Rush, Rush, Rush!

Adam and I are getting ready to spend the extended weekend with part of my family. We are headed to Illinois tonight. We'll be staying with my brothers family and my mom and her husband will be meeting us there tomorrow.

In preparation for this trip, these questions that arose in my head today:

1. Why do we spend so much time and energy getting ready for a mini-vacation?
2. Do we really truly relax once we get to our destination or are responsibilities still on our minds while we are attempting to relax?
3. How do we just leave it all behind and not worry?

I have been extremely busy at work preparing for 2 events that are happening simultaneously over the next few days. I feel that I have been working twice as hard to make these events spectacular and also working on tying things up so there is no reason for anyone to bother me while I am off for 2 days. I need to reduce my stress level after the last few weeks and recharge.

I found this on the Internet and know I felt this way a few times over the last few weeks.

So, I am leaving my work computer at the office so that I am not tempted to check email or have any chance to think about or do any work. This also means that fellow employees can not call me and request that I do any work because I simply can't. We as a society have become so reliant on the quick response technology in place in our professional and personal lives. There is nothing I hate more than someone emailing me, then walking to my office immediately after they have hit the send button to ask me if I received their email. What is the point of that? Do they really expect me to immediately respond to their email? Is there email that important? Do they really have no respect for the work I am currently focusing on? We've become a conditioned society where immediacy is key to our everyday functionality. Take for instance the new social networking application called Twitter. What is the point of this? Why are we so enamored with what other people are doing and thinking all day long? I just read an article today that stated that 60% of the people that try Twitter quit after one month of using the service. Can you say "Fad"?

Well, I envy my husband and am working towards his example he set last August. He went to Costa Rica for a week to help friends move with just a backpack of clothes, his passport, driver's license, 1 credit card, cash, a notebook, a camera, and a few toiletry items. THAT'S IT!!! NO COMPUTER, NO CELL PHONE. I remember asking him, "don't you think you should take this and don't you think you should take that?" He just said "Nope!". He came back completely rested and recharged. (And very sun burnt!)

So, I am taking "baby steps" towards not taking what I think are "necessities" with me on this trip, just the bare essentials. It's good to unplug from the things that keep us so easily connected to the world...especially when we are on "our" time. Vacation days should be reserved for just that...NO work interruptions at all!

So, after writing this post, I have officially decided that I will be leaving my work cell phone at home too. It's a start, right?

Technology for Grandmas!

My husband and I were recently home for Easter. A few posts ago, I shared an NPR story about my hometown. Since my 83 year old grandmother ( I know, she doesn't look 83 at all) does not have a computer, I decided to download the NPR podcast and let her listen to it on my iPod. (Yes, the same hot pink iPod Adam got me for my birthday.)

The funniest part about this whole thing was that once she put the iPod on, she was walking around her kitchen and house multitaking like a true iPod user. It was quite entertaining. My grandmother has never stayed current with modern technologies. She was completely happy with using a typewriter and accounting ledger for our family business from age 25 to 80. I was very impressed with how open she was about using the iPod. I think she really enjoyed the convenience of it. The Apple iPod is truly designed for people of all ages.

On a side note: It was great to be able to come home to visit our families, especially around the holidays. I hope we can keep up the frequency or increase the frequency of our visits once we have children because our family is so important to us. While our visit was short, we try to soak up every moment we can with family. Here are a few images of my 3 year old twin cousins petting my dad's pet pony, Buddy.

Besides his grandkids, this pony is my dad's pride and joy. He rescued it. The renters on our property didn't want to care for the animal anymore and were planning to give it to someone who was supposedly going to feed it to the lions (alive). How cruel!

God bless my Dad for his warm, caring, loving heart.

From Blog Posts to Keepsakes

I found this great website for those of you that want to turn your blog into a keepsake. I think this is a great way to take your online journal, print it, and pass it down to your children and children's children. I know this would be a great thing for people I know that are blogging about their experiences living overseas, in the air force, or adopting a child from another country. So check it out.

http://www.blurb.com/learn_more/flip/

My Small Hometown Hits the Big Time on NPR

I just wanted to quickly share this with everyone. My hometown, Hustisford, Wisconsin, was featured on NPR on April 1st.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102523977

After reading the article, listening to the interview given by Mel Grulke as he walked down the streets of Hustisford, pointing out the town's history, and viewing the photos I realized how easy it is to miss and take for granted the things that are right in front of our face. Some people don't like to admit they are from a small town and I sometimes get that feeling but when you think about it, the amount of history that this small town holds is overwhelming. My family alone (Radloff's Cheese) has been a part of this town's history since the 1800s (I'll post more on that later.). This sometimes overshadows the amazing history of the town alone.


This appearance on NPR made me appreciate more where I came from and the abounding history that comes along with this small town in Wisconsin. I conclude this post with a great sense of pride in my family and hometown history.

Note: Two of my uncles sing in the German choir also featured in this article. The history just keeps on stacking up.

Wonderful Husband

Well, it's the day after my birthday and I have to share with you the wonderful things my husband did for my birthday celebration.

Those of you that don't know me should know that I am not a big fan of a big hoopla birthday celebration. I don't like any fuss made or attention drawn to myself on my birthday. I can thank my mom for that. Here's why. With a birthday on April Fool's Day, I had some traumatic experiences during my childhood. My mother has a wacky sense of humor and used to wrap up empty boxes for my gifts. During my teen years she was even more relentless in her quest to embarrass me on my birthday. Read the next two stories to find out what happened.

16th Birthday
Anyone who knows me knew that my first love was basketball. A few knee injuries have since sidelined my career but nonetheless, I loved th sport during my childhood and early adult years. My knee problems started around at 15 and as my 16th birthday was approaching, I was preparing to play on a traveling summer varsity team. This was my first year on this team and I was so nervous and excited to play it was all I could talk about. Well some tendonitis was bothering me and my mom decided that I needed to go to the doctor just to be safe. She set up the appointment at the clinic where she worked (she's a nurse) and wouldn't you know it, she schedule the appointment on my birthday of all days. I saw the doctor and the outcome was not pretty. He (not even the right doctor for the injury I had - I think he was a hand specialist) informed me that I would have to have a cast put on my leg to restrict any movements whatsoever for the next 4 weeks. That meant a cast from upper thigh to my ankle. I immediately started crying my eyes out and even cried the whole time they applied the cast. CAN ANYONE SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING?

I arrived home to find my Dad and sister there with flowers and a note that said, "April Fool's, I'll bring the cast cutter home tonight". I couldn't believe that my own mother had played this evil trick on me on my birthday. I was so upset I was even trying to cut the cast off with a steak knife. Well, she was not happy with how I handled the joke and very mad. My dad called her and told her what I was trying to do and she had to come home in the middle of her work day (we only lived 15 minutes away) and cut the cast off. I didn't talk to her for a week. She knew how important playing basketball was to me. I found out years later that she almost called the entire thing off because she saw how upset I was. She never thought the prank would create the response from me that it did. Needless to say, I didn't talk to her for a week.

18th Birthday (She knew better than to attempt anything on my 17th birthday.)
I attended a Lutheran high school and we assembled in the gymnasium every morning for chapel. After chapel, it was customary to have annoucements by the teacher that conducted that morning's service. Part of the daily announcements, students were asked to meet teachers after chapel. I was asked to come down to the podium for an annoucement and I thought it was odd that the request was while all students (600 of them) were still seated on the bleachers. I went with it and as I stepped off the bleachers I could see my mom and sister and friend who graduated 2 years prior to me standing with a guy holding 30 helium balloons. As I cautiously walked to the middle of the gymnasium the guy in the tuxedo holding the balloons walked towards me and gave me the balloons to hold on to while he sang to me. As if that wasn't humiliating enough, then he instructed the entire student body and teaching staff to join him in signing the traditional 'Happy Birthday' song to me.

19th Birthday
Well if you think by now that my mom has quite the sense of humor, wait until I tell you about my 19th birthday. I was on my way home from school and needed to stop at the clinic she worked at to have the doctor she worked for at the time freeze a wort off my hand. It was after hours and there weren't more than a few staff members still in the building. Well, he had me wait in a room while he got the chemical to freeze the wort off. When he returned he had on a Jason mask and was carrying a chainsaw. By the way, the chainsaw was running. This didn't scare me as much as it made me roll my eyes. I think nothing could phase me after the 16th & 18th birthday.

Thanks for all the memories, Mom! I definitely have the best birthday stores to share with friends, strangers and eventually my kids.

These days most of my family members know how I feel about pranks on my birthday and refrain.

So back to my wonderful husband. He did such a great job this year on my birthday gifts I couldn't be happier. He put alot of thought into the gifts and they are definitely gifts especially for me and nothing he can pirate months later. You see, about 4 years ago Adam and his dad made a decision without consulting me. This upset me once I found out about it and up until yesterday I have not let Adam forget about it. Let's just say that any woman will agree with me that we prefer diamons over technological gadgets. Adam brought home an iPod (for me) to replace a diamond necklace I had gotten that broke and I thought was being replaced. Adam and his dad decided that I would rather have the iPod than the replacement diamond necklace. Months after Adam was the sole user of MY iPod, I found out the truth and told him he owed me a diamond necklace.

Well, I did get a diamond necklace since then and this year Adam got me the best gift. He got me a hot pink iPod so that he will never want to use it. This was such a great gift because he really put alot of thought into the gift and it mean so much to me. Now I will never bring up the iPod incident of 4 years ago again. Note: He also spoiled me rotten with other gifts besides the iPod but this one had a special meaning and was very noteworthy.

Ladies - cherish and be thankful for all the little things your husbands do for you and make a big deal about the things they do that make us feel like the only woman in the world.

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband that puts me first and makes me feel like the most special woman in the world. It's an undescribable feeling and I love him how he makes me feel and for so many other things. I love you, Adam. Thanks again for the hot pink iPod.

It's My Birthday! It's just a number!

Wow! I can't believe I am 31 today. Where did all the time go? I remember last year at this time I had just finished college and earned my degree in Business/Marketing. Was that really a year ago?

The age 31 doesn't scare me because I have a great life and am very blessed. Numbers seem to control a woman's life. I try to live by feeling instead of the hard facts when it comes to the following:

• age
• weight
• bra size (ha!)
• clothing size

Why do we let the numbers control our happiness? Is it a result of our "have to be perfect" society?

Here are my thoughts on these topics:

Age - Getting older is wonderful and having another day to make a difference in the world is a blessing.

Weight - I would much rather be happy even though I am carrying 5 extra pounds than be unhappy and stressed over 5 extra pounds.

Bra Size - Don't even get me started on bra size. Be happy with what God gave you.

Clothing Size - As far as clothing size goes, every woman is made differently and a variety of mass produced clothing is not going to fit everyone the same way. I have 1 word for women that thing every size 8 pants should fit them no matter what store they are in....ALTERATIONS.

Happines Quotations:

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." - Mohandas Gandhi

"Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." - Nathaniel Hawthorne