CupcakeCampColumbusIII!

It's BAAAAACK! CupcakeCampColumbusIII will happen on March 14, 2010 at North Market from 1:00-3:00pm. Ticket sales benefit the MidOhio Food Bank. If you look back through my older posts, you'll see all the mayhem that occurred when we attended CupcakeCampColumbus back in October.

Did I already purchse 2 tickets for $10 each? Yes. Did I tell Jeff we were going via email instead of asking? Yes. Is it the best decision I've made all week? Yes.

Anyone brave enough to join us? :)

It's been way too long....

Sorry it's been so long since my last post! Things have really been hoppin' for Jeff and I. I'll try to give you the Reader's Digest version of what's been going on.

1. We're house hunting! Exciting, stressful, frustrating, eye-opening, and so much more! We put an offer on a house earlier this month but unfortunately things just didn't pan out as hoped. They didn't really want to budge on their asking price and they wanted us to be able to close in March. Unfortunately Jeff and I have an apartment lease that doesn't end until June so that house is a "no-go". We're still looking though. We've probably seen close to 35 houses. I hope "the one" comes along soon.

2. I took my first sewing class in January. As part of my New Year's Resolutions, I was going to learn how to sew. Before Christmas I had signed up to take a sewing class at Sew to Speak. The first class was 2.5 hours long and we made a wallet/clutch from start to finish. I was pretty proud of myself. Since the class I have ventured out and have made two plastic bag holders and a baby bib.

3. I spent 4 days in Miami, FL last week at a Lysosomal Storage Disease Research Conference (say that 5x fast!). It was educational and while most of the material is way over my head, my boss and I did some great networking and even met a few of our BDSRA families for the first time. Not to mention that I was in 60 degree weather in the middle of February. The downfall for this trip? Sitting on a US Airways plane in Charlotte, NC for 3 HOURS while waiting to get de-iced so we could make the last leg of our journey back to Columbus. We got in at Midnight on Friday instead of the 9:05pm landing time we were supposed to have. Ugh.

4. Lucy had another pancreatitis flare-up while I was out of town. Poor Jeff. That cat always gets sick while I'm away. So Jeff was left with cleaning up his share of cat puke and taking poor Lucy to the vet for a shot of fluids and some medicine to help settle her stomach. The vet suggested we take her to an internal medicine specialist for a consultation and diagnostic testing. Seriously?! I've said it once and I'll say it again, Lucy is the most expensive FREE cat I've ever had.

5. SNOW SNOW and more SNOW. For those of you who live in Central Ohio, you already know what I'm talking about. They said on the news the other day that we had 26.5 inches of snow already for February and we still have half a month left! They also said that we had 13,000% more snow this February than we had last February. Crazy! Anyone else ready for Spring?

So that should get everyone up-to-date on what's been happening with me. March and April are already shaping up to be pretty busy with a trip to St. Louis and my best friend's bridal shower. Should be an interesting and eventful Spring!

Until next time.....
-Amy

The cat's Christmas present

My mother-in-law has given Mew Mew and Lucy Christmas presents for the past 2 years. This year the girls received the Chia Cat Grass Planter.

Lucy has not showed much interest in it. We have it placed on the window sill so it can get the sunlight it needs. Lucy went up to it, smelled it, and walked away.

Mew Mew is an entirely different story....

She loves it so much, in fact, that she pulls the grass stalks out by the roots and eats them whole! Can a cat OD on chlorophyll? ;)

Until next time....

Amy

New Year's Resolutions

Here's my list:

1. Lose about 8 lbs and rebuild my lean muscle mass.

2. Go to the gym 15x each month.

3. Learn how to sew.

4. Buy a new house.

I'll keep everyone updated on how these are going. I think they're very attainable. I'm in a wedding in June so #1 and #2 are extremely important to me. I'm already signed up to take classes for #3 and of course #4 is already in the works!

Share yours!

Let the house hunt begin

After 2.5 years in our awful apartment, Jeff and I decided it was a good time to buy a house. We had considered buying a house about 2 years ago, viewed several properties and weren't really "wowed" by anything. Now with the extension of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit and the hatred toward apartment living we thought we'd start looking again.

We met with Amber, our realtor, about two weeks ago. I know Amber through an internet board I frequent but had yet to meet her in person. However, after our meeting both Jeff and I were well at-ease with Amber and her competence and confidence to find us a house. We've narrowed down our search to Gahanna and Blacklick. We've been east-siders since we moved to Columbus and have really grown to love Gahanna. Blacklick is the next suburb over so it's still in the same area. Plus we can't move any farther than 10 miles from Mr. Sushi. :)

Jeff and I are looking for the most bang for our buck. The real estate market is on the upswing but there are still deals to be had! We're hoping that we can take advantage of one of these deals. Tonight is the first night we're actually looking at houses. I can't wait to see what Amber has picked out for us! We've been looking at a ton online but it's never the same as actually stepping foot into the house and picturing yourself there. Hopefully we'll find a house that speaks "home" to us.

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Jeff and I will be doing the usual "Triangle of Travel" meaning we'll be driving from Columbus to Toledo (my parents) then to Lorain (his parents) then back to Columbus. Luckily neither of us works in retail anymore so we don't have to rush to get back for someone to be to work the day after Christmas. Yay!

Here's hoping you and yours have a very happy, safe and purrfect holiday!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

This year is the first year that I feel like I can really enjoy Christmas. Neither Jeff or I are working a second job allowing us to actually spend more than 48 hours with family before having to quickly return home to get to a retail job. I've spent many evenings baking cookies. I even bought a cookie press! I feel like I'm ahead of the game on my Christmas shopping and sending out my Christmas cards. And for a girl who never really liked Christmas (thanks to working retail for 5 years) I feel like I'm actually getting into the spirit.

The tiny apartment isn't exactly the ideal environment for a "Christmas Scenery Spectacular" but I think we've done well with our few decorations.

This is our small but full Christmas tree. I cram as many ornaments as I can on it every year. It's only about 2 feet tall but it's perfect for our small space.

Notice Jeff's Homer nutcracker. He's very proud of it. We had to take the zombies off of this shelf to make room for our decorations.

This is my Dollar Store wreath. No joke! I bought all the materials, including the wreath, from the Dollar Store. Total cost = $6.00. Perfect for the person who's thrifty and crafty.

This weekend was also "Christmas Party" weekend for us. I had a party on Friday night with some girls I know online. It was a lot of fun and even Santa made an appearance. I sat on his lap and asked for a house. We'll see if he can fit it under the tree Christmas morning....

Last night we had Jeff's work party. He works with some amazing people and they're a lot of fun. His boss hosted the party at their drop dead gorgeous home in Powell. They even had it catered from Whole Foods. Yummy! They did a White Elephant gift exchange. You wouldn't believe some of the gifts that went around! Some of the best gifts included a Potty Putter, a belly dancing kit, and capsules that help deodorize your dog's poo. It was an interesting night, to say the least!

Today was my Christmas party for all of our BDSRA families. We had 13 families and their affected children come to the party and it wasn't just families from central Ohio either. We had 3 families from Michigan, one from Pittsburgh and another from Indiana. Santa Claus also made an appearance at this party and the kids were so excited to see him! It made my day, week, and year. I don't get to see my families often enough so it was nice to catch up and wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Here's hoping your holiday season is filled with fun, family, and happiness. I hope Santa brings you everything you want. If you happen to see him, please remind him of my wish for a house ;)

Until next time....

Amy