My sanity and the facebook purge.......direct correlation

Good evening my dear lovelies,

Here is hoping all of you are doing well. Me on the other hand, I have been better. I kind of hate to say that, but it is what it is......

No need to sound any alarms, but peace in the land of Jen does not seem to be on the schedule any time soon, but who knows, sometimes you are nicely surprised.

To save and hold on to my last, teeny-tiny bit of sanity and peace, I had to conduct a purge of facebook. To sum it up, I had accumulated about 150 "friends" on facebook. Don't get me wrong, it was fun.....the only problem, a little bit too much fun. The last thing I did in the evening was check facebook and my first thought of the morning...you guessed it - facebook. You know, I think I am nosy and curious, and you know the saying, "curiousity killed the cat." Well, perhaps a better statement would be "Facebook nearly put Jen in a mental hospital." But the thought of getting rid of it completely was kind of upsetting and devastating, because there are some people with whom facebook is my best and only means of communication. So I purged facebook down to about 30 or 40 people. The people whom I kept had a reason, and those whom I got rid of, I got rid of for a reason. Many of them because I just had no need to keep up-to-date on their daily happenings, and some just because I love them and would prefer to keep them closer than facebook, you know, like on that thing they call the phone?

So, I have felt much better, and it is not by coincidence that the people who were "kept" from the purge are "quieter" or something to that effect. I still check it off and on, but there are not nearly as many updates and a lot less reasons for me to freak out.

So I am working on getting my act back together. This week I have some odds and ends on the calendar, I will follow up later........

A few more IMPORTANT events of the weekend!

So this weekend I have returned loud and clear to the blog, and I am glad to be back...... I had a few more things to mention from the land of the Stewarts:

Friday night we got together with Rob and Rhonda who were also in town for the big race. It was Rob's first marathon and a few days earlier I had the gumption to tell him "You are going to do really great, or you are going to die......I am optimisitic that you are going to do great! Haha! (It turned out I was right, he did awesome...but details will follow in a few minutes). Nate had gone to school on Friday and had driven the Cobalt. When we wanted to meet downtown I drove to the campus (with the other car) and picked him up and then we went downtown together to meet Dad. We had a fun time and had some conversation and dinner. Then the best part happened, Nate and I left town (together in the second car) and FORGOT the Cobalt in the city......are you kidding.....and we totally didn't even realize it until we pulled in to our driveway and I uttered "Oh s**t! We left the Cobalt in the city....totally forgot it.....uh, duh!

Well that left me in a pooey mood for Saturday morning. Our plans had been to drive separately in the morning for the race. Nate was going to go in to town quite a bit earlier than me and then I was going to go in to town later. Unfortunately, now we only had one car. So, we had to get up at 6:00 in the morning and I had to ride to town with Nate, then I drove home, then I got changed and turned around and came BACK to the city. So by 8:00 am I had been to the city, back home, and back to the city.....see the "Princess and the dork" blog for that story, which ended up awesome.

Not mentioned in the previous blog is Dad's story on the marathon......he did fantastic! He finished the 26.2 miles in just less than 4 hours.......WOW, for an old man I would say that is pretty impressive.....just kidding (not about the impressive part, but about the old man part :). Nate also was a hero of the day when he helped an older lady who fell......I got all sick because there was blood involved, but Nate did awesome (I think this pin-points the reason why he is in medical school and I am not!)

Momzie (our cute nick-name for Nate's dear mom) arrived to our house about 5 minutes before I got home. We played around all afternoon (mostly her and me!) We went out and about shopping and being "girly-girls"....especially fun for a mom of two boys! We went to DSW Shoe Warehouse and tried on all the shoes (maybe not all, but a LOT!) We went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and used the coupons they send me in the mail all the time. We went to Kohls, but didn't find a single good item! We also went to Half-Price Books and looked for crochet books for mom's amazing talent and budding business! I made dinner and then we just chatted until darn near midnight. Poor Nathan was tired and fell asleep in the living room by about 10:00. Mom and I did some more "girly" spa things that I keep at the house. We did a hand-treatment and foot treatment, and went to bed feeling relaxed and refreshed!

Sunday we ended up having a bit of a lazy-type day. We were bad and didn't get to church due to mom staying around until around 10:00, past the service we normally go to. We did a bit of leg-work for a food drive Nate is in charge of at the school for one of his student interest groups. We watched the episode of "White Collar" (our new guilty-pleasure) that we missed on Friday night!

Nate treated me to a "spa night" at home.....gosh I am one lucky lady to have such a great husband! And I love spas, so I know all about good spa service, and this one was the best one I have ever been to! So with my professional opinion, I give "Spa Stewart" 5 stars!

Signing off for now-
Jen!!!

Alphabetical seating= Winquist and Williams

Eric and Mark at our wedding....Eric is the blond boy in the striped shirt and Mark has an AWESOME look on his face......
For the purpose of this particular blog, I need to take you back to a long time ago at Heritage Middle School on the first day of 8th grade. I entered a classroom for a class having something to do with "Life Skills." Around 10 years later I remember only two things from that class:

1.) We had an assignment that attempted to teach us how to keep a checkbook ledger, and I did a very poor job on it.......I was crushed when I got a bad grade

More importantly is point 2-----
2.) The seating chart for this class was based on alphabetical order by last name.....my maiden name being Winquist and to my right was a new boy named.......ERIC WILLIAMS

At this point I just remember trying to make some random conversation. I think I was probably trying to work the kinks out of my newfound love of flirting, and this boy did not receive it well. I think to try to pinpoint my thoughts about him at that time I would have thought "hmmmmm.....he is kind of awkward to talk to......." Also, at some point I was talking to him and he told me, "I'm going to Iceland." Huh? I think that I thought he was even worse at flirting than me. I was surprised when I arrived at school a few days later to find him missing.....yes, he actually had gone to Iceland......and to make matters worse he didn't even fall for my girlish charms. So this is what I remember about him from a LONG time ago.

I remember him from high school, just as a funny aquaintance and someone who was fun to talk to. In all honesty had our story ended there in May of 2004 I may have not thought much about him ever again.....perhaps when I found facebook 4 years later our paths may have crossed again, but I am quite glad to inform that this is not how the story ends.

Eric also came with Nate and myself to Manchester College. We really didn't know many people at all who were at Manchester, so we became friends. He lived in the same dorm I started out in and we used to have lunch together sometimes. Also, his funny cousin from Missouri was his roommate and the awesome Mark Moon became our friend. Mark went on to date and marry Wendi, thus cementing our lifelong friendship (hopefully!)

We got to know a lot of the extended Williams/Moon family and love them all. Also worth noting is the fact that Eric moved to the north side of Indianapolis around the same time we moved to the south side. Sometimes the world is small and Eric actually works with my friend Robyn's husband.

Yesterday downtown Indy for the race, Eric was kind enough to meet me and Hansy to provide some company and hang out a bit. Eric is such a funny guy!

So Eric, thanks for the conversation and laughs.....thanks for listening to the crazy! We are glad to have you for a friend......and one of our longest-lasting ones! And that is saying a lot cause Nate and I are picky people..........even more importantly, Hansy likes you, so we shall keep you around!

The princess and the dork.....

A long, long time ago in a land far, far away from the land of the Green Wood a young dorky boy loved to run. He met a beautiful princess and they built a life together.

The princess had a noble steed called Hans who was the dorky boy's biggest fan......he came to the races and wore a cute little gold scarf with green letters spelling out his biggest dreams...."Go Nate." The princess and the steed used to travel around and see the boy run like the wind......

Fast forward 5 years and the boy stills loves to run, but he lacks the time and teamwork keeping him on goal. However, he buckled down and made the plans to run 13.1 miles, the half marathon, in the mythical city of Indianapolis.

The princess was a big kerplunked about the boy running in this crazy race. What kind of a reasonable person wants to run 13.1 miles.....come on, that is what they made cars for!

She had to go to the city, which she often times dreads like the plague....and to make matters worse, she had to go to the city by herself, with only the noble steed to accompany her. I mean, even after all these years the boy MUST have his "fan team" even if the look a bit worse for the ware.

After looking in the closet, the princess found the magical scarf. The princess also made herself a shirt that was green with gold letters spelling out the same great dream...."Go Nate."

The boy ran the whole 13.1 miles like the wind. In a race of approximately 3,000 people he came in 91st overall and 8th in his age group. He ran the race in 1:31 (a little bit less than 7 minutes a mile).....not too darn shabby if the author may say so herself!

The fan team loved the boy more than ever before and they lived happily ever after. If just goes to show that even if the princess grumbles for poor reasons, she may have a good time.

It was fun to see the boy run in all his glory again! Oh the days of cross country, young love and small towns!

Hans and Sadie enjoying their Frosty Paws


Hans and the lipgloss, guilty......yes, I think so


The lipgloss Hans pulled out of my purse and had some fun with....

Hiding in my own home on Halloween....

After some long, partially purposeful silence here on the blog....I am back, and with a loud shout out to the world!

To sum up the last few weeks, wow....yep, I guess it has been a few weeks at least.

On Sunday, Oct 18th I made a trip up to the "great north" with just me, myself, and Hans. We went up because my dear little grampy had surgery on his knee to fix some issues that had arisen since his knee replacement two years ago. It was just a lot for my little nerves to handle. I am SO glad that I went, but was unbelievably glad to come home. I missed my dear little husband, darn it. I don't want to make our relationship sound all "co-dependent" and it's not like we cannot survive without each other....instead it is that we prefer to be together and find that we are better together than apart. I did get to spend some time with family, which was a very good thing and a lot of fun. I got to see the entire Reimer clan (Liz, Brad, and all the girls!) and even came home with two pictures beautifully adorning our fridge at this moment. Hannah is 7 and VERY talented artistically and Ruthie (who is just 2) also drew us a picture! Thanks a lot girls, I smile when I get in my fridge and get to see my pictures! I got to see Rob (dad-in-law), Suzie (mom-in-law), Laura (soon to be sis-in-law), and even visited Grandma Kathy at work for a few minutes. I also got to eat breakfast with my mom, it was very nice to catch up, but no more north for quite a while at this point.....I think I over-dosed a little bit!

I came back Wednesday and ended up being SUPER-sick Friday-Wednesday. For those of you familiar with my medical history of the last year, the same thing that ended me up in the ER almost a year ago happened again this year. Without provided all too much info, my stomach was MAD at me and I pooed blood for days. Yes, pooed blood. This is the 3rd time this has happened to me, but at this point I don't care if it happens 100 times, I am never going to be comfortable with it.......bottom line - I am feeling pretty much all the way better now, but it was a bad week. Nate stayed home with me several days, and I sure appreciate that boy!

Last night we had our friends Brad and Krista over to our place for dinner, and they brought Hansy's girlfriend Sadie. Hansy's birthday is coming up in the next few weeks, so we lived it up and had a "birthday party!" It was much more a chance and excuse for the adults to get together, but we did have "Frosty Paws" for the pups (it is a doggie-ice cream). Brad and Krista even brought Hansy a present! It was SO CUTE. They brought him some treats and a hedgehog toy (and we can't forget about the card!).....he loves them both! Thanks a lot guys! It sure was a lot of fun!

Tonight is Halloween and finds me and Nate hiding in our very own home. I know we must sound like huge party-poopers, and we kind of are, but Hans is not accomodating to Trick-or-Treaters. The first year we were married we handed out candy and nearly had 19 dog bites, courtesy of Hans the Terrible! Haha, well not in actuality, but he barks so LOUD and MEAN sounding. He really just ends up scaring kids. If we dare close him in another room, he would be hoarse for days. It really wouldn't be worth the grief. So we don't have on our front light, we even unscrewed our light in our yard. Nate has all the lights off in the office (which is the room in our house visible from the front of the house) we have our garage door closed and all the lights off in the living room. I do have the TV on, which would probably be our only give away. The only other light in the whole house is coming from my computer screen right now. Also worth noting are my typing skills being tested in the dark! Ha!

So yes, this is what we have come to, hiding in our own home on Halloween! It is kind of shameful and I am a bit sorry. We did have one group of Trick-or-Treaters come by, and it was darn lucky we had a few pieces of wrapped candy. Out of the four Halloweens we have been married this has happened each time. So I am always sure to have a few pieces for the kids that don't mind the unwritten rule of "no lights, no candy." We should probably just learn our lesson already, and not be home at all on Halloween.

I know I missed a few odds-and-ends of the last few weeks. The only other "event" I can think of was that Nate and I did get to be "pretend" parents for one night to our dear little friend Micah while his parents enjoyed a night out for their anniversary. It was a heck of a lot of fun! Nate and I decided we are as ready as we can be for kids, but are terrified of all of their "gear." We managed Micah just fine, but had a rotten time with his car seat and stroller. It turns out that someone who graduated college with honors and a future doctor can't even handle these......LOL!

I am going to post a few pics in the next entry....

When did I get so darn old?!?

How come I am not 19 any more? I still "feel" 19! And yet, here I am....23! Don't get me wrong, 23 is NOT old and I know that!

And yet, it is funny for me to say and to internalize. More and more, I see people younger than me doing all kinds of things, and this is more of a new phenomenon to me. Do you want examples? Let me provide a few...

1.) Miley Cyrus. Do I need to say more?
2.) Taylor Swift
3.) Notre Dame College Football players, yep they are all younger than me.

I sometimes feel Nate and I have a funny perspective on things due to the age we were when we got married.....19. At that time, it was pretty crazy. We were clearly the only married people we knew our age at Manchester. We had not gotten married because of a kid, but because we wanted to and we were "ready." I would not trade the choices that we have made for anything. For us, I feel it was the right choice. And yet, how come now I look at someone who is 19 and think....."wow, they are young and stupid, do they even know how to spell their middle name?!" Also, how come when I was 17, 18, 19 years old I knew EVERYTHING there was to know about the world. Don't try to tell me anything different, because I knew it all......what "it" was you could have argued with me, and I was right (or so I thought!)

How come, now, at 23 I barely seem to "know" 1% of the things I "knew" when I was 18? Another funny thought came to me recently. For a long time, and even now, when we meet people I think that they think we are young. Back to the topic of being married young, we were, and I am not saying otherwise. It is funny to me now, though, that we were "special" being married back then. As we get older, more and more people are married. I still feel like we have much more "experience" than they do. Many of them are more newly married, while Nate and I are approaching our 5th year. The funny realization I came to was thinking about having babies. Clearly, that is on my mind, especially since the miscarriage. But I got to thinking, at this point, when Nate and I have a baby, we will be over 24 by the time the baby is here. That really isn't that young to have a baby! I think it is still "younger" but it doesn't make someone stop and think twice. When we mention that we got married when we were 19, people stop and pay attention.........baby at 24, not so much, it seems more "traditional" (or something to that effect, at least in my mind.)

And then, for my most HILARIOUS insight, if I may say so myself.....and yes, there is a TMI alert quickly on the way, so consider yourself warned:

As I was getting in the shower the other day, I stopped to glance at myself in the mirror and suddenly had the thought "Oh good grief, I look awful naked!" HAHAHAHAHA! I am sure there is a BIG part of this that is just me being WAY to critical of myself. For goodness sake, I am currently at the same "size" clothes I was before Nate and I were even married, but I am pretty sure in the buff, I DO NOT LOOK THE SAME! And to make matters worse, we don't have kids, so I can't blame anything on having had babies!

Later, as I shared this critism of myself with Nate, I phrased it well.......here is how the conversation opened:

Jen: Honey, I am glad to be married to you!
Nate: Well that is nice, I am glad to be married to you too!
Jen: Know why I am glad to be married to you? Cause at this point if I were dating, I couldn't let some boy see me naked! It is NOT pretty! Do real boys think real girls look like Hollywood girls, cause they are going to be sorely disappointed!

Oh, yes, I think I am just a bucket full of laughs! After much assurance on his part, he told me that he didn't think real boys think real girls look like Victoria Secret models.....they are airbrushed and we know it!

When did I pass my prime? I hope I am not already past my "sell-by" date! In my mind, maybe I will always be 19. I am pretty sure I have been here the whole time, and yet, sometimes things seem like they were just yesterday when in reality, they were 5 years ago. 180 degrees in the opposite direction, however, sometimes things that were just a few months ago seem like they were a lifetime ago.

From what my wise little grammy tells me, I should just get used to it, already!

So, I suppose that is all from the mind of Jen for right now. At this point, I have know idea who looks at this blog, and do you know what......I don't suppose it really matters to me. Everything I post on here, I am great with sharing, but it is more for me than for anyone else. I keep myself entertained and can "talk" till I am blue in the face. So, love from me and the Hans......we are just taking it easy this evening. Nate is in the office, studying until we die!

Lots of love, the Queen of Drama