home for the holidays

it was SO nice being home. the power of family is so amazing and just what i needed. (jason too!) we got back to GR on tuesday night after a LONG drive in the dark. on wednesday i woke up early to have breakfast at big boy with my crazy mom and grandma. i was just glad i didn't tell them i would walk with them! :) later i met mom at the mall and we shopped for a winter coat...but instead we held a mini "what not to wear" in the dressing room at yonkers. stacey and clinton would be so proud! we got a lot of things for christmas. and i can't have any of them until christmas. andrea fixed my hair for me at the salon and then later that night she put extensions in my hair. i call it my insta-sexy. i just love it...even though my head is constantly itchy, it will be sad when i take them out.

on thrusday (thanksgiving) jason and i were able to spend some precious time at my parents for a huge spread of thanksgiving brunch. it was delicious and it was good to spend time with everyone.

grandpa troost hiding behind riley

dad and grandpa terbeek on the chouch (for those of you who don't know...it's a mix between a chair and a couch)

great grandma troost and mom
(the best looking 94 year old i know!)

grandma troost and riley

(we all painted our names on tiles for grandma to put around a mirror)

meghan, olivia, andrea, sam

after bruch we headed up to newago for a turkey dinner at grandpa and grandma shrontz's house. between bruch and lunch i was stuffed and all i wanted to do was sleep...all that yummy food! emily kept coming over and giving me things while i was sleeping. she is so cute she's walking everywhere, with her little but wagging everystep and she likes to say new words. thank you grandpa and grandma for a great lunch and a great nap time at your house.

emily snuggling on denny's lap

(she loves her grandpa)

debby and emily

(look at those blue eyes...no wonder she's spoiled)



friday night jason and i, steve, amber and the baby, and jacob and linda went to logans for a great steak! i sat next to emily and she made faces at me all through dinner and played with her water and straw. oh and she said sticky!

ham!

jacob and linda at dinner.

(there's a little turkey in their oven!)

coming to a theature near you in june!)

a quick picture before bed time

after she went to bed susie and linda came over and all 4 of us sat around the table and knitted. i mean really...what else is there to do on a friday night but knit?! keep at it girls!

on saturday denny and debby decided that we all needed some good food to take home so we went to alikat kitchens to make some good meals to take back to the UP and put in the freezer. thanks mom and dad s!

jason, debby and denny

me and amber knitting on the couch!

on saturday night i went with mom to k-mart in search of martha stewart. i swear she was supposed to be there with fresh new ideas and that perfect little something...i don't know what happened but we couldn't find her. we did find a really cute basket for my knitting and a couple of 2 liters of pop....just no martha.

on sunday i finally got to eat good chinese food at mom and dad's. we also took some pictures for our christmas card...there's a sampling below...you'll have to wait for the good ones! thanks for my chinese fix mom and dad! thanks terbeek children for being patient!

i love this man

what's so funny?

(oh wait...i don't want to know)

saturday afternoon we packed up all of our stuff (i looked like we were home for a month) denny and debby finished putting up their HUGE christmas tree and debby made us a turkey pot pie (which by the way was delicious)

jason playing with emily in debby's shoes she insisted on wearing

we had a great time at home we're so glad we got to see everyone and hopefully next time we'll be able to see more of all of you. it was a long weekend that went way too fast. we'll be home the day after christmas. i can't wait. we'll bring some snow with us!

the home stretch

we made it back to marquette, safe and sound, and a little tired. it was a great LONG weekend at home...but i think i need a nap now. only 2 more weeks of classes and 1 week of exams. it's hard to believe that the semester is so close to being done. oh and we made it home just in time for the snow...it started this morning! i have lots of pictures and fun things we did this weekend...but i will post more later (i need to pay attention to lecture!) Have a happy monday.

dreaming of turkeys

the count down continues...one more 8 hour shift at work, one more time giving plasma, 3 more classes and 1 more test until i finally get to come home. i never thought that moving away from everything that is familiar would be this hard. i knew that it wouldn't be easy ecspecially since i was moving up with my best friend, but it's those little things i forgot to factor in. like baby sitting emily...cocktails...FFF with the Troost family...hanging out in the garage...what to do and who to call when your car battery is dead and your husband is 5 hours away hunting and you need to get to work in the morning...malls...real malls...dennys...a good steak...a place to grill it...stopping by my mom or dad's work place just for the heck of it...getting my hair done when it needs it...oh and there are many more things that i overlooked when making the decision to move up the the boonies. but really...i wouldn't be in school right now, i would still be working at spectrum and not moving towards a goal a much needed goal. getting my degree is a necessary evil on the path to the future. do i want to go to school? no, i hate school, studying stresses me out and i hate writing papers and taking tests, but they havn't invented the magic nurse pill that i can take a instantly become an RN without the stress and tediousness of it all. but enough self pity and griping.

i am so very excited to come home and see all of the wonderful people in my life that phone calls and emails and packages just don't do justice. oh and all of that good eating! i'm glad that i live this close at least to be able to come home. Tashina, Levi, Katie, Paula, and Jennifer....i constantly think of you when i get home sick and am thankful that i live this close. i hope that if you aren't able to come home and see your families that you will still have a wonderful holiday with the people that are with you where you are. I love you all and you are in my prayers. See you all in GR!

I can't wait!

I am so excited! Only 6 more days until I get to come home! 3 days of work, 1 test, and 4 lectures left! I am so ready for a break. I can't wait to spend time with both of my family and Jason's. I can't believe that I have only been home once since we moved up here. (that sucks!) Anyway I can't wait to see everyone. I hope everyone is as excited about the coming holidays as I am!

Oh and Jason is leaving for deer camp this tonight. Hopefully he'll catch a deer! :) Venison is so good. Oh and he's planning on winning everyone's money in poker so watch out Jacob and Steve! I hope everyone has fun hunting. See you soon.

coffee buzz

Yesterday I stopped into the Starbucks on campus for my early morning coffee before my 8:00 am class, but for some reason, they weren't able to brew coffee. The barista told me that she would charge me the coffee price and give me a coffee made with about 3 shots of espresso! WOW!!! That was a good morning! But to top it all off, they served it in their red holiday cups, and their counters were decorated with a winter theme. (is it too early to put up Christmas decorations?) I don't know if coffee can get much better. It sure beats the generic brand from Target! Oh and it's snowing here. I don't it's false hope...it won't stay, but it's just so pretty, and why live in the U.P. if there's no snow? Have a happy friday!

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!!!!

bike ride

jason and i were feeling a little cabin stir crazy today so we took a bike ride around presque ilse park. don't be too impressed it was only 2 or so miles. but it was good non the less. the pictures below are from our trip. last night we actually got to hang out with other people. i know, i know, some one is thinking...LOSERS right now, but it's really hard to meet people our age up here. anyway, someone at jason's graduate student union meeting invited him to hang out thursday after class and of course i tagged along. it was nothing special, just nice to have a conversation about something other than school and with someone other than jason. :)

ice does exsist in the u.p......

......so does the boogy man!

pink sky...and my love

is that appropriate

classic pose

super man!!!

pondering...but what?...but what?

how can you resist this?

These pictures were just too cute not to share. I miss her like crazy. Last year she was a pig, sleeping in her car seat, she was only 2 months old and NOW....she's walking and talking and wagging her tail! Thanks for sharing Amber. I miss you Baby Girl.