i n • p u r s u i t

This morning, we three hopped on the bus for a Saturday morning downtown. We checked out both the farmers' market and arts festival. Joseph loved riding the bus! He got to sit next to the window and watch the world go by. He was also cosy, snuggled up next to mommy in the Ergo and fell asleep before we even made it downtown. He ended up sleeping for 75 minutes and missing most of our morning! We picked up some veggies, treated ourselves to yummy pastries, saw beautiful art, and split a steamed bagel. Joseph, when he was awake, had fun watching all the goings on. He's such a chill little dude and didn't fuss hardly at all! It makes for an enjoyable family outing. :)  

I had been eagerly anticipating turning 28 for a long time. I always knew that it would be a good year. After all, how can a year that starts on 12/12/12 be anything but great? I wasn't wrong. It started of fabulously and was the first time I celebrated a whole birthday week. My relationship with my husband has never been better. We got pregnant this year. Blessings have been abundant and I am so grateful. :) My 29th birthday celebration was much more low key than my 28th. But it was perfect. Last year, I really wanted a party. This year, all I wanted was a date night with my husband. And so we did. :) We went to Rick Erwin's for dinner and Coffee Underground for dessert. We split the chocolate ganache cake at Coffee Underground making this the third year in a row that I had chocolate ganache for my birthday. I guess its officially a tradition! :)

I recently realized that I didn't really post any pictures of what Christmas looked like around the Kuechenmeister Haus this year. :( Yesterday, as I was packing things away, I found myself in a picture taking mood and, thus, decided to do a post-Christmas post. I'll just share all our holiday pretties as they get stowed away. :) I only put out one of our Nativity sets this year (we have two) and the one I chose was our teeny tiny little set from Mexico. I should have taken a picture with one of the little guys in my hand so you could see their size! I think the largest piece might be an inch high? So adorable! Also, I keep a lot of my ornaments just tossed into grocery bags. I'm fancy like that. Why yes, that is a bright blue and pink carousel horse! Doesn't go with the decor, but it goes on the tree each year. (It's a gift from  +Mary Heuser .) Bella is sad to see Christmas going. Just kidding. She's thrilled to be getting her ch...

I've had a wonderful past few days. I went to MI for Christmas and it started snowing somewhere around Kentucky. It never got higher than 35º our entire trip and there was a snowstorm on the day after Christmas! On Christmas Eve, we visited Frankenmuth. I specifically wanted to visit Bronner's for a 2012 Christmas ornament. I ended up getting a flamboyant chicken ornament for our yearly one and a little camera ornament just because. :) We also stopped by Rau's Country Store and tried on silly hats. Christmas morning was a lazy one. I got some really fabulous presents, my favorite was my birthday/Christmas present from Mike: this Kate Spade Mrs. necklace! I got him a kit from The Art of Shaving to go along with the straight razor that Kevin got him. We were watching TV where they said the key to the best present-opening reactions is getting people exactly what the asked for. Turns out that's right because we were both very excited about our g...

I really wanted to have a party on my 28th birthday because it fell on 12/12/12. But I also didn't want to plan it. But I'm also a control freak sometimes. So, this was difficult. Eventually, I promised Mike that I wouldn't say anything else about it. Then, I told him that if I was to have a party, I'd want family, Anne Marie & Steven. Then I learned that Dad was planning something for Sunday following my birthday. And THEN I stopped talking about it. I knew that my dad was planning a birthday shin-dig because he asked me about my availability. Despite my wishes for a 12/12/12 birthday party, I was pretty sure that would be it. Maybe Mike and I might have a nice dinner together at home. Since I had pre-birthday shopping, post-birthday party, and a very very busy husband (with work, community, church, etc), I was quite content with that. On my birthday, I called Mike on my way home from work. Our usual conversation is, "Hey, so, what do you want f...

So, I forgot to post anything Sunday or Monday. Oops. My brother's wedding was on Saturday and, as the photographer, it was a wonderful but very long day for me. Sunday, I spent my time yawning and church and playing picross (thanks for the suggestion, Stargirl. I'm an addict). Monday, it was back to my normal schedule. I forgot to take lunch to work, but luckily there are free snacks there. So, I snacked on a frappucino, cheetos, a banana, and starbursts. And now it's Tuesday. My day off. Insert blissful sigh here. Being busy really makes you grateful for the days you can sit at home on the couch again. Of course, while sitting on the couch I will be alternating between editing photos and folding laundry. Also, I'm very happy to be alone for almost the whole day. :) Oh, and Mike and I are going to see Les Miserables!

I haven't really felt too much like writing in here. But nothing really has been going on. My picnic on Tuesday was canceled. And I didn't go swing dancing or to the open mic at "The Cellar" because I was feeling lazy. Even though I sorta needed to go to that open mic for my, you know, job. It's technically a job. My editor says that she wants to eventually pay us. I'm just happy to be a part of it. Give me a cute gs tee-shirt and some business cards, and I'm good. I did go grocery shopping on Tuesday night around 9:30pm. Boy is Wal*mart crowded that late at night. I must have stood in line for nearly 30 minutes. Good thing I didn't buy any ice cream. I think my waffles severely suffered though. Doesn't matter, I'm outta Nutella (yes, I put Nutella on my waffles) and they don't carry fancy-schmancy stuff like that at Wal*mart. I did get to chat with dear ol' Malmquistador (another camp buddy--I called him because last time he called me ...

Today was fairly eventful. Though, I've yet to declutter my apartment. ::sigh:: I went to work this morning. Until school starts, I'm going to be working every morning instead of all day, every other day. It's actually kind of nice because I wake up early and get through work and still have the rest of my day. After work, Heather and I had our picnic. :-) It was lots of fun, once again. This time, a mommy duckie came 'round with her baby duckies! So cute! She was a selfish mommy and took tried to get the food before the little duckies could peck at it with their little duck bills. I came home and bummed around procrastinating for a while before calling up my friend Steve. We went downtown and had Chinese for dinner. I had initially wanted ice cream but after dinner I was too full. So, back in the car. We headed for Books-a-Million in hopes that they would have a Catechism. Well, they did. They had two. One was the small, white softcover and the other was the small, whit...

I didn't post too much last week, I'm sorry. I must have you guys so bored. ;-) Well, here's a little wrap up. Monday , I worked all day. Janelle, Alex & Lauren took Janet to the airport so I had some alone time with Davis. I think I actually blogged about that. That evening, after work, I went to the Mary Kay meeting so I could get all glam for the MK Model of Beauty contest. People kept telling me that I looked amazing, but really, it bothered my eyes to be wearing three types of eyeshadow, eye liner, and mascara. I also wore foundation, powder, blush, lip liner, lip stick, and lip gloss. Yikes! I did look pretty glam though, so maybe I'll win and get to go to NYC for a photo shoot (ha!). Afterwards, Kara took me out to dinner at Chick-fil-a and tried to sway me to join MK. Then we talked about all the recent goings on in my life. It was nice to have another girlfriend to chat with. Tuesday , I had a picnic with Heather which I know I blogged about. Go back a few ...

Here I am, still listening to Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix on CD. I just got home from babysitting Oliver for Mike & Mallie. Man, what a cutie! We had fun, but he was none to pleased to be put down to bed by someone other than Mommy or Daddy. Right now, I'm sitting in my apartment with the windows open for the first time in months. Since the 80 and 90 degree days hit us, it's been A/C only in here. My front room is totally like a sauna. It gets so hot! All of my openable windows are open (some are painted shut) and my box fan is in full force giving the whole place a nice breeze. So, while the kids were napping I missed three calls, one text message, and one picture message--all from my family. What happened? My dad fell of a ladder while painting the barn and broke his ankle. Ouch! I've never broken a bone and hope I never do! What a bummer. He was going in for some type of three letter scan when I called my sister this afternoon amidst decorating the ba...

I have been neglecting y'all and I do fully apologize. I've begun to think that there is more to life that my blog. Obviously this is a completely ridiculous notion and I am going to great pains to correct my wayward thinking. [Side note: I just heard Mike exclaim something in the kitchen and then come into the office and go, "Hey, would you eat a steak right now?"] Yesterday was a rather good day. I got to work only two minutes late which is rather good considering I left the house ten minutes late. By 10 AM we had already eaten breakfast, discussed Evan Almighty, and played with pots and pans. The kids put on their swimsuits and I hauled the car seats out of the Mountaineer and into the Corolla. One Boisseau, one Heuser, and three Godlewskis searched high and low for the blue-and-white tote (the "swimming bag"), pink goggles, green goggles, pool toys, and kitty-cat flip-flops. I considered wearing my bikini but decided to give my new one-piece a try (mostl...

I woke up early and prayed my heart out. I had lunch w/ Mike I found out that I inherited a few small things from my grandma. I bought a new purse. God answered what I had been praying for. My Federal tax refund check came in the mail. Radiant & Relevant magazines came in the mail. Matisyahu is on the cover of Relevant. I'm sure there's much more to come... ♥Tiffany♥

So, there's not much to do here. But to day has turned out to be more lively than I anticipated. I was feeling quite dreary earlier, so I just threw everything aside and pulled out the Word and started to read that. I didn't really help me with the issues that I've been focusing on, but maybe the purpose was to help me focus on something else. Day by day. Have I mentioned that I absolutely love my new Bible? The notes are so expansive that on some pages, the notes take up over half the page. Like in Colossians 1 (we're going through that in Sunday school), one of the pages is just verses 15-24 and the rest of the page consists of noes. Many notes to be had there. I love notes. I got an e-mail from Mike this afternoon! These are always nice because they're super unexpected. It made me want to read over the messages he sent me when he was on his super long trip to Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Tokyo. So I did, and it made me miss him a little more because those message...

I know better than to pick up the " Unavailable " calls that come to my cell phone. I thought that this one might be a priest friend of mine (thought I think calling each other "friend" is stretching it these days...) so just this once, I answered the phone. It was Visa. I stayed on the line because I have a guilt complex. I let the girl think that my name was Veronica (my mom's name) and that I lived at 110 Coleman Drive(my old address). I had been entered into a sweepstakes, I had won a tennis bracelete or watch, I was getting three magazines for the price of one. I was going to hang up when she transfered me, but I didn't want to hang up on her. Then she was all, "I'm going to transfer you to my supervisor, but can you do me a favor? Can you put in a good word for me?" I felt even worse about hanging up on her! Here she is, just trying to get by, but maybe the cold-calling-you've-been-entered-into-a-sweepstakes-here-are-some-free-magazi...

I ran a few errands today. I went to get a pair of glasses (they should arrive in 7-10 days). I bought a few plants from the Home Depot. I went to the Oriental store. I went to Eckerds and bought a box fan. Oriental Imports is a tiny store off Laurens Road that I've only been in once with my mother. Still, I could recall where I needed to be: the basement. Yes, the grocery part of the store is on the lower level. For a split second, when I walked in, all eyes were on me. I felt distinctly un-Asian. I always do when I go in these Asian stores; after all, my only language is English. I passed the lucky bamboo, the china plates, and the karate uniforms to the back of the store and descended a rickety staircase to the very, very identifiable Asian-store smell. I walked up and down aisle after aisle looking for curry sauce mix. I eventually gave up and went back upstairs. I asked the man at the counter if he could help me. I described what I was looking for and immediately he nodded. H...

I went Amazon.com crazy last night and bought 4 new books ("Wanting All the Right Things: Finding a Spiritual, Balanced, & Fulfilled Life", "Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart", "Authentic Beauty: The Shaping of a Set-Apart Young Woman", "Authentic Beauty - Going Deeper: An In-depth Study Guide for the Set-Apart Young Woman") and I qualified for free shipping! Now all I have to do is wait for them to come. Hate that. Mike and I went shopping today. I only bought a few things from PacSun and some new body lotion from Bath & Body works. Or rather, I thought it was lotion and it ended up being body wash and I didn't realize until I tried to moisturize. Oh well. It was only five bucks. Maybe I'll go back and buy the matching lotion, ha-ha. Also, we each got 10-minute massages from those Chinese people in the mall. It was okay for a $12 massage. I'm thinking about not waiting until I get my braces to chop off my hair. I...

I forgot to get a picture of my sexy little black dress. Maybe next time. Saturday was great. I ran errands that morning. ( read: picked up card at the last minute .) So, after much browsing at stupid pink love cards ( do you know how hard it is to buy a card for a guy that says, "I love you" but isn't girly and pink? ) I found a blank-on-the-inside card with good design that would appeal to the graphic designer within. I wandered over to the hair-removal aisle ( razors, shaving cream, waxing kits, depilatory creams, etc ) and perused the depilatory creams. I knew the would probably burn my leg skin off, but I really hate to shave. Suddenly, some guy walks by and whistles at me. I look up and it's Mike! I was greeted with a little kiss. Huzzah! Yay for special days. We walked around together for a little while before parting ways. I decided that, really, I'll just go the safe route and just shave. I don't want the burnt-off-skin look to ruin my outfit. The Bib...

Today has been a good day so far. Slate, Cameron, and their baby-sitter Tammy came over to play for a good part of the morning. That was good because I didn't really feel like venturing outside but having the kids play together really speeds the day along. They didn't leave until almost 1pm! :-) After that we had lunch: peanut butter & jelly for Alex, turkey & cheese for Lauren. Alex had a "victory" plate, so he got dessert (leftover birthday cake); Lauren did not. Lauren is such a cute little thing and she has the best ever facial expressions! So very serious sometimes, even if she is just saying, "I do like it, Tee!" The kitchen table is covered in bedsheets. It was our "fort" and the kids spend a good deal of time under there. It's a much better fort than couch cushions--those fall over too quick. Today we played with: fire trucks, pirates, legos, dress-ups, baby-dolls, and cannon balls...among other things. And Lauren went down for ...

This Saturday, Mike and I will have officially been dating for one year. We're going out to a super-nice restaurant which requires me to wear a super-nice dress. Well, I looked through my closet and nothing at all clicked. I have one dress that I always wear when I need to dress up, but, like I said, I always wear it. And everything else is either too casual (church-type clothes) or too dressy (prom-type dresses). So, off to the mall I went. I was prepared to spend at least $50 on a new dress but hoped that I would hit up some sales and not spend more that $20. Sometimes, department store are good like that. Not, obviously, during prom season . Yeah. So, no racks of clearance dresses for me to check out. I did stop in Caché and try on a few super expensive dresses. One looked like underwear, one was too big for my bosom and the last made me feel really pretty. I just tried those on for fun, I'm not paying $258.00 for a party dress. Heck no! So, I checked out all the department ...

Yes. It's over. And I got a lot less done than intended. Ah well, such is life. I still have a speech to finish and a sonnet to begin. And I never got around to vaccuming my apartment. (Because that involves lugging Mike's vac over to my place.) My taxes are still sitting on my floor (finished, just not filed). I have, however, paid my bills. The break was good though; a lot of fun. But, I'm almost even looking forward to going back to school. ♥Tiffany♥ p.s. " you are my little gentleman. I'll take you to foggy London town 'cause you are my little gentleman ."