Merry Christmas! (The post that will have my Dad judging Ryan...)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. We made it to Deerfield yesterday afternoon, after an eventful trip. The Husband was quite tired this time, which is unusual as he can usually make it through the entire trip. I drove almost half the trip this time, and we stopped at a truck stop in Kentucky and slept in the truck for a hour before going into all the rain of Indiana and Illinois. We spent most of last night in a tired haze, catching up on DVR and eating pizza.

This morning we went to see Sherlock Holmes at 10:00 am. It was very clever and British, which is a great compliment. Both the Husband and I loved it. We then went to Max and Benny's, a jewish deli/restaurant and then came back here to pack. At M&B, Ryan had what was called a "Francheezie." This is a hot dog, wrapped in bacon, and stuffed with cheese (Dad, told you that you would judge him!) This is what it looked like...

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

Love,
Jesi

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Preparations for chaos

Tonight at midnight we'll be heading back to the Illinois area. It's supposedly freezing rain/snowing there, so we're hopeful to not run into too much of it on our trip. I'm looking forward to the whole thing being over! It's going to be a crazy weekend.

Last night's dinner was fantastic! The ham was AMAZING and turned out so well. The Husband loved his cherry pie (it's a crumb cherry pie recipe that his mother always made for him) and swears he's eating the rest of it tonight for dinner. Pictures of the whole shebang below...

Garlic Mashed Potatoes:
Apple Ham:

And the secret cherry pie!

We had a good night :)

I found today that I've been spoiled by the Deerfield Public Library. I went to the library about 3 miles from my house, and the selection there is terrible! They also charge 2$ for dvd's and 2$ to rent bestsellers/new releases. I understand why they do it, but it still stinks. I found a couple books and books on tape for all our travels in the next few days. There's a big library in the middle of Charlotte, so I'll probably try that one out next time.

Alright, off to pack! Prayers and well-wishes for safe travel for us these next few days would be much appreciated.

Love,
Jesi


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Christmas Cooking!

So today I'm making a Christmas dinner for the Husband and one of the Housemates, Latoya. I've been working it at all day, and I'm really excited for them to come home and eat! I've been making...


I've been marinating the ham in the glaze for the last two hours in the fridge, and I'll be pan frying it about six so that it's hot when they get here.

Garlic Mashed Red Potatoes, from this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Garlic-Mashed-Red-Potatoes/Detail.aspx

Rolls

Corn

And a surprise, that I can't put on here as the Husband might read it before he gets home! I'll take pictures so that I can put them up, I'm excited though as I think this'll all be really good!

Other than that, I've been watching Law and Order: SVU all day. This show is so addicting, and they've actually been showing some I haven't seen!

Charlie and Bella have been running around, though Charlie has a new habit of sleeping on the stairs where there's sun. This means that he starts on the third stair, and moves up as the sun moves. It's cute!



Also, last night the Husband came home completely wiped out, and fell asleep on the couch with Charlie...




I have such a cute family. :)

Love,
Jesi

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Hiking in December

So yesterday the Husband, Charlie, Bella (Housemate's dog) and I went hiking in the forest next to our house. It was about 45 degrees and sunny, so we thought it could be an adventure.


And adventure it was. It brought me back to being 12, running around behind my friend's house in the ravine, where we'd pretend to be in a war, or chased by monsters, etc. There was a "trail" to follow, made up mostly of leaves and mud (we probably shouldn't have traipsed around right after 4 days of rain) and plenty of trees and sticky branches. The dogs were troopers, Bella actually pulled me up a hill at one point (she's about 50 pounds and a lab/pitt mix so she's strong!) We thought we'd go into the woods at the point by our house and come out over by the Food Lion about a mile away, but sadly, it wasn't the case as we found a barbed wire fence blocking our way. So we went around in a big circle, found a really pretty mini waterfall in a creek, almost fell up some big hills, and made it back home in under a hour, covered in mud and leaves. It was fun, nice to get out of the house for an afternoon!

After that, we decided to try and beat Mario Brothers for the Wii, which is one of the best video games I've ever played. If you haven't made it to the final castle, I won't give away the ending, but it made all of us yell, and we still haven't beaten it! Maybe tonight...

Tomorrow's plans include more cleaning and making a Christmas dinner for Ryan that is a surprise to him, so I can't post it on here! I am going to try and start taking more pictures so that I have something to load on here, as I love blogs with pictures!

Thanks to those who've started following this little blog! You give me a reason to update. :)

Love,
Jesi

PS - I completely forgot one more movie for my worst movies list of the decade - Max Payne. Husband, his best friend, and I went to see it when Husband lived in Charlotte last year. It was laughably horrible. Poor Mark Wahlburg, he went from one of my favorites (The Departed) to that crap.

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My favorite (and least favorite!) movies of the decade

So I've been reading all of these lists of the so called "Best movies of the decade." I decided I'd join in, so here's my top 10 movies of the decade, followed by the top 10 worst movies of the decade. I used www.metacritic.com as a reference, but these are all my own opinion (you'll really understand that when you see my number 1 choice!)


Honorable Mention - Wall-E and Up. They never cease to amaze me with the technology and the heart they are able to put in the Pixar movies, and they're BEAUTIFUL on blu-ray.

10. High Fidelity - Now, I didn't see this movie when it first came out, as that was in 2000 and I was still in high school/not able to watch R rated movies. I love pretty much anything John Cusack related, but this movie is the tops for me as far as he goes. Jack Black is also hilarious in this as well, and it probably speaks to me the most as a music major.

9. Ocean's Eleven - I'm a big fan of con artist thrillers, and this one is no exception. I love how witty it is, and how, even though the second was a little silly, this whole trilogy was smart, fun, and kept you guessing.

8. Juno - I took my Dad and Step-mom to see this movie in the theaters, and it made my dad teary and both of them laugh like crazy. Full of heart and full of realism, it was definitely one of the best.

7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Husband and I both really love this movie. It's Jim Carrey's best role in my opinion, and Kate Winslet is one of my favorite actresses. She doesn't disappoint in this contemporary love story.

6. Sweeney Todd - Again, great actors (Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter) and a great story that my high school music teacher always raved about. I love how Tim Burton made everything so dark and still so nuanced. We watch this at least every six months, more for the organ music in the beginning than anything else I think.

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall - I love Judd Apatow movies, and it was hard to pick just one as my favorite. A close second was Knocked Up and a close third 40 Year old Virgin. I know Apatow just produced this one, but it's so hilarious with so much heart that it's at the top for my go to comedies. Plus Jason Segal singing about vampire muppets can't be beat.

4. The Departed - My favorite genre of movies is mobster movies, and this one is amazing! I will admit, I've had a thing for Leonardo DiCaprio since Titanic, and he's just one of the brilliant pieces of this Scorese flick. I have never been to a movie where everyone seemed to hold their breath the whole way through until this one.

3. The Dark Knight - My husband is a HUGE Batman fan, and this is our all time Batman movie. We've even got posters of it in our media room! Christian Bale is incredible (although the husky Batman voice gets to me on rewatches) and Heath Ledger gives the performance of his career (sadly, of course.) I especially love that most of the stunts are actually done, instead of CGI based.

2. Kill Bill: Volume 2 - I am a die hard Quentin Tarentino fan, as most of my friends can tell you. We also have a Pulp Fiction poster in our media room, and my dad got me a framed poster signed by the entire cast for my recent birthday. I like Kill Bill: Volume 1 as well, but this movie has all the backstory and heart that the first one lacks (on purpose, I know.) Uma Thurman punching her way out of a coffin just can't be beat.

1. Love Actually - Now I know, this is purely a sentimental choice. 80% of the music from my wedding was taken from this movie, including the theme, which I walked down the aisle to. It's the movie Ryan and I watch every Christmas, and while I'm not much of a romantic comedy fan, the BEST love based movie I've ever seen. Every time I watch it I find something new that I love about it.

And now for my 5 worst movies of the decade:

5. Hostel - I'm not a huge horror fan, I lean more toward the suspense/thriller side than the torture/gory side. I watched Hostel while house-sitting, figuring that if it got too scary I'd just turn it off. It was never scary, just really, REALLY, gory with a lot of random nudity and blood. Lame.

4. Mission to Mars - I got this movie for 3$ from Walmart, I think. I usually love how awesomely bad disaster movies are, but this one we couldn't even make it through at a party where no one was paying that much attention.

3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Ryan and I went to see this in theaters...because we thought it'd be like the first one, cute, kinda funny, and with a decent story line. Instead, we sat through 3 hours of big robots running into each other. It got to the point where you couldn't tell which robot was which, making it look like big piles of trash were colliding. Not my scene.

2. Open Water - A past boyfriend and I rented this one night, thinking it looked interesting. Needless to say, we fastfowarded after about 20 minutes just to watch the people die because we were that bored by it.

1. The Happening - I've stood by M. Night Shyamalan through movies other people thought were horrible...Lady in the Water comes to mind. In this movie, he had the leads running from the WIND to get away from the "plant killers." My husband kept trying to convince me it was a B movie and therefore still good...but B movies usually have some wit, or humor, or SOMETHING other than watching people come up with inventive ways to kill themselves for 2 hours. I wanted to walk out (we also saw this in theaters) but didn't...and I'd like that 2 hours of my life back, please.

So there you have it! Thoughts? Additions/Deletions? It's been a great decade for movies and I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with in the next 10 years. We were going to see Avatar this weekend but forgot that it's the weekend before Christmas and that one million people would be at the mall, so we scrapped that idea. We are seeing Sherlock Holmes this week at some point, which I'm excited for!

Love,
Jesi




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Football Sundays...

Ever since I've gotten married, I've started to really like football. It might help that my team, the Colts, are undefeated this season, but it is fun to watch. It's not as much fun, however, when Husband's team (the Eagles) are playing and losing, as he is a force to be reckoned with. If it came down to the Colts and the Eagles, I'd have to root for the Eagles just for the sake of my marriage! :)


We had a nice weekend that didn't involve too much. Housemate had a friend in for the weekend that was really cool, kind of a combo of my old housemate, Dave, and our bf, Matt. We watched the Hangover (excellent), got Tony's Pizza (Husband's fav as it's New York style) and bummed around the house. It has been kind of gross outside all week, but today the sun is out and it's about 45 degrees, so we'll probably go for a walk later.

I also might have a super part time job! I found an ad on CL that was looking for a private dance teacher for two homeschooled girls. After emailing her, she'd also like a piano teacher for one of the girls as well...which I can do as long as this girl has never seen a piano before! :) I'm pretty confident I can get her through the basics, just don't ask me to take it any further than that. Here's hoping it works out, then I will have two leads. The other is nannying in the mornings for Husband's boss, which would also be good for some quick money. I will hopefully be taking my boards in January, so I'll have that as well.

Husband and I also went this weekend to a housing community and looked at some houses there. We're really into new construction/building our own house and the ones there run about 2500-3000 feet for about 150,000 dollars. Crazy, right? We just need to get the old house off of our hands first before we can even go down that road, but it's fun to look!

Alright, onto playing Super Mario Brothers Wii. It's so hard!

Love,
Jesi

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Velveeta and Rotel...

Is my new favorite cheese dip. And I'm sure it's horrible for you...but...well, I don't know, I like it!


So starts weekend two of Charlotte. I spend most of my days tooling around, watching Say Yes to the Dress, Law and Order SVU, and Ellen, while doing chores and playing around on here. Other trips of note have been to the Apple store (three! times! because my phone was being a pain) and this amazing antique/vintage mall...check it out here at http://sleepypoetstuff.com/. They have a super cute vintage clothes section that I could have spent all day in! I can't wait for Stephanie (Bradac) to come visit so we can go check it out together.

Speaking of Steph, that's been the highlight of living here thus far. We went down to Atlanta last weekend to see Nick and Stephanie, and it was so much fun. We ate lunch at the yummy Flying Biscuit (http://www.flyingbiscuit.com/) and then walked down to the lake before going back to their adorable shotgun apartment. They're moving in a couple of weeks, so it was fun to see their apartment before they move into a really nice house! We then played Clue for about two hours, which was one of the most hilarious experiences of my life...and one that can't really be explained as it wouldn't make any sense to those who weren't there. It is nice to know we have friends in a 3 1/2 hour radius that are so wonderful!

So it was supposed to snow today, and while I wasn't looking forward to it, I was secretly hoping to see all the freaking out take place that everyone has warned me about. It is chilly for here (about 31 degrees) but alas, no snow, only grey skies and drizzly rain. The bad thing is that North Carolina homes don't really have insulation, so it being that cold outside makes it super cold inside! I've never loved my fleece blanket more.

So, back to Say Yes to the Dress...this girl Claudia that's on the show as a consultant is a nightmare! If she'd been my consultant I never would have bought a wedding dress. She's crazy!

But anyway, onto this weekend. I think we are going to spend it in, watching movies and doing nothing as next week will be insane. I'm a little sad that we won't really be having Christmas this year, but I'm sure we'll make up for it next year. Joe (our roommate) also has a friend in this weekend so I think they'll be out of the house so we can actually have control of the tv! :)

Alright, onto something slightly productive...

Love!
Jesi


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So I decided to start a blog...

Welcome to my life as a stay at home wife...at least until 2010. As much as it's nice to have a break from my crazy life that was 2009, it's starting to get boring just sitting around all day, waiting to make dinner and make myself pretty for the husband...as that's the highlight of my day right now!


I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining, I'm really not. We moved to Charlotte in search for a happier/better life then we were having in the Chicagoland area, and I truly believe we'll find it. Husband loves his new job, and is thriving in an environment where his ideas are appreciated and needed. He's a manager now, and it's what he's been working up to for the last three years. I'm proud of him, it's nice to have him come home at night without a headache and with stories of all the wonderful people he's working with. I've met quite a few of them and they're delightful, the kind of people I want to be when I grow up. :)

I made a conscious decision when moving here to make an effort to be a better person. What does that mean, you may ask? Well, I know that while living in Deerfield, going to beauty school and bartending, I fell into the life of a gossip and drama lover. Yes, a lot of it had to do with my environment, which was full of 18-20 year old girls that thrived off the stuff, but I know I could have, and should have, made more of an effort to stay out of it. I stayed mostly on the sidelines, listening to all the drama, but never stopped it when I had the opportunity. When I graduated from beauty school, my favorite teacher said that I was one of the students who had stayed out of the drama and made my school a better place. I didn't feel the same way about myself, so I instead took it as a challenge for what I can become now.

That said, I can't wait to get a job! I'm kind of on hold right now while waiting for the information about my boards and because we're driving back to Illinois over Christmas to get the rest of our stuff. After that I'm going on the Epic! Journey! of 2009! to Baltimore to visit Ellyn, my bestest and SAI sister. I can't wait to see her/stalk Ace of Cakes/celebrate the New Year. Ryan's parents are driving me up and I'm taking a 10 hour Amtrak ride back to Charlotte on the 2nd. Ryan's working that weekend as his team goes live, so it works out best for both of us.

Well, all this being said, I will wrap it up for today. I'm making low fat chicken pot pies for dinner tonight at the suggestion of my dad, who's always on the lookout for good and healthy recipes while I am usually looking for how much cheese I can add to something. We usually meet in the middle. They're also calling for snow tomorrow and Saturday in Charlotte, which stinks as it means my dad gets to win the whole "we're going to have better weather than you" bet I've been baiting him on since I moved here. Oh well, you can't win them all.

Love,
Jesi

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