Christmas Card

Okay, some of you may not be too happy about this...

We regret to inform you that we won't be doing a Christmas card this year... :/ The pressure got to us, the ideas never came together, and time slipped away! I decided that instead of throwing something together of low quality "creativeness"...I would rather just skip it. We'll call it the first of our budget cuts for the year to come. ;)

So don't think you got "axed" from the list. We'll catch you next year!!

You may rant in the comments section if you feel compelled. :-D

One more thing...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Top 10 Pregnancy Questions

First of all, I want to apologize to all of you that continue to visit my blog, only to be dissapointed that there has been no update. 1) I guess I'm getting lazy and 2) there hasn't been anything to say! I'm sure that will be changing very soon. ;)

So here is my first pregnancy topic. I have been getting the same questions from everyone I talk to...so here is everything you want to know (or could care less about). :)

1) When is your due date? June 19th. I am officially 13 weeks (and 2 days) :)

2) Are you and Josh SO EXCITED? Okay, this seems like an easy one to answer. But, right now, it's still so surreal that I haven't even allowed myself to be excited. I still can't grasp that this is happening to me. very strange.

3) Will you find out the sex of the baby? Yes, I believe we are going to. I have my first sonogram at 18 weeks, hopefully we can find out then. If not, it might not be until 30 weeks. Yikes! I'm excited to decorate and plan :)

4) Are you hoping for a boy or a girl? Here goes the old cliche, "either one is fine with me." :) But, really I would love to have a either! However, I will say this...If I never had a boy, I wouldn't be upset...but if I never had a girl, that would be a different story. ;)

5) What do you THINK the baby might be...boy or girl? I honestly don't get how anyone can "know" that. As of now, I have no thoughts on that :) I'm getting mixed reviews from people about boy/girl. Most people are saying boy (mostly b/c of Josh's 7 brothers)...with the exception of three :)

6) Have you been sick? Yes, I was mildly nautious. Thank the LORD that is over! I had to eat about every 1-2 hours in the morning. All of my speech kids were jealous of the food. "Did you bring mini donuts for us?!?!" Uh...no. sorry. Life isn't fair; you should learn that now ;)

7) Have you had any cravings? Nothing overwhelming. I would say I have had more food aversions, than cravings. So far the only cravings have been: warm tortillas with cheese from Chevy's (which Josh won't give in to. he hates Chevy's for some reason) and a chocolate shake from Steak & Shake. Oh! and a chili dog from Dairy Queen. haha, I THINK that's all ;)

8) Do you have any names picked out? Are you sharing them? Yes, J.J. Junior if it's a boy.

...(yes we have some names we like, and NO we won't be sharing them with you!)

9) Are you showing yet? If that means...do your pants fit? Then, yes I'm showing. But to most people, I'm sure they just think I need to lose a few ;)

10) Well...I can't think of a good #10. Top 9 just doesn't have the same ring to it. :) So this is where you can ask anything that is still on your mind... ;)

Stranger Danger

We had a very bizarre happening in our house last night. Amy, Josh and I were down in the basement watching TV. All of a sudden, we hear someone come in through the garage door (quite loudly). We all look at eachother, and think...could it be JD? Who IS that?! We hear nothing...hmm...strange. who else would it be? So Josh heads upstairs to scope it out. He walks upstairs to find a STRANGER eating CHIPS & SALSA in our KITCHEN!!! (it was left out on the counter) WHAT?!?! The conversation is as follows:

Josh: Dude, you're in the wrong house.

"Dude": What? No, this is Joe Harper's house.

Josh: Nnnno, this is my house.

"Dude": You're F****ing kidding me.

Josh: Nope, I'm not, you're in my house

"Dude" (proceeds to put a chip BACK in the bag) Oh man, I'm so sorry. I can't F****ing believe this. I feel like such a ***. etc. etc.

He continued to drop F-bombs and their many friends, as he walked out the door. We're pretty sure he was high. It was a very surreal moment, and I was sure glad Josh was home! Not sure WHAT I would've done if I was home alone!! Yikes! Lesson learned: Always keep garage door shut!!...and don't leave the chips and salsa out??? :)

SCARY SPIDER

This is the scariest thing I've done in a while. I had the nerve to capture him (my heart was racing!), but could not bring myself to kill him. He was too big to squish (the thought of it makes me shudder)! Josh thinks I'm rediculous, but I know some of you out there can relate. (Amy H!) So here he waits for Josh to come home and dispose of him. :)

Prize Redeemed!

This post is for all of you doubters...or for those of you who need a lot of convincing. ;) With all of my previously earned swagbucks, I got 5 $5.00 Amazon.com gift cards. I made my first purchase and redeemed all of the gift cards. I got these three books at Amazon for only $1.11 out of my pocket! What a steal! I love brand new books :) And, since recieving these books, I already have $10.00 more waiting for me to spend!

A few tips about using Swagbucks:

1) It's a fairly slow process (especially without referrals) so you have to be patient. Don't expect to win a 5.00 gift card overnight!

2) The search engine, I agree, is not quite as good as google. That's why I typically don't use the engine for new searches. I use it for things I already know the address to, or go to regularly. For example, I most commonly search the following and get swagbucks: "facebook, twitter, gmail, unit5, weather.com, coupon cravings, brads deals" etc...These are websites/blogs I visit daily, so I use the search engine. You are more often rewarded when you go to things on a regular basis anyway!

3) I only have about 2-3 friends that used my referral link, that actively use swagbucks. But they have still earned me many swagbucks! So get some friends under you and you'll be raking in the bucks :)

4) It's best to add/install the swagbucks engine to your toolbar at the top of your browser. If you don't, you'll probably forget all about it, and won't search as often. Just go to their website to install and/or learn more about it.

want to know more? read my first post about swagbucks. Are you convinced yet? :) Sign up with the link below, and start earning free money! You're crazy not to!!! Seriously... :)

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/ErinFabish

Sneak Peak

Concert

Tomorrow we're heading up to Chicago for the American Idol Live Tour!! I'm getting really excited! ... it is always a blast, especially when you are in good company! :)

The only rough part will be waking up at 6:00 a.m. the next morning :-/

Our crew: Amy B, Amy H, Christine D, Katie B, Mom, possibly Dad and me!

Pictures to come. Party Harty.