Saturday, February 28, 2009

A Fish Story


Ok, so my fish story is not about some crazy big fish I did or didn't catch. Instead, it has to do with the fish fry I went to at my grandparents church last night. If you are Catholic, you may be familiar with not eating red meat on Fridays during lent. To give a little background my Grandpa Heegn (the one who made the sketches in the previous post) actually organized the fish fries at St. Ann's Church over 25 years ago, and they are still going strong. Well, yesterday was the first fish fry of the season, so of course I wanted to go. I really enjoy just about every kind of fish...fried catfish, boiled shrimp, fried shrimp, clams, etc... This may be a little drawn out, but here is how the events leading up to last night unfolded:
I had called my mom the night before and she wasn't sure if they (my parents) would make it since dad had already planned to go to the conference basketball playoffs with some old high school friends. I was a little bummed, and decided that I may just stay home after I got off work and make french toast to finish off the loaf of bread on our counter. However, my sister called me right when I got off work to let me know that mom decided she would go to the fish fry and then meet my dad at the game.
So, I pick up Brandon on my way home from work and head towards the fish fry only to end up making a wrong turn over the railroad tracks. I had to call my mom, who had no idea where I was from my descriptions. We decided to both back track towards the steak house where I could follow her the rest of the way to the church (Yes, I have been to this church a million times...no I really don't have an explanation for why I turned on the street I did). We waited for my mom to get back to the steak house and followed her the rest of the way to the church just fine.
Now, this set of events put us at the fish fry waiting in line with tickets for our meals with my mom facing in the direction of the doorway talking to Brandon and me. This is when we hear a loud whack/thud sound. While Brandon and I were turning to see where the sound came from, my mom, who saw the whole thing, was already by the man's side.
An elderly man had lost consciousness and fallen on his way towards the doorway. My mom, nurse Anna, was able to safely turn him over, have someone call 911, and help him as he regained consciousness. Although she is not a physician, she believed he had suffered a small stroke, as his tongue went towards his right side when he stuck it out and he was having trouble swallowing. He also had a concussion after the blow he took to his head. He kept repeating some of the same things. Every time he would ask what happened and then say that he didn't want to go to the hospital. When she kindly explained that he needed to because he needed some stitches in his head (it is better to have them focus on a minor cut then a serious stroke), he would state, "Well damn!"
It wasn't like my mom saved his life, but it was comforting to everyone else there to have a nurse by his side until the EMTs arrived, especially since he didn't have any family there with him. I really hope the best for him in his recovery. He may have even cracked some bones from taking such a hard fall.
I really don't know why why mom changed her mind about going to the fish fry. I also don't have an explanation for why I would turn the wrong way and get so turned around she had to come back and find me, which put us at the fish fry a little later than expected. Sometimes, I think the Holy Spirit leads you places where you are needed without you even knowing it...

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Pillow Love

I have been searching for inspiration for our master bedroom for quite some time now. I originally thought I would stick with natural tans and browns with a few red accents; after all, red is the color of romance. I really have never been much a "red" person, which must be why I can never seem to find just the right red accent pieces to use for inspiration. I even made a point today to wonder through both Hobby Lobby and Pottery Barn in search of these red accents with no luck. Don't worry though...I just hit up my new favorite online place for inspiration, Etsy, and snagged these two wonderful sets of pillows from here. Oh the ideas for our master bedroom are in the making!!! These will work perfectly with our tan comforter we got for our wedding too. I will keep you updated if I make any changes to the bedroom. They will more than likely be on my Spring Break though, after I get another paycheck or two. Can't wait to get these lovelies in the mail!



PS- I told Brandon about my exciting find, and he said, "Decorative pillow are not functional." Oh well, I bought them anyways ; )

Monday, February 23, 2009

Caramel Popcorn

I was cleaning out my emails and came across my absolute favorite recipe for caramel popcorn! I got this recipe from my friend Lynn's mom, and it is oh-so-delicious. I decided to put it on here, so I will know right were to find it the next time I am craving this wonderful snack. Sorry, but this picture is not what it actually looks like. I didn't take any pictures of the popcorn I made. I found this general picture online just to use for the blog.

So here it was you need:
1 bag of puff corn (essential- do not buy regular popcorn...I bought the HyVee brand)
1 stick of butter (I used real butter, but I am sure any kind works)
1 cup of light brown sugar (I may have added a little extra)
1/4 cup of Karo syrup (one small bottle made me over 4 batches of this stuff!)

And here are the directions:
Bring butter, brown sugar and karo syrup to a boil
Pour over puff corn in a large bowl- stir
Spread over 2 cookie sheets
Bake at 210 for 40 minutes; stir it around every 10 minutes

Not only is this easy to make, but it cleans up super quick too!!!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

The Ducks Are Coming

Wouldn't it be terrible to not teach a dog bred for bird retrieval how to hunt ducks?! Well, Brandon decided that Covey needed to learn how to retrieve this weekend.

This is Covey Saturday morning, waiting patiently to retrieve her duck...she loves her poppa!
She would bring it back and lay it down to get her treat...what a champ!

Ok, she wasn't this perfect at first! Here is a video of her Friday night during one of Brandon's first attempts to teach her duck hunting. He even makes the gun sound...cracks me up everytime ; ) Also notice how he lets her know, "The ducks are coming!"

Basketball Debut

My little sister is a junior in high school. She did some praying over the summer, and received a testimony that she was to switch from public to private school. The private school she goes to, CPRS, is extremly small. She went from a class of over 300 to a class of under 30! Because the school is small, they encourage everyone to play sports. My sis has always been an avid volleyball player, but somehow she got talked into trying out for the basketball team after volleyball season was over. She must be a natural athlete, cuz she turned out to be pretty good : )

Here she is shooting a basket in her last basketball game of the season today...she made this one too!
And here she is doing a little "boxing out"...go #25

I would never have had the courage to go out for a sport like this; she is so brave! Just because I like to brag on my little sis, I also would like to mention she got 200/200 on her first research paper...wahooo! I didn't write my first research paper till I was a senior; she is already passing me up.

Friday, February 20, 2009

A Tribute to Gpa Heegn

We went over to my parents house last night for dinner. On the coffee table my mom had a small collection of my Gpa Heegn's sketches she had rounded up over at my Grandma's house. I have always known my Grandpa was a bit of an artist, from his detailed Easter egg decorating skills. My mom explained to me that her dad frequently sketched small pictures on scrap paper when he was waiting at job sites (he was an electrician that would have to wait for other construction teams to finish up before he could start wiring). My mom had already purchased a frame and some black tissue paper, and was planning on framing some of her dad's artwork for him. This is kind of a bitter-sweet tribute, as my Grandpa has lost the ability to walk, write, and even eat after suffering multiple strokes. I absolutely loved the idea, and helped put this collection together last night as she was washing up the dishes after dinner.

Something else that I learned last night is that my Grandpa would always write "This is a new pen," when he would pick up a new pen. She came across one of those scrap pieces of paper as well, so we taped this piece of paper to back of the frame. The fact that he even signed the paper makes me smile even more.
Just for kicks...Here is my sister's cat, Molly, trying to sneak up on Covey while she was sleeping. Notice how Cove sleeps all stretched out- silly pup!

Great idea to put together this collection of artwork mom! Thanks for letting me help, and teaching me a few things I never knew about my grandpa...
PS- dinner was delicious too : )

Friday, February 13, 2009

A Little Good & A Little Bad


The economy isn't as good as we may like it to be, and this has hit pretty close to home for Brandon's family. Brandon's father lost his job at the end of last year. At first they cut his hours, but then they let him go completely. Brandon's dad has been applying for numerous jobs over the past couple months and even had several interviews. I know finding a job is not easy right now with most companies making cuts. This also means there are hundreds of out-of-work people applying for the same job, making it all the more difficult. Luckily his dad has a great personality and an awesome work ethic. He was able to land a new job with Direct TV, which he starts the week after next. We are going to celebrate the good news with them tonight!!!

On a sad note, I learned last night that one of my parent's good friends is going through a divorce. Her husband recently moved out after moving on with another woman. My heart breaks for her and their two boys. Please say a prayer for all those people going through divorces right now. I admire all those single parents out there...

Valentine's Day


I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day tomorrow!!! Brandon has been my Valentine over 7 years now, and I couldn't be happier. Just for kicks I thought I would post a picture of the little goddies I purchased for him. I am going to make a little scavenger hunt for him to do when he gets off work today. We actually already went out for Valentine's dinner at Kyoto Steak House last night, since our puppy is going to be recovering from getting fixed the next couple days. Brandon gave me some chocolates and lab puppy training books (I have been wanting to buy some, since I have never trained a little puppy before). I made him wait to get the gifts I purchased though, since I wanted to make him work for them ; ) I thought those KY massage oil samples looked fantastic, since we both love a good back massage. This was also the first year that we are husband and wife, so I couldn't help but purchase a Valentine's Day card from the "husband" section. I don't know why, but I secretely love that I get to buy him husband cards...maybe its a girl thing.

A New Gate

After only having Covey a week, Brandon decided it was time to make our back yard completely fenced in. Luckily, the yard itself came fenced in. The only part left for us finish was adding a gate across our walk-through porch. With the help of Mike, Brandon went to Lowe's and used our whole Missouri tax return to purchase boards, screws, metal posts, and latches (he didn't want to wait 2 weeks to special order a pre-fab fence, so he designed his own custom one). Here is a picture of Brandon and his dad working on it last Saturday...


Brandon's sister Misty brought our niece Emarea over to play with Covey while they were building the fence. The weather was so nice, we spent most of the day outside. Here she is showing me the treat she is going to give Covey- notice Covey is already laying down...smart puppy!


And here is the completed fence! I think it looks better than any pre-fab fence we could have ordered- love my handy man! We decided to put the fence on the front side of the porch so we can still let Covey out our main door to go potty; this caused us to have to move our mailbox to where it is now in the picture. We plan on power washing the porch and staining the porch and new gate at the same time. We are going to have to put up some guttering this spring too. When the rain freezes that porch becomes a sheet of ice. I learned this the hard way...ouch!


Friday, February 6, 2009

Our New Addition

Brandon and I adopted our first puppy together this week. This little girl is an 8 week-old laborador retriever. We came across her at PetCo last Saturday. She had been rescued by the Linn County humane society and was living with her foster mom who brought her upto the store. We instantly fell in love with her, and officially adopted her on Monday. We named her Covey (precounced like a lake "cove" with a "y"). She is not yet house trained, but we are hoping to fix her of this quickly. Lucky for us we don't have any carpets in our house for her to make a mess on. I am not sure how long it takes for puppies this old to learn how to let us know when they need to go. Today she has only made one tinkle inside, so I am very happy! Right now the sweet little pup is curled up at my feet fast asleep. Here is a picture of her and Brandon after Mike and him came inside from pulling Brandon's motorcycle engine back out of his bike. Mike kindly donated his water bottle to her toy collection- she loved it! I have been busy reading up on puppy training this week, since I don't want to teach her any bad habits we will have to break later. I have never trained a puppy before, so wish me luck!!!



Something You Don't See Everyday




I came across these pictures on one of my memory cards and couldn't help but post them. I live in a 2nd floor apartment in St. Louis. Outside of my window I have a lovely view of both the Basilica (a huge Catholic church where the pope visits) and the garbage dumpster. I happen to stare out my window a lot when I am talking on the phone with Brandon because my phone charger is plugged in on that wall. This is one of the silly squirrels that pretends to be king of the dumpster; he had some how managed to get a milk ring around his neck. I couldn't help but grab my camera and snap a few pictures of this oh-so-funny occurrence. After all, it isn't everyday you see a squirrel with a necklace on : )