Happy Anniversary!

Ok so yesterday was the actualy Anniversary, but we both got busy at work and I started a blog entry, but could never finish it, and quite honestly it is still incomplete but it is a long awaited rough draft. So below is what was supposed to appear yesterday:


I just want to say happy Anniversary to the best husband in the world! We only have been married for 7 years but we have 13 years of memories….now as a gift to you….I am going to start to write out our story, its a first draft, but its a start.


May 23 1999 .... a love story

Her name was Denise, she liked to read and write stories and loved animals especially her cat and dog. She lived south of 12 mile and went to Edmonson. She was happy to go to middle school, but Denise would miss saying hi to the doggies that lived next to her elementary school. Sometimes the owner would come out and yell at the dogs, but Denise would lie to the owner and say “no the doggies stayed in the yard”.
His name was Chad, he loved the Red Wings, he had 3 cats and a dog. He lived north of 12 mile and went to Simonds, his parents grew up south of 12 mile. His grandfather lived next door to Edmonson elementary, he had dogs. Denise lied to his grandfather.
In 6th grade he had Sage class (homeroom) with Mr. Gedda, she had Sage in the class next door with Mrs. Malone.

There wasn’t much interaction between the two until 11th grade. The first time either remembers talking with each other was one night at an all night float building party. They shared a lawn chair, and avoided working on the float, and had a great time.
Then senior year came and they had Physics, Statistics, and Government. In 2nd hour they both would be in the library. Chad was the ever faithful library assistant. Denise avoiding work by taking “Independent Study Creative Writing” she never actual wrote anything. They talked a lot, they liked each other but were kind of shy.

Enter Jason

Jason was one of Chad’s best friends. Jason and Denise knew each other since kindergarten and lived around the block from each other.
Jason in need of a date for Prom began this awkward moment (in the middle of statistics class):
“So Chad and Denise…what are you doing for Prom?”
To which Chad replied “Uh I don’t know Jason isn’t that like 2 months away?”
“Well yeah, but people are getting dates pretty fast, well you two are going together right?”
Denise “huh?”
Chad “wha??”
“Well if you two go, then maybe Georgia and I can go and we can double”
Denise “huh?”
Chad “wha?”
“Well you like him right?” said Jason looking at Denise and pointing at Chad
“Um ok I guess I do”
“And you like her right?” said Jason looking at Chad and pointing to Denise
“ok”
“So you are going to go to Prom together”
“uh ok” said Chad and Denise in unison….not quite sure what was going on
“Great now that is settled Denise can you see if Georgia would want to go to Prom with me”
“uhhh oookk” said Denise

Jason and Georgia did not last (both are very happily married other wonderful people).

Denise and Chad continued to talk. Sometimes they would hang out as a group going to movies and National Coney Island. The word “Prom” was not spoken to each other for a few weeks. Chad showed Denise this thing called “e-mail” and the “World Wide Web”. The talked on AOL Instant Messenger. Eventually they went on a first date. This was asked in an unusual manor as well:

The phone rings, Denise picks it up:
“Hi Denise…this is Chad”
“oh hi Chad”
“So I have these tickets to the Red Wings, and none of the guys could go, do you want to go”
“Ok”
“I will pick you up on Saturday my dad will let me use the Jeep”
“Ok”

Afterwards they went to National Coney Island. The next day they went to clean up Metro Beach with other “Earth Smart” members (the environmental club Denise started and was president of).

Prom was great, they slow danced to Boys II Men.

After graduation they went to graduation parties together, Chad let Denise wear his Red Wing Jersey.

The summer was great, they were inseparable. But college was nearing. The day before Chad left for Ferris State they went to Cedar Point. They had a great time. Before they parted Denise asked what would happen and Chad gave her a necklace. They were going to try and make it work. Denise cried. They told each other “I love you”.

Onto College

Denise went to Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan. There she made many friends one one of whom lead her to be involved in His House Christian Fellowship. They e-mailed everyday (before e-mail was even that common), sent lots of letters and cards and talked on the phone quite often.
At school Denise fell in love again, this time with Jesus. Then Denise prayed for Chad, she wanted to marry Chad, but didn’t want to unless he was a Christian. She never told Chad this, but continued to pray. Chad transferred to Michigan State University, where he hung out with the Carmody clan. He loved it there but still missed Denise. He would attend the His House fellowship there from time to time. They would both attend retreats so they could see each other. Then one day Chad was having a rough day, he decided to look to Jesus for help.
Later that week Chad and Denise saw each other at the retreat. Chad was really excited, he wanted to tell Denise he understood, he had decided to follow Jesus as well. Denise cried.

It took another couple of years but Chad was finally able to propose to Denise in her junior year of college. Chad had some time left at MSU, but they decided Denise would move to Lansing and they would be married while he finished college. Because Chad was born on April 23, and Denise June 23 they were married on May 23 1999.
It wasn’t long before the first “little one” came along. Her name was Tess, she was brought home from Chad’s parents’ house in a George Forman grill box. She was a cat, and eventually forgave them for the box.
The next 3 years were full of moves and job changes. Finally they could buy a house, and a year later they got a dog they named her Belle. Belle was a handful as a puppy. Neither remembered dogs being so hard to take care of. Denise cried.
But a couple more years passed, and Belle wasn’t so bad even Tess liked her.
The couple had already been through so much. The deaths of Denise’s grandma and father months apart had been rough, but Chad had been so strong for her. They worked hard in their careers, still had many job changes but eventually enjoyed what they did. They went on many adventures camping trips, canoe trips, traveling to France. They were really happy.

Then a gas pump fell on Denise…..she actually wasn’t hurt bad at all. However somehow it was made clear to them that there was more for them to do. So God blessed Chad and Denise with a baby, he was supposed to be born on March 4th 2006. He decided to come instead on February 21st…..he was trying to make it on the 23rd. A very special boy Chad knew was named Daniel and Chad’s dad was named Daniel, and Denise’s middle name is Danielle and they also just really liked the name Daniel. John was Denise’s dad’s named, and she still missed him. So they named their baby boy Daniel John. Denise cried.

And their story will continue…..
And Denise will probably cry some more.



Love you Chad……

Mother's Day

I had a good Mother's day...got exactly what I wanted plus some.


On Thursday when I picked Daniel up from daycare he had a present for me. His very first craft project. He worked very hard on it. His handprints ar on it and it says "Happy Mother's Day I Love you"....where 'love' is actually a heart. OH and the flowers are really pens....he is such a creative little guy.










This is what my desk looks like now with the new pictures (well part of my desk...the part I never use). Yes that is an "easy" button from Staples on my desk..it is REALLY loud. A coworker gave that to me before I went on leave.....guess he figured I needed it then;-) That dictionary and thesaurus set on my desk.....that is what I won at our senior all night party (whoo hoo). I also have a framed autographed picuture of the Piston's mascot Hooper on the other side of my desk.


So we left on Friday evening to spend the weekend at my mom's. I was going to be packed and ready to go. I started work at 6 am.....however one of the downfalls of working from home. Its hard to "leave" the office. I was finishing up some stuff and coworkers kept asking for help. So at 5:30 pm I was still working! The weekend was fun, and we saw Chad's mom on Sunday and also got some shopping done while Daniel hung with the "G-Rents". Monday I had a docs appointment in the morning and Chad had Lasik done in the afternoon. Monday night I was exhuasted.....so Tuesday I was um....sick, yep. I actually have proof:


Well at least the dog and cat believed me:-) Chad was actually taking pictures of me while I was napping. Silly husband.

So happy belated mother's day to all the moms out there.

Big Loser!

That is what I plan on being, yep a big loser....oh wait I mean Biggest Loser! Chad and I are joining his family in a fierce weight loss competition. There are 7 of us competing to see who will lose the most percentage of their weight by August 1st. We started May 1st (after binging on pizza). Chad and I are doing good with making healthier dinners. Both of us have tried to eat better and have done well before, however it has been at different times or using different methods. This is the first time we are basically doing the same thing. Plus we are trying to walk every night. It has been good so far and Belle loves the walks. I have been using my sling much more lately with all the walking and being back to work. It is funny the reactions I get from it. There is The 'confused' "I could never do that, it is too complicated to put on" ...it’s like putting on a purse. The 'no ways' "That doesn't look safe and he has to be uncomfortable" ...He sleeps in it, sometimes I put him in it when he is fussy. The 'I didn't have that when' (when said in disgust) "Well...WE didn't have that when I had kids".....many cultures have used the sling to carry babies for centuries so it is really NOT new. However I do get compliments on it as well, just the other reactions are more funny to post about. I hear the "we didn't have that when...." with other things too. I don't really think too much of it, until that "tone" is invoked and their face looks like they just smelled poo. Do some people honestly think inventions won't come along everyday or that inventions are bad? Maybe it’s the way they say it and I read into their body language and vocal tone too much...but geez get over it people. I am starting to see the "my way is/was the best way" philosophy of raising kids. I really never want to be like that. We are willing to try different things and what works with Daniel we keep doing it, if it doesn't work we stop. Who knows with the next kid....maybe I will actually read a book about babies by then;-)


Anyways its kind of fun walking with Daniel in the sling going from the building to my car. He seems to enjoy it as well especially the elevator rides:-)
This is us a few weeks ago after a walk with Belle and daddy.

Jealous of the "evil us"

Yes....I was jealous of another set of parents....I felt inferior and became envious....ok well I am being a little dramatic, and it only lasted for like a minute.
OK to explain at our church there is this other couple. We refer to them as "evil us" or "bizzaro us" (Superman reference). Now they don't look a thing like us, and they are really a nice couple and really shouldn't be called evil or bizzare. I think the only reason we started to call them this was because they went to U of M. Actually we like them just fine, we started to call them that because we could remember their names at first. We knew that "bizzaro Denise" went to MSU at first then transferred to U of M.
I didn't go to MSU, but my husband did, and I lived in Lansing for a year, so we both have a hate for anything U of M. I didn't really care before I lived there, but after....grrr...must be the water.
Anyhoo......go figure when we announced we were pregnant.....so were they. Actually we were due the same week (the "bizzaro us" name was temporarily dropped just befor this, then we realized it still fit). They had a girl we had a boy.

So the other day "bizzaro Chad" said that their baby slept from 8 until about 6 (or something like that) straight through the night. She ate about every 2 hours during the day but was sleeping through the night. I brushed this off at first because the thought of having to feed every 2 hours still sounded horrible. Then after Sunday night I kind of wished Daniel would do that, since in the morning he eats every 21/2 - 3 hours anyways.
Then came the e-mail......we are having a meeting tonight, and guess what? They can't make it because they have to get her to sleep on time. Heck Daniel will probably be sleeping but we can go, he has learned to sleep anywhere. So...I am no longer jealous, and I am quite proud of myself for being happy with what I got (ok NOW I am happy but whatever). However, I shouldn't gloat because they are doing it their way and that is best for them. However the "bizarro us" title still applies...again they are actually very nice....other than the U of M thing:-)

OH and yes.....we are weird...Oh and no....no one else we know has a secret "nickname"



not that I would tell you;-)