I am SNOW over it

this ad appeared in the South Bend Tribune on Sunday

Snow For Sale!!
8317 cu. ft. Of It For Sale.
43 Cents For All.
Moving To A Warmer Climate.
Sick Of It, You Can Stay If You Want.
255-5547

giggle giggle :)

So, the snow has slowed down a little here. The other day it actually got warm enough to melt the snow off the roads! Yeah, I know, I was excited too! I can actually get my car up to 30 mph now!

We are supposed to get a little snow this week (a little meaning 2-3 inches). But it has been bitterly cold, much like it has been everywhere else too. But other than that life is pretty good.

Jared is leaving on Saturday to go back to KS for meetings at the corporate office :( I wish I could go with him, but I can't take any time off work right now. But, it will be nice for him to go back and spend some time in Pburg, and check on our lonely, cold house in Girard. We set the heat at 50 so I hope it is doing ok. The following week I am headed back to Washington D.C. again for a conference, so the beginning of the month will be a little hit and miss between Jared and I.

The jewelry business is going pretty well. January was pretty slow with several horrible days of weather it caused many shows to get cancelled. I was getting a little down in the dumps about it until this Saturday when 2 hostesses had an absolutely fabulous show!!! Thanks Gina and Julie for allowing me to come, hang out, and talk about jewelry! I can't wait to see all the great pieces they pick out for free! By the way (I gotta throw a little plug into my blog) we have a brand new spring supplement catalog and it is so great! :) Also, during the month of February, Premier is running a special "Gift with Purchase" Promotion. Purchase $75 or more and receive ANY $40 item out of the catalog for FREE! If you are interested in a Home Show, Book Show or to browse through our catalogs, just let me know.

Ok, enough plugging my business :)

In other Birk news

• Jared's mom celebrated her birthday yesterday! Happy Birthday Mama Jan!!!!! You are the best mother-in-law EVER and I love you so much. We hope to see you soon.
• Jared and I went to our first Notre Dame basketball game last night. It was a pretty good time, despite that they lost to Marquette. It was one heck of a good game though.
• We have had an ongoing "Monopoly Tournament" at our apartment over the last few weeks. I couldn't win for the life of me. Jared beat me 4 TIMES before I was able to finally take him for all he was worth. UGH. Then he beat me another time. Well, Hicks returned home from his sales trip and we roped him into a game (I desperately needed to switch it up a little to see if my luck would change). Well, it worked. After watching Jared mortgage himself into bankruptcy, I watched Hicks try to wheel and deal me (which he made some bad deals on his end) and struggle to stay alive but, in the end, I was the winner!!!! FINALLY! Ah, victory is a great feeling and it has been a lot of fun.

I think that is all for now. I better get back to work :)

So frustrating

UGH!!!!

So, I got my happy butt up at 3:15 this morning to leave and drive 4 and a half hours to Bloomington, Indiana for a 2-day training only to find out that the training starts TOMORROW, not today! OMG! I never mix up dates on my calendar, so this really frustrates me! So, here I am in Bloomington with one change of clothes (I need two), nowhere to go and its too early to check into my hotel (or else I would be there sleeping right now).

So, I am here at the Indiana Prevention Resource Center (where the training will be held) and I am utilizing their library for "research". :) Mostly I am blogging and checking e-mail, but I guess it wouldn't kill me to do a little work while I am here for a whole extra day! GEEZ.... I feel so stupid. At least this town is pretty cool, so I should be able to find something to do. Wish me luck!

It's a sad day in Mishawaka, Indiana

our favorite restaurant closed today :(

We love going to Texas Land and Cattle Company Steakhouse. It has great food, great service and we love the atmosphere, mostly because it isn't too crowded and we know everyone there so it has a comfy, homey feeling.

Well, we will not get that feeling anymore. The restaurant closed today. No notice to customer and very little notice to employees (whom many we have become great friends with).

Apparently, the restaurant that was in the building prior to TLC didn't have a great reputation and when TLC moved into the building it was hard to build that relationship with the community again. Their advertising was lacking and, within the last couple of months, they started advertising more but apparently it wasn't enough :(

We are sad since it was our hangout with our friends on Thursday nights, but I guess we will have to find a new place to hang out. :(

Good bye TLC! We will miss you!

The sun will come out, tomorrow!

actually, it came out today! YAY!

Besides the fact that the temperature outside is -20 (windchill) things are going a little better here. Sun has decided to peek out a little bit today and the snow, for now, has stopped. But, it is expected to come back tonight and dump, even more, lake effect snow on top of us. I am sure that with tonight's snow it will put us well over 2 feet of snow. YUCK! But, on the bright side... I have learned how to effectively dress in layers, bundle up and drive in absolutely horrible road conditions. (I'm trying to see a silver lining to all this weather madness, can you tell?)

On to other matters... my poor baby kitty Jada went to the vet this week for a a dental cleaning and they ended up having to pull two of her teeth. She is only 3 1/2 so I was really surprised. The vet said some cats are just more prone to dental issues, so we will have to keep an eye on her teeth from now on. And, get this, they gave me her two extracted teeth in a little jar. HAHA. I asked Jared if we should have the tooth fairy bring her some treats! :)

She is doing really well and back to her normal self, but that first day back she looked like a wreck from the anaesthesia. Poor baby. Right now she is laying on Jared sleeping. For a guy who "claims" he doesn't like cats, he sure does feed her, play with her and let her lay on him a lot. :) Oh Jared, just admit that you love her. :)

Anyways, I better do some actual work since I was supposed to be "working from home today". I was really motivated this morning and early afternoon, but now I am drained. Catch you all on the flip side... stay warm!

I don't wanna hear it

Just in case any of you all in Kansas or Oklahoma decide to complain about snow this winter. Just remember this....

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA
High: 28° Normal: 31° Record: 62°
Low: 20° Normal: 16° Record: -19°
Snow for Month: 11.1" Normal: 9.3" (JUST IN 13 DAYS and more is on the way)
Snow (season): 44.8" Normal: 36.7"

And there is more to come...

And it is only January 13. (I feel your pain Tara)

Ch-Ch-Check it out!

the girl got some talent

My very good bloggie friend Tara has started up a new blog design business (Blog Makeovers by Tara) with some fabulous "grand opening" specials. Need a new blog design? Bored with the look of your blog? Let Tara fix it up for you.

To read more about her business click here or click the button below.



Let's all bling up our blogs! :)

Addicted

My friend Sarah mentioned this site on her blog and I am hooked. I think the motivation to actually work will be really difficult now. LOL

Check out my first creation!


Winter Wonderland by Stacy1981

I STILL....

heart Sam Bradford

I don't care what any of you chompin' gator fans say :)

Boomer Sooners for life!

Ugh....

I'm in Washington D.C. for work and it sucks. This city is pretty cool, but once you have been here and seen everything, that is pretty much it. And when you have to go at least once or twice a year for MANDATORY training, it begins to feel more like a chore than a nice trip to D.C.

I am extra cranky too because Jared just returned home from Louisiana on Saturday and I left for D.C. on Sunday. :( I am anxious to get home on Thursday and watch some OU Football with my hubby :)

On another random note... anyone ever have to sprint through an airport to make a connecting flight? We did it in Detroit and, seriously, my shins are killing me and my shoulder where I was carrying my laptop bag is soooo sore that I can barely move it. People were probably looking at us like freaks when we got on the plane.... we were all sweaty, breathing hard...couldn't be from the lack of exercise could it? :) I was glad we made it, but it took me a while to calm down and stop sweating. Gross. And, any of you who have been through Detroit... what is with the psychedelic light tunnel from Concourse C to A. I felt like I was in the middle of a hippies gathering in the 1960s and I needed to slip some LSD and "feel the music" and "look at flowers". It was freakin nuts. There was also some crazy techno music which made me feel like I needed to drop some E and love everyone. (I've been in drug prevention training all day so pardon my excessive drug references). :) It is insane and have no idea what it accomplishes besides freaking people out.

Two more days of training... UGH!