Followers

This is insane!!! I've already got the offer of a giveaway if my followers move over to
JustWhemandOsc.blogspot.com

I only have 2, but what an awesome pair they are!

News

Well, for those of you who are close to the family, you may have already heard that our little family of 4 is about to be split into smaller families. After a long fight,  I have decided that I simply cannot fight his alcoholism anymore, and I am going back home to VIRGINIA where I have the love and support of my famiy and friends.

It's funny...its blowing snow and cold, and almost 4 years TO THE DAY that I moved up here, a new bride, with huge hopes of living a life with 2.5 children and a white picket fence and a husband who put me at the top of his list for all the rest of his days. Just not so.

Alcoholism is such a scary disease and if anyone out there is struggling, or loves someone who is struggling, and just wants to talk, PLEASE email me. We could probably benefit a lot form just sharing stories and crying together right now.

I can still be reached at erosenbergh@gmail.com
My etsy store is on "vaca mode" until I get settled, but it is www.etsy.com/JustWhem
New blog will be slow to start, but its going to get good my loves!! www.JustWhemandOsc.blogspot.com

New years eve in "Little Bavaria"

Kurt and I took a little 5 hour drve north to Frankenmuth, Michigan for New Year's weekend to have a little time to ourselves and try to relax. We enjoyed our stay at the Bavarian Lodge, ate at Oma's resturant, as well as the Frankenmuth Brewery and shopped at all of the cute little places along main street including the Frankenmuth Cheese Haus.

One of the most exciting things for me was to go to Bronner's Christmas store. It is a HUGE Christmas store that is open all year. My grandma had taken us there when I was six. It wasn't quite as exciting as I remember, but I did get Oscar a few new ornaments for his tree!

Well well well...

Look what the cat dragged in! A blog post! It's about time!!!

This family has been plagued with migraines and the flu...
and then there were a few snow storms mixed in there...
and some late nights and weekends that had to be worked.

 Those all sound like excuses, and well...they are, but I'm back and I'm going to try and get things back on track.

Kurt and Caiden...twinsies!! I took this picture at the church. Kurt was helping prepare food for a fellowship and Caiden insisted on helping. Since Uncle Kurt took off his tie and jacket, Caiden wanted to do the same thing...and I just thought that they were too cute not to capture the moment!! This is one I will show his girlfriends in the future (Caiden's, not Kurt's!) :)

On a break...

...until further notice!!

My top 11 of 2011

As I look back on 2011, I can honestly say that I am glad to see it go! This year was tough to say the least. I know that in my "Best of 2010" post, last year, I said that the year had been rocky, and I hoped that 2011 would be better...well baby,  I had NO IDEA how rocky life could get!!

For 2012 I'm just praying faith, our families and for our health, as that was quite an issue this year!

Oh yes...and to find happiness in the small things in life, because that's what is what helped me get through all this mess this year. And so, without further ado...

My top 11 of 2011 (in no particular order...the little things!):

1. Snow...I love snow, even though this blizzard was a lot!!

2. Our house! Finally, a place to call our own!

3. My Nutso Dogs!! I don't know where I would be without these 2 lunatics in my life!

4. Caiden and Kyle, 2011 brought the absolute privilege of getting to know these 2 guys and being their aunt. I could not be more blessed!

5. Aron and Jason...2011 meant that my "baby J," turned 5...ugh where does the time go? Living 800 miles away does not get any easier as the years pass! I miss them every day!

6. Becoming more active on my blog and etsy shop shop! If I could only make a living at this crafting thing!



7. My best friend has a baby! Holy cow, that still shocks me!! Avery Mason, you are so loved, baby girl!!

8. A little family fun..haha

9. I think this picture speaks for itself!

10. Our 2 year anniversary.

11. Mini NYE vacation to Frankenmuth, Michigan...more pics to follow. Wahoo!

Happy Happy Happy

And Happy New Year to the rest of you!! Now excuse me while I edit some pics from our little New Years Vaca, so that I can post them on here! Just wait, you are going to LOVE them!

Weiner Dogs on Wednesday

This picture was taken on Oscar's first Christmas, in 2009. He was six months old.

My my how times have changed! Not only do we have 2 pups now, but they only got a few toys each (instead of a BUCKET FULL!) and I didn't even bother taking ONE picture of them :)

Santa Baby!

So I'm curious to know what Santa brought for all of you!!! Do you let your husband's pick out your gifts, or like me...do you leave VERY specific lists?

Kurt and I had agreed to keep Christmas gifts pretty simple this year, so I had asked for socks, glue gun sticks, and a little dremel tool. Kurt wanted underwear, t shirts, and K-cup coffee. We are SO exciting around here!

I am SOO happy to have my little dremel tool...I can't wait to try it out on all of my little projects! I didn't even know which one I wanted or which accessories I wanted, but this is the one he picked out:

I don't even know what all those little bits and pieces do yet!! Can't wait!!

He also surprised me with something! We saw these babies in a store window a few weeks ago and I mentioned that I liked them! I bought another pair of emu boots the day before our wedding because it was unseasonably cold, and I had planned to wear sandals, so I ended up those instead...and they are WORN OUT!!! I love emus more than Uggs believe it or not!  So now I have these:

And last but not least, I am so fortunate to have a crafty mother-in-law! I have been eyeballing one of these FOR-EV-ER!!! Mom-in-law has one, and it rocks!! It is awesome for card making, scrapbooking, cutting vinyl, stencils, Sunday school projects, lettering, etc etc etc....Yahoo....I have a Cricut of my own now!!

Boys will be boys!

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope that you all had a very blessed holiday with your families! Kurt and I were able to spend the morning in church, where I tried to explain to our nephew, Caiden, that this was the BEST service of the year because we were celebrating Jesus' birthday! He was crabby and overtired and totally not into what I was trying to tell him. I kept telling him that we get to sing all the best songs and that the whole hour is a huge celebration!

He then replied, "Do we get to do two Holy Communions? Because THAT would be really cool!!"

I didn't know how to respond to that! I guess when you are 8, that would indeed make a church service different, ha ha :)

Merry Migraine!

I wanted to take the time to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, and also to tell you that I may or may not be posting over the Christmas weekend. My migraines have been bad all week and I am going to take the time to enjoy my family and focus on getting better! I wish you all the best and I can't wait to see what amazing project you came up with when I get back!!

Out with the old...

Yup, thats my couch in that dumpster....

...we have yet to do the "In with the new," part. Ugh.

What I wore.

As I said before, I am not really that trendy or skinny or anything...but what I CAN do is find a good buy and make it presentable for going to church and being a Deacon's wife! Ahem, Mr. Deacon, you should take lessons on photography and give me 30 seconds to get ready next time! Grrr!

Red dress-- brand is "Newport News," Thrifted for $5

Black Cardigan-- Old Navy on sale for $9

Black leggings--Walmart $5.98, everyday...not on sale! Stock up! I have like 3 pairs of black, a gray and a brown!

Black boots--a splurge! Naturalizer $150, 3 years ago. I have beast calf muscles, and I have to have wider boots if I want them to be knee high, so I have to spend a little more!

Sunglasses-- hoisted right off of my baby sister's dresser, some time ago!

Add a side bun and a smile, and you are good to go, and teach Sunday School, or whatever you all do on Sundays :)

Have a good one!!



Weiner Dogs on Wednesday

Oscar wanted to show you what he helped his Momma come up with for our holiday card this year!

Laura and the gang comes to Chicago!!

My best friend and her family came to visit over Thanksgiving and I could not have been more thrilled! With everything going on in my life, doctors visits, crappy work days etc....I REALLY needed some Laura time!!
I met her and her mom, 2 children and our Aunt Donna down town where we shopped at Macy's on state street and lived it up like true Chicagoans!! We stayed the night and did some more touring and shopping in the morning.
Here are just a few of my favorite pictures.

Whats with all the nutcrackers, you say? Well...more on that later! I have a HUGE collection of nutcrackers! Kurt HATES them! When I finish putting them all out for the season, I'll post pics of my collection! These were just ones that were unique that I saw at Macy's or in other shops downtown!!



Loosing my marbles, er, buttons...

Remember this?

Well...I thought by now I'd have 10 of them done!! It's now that they are hard, they are super easy, its just SO time consuming! I had NO idea how many buttons and pins I needed either! I started this one on Thanksgiving and I have been through 3 boxes of 150 pins (those suckers aren't cheap!!) and had to raid my mother-in-law's button jar for more white buttons to finish the job. Shew!!



Weiner Dogs on Wednesday

Oscar's First Snow! December 2009
Yes, he was rocking his Snuggie!!

Lets change things up a bit...

and do a post that has nothing to do with Christmas!

As I have mentioned before, I got married in Virginia where all of my friends and family are from. And then we had a reception here in Chicago. Because of this, I was fortunate enough to have a 3 bridal showers. One thrown by my Mom in Virginia, one thrown by my mother-in-law here in Chi-Town, and one thrown by my co-workers in the office.

My mom was supposed to have help from my sisters, however with one of them being disabled, and the other being a full-time college student, I ended up doing their share. And I didn't mind! I LOVE that stuff! Since my wedding colors were chocolate and copper and in no way "girly," I wanted GIRLY GIRL for the shower and everything was pink and silver! We did this on a low-low-low budget, because that's what I wanted. I didn't want to break the bank. Just wanted my family and friends around, because that's all that really matters!!!

Here are the cupcakes that mom and I made:

Light pink roses in a white pitcher that my mom had. We got the flowers from the grocery store, which I ALWAYS recommend! Beautiful AND much less expensive than a florist!:

Just a FEW, well placed decorations

Delicious Food:

Some handmade candy favors:

And friends and family:

It was all done budget friendly, and was a ton of fun...and all I could ever ask for. I think Americans go WAY over board on weddings and bridal showers and parties and everything else. All that matters is that you have fun and you are with the ones that you love! And for me, that I get to do a little crafting! ha ha