Andi – Page 70 – ANDI HAYS

a couple wonderful gifts

Posted on November 25, 2010January 30, 2011 by Andi

One of my best friends got me a very thoughtful birthday gift. It was this necklace.

She wanted to get me something for the baby, but also something that was for me. I think this was a wonderful compromise of those two things. I have started wearing it every day. It's also a locket, so I printed a (very) small picture of of ultrasound picture of the baby and put it inside the necklace. No one else could probaly tell what it is, but I know that I am always carrying a picture of my little girl with me all the time!

Another gift I got was this necklace:

This was from my mom, step-dad, brothers and my brother's girlfriend. I just love it, too! So since I didn't want to try to decide which one of these lovely necklaces to wear, I put them both on one chain and wear them every day. I am so happy to have these two necklaces and they each mean so much to me!

It's so special when people put so much thought into gifts!

i am loved

Posted on November 24, 2010 by Andi

Look at all these wonderful birthday and anniversary cards we received! I tried to set them all up and take a picture. I don't usually do this, but it just seemed like a good year to remember all that I am thankful for. And I know I am mostly thankful for all my loving family members and friends.

cheesy beef and rice burritos

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Andi

Guess what….I made a Let's Dish meal. This one was burritos. I forgot these were in the freezer, but I am quite glad I found them in there!

Here are all the ingredients:

First, make the rice.

I like to thaw out my salsa (and other ingredients when necessary) by putting hot water in the sink and letting the salsa sit in there to thaw. This doesn't end up making it hot, but more room temperature and much easier to use for burritos.

Then you cook the meat. I can't remember all the flavors we put in the meat bag to make this, but I can tell you that it was tasty!

Then you get the rest of your ingredients ready to eat. (Apparently I made this longer ago than I thought since there are still Halloween decorations up.)

And here is the meat and rice all ready to eat.

And finally, the burritos (which are more like tacos that hardly close by the time I fill them up).

Now this makes make hungry!

the help

Posted on November 22, 2010January 30, 2011 by Andi

I borrowed this book from a coworker. She said it was one of her favorite books she has ever read. I have heard other people say it was the best book ever, too. So, I wanted to read it.

I thought it was good. I wouldn't buy the book and give it to everyone I know, but I would recommend it to people. It was a good look at the differences in the upper class and the “help” from years ago in the South. It was interesting to read the way people treated each other and how different it was at that time. I can't imagine living in such a segregated time and treating people the way people were treated in this book.

I also think it's sad to know that there are people who still think this way today. It seems like such a prehistoric way to think. But I have heard some people (especially in the South) still feel this way. And that is just plain sad.

So, if you get a chance, grab this book and give it a read. I think you'll like it.

baby's room

Posted on November 17, 2010April 21, 2020 by Andi

I know some of you are dying to see pictures of the baby's room (I have a hard time calling it the “nursery” for some reason). So I snapped a couple this weekend after the baby shower.

We got the wall decorations hung that came with the bedding over the crib. I still need to wash the bedding (what? I still have 12 weeks!), but at least it's in the crib. Chuck's mom made the curtains for us. I love how they turned out. And that bookshelf next to the chair (which we already had just sitting around) will be replaced with a table at some point.

I don't have a changing pad, yet, but the dresser is going to double as the changing table. I am planning to sort through all the clothes in the tote (these are the ones from Katie that she so generously parted with). I made the wall hangings with Chuck's help the night before the shower. The morning of the shower, we were hanging them. I got the idea somewhere online. I will try to find the link or maybe just do a tutorial on CraftsOnAWhim.com. They were a big hit at the shower!

This wall still needs something hanging over the bookshelf, but I have no idea what to put there yet. I kind of want to do a collage of white picture frames with these little flower things mixed in. It would make more sense if you were in my brain and had some idea what I was talking about!

And a friend bought us the mobile to go on the bed. It was delivered yesterday and we have yet to hang it up, but it will go on the wall side of the crib.

So there you have it…the rundown of the ~~nursery~~ baby's room. Now if we didn't have to wait 12 whole weeks for her to come live in it. Come on baby!!! Cook faster! 🙂

first baby shower

Posted on November 15, 2010January 30, 2011 by Andi

My wonderful friends threw a great shower for me over the weekend. Katie is really close to having their third baby and put together most of the shower. She dropped everything off the day before. Unfortunately, Katie didn't end up making it to the shower (she hasn't had the baby yet either), but we had a fabulous time. She was definitely there in spirit!

My friends Brooke and Hillary helped out with the other details and made sure everything went great. They did a fabulous job and I am so lucky to have these girls as friends!

The only bummer is that Minnesota decided to have it's first snow storm of the season. A number of people couldn't make it, but we had a really good turn out all the same. And this just means that I'll get gifts as I see the friends…nice and spread out! How fun!

Chuck spent Saturday morning snow blowing and trying to keep up with all the snow falling so people would be able to park and get into the house easily when they got here.

HERE are the pictures from the shower if you are interested in seeing them.

Thank you to everyone that came. All the fun gifts make it even harder to wait 12 more weeks for this little girl to make her arrival!

kung pao chicken pasta

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Andi

I haven't posted a Let's Dish meal in a while, so I thought I was due.

Here's all the plastic sacks we had for this meal.

First cook the chicken and the pasta.

Next, remove the chicken and cook the sauce.

Then you add the chicken back into the sauce.

Now, drain the noodles and add them to the chicken and sauce.

Finally…EAT!

This was so tasty. We made it spicy and it was so delicious! I should really make this for dinner again soon. I even took some to work for lunch the next day!

11/13/10

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Andi

My friends threw a wonderful shower for me! We actually had our first huge snowstorm of the year today. I had a number of people cancel, but even though I had a minor breakdown about it, everything was just fine! Better than fine! We had a great time and I got so many gifts for the baby! She is definitely going to be spoiled!

After the shower, we had a birthday celebration with my mom, Dave, Adam, Charlie and Katie. I was so exhausted by the time they all went home! It was a long, but fun day!

11/13/10

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Andi

My friends threw a wonderful shower for me! We actually had our first huge snowstorm of the year today. I had a number of people cancel, but even though I had a minor breakdown about it, everything was just fine! Better than fine! We had a great time and I got so many gifts for the baby! She is definitely going to be spoiled!

After the shower, we had a birthday celebration with my mom, Dave, Adam, Charlie and Katie. I was so exhausted by the time they all went home! It was a long, but fun day!

a dinner….with gifts

Posted on November 8, 2010January 30, 2011 by Andi

Last week we went to dinner at one of my best friend's house. I work with her husband, so he drove me to his place after work and Katie cooked a delicious dinner (stir fry!). She had a crib mattress for us and some baby girl clothes to go through. Now you aren't going to believe the amount of clothes I ended up with! I was swimming in all the clothes!

Can you see that there is a second tote behind me? There was no way I could say no to anything. It was all so cute! I was so excited! See….

Katie is pregnant with her third baby (a boy). Some people are concerned that she is going to have the baby before my shower this coming weekend, so I wanted to be sure I took some pictures of the two of us together. This will probably be the only time we'll ever be pregnant at the same time since they are done having kids after this little baby. So we took a couple pictures.

I joked that this was the first date for our babies. ~~We're~~ I'm already planning an arranged marriage of our little girl to their little boy. Hopefully no one minds too much! 🙂