Most wonderful time of the year!

It's no surprise that December is my always favorite month of the year, but this December had a couple extra exciting events thrown in the mix. As I've mentioned in numerous posts, Brad finished up his final class in his MBA program but it become 100% official when his grade posted last week: he got a B! That puts his overall GPA at a 3.5 and this girl is the proudest wife on the block. Way to go, honey!

Last Thursday, my DZ little sister Stacy gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Emerson Jane Edwards, at 1:03pm! She weighed 8lbs. and was 19 3/4 inches long. We're excited to hopefully see Stacy, Paul and Emmie this week - what a wonderful Christmas gift for them!

I celebrated my 27th birthday on Monday, which thanks to my incredible husband and amazing friends, is always so special. Two of my best friends Amanda (accompanied by her wonderful husband Lenny) and Twyla came up to have dinner with Brad and I, which made for a wonderful evening. Great food, great people, great birthday!

Christmas is TODAY - woohoo! - and it gives us the opportunity to visit with family. We were hoping for a white Christmas this year but we settled for sleet and rain... ahhh, the joys of living in the south. Our family/friends in Maryland & Virginia got lots of snow last week so hopefully they're enjoying it for us. :)

We're still working on New Years plans but whatever we do, we are thrilled to see what 2010 has in store for the Stoehrs!
Hope you all have a merry Christmas!

Happy... holidays?

Awwwwwkward.

thisclosetobeingdone

I forgot what senioritis felt like... until today. Thursday is my final day of work for 2009 (and even a little into 2010!) and I've hit "are we there yet?" mode, which doesn't bode well for productivity. Luckily, instead of finals, I have a fundatory staff holiday party and small checklist to complete before I'm free. Hooray for seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

In other news, Brad is DONE (officially) with his MBA program! We had his party on Saturday at Towne Tavern and it went beautifully... we are so blessed with amazing friends and family!

Congrats, Brad!

Molly, Aunt Mary-ellen (best surprise EVER) & Brad

Showing the love: Robbie, Josh, Brad, Ben, Kevin

Thanks so much to everyone who has been a cheerleader for him over the past 2 1/2 years and celebrated this weekend!

A little holiday humor...

Photo credit

(Because if we can't laugh during this time

of year, we may all go insane.)

Happy birthday!

My baby sister, Lauren, is officially 19 years old today!

I used to change her diapers and play barbies with her and now we text each other on our blackberries... ::sigh:: where'd the time go? I'm so NOT okay with this. :)

Happy birthday to the best sister ever... love you!

It's official...

Happy December!

For those of us *cough*me*cough* who have been listening to holiday music waaaaaaaay before now, we can officially celebrate - it's December! The smell of cinnamon, the lights, the celebrations... there's really no hiding this is my favorite time of the year. That and I'll be toasting my birthday on the 21st (along with my favorite Anna!). I mean, really, why wouldn't you be excited??? :)

I hope this last month of 2009 is wonderful for all of you!

Thankful for catching up

Wow kids, is it Thanksgiving eve already?! ::sigh:: It's insane how once we get to the 4th quarter of the year, everything jumps into warp speed. I was just putting the purple lights outside for Halloween and now we're thawing two turkeys in our upstairs bathroom. And no, I'm not joking. :)

This past week was a pretty rough one emotionally. I've really been struggling with some things internally and when it came to fruition this week, it was LIFE: 1 and LESLIE: 0. I know it's happening for a reason, I really do... it's just getting over the hump that's unnerving. Good news? Of course there is good news, silly! Relay for Life fundraising has begun and thanks to some unbelievable donors, I'm already at $275 into my goal of $1000! I can't begin to express my gratitude for everyone who has donated so far and if you're interested in donating in the future, just visit my page - we're in this until we reach our goal! In other news, Christmas cards are ordered - yay! - and should be going out first week of December. My friend Sullivan took our "family" pictures a little over a week ago and they turned out beautifully so we're excited to show everyone... coming to a mailbox near you!

We started pulling out some Christmas decor from storage last week. The ornaments have started to multiply around the house but that's a good thing: I received this fabulous ornament from one of my sorority sisters, Robin...

and we picked up a beautiful lighthouse ornament while we were in Boone in early November. Now, if we can just pick out our Christmas tree! :) Last but not least, I'd like to highlight some awesomeness that occurred this week:

New Moon, the 2nd installment of the Twilight series - WOWZA! If you like/love this series at all and haven't seen this yet, I have one question: where have you been??? Hiding under a rock?! GO SEE IT!

TweetDeck - update all your network sites at once. Brilliant! (channeling my inner Guinness guys)

Eclipse, the 3rd installment of the Twilight series - release date was announced as June 30, 2010! Mark your calendars! (do you see a pattern here? LOL)

Columbia APH - installed new committee chairmen and is now on Twitter! @ColumbiaAPH - follow us!

Good laugh! Because everybody can use one from time to time...


And most importantly: an amazing husband, incredible family, loving friends and a 2010 so bright I gotta wear shades... that's what I'm thankful for this year. Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving, peeps!

Need your help!

Fundraising for the 2010 Relay for Life Downtown Columbia event has begun: visit my personal page and help me reach my goal of $1000!

Any and all donations, no matter how small, are GREATLY appreciated... THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

364 days

Well, we're approaching the time of year I love and hate all at the same time. As you know, my husband Brad is a die-hard Clemson fan and I'm a pretty fierce Gamecock fan. We may not get to as many games as we'd like to but we're the biggest fans you'll find in the Palmetto state. Unlike a lot of "house divided" couples, we're extremely supportive of both teams when they aren't playing each other (it's no secret: he's worn garnet and I've worn orange) because we respect the institutions where we received our education and support our state. However, on November 28, our teams will meet at Williams-Brice stadium and the bottom line is: we're rivals. We both want to win. We both want braggin' rights.

So, the time has been set for a 12pm kickoff on ESPN.

Here's to 364 days of being civil.

GO GAMECOCKS!

Geez...

Ever have one of those days when all you need is a BIG one of these? Yeah, me too...

Happy Veteran's Day!

Photo credit

Be sure to thank your family and friends that serve in the military today. They remind us daily that freedom isn't free at all... it comes at the highest cost. Thank you for serving our great country!

#27

Photo credit

New York Yankees

2009 World Series Champions!

Only got a couple hours of sleep to watch the game but man, it was worth it. Way to make us proud, boys!

And the winner is...

Thanks to Nikki for my OVER THE TOP award! Even with her One Cup of Crazy, she's pretty awesome - check her out!

Now for the details:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you - you're the BEST, Nikki!

2. Answer the questions below using only 1 word answers.

3. Pass it on to 6 other bloggers you think are Over The Top!

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your hair? washed

3. Your mother? loving

4. Your father? proud

5. Your favorite food? noodles

6. Your dream last night? falling
7. Your favorite drink? tea

8. Your dream/goal? challenging

9. What room are you in? office

10. Your hobby? lots

11. Your fear? alone

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy

13. Where were you last night? couch

14. Something you aren’t? tan

15. Muffins? Sure!

16. Wish list item? strength

17. Where did you grow up? Florence

18. Last thing you did? drove

19. What are you wearing? pants

20. Your TV? works

21. Your pets? snugglers

22. Your friends? BEST

23. Your life? good

24. Your mood? anxious

25. Missing someone? YES

26. Vehicle? silver

27. Something you’re not wearing? glasses

28. Your favorite store? Hallmark

29. Your favorite color? pink

30. When was the last time you laughed? morning

31. Last time you cried? Tuesday

32. Your best friend? comforting

33. One place that I go over and over? school

34. One person who emails me regularly? MudPie

35. Favorite place to eat? McAllister's

Here are 6 ladies I think are marvelously OVER THE TOP!

I Love You Days

K-Saf

Musings from Tumble Falls

Mrs. Grits

The Lo-Down

Sue-C

3-15-40

Photo credit

3 classes...

a 15-page paper...

and 40 days...

That's all that stands between Brad and finishing graduate school. Really? Weren't we just in triple-digits days??? It's incredible how times flies and I couldn't be more proud of him!
GO TEAM STOEHR!

Wednesday humor

Photo credit

New day, new job

Photo credit

Today was my first day "on the job" as Winthrop University's Relay for Life staff advisor and it was pretty exciting. Our first interest meeting had a pretty good turnout (thank you guys!) and I'm already recruiting teams... if you're free April 23-24, 2010, come out and help celebrate, remember and fight back!

www.relayforlife.org/winthrop

107 years of sisterhood

Tomorrow is Delta Zeta's 107th Founders Day and I couldn't be more proud than the day I was initiated. It's been 8 years since I made one of the best decisions (besides marrying my wonderful husband, of course) and it's truly amazing at all the wonderful things we've accomplished. I wish all my sisters the happiest of Founders Days and look forward to celebrating the next 107 years!

Oooh la la

Photo credit

I don't go overboard price-wise with a lot of things. In fact, it drives me crazy when I do. My kryptonite? Coach. I found this sweet little number the other day and got so excited... until I saw the price tag. Oh well, a girl can dream!

Southern and fabulous!

Brad and I went to visit my mom this weekend to celebrate her birthday and I was able to have some good shopping/bonding time with her, which is ALWAYS exciting! One of the stores we were able to thoroughly enjoy was Palmetto Moon, which is every southern girl's dream. USC Gamecocks, Clemson Tigers and everything Palmetto! Lucky for me (and my bank account), there aren't any locations near me but online shopping is available... woohoo!

Check them out for birthdays, housewarming gifts, any holidays...

there's something for EVERYONE!

8 lbs., 5 oz. 20.5 inches long!

Jack Benjamin Richards made his appearance yesterday afternoon and what a cutie he is! Welcome to the world!

Photo credit: Paige Morton

Baby Jack is almost here!

Our good friends Sheri and Wade have been waiting on their baby Jack to finally make his appearance and we got word this morning that Sheri went into labor!

Honor a sister & support The Painted Turtle this Founders Day!

With Founder's Day quickly approaching, the Columbia Alumnae Chapter of Delta Zeta is looking forward to celebrating with area alumnae and hopefully, will be able to support The Painted Turtle with this year's donation! The Painted Turtle is a national partner and philanthropy for the Delta Zeta Sorority and this year's goal of $550 will benefit area needs for this incredible part of Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall camps.  This is how we're helping:

Our chapter was inspired by the Delta Zeta national convention Rose Tree, which is present each convention and encourages alumnae to donate the the Delta Zeta Foundation to support various programs within our Sorority, including scholarships (both collegiate and graduate) and even assisting with programs that will benefit alumnae chapters across the nation. At the 2008 convention, the Rose Tree, which is a snow-white tree covered in pink and green ribbon to signify the donations that have been made, raised over $13,000! What a success! On a much smaller scale, the Columbia Alumnae Chapter adopted this idea with its very own Rose Tree: a pink 2' 5'' tree that was unveiled at last year's Founders Day celebration, encouraging alumnae and collegians alike to "give graciously" as our Creed reminds us to each day. We were incredibly grateful with the amount of attention it received and raised $500 to donate to the Delta Zeta Foundation! This year, we agreed that since the Painted Turtle gives so much to families and patients in need, our goal is to help give comfort to those who need it the most.

How YOU can help!

The Columbia Alumnae Chapter has Rose Tree donation cards that sisters, family and friends can purchase for just $5 each. These cards can be purchased in honor of a Delta Zeta in their lives. If the sister you're honoring doesn't live in the same city or state as you and you'd like to have it mailed to them, just provide me with their mailing address. We had a great response from sisters that received these cards in the mail and even inspired some to reconnect with Delta Zeta. Donation cards will be available through October 31st and also at the Founders Day celebration on Sunday, October 25th; please email me at leslie.stoehr@gmail.com if you'd like to make a donation, help us reach our goal and support The Painted Turtle for this years Founders Day celebration! Thank you for your support!

Pumped!

Only 37 days until the release of New Moon and I'm SO excited! The soundtrack comes out next Tuesday and the newest trailer is even better than the first! w00t!

Do you hear what I hear?

It's officially ladies and gentlement: only 11 weeks to go until Christmas!

Festive holiday recipe

Photo Credit

I discovered this scrumptious and festive recipe in this month's edition of Southern Living and just had to share! These mini pumpkin cakes will add some flair to your holiday baking and is sure to be a favorite even Martha Stewart would love. :) If you try this wonderful recipe, let me know how it turns out - happy baking!

Hands-On Time: 30 min.; Total Time: 1 hr., 44 min. (including Caramel-Rum Glaze).

Yield
Makes 8 pumpkins

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Caramel-Rum Glaze* (or Vanilla Glaze)
Caramel Stems, Leaves, and Vines (optional, instructions below)


Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Stir in pumpkin and vanilla.


2. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Spoon batter into 2 lightly greased pumpkin-shaped muffin pans, filling three-fourths full.


3. Bake at 350° for 24 to 26 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 5 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks, and cool completely (about 30 minutes).


4. Cut rounded tops off muffins to make them flat. Invert top muffins onto bottom muffins, forming pumpkins. Drizzle Caramel-Rum Glaze over pumpkins. Decorate with Caramel Stems, Leaves, and Vines, if desired.


CARAMEL STEM: Press 1 caramel between fingers, lengthening to 1 1/2 to 2 inches to form a stem. Curl stem gently.


CARAMEL LEAVES: Roll caramels into 2-inch squares on a flat surface, using a rolling pin. Cut into leaves, using a paring knife. Gently press tips of leaves to flatten, if desired. Score leaves, using a paring knife. Pinch bottoms of leaves together.


CARAMEL VINES: Cut 1 caramel into 3 equal pieces. Squeeze each piece gently to flatten, and roll between hands or on a flat surface into a long thin rope. Twist ends to curl.

New! Improved! It's the College Snuggie!

My husband Brad sent me this link and I had to share it with everyone - it's the College Snuggie! Pick your favorite team and never be cold again!

As much as I want to laugh, I'll be asking Santa for a Gamecock one for Christmas. Oh yeah!

A BIG thank you goes out to my best friend and fellow blogger Amanda for this exciting award! She was part of my inspiration to start a blog and now, I can't get enough! Check her out - I think you'll find yourself following her, too. : )

Here are the rules of the "One Lovely Blog Award":

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

The Crafty Law Student

That DuBois Girl

Jenn's Journey

Cheli's Cozy Corner

The Lo-Down

Not Much to Say

  From My Kitchen to Yours

Pretty in Pink

Connect the Dots

Griffing Family

The Preppy Principal

This Nut Stood her Ground

Living Embellished

Expat Foodie

Polka Dots and Pirates

Missing New York City today... a lot! We had such a great time in August and can't wait to go back. Perhaps sooner rather than later? :)

Cupcake cutie

My friend Nikki's youngest turns the big ONE today.

Happy birthday, Addison Quinn!

Bring it.

Brad and I officially started the P90X system on October 2nd and I can't help but be reminded of the quote, "Pain is weakness leaving the body". A couple people have asked if I'm nuts. I must be - it's no joke - but I can't wait to see myself in 90 days.

Bring it, Tony Horton.

I'm no Oprah but...

I seem to be channeling Miss O's "Favorite Things" show right now... I've received 3 different emails in the last couple days regarding promos and sales at some of my favorite shops - wowza! In keeping with the spirit, I started thinking about my favorite things and wanted to share with my fellow followers... happy shopping!

Swoozies - various locations

Whether you are getting married, need invitations for an upcoming party or are just in need of a cute gift, Swoozie's is a great place to start! There season catalogs are always packed with great ideas and their signature pink and orange colors are hard to miss. With stores located all over the Southeast, online shipping available and hard-to-resist sales, this is definitely a MUST on my list!

This is their new "sale-ebration" going on right now: save 30% off all online and in-store purchases!

Home and Garden Classics - Spartanburg, South Carolina

This ADORABLE store is located in Spartanburg, South Carolina and to be completely honest, should be in every town and city across America! Brad and I have family and friends there so I pop in every time I'm in town to see what cute home decor, kitchen gadgets and of course, the endless amounts stationery/invitations they have in stock. We've bought our Christmas cards/party invitations, Brad's graduation invitations, any and all stationery gifts and countless engagement/wedding/birthday/baby/housewarming gifts. I'm hoping they will set up more of their inventory online (although that would spell trouble for me) but this store gets my vote each and every time!

Mud Pie Monograms and Gifts - Charlotte, North Carolina

I found Mud Pie Monograms back in November 2006 after inquiring about a local place that offered monogramming for brought-in as well as in-store items. A friend referred me to Mud Pie and I haven't looked back! Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, Mud Pie offers monogramming on just about anything you could think of, in all types of fonts, styles, colors and sizes. Collegiate tumblers / baskets / decals / blankets, baby apparel, gifts for the home, acrylic napkin holders / cups / plates / pitchers / wine glasses / coasters and much, much more are available in store! This is their most recent e-mail blast that runs from September 25-26, 2009.

Polka Dots Inc. - Fort Mill, South Carolina

When we moved to Fort Mill, I immediately set out in search of the local shops and to my excitement, stumbled across Polka Dots Inc.! Nestled in the middle of Baxter Village retail square off Highway 160, this splendid boutique has a wide assortment of invitations for every celebration and milestone you could possibly think of, along with a variety of gifts for every occasion! Online shopping makes shopping a breeze... A+ in my book!

Laugh of the Day

Because sometimes, we all need to dance it out. :)

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Free? Yes please!

Wear your favorite college team apparel (GO COCKS!) to any local Chick-fil-A from 10:30 - close and you'll get a free chicken sandwich!

Join the wave and you could win a $50 Chick-fil-A giftcard (look for me - I'm lmstoehr!)

Yikes!

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

We all knew they were out there. This website puts them all into a ridiculous compilation... LMAO.

Victory!

GAMECOCKS WIN! GAMECOCKS WIN!

South Carolina - 7             North Carolina State - 3

(Okay, I didn't say it was a pretty win but we'll take it!)

How SEC kids are raised.

I'm no Ole Miss fan but you have to be impressed at this 2 YEAR OLD.

So we meet again...

I have the BEST husband in the world... he surprised me with field passes to the Panthers vs. Ravens game tonight at B of A stadium! Funny the irony of this game... no matter, LET'S GO CATS!

BIG shout-out to my favorite Panther - DeAngelo Williams! woot!

Rest in Peace, Teddy.

Thank you for your years of service and devotion to the United States Senate and the American people. God bless.

Falls, New York & shredders - oh my!

Well, shame on me for letting my blog go for so long without any updates. In my defense, one person could not have had any worse luck at certain points this last month but things are looking up and that's the important thing. One AWESOME part of my absence here is the Stoehr's anniversary trip to New York City that I couldn't stop talking about - we had a BLAST! I finally finished uploading all the pictures to Facebook so check them out. My favorite part? Eh, that's hard to say. It's NEW YORK CITY for crying out loud. We were able to visit the World Trade Center, which was powerful, moving and almost deafening in its quietness. Brad loved Wall Street, New York Stock Exchange and getting his picture taken with the bull. No bull balls picture for us, though. I can't same the same for our fellow asian tourists who thought it was h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s. If I did have to pick, my top three highlights would be, in no particular order: seeing Wicked on Broadway, getting on the TODAY show (for like 2 seconds but hey, people saw us!)/shaking Al Roker's hand and seeing the heavens from the top of 30 Rockefeller. Anyone who knows me know how deathly frightened I am of heights but words cannot describe how amazingly beautiful it was to look out and see the "city that never sleeps" for miles and miles. ::sigh:: If I thought I could keep up with everything, I'd move. Now I just need to go back at Christmas (helloooo bucket list) - can't wait to go back! Of course, we need to give a BIG THANKS to Jessica and Phil for being wonderful hosts (and introducing me to sangria - what rock have I been under?!) - we love you!

Now onto the crappier parts of this past month: I'd like to think I'm not accident prone but you would never know it from all the shit that's happened to me lately. You all got to read about my embarassing fall back in July - it's headled quite well and thanks to Mederma, the scarring will hopefully be kept to a minimum. Crisis averted... so I thought. Brad and I got about 3 hours of sleep the night before we had to catch our flight home that Sunday AND met my parents in Columbia to pickup the pups they so graciously watched for us while we were away (thanks mom and dad!) by the time we got home, we were BEAT and could have gone to bed at 4pm. For some reason that's still not clear to me, I got a second wind and decided cleaning the office upstair would be a better idea. Ugh. In the midst of my cleaning, I moved a couple of boxes and as I did, our grossly top-heavy shredder landed sideways square on my left foot. My knees buckled and I fell to the floor, certain my foot was broken. Not only had the shredder hit my foot, it hit on the edge and in a matter of minutes had turned black and blue. Seriously? Who does this? We decided to elevate and ice for the night and if it wasn't better in the morning, we'd go to the doctor. Well, I'm sure you can guess how that went so in the morning, we headed to Urgent Care to have my foot checked out. Luckily nothing was broken but it was severly bruised and the doctor put me on crutches. Now, I've never broken anything or needed crutches but I could go the rest of my life without needing crutches - what a pain in the ass! It's been 3 weeks with no accident which is great but I know these type of things come in 3s so we'll see what happens next... pray for no more hospital visits!


The truly best thing about this whole time I've missed with you all? I celebrated 2 wonderful years with my husband on August 11! Time sure does fly when you're having a blast. :)

I promise to be better with updates - ta ta for now!

TODAY Show on Friday!

As Brad and I start preparing for our trip to New York City this week, one of the hot-ticket items (okay okay, I'm not fooling anyone - it's all exciting!) is getting on the TODAY Show at Rockefeller Plaza! We're getting up at 3am to do it but we lucked out - Jason Mraz will be performing! ((arsenio hall fist pump))

Photo by Bil Zelman/MTV.com

Here's a question: what should we put on our sign? We HAVE to have a sign! We thought about putting about our anniversary or possibly my first time in the Big Apple but we're not sure... we need ideas and suggestions!

Cheesecake for a Cause

Today is National Cheesecake Day and who couldn't love a holiday like that? My personal absolute favorite is the Tuxedo cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory (yum!) and even better, every slice sold today at the Cheesecake Factory is 1/2 off!


But wait, it gets better! For every slice of Stefanie’s Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake™ sold over the next 12 months, the Cheesecake Factory will donate $.25 to Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief charity. This recipe brings together moist layers of Red Velvet and the original Cheesecake covered with the special Cheesecake Factory cream cheese frosting.


So this begs the question: anyone hungry?

136 days

4 months and 13 days. 3,624 hours. 195, 840 hours. 11,750,400 minutes. Whatever way you slice it, that's how many days my husband has left in grad school. By the sound of this post, you'd think I was the one in school (hey, I'm working on it) but it's been a long time coming for him. He's worked his butt off - seriously, his GPA rocks - and he's been so blessed to have a company who supports him in furthering his education. I can't wait to celebrate with everyone in December to mark the momentous occasion... Bradley Patrick Stoehr, Master of Bad Assness! er, uh... Business Administration.

How Wicked!

I'm beyond excited... Brad surprised me with tickets to Wicked while we're in NYC for our anniversary!

You've entered the Twilight zone...

http://movies.msn.com/superfans/twilight/blog/


THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer in HD


Le sigh. Come on, November 20.

I'm looking like Harry Potter these days.

After a long week, most couples take advantage of Friday nights by catching a movie, having a nice dinner or just curling up on the couch to relax. Not me. Not my poor husband. Last night, our plans included a giant gash on my forehead, a busted lip and an emergency room. No, it wasn't a bar fight, although I almost wish it was so I'd have a decent story to tell.

As I was out running errands Friday afternoon, I started to feel lightheaded, much like you do when you stand up too fast or feel like you're about to get sick. No sooner did I walk outside to get some air than I was on the concrete sidewalk, bleeding from my forehead and wondering what the hell just happened. I was only unconscious for a couple seconds but of course, the manager of the store I was in wanted to make sure I was checked out, which I appreciated. My lip and knees caught the brunt of the fall, both which would throb continuously throughout the night. Brad showed up shortly after, probably driving a lot faster than he should have after I called to tell him what had happened, and everything checked out with my vitals. We went to the local urgent care and I almost wish I hadn't. The doctor there wouldn't even dress my head injury, which I was trying to nurse with ice wrapped in a paper towel. We'd need to go to the emergency room, he said, eyes wide and making me increasingly neurotic about the whole situation. I'd need to have an EKG and CT scan done, stitches for my head, etc. Seriously? Alright. After all, I'd never needed stitches or broken bones as a kid. What the hell did I know? So off to the ER we went. Everyone was very nice but I felt like a pin cushion after giving everything the nurses needed: 4 tries for blood samples before they were actually successful, an IV in the hand (um, OUCH) and the tetnus shot I apparently needed. Ugh, shit. Luckily, the doctor said he'd be able to use Dermabond to patch up my head wound intead of stitches. Woohoo. By 12:30am, I was discharged and we were own our way home. Only got about 3 hours of sleep due to my adreneline subsiding and the pain taking its place but it felt good just to be home. We still aren't clear exactly why I blacked out but hopefully we'll get it under control. Now, let's hope this gash on my head won't have me resembling Harry Potter in the days to come.

Yep, if only I could have a better story: "If you think I look bad, you should see the other girl!" Oy vey.

Anniversary trip to the Big Apple!

Photos provided by Top of the Rock
 Brad and I are hitting the streets of New York City to celebrate our 2-year anniversary in just a couple weeks! He's been before but this will be my first time in the Big Apple and we are both SO excited. One of the things we'll be taking it is the view from Top of the Rock, the observation deck at the top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It's breathtaking just look at the pictures so I can only imagine how incredble it will be in person... we can't wait!

Creative wedding entrance? Yes please!

I've seen quite a few creative wedding entrances but this one, pardon my pun, takes the cake. Congratulations, Kevin and Jill!

Welcome to blogworld, Mrs. Stoehr.

Families, weddings, children. So many of my friends and family have blogs that keep their life happenings nice and neat on the world wide web and I always think "I should do that. I have Facebook, Twitter, forums - why not blog about it?" So today is the day. Ready or not, I'm here. Enjoy.