Game Night

Tonight the neighborhood girls gathered at Melissa's house for February game night. There was a great selection of wine, a dee-lish spread of food & as usual, many laughs shared by these fun girls.

I decided to try out a new dip recipe & it seemed to be a hit with all the girls. It was called Greek Dip & I served it with pita chips. Must have been good as there was hardly any left by the end of the night. It was a layered dip consisting of chive/onion cream cheese, hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, feta cheese & kalamata olives. I will put the recipe below if anyone is interested.

After we ate, drank & got caught up with everyone we gathered around the table to play Left, Right, Center which ended up being a lot of fun. Everyone brought $5 in quarters with them & we went around the table rolling the dice, passing quarters to our left, right & to the center & a few of the girls were lucky enough to win the jackpot in the center.

The girls called it a night around 11pm as many of us had to get up early the next morning. As usual, it was nice to catch up with these wonderful ladies & I am looking forward to seeing them again in March when it is my turn to host this monthly event.

Greek Dip recipe:
1 tub chive & onion Philadelphia cream cheese
1 container Sabara original hummus
2 med tomatoes, diced fine
1 cucumber, diced fine
1/2 cup red onion, diced fine
4 oz container crumbled feta cheese
jar of Kalamata olives, diced
artichoke hearts, diced (optional)

Serve with pita chips & enjoy :)

Pain in the Butt

I have had a pain in my butt lately & it believe it or not his name isn't Shane :)

For the last 6 months, I have noticed this pain/burning in my left butt cheek that is deep & radiates down my leg after I have been sitting for even short periods of time. When I get up from sitting, I have to move slow & usually walk with a limp until my leg feels normal again. Last week I jumped up to help a co-worker after sitting for quite some time while feeling the all too familiar pain in my cheek, then my left leg was tingly & I almost fell flat on my face. So I finally caved & made an appointment to see the Dr.

I thought for sure it was my sciatic nerve that was bothering me but after seeing the doc & performing a few "tests" which involved provoking sciatic nerve compression by doing flexion, adduction, & internal rotation maneuvers, as well as taking some X-rays it was determined it wasn't sciatica...kinda, sort of.

Turns out I have "piriformis syndrome" - a neuromuscular disorder that occurs when the sciatic nerve is compressed or irritated by the piriformis muscle which aggravates the nerve causing sciatica-type symptoms. Nothing too serious but it is something that is painful, uncomfortable & quite annoying.

To get rid of this annoying diagnosis, I have been instructed to take muscle relaxants at night, NSAID's during the day, do stretching & exercises that target the gluteus medius & hip abductor muscles daily & avoid activities like running, bicycling & unfortunately certain sex positions (what the heck?) which all aggravate the muscle while healing.

This is the literature the Dr gave me regarding this condition & sex because I didn't believe it either:
"it has been suggested that sexual intercourse can aggravate piriformis syndrome due to the abduction and external rotation of the hip joints by the female in the standard “missionary” position. Therefore, in women who suffer from piriformis syndrome, maybe copulating in the prone or canine positions would be better choices to avoid exacerbating the condition".

Who knew??

I can see the conversation now: "Sorry honey, my butt muscle is still healing. No lovin' for you!"

Ok - I better keep this clean. My family reads my blog & I'm sure I've already said too much :)

SO - am I going to live? YES. Will this pain go away? more than likely, YES. But if none of these things seem to be helping, then we will need to get a little more aggressive with treatment by doing things like physical therapy, massage, custom foot orthotics, gait correction or deep heat ultrasound treatments.

Here's hoping that my pain in the butt goes away soon because as simple as it sounds, it is starting to become debilitating.

Hmmm - however, I think I could handle getting massages every week?!?

Super Bowl

Another year, another Super Bowl!

This year we decided to stay home to watch the annual football game. It wasn't for lack of being invited elsewhere because there were several invitations. We just both agreed that it would be nice to hang out together with the furries, in our jammies & enjoy the game & the commercials without all the socializing .

So, instead of going to a SB party, I decided it might be fun to bring the SB party to us.

I made some new appetizers for the two of us to indulge upon during game festivities & thought I would pass along the recipes since they were oh so yummy.

Chicken Roll Ups - a cheesy, chickeny, pastry pillow puff


"Pigs in a Blanket" - made with hotdogs & no cheese. So easy, simple & yummy with a side of ketchup & mustard!












3-2-1 Dip - a spicy, creamy, sausage dip served with Tostito's chips
I can't find a picture for this dip but trust me - it is GOOD & always a hit at parties!

As far as Super Bowl 2012 goes:
the game - close, good & I'm glad the Giants won!
Half-time entertainment - have been & always will be a fan of Madonna
Commercials - I've seen better in past years SB ads

Here are a few of my favorite 2012 SB ads:







Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Here's hoping the week ahead is a quick one!

Where is Winter?

This has been the temp reading in my car this past week! Hard to believe it is the last week of January with those kind of temps! Can't say I am going to complain though! It wouldn't hurt my feelings if "old man winter" never showed his face again "round these parts"! It actually reminds me of the winters back in South Carolina - mild, snow-less & lovely!

And because of all this mild weather we have been having the ground is warming up, the grass is starting to turn green & spring flowers are making an appearance:

Those little green sprouts would be my daffodils 2 inches out of the ground already! The weather forecasters say that the next 2 weeks will be more of the same with 50 degree temps for the highs so I have a feeling I will be seeing some yellow blooms soon!

Bring on SPRING :)

Girl's Night Out

It's been far too long since all the girls from the neighborhood have gotten together! Tonight we gathered for dinner at 77 South in Overland Park. It was a lively, loud place that resembled your typical, uppity "Johnson County" sports bar & grill. There were mixed reviews about the food from the group but all in all, everyone enjoyed the atmosphere, conversation & wine!

After dinner we said our goodbye's but there were several of us who weren't quite ready to call it a night. Melissa, Natalie, Michelle, Erinn & I headed closer to home & stopped in at our local bar/grill for a few more cocktails & ended up playing a mean game of Country Bingo where you had to guess the artist singing the song & cross it off your bingo card. So fun...
And no night out in our small town would be complete without stopping in at the "hole-in-the-wall" bar we call The Hideout.

It was so good to see these girls & I am looking forward to many monthly gatherings with them in 2012!

Go Team!

I work at 3 different hospitals & spend the majority of my days at the "sister" hospitals. Today I was working at the main hospital & as I was passing our scheduling desk area I noticed they had changed the design on the CV LAB Staff bulletin board:

It is designed as a football field & each member of our lab represents a football player with our boss & supervisor as the quarterback & running-back. Then in the lower left-hand corner I spot me....wearing my bouffant surgical hat....in a KU cheer-leading uniform....with a bulldog who is also in a cheer-leading uniform :)

My coworkers know me SO well!

I just wish my legs looked that good & I was that skinny in real life :)

Bubba's 7th Birthday

The handsome boy on the right is having a birthday today!!!

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY BUBBA!!!

We celebrated this evening by singing "Happy Birthday" & all sharing vanilla ice cream from Sonic:

I think he liked it?!

I still can't believe that it's been 7 years since we brought home this little roly-poly:

Was he not the cutest, wrinkliest little bully you ever did see?

Title Boxing

I have looked like this in my jeans for far too long:

(Ok - maybe this pic is a bit dramatic but you get the idea. I don't seriously look this bad in my jeans but I do feel like it sometimes).

I am refusing to buy bigger new jeans so it is finally time. Time for a new & healthier HT. After much prompting & begging by my friend Stephanie, I finally broke down & joined Title Boxing. I have heard great things about this place & I am surrounded by several friends who are also members of TB. They motivate me to go on the days I don't feel like it & I do the same for them so it is nice to have that extra "push" to quit feeling lazy, get up off my butt, stop the excuses & just go.

It is only one hour but I have never sweated so much in one hour in my life. It is a MAJOR cardio workout & will kick your butt. The first 10 min is a cardio warm-up, then 35 min of punching/kicking the bag, combined with bear crawls, push-ups, mountain-climbers, squats - anything to keep your heart-rate up. The last 15 min is an ab workout - usually with medicine balls. They usually play great music & the trainers aren't so bad to look at either :)

I have been going 3-4 days/week for the last 2 weeks now & have already noticed that my jeans are fitting differently & that I have lost 3 lbs so far - YAY! That would make anybody want to keep going!! Besides, there are TB clubs located ALL over the KC metro area & are also conveniently located by each hospital I work at so I really have no excuse to not go!

So with my girlfriends help & my "not so tight" fitting jeans, I think that is all the motivation I need to stick with it!

Babies, Bullies & Brunch

This morning I went to a baby shower brunch for our co-worker Tammy which was hosted by my dear friend Samantha - momma of the baby bullies. Tammy is due the beginning of March & is having a little girl which they are going to name Samantha! Our hostess Sam loves to believe Tammy is naming the baby after her but no matter how many times she tells her that is not the case she just doesn't believe it ;)

Sam had a lovely breakfast spread of muffins, bagels, banana bread, egg bake, hash-brown casserole, & a fruit tray with yummy Mimosa's & coffee to drink. It was all so good - especially the Mimosa's :)

We gathered around & watched Tammy open all her gifts & it was so fun "oohing & aahing" over all the cute little outfits & baby stuff she received. A bunch of us all went in and bought her the car seat she had wanted & I also made her a cute diaper caddy (seen below in the brown/pink basket) full of diapers, wipes, powder, Desitin, & hand sanitizer. She loved it!

Next we played a couple of games. The classic "guess the size of Mama's belly" using ribbon & "guess the number of jelly beans & M&M's in the baby bottles". Needless to say, I didn't even come close to having the right length of ribbon OR the correct count of candy so no prize for HT :(

The best part of any shower - in my opinion - is the cake! It was chocolate with a buttercream icing & it definitely did NOT disappoint! Sam even let me take home a couple of pieces for myself Shane since there was SO much left over! SWEET!

I was so excited to see one of my dearest friends - Camille & her 4 mos old baby girl Reyna. Camille & I work together & after she had Reyna she went PRN & only works one day a week. Since I work at 3 different hospitals, we never end up seeing each other :( It was great to get to see them both & catch up!
I also got to see the bully babies - Maggie & Miles - & spent much time giving them smooches & hugs. Sam refers to me as their "Auntie Heather" & you could SO tell that they missed me - they would hardly leave my side ;)

It ended up being a really nice shower spent with wonderful friends & we all can't wait to get to meet Miss Samantha once she makes her appearance!

Bully-sitting

We were once again bully-sitters for our friends Sam & Jason this past week as they unfortunately had to go to Memphis for Jason's grandfather's funeral. They ended up dropping off Maggie & Miles on Wed evening & for the next 4 days we enjoyed every second with these adorable bully babies!

Here are a few pics from their visit: Miles on the left, Maggie on the right

Me & Maggie asleep in the recliner - she is such a snuggle bunny :)

The "babies" hogging the bed

They are SO well behaved, so fun & so adorable & I was a bit teary-eyed when it was time for them to go home. I get WAY too attached to these little cuties but after they have been gone a couple of hours I am reminded how nice it is to get back to our norm!

Hoping they can stay with us again real soon!

A Date & the Bike Show

There are times in a marriage where you have to make sacrifices & do things you don't really care to do but because you love your spouse you suck it up & do it because you know he does the same for you.

Today was one of those days.

I got to enjoy a "date day" with the hubby & it was his turn to plan our day! We started out by eating lunch at Jose Peppers & then made our way to the Overland Park International Trade Center to check out the Wide Open Bike show. We met his brother James & his girlfriend along with 2 other couples that he usually rides Harley's with. Honestly, I wasn't crazy about going but I knew Shane was excited to check it out & really wanted me to go with so I did my wife duties & went along.

From the minute we walked up to the building, I knew my Ugg boots, cute lil' scarf & Coach purse was a little too "Johnson County" for this shin-dig. I was surrounded by hundreds of male & female bikers in all their biker-gear & women walking around with nothing more on than little tiny bikini briefs & a sparkly bra. Let's just say that Harley Davidson motorcycles wasn't the only thing on display!!! There were TONS of vendor booths which is where most of these girls were working at.

We both really enjoyed checking out all the bikes & all the elaborate detail that went into them. This bike was my absolute fave & if I owned a Harley I imagine that it would be similar to this color:

Painted on the fender was a "blinged" out tiara on top of a skull which was also displayed on the gal's helmet & leather coat:

Love the rhinestones!

We were walking around, taking it all in & then we both freaked out when we spotted Michael Ballard & his girlfriend Angie from the show Full Throttle Saloon. We LOVE that show!!! For those of you who aren't familiar with it, FTS is the world's largest biker bar located in Sturgis, SD. It is only open 10 days out of the year when the Sturgis Bike Rally takes place in August. This bar gets around 15,000 visitors per night & the show is about what goes on there during those 10 days. Michael is the owner of the bar.

They had a HUGE trailer on display with TONS of t-shirts, hoodies, bandanna's & stocking hats. I ended up getting a cute black t-shirt with "bling" on it & says Full Throttle Saloon, Sturgis SD on the back & looks totally "biker-ish". It will be perfect to wear while riding with Shane ;) He also got a little something - a FTS stocking hat & a long sleeved t-shirt. After we made our purchases, we got in line to have our picture taken with Michael & Angie. They were both SO cool, so very nice & more than willing to stand there with us while we got a picture:

Surprisingly, it ended up being a lot of fun & I so enjoyed hanging out with the hubby for the day participating in a hobby that he loves.

Who knows, I may end up being a "biker-babe" after all!?!

SD bound

Friday, Dec 30
With Christmas & all the hustle/bustle behind us, I was feeling myself getting rundown & before I knew it, I had a fever, stuffy head, aches, pains, a horrible cough - all the symptoms that comes with the flu. Next thing I know, Shane gets it too so we were both down & out for a few days.

We both ended up missing a day of work & I almost wasn't going to be able to make it to South Dakota for the New Year weekend. Luckily, my fever broke Friday morning & after a shower, I wasn't feeling all that bad so I ended up making my way to SD & arriving just in time for dinner.

My brother Steve & nephew Caleb were already there while my other brother Chris, his wife Rachel & nieces Kyra, Joslyn & nephew Lane were on there way. Unfortunately, my sister & her family weren't able to make it back home this year & were definitely missed.

It was great to get to see everyone & spend some time together - especially with the kids. They are growing SO fast!

Saturday, Dec 31
Today was our "Christmas Day". We did our usual Christmas morning tradition of waking up early, made a big pot of coffee, gathered around the tree & proceeded to hand out & open gifts. My niece Joslyn was so excited to wear her Christmas dress & looked so stinkin' cute:It was much fun watching the kids (& big kids) open their gifts & it seems that we were all pretty good this year as "Santa" was very kind to us!

Mom collects Santa's & got yet another one to add to her collection!

My dad got 2 huge bottles of wine - his favorite!

My brother Steve got a KU t-shirt from Shane & I as a joke. He is so NOT a fan of the Jayhawks & either is his wife, Meghan. She is a Mizzou fan - boo :( My brother was accepted into the CRNA program at KU last month & will be starting in June. Shane & I thought it would be nice to start adding to his wardrobe early so we got him a t-shirt that says "Property of Kansas Jayhawks"! We both didn't really think he would ever wear the t-shirt but much to my surprise he wore it that day. Even wore it out to lunch with his buddies! I think he secretly likes it but he would never admit it ;)

After we opened gifts, we followed tradition & headed to the kitchen where we made breakfast which consisted of banana pancakes & bacon. Even Joslyn helped!

The rest of the day was spent hanging out, having a "dance-off" by playing Just Dance 3 on the Wii & watching movies. It was so nice being able to spend the last day of 2011 with my family!

Me & my niece Joslyn

Sunday, Jan 1

Happy New Year! As usual, I ended up sleeping right through the midnight hour - thanks to NyQuil! That stuff is the "bomb-diggity" when you are sick - no joke! I started my day by my sweet niece Joslyn waking me up, crawling up into my bed & snuggling with me for quite some time. Couldn't ask for a better way to start my New Year :)

My grandparents, Uncle's Doug & Mike, my Aunt Denise & our family friend Mary Ellen came over for lunch & it was really nice to get to spend some time with them all. I always cherish the time I get to spend with my grandparents & can't help but think that every time I see them it may be the last :( They are healthy & get along really well for being in their mid 80's but unfortunately I am often reminded that they won't be here forever so getting to spend time with them means the world to me.

Before everyone left, there was one special picture taken. This is 4 generations of Freier men (& one little boy) - L to R: my grandpa, my dad, my nephew & my brother:

After our company left, the rest of us gathered around the TV to watch the KC Chiefs/Denver football game & enjoyed the rest of the day together.

My brother Chris & nephew Lane

Later that evening, my mom & I met my BFF from high school, Heather, her daughter & her mom for dinner at Ruby Tuesday. I always enjoy getting to see Heather when I am home & have fun reminiscing about our high school days & how far we have come since then.

Monday, Jan 2
My visit home has come to an end & I was on my way back to Kansas early this morning. As much as I love seeing my family in SD, I enjoy getting back home & seeing my own family of Shane & the furries & sleeping in my own bed. It ended up being an uneventful drive back & when I got home I was greeted by lots of butt wiggles & slobbery kisses from the furries - not Shane :)

So far I can say the new year is off to a great start...