Monday's Soccer Game

Josh and I just got home after our soccer this evening. Thankfully, we won our game! Woop! Woop! I wasn't really up for playing tonight as I woke up this morning with a nasty cold. I was really torn about going to the game tonight since I wasn't feeling too hot. But I didn't want to let my female teammates down and leave them with only one sub. Who am I kidding? They probably would have done just fine without me. But Josh encouraged me to go and told me only to play if I felt up for it.

Within the first thirty seconds of me out there on the field, I found myself on the floor and I wasn't quite sure how I got there. I think I tripped over someone or someone knocked me down. Who knows? But I was kind of taken back when no one helped me up. I couldn't believe they didn't stop the game to help me up. The nerve. It took me a moment to recover from my sore tailbone and sore ego, but I managed.

After the fall, the game was kind of a blurr to me. I think I pushed myself a little too hard during the first half. But what else was I supposed to do? Go big or go home! That's what I always say.

New Recipe

The past couple of weeks I have been trying to make at least one new thing a week for dinner. Last week I made Sassy sausage and black bean soup (substituting the beef sausage for spicy Italian sausage). It was definitely a hit in the Glupker house and I'm looking forward to making that again soon.

This week I made a new salad... arugula with roasted salmon and new potatoes. I don't say this very often but thank you Martha Stewart for this recipe. I never new I liked arugula so much. I'm already thinking of different ways I can use what I have left over...get ready Josh, I think I see some pasta with arugula in our future this weekend.


I must tell you, as I was preparing this dinner I started thinking, I'm not so sure Josh is going to enjoy this new recipe. He has always been good about eating whatever I prepare for dinner but it sometimes take some time to ease him into new things, such as this salad. So for those who don't quite like the bite the arugula lettuce has, you can do half arugula and half spinach. That was the first amendment I made to Josh's salad. Second, as I was preparing the dressing (Dijon mustard, EVOO, white wine vinegar, and chives) I started to really worry Josh would totally reject this new recipe. So I substituted his dressing for something I knew he would prefer. Josh came downstairs as I was assembling the salads and asked for his potatoes on the side (third amendment). Of course, of course, I said still kind of nervous about what he would think of the meal. Then he saw me put the potatoes in my salad and he asked me, How are you going to get your ketchup on your potatoes if you put them in your salad? I responded, I'm not using any ketchup tonight. Let me just tell you he was more than shocked. This kid loves his ketchup and when I say love I mean he puts ketchup on his ketchup he loves it so much.

After we were able to move past me not using ketchup on my potatoes, we sat down and really enjoyed the meal. Josh loved his salad with potatoes on the side and I loved it with the potatoes in the salad.

If anyone happens to make either of these recipes and doctors them up in their own special way, I'd love to hear what you did. I definitely give both of these recipes gold stars and will be making them again soon!

Babysitting for Addy!

This past Sunday, Josh and I had the honor of babysitting for my good friend Sarah's three week old little girl Adeline Claire. When Sarah called last minute on Sunday in search for a babysitter, I was willing to drop everything for a chance to hang out with little Addy. When Sarah and her husband Josh arrived with Addy, she was sleeping peacefully in her car seat. I gently moved her from her car seat to her pink bouncer where she remained for the majority of the evening...at least until I couldn't stand it and I had to hold her. She slept the whole time she was over. Josh and I think she was dreaming because she was quooing quite a bit, it was pretty cute. I'm sure she was dreaming about her parents because she missed them so much.

Sarah and Josh, thank you again for letting me watch Addy, we had such a great time! Here are a some pictures from the evening. She is absolutely beautiful and I just can't get over how cool her hair is!

 

  

Hi mommy and daddy I miss you but I'm having so much fun with Bethany. I hope I get to 
come back soon! 

 

Josh was a total pro at holding Addy. Even though he kept saying he wanted a dog (like usual) I know he really enjoyed her. 

Awesome Autumn

Happy Fall!

photo credit here

It's the first day of fall! This is probably my most favorite season. I love everything about fall. The changing of the leaves, the cooler weather, switching out my summer clothes for sweaters and scarves, pumpkins, and all of the many warm nostalgic feelings I get during this season like when Josh and started dating fall of our junior year of college.

I heart fall.  

Here are a few fall-ish things I picked up this weekend in honor of my favorite season.

Yummy apple pie candle.

I'm a sucker for cute dish towells. You can find these at one of my favorite hot spots...Target!  

One More Week!

One more week until the season premiere of season 5 of The Office! Let's just say we are really looking forward to the new season. So until then, please enjoy this video here of one of my favorite characters...Andy Bernard! This is one of Josh's favorites here. And of course, what would The Office be without Jim and Dwight? Check them out here!

I still don't have shin guards

Soccer game....last night....no girl subs....played whole game....still don't have shin guards...

Josh and I had another indoor game last night. I was feeling much better about this week's game. Last week we had a game on Monday and Tuesday night. Monday night was great, we won the game; but our team was kind of tired on Tuesday and we did not win that game. So having not played on Monday night I was definitely ready for last night's game.

I knew Nataliya wasn't going to be able to come because of school so I was mentally preparing for us girls to only have one sub. (I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but you need to have three girls on the field during the game.) When I got to the fieldhouse I only saw two other girls. I'm already a little nervous about the game in general, when I learned our fourth girl has torn her meniscus, I start freaking out! How am I gonna play the whole game?

Well, I learned last night that your body can do amazing things when it has to. I played a whole game of soccer last night and the pain in didn't really set in until about the last 5 minutes. And aside from getting kicked in the head with the ball from my own goalie standing about 4 and half feet away from me, I had a great time and we won!!

Product Review Tuesday

As the weather is changing up here in Erie, PA so is my skin. For me the cooler weather means dryer skin. I have decided to be proactive about caring for my skin this year and I have found an amazing lotion that I'm not quite sure how I lived without it. Nivea Soft moisturizing creme is right now my favorite beauty product. I have been putting it on twice a day (morning and night) and I have definitely noticed a difference. It smells so clean and fresh, I just love it! Josh is a bit concerned at how excited I get just to put it on, so husbands consider yourselves warned of your wife's enthusiasm for putting lotion on.  So, for those out there who suffer from dry skin, I promise you this lotion will not let you down.

Please Pray For Addie

Hi friends and family! One of the many blessings of being a part of the body of Christ is we pray for each other even when we don't personally know who we are praying for.  Tonight, I am asking you to lift our three year old niece Addie up in your prayers. She and her parents are at a hospital in Ann Arbor, MI for some tests on her little cabeza. Also please be in prayer for her parents as Beth and Chris as they are needing peace and strength from the Lord.

Addie was born right after Josh and started dating (junior year of college). So many of our dates were spent with his family so we could spend time with this beautiful little girl. At that time (next to his mother of course) I was the main girl in his life. I remember telling Josh, "This little girl is going to steal your heart. Just be prepared to fall completely in love with her." Josh wasn't too convinced of this until one special evening when we went to visit Addie, she must have been only a week old. When he was holding her, she grabbed his finger and wouldn't let go. This memory is so clear to me! Then Josh turned to me and I could tell the look on his face said, "She has captured my heart and you have been replaced." I honestly remember this memory just like it was yesterday. And now she is three and a half! Here are a few of my favorite Addie pictures:

This is probably my favorite picture of Addie. I remember she was walking around with her hands in her pockets and when I asked her to do it again, she stuck those tiny hands right back in with her thumbs out and gave me her best smile!

This is Addie's little brother Holden and they have another sibling on the way!
Addie is praying for a sister. 

 

 

I know it is hard to trust the Lord is in control, but we need to always remember that He holds all of His children in His hands. 

   Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."   Matthew 19:14

Drip....Drip....Pour!

I'm going to complain about something stupid but please just let me vent about it for a quick sec...

Every heard of Chinese water torture??? Well, this is worse. Come and take a visit to our upstairs bathroom because the bathtub faucet won't stop dripping!!!! It started with a little drip here and there, nothing to call a plumber over. But within the past 24 hours it has turned to this...water blatantly running out of the faucet when it shouldn't be!

We called the plumber yesterday just to let him know what was going on. I kept saying it was not an emergency but it quickly became one...I forgot to mention the water dripping out was hot water so by the time we took our showers the water wasn't exactly hot...I tried to call him today and of course when I needed to get a hold of him I couldn't. I called our land lord and they instructed me to turn off the hot water until they could come over and fix the faucet. Thankfully, turning off the hot water was super easy and I was pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to do it without calling Josh to the basement. The down side, when I wake up in the morning and would like to take a nice hot shower, I'm going to have to go down to the basement to turn the hot water back on, come back upstairs and then take my shower.

Sorry to complain about all of this, I know it's not the end of the world, and I'm just being dramatic. I know I am extremely blessed to have the ability to take a hot shower every day that I have learned I most definitely take for granted. Complaining ends now. Thanks for letting me rant for a bit.

2,000 Hits!

I just want to quick announce our blog has made it to 2,000 hits! I'd like to thank all of our faithful readers who make their way to our blog day after day to keep that hit counter ticking. And I like to send a special thank you to my bother Marc for being responsible for the last 30 hits and bringing us up to 2,000 hits. So thank you Marcky, we love you!!!

Here is the comment my big brother left us at 2 in the morning informing us of our 2,000 hits. He's so crazy!

Bethany and Josh:

This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the post about your indoor soccer game, and for that I apologize. It's not my intention to detract from your fútbol genius.

However, there's another glorious occasion I wish to commemorate: according to your hit counter at this very moment, you've reached 2,000 hits!

How did this come to pass, you might be wondering? I shall disclose that information for you.

I didn't realize, until tonight, that your brilliant blog boasted (<--alliteration alert) of such a terrific feature. When my eyes first observed the hit counter, it read a meager 1970. So, I courageously took it upon myself to personally bring that number to 2,000.

On my desktop lives an icon which, when clicked, opens up Safari and escorts me to this ethereal location - your weblog. To honor my aforementioned commitment (see: the previous paragraph), I simply, yet deftly, clicked on that icon, and when the Safari opened and went to your page, I closed it. And then I, once again, clicked on that icon, and when Safari opened and went to your page, I closed it. And so on ad infinitum!

Okay, not really. Obviously. I merely did it 30 consecutive times to enrich the number on your hit counter. To move it to 2 Gs, in other words. Safari seemed rather displeased on click 25 or 26 and very nearly--or so it seemed at the time--detonated my computer.

And so ends my disclosure and begins your blogistence (a blog's existence) at 2 Large.

Cheers.-- Marcky
September 9, 2008 2:11 AM 

Bemus Point Labor Day 2008

My beloved older and wiser brother Marc II. Currently Attending Taylor University's grad school for Biblical Studies. Doesn't that make you think of tweed jackets with leather elbow patches? I definitely think Marc will be getting one for his birthday this fall. To say Marc is an excellent writer does not quite describe how eloquent his writing is. You can tell from his poetic comment above. I could go on an on about how amazing my older brother is, but this post would never end and I need to get to bed. Marc you are a phenomenal big brother and Josh and I love you to pieces! 

This picture is from Presque Isle, Labor 2007.

Indoor Soccer

You know when you say you want to do something but you don't really think it actually will happen? That is exactly what has happened and now I'm playing in an indoor soccer league with Josh. I remember when I was mentioning the idea of us playing soccer together to and he got really excited, but I suppose I didn't think he'd really follow through. Until a couple of weeks ago he came home and told me he signed both of us up. Initially I was excited thinking about all time Josh and I would be able to spend with each other, and then I realized the only times I have ever played in a soccer game was for my junior and senior year of high school powder puff games. And high school was quite a few years ago.

On Labor Day morning, Josh took me out to a field near our house for a quick run down in the game of soccer in preparation for our first game. Oh, I forgot to mention, Josh played soccer in college and he definitely knows what he's doing. Me on the other hand, not so much. We went through all of the basics: proper form when kicking, trapping the ball, dribbling up and down the field. I picked up most of those things pretty quickly, kind of. And can I just say Josh is an excellent coach? He was really patient with me and definitely boosted my confidence for our game. 

Our first game was last Tuesday. On a scale of 1-10, my confidence level was back down to about a 2 and my nerves were teetering between 7 and 8. What the heck am I doing? I don't even really know the rules of indoor soccer. Note to Josh, we need to go over the rules of soccer in our next practice. And all of the other girls there had shin guards on signaling to me that they have probably played soccer at some point in their life, and they know what they are doing.

The first rule I did learn is that six people from your team need to be on the field at a time, and of those six, three of them need to be girls. We have 5 girls on our team (including me) and that meant we were all going to be getting a lot of playing time. Thankfully, I did not have to start. I was able to watch to game and get a feel for what was going on...aka...catch up with my friend Nataliya on the sidelines while we waited for our turn to play (both of us not having any real experience playing). Well, my time to play came a lot sooner than I anticipated. Boy was I nervous. I wasn't even quite sure where I was supposed to be on the field and I didn't want to yell to Josh because I was trying to play it cool like I totally belonged out there.

Things were going good. So far the ball hasn't even really come near me. I was just runnining up and down the field following the flow of the game and getting a lot of exercise, definitely a plus to playing soccer. And then it happened, and to Josh's and my surprise, and to every one else there that evening at Family First Sports Park, I scored a goal. (Insert shock and laughter here.) I couldn't believe I scored a goal on my first game of indoor soccer! To be honest, I wasn't quite sure of what to think about the goal I scored. I knew Josh would be super proud of me but then I started thinking, Great, these guys might start thinking I'm actually good and will want to pass me the ball more. And I also thought, What if I peaked during my first game? We still have two more months of games to play, and what if it's all down hill from here? But then I remembered, I'm kind of starting at the bottom of the hill so I really shouldn't have anything to worry about. And I hope you aren't assuming the level of competition out there is low purely based on me scoring a goal. Because it is pretty rough out there. I just happened to be wide open and Filip had a great assist to me. So thank you Filip for the great pass. You could have totally taken the shot yourself and would have been our team's only scorer with three goals. (Filip is a classmate of Josh's and I'm good friends with his wife Nataliya who I am so thankful is on our team so I have friend out there with as little experience as me.)

Overall...the first game was definitely not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I actually scored a goal (which I am still shocked) and we won!  

Note to self: buy shin guards before game on Monday.

Waldameer

Sorry this is coming to you four days later, but hey, I blogged about something that happened two years ago. And I'm a little behind on my postings for the week so bare with me.

On Monday (Labor Day), Josh and I finally decided to take the plunge and head on down to Waldameer. Waldameer is a small amusement park right next to Presque Isle. It was fun but Josh and I aren't huge amusement park fans. What is nice about Waldameer is you actually don't have to pay to get into the park, but you do have to buy tickets to ride the rides. We walked around, had lunch, and opted for riding the ferris wheel. He didn't want to ride their new roller coaster, the Ravine Flyer, which was fine by me. Six tickets later (about $9), we were on the ferris wheel.

This was our view from the top of the ferris wheel. It was really neat to be able to see both sides of Presque Isle.

Josh...pretending he was on the Ravine Flyer.

Isn't a rule you have to steal a kiss on the top of the ferris wheel? Good thing I got mine. Wink, wink. ;) 

Labor Day Weekend

This past Labor Day weekend, Josh and I hosted my family up here in Erie. One thing to note about my family is we never travel lightly, there is usually a whole crew of us in tow. I think if we did keep things simple and small we'd all feel like we were forgetting something or someone. So this weekend we had my parents, two of my grandparents, my brother, our friend Michael, and last but not least Nola.

On Saturday we drove up to Bemus Point to have lunch at the Italian Fisherman. A great little restaurant right on the water. During lunch, the Bemus Bay Pops were rehearsing for their concert that night, the live music really added to the atmosphere. We loved Bemus Point, the town is super cute and I'm looking forward to going back this fall when the leaves begin to change, well worth the 50 minute drive to New York.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

This is my friend Michael chillin' with Nola on my back porch. I've always said Michael is my brother from another mother. But he and my mom always give me strange looks when I say that.

You know who these kids are...

Here we have two very special people, my father's parents, Me-ma and Papa-Tony. I love these guys. Papa-Tony and Michael.

My beloved brother.

My dear, sweet, and pretty cool Me-Ma.

Me-Ma and Papa-Tony have been married 50+ years!

This is only part of our gang waiting patiently for the shoppers...where are my parents? I think my father went to look for my mom in one of the cute little shops in town.

What would these two do without each other?

This was one of the shops we checked out, called The White Picket Fence.

I think this is where my father went looking for my mother.

The sign may say "Italian Fisherman" but I only see an Italian Stallion....

...that's right.

Later that night when we returned from New York, my father really wanted to teach my Me-Ma how to do Wii bowling. It was so much fun and Me-ma was good!

My father also taught Papa-Tony how to do Wii baseball. He got a few hits and I think he enjoyed himself.

All in all, a great Labor Day weekend with the fam. Thank you everyone for making the trip up to Erie. Until next time...