60 degrees

Today has turned out to be a gorgeous day. Here it's 60 degrees out! And SUNNY! Mike went out to his uncle's farm to cut firewood with some guys. I really wish I had a reason to stay outside. I have nothing I can do out there, other than shop, and I can't do that. I just checked the weather in Lafayette, and it says it's only 35 degrees there. That's just crazy to me that there could be that big of a difference.

Mike and I are planning to stay home to watch the super bowl tomorrow. We're just going to watch the game, play darts, eat homemade nachos and drink. I think it'll be fun.

retail....again

I've had an exciting last couple days. I got a job at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It's in Quincy, IL (about 17 miles away). I saw that they were building the store when I was there to do some Christmas shopping. Then when I was in Lafayette last week, I went to the store there and asked how to apply to a new store. He gave me a number to call, and I called on Tuesday. It was an automated person, but they said they were doing on the spot interviews THIS week. So I got dressed up and went! There were about 12 people there when I got there, and I sat there filling out my application. There were two guys there doing interviews, and after I talked to the the first, he asked me to stay a bit longer to talk to the other guy (other people were not doing this). I talked to the second guy, and left. I thought it went well.

I got a call yesterday morning asking if I could come back for a second interview. I said "of course". I went yesterday evening, and I talked to on of the guys and he just said, "well, we both liked you and I want to offer you a job." So there was no real second interview and it took about 10 minutes. I start on February 13th, and then the 14th we start filling the store with product! I do feel very fortunate for getting this job, one of the guys told me that Monday and Tuesday combined, they had 300 people come in. I'm glad to be one of the lucky ones. :)

After working at Borders, I have a better realization on the whole spending money where you work. But it will be nice to gradually finish my bridal registry.

I'm excited to have a job finally, but I am not too happy I'm back in retail. I'm still going to look for a office position. I do think I'm going to enjoy this new job, just because I have a lot of their products and they may have me work in the wedding registry department. I think that's going to be so much fun!

visit re-cap

I had a nice mini-visit to Lafayette last week. It was nice to see my family. It's weird, I've really started to feel the distance. A couple of weeks ago, Lafayette had a ton of snow and we had none. I know this sounds silly, but it made me feel a million miles away. I bet my sister feels it too, but she's in the warm summer sun of Australia. :)

I met my cousin's baby girl, she is so cute and tiny. She slept for most part while we were there, which was fine by me. I love seeing and holding newborns, they are just so peaceful. I think I got my baby fix for a while.

blogging from lafayette...

So I came home to Lafayette for a couple days. My cousin had her baby (a girl!) earlier this month, so I really wanted to come and meet her. I figured it was a good time to come since Mike's in training. I also forgot one of my Christmas presents here and I really wanted it. My mom got me a kitchen herb garden and I want to start using it immediately. I haven't really cooked with fresh herbs a lot, because they tend to be a little pricey to keep around. But with this garden, they will be able to stay fresh until I snip them. :)

When I got to my parent's house, my mom had something for me. She found the ring I lost at their house 3 years ago this Valentine's day. This ring is significant because it was the first ring Mike had given me, and he had just got it for me that Christmas (you know, like 2 months before!). I know it wasn't very valuable, but it is in my eyes. I'm extremely excited to have it back. So really, I never lost it, just misplaced it for a little bit (okay, a long bit) :)

a long week cut short

Mike gets to come home a day early! He will get home pretty late tonight, but at least he'll be here and I'll get to see him. And since he worked some overtime this week, he might be able to leave work early tomorrow, so we can spend the afternoon together. This isn't set in stone, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

It's been a pretty uneventful week, so I haven't had anything to blog about. It's weird, since I've started to blog, I've kind of been thinking in blog form. Planning what I would write in my head all day, examining it in my head to see if it is exciting enough to blog about. I don't know if this is normal for bloggers.

long week ahead

This week is going to be long, I can already feel it. Mike left yesterday afternoon for training. He won't be back until late Friday. I know these next couple of months are going to be hard, but after this, he won't have any training for a very long time. He had a review at work already and he passed with flying colors! He was a little surprised because he hasn't really done anything at his actual job, he is always gone at training. He knew he was doing good, but didn't know he was exceeding their expectations.

We had a pretty relaxing weekend, Mike worked on his truck all day Saturday. We had a treat Saturday night, PIZZA! We haven't really been out to eat since we moved, but one thing we do go out for is pizza. We've made our own from scratch a couple of times and it has always been delicious, but a little expensive. And frozen just doesn't compare.

the library

The library was an absolute bust! I felt like I was walking in the the 1980s, and it smelled like it too. I was walking around the library in disbelief of how many books they didn't carry. The librarian was really nice. I asked her if they were hiring, and they aren't. We talked about books for a few minutes and it brought me back to Borders. I'm really starting to miss working at Borders. Don't get me wrong, I hated the work part of it. But I loved the books, and the people I worked with. Being around the books on a regular basis, made me want to read as much as possible. Since we moved, I have yet to finish a book! This is just not like me, I normally read a book every week and a half.

Mike and I have decided that I not work in retail anymore, so we can spend nights and weekends together. Since I still don't have a job (almost 4 months running), I've been thinking I should look into retail. I hated it so much, but we could use the extra cash. On the other side, Mike will only be home on weekends for the next couple of months, and I don't want to be at work when I could be spending that time with him. I'm just hoping something M-F, 9-5 will come soon!

cranberry orange scone morning

This week has been an odd one for Mike's training. He was gone Monday night, then came back last night, and then he'll be gone tonight, and then back Thursday night. Normally he's gone Sunday night thru Thursday or Friday. I was really nice to see him last night, even though he was only home for about 12 hours.


I had a pretty productive morning. I got up, went the grocery and made my favorite scones! I normally make them at night, but it was so nice to have one fresh from the oven. If anyone's going to try this recipe, I always use fresh cranberry's instead of dried, I like the tang!

breakfast lately

Since Mike has been off work for the holiday, we've been making breakfast together. I love when we spend time together in the kitchen, we always have fun!

On Friday, we were making just eggs and sausage when this HUGE spray of sparks came from under the pan (we have an electric stove). We both jump away from the stove, and just stared at each other. One of the coils broke, it looks like someone cut it basically. And now I have a 1/8 inch size "crater" in the bottom of my brand new pan I got for Christmas :( The pans have a lifetime warranty, but I'm not sure if this particular situation is covered. I'm hoping it is, I love my new pan!

Yesterday morning, Mike told me he wanted an omelet. I said fine, and went into the kitchen and I realized I have never made an omelet. I've had hundreds in my lifetime, but they were always at a restaurant. So I just winged it, and they turned out really good! They looked and tasted like the ones I get in the restaurants, which is good, because Mike and I don't go out to eat anymore. So now we can have omelets anytime. When Mike was about half way done with his, I asked how it was. Then I told him it was my first omelet. I don't think he believed me.

Then this morning, we just made pancakes. But I got to use my new pancake warmer (thanks Mary!). I've been so excited for this. Mike thinks it's just a one hit wonder, so I need to use it for more things so he thinks it's worth it.

new year's at hannibal rocks

I hope everyone had a good New Year's. We did. We got up early and went to the off-roading park here in Hannibal. They were having a scavenger hunt and we actually won something! They stapled a sandwich bag with a picture of a dog in a jeep in it to random trees and you're supposed to find them. We found one and we won a cover for a Jeep. Too bad we don't have a Jeep, but I think Mike's going to try and sell it. The lady there told us it was worth $150.

We had a lot of fun at the park. We met two guys in the parking lot and they let us go around with them. They were really nice! Then, after lunch, we met up with a younger couple (Brad and Lindsey) who joined our group for the afternoon. They're a little older than us (she's 27, he's 25), but we got along great. We even exchanged emails and she really wanted us to get together sometime. They live about 10 minutes away on the Illinois side.

Here are the pictures from the day, a lot of it is Jeeps and Trucks so they're kind of boring:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kristi.fleischhauer/NewYearsRide2009HannibalRocks#

lentils for luck

Eating lentils on New Year's for good luck is a custom that goes back to the ancient Romans. Mike and I started eating this Spicy Lentil Stoup last New Year's Day. We are eating it today, and I hope it's a tradition we keep throughout our marriage.




Enjoy and Happy New Year from the Fleischhauer's!