New Years Eve Plans??

I don't know if you can call them plans but we are staying home eating white chicken chili and watching a movie! I worked till 7:00 tonight and I'm just exhausted. All week I've been saying that all I'm doing tonight is vegging on my couch! Eric was free to do what he wanted but if his plans included anything outside the apartment he would be flying solo! I guess no one else was doing anything because he is here with me now with no plans to head out on the town. We just got done eating dinner and Eric suggested we break out the bubbly because he doesn't think I'm going to make it much longer........he knows me well.......as he says "well I'm married to you" :-) One good thing about Nebraska is that they sell alcohol in the grocery store so while I was doing my grocery trip for the week on Tuesday they had samples of champagne. I definitely partook in that offering.

My aunt Kathy made White Chicken Chili for part of our Christmas meal.....yes we have Mexican food for Christmas....just a little tradition that we have for the Fritzemeier Christmas. Eric and I both thought it was delicious so here's the recipe.

1 small can diced green chilies
1 14 oz can chicken broth
1 lb cubed chicken
1/2 c. whipping cream
1 c. sour cream
1 medium onion
3 clove garlic
2-15 oz cans great northern beans
1 t salt
1 t cumin
1/2 t pepper
1 t oregano
1/4 t cayenne pepper
2 T olive Oil

Saute chicken, onion and garlic in olive oil. Add everything except sour cream and whipping cream. Add those closer to serving. Double for large crock pot. Serve with flour tortillas.

Well blog stalkers I'll check in next year with you all!! Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Scheduling Mistake

SO.....I called my parents today to say reserve the weekend of February 12th to help us move and their response......you do realize that's the weekend your brother gave us tickets to the basketball game in Manhattan.

How did both of us miss that ESPECIALLY Eric who was very excited to receive tickets to the game for Christmas.

NOW....do we take off of work and close on the house early Friday morning, move in the rest of the day, then head to Manhattan on Saturday OR close Friday afternoon head to Manhattan and then move on Sunday. Decisions, Decisions!! We'll have to talk to Alan and Christy and see what they prefer.

Our home inspection went well. I was very happy with the company we choose and was impressed with how thorough of a job they did. Yesterday I called companies to interview them and now that I'm in a sales position I wanted them to sell me on their company....SO...I ended each call with "Why should we pick you over the others" I got a kick out of hearing their sales pitches. They caught some things that we never would have caught and hopefully the builder will be willing to fix OR Eric and I won't be buying the house. There were only 2-3 major things that need to be fixed and the others are more cosmetic issues that won't be hard for the builder to touch up.



PACKING! I'm lucky that with my current job we get shipments constantly and today I asked the guy who stocks our warehouse to start saving me sturdy moving boxes. He even said he'd tear them down for me and put them in a corner. YES! One less thing to have to worry about. Starting Friday we have 6 weeks to get all packed up. Eric will be gone to Wisconsin for a week in the middle of January so I will start packing while he's away.

YEAH for tomorrow being the last day of work for the week. I seriously need a vacation and some veg time on the couch after traveling and being on call last week. Have a great Thursday everyone!

BIG NEWS!

Eric and I are buying our first house!!!

I know it's no excuse for why I've been a bad blogger lately BUT we have been super busy with traveling for a wedding, searching for homes, traveling for Christmas ect... We didn't expect to find something so quickly but when we walked in we fell in love. It has a great open floor plan with cathedral ceilings and dark wood cabinets in the kitchen. Here are some pictures of our future home (assuming we don't have problems with the house inspection tomorrow) and NO this is not what the house looks like currently as there is at least a foot of snow on the yard and very large snow drifts in the backyard :-)

View of the living room...We really like the fireplace!

The kitchen...a little smaller than I would have liked BUT there is a lot of storage in the pantry!

Our dining area (I am standing in the living room as I take this picture) There is a sliding door that goes out to a patio area (that is currently covered in a snow drift)

The area just off the garage. There is a also a laundry room here.

Yeah for double sinks in the master bedroom.

The house is a 3 bed/2 bath with an unfinished basement (with potential for another bedroom to be added in the basement as there is a conforming window) here in Omaha. It is in the Elkhorn school district (which is good thing and makes the house more desirable for resale)

We are really excited for this new adventure and its sure to be a learning process.

Stay tuned for more house updates as well as more on life with the newlyweds.

I'm BACK!!

Well 3 loads of laundry....unpacking of 2 suitcases.....started re-packing for weekend trip to Wichita.....trip to Target to buy a new printer......a dinner of spaghetti (so nice not to eat out) You can really get sick of eating out for 12 days straight....I'm HOME!!

My flight got in around 5:30 tonight. I don't know why I assumed the snow would be melted.....It wasn't. As we flew in I was honestly surprised to see snow covered fields. I really think I was meant to live in the South. :-)

I will write more at some point but this weekend Eric and I are on the road again. Fritzemeier Christmas and a Wedding should be a fun weekend. Hopefully I can catch you up on my life on Sunday. Sorry to keep you all hanging and apologies for being a bad blog updater while I was away. I have a million things to do tomorrow at the office so we will see how far I get on my to-do list!

Have a great weekend and tune back in on Sunday!

Meet Art!!

I have been spending a LOT of time with Art this week and we've definitely gotten up close and personal on multiple occasions....

Now don't be jealous Eric, Art has nothing on you....I mean you're up two arms on him :-) For those you of you who are wondering what a PEG tube looks like here's a close up!

There are different tubes but I have seen this type of tube the most especially in my cancer patient population.

Our white coat ceremony...okay not really since we pulled them out of a cardboard box and found our sizes. I guess we just wanted to feel special. This is my 3rd lab coat but the first one I've gotten for free!! YES!!


This is Alan. He is my CSR (customer service representative) I bug him A LOT with lots of questions and asking him to do me favors. It's fun to get to meet the person you talk to multiple times throughout the day! What a LIFESAVER!!!

Last night 5 of us went to Buffalo Wild Wings.



Tonight the plan is to order in pizza, drink wine and watch a movie in our sweats!! My kind of night :-)

Here are the places we've eaten since arriving in Alabama:
Chili's
Zoe's Kitchen
Red Robin
Ruby Tuesday
Los Cabos Cantina
Jason's Deli
Panera
Roly Polly
Buffalo Wild Wings
Mimi's

My Apologies!

I apologize that I haven't posted anything this week but I've stayed pretty busy which is a good thing. I was really dreading coming on this trip for multiple reasons including being gone for so long, not knowing anyone, having to be gone for 12 days, ect. BUT I've had fun. For the most part everyone is really cool. There are dietitians from, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Seattle, Cleveland, Pensacola and Omaha of course. There are 4-5 of us that go out to eat every night which is fun. If the company is going to pay for it why not....RIGHT? :-) Tonight we are going to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the game. (Okay you got me...I'm not going for the game but the socialization) I have done more than socialize this week and I've learned a lot which I'm sure will help TONS when I get back!

Well when Omaha felt like -10 it was 70 and sunny here!! I should have taken a picture of the sun for all of you back home in the midwest. When my in-laws were snowed in completely I was out walking around in shorts and a t-shirt! I'm going to freeze to death when I get back. My local center actually closed on Wednesday....I guess I missed out on not having to work that day, shucks. Eric has instructions to bring me my heavy coat to the airport. I only took my light jacket here....I think I was meant to live in the south don't you....



Yesterday we went to Body Pump....more like Body Ache today. I haven't lifted a weight since the wedding (not much motivation when you don't have a wedding dress to look good in). We also did 15 minutes abs beforehand. It's great because you can get a free pass to the gym from the front desk but my body doesn't think its so great today.



And NO I didn't have this much weight on my bar. (It ranged from 2-7 lbs depending on what exercise and body group we were working) wimpy I know.

Well that is all for now I need to get ready for dinner tonight! Thought you all might need a little Jill time!

As promised

Here is a picture from Eric's company Christmas party. It was at the Fremont Country Club. There was a social hour (each person gets 2 free drink tickets) we hear a few years ago it was an open bar but people got a "a little sloppy" near the end and I think they were concerned with having some people on the road....you could obviously purchase more drinks with your own money....which some people most certainly did. Before we left one guy tipped his bar stool completely backward and wiped out!! Lets just say it wasn't a new hire.... maybe got a little over zealous from watching the Nebraska game??? Then we had dinner which was yummy (all the new hires got introduced along with their spouse/guest) and then they had a band play (i guess its someone who works as a clerk in the storeroom) and a few ventured out to dance (again no new hires) Eric and I had to skip the bars and head home so I could finish packing and go to bed. We left before the game was over and when we got home Eric was not happy that he didn't get to see the end of the game (I'd like to go on record that I did not ask or force us to go home when we did....)

Just in Time!!

Well I'm currently sitting in the Omaha airport getting ready to fly to Montgomery, Alabama with a short layover in Memphis and it looks like I'm jetting out of town BEFORE a snow storm. HALLELUJAH! Checked the weather for Alabama.....50's and 60's!!!! I don't know if I can contain my excitement...however Eric is worried I might freeze when I get back.



Packing for 2 weeks was interesting to say the least. First, I packed in 2 bags then Eric convinced me I could get it all into one, which I did. But then I stood on the scale with me holding the bag and then weighed myself. It weighed over 50 lbs. SO....I then had to put some of my things into another bag. I ended up checking 2 bags which cost $50! Glad I'm not picking up that tab!! I'm not carrying a bag on which is different for me. I just have my laptop bag with me.

It appears I have an admirer here at the airport.....granted he's 1 but still makes a girl feel good :-)

Eric and I went to his company Christmas party last night. We did take a picture BUT my cords are in my checked luggage so I will post later with a picture of the 2 of us!

Well, I'm off to get breakfast on someone else's tab :-)

ROAD TRIP.....

to Hastings, NE.....not as exciting as you first thought huh?? For those of you who aren't so familiar with Nebraska geography here is a visual


OH yes that is a little more than a jaunt from Omaha more like a 2 1/2 hour drive. I stopped in Lincoln on the way and the way home to do some sales calls which helped break up the trip because those of you that know me well know that I'm not the best car traveler. I get bored easily :-) So here is how I kept myself entertained during my "scenic" drive.

Yes that is an actual picture of my Garmin as she kept me company during our drive.

Scenery along I-80 (not much)

Here are the positives of my trip:

I got to go 80! The speed limit is 75 along Nebraska interstate although not many people were going as fast because I passed A LOT of cars and semis! Other positives I wore scrubs (it's like driving in your PJs), belted it out along with the radio, and I had a very friendly car who had New York plates that followed me most of the way from Lincoln to my exit for Hastings. She even waved at me as I got off for my exit. Some people are just so friendly :-)

Speaking of semis there were a crazy amount of semis on the road....

I must be a true Nebraskan now because I drove on Tom Osborne Expy and probably the most impressive thing is that I actually know who that is! I couldn't have told you before we moved here though!



The downfalls of the trip:

It was SUPER WINDY. So I was getting knocked around quite a bit and when passing semis I had to be extra cautious because of the change in wind. You remember that water goal that I had well......I drank the whole thing today during all my driving but that also meant by the time I got to Hastings I was about to spring a leak :-) Yeah for meeting my goal today?? I think I was bored so I just drank my water to keep myself distracted or it could have been from all the singing along with the radio I was probably getting dehydrated.

As I was driving I thought of how I was referring to Hastings as Western Nebraska, well really anything west of Lincoln as western Nebraska; HOWEVER, I don't like when people refer to everything west of Manhattan as western Kansas. So I decided that I was going to South Central Nebraska today :-)

Before I let you go check out this vehicle I saw on the road today.....


This takes antennas to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL! It kinda reminds me of my first car the Beretta and its massive antenna that my dad had installed so that I could have a Farm Radio installed. Let's just say that when I bought my Alero I put down my foot about NOT having a radio so I didn't have to have the huge antenna coming out of the middle of my roof.....

Disappointed??

I really thought that tonight was the last night of the biggest loser. I mean don't get me wrong I don't mind having another episode to watch but I really thought tonight was it. I was ready for the tears to roll (okay I had a few fall today) BUT now next week will be the last week and I'll be in Alabama....will the other RDs watch the show? Do I want to watch the show with anyone else....not sure I need all of them to see me cry. I don't usually vote for TV shows BUT...today I did I voted to let Amanda into the Top 3. (Since it was the internet and not a text I decided to go for it) We will see if my vote helped next week.

In the spirit of the Biggest Loser. Here's my

RD Tip of the Day
(Kind of like their trainer tip!)

Make sure you're getting enough water in your day! You should aim to get 8 8oz glasses a day otherwise known as 64 ounces.

3 Reasons To Increase the Amount of Water you drink in your day!

1. Help you maintain/lose weight. Sometimes when you think your hungry you're actually just thirsty.
   
2. Flushes out toxins from vital organs
3. Keeps you hydrated--Even being slightly dehydrated can drain your energy making you feel tired!

I have made a goal to try and increase the amount of water I drink each day.

I fill this water bottle each morning and my goal is to drink it all by the time I get home at night! If I drink the whole thing I get around 32 ounces. Today I didn't do so well. Guess I'll try harder tomorrow!!

My challenge to you is to find one area in your life where you can be healthier!