Cassie

Time is a moving.....

2009-02-10T07:47:00.006-05:00

Time just keeps moving by, quicker and quicker, it seems! The semester is progressing and things are getting a bit more intense! I am enjoy all of my classes and really believe I am in the field I am suppose to be in. I have learned so much thus far and look forward to the opportunities that will follow!

Aiden was 7 weeks old yesterday and he is growing like a weed! :) He is such a doll! He is starting to become a little bit more active! He is making faces, testing out his voice and visually checking out all the things around him! On Friday February 6th I babysat for Lisa and Ben so that they could have a night out! They went to dinner and a movie! It was good for them and good for me to spend some one-on-one time with my nephew! We had fun!

I took some pictures while he was in his bouncy seat! He was so happy and I really got some good shots of him! He has changed so much! Enjoy!!

He still seems to take after Lisa but I'm sure as he grows different pieces of Ben will start to shine through! He seems to be pretty lengthy which is an attribute of Ben. His legs are long as well as his fingers! Maybe a basketball player? :)

Lisa and Ben have asked me to be Aiden's Godmother and I am so honored and blessed! He will be baptized on Sunday February 22, 2009! We are all looking forward to this blessed day! I will be sure to have pictures after! Ben's brother Chris will be Aiden's Godfather! I said "We went from Maid of Honor and Best Man to Godmother and Godfather"! Isn't it strange how life changes so fast?!?!

Hope this post finds you all doing well! Think Spring, Think Spring!! :)

Missing in Action

2009-01-22T08:22:00.002-05:00

I've have neglected my blog for almost a month now and I'm sorry about that! The biggest problem is that I do not have internet access at home! I'm procrastinating on that topic! I have a laptop that I use when I'm on campus but it's rare that I have much time to blog or load pictures. My computer at work won't let me upload pictures (something is wrong with the USB port) and I have really wanted to blog about my little nephew. So as you can see.....I need to take action and get the internet set up at home so I can keep this blog more updated!

I am back in the thick of things! Work, school, projects, studying, household chores, spending time with family, etc. My days are so long! It doesn't help that the temperatures outside have been ridiculously cold! More like ARCTIC! Wind chills are not my friend! When I come into work while it's still dark outside and there are subzero degrees registering on thermometers it can be very difficult to be energized! We have had, in my opinion, a tough winter thus far and it's only January! Ugh! :)

But I must keep a positive attitude! I have a great life, a great family, an opportunity to get an education, the ability to travel, a CAR, a HOUSE, etc! You get the point! I am blessed!!! It's easy though to get wrapped up on the chaos of daily life and forget about how much we do HAVE! My dad always told me to live a life of gratitude, not a life of expectation! Imagine if we were always grateful for EVERYTHING rather and feeling as if it should be given to us! It may change the way we view things?!?!

OK, back to life updates;

Everyone is doing well! Lisa and Ben are adjusting to life as parents! Aiden is 1 month old today! :) Time flies! (I promise I'll get pictures soon) He is growing like a weed! I think he weighs over 9lbs already! Lisa and Ben took him to the pediatrician because he has been fussy and acting as if he has a stomach ache and they seem to think he is developing a sensitivity to milk. Since Lisa is breastfeeding she has to eliminate milk products from her diet. Wow! That must be tough! Aiden has been a little off on sleeping at the right times but it's getting better and they are working on a schedule! Lisa and Ben are doing a fantastic job as first time parents and I am so proud of them! I am looking forward to watching Aiden grow!! He is so beautiful!!

Since I have been despising the weather it was fitting to think forward to Spring Break and consider the idea of going somewhere. Last year I went on a cruise with the family (has it really been a year?!?!) and I knew that I probably wouldn't be able to do that for awhile. The next best thing would be to make my FIRST trip out West! I have never been past the middle part of the US! My grandma's sister, Polly, and her family live in California. I believe the town is Sun City, CA and my dad's cousin Joyce lives in San Diego! I have always wanted to visit them but the timing was never right (or the finances) so since my grandma is going out in a few weeks I figured it would be a good time to go out that way and see the sights of San Diego and surrounding areas. Then grandma can fly home with us when we come back! My parents are going as well and that will be great! They have been out there once before a few years back and have been looking to go back! We leave on March 14th and stay for a week! I can't wait!!

The countdown begins and it gives me something to look forward to! I've always thought the time building up to the trip is the best because you have so much anticipation and excitement! 50 some days and counting....hehe!

Hope life is well for everyone reading this blog! Many blessings always!!

2009

2008-12-31T14:35:00.005-05:00

To you and yours:

Have a wonderful, safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T10:34:00.005-05:00

Wow, what can I say?!?! This may be one of the greatest Christmas' ever!! Our family is truly blessed!! Aiden Joseph is a gift sent from Above and we Love him so much! I thank God for blessing our families with this precious child!! Auntie is filled with so much Joy right now and can't wait to watch her nephew grow over the days, months and years!

May You and Yours have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here are a few more pictures taken of Aiden yesterday! God Bless everyone!!

Aiden Joseph

2008-12-22T20:12:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the day! More to come.....

Grandma & Grandpa

Aunt Cassie

Aiden Joseph

The Baranovics

Announcement

2008-12-22T08:19:00.003-05:00

Congratulations Ben and Lisa!!!

They welcomed a healthy baby BOY at 6:47am Monday December 22nd, 2008! Weighing in at 7lbs 5oz, 18" long!

His name is Aiden Joseph "AJ" Baranovic!!!

We have yet to see him as Lisa is nursing and getting cleaned up! We should be going to see them soon! Ben showed us pictures and he is adorable!!!

As soon as I get a USB cable for the camera I will be sure to post a picture or too!!!!

Update!!!!!

2008-12-22T01:07:00.004-05:00

Here's an update for you; it's 1:07am on Monday December 22nd and.....

Lisa is in LABOR!!!!

You heard it right! We have been here since 8:20pm and currently she is at 7cm and things are progressing! We don't have much more of an update than that but since we have internet access in the hospital I thought I would post a quick blog!

Things started this morning (Sunday) with contractions beginning and such! They continued to get quicker and more intense so they came to the hospital around 5:00pm. They called us shortly after 7:00pm and said she was 2cm and she wanted us to come up to the hospital. About an hour after we got here Ben came out and said that she was 5cm and things were moving along! Her water has broke and she is 7cm but that's all we know at this time.

Lisa is a really private person so no one has seen her except for Ben. We knew going into this that Lisa wasn't going to want any of us in the room while she was in labor and things have happened quicker than she or we imagined so we completely understand. This is such a personal experience and it's no wonder they want to do this together; alone! They want us here for the support and soon we will have some news!!

Thanks for your prayers and look for a post soon! I can't wait to share pictures of this beautiful child!! I think I can safely say we will have a new addition to the Belle/Baranovic family on Monday December 22nd, 2008!!!!

Grades

2008-12-17T11:10:00.003-05:00

Drum roll PLEASE........

Language Science & Acquisition = A
Principles of Audiology = A
Intro Human Physiology = B

I couldn't have accomplished any of this without everyone's support and encouragement! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Update

2008-12-15T15:24:00.005-05:00

Another week has passed and another update is upon us! :)

Lisa had her 38 week appointment today and that was about it! She wasn't examined so we don't know if she dilated at all but that's not a big deal. The baby will come when he/she is ready!

I will keep everyone update if any changes take place before next Monday!

Only 10 days until Christmas everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season! May we all remember the true reason for this season! God Bless!

Update

2008-12-09T08:23:00.002-05:00

A quick update for those wondering about Lisa!

Lisa had her 37 week appointment yesterday! I have to believe she was nervous yet excited to get some sort of news this week. This was her first pelvic exam since early early in the pregnancy! She had heard thrilling stories of other's experience having their cervix checked! lol! Of course it is never as bad as you expect and she made it through just fine! :)

Lisa has been feeling a lot of pressure down below for quite some time and her doctor confirmed that the baby is very far down and that is why she is feeling so much pressure! Yay the baby is in position! However, she hasn't dilated at all yet so she has a ways to go! lol! Maybe our guesses that she will go early won't be true but who knows! Things can change very quickly! The good news from the doctor was that she doesn't think Lisa will have to push very long once she is fully dilated and ready to go since the baby is so far down!

I'm very excited and I think I'm more anxious than her and Ben but that's OK; I'd rather her be relaxed and calm and let me do all the wondering and such! :) She has been amazing through her entire pregnancy and I am so lucky that my sister has allowed me to be a part of this experience!

More updates will follow whether it's this week or at least early next week after her next appointment on Monday!

36 weeks

2008-12-01T17:07:00.004-05:00

Today Lisa is 36 weeks pregnant! She is in the home stretch! 4 weeks until her due date and most people we talk to think she is going to have this baby early. It's funny hearing everyone's guess on when she will have the baby and what she is going to have! She is definitely ready to have this baby; that's for sure! She has been having a ton of pressure, some braxton hicks, back pain after standing for awhile and the baby is kicking her ribs pretty often! She is up every hour at night and I'm sure you can guess why? :)

She is the cutest pregnant girl ever! She looks like she is carrying a basketball in the front of her! All Baby!!! Most people wouldn't guess that she is pregnant if walking behind her! She had her 36 week appointment today and her doctor wasn't there because of another delivery so Lisa just had her blood pressure checked, baby's heart rate, her weight, etc. She was hoping for a pelvic exam (as scheduled) but will have to wait until next Monday! We will see how this week goes for her! I'll have an update next week after her next appointment! Here are a few pictures of her that I took yesterday!!

36 weeks

Happy Thanksgiving & Winterfest 2008

2008-12-01T09:56:00.016-05:00

So much to blog about and never enough time, so I'm lumping a few together!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and a blessed start to the Holiday Season!! On Thanksgiving Day I joined my parents at my Uncle Ed and Aunt Dot's home to celebrate the holiday with family. My sister and Ben were spending Thanksgiving Day with Ben's family in Parma. I had a great Thanksgiving sitting around visiting and chatting with family. It's always good to see them! We had good food which is a must for Thanksgiving Day! :)

On Friday I joined a few people from my co-ed softball team to play in our annual Turkey Bowl football game! It's always fun but extremely exhausting as I am completely out of shape! lol! Ugh the running and catching and more running is way too much for my old body! :) After the game we headed over to the Winking Lizard in Lakewood for good food and spirits and of course, Cornhole!! So much fun! I slept good that night!

On Saturday I went to Cleveland with my sister, Ben, my sisters co-workers Jen and Heather and their husbands, my cousin Kim and her husband Dave to see the lighting of the "Holiday" tree in Public Square. They have a parade as well (which was wayyy to long for my liking)! It was cold but that was my fault as I did not dress properly. I didn't think it was going to last as long as it did and I didn't think it was suppose to get as cold as it did. Either did a few others in our group as I wasn't the only one who was super cold! :) After the festivities we went to Quaker Steak & Lube for dinner! Here are a few pictures from the festivities downtown:

Christmas Tree inside Tower City

Public Square

Jen & Lisa - Co-workers

Heather, Jen & Lisa - Co-workers

Ben

Lisa and I

Lisa & Ben

Group shot

Kim & Dave

there is a tree in this picture all lit up

scary puppets

Slider

Hippogriff - from Harry Potter

Santa Claus

Fireworks

On Sunday we headed to Seville for Thanksgiving with the Belle's!! We went to church first and then over to Mom and Dad's for some family time! It was nice to hang out and relax. We watched football (ugh) and other things! Lisa had a few straggling baby shower gifts to open from people who couldn't make it to the shower so she opened them! Since we all had already had a big Thanksgiving Day feast we decided to have a very non-traditional Thanksgiving meal! We ordered food from Geppetto's!! YAY! Pizza, wings, ribs!!! MMMM! Lisa made her green bean casserole thing and we had traditional desserts which were great! Here are a few pictures from the day!

Mom and Dad ordering Thanksgiving dinner :)

Lisa & Ben

Opening gifts

still not sure what is sooo funny

cute onesie for daddy!

her first Vera Bradley bag from the Lieser's - she is stylin' now!

gifts inside too

we broke out the good stuff for this festive meal :)

I hope everyone who is reading this had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving with their family and friends!! Happy Holidays everyone!!

Here We Go Brownies, Here We Go!!

2008-11-26T09:08:00.006-05:00

And that title is about as exciting as it gets people! I am a die hard Cleveland Browns fan but how many years do we have to wait for a team that we can really be excited for?!?!

On Sunday November 23, 2008 I attended my FIRST ever Cleveland Browns game with my cousin Kim! (it was her first game too) We purchased the tickets early in the season and were very excited to attend the game! It was a chilly 38 degrees but we stayed pretty warm considering that we were on Lake Erie in a stadium that can get some whipping winds! The sun was shining, the wind was light and Cleveland Browns stadium was everything I had imagined it to be....well minus a Pro Football team that we could cheer for! Ha! Ugh, the game was absolutely pitiful but Kim and I had a lot of fun! We can't wait to go next year (and hopefully see a better game).

Our seats were good and I was very excited to see many of my favorite players! Brady, Jamal, Joe Thomas, etc! (others were part of my favorites until they stopped catching the ball...geez) The fans were crazy; a little bitter and angry (who can blame them?!?!) but no one understands what it's like to be a true fan unless you are a fan of the Cleveland Browns! OUR DAY WILL COME PEOPLE, I just know it!! I am all about BELIEVELAND!!

Here are just a couple pictures that Kim took on her camera!

National Anthem

Browns taking the field....YAY!!

Kim & I during the game

Who let the dogs out? Woof Woof!! :)

Baby Shower

2008-11-17T09:45:00.016-05:00

Lisa and Ben's baby shower was a wonderful time! Thank you to everyone who made it such a special day for the two of them! They received so many wonderful gifts but more importantly they were reminded of how much love and support surrounds them at this joyous time in their lives! We are so very excited for Baby B to be joining the world soon! He/she will be showered with immense love throughout their entire life!

Enjoy these wonderful pictures from the day!!

Cute decoration idea from my friend Jill

The Cake :)

Mom-to-be

Parents-to-be

Jenni & Lisa - best friends since grade school

Sisters :)

Jenni & her daughter, Madison

Lisa and the St. Charles girls - Kristina and Megan :)

Ben and his Dad, Grandpa Baranovic

Gifts, gifts and more gifts....

Bibs, blankets and so much more....

Baby in a Bag from soon-to-be Grandma & Grandpa Belle

Adorable quilt my Grandma Belle made.....

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Cousins from the Craigs side - Cassie, Kim, Katie, Sarah & Lisa

After the shower was over, Lisa starting having some Braxton Hicks so we made her sit down and rest! Here she is with her turkey! hehe!

Only 6 more weeks until the due date!! Happy 34th week Lis!!

Sophie Bella and Family

2008-11-12T16:44:00.006-05:00

I finally got a picture of the newest addition to the Baranovic/ Stewart Family and wanted to share with everyone! Congrats again to Rachel & Jimmie on their new family!

and a close up of Sophie and her Grandpa Baranovic

New life is so PRECIOUS!!

Congratulations

2008-11-10T07:29:00.003-05:00

A huge CONGRATULATIONS to Ben's sister Rachel on the birth of her daughter, Sophie Bella Stewart! She was born around 8:00pm last night Sunday November 9, 2008. She is 8lbs 9oz and 20" long! I'm told she has a ton of hair! :)

Ben and Lisa were at the hospital when she was born so hopefully I will get a picture to share with everyone soon!

CONGRATULATIONS RACHEL AND JIMMIE!!

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

2008-11-04T08:24:00.008-05:00

Sing along everyone:

Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo Put 'em together and what have you got bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
It'll do magic believe it or not
bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

Salagadoola means mechicka booleroo
But the thingmabob that does the job is
bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

Salagadoola menchicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo Put 'em together and what have you got bibbidi-bobbidi bibbidi-bobbidi bibbidi-bobbidi-boo

For Halloween this year, I joined the Lieser family for an evening of Trick-or-Treating in Sagamore Hills where Jill's Dad lives. I had previously heard that Catelyn was going to be Cinderella for Halloween and that Jill was going to dress up as Lucifer the Cat and Connor was dressing up as Gus the Mouse from the Disney movie "Cinderella". I thought it would be quite fun to get into the Halloween spirit and dress up as well. Since I am Catelyn's true Godmother, how fitting would it be for me to dress up as the Fairy Godmother to Cinderella herself?!?!

I had all the pieces to make the perfect outfit except for the hair. I couldn't find a silver or white wig on such short notice and I even once thought about spraying temporary hair color to make my own hair silver but decided not to go through the hassle. It all worked out and I think Catelyn enjoyed the fact that we all got dressed up to celebrate Halloween with her, minus her dad (i heard she read him the right act for that...hehe). I wish we had video for all the times she said super cute stuff but you will just have to trust me on this one.

Here are a few pictures I got from Jill from the evening! Enjoy!!

The Fairy Godmother (easy on the smile...geez)

Cinderella and the pumpkin that turns into her Chariot :)

and the Trick-or-Treating begins

a moment with Gus

Gus Gus

Chewing on my hand

Lucifer

Gus, Lucifer and the Fairy Godmother

Cinderella and her Grandad

The Fairy Godmother and Cinderella

so cute :)

32 weeks!!!

2008-11-03T08:02:00.007-05:00

Lisa is 32 weeks TODAY! :) After this post there will be only 1 more post with a picture (36 weeks) before the baby arrives! (hopefully....haha) I guess if he or she arrives late we might have another post with a picture at 40 weeks but I think at that point Lisa might be annoyed and probably will not want to have any more pictures taken!

But do not despair, I will keep everyone updated on any progress or news that Lisa may have in between these 4 weeks periods. Of course she goes to the doctor every two weeks up until she arrives at 36 weeks and then she will be going once a week. Speaking of doctor's appointments; they had one today and here is the update:

All is well!! The baby's heart rate is about 145! Lisa still hasn't gained the amount of weight the doctor would like her to but she is doing just fine and is doing the best she can about eating more calories per day. She has always been a light eater and seems to have a higher metabolism. She works everyday and is constantly on her feet moving about; plus she is going to school trying to finish her Masters so she is really active and that probably plays a factor on her being able to gain weight.

Lisa and Ben's Baby Shower is coming up in less than 2 weeks so there will definitely be a post after that fun event! Her co-workers had a surprise shower for her the other day. Lisa was shocked and extremely thankful! She has great co-workers!

Rachel (Ben's sister) is due this Thursday 11/5 so hopefully, for her sake, Little Sophie will be making her arrival in the near future!

Here are the pictures I took yesterday of Lisa; she is just so darn cute! Her belly button is starting to push out and yesterday I saw a portion of the baby move across her belly. Oooo, that's something really strange to see but yet so amazing!

Side profile

side profile - bare

front view (flat belly button) :)

the happy couple :)

Mile of Quarters

2008-10-29T16:47:00.005-04:00

Last Friday, 10/24, I volunteered at a fundraiser benefiting my work and Our Lady of the Elms school called Mile of Quarters. (it was a partner event) We hold this fundraiser every year but this year we joined with the Elms in hopes of drawing in more kids to the actual event. (it is an event to help fund our children's programs here at work) The event was a huge success and benefited two great places!!

The event was held at Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Fairlawn and this year since it was so close to Halloween we had trick-or-treating throughout the store. After trick-or-treating they had a special guest story reader and Clifford the Big Red Dog. It's always a big hit. Over 200 kids came dressed up in their Halloween costumes and it was absolutely adorable! I was so excited as well because my god daughter, Catelyn, and her family were coming to share in the festivities. (as a side note, Jill, is the admissions director at Our Lady of the Elms High School)

Catelyn was very excited to show off her Halloween costume, as she was Cinderella!! She convinced her Mom that she needed to dress up at Lucifer the Cat and dress Baby Connor up as Gus the Mouse! (she couldn't convince Andy to dress up as a character from the movie)

Here are a few pictures from the evening:

Cinderella

Gus and Lucifer :)

eating a cookie & watching Clifford

she kept calling these her "gums" (they were gummy treats)

showing me the toothbrushes she got (one for her and one for daddy)

I will definitely have more Halloween photos as I plan to join the Lieser's for trick-or-treating up near Jill's dad's house. It should be a good time as I hear the "Fairy Godmother" may attempt to make an appearance and walk around with Cinderella on her trick-or-treat adventures. Look for a post sometime next week!!! Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Major News!!!

2008-10-21T08:32:00.006-04:00

I finally felt the baby kick!!! Yay for Baby B!! For a minute there I thought the little one was being extremely ornery by not moving every time Aunt Cassie was around; but finally he/she came out of their shy shell and showed me what they were made of! Man that little booger has some force! It was a special moment! I think that moment is the moment that really puts into perspective that there is a baby in there and this little one is going to grace us with it's presence in just a few short months!

*update- Lisa and Ben had a doctor's appointment yesterday and all is well! They have begun going every two weeks so things are moving quickly! The next post about her will be in two weeks with another picture and doctor appointment update. Her sister-in-law, Rachel, is due in just over 2 weeks so hopefully we will have a post about little Sophie before too long! Good luck!!!

Party Fit For A Princess!!!!

2008-10-16T08:05:00.020-04:00

I had hoped to get to this post earlier in the week but thing have been a little on the hectic side. On Saturday 10/11, we gathered to celebrate my god daughter, Catelyn Clare's, 3rd Birthday!

On Monday 10/13, Catelyn officially turned 3 years of age and I couldn't help but think back to the first moment I saw her. Jill was 36 weeks pregnant and I wasn't expecting a phone call from her for another few weeks at the earliest. I was sitting at my desk at work and the phone rang and I didn't recognize the number so I answered and to my astonishment it was Jill. She had already made it clear that she did not want anyone to know when she was in labor so I knew when I got the call it would be after she delievered. :) She was calling from Akron General Hospital and announced to me that she given birth in the wee hours of the morning. I was shocked, excited and more excited to hear what she had. We had all speculated that she was having a boy and when she announced "GIRL" I couldn't believe it. I was so excited to meet this little girl! Of course I ran out on my lunch break as the hospital isn't far from my work. When I arrived they were attempting to feed so I waited and when I was finally able to go in and hold her, I didn't want to put her down. Of course there were other people there who wanted to meet her so I let her go. :) I told them I would be back later in the evening if that was OK and they said "absolutely". I came back and spent probably way too long with this precious girl and my amazing friends who were now parents! Crazy! While I was there, they both asked me to be Catelyn's Godmother! I was so overwhelmed with emotion inside; I knew I would be the proudest Godmother ever! Catelyn has been such a joy in my life these past 3 years and I am so blessed to have her in my life! (i say this often....) She has taught me so much and I know we will always be very close! I look forward to watching her grow over the years and hearing about school, friends, boys, etc. Catelyn, I am so proud of you and I Love You so much! May you never forget the Love that surrounds you each and every day!

Below are a few pictures of Catleyn on her true BIRTH-day, 3 years ago, and then pictures from her party just a few days ago!

Then......

Now.......

princess hat in hand, down the slide we go

another slide

Ben grabbing the princess hat that she sent down before herself

realizing some silly guy was wearing her hat

oh my, you're not a girl nor are you the princess

waiting patiently for her friends to join her for birthday food

MMM, PIZZA!!

Mummy wrap game....Andy & Mike (godfather) were good sports

Mike watching the kids wrap him in TP

who is under all that TP.....you guessed it, Andy

Mike still being worked on

Mike and Andy get together for a picture

Mummies and the kids

trying to scare the kids?!?!

Let's open PRESENTS!!!

Catelyn had some help in opening her gifts....hehe

A cake fit for a Princess....so beautiful

eating the frosting off Cinderella

getting icing off of Mike's nose...he's a silly godfather

no cake for Connor but instead yummy green beans

Ben & Connor (getting in some practice)

Adorable picture of Connor & Lisa

Andy and I back at their house after the party

Carnival of Horrors

2008-10-14T07:50:00.006-04:00

So Saturday was Catelyn's 3rd Birthday Party (that will be my next post) and it was such a beautiful day! After her party, I went over to the Lieser's to visit with them and a few other people. Catelyn's Godfather, Mike and his wife Kim, came over and Jill's Mom, husband and little sister were in town visiting for Catelyn's special day.

Jill had mentioned to me earlier in the week that her, Andy, her mom and Jim were going to take Courtney to her first haunted house. They asked me if I wanted to come along. I said "no way"!! I hadn't been to a haunted house since I was in high school and I hated the experience. I couldn't believe they were going to take Courtney to a haunted house as she is only 9 years old. (I guess I lived a sheltered life growing up.....haha)

The babysitter arrived to put Catelyn to bed and watch over her and Connor for a few hours as they all went out. Jill gave Connor a quick bath and I helped. As they gathered things up and started to get ready to leave, Courtney looks at me with those big eyes and asks me if I am going to go with them to the haunted house. I looked back at her and said "no honey, I don't do haunted houses", "I don't like them", "I have to go home", etc. haha! I kept making up excuses and she just wouldn't accept them. She begged and begged and somehow I found myself saying "yes" to this crazy notion of going to haunted houses. I couldn't believe what came out of my mouth! Ugh! I had to do it now!

We took separate cars as I had only planned to go to ONE place and they were talking about going to TWO. :) Their first stop was Blossom Music Center where it played host to the "Carnival of Horrors"!! I saw the sign when we pulled into the place and I screamed! haha! Jill & Andy must have thought I was nuts! Once we got out of the car and headed inside I started to calm down! In the back of my mind I kept telling myself that I had to be the grown up; as I noticed Courtney looking a little bit more scarred as each moment passed. I told her that none of it was real and they couldn't hurt us (I think I was telling myself this as well.....).

There were 3 different things we had to go through; The Freak Show, The Haunted Woods and The Fun House! The first place was by far the scariest! There was so much strobe lighting and darkness and people jumping out in all different directions; some with knives, some with chainsaws, etc. The Woods and the Fun House weren't too bad! I actually had a good time! It was sort of thrilling! lol!

Here are a few pictures after we went through the whole thing! Courtney is one brave 9 year old! She definitely showed me up! Thanks for giving me the courage to go along and have a great time!

That adorable 9 year old, Courtney!!

Courtney and her Dad, Jim

Andy and Jill....ewwww! :)

Much better! :)

Jill & I

Metro Burger & Robots :)

2008-10-08T07:49:00.006-04:00

I was blessed with the presence of Jill, Andy, Catelyn and Connor last night! It had been 3 weeks since I had last seen them! That is way too long to go without seeing some of the greatest people in my life! Thank you guys for coming over to visit and for bringing a delicious dinner! I can't believe how much Connor has grown in the past 3 weeks and of course, I am shocked that my little god daughter will be 3 years old next Monday. Time flies!

Here are a few pictures I took last night:

Connor and Eddie getting to know each other! They were so cute, fighting over toys! Eddie enjoyed Connor being down on his level!

Eddie playing with Connor! This is how he plays with his toy duck! hehe!

Catelyn smiling big for the camera!

Starting him young, don't you think? :)

Such a ham

Big boy sitting up all by himself!

In the crawling position! It won't be long!

A great picture of Mom and Connor! (except for the silly cat toy in the background...)

Catelyn pretending she is a robot; putting Eddie's toy on her head! Silly girl!

Thanks for a great visit! FYI, Lisa had a doctor's appointment yesterday, as mentioned in the previous post, and everything is great. She gained a couple more pounds and the baby's heart rate was 148! Go Baby B!!

28 weeks

2008-10-06T08:01:00.011-04:00

Lisa is 28 weeks TODAY! She begins seeing the doctor every two weeks starting tomorrow! It's hard to believe but super exciting! Her sister-in-law is just 5 1/2 weeks away from her due date which puts into perspective that Lisa isn't far behind! hehe!

Lisa has been doing well and the baby has been really active (however, I have yet to feel the baby kick). It will happen soon enough, I know! I look forward to hearing all of the stats after her appointment tomorrow. She has definitely popped out a little more and seems to be gaining weight. She is super cute! I know I will be the complete opposite the day I become pregnant. I'll have the big butt, big hips, big stomach, etc. :) Here are pictures I took of her this weekend:

Oh and be excited people because I have my first pictures of the baby to share with you all! Yahoo!!

Here is Baby B at 26 weeks and 2 days:

Little views (the last one is an arm)

On Friday evening I ran out to do a few errands, things that I can't get done during the week with my school requirements. :) I had to return something that I got for my birthday that unfortunately I really wasn't going to be able to use much. So after I returned it, I went about the store looking for something to get in it's place. There are so many things I would like to get for my place but I decided upon getting a new set for my bed. I got a beautiful 12 piece set and I thought I would share it with everyone! (especially for my mom since she is on vacation....)

Thanks to Lisa, Ben, my cousin Kim and her husband Dave who came over on Saturday night to watch the Ohio State vs. Wisconsin game! It was a good time had by all! My cat must of had a good time because he slept most of the day on Sunday! :)

BORING.....

2008-09-29T10:01:00.003-04:00

Ugh, I haven't had anything exciting to blog about lately! School started back up and has completely consumed my life. This semester is attempting to be the hardest semester I have yet to have. I am taking a Physiology class, an Audiology class and an online class. They Physiology class is extremely difficult as I have no background in this type of science. The instructor is nuts and covers way to much information in the short amount of time we meet each week. I am having a hard time keeping up with the material and am just wishing it was all over! :) I love my Audiology class but trying to keep up with that class on top of the Physiology class is posing to be more difficult than I had hoped for! I know my ultimate focus has to be on getting a good grade in my audiology class since it has an effect on my future in this major but I really wanted to gain something from my Physiology class.

So with all of that, I've spent most of my time at home studying or doing assignments. I've been at work a lot too! However, this past weekend I went to the Akron Zips Football game with my Dad and Ben on Saturday, then spent the evening at my parents house visiting with them and my sister & Ben. We ate good pizza and my dad built a massive bonfire way out back and we enjoyed being outside. It was great fire weather! :) On Sunday we got up, relaxed around the house (i worked on invitations for Lisa and Ben's baby shower) and then we went to Mass. After Mass, I headed home to do a little work for school. Ugh, another week is upon us and the weekend just flew by!

Hopefully I will see my sister and Ben this weekend to get a 28 week picture of my sister but if not, I know Ben will come through with another good picture for me to share! Lisa is doing well and had an appointment last week in which they did another ultrasound. (they needed to do another one because the last time they didn't get a good picture of the baby's heart since it wouldn't cooperate....hehe) I hope I can get the pictures to scan and share with everyone! It's amazing! :)

Have a great week everyone!

Wild Weekend

2008-09-16T08:02:00.013-04:00

This weekend was definitely a WILD one and this post will be a LONG one! :)

On Friday evening I spent some time with my Mom, having dinner, shopping for supplies for Lisa & Ben's baby shower and attempting to purchase a shower gift for Ben's sister, Rachel, who is also expecting (in November). We had a great dinner, spent waaaayyyy too much time at the Arts & Crafts store (still not sure we got the best deal so back out hunting we will go) and then found nothing at the store Rachel was registered at! :) It was a fun though!

On Saturday, I did the usual house cleaning, studying and laundry. Then I headed over to Jill's because we were going to the SPA!! Yahoo!! Her birthday was on Wednesday September 10th (Happy Birthday!!) and we were going to do something on Saturday to celebrate and then she mentioned that she had this gift certificate that she hadn't used and wondered if I was interested in going with her. She had hoped her husband would go with her but she couldn't convince him so she gave up! I was completely open to the idea as I had never been to a spa before! She scheduled for us a half hour massage, whirlpool and manicure. We arrived early for the appointment which was scheduled for 3:00pm! Right from the start we knew something wasn't right! The service was slow and awkward. The girl running the show, reminded Jill of a Troll (the ones we used to play with as kids...) and she was so not a calm and relaxing person! (as you would expect at a spa....duh) We seemed to wait for quite awhile and heard a few stories of how this place was incredibly slow and had gone down hill recently. The troll lady showed us where the lockers were and indicated that our robes were in their and to change. So we did! She came back a while later and said she was taking us down to the whirlpool! UH, hello, you didn't tell us we needed to put on our bathing suits. We thought were going for our massages first, then to the whirlpool. So we went back tot he locker room to change and then waited some more! Finally we went down to the whirlpool, which was soothing! After that we had to shower and head back upstairs to wait for our massages. We were told 5 - 10 minutes but I bet it was closer to a half hour before she came to get me. I went back and it was a pretty good massage. After I was done I came back to our waiting room and waited for about 10 minutes for Jill to come out. She said she had waited for forever after I went in for my massage. Oh my, what an experience we were having! lol! So we changed our clothes and were taken downstairs to wait for our manicures! I looked at my watch and realized that we had been at the spa for 2 1/2 hours!! WHAT?!?! We were a little annoyed so we told them we were leaving because we had ran out of time! They didn't really even seem to be bothered by it! They were like, "I'm sorry" and that was it! I told Jill I think I was bad luck for her! :) I didn't think it would take that long and I had invited my family over to watch the OSU vs. USC game so that's why we ran out of time! We also had wanted to grab some dinner as we were both starving!

The spa offered us a $10 off coupon to their restaurant but we were so annoyed with them that we just wanted to get out of there. lol! So we decided upon Luchita's! Good choice Jill! We had good food and GREAT drinks! The manager/ owner (Ron Luchita...haha) bought Jill and I a Margarita after I announced It was her birthday and we were celebrating! I couldn't drink anymore since we had already shared a 1/2 pitcher of margaritas with dinner so she drank both of the ones Ron bought for us! Here is a great picture of her enjoying her margarita:

So after we sang really loud on the way home and Jill waved to strangers, we arrived back to the Lieser's house! There was a great Billy Joel song on the radio so we ran in to get Catelyn and danced outside the car! It was silly and Andy was totally confused! We hadn't told him the story of our day! I had to jet to get home for my family coming over! I hope you had a good time Saturday, Jill!!

So shortly after I arrived home, my parents, Ben & Lisa came over to watch the game! It was a pathetic game but it was nice to spend sometime with them! I only took one pictures so here it is:

Ben and his friend Eduardo! lol! He was probably getting into the chips or drinks! haha!

On Sunday I drove home to Seville to attend Mass as me and Lisa's friend, Megan, was in town for the weekend visiting from Philly! She came home to see her grandma and was going to be at church so I went down to see her! It was nice to visit for a few minutes and we look forward to seeing her and TJ again around Thanksgiving if all goes well!

After Mass, me and Mom headed up to North Royalton for Rachel's baby shower! It was a nice shower and good to visit with family! I love getting to see my sister too but still haven't felt the baby kick! lol! They are always sleeping when I'm around! Soon enough I will feel it and before I know it they will be here and I will be able to hold them! :)

After the shower I headed over to the Lieser's because Andy was having a little party for Jill's birthday! As I was heading over, the weather began to change a little. It was pretty windy and by the time I got to the Lieser's they had lost power. I only stayed for about an hour because I had so much to get done before Monday rolled around.

When I got home, you could tell the winds were really picking up! Ike was crossing over Ohio and bring with it extremely high winds! It brought hardly any rain to Akron but it brought gusts of 60 + mph! Crazy! Around 7pm, the power went off and we were without it for quite some time. I had to open the deck door and windows because it was getting so stuffy in my condo. Eddie kept checking outside but when the wind would gust he would go running for the bedroom or kitchen! :) I heard people talking outside so I went out on the deck and noticed a huge tree limb fell right behind my place almost hitting the backside of the condos! Phew, that was close! I think over 100 schools were closed in the area on Monday because power was still out! It was a bit crazy! Here are some pictures from our boring evening with no power, listening to the winds!

Tree Limb Down!!

Timber!!

What is going on outside?!?!

This no power stuff is boring....good night! :)

Every once in awhile we need a WILD weekend! :)

24 Weeks

2008-09-09T07:42:00.004-04:00

Wow! I can't believe it but Lisa is 24 weeks pregnant! 6 months have flown by! This week the baby weighs just over 1lb and is about a foot long. I laughed because on the TV they are running ads for a group called Trans-Siberian Orchestra who are a rock orchestra that go on tour during the holiday season. They are coming to Cleveland on December 29th and that is Lisa's due date. Guess we won't be going! hehe! If they are advertising for their concert already, then the show can't be that far off! Whoa! :)

Mom and I are in the midst of planning her and Ben's baby shower which will take place near the Thanksgiving holiday! I am excited and am still baffled by the fact that she is going to be a mom in the very near future! I can't wait to see my niece or nephew! At her last doctor's appointment at the end of August things went well. The only problem was that Lisa lost a little bit of weight and her doctor wanted her to increase her calorie intake. (ex. have a milkshake in between meals, etc.) She has been doing this and since that appointment I have noticed that she has definitely began to "pop out" as they would say. She is gaining weight and doing well. I think the most exciting news was that Ben got to feel the baby kick. :) I can't wait to feel it! Lisa looks great and has a great pregnancy thus far! Her next appointment is at the end of September and of course I'll be posting an update at 28 weeks! :)

Here are some pictures Ben took very early this morning since I forgot to when I was over this past weekend! He did a great job!

Lisa, don't be mad about the bare belly pictures! They give a much better view of how much you are showing! You are a great concealer with your cute shirts! :)

Birthday Card

2008-09-09T07:31:00.004-04:00

I received the most adorable birthday card from the Lieser's and I wanted to share it with everyone! Be sure to watch the entire video as their is a little recording from my god daughter, Catelyn. It is so sweet!

Happy Birthday

2008-09-08T08:27:00.008-04:00

Happy Birthday to ME! :) Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special! I celebrate my 29th (oh boy) birthday on Friday September 5th!

After the typical events of a Friday, I was blessed to have dinner with my closest friends, The Lieser's. We met at Champs up north because I had to play softball later on in the evening! It was a little hectic trying to get everyone there for dinner but it all worked out and we had a great time! Jill and Catelyn made me the greatest cake ever! Thank you so much! Here are pictures from the evening!!

The Beautiful Cake!!

My beautiful God Daughter, Catelyn!

Her sweet little brother, Connor

Looking at something :)

MMM Jill, that looks delicious! hehe!

The most adorable picture of me and the kids! Oops Connor forgot to look! :)

Turned Connor around and added Jill! Even better! Love you guys!

After an amazing dinner with the clan, I headed over to my softball game, which were the playoffs! I was excited! We played our first game at 8:30pm and WON!! We had to wait for the next game to be played and then we would play the winner of that game for the Championship! :) Our team is a wonderful team! We play well together and most of all have fun! We played our hearts out in the championship game but came up one run short! Oh well! There were no regrets! After the game a few us went out for a couple drinks to celebrate my birthday and the great season! It was fun!

On Saturday I was able to spend a wonderful evening with my family! (We always do a family birthday celebration) I got to pick where I wanted to go so I chose "Little Italy". I love the area and the good food! Before we left for Little Italy I opened presents from my parents and Lisa & Ben! My parents got me a few things for my condo! A wall clock, a painting and a plant for decoration! I was so happy! I really needed something to start the decorating that I need to do! My sister and Ben got me the Magic Bullet (a cool blender type thing) which was great as well! I love it! So off we went to Little Italy!! We ate at a little restaurant called Mama Santa's! They have great Pizza and Sangria! Of course my Dad had to have Red Wine! :) After dinner we walked around and looked at all the shops. It was such a beautiful evening. We then headed to Anthony's for Authentic Gelato! MMMM! After this I thought I might burst! hehe! I forgot my camera so no pictures from Little Italy. We topped off the night with a little fire at Lisa and Ben's house and a few enjoyed some cake that Mom had bought. I couldn't bring myself to eat a piece for I thought I might be sick! hehe! It was such a great night and I had such a great Birthday! I am truly blessed! Thank you!

Happy Labor Day

2008-09-03T10:05:00.013-04:00

Wow, it's been awhile since I've listed a new post! Things have been a little busy! I started back to school last week and of course that seems to change everything. I like my classes and am excited that when this semester is over my sister will be only a few weeks away from giving birth to my niece or nephew! Yay! Hard to believe she is almost 6 months pregnant! (I'll be posting a post on her update next week after I take her 24 week picture...hehe)

This past weekend was extremely relaxing and refreshing! After a difficult week at work, it was just what I needed! Family/ friend Time!! My parents have an Annual Labor Day Party the Sunday before Labor Day! People show up all throughout the day and it's such a nice time to visit with so many people! The weather was FANTASTIC! Couldn't have been a much better day! We ate good food, had good drinks (thanks Beth for the Brandy Slush...hehe), played Cornhole, Glow-in-the-dark Bocci Ball, enjoyed a nice campfire and S'Mores! :) MMM!

I didn't get to take as many pictures as I had hoped but here are a few from during the daytime hours! Hope you all had a great Labor Day Weekend!!

People hanging out.....

MMMM! Brandy Slush!!

Lisa, You were told to lay off the Alcohol...haha! JK!! There is a little belly on her! So cute!

Dave and Kim enjoying some food!

Little Daniel, carrying the bean bags in his shirt for Cornhole!

Dumping them inside the hole...hehe

Playing Cornhole

Father Ned playing Cornhole :)
Ben and John playing with the Nerf thing

Dave and Kim again...don't you two look happy :)

Father Mike and Mom doing dishes after the night ended...notice the date change on the picture?!?! It was late!

And poor Sadie was exhausted....

20 Weeks

2008-08-12T10:07:00.003-04:00

Yay! Lisa was officially 20 weeks, yesterday, Monday August 11th! She has been doing really well. At her last appointment at the end of July she had gained a whopping 7lbs! :) At that appointment they did an ultrasound and the pictures were adorable. The baby really looks like a baby; not just a blob on the screen! hehe! She goes back to the doctor at the end of August. Time is flying! She is finally starting to show a little bit more than in her previous pictures. Here they are for your viewing pleasure! Of course, Lisa forgot to bring the ultrasound pictures over to my place Sunday so that I could scan them but hopefully I will get them soon and be able to post a picture of little baby Baranovic!

Covered belly

Bare Belly :)

Emergency Vet Visit

2008-08-12T09:48:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately I had a bit of a rough later part of the weekend. The first part was great though! On Friday I played softball and we won 15-10! :) On Saturday I worked the soup kitchen for our church's day! It was long but fun! Unfortunately when I came home on Saturday night I had noticed that Eddie had a red bubble area underneath his bum! :) I had noticed it when shortly after we came home his first day but Wendy at the shelter didn't seem too concerned about it. After I got home on Saturday it looked as those had been messing with it all day and I became a little concerned. He was picking at it and it had started to bleed a little. I called the shelter where I got him from and Wendy told me to bring him over to her place on Sunday morning and she would take a look at it. So I stayed up most of the night making sure he didn't mess with it too much and make it worse. We headed over to Wendy's to get it looked at and she wasn't' really sure what it was so she said I should make him a Vet appointment on Monday to get it looked at. So Sunday we hung around the condo and had a few visitors (thanks Lisa, Ben, Mom & Dad) who kept Eddie occupied so he didn't mess with that area too much and everyone wore him out so he slept good! :)

On Monday I called the Vet that I wanted to take him to and they scheduled him an appointment for 11am. We went in and found out that the vet (unknown) who did his neutering didn't get everything tucked back inside him and he was able to get a hold of a little piece and pull it out. He just kept picking at it and that's why it got worse. The vet yesterday had to basically re-neuter him. I think it was more emotional for me than it was for Eddie. He did really well and we were in an out in about 1 1/2 hours! They were amazing at the Vet's office and I was so thankful they fixed him up. Yesterday when we got home, Eddie slept most of the day. He would get up, go eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, use the potty, sleep, eat, etc! lol! He slept the entire night right next to my head! :) So sweet!

This morning he seemed much better. He was active and playful and his wound seems to be healing really well. I have to give him an antibiotic twice a day for about 10 days to make sure he doesn't get an infection but other than that I think he will be just fine and we shouldn't have anymore problems! Thank goodness! The vet bill wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Dr. Markely didn't charge me for an office visit which was a huge help. They are a great Vet clinic! Although I hope we do not have to go there often, I know that when we do, we will get the best care available!

Eddie Eddie Eddie

2008-08-07T09:49:00.012-04:00

So believe it or not, I actually like the name Eddie! I call him Eddie Munster! hehe! It worked out that I could pick him up yesterday and bring him home. He is, so far, a fantastic kitten! He is curious, sneaky and playful! He seems to love his new home and I am lucky to have him! He did so well during his first afternoon and night! He slept a lot, played a lot and surprisingly enough, ate pretty well for the first day! He has fun toys to keep him occupied! He followed me around just about everywhere I went yesterday. It was cute!

I had a hard time leaving for work this morning and I wish the time would go by faster so I could get home to see him! I'm sure he is just laying around sleeping all day but I feel bad for not being able to spend more time with him on his first few days with me! :)

I took a few pictures of him yesterday - mostly sleeping but they are cute anyways! Enjoy!!

I also have two brief video's of him playing! I love the one where he walks into the camera! hehe!

The FEST!!!

2008-08-05T08:02:00.016-04:00

On Sunday the family took a trip up to St. Mary's Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio for an event called "The Fest"! The Fest is a Christian Festival that has been held for 8 years now. They set up games and activities for all ages. They have booths with information ranging from Catholic High Schools to Colleges to different Retreats to Ways to get involved in a variety of different things. The biggest part of The Fest are the great bands/ artists they get to perform. This year's musical guests included two of my favorite Christian artists; Matt Maher and Jeremy Camp! They were great! The day was absolutely beautiful and they had a great turn out for the event. They always close out the event with Mass outside; and it's pretty incredible being surrounded by thousands of people celebrating Mass! Unfortunately Mass does not begin until 8pm and usually last 2-hours with fireworks after Mass has been completed. This makes for a long evening and then trying to get through traffic when it's time to go, as well as driving home! We all had to work very early on Monday and decided we would not be able to stay for Mass. We had a great time though and I wanted to post a few pictures from the event! If you are interested in attending The Fest next year, check out their website: The Fest to see what's in store for 2009.

The Main Stage

booths surrounding the lawn area

TEC - A retreat we have been a part of for a few years now!

The lawn area

Lisa, Ben, Mom & Dad

Lisa looking for some snacks

Dad sharing some snacks :)

Ben hiding from the sun

Eating and listening to some good music

Ben, Lisa & Cassie

being silly :)

Our good friend Fr. Mike, who just became a priest this year, was sitting right next to us! :)

Matt Maher

Matt Maher on the screen :)

Jeremy Camp

Here are two quick videos of Jeremy Camp:

Right Here (popular song)

A bit from Never Let Go

Condo

2008-08-04T11:34:00.007-04:00

So I took a few pictures of the inside of my condo shortly after I moved in and wanted to be sure to post them to my blog so that everyone (who hasn't been able to come by) can see a little bit of my new home. Of course, these pictures do not do it justice and make it seemingly look plain. I have a lot of decorating to do but compared to my apartment this place is so much more light and refreshing. It is comfortable and spacey. I have room to jump up and down since the ceilings are vaulted (not that I do that or anything) and a hallway to skip through. :) My spare bedroom is just filled with little things until I move a bedroom set in there. Not sure when that will be happening. I have a cute laundry room that will soon have a washer and dryer in at as well as storage and kitty stuff. Man, this condo stuff is starting to get expensive. haha! Enjoy the pictures!!

The living room/dining room (deck area outside that door)

view from living area into kitchen

cute little kitchen :)

hallway

full bath (shower not shown...hehe)

half bath

my room

other side of my room (bath and closest)

That's it folks! Things look a little different since I've moved in but you get the idea! I have a ton of decorating to do so now that everyone has seen the place, throw out some ideas on how I should decorate. I need stuff for the walls! lol! :)

New Addition

2008-08-01T15:44:00.002-04:00

So I've decided to get my first pet!! YAY! Last night I went out to a shelter in Medina and looked at some kittens and decided upon:

It is a male and his current name is Eddie!! I'm not sure I want to keep the name so throw out some ideas everyone! He will be fixed next Tuesday (8/5) and I get to bring him home on Thursday (8/7). I'm excited and nervous all in one! I can't wait to see how he grows and what his personality will be like. He struck me right away when I saw this picture and a part of me knew I wanted him from the start! I will post more pictures next week when I bring him home!

Art in the Park

2008-07-27T20:11:00.009-04:00

This weekend was a crazy one! On Friday I worked a car wash fundraiser for my work which was exhausting and then played softball that evening where we won 18-6. It was fun! On Saturday I was up early because it was MOVING DAY! Yay! As excited as I was, I'm not sure I was prepared for the amount of work that had to be done this day! The lucky part for all of us was that I was moving about a mile and a half away so the trips back and forth were easy. However, the heavy duty lifting and carrying that my Dad and Andy did were incredible and I can't thank them enough for doing that difficult work. I also have to send a HUGE "thank you" to my Mom who helped me out so much. She packed up my kitchen and set it up in my new place. (She did way more than that too) She is incredible! I am so blessed to have my parents and the Lieser's in my life. Thank you all for helping! And thanks to Jill for allowing Andy to help me move while she spent a Saturday with the kids. If anyone is wondering where my sister and Ben were in all of this moving fun, well, they went to Chicago for the weekend. Great planning guys...haha! JK, they didn't know my moving date when they booked their trip! We missed them! *I will post some pictures of the new place soon. I have so much organizing to do before it looks good enough for pictures. :)

Today, Jill called me and asked if they could stop by for a visit (to see the new place) and if I was interested in going to Art in the Park with them. It was practically across the street from my new place and it was a beautiful day so I was up for the fun! Jill, Andy, Catelyn and Connor arrived to my place shortly after she called with breakfast (thank you) and after that we headed over to the park. We walked around and looked at some beautiful art (way out of my price range) and then we walked Catelyn over to the playground so she could run around. Here are some pictures of all of us on the playground. It was a great day!

Thanks for a great day! It was so much fun!

I Scream, You Scream....

2008-07-24T09:19:00.007-04:00

We all scream for Ice Cream!!! :)

Last night I joined the Lieser clan for Ice Cream at Handel's and it was quite delicious! MMMM! I had my camera so I took a few pictures of the Lieser's enjoying their delicious ice cream! (thank goodness no one took my picture...hehe) Sorry, Connor for not taking your picture. Some day, before long, you will be enjoying ice cream with all of us!

Jill

Andy (doesn't he look happy I took his picture...)

Catelyn and her Vanilla with Sprinkles!
MMM! Someone loves their Ice Cream!!

St. Colman's

2008-07-21T15:00:00.005-04:00

One of the people who attends the soup kitchen my family volunteers at a few times a month took a picture of us one day before we started serving the meal and I wanted to post the picture on my blog.

Don't we look like we are hard at work? :)

In the picture: Me, our friend Megan, Lisa, Mom & Dad (oh and Megan's mom is in the kitchen)

St. Colman's has been such a great thing for me to experience. I have been blessed to meet some amazing people and to hear their stories is quite incredible. The gift of service is such an incredible one and I am so lucky to be able to do this with my family. There are so many times in our lives when we need help and I think it's such a neat thing when we can provide help to someone else, even if they don't always appreciate it. Their lives are so much more difficult than I could ever imagine but many of them are thankful for what they do have and for those who providing a listening ear or helping hand and they never fall short of making that known to all they encounter.

Always thank God for all the many blessing you have in your life! They may seem trivial to you but to others they are things they may never have!

16 weeks

2008-07-14T14:06:00.006-04:00

These pictures really are just to show the change in Lisa as she goes through her pregnancy, however as you will note after seeing this picture, Lisa doesn't look any different than she did the last time I took her picture at 12 weeks. hehe! Although when we were leaving the concert she looked a little bigger! :)

I will post the pictures anyways so we can look back and smile about how small she was! She is 16 weeks today!! Yay baby! Oh and this will make everyone laugh; we had to take the pictures in the handicap bathroom stall at TGI Friday's because there wasn't anywhere else to take the picture since we were heading to Blossom for the concert. We laughed pretty hard about it!

You can see Lisa's laughing in this first picture:

In this trimester it says that she should gain between 12 & 14 pounds so by the next picture in 4 weeks we should see a bigger change in her belly! Her little munchkin is about the size of an avocado right now! It will double it's weight and add inches to it's length during this trimester!! Sweet!! At her next appointment, towards the end of the month, she should get an ultrasound and we will be able to see the little Bebe! Can't wait!!

Broadway Today

2008-07-14T08:50:00.015-04:00

A few years back Lisa and Ben went to see the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center as they were playing music from Lord of the Rings (one of Ben's favorite movies). A week or so ago Lisa mentioned to me that the Cleveland Orchestra was playing music from many of the top Broadway musicals and wondered if I was interested in going. I said "sure", as I had never seen an orchestra before except for at an actual Broadway musical. It also dawned on me that Lisa and I's good friend, Megan, was going to be in town visiting from Philadelphia and we invited her along.

The weather turned out to be fantastic and we got to see such a great show! There were 4 vocalists at the show who performed songs from many of the great musicals. Many of these vocalists were from actual Broadway shows which was a real treat for many people there! They sang songs from Jesus Christ Superstar, Jekyll & Hyde, The Lion King, Mama Mia, Wicked and many others. I enjoyed the entire show! It was also great to spend some time with Megan as we do not get to see her as often as we would like. Philly is a good drive from here! :) We will get out there someday though! We are so happy for her and all the great things that are happening in her life right now! She is more than deserving of it!!

I took some pictures of the three of us, of Blossom and I also posted a couple videos of the orchestra and vocalists! You can't see much but you get idea of the music that was played. Oh and AMANDA you better watch the second video; I'm sure you will laugh. You can hear me on the video saying that you'll get a kick out of the song. And I tried to get Lisa saying "hi" to you but the camera was zoomed in really close on her face and I couldn't get it to zoom out. You can see by her reaction that I was trying to fix the camera and she wasn't sure what was going on. Sorry about that! :) Enjoy though!!

The Lion King - Circle of Life

A flash back in time - some memories just never fade....

Wicked - For Good (my favorite musical and one of my favorite songs from it)

Cheese!!!

2008-07-10T14:24:00.006-04:00

I took a few pictures of my god daughter, Catelyn, the other day when I was visiting and wanted to post them on my blog! There is even one of the two of us. I turned it into a black and white photo. I thought it was cute!

Exciting News!!

2008-07-08T15:20:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow I am going to sign the papers and pick out carpet for my new Condo!! YAY!! I am purchasing my first home! How exciting!!! I am a little nervous but who isn't when they buy their first home! The condo has 2 bedrooms and 1 & 1/2 baths! (maybe I'll get my first cat too....hehe)

I will post more when I know my moving date!

Rhododendron Craziness!!

2008-07-07T19:49:00.013-04:00

We are so lucky to have the parents we do! My dad is an all around "handy man" and my mom is the resident plant enthusiast. haha! My sister and Ben really used their skills on Saturday!

On Friday when we were over for their cookout my dad began talking about this horrible Rhododendron Tree Lisa and Ben have at the back of their house. Someone long ago planted this tree and it took over most of the back of their house. They have this cute sun room on the back of the house but it never received any sun inside because of this stinkin' tree! :) Here is a picture I took of the tree on Friday at their cookout:

Wow! Can you believe that?!?! Look at that thing!! So after talking about it some more my Dad asked Lisa what they had going on on Saturday and she said "nothing" so he said, "Me and your mom (or just me) are going to come up here tomorrow and get that thing out of here". My mom wasn't keen on the whole idea of cutting it down completely but after seeing the inside of it, there wasn't much of an option! She had to succumb to their decision to gain a larger backyard and utilize their sun room! :)

On Saturday afternoon the work began and continued until dinner time! They accomplished a lot of work. Lisa and Mom pulled all the weeds from around the backyard (which was a lot) and Ben and Dad battled with the Rhododendron tree! I had earlier plans and didn't arrive until a little later on in the day but got my hands slightly dirty by helping break branches in half. Here is the "after" picture of where the Rhododendron was previously:

It's incredible! I can't believe how much of a difference it makes now that the tree is gone! They filled a ton of trash bags with this tree and even have a ton of firewood to use in their fire pit! I know they are so glad that they removed the tree and have the opportunity to possibly plant grass to increase their yard space or plant smaller items around the back of the house. Kids love a yard to play in and now they have a bigger one than before! I love how the sun shines in the sun room now! Here are more pictures of the crew working hard on Saturday:

hehe!!

Ben and Lisa treated everyone to Pizza for dinner and the first half of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 before we all got super tired and some of us had to head home in our different directions! It was a nice day!!

Happy 4th of July

2008-07-07T17:38:00.013-04:00

There will be plenty of posts from this long holiday weekend!! :)

My holiday weekend started off early because I had Thursday off!! Phew, it was so nice to begin the relaxing early! I went out to my parents on Thursday to visit with them. We went to dinner and did a quick run at the grocery store to get a few items for the 4th of July cookout Lisa and Ben were having at their place.

On Friday Dad and I went over to Grandma's (at the lake) to visit her before we headed up to Lisa and Ben's for the day. We had to go over early because Chippewa Lake has a parade for the holiday and they close the road and you can't get out until it's over! So while we were visiting her we asked her if she wanted to go to Lisa and Ben's for the day and she said she didn't have anything else planned so she decided to come along. She had never been able to make the trip up to their place in the almost 2 years they have been their so it was nice that she could do that.

We got to their place and sat around outside just talking and enjoying the nice weather. Ben fired up the grill and we had plenty to eat. Good burgers, hotdogs, potatoes, veggies, corn on the cob, etc. They even treated us to some good vanilla ice cream and strawberries for dessert! MMM!!

Here are some pictures from the 4th!! Hope everyone had a great holiday with their families and friends! We are truly blessed to live in the country we live in!

The home of Ben & Lisa Baranovic

Sitting around

Mom taking pictures

Lisa

The GRILL :)

The Grill Master!

Me and Grandma (a little too close)

Checking out the garden

Bird Bath

Lisa in her garden

Adventures in Babysitting

2008-06-30T11:11:00.008-04:00

I'm sure that title will make Jill laugh!

One thing that my sister and I never did as teenagers was babysit! We were always roller skating and were lucky enough to never have to hold jobs as teenagers. Something that I think I always took for granted! However, now that I am much much older and have been graced with the greatest god daughter ever I have been given the opportunity to spend time with her and learn so many things I never knew about children. I have gained confidence in my ability to care for another human being which is a huge task if you’ve never been responsible for something like that before. She has taught me how to laugh at the silly things and she has shown me so much love, more love than you could ever imagine a 2 ½ year old showing! She is growing up so fast and learning so many exciting things! She deserves a well rounded applause for her great efforts in using the potty!! I love how proud she is of herself! I hope she always knows how proud we are of her now and will be in the years to come!

On Saturday I was given the opportunity to babysit for the Lieser's while Mom and Dad went to see the Broadway Show "Jersey Boys"! (which I heard was great by numerous people) So with this opportunity I decided to see if my sister wanted to assist in the babysitting duties. This would give her the opportunity to spend time with both an infant and a toddler! Seeing that she is going to be graced with a child in December I'm sure she could use all the practice she could get! hehe! She openly accepted the invitation! I was excited because like I said, we never babysat when we were teenagers and I thought it would be fun spending time together as well as playing with the kids!

Catelyn & Connor were so great to spend the day with! We had so much fun and I thought I would share a few photos from the afternoon!

Catelyn eating her dinner (as you can see she wanted cereal)

Watching Peter Pan!

so focused....

cheese!!!

Connor making faces at Lisa

whoa....close up!

chewing on my hands

sitting calming in my swing

I love this picture!!!

Lisa & Connor

I think Lisa needs a burp cloth :)

We hope the kids had as much fun as we did! Can't wait until the next time! (but don't get any crazy ideas Mom & Dad...hehe...jk)

Softball & Golf (can it get much better than that?!?!)

2008-06-23T11:04:00.013-04:00

This weekend was full of sports related events and I'm glad I was able to capture a few of these moments! On Friday evening our softball team had a game and my parents came up to watch so I was able to get them to take a few pictures of our team in action. We played really well through almost 6 innings but ended up losing by 1 in the 7th inning. It was tough to lose but a few weeks early we played this team and they beat us in 4 innings by 12 runs I think, so we made some great improvements! Next week we start a new session and we moved into a different division that is more accommodating to our playing abilities! :) Here are some pictures from the game:

Warming up

Heading out on defense.....

Our fearless leader & pitcher...BEN!!!

Me & Dad chatting (i'm probably complaining about something)

Lil Mama getting ready to take her at-bat :)

Big Ben heading out for his at-bat

Jim looks like he is trapped in a cage

I think my parents like Ben!!

geez! :)

Here we go again....

Then on Saturday our church had one of it's annual fundraisers; the Tony Alexander Memorial Golf Outing at Hawks Nest Golf Course in Creston, Ohio. We have been golfing in this outing since the beginning which was about 7 years ago. (i think) The golf outing/ fundraiser is named after a great family friend who was also a member of our parish for many years with his wife and family. Tony was an avid golfer and he came up with a great idea to have this outing as a parish fundraiser. Tony passed away in 2002 at a very young age and his death was one of the toughest moments of my life. I know many other people can say the same thing. He was such a joy to be around and there are many days where I think of him often and miss his great stories and laughter. Our community lost a great person that day and we will never forget him! His passion for our church and for golf helped us to continue the outing that he started and it has been a great success for a number of years now! It is hard to imagine that it's been six years since his death which also means it has been six years since my grandfather passed as well. My grandfather passed away exactly one week after Tony passed away which made for an extremely rough week for my family and many of our/their friends. We thank God for the gift of their presence in our lives and remember them in our hearts always! We take for granted the many blessings we have and must always take into consideration that there is a life much greater than this awaiting us when God is ready to call!

I was lucky enough to golf with 3 of the greatest gals in the world this past Saturday! I enjoy having a girls foursome so we can enjoy the presence of women and have fun! We can laugh at ourselves and one another and never feel the pressure of being something spectacular; but more importantly just being ourselves. We giggled at our swing and misses and the fact that a game where you hit a tiny ball is so hard. We were able to catch up on things happening in our lives and just relax for a few hours! We had a blast and I personally want to thank, Lisa, Jessie and Colleen for allowing me the privilege to golf with each one of you this past weekend. It was a blast and I hope we can do it again next year! Here are some great pictures of the day:

Lisa

Jess and her hubby, William :)

Jess & Lisa in their golf cart

Colleen teeing off way out there :)

Lisa eying up her shot....

Look out all you pro golfers...

She doesn't look too happy with that shot?!?!

Talking about their golf strategy...haha...NOT...teacher talk is what they are really doing (see what's important to them)

check out that swing (or how about those short?!?!) I love Golf!!

Beautiful Golf Course

Hey we found the 'rents!! Go Mom Go!!!

Have fun you kids!! :)

Happy Father's Day & The World's Largest Yardsales

2008-06-16T08:40:00.011-04:00

It was a busy weekend full of fun stuff! :) I took a vacation day on Friday and headed to Seville for the World's Largest Yard Sales! Woo Hoo! haha! Me and Dad got there early and rode our bikes around town checking out all the good deals. (mostly junk but an occasional deal was found) I found a small bar type table with two bar stools to put outside on my deck for $20 and a wood entertainment center since right now my TV sits on basically a black stand. lol. The entertainment center was $50. Can't beat those deals. They will sit in my parents garage until I hopefully move in a month or so. :) (I will keep everyone posted on that) As we rode around we couldn't believe the amount of baby stuff (ie. clothes, toys, etc) We found a stroller travel system that was in great condition and my dad got a great bargain of $40 for the entire thing. The stroller, car seat and base! It's a Graco and we looked it up online and it originally sold for $200! Here are some pictures:

oh and this cool little seat thing......

So needless to say my mom was excited to have a stroller and car seat at the house for them to use when they babysit or whatever. :) Only 6 more months...hehe! Lisa was quite impressed with the stroller as well.

On Saturday we had a softball fundraiser for our team. We had a pretty good turn out! I didn't take any pictures so that's a bummer!

On Sunday we celebrated Father's Day! We went to Mass with the family and then spent the majority of the rest of the day hanging out around the house. Happy Father's Day to all Fathers!!! Even Father's whose children haven't entered the world just quite yet! :)

This is how our awesome "fathers" spent a few moments during the beautiful afternoon:

And Lisa and Mom sitting outside enjoying the weather too:

So Lisa is 12 weeks pregnant now (time is flying...hehe) and since she was over I took another side shot of her so we can all see her progress. At her last appointment on June 5th she hadn't gained any weight but that isn't uncommon. Her belly has expanded a little bit as you can see from the last picture to this picture. She is feeling good and excited to enter her second trimester!! She has been quite lucky in the fact that she hasn't had any morning sickness and has maintained a far amount of energy. However, Lisa has always had a lot of energy that has amazed me over the years. She will have plenty to keep up with her child as they grow!

I know she will be mad at me for putting up this picture of her bare belly but you get a better idea of how her belly is expanding when their is no shirt covering it! :) I can't wait to watch her grow!

Sprinkler Heaven

2008-06-09T14:58:00.008-04:00

What is more enjoyable than seeing a child smile? My goddaughter, Catelyn Clare, brings so much joy to all those who meet her just by smiling! I am blessed to have her in my life and of course her amazing parents and new little brother, Connor. I am so lucky to live near them and to be able to visit often. Just last week, she received a "sweet" new sprinkler to play in this summer! For all those my age, don't you remember our sprinklers when we were kids?!?! They were the yard sprinkler that our parents had to water the lawn...hehe! They were pretty basic, just going over and back or spritzing from left to right, although we loved them just the same! However, now they make these wild and crazy sprinklers that are just as cute as can be! Here are some pictures of Catelyn's first adventure with her new sprinkler! I can't believe how big she is getting!

And sweet baby Connor sleeping away.......

Ohio Women's Wellness Symposium

2008-05-29T09:04:00.007-04:00

I am really lucky to have the job that I have at this point in my life. Of course there are days when things are stressful and just hearing the stories that many of our clients have can be tough to listen to. BUT I have gained a lot of knowledge from working in the substance abuse field. I have the greatest boss, great vacation time, great health insurance benefits, etc and the opportunity to work a flexible schedule so I can attend school as well.

This past week I was fortunate to attend a conference for work with a few other co-workers. My boss took me along and I for that I am so grateful!! We had some great presenters and I learned a lot! I didn't take too many pictures during the conference but I took some of the lovely facility we were at. The conference was held at Cherry Valley Lodge in Newark, Ohio and it was beautiful there! So peaceful! Here are a few pictures:

Beautiful Pond & Waterfall outside our room

View from our patio at our neighbors patio

One half of our room with our nice TV

Gazebo at the Pond

Momma duck and her babies
Sweet little baby duck :)

Me, Robyn & Rebekah at the conferenceMy Boss with our cool poster!!

The cool Longaberger building we saw on our way to the conference

Joyful News

2008-05-19T08:09:00.008-04:00

How do you start a blog about something so special?!?! A few weekends back my family participated in the Multiple Sclerosis Walk in Massillon, Ohio. This weekend was the weekend before my Mom's birthday, so we decided we were going to celebrate it since we were all going to be around for the walk. After the walk we got cleaned up and were getting ready to go to dinner to celebrate. Me, Lisa and Ben had purchased tickets to the musical "Jersey Boys" for my Mom's birthday and Mother's Day! However, my sister had brought down a small gift bag for her as well. I was a little upset with her seeing that we agreed the only thing we were going to get her were those tickets. I wanted to go to dinner and have Mom open her gifts there but Lisa insisted that we open them at home, so I gave in and let Mom open her gifts at home. :) Lisa gave her the gift bag and told her to open the blue package first. It was some item that was wrapped in blue tissue paper. I was totally unaware of what was happening or what my Mom could be getting so I paid little attention. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw my sister hold up her camera to take a picture of my Mom and it was then that I looked down on the table and saw a cute green and white ONESIE!!! Oh my gosh, it hit me, she was PREGNANT!!! I flipped out! I started screaming, jumping up and down, running around the living room....you name it, I probably did it at that moment!! I wish they would have had a video camera to capture that moment!! haha! My sister said "Now you see why I wanted to do this at home?!?" haha! The onesie for my Mom said "My heart belongs to Grandma". They got one for my Dad as well that said "Grandpa's little sidekick" and Lisa made a bib for me that says "I love my Aunt"! How sweet!! So for the past few weeks we have had to keep our mouths shut and not let the news slip. Lisa wanted to wait until she saw the doctor and had her first ultrasound before sharing the big news with people!

On Tuesday May 13, 2008 Lisa had her first ultrasound and found out she was 7 weeks 1 day pregnant and her projected due date is December 29, 2008! YAY!! I took a picture of her yesterday:

Lisa - 8 weeks pregnant

How exciting?!?! It's hard to imagine that in just 7 months my sister will be a new mom and I will be a first time aunt! I'm so excited for her and Ben! They will make amazing parents!! Lisa finally shared the news with everyone at church and now the word will spread! The Belle's and Baranovic's are so very blessed!!

So with this great news, we also received great news from Lisa's best friend Jenni since grade school. Jenni gave birth to her first child on Friday May 16, 2008. Here are a few pictures from the hospital! Madison Ann is her name and she is so precious and petite!

the results are in......

2008-05-14T08:04:00.002-04:00

so the semester is finally over and the grades are posted, here are the results:

Here they are everyone, my grades for the Spring Semester 2008:

Articulatory & Phonological Disorders = A-

American Sign Language IV = A-

Hearing and Speech Science = B

World Civilization: China = B-

GPA = 3.331

Thanks for all of your support this semester! I will post other stuff soon!! :)

2008 Cruise

2008-03-20T08:50:00.017-04:00

So here it is...almost 2 months late, I know….the post about one of the most amazing trips I've ever taken! Our family had booked this cruise vacation over a year in advance. And although that seems ridiculous, it made the year building up to this vacation so much better. We saved big time on the expense and we made memories just talking about what we wanted to do while on this trip.

On Saturday March 1, 2008 we boarded a plane in snowy Cleveland, Ohio and had a direct flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The flight was wonderful and in just 3 hours and 53 minutes of taking off from Cleveland's 20-some degree weather we were in beautiful 80-some degree weather! After arriving at the hotel we headed to the beach.

After we visited the beach for awhile, we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up for dinner. We went to a little place for pizza. It was pretty good. On our way back we stopped at a little store and me and dad bought a beer and went to the hotel roof. Up there we met some people from Detroit who were going on the same cruise as us. I told them maybe we will see you around the ship....laughing inside because what are the chances with 3,700 guests on the ship, not including staff. The first day on the ship we were at the pool and there they were, hanging out on the top deck. What a small world! It gets better because that night we went to dinner and they were sitting at the table right next to us! Geez! They were great people, except for the fact they were Michigan fans…BOOOO!

Anyways, back to San Juan! On Sunday we got up early and took the bus to Old San Juan! We went to mass at the Cathedral and then walked around a little bit!
After we checked out of the hotel we headed down to the pier to board the ship! We were all really excited! This was Ben’s first cruise so he was quite shocked when he saw the ship! We boarded the ship and headed straight to the windjammer for lunch! Aahhh! It was good! We waited for our rooms to be ready and once they were we headed that way.
Day 1 we were at sea the entire day! It was a great day to explore the ship and just relax! We spent time at the pool and enjoying the beautiful sea!
Day 2 we arrived in Aruba for a fun-filled day! We had booked an excursion called the Kuku Kunuku bus tour which took us to two landmarks and then to Palm Beach! It was a fun-filled time! We had a blast!

Oh, I forgot to mention that our first night at dinner on the ship we met our dinner mates for the duration of the trip. There were 3 of them. A mom, dad and their daughter, who happens to be the same age as me. Her name is Shawna and she spent quite a bit of time hanging out with me, Lisa and Ben!

Day 3 we arrived in Curacao and were super excited for our excursion. What could this excursion be you ask? The Dolphin Swim of course!! At first I wasn’t going to do the dolphin swim but after thinking about it for a few months, I decided that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I really should do it. I was extremely nervous but it was so incredible. We had a blast. Oh, Shawna came with us too!

Day 4 we were at sea again all day! Another fantastic day to lie in the sun, sleep and explore more of the ship! The days went by so fast!

Day 5 we were in St. Maarten! St. Maarten is such a beautiful island. This day started off rough (I was having some slight health problems) but turned out to be a great day! We went to Orient Beach (the nudist beach) where the water and beaches were incredible. If I ever get to go there again I will be sure to spend more of my time at the beaches! They are gorgeous! We took a tour and it dropped us off for shopping which wasn’t that great in the area they took us too! They do have excellent shopping near port though!

Day 6 we were in St. Thomas and since my parents had been to St. Thomas 3 times and me and Lisa had been there once before we decided to take a ferry over to St. John’s Island. It’s about a 45 minute ferry ride and we went to Trunk Bay for snorkeling! I think St. John’s was by far my favorite island. It is an incredible island. I would go on my honeymoon there and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a vacation. This would be a great place to go for a week to relax.

Day 7 we were back in San Juan and sad to get off the boat! We had an incredible time and would soon find out that back in Ohio everyone was getting hammered with a really bad snow storm. We hadn’t really seen much news related stuff while on the ships so when we checked into the hotel in San Juan we turned on the news to see the snow storm! This really made us wish we weren’t going back home the following day!

Here are some great pictures from the trip!!

San Juan Beach
San Juan Beach

Rooftop view from hotel in San Juan

Cathedral in Old San Juan

Fort in San Juan

The Adventure of the Seas!!! (our ship)

pool deck

my room :)

Me, Lisa & Ben in Aruba

Palm Beach in Aruba

Dolphin Swim

Ben

Me, Ben, Lisa & Shawna

Me & Shawna

Orient Beach in St. Maarten

Me & Lisa on the Ferry in St. John's

Dad & Ben on the Ferry in St. John's

St. John's

Snorkeling

Our Dinner Waiters (Lisa, Prinson, Primo, Ben & Me)

Mom at the Fort in San Juan

Me, Lisa and Ben

We had a great trip and are very blessed to have been able to go to such fantastic places!! I hope to go again someday!!

Little Wonders

2008-03-18T08:23:00.008-04:00

I feel really bad that i'm posting a blog about something else before I post about my trip! Things have just been so busy and this news is so exciting that I had to post it now! :)

One of my best friends, Jill and her husband Andy, welcomed their second child into this world on Sunday March 16, 2008 at 1:16am! What an eventful weekend it was! I arrived home from our amazing trip on Monday evening and had talked to Jill. She said she had been having contractions but she was suppose to be on bed rest and see where things went! As the week progressed she seemed to know that someting was going on.

On Friday night they called me and asked me if I would stay the night in case they had to get up in the middle of the night and go to the hospital. They didn't want to disrupt their 2 year old daughter while she was sleeping. Their 2 year old daughter, Catelyn Clare, is my godchild! So of course I headed over to their place and when I got their Jill was having some pretty good contractions but she still wasn't sure if she should go to the hospital. So she decided the just go to bed and get a good nights sleep. At approximately 6:00am I heard footsteps and her husband knocking on the door to the room I was sleeping in. He said that he water broke and they would be leaving for the hospital shortly. I ran up to see her and for Jill's sake I won't share that story! :) So they left for the hospital and I was graced by the precence of a 2 year old for a day and a half. She taught me so many things and it was a great bonding time for the two of us! Throughout the day we receieved updates from Andy and even Jill at one point. The progress was slow and her labor was long but after 20 some hours of labor she deleivered a healthy baby boy named Connor Pierce weighing in at 6lbs 15oz and is 18 1/2" long! He is adorable! Here are a few pictures from the hospital!

I cannot wait to get pictures of both Catelyn and Connor together! What a special bond they will have as siblings! She will teach him so many exciting things! As soon as they are home and settled I will be over to see them and will defintely do a post after that! (and i promise to try and get a post up about vacation soon too)

I'm BACK

2008-03-11T11:11:00.002-04:00

It's a bummer but it's true! I'm back from the big trip! It was a fantastic vacation and it couldn't have been more perfect. I just got home last night and I have a ton of laundry to do, work, school (midterms..yuck) so I don't have any pictures to put up but be on the look out soon! I'll do my best to sort through them and get them up!

I'm also hoping to be publishing a post in the near future on the newest addition to the Lieser family! My god-daughter is going to have a sibling arriving and I can't wait to meet them! Ok, I better get back to work so check back soon!

Love

2008-02-14T12:09:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone has a loved-filled day. Try not to eat too much Chocolate! :)

Oh and my cruise countdown is still on....16 days to go!! Yay!!

2008-02-06T20:48:00.000-05:00

No laughing!! :) The luggage is out and the summer clothes have been thrown in! They need sorted and tried on but come on people.....we have less than 24 days to go!! Woo Hoo!!!

School Blues.....

2008-01-21T09:59:00.000-05:00

So classes resumed last week and my life turned back into it's boring old self! At this point, my life consists of work, class, studying, homework, cleaning, etc. This was my fear when starting a blog....that when classes resumed I would not have anything to write about. Boo!

My schedule this semester is pretty difficult but I think I am going to enjoy most of my classes! The tough part about Spring semester is that it is so darn cold outside! The weather really takes a toll on your body so the weekends consist of more resting than anything! I am doing all that I can not to get sick! You should hear all the other people in my classes, they are sneezing, coughing, etc. Somedays I want to wear one of those medical masks to class just so I don't catch any unwanted diseases! :)

However, on a brighter note, I only have 40 days until my cruise to the Caribbean! Woo Hoo!!! Oh I can just see us flying into San Juan now! The beautiful sun and beaches and our big cruise ship! hehe! Just to get you all in the mood, I will post some pictures of places that I will be seeing on my adventure in the sun! We leave on Saturday March 1st and come home on Monday March 10th! What a vacation! So for all you Ohio people, enjoy these pictures and take my advice and go on a cruise! You won't regret it! (at least I can imagine how you would regret it) Plan far in advance and you can get a really great deal! We booked over a year in advance and we got airfare from Cleveland to San Juan for $236.00 dollars! Our cruise is through Royal Caribbean and was really really cheap for a 7 day cruise!

ooooo, I can't wait! I am truly blessed to be able to travel! of course when I get back from the trip, I will post my own real photos! They will be better! :)

Backpack Backpack Backpack!!!

2008-01-13T20:24:00.000-05:00

My God Daughter, Catelyn Clare, will definitely want to kill me when she gets older, not only for taking these pictures but for posting them on my blog! My god daughter is just over two years old and is absolutely hilarious! She makes me laugh so much and always brings a smile to my face! Currently she is obsessed with this backpack she got as a gift. The other night we got her out of her clothes to put on her PJ's but she escaped and ran into the living room and put on her backpack and started playing with a toy of hers. I had to capture the moment because it was quite hilarious!

Blast from the Past - Part 2

2008-01-08T19:14:00.000-05:00

So I think I may get killed for publishing this post but I couldn't help it! I wrote a blog a few posts back titled "Blast from the Past" in which I was very lucky to be reunited with my old skating friends, the Shadels right after Christmas! At the time of the post I did not have any old skating photos to share; however, it didn't take long to get over to my parents to search for some memory envoking photos. My dad invited me over to watch the OSU vs. LSU title game last night and when I got there he had already dug through old photos and sorted them out! That was nice! I didn't have to do anything other than bring the photos to my place and upload them to the computer! Some of these pictures are over 15 years old! Wow! These pictures range from skating banquets to rink pictures to a few actual skating pictures. Here they are:

Here is a great picture of Me, Chad, Amanda, Lisa and Bri at the Annual Roller Skating Banquet. This was pretty early in our skating days! It might have been my first banquet.

Oh Wow! The Wooster kids and the Elyria kids! We practiced together on the weekends so that's probably why we took this picture!

Amanda showing off her dancng skills! I love mostly how Lisa and Bri are in the background holding hands while dancing!

Lisa and Amanda taking a break from dancing! (Amanda, who is that guy next to Lisa? His name is on the tip of my tongue.)

Such a Bri photo! Was this before or after you got stuck in the grabber machine? Bri and Lisa were our greatest fans when we were first skating! Thanks you two!!

Sally (Mrs. Shadel) and little Chad! Sometimes it seems like this stuff just happened yesterday!

I had to post this picture! Don (Mr. Shadel) with hair! :) My dad is the first guy and then Don and then my mom! She will kill me for posting this picture!

Our skating coaches wife, who also coached, with their kids Chad and Justin. My mom is next to them and I'm sitting on the floor!

Oh am I stylin' or what?!?! I like how this picture is of Becky but I somehow make my mark in pictures! Probably fixing my hair or something. Teenager! lol!

A little bit later in the skating years! Part of the club in Wooster. I was probably 14 or so and am in the back row with the black and white outfit on. (amanda, do you see lynn sigler in front of me? hehe. she would probably kill me for this too)

A picture of me and lynn at regionals. Looks like I was dressed for practice.

And finally, my mom fixing my sister's hair! We were at Wooster so it must have been a test night. I think I hated those nights worse than competitions!

I hope you all enjoyed this post! It brough back a lot of memories for me! Skating was a huge part of my life and I will treasure these moments for as long as I live! Thanks to all who made it a special time in my childhood!

All for One!! One for All!! Go Cavs!!

2008-01-06T14:05:00.001-05:00

So last Wednesday this guy that I work with, Joe, who I've played softball with for a few years called me around 2pm and offered me two tickets to the Cavs game that night versus the Atlanta Hawks. It was really last minute but they were Free tickets in the VIP club seating. I immediately called my dad, who is a huge Cavs fan as well, and asked him if he was interested in going. He said, "Free?!?!", Ok, sounds good to me." haha! The game started at 7pm but we had to get there early because we had access to the club area where there was Free food and drinks. Even the Beer was Free. Wow! Our seats were nice and we had a great time. Here are a few pictures:

The Cavaliers huddling up before they took the court

The KING!!!

In front of our seats there was this group called the "Scream Team" who do Hip/Hop dancing so I took a picture

The Cavalier warming up!

Team introductions and the Flames!!

And the game begins...

We got to see a really good game. It started slow in which Lebron only had 4 points in the first half. However, he really turned it on in the second half and scored 32 points. The Cavaliers went on to win 98-94. Go Cavs!!

Welcome to 2008!!!

2008-01-03T19:15:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! I can hardly believe another year is upon us! Time sure does fly! I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday! My New Year's was great and very relaxing! On New Year's Eve I joined my parents, my sister and Ben and Ben's family for our annual dinner at Stancatos Restaurant in Parma. The food and company was nice! We always have a good time. After dinner I went to Ben and Lisa's where we hung out for a little while, playing with their kitten Mo and playing the video game Guitar Hero III. We had a bit of fun! (it became the trend over the next day or so...haha) After that we headed to our friend Matt's place for his annual New Year's Eve Bash. This year was a much calmer year for me. I enjoyed spending time with great people and having fun....most of all.....remembering the entire night. :) We played more Guitar Hero and some even brought out the old college drinking games and we rang the New Year in with much excitment for another year. Here are a few pictures from New Year's Eve:

New Year's Day was super relaxing! I spent the night at Lisa and Ben's house and we got up early to attend New Year's Day mass at St. Charles. I joined Lisa and her two college friends for a little while after that for coffee at Starbucks and then finally headed to Mom and Dad's house to spend the day with them. Lisa and Ben came down too and Mom made a good meal. We played more Guitar Hero, watched old skating videos and enjoyed one another's company. My Dad seemed to enjoy Guitar Hero a lot more than Dance Dance Revolution! :) My Mom on the other hand never could get the hang of it! But give her props for trying!! Here are a few pictures:

Blast from the past.....

2007-12-31T10:12:00.000-05:00

When I was about 7 years old my parents started taking me and my sister Roller Skating as a family night out event. It didn't take long before I really started to take a liking to this sport. I started beginners classes on Saturday mornings, then moved on up the ladder over the next year or so. I enjoyed skating so much that my parents put me into private lessons. I made so many new friends and found it hard to not be at the skating rink most days. I would rather have been practicing than going to school and on the weekends I either looked forward to competition or more time at the skating rink with my friends. I loved all the places we traveled and how much my family grew together during that time. I don't think we would be as close as we are today if it wasn't for our skating days.

As I just began my skating days at Wooster Skateland (the old old one that used to be on Rt 3 in the current carpet place) I met so many great people. One of those people and families were the Shadels. Amanda and I became close friends and my fondest memories of skating are spending time with her. Our families would travel together, eat meals together, get our hair done together (oh those painful early mornings), root for each other, etc. We felt like family. Even after Amanda switches coaches we still remained great friends.

I still remember the day Amanda told me she was switching coaches. We were in my parents van and I was devastated to hear that we wouldn't be practicing together. But I knew that we would always remain friends and that I would have her support and she would have mine. We still saw each other occasionally at a practice in Elyria and at competitions. We went through a lot together. Even prior to all of this I remember the first time in my life that I was afraid of losing someone was when Amanda had her accident and had surgery. I remember coming to her house to visit and I was just so glad that she was ok. She had a long tough road but she made it and she was able to skate again.

But these times never last forever. We all grew up, stopped skating and drifted apart. However, due to the Internet and the famous myspace, we found each other again. We began chatting and catching up and I even ran into her sister Bri at college one day. (so random) Amanda was living in Arizona and was getting married soon. Shortly after coming back from their honeymoon she posted a blog about being pregnant. Then came along Brynn and I am stunned at how quickly things change in our lives.

Just this past Friday (12/28) I was able to reunite with the Shadel family after many years apart! It was incredible to see them all! I didn't realize how much I missed this family! It brought back so many memories. We are all grown up now, some with families of their own, new husbands, some going to graduate school (congrats bri) and many more things. But it doesn't take much to slip back into the days when we were young and skating was our life. Amanda, Bri, Sally and Don it was so great to see you all!! I hope it doesn't take this long for us to see one another again!

Oh, so I really wanted to post a ton of pictures from our skating days but my parents have all the skating photos and I haven't had a chance to get to there place to search through them but I do have a couple here at my place that I wanted to share. I will be sure to add more when I get to my parents house! One is a collage of buttons from way back when. The middle button has my sister, Amanda and me in it. The other picture I am posting is from our visit last Friday when Amanda was home for the holidays! What a great picture of all of us!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-26T19:22:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe it but Christmas has come and gone! I had such an enjoyable time going home and visiting with family and friends. On Sunday we had a nice dinner at my grandma's in Chippewa Lake. I don't think we've had a family dinner at her place since before my grandpa passed away 5 years ago. It was nice to hang out and chat and unfortunatley watch the Browns lose to the not-so-good Bengals! lol!

On Christmas Eve, Lisa and Ben came over to my parents so that we could celebrate Christmas with them. We opened presents and enjoyed hanging out! I posted some pictures of the fam opening their gifts.

Mom checking out the slippers I bought her....they didn't fit so now the returning begins..lol

Mom and Dad

Dad opening his gift from grandma

The greatest lady ever, my grandma!

Oh the happy couple...haha

Opening the picture frame I got them and the vacation memory pictures I put in it for them!

So after we hung out all day, we got cleaned up and went to Christmas Eve Mass at 5:00pm! We have attended this mass for many years! All of our friends attend mass as well and after we have a little party at Mom and Dad's. Many people from church come over and we have lots of food and goodies. We play games and watch the little kids get excited for Santa to come later that evening! I wish I would have taken pictures but I didn't. Too busy socializing I guess! Maybe next year! haha!

Another fun thing is that my sister and ben (her husband) sang a duet for the first time this Christmas! Ben's family is a very musical family! They sing, play instruments, etc. For the past few Christmas they have recorded a Christmas CD and it's so much fun! Well this year Lisa and Ben sang a song together, and even though they don't like to share their gifts, I do and I'm so proud of them! It takes guts to sing for others! Click on the link below to listen! I also linked a funny song that Ben sang with his little cousin Jillian and a beautiful song sung by Ben's sister Rachel. The song Lisa and Ben sing is called "On that Holy Mountian", Ben (Will Farrell doing Robert Goulet) and Jillian sing "Winter Wonderland" and Rachel sings "Hope is Born Again". I enjoyed it! Hope you do too!! All the songs are together!!

http://www.box.net/shared/l7ahzdiosg

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I'm sure i'll post again soon!!

2007-12-23T08:59:00.000-05:00

Christmas is almost here! Wow times flies! I am looking forward to spending a few quality days with my family! Today my grandma is have Christmas dinner at her house. So the eating begins today...haha! Tomorrow is Christmas eve and we are celebrating Christmas with Lisa and Ben during the day, then mass with everyone at 5pm and then back to my parents for our annual Christmas eve bash! It's a nice time to relax with family! Christmas day will be very light this year. It's just me and my parents! Nothing major just hanging out! Then back to work on Wednesday! boo!

So my grades finally came in and....I finished with a 3.608 and made the Dean's List! I was a little excited but relieved that it was over! :) Now I have a bit of a break before doing it all over again! :) On Friday I had my first ever party at my apartment. Just a few close friends and family! I took pictures but most were of my god daughter, Catelyn Clare, opening her Christmas gifts! If I can figure out the video I will post a video of her. She loves Dora and I got her a couple things with Dora on it and she was a little excited! Here they are:

I am going to try the video...hope it works!

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you and your families have a blessed holiday! Best wishes for a happy 2008!!

2007-12-16T15:15:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We are 9 days away! :) I finally finished the semester on Friday December 14th at 3:00pm! Phew! What a semester! I'm still waiting on grades but I think I did well! I am looking forward to having 4 nice weeks off! Too bad I still have to work! hehe! I feel relaxed already! Oh, I finally decorated my tree and here are a few pictures:

Once school finished, I finished my Chistmas shopping and decorated all the presents! They are under the tree as you can see! I am having my first ever party at my own place. It's pretty exciting. It is going to be super small and mostly family! My place isn't big enough to have a huge party but I wanted to open my place up for people to visit. I hope it turns out well! I have major cleaning to get done but that's what these good ole' snow days are good for. Yesterday and today we have had just about every type of weather imaginable. (other than beautiful sunny skies and heat...haha) It snowed yesterday and freezing rained and rained last night. Now we are back to snow and at some times today it has been blizzard like. I love it! lol! Here are a few pictures of the first snow warning of the season:

Oh and best story of all I almost forgot to share: My dad called me last weekend and said "Hey, we got a new dog!" I was like WHAT?!?! You guys don't want another dog; why on earth would they get a new one. Well after chatting he told me that this dog showed at the house and basically wouldn't leave. He would follow my dad around and of course my mother, the one who has this things for animals had to feed him! So of course he wasn't going to leave. My parents dog is a Sheltie. Which is a smaller collie. Here are a few pictures of this stray so you all can get the idea of how differnt this dog is from the one they have:

hehe! He was a fabulous dog! But way too much for my parents to handle with the dog they already have and the cats they have living outside. "Moose" as my parents called him would drive the cats crazy! After a week of trying to find "Moose" at home my parents found a Rottweiler Shelter that agreed to take him in! My parents said that the place was fantastic and that they would find him a good home! Good news on that end! I tease my parents that they are the drop of zone for unwanted pets. All kinds of cats, a domestic bunny and now their first dog! For their sake, I hope it's the last! :)

I will be sure to keep all posted on my grades and hopefully some pictures of the party! The holidays are a great time to enjoy family and friends so be sure to do that!

Christmas Joy to All

2007-11-24T22:33:00.000-05:00

I love Chrismas!! It is probably one of my favorite times of the year! The beautiful lights, smiling people, adorable kids excited for santa, christmas trees and decorations and all the time to share with family! The only downfall to Christmas is that school goes until a week before Christmas and it all just flies by way too fast!

This year I am living on my own for the first time and it's so much fun decorating the apartment! I still have a lot of work to do but I got a tree up! It still needs decorations (which are at my mom and dad's) but just having a tree lit up in the apartment brings so much joy to me! I have too much school work to get done but let's just forget about that for a moment and enjoy the holiday season! It's only just begun but 4 weeks will fly by!! Just take the time to enjoy your families and all those you love. Take time to think about those who you don't love and pray for them! We all need someone to love us and pray for us! May God Bless all of you during this blessed season!

Here's a little pic of me and the un-decorated tree (i promise when i decorate it, i'll re-take the picture..hehe):

Lil Mo & Softball Reunion

2007-11-04T09:57:00.000-05:00

My sister and her husband are the proud new parents of their first pet! A kitten! Mo is his name but we like to call him Lil Mo since he's so little! Here are a few pictures:

On Saturday, Lisa and Ben had our summer/fall softball team over for our end of the year party!! We ate good food and played cornhole as long as we could before we got to cold! Here are a couple of pictures:

Anna being Anna

Jon being Jon

Jen & Lana being Jen & Lana

Ben cooking

Corn Hole fun

Is it April yet?!?! I'm ready for another great season with this team! Go Rookies!!

weekend full of love

2007-10-14T21:47:00.000-04:00

Wow! What a crazy weekend! Well, let me re-phrase that...."What a crazy Saturday"!

On Saturday I attended the wedding of Jessica Ann Vigneault and William Heid! It was so beautiful. Jess and I have been friends for 10 years now and I am so blessed to have her and her family in my life. I am blessed to have been able to share in her big day! Here are a few photos:

For her wedding, a friend who lived with Jess' family for a year from Spain, came in to visit. He had not been to visit for over 3 years and it was so special that he could be here to attend her special day! Here are some photos of him from the wedding:

After the wedding and before the reception, I attended my God Daughter, Catelyn Clare's 2nd Birthday Party! I can't believe it has been two years since the day she entered this world. I won't ever forget that day! It was one of the greatest days of my life. She has changed my outlook on so many things! I am blessed to have her in my life. Her mother, Jill, is pregnant again and I am so excited for the birth of their second child in April!! Here are a few pictures of Catelyn's Birthday:

Cassie

Time is a moving.....

Missing in Action

2009

Merry Christmas

Aiden Joseph

Announcement

Update!!!!!

Grades

Update

Update

36 weeks

Happy Thanksgiving & Winterfest 2008

Here We Go Brownies, Here We Go!!

Baby Shower

Sophie Bella and Family

Congratulations

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo

32 weeks!!!

Mile of Quarters

Major News!!!

Party Fit For A Princess!!!!

Carnival of Horrors

Metro Burger & Robots :)

28 weeks

BORING.....

Wild Weekend

24 Weeks

Birthday Card

Happy Birthday

Happy Labor Day

20 Weeks

Emergency Vet Visit

Eddie Eddie Eddie

The FEST!!!

Condo

New Addition

Art in the Park

I Scream, You Scream....

St. Colman's

16 weeks

Broadway Today

Cheese!!!

Exciting News!!

More Posts, Oh my!!

Rhododendron Craziness!!

Happy 4th of July

Adventures in Babysitting

Softball & Golf (can it get much better than that?!?!)

Happy Father's Day & The World's Largest Yardsales

Sprinkler Heaven

Ohio Women's Wellness Symposium

Joyful News

the results are in......

2008 Cruise

Little Wonders

I'm BACK

Love

School Blues.....

Backpack Backpack Backpack!!!

Blast from the Past - Part 2

All for One!! One for All!! Go Cavs!!

Welcome to 2008!!!

Blast from the past.....

Merry Christmas

Christmas Joy to All

Lil Mo & Softball Reunion

weekend full of love