let's go Hawks

tailgating with two of my favorite guys

Jordan and I finally got to go to our first Iowa football game of the season and thankfully they won! It was a nail biter down to the end and even went into overtime...any way it takes to get a victory, I'll take it! My mom stayed home from the game to hang out with Everly so Jordan and I were able to tailgate and enjoy some Hawkeye fun! It was a nice way to see how it will go on Monday when I leave again to start back at the hospital. But at least now I get to the spend the rest of the night and all day loving on my girl before Monday morning rolls around! Every weekend is a good one and a Hawkeye win makes it all that much sweeter!

our Hawkeye Family

It's Game Day for the Hawks! So that means one thing... we are all bleeding Black and Gold! Everly looks good in Hawk gear! She's the cutest little Iowa fan that I know and love!

happy to be a Hawkeye! 

touchdown Iowa!

love our Hawkeye family

starting her early and teaching her all about football

snuggling with both my girls...
I don't know who is more tired: Everly or Paisley?!

Paisley's thinking, "this whole baby thing is exhausting..."

Wait, what month is it?

I love the screen capture option on the iPhone.
So what if I'm behind on this....I still love it!

It is Monday, December 3rd in Iowa and the temperature is 68* outside. What. The. Hell. Is this heaven?!!! Umm yes, in fact it is!!! If it could stay this nice year round or at least above 50* that would make me oh so happy. Or least making it through the winter without snow? No, still too unrealistic? Well, it never hurts to dream about it! I love seeing the extended forecast snow free and still at least above the 40s! That is definitely something that can make any Monday a good one! Happy Monday!

Give Kids The World

For the first time in my entire college career, I was able to tell my work supervisor that I am unavailable for Spring Break and can't work. And this is because I am finally going on my first ever Spring Break trip and I could NOT be more excited about it!!!! I got asked to go on the "Child Life Alternative Spring Break Workshop: Give Kids The World Trip" and am so pumped! They only take ten students, TEN students, each spring so I feel honored and lucky to be part of the group of ten. We will be traveling to the Give Kids The World Village which is located about 20 minutes away from DisneyWorld in Florida! GKTW is a home-away-from-home village that is ran entirely by volunteers and it is a place where kids with a life-threatening illness and their families can stay and visit for a week....entirely COST FREE! They get a week of vacation in a fantasy land and get to visit the Disney parks for free. Seriously, this place is like a dream land! If you have seen the movie, Letters To God, then you have seen a glimpse of the village. There is a mailbox there, from the movie, where kids and families can mail letters each day and many times they are prayers, hopes and dreams written by the kids, siblings and parents. There is soft-serve ice-cream served around the clock so kids can have ice-cream for breakfast if they want! I will spend the week volunteering with the group by helping to serve meals, hang out with the families and play with the kiddos and advocating for Child Life while learning different ways to incorporate where Child Life services could be provided. We each will get a diagnosis of a child staying at the village, learn about them and their diagnosis then do a presentation on it at the end of the week. Then to top it off, our group gets to spend a day at SeaWorld and Downtown Disney--possibly a trip to one of the parks is in the works as well!!! Yipee!!! Talk about the best spring break trip ever!!!!!!!!! And it is all entirely covered by Iowa (for me at least!) since I am a teaching assistant so it is covered as part of my tuition...double yipee! I have never felt luckier to be asked to join this amazing group of people going on the trip and I feel like it is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me! It warms my heart and I am so, soooo excited for it! It may have taken me six years of school to go on a spring break trip, but I would say this one is well worth the wait and definitely well deserved! 

Heartbreak Hawks

The Hawks did the unthinkable today....they blew the game and lost. At home. On parent's weekend and senior day. So devastating. The game was a pretty boring one to watch but considering it was sunny and warm in the mid-60s and we got tickets for free, we were thankful to just be at Kinnick and watching our hawks! Win or lose, we're still hawk fans! With it being Veteran's Day weekend, they also had a full-field flag and a really cool half-time show that representing each branch of the military services. Thank you to all of the veterans, old and young, who have fought for our country and for our rights. We wouldn't be who we are today without you all and we'll always be thankful for all you've done of us! We were happy to enjoy the beautiful weather today because it's looking like tomorrow and the rest of the week had some 30s and 40s on the forecast...I don't think I'm ready for that yet! But I am ready for Christmas decorating which we will be doing tomorrow!

spending the day with the hubs and hawks....perfect Saturday!

I love Kinnick Stadium

Friday Funnies - 11.9

Whoo whoo another week down and wouldn't ya know, it looks like we have some awesome weather lined up for this weekend!! Jordan and I got tickets for the Iowa football game this weekend so we're pretty pumped about that as well...it's supposed to be mid-60s and we get to spend the day at Kinnick watching our Hawks! There are few things better than that so hopefully the Hawks pull out a big win for us to watch! If not, well, I'm sure we'll have a great time tailgating at least because some of our closest friends will be back in town again. Yay for visits from friends! Hope everyone had a good week and an even better weekend. Now, let's get laughing!

I know I am not the only person to think of Scar whenever you are told "Be prepared!"
These construction signs should actually have his picture on them...just think of how serious people would actually take them!
image via Pinterest

You'll eat a muffin. You'll eat it and like it!

So try all of our delicious Cunningham muffins...at Cunningham muffins!

homemade mini pizzas for gameday!

Well right now, our Hawks are playing and it's halftime. And they look awful. Man, we spent the day tailgating, hopping around seeing a bunch of our friends, soaking in Melrose Madness, and walked past the roar of Kinnick Stadium before heading home to catch the game. We were going to try and get tickets but two things in the end made us decide to come home: a. the tickets people were selling were from $50-75 a piece and we just don't roll like that. and b. I was already cold and had all of my layers on that I brought. So sue me, I forgot to bring a hat and gloves! Anyway, now after watching the first half in the comfort of our home, we're both pretty happy we passed up the tickets! Since it's gameday, I figured we'd go for a fun and easy dinner that's like the other tailgate food we had been snacking on all day. And the first thing that came to mind was, mini pizzas!!! We actually make these bad boys every Thursday night at the hospital for Bingo & Pizza with the kiddos and they love them! This seriously is a 15-minute dinner and about a $5.00 meal and it's delicious. Is there anything better than a quick, cheap and tasty meal? I think not!

Ingredients:1 can of homestyle biscuits (I used the smaller ones that had 10 in the package, but you could use the big fluffy ones that have 6-8 in the can)
1 jar of Ragu pizza sauce
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of mini pepperonis (I used turkey pepperoni--70% less fat than regular!)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400*F
2. Take biscuits out of can, flatten them down between your hands and then spread evenly on an ungreased baking sheet.
3. Cover biscuits with the pizza sauce (however much sauce you like), then layer the cheese and pepperonis on top. 

equal peps on each pizza...
I forgot how much they spread so I would add more next time!

4. bake for 10 minutes or until the biscuit is golden brown and the cheese is baked to your liking.

5. let cool and enjoy! 

Then cheer on your team like crazy to play a better second half! Come on Hawks, pull it together! And there's talk of carving our AMAZING pumpkins tonight...so that could be happening! Since it's already getting so late though, it might be a two-day project but I'm excited to carve mine because I have a great idea instead of just decorating it....and then I'm going to make roasted pumpkin seeds! Mmmm! 

Sunday Snuggles

snug as a bug.

It's been a cold and drizzly day here all day long so that calls for some Sunday Snuggles! I actually had to work this afternoon at the hospital so I made the most of the morning and got a good snuggle session in with Paisley. I spent the afternoon at work checking on some kiddos and making sure that they have enough activities and games to keep them busy for the day. Then I hung out with the sweetest and sassiest 7 year old I know! She is a recent relapse but her spirit, sense of humor and big bear hugs would definitely make you think different. It's hard to complain about an afternoon at work when I get to spend it being inspired by such amazing kids.

Once I got back home though, it was right back to the sweats and hoody to enjoy the rest of this lazy Sunday! The afternoon NFL games were still on so I got to catch the second half of the Vikings game....as well as Jordan freaking out excitedly one minute and ranting the next. Always hate to see the Vikes lose but at least our Hawkeyes won and pulled off a huge upset over Michigan State! And since it's so cold and crappy out, I opted for some go-to comfort food tonight and we had the rest of my homemade beef stew. Yummmy! I whipped it up after making a pot roast last week then with the left overs, I added a packet of dry onion soup mix and a can of beef broth....just like my Grandma does and it was just as delicious! Now it's time to settle in, snuggle up and enjoy some of our favorite Sunday night shows, Dexter and Homeland! Hope everyone had a good weekend, enjoyed some R&R and are geared up to start another week!

October coming in hot!

It's Monday and it's a new month...rabbit rabbit, October is here folks! And what a great weekend we had to kick off this fabulous month! I would have recapped about it yesterday but I felt the need to give one last plug about September being Childhood Cancer Awareness month because let's be honest, that's 1000000x more important than the drunken chaos we caused over the weekend! But let's recap away:

My good friend Caputo got to town on Thursday night so we stayed up late chatting and giggling like girls always do when they're with their friends and slept in late Friday morning. After going to lunch and doing some shopping for some of her family members for new Iowa gear, we came back to our place to lounge. We quickly realized that there was a day long marathon of Say Yes To The Dress on and well, after we realized that, it was a done deal. We were committed to the couch and recliner for the rest of the day! The rest of the crew didn't show up until 7:30 and Jordan was gone working until 9:00.....the best part of it all was we got a notice on the TV screen that said "Going into energy save mode due to inactivity of 4 hours." Yes, that means that we didn't even touch the remote for 4 HOURS! We just can't resist a good TLC marathon of SYTTD! Once everyone got here, we had a few cold ones, got all dolled up and hit the town. Of course, by hit the town, we went to Brother's and only Brother's. We met up with several other people and had a great time. Lots of dancing, lots of laughing and not so much drinking because we wanted to keep it somewhat together so we could make it to tailgating early in the morning!

Saturday morning rolled around and we all woke up to ACDC's Back In Black...it wouldn't be a Hawkeye Saturday without waking up to their intro theme song! Once we all pulled it together, we headed to Melrose Madness to enjoy some good ol' tailgating Hawkeye Style! I love the atmosphere of gameday in Iowa City and I don't think it will ever get old to me! Unfortunately, I had to go to work for the afternoon so it was a tame tailgating morning for me and I went to work for a few hours....but when I got back, the game still had half left so I caught up pretty quick to everyone! Turns out everyone tailgated all day long for the whole game...and then some! And the Hawks won which made it an even more exciting Homecoming weekend! Way to kick off the conference play and start with a win Iowa! We all made the trip back to our place, crashed and napped but then since we were all recharged, we started round 2. And what other way to start it off than by doing a Game Day powerhour and a Disney powerhour?! We got loud. We got rowdy. And we got out of control. But we didn't get any knocks on our door from neighbors and no one got injured. We had a riot and thinking of 13 adults all screaming out the name of the Disney movie as the powerhour clip would change still makes me laugh. Man, we have some awesome friends. 

We wrapped up the weekend by making breakfast on Sunday morning and all lounging and recovering watching some NFL football. One by one, our friends had to leave but at least we know we'll all be reunited at the end of this month for our close friend's Jared and Heather's wedding....can't wait! All in all, what an awesome, entertaining and fun loving weekend. It's weekend's like this that make Jordan and I so thankful for joining Dance Marathon because that's where we met all of our closest friends and the ones who were here with us this weekend! Already anxiously awaiting our next reunion at the end of the month! 

ready for a night out on the town with my girls!

the hubs.

Hawkeye Love Hug

happy alums after a Hawk win!

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month...

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and today is the last day of the month. What have YOU done to make a difference in the life of child with cancer or for a family with a child battling this nasty monster? Remember, my brave little friend Coleman who has earned his angel wings once said, "an act of kindness, big or small, is the greatest gift of all." Once the clock strikes midnight at the end of the month, September will be over. But the fight to cure childhood cancer won't be. And we need to start facing the facts and amp up the funding so that sufficient research can be getting done. For instance on average, 36 kids are diagnosed with cancer EVERY DAY in the United States. That means, that 1 in every 4 elementary school has a child with cancer and the average high school has two students who are current or former cancer patients. Not only this but cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children over the age of 1 even with cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, AIDS, asthma and juvenile diabetes combined. Childhood cancer cannot be prevented. It spares no ethic group, socioeconomic class or geographic region. It can happen anywhere, anytime and to any child. Scary thought?? Yes. Wish you could do something about it, yes? Then by all means, DO SOMETHING!!! Donate your time by volunteering at a children's hospital, Ronald McDonald House, or a sibling/parent support group. Donate money in any amount to a research based or hospital based credible source (always, always know where your money is going--it's sad how many people try to make a buck out of people trying to do something good.) Make hats or blankets for the children in the hospital. Donate gift cards to general places such as Target, Walmart or Visa cards, gas cards and fast food cards for families in the hospitals to use. Spread the word. Advocate for these kids and their families! 

Many people look at me with a sad look when I tell them what I'm going to school for and the professional field I have picked to work in. They think, "isn't that so sad? how can you stand that? what a depressing job..." Yes there are sad days and yes, there are days that I can't stand because it is so unfair seeing cancer strike such innocent kids. But otherwise, I don't think of it as a depressing, downer of a job. Every day I get to the hospital, I find hope. The halls are filled with laughter and I'm always greeted with hugs and smiles. The kids I meet have the cards stacked against them every day and they still wake up more optimistic than even the most well off people I know. My heart hurts for them all more than they would ever know but because of their spirits, they make my job worth every minute. I cherish all of my time that I get to spend with them. Every day I am inspired by the kids and families I meet to do more with my life, try harder, be a better person, don't give up on myself, not to stress over the little things, and to let go of my worries. The toughest lesson I've learned though from too many of these kids is to love wholeheartedly every minute of the day because we never know when our last minute will be. The fight doesn't end because the month of September is ending. And thanks to mine and Jordan's amazing family and friends, we were able to make a $350 donation to Dance Marathon, the student organization at Iowa that raises money to support kids treated for cancer at the University of Iowa Children's Hospital! We raised this money during our Dollar Dance at our wedding reception and honestly, that is one of our favorite decisions we made about our wedding! We are grateful for the money we received and are honored to be donating it For The Kids. This organization is very near and dear to our hearts as this is where we met each other, both of our closest friends and it led us to our career paths. 

This is why we fight for the cure and why we keep dancing. For sweet kiddos and precious babies like Jasmine. For the kiddos who have earned their angel wings. For the kiddos who have fought the good fight and won. And for the kiddos who put their gloves on day after day and fight back. Make a difference for them. Be the miracle. For The Kids, always and forever.

http://dancemarathon.uiowa.edu/
Donate and get involved!
Creating Tomorrow By Dancing Today!

Iowa's 100th Homecoming Celebration

This weekend it will be the University of Iowa's 100th Homecoming! Pretty cool, huh?! And it will be the 6th one that Jordan and I have celebrated...weird! The best part about all of this is that we will have a full house this weekend with six of our close friends all staying at our place...it's going to be cramped but it's going to be awesome and I can't wait! I already have the whole place clean and organized, toilet paper is stocked, towels and blankets are clean, air mattress is ready to go and we have plenty of beer and frozen pizzas to last us a week! Let's Go Hawks and hurry "home" to us friends! Can't wait for them to start arriving tomorrow!

working for the weekend

It's hump day so at least that means two things: the week is already half over and a great weekend is now closer to being here today than it was yesterday! And I'm super excited for this weekend! My brother is coming on Friday night with both the kiddos and Kat is meeting them here! A weekend with the coolest brother and sister-in-law ever and throw in the two cutest kids in the world mixed with a home Iowa football game along with Jordan and our friends?! Well people, that adds up to what's about to be one hell of a weekend and I for one am so pumped!!!! I haven't seen Scott and his family since the wedding so I'm looking forward to seeing them and hearing all about their new house in Madison and catching up while enjoying some cold ones together! Happy Hump Day everyone and here's to another fabulous fall weekend!

I'm so hungry I could die!!!

Iowa won! And we tailgated like we're freshman all over again! I'm pretty sure I wasn't even a real person at one point because I was SOOO hungry (and okay, maybe the gin bucket didn't help my case.) And we had an absolute blast every minute of the whole weekend. I mean, how couldn't we?! Jordan's parents bought us tickets for the game and then my parents surprised us and flew up for the game too. AND to top it off, all of our closest friends were there too! It was amazing and quite the reunion for all of us to be together again after the wedding! I know I say it a lot, but we're so lucky to have such awesome family and kickass friends in our lives!

it wouldn't be a game day and tailgating without a love hug

started out as boyfriend and girlfriend...
last season we were fiance and fiance...
and now this year we're happy to be Mr and Mrs!

my fam at the game
Dad, it's not raining. Ditch the poncho!

The Bean

Turns out The Bean isn't so big after all...

finally eating dinner and celebrating the Hawks victory!

my two favorite guys and the biggest Hawk fans
who I know and love so much

I've got spirit...And a post wedding chop!

SURPRISE! My post wedding chop has officially happened!!! And I love it! It feels 100 times better, lighter and healthier. And now that I cut off all the length, it made it look even more blonde which means I can put off highlights for a little while longer...I definitely like the length/cut on me the best because I think it suits my face well and makes me look more my age or least "older" without aging me toooo much! haha if that even makes sense?!

AND it looks like the crafting bug is here to stay! And with football season around the corner, I sewed myself a new Hawkeye dress just in time for tailgating season...who says football and cute dresses can't be paired together?! I got the inspiration from some pins on Pinterest of course and decided I needed to make myself one! Why spend $50-60 on one from Scheels or on-line when I can craft one myself exactly how I want it?! Yay for having the crafty gene, thanks Mom! To make it, I used a shirt of Jordan's that he never wears anymore then bought the black and white polka dot fabric for $4.00....I already had the elastic and black thread so the total project cost was $4.00, whoop whoop! Another successful DIY sewing project in the books!

Back In Black

Less than a week until Iowa Football is officially kicked off for the season! And we're doing it up big in Chicago at Soldier Field none the less! I don't know exactly when I started getting so into football but I can't say it's a bad thing. Maybe it was when I first started at Iowa that I realized I needed to step it up in the "football knowledge and watching department". Maybe it was when I realized, "hey I need one more thing to make my blood boil and since Iowa football does that to my Dad sometimes, I'm going to get into it too." Or maybe it was when I realized it's true, that guys dig chicks into sports especially when the chick is okay with lounging around all day in sweats with football on. Whatever it is, I'm glad I finally woke up and accepted it. I love me some college football....okay and the Vikings thanks to Jordan. Can't wait to kick off the football season this weekend in Chicago with both of our families and all of our friends! Back In Black will officially be on repeat the rest of the week...Let's Go Iowa!!!!!!