13 Days of Fun Before the 13th

March 31st:

Today is the day I sprung it on matt that we are doing this and that today is day one.  It was a gorgeous day!  So I had marinated some chicken and bought everything we needed for BBQ.  Well as it turned out, Matt didn't get home till after 8:00.  So the BBQ did not happen as planned, but we still had some delicious baked chicken with creamy mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli:



Girl Scout Cookies are out, so I made Matt a special dessert:





April 1

For day 2, we went out to dinner at Sybergs:



We shared a yummy Sybergs Salad:



Some Beers:



And delicious food:



Then we saw this which gave us a little chuckle:



A little background on the above picture. Matt bought the same shirt in a gold color at a thrift shop for 35 cents. One day Kevin Pfeiler showed up in the same shirt. We asked him if he got it in the thrift shop. He said, no, he helped clean out a stream and so they gave him that shirt. So of course, much to Matt's dimay and embarrassmant, I had to ask this guy if he helped clean up a stream. He looked at at me and said, "No, actually I just bought this at a thrift shop for 35 cents." Haha, gotta love it!

So after dinner, we went to play mini golf. I don't think we have played mini golf since we first started dating. We had a great time:





April 2

Ahhh, day 3 . . . Day 3 had so much potential. We planned on having a crazy club Schulte Night. Instead it turned into us sitting on the couch listening to some music and having some drinks, but not actually getting up to dance to the music. Oh well, we were tired from the work week. We still had fun haning out with each other and we had a nice Good Friday "Dinner" of cheese, bread and fruits and veggies. Early to bed that night for sure!

April 3

Day 4 started out with brunch with Staci and Jason (and the baby). We went to Duff's in the Central West End. We had a lovely brunch and great conversation. It was the first time I had actually seen the baby showing so it was fun seeing Staci as a cute little preggo!







Later that night we met Matt and Kayce out in DeSoto for some fun at Tina's. Matt had his first taste of "Hot Monkey Sex" (a yummy banana chocolate shot). We always have fun with Matt and Kayce, here are a few pics of the night:





April 4

Day 5 was Easter Sunday. For Easter this year, we went out to Uncle Thos's house again. It was a gorgeous day! We were able to ride the 4 wheelers, walk along the lake, fly kites and just run around the yard. It was quite a nice Easter. The poor "Lamb of God" was a little damaged in the commute however (notice the lack of eye and the fallen off ear):



Nathaniel wanted to ride the 4 wheeler, but is just a bit young. Don't worry I gave him a little ride (at about 3mph) around the field eventually:





Katie and I have a new Easter tradition where she takes me for a fast ride all over the place (read through creeks and everything!). We always come back a bit muddy, but it is fun:



Dad taught the kids how to fly a kite:



Dad and Me:



Cousin Robby and Me:



Mom and her Girls:



April 5

Day 6

Day 6 was a little more low key, but probably the most important day. Ever since I found out that the mastectomy was inevitible, I called Fr. Dave (the priest that preformed our marriage ceremony). He agreed to give me the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. It was a beautiful ceremony. Fr. Dave talked, had my dad do a reading and then anointed me. He talked to Matt and me about how this is where the whole "sickness and health" vow comes in . . . we really didn't think it would be so soon . . . but we meant it when we said it so here we are. He gave me and my family blessings and it gave us all some peace of mind.

Afterward Matt and I had a simple dinner at the Bean House and reflected on everything Fr. Dave spoke to us about. It was a nice and peaceful evening.

April 6

Day 7 happened to be a night where LOST was on. Thanks to Bridget, we have become obsesses with LOST. And since this is the final season, we couldn't miss an episode. So instead of doing something out of the ordinary and skipping LOST, we decided to incoproate our LOST watching into our special night. So I bought us some champagne and we drank it out oof our wedding toasting flutes.



I also got us some Ted Drewes for dessert:







April 7

On day 6, since it was a Wednesday, we ended up going to Cunetto's. We forgot our camera, but if you look back at the pictures from when we went to Cunetto's for my birthday, they would look about the same. So you get the idea. It was delish as usual!

April 8

On Day 7 we went over to Anna and Matt's house to visit Braden. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold a baby for a while after my surgery, so I wanted to hold as many of them as possible. So we went over there and ordered some pizza. While I was eating, Matt took Braden and actually used the boppy for its real purpose:



After I was finished eating, I was a baby hog. No one seemed to mind:





April 9

On Day 10, my old co-workers decided to throw me a happy hour at the Schlafly Tap Room. We had a lot of people show up but unfortunatly I forgot to take pictures until all but one person left, but here is a pictre of Nick and me:



And Nick was kind enough to take one of Matt and Me:



April 10
(Work in progress still . . . I'm napping)

Explaination for the 13 Days of Fun Before the 13th

I have mentioned before that this blog is to look at the good things in my life in spite of all the challenges I have been facing. I have yet to mention what these "challenges" are but I figure now is as good a time as ever to bring up one . . . the on challenge that put me over the edge. I have had several health problems over the past year but it all culminated in October. I found a large lump in my right breast. It was so large that I really thought it must just be dense tissue. After visiting the OBGYN, he suggested I get an ultrasound. We decided to remove the lump and have it biopsied. I have had several fibradenomas in my life so I wasn't worried about anything at all. The surgeon removed the lump in early November. He said it was the size of a lemon (I told you it was large!) We still were not too worried thinking that it was probably just another fibradenoma.

When the pathology came back, it turned out to be a phyllodes tumor and it was malignent. A bit of shock and a LOT of denial set in at that moment. My doctor told us not to worry too much at this point in time. A Phyllodes tumor is very rare in that it does not respond at all to Chemothreapy or Radiation. That may seem like a bad thing, but the good thing about it is that it DOES respond VERY well to surgery. My surgeon was confident that if he went back in and was able to cut out a wide (1/2") excision of tissue around the tumor, we would never have to think about it again. We scheduled the surgery for early December. When we went in to find out the results, the doctor informed us, that since the tumor was so close to the skin, he was unable to get the margins he wanted to get. So we scheduled an MRI in early March to see if there was any tumor left and decide what our next steps would be.

Christmas came and went, our birthdays came and went and finally it was time for the MRI. Unfortunately the MRI "lit up." So I was given two choices.

1) Watch and wait to see if the tumor comes back (it could come back in the breast or the lungs)
2) Have a mastectomy.

Neither option seemed like a good choice for me. I wanted a number 3. There was no number 3. To most, this seems like an obvious choice, but when it it you in the position to make this choice, it is not so cut and dry. I took 2 weeks to pray, think and pray some more. Finally I decided to get the mastectomy. We scheduled it for April 13th. I cried and cried and cried at the thought of losing my breast. Then I snapped out of it and told Matt that if I am going to have to do this we are going to do at least one little fun thing everyday before the 13. That day was March 31 . . . thus began the 13 days of fun before the 13th.

My 29th Birthday

I think I had the most birthday parties I've ever had for a birthday this year!  The celebrations started on my actual birthday night, February 26th.  Matt and I went out to the Tenderloin Room for dinner.  It was freaking delicious!  Matt started off his meal with the U.S. Senate Bean Soup:



Then we went straight on to the main course.  I got the signature dish, Pepperloin a la Tenderloin:





And Matt got the Filet Mignon:



Next came my birthday dessert.  They were delicious little cakes that were just perfect for us.  One was white chocolate (Matt prefers) and one was dark chocolate (I prefer):



After our amazing dinner, Tim and Sarah invited us over to their house for some random fun.  Sarah and I reverted back to the old days and we danced around the house to "Lucille":



The picture makes it look a lot nicer than the video, but this is still a pretty funny video so why not!  (Warning: We CAN'T sing):



We also played Wii for a while and just had a blast with Tim and Sarah. 

Saturday morning came long before I wanted it to after that great night.  But we had things to do.  We needed to straighten up the house just a little bit before we headed out for our next birthday adventure.  I took this picture because I told Matt that this is the hottest he has ever looked (a man is always hot when he is cleaning, am I right ladies?)



Later that day Anna and I had our double birthday party at Chandler Hill Winery.



Someone told them it was our birthday and they gave us these delicious cannolis:



And everyone sang to us possibly the worst version of "Happy Birthday" ever:



But it made us laugh (like that takes so much with Anna and me!)

The scenery was beautiful and it was a gorgeous February day so I wanted to get some pictures with Matt outside.  Of course he wouldn't cooperate.  Here is the best picture we have:



We were so fortunate to have so many good friends there to celebrate with us!  Adam, Katie, Tom, Jenn, Vicki, Chad and Christy all came out to celebrate with us.  What a treat to get to hang out with such close friends!





After the winery we decided to go to El Maguey:



Dinner was a good idea - but based on our eyes in the following picture, the drinks were not so much!



Needless to say, I went home and went straight to bed!

The birthday celebrations did not end that night however.  We ALWAYS go to Cunetto's for my birthday, and we wanted to wait till Wednesday so we could get spedini.  So the following Wednesday we had yet another birthday dinner for me! 

Yummy Chicken Spedini:


Delicious Pasta:

(look at that smile on my face . . . the way to my heart is definitely through my stomach!)

Then they gave me cheesecake for dessert.  I posed for a picture for my blog:



But Erin thought that was so not cool.  We had to really get the action of me eating this delicious cheesecake.  So here's what we got then:



Not nearly as attractive, but definitely real!

I regret to say that I don't have any pictures of my last birthday party (yes, there was another one - I told you I had a lot this year!)  It was wonderful though.  Matt's grandparents had us all over to their house for some wonderful white chili.  Gerry made me a fruit platter - actually she made me two fruit platters - one to share at the gathering and one to take home with me.  I have such great in-laws!

29 was definitely a great birthday!  I hope all my birthdays can be just as wonderful!

Today's Wonderfuls:

• Great friends who came out to celebrate with me!
• Great family and family in-law who came together to make my birthday special
• Great food (ummm, just look at all the pictures above!)
• Having a birthday buddy (Anna and I have been celebrating birthdays together since first grade!)
• Celebrating another year of my wonderful life!

Valentines Day

Matt and I had a very fun Valentines day this year. We got to spend our afternoon with the best Valentine EVER . . . Will! James and Ann were on their way home from Nashville so Matt and I got to babysit! We started off our time with him by making him wear a ridiculous headband that we got at fanfest. We had originally intended to start a facebook page of random people wearing this headband. We keep forgetting to bring it out with us though, so this whole facebook page might not happen. Anyway, here's a picture of Will with it on (no one would have looked as cute as him in it anyway!):



We had so much fun playing with him that day! We played with all his toys and watched him do his new trick, pulling up! I tried to get a video of it to post here, but as soon as I turned on the camera, he was way more interested in checking that out than pulling up. It's still cute though:



Oh! Those big blue eyes get me every time!



After hanging out with Will, Matt really wanted to go somewhere to eat. First off, I was wearing sweat pants. Second off it was snowing. Third - Ummmm it was Valentines Day and we did not have any reservations anywhere. Matt just wanted to go to some place close to the house. Keep in mind we live in LEMAY (for those of you in St. Louis, you know what I mean). So this is where we ended up on Valentines Day:



For those of you NOT in St. Louis, Show Me's is basically the same as Hooters. The only difference is that the girls wear pink instead of orange. In all reality it was just fine. I mean we both had to work the next day and they do have some really good wings!

We did exchange gifts this year. We really don't usually make a big deal out of Valentines Day, but whith everything that is going on with me right now, we decided that everyday should be treated as special. And quite honestly we would have given each other these things eventually anyway.

Matt was very sweet although you will not think so with the way this story starts. Some background . . . I have a stuffed bear from Build a Bear that I have had since I was 16. Her name is Magill (she calls herself Lil, but everyone knows her as Nancy - yes, I LOVE the Beatles). Anyway, Magill (better known nowadays as Gilly) was bearnapped by Matt. Yes, he took my beloved Gilly away from me for an entire afternoon. Well, here comes the sweet part. Matt took Magill to Build a Bear to get her restuffed. She has lost quite a bit of volume being around for 16 years and having many "baths" with bleach and hot water. So now she is good as new and really fat - just the way I like her. The best gift ever! Matt also gave me some dark chocolate rapberry Lindt Truffles. There were quite delicious!



I am just going to come right out and say what I got Matt . . . I got him a Boppy. Yes, as in the little pillow that people use to support their baby when they are feeding. And NO, I am NOT making an announcement. I am NOT pregnant. Matt just happens to like the boppy. It all started at Anna and Matt's house. I made him feed the baby, so he used the Boppy. When Braden was finished feeding, Anna took him but left the Boppy. Matt LOVED having it there. He claims that "it's like being obease without having all the health problems." It's really funny to see him using it! Here is one picture of it. He likes to use it when he is using the laptop. So since this is a product for a baby, he decided to pretend like the laptop was his baby . . . I know, I know, I married him . . . don't rub it in!



Honestly though, the best part was the card. In the picture above it shows the card that Matt gave me. It was wonderful and I love getting cards from him because he always adds so much to them. Matt requested that I make a card for him like I used to always do. So I obliged . . . here is what came of it:

Front of Card:



Inside Card:



If you watch LOST, you get it, if not well then sorry, it's too hard to explain. Either way you know that I am a huge geek! I believe Matt called me a "dork" when I gave it to him. But in all reality, he LOVED the "Heart Station" Dharma card.

So that was our Valentines Day. Low key, but fun!

Today's Wonderfuls:

• The smartest, best looking nephew ever (wow, I think I have been hanging out with his Grandma and Grandpa too much!)
• Gilly is stuffed!  And she is so much more comfortable to sleep with!
• Chocolate Raspberry Truffles - yum!
• A husband with funny little quirks that always keep me on my toes

Matt's 29th Birthday

We had a very eventful weekend for Matt's 29th Birthday this year.  First off, Sabrina surprised us by coming in for an impromptu visit!  It was so much fun to see her.  As you can see from this picture, we miss each other a lot!  We ended up falling asleep like that for several hours!

On Saturday night we had the big bash. Matt Hutchinson's birthday was January 1st and Vicki's birthday is the same day as Matt's (January 11th) so we celebrated a triple birthday! We started the night at The Drunken Fish in the Central West End.  Here's a picture of the gang:

And a cute one of Sabrina drinking her Martini that Matt, "the instigator" talked her into ordering:

After dinner, we headed over to the Chase Park Plaza to hang out at Cafe Eau for some cocktails. And of course the birthday boys and girl had to take a shot:

I love their faces in this one:

We stayed at Cafe Eau for a while sipping drinks and enjoying our friends:

Matt and Vicki - aka "Birthday Buddies" aka "BBs":

After Cafe Eau, we decided to try a place called Sol, upon my sister's recommendation. It was a really cool place. It's an old 3 story mansion converted into a dance club/game lounge/bar. On the way over to Sol, Matt decided it was time to pull out the aviators:

We all had a lot of fun hanging out at Sol:

We stayed till closing time and then we went home.

So Matt had a wonderful birthday! Other celebrations we had for him were Cunettos with our parents (yes, all 4 of them!) and Erin. As well as dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's for Debbie, Gerry and Matt's birthdays. I think 29 was a good year for Matt! Let's hope his 30th year is even better!

Today's Wonderfuls:

• Celebrating my fantastic husband's birthday with him
• Having Sabrina in town
• Having great friends to share the celebration with
• Trying new places in St. Louis