Christmas 2011

What a wonderful weekend back home for Christmas! Joe and I headed up Friday afternoon and guess what they had up there....SNOW! We left a brown, snowless ground here at the house to find ourselves having a White Christmas and it was perfect.

We stayed with Joe's parents this year and were able to catch up with friends Friday night. Saturday we spent the majority of the day at my parent's house eating tons of food and even a game of "Hershey Kiss Lemonade Pong". Haha. That evening we went to his grandparents in Cromwell and went to the Christmas Eve service at their church.

Then at the Walli's...

Sunday we started with opening gifts at Joe's house, everyone got lots of goodies, then we made our way to the Shelerud Christmas at Joe's grandparent's house. We opened gifts and I even got in on a few games of Smear. If you know how to play the card game...then you are "in". We took a walk through Bentleyville and then Joe and I headed to my house to see my parents and Sadie.

Monday Joe and I spent some time at Spirit Mountain to get our ski legs working again because we leave for Colorado tomorrow!!! We fly out early tomorrow morning and celebrate New Year's in Glenwood Springs. We have plans to spend time on the slopes at both Breckenridge and Vail and Joe is about to burst with excitement. Every five minutes he goes..."I'm so excited for our trip!!" Seriously...every five minutes.

I will not be bringing my computer with, hey! I'm on vacation!!! so I won't post again until 2012! I wish you all a Happy New Year and may it be a year of blessings to you and your family!

On the 10th day of Christmas...(and 11th & 12th)

My true love gave to me...

An online Christmas card since we didn't send any out this year. We're already planning our picture for next year:) haha 

With Christmas Eve tomorrow and the main event on Sunday I will be away from the computer and spending time with family. I'm hoping you get to do the same.

Happy Birthday Jesus!! and a Merry Christmas to you all!

Love, the Sheleruds

On the 9th day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me...

A whole house humidifier...and I am NOT joking!!!

Joe broke the rules though. We were only going to give the bowling balls as our gift to each other since we're heading to Colorado for a little trip next week so he clearly did not get the memo. He did phrase it as it was something for the both of us for the house and it wasn't a necessarily a Christmas gift. He said he didn't tell me about it because he thought it would be funny if he wrapped it up and gave it to me to open.

Well, I was definitely surprised. I tore off the wrapping paper and all I could see was that he ordered it from Amazon. Then I opened that box only to find another unlabeled box inside. The suspense was starting to get to me. When I opened final box my first words were... "I don't want a fricken humidifier! Now I know how my Mom felt when she got the frying pan!!!!!!" I'm serious...that's exactly what I said. You see, I'm not very good at saying the right thing sometimes. The first words out of my mouth when Joe asked me to marry him were "Are you serious?!". Clearly, I know the appropriate ways to respond.

In all seriousness though, this "gift" is much needed for our house. Every time we go to turn on/off a light switch, get off the couch or touch anything we get shocked. And sometimes those shocks hurt! The air in our house is very dry and Joe said this humidifier will work wonders for us! I can't wait for him to install it so I can actually have my hair not stand on end when I get up from the couch. And Joe, I hope you know I am going to tell people that my very first Christmas gift from you as your wife was a humidifier. :)

Lastly, I couldn't leave Swervo without getting my picture sitting at John Lennon's piano in my boss's office. It's true...this is the real deal! And I did tickle the ivories a bit too with an original tune of mine haha! Shh...don't tell the boss. No one is to go near it!



On the 8th day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me you...

A year in review from the Shelerud Couple:

January - Joe and I were back at it, hitting the books and spending most of our Saturdays in the library. Hello Spring Semester.

February - Celebrated my 25th birthday.Where's my wrinkle cream!? 

March - Knocked off several things on the "Wedding To Do List" such as invites, our registry, picked out flowers, lost my mind.

April - 3 Hole Punch took 3rd place in the league.

May - I was showered with three bridal showers in one weekend! Joe and I brought home a lot of goodies for the house that weekend:)

June - Joe and I both had our Bachelor/Bachelorette parties. I spent the day at the lake and Joe hit the golf course with the boys.

July - We tied the knot on July 23rd!!!

August - After the wedding we headed to Canada for our honeymoon and the Shelerudings blog began it's journey.

September - Enjoyed spending Labor Day weekend with family at the Shelerud Cabin. 

October - A month filled with a new sewing machine, a family wedding, Halloween and a whole lot of randomness.

November - I started my new job as a nursing assistant.

December - Joe was promoted to Senior Operation Engineer and we will be celebrating his 26th birthday on the 29th in Colorado!!

There you have it! 2011 proved to be a busy but wonderful year for Joe and I. We were blessed in many areas of our life and are grateful for everything!

In other news, the past two days I've been training in my replacement here at work. Tomorrow is my last day and it really hasn't hit me yet that when I walk out of here at 5:30pm, I won't be coming back as an employee. It's been a great three years...I was able to have my quarter-life crisis and figure out what I truly wanted to be when I grew up. I was able to plan our wedding, work on my pre-req's for the nursing program and even take a few more classes to lighten my load once I start. I've worked with three amazing ladies who I consider my friends and I can't wait to meet them for lunch once in awhile to catch up on life. I am sad to leave this place but looking forward to the next season in my life.

On the 7th day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me...

A Christmas Card DIY Project!!! Finally....my creative juices were flowing again! At least for five minutes.

Every year we get many Christmas cards from family and friends and we really don't have a good place to put them out on display for all to see. After cruising through my new favorite website a jolt of inspiration hit me like a train and I have this to show for it:

I had some silvery, snowflake ribbon, bought some clothespins and hung them up on our cupboards! I like it...no, I love it! Joe and Sadie liked it too:)

Look, I officially made the Shelerud Christmas card (bottom left corner of the picture)!

Then in all my homemakerness (five points to me for a made up word)...I made the traditional almond bark pretzels. Yum.

In more holiday news, Joe and I receieved our gifts to each other in the mail the other day. We're going to show the bowling alley who's boss with our new balls!!! That's what she said.

Joe: The bowling dominator!!

Me: The one who raises our handicap score!! haha

It's just so pretty...

In other news, I got an A in my Pathophysiology class. Booya!

On the 4th, 5th and 6th day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me...

A lovely weekend with my sister Sadie.

This picture says it all. Friday after we got back to Saint Paul, we picked up Joe and went to grab some dinner at a restaurant downtown in Saint Paul. We were all starving since it was close to 8:30pm so we chowed down until our bellies were full. When we got back to the house we watched Christmas Vacation (a classic for the holiday season) but both Sadie and I were falling asleep through the whole thing while Joe played on his computer.

Saturday Sadie and I spent a solid five to six hours Christmas shopping and were exhausted at the end of our trip. We were both getting sick of all the people and the endless lines at the registers that at one point Sadie said, "We are definitely our Mom's children". So true...

That night I made homemade chicken wild rice soup (and it was delicious) and we took Sadie out for a surprise. I talked it up more than it should have been but there is this one house that has every Christmas lawn ornament and character in their yard. It's seriously blew me away the first time I saw it.

Joe did some researching and found a few other places worth checking out. This place had Santa and the Grinch running around.

And this one was the best one of all. You could tune into a radio station and the lights played to the sound of the music. It was awesome!

After our tour of Christmas lights was over, we headed to Andrea and Ted's house for a little visit. The boys just got a new puppy named Ruby so we got to meet her and Joe and Brody played hockey in the living room. Apparently Joe wore Brody out because he slept in until 8am the next day:) They were best friends that night...it was cute:)

Sunday Sadie and I watched "The Last Song" and I'm pretty sure I cried the last half hour of that movie. Poor Joe comes downstairs and we're both sitting on the couch, crying. We met my Mom around 1:30pm and Sadie and Mom headed one direction and I headed back the other way. I love having my sister around and wish we could make that happen a bit more. There is never a dull moment with her!

On the Third day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me...

My last day of working twelve days straight!! As of 5:30pm tonight, I will finally have some time off to myself. And the best part about this upcoming weekend...my sister Sadie is coming to spend it with me! I'm meeting her and my parents halfway to make the exchange and I can't wait! We have to finish up some Christmas shopping and I think she wanted to watch Elf, which I am totally game for. Yep, it will be nice to have my little sister around.

Joe and I are both DONE with fall semester and it feels oh so lovely! We finally have time to see each other without thinking, "I should really start studying" or running around trying to get things done around the house. Joe has a long list of things he's been putting off until break such as finishing wiring the basement, washing out the beer and wine bottles from the wedding and I wouldn't be surprised if he made more beer in his time off too! I have twenty five days off before I start my first semester of nursing school so I am going to take full advantage of it! Having only four days left of my full-time job (after today that is) will help with that too, plus Christmas and New Year's and a little trip to Colorado...I'll be savoring every moment of the next twenty five days.

On the Second day of Christmas...

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Fall Semester Finals!!

Joe finished his final last night and I take mine tonight!!!! In less than ten hours I will be done with Pathophysiology and will probably be singing this...

Oh yea...I'm starting to feel good seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!! Today also marks my last day, probably ever, getting paid to do my homework. Man, I wish I could still make that happen. In one week from today, I will be walking out of the office one last time as a full-time employee and back into the world of being a full-time student and making no money. Ahh...the sweet life of a college student.

On the First day of Christmas...

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Joe received a bonus at work for increasing rate in the Hydrocracker (whatever that means:)

Seriously, could I have married a more studly man than Joe?!

and...

My co-worker Jill bought Joe and I Christmas stockings! Funny story, she originally bought them for me as a Christmas gift and after I told her I was going to make our stockings she ended up returning them. Yesterday during our Christmas lunch she told us the story of returning them and I told her she should have kept them because I would not be finishing the other one. The stocking looked really goofy. So last night after work she ran out to pick them up and gave them to me as a "going away" present. How sweet!!

Slowly Surviving...

This past Saturday and Sunday I worked my first shifts at the new job ALONE! Well, my coworkers were there to help but I wasn't following anyone around like I did for my training and I was officially out on my own. Overall, it went pretty good. I am not the best nursing assistant in the world and I definitely am slow compared to the other aides. Getting to know the residents and finding my own routine will fall into place the more I am there. Sunday morning I woke up with a really sore back and body from the constant lifting and moving around - and I'm still a little sore today. You know, it's easy to try to practice good body mechanics but when you're in the middle of lifting someone with your legs and they can't get their feet to move those good body mechanics kinda get thrown out the window. 

There are a lot of things about the job, mostly the hard manual labor, that I really don't care for. For the amount of residents and the level of care that the majority of them need, the home doesn't have enough aides on each shift to really take care of them. You do your best but in between taking care of your own group that you are assigned to and helping the other aides with lifts and two person transfers, you find yourself running around with your head cut off most of the time.

On the other hand, there are things about this job that make all the craziness worth while.

One of our residents with Alzheimer's needs help eating so I was helping her on Sunday with her lunch. I've never seen much facial expression from her and she usually grabs onto things with a really tight grip and doesn't let go. At one point, her and I made eye contact, she smiled and put out her hand. I put my hand in hers and she just held it without tightening up.

Another resident who is very soft spoken (he whispers when he talks) was lying in bed while I was getting his clothes out of his closet. As I started putting on his socks, he looks at me and says "Beautiful" and I could hear him clear as day!

There is another resident with Dementia who's husband comes in every day to be with her. He is such a sweet man and you can tell he will stand by his wife's side for as long as he lives. He called me and all the aides who take care of his wife angels for all the work that we do.

And throughout the day on Sunday I had quite a few good laughs with a few of the residents. Some make me really laugh with the things they say and one raced me down the hall in her wheelchair.

It's moments like these that really make this job more than just a job.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Well, technically yesterday was his birthday but that doesn't mean I can't say Happy Birthday again! My Mom had family over last night to celebrate him with cake, gifts and I'm sure a lot of laughs. He spent his day cutting brush, changing the oil in my Mom's car and watching the Vikings lose yet another game.

My Dad is a pretty special guy and I am lucky to have him part of my life. I mean, my Dad is the fricken "Boat Man" and some would even describe him as a celebrity in my hometown. He's always been there to fix my car, take us for snowmobile rides around the yard and has been one of my biggest supporters. Although he's quiet, he has made quite an impression on me with his good heart and the way he takes care of those he loves.

Happy 54th Birthday Dad! Here's to many more years celebrating you!

Lady Balsam

As I shared on Monday, Joe and I picked out our first tree together last weekend and now Lady Balsam resides in the Shelerud Household. Yes, I named our tree Lady Balsam. She stands tall and has such a nice shape. Unfortunately her skirt isn't quite finished yet (those handmade flowers are taking a long time to make) but don't worry, she's not showing too much trunk. Sad part is, I don't think she will ever live long enough to see it finished. Poor girl.

I wouldn't feel too sorry for her though. You see, I think she has a wee bit of a drinking problem which for her means a whole lotta fun! Every morning when I wake up I have to fill her cup up and I have to do the same thing when I get home from work! I wonder what she does when Joe and I are both at work for the day? Thankfuly her drink of choice is free and comes straight from the tap. Oh Lady Balsam, the best, most perfect first Christmas tree!!

Joe and I sat on the couch last night in the glow of the lights. It's those simple things I love during this time of year. The smell of Christmas cookies baking in the oven, sitting by the Christmas tree, family time and having someone to share it with in all those wonderful holiday moments. Joe and I finish up our fall semesters next week so in between studying, work and all of life's activites mixed in there, I am once again reminded of how blessed Joe and I are.

The Art of Christmas Shopping

There are some things I definitely take after my Mom and the older I get, the more I use the expression, "I'm turning into my Mom!". Thankfully, she's an amazing woman so I think I'll be okay. We can make ourselves laugh over the weirdest things and will most likely be the only two people in the room who find it funny. She's a homebody and would rather stay home than go anywhere on any given night. I am the same way, although I don't think Joe appreciates this on Friday and Saturday nights. And she doesn't like dealing with crowds. Now, I can handle crowds if I'm at a concert to see a favorite band but other than that...get me in and get me out! Enter: Christmas Shopping.

Why I wait until well into December to even start my Christmas shopping is beyond me and every year I tell myself it's going to be different. Last night I made my way to the mall to pick up a few things on my list and the parking lot was overflowing with cars which only meant the shoppers were inside setting up an obstacle course for me.

My plan as always, is to get in and get out. If I don't see something that catches my eye in one store, I leave and head into the next store. I don't waste time dilly-dallying all over the place.

The Art of Christmas Shopping to me means:

1. Prepare your Christmas list BEFORE you head out shopping. I knew what I wanted to get some people and had ideas for others. If something extra catches my eye, great! but I don't just stroll along waiting for the perfect gift to come to mind.

2. Also, if you have any coupons laying around the house grab them! Nothing like saving money during the holidays. Everything I bought last night (except for one thing) I either had a coupon for or it was on sale. Score!

3. Walk fast. I think I'm a fast walker in general but when I'm on a mission look out fellow shoppers. I don't like to walk slowly behind you because you are talking with your friend about what happened at the party last Friday and how you thought he really liked you. I mean all the signs were there right? I find I like to shop by myself because then I can get what I need and move on. Plus, the mall is not open all night people. I have other things to do before work the next day.

4. Plan your route. Start at one end of the mall and work your way towards the other end. I like to make one clean sweep of the place and not run back and forth in every direction possible. If you miss a store on your way, you always the walk back to the doors you first entered to pop in.

5. Remember that it's not all about finding the perfect gift, although that does make watching the person open their gift pretty awesome. Christmas is not about the presents rather it's about spending time with family and friends...and of course the big guy, Jesus. I may sound like a crabbyy holiday shopper but it's really not as bad as I make it seem. I was able to finish a lot of people on my list but I still have a few more to go. Now I have Joe to help me divide the list and conquer!

Yep, I'll probably always wait to start my Christmas shopping until December and I'll probably never find the "perfect" gift for everyone, every year. At least I have a good plan for dealing with the crowds of people...get in, dodge and weave with Christmas list in hand, and get out. Happy Shopping Everyone!

Hanging with the Nephews

On Sunday I went to church with my sister Andrea, her husband Ted and their two boys - the greatest nephews on earth. They recently started going to Cedar Valley in Bloomington and invited me to come along with them. Joe had to head to school to work on a group project that morning so I made my way to meet up with the Miller's. After church, Andrea asked if I could take some pictures of Brody to send out with their Christmas cards. Devin apparently already had a slew of photos from his school picture to summer sports so he was good to go in the picture department:)

This is the second year we've attempted to get together so I could take some family photos of them but finding the time has proven to be a bit of a challenge. Andrea if you're reading this, one of my New Year's resolutions is to get some nice family photos of you guys!! We should probably start planning a weekend now for next year!

Here are a few of my favorites that I snapped of Brody and the only one with both of the boys looking normal. :) Before we knew it, Brody was dragging behind Devin and trying to pull him down to wrestle. Boys will be boys!!

After church and taking a few pictures I was able to hang out with them at the house and ask them what they wanted for Christmas. Devin's list was very specific and Brody just wants trucks. :)

DIY Winter Art

When I was putting up the Christmas decorations on Saturday I noticed I still had my fall diy art still sitting out. Pretty sure it's not fall anymore since there is snow on the ground.

So during a mid-afternoon study break I made a snowflake out of white paper. I tried my hand at it a few times until I found a shape and design that I liked. Before I left to rock babies last night I switched out the old and put in the new!

I realize my snowflake is a bit larger than the frame but I think it looks pretty sweet. I haven't made a snowflake like this in years!

I also had some extra Christmas ornaments laying around so off into the mason jar they went. Not sure how I feel about this but it is what it is. My creative juices weren't flowing too good last night...ha

On a side note, one of the little babies I held last night had a little resemblance of Tim Allen. He was so cute!