12.16.2010

proud to be a homeowner


I woke up this morning and all I wanted to do was shovel. Shovel my deck, shovel my sidewalk, and shovel my driveway.

For the sake of context, I'll tell you that I grew up with four brothers. Four brothers that did most if not all of the shoveling growing up. I was required to shovel maybe once every couple years, and when I was required to shovel, I hated it.

So why the sudden change of heart? I don't know. Call it homeownership, I guess. But it sure was satisfying to be responsible for my own home.

It will probably get old by tomorrow.

12.15.2010

chocolate is good for the stomach

Sometimes, you just need 22 ounces of chocolate in your life.

12.09.2010

ima winker

in the past few week i've realized something about myself.

i'm a winker.

it's awkward, i know. i don't even know when i started to do it...it just kind-of...happened. i can't explain myself. i have no excuse for my actions. if you judge me, i'll completely understand.

one day, i was making jokes and laughing like a normal person and the next, i was winking. i was working at hyvee and joked about the weather and iowa and i winked. just like that. like i'd been doing it my whole life. when did i become so cliche and charming? when?!

where do i go for support, or rehab or whatever? is it intentional or an uncontrollable eye twitch? is it a learned trait or does it run in my family?

i don't know, guys, i just don't know. so many questions, so many fears.

at least i'm not ugly.
*wink*

12.08.2010

retroactive birthday blog

23 things I love about my husband

23 He's a ginger. [i really want redheaded children] 22 He's exactly my height, which means we are very hug compatible. 21 He's very cuddly. He loves being near me, and snuggling me and keeping me warm in the winter. 20 He's really very silly. He loves being awkward, crazy, and even just a little bit weird. 19 He's incredibly easy-going. He's never in a hurry [which drives me nuts sometimes] and he's always calming me down and giving me perspective. 18 He has a definite cool factor. He is very likable and respectable among the majority of people. 17 He plays the bass guitar like a pro. 16 He can learn pretty much any instrument he desires. 15 He's really smart, and an even harder worker. I have never had any doubts that he'll provide for me and our family. 14 When he sets his mind to something, there is no changing it. 13 He's madly in love me, and sometimes I don't understand why or how I'm so lucky. 12 He is the most attractive man I've ever met, in complete honesty. I've never been so attracted to mere physical features. 11 He has incredible taste in music. 10 He always knows what kind-of music I'll like or what movies I'll like. 9 He challenges me to depend on God. 8 He loves people, particularly people that are hard to love. [he'd love to hang out with the homeless all day] 7 He has a heart for worship. 6 He's famous. 5 He is always seeking to go deeper in his relationship with God and to gain more knowledge and wisdom from God's word. 4 He thinks I'm hilarious and laughs at me all the time. 3 He pursues me and loves me and serves me as Christ pursues, loves and serves the church. 2 He gets excited when we talk about our future children, he'll be an awesome and super fun dad. 1 He has an incredible God story and he loves God more than me.

12.07.2010

alsbury family vacation

In the middle of October, we were super blessed with a trip to North Carolina to see and enjoy the Senior Alsburys and the Panickers (aka, Bryan's side of the family). We had SOOOO much fun hanging out in the beautiful Carolina Mountains. These mountains are covered with deciduous (that's a fancy word that means the leaves change colors in the fall, foo') trees and we were there at the peak of the fall season. Needless to say, it was breath-taking, especially for this girl who LOVES trees!

Here are some pictures from our trip:

In O'Hare Airport, I experienced a "first"-seeing a dinosaur skeleton! It was of course, fake, but still, I had never seen a life-size dinosaur skeleton so it was exciting. See my excitement?

The next day, I had another first experience, riding in a train!!!! We didn't actually go anywhere, besides up the mountain and back, but it was awesome! TWO FIRSTS IN ONE TRIP!

The awesome view from the train.
Jobin & Jenni
LisaGrace & Bryan

Bryan loves all animals.

The whole Alsbury Clan!
L to R: LisaGrace, Jenni, Jobin, Bryan, Joyce, Tom

Let not forget about the train museum...yes, TRAIN MUSEUM!!!!
This sign is awesome.
Jenni & Jobin terrorizing the town.

And we also went to a mansion. The Biltmore House:

The rest of our vacation included playing the Farming Game (Jobin won, again), driving around in the mountains which consequently included me puking my guts out several times in front of Bryan's family, went to a Cherokee Indian Reservation Museum (which was awesome), and had some family pictures taken!

It was so much fun, can't wait until next year!


12.06.2010

so i work at HyVee...


Some of my favorite things about working at HyVee:

My co-workers are fun, they call me LG or LeGit.

A little girl was leaving my line with her mom the other day and exclaimed at the last minute, "You're pretty!" It definitely made my daylife.

I was on ESPN! During the Penn State Game in Iowa City, ESPN did some "city shots" and I was in one of them because I was working right before the game!

SO MANY people think my name is strangest name in the world! They look at my nametag and look at me and just frown like I shouldn't have such a weird name. I just laugh and say, my mom made it up, it is a weird name. My favorite was when one guy came up to me and asked, "Is your name Lasagna?" I laughed for 5 minutes straight.

Um, that's all for now. But I'm thankful for such a fun job.

12.05.2010

pardon the dust...

So I'll be blogging every day until Christmas in order to have 100 blogs in 2010. Just a warning, you'll be hearing a lot from me...if this last week is any indication.

I'm also in the process of redesigning the blog...again. What can I say, change is fun, and blogs are fun to change. I'm not exactly sure how I even want to change it yet, but I'll definitely be playing around with it!

Well, I'm off to (finally) do our Christmas Decorating with my husband! Pictures to come soon!

12.04.2010

Old Threshers, Mount Pleasant, IA

Does it really need an explanation? Besides awesome?










12.03.2010

we are awesome

I know I'm about a month too late, but I have a boatload of old pictures to share with my blog friends anyway, so I thought I might as well share the most awesome one.

What are some alsberries to do when they don't want to spend any money and don't have any ideas two days before Halloween?

LisaGrace: Bryan, what should we be for Halloween?
Bryan: I don't know a rock an a hard place? (a hint of sarcasm in his voice)
LisaGrace: hmmmm...this could work.

So with two dollars and 34 cents, stolen paper sacks, and spent creativity, we have this:

A rock and a hard place. Hilarious.

Look, here's our friend Layla as Mrs. Fox between a rock and a hard place. tehehe...

12.02.2010

what kind-of stockings should i make?






I really want to make Bryan and I stockings this year, but I just don't know what kind I want to make.

I could knit some stockings, but for some reason I'm drawn to cross-stitching. I like the idea of a more modern Christmas look, but at the same time, I really LOVE kitchy stuff and cheesy Christmas decor. And since it's not adorning my house all year round, you might as well go crazy with cheesiness right?

What do you think? Which one is your favorite?

move over, honey nut scooters

ah, we've had a good run. you've been good to me, i promise, but you as well as i know that i can't pass up a chance to save $.40

there's a new generic brand of honey nut goodness around. it's sweeter, crispier and the little oh's get stuck together sometimes making my munching experience a little more interesting. sorry, scooters, did i mention they're forty cents cheaper than you? yeah, well. i guess this is goodbye............







hello honey nut crispy oats from ALDI, the greatest place in the grocery shopping world! tortilla chips for $.99, fresh salsa for $1.99, and pepperoni for $1.99! not to mention the rock bottom price for perhaps my favorite food in the world: off-brand honey nut cheerios. only $1.59 a box. ALDI can't pull off cap'n crunch, but they sure do whip out a mean honey nut crispy oat.

i'm a happy camper.