Happy Birthday Honey!

So my honey's birthday was this past Tuesday (Jan. 20, I'm a little late posting this!) and we didn't do a whole lot to celebrate this year.

On Tuesday we went to dinner with my parents at Bricco in Downtown Akron. I had been there before and so had my mom but my step-dad and Ben had never gone before. They both ended up loving it. It's a little bit pricey but well worth it and their food is so filling. Ben got their pork tenderloin with risotto and he loved it. I got the chicken with a mozzarella croquette and it was delicious! My mom got Ben a charger with rechargeable batteries since he was complaining about running out so often because of his Xbox! I didn't get him anything because we are low on money right now but eventually we will get him something. I will probably buy him an Xbox game that he has reserved coming out in March. (Side note: my mom found an awesome deal on a pot/pan set so she gave that to us Tuesday - but it's my Birthday/Christmas gift for this year because it was a really nice set and pricey :) )

Then Friday night to celebrate Ben's birthday again, we went out with our friend's Kyle and Liz to Hopocan Gardens (a chicken house) in Barberton and it was so good! They have the best hot rice :)

Then on Sunday the celebration continued at Ben's Grandpa Blankenship's house where his Aunt Bev, Grandpa, Ben's cousin's kid Nolan (2nd cousin??), Ben's cousin Bleu and me and Ben had Sunday dinner. It was yummy - cube steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, grean beans, cole slaw and biscuits. His grandpa is an awesome cook so it was so good!! Then they brought in a cake and sang happy birthday which was totally unexpected. And that finally ended the week long celebration we call Ben's birthday :)

Yummy dinner cookin on the stove

The Birthday Boy
Aunt Bev and Nolan

The Cake!

Haha....he's 26 :)

And of course he had the honor of cuttin' the cake

Ben's cousin Bleu is the one holding the cake,
he had Nolan help him blow out the candles!

Snow & Puppies

I'm a little late with this post but this was from last weekend when we got about 10 inches of snow. Harley just loves the snow and Duke does too! Here's two pictures of Harley and then a video of Harley and Duke. It was one of those days where we were snowed in. Since we live on a hill, there about 4-5 days a year we know we aren't going anywhere because we can't get out/up the hill. It was funny to watch some people try though!!

Sunday of last weekend we went with my parents to try a new place called Zoup in Solon, they have 11 different soups daily. It's a Panera of sorts but smaller and less known. We were 1 of 4 groups of people we saw the whole time we were there! But with the snow we thought that might have had something to do with it. It's amazing how much soup they had and we all got a different kind and LOVED all of them. Yum!! Then we explored a bit up in Solon and ended up at the Cold Stone Creamery in Macedonia, haven't been to one in a while so I was super excited! Here's my creation then a picture of Ben, my mom and Eric eating theirs!


This week has been really crazy with work - our quarterly meeting was this week with all of our team in for the meeting. Since the new admin coordinator for our group doesn't technically start til next week I still had to do pretty much everything. The new person (Julie) was there for the meeting to see how things run but she won't be back until Weds but then she starts full time with us and I'm pretty much done doing the things I had to do for my old position besides training her. I'm super excited to finally have this weight lifted off my shoulders since I have been waiting since September for this to happen!

Ben's birthday is on Tuesday (Jan. 20 - Inauguration Day). I am off Monday. We might try and do a nice dinner this weekend or maybe just wait until Tuesday. I think we are going to go out to the bar tonight with some friends (we will see who shows) and have a few drinks. Who knows!! I am not getting anything for him, at least not right now since we are broke. Maybe in a few months with my bonus or tax return we will get him something!

Hope everyone is well and trying to stay warm (for those of us in Ohio at least!).

New Years Eve 2008 Pictures

I never got back to post pictures from New Years Eve so here they are!

At Ben's grandpa's eating yummy food

Rachelle and Rob - She is due with their child in March

Me and Liz

Kyle and Liz - their first engaged New Years!

Kyle, Rob and Ben

Brian and Me, he was pretty drunk LOL

Liz and Ben

Happy New Year Everyone!

So today is 1/1/09 and I am glad we are in a new year. Don't get me wrong 2008 had some great times but I'm ready for a new year and being able to start again.

2008 is first and foremost the year that me and Ben got married :) This was definitely the highlight of my year and I couldn't be happier. It is also the year that I got my new position at GOJO which I'm still not fully transitioned out of my old but it's coming in 2009!

I have decided that my New Year Resolution is to lose weight. I know...haha. People always say that and then don't follow through. Well I am hoping that I do! Ben is on board with me (since his doctor told him he had to lose weight!). So we will be eating healthier, doing some exercise (and in the summer we will probably start walking outside) and just taking better care of ourselves. I really would like to drop a few sizes and I'm hoping I can accomplish that!

So Happy New Year's Everyone!