Thursday, June 26, 2008

Well . . .

I ran across this blog the other day:
http://brianseay.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/jehu-and-really-expensive-gas/
Such an interesting article about the rising cost of gas and how it is affected third world countries. Kind of puts things in perspective when I'm complaining about the cost of gas and how it means we have to drive less.

Well, not much new to report- sorry to say. I'm currently super INTO So You Think You Can Dance right now. I've never taken dance or know much about it- but one dance last night moved me to tears it was so good. I love that show. Also, apparently there is a Chaeli twin in Lansing. There have been multiple spottings- and one by my hubby who even thought it was me!! One of my co-workers came up to me and asked if I was at Bravo the other night because he saw me. . . Ummm, nope. Soo, let me know if you see my twin anywhere- I very curious about this. I mean, how can there be two people THAT good looking running around in this town.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Today's update...

So Chaeli asked me to post a video that I recently completed at Trinity.  It is based on a song called "when the tears fall".  Very powerful song and I would highly recommend listening to the words along with soaking in the visuals.  I had a ton of fun shooting the video and got to use my camera and loved every second of it!  Enjoy...
So sorry for the picture-less updates lately. I've been updating from work and all of my photos are on iPhoto on our home computer. I have photos from my lunch with Meg and Mom, picnic with Jon and dinner out with the girls!

So, my mother in law bought me some Aveda products for my hair for my birthday- the pure abundance volume products I've been lusting over. Well, now, I'm addicted. Truly- my cut finally looks the way it's supposed to! So now, I'm going to forever have to buy these products- I'm hooked! They will be my one frivulous buy for myself I have to make. Do I need these products, are they a necessity? NOPE. But they are my splurge.
Jon's splurge are Express jeans. The man refuses to purchase any other ones.

What is the one thing you splurge on?

Friday, June 20, 2008

This business I work in- man, it's crazy, it hurts my brain!! Trying to decifer whose lying and whose being truthful. Whose going to follow through on their word and whose going to screw you. I mean, life is hard enough when you don't have to be on your toes all day long trying to figure out whose scamming you! As my boss said yesterday, people's true character comes out when times are bad- and right now, with the DRA passing- times are rough in this business- at least here in the US.

Anyways! Tomorrow is my BIRTHDAY!! A big WOO HOO for that one! First day of summer- longest day of the year- and my birthday! Couldn't be better if ya asked me. I'm celebrating by having a picnic with Jon (and some ColdStone) and then heading out with some girls to see a movie and go to Troppos.

Alrighty- here's to hoping your Friday goes quick and the weekend is upon us. God bless-

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Mannnn, last weekend should have been my birthday. It was great- I got to see the Zubert/Ackerman clan on Friday- and then on Saturday, got to see SOME of the O'Neill fam. I really loved seeing everyone! Kym and I headed to Jonelle's shower in GL and then came back to Lansing for the Saturday night service at Trinity and dinner on our patio afterwards with mom and dad, John and Katers. And Sunday, we went to Ukai with the Bishops- it was a great weekend! We ended it by watching the heart pounding US Open 18th hole with Tiger and Rocco. Craziness- not sure I've ever seen Jon that stressed out/excited over sports before.

Well, I've been tagged by my college roomie, Lacey (darn you Lacey). Though I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to do- I think you're to write five random things about yourself (Right??). So, here it goes (really, I had a tough time decided WHICH five to choose):

1) My junior (and senior) years of high school, I went to South Padre Island with my friend, Laine. I ended up bungee jumping from the second tallest man-made jump in North America. It was crazy. And, I bit my lip during the first free fall, so when I finally was on the ground and talking to the camera (yes, the whole thing is on tape), I had blood dripping from my lip. And I had no clue, and it's all on camera. classic. The first free fall was terrifying, but once I began to bounce up and down, it was super fun. I hate heights, but I've gone bungee jumping, there ya have it. My brother, John, out did me the next year, he actually went sky diving!

2) I.am.horrible.at.math. Honestly. Our math program at GL was pretty bad (for me, others did okay), we did a pilot program called Core Plus Math where you learn math in GROUPS. And it's all integrated math, so you don't learn algebra, then calc then trig. . . it's all integrated throughout the four years of high school. I really struggling with it and I didn't learn a whole lot. So in college, I took the most basic math class I could- and still needed a tutor (and I Think I still got a C, maybe, worst class in my college career). I was majoring in elementary education at CU the first two years (Lord help me) and you have to take this basic skills test to become certified (or something, I dont' really remember). I failed the math portion, TWICE. It was God's subtle way of telling me "your too stubborn to drop out of the program yourself, so I'm going to make you." Seriously, I hated everything to do with teaching- wanted to poke my eyes out during the classroom observation class- but I didn't know what else to do. I ended up switching my major to social work and it was AWEEEESSOME. God works in mysterious ways. Just don't ask me to help your kids with their math homework.

3) I have a hard time making decisions- I'm really fickle- just ask my hubby (poor man).

4) I'm a klutz, really. I should wear heels more, since I am so short, but I just dont' do well in them. Really.

5) I love sunshine and being warm. I have a really hard time in the winter when it's cold and dark. I'm trying to learn to not be such an extremist about it. . . since most of the family is in Michigan.

Ok, now, I tag. . . Michele, Wendy, and Mark.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Picture Update



I'll tell ya, blogspot has been giving me a heck of a time uploading photos lately. But tonight, tonight, it was faster than anything.  Maybe it's my internet connection? I don't know- but look- we have photos- lots o photos!!!

So last weekend was spent at the Ackerman Beach Bungalow for a First Birthday celebration for my sweet nephew Westin:

Erin had such cute beach decorations for the party- including these cupcakes that were used as favors:

The cake makers and their sand castle cake:

The adorable centerpieces she made out of beach grass and photos of Westin:

The little man and his first taste of cake- I think he liked it. . . :
The ride there, Jon and I got a little bored, so we busted out the camera- below is a photo montage of our car ride:
Our constant traveling companions- coffee and iPod:

Jon- with his new obsession- Twittering:

Ahhhh, make a funny face for the camera:

My feet: :)

We just had a baby shower for one of my coworkers at Block- here are all the girls:
Today we headed up to Battle Creek to met the Zubeman's before they left back for Minnesota.  We had a great day at the zoo. It poured on us at the end and we had to make a mad dash for our cars- which happened the LAST time we went to the zoo and was kind of a weird coincidence.  We went to Don Pablos for dinner, which is my all time favorite mexican restaurant. We had heard it was out of business. . . but not that one.  They surprised me by celebrating my birthday- complete with a sombrero and sopapilla's.  I really felt loved by them- and I'm so thankful to be apart of that family- thanks guys!


Wednesday, June 11, 2008

First of all, I want to say a massive CONGRATULATIONS to my friend, Sarah who got ENGAGED on Saturday!!!!!

All of my GR college friends met on Friday night for dinner and were talking about how Sarah was going to be getting engaged soon. I hop on my computer on Monday morning at work and see that she got ENGAGED over the weekend!! Holy cow!! So excited for her! And Jon and I actually have Sarah to thank for our relationship- honestly!! Right around our one year dating mark- I was starting to feel restless and blah blah blah. I met Jon in the stairwell of our apartment building and told him I needed a break. Later that night, I was sitting in my apartment with Sarah and Michele (and Wendy? I can't remember who was there. . . ) And Sarah basically verbally slapped me and said, "Chaeli, you are retarded, Jon is awesome and he loves you so much- you do NOT want to lose a guy like him". Seriously, she told me what was up and thankfully, I was smart enough to listen and not lose him. So Sarah, THANKS!! (I don't even think she reads this blog, ahhh well!).

Well, we spent the evening cleaning up our yard from the storm- there were a lot of branches and sticks down in our driveway. It was kind of cool though- as we were FINISHING- five department of transportation trucks roll up and say- hey, we'll take all those sticks for you (We had about three big piles). So that was awesome- God timing. Unfortunately, I had to throw out a lot of chicken and meat that was in our fridge and freezer from the power outage. . . boooo.

Trinity still does not have power so Jon's been editing from home. It sucked walking out the door to work this morning as he's sitting on our comfy couches with his laptop- I want to stay home toooooooooo!

Well, that's all for now folks, I need to get to work.

(EDIT). I am sore. From dodge ball. Yep. I'm such a loser.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Quick Update:
After a weekend away at the Ackerman's- definitely came home with a horrible cold and a house with no power. Isn't that IRONIC??

Friday, June 6, 2008

Wanna hear a wedding story

I'm thinking about writing my wedding story on here:
http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=28399

Do you think they'd be interested in our story? Maybe I could even post photos of. . .
-the cake falling over
-Justin Heap with a chipped tooth and gash in his head. Oh, and then his allergic reaction after our rehearsal dinner to the shrimp cocktail (anybody say swollen lip and hives?). Justin- isn't that crazy that all that happened???
-Not knowing if we can get our hair done because we can't get ahold of the hair salon
-Getting to the hair salong just HOPING the lady was there because she wasn't answering her phone. realizing she had bought the LAST generator that was available in town and was able to do our hair.
-Spilling nail polish down my ENTIRE leg the night before
-Michele Bishop doing my nails in the lobby of the hotel, because, oh wait, the nail salon didn't have power either
-Crying to my mom when we realized there was. . . no power. . . anywhere.
-NO POWER, NO POWER, NO POWER
-Packing for my honeymoon in my bedroom with a flashlight. classic.
-Panicking because we can't find my little brother, Steve (thankfully, Andy had put him to bed in a hotel room).
-Balling my little eyes out and Trisha Heap coming into my hotel room and writing down what I needed. She was awesome.
-Meaghan and Carl running to Meijers to get me make-up the night before.
-My Grandpa and Grandma (sob) unable to make it to the wedding because my Grandma fell and broke her arm on Wednesday (no photo of that, that's not funny)
-Me with cucumbers on my eyes at the hair salon because they were SWOLLEN from crying the night before.
-Meaghan almost dying trying to drive from school to the reception hall to help us decorate- it was like a mini tornado outside.
-I think that Friday was the craziest most emotional day of my life.

But you know what? Had you not known all this had happened on Friday night before the wedding, I dont' think you would have noticed a thing. Saturday was bright and beautiful and everything really turned out great. The church (amazingly) had power and our reception hall had generators and looked gorgeous. And it put everything into perspective for me, I remember thinking, "Just get me down this aisle to marry this man, I could care less about anything else". Because really, that's what it's about- nothing else. And thankfully, our honeymoon was awesome and was so smooth and perfect. We've heard horror stories of other people that were married that day- I think we fared pretty well comparatively.

So, that's my wedding story. Whats yours?

Summer lovin

ahhh, I love this warm weather- love it!!! Some people may complain about the mugginess or warmth- but I'll take this over dark, and cold ANY DAY.

We have a baby shower at lunch for one of my co-workers- which is super fun. Tonight I'm heading to GR for dinner and coffee with some of my favortist people- Wendy, Michele, Sarah, Marissa and Suz. I can't wait to see Michele and her cute little belly! Then were continuing south to Bridgman because Mark, Erin and Westin are coming home!!!!! Were spending all weekend with them and closing it off with Westin's 1st birthday party on Sunday afternoon! Really, they are so great,I can't wait to see them! And I'm sure Westin is so much bigger than the last time we saw him.

Well, I should get some work done before this shower!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Just what I needed to read . . .

My job has me mostly sitting at a computer and on the phone. Throughout the day, I often browse blogs while on the phone or doing things on the computer. . . . or procrastinating. . .. ahem, anyways. . . Today I wanted to share a blog with you that has been such a blessing to me:
http://www.xanga.com/resolved2worship

Last night, I was having a little pity party for myself- for a couple of reasons (pity party's are the worst, they just spiral you right on down). Work is beyond frustrating for me right now and I feel like I could tear up right now just thinking about it. I felt chubby. I'm sick of my skin raring up all the time- just frustrated. And I'm the type of woman (maybe it's all woman?) who just snowballs things. I start thinking or talking about an issue or a problem and it just fires me up. That's not so much a good thing when your having a pity party.

But once again, the Holy Spirit provided just the right words for me to hear through a woman I've never met. Isn't it cool how technology can be used for so much good (or so much evil?). And one thing I'm remembering- whatever happens with work (or anything), I know that all things work together for the good. And that's what I'm clinging to.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

One of my favorite songs of all time- Goo Goo Dolls- Better Days. Jon and I are brainstorming a video for Trinity during Christmastime using this song. . .

And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight's the night the world begins again

And it's someplace simple where we could live
And something only you can give
And thats faith and trust and peace while we're alive
And the one poor child that saved this world
And there's 10 million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words
And sing out loud
Cause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight's the night the world begins again
I wish everyone was loved tonight
And somehow stop this endless fight
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cause everyone is forgiven now
Cause tonight's the night the world begins again

Monday, June 2, 2008

Are you a yuppie?

Hola!
I mean honestly, could today be at all nicer than it is outside? I mean, it is GORGEOUS out! And thankfully, Jon is having his pod (i.e. department) over to our house today for their monthly pod meeting. I'm hopping home for lunch to help him get the food and everything set up. They'll get to enjoy the new patio, yay!!

Our weekend consisted of Maggie Moo's and shopping (honestly, I am still dreaming about my Maggie Moo's ice cream. Seriously, it was amazing), yard work around the house, landscaping, lunch out at Tavern on the Square, church, working out, grocery shopping, more yard work, disappointment in the Pistons, etc. etc. I'm also thoroughly enjoying my new phone, check, check, check it out: http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo750/index.html

Jon and I were talking on the way home from Meijers yesterday- we were discussing whether or not we are YUPpies. Do we even know what a Yuppie is? Are YOU a yuppie? What a weird word. I dont' think are hearts are yuppie-ish, but we probably are yuppies- I mean, we drive an SUV, we love starbucks coffee, both have professional jobs, no kiddos and we definitely live in the city. Hahaha, well, regardless, I hate stereotypes but maybe cause I was a social worker before I sold my soul to the business world. :) just kiddin- have a good one!!

Chaeli