Merry Christmas from JanEric Hills

Eric and I have been enjoying the Christmas season. Everything seems to be so much more relaxed this year... that probably has something to do with not living 3 hours apart, planning a wedding, buying a house, moving, and selling a house. Take those items off the list and the shopping, decorating and baking are actually rather relaxing.


We have enjoyed decorating our house, figuring where to put stuff as well as what to do outside. We have a total of 4 Christmas trees, but two of them (the two artificial trees I had) are on the screened-in porch with just white lights, so you can see them when driving up the hill to our house. We put Eric's small fiber optic tree in the corner in the dining room. We both wanted to get a real tree this year too, since we are together this year and there are two of us to put it up. We found a great balsam fir a the Lion's Club lot (even though they were nearly sold out) so we helped with their Christmas food basket program in the process.


On Saturday Eric's parents brought Katie & Alec over for the afternoon. We had another inch or so of snow on Friday/Saturday but it was still relatively warm out so it turned out to be great for sledding down the hill in our back yard. We all had so much fun, as all six of us got in on the action. We had a couple bail outs to avoid trees, but it was tons of fun. Katie and Alec brought their sleds, but I think after having so much fun Eric & I are going to get our own sleds. My bottom was very cold and wet because unlike Kate and Alec, I don't have any snow pants.


We came inside to warm up, and decorated Christmas cookies that Eric and I had made earlier in the week. Eric's office had a cookie exchange today so he headed off to work this morning with 7 dozen butter cookies with cream cheese frosting and 7 dozen oatmeal raisin cookies. Katie was an excellent cookie decorator, as was Eric... but they both pale in comparison to my friend Nikki who is a cookie decorating savant. Alec was pretty good too, but he was really only interested in frosting the cookies that he could eat and since we needed to take them to the exchange once we cut him off from eating he quickly lost interest in decorating. This is a conversation Katie and Eric had while deocorating.

Katie: Uncle Eric, I sure am happy you got married! I have really been wanting an Aunt.
Eric: Well Katie, I am really hapy I got married too!
Katie: Well, it this is working well for both of then.

It was too cute.


We have had a couple of quiet evenings and have been able to listen to Christmas music and take in a couple of favorites like Polar Express and Charlie Brown Christmas.


Weather permitting we plan to have lunch with Eric's parents on Christmas Eve, before traveling to Gibson City that afternoon/evening. We will spend Christmas Eve night at my brothers house, then get together with my family at Mom & Dad's on Christmas. Saturday morning we will head out to Andover and have Christmas with the Noyd's at Travis & Steff's house. Right now it is looking like the worst weather days are going to be Wednesday and Friday and those are the days we don't have to travel.


Wishing you all a Merry & Blessed Christmas!

Our Christmas Tree

Katie & Alec head down the hill

Eric & Alec vs. Linda & Katie

Decorating Christmas cookies... Yummy!

Catching Up & Other Random Thoughts

So we are pretty much the worst bloggers ever, so here is a bit of highlight reel from the last month or so.

The weekend before Thanksgiving we took off work Friday and headed to Chicago. We took the Amtrak from Kewanee. We stayed at the Marriott on Michigan Avenue, meeting up with my sister, Jan and her family. Larry had a couple of conferences there so he hooked us up with a good deal on our room. Friday we went to Rock Bottom Brewery for lunch, did a little shopping on Michigan Avenue, then met up with our good friends Nathan and Stacey for dinner and drinks at Goose Island. It was nice to catch up since the last couple of times we got together a couple of us were getting married.

Saturday Eric & I had a great day at Adler Planetarium, then watched a little bit of the Festival of Lights Parade from our hotel room. We met up with the Pfeiffers and the Chrismans (Larry's sister and her family) for a great dinner at Heaven on Seven. It was so delicious and lots of fun.

Sunday we slept in, did a bit more shopping and hung out with the Pfeiffers for a bit before taking the train home. All in all a great weekend, and taking Amtrak was easy and relaxing. Once in the city used public transportation which I am slowly starting to master.

Once we got home from Chicago there wasn't much rest as we started getting ready to host our families for Thanksgiving. I managed well roasting my first turkey, although it took an hour longer than anticipated. I used a cooking bag which made it really moist, and is supposed to speed up the cooking. It was really moist, but the speeding up the cooking was a total myth. All in all it was a great day with both of our families. We are still finishing up the last of the leftovers. We were starting to get a little tired of them, but yesterday discovered that turkey-cheddar scrambled eggs are the bomb diggity.

Now we are getting ready for Christmas. It has been lots of fun trying to figure out exactly how to decorate JanEric Hills. We have the lights up outside on the front of the house, and more lights and a couple of lighted trees on the back screen porch. We have an artificial tree up, and hope to get a real tree at the tree farm a few miles away this weekend... weather permitting.

A couple of random thoughts. Tonight I headed into town to pick up a few groceries before the snow hits us tomorrow... it is weird to see all the Christmas lights up and tractors still harvesting in the fields. Also, yesterday we went to see Katie and Alec's Christmas program at their church. They did a great job. I got to hold baby Jack for most of the service. He was a good boy, and fell asleep during the message (no offense pastor) but woke up for the last song. He totally gave me all sorts of smiles (the first he has smiled for me) during the "Glo-o-o-o-ria" part of "Hark the Harold Angels Sing". It was too cute.

The gang at Heaven on Seven

Enjoying our hurricanes at Heaven on Seven

Jan & Eric

Lane & Larry

A Big Win & A Big Finish

Last Saturday Eric & I joined the Quad City Illini Alumni Club for their bus trip to the Illini vs. Michigan football game. It was great to let someone else handle the driving for a change, but of course by far the best part was the Illini victory over Michigan. Their first at Memorial Stadium over the Wolverines since 1983, and finally a Big Ten win this season.

Here is a picture that I just love. First you can see the scoreboard verifies the winning score, but also in the background is the beautiful fall colors and the Assembly Hall... a place I worked for nearly 20 years and brought me some of my most treasured friendships. I am wearing my stocking cap which is super warm, albeit slightly dorky looking, and I am with my most favorite person.

Yesterday was another Illini win, but a big day for me as well. I finished my World Beer Tour at Old Chicago. I started in March 2008 and made it to #110 in November 2009. It was fitting that we were in Peoria for the day, so I got finish the tour where I started, in Peoria with our good friends, the Barkers. I have to say that most of the 110 were good beers, with a few stinkers along the way... with by far the worst being the Rogue Chipotle Ale that was on this year's Cinco De Mayo mini-tour. For #110 I went with a classic, Sierra Nevada... it is a solid beer, so solid former St. Louis Cardinal closer, Jason Isringhausen, named his dog Sierra Nevada (not sure why I know that fun fact but I do). By far the best part of my beer tour is that Eric has been with me to enjoy all 110. He was my boyfriend at the start of the tour, then my fiancee, and now my wonderful husband. Cheers Eric... here's to many more tours.

Here I am with #110... a Sierra Nevada

Here I am with my husband, and beer tour mentor, Eric.

Untill we meet again Debbie

Some of you may know this, some of you may not, but our good friend, Nikki, lost her mom, Debbie, a week ago. She battled very hard, but just couldn't overcome a serious illness, Wegener's Granulamatosis,and the complications that resulted from it. It is very sad that she is gone, especially so young. My heart aches for Nikki and her family, but we know that God has taken Debbie to a very special place to be with Him.

Eric & I were able to go to the visitation and funeral earlier this week. The funeral was tough. Nikki and her brother and sister, each got up and spoke about their Mom. The tears were flowing, but I am impressed they got through it, and it was very touching. It hit me kind of hard as well, because well Debbie was pretty much every body's "Mom"... mine included. I was so glad Eric was able to go with me, he was such a great support.

Today when I was dusting, I picked up the above picture that I have in a frame. It took my breath away to realize that Debbie is really gone, but after a few minutes I began to remember how much fun we had when that picture was taken. I have lots a great memories... Debbie was very special, and always brought a smile to my face. Until we meet again...

In the meantime, I ask all of the blog readers to keep Nikki and her family in their prayers.

Four Days... Fabulous Friends

A couple of weekends ago Eric & I headed to Central Illinois. We managed to spend lots of time with lots of special people in four short days. We stayed Friday and Saturday night at Jeanne & Ted's house in St. Joe. After we arrived Friday, the four of us headed to the Esquire in downtown Champaign for eats, beer and a little pool. It was just relaxing and fun, and something Jeanne and I would have done back in the day, but thankfully now the Esquire is twice the size and we have Ted & Eric in tow.



Saturday we went to the Illini vs. Penn State football game with our good friends Abe & Allison. Allison was in my small group in Champaign. She and Abe are a fellow EHarmony couple (my inspiration to try it myself) and live in Bartlett. They were back in C-U staying with Allison's parents. We had a great time tailgating despite the chilly weather, and enjoyed catching up with each other. While tailgating we were joined by Jake, my former Illini football player mentee. It was so good to catch up with him too. The last time we saw him was when he helped pack my moving truck in the freezing cold back in January. Jake has left football behind, but is in his 4th year at UIUC, finishing up his undergrad and starting his grad work. It was kind of exciting for me to actually be able to offer him a beer for the first time... he is 21 now!



On Sunday morning we went to Quest United Methodist for church... perfect timing as they were celebrating their 5th birthday. It was great to catch up with some of my special Quest friends, and even meet a new one... Baby Grace. She was at our wedding, but inside Anne's tummy at the time. I miss my Questers a lot, but Eric and I are getting more and more connected to Bettendorf Christian.



After church we headed to Springfield for Eric to attend Grand Chapter for Eastern Star. We got to spend lots of time with some of our favorite "Star Ladies" and had a grand time. There was an "At the Hop" fun night on Sunday, and we got to hit the dance floor. Monday we went to The Feed Store for lunch, one of my favorites... and hung out a bit more.



On Monday night we came back home... very tired but, very happy to have spent so much time with so many special people.

Jake & Abe enjoying a little tailgating.

My SweetE grillin' up some awesome ribeyes... they were delicious.

Calling All Prayer Warriors

Many of you know our good friend Nikki... if you haven't met her personally, you at least think you know her via this blog. We are asking all of our blog readers to please keep Nikki's Mom, Debbie, in your prayers. Debbie is seriously ill (you can read the details by clicking on the link to Nikki's blog- "Nik of Time") and all of your prayers would be greatly appreciated. Please pray for strength and healing for Debbie, wisdom and caring for her doctors and nurses, and God's strength and comfort for Nikki and her family during this difficult time. Thanks everyone.

We Do Know Jack!!!

Hi everyone... exciting news. We are an Aunt & Uncle again. Eric' brother, Travis, and his wife, Stephanie, adopted a baby boy. He was born on Thursday, and they were able to bring him home from "The Cradle" in Evanston yesterday. His name is Jackson (Jack) Lee Noyd, and he is precious. Jack is a big boy weighing in at 9 pounds, 5 ounces and measures 22 inches long.

Needless to say the entire Noyd clan is super excited to have this new addition. Personally, I think it is exciting that I am no longer the "newest" Noyd. Praise the Lord for blessing Travis and Steff with this sweet baby boy.

This brings the niece/nephew total to a grand total of eight. We used to affectionately call our "heirs" the "Magnificent Seven"... any ideas for a new nickname for the clan?

Here are a few pictures.

Alec & Katie seem to be worried Uncle Eric is going to drop Jack

Aunt Jane wants to make sure Jack appreciates the value of a good micro-brew (really it is ever too early to learn that)... hence I wore the Yazoo Beer-Nashville t-shirt for our first meeting.

Beer Masters

As is typical I am blogging more that a week after said blog worthy events. Last Friday we went to Peoria to visit the Barkers. Both Scott and Tara work for Maui Jim (sunglasses) so we were able to join them at the Maui Jim Luau on Friday night, since each employee is allowed to invite a guest. The Luau is very similar to a company holiday party. We has a great time eating free food and enjoying free drinks, taking free photos and getting air brushed tattoos.

On Saturday both families head to St. Louis. The Barkers were headed to the stadium so Kira could go to the Cardinals Kids Crew event, then the game. The Noyds were headed to where else, a brewery!

After a stop for lunch Eric and headed into STL and made a quick stop at "The Stable". It was a neat restaurant/bar in the historic Lemp/Cherokee district very near Anheiser-Busch Brewery. They are affiliated with Amalgamated Brewery, but they have a few of their beers on tap, but also offer a wide variety of other beers, many being craft brews.

We then went to Anheiser-Busch Brewery to take their "Beer Masters" Tour. I have taken the free tour many times, so I was intrigued as to what the "Beer Masters" Tour has to offer since it cost $25. I think both Eric and I agreed that is was worth the money, especially if you are into beer, definite worth the money at least once.

Our tour started in a private room with a couple of high-top tables and sever leather chairs and couches. There were approximately 10 in our group and we each received a hat, safety glasses, and headphones that connected to a little radio like thing that clipped on our belts. Our tour guide had a headset with a microphone so everything he said we could clearly hear in our headphones. We started out with some brewery history, very much like the free tour. We toured the beechwood aging facility, and got to take a beechwood chip home. We then headed across the street to the brew house. We got to see the wort/mash tanks up close, and were able to see them adding the hops. We also were able to see the various computer monitors in the control room. It was much more in depth and up close than the free tour. From there we went to the bottling and canning building and we were able to tour a bottling line, getting up close and personal with many bottles of Bud Light. We were very close to the action and got to take home a couple of souvenir labels and bottle caps. It was amazing how fast the beer is bottled. Then we stopped at the stable where we were able to go right up to the stalls and pet the horses. The free tour does not get that close. We were able to go in to the tack room, then out the back of the stable where we were able to meet one of the Dalmatian dogs that rides atop the wagon. We walked down to the finishing house, and were able to go inside where it was a chilly 34 degrees. There we were given a free souvenir tasting glass and then able to fill it up with beer directly from the finisher. We drank Bud Light that would be bottled/canned the next day... the freshest Bud Light we would every have. Neither Eric & I are huge Bud Light fans, as we generally prefer ales or stouts to lagers... but right out of the finishing tank at that cold temperature even Bud Light tasted darn good. It was lots of fun, and we both filled our glass a second time. Our tour concluded back in our private room where we had free reign over the refrigerator which was stocked with just about every A-B product. Eric enjoyed a couple of Budweiser American Ales, while I tried a Shock-Top and a Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale.... all of them were very good.

All in all it was a great tour, and we think definitely worth the money. Heck the beer, hat and glass were at least $25. We happened to hear our guide telling another couple about a bar/restaurant that his buddy's parents owned that was nearby so we headed there for dinner. It was a great relatively authentic Irish pub, known as John D. McQurks. The food was delicious, Eric had a steak and I had the lamb. They also had more traditional Irish fare as well. Eric enjoyed a black & tan, and I had a Bass. It was just a cool place.

After dinner we headed downtown to check into our hotel, making sure to get there before the baseball game was over and we had to deal with traffic. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza for $50 on Priceline. Our room was huge, and we had a balcony with a view of the Arch and we could even see a little bit of the stadium.

In Sunday we were headed out to St. Louis Bread Company to meet Nikki and her Dad for breakfast... ironically they were at the game the night before and in STL as well, when we ran into Eric's Uncle Dave and his cousin Lisa and their family in our hotel lobby. What a small world. After breakfast we headed to the Cards game. It was Adam Wainwright bobblehead day so we have another to add to our collection. One day when we get the basement fixed up for entertaining we hope to display all of them. The weather for the game was amazing for August in STL. The high was 68, and I was actually a tiny bit cool! The Cards won and all was good. After the Cards struggled when we went to see them last season, Eric found a winning combination for this season. He wears his new blue jersey (that his thoughtful wife got him for his birthday) and his old standby, the STL floppy hat. The Cards win, and Eric looks cute so I am good with it.

We headed home after the game, and that is when I started to feel a cold coming on. I had a nasty head, then chest cold for most of the week. Then Friday Eric started to get it. I am more or less better, but poor Eric is still suffering from "floating head". Today I got ambitious and started tackling some outdoor work. Our lawn looks pretty good, but we have weeds that are out of control in most every planting bed around our house. Today I tackled the west side of the house, and the bed to the west of our patio. That bed has an incline and is lined with river rock... which is a tumble down the hill waiting to happen. Thankfully I maintained my footing. I am sure I will be plenty sore in the morning because pulling weeds on a hillside uses muscles I didn't even know I had... but it looks much better.

Before & After

Not long after Eric and I moved to Janeric Hills several folks requested some pictures, especially of the rooms we have redecorated. We are finally to a point to reveal the office. It was formerly a VERY pink bedroom for a pre-teen girl. There are still stickers on the mirror that hangs on the back of the door, but we have most everything else done.

Here is the before picture.

Here are some of the after pictures, this one is taken from the doorway towards the opposite corner of the room

Obviously we did some painting, and the wall color looks a little gray in this photo it is actually a brighter green "Boston Fern" to be exact. This is where I go to work every day.


This view was taken from the lamp/printer you see in the above picture, towards the right hand corner. The valance is actually kitchen tiers, and the picture on the wall is actually a framed silk scarf, that belonged to my friend Jeanne's Mom, Kathy. When Jeanne was going through her Mom's things she found this and thought of me. I love all of the different colors.


This picture is the same view, just looking directly at the opposite wall.


This is the super single sofa that Eric had at his apartment. It pulls out into a twin bed, which works great for extra guests. When the Barkers stayed with us in May, Scott & Tara stayed in the guest bedroom next door, and Kira had her own bed in the office. It worked out great.

I made the fabric covered bulletin boards that hang above the desk, and hope to use the extra fabric to make a seat cushion for my desk chair, but for the most part I think it is done.


Here is a picture of me where I work. I am wearing my phone headset, I still have my Busey Bank work number, but it is over the computer. This is my typical work outfit too, lounge pants and a beer t-shirt.

The Other #15

Many of you know that I was a bit of a Jim Edmonds fan, and several people have asked how I am dealing with the fact that there is once again another #15 wearing the "Birds on the Bat". Actually I am totally loving the Matt Holliday pick up, the home runs don't hurt that is for sure. I am actually okay with him wearing #15 too. He has been around the league for a few years, and is a solid player so I think he is worthy. If he were some snot-nosed rookie, well that would be different. Also, Jimmy has been gone from STL a few years now, so it is time to move on. Plus Jimmy's nickname was Hollywood, so Holliday somehow seems appropriate.

On another Matt Holliday note, I wish his "at bat" song was Madonna's "Holiday". Normally I wouldn't go with Madonna for "at bat" music, but in this case it seems appropriate. In the meantime, anytime Matt does something good Eric and I just look at each other and sing "Hol(l)iday! Celebrate!"

Here & There

The weekend before last Eric and I headed to STL for an impromptu get away. We had vouchers from Cardinal Nation for free tix to see the Cards, and Priceline came through with an inexpensive hotel room, so we hit the road Friday after work. We slept late on Saturday, and then went and checked out Square One Brewery & Distillery near Lafayette Square. It was great. We had a long leisurely lunch which was delicious, and sampled some of their brews. All of them were good, and a couple were very, very good. It was a great place to wait out the rain. Next time we hope to sit in the nice little beer garden, and possibly explore the rest of the neighborhood. It is always a good trip when we can find a good brew pub. That evening we headed to the baseball game. The rain moved off, and we had a very pleasant night. It was August in STL and we weren't sweating! The game was great, two Matt Holliday home runs, and a complete game by Carp, and we realized it was the first Cards game the two of us had gone to by ourselves, which we thought was kind of funny. Sunday we had a big breakfast and then headed to Grant's Farm. It was a lovely day, so it was rather crowded but we enjoyed the animals, and perhaps even more entertaining was the people watching. It was a nice relaxing weekend, and just great to spend time together without the distractions of a household to get in the way.

This past weekend we stayed close to home. Mike & Linda came over for dinner Friday, and we played cards. On Sunday after church we went to Scott County Park just north of Davenport to meet our friends John, Marla and Jeremiah for a picnic. There are friends from C-U (I worked with John at the Assembly Hall) that recently moved to Tipton, Iowa. The park was very nice, a perfect halfway point to meet, and it was just fun to catch up. We talked about all things Illini without getting the "You know you are in Iowa, right?" look and Jeremiah kept us entertained. My favorite was when he pulled out a little basketball out of his bag, and was throwing it about and said "I need a hoop!", but at 2 1/2 his "h's" need a bit more work, so it came out "I need a poop!" Too cute.

The Things You Will Do For A "Free" T-Shirt

Tonight Eric & I headed to Old Chicago to finish up our summer mini-tour, "American Craft Brews". The last one was not so good... the Rogue Chipotle Ale. Eric found the taste more offensive than I, as he doesn't really care much for chipotle in any form, let alone beer. But since we were going to get a free t-shirt for finishing our mini-tour we both somehow felt obligated to finish it.

It is even nastier the second time around... if you know what I mean... lots of Tums will be consumed at Janeric Hills tonight.

Beer drinkers beware... if there is chipotle or any kind of pepper in your beer... step away.

Sweet Corn, A Sweetie's Birthday, & The World Famous Chicken

Tonight we had fresh sweet corn for dinner. It was delicious. Eric brought home quite a bit of it from Lodge last week, when one of his Brothers brought in a bunch from his field. He brought home so much that I was able to freeze up several pint bags of corn. I heart sweet corn, and truth be told I am a bit a corn snob. But when you grow up on a farm well that will happen.

Monday was Eric's birthday, but we have been celebrating for over a week. Last Sunday we went out to Mike & Linda's camper to celebrate both Eric's birthday, and his Mom, Linda's 60th birthday. We had yummy kabobs on the grill, birthday cake and broke out the ladder ball aka hillbilly golf. As seems fitting of this bizarre summer we had a campfire at 4:30 in the afternoon because it was chilly... what up with that. It was a good day.

This past weekend we headed to Indy with the Barkers. We celebrated Eric's birthday on Friday with dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery, and birthday cake back at our little apartment for the weekend. Saturday we headed downtown and took in the Indy Indians baseball game. It was our first time at that ball park, and I must admit we rather enjoyed it. The World Famous Chicken (formerly the San Diego Chicken) was in attendance that night and he was great. He is completely silly and ridiculous, but still hilarious.

Sunday the guys took in the Nascar race, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Tara, Kira and I ventured to the Indy Children's Museum and saw the King Tut exhibit. It was really cool, and we all enjoyed it. After the race we headed to the yummy Chinese restaurant for dinner that has now become an annual trek. Monday we headed home, and I kind of felt bad that Eric spent most of his birthday in the car, but hopefully the earlier celebrations made up for it. Overall the trip to Indy was a good time, and even the car ride wasn't too bad. I was totally dreading the 4.5+ hour drive, especially considering that for the majority of my life Indy was usually a short 2 hour trip.

Eric and I are headed to STL this weekend. We had a voucher for two tickets to a Cardinals game to use, and found a cheap hotel on Priceline. We we are looking forward to some relaxing couple time, away from the chores at home.

Geneseo: The Melting Pot... Who Knew?

So I have been meaning to blog about some of my favorite people and places in Geneseo. Every week Eric and I have the lunch buffet at the Chinese restaurant. The food is quite good, but by far the best part of our lunch is Bill. Bill and his family own the restaurant, and Bill prides himself on "service with a smile". We are regulars so he automatically knows our drink order... "Hot tea! Hot tea!"... that is until I started mixing it up with the warmer weather and sometime get a diet pepsi. You could be having a crappy day, but after lunch with Bill everything seems better. He never seems to have a bad day, and is always chatting with Eric (who has been going there for years) about something often telling him to eat more food. Bill has had the day off a couple of times the past month it really just isn't the same without him.

Another one of our favorite places is Parkway Grille. It is just your basic diner, but is owned by a couple from Kosovo, Nick & Nurije. We have never seen Nick, but Nurije is always there running the register and chatting with us. One day after having my hair highlighted this winter, she wanted the number of my hairdresser. Another day I went up to pay and she was struggling with balancing their bank statement... she said something about not liking banks, then asked me what I did for a living... "I work for a bank". We both laughed a lot. The other day she got a hold of Eric and was encouraging him to start a business in Kosovo, with her connections, she said the region is ripe for new business. Then she told us about "her country" and we just stood there rather dumb founded. When she was there she worked with Mother Teresa giving aid to those displaced by the war. She knew a man who had was released from a communist prison after being there for more than 25 years, another one of her friends lost 55 members of his family in the war. I simply can't imagine seeing such horrors.

So here is to Bill and Nurije... they bring sunshine to our day, and are a part of the Geneseo melting pot.

Wii Are Family

So I know we haven't posted awhile, but thankfully there really hasn't been all that much to report. We celebrated Fathers Day with the Noyd's out at Mike & Linda's camper that Saturday. I made bbq pork, sliced up a watermelon, and made scotcharoo rice crispy treats... and Steff was overheard saying as we brought in the food, "I love having a sister-in-law, all I had to bring was buns and a pasta salad!" It was kind of cute, On Sunday my Mom & Dad came up, as did my sister, Jan, and her husband, Larry. It was their first time to our house. Eric and I said last summer after a few visits to their house that we could just vacation in their basement, so hopefully now we can return the hospitality sometime. We pick up some great marinated rib eyes at Weber Meats that Eric grilled up and had a great lunch. It was nice to spend time with family.

Things seem to be a little less busy these days, and that is a good thing. We don't really have much planned for the long 4th of July weekend, and we are really looking forward to it. Our bedroom furniture is being delivered tomorrow, and I have been crafty and made a couple of decorative bulletin boards for the office so hopefully we can get clothes transferred to the new bedroom chests, and can hang a few more things up. If the weather cooperates we may do a little yard work/weed pulling too. We also hope to have some time to play with our newest toy.

We bought a Wii, and Wii Fit. It has been lots of fun.... even the Wii Fit. It is actually a pretty good work out, and much easier on both our allergies than walking in our subdivision. So far my favorites are hula hoop and yoga.

Well that is all for now. We have our CD of all the pictures from the wedding. I hope to post a few of our favorites soon.

Visitors From Near & Far

There were no road trips last weekend, but we did manage to see lots of friends and family. Jenn, Sidney and Abigail were in town visiting Jenn's brother and sister-in-law and their family for a long weekend. How convenient that I moved to the town where they lived! They came over to see the house on Saturday, and then we went to Dave & Janice's for lunch. On Sunday we had an open-house at our place that Linda and Steff organized for some of Eric's extended family to come and meet me and see our place. It was lots of fun to meet everyone, and get to show them our house. Kudos to Linda and Steff for putting it all together. I still have lots of work to do on the outside, but I am making progress, but the inside is looking pretty good. We finally got some pictures hung and the last of the boxes either unpacked or moved to the basement. We will have more pictures to put up once we get the wedding pics ordered, but it is definitely coming together. Jenn and the girls and her sister, Mary, come over just after the open house for another visit and to say "Hi" to my parents who had come up for the open house. On Monday evening Eric had a meeting, so I went over to hang out with Jenn & the girls one last time before they headed back to Colorado the next day. It was lots of fun to see them again so soon after the wedding. It is kind of cool to see Eric really getting to know them, and them getting to know Eric. On Monday night when I went to visit, Abby asked after about 45 minutes "Hey! Where is Uncle Eric?".

This weekend is going to be a lot less busy. I had a bit of the flu yesterday, and am just now getting back to normal. I may do a little yard work if it isn't too muddy. Eric is out helping at a Scottish Rite event, but other than church that is pretty much all that is planned for this weekend. We are looking forward to some rest and relaxation.

Beers, A Wedding & A Graduation

The last weekend in May was a busy one, hence why it has taken us a week to recover and blog about it. Friday we left Geneseo about 4 p.m. and headed towards Nashville, TN for my "little sis" and good buddy Nathan's wedding on Saturday. We stopped in Mahomet for gas, and some yummy Monicals pizza. I was jonesin' for some Monicals, one of the things I miss from C-U. We were back on the road after filling our tummies and the fuel tank, but had to make an unscheduled stop at the rest stop just south of Champaign for about 15 minutes to wait out the most wicked storm... that at one point included hail. Back on the road, and we stopped for the night in Mt. Vernon. Saturday we hit the road for Nashville, and and stopped at Yazoo brewery for the afternoon. Thank you Nathan & Stacey for having a 6:30 wedding!!!! Yazoo was lots of fun, had great beer, and we could have stayed longer. I reminded us bit of what Schlafly Brewery in St. Louis was probably like about 5-10 years ago. Definitely a similar vibe, everyone was totally loving their jobs and the beer. We had a great time. After a bit of a traffic jam due to construction we finally made it to our hotel in Franklin, TN and met up with Nikki to go the wedding.

The wedding was outdoors at the Carnton Plantation. It was beautiful. Stacey looked stunning, and Nathan although a tiny bit nervous, looked ridiculously happy. The reception was fancy yet totally casual and just relaxing and fun. Ironically enough they served Yazoo beer, so that was good. And in lieu of a cake they had a sundae bar... yummy and totally hit the spot after more than our share of graduation cake. The wedding was super special for lots of reasons, it was the first one Eric and I went to as husband and wife and well that was just kind of fun, Nathan & Stacey met and started dating the same time as Eric and I, had a long distance relationship, and got engaged and married about the same time we did so that has been kind of fun. But most of all it was special because even though I haven't had the opportunity to get to know Stacey all that well I can tell that she makes Nathan so happy (and she is totally cool to boot) and to quote "Friends" it is very obvious that "She's his Lobster!". I also got to meet Nathan's mom, who I got to know a bit through comments on Nathan's blog. Way cool... I enjoy the Moms.

Sunday we left Franklin at about 8 a.m. to start the drive home, stopping in Carlinville for the afternoon/evening to see my nephew, Eric (the other Eric, Eric Pfeiffer) graduate from high school. Kind of amazing that he is a high school graduate. Seems like yesterday he was sucking his thumb and dragging around his blanket aka "Keewawa". He plans to got to SIU-Edwardsville in the fall to study biology. He eventually wants to be a dentist. After the ceremony we hung out at Jan & Larry's for a bit and had a light supper and then headed for home.

Needless to say it was a LONG and tiring weekend, but totally worth the time and effort to share some very special moments with family and friends.

Trifecta Complete

We spent the majority of the long weekend in Gibson City doing the graduation thing. All three of my brother's kids had a graduation to celebrate... Jeremy from 8th grade, Taylor from high school and Ashley from college. Friday night we went to Jeremy's ceremony and then to Jayne and Phil's house for a little party for Jeremy and Ashley. It was a fiesta theme so Eric & I enjoyed the margarita's. Saturday we ventured to C-U to have lunch with Nikki at Murphy's... great burgers, fresh cut fries AND they had Schlafly on tap. We then went to visit Jeanne & Ted in St. Joseph. We headed back to GC and went to Taylor's party on Saturday night. She had a party with two of her best friends so it was at the local banquet center and the highlight was a chocolate fountain! Sunday after lazing around a bit we went to Taylor's graduation ceremony... kudos to the GCMS high school administration... it took about 40 minutes... short and sweet which was a blessing since the gym was a bit of a sauna on a 90 degree day. Afterwards I got to visit with two family friends who I haven't seen in forever who were back their for their nephew's graduation... and my good buddy, Lisa, from high school who was there for her nephew... ahh what good aunts we are.

I can't believe "the baby" will be in high school next fall. I remember when Jeremy used to farm the living room and dining room with his toy tractors. And what's up with Ashley being an official grown up? I still remember the cute little girl looking out the window at the farm saying repeatedly... "Cows! See 'em? Moo!!". She will be off to grad school this fall if her interview went her way, or will be working for a year or two to get some job experience before she applies again. And Miss Taylor will be a college girl in the fall... seems like yesterday she was three and cutting off a big chunk of her blond hair. She will actually be moving closer to us, attending Augustana College and participating in track. Whoop, Whoop... that is a short 45 minute drive for us to Rock Island. She has assured us that we are welcome come visit and take her to dinner anytime. Hopefully we will get to take in a few track meets too.

We headed home after the ceremony on Sunday. That gave us Sunday evening and all day Monday to just chill and relax. Monday was the best day... we didn't have to do anything... and we didn't! I seriously don't think we have both had a day like that since we moved into the house. We slept late and just rested up. It did a world of good... I was actually awake and ready to work this morning... and had a productive day as a result.

Well that's it for now... congrats to three-fifths of the Fab Five.

Catching Up

So this is a bit of a catch up blog. Eric & I have been enjoying the spring weather, but the spring weather doesn't like us so much as we have both been battling allergies. After a big rain late last week it seems to be getting better.

Last Tuesday Jeanne drove up and brought with her the pots of perennials that she used to line the aisle at our wedding. I helped her transplant them to a couple of the beds around our house. Hopefully we can keep them alive, especially since they are from our wedding. They mean a little bit more than some plant I picked up at Farm & Fleet. It is a great idea and we look forward to looking at them over the years in our yard and remembering our wedding day. It was lots of fun to hang with Jeanne who stayed over night. Eric cooked chicken for us out on the grill.

Saturday Eric & I braved the wind and cool temperatures Saturday morning to catch Katie and Alec's last soccer games. It was a lot of fun, and they were glad to have some extra fans. We are looking forward to catching a few of their little league games that start up soon. That afternoon we loaded up the car with all sorts of "stuff" to donate to the Eastern Star garage sale. Eric worked the lights for church for the weekend so I dropped him off for the Saturday evening service then did a little shopping. Afterwards we celebrated my birthday a little bit early and went out for a nice dinner at "Miss Mamies". The food was delicious and we shared a bottle of wine, and enjoyed a great "date".

Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful cantata at church performed by the choir. In Sunday School they had a birthday cake for me. After lunch and a little nap Sunday afternoon Eric's family came over that evening with birthday cake and ice cream. Two birthday cakes... it was a good birthday. I opened some lovely gifts including a digital picture frame from Eric. Excellent timing because on Friday our wedding photographer let us know our wedding pictures were ready to view online. We are somewhat overwhelmed as there are 623 images! We love them and are so pleased with the results, and Jamie was great to work with too. If you are interested in looking at them you can go to http://jamienewell.smugmug.com/ Click on "your photos" and then click our our wedding. The password is my former (maiden) last name... all in lower case letters. If you don't know my maiden name... well then you probably don't need need or want to look at our wedding pictures.

Well that is it for now... thank you to everyone for the many happy birthday cards, notes and wishes. I had a great day.

Happy Mother's Day

Hello everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed/is still enjoying a fabulous Mother's Day. Eric & I celebrated Mother's Day with the Noyd's on Friday evening out at his Mom & Dad's camper which is actually closer to our house than their house in Cambridge. Travis has to work both Saturday and Sunday so we celebrated on Friday. We had burgers, brats and hot dogs on the grill but had to move the party inside when a thunder storm came. Steff made a great dessert that she said she pretty much made up. Bake a pan of chocolate brownies... top with cool whip, drizzle on caramel and chocolate sauce then sprinkle on several crushed Heath bars.... Mmmm yummy.

Saturday I ventured out to check out the local nursery and garden center scene. I had great luck right here in Geneseo at Farm & Fleet and Maple City... and didn't even make it to the one just up the road on Wolf Road. I planted a few annuals in some of the pots I have, and started working on a flower bed in our yard that needed lots of help. I met our neighbor, Jody, and discovered that the flower bed I was working on used to be a pine tree, which had Hostas planted around it. The pine tree is now gone, but the Hostas remain and they just are not really thriving in the full sun. Eventually I will transplant them to a shadier spot, but in the meantime I got started on some weeding... I didn't get far. After church today I made much more progress and got half of the bed weeded, planted a few perennials I had picked up and mulched the weeded and planted area. Oh, one of the plants was a lily that Mike & Linda gave me for Mother's Day. It is beautiful (hopefully I can keep it alive) and it was really sweet that I got a present too since I am not a mother. Anyway, it was good to get outside and make some progress on the abundance of yard work that needs to be done. I did discover the challenges of yard work on a hill, but on the plus side I am saving money on that StairMaster.

After calling my Mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day I am now sitting on the couch with Eric watching the Mother's Day "Deadliest Catch" Marathon on the Discovery Channel. I have totally gotten sucked into that show in the last few weeks. I am not sure which boat is my favorite... currently I am liking the Time Bandit, but it pretty much changes with each episode.

So Eric and I want to give a special Mother's Day shout out to the Mom's of our "Wedding Babies" who are celebrating the first Mother's Day as moms. There is Kortny who became a mom to Olivia aka Livi the week before our wedding instead of the day after. Then there is Karen, Anne and Allison who were our very pregnant wedding guests and became moms to Tate, Grace and Scott, respectively over the past month. We are so thankful that God has blessed you all with healthy and happy babies and pray that you are all enjoying being Moms.

To all the other Moms out there celebrating Mother's Day numbers two through however many, we hope your day was great as well.

Public Enemy #1

For the most part Eric and I enjoy the "wildlife" here at Janeric Hills. He have a male and female Cardinal that we love to watch out the kitchen window, a couple of blue jays have been seen (and they weren't being mean to all the other birds), and I am even liking the squirrels because here they have more than enough acorns to keep them satisfied so they don't dig up my bulbs. There is one critter though that is no longer welcome. You may have guessed from the picture posted to the left... we have a woodpecker issue!

While playing cards with Eric's parent out on the screened in porch we noticed a rather large hole in our wood siding... big enough for a bird to fly in and out of and hang out in the interior of our garage wall. We instantly figured out what was making a rattling/pounding racket a few months back. A woodpecker had made a small fist-sized hole. Mike & Travis came over later in the week with the extension ladder (I heart having in-laws) to make a temporary fix, and we noticed another sizable hole, as well as several other smaller holes around the corner of the garage as well. We have a temporary fix in place, with tin can lids nailed over the holes to keep critters from living in our garage walls, but we will have to eventually come up with a more permanent solution which on down the line will involve putting up vinyl siding... peck on that "Woody"!. Grrr!!! Silly woodpeckers... it isn't like we don't have your choice of trees to peck on.

How about that...

In our new world of living and sharing together Jane and I spent a wonderful day doing what we enjoy best. We spent the day together shopping for the house and making plans for our new bedroom. After spending the late morning and early afternoon shopping, we made a quick pit stop at home then headed out for an afternoon and evening of enjoying time together. We ate at Granite City and partook in Duke Ellington IPA, a brew produced by Granite City. We also enjoyed a great meal and the Cubs-Cardinals game from our booth in the bar. We then proceeded down to Modern Woodman Park, home of the Quad City River Bandits, the Low Class A affilate of the Cardinals. We discovered while sitting in the stands the the Cardinals had beaten the Cubs 8-2. What could be better? We enjoyed local craft beers from the Great River Bewery. We were disapponted that Bent River was not at the Park like it was last year. We were greatly pleased this new beer. We enjoyed the beer and a River Bandits come back to go ahead. Then their opponents hit a three run shot to pull back ahead. Our hopes for a Bandit's win were dashed and the Bandits themselves seemed to struggling to generate any offense afterward. Then comes the bottom of the ninth. Domnit Bolivar hit a solo shot into left center field. Afterwhich two more Bandits get on then Niko Vasquez hits a rocket to the center field wall finishing the an exciting 9th innning come back win. How about that for the perfect double header on TV/at Modern Woodman? Cards beat the Cubs and Bandits win a ninth inning thriller 9-8.