Last Weekend

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I just noticed that it's Thursday and we're just a day away from the weekend again! Last weekend I went out with some girls to a dive'y Kareoke bar and experienced my first ever live Kareoke version of "Sweet Caroline". There were about 10 of us girls who took this tiny smoky bar by storm and we had such a blast. I am DEFINITELY not a singer so I was quite out of my element but I really enjoyed it.

On Saturday I skipped a morning run with my running buddy Kendra because I had quite the headache from the night before. Ciege and I hung out all day and ended up taking a road trip to Nampa to buy some strawberry plants. Ciege planted a bunch of strawberries in his little garden and I worked on cleaning the crazy mess our house was in. It seems like there is always an endless supply of housecleaning to do. We live quite hard during the week and tend to just throw things where they land. So when the weekend comes there is definitely 'hell to pay' with the housework. :) We also got some light yard work done which is where I took the picture above of Bachelor. He seems to really enjoy it when we do yard work and always has the sweetest looks on his face.

On Sunday CJ's aunt Becky and cousin Alyssa were in town so we went out to pizza at the Idaho Pizza Company and had some great salad, bread sticks, and pizza. It so nice to catch up with some Seattle Sweigarts. After lunch Ciege joined me for one of the few naps we've ever taken together. After a nice nap we went over to Winona and Craig's house for an episode of 24.

So overall it was a great weekend, but it ended badly because late Sunday night Craig and I both had terrible sore throats. The sore throats were a bad sign because we've been sick for about 5 weeks now. We went to the Doctor and found out that we needed more antibiotics and that I've now got a sinus infection. I felt like crap again for two days this week and now I'm feeling perfect! Those antibiotics they gave me this time must be doing the trick.

And I'm looking forward now to a sick-free weekend. I'm going to run every day this weekend and try to make up for the rest I had to take. I'm running the race for the cure in only 9 days so I want to get my running time improved by then. I'm so excited because I'll be running this race with two friends of mine who are marathoner's. I'm hoping to just do a decent job and not be too embarrassing. Lucky for me, this run is just a 5k, so it should be pretty easy going.

And that is what has been going on with us. This weekend Ciege is going to Jackpot, Nevada for some gambling fun with his Dad. I'll post about his trip later this weekend...

31st Birthday

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I had a fantastic 31st birthday last Friday and just realized that a week has almost past and I haven't blogged about it! I was able to get the day off of work and I had a blast. In the morning I took CJ to work. Then I went to my favorite bakery and bought two glazed poppy seed muffins. I took them to my Mom's work and had breakfast with her. It was a perfect morning. The sun was so warm and I had so much fun chatting with my Mom. Next I went home and got my running gear on, grabbed the dog, and met my running buddy Kendra at the greenbelt for a birthday 5K run. It was a perfect run and I enjoyed every minute of it. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and I felt very accomplished to be celebrating my 31st birthday by running. Bachelor loved the run as well and it made me feel good that he appeared to be more worn out than I was afterwards. :) Next I went to lunch with CJ. We hit McDonalds where I enjoyed a fruit and yogurt parfait which was a perfect after run snack. After lunch I went to the mall and did some window shopping. I bought a new pair of sandals for myself which has become a birthday tradition now for the past few years. After some shopping, I went home and got ready and picked up CJ from work. We headed over to Winona & Craig's house for a birthday evening. We got some yummy thin crust pizza, watched a few episodes of 24, and ate some fabulous ice cream cake. Also, the family likes to hide gifts around the house and make you find them. They call them "hideaways". So I got a bunch of great hideaways and had a great time with them.

On Saturday, my sister and I had a girls day and celebrated our birthday's together. She is turning 18 tomorrow and we've always celebrated our birthday's together since they are just a week apart. We spent an entire day pampering ourselves, shopping, and we watched the movie "17 again" together. It was a blast and it made my day!

On Saturday night I had a soccer game and it was awesome. We've had three games so far and have won 2 of the 3. I had a great time defending and blocking the ball from goals. I haven't quite gotten the hang of all of the rules yet and it was amusing to find out after the match that I was probably guarding a bit too aggressively. :) But I had a blast and every time I play I get so excited. When I was in high school I always wanted to play soccer but didn't. It is nice to actually be playing the game now and I'm just loving every minute of it.

Sunday I had a "Live, Laugh, Love, Coffee Club" meeting which is where a group of girls and I meet at Starbucks to chat about creating family traditions. It was great and we enjoyed the warm sun by sitting out on the patio. We sipped our coffee drinks and it was so much fun.

After the club meeting, Ciege and I met up with my Mom and "D" at Panda Express for a late birthday dinner. I LOVE Panda Express and had a great time discussing life over some delicious orange chicken. My Mom and "D" bought me the most beautiful plant for our yard and I'll have to take a picture and post it once we plant it this weekend. It is a gorgeous flowering plant which grows to be 8' tall! I can't wait to get it in the ground.

And that just about wraps up my birthday extravaganza weekend...oh wait! I almost forgot to write about my near-death experience on my birthday! On Friday I came a second or two away from being hit by a car in a parking lot! I was busy texting/twittering on my phone and looked up to see a car backing into the spot I was standing in going about 20 miles per hour. By the time I looked up and noticed the car it was just a second or so away from hitting me. I froze for a slight second and then took a gigantic step out of the parking spot. The car brushed quickly beside me. The driver got out and didn't even notice that he had almost just killed me in the parking lot. CJ saw the whole thing and was pretty shaken up about it too. Apparently he saw the car coming for me but didn't have enough time to yell for me to get out of the way. He thought for sure that I was going to be hit and it was really amazing that I made it out of there. Phew! I've been pretty aware of cars around me ever since!

Here are some pics of my birthday weekend...


Bachelor is waiting in the back of the car for our birthday run and he is FREAKING out with excitement!


After our run we started stretching and I was looking down. When I looked up, I saw Kendra with this birthday hat and gift. It was a great surprise. She got me a great runners magazine and some running socks.


Here is a picture of me and my running pal Kendra after our birthday run.


And here I am in the car on my way to Nona & Craig's house for my birthday night.


Bec's and My freshly painted toenails at the theater getting ready to watch "17 again".


And after my soccer game on Saturday, Ciege decided to take me out to Taco Time to show me some soccer tips using the Tater Tots as people and the tray as our field. It was cute and a lot of fun.

(I wish I had some pics from my birthday evening and Panda Express dinner but I totally forgot to take them.)

Cutest Dog in the World!

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Bachelor LOVES the springtime. We've been taking him out a whole lot more lately since the weather has gotten nice and he's loving it. Last night we took him to the dog park (nearby Junior High School) and we kicked a soccer ball around together. He had a huge grin on his face the whole time. Although he loved running free off leash with the other dogs, he mostly just wanted to kick the ball around with Ciege and I and get in the middle of our little game. It was really cute and hard to get him to leave us alone and go play with the other dogs. Every time I would go to make a shot, he would come over to me and sit on my foot. It was adorable.

And a few nights ago I went upstairs to get our favorite nightly snack - ruffles chips and cottage cheese, and I accidentally dropped a bowl on the stairs. Bachie was right next to me so I told him he could clean up my mess and I went downstairs. About a half hour later Ciege and I noticed that Bachelor wasn't downstairs with us and when we went upstairs Bachelor was sitting beside the chip mess waiting for us to tell him it was REALLY okay that he clean it up. He must have not believed me when I told him it was okay or maybe he thought it was just too good to be true. But he looked so adorable sitting patiently in a pool of drool right next to the chip mess. It was great!

Sickos

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Last week at work we all took a group photo and I thought it might be nice to post it to the blog. We had pizza brought into work last week and then we took this group picture to thank the nice client and former Wirestoner who bought it for us. So these are the great people that I spend 40 hours per week of my life with. They are fun coworkers and they make coming to work enjoyable.

And on another topic, it's been way too long since we've updated the SweigartSpot. Life has been great but crazy lately. We're really enjoying the beautiful Boise Spring weather and we're getting excited to dust off our bikes and start riding around town again. But for the past two weeks we've been fighting Bronchitis and I'm seriously hoping that we're nearing the end of that. This has been the longest I think I've ever been sick. And like true Sweigarts, we both have shared this illness every step of the way. :) Ciege and I have been getting little sleep as we've been coughing through the night. And each day I think we're probably getting a little bit better, but each day it is the same story. Luckily I discovered the miracle drug - Mucinex. This stuff is like little gold pills if you've got a bad cough and congestion. This last week we forked out the outrageous $25 for a bottle and it's been the best money we've spent because it has really quieted our symptoms and made life livable again. :)

Besides for being sick and working, not much is going on here. We still need to do our taxes so I'll be relunctantly completing that task tonight. I really think that taxes ruin the perfectly great month of April. Every year I dread it and every year I put it off. I suppose that we should just get them done early like everyone else that we know but I am just a procrastinator by heart. But I'm proud to be completing them a couple days before the deadline at least.

Also we've been playing a new (actually it's an old) computer game called Warcraft III. It is a multiplayer strategy game and it is tons of fun. We've been dueling each other at home and have been playing with our coworkers after work. It is so much fun and has been a great way to get some relaxation in while we're trying to heal from our sickness. If it weren't for those darned taxes, I'm sure that is what we'd be playing tonight. :)