Photo Update

I got a little carried away with the previous wedding photo post ;)

Hopefully, this link will take you to the correct place.

Click on Photos-Wedding, and the password is PRICHARD.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day - Cotton Bowl

Don't forget that Mizzou's playing in the Cotton Bowl on Tuesday, January 1, 2008!

GO TIGERS!

And since they're playing in my hubby's home-state, I thought I'd give a little shout to him and my other favorite Texan, Mike. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it down to Dallas next weekend, but we'll be thinking of you and the M-I-Z!

Have fun - make sure you do us proud :)

Mr. P, Me, and Mike at the TAMU @ Mizzou game on November 10, 2007. Even Mr. P (a die-hard gig 'em fan) was happy the Tigers won that day!

But Wait! There's More!

Michael is slowly but surely getting our proofs posted on his website. Go ahead, take a peek! (But be sure to look again later, once they're all up!)

Wedding Proofs

Wedding Slideshow

Extended Holidays

We had a relatively relaxing holiday weekend with the family. Schmoogie gets back from Costa Rica tomorrow night, so we're doing our family Christmas on Saturday - I'm really looking forward to it! Tradition has it that we make a whole mess of appetizers and have that for dinner - everyone has their favorites, and it's so much fun :)

On Christmas Eve, Mr. P, Mom P, Bailey and I went to my folks' house for a casual dinner. I wasn't feeling 100%, but it was a nice time with them all. Bailey decided to wear her "I Chase Tail" t-shirt, but every time we tried to get a picture of the words, she turned around!



So the "I'm just so darn cute - everybody loves me!" picture will have to do for now.



Christmas morning, Mom P came over to our place to make her famous Eggs Benedict! (I guess it's really Eggs Florentine, but c'mon...details!) This is starting to become another tradition, and I'm not sure I could ask for better...why is it that holidays always revolve around food?



Sleepy Bailey graced us with her Christmas bandana, complete with gingerbread houses and candy canes.



In the afternoon, we headed over to Mr. P's aunt and uncle's house in Manchester. K&L gave us a much nicer set of dominoes than we had (double 12!) and attempted to teach us Chickenfoot. I'm sure I'll eventually get the hang of it, and I have to admit, it's definitely easier than the version Mr. P taught me originally :)



And of course, Scrabble. Mr. P knows I'm gonna bury him alive at this one - which might be why I humor him and play the confusing version of Dominoes here and there ;)



After K&L's, we raced home, picked up Miss Bailey, and raced to Mom and Pop's for dinner. No pictures here - just a relaxing dinner. Mr. P fell asleep at 8pm, so the three of us non-sleepyheads played with Bailey. I can't wait for the Round Two this weekend!

More than anything, I can't wait for Schmoogie to get home tomorrow night - rumor has it she *may* have added to her tattoo ;) I'm actually really flattered because from what I hear, she's adding the same character I have. Can't wait to see it!

Hope everyone enjoyed Christmas - have a great New Year's!

Almond Rocca

The office Christmas party is tomorrow afternoon, and this year we're also incorporating a cookie exchange. Generally speaking, this is a good idea, but I have a feeling that we'll be ooh-ing and aah-ing over Oreos :) I'm all for the premade dough (see previous post), but I'm hoping that we'll have some surprises as well.

I decided not to do cookies :) Such a rebel, huh? Instead, I made Almond Rocca from my neighbor's grandfather's "secret" recipe (think my great-great-grandfather). It very well may be the best thing I've eaten in my life, which, in itself, is the reason I only make it once a year...


I must admit, this is not my photo - my rocca is already packaged up for everyone, and I forgot to take a pic. Thanks to Aapplemint for sharing a beautiful photo of an insanely good treat!

So, provided everything goes smoothly at work tomorrow morning, I might actually get to join everyone in the early afternoon (keep your fingers crossed!). Proud of my goodies and hoping for a pleasant surprise :)

Bailey P!

Before I continue, I have to thank Mr. P for Reason #1,245,324 that I married him: he figured out how to upload our pics to the computer!

I've only got a couple so far, and unfortunately we weren't able to get any snow pictures...we were having too much fun and forgot about the camera!

Mr. P and Miss Bailey on a not-so-lazy Sunday morning :)



Miss Bailey adopted a couch pillow as her own...


Don't let the innocent, adorable face fool you...under that sweet facade, she's a monster :) I've nicknamed her "Shark Tooth" - I'm hoping that will change once the puppy teeth go away!

As of last Tuesday, she was 6 1/2 lbs., but I think she must have eaten lead or something in the past week. Seriously, nothing like dead weight at 3am!

More to follow, I promise :)

w00t!

I think I fixed the header.

Dammit, I should be working.

OOPS! Hiatus???

It's been brought to my attention that I'm ignoring my blog :) Sorry to disappoint - this time of year, my work load quintuples - yes, really. I'll be in and out through the rest of the month. My apologies.

Oh, and with the stress-nuts-craziness level rising, I'm not sure I have anything intelligent to say. (Not that I ever do anyway...but that's a different story.)

My header looked funny today - let me know if it looks normal to you (so it's just my computer), or if I need to correct it.

For some random blogging pleasure, What's Your Grinch Name?

I'm Bleakgrinch Scoundrelnoodle :)

UPDATE: The site is currently down, not sure what's going on. Keep an eye out if you need a 30 second break from reality.

xoxo

I seriously wish I could figure out how to upload pics from my camera. I'm not even sure if I have the original software from when I got the camera in the first place!

Bailey's a handful. A good handful, but definitely preoccupying :)
Mr. P and I have been trading off late night/early morning (and the middle of it all) wake-up times to make sure she goes out. People keep reminding me that "it's like having a baby" - I beg to differ; babies can wear diapers, and it takes a good few months before they're running all over the place and getting into everything. We took our first trip to the vet together to see Dr. Britt, and I was pretty happy with our experience. Bailey's got kennel cough, but Dr. Britt put her on antibiotics and she's already doing much better. I highly recommend the Webster Groves Animal Hospital - yes, they're always busy, but Dr. Britt really gave us as much time as we wanted to learn as much as possible and make sure Bailey's healthy and happy. Their schedule works well with ours, and we'll do our obedience training there starting soon.

Some of you know, and some of you don't - two years ago, Mr. P and I had another dog. He was a beautiful animal, but aggressive to the point that we had to give him up. I'm not sure either of us has ever let go of the guilt, but we also know that there was nothing more we could do to help him - and it almost ended our relationship. That experience helped us decide that we didn't want to be a "second-chance" home again, and over the past two years, we've slowly been healing and gearing up toward our life with Bailey.

Bailey has been so much fun over the past few days. It's really been a reminder (and an eye-opener) about how loving animals can be, and how much we want to love them back. So much of how Bailey turns out is dependent on how we raise her, and I like to think that we'll do well.

Plus, how many dogs have learned to "sit" at two months old? She's a smartie!

More another time - for now, free time must be used for rest :)

Temptation

Not exactly public knowledge - I haven't had a cigarette since last night at 8pm. Craving one, but more because I'm lethargic than anything else. I forgot how much of a pick-me-up the nicotene provides. I try not to use the word "quit" because if I slip then I feel judged, so I guess I'm just stopping for now...as long as it lasts.

Fast forward to the office. I'm not sure whether this is a blessing in disguise or simply evil encouragement :) Bissinger's chocolate is heavenly goodness, and I'm not one to turn down a sample of corporate holiday gifts to our office. But to come in and see these on the counter...



...must...resist...temptation......oh, screw it.

MMM, Chocolate, nom nom nom :)

Bailey slept pretty well last night. Woke up crying a handful of times, but we're doing our best to encourage her to be happy and feel secure in her kennel. Mr. P, especially, has been wonderful about this. I almost hate to admit that I know he's just naturally more nurturing than I am.

All in all, with not smoking, having been sick lately (still can't shake this cold thingy), and making a huge transition to having Bailey in my life, I'm trying to keep it all together. Part of me worries that I'm taking on too much at once, especially since it's busy season at work...but I'm just ready to make these changes in my life. Say a little prayer for me in hopes that I can be successful at not smoking, being healthier, and raising our nutty puppy to become a loving companion.

P, B & J

Mr. P and I have been talking about getting a pet for some time now. I kept telling him that we could, but we'd have to wait until after the wedding.

He reminded me about that roughly two days after we got married...

We've gone to look at puppies and kittens a number of times, and today, we came home the proud new parents of a two-month old female mutt! Some say shephard mix, or terrier, or retriever...so we say she's just the best kind of mutt. Full-grown, she'll probably get to be about 35 lbs. She's the runt in a litter of 10, and we couldn't be more excited!

Pictures to follow soon...we named her Bailey :)

UPDATE!
Pop emailed some of the pictures he took last night:

The PB&J Family. Mr. P, Bailey, and Jen.

Bailey 12.08.07


PB&J


Sleepy Bailey :)

Things That Go BUMP in the Night

Quick funny:

At about 3:00 this morning, I heard a loud noise that made me swear someone was breaking into our apartment. And if they're that loud, you've got to assume that they show no mercy - extra dangerous. (Plus, we're on the third floor - they've got to be extra-motivated to get in!)

I shot out of bed, only to realize that Mr. P wasn't in the room, and I got a little more nervous...and then I found him on the floor in the office.

Long story short: turns out, Mr. P was studying for his finals (had a couple of dates mixed up, and the all-nighter wasn't planned). He'd somehow gotten his foot tangled in the keyboard wire at the computer, and when he got up for a break, he came crashing straight to the floor!

Some burglar :)

Part of me feels bad and hopes he didn't get hurt, part of me thinks it's hilarious, and the biggest part of me is just relieved that it wasn't what I expected, even though it woke me up.

Happy Thursday!

Our First Christmas...Tree

Actually, Mr. P and I are spending our sixth Christmas together this year, and our third living together. He's pushed and pushed for a tree, but we've never gotten one. I guess it just hasn't been that big a priority.

This year in particular, things are a little tight, but we always make it work. It's always been about being with each other - not how much we do (or don't) have. After all the hard work Mr. P's put into school, I felt like I needed to do something special for him. So...(gulp)...I went to the dreaded Wal-Mart. And I bought our first Christmas tree, a 4' pre-lit Indiana spruce:

not our apartment, and our tree looks a little more Charlie Brown-esque!

Mr. P called on his way home from a night class, and the first thing I said was, "I got you something but I'm afraid you won't like it and if you don't that's OK because I'll just take it back it's not the end of the world." Yes, all one sentence, all one breath, no pauses! I mean really, the tree's kinda Charlie Brown. And the second Mr. P walked in the door, his eyes lit up and he had one of the biggest smiles I've seen in a long time. I guess I did alright, huh? :)

It should be said that our apartment is pretty small - less than 700 square feet! So in order to find a place for this crazy tree, we cleared off a side table and set it there. Now, it looks more like a 6.5' tree :) And then it came time to decorate...so we gathered together the ornaments we've collected over the past few years and put them on the tree. There are two fair-trade snowflakes (courtesy of Margaret), a Mizzou balloon (courtesy of my folks), a big red ball (SOOO Charlie Brown), and two angels. We have no idea where the angels came from :)


Did you know they actually SELL these? I mean, I know I'm exaggerating about ours a little, but really?! People BUY these!!!

So now you're picturing this 4' (or sorta 6.5') tree with a total of 5 ornaments - I swear we had more than that! It's pretty sad, really. So sad that it makes me smile because it really does represent our building a life together...bit, by bit, by bit...and because of that, I'm actually very proud of our tree. Starting out together, spending our first Christmas as a married couple together...it's a good feeling. It reminds me of the true intentions behind "holiday spirit" and de-emphasizes the commercialism of the season. All things considered - ups, downs, and the chaos that is life - I've got it good. I just needed a silly tree to help me remember.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

Sleepless in St. Louis

Insomnia is a funny thing. Actually, it really sucks, but I guess it could be considered funny, depending on how you look at it.

I've inherited my father's insomniac trait. But even worse, I'm a clock-watcher. I crawled into bed last night at 10:30 - I was exhausted. And then I flipped and flopped and shut my eyes and opened my eyes...and all of a sudden the clock said 11:30.

So I got out of bed, went to the living room, and turned on the tv. Who would've guessed that after watching ALL of The Devil Wears Prada AND two episodes of Big Love, I'd still be wide awake?

I finally climbed back into bed, and eventually fell asleep, only to be rudely awakened by my alarm a short time later.

They say that lack of sleep leads to memory loss. I called Dad this morning to let him know about inheriting his horrible sleep patterns. We talked for a good 15 minutes, and he made me laugh. (When I don't sleep, I seem to be on the verge of tears nonstop, so laughter is a wonderful feeling.) Part of the conversation involved a scenario with cat toys like these:


I don't remember what it was, except it had something to do with cats and brains...I'm pretty sure it did, at least. Seriously, this just happened an hour ago. I CAN'T REMEMBER WHY IT WAS FUNNY!

If you know why it was funny or have a suggestion about conquering insomnia, let me know. My abilities to think clearly, write with some wit, and function in general have been severely compromised.


You're killing me, Smalls!

December Already?

I can't believe it's December already! Where does the year go? Happy belated 28th Anniversary to Mom and Dad (yesterday), Happy Birthday to Leah today (and belated for her son Channing's first birthday this past week), and the countdown to Christmas begins!

Last night was a bit disappointing. I'm just not going to discuss it, but 2007 was definitely a great season. I will always love my Tigers...and it's always fun to be surrounded by a bunch of good friends.

Friday night was a different story. I had so much fun with Carrie, Alison, and Sommer (with an "o") at the Village Bar in Des Peres. Dive bars are always the best, but this was the first time I'd ever done a girls' night at a dive. (Mr. P was a little bummed that he wasn't allowed to come...he misses the Village.)

I met Alison when I was planning my wedding with Mr. P. I loved her from the start, and I'm glad I got to see her again outside of the wedding. (I have this issue with doing business with friends, so I wasn't really looking to make friends with our vendors.) Sommer (with an "o") is Alison's intern, and she's adorable. (Before we met, I remember a meeting with Alison where she kept mentioning her intern Sommer, and Dad was confused...no Dad, not a "summer intern," it's her intern, Sommer.)

Carrie and I met through STL Wed on the message boards, and Alison was her coordinator as well. I ended up doing her wedding programs for her...it was a very short time period, but since they were pretty much the same as mine and Mr. P's programs, I was able to crank them out in time for Carrie's wedding. Anyway, she's a hoot...one of those people who just overflows with personality, and she's not afraid to speak her mind...about anything :)

The four of us had fun on Friday and I'm looking forward to a repeat. Chances are, before Friday night, I never would have put all of us in a room together, but sometimes that's when I have the most fun. Lots of laughter...and one of their husbands wears size 15 shoes. We all know what that means...really big socks!

This morning, Mr. P and woke up and decided to make breakfast. Eggs Over Medium and Grands Cinnamon rolls!



Heaven in a pressure-packed cardboard tube :)

(When disappointing things happen, I tend to crave sweet foods, and since I didn't take care of the craving right away last night, we did that this morning.)

Mr. P and I were going to go to a couple of Open Houses today, but now that it's pouring outside, I think we'll probably spend the day together at home. It's days like this that I wish we had either a fireplace (curl up in front of it) or a garage (sit and watch the rain). Today I'd go for the fireplace, it's pretty windy out there!