Sleepy Head

Yesterday morning I went in to wake Sophia up at 7:45am so we could leave for the gym at 8:15am ... this is how I found her! She didn't even wake up when the camera went off! How sweet huh?

Sure would love for the 7:45am wake-up to last!!

Allyson

Guinness and Grapes

Nate and I had a wonderful time celebrating our anniversary last evening! Nate's parents braved the freezing cold weather and came out to watch Sophia! It was so appreciated!!

We headed to Claddaugh Irish Pub for dinner! Nate really enjoyed their Shepherd's Pie, and I had a wonderful Dublin Grilled Chicken Salad!! Yum! Although I learned that a little goat cheese goes a LONG way!! I think next time I will stick with feta or blue cheese! Anyone else share those same feelings? I also tried their Guinness Onion Soup -- wow, that was amazing!! Worth every calorie!!

After dinner we headed down to Chateau Thomas Winery! What a wonderful atmosphere to continue our celebration! We were the only two people in the winery for the wine tasting, so we received "special" treatment! Our "wine" lady (don't know their fancy name) was quite knowledgeable and shared lots of interesting facts with us. She was very gracious in our tasting and made sure to suggest many wines that were big sellers. Nate and I fell in love with a handful of wines!! She also told us a little bit about the Winery itself. Dr. Thomas is a retired OBGYN and he had a love for wine! He travels all over the country and his wine has won many awards!! We had such a nice and relaxing time at Chateau Thomas. We hope to go back again to try different wines!

What a wonderful end to a wonderful evening!! It is always so nice to spend time together, alone without Sophia to rejuvenate our love!

I love you Nate!!

Allyson

Happy Anniversary!

3 years ago today I married my best friend!! It has been a wonderful 3 years!!! Happy Anniversary Nate! I love you!!

Allyson

Squeak Squeak ...

Last week, Nate and I were having a little fun with Sophia before she went to bed!! I caught the tail end of it on camera!! Poor Sophie the giraffe!

Hope you got a good laugh! We sure did!

Happy Tuesday!! Hope we don't get too much snow tomorrow evening/night!

Allyson

A few funnies ...

Working retail = BIG chuckles (at times)!

Today two different people came up to my pharmacy counter to pick up their prescriptions (both antibiotics) and asked, "Why aren't these public? They work so well they should be easier to get!" REALLY? First of all, you don't call them "public," they are called over-the-counter prescriptions! Secondly, antibiotics are already WAY OVER-PRESCRIBED and are losing their efficacy as we speak -- so why would we want people self-diagnosing and taking antibiotics? It isn't like hemorrhoid cream people!! Crazy!! The things people request!

In other funnies (or nasties) is the story of the germ-lady! I was in the bathroom washing my hands and some lady comes up to the sink next to me and (1) touches the faucet with her hands (2) runs her hands under the WATER ONLY for less than 5 seconds. Does she think running her hands under water is going to get rid of all the germs? Yeah, um NO!! Plus, by touching the handle she added about 1000 more germs to her already dirty hands!!! Seriously people, PLEASE wash your hands with soap and water (aren't you supposed to sing happy birthday twice?)

Finally, we were in the middle of a little "rush" and a lady came up to my pick-up window. I immediately greeted her and said, "I will be right with you mam." I checked two rx's and performed a drug interaction check for one of the techs, and started heading down to the out-window when I noticed the lady was walking off. I said, "Mam, did you need something." Her response, "WELL, I WAS TRYING TO PICK UP A PRESCRIPTION, BUT I GUESS I WON'T NOW." To which I said, "I am sorry I was a little tied up, but I told you I would be right with you." Then she totally rolled her eyes and walked off! Ok, seriously lady .... I told you I would be right with you and you had to wait like 2 minutes ... so I thought to myself ... "You have to come back sometime and pick up your script, so are you going to go waste more of your time and make me wait?" 1 hour later she comes up to my out-window to pick up her script and only has 2 cases of pop in her cart. Many thoughts ran through my head (1) You just wasted 1 hour of your time and only picked up 24 cans of pop? (2) Were you trying to get back at me for making you wait? I actually had things to do during that hour window -- I wasn't twiddling my thumbs waiting for you to come back? (3) Really, why did you leave in the first place? It isn't McD's drive-thru? Sometimes you have to wait for quality service!!

So those were the funnies of today!! I imagine I will have many more tomorrow!

Happy Sat night, off to catch some zzzzz's!

Allyson

TGIF!

Thank goodness it is Friday!!!

It has been a long and busy week!! I work this weekend, so I promise a blog update on Monday!!

Here's to a weekend of brain challenges for mommy and fun memories with daddy!

Allyson

So much to be thankful for...

We have so much to be thankful for this holiday season!! God has blessed our family beyond belief!! This past weekend, we had a lot of time to reflect upon these blessings! We had the wonderful opportunity to spend 3 full days with family!!

Thursday after Sophia's morning nap, we headed over to Nate's parents house! This was the first year we celebrated Thanksgiving with Nate's family on Thanksgiving Day! We all had a wonderful time and the food was ALL amazing! So healthy and so wonderful! Yum Yum!! I even tried a new dessert out on the family and it was a hit!! Two pieces made it back to the house with us on Thursday night, but were gone before I could even get Sophia to bed! (Thanks Nate and Tyler!)

Thursday night Lexi and Tyler spent the night! We played Ticket to Ride (European Version) after Sophia went to bed!! After lots of giggles and squeals, we hit the sack early so everyone (minus myself and Sophia) could get up early for Black Friday shopping! Don't they all look thrilled to be up at 4:30am? (I wasn't thrilled to be up taking the picture!!)

Nate and Tyler both scored a copy of "Elf" for $3.99 at Target!!

Friday morning we watched Elf and played with Sophia! I doubt many people were watching movies at 7am on Black Friday, huh? After Sophia's morning nap, we headed to Nate's parents house to meet the family, then proceeded to head to Garfield Park Conservatory for some family pictures. Here is a glimpse of a few of them ...

After pictures, we all (minus Sophia, Rhoda, and Delores) headed south to Perry Park Ice Skating Rink. It is a Long family tradition to "Skate off the Turkey" the day after Thanksgiving! Did you know that ice skating for 1 hour burns 700 calories? Also, 9 laps around the rink is equivalent to 1 mile? We sure burned lots of calories that afternoon and had tons of fun doing so! We had a nice meal at Nate's parents house that evening and some yummy peanut butter balls! (All the kids FAVORITE treat!)

Saturday we headed down to my parents house for some food, family, and fun!! Sophia really loved eating lots of turkey, bread, and veggies this year -- but no desserts!! (I know, such a mean mommy!) After a yummy meal, Sophia took a nap and the adults took part in a card game of "Hand and Foot!" We had a blast playing together with my parents, Sarah, and Brandon. Too bad Nate and I didn't win!!

Yesterday was Sophia's 11 month birthday! I can't even believe it!! Time sure flies -- although I sure love this stage!! Each month is more enjoyable than the last!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!! We Americans have so much to be thankful for each and everyday!! I am especially grateful for our men and women overseas fighting so that I can enjoy freedom!!

Allyson