The Buerglers

Ever wonder what a Back-to-the-Future meets A Christmas Carol meets A Disney Channel Original Movie would look like? (Okay, I'm the only one?)  Well, look no further, Here I Go Again by Jen Lancaster hit a homerun for that niche read. No seriously, it's hilarious and amazing, especially if you lived through the 90s at all. Admittedly I did not like the first few chapters of the book.  When I first met the main character / narrator, Lissy, I thought she was too self absorbed to the point of boredom on my end.  And I was insulted by the way she described her SAHM friends and their children. However, the authors witty writing kept me captivated enough to finish the book and I’m glad I did. In the story, we find the main character at her 20 year high school reunion.  She quickly realizes that no one likes her because she was so mean, like Mean Girls mean, to them in high school.   She wakes up on a hippy classmate’s couch the morning after the reunion. Her ...

Welcome to Katie and Sam's couple's wedding shower. As a groomsman and the matron of honor (ew) / best-ish friend of the groom and sister of the bride, Eric and I wanted to honor Sam and Katie with a couple's shower.  I knew Katie's girlfriends would love to throw girlie-girl showers for the ladies.  Since that's not my thing, and since Eric and I are both in the wedding party we decided a couple's shower for our families, family friends, and Sam's friends would be perfect. As little girls Katie and I's late grandfather used to sing "Some Enchanted Evening" to us at random whispered into our ears.  It's such a special memory of him that Katie and I share so I chose the theme to remember him.  With both families being Italian, an Italian menu was the perfect fit. As guests arrived they were instructed to fill out a "recipe card".  The directions said, "Leave Katie and Sam a recipe for an enchanted evening...

I have always been intrigued by and related to the story of the Wedding Feast at Cana. So much so that when I saw it was one of the Mass readings today , despite my child having a case of deafening screams & tandrums, I pulled myself together enough to make it to Mass.  And I am glad I did. There was nothing out of the ordinary at Mass that knocked me off my pew, but there is the little pericope "Do whatever He tells you." This line has stood out to me since college.  I went to a Marianist University. I took a class on Marianist  spirituality.  We spent an entire class session learning about and reflecting on that little nugget of Scripture. I have since taken it to heart and prayer many times. Just before Christmas, I had a post-Bible study discussion with a friend about her and her husband's financial situation and how it's been affecting their marriage. Not so much the dollar amount but the spirit of handling money.  Long story short, I...

Each year our little blog grows and grows. So exciting!  It's been an incredible way to keep up with family, friends who have moved, and also to make new friends (yes, mom, I have Internet friends). Our readership has just about doubled.  We had almost 6,000 unique visitors  this year !  In addition to regular readers, I get a lot of traffic from Pinterest (looking at party decorations, cookies, or cakes), Rebecca's blog , and from my bit on the Mormon website over a year ago. I am considering this list to be the most popular read in 2012, not necessarily written in 2012 Well, without further ado, the top 12 of 2012: Twelve Project Simplify: The Laundry Room Cleaned out All The Things for Lent and blogged about it Eleven Miscellany Monday: On the State of Me: My Life Four Months Postpartum Depression, work and a baby! Ten What I am Loving {5} A lot of random things including this awesome Draw Something picture Nine Catholic on a Mormon...

2012 brought with it many changes in our life style, but we love each and every day more than the last. With a two month old demanding every ounce of Elizabeth's attention she signed up for two week-night classes, photography and post-natal yoga, to get out of the house. Elizabeth and Evie signed up for a playgroup through the Church, a blessing in so many ways.  Eric took 100+ teens on the Winter Retreat.   Evie shared her Baptism day with her cousin Zachary .  Eric and Elizabeth became Godparents for the first time. February was low-key as it usually is.  We watched the Superbowl at our friend Chris's house with old friends.  Evie and Elizabeth celebrated Valentine's Day with new friends .  Eric and Elizabeth renewed their wedding vows at a Valentine's dinner social with the Mom's Group.  At the end of the month we took Evie on her first plane ride to Eric's cousin's wedding in Minnesota .   For Lent we participated in Project Simplify ...