Zach and Nathana

For our 4th anniversary we went to Little Italy to celebrate. We didn't exchange gifts because we both agreed that our Nellie girl alive and well was the best gift we could have!  This past year has been one that I have mixed feelings about. There are honestly many times that I would give anything to forget, but thankfully the good outweighed the bad.  Still, I am so glad to see this year over and start a new one.   I've run into people I went to school with who find out I'm married and seem so surprised it's been 4 years, and sometimes it even surprised me it's been that long. Sometimes it feels like much longer. ; )  It's even a little hard to remember what life was like before we were married. I know that I love us, though.  God has been faithful to us these 4 years and I know will contribute to bless us.  I say it every year, but I love Zach more now than I ever have!  Thank you sweetheart for loving me when I am unlovable, cranky, and stubborn. Yo...

Over Winter  Spring Break, the temps were not awesome, but it was still a great week. On Mon & Tues, I babysat my same three kiddos that I always do!  We watched Frozen both days, sang all the songs from it, Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music, made sugar cookies, perler beads, played, acted, colored, and made "projects" as Ben called them.  Let me tell ya, I have not seen a kid more obsessed with perler beads since my siblings and me!  He made 6 shapes on Tuesday.  I wish I had a pic, but he made 5 turtles that were each a member of their family and then a Kitty that he said was me!! : )  I love that child.  We had tons of fun, but I was definitely ready for bed those nights! Ha! I actually cooked on Monday night, but Tuesday night we went to Qdoba! On Wednesday, Nellie had her well check-up with the vet.  I had given her a bath the night before, which she naturally hated, and then took her to the vet, which makes her little self sweat ...

Over the weekend, (March 14-16)  Zach and I took a little get-away trip to Cincinnati Ohio, but stayed on the Newport, Kentucky side.  We got up pretty early on Friday (I took the day off, yay!), finished packing, and took Nellie to her Nana and Poppy's, who kept her for us.  After that, we were off and excited to be going somewhere we've never been before!  3 hours later... We ate a "Big Boy" for the first time.  I would compare it to a "Steak n' Shake" because it has a waited dining room and a drive-thru.  It also happened to be 20 feet from our hotel, so we went over and checked in a little early since they had our room ready. Big Boy and myself!  I have no shame...There were people driving in the drive thru and everything! : ) It's funny how just driving can make you so tired, so we both laid down for a little while and decided to go to Bass Pro Shop and the mall before our 7:00 dinner reservation.  Cincinnati traffice was craaaaaazy, ...

So, we're 11 days into NSM, and it's going well.  About 98% of the difficulty of this month for me is temptation.  My mentality is that if I just don't go shopping, that the desire won't find me.  Enter: E-mails and weekly ads.  My biggest enemy.  The e-mails are the absolute worst.  I have check my e-mail and every day I'm greet by at least 20 e-mails from my favorite retailers enticing me with sales, coupons, and free shipping.  As much as it pains me, I just delete them without even looking at them.  It's too easy to go from "I'll just take a look..."to "I'd like that in 3 colors, please!" The other day, Zach and I were out and about and I wanted to run into Dillard's "just to look".  Zach was oh-so-patient even though he already asked twice if I remembered that I myself had said I wouldn't spend anything.  We made a quick round about the store, and we were in the clear.  I know it makes no sense, but seeing that...

So it seems my school corporation did everyone a big favor by letting us out early today. I left me school at 1:00 and was back by my house at 1:30. It ha barely started spitting snow, so I passed by the house for a quick Target run. I was inside for exactly 15 minutes and it was like a snow globe outside. My car was completely covered. I suck at driving in the snow, so I took it slow and got home just fine. Below is what my road looked like after 15 minutes! So Nellie and I have enjoyed an afternoon if dishes, laundry, and playing with my Cricut! Oh, and eating the brownies that I made! Yum! Bonus: USI canceled all night classes and campus, so Zach got to come straight home from his internship! That makes his girls incredibly happy! Now for us to spend quality time together and wait it out to see if either one of us has school tomorrow! Stay warm friends!

We go to Mama Joyce's for lunch and then stay the rest of the day and open presents that night after supper. We found a lady bug in the house, so naturally Lexie (and Norah Kate) wanted to hold it! Playing with Ross Mama Joyce with her pile of presents! Norah Kate!! Have you ever been so tired, you just lay down in the middle of Christmas?  haha! Eden!! Logan and Ross! Logan and his Pops! Lauren photo-bombing! They exclaimed, "We're kitty cousins!!"  Haha! Funny girls! Whew, I'm all caught up on Christmas posts!! Go me! : )