MI RANCHITO tomorrow night
with Nicholas & Rachele!!
YEEEEEAHHHH!!!!!
(that is for you Nicholas....
Since Matt said it to you on the phone
last night that I would put it on here)

Well, not much has been going on with Matt & I. Last week, Matt was out of town for almost the whole week... so that wasn't too much fun, but now this week, I have been enjoying him being home every night! =)

Things I want to do & LEARN!

So, again, I'm bored here at work and I get to thinking about new things I want to do & LEARN!
So, in "Jenni-fashion" I am going to make a list! YES, can you believe it?
I'm going to make A LIST!!!

1. Learn how to sew again! Not just the proper way how to sew a button back on, but many more things than that.
2. I have some of the "tools" to learn how to decorate cakes! Now, I just need to learn how to use them...... and I would love to watch and learn from someone that knows what they are doing!
3. I want to go to Starved Rock and go hiking.
4. I want to type all my recipes into a word doc. Not just to have them on file, but for the possibility of making something fun with them! *(I had started that before I was married, but haven't kept up with it)*
5. I want to make a cookbook with Ashley again! (YOU UP FOR IT GIRL?) I had so much fun photographing all the food plus designing it. I think it's time for the 2nd Edition! =)
   
6. I want to get better at staying in contact people. I want to get used to talking on the phone and just catching up with people that I haven't talked to in awhile. Because I know that talking on the phone just is not something that I would call a strength of mine.
   
7. I found this ORGANIZER BINDER idea on the Executive Homemaker website of different ideas of how to keep your weekly tasks and future things that you want to do organized into one binder. This really appeals to me! (surprise, surprise!) I want to make one of my own!
8. I would love to take a Interior Decorating Class, a one night deal. Just to know the basics and learn some new things about Home Decor!

I'm sure I could think of more, but i think that's good for now!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

6 months of BLISS!

Well, this past weekend was our "6 month" anniversary! Yes, I know we are a little weird for making a bigger deal out that than most people do. But we're weird. And we like it that way.

I can't believe that it has been 6 months already. I mean, at some points, it feels like it's been almost a year already, but then it feels like just yesterday! I have learned some things about me and about matt during these past 6 months, but I will say we haven't had to do that much adjusting to living together. Definitely not nearly as much as I thought we would. I think it helped that Matt was living on his own already and I saw the way that he did things and as we were dating, I wanted to do it his way bc/ it was his house, so i just kinda adjusted to all of that because I didn't have my own place and my own way of doing things. Other than adjusting to living together, I think the most "difficult" thing has been the whole holiday issue and making it fair for both families. And I thinkthat those are decisions that many couples have to make!

But here are the Top 5 things I have learned these past 6 months about Matt (that i didn't know when we were dating - i'll warn you.... there aren't many, seriously, he's pretty much straight-forward...what you see is what you get!):

#5. Matt is a procrastinator!
#4. ok, i'm finding it really hard to think of something!
#3. maybe this was a bad idea... i can't really think of anything else...
#2. oh.... i never realized how much he REALLY hits his snooze in the morning.

and drumroll pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease....

#1. Matt REALLY likes to SLEEP... I mean I knew he could fall asleep anytime, anywhere, but it's definitely more than I ever realized! Put him in front of a tv and he's pretty much out by the time I'm on my second plate doing dishes! Haha....

(and now me putting this up, I kinda wonder what Matt would say that he has learned about me.... maybe I can get him to give me a couple and I can share those with you! Because I'm SURE that he has some!!!)

So, doing that little "exercise" just made me realize that we really HAVEN'T had to do too much adjusting. We definitely fit well and know what pushes the other person's buttons and how do deal with that. And for that, I am TRUELY grateful!!

New topic!
GO BLACKHAWKS! Matt has got me watching them.... even when he's out of town! Crazy... i never really watched hockey before, but I will say, I'm growing fond of it. But I will admit that I'm just joining the banwagon and watching hockey will probably end whenever the season ends for them!

Well, time to go edit some photos I shot today of my nephew Ian! They were pretty casual... just trying to get some pictures of him for his b'day photo. Check out my business blog for some new photos.

Have a great night!

Matt & Cassidy B'day + Easter BASH!

Here are some pictures from yesterday's BASH at my parents house!

Do you think they are going to be able to find the egg?

She's a monkey alright!

Mikayla finding an egg on top of daddy's head!


Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

Look Mikayla found a dollar!

Grandma sorting out the eggs with the kids!

The BIG 3-0!

Matt opening presents

Matt and his super sweet cake! =) (It was for both Cassidy & Matt)

A visit to meet little Evan Levi Olthoff

So Precious!

Cutie!!

Father & Son (Eric & Evan)

Happy Easter
Everyone!

30... is that considered old?

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY MATTHEW!
(a small photo "tribute" to my dearest honey!)

(his official BIRTHday!)

(mmmm... CAKE!!!)

(awww... he made the newspaper with his puppy!)

(best friends forever! matt & "Q")

(a little something that I made when we were first dating...
he ALWAYS said that! and still does!)

(one way to describe matt! haha)

I love you so much honey! I hope you have a wonderful day!
You have brought me so much joy in the past 2 years that we have known each other and I look forward to many more birthdays to celebrate with you! MUAH MUAH MUAH!

Kids are so creative!

What a crazy busy weekend!!!!

From Sams Club to Church clean up from card games to a birthday celebration! We stayed QUITE BUSY!

I am just amazed at how creative kids are. I think this coloring of the patio with sidewalk chalk is wonderful!

Beautiful Artwork!

Tay Tay & Emma working on their beautiful masterpiece!

And on to some big news! My wonderful hubby is turning the BIG 3-0 TOMORROW!!!
We had a small birthday party with the Hoekstra clan + grandpa at our house... here are a few photos......

$$$$$$$$

a very nice watch from his parents

even after it was slobbered on my aaron....
matt was still happy to get his TRIPLE FUDGE CAKE!

Changing my Mind.....

Imagine that... I'm changing my mind.

I will not be doing "my creative thing" on this blog, but thought of later, that naturally all that should be put on my derksphotography & design BLOG! =) check it out! I'll slowly get back into the swing of things!

I need my creative side back!

So today at work I was really bored *(surprise, surprise)*. So I was looking at some blogs and decided to switch up our site with a little more fun and more creative page. I DID NOT make it my self.... I actually found it from Simply Fabulous Blogger Templates!

But looking at a bunch of different blogs, I realized that I STINK at what they call "blogging" (or just talking about stuff in hopes that other people will see it and like what you have written!)

But here are some things I learned:

1. I really wish I had the knack for just writing my thoughts about life, about womenly stuff like: saving money, crafts, home decorating, organizing, etc. But for some reason... all i seem to come up with is only stuff that is going on in our lives (yes, i know our site is THE HOEKSTRAS.... but i would love to expand things I write about)...... i just can't come up with stuff to write about is just not easy for me.

2. To find the time... (ok, I know I have plenty of time when i'm at work to do it!) but to do it when I'm at home isn't something that I think of.

3. I absolutely love to see what other people write about... maybe I should just leave it up to them and check out what they are doing, instead of trying to do it myself!

4. I don't know the etiquette of blogging...

5. So many people have so many wonderful ideas.... i'm jealous... i wish they were mine! haha.

6. I need to get in touch with my girlie creative side again! I love that side of me.... but I feel I haven't shown it's true self for a long time! And I need to get that passion for DESIGNing back. I do it every day at work, designs that we can't really have too much fun with, that I think I just shut down with the creative part of designing.... I want that back!

7. I'm not very efficient at using BLOGSPOT..... the whole photo thing really annoys me...

8. I need to get my professional "candid" photography back into the swing of things. I LOVE photography and I just don't seem to take as any photographs as I used to other than when i'm shooting clients for weddings/family photos!

9. Maybe if I start paying attention to the little things in my life, by photographing and/or blogging about them, maybe i will appreciate the little things more than I do now!? Mmm... something to think about....

So, I'm going to try to get my creative juices flowing and start blogging more and coming up with some fun ideas or just share more of any ideas I have with anyone that might read my blog.... (sorry nicholas.... if you're the only one that really reads this.... i think i'm going to loose my audience... so maybe all this rambling will be just for myself! haha).

I guess I will start with these two items that I got an email about from UPPERCASE LIVING! How cool are these? I will say though, that I did see something like this at Target the other day too..... but this is kinda the same thing.... easy to peel on and off.... but the one difference there is with target's and this one is that Uppercase Living's comes with 3 different saying each, so if you don't want it to say "MENU" you can change it to say "TO DO" or "NOTES". I think this is just so cleaver! They can go in the: office, kitchen, walls, cupboards, doors, refrigerators, pantries, windows
I can think of a perfect place for the MENU one.... but turned into a TO DO LIST! (you know how I love TO DO LISTS! ooooo... maybe I can blog about how much I love to do lists and how obsessive I am about them!! haha.....) But i would love to put this in the office above my computer. But is that the best spot for it? Mmmmm......

Welp, this past weekend was a busy one! But wonderful.... to be with my husband again after a long week of not seeing him at all, was great!

First we started off with a BLACKHAWKS game with Rachele and Nicholas! Aside from the annoying New Jersey fans behind us, it was good game! Although I wasn't able to tuned out the girl behind me that knew everyone by their first name on the Devil's team & talked about every single play... I still was able to enjoy the game! It was a close game until the very end.... Thankfully ended up winning right at the end of the game, but if they play a little better offense, they could have won by more than just 1 point. But it was nice to hang out with Rachele and Nicholas again!..... next time guys........ MI RANCHITO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait!

Then Saturday afternoon, it was time to head down to Layafette, IN to stay at a hotel with some couples and their kids from church. Matt and I left in the early afternoon and took our time getting down there. Matt gave me a little mini-"tour" of Layafette... showing me where Purdue is (since i have never been down there!).... showing me where he stays when he goes down there for classes/ conferences and where his bachelor party was. We then met everyone at the hotel for some swimming and some dinner! It was fun hanging out with those kids. To see their energy and fun they have in the pool is just so cute! Some kids were even in there for 3 hours straight! (as you can see from Taylor's hands below... she got VERY wrinkley from being in there so long!) It's interesting to see how different kids are. Some are scared, some are daring and some are just happy to splash their feet in the water! =) We ordered pizza, queso dip and had some other great food! Defiitely not a good weekend for dieting!

(Taylor's really wrinkley hands.... with Matt being funny in the background!)

(Just a really cute photo of Taylor with her wrinkley hands again!)

(Me "Jen Jen" & Taylor "Tay Tay")

(Some of the little kids that we were with.... and NO, it wasn't birth control really.... it actually makes me excited to have kids some day!)

(Oh... sweet baby Tessa and me!)

(2 of the DeYoung girls and me!)

(Awww......)

(Crazy girls!)

(Aaron, not looking & Tiffany being cute as usual!)

(I "learned" how to play poker... and yes, we played with Equal, Sugars, Splenda & Sweet-n-Low)

Then it was off to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis (an hour drive) for the day! I invited Taylor to ride along with us for that hour and of course when Tiffany saw that Taylor was going with us... she wanted to also! So we adopted 2 little girls for the car ride to Indy. It was nice! Two very talkative girls at the beginning turned into 1 sleeping girl and 1 zoned into her DS girl about 15 minutes into the car ride! But it was a nice change of pace for Matt and I, having some youngens in the car with us!

The Children's Museum was fun. It was pretty big and had a good variety of stuff for the kids to see! Matt and I decided to go off on our own for a little bit and just see it all in a little more faster pace than it would be with some kids with us (in hopes that we would meet up with some other people later!) But we actually only saw maybe 2 of the other families throughout our time there. So, once we were done, we left and "toured" Indianapolis a little bit. Again, I don't remember the last time I was there (I think it was when i was quite young!)... so we drove around a little bit and then we ended up driving to the Indianapolis Speedway... something that Matt wanted to see (and I guess me too a little bit!)

(Chihuli -sp?- sculpture at the Indianapolis Children's Museum)

(Matt is just a BIG KID!)

(Matt and I in the mirror section!)

(The Batmobile! Supposedly the one they used in some movies!)

And that was our weekend in a nutshell!

But the fun didn't stop when the weekend was over! Tuesday I had my day off and went shopping to Michigan City with my wonderful friend Stephanie and we had a great time... whether was good... little bit of rain, but enough to keep people away from the outlet mall! And when I was shopping I got a call from Matt with some wonderful news! His cousin Eric and his wife Laura had their baby, a boy! I just love the name! Evan Levi.... how adorable! I can't wait to go see the little guy! Congratulations you guys! And to little Lily too! =) I'm sure she's be a wonderful big sister!

Hope you all are having a good week....