Bed, Bath, and WAY Beyond

Geoff and I took a leisurely Saturday stroll through Bed, Bath and Beyond this weekend. All around the store they are displaying those awful, yet must-have "As Seen on TV" items like the Hercules Hook, Sham-Wow, Vidalia Chop Wizard (or something like that), Snuggie, Beach-Towel Snuggie, etc...

As we rounded the final corner of the store, we reached the pinnacle of such items:

I can't think of an item I'm less in need of...although I do know someone out there...and perhaps another someone...who might want to consider investing in a little behind 'Beyond.'

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North of What?

So, Geoff and I are looking at google maps the other day on his phone (I'd tell you why, but we are doing this so often, that they all just blur into one big google search).

It kinda weirds me out when we pull it up and a blue dot starts blinking right where I'm standing. I mean, seriously, if I walk across my living room, the dot moves. Google knows everything. But, I digress.

Geoff zooms out to get a better view of where we are in relation to where we are going. He accidentally zoomed out too far and this is what I saw:

Huh. So THAT's where North Dakota is.

Haha. Happy Friday!

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Morph and Mandy

I used one of those face morphers to determine what kind of beautiful baby Geoff and I will make. Obviously this is SCIENCE people. Here s/he/they are. Enjoy Mama G.

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Spring is coming in Fargo

Well, Geoff and I are officially into week 15 in North Dakota.

It's crazy to think how quickly time flies. Winter wasn't so bad. There were some days that I can't even believe how cold it was, but today we were supposed to get into the high 60s, maybe even 70s. So, we've come a long way!

The grass is starting to really green up. It's lovely. The trees are also starting to bud just a little bit. So they should start looking spring-y before too long.

Geoff and I have been taking every opportunity we've got to go bike riding in the sunshine. Fargo is F-L-A-T, which, if the wind isn't blowing 100 miles per hour, makes for fantastic bike riding.

We like to try new restaraunts. Our current fav lil' place is called Jalapenos. Geoff can't get enough of their chili relleno.

Fargo has lots of little thrift shops and we love to go hunt for good deals on the unexpected.

Geoff is over the 11-year old scouts, and I'm over Achievement Days (the 10-11 year old girls in the ward), so our Wednesday nights are spent at the church.

On our 'to-do' list: tennis (but the wind has to chill out), kite flying, roller blading, going back to the Cities for shopping and baseball, going to the Red River Zoo, finding a frozen yogurt shop, painting the apartment, figuring out what to do with the spare bedroom, finding a small side-table for the living room "nook," and lots more!

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Hatchbacks RULE

This post may be a little delayed, but on account of the fact that my entire body blew up, I had other things on my mind.

In an effort to slim down and tone up, I've taken on a new fervor for exercise. I tend to go in some cyclical patterns when it comes to working out (i.e. I worked out for an hour 6 days a week from April 2008-Jan 2009 and worked out about 10 minutes 1 day a week from Jan 2010 to now). Well, I know I feel much better when I'm working out regularly. And since the whole owning my treadmill failed in two ways:

1. No one wants to work out when they are at home with every possible distraction and reason not to work out in the whole world.
2. We live on the third floor, a fact we neglected to consider when we brought the monster home. Our neighbors below were not appreciative.

we decided to return the treadmill so I (we) could get a gym membership.

When we bought the treadmill, we had the Passat. No more.

But guess what? That little Mercedes is a trooper. I dare say it fit BETTER in the Merc than the Passat.
Nicely done, little guy.

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Oh, it's big.

So. It's the day before Easter. I'm planning the menu and the goodies and the trails the Easter Bunny is going to leave behind for the hub and I.

I'm am planning trips to Wal-Mart, Target and the Dollar Store. I am lamenting a bit the fact that there is no Big Lots in the area. I LOVE Big Lots (but why, oh why did they name it Big Lots? Seriously).

I have an idea - I've googled Big Lots in Fargo - but what about Moorhead? This wouldn't be the first time I thought something wasn't nearby because I was googling the wrong state!

I type into my phone "Big Lots, Moorhead, MN." I see the following screen:

Sweet! There is a Big Lots!

Geoff and I hop in the car and off to 2710 2nd Ave N...

to find...

The Suzuki Big Lot. Dang.

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Happy Easter

I was determined to make today a lovely Easter. Even if it meant staying up way too late and working a bit harder then my body really wanted to me. And, at least, I succeeded!

I straightened the whole house last night, made decorated rice-krispie treat eggs, got our London Broil marinating, and made a batch of sugar cookie dough (completely by hand since my egg beater gave up the ghost - what's with me a egg beater deaths?).

I then laid out Geoff's easter trail. It turned out pretty fun, even if there wasn't anything on the trail that was a particular surprise. We woke up and collected our items from our trails and then I made a delicious Easter breakfast of Bacon Egg Cups. I'm not sure I've heard Geoff 'mmmm' that much over breakfast in a very long time!

After the first session of Conference, I showered and got looking decent and decorated my sugar cookies. As usual, I forgot a vital detail when shopping for my ingredients - so I only had two colors of frosting - yellow and orange. This was a pretty big handicap when it came to decorating. I did have some white melting chocolate that I used to pipe the cookies (this was my very first attempt at piping - I've got some learning to do). They are bright and happy and delicious and will be coming with me to work tomorrow for my co-workers who I feel like I haven't seen in ages. It'll be good to be back to work!

Geoff and I and the dogs went on a lovely picnic down by the river. The dogs had a blast and even though it was a little chilly, I'm so glad we went and did it. We followed up the picnic with a short bikeride - which felt great in the slightly damp weather.

Anyway, I think I'm going to try to drift off to dreamland soon so I can get up for day one at the gym and feel rested and ready to get back to work. Happy Easter!

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Puffy, Swollen, and Itchy

It all started late Monday night. Geoff and I had undertaken the grueling task of carrying the treadmill back down 3 flights of stairs, driving it back to Wal-meezy and dealing with the return of the treadmill.

I started making dinner. A delicious Lime Chicken dinner with Avocado mash. Really, delicious. After I put the chicken in the pan to cook, I sat down to watch Geoff work on re-conditioning our bikes so we could go for an early morning bike ride since we would have to wait until Thursday to sign up for our memberships at the Y and he promised to help me get exercise in the meantime.

Anyway, so I'm sitting there, watching, waiting for the chicken to cook, when I notice that the knuckles on my hands, wrists, elbows, and knees are starting to turn really red. I assume Rom must have bit a little too hard when we were playing or something and carry on with my evening. Geoff and I eat dinner and start to get ready for bed. It is at this point I realize my right had is REALLY swollen. Like, twice the size of normal. Okay, weird. But, still, I think, no big deal.

I wake up at 3am - my hand hurts. My joints in general hurt. I am swollen all over. I, of course, call mom. She suggests Benadryl.

Geoff and I get in the car, at 3am, and drive to Walmart. We buy benadryl.

Morning comes - my hands are swollen beyond use and I have started to develop a rash. Fantastic. I call work - I won't be in this morning. I take more benadryl. I sleep.

Geoff comes home for lunch - my face is swollen, like I have a black eye. The hives are worse on my arms and legs. I feel like I've been hit by a truck. We drive to the urgent care. They give me a shot of steriods and an oral steriod to start on Wednesday.

I go home. I sleep. Geoff comes home from work and I'm still getting worse. More hives, more swelling. I go back to sleep. I wake up at midnight - I'm starting to get scared - it's still getting worse. Geoff takes me to the emergency room. They tell me I am at a stage 2 allergic reaction. I get more shots. The rash has now moved to my back and shoulders. I feel miserable.

They send me home. I sleep. I wake up - I am pretty hideous. My face is still swollen, the rash is bigger and redder and is continuing to cover more area on my body. Geoff goes to scouts in the evening.
My lower lip starts to swell. A lot. The doctors had told me to come back if I had any lip or eye swelling. I'm choosing to ignore the swelling. I go to talk to Rubio and find that I am barely able to speak. Uh oh. I call Geoff to say I think it's time to go back to the doc. We go.

The ER doc calls the internal medicine doc who wants me to stay the night "just in case." He asks me things like, "and if something should happen, you want us to do everything we can?" I am pretty sure he must be joking. I don't want to stay in the hospital. Geoff explains that if the docs think I should, then I probably should. Geoff stays with me. I assume he got no sleep. I love him.

I wake up Thursday morning looking and feeling a lot better - however, my face is still pretty puffy. My new doc seems dissapointed. I think he was hoping for something more interesting - I'm glad I'm not more interesting. In the afternoon I am discharged. I go home. I sleep some. My house is a veritable disaster.

Friday we had off work - thank goodness. I sleep 'til one. The rash is worse today - I miss the IV meds. But, I'm getting better.

I'm unsure what to do if I'm allergic to all common antibiotics. Sounds like infections from now on are going to cost me an arm and a leg. Fantastic.

My bike is still sitting in the living room. Ready for a ride. Dang.

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