Friday, October 29, 2010

The Ice Palace

Adam has started his second job at the St. Pete Times Forum, otherwise know as The Ice Palace.  This is where the Tampa Bay Lightening Hockey team plays. Yes, Tampa has a Hockey team. I didn't realize this myself until AFTER I moved to Florida even with them WINNING the Stanley Cup that year.  If it's not the Red Wings why would I care?  Actually the first Lightening Hockey game I went to they played the Red Wings and of course the Wings won...and an octopus was thrown on the ice. Something these Floridian's with their make believe hockey team had never heard of.  Anyway-I've gotten WAY off track.

So Adam is bar-backing at games and events.  He had worked their prior to us meeting and had an easy in.  We both like the extra income and I don't mind him leaving early on a Saturday to go into work, I've had quite a few fun Girls days :).  What I don't like, is his hours.  He will go in at noon. And then come home at 3am. Yes A.M. But what's worse is it's not always 3, sometimes it's 2 or 330 or 12....It all depends on the event and how long the bartenders take to break down their bar. Which according to Adam is 3x's longer than it should take. 

The past week he worked 5 events.  Each night I would crawl into bed...and lie there. Waiting to fall asleep, waiting for my husband to come in the door. Not knowing which would come first.  I don't sleep good on nights he works.  One night it was so bad I was awake until 5 am. (he had gotten home at 3) and i had to go to work at 8.   Slowly I've gotten better, but I think that I have gotten the worry gene from my mom and will be awake until all in my house are safe and sound.  This means that when we have children, I will get the paybacks for all the sleepless night I caused my mom, which really wasn't a lot, but none the less. 
Adam doesn't have another event for a week or so, so I will be catching up on my beauty sleep until my restless nights come again.  I'd better stock up on the Nytol. 
Nytol...will help you get your zzzzzzzzz's :) 
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On a side note, we've been having a good time this month, staying busy, seeing friends and getting out when we can.  Last weekend we had the Annual Smith Halloween party.  We went as Dunkin' Donuts :)
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73748_455536533748_535288748_5408237_1583120_n
39543_455543728748_535288748_5408382_3444049_n Ben and Lindsay as a Tea Party and the Mad Hatter
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Kody as a Miner in the capsule
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Tara the Flamingo-yes, that is a wig.
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Sonia as a working box of Franzia :)
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Sid, our host, as a four armed ax murderer.
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Ivee (and John) came as Panda-monium :)

We went early and stayed late and had a surprisingly low key fun time.  Everyone at the party realized we must all be getting older because the parties get tamer and tamer each year.  Only 1 person went in the pool this year fully clothed. (all the rest were partly clothed :)

This weekend is the Ultimate National's Tournament in Sarasota.  Adam's cousin, Adrienne, is playing in it so we will go down to watch and cheer on. 

The weather feels like it wants to cool off...only time will tell.  It's hard to get into the fall season when it's still 90 degrees out.  But we'll get there....
Happy Halloween.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Projects

I’ve caught the “create” bug recently.  And my wheels have been spinning with things to make, build, design, sew…..

There are days I sit at my desk and draw the same details over and over and over while my mind craves something new and I find myself surfing the net for anything stimulating. 

A lot of the times they trigger an idea and off task I go and move onto something bigger.  I randomly design houses, furniture, clothing, stationary, logos….you name it.  Occasionally I actually produce them in AutoCad or Sketchup and file them away.  Mostly they are scribbled on scrap paper next to my desk and will eventually be trashed.  And on those very rare “ah ha I can actually do this moments” I share my ideas with Adam and his wheels start turning too.

I did that this week.

Here is the picture that got me moving….

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Here is a peek at my solution:

table 2

Which of course I emailed to Adam right away. We then discussed the how-to’s over the phone on my 20 minute drive home. When I arrived home I found him searching the internet for the correct parts and pieces needed. 

He’s as excited about it as I am.

And I really hope we do it this time.  Because most of the time these ideas loose their steam and/or we get busy. But this time I think we will really do it…

Stay posted….

 

Oh and another creative distraction-I spent some money at fabrics.com this week.  I have another project up my sleeve.

Here’s a peek into that:

BAG FAB

How cool are those??!?!?! UPS should deliver the box tomorrow…good thing Adam is working late because I think I’ll be glued to my machine.

And in case you’re curious, yes I’ve designed our dream house. Well mine at least.  Adam puts his two cents in and sometimes I oblige.  We’ll never be able to build it-unless we win the lotto. But still whenever I have a lull in work I open it up and tweak and modify…

Here’s a peek:

Kitchen 

Well, I suppose I should get back to my details now….:(

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Not so Newly-Wed anymore

I've realized that Adam & I are no longer officailly "newlyweds". 
But we definetly havn't been married that long in my book. 
These two sure have us beat:


Considering our blog title is "Adventures in Newlywedville"  I figured it was time for an upgrade...but what?
Adventures in 1-year-ville? No.
Life after 12 months? nope...

So I must contemplate...this next stage - a new name.
The blog will still be updates about our life as a married couple and the fun things we do :)

In the mean time here is our 1st year in pictures...because we all like pictures!!

September 2009:


October 2009:

Halloween; Satan & Mrs. Claws


November 2009:

Jordan and Bruisers 1st boat ride in Florida


December 2009:

Santarchy  (aka "the night Adam wore tights)



January 2010:

Oberstdorf, Germany

February 2010:

70's Party-Adam as Chet from the Channel 9 News team.

















March 2010:

Adam's 1st batch of home brewed Beer


April 2010:

Busch Gardens


May 2010:

 Nashville, N.C.

June 2010:

Out Celebrating in St. Pete


July 2010:

 Camping @ Manatee Springs, FL

August 2010:

Spending time with our favorite girl


September 2010

Getting to know our new addition, Gretta


To a happy, wonderful, fun and blessed year and to more Adventures in Newlywedville :)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

A Girl

I found out today that our baby was a girl, with abnormal chromosomes resulting in monsomy X, which is consistent with Turner Syndrome. She had 45 x chromosomes in stead of the normal 46.
The doctor explained all the facts and that it is nothing caused by either Adam or myself nor will it increase our chances of it occurring again.  The doctor said that it is common to miscarry in this situation and that while some with Turner syndrome carry to full term,  the majority (99%) end like ours did.  She said in a way it’s a blessing.
Here is a quick explanation:
Monosomy X, commonly known as Turner Syndrome, is a chromosome disorder in which a girl or woman has only one complete X chromosome. (Because a Y chromosome is needed for a person to be male, all babies with Turner Syndrome are girls.) Though girls born with Turner Syndrome usually have good odds for a normal life, the majority of babies with the condition are lost to miscarriage or stillbirth.
About 1 in every 1,500 to 2,500 newborn babies has Turner Syndrome. Yet according to research, monosomy X is present in about 3% of all conceptions, but about 99% of affected babies are miscarried or stillborn. The condition is thought to be a factor in roughly 15% of all miscarriages. (about.com)
Turner Syndrome in girls:
Girls with Turner syndrome are usually short in height. Girls with Turner syndrome who aren't treated for short stature reach an average height of about 4 feet 7 inches (1.4 meters). The good news is that when Turner syndrome is diagnosed while a girl is still growing, she can be treated with growth hormones to help her grow taller.
In addition to growth problems, Turner syndrome prevents the ovaries from developing properly, which affects a girl's sexual development and the ability to have children. Because the ovaries are responsible for making the hormones that control breast growth and menstruation, most girls with Turner syndrome will not go through all of the changes associated with puberty unless they get treatment for the condition. Nearly all girls with Turner syndrome will be infertile, or unable to become pregnant on their own. (Kidshealth.com)

 











Recognize her? She has Turner Syndrome.

It feels good to have some closure, to know the cause of my miscarriage, but at the same time knowing it was a girl makes it all more real.  I’m glad I know though.  Also the doctor said that everything seemed fine after my post-op check up and that we can try again in a month or so.   So here’s to luck in the future with 46 Chromosomes :)

Three step lasagna…

On Sunday we decided to tackle lasagna for dinner.  We both LOVE it, but I had never made it. It actually kind of scared me.

I found a recipe and we purchased all the ingredients we needed.  It turned out GREAT! and was sooooooooo easy.

Why?

Because we made it in the crock pot.

GASP! Don’t worry, we’re not Italian so it’s Ok.

This is how you do it:

Step 1: Brown 1 lb of ground meat. (we used chicken because it was on sale.)  After it’s brown mix in 2 jars of spaghetti sauce. (or 20 oz of tomato sauce-actually what the recipe called for)

Step 2: Mix 4 cups of Mozzarella with 1 cup Cottage Cheese and a cup or so of Ricotta cheese in a bowl.

Step 3: Layer in the crock pot in this order: Sauce mix, Uncooked lasagna noodles, and cheese mixture. Repeat for 3 layers, finish with sauce on top.

Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

 

Tada!!!!

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And the best part was that we had enough for lunch the next day, and dinner another night, even after we both had 2nds!  I love leftovers :)

Happy Crock Pot Cooking.

Monday, October 4, 2010

I’ve got a boney butt.

It’s true.  Even with as much extra padding I’ve accumulated over the years, it’s still boney.  And sitting on hard wooden chairs for hours playing cards is not fun.

Our dining set has hard wooden chairs.

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So I got an idea. 

Let pad and cover the seats! 

It will be an easy, inexpensive way to:

1. have a comfy seat to sit on

2. update the dining room 

3. do a fun project together

 

On Saturday I headed out to Joann’s with ideas for fabric in mind.  I wanted something modern/graphic and in the black/grey family.

This is what I found: (at 30% off too)

Don’t stare at it too long, your eyes will cross.

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On Sunday Adam and I went out to get the padding.  Of course the by yard wasn’t wide enough to do two chairs and the pre-cut was an inch too small.  We decided on the precut and would use some batting I had in the back to “make it work”.

We measured and disassembled the chairs and got to work.

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However by the time we got to the 3rd chair I realized that we didn’t have enough fabric (!!) to continue running the pattern the same way on the chairs.  So we cut what we had left in half and again “MADE IT WORK”

I must say the turned out pretty good.

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And their pretty darn comfy too!

We spent a grand total of $40 and completed the task in about an hour. Not bad and it was totally worth it. 

Bring on game night, my butt is ready!!