Happy New Year

Since it is technically the end of another year I thought why not take a quick look back at everything we did over the past 12 months. There are so many things that I am thankful for over the past year that I know I won't remember all of them so, here are few of the more memorable ones.

Justin and I moved to MN to start a new path in our lives.
We rang in 2008 up in Green Bay with my family and a Packers game!
Justin and I both found great jobs in Mankato!
We've done some light traveling around the IA/ MN.
We found a Doctor that finally listened and is helping with our infertility troubles.
Moved AGAIN but this time it was into Mankato
Justin has gotten to put in MN fishing license too good use this year!
I got to do some traveling for my job: Disney World, Las Vegas, and Caribbean Cruise
ARHS went to State Football Finals so we rooted them on and visited friends in CF.
I attempted my first round of coaching Special Olympics teams- softball and volleyball.
We both participated in an election that meant a lot to both of us.

2008 was a great year for us and we are hoping that 2009 is even better!!! Happy New Year!

Mystery solved!

I finally figured out where my camera is.... My mom and I were talking this morning and she mentioned that she found it at her house! YAY, no more searching!

Help, I am being kidnapped

AND FORCED to attend a Vikings game!!!! Justin accepted an invitation for us to attend the play- off game this weekend so we are going. I know he is excited (and secretly I am not completely dreading it) so this should be a pretty fun event. I may still need to be drug into the dome kicking and screaming, but once there I will put a smile on my face.

I realize that sometimes as loving and devoted wives we do things that we wouldn't normally choose to... I guess I can suck it up and go to something that I know my hubby will enjoy, even if it kills me! (Lord knows he does that for me quite a few times!) So, I will go to humor my husband BUT I still REFUSE to wear purple and gold!

I am still trying to find my camera so hopefully we can have something to document this event... I just hope he doesn't get crazy and wear something too obnoxious! :o) I can assure you I will not be painting my chest, let's just hope he doesn't either!

A Few Christmas Pictures

Here are a few of our Christmas pictures.... obviously since I lost my camera I stole these from Jamie and Aaron but I wanted to add some too!

Justin is posing with Brody who as you can tell, gets a lot of his great looks from his uncle! :)

The whole fam- Don't we look GOOOOOOOOOD?!

Jenna and I are posing in the kids' new sled. I think we were more interested than Brode Man... Not sure why but the wrapping paper was pretty enticing!

Resolutions

So, it is that time of year where everyone comes up with a resolution (or 2,3,4 of them) and I am no different. EVERY year I come up with a few things I want to work on but, usually I end up failing pretty early on....

2009 is going to be different I tell you!!! I have decided that I am going to take yet another stab at it this year and I figure if I have some people to hold me to them maybe they will stick (or maybe not but it is the thought that counts right?!) Here are the ones I am THINKING about working on.

1. Mailing friends and family members birthday/anniversary/thank you/thinking of you cards. (This was my 2008 resolution but I missed Justin's dad's b-day on the 14th of January so that was shot down VERY early on!)


2. procrastination, Procrastination, PROCRASTINATION!- need I say more?

These seem really realistic so hopefully I really can do it.... Positive thoughts!!!!

What do you think about New Year's resolutions? Do you make them or do you ignore them? :) Just leave me a comment on your thoughts and maybe I will steal a resolution from you! HA!

Holiday Hoopla!

Sorry I have been a bit lacks on my posting of late but I just haven't really been in the bloggin' "mood" the past few days! BUT I am back and am hoping to get back to my old habits! (yippie for you!)

ANYWAY......... here is how things have been going for us. Justin worked Christmas Eve/Day which sucked in some ways but was good in SO many others! Since he picked up the holidays he got to have the weekend off which enabled us to see most of our family members. :o)

We started our celebrating off with a quick Hunecke hoopla on Tuesday before I headed to Ringsted. Justin spoiled me but I am not going to complain! He picked out some really cute clothes for me and even went so far as to buy some tennis shoes (which unfortunately did not fit , darn it!)

Wednesday afternoon- Saturday I hung out in Ringsted. Justin got to join in on Friday afternoon after he got home from work and slept as long as he could. We had a nice dinner and then opened presents with my family. Justin was psyched because he got a collapsible grill on wheels that is "perfect for tailgating AND ice fishing!". I came away very well also but my highlights were a NEW GREEN BAY PACKERS COAT and Burberry London perfume. The coat was VERY needed since I have been wearing it since I think 7th grade.... who knows but it was definitely time to update my wardrobe on that front!

Saturday we started down in E'burg at my Grandma's where we enjoyed a nice meal and then played a dice game to pass out presents. That is always kinda fun 'cuz the competition is pretty intense! Later that afternoon we headed over to Cherokee to have Christmas with Justin's dad. After another good meal (I think this was the theme of our holiday celebrations!) we opened presents with him. Justin was super happy because he got a new bag for all his hunting goodies and I was happy 'cuz I got an 8 GB flash drive (MUCH needed! THANKS!)

Sunday morning we got up and ready and headed over to Justin's mom's house. We got into the wine right away and after my third big gulp I thought I should probably stop giggling and get to helping in the kitchen! We had our final yummy meal of the weekend and got down to business.... Justin watched the Vikings game and the girls cleaned the kitchen (surprise, surprise.... Justin is a pro at getting out of that! :P).

This was the Christmas we had all been waiting for because it was one where everyone had made one anothers gifts. I think it turned out pretty well and we all got some sweet gifts (sorry we cheated and bought yours Ar-Bear but I was trying to be nice!) but I think we all agree it was a lot of work!

All in all we had an extremely quick but very nice Christmas holiday. Hope you all had a great week as well!

Sorry there aren't any pictures in this post but unfortunately I lost my camera somewhere over the weekend.... I am hoping I find it here soon or I will be TOTALLY lost!

Happy Birthday Stancy Wilburg! I miss you and wish I could be there with you. Hope you had a great day!

Christmas Plans

Today was a pretty lazy day for me. (lazy if you don't call consider cleaning as something that takes all day!) Justin had to work last night and tonight so I am down at my parents hangin' out.

Tomorrow night we will be having my family's Christmas with my parents and sisters. Saturday we head to Emmetsburg to hit up my Grandma's Christmas at noon and then we are headed to Cherokee to have our Christmas with Larry and Justin's sisters and family. Sunday we will be with Jolleen and family, all day until we head back to Mankato.

We hope that all of you have a wonderful Christmas holiday and a wonderful start for 2009!!!

Merry Christmas to you and your families! May your day be full of family and memories to cherish for a lifetime.
~The Hunecke's

Really?!?!

How much more frustrating can this football season get? I am sad to say this but I am actually kind of glad the season is almost over (well for Packer fans at least, can't wait to see how giddy Justin is with the stupid Vikings in the playoffs). But none-the-less I am ready to call this first year of a "new era" not so good.

For those of you that haven't heard me rant and rave until now, here goes! I hope next year Aaron Rodgers figures out how to throw COMPLETE passes in the 4th quarter. Oh, and it would be nice if the O-Line could figure out how to block.... It would be nice to win instead of losing by 3-4 points each game..... On the positive side, I have been pleased with Grant and Nelson. Not too shabby for Nelson's rookie year.

Anyhoodle.... I know many of you don't care about the Packers but as the faithful follower of the green and gold I have to just go with it. I guess we can't always win the division, even if it pains me that my LEAST favorite team in the NFL is going to win it.... BOO!

Photos from my trip

These are just some "scenery shots" that I had fun taking.

This one is my favorite....

My Fun in the Sun

This is just a glimpse of paradise.... A view of Grand Turk as we walked to the beach.

This LEEP vacation was BY FAR the best one I have been on . As you know I went on a Caribbean cruise last week and had a blast. We had 3 Ports of Call including: Nassau, Bahamas, Half Moon Cay (or Key to the locals) Bahamas, and finally Grand Turk of the Turks and Caricos Islands. Each stop had something good to offer so that was nice.

The view of Miami as we were heading out to sea

In Nassau we basically just shopped until we dropped. I found a cute swimsuit cover-up among other things I wanted but didn't purchase. (I kicked myself later in the week though 'cuz I couldn't find anything that I wanted at the other two ports) The highlight of this stop was eating at Senor Frogs. Our group got a big kick out of the Congo line that go to take a shot just for being part of the crew... I think a few of them wished we would have let them join! Some of the participants can drink but since not everyone could be decided not to join in the fun (AND we as staff can't drink so that would have been torture for us!!) That night we had a formal dinner in the dining room which was kind of fun. :o)

I took this for just for my dad....he always makes short jokes but I guess as long as I pass on the "ok to drink" chart I am totally ok with it!!

Our second day was at Half Moon Cay.... This stop was pretty cool because we were boated on to the island. Our ship was anchored out in the ocean so it was kind of a cool sight as we sat on the beach. Before our fun in the sun, we headed out on a shore excursion where we rode around in a glass bottom boat. It was really neat to see all of the colorful fish and coral "underneath the sea" as one of the participants put it. The big highlight was when we got to feed the Yellow Snappers and got to watch them jump out of the water to catch the bread.... that was pretty sweet. We spent the rest of our time laying on the beach and let me tell you THAT FELT GREAT!

This is the other LEEP staff Carrie, we had a great time together! Here is what the ship looked like from the beach as they boated us on to shore.

Carrie and I at dinner.... she is laughing because she kept trying to put a spoon on her nose and I am holding her hand down.

This was our table's favorite dessert- Warm Chocolate Melting Cake- SCRUMPTIOUS!!

On Thursday we headed to Grand Turk. The ship had been REALLY rocky the night before so we were happy to be on land for awhile. Unfortunately it did rain a lot of the time we were on the island but we did have an hour or two of pure sunshine so that was great. We ate at Margaritaville and that was the highlight besides the shopping and sunbathing. It was even nice enough for me to do a little swimming which was fun.

Enjoying our afternoon on the beach

This was our walk back to the ship... It was pretty intimidating!

"Wasting away in Margaritaville" -If only we could have enjoyed just one!

Friday was our only day at sea... Unfortunately for us our plans of sunning ourselves while floating on the ocean were shot to pieces. It rained ALL day so we didn't get to enjoy the outdoors at all. :( Boo that but we did get lots of shopping and boat searching done which was fun. There were a few shows that we caught as well so that was kind of fun.

Saturday there were blizzard warnings everyone up north. We had no idea if we were ever going to make it but lucky for us we did! We got home around 2 am, after dropping all of the participants off... It was nice to be home even if it was FREEZING!!!

I had a fantastic time on the cruise and hope to get to go on another one someday. I think JR and I would have lots of fun if we could go together. I hope you weren't too jealous of my basking in the sun.... don't worry I am still white as a ghost but at least I can say I do have a SLIGHT tan line! Merry Christmas to me! :)

TAG

A friend of mine did this so I thought I would play too (thanks Megs!). All you have to do is open up your photo file and post photo #4.

This was Stancy's wedding after we stole the groom. Can't beat the Janesville bar! What a fun night that was.... so many memories!

Wrapping Presents

I know I was complaining earlier about finishing up Christmas stuff but, to be totally honest.......... I LOVE TO WRAP PRESENTS! I love making paper fit around a present and I always fantasize about what the receiver will think of their gifts.

I love that part ALMOST as much as I love to open them. There is just something about ripping that paper anticipating what is underneath that gets me every time. :) I am a dork but I can't help it!

Hopefully tonight I can get some of my wrapping and shopping done... No promises but I hope I can get SOMETHING (anything!) done so I can go back to my relaxed state of mind. :o) Merry Christmas!

I'm BAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Well, "it's back to life, back to reality" and what a welcome home it was! :o) We flew back to Minnesota yesterday and landed just in time to drive home in some pretty crappy weather. As I am sure most you realize there are blizzard warnings all over and travel wasn't advised but, we risked it!

The last few days have been great. I enjoyed a nice, relaxing (for the most part) week full of sun, sand, and an ocean view that went on for miles. I'll post some pictures and a little more about the trip later but to sum it up, I had a great time. Definitely something I will do again either with LEEP or on my own.

Now it is time to get all of our Christmas stuff finished because you know how I am, never prepared! I can't believe how fast it came up on us this year. I am pretty sure I won't ever take another "vacation" this time of year again. I feel too unprepared for the holidays and I am sure that is why I am just not ready for anything yet. I only have 1 of the 7 homemade gifts finished for Christmas next weekend.... It could be a rough week! And I haven't wrapped any of my gifts, don't have any presents for Justin, still need to pick out what gift I am getting my mom, and if I am lucky- a little holiday baking for the various Christmases coming up. The baking is the least of my worries though. Oh, and I need to send out a few more cards that I didn't have addresses for until last week so the next day and a half is jam packed full of Christmas JOY!

I hope everyone is having fun getting everything situated for their own holiday celebrations. I know we are going to be super busy with everything but I can't wait to spend some time without families..... When I have a few more minutes to myself I will take some time to update about the trip and the other interesting happenings in our life.

Sunny Caribbean

I am writng this before I leave (but I am assuming that the the post date works) so you will be getting this while I am basking in the sun. I thought I could let you know that I am getting tanner by the minute. :) Hope the weather isn't too cold back home!

Merry Christmas- Love The Hunecke's!!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Craziness

I am slowly preparing for my cruise on Monday.... I hate packing, I never know what to take!! I have to admit I am super excited to be basking in the heat while all of you back here are FREEZING!! As excited as I am I feel like I am going to be VERY behind with all of the Christmas prep this year.

Today I tried to finish up my Christmas shopping BUT I hate crowds, got annoyed, and decided to take off and finish later. (yes, I do realize it will only get worse HOWEVER I was in mega-BITCH mode and thus decided that I should move on before I hurt someone!) So, now I am finishing our homemade gifts for Christmas with Jolleen, and will hopefully get those wrapped before I leave tomorrow.

A bit of good news!! Justin got his schedule changed so that makes it much easier to get to almost all of our family's Christmases. The trade off was that he works both Christmas and New Year's eve and day. I am not going to complain though because I am just happy we will get to see our families. :o)

As excited as I am about the cruise, it will be pretty odd for me to not talk to Justin all week! I keep having mini freak outs when I think about things I am forgetting. Hopefully it isn't anything that isn't to difficult for Justin to figure out. I wonder what I would do if I had kids to worry about because I am pretty worried about Bear and he is a dog..... :) Well, I probably won't write another entry until I return from paradise so have a good week. Enjoy the winter weather, I will be thinking of you while sailing into the sunset.

The Best Part

Over the past few days I have been thinking...... (scary thought I know!)

I am really glad that I have this space to talk about what I am thinking. With so many of our family and friends so far away from us it is nice to have a space where I can share my thoughts, feelings, and opinions so openly. I realize some people may think I share too many things but sometimes I think that is what really helps me deal with a lot of the crap we are going through.

On the flip side I love to share all the happy times we have and love to hear about everyone else's lives as well. It is nice to "check in" every once in awhile! :)

I guess I really just want to say thanks for reading and for your feedback. This blog has opened a few doors that otherwise probably would have stayed closed and I am thankful for that. It is nice to hear from people that I don't get to see or talk to very much.

Also, thanks for all of the support on our quest for parenthood. I know I said it earlier but I probably won't be posting much about that for awhile since we won't be doing the weekly Dr. visits anymore but I appreciate your thoughts , questions, and caring. It has been nice to hear that others have struggled as well.

Have a great week!

Reason, Season, or Lifetime

I have read this before but it was fitting for my mood tonight...... Enjoy

People come into your life for a REASON, a SEASON, or a LIFETIME. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty,to provide you with guidance and support, to aide physically, emotionally or spiritually.They may seem like a Godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be.Then without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die...Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled, their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it's time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because your turn has come to share, grow and learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you a unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you a lifetime of lessons, things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Thank you for being part of my life............Whether you were a reason, a season, or a lifetime!

Results on D-Day

I have been writing this entry in my mind all day. I struggled with sitting down to write it but I guess since I already started talking about our difficulties becoming pregnant it only seem to fit that I would continue to talk about it.....

Over the past few months, as many of you already know, we have been doing infertility treatments including: oral meds, shots, ultrasounds, exams, and finally we tried Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). (I would go more into it but I think this site does a better job... the only thing I will say is that it was done because of me, not JR). Anyway, we found out today that it did not work..... We realize that this was not a guaranteed procedure but it really doesn't make it any easier, especially since this was a real glimmer of hope. We didn't tell anyone (except our parents) about this procedure ahead of time because we weren't sure what would happen.

Today was d-day.... We have been waiting for December 8th since last month (and probably way before that)and I wanted so badly to hear that we were pregnant. :) I went in the morning for a blood draw and had to patiently (yeah right) wait 2 hours for my results. Well shocker of all shockers, (we all know how great my luck is these days!) I get a call back as I am checking out at Chipotle and she gives me the results as I hand over the money for the food. I am sure the clerk thought I was crazy as I burst into tears waiting for my slip to print!

So, needless to say today has been pretty rough for me personally. I know I feel like somewhat of a failure though I know this isn't how I should feel. The logical part of me knows "everything happens for a reason" while the emotional part just feels like "why can't we just get pregnant?". Earlier today I rode the emotional roller coaster yet again going from to devastated, to angry, to hurt, to hopeless, to hopeful, and around and around in circles again and again. I think the hardest part for me is that I know so many people that have either just had a baby or who are expecting. While I am genuinely happy for each and every one of them, I can't help but feel a pang of jealousy each time it comes up.

Where do we go from here? Well, we are taking this next month (or 2-3) off from everything. I know I am tired... Tired of lots of things but mostly tired of consuming my life with counting dates, popping pills, and having my daily life scripted for me. Selfishly I just want to enjoy my life with my husband instead of following a script. I can't speak for Justin but I am pretty sure he is on the same page. Hopefully we can just relax and enjoy the holidays since we won't be rushing from one appointment to the next.

I realize that many of you are unsure if you should say anything or maybe you are just unsure what to say.... I totally understand and to be honest, I don't know what you can say. We just really appreciate your support and kind words. I promise when things change we will keep you posted!

weekend in review!

Friday night Justin and I headed our separate ways. I headed to April's Christmas concert down in Mason City at NIACC. Justin headed to Armstrong, with Tommy, to do some hunting and ice fishing.

The concert was really good. There were a few different choirs that performed and April is part of Singers (a swing choir) and then a Jazz Ensemble. I thought she did really well and it was fun to see her in a different setting. They did a lot of dancing and moving around, and I must admit I don't think I could move and shake that much and still sing!!!

Saturday, Justin did some hunting but then decided it was too cold so he and Tommy headed to Fox Lake to catch some fish. Apparently they had some luck so that was good. He told me that he had "the big one" but like all good fishing stories, it got away............ HMMMMMM but overall I think he had a fun weekend so that is all that matters.

April ended up bringing a few friends from college home for the weekend with the intention of decorating my parents house for Christmas. So, we got up at a descent time and headed to Algona to get a Christmas tree! There were 7 of us and we trampled through the freezing cold and cut down our prized tree. (I have a picture of our crew that the tree place took so if I can figure out how to scan it I will stick it in here later. ) When we got back to my parents my mom and I got busy on making Christmas cards and gift tags. I have never really made cards (without direction) before so that was kind of fun.

The purpose for these cards was to have some things to show at Santa Day, today, in Armstrong. I took my Close To My Heart stuff with me so I could hopefully get my name out there. It was nice to see some familiar faces that I don't get to see very often. :o)

This week is going to prove to be a busy one... I will be leaving next Monday on the cruise for work so I am trying to get everything caught up and and work ahead so I don't have to worry about it while I am gone. I am not quite sure how I will handle the limited communication with my hubby but I suppose I will deal since there will be SUN and HEAT GALORE!! :) I just hope Justin can deal with me being gone- HA, HA, HA!!!!

Oh, and I wasn't going to mention Green Bay but I just have to say- SERIOUSLY?! ARGH........... that is all I can say as I shake my head and log off for the night. :)

I love these!!!

I am feeling incredibly sarcastic today so enjoy my humor!! Merry Christmas!

Crazy/Busy Week

Just a quick note about why this week has been so sporadic for my posting (and why it will probably continue for a few weeks).....

I don't know where this week has gone... apparently it has flown out the window! :) I have been trying to work ahead so I can be totally prepared for my upcoming LEEP vacation but everything is just piling on. Every time I think I see the end of my to do list another 20 things pop up that I need to pull together really quickly.

It probably doesn't help that Justin and I are on completely different schedules so I really feel like I am floundering a bit! This weekend we will be heading to Ringsted but for separate reasons. Justin is going hunting and I was just goin' to tag along to chill with the fam but now I have another reason to go. I am going to take my scrap booking stuff to Santa Day at the Community Center in Armstrong. I am a little nervous about it because I don't usually set up a booth and sell things but I am going to give it a shot. The only real problem with this is the fact that I don't really have a lot to show so this could be interesting!

As I mentioned before I have a LEEP vacation coming up so I need to get things really figured out soon. I need to get the hustle going with all the Christmas shopping!! Santa may be running a little behind this year but I suppose that is just how things will have to go.

On a positive note I am pretty excited that the 1st of the year is about to roll around because this means I CAN START A NEW PLANNER!! (yes, I know I am a TOTAL nerd!)

Holiday Headaches

I know since this is the first entry AFTER I talk about how much I love Christmas this is going to be a little ironic BUT.... I guess that is just the way we live our lives. :)

Why is it that EVERY year we can have the best laid plans/best intentions to be somewhere on a certain day to celebrate with family, and somehow/ someway, we end up being the ones that can't do it? It is so frustrating to be feel like you are letting people down when you suddenly you can't do it anymore.

I know it is just part of working in the health care field but it seems that somehow every year JR's schedule gets totally screwed up around these dates. I by no means am upset with him, it just sucks. I think that I just get upset because though he cares about the holidays, he is not the "planner" and he doesn't mind just showing up whenever,wherever. I can't STAND that though so it always ends up with some tension between us.

I was really hoping that we would be able to come up with something this year that would just work! Maybe we will learn next year OR maybe we can convince our families to have Christmas in July, what do you all think?! *wink, wink!*

Ok enough of my pouting.... So, if our scheduleds are creating holiday headaches for all of you, please accept our apologies if we are making the holiday season stressful. I promise we will do our best!