Hugaholic

FREE HUGS

If I could, I would hug you.

Merry Christmas!!

Love,
Amber

I Heart Blogging

As many of you know, I have become somewhat of a blogaholic over the past year. It actually began back in March. As I look back on 2006, I remember the feelings I had on the day that I wrote my first post. I didn't' know what I would write, didn't know if I had anything to say, and wasn't even sure if this whole idea of blogging was for me. I had never been a journaler, but had started the first page of many throughout my life.



Why has blogging worked for me? I think there are three main reasons:
1.) I can check for spelling errors, edit, add pictures, use links, and make changes...which I could never do in an old-school journal.
2.) I can stay connected to and make new friends. I didn't realize this when I started blogging, but after a few months went by and I began meeting people all over the country whose blogs I had been reading and who had been reading mine too! I love meeting other bloggers and readers, my readers are my friends!
3.) I can entertain others, which energizes me. When I find out that someone laughed at a post or a picture, it pretty much makes my day.

And so I have decided for 2007 to continue this wonderful thing called blogging.

Friends

So, Ryan and I are in Grand Rapids today. He is interviewing right now and I am working from the hotel.
Last night when we got to town, we swung thru Holland to hang out with Greg Field for a minute. He is HILARIOUS!



We laughed a lot and discovered that the peppermint coffee at JP's didn't really taste like peppermint at all...as you can tell by the disappointed look on Greg's face.

We are so blessed by the friendships that we have. Some from Hope College, some from Kindergarten, some from Chicago and some from Church. Even though there are hundreds and thousands of miles between many of us, the friendships remain the same. It makes me feel better about moving in a few months, knowing that our friendships are strong and that we have new friends to make.

AspireOne Christmas Party

Saturday night we had a blast at the AspireOne Christmas Party. Ryan finally got to meet the people I work with! What an awesome team of brilliantly creative geniuses! I love that I get to hang out with them!

This was the BEST white elephant gift EVER in this history of Man. Ryan and I brought some band-aids that look like strips of bacon...which came in at a close 2nd.

Hair Emergency

I am having what some would call a "Hair Emergency." I went to get my hair cut and hilighted at this new place...and I LOVE getting my hair done...so I was really excited. I got there and was so impressed because this is one of those fancy salons that has specialties. One girl hilighted my hair, another washed it, another cut it and another styled it at the end.
Unfortunately, it didn't turn our at all like what I wanted. It was brown, for starters...and had these extremely blond streaky chunks that were very artsy...and frightened Ryan quite a bit. The problem was that the color girl went home after me, so I couldn't really talk to her about what happened. Secondly, the "two inches" that the cutter girl said she would take off ended up to be ALOT more...so my hair is much shorter than I had anticipated.
I went back the next day and explained that things had gone terribly wrong...so they fixed me up and it is much better now.
Michelle has been helping me to figure out how to style it right. I don't know what I would do without Michelle.
I can tell that my hair is mad at me for treating it with harsh chemicals and heat.
I'm sorry hair.

These are the kinds of wonderful things you can find online

while stranded at the airport...

On Flight Cancellation...

OUR FLIGHT GOT CANCELLED SO We're stranded in Cleveland for another night! Ahhhh! Apparently there is low visibility in Chicago tonight. All I can say is that it's a good thing Kyle and Sarah are here so we don't have to fork over tons of money for another hotel room!

I've been reading Mark Batterson's Book, IN A PIT WITH A LION ON A SNOWY DAY, so naturally I am assuming that this is God's way of putting us in the right place and out of the wrong place tonight.

"God is in the business of strategically positioning us in the right place as the right time. A sense of destiny is our birthright as followers of Christ. God is awfully good at getting us where He wants us to go. But here's the catch: the right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time."

Life is full of adventures!

...that is all

Lake Erie

In Cleveland with Kyle and Sarah

We're hanging out with Kyle and Sarah for the weekend in Cleveland before Ryan has his interview at Cleveland Clinic on Monday. Last night we went to Aunt Carol & Uncle Skip's house for some dinner and games. Guitar Hero II seems to be a big hit with everyone. They have a pool table, electronic dart board, and even Ryan's favorite game, FoosBall. It was so fun to see the fam.

Today we will be exploring the glories of Cleveland with Kyle and Sarah...and we are hoping that the lines aren't too long to get into the house where Ralphie Lived in "The Christmas Story" movie.

More Later...

Okay, we're back. We went to the house where the movie "The Christmas Story" was filmed. Basically, THIS GUY woke up one morning and decided to spend his days restoring the house. Amazingly, It was PACKED with people who paid $5 each to stroll around.

They were selling the famous leg lamp - (It's a major award)

I think this new museum may be just the thing to get Cleveland back on it's feet again.

On Cleveland

We're in this REALLY NICE HOTEL in Cleveland with a doorman named James who is so great! He literally chased us down the street in the cold to tell us about a jazz band playing tonight at 10pm. Now that's what I call customer service!

There are flat screen TV's mounted on the wall in every room, which is awesome!

One problem...

We went out for a dinner with some residents from Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital tonight for a few hours, and when we got back to the room, our window had been blown open by the wind and our room is as cold in here as it is outside! Ahhhh!

Rumor has it that Cleveland will be snowed in by morning. All the news stations are scrolling cancelled events and warning people about the snow advisory. Should be an interesting interview day for Ryan tomorrow.

That is all I can say about that. I'll be able to tell you more about the interview journey after March 15th.

I liked Cincinnati last week...It's in the south.

White Elephant Exchange

White Elephant gifts have always been quite baffeling to me. Why would I want to give someone something that I have laying around my house that I don't want anymore? Well, a few days ago at our 2by2 Bible Study Christmas Party I learned that White Elephant Exchanges might really help those who have items laying around that NEED to be removed from their shelf.
For example, this hand-made wooden sculpture depicting a polynesian head-hunter with his prize...Eric and Melissa had this thing on their dresser for years! We were happy to take it off of their hands.

You have no idea how happy you are that he is sporting a loincloth...

Whats the best White Elephant gift you ever received?

QUACK...quack...

You got choked up. Admit it!

[ht: los]

I Live Next Door to Horses

Friday night Ryan and I got to hang out with some friends who got us tickets to see Holly Laurent's comedy show "I Live Next Door to Horses" at Chicago's I.O Theater. It was hilarious and all of my Chicago Peeps should go! I'll go with you again...just call me!

Her show runs at 10:30 on Friday nights through December 29th...click here for ticket info.

Read reviews here and here ...

On Working Remotely

Well, it seems that winter has arrived.

This is what I saw when I looked out the window this morning.

It's days like these that make me so happy that I can work from home.

On Flavored Ammo

Okay, this morning on my way to work I heard about this new product on the radio...and I think it's brilliant! I think we might have to incorporate this into next year's annual Beeson Family Thanksmas Hunt.
Season Shot is made of tightly packed seasoning bound by a fully biodegradable food product. The seasoning is actually injected into the bird on impact seasoning the meat from the inside out. When the bird is cooked the seasoning pellets melt into the meat spreading the flavor to the entire bird. Forget worrying about shot breaking your teeth and start wondering about which flavor shot to use!


SAYIN'!!

Sandy is Feeling Better!!

Dear Sandy,
You are my favorite teacher because you are the most beautiful teacher. I hope you feel better.
love, Cesar
I got a call from Sandy tonight and she is feeling much better! YIPPEE!! She spent 5 days in the hospital in the Domincan Republic...which I was nervous about, until she told me tonight that her room had air conditioning and a T.V. which they don't have access to anywhere else. She seemed fine with her 5 days there. :0)

I asked her how she was doing other than that, and she said we should pray for the rain to stop long enough for her clothes to dry. She has to hand-wash everything...which was fine until the rainy season began a few weeks ago. Since then, everything she washes get's layed out to dry and basically gets rained on continuously. She said they are running out of clothes, and are planning on wearing what they have on today from now on until something else gets dry.

I am never complaining again about having to run our dryer twice in order for our clothes to get dry.

I told you, I don't have an accent...

Ryan thinks he hears an accent from me sometimes...and claims that certain family members of mine could be mistaken for Texans. Just because my mom says "chuck hole" when referring to "pot holes" in the road doesn't mean that she has a southern accent.

According to this highly accurate test, I don't have an accent...and I have a great voice for radio, thank you very much.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
The South
Boston
North Central
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Take the test and see for yourself...

I love it when THIS happens...

The Elderly

What is it about aging that makes everyone look and act pretty much the same?

This is my rendition of what I might look like when I am old...er

I went to the UPS store this afternoon, and everyone in line was a cute, tiny, elderly person. I was amazed. They all could have been my Grandma, they were all very kind, most of them had hats/gloves (eventhough it is 54 degrees today) and they were chattering amongst themselves as if they had known one other for a lifetime.

As I stood there in line at the UPS store observing their mild manners and their lovely fashion sense, I realized that I loved them. Maybe it was the joy of the Holiday Season in my heart, maybe it was memories of my own grandparents, either way, as I pulled out of my parking spot and waved good-bye to my new old friends, I loved them.

Why so many elderly people at the UPS store? Perhaps because they are the majority of people in society who get their Christmas Shipping done before December 1st.

Thanksmas Pheasant Hunt

The annual Beeson Family Thanksmas hunt was a huge success this year, not only because the weather was warm, but because everyone came back alive.
So we may be a little bit hill-billyish...but we're okay with that because pheasant is some gooood eatin'!

Contraption of the Day

All I can say about this is "WOW." I'm not a mom, but I did have a nightmare once where I had this tiny baby and I didn't know where to put it...until now.

Introducing the Babykeeper, a patent pending infant carrier seat that hangs from public bathroom stalls so you can go about your business without worrying where to put your baby.

If this is something you need in your life, you can pre-order at a special introductory price of $39.99 until the end of the month. The price goes up 20 bucks after August 31.

20th Anniversary Weekend

This weekend was INCREDIBLE! We celebrated 20 years of Granger Community Church and had such a fun time seeing pictures and watching medias from a long time ago. I never knew Granger did a commercial for TV in the early days, but they did, and it is Hi-Lariously 80's. I am hoping to get my hands on it so that I can share it with you, the blogosphere.

The most incredible part of the weekend was when the 5:30 service on Saturday night got hijacked so that the church could surprise mom and dad with a gift! Watch the end of the service HERE

A BRAND NEW HONDA PILOT WITH ALL THE FIXINS!!
Mom has never had a nice car...let alone a new one! She used to have a huge Buick...which she drove over 200,000 miles. Then she was blessed with an Astro Mini-Van which was affectionately known as "the brick" due to it's non-aerodynamic shape. Most recently she has been driving a broken down Honda Passport with no AC, broken power windows, and a door that won't open. To top it all off, the Passport has been the hunting vehicle for years, so there is a certain aroma which I will not try to describe here.

It was such a perfect gift from the church to my parents.
I love when I get to see churches loving their pastors!
What a great weekend!

I found The World's Oldest Blogger

So, this morning I came across a man who very well may be the worlds oldest blogger. Born in 1913, This Guy has a lot to teach the rest of us. His blog is witty, clever, and absolutely brilliant considering the fact that he is 92 years old. Read some if his stuff...you'll get a kick out of it. Here's an excerpt from his blog for you:

With Respect To Age
I have been moved to write one on how I am regarded, treated, looked at, and all that. I thought of "My Age is Showing", "People Are Getting Nicer", "A Grin in Time Wipes Whines", but maybe I can write this again, later of course, with a different tag like one of these, or maybe "It's the Way I Walk".

People have begun to hold doors, to wait for me in various circumstances. Is it pity, is it admiration, or just respect to old age? True, I am older than I have ever been, in fact older than any related male I know of. My maternal grandfather mowed by hand all day, and that evening ran over a mile to help the bucket brigade up the lake to put out the fire at the local creamery, owned by them all, and got "cold in his kidneys" and died at 87. My paternal grandfather died with a knife in his back when he was throwing a troublesome drunk from his saloon restaurant in a mining camp in Colorado. But I am the oldest male living past 90. So perhaps my age is beginning to show.

Maybe I should lie about my age and say I am only 85 or so, or perhaps I should lie the other way and say I am 99. Depends on how much respect I want, or do I want pity? Not that, please, as it might be catching and I might begin to pity myself, and that would interfere with my plans to go see my grandchildren in Wales, and come back by going the rest of the way around the world.People do form opinions about age, and their attitudes are affected, sometimes for the better. Altogether, getting older, and even old, does have its advantages in some respects, sometimes including more respect, I think.

On Bad Hair Days...

When I came in to work this morning, the team greeted me with the usual "Hi, how are you this morning?" All I could say was "I'm Kinda Weird Today."

I feel weird, because I know that I look weird, because my hairbrush broke and my hair is weird as a result.

I looks like my hair is upside down.

Weird...

Flashback Wednesday

A Tribute to Holly, the Wonder Dog...

We had a crazy dog that we got for Christmas one year. I remember in the van trying to think of a good name for a Christmas dog. Aaron kept saying "CLAWS" (he may have meant claus, like santa claus) but mom thought "Holly" would be better.

Holly was pretty much the dream of every child and the nightmare of any adult. She was absolutely insane...which was a conclusion we drew from years of watching her do crazy things. We had a crop-circle looking track of dead grass in the back year where Holly would stretch her leash as far as it could go and would run the extended leash perimiter the entire time she was ever outside.

She ate the wood in our house, doors, cabinets, cupboards, door frames...basically anything low enough for her to get her jowls around.

One winter when Sweetwater Lake froze over, we tied our sled to her collar and she mustered up the might of her 12 pound body and drug all three of us onto thin ice and toward the open water. Dad ran her down and rescued us from certain death.

We loved her, none the less.

what I'm not blogging about

I'm not going to blog about Ryan's interview process...because you never know what residency program directors are sitting out there reading my blog in their free time.

All I can say is that we are currently in Wisconsin at his 4th interview...tomorrow is his 5th, and we are having a great time doing this interview thing together! I work remotely from the hotel while he is interviewing, then we jump in the car and head to the next place. Life is an adventure!

At his 2nd interview, spouses could come to the dinner, and somehow I ordered the LOUDEST bruschetta that has ever existed. I am not sure what conversation was going on around me because the sound of my own chewing in my own mouth was louder than anything else in the room! I'm hoping I didn't ruin his chances of getting accepted to their program.

We learned yesterday that we simply do not want to live in a house in our price range. We're not the "fixer upper" types. I think we'll probably check out condos from now on!

Other than that, we have a few more major visits coming up over the next few weeks. Cleveland, Indianapolis, Cincinatti, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, etc.

That is all I can say. If you want more info, you'll just have to call us.

Turkey Time

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! Yes, it is November 11th...
You may think it is a bit early for a proper Thanksgiving dinner, but not at our house in Chicago!

We decided a few weeks ago that we needed to celebrate Thanksgiving as a house, so we got together and made some plans and a grocery list and off we went!

The boys were in charge of the bird, which turned out AMAZINGLY good! Nicole and Michelle and I split up the rest of the fixins and when it all got put out on the table it really looked like a feast!

Our feasting was followed by some football, of course, and now it is 5pm and it feels like 9pm at least. I might just go to sleep.

I am blaming the triptophan...

Kindergarten...

When I was in Kindergarten...

1. Mrs. Wetzel was my teacher and I loved her
2. I had a crush on Darin Glick, who had a spike hairdo
3. I was the library assistant - helping to stamp library cards which I found to be a great honor
4. I wore a white sweatshirt nearly every day that said "GO FOR GOD - IT'LL BE GREAT!" in huge red letters
5. Mrs. Zacrocki was my bus driver and I would sit with my friend Krystal every day on the bus.
6. Until the day that Krystal told me we weren't friends anymore...which broke my heart.
7. Until the next day when we sat by each other on the bus and everything was fine.

What were you doing in Kindergarten?

Shhh...don't tell

Pulled this one out of the archives for ya...

54 Years of Love

Happy 54th Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa Cox!

TWO BLOGS!!

It's official. I now have two blogs!

I AM A BLOGAHOLIC!!

1. A Time For Shenanigans : which will continue to be filled with shenanigans, stories & pictures of the everyday life of Amber & Ryan.
2. amberWIRE : Which will be targeted for my more professional audience who is not as interested in hearing about my recent adventure falling down at the grocery store.

So, each of the blogs will have a link to the other blog under the "other places to find me" section in the sidebar. As you can see on the side of this blog, there is a link to amberWIRE.com, which takes you there at the click of a button. On my amberWIRE site there is a link in the sidebar that says "A Time for Shenanigans" which will take you directly here.

This is so fun! I love writing with you in mind...and now I can expand my audience by separating my personal life from my professional one.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this transition, so check out both blogs and leave me a comment!

Happy 88th Birthday Billy Graham!

"My one purpose in life is to help people find a personal relationship with God, which, I believe, comes through knowing Christ."

Mr. Graham has preached the Gospel to more people in live audiences than anyone else in history—over 210 million people in more than 185 countries and territories—through various meetings, including Mission World and Global Mission. Hundreds of millions more have been reached through television, video, film, and webcasts.

One Word-Beautiful

I thought I should share something with you that has not been in the front media coverage of the Haggard Scandal. Can i just say that I am heartbroken by all that has happend, mostly ticked off at the way Satan messes with people, ruines lives, hates us, lies & decieves.

Ted's letter was not the only one read to his congregation this weekend. In a separate letter, Haggard's wife drew laughter when she promised to remain with her husband and said church members no longer had to worry about her marriage being so perfect she couldn't relate to them.

Click HERE to read Gayle Haggards letter to the women in her church.

DrawerGeeks.com

How incredible are these artists? DrawerGeeks are a bunch of professional artists (mostly from the animation, comic book, illustration and design fields) who do stuff like this for fun on Fridays.

This recent project included taking children's drawings and transforming them into incredible creatures!