy to search for items as well as to browse the aisles. I picked a delivery time, entered my new customer coupon information and hit checkout. Of course, in true Sierra fashion, I forgot a few things. No worries! Up until 11PM the night before delivery, I could go in and add or remove items and make changes to my order.

The next day, our friendly delivery driver showed up within the first 10 minutes of our delivery window. As we unpacked, I thoroughly inspected our items and was very pleased with everything.

Since then, I've ordered from Peapod a second time and it was just as great as the first. While I am currently getting free delivery due to being a new customer, I feel that the delivery fee is worth my sanity and the convenience.

A few more things I like about Peapod: The site docks your cart on the side of your screen so you can see a running total of your groceries (helpful if you are watching costs). They have lots of specials and sales as well as their own generic brand which has some good stuff. They also accept manufacturer coupons. They carry a wide variety of brands and products, including many "local favorites". So far, I haven't noticed that the prices were wildly off base from our local Pick N Save. Most delivery times are two-hour blocks of time, with discounts available for some of the less popular times. There is also a four-hour block that is the cheapest. Then, on the morning of delivery, you get an email, phone call or text message (whatever you prefer) letting you know the two-hour window in which to expect your driver. We actually picked this option the first time and it worked out perfectly.

I really never thought I would be someone who would opt to have a grocery delivery service in my life (really, it seems so frivolous), but I am. And I really, really love it.


Our House, Part Four: After...and Beyond
2009-04-04T09:40:00.005-05:00
(Parts one through three can be found here)

The walls were painted, the floors were sanded and finished, the kitchen was (almost) done. We were all moved in. Of course, we still needed some new furniture for the living room and dining area, but what we had would work for a while.

Once we were settled, we invited Helen over to see what we had done. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she really liked it. Helen approved! Over the next few months, I came to understand Helen a little better. I was not working and was home most of the time. She would invite me over, just to chat. I could tell that she was lonely and liked having someone to talk to. She wasn't so bad after all. Sure, she usually forgot to pay rent until mid-month, parked her car in the middle of the garage so that we couldn't use it, and left her garbage on the back step where animals would ravage it, but we actually kind of liked her. Unfortunately, she didn't live in our house for long after we moved in and we had to find new tenants that May.

Since then, we've had two fabulous couples live next door. The first stayed for two years and we really enjoyed having them. They became engaged there and we attended their wedding last fall. When we heard they were moving, we were a little sad to see them go. Fortunately, she worked with someone who was interested and we ended up with new tenants. It was so easy. This couple is equally as great and have also recently become engaged in our house (we've decided it's good luck). I know that, as landlords, we're bound to have our share of bad luck with tenants, but so far, it's been great.

Anyway, back to the house. There will always be projects we want to complete here. A big one on our list is to remodel the upstairs bathroom in our unit. We did the tenants' bathroom last summer and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous of it. The former resident of our home must have decided that the tile in the bathroom was ugly. So, he did what any normal person would do and painted it. Yes, we have tile that is painted white in our bathroom. The paint is, as I'm sure you can imagine, peeling and lifting up in places, so it really does need to be redone. Some of the less exciting projects to be done are new gutters and a new roof sometime in the next 5 years or so.

I'll end this post with pictures of the house from move in. Since these pictures were taken, we've done even more updating, rearranging (mostly in the office) and decorating and the house generally doesn't look at all like this. (I kid, it sort of does.)

    
  

    

    
(This last picture if of something we found in the garage post-Helen. We found it absolutely hilarious that our old lady had something like this and we made up several stories as to how or why she would have had it. Yes, we still have it.)

We love this house and hope to be able to keep it and rent it all out even after we move on to bigger and better. I love that we took this house and made it our home. It's been so good to us and though I've been known to curse it, I really have loved living here. It's home.



itch
2009-03-24T18:35:00.001-05:00
It's official. I have it.

Every year, around this time, I feel a very strong, undeniable itch. An itch to get out and go somewhere warm. I survived the winter and I need a reward, dangit!

Winter for me goes something like this:

November (yes, it really does start that early): OMG! Yay! Winter is almost here! It's so pretty!

December: Snow! Christmas! Pretty! Ski vacation! The snow is SO PRETTY!

January: I'm back from vacation. The snow is still kind of pretty. But, it's really cold. And, I'm sick of shoveling. And, it's only January.

February: This sucks. It's cold. It's snowy. Why can't it be summer? I just want to run outside. Is that too much to ask?

March: THIS REALLY SUCKS. It's supposed to be SPRING. Why is it still so freaking cold out? I'm so over this crap! I hate everyone I know who is going on or talking about their warm weather vacations while I'm stuck here.

April: Ok, SERIOUSLY. Why isn't it summer yet? [ Dead ]

Okay, so that may or may not be a little overdramatic, but I think you get it.

Last year, I had an awesome vacation to Jamaica that totally scratched my itch. Unfortunately, this year, due to new jobs and something about lack of vacation time, I have nothing. The best I can do is reminding myself that in two months, it will be May and that means almost summer.

Do you get the itch? How do you scratch it?


Our House, Part Three: During
2009-03-21T10:30:00.000-05:00
(Parts One and Two can be found here)

We started out this home improvement adventure with, what else, a trip to Home Depot. And then Lowe's. Because, what home-related project would be complete without visiting both? Multiple times, I might add. In addition to renting the huge floor sander, we also bought plastic (I use the term Visqueen--it's like BandAid), tape, hand sanders, sanding pads, mops, polyurethane, spreader thingies (technical term), more tape, knee pads, eye protectors, face masks, extension cords, lights, sandpaper and probably a lot of other things I'm forgetting. Luckily, we had two Shop Vacs on loan, so we were set there.

We put plastic up over all of the windows and light fixtures and created a plastic curtain to separate the kitchen from the rest of the house. And we went to work. We used the large sander for the majority of the floor and hand sanders for the corners, edges and really tough spots that needed extra work. Years and years of grime, old floor finish and who knows what else had really taken their toll on our floors. Like any home project, it took longer than expected. There was sawdust everywhere. I spent a lot of time vacuuming every surface to keep it from building up.



When the floors were finally sanded down, they really did look much better. It was expected that there would be parts that we couldn't make perfect, but overall we were pretty happy with the end result.



The timeline of what happened next is kind of fuzzy in my memory. I'm really not sure what happened first or how everything played out.We were still debating about the kitchen and whether or not we should just do it.

We couldn't finish the floors until all of the dust was cleaned up. We wanted the house to be as clean as possible when we spread the polyurethane so that we wouldn't end up with crap stuck to our floors. We mopped and vacuumed, mopped and vacuumed. I also think we started to paint before we sealed the floors. Our reasoning being that if we did happen to get paint on the floors, we could still sand it out. Actually, now that I think about it a little more, that is exactly what happened.

I was upstairs, prepping one of the bedrooms for painting. Matt and Jayme were downstairs. I heard a loud bang come from the kitchen, followed by a crash. I ran downstairs to find part of the kitchen counter ripped off. And so began our kitchen remodel. Apparently, Matt had decided that he couldn't live without a dishwasher and made the move toward getting one installed. Part of me thinks that the boys were just really antsy to do some demolition work. I really wasn't too upset. In all of our debating back and forth over whether to do it or not, we always came up with many more reasons why it would be better to do it sooner rather than later.



The next few weeks, we spent every waking hour working on the house, thinking about the house or shopping for stuff for the house. We were on a first name basis with the staff at Home Depot and Lowe's. We felt we didn't really have time to eat and spent weeks eating junk. Junk on paper plates and with plastic utensils because our only sink was in our powder room and I wasn't doing dishes. We ate sitting in our camping chairs in the middle of our torn up house. It was nothing if not glamorous.

 
 

For some reason, everyone we ran across seemed to feel sorry for us. We got a lot of "you look tired"s and "oh, how's the house going?" in that tone that makes it seem like someone died. But really, we were tired. It was hard work. Thinking back on it, it doesn't really seem like that much, but at the time, I know I was overwhelmed and everything seemed to take much longer than planned.

I had painted rooms before, but I don't remember it being so much work. I HATED it. I thought it would be so much fun, but it wasn't. It sucked. It doesn't matter if I like the colors I picked or not, because I don't plan on repainting anytime soon. (Luckily, three years later, I'm still happy with them.) This was where we really cracked the whip on Jayme. He's about 2'6" taller than either Matt or me, so he helped with all of the high and hard to reach parts. Instead of dragging my ladder all over the house, I just called Jayme. It worked out much better that way.

 

When I was (finally) done painting, we got to refinish the floors. That was a glorious day because it meant we didn't have to work the next day so that we could let it cure. I'm pretty sure we celebrated our day off by going to bed at 7PM that night. The floors turned out great. Even though we'll always have scratches and portions that couldn't be sanded out, I am amazed at how much better they looked afterward.

After several hours at the Lowe's Kitchen Design Center, we ended up with cabinets that we love. Although the jerks posing as delivery men and I had obvious difference in opinions on how my cabinets should be handled, they made it into our home with little trouble.

 

Fortunately for us, the stove in the home was brand new, never used. We weren't horribly excited about having to buy all new appliances, but we absolutely did need a new refrigerator. When we moved in, our original plan was to spruce up this unit and then in a year when Helen's lease was up, kick her out and move to her unit and remodel it as well. Her side is a little bigger, with a better kitchen layout. We were planning on buying matching appliances (duh), but when we found an awesome stainless fridge for a great price, we couldn't pass it up. We decided to buy it, live with it not matching and then take it with us when we moved across the hall. It is really annoying to me that our appliances don't match, so I constantly feel the need to explain why.



Matt also took it upon himself to surprise me with a brand new washer and dryer for Valentine's Day. You know you're getting old when this is exciting. I don't even care though because I LOVE them. My clothes have never been cleaner  and supposedly they save water and energy. It's nothing short of magic that it uses less water and gets my clothes cleaner. Oh, W&D, I can't wait for the day that you can be showcased in your own beautiful laundry room and not a dark basement.



And then there was Helen. Bless her heart, she was so sweet, but we really found ourselves trying to sneak around so she wouldn't know we were there. Every time we showed up at the house, she had a honeydo list for us. Could we help her reach this? Could we help her do that? She couldn't walk in the snow to the garbage, so if she left her trash on the back porch, would we mind taking it out for her? She was having out of town guests come and would we mind tidying up the front entry area? Would it be okay if she took it upon herself to do the tidying since we seemed to be so busy? I know that this makes me seem like a witch. I really had absolutely no problem helping out our elderly tenant. Taking her trash out for her was really no problem. It was just the way in which she seemed to rely on us so much that made me slightly nervous about the next year of living next door to her.

Somehow, we managed to get it all done. I don't know how, but we did. Of course, it wasn't 100% finished when it was time for us to move, but it was livable. And, by livable, I mean we had a working kitchen. There was still a little bit of painting I needed to finish, but I figured I could take a weekend and bang that out.

This house project turned out to be quite the adventure. We had several arguments and a few emotional breakdowns, but we also shared a lot of laughs and it really was a learning experience. I can't say I would ever want to do it again, but I'm glad we did it.

We moved at the end of February. On what is otherwise known as the day that I froze and died all at the same time. Jayme happened to be moving the same day, so we had the brilliant idea to load up our trailer at our apartment, take it to the house and dump it, go to Jayme's house, load up the trailer again, take it to his new apartment and dump it. Somehow our friend Abby got roped into the deal as well. However, it seemed to work out just fine until we got to Jayme's new apartment and that's where we all fell apart. It was a third floor walkup. At the end of the day with heavy furniture. Need I say more? Several of us would lose stuff on the way up and we'd find them on the way back down. I am sure Jayme understood when we all said we'd never help him move again.

We took a few more days to move the little stuff and get unpacked and moved in.

And suddenly, it was home.


New Season, New Header
2009-03-21T09:51:00.004-05:00
With Spring's official arrival, I figured it was time to move past Winter.

Let's hope the weather in Wisconsin decides to do the same. We were taunted with record highs on Tuesday followed by temperatures back in the 30's again. It's supposed to be warmer today, so here's to hoping it sticks.

If you feel so inclined, come on out from behind your Google Reader and check it out.


Dear REI,
2009-03-18T19:58:00.004-05:00
I like you. Like, really like you. I like to spend lots and lots of money at your store. If I were independently wealthy, I would likely own one of everything you carry.

Yet, that's not my point. My point is, every year I look forward to receiving my dividend. I always have a running list in my mind of things I would like to buy and, since I can sometimes be a tightwad, I use my dividend as an opportunity to get a few of them. Like my usual Teva flip flops, or this swimsuit, or this bag, or these pants, or any number of other things I might pick up if I were actually in the store.

The problem I am having is that everyone else I know has already gotten their dividends. Everyone, that is, except for me. Now, I know I am getting one because I spent a buttload of money in your store last year. When my husband and I purchased bicycles (his actually came from your store), we spent the equivalent of the GDP of a small nation in your store on gear. I do believe that means I have a fat check coming my way. And, now that I think of it, I would maybe even be tempted to use my check toward that Tail Wagon for Indy. No, scratch that, I probably won't. But, either way, what I spend it on is beside the point. It's that I want to. Spend it, that is.

I don't want to seem impatient or anything, but I'm a little concerned that you've forgotten me. I am getting a dividend, right? I believe you have my correct address, as I receive your catalog and credit card offers regularly. So, um, I'll just keep waiting, I guess. I'm sure that there is a reasonable explanation as to why everyone else is enjoying spending their dividends and I'm still waiting. But just don't forget me, okay?

Respectfully,
Sierra

P.S. I would also very much like it if you chose to build another store in the Milwaukee area. Preferably one close to my house.


Our House, Part Two: Before
2009-03-14T09:52:00.005-05:00
(Find Part One here)

As I had said previously, we didn't go to our house until the day after we closed. A Saturday. First reason being that we didn't have keys because Helen didn't give us any. Second reason being that it was already late by the time we actually closed and we wanted to go out and celebrate. So, we went the next day and that was fine. We went with no real goal in mind, just slightly giddy and terrified at the fact that we now owned a whole building and, suddenly, were expected to do something (anything) with it. Odd feeling, indeed.

This is now ours?


It was the third time Matt was in the house and the fourth for me. The first time for either of us that we were there, just us, with no one else. So, we took that opportunity to really look around and voice our opinions out loud.

As an aside, I am a strong proponent of ALWAYS voicing your opinions on a house and never being afraid to really look around at a house when with an agent. How else are you really going to be able to know if you can live there? Unfortunately, it's easier said than done.

  
(I am SO embarrassed that the only picture I have of the powder room is one with the toilet seat up. Gross!)

  

We knew going into this that we would need to do some work. As I said previously, Helen offered previous tenants a reduced rent in exchange for helping her with upkeep and maintenance of the property. I think she also allowed them free reign on painting and decorating (if I may be so bold as to call it that) and the like. Top of our list was refinishing the hardwood floors. They had certainly seen better days and definitely needed some work. The floors upstairs looked like they had previously been covered with carpet (I know this because the tack strips were still there) and, as a result, were in much better shape than the floors downstairs. But, that's not to say they were perfect.

 
 

Beyond the floors, paint was also high on the list. It looked like the walls hadn't been painted in quite some time and a fresh coat and some color would really do the place some good (and, by color, I mean color that doesn't look like barf. And in moderation. See also: kitchen before pictures.).

We weren't horribly fond of the kitchen. I feel that my pictures of it hardly convey the horribleness that was this kitchen. Everything.was.yellow. Like, YELLOW. The walls, the cabinets, the ceiling, the trim, the doors. Everything. And, not a nice yellow. But, a gross, ugly yellow. There must have been a sale on yellow paint and the previous tenant was too lazy to be bothered with not slopping paint everywhere. Of course, we agreed it needed to be painted, like, yesterday. Beyond that, we kept going back and forth on whether we could live with it beyond that or if we needed to remodel it right away.

  

On the one hand, remodeling the kitchen would be expensive and time consuming and we weren't sure if we REALLY needed to do it right away. If we just painted, maybe it wouldn't be so bad and we'd learn to adapt and live without a dishwasher for a while.

However, on the other hand, the cabinets were that same hideous yellow as everything else. They would need to either be painted or replaced. Also, there was no dishwasher. And, go ahead and call me a spoiled brat, but the only time I've ever lived without a dishwasher was during those few months in that small apartment when I moved to Wisconsin and I honestly felt that my quality of life was severely diminished in doing so. There, I said it. I need a dishwasher*. The final, and most logical, argument in favor of the remodel right away was the fact that we wouldn't be living in the house for another month. We thought it would be much, MUCH better to do it while we weren't living there than to do it while we were and needed the kitchen.

Either way, we never really made a firm decision. We kind of decided we'd start with the floors and painting and just see how it went timeline-wise and we would revisit the possibility of a kitchen remodel periodically.

Luckily, Matt's summer job in high school was for a company that installed and refinished gym floors. So, he knew all about doing this and I allowed him to take over on this job and I would help, as needed. Really, I just wanted to move on to painting, so I focused on picking out my colors and making the really tough decisions. We were also very fortunate to have our friend Jayme available at our beck and call to assist with all things home-related. Really, he was too good to us. I'm sure he will tell you that we were horrible slave drivers that never let him rest and made him do all of the tough work while we sat around and at bon bons. And, that's probably sort of true. But really, I don't think we could have done this without him.

We didn't start our work right away. We spent that first weekend of home ownership just taking it all in and planning our attack. Since Matt worked full time during the week, we decided we would spend a few hours each evening and all day on the weekends working on the house. We spoke briefly with Helen about our plan. We just thought that would be the polite thing to do. She seemed fine with it. Or, if she wasn't, she did a good job at hiding it. At that point, we were still a little bitter over not getting keys and feeling that we had to answer to her on everything, so it wasn't much of a concern to us.

At this point, neither of us really knew what we had signed ourselves up for. We really thought we had this one in the bag. That would soon all change, but in the meantime, our ignorance was bliss.
___________________________________
*As I type this out, it's comical, given the fact that our dishwasher broke last summer and we managed to go ALL summer without replacing it. Yes, it was hell and yes, I still need a dishwasher.


1987
2009-03-09T07:22:00.000-05:00
(1982-1986 can be found here)

In 1987, I turned five. It was also the year I started Kindergarten.






It should be noted that in this last picture of me in the white dress, that is my brother behind me. He is also wearing a dress. I think that it was the first and last time I got to use him as my own human dress-up doll. The pictures that follow this one are of him throwing a tantrum over being forced to wear a dress.



Our House, Part One: Purchase
2009-03-07T14:29:00.001-06:00
This month marks three years of living here in our cute little house. In some ways, it seems like it was just yesterday and in others, it seems like we've been here for an eternity.

This post will be one of three (maybe four) posts in which I relive the first few months of life with, and in, this house. This one is probably long and boring. The next few will have more pictures.

We closed on our house on January 27, 2006. A Friday. Twenty-seven days after I moved to Wisconsin. Thirty days after Matt proposed. And, about twenty-three days after we first saw the inside of it. Crazy, right?

Matt had done the majority of the grunt work on finding a house. He spent months looking. Considering that he looked at everything from duplexes to condos to single family homes to downtown neighborhoods to lake country and everything in between, a few months was not really that long. After finally settling on a duplex and a neighborhood, narrowing down the choices from there was easy.

He had been eying one particular duplex since the day it came on the market. However, the seller was not allowing any showings for at least a month. So, for that entire month, Matt drove by it, emailed me pictures and called trying to set up a showing appointment. Yes, it's safe to say that he was slightly obsessed, but he had lost out on several other houses that weren't even half as great as this one seemed to be, so he felt it was important to be aggressive.

When we finally got to see the inside of it, it was better than we had imagined: A side-by-side duplex (rare in an area full of uppers/lowers) with each unit featuring two large bedrooms, one-and-a-half baths, hardwood floors, built-in china cabinets, crystal doorknobs, fenced backyard, fabulous neighborhood.

We bought our house from an elderly woman named Helen. She had lived here for about the past forty years by herself. She rented out the other unit for a reduced rent in exchange for the tenant helping her with maintenance and repairs. The day we came to see it, we were one of six groups of people looking at that time and one of four that made an offer that day.* We offered to let Helen continue to live there, which won us the house.

Helen proved herself to be a very sweet, yet very stubborn old lady. We met her several times between the time our offer was accepted and the time we closed. Understandably, it was fairly bittersweet for her. We realized it was probably hard for her to go from owning the home she lived in to renting from us. However, it was difficult for us to adjust as well. I had to really give her the side-eye the day that she told me that I would need to tell her anytime I was having guests over and that they couldn't stay too late or make too much noise. Scenes from the movie Duplex were suddenly flashing through my mind and I seriously questioned what we were getting ourselves into. But, we loved the house, LOVED the neighborhood and, after months of searching, Matt assured me that nothing else had even come close.

Being the young, strong kids we were, we were more than willing to do some grunt work on any house we ended up with. So, when I say that our house was perfect for us, I mean that it was in the sense that there was a lot of potential for the house to be perfect for us after quite a bit of work. Helen had done some updating on her unit, but the side that we were to move into had not changed since the day it was built. We definitely had our work cut out for us.

The apartment we were living in was cheap and we had a month-to-month lease, so it worked out that we could spend all of February working on our unit while having a place to live. I am so glad we decided to do things this way. If I would have had to live there while we were working on the house, I probably would have had a serious mental and emotional breakdown. A lot of the remodel work was stressful enough and being able to go somewhere else to sleep was a lifesaver.

In addition to just being all around excited about being homeowners, we spent a lot of time deciding what projects we wanted to tackle first. And so began a long, never-ending love/hate relationship with Home Depot and Lowe's.

Oddly enough, we didn't even go to the house on the day we closed. Actually, we didn't get all of our keys at closing. Helen couldn't find most of them and told us that she would look for them and give them to us. I think her exact instructions for us were to ring her doorbell when we came to the house and needed to get in and she would use her key to open our door for us. Yes, she had keys to the doors to our unit and, yes, she was keeping them. So, without keys to our house, we weren't really sure if we wanted to go there that same day. We went the next day instead, where Helen had a brown paper bag FULL of keys for us.

And this is really where the story begins.
____________________________________
*Keep in mind this was when the market was still strong and good properties were hard to find and went quickly. In thinking about that, it's almost hard to believe that just three short years ago, the market was still doing so well. Is it just me or does it seem like we've been in this slump for forever already? When, in fact, it really hasn't been that long. Scary.


Weekend Recap
2009-03-02T20:05:00.005-06:00
We were dog sitting for our in-laws while they were in Vegas for the better part of last week and the weekend. Nellie is a seven year old Boxer and/or 75-pound lapdog. She is such a sweetheart. Indy absolutely ADORES Nellie and they are the best of friends. They play together so well and cuddle together when they tire out. I love it.


Unfortunately for all of us, Nellie snores like you wouldn't believe. The first night was excruciating and both dogs were banished to the hallway in the middle of the night. Also unfortunately, we could still hear Nellie through the door. And, even further, the dogs HATED being where they could not hear and see us. All of this means that nobody--dog or human--got much sleep at all and we were all exhausted. While we really enjoyed having Nellie here, we were all somewhat glad to get a good night's rest last night.

(I just love how she sits!)

I love taking pictures of the dogs. They reluctantly go along with it.


Matt spent a lot of time this weekend working at the Tripoli Shrine Circus. He spent Friday night after the show hanging out with the Lion Tamer and the Human Cannonball. While he was working through most of the shows, he did catch bits and pieces and said it was a great show. I really wish I had gone to see it, as I really kind of love that stuff. I'll have to make a point to go next year.

For the briefest moment this weekend, I thought about starting our taxes. Seeing as they take me about a month to complete, I need to get cracking on it. Unfortunately, it's right up there with going to the dentist, eating brussel sprouts or cleaning toilets (which is to say that I hate it and can think of many other things I'd rather do). I have been getting everything organized and I should be in good shape when I do decide to start. But, I just don't wanna.

On Saturday night, Matt and I made pina coladas and played wii Tennis. It was a really fun date. The fruity drinks almost tricked me into believing that it was warm outside.

Speaking of being tricked by the weather, Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day. Unfortunately, it truly was false advertising if I've ever seen it. It was COLD. Really, really cold. But, the good news? This weekend, I came to the realization that in less than three months, we'll be able to spend time out at the lake. And that's not so bad, right?