We'll Miss You Uncle Joe

Sam's family has lost a staple member this last week- Uncle Joe.

For the past 10 years, every Christmas Eve I went with Sam's family to Uncle Joe's house. It been a tradition for many years and it will be sad to have to see that tradition end. I could always count on there being an antipasto tray and cannolis. (Have I said that I married into an Italian family?)

In Sam's family it's a tradition to be named after other family members and Sam's brother was named after Uncle Joe. Yesterday was Uncle Joe's wake, and while there I was informed there is at least another 4 people named "Joe" in this big family.

Today is the funeral service and I know there will be many tears, but we are happy he's no longer in pain.

Uncle Joe-
You'll be missed. Christmas will not be the same without you making us eat more and more food! 
Love -Stacy

My Last Long Weekend of the Summer

I have to say having three day weekends over the summer was really nice. I'm sad to say this weekend is my last one of the summer. So I tried to keep it low keyed while still getting stuff done.

On Friday- I got my hair highlighted and trimmed.

I have not had highlights in my hair since a bad experience in college when I went to a cosmetology school to get them done. I ended up with a big blob of blond on the top of my head and didn't notice until I got home. Needless to say I been only doing all over color ever since, well until today. I like how they turned out because they are not "bright blond" like I've done in the past. Even though I can see the difference, it turns out no else really even noticed I got it done. Oh well.

Later on Friday I spent some time with my college roommates!

 (Re-used picture, but these are the girls I'm talking about)

Early in the evening Jen (the one in the blue) and I got dinner. It's not often that just Jen and I do things together, but it was nice to just spend some quality time with her. Then we met up with Katie at her house for a drink. Then we all went to Houlihan's for some late night snacks and drinks where Sam and my other friend Jen joined in our evening.

I have to say it's been really nice that we (my college roommates) are all starting to spend more time hanging out again. Right after college we needed to take a break from one another, but they are great girls and we always crack so many jokes (at each others expense) when we are together.


On Saturday- I spent most of my day cleaning our basement space.

I didn't just clean- I changed the sheets and made the bed. I'm not one to really care if my bed is made or not so it only happens when I put new sheets on it.

Also I to add to my cleaning spree, I even organized our closet. I should have done a before/ after photo, but just picture a mountain of shoes in the middle of the floor and the shelves full of random stuff that needed to be put away.

After my full morning of cleaning, Sam and I went and did a little more house shopping then revisited the house we have an offer on.

We are getting close to closing the deal on this house, but because we hadn't seen the house in so long we wanted to do a little more shopping and wanted to make sure this is the house we still really wanted to buy.

We will need to do some (a lot) of painting before we start moving all our stuff in, but we could possible close and get the keys in our hand by the end of the month. However, I'm still not trying to get too excited because it's not a done deal yet.

On Sunday- being it the last day of the weekend, I kept it low keyed.

My parents and I have started this mini tradition of eating lunch every Sunday. This week the pick was the Patio. This is one of my favorite places for BBQ and it's always good for a quick meal.

After lunch I headed back to Sam's for a little before I decided I wanted to treat myself to pretty new toenails! I thought blue would be fun and it's going to be the accent color to my outfit I'm wearing to Mike & Ashley's wedding next weekend. (You'll hear more about that soon). 

Also, I spent a part of my afternoon laying out in the sun to try to get a little more color before the summer comes to an end.

For dinner Sam's grandma, great aunt, brother, and his brother's girlfriend all came over. It was a full table with a total of 9 of us sitting around it. Just one of the joys of joining a big Italian family!

To wrap the weekend, Sam and I went over to Mike & Ashley's house for a bonfire. We just sat around talking around the house buying process, their upcoming wedding, and other random topics of conversation.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Did you know...

It is Clown Week! I bet you didn't know that- well I really didn't know either until my uncle told me.

(My uncle Jerry & me)

Did you also know there was a real "Clown College"? There was and my uncle went to it! Kinda cool right!?! However, clowning around runs in the family.

(My grandpa, my sister, & me)

There have been many times growing up that I had clown make-up put on me. I think one of my favorite memories as a clown was when my grandpa let me walk with him in a parade and hand out candy to people watching on the streets. That was really fun and it made me feel special because I was part of the parade and not just a spectator.

Happy Clown Week & Happy Friday!

In Honor of the Olympics

I have always been a fan of watching the Olympic Games. And being that I'm still hanging low from my surgery yesterday, my plans tonight consist of watching the opening ceremony and eating more soft foods.

I remember the first time I really got into watching the Olympic Game was in 1996. These games were exciting because they were held in the US, but that wasn't the only reason why I remember those Olympic Games so well. It was in 1996 that I was made to go to summer school for the first (and only) time.

For that year our summer school theme was all based around the Olympics. And at the end of summer school everyone was entered into a drawing to win different Olympic theme stuff. The prizes ranged from a bike, to a boogie board, to an Olympic towel, and more. Needless to say- I didn't win anything. However, because I had an awesome grandpa who knew all I wanted was that Olympic towel, he went out a got me my own. 

It's hard to believe I've had this towel since 1996, but every time I use it I always think of my grandpa and how he just wanted to make me happy. Want to know the coolest thing about this towel?

It turns in to a bag! Now that towel I wanted to win couldn't do that, and it has came in very handy over the years when I go to pool parties.

I hope everyone has a good and relaxing weekend! And good luck team USA!

I Survived!

For you who didn't see my earlier blog- I just had my wisdom teeth taken out and I'm proud to say "I Survived". If you did read my earlier post you know how much I was not looking forward to getting this done.

I have to say it went a lot better then I expected. The anesthesia worked like a charm and I helped entertained my husband for a while (I guess I get pretty loopy). Also, Sam has made sure I have been a good little patient by making me take my meds and making me ice my face- 20 minutes per side and repeat. And as you can see from the picture above it seems to be working pretty well.

I'm also grateful Sam was there because for some reason I can only remember part of being in the recovery room.While in recovery they told me to avoid hot for today (which I don't remember) so I had a dinner of champions- lukewarm mashed potatoes and chicken both, plus more pills.   

So my plans for the rest of the night is just to take it easy by vegging out in front of the TV and computer. I have to say I was excited to find a mini-marathon of my favorite TV show growing up...

 ALF!

 
What a classic show and it will always remind me of spending time at my grandparents house growing up. I have one of the coolest grandma's because she used to always taped ALF for me off of TV (remember doing that?) each week. And believe it or not, we still have those video tapes around my mom's house.

I hope my recovery keeps going smoothly. Also I really hope I get all the feeling back in my lower soon because it feels very weird putting on chapstick when you can't feel your lip.

The Day of Impacted Doom!

Sometime last year I talked about how a had a "double life". I always enjoyed having my two different jobs, but today I really wish I wasn't in the know about certain things. The reason why- today is the day I get my wisdom teeth taken out.

There is that old saying "Ignorance is Bliss" and for today ignorance would have been great. Being that I was a dental assistance for a while, I have to say extractions were the worst thing to had to watch. I can handle a lot of gross things, but extractions always made me squirm. 

I have seen a number of extractions while I was a dental assistance, however I never been in the big chair myself. I truth, I've been putting off getting this done for many years and now I'm at a point where I can't wait any longer or I maybe facing bigger issues with my teeth.

Today I'll be getting my two lower wisdom teeth taken out which they both are impacted. Also, I'm getting one of my top wisdom teeth taken out because it came in backwards. As for my last wisdom tooth - it gets to stay. Why you may ask? Because I have two wisdom teeth on the other upper side (yes I have 5 wisdom teeth total) and they are being held up by my cheekbone and they aren't going anywhere.

Wish me luck! Maybe I'll put up a nice "after picture" to share with the world. At least I'm being put to sleep to get it done,  I got some good meds to help with the pain, and a husband with a whole day off to take care of me.

Redbirds Reunite!

I've never been good about surprises especially when it comes to surprises for the husband. I always get too excited and end up telling him what we we're doing, but I finally I was to keep my big mouth shut. Yesterday I surprised Sam with a trip to downtown Chicago to go to a beer tasting and brewery tour. However, this wasn't just any date-night, this was an actual event being held by our university's alumni association. So I thought it would be a fun event to go to with the husband and our college roommates.

(Don't feel to bad for Sam- he was the one who decided to live with three girls.)

I'm not much of a beer drinker (that is a really big understatement) but my roommates do enjoy beer so I thought it could be a fun thing to do. The cost was pretty reasonable (only $25) which included 5 beer tastings, light appetizers, and a tour of their brewery. Plus, we got a bunch of free ISU swag!

 The event was held at Revolution Brewing. It's a pretty cool/ hip brew pub with some really good food. After the main event, we decided to stay and order dinner. I have to say for being a downtown Chicago restaurant- their prices are really reasonable. For the 4 of us (which included 1 appetizer, 4 meals, and 3 beers) it was only $75.

 (Picture of brewery for inside the restaurant)

It was a really good time. It was nice to get out of the burbs, to hang out with friends, and do something a little different the our norm.

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!