Game Night

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Last night Josh and I (and Bruce) headed over to Lauren's to meet up with her and Andrew for game night.  Josh and I both love a good game so we were excited to hang out and play.  We brought over a crockpot dinner (it tasted much better than it looks in the picture below:).

We ended up playing the game Pandemic which at first reminded us of "Cones of Dunshire" from one of our favorite TV shows, Parks and Recreation (check out the hilarious clip below).

There were a million rules to remember and the directions were an entire multipage booklet that none of us wanted to read.  Luckily, Lauren had just played the game last weekend so she had the rules fresh in her mind.  She did a great job explaining and the game turned out to be really fun.  The cherry on top was that Lauren gave the game to us as a Christmas present.  Can't wait to play some more!

Lauren was very patient with us as we tried to understand the game :)

While we were playing, the dogs were playing too.  This is the best picture I could get.  It is missing Maverick (Bruce's dad) and Bruce is the black blob in front (they wouldn't stay still for a pic).

Happy Valentine's Day

Saturday, February 14, 2015

We are in the deep freeze of winter right now and not much has been happening.  Here are a few highlights from the past few weeks!  Happy Valentine's Day!

-Laura

• We had visits from both of our families this month.  It was so nice to see everyone and get to spend some time together.
• Bruce is finally free of fleas.  It was a month long process of constant vacuuming, brushing, and bathing.  We will NEVER forget the monthly flea medication again!
• Josh, Jesse, and I watched The Room together.  Josh's coworker Shana loaned it to him and he PROMISED three times that he wouldn't lose it.  If you haven't heard of it, Entertainment Weekly calls it "the Citizen Kane of bad movies".  It was pretty bad and had a lot of memorable quotes, but i don't know if it tops Barbarella.

• Bruce has been extra cuddly since we had to shave him down.  It was -20 degree windchill this morning so he definitely misses his curly fur coat!

• Josh made chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine's Day.  He also got me a beautiful scarf even though we PROMISED that we wouldn't do gifts this year ;).

• We had a mini snowstorm yesterday.  This is Bruce after only 1 minute outside!

Finally!

Monday, February 2, 2015

We got our first big snow storm of the year and my first snow day of the school year.  Pretty different winter than last year considering last year's snow day count was somewhere around 15.  The snowstorm made us cancel our Super Bowl plans and stay home to watch the big game.  I'm sure Josh wished he had someone to watch the game with that actually cared about football.  Since we don't have cable we also couldn't watch the commercials.  Normally this is a good thing, but the one time we want commercials is of course the Super Bowl.  Heard there were some pretty good ones!  Josh dug his way out this morning to go to work and I'm spending the day at home cleaning and catching up on work!  Hope we have a few more snow storms to come yet this year!

-Laura

A before/after shot of the storm from our back sliding door...

Turning Thirty

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Monday was Josh's thirtieth birthday.  He isn't sure how he feels about turning thirty and it definitely won't stop him from playing video games.  We didn't do much celebrating on his actual birthday since he had to work until 7:30.  I made him homemade chili (a first for me) and Josh raved about it (think he's trying to get me to cook more?).  We ended the birthday by opening presents.  I got Josh an electric toothbrush, mandolin slicer, and a giftcard for groupon.  My presents for him weren't too exciting, but don't worry, his mom already got him a lego set for his bday :)

 The birthday celebration continued on Saturday with a trip to visit Lauren and Andrew.  When Josh and I were in college, a favorite weekend spot we would go to often was Hopcat in Grand Rapids.  A new Hopcat just opened in Detroit so the four of us went to check it out.  We ended up loving the food and drinks but kind of disappointed in the overall feel of the place.  I think we are probably just nostalgic for the GR location.  It was still a fun time and we always look forward to hanging out with Lauren and Andrew.

Now I have the next 7 months to tease Josh about being in his thirties until I join the club. Thirty is the new twenty right?

-Laura

Oh, and by the way.  Josh shaved his beard this week.  Check out the before and after!

Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Josh and I celebrated a wonderful New Year's Eve (and more importantly, Lauren's birthday) at the Brewery Becker.  We had a great time riding in a limo to the brewery and meeting up with some great people including Katelin, who I haven't seen in way too long!  It was great to reconnect.  Josh loved the fact that he could play shuffleboard and foosball at the brewery and of course, open bar and appetizers didn't hurt either!

2014 is going to be very hard to beat, but here's to a great 2015!

Merry Christmas

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas!  We celebrated both in Holland and Cadillac this year.  We are so blessed to have such amazing and loving families!

Some of the memorable events from this Christmas:

• Sam and Annie Lou got giant floor sized puzzles including a solar system puzzle.  We were amazed to hear all about space from Annie Lou.  She is a little genius!
• Bruce got terribly sick and threw up about a dozen times.  Right before we were going to take him to the emergency vet he threw up a stuffed animal leg and about a fist sized ball of stuffing.  After that he was cured! (Dumb dog)
• Josh's mom finally got an iPhone.  I think she was the last adult in the United States to not have a cell phone.  Excited to be able to text her!
• We got to watch Yan and Kai open some of their presents via Skype.  I am thankful for this technology, but wish I could have seen them in person too!
• Gas is under $2!  I can't even remember the last time I saw this.  It's a Christmas miracle :)

'Tis the Season

Sunday, December 7th, 2014

Wow!  It has been quite a while since we have updated.  Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is just around the corner.  We had a double Thanksgiving this year.  We began by celebrating at my Aunt and Uncles house (thanks for letting us use your house Norma and Tim!) and followed it up by having another Thanksgiving in Cadillac.  

One of the things that I have struggled with living in our tiny duplex is not being able to do much holiday decorating.  We don't have room for a real tree, but we have made do with a small 2ft tree and a few scattered decorations.  Stockings are hung on the window sill and hoping that one day we get a fireplace.  Maybe next year!  

-Laura and Josh