brooke & freeland

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-30T17:30:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving was obviously wonderful.

We woke up and in true form to Thanksgiving we started preparing the turkey early that morning & then watched the parade while we lounged around & ate breakfast.

(freeland & david also moved my office downstairs but that had nothing to do with Thanksgiving)

after a wonderful morning & the turkey miraculously being done on time - we headed over to begin the Thanksgiving Feast.

As I mentioned before, there were quite a few of us that ended up staying in Erie over the holidays so we all enjoyed thanksgiving together!

Adam & Camille were nice enough to let us all crash their house. Camille set everything up and it looked wonderful.

Here is the turkey (for my family who was curious to see how it turned out)

Not the best pictures. But you get the idea. I was pleased with how it turned out. Definitely wasnt dry. I think we will be using this same recipe for years to come now.

Here are some pictures from the actual feast:

all the food waiting to be uncovered and gobbled down

The dining area

The spread

Freeland making the first slice into the big ol bird

oh my gosh why didnt I get more leftovers?? It was all SOO good

everyone enjoying eachother & being thankful

some of the yummy desserts!

more friends

After lunch we all sat around & talked. The boys attempted to play football. We watched a little bit of Elf & then we headed over to Sarah & Drew's for dessert!

(same place we did Thanksgiving last year)

Drew's family was in town and his mom happens to be an award winning pie baker. No joke! She offered to make a variety of pies for us all to enjoy. Seriously, I dont even normally like the type of pies she made but hers were AMAZING. It was so nice of them to have us over & for her to bake us so many different pies.

(if only I took pictures!)

Even though we couldnt be with our family this year, I was thankful we have such wonderful friends here that we could be with. Makes all the difference in the world!

PS - phew! Happy Last day of NaBloPoMo!

heaven in my office

2009-11-29T18:08:00.004-06:00

I officially share an office with a Christmas tree.

Does it get any better?

(dont answer that)

its not perfect but twas necessary so we could have a guest bedroom & baby room.

I think it will be lovely to have all the windows while its snowing outside.

which it will hopefully be doing VERY soon.

a christmas carol

2009-11-28T20:16:00.003-06:00

yesterday we took David to the airport & said our goodbyes.

It was sad. We had a great time with him here.

We also got to see my entire family on Skype while they were doing their Thanksgiving dinner. I showed them the bump while they all popped in & out saying hi. It made me wish we could all be together.

Skype is wonderful.

Today we put up the rest of our Christmas decorations

we decided not to put lights up outside. Mostly because we dont have any and we dont feel like we should buy any. but we feel bad not having lights up outside.

We also went to see A Christmas Carol.

I dont know what I thought of it yet. I do know that the 3D was great. But the movie wasnt what I expected - and its definitely not a little kid movie thats for sure.

pictures tomorrow.

Its Gravy Baby

2009-11-27T21:42:00.002-06:00

Originally saw this on Kate's blog.

Its a real commercial

true story

Its gravy baby. Get your dinner roll on.

Get your cant eat anymore on.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T20:46:00.002-06:00

This year I am thankful for:

stretchy pants my husband pumpkin spice lattes
grace bronzer ginger ale our Christmas tree rest little kicks in my tummy
pumpkin cupcakes our family our trip to Africa simplicity
skype our little zoo PTO laughing being spiritually challenged
getting to celebrate friends lives
that one day soon it will snow burping childhood memories my camera
traditions leggings community forgiveness Sprite Zero
Surprises lots of pillows deep conversation blogs joking around
and our child

(just to name a few)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

preparing for thanksgiving

2009-11-25T18:15:00.004-06:00

This year we are getting together with all our other friends who are also staying here for Thanksgiving.. and heading over to Adam & Camille's and having a HUGE feast.

Freeland offered for us to do the turkey.

which I dont mind because its actually not all that bad. (especially when its all youre making)

So, we woke up early (and by "we" - I mean Freeland) and got all the things we needed to start the Turkey. (then I woke up) and we got to work so we could start getting the Brine ready.

It was really exciting. Something about preparing it 24 hours in advance just makes it so much more worth it.

did I mention its a 22 pound turkey??

HUGE

But there's going to be a lot of people there

we dont have room in our fridge for it to fit so the brining process is taking place in a cooler (per martha's recommendation)

All the other times we've made the turkey - we have done it completely different so Im excited to see how it turns out. Crossing my fingers that it does actually turn out!

And oh my goodness, you should see all the food everyone else is bringing! (Like Cam's mom's Spinach Madeline!) Its going to be a lot of fun. And Im definitely going to need to wear stretchy pants tomorrow!

the pillow

2009-11-24T08:46:00.002-06:00

the body pillow has saved my life over the last month or 2.

I dont think I would be able to sleep comfortably if I didnt have it.

Even though it cracks me up to snuggle with something else the entire night & it doesnt make switching sides the easiest thing in the world.

I could go on & on about why everyone should have one of these (even when you arent prego) but thats not the point.

The point is that Im not the only one that LOVES this pillow.

without fail every night when I get in bed Eddie is right there next to me - somehow finding a way to sleep ON the pillow

and every morning after I get out of bed they quickly steal my spot and seriously sleep the rest of the day there.

It cracks me up.

I tell Freeland that Eddie probably needs the support too since he is ummm larger than most cats. (read: He looks prego)

PS - Freeland is officially finishing up his last test right now (should be done in the next 30 minutes) and then we are off to play the rest of the week!!!

Thanksgiving guest

2009-11-23T19:24:00.002-06:00

We picked David up from the airport today!!!!!

He's here to enjoy the Thanksgiving break with us in Erie

freelands currently studying for his last test before his break starts and we're watching star trek.

More later. Just enjoying the day today.

how he loves

2009-11-22T13:55:00.003-06:00

Freeland woke me up this morning to the news of some friends going through something devastatingly hard.

I was shocked and cant seem to shake myself from it. Especially during worship this morning.

I dont know that I will ever understand why some hard things happen. I just pray that Im able to rejoice & glorify the Lord during the bad just the same as I am in the good.

We dont know the details. And we dont need to know them. I had to ask for forgiveness for questioning why & wanting to know what happened. Then I prayed the Lord would allow me to just grieve with their family - for their loss & it seems he was happy to answer that prayer.

Im thankful for the body of christ & Im thankful that He loves us and comforts us.

the first day of vacation

2009-11-21T15:00:00.004-06:00

my first day off for thanksgiving break I woke up at 5:30am and took a shower.

I wish I could explain in words how strange this is for me.

To be up that early - and to take a shower before noon.

I cant believe I began my vacation this way.

But I also didnt get all my work done this week so Im working some to make sure everything is squared away before I have THE WEEK OFF.

So lets just pretend vacation really isnt starting until Monday.. and lets hope I actually sleep in that day.

PS - it was a great day still. and we went to Sams

PPS - We also bought a mattress for our guest bedroom today (not from Sam's though) - so dear friends & family back in Texas, you now have a place to sleep when you come visit!

week 22

2009-11-20T09:00:00.000-06:00

We had another doctors appointment Wednesday.

She said the babies heart beat was perfectly awesome - which goes without saying since we are his parents. She let us listen to it for a while.. which honestly made Freeland nervous at first. He thought she was listening FOR something. But she just thought we wanted to hear it as long as possible.

sweet doctor.

She answered all of our questions. (which by the way - dont you always feel like if you dont have questions something is wrong with you? I feel that way.. when they ask if we have any other questions I think - umm should I have something more to ask? Am I already a bad parent because I dont have enough questions?) I just always make sure to have at least 2 questions. (if not more) But I have to write everything down before we go into the appointment or I forget to ask it.

for those wondering why our doctor keeps changing between "he" and "she" its because we are seeing all the doctors in the practice. That way we have at least met them all when the labor begins because you never know which one will be on call. So far we have really liked all the doctors. Thankfully. Id be fine with any of them catching our son.

I did have some blood work done since Im a little more tired & exhausted than what is probably normal at this point for most people according to the doctor. Its nothing big. (I really feel fine) She just wanted to make sure before she recommended some vitamins etc. for me.

Oh and it seems the doctor was right when he said both the baby & my weight would be "jumping" this month. Im still on track but I guess I just caught up to where Im supposed to be (at least that's what Freeland tells me to make me feel better! :)

Ill post some pictures of the ever growing tummy for you soon.

AND THE BIGGEST NEWS OF ALL - Freeland finally got to feel him moving this last week. He moves all the time now but every time Freeland would try to feel .. the little booger would stop moving. But it seems in the last 3 or 4 days there is no stopping him. He moves all the time now.

timing ..

2009-11-19T12:45:00.000-06:00

timing really is a crazy thing.

looking back it really is incredible how the Lord planned all of this out for us.

we never would have thought we would be starting a family right now.

we never would have thought we would be starting a family for a few more years.

but if I think about even just the 2 months before we found out I was pregnant - I can clearly see the Lord working and preparing us & our life for what He had planned.

Africa was a huge part of this for us. (on top of so many other incredible things

I think I always had the desire to have a family & lots of little children running around one day.

But something about our trip changed that desire from my own desire to more of a vision of the Lord's desire for us. More of something deep deep down. Like as if I knew the Lord placed it there or awoke something in both of our hearts & it wasn't our doing. Does that make sense?

(at the orphanage in Uganda)

I will never forget how so many things didnt make sense at the time that were happening to us. (both good & bad things) But the day we found out I was pregnant it all started to make sense. And for that Im so thankful.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

And its also exciting to know that every one's story is different.. and that it will always look different for each person, couple, and family. That desire, the timing, & the way everything works out will always be different. And I truly am thankful its not always the way we imagined it or plan it because I think it turns out to be much better than we imagined this way.

boards

2009-11-18T12:38:00.002-06:00

Its official.

Freeland is registered for his first round of boards.

May 28th, 2010. (in cleveland as of now)

Just about 2 months after applejacks estimated date of arrival.

And just 1 day after my birthday! (if you are curious)

Seems we will have a lot of celebrating to do at the end of May.

(camille's birthday is also then & hello lets not forget my first mothers day is that month too!)

1 step closer .. Im incredibly proud of him.

Now let the studying begin!

the tree is officially up

2009-11-17T09:42:00.003-06:00

last night included:

Freeland finishing his test

us celebrating (the one day he gets a break from studying)

walking the dogs

warm apple cider (that I accidently let boil over and destroy the kitchen)

chinese food

sparkling grape juice in a wine glass

christmas movies (thanks abc family)

lugging the box from the attic

maddie eating all the cookies I made

setting up the tree

testing out the lights

the cats playing under the tree

and finishing it off with watching Elf in bed

(and Freeland accidently telling me my Christmas gift!)

PS - I realized a few things. First, every year we have put the tree up early so I suppose now its tradition! (yes!) Second, every year we also at least WAIT until Thanksgiving to decorate it (does that help those of you that disagree with the tree going up?? its up but not decorated) and Third, every year we have ordered Chinese food while we put the tree up.

All traditions that we never planned on. I love it.

Holiday Taste Test

2009-11-16T11:59:00.004-06:00

Okay who doesnt go to Sam's just for all the samples? (or costco whichever.. we just have sams here so thats what Im going with)

seriously.

I almost dont want to go during "off hours" when I know they wont have the samples out. And my favorite is to say I need an extra one for my husband even though I know Freeland is just going to give it to me.

Well, get excited people because this weekend they are sampling all the holiday food. Excited - yes!

I just emailed Freeland the following:

"umm PS.. we are going to sams every single day this weekend to try all the food. (they offer different ones each day) I mean - not for me - for our son. I feel like it will really bless him to try all the thanksgiving samples they have."

Just sayin. I have to use it while I can dont I?

Who knows by this weekend Im sure I wont care as much. But right now Im pretty stinkin excited about our little dates to sams for samples.

PS: I wish I could tell you it was the hormones or something that caused me to write this - sadly its not.

oliver's first step in the water

2009-11-15T17:37:00.005-06:00

here are the pictures (from my phone) of the dogs enjoying the fall weather yesterday during a study break:

it wasn't until Maddie was a little over 2 that she started to love the water.

unfortunately Oliver has taken a bit longer

normally this is what Oliver does:

He stands back and watches Maddie run, swim, & play and just bounces up and down. He stills has a blast - but just not in the water.

We can prompt, plead, & beg just to get him to put his paws in but thats about it. And if there are waves - forget it. He's never stepping foot in the water.

Until yesterday without us saying anything:

Im so proud of him. He still wouldnt go far but he enjoyed it so we were thrilled. And it was HILARIOUS watching maddie try to eat the waves and swim to catch the rocks. I honestly dont think Ive seen her have so much fun in such a long time. (as you can see from the pictures) Im thankful that we live so much closer to the peninsula now. Even though they cant enjoy the water much longer before its too cold - its still fun while it lasts.

And thank the sweet Lord I finally got our computer fixed so I can finally see all my pictures again.

Now back to watching ABC Family's countdown to the 25 days of Christmas.

(tomorrow after Freeland's test we are putting the tree up - he requested I wait this weekend since he couldnt help! cant wait)

fall weather

2009-11-14T20:13:00.002-06:00

made today so much better. (even though we are both very excited about the snow and hope it comes soon)

We took the dogs on a walk at the peninsula today.

I took lots of pictures with my phone

and I would love to show them to you

BUT I also spent ALL day working on cleaning out our computer. I promise I moved at least 25,000 pictures (seriously thats not an exaggeration.. and there are more to move) to our external hard drive.. and so the last thing Im wanting to do right now is open up our pictures & go through them again

I will soon though. I promise. Because its worth showing that Oliver actually played in the water for the first time today. Big step! (he's normally too afraid to get close to the water)

and .. in other news: I just realized its only 6 weeks until Christmas so guess what yall? The tree is going up ASAP.

my wish list

2009-11-13T15:09:00.003-06:00

Holy cow yall its november 13th and I havent posted my christmas wish list for the blog world to read. :)

just so everyone knows what I want this time of year:

for someone to come clean all of our windows
for our carpet to be professionally cleaned (or just replaced with wood)
for our stove top to magically clean itself (i have no idea how to get it clean.. Ive scrubbed & scrubbed and it still grosses me out)
for fresh paint all around the casa (especially the trim & doors in all the rooms)
for someone to blow dry my hair for me daily
for our basement to be finished & gorgeously organized
for a bed to fill our guest bedroom
for a fireplace

and for someone to decorate our babies room for us.

and for my prenatal vitamins to stop making me want to yarf.
and for the fall weather to stay but also snow at the same time.
and for world peace.

I have everything I need. I just want someone to make what I have better, cleaner, and more organized.

is that too much to ask? I think not.

I dont read twilight but

2009-11-12T17:00:00.001-06:00

I definitely still LOVED this & laughed out loud

the tummy pictures

2009-11-11T09:45:00.000-06:00

Today I'm starting week 21. Which means 20 weeks down - 20 more to go. We're halfway there!

In honor of today being the exact half way point in this little journey.. (also per your request and for my family) here are a few pictures of my tummy along the way.

Sorry they are scattered. Im in the process of moving all our pictures & cleaning out our computer so Im missing quite a few. It also seems to be harder to remember to take pictures than I thought it would be.

Here they are starting at week 10:

Those were all taken right before bed every night. Turns out I dont like to have pictures taken of myself. And yes, I wear those black pants ALL the time now. They are really the only comfortable thing I have these days that arent PJ's.

I will also say this: I am MUCH larger now. It seems like in just the last week the tum tum just keeps popping out more & more everyday. Yesterday I was talking to Freeland & happened to glance at the mirror and didnt recognize myself. It was strange. At our last appointment the doctor told me he expected me (my weight & stomach) to "jump" by my next appointment and the way things are going it seems he was right.

And on Sunday I had the first stranger ask me if I was expecting. Freeland begged me to say no when someone asks in the future.. but this was at church so I just couldn't do that to her.

Cant believe we're already half way through!! Its going by so slow & so fast at the same time.

surprises

2009-11-10T15:11:00.000-06:00

turns out I have tomorrow off work for veterans day. that was a surprise. (its our first year to get it as a holiday) I have no idea what to do on a day off during the middle of the week but Im sure I will come up with something!

Also it turns out Freeland wants to go to IKEA today so later this afternoon (after I finish work) we are headed that way. Surprise!

And also if you have anything to add to the post below - feel free to! Im loving all the ideas/advice/tips so far!!

Oh Snap!

2009-11-09T12:20:00.006-06:00

originally uploaded by sarah lasker. (not my lens)

Here is the scoop on our Camera ….. OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH SNAP!

One of the most common questions I get asked (just kidding - I was trying to sound like people are just always banging down my door asking me questions like I'm Pioneer Woman or something)

But really. A few of you have asked about the kind of camera we use. (some I probably forgot to answer too.. I'm sorry if that was you. I'm forgetful and unless Freeland reminds me then it often doesn’t get done)

So I thought I would compile all the information for you in one post. Hopefully it helps.

We are a Canon family. When we started dating I had a Canon SLR (it was a FILM camera.. How vintage of me right?) and Freeland had a digital Canon Rebel. (trendy)

That’s how I knew we were meant to be. Just Kidding - it was really when he pretty much let me take his camera and never give it back. That’s when I knew he understood "what's yours is mine" and we were meant to be. Just Kidding again.

And from the beginning (like seriously our 2nd date when he took me to take pictures.) Freeland has encouraged me to take the camera every where and to take as many pictures as possible to try to learn more.

Well a few years later (and a few external hardrives later) and I wouldn’t say that I'm an expert or that I know anything but I do still enjoy taking pictures just as much if not more. I told Freeland when we moved up here that I wanted photography to become more of a serious hobby. Like actually learning what Im doing instead of clicking away. I do toy with the idea of what it would be like to be a photographer. But then I get scared and pretend to forget all about it.

I don’t know why I started telling you the story of our cameras. Sorry. Let me answer the question: what kind of camera do we have?

We have a Canon EOS digital Camera. I highly recommend any of the Canon cameras. The rebel is a great one to start out with. Especially if you are learning. (like me)

The lens we have is the one that came with the camera. Freeland does also have a zoom lens but I barely ever use it because I forget to bring it with me. One day I would love to get more lenses. (freeland says the lens is what makes all the difference) but for the time being it’s the last thing that is "a need"

And if you aren't getting the trend here - Freeland is actually the one who knows more about these things so really he should be writing this.

We do have friends that have Nikon's and love them just as much.

We also have a Sony Cybershot. (this is the one I carry around in my purse) You may remember our devastating camping trip where "someone" put it in an unzipped pocket and it fell into creek & was ruined. But then we remembered that my dad bought a warranty on it (even though Dave Ramsey says not to get the warranty - moments like this make me strongly disagree with him) Because the warranty expired right after our camera was ruined. Seriously we had it for 5 years and just happened to destroy the camera days before it expired. Huge Blessing - yes. So we just took it in (to best buy) and got a brand spankin new camera - for free!

So all the pictures you see on our blog are either taken with a Canon or the Sony Cybershot.

I try not to use my flash. Ever. Of course I do use it at times but I really think the pictures are better without it. It also forces me to learn more about the settings if I don’t use the flash.

(amy to answer your question, if Im being honest, I have my camera on the automatic setting most the time but other times I switch back and forth between AV & TV)

And I also edit pictures when I have time. I do use Photoshop (thankfully Freeland's dad is a photographer and graciously gave us Photoshop a few years ago) or Iphoto or Flickr to edit pictures. It just depends what computer Im sitting at and how much time I have.

I really have no idea what Im doing in photoshop. (it’s a long scary road) But I just keep practicing. Picasa's program (the one you download onto your computer not the one online) was really good too. Unfortunately our MAC is too old so I cant download it otherwise I would also use that because I liked it.

I think that’s it.

Obviously Im no expert. Just here to answer what kind of camera we use. Don’t ask me HOW to use it though. That - I have no idea how to answer.

(thank you amy for the reminder to post this!)

**UPDATED: A few of you have offered some wonderful advice & tips.. if anyone else has something to share feel free to in the comments! I love it & I know everyone else will find it helpful too!! Thanks! Brooke

humbled

2009-11-08T16:44:00.002-06:00

remember yesterday when I said our neighbors raked all our leaves for us?

well, I just got home (after a long fun day of making Christmas ornaments w/ friends) and what do you know? They are out there again doing our yard.

And seriously people... I think we have more leaves in our yard than any other house on our street.

Which is ironic because we are one of the only ones that doesn't actually have large trees.

We walked out and thanked them. And the husband said to Freeland "Well you just keep studying"

huge blessing. we're very thankful.

the view outside

2009-11-07T16:39:00.006-06:00

this was the view outside our house early one morning the other day. Its not our tree.. its our neighbors. But we get to enjoy it. (since that's actually our driveway and part of our yard all the leaves fall on) And for that Im thankful. Because Im pretty sure I love it.

Last Sunday as we pulled in from church we saw all our neighbors raking leaves outside. I was a little sad because I see no reason to do that since they are so pretty on the ground too. But apparently its not good for the grass so everyone does it. To our surprise our other neighbor and the 2 boys next door had raked all our leaves for us too. (Like they seriously even did our flowerbeds.)

Huge Blessing! We were blown away.

I'll post more pictures of all the tree's around here soon. They're gorgeous!

all the single ladies

2009-11-06T16:00:00.002-06:00

LOVIN IT.

I wish I could sing.

I also wish I could put on that beyonce outfit and do the dance. Now that would have been a great Halloween costume!