Our Family is Growing!

Ok, ok. I know what you are all thinking. We're having a baby right? Well, not so much, but our family is growing! EW and I will be the parents of a puppy! We are so very excited about our new addition, that I just couldn't wait till she gets here to blog about it. My mom went over to the house tonight to pick out our new fur-baby. So I'm sure you're wondering how we got to this point? Well, here's a short summary:

A couple months ago, my mom mentioned that her co worker's sister's dog was going to have puppies. At the time, I really didn't think anything of it, until I was home recently and she mentioned how they were almost ready to go home to loving families. EW and I had been looking into adopting, but we need a small dog for our place, and we couldn't find one that would be a good fit. However, the puppies are half Boston Terrier and half Puggle (pug/beagle). So she shouldn't get over 20lbs. After mom mentioned it, I was done. We were getting one of these babes. Of course, I talked to Eric about it. We discussed it at length and I did whine a bit, maybe, but we both love dogs, so I kinda knew he would be on board.

Since the pups were almost ready, and they want to start having people come and get them, I had my mom go pick out our girl. She called me when she was driving back home, and said she just knew which one. I don't have any pictures, so you will have to wait till we go pick her up the 2nd weekend in Feb. Till then, we are trying to get our place all ready for our little one. Growing up we had a dog, but she was already 6 months old, so this puppy thing will be a bit new to me. I really can't wait. This will test EW and my parenting and training skills. We will have to work together to raise a living thing! If EW and I have children (the jury's out until we see how we do with the puppy) I hope we will have a better sense of how we each react in different situations and working on being a team. I thought I wanted to have kids in the next year or so, but now this puppy thing seems 10x better! Kids are now on the back-burner for 2 if not 3+ years. I think EW is relieved, lol.

Also, if you didn't know, I am starting a new job next week! I am a teacher at a daycare in the Infant room, but I might be in other rooms depending on where they need me. Yay for that!

Now for a pic: This is where the pup's crate will go (when we get her crate trained). Of course I had to get some blankets and a toy! How lucky can a dog get? She will be soooo loved!

-Brina

Good Times

I'm back up north after taking a few days leave to go home. Since I am still unemployed I have the freedom to just go. That may not be the case for much longer, seeing as I might become employed soon. When I have more concrete details, I will share it with my bloggy friends.

I haven't talked about my next topic yet online, or to many people in general, since it has been a family issue, but I thought I would share since it's public knowledge, at least it is at home. About 2 weeks ago my brother was in a car accident. He's fine, and only had a few cuts, but it really shook my world. When my mother called me at 6am (I just happened to have my cell on) I knew something had happened. As soon as she said he had rolled his truck, I lost it. Which brings me to another topic. (Sorry I keep jumping around, but there's a point, I promise).

What I really want to talk about is Family. Most of you who know me personally, know that my family is really close. I'm a person who considers her family as an extension of herself. Therefore, the past two days have probably been two of the best days I've had in a really, really long time. Tuesday night, everyone was home, and since we don't have television, we just sat around and talked about our day, just like old times. We shared laughter and sadness, and the world around us didn't matter for that hour. It was so great for me. Especially since my brother was there, and knowing the fact that God could have taken him a few weeks ago, but decided that we needed him more (which I'm so thankful for). Then again, today, I had to say my good-byes. I will get to see them all again in a few weeks, since we still haven't been able to celebrate Christmas.

I wasn't for sure if I wanted to put these up, but I really wanted everyone to see how God works in wonderful ways. Looking at his truck, my brother shouldn't be alive, or at least without any severe injuries. He did have his seat belt on, but when a vehicle his a pole and then rolls, usually there is some sort of injury.

Can you believe he got out of this with just a cut on his head? I am still in shock over it!

Here is the main reason I went home. For my best buddy's 25th Birthday Party! We were one of the last one's in the bar at this point! We stayed till Midnight, since her B-day is really today. It was so great seeing friends again. Since living up here, I don't have anyone I can just call up and ask to go shopping, or go on a walk, or taco night. I miss this girl below so much. (I promised I wouldn't use her name!)

-Brina

A Night Out

I know I haven't updated in over a week, but honestly I haven't had much to say. I haven been trying to get well, still. On this past Monday, I finally went to the dr. for the cough that wouldn't go away. I didn't know if I was being impatient or if I was really sick, so I went anyway. It's a good thing I did, because I had bronchitis and was working on getting pneumonia. Lovely. So a round of antibiotics and steroids later, I'm 99% back (still have that little cough every now and then).
On the job front: no word yet on the possible job, so we'll see what happens this week.
Last night, EW and I were invited to go with some friends to a Chicago Wolves hockey game. We car-pooled with our friends Matt and Sarah to the Allstate Arena in hopes of some fights and possible blood. When we got there, we met up with our other friends Stover and Caroline. The game was fun, but no sight of blood. Oh well, maybe next time. The Wolves ended up losing to the Rockford Icehogs 1-0. It was really great though to get out of the apartment after the never-ending sickness that seemed to settle over us.
Then after the game we didn't feel like ending the good time, so we decided to head back to our place and hang out there. After stopping at Meijer for some snacks and beverages, we came back to the apartments and played Loaded Questions-Adult. Yes, it got interesting, as always! I'm so glad we were able to hang out with Matt, Sarah, Stover, and Caroline. Thanks for a great night guys!

As you can see, fun was had by all...

-Brina

Back to Normal

Well it's now 2011, and I'm hoping this year will be better than the end of 2010 and the very beginning of 2011. It's been pretty rocky around here. Here's what's been going on in the past 2 weeks...

The day after Christmas the husband and I were recovering from a wonderful first Christmas together. However, things started to go bad when EW started what I like to call "the bathroom suffle" or in his case, run! Yes, he came down with the stomach flu. I became the nurse and moved into the spare bedroom. He stayed home from work Monday, and I sanitized the place hoping that I would not also come down with it. Tuesday he was feeling better, so things went back to normal. New Years came and we went to Chicago to visit our friends Kevin and Vicky. We ate at Wildfire, and then went back to their place to wait for the coming of the new year. We went home the next day, and I wasn't feeling so well, but I thought it was the lack of sleep combined with the motion sickness from the train. Well, I was wrong. Early Sunday morning I woke up with a horrible stomach pain, and that's what started my "bathroom shuffle." EW moved into the spare room.

Forward to early Monday morning. I woke up at 2am and heard a noise. I was thinking it was the neighbors, but then, I got up to investigate. Uh oh, it was EW sick...again. So he stayed home from work, and he slept in the spare room since it was contaminated. Thankfully that was the end of the "bathroom shuffle" except for the nasty head cold that I have that I got as soon as the flu was over.

Ok, that's the end of the sickness, but that's also the end of what I have to say, since the sickness is the only thing that has been happening. I did have an interview on Monday, but I don't know anything yet. As soon as I do, I'll let you all know!

I didn't take any pictures of New Years (not sure why--sorry), but I did take this from facebook.

EW and Kevin: Bestest Buddies!

-Brina