We are getting SCARY-ILY close to our goal!

As most of you know, Jeff has been collecting bottle caps since we have been dating. At first I thought it was cute. (Who am I kidding, I used to think EVERYTHING he did, said etc. was cute. haha) Also, since we had only been dating a month, I never imagined our relationship would last forever. (glad I was wrong about that!) I assumed the caps would leave my life at some point. I also never thought I would see the day when he had collected enough caps to make his beer pong table. That's right, my 28 year old fiance wants to re-live his college years and make a beer pong table of beer caps. We only do the classiest things around here. Thanks to all you savers out there *rolls eyes* we have almost reached the, what I thought was un-reachable, goal of 2,000 caps. Only 300 more to go.


Now as soon as I got the news from Jeff last night so many things ran into my head... 1. Where are we going to put this? 2. With what tools is he going to make it? 3. Will we ever play? I have been with Jeff over a year and have never witnessed him play a game of beer pong.


I thought you might all be entertained at how my Engineering man has calculated these caps. First Let me show you the picture.

As you can see there is a computer involved. First Jeff will separate the caps by brand. Sometimes they are then separated by flavor within the brand. ie: bud light, bud light lime. After he has done this, he puts them in groups of twelve. Once he has 96 of a certain type of cap they are put in an individual baggie. (You might observe those on the right.) After that, they are then added to an intense spreadsheet in excel. This way he know how many different types etc. he has of each cap. This process usually takes 2-3 hours depending on how many he has to sort.

All I can say is this has certainly kept him, and all his beer cap gathering friends, busy for over a year. Now to the part I have been dreading... we begin the build of the table... DUN DUN DUNNNN. Who knows, I will probably be surprised. Jeff has quite the imagination. It will probably be the talk of the neighborhood.

Sherman's Pen Pal

A couple of weeks ago, I was visiting my parents when I get a call from Jeff. Sherman got a package in the mail from Diesel!! Diesel is Joe and Amanda's Jack Russel Terrior. Jeff promised that he wouldn't open it until we got home on Sunday. We (Sherman and myself) were so excited to come home and see what he received! I think Sherman was more excited to ride in the car, but whatever... As soon as we got home, I presented the package to Shermy.

At first he just sniffed it and kind of walked away. Then Jeff had to step in and help. Somehow Diesel did a really GREAT job taping it. Amanda, I think you need to tell me how he did that!

As Jeff was getting the package open, Sherman and I waited on pins and needles!

Finally... the package was open! Diesel gave Sherman a copy of his absolute favorite toy and some of his treats. He also wrote him a note telling him it wasn't very nice to use the carpet as his personal restroom. (We need the dog whisperer) Sherman immediately demanded a treat. I must say, he LOOOOVES them. We save them for times when he is being annoying. It keeps him busy for about an hour, no joke.

I must admit. He wasn't too fond of the squeaky toy. Jeff has decided it was his mission to make him like it! We offer it to him all the time. He is slowly coming around to it. His favorite toy is still that silly hot dog. I can't believe that last min. $2 ugly hot dog is his favorite. haha

We had such a great time opening up his first gift from his pen pal! Diesel is awesome and Sherman told me that he is his best friend! Sorry Rusty and Cosmo, you come in a close second.

Well, Sherman is now demanding my attention, so I probably should go. I never thought I could love an aminal as much as Sherman William Mueller!

After two weeks of work...

They are finished! Done! Mailed! Forgotten! I have been working on my Save the Dates for a good 2.5 weeks. Without my mom close, I didn't get anyone's (except Jeff) opinion on how they looked. I just look a leap and assumed people would love them. I addressed them by hand. I have HORRIBLE hand writing, but mom said it adds a personal touch. Which it totally does! Anyone who has pretty hand writing apply within, because I need the invitations to look nicer. I never realized how taxing it would be to track down all 214 guests to get their addresses. I was at my whits end by Tuesday. After all the hustle to get them done and mailed, it is quite a relief!

The last one was addressed Monday at 6:00. Jeff was outside putting down grass seed. I RACE outside with my camera and demand a picture be taken of me mailing the silly things. I was too proud to not. My first real wedding thing.

The next day after the mail person (I haven't met them, I don't want to ASSUME it is a man =)) took them, I had a panic moment. This is real. I am actually getting married. 214 people now know and are saving this special day. WOAH! The feeling soon left, but it kind of took me back. I am pretty excited to become a Mueller, even though I will have two elle's to write in my name. Besides that, Jeff is beyond amazing, and I feel like I just fit right into the family.

Now, go off to your mailbox and find our cute little faces staring at you when you open the box!

Ok, I promise!

Hello readers!

I know I have said this before, but this time I promise. I am going to keep up with my blog! This is a fresh start! We have a dog now, people want to see pictures. TRUST ME. If you haven't met him, you will fall in love with Sherman. Lots of things go on in ours lives, and I realized the other day that many people I want to share it with, but there never seems to be enough time. Then I came back to the blog.

As far as Jeff and I, we are busy with wedding, updating the house and living the dream. I am sure we will get a ton of stuff finished in the house this winter when it is all chilly outside.

I am going to keep the blog short and simple today because I have a lot of editing to do with pictures etc. Have no fear, I will be back soon! I shall leave you with a picture of our current pride and joy.

Excuse me... Ms?!?!

How many times has this happened to you? You are in the dressing room and you get ridiculously stuck in an outfit. For a split second you think to yourself... Will I ever get out of this, or will I have to wear this awful, ill-fitting outfit for the rest of my life? This happens to me more than I care to share, but it was too funny not too.

The first time I got REALLY stuck was in a basement of a Sears. I was trying on dresses for a formal a couple of years ago. (ok... last year =\) haha I REALLY REALLY liked this dress. I was the only person in the dressing room. I am shopping by myself. (you get the picture)

*small side note* Why do manufacturers insist on putting zippers in the back? and also, when you get to the middle part of the dress, why is it impossible to zip even when you aren't in it?

I try this dress on. It fits me, but the zipper goes all the way up to my neck. I wiggle and shift until I finally get the zipper all the way up. As I am doing this I think... bad idea... but I keep going.

The dress is cute, I decide to buy it. Alright.. now to get out. PANIC! I can't get my hand to the zipper. I move in every possible direction. I am sweating. My body has turned to it's fight or flight mode and is shutting down. I am doomed. I remember the only person I saw in the whole section was an older lady who was not close at all. At this point I force myself to calm down. I sit down and think of a game plan. Somehow I wiggled my way out of the dress enough to get the thing off. My hair is in a tizzy, my face is all red, and I am out of breath as I am leaving the dressing room.

Most people at this point would throw the dress down and run out of the store. NOT ME! I totally bought the thing. It is actually one of my favorite dresses. I just always make sure I have someone present when putting it on.

This similar event happened last night. I was with my little sister. We decided to go to the mall and try on fun dresses. Here I am, again, not being able to get the zipper past the satin ribbon around the middle. I don't want this dress, why am I so determined to see what it looks like!?!? I keep going. I twist and pull and finally the zipper passes that impossible part and I am good to go. Everyone can guess what happens next. PANIC! I got that split second of, will I be stuck in this awful yellow ensemble for the rest of my life?!?! I thought about getting scissors, but then I would have to buy it. I calmed myself down and took a breath. The next few min. were a blur but I did get the thing off.

I decided this was too funny not to share. I know everyone has been there one time or another. I might panic more than most though. HA

A Whirlwind Weekend!

Jeff and I are usually busy on the weekends. I don't know about him, but I LOVE IT! He seems to enjoy himself. He doesn't complain at least! haha

Friday night we had a double date night with Jodi and Brett. We went to Broad Ripple to eat and to Crackers comedy club. It was a lot of fun. Jeff and I found out how horrible we play pool and how good Jodi and Brett are! While at dinner Jode and I had to pull out our new glasses! Afterwards we were supposed to find Kyla and her crew out celebrating her 22nd birthday. It was midnight. Us old folk needed our rest!

Saturday morning Jeff and I headed down to Bloomington to pick up Lily and Sofie! Caroline had a night out with the girls planned but no babysitter. Aunt Janelle and Jeff to the rescue! We had a picnic, did some hiking and lots and lots of swimming! The hotel was in Brown County State Park. I don't know if you have seen this place, but if you have young kids.. CHECK IT OUT! They have an indoor water park. It is amazing!

We did some Hiking too. Sofie found a gourd. I was cracking up when her and Jeff came back with that. She was really proud of it.

They are such great kids! We definitely had a load of fun this weekend with them! Since I live 3 hours away, it is hard to get a lot of "aunt time" with them. I cherish these little things I can do here and there. Caroline said they were beside themselves with excitement for the weekend. I was probably just as excited as they were!

Jeff had a great time too. I was really glad to have him around. I am not used to juggling more than what I need, much less two little children. He definitely went above and beyond! I am really lucky to have him!

Jeff also had a chance to meet 'tired giggly Janelle.' When I get over tired the littlest things just crack me up! (I am kinda even giggling just thinking about it) there was a part of the pool that was a little deeper for the girls. We noticed they were getting a little tired, so when we headed to that section we suggested life jackets. Lily's fit well, but Sofie was having a hard time. If you know Sofie, you know that girl is the QUEEN of hilarious faces. I put the jacket on her and put her in the pool. The jacket went well above her head leaving her floating like a little bobber. She throws her head back and gives a 'WHYYYY ME' look. I busted out laughing. I was still laughing like 20min later. I unfortunately didn't get a picture of that. We did however, get this amazing picture of Lily exiting the slide. BAHAHA

(sorry I can't flip it for some reason. It is worth turning your head though!)

All in all we had a super weekend! I was in great need of a nap yesterday for sure. Next weekend we are off to Mariah Hill, IN and Columbia, MO for Thanksgiving festivities!

Over and out!

The Cooking Adventures of Team Double J

Jeff and I do not know how to cook. This is a plain and simple fact. We have fooled ourselves into thinking we are anything more than mere toast connoisseures. I will prove my point in the following post.

Yesterday we headed off to the grocery store to buy the fixin's for dinner this evening. We were in the store deciding between baked potatoes, or 'creek fries'. I made Jeff decide. Baked Potatoes it is!

Tonight we fire up the grill and Jeff points to the potatoes. I look at him, he looks at me. We are clueless. It was at this point were the realization sets in. We both assumed the other knew how to make a baked potato. YUP... We don't know how to make one. *Pauses for eye rolls* Jeff said we needed foil (which he doesn't have) I knew something about poking holes with a fork. These two things combined just wasn't enough information to make a baked potato.

We then decided to start a new tradition. Trying to 'wing' it at cooking. (no pun intended) haha We cut the potatoes into chuncks. We each got to chose a sesasoning. Jeff decided on Italian Seasoning. I decided on Seasoned Salt.

As I cut the potatoes into chunks, Jeff was busy dipping the chunks in oil and putting them on the cookie sheet. We covered half with his seasoning and half with mine. At this point Jeff says "These can either turn out really good, or horrible!" This thought will linger in our minds the next 20 nail biting minutes while they are baking.

The Chicken is grilled and the potatoes are done. We take a quick picture of our creation and get ready to eat...

Survey Says... drum roll.... SUCCESS!!! We have succeeded at our first winging it cooking night!

I can sense that some of you out there who do know how to cook more than butternoodles, are thinking. DUH.. These are both normal things to put on potatoes. You can certainaly keep those thoughts to yourself. We are going to hold on to this win of a cooking experience, and won't let anyone let us think differently! haha

That is about all for now from the Jster cooking team.

OVER AND OUT!