Some of the best things in life are free... or at least 1/2 price

It has arrived.

Yesterday Sonic had training day and put all their menu items at half price as a means to generate buzz and business.

I had a combo with a cherry limeade for $2.30. It was delicious. Every single bite.

I could even go back today....

How many blondes does it take...

To melt a microwave?

Just one. Me.

I tried popping some popcorn for my afternoon snack. I was standing in the breakroom listening to the pops, reading the newspaper, when I smelled this really awful smell. I turned around and smoke was billowing from the microwave. I opened up the door, only to find that the plastic on the inside of the door was melting.

I had one of my co-workers come see it, when next thing I know everyone is yelling at me to leave. "Sarah, what are you thinking?! You can't be in here with these fumes! Leave!" So, I spent the next hour avoiding my office until I got the clear from everyone. The microwave was hauled off on a cart headed for the dump. It was like a funeral procession as everyone came out to see what was happening, and I just stood in the hall with my hands in my pockets saying "I didn't mean to, I swear."

And what makes this all so funny, is that Jonathan and I bought this new kind of popcorn and I swear every time I make it something goes wrong.

The popcorn burns.

The popcorn never pops.

The bag is burned so bad there is a hole in it.

Or, the microwave melts.

Chubby bunny fingers

First, let me just say "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!" to all of my wonderful girlfriends who have generiously let me borrow their preggo clothes. I can't even begin to tell you guys how great it is to a) not spend a ton of money on a whole new wardrobe, b) actually have clothes that aren't being held up by hair ties.

Something that I have come to realize is that I really do like being pregnant. Of course, I think it does my self-esteem wonders when Jonathan tells me how beautiful I am every day. Plus, it's a perk when you have super cute clothes to wear everyday instead of your too-tight-pre-pregnancy clothes. So, all in all, I've not had major issues with my expanding form.

However, I will say there have been a few things I didn't bargain for. One of those being a change in my ring size. Now, I will be honest in saying my fingers are small. I'm not sure why they are, but it seems to be a family thing. My mom has small fingers, my grandmother had small fingers, and so do I. Now, I should also note that not my whole finger is small, just the point before and after my knuckle. The knuckle itself is the size of Texas, literally. For that reason, I have always had some struggle with my wedding rings. They fit fine once on my finger, but sliding them over the knuckle takes some force. But, I've never worried about it since I never usually take them off.

Well, last week I realized that my rings were beginning to hurt my finger. Actually I noticed it a while ago, but sucked it up and wore them anyway. But last week I couldn't take it anymore, I took off my rings (and several layers of skin around my knuckle!) and have been wearing them around my neck. I'm feeling rather naked without them on and have started wearing some blue ring I found buried in my jewelry box. I'm really hoping this was a ring that Jonathan gave me at some point so that I can at least still say that I'm wearing a ring my husband gave me.

I think I might endeavor to buy a nice silver ring for the future. But still, I am in shock at how chubby my fingers have gotten. My sister-in-law, Shelly, was joking with me last night and said "Well, I've always wondered were skinny people put their extra weight. Not their butt or thighs, but apparently their fingers!".

Day dream believer

I'm a day dreamer by nature. I loved "playing" softball because it meant I could go day dream in the outfield for most of the game. On the few occasions that a ball came my way, my head was so far in the clouds I forgot what I was even there to do.

I grew up day dreaming about a variety of different things, that changed, literally, on a moments notice. For years I dreamed of backpacking through Europe, sleeping in parks and living as a hitchhiker. One day my brother, Jesse, and I picked up a hitchhiker and I was so scared that I decided I could never actually ride in a car with a total stranger in a strange country. So quickly my hitchhiking through Europe dream was over.

Oh, by far my best day dream (and actually night dream) revolve around me being in the CIA. I think it would be the coolest thing to be a spy, speaking ten different languages, being in really intense situations and relying only on your wit to get you out. Obviously, I watched way too much James Bond as a child, and frankly would be terrified to rely on my wit alone to help me in out of anything.

All through my formative years, I really had some extravagant dreams. I had new ideas popping into my head by the minute, and every time I decided that one seemed worthy of pursuit, I would declare my self to have "officially decided" on the matter.

Then I grew up. Sort of.

I still day dream, but I've realized that my day dreams are a lot less glamorous than when I was a kid. For example, when we lived with the Abdos last summer I fell in love with their front loading washing machine. Not sure why, but man, that thing was awesome. When we moved into our house I literally would day dream while I did laundry about owning a front loading washing machine (see, not so glamorous). At any rate, we just bought a new washer and dryer from J Box. He needed to get rid of the ones he couldn't put in his new place and we needed a replacement for ours. And the best part is, the washer is a front loader. ;)

Oh, imagine my excitement! And while a front loading washing machine isn't nearly as exciting as say, hiking through Yellowstone (again, another childhood day dream), it still is a dream come true.

The package deal

An email between my friend, Jen H. and I made me think about package deals in marriage and family.

Before I got married I would Google different sites for way sweet travel deals. I would see some ticket to Europe for $400 and think "Wow, how sweet would that be? Go to Europe for 400 bucks!" Now I see that and I double it. Going to Europe for $800 isn't as sweet sounding of a deal as $400. Not that I have room to complain. I've traveled more since I've been with Jonathan than I ever did single. But still, when you double everything it sorta knocks out the whole "sweet deal" that you find.

Then I thought how hard it is to visit our family and friends outside of Iowa (because of the whole doubling thing), and realized we should be advertising ourselves as a package deal. Listed below are just of few options that you, my beloved out-of-state friends and family could purchase.

"The Windham Duo" (available for a limited time!) - for the low price of gas money, a spare spot of floor, some blankets and a chew toy, you could purchase Jonathan, Jack and myself for a weekend (or week!) of pure Windham madness.

"The Windham Package" (coming late November) - for the low, low price of 3 plane tickets, an entire room for all our stuff, and patience to deal with two sleep deprived adult, you could purchase a week with one incredibly cute girl.

"The Windham Clan" - for those out there willing to splurge on a little something more, you will get the "package" plus Jack, for an extra fee of doggy treats and a big back yard.

We are now standing by for orders.

Whoa! Jonathan and I made it in the paper!

So, our lives aren't really boring.

Last week Jonathan and I were interviewed by this girl, Kate, from the Press Citizen concerning the cost of having a child (hospital stay, buying items, etc). Here's the link to the site: Parents prep for birth.

There was only one disappointing part of the article. We spent the majority of the time expressing to Kate our beliefs on God, who He is in our lives and how that effects how we will raise our kids. Yeah, that didn't get written. But I had a feeling it wouldn't. When Jonathan and I walked away from the interview all we could do was pray that at least Kate understood what we said, even if it never went to print.

It's a little strange to read about ourselves through the eyes of someone else. We explained to Kate about some hardships we faced over Christmas, and while I know my heart and what God has done for me through that time, it's awkward to see it written and to wonder how others will take it. When something effects you deeply, it seems a little trite to sum it up in less than a paragraph. Maybe the section should have said "...she worried that maybe it wasn't God's plan for her to have children. But that doesn't make God any less worthy of her praise."

Part of me wants to help explain the situation, to explain that God is a good and faithful God, and that while I doubted where I thought my life was going, I never doubted Him. But alas, that can't be expressed.

And so I will need to rest in knowing that we shared our faith with Kate, even if it was Kate alone. And we either planted a seed or watered one. From here only God can make it grow.

Anniversary Extravaganza 2007!

I have made it almost a month without a single post. Nothing that exciting (or exciting enough to write on a blog) seems to be happening right now. But never fear, I'm sure my life will be filled with enough sleepless nights and poopfilled drama to keep you all entertained come winter.

This last weekend, Jonathan and I celebrated Anniversary Extravaganza 2007! I had Monday and Tuesday off, because we were planning a trip out of town that fell through. So we took Sunday and my two vacation days to spend together. I've come to the conclusion that I enjoy having vacation at home much more than going some place. We were never rushed, and really the only concern we had was how long to stay at the pool before we went out to dinner.

Well, to give a play by play synopsis of our AE '07, here goes:

Sunday: Jonathan got this book "Oddball Iowa" from Chris Biang a few months back. We've never really looked through it, but gave it a whirl. We drove to Dyersville to visit the Field of Dreams. Luck for us, the last Sunday of every summer month the "Ghost Players" come out of the field and have a little show. We made it just in time to see some really old men (some have been doing this since the movie came out in 1989) pop out of the corn. It was fun, and something completely different from what I imagined. For some reason, I really thought they'd be like baseball players, but they just had some beer guts and threw the ball to little kids. All the same, we agreed with when Baby Dubya is older, we'll have to take her.

Afterwards, we drove to Dubuque and took Jack to PetSmart. Then took a scenic drive down the Mississippi before heading home.

Monday: We got up kinda late and headed over to the Mall for Chick-Fil-A's breakfast chicken biscuit (yummy!), and cruised around the mall for a few hours. Of course, we found ourselves (like always) at Barnes and Noble. Around noon we went to see The Simpsons. Oh man, this was a funny, funny movie. However, if you go see it, keep in mind that it's a movie and doesn't have the same censorship as T.V. All the same, it was pretty entertaining. Then off to home we went, for a nice long nap (for me!) while Jonathan put up the mini blinds in our dining area. When I woke up, I was way excited to see the blinds (as this has been something I've wanted done for a long, long time!), and I was floored to see that my wonderful hubby bought be 24 red roses (1 rose for every month we've been married). :) Man, they are simply gorgeous.

We spent the late afternoon at the Coralville pool (note to self: pool, bathing suit and large crowds does nothing for yourself esteem when you're pregnant). Jonathan feel in love with the big slides, and I was rather dissapointed that I couldn't go down them. One of the best parts of pools is when they have water slides. :( But oh well, maybe next summer.

Tuesday: We built some shelves in the garage, went downtown for some personal time with God, then watched a movie while we ate dinner. Last night we did a major overhaul in our garden.

**Random side note: Does anyone else have massively overgrown tomatoes?! Seriously, our tomato plants have vines that are 6+ feet long. I'm not even kidding. We had to cut them out of their fencing, buy some trelice and cut off a ton of vines. They have gotten so long they are taking over. I know it's good and all, but man, the plants are dying because they're too heavy. We ended up throwing away a lot of fruit because they were rotting. Bummer. But all I think we'll still get a good group before the the end of the season.

**Random side note #2: Wilson's Orchard opens today. In fact, I even had a dream about it last night. It was a weird dream, so I'll spare you the details, but still, I'm way happy for some pick your own apples. Jonathan and I might try to go this weekend to get some apples for dessert on Monday.

Well, hopefully something really fun and blog worthy will happen this month so I can actually have something fun to write about.