Free Stuff

Everyday I'm closer and closer to adding this little gem to my jewelry collection.


Michelle watches are the highest priced watches we sell at work. The face and bands are sold separately. The ones with diamonds around the face are real diamonds and can range from $995-$1495 for the face alone!

Occasionally in our department we have sales incentives. If the department sells $6,000 in Michelle watches and I personally sell $2000 I get a free non-diamond watch. If I would sell over $5000 I get one with diamonds!!! I have already met my $2000 goal.....and I know our department goal is extremely close if not over $6000......fingers crossed :)

Oh yes!

6 months ago I was laying on a beach in Jamaica! *sigh*



I want to go back!!

New Years Resolution

Hi, my name's emily. (hi emily)

I've been a bad blogger this year.

I promise to be better!!!

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Update time...

With all the holiday hoopla and working retail, my days off are limited. So luckily on my only two weekend days off (6th and 20th), I was able to attend the 2nd Annual Motor-Nursing Home Christmas Caroling and Meiner Family Christmas.

For those who are unaware of the Annual Christmas Caroling, my grandpa drives us around in his motorhome to local nursing homes and we spread holiday cheer for all to hear! Vocal warming (drinking and practicing) begins around 2 p.m. so we are getting to the nursing homes at prime time before they're off to bed. We dress in our christmas gear, sing carols, and pass out Christmas cards. In all honesty, it's great to see the smiles and brighten their day. Here are some pictures I got this year.

Kori, Grace, Elizabeth, Me, William

Jamie, Kim, Kris, Pat

Santa & Rudolph......aka Elizabeth and dad

Aunt Debbie & Aunt Pam

Rhys & Michael with the Girls

Next stop.....

This past Sunday was the Meiner Christmas in Pontiac. We headed to my grandparents around noon and had a great afternoon/evening. My grandpa & grandma started up their very own blog so when they travel we are all updated along the way. Usually they send out email after email and thought sharing it on a blog may be easier and maybe even a little more fun! So in your spare time you should check out doc n d info to see what those two crazy cats are up to!

Here are just a few photos from Sunday.

Ryan opening his Sox shirt!

Ashley had my dad and made him a shirt with our dog Paul Bunyan on it. Who dad calls his favorite kid. He loved it! I think the first words out of his mouth were, I can't wait to show him....(meaning show paul the shirt...haha)Me and my favorite gift! Zach had my name again this year and on my list was a cloth bag to store sacks in....and his wife Ashley (my crafty cousin again) made me one! amazing....

Yesterday about noon I started to feel a little sick and by the time I got off work at 5 I was blowing my nose constantly, coughing and had a huge headache! So I spent the evening laying around...and kinda/sorta passed it on to my husband....lets just say neither of us slept very well last night. Today seemed worse and I had to work 12-9 :(....I was couting down the hours until I got off....and of course, just my luck one of our registers needed re-booted (contemplating whether that looks right or not), then wasn't working and so I left work at 9:55.....UGH!! Think it's time for bed.....

Lots & Lots to Report

I've been a little MIA with my posts. So here goes everything.....

First off, R and I made name frames for our relatives a couple years ago, which were a hit. Since then we have made some for wedding gifts, had a couple orders from friends, and made one for our escort card table at our wedding. This year, our business is booming! We have already made 8 and are in the process of making 7 more. Just wanted to share some pictures of the ones we've made so far.

This year, just like every year, we were to attend 4 Thanksgivings. And we only got to 2 (well 2 1/2). We ate lunch with my mom's side at my Grandma's house, supper at my mother-in-laws, and stopped by R's grandparents to say hi. It's so nice to see family, but so hard to get to each place. This year we are celebrating the Meiner Christmas on the 20th, so we will be able to make it up to them the whole day! :) Here are a few pictures from the Reeter Thanksgiving. My aunt Maria has a Great Dane named Ellie. Notice how hu-mungo she is!!

Please excuse the butt shot.......just wanted you to compare her to the chair!

Christmas is my favorite holiday and this is our first Christmas as a married couple. I was so excited to put up OUR Christmas tree. Judy had given us a tree from Greg's parents. We brought it home the day after Thanksgiving and that night went to Wal-mart to buy the essential decorations......tree skirt, ball ornaments, lights, star, the works....and Ryan wasn't complaining! So we got in the car (by this time it was around 11 p.m.) and he said do you want to put up the tree tonight?/? WHAT! Of Course I do!!!!!! R put on Christmas music that I had been begging him to download and we were ready to decorate. We started by organizing the branches. First came the 10 long brown, then 10 green, 8 blue...so on and so on.....finally the box was empty, branches were all over my living room, and NO CENTER POLE!!! Nooooooo..... We had to end the night with no tree. The next day we told Judy and she looked for it and had no luck. She gave us her old tree because she knows how important it is to have a Christmas tree :)

Christmas Tree Set-Up Day #2:

So Sunday I worked 1-6 and couldn't wait to get home so we could try again. We had no direction as to where the branches went on the pole, so it was a guessing game.

After all levels were up (minus a couple branches in the back of the tree), we stood back and I felt like the tree was being hugged in the middle....So we flip-flopped two levels, but that made it worse! So back to original places they went. Also, I thought I had run out of lights at the end and stretched the last strand, but then found another package that someone had put on the other side of the room (not mentioning names.....ryan) Ugh..after fixing that we were ready to begin the ribbon and ornaments. That part went pretty smooth compared to everything else.

R put the star on the top & ladies and gentlemen, I give you our tree...........

My clean/festive/cozy livingroom :)

This tree, like real trees, left needles all over the floor. While vacuuming, we ended the night with one more unexpected road block....I blew a fuse. Of course!

Next on my list of things to share with the world......my dreams last night.

#1: I was pregnant! I believe the dream started out in my grandparents cabin in MN (which of course doesn't look like their cabin at all, but it is!) and I wasn't feeling well. Then R and I were at a hospital where my dad was the guy who passed out the prego tests. Not to be too graphic, but I was to pee in a shot glass looking thing and if it turned purple that was a positive test...Not sure what that dream was saying, but I can assure you we aren't having a baby.

#2: So a couple posts ago, I had let out a secret of mine about having crushes on a couple professional dancers. Well dream #2 included them both and I was dancing with Mark....*sigh*....and that's all I've been talking about today. Mark this and Mark that...ahhah...I Love You Ryan!! (oh yes and that's something I really, really, really want for Christmas, Ballroom Dance Lessons for R & I!!!!!)

----Back when I wrote that post, R told me I couldn't have crushes on other guys. And I told him as long as they were famous people and we didn't stand a chance. He continued to say well then I have a crush on Natalie Portman. So, I'm making it public.....Ryan likes Natalie-----

Lastly, here are some pictures of R's car....RIP

I'm so glad he was alright.....

Happy Birthday Ash & Zach

Ok, so I forgot to post this yesterday, but just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my cousin Ashley and cousin-in-law (I guess you could call him that) Zach!!!!

Hi Nice Home

So the other night my Grandma told me that everytime she would enter her house she would say, "Hi Nice Home." Today I had the day off work and boy was it nice to lounge around & be home. Thought I would share some pictures of our livingroom, since I really haven't shared many pictures of our apartment (plus..it's clean right now).

*new curtains*

Just a few things...

1. My Grandma Reeter ordered curtains for our livingroom and we hung them this morning....I'm soooo pleased with them. Nothing fancy, but they make the apartment feel more "homey".....(pictures coming soon!)


2. It's seems like every year, when the deadline comes for turning in my Christmas list, I have nothing to ask for. This year however, my list seems to go on and on....Nothing extravagant, just those everyday things. There is one item I need help with what it's called....We really need one of those fabric tube/bag things that holds walmart sacks (or any sack for that matter)....Any suggestions as to what they are called?/?


3. I have to get this off my chest.......I have a crush on 2 of the professional dancers from DWTS. Derek Hough *sigh* and Mark Ballas.......And as I was making this post, I looked up some fun facts about them and get this.....Derek's sister Julianne Hough is also a dancer and has been on DWTS.....AND Derek and Mark I guess are good friends and formed a band in 2005 called Almost Amy, which I will be checking out....(This is my first year as an avid DWTS fan, so if you already knew about this past bullet point....please disregard).

Derek

Mark

As we watch the episodes (yes, R watches occasionally), I think I say I want our son to be a dancer like Mark or Derek about 3-4 times. I just l.o.v.e watching those guys dance, but I don't think R is too keen on the idea yet.


4. I'm really looking forward to next weekend. My aunt Theresa and I have our overnight scrapbooking weekend. We will be staying in a hotel from Fri-Sun....scrapbooking the whole time in the hotel ballroom, along with 42 other croppers....Hopefully that will help me get through the week :)


5. So, tonight at work for every new account we opened, we would receive $1 + a piece of candy (and the candy may also award you more money....if you choose the right one). Since I began working at Von Maur, about a month ago, I have yet to open an account and guess what....today I DID!!! Woo Hoo, I won a dollar I won a dollar....but of course, the candy I pulled out did NOT have additional money attached..... :(


Also tonight at work, a guy about my age, bought a Coach watch for his girlfriend for her birthday. Price tag: $500. As I was making small talk while ringing him up, I asked when her birthday was. He followed by saying, "It's actually tonight. I bought her a coach handbag a couple days ago, but she didn't have anything to open today. So I'm getting her this watch." AHHH....a Coach purse AND watch......can we say "keeper!" He said she was out with her friends and he was going to give her the watch later tonight.....what a sweet guy!


6. And finally, most of you may have heard...Ryan was in a car accident this past week and totalled his car. He's fine, but that made us short a vehicle which is really a nuisance when we each have our own separate places to be at the same time. So last night after work we test drove a vehicle in El Paso before heading to Pontiac to get my parents old van. I don't think we are going to buy the car. We will be using my red car and the green van until something else comes along. Fingers crossed!


Happy Halloween

"I'm not a ghost, I'm a marshmallow" -Dewey, Malcolm in the Middle

Family. Friends. Fotography.

So we have been super busy the past couple weeks. I started my new job at Von Maur and love it so far (minus the pantyhose...which after my first week of training alone, I had already gone through 2 pairs...grrr). On the plus side, the ladies I work with are great and have taught me a lot. I have a long list of 'wants', so if you need ideas for me for Christmas, just let me know :)

I've also started my own photography business. Which is SO much fun!! I have a couple sessions booked for the near future, but would love to have more. Anyone can view my website at http://www.emilysweitzerphotography.weebly.com/

R and I went home 2 weekends ago for Pontiac's Homecoming. Friday night we went to the football game with a bunch of friends. Followed by a little hometown bar scene.

Saturday morning we met my family at St. Mary's to watch the infamous 6th Grade Girls Basketball Team. If you haven't seen a game yet, you should! And I recommend sitting close enough to hear the coaches. It was fun to watch my parents coach Elizabeth. She is a tough player and I wouldn't mess with her on the court. I forgot my camera, so no pictures....sorry....

Rhys and William had the homecoming dance that night, so we went to see them with their dates. The theme this year was Wild, Wild, West...hence the cowboy outfits. Also, Rhys was on Senior Court. He didn't win King, but I know if I were still in High School I totally would have voted for him.

That night 13 friends + R and myself, rented a limo. Which took us to a bar in Chenoa and a couple in Pontiac. Why you ask? I have no clue, but it was a GREAT time!

Sunday I had a photoshoot with the Harms. Sarah, Brent, and Addison. I was in the same class as Sarah's brother Robert. So I've known her for a little while. Both Brent and Sarah are teachers and I loved watching them teach Addison things throughout the day. We would try to keep her entertained as we drove from spot to spot. We brought along a pumpkin, which Sarah taught her was 'round', 'small', 'orange'.....she would repeat the word over and over to us until we gave her another word. So cute and smart! It was a fun day and I will be taking more pictures of them and their extended family the first week of November. Can't wait!!

Then that night my mom cooked a family supper, which she wants to do every month.....we'll see if that happens. The supper table included Mom, Dad, Ryan, me, Michael, Kearstyn, Rhys, William, Elizabeth, Grace, and Pat Martin.....ahhah....He's family! It was such a fun-filled weekend. Since then it's been work, work, work.....

On a side note:

We saw a commercial the other day for a resort in Jamaica, which made me think back to our Honeymoon and the WONDERFUL time we had. Saying I wished I was there is truly an understatement.......ahhhh...what I would give to be sitting pool side with a strawberry daiquiri..........someday...

Also, I've been obsessing over Christmas. It is my all time favorite holiday and it will be here before you know it. I love the magic and cheer it brings. Hopefully R will let me start decorating soon. I'll leave you with a lovely picture of us from Christmas '05.