latest addictions

I have recently become addicted to some new trends over the past few weeks, nothing bad of course, but some of which are consuming more of my time than they should and are part of the reason I have not been such a faithful blogger.

Addiction #1:  Twitter...follow me @whitabaum ! I still don't completely understand the need for tweeting when you can basically do the same thing on Facebook, but I enjoy it from time to time.

Addiction #2:  Words With Friends and soon to be Hanging With Friends...I initially spent more time playing these games than I did homework, but then I became overwhelmed with the 13 games I had going on at once and now I have backed off a bit. My roommates and I tend to play each other through our iphones while we're sitting in the same room...how cool are we?!

Addiction #3:  Pinterest...now this is something I have been avoiding like the plague. My friend Samantha first introduced me to Pinterest months ago, I glanced at it and knew I would immediately become obsessed. At the time I was swamped with school and knew it would be in my best interest to wait on Pinterest (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it ; ). Well friends, school slowed down just enough for me to start pinning, and just as I thought, I am absolutely addicted! Follow me and I'll follow you!

Addiction #4:  My Camelbak water bottle! I read somewhere that you are suppose to take your body weight, divide the number in half and drink that amount of water in ounces each day. I purchased my Camelbak a while ago and for some reason I have no problem drinking that much water each day when I use my Camelbak-- sometimes I even throw an orange slice in for a little extra vitamin C!

H-A-double L-O-double you-double E-N...

...spells Halloween! I learned that song back in elementary school, and to this day, I still I sing it in my head every time I spell the word HALLOWEEN!

"My name's Forrest, Forrest Gump"...or should I say that was Tyler's name for Halloween...I was Jenny. We did our best to recreate the couple, Tyler even had a Bubba Gump Shrimp hat and I had my mom's 8th grade confirmation dress...we must have been quite convincing because we won the costume contest for best duo at a party here in town, we definitely had fun with our new look that evening!

true love is...

 ...$2.75 wrist-breakers...

...and sharing 6 pack and a pound from TJs...

Brylen's baptism

My 3 month old nephew Brylen James was baptized the other weekend over my fall break. My brother Blake and I are both Godparents along with our cousin Sammie!

 

A lady from church made his outfit, how handsome is he?! I'm in love.

my man can.....cook!

 Tyler has recently cooked me homemade stir fry AND a roast with veggies for supper, how lucky am I?!

recent purchases

 I couldn't resist this golden yellow pea-coat at Old Navy...then again I'm a sucker for anything yellow!

I also couldn't pass up these very gently used Keds look a likes at Goodwill for a whopping $3.99 : )

health food kick

I recently went on a little bit of a health food kick...Cola made this baked fried chicken that was allegedly healthy, it turned out pretty good!

 

I made a couple different kinds of tuna salad...the first one was delicious in a whole wheat tortilla, and the second one was good with sandwich thins : )

 

Fresh peaches and vanilla fro-yo...enough said!

Madison

Wisconsin.

We were able to see many sides of Madison during the three days we spent in Wisconsin for the Husker game. My dad showed us all around the beautiful city on Friday, and we even made our way into the stadium, Camp Randell!

 One of the streets was lined with numerous stand such as this one with food from various ethnic background. We found this one to be quite humorous...My Name is Yon Yonson, I come from Wisconsin!

 Mom enjoyed the garden on top of her bloody mary at State Street Brats!

 My brat at State Street Brats, Wisconsin's infamous Spotted Cow Beer, and of course...cheese curds!

 My mom and I by one of the beautiful lakes that surrounds Madison...we wish Nebraska was #1

 The Capital Building...obviously.

 Fabulous ice cream from Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream-- Food Network has been there a few times!

 Tam and Ron in front of the TAMRON sign, how adorable.

 Tyler and I at College Gameday.

 Our view of the stage for College Gameday.

 COLLEGE GAMEDAY!

 Representing the Blackshirts : )

blog much?

Well hello there friends! Shoot, it has been quite a while since I have blogged, and I am not happy about it, but I am going to do my best to get you caught up on my fabulous life ; )

WE MOVED! 

Now my mom, dad, Stef, and Brylen are nice and cozy in our little 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 1 car garage home in the 'Mont. To make it even better, I found out that I will officially be in Fremont for my school and medical internships next semester, so I will be joining them after finals in December! I cannot wait to be closer to them and Tyler, it'll be the best of both worlds! 

falling into autumn

Happy first day of autumn, or should I say fall?! Either way, it doesn't matter to me, I LOVE THIS SEASON! I enjoy everything about it...the weather, the colors, football, pumpkins, apple cider...you get the point! My client this semester is a 69 year old man who suffered from a stroke a few years ago and now has Aphasia and unintelligible speech. Lately in our therapy sessions we have been talking about different places such as the Statue of Liberty which somehow lead us to the St. Louis Arch. I found some pictures from my visit to the arch during a club volleyball tournament my junior year at UNL that I shared with him. As I was looking through the photos, I couldn't help but notice all of the beautiful colors in the trees-- I can't wait for the leaves to change!

home is where the heart is...

...that saying has never felt more real as I am about to help my family move into our 8th house during my lifetime. This weekend we are leaving this home on the golf course in Tekamah, for this temporary convenient home in Fremont. Although I will miss that beautiful house we built, I am extremely excited to be back in "The 'Mont"!

sketchy boy

For those of you who have been following my blog for a while now, you may have realized that I like to think I have a creative streak in me and that I am able to paint things, or at least attempt. Well I think I have met my match with Tyler...When I went with him to his parents house a few weekends back, his mom showed me a few different canvases that he had painted in college. Now unlike my canvases that are decorated with my fun handwriting, his were scenes of things like their house, a red barn, and so on...needless to say I was impressed! The other day Tyler was apparently EXTREMELY bored in class and he sketched this picture and texted it to me.

After giving him loads of praise and telling him how impressed I was, I think he went a little overboard and later sketched this at work! What will he come up with next?!

what do YOU stay awake for?

I love treating myself to Carribou Coffee every once in a while not only because I love coffee, but also because they have such fun little sayings on their cups! Carribou's motto is "Life is short. Stay awake for it." On the side of their cups they have asked people what they stay awake for and here were some of my favorite responses off my cup...

Dance parties with my kids- Walking 3 days to raise money to fight breast cancer- Belly dancing- Carrying the kids to bed when they fall asleep on the couch- Handlebar Mustaches- Meditation & Motorcycling- Driving with the top down- Rocking out during my morning commute- Thrift store treasure hunting- To read "one more" bedtime story to my kids- And last but not least...EARLY MORNING TAILGATING!

I enjoyed these so much that I decided to think of what I stay awake for, and this is what I came up with... 

The smell of coffee brewing as I get ready for my day- Talking to Tyler for "just 5 more minutes" on the phone each night- The weekends with the ones I love- Hearing my 2 month old nephew cooing in the background as I talk to my mom or sister on the phone- To make a difference in the lives of those around me, especially through the wonderful world of communication!- Husker Athletics  

WHAT DO YOU STAY AWAKE FOR? 

tea towels

I recently learned that a family friend of ours, Lindy, has fabulous creative talents when it comes to crocheting, needle work, etc! I noticed some of her creations on Facebook and asked her if she would make me something. She gladly crocheted a pair of booties and a matching brick red and brown stocking hat for Brylen that I gave to him before I snapped a picture, and just last week I received these wonderful tea towels in the mail from her! I showed her a few patterns I liked but told her to just do whatever patterns or colors she wanted, and they turned out absolutely perfect! I'm not sure I want to use them yet, I'd like to keep them just like this forever!

weekend workout & cookout

This past Saturday Tyler and I ventured down to Lincoln to the Agrigold tailgate for the Husker game with Scott and Samantha. Once the game was over we went to a wedding reception in Columbus before calling it at night out at the cabin. Sunday morning we went to church in Fremont then headed to Godfathers for their lunch buffet. After a little afternoon nap we headed to Bergan's gym to shoot hoops. I found a volleyball and it just so happened that the volleyball net was up, so I talked Tyler into playing volleyball with me. We played one bounce volleyball one-on-one and it was an absolute blast! We both decided it was similar to tennis in the sense that if you hit a short blooper right over the net your opponent might send it deep and make you run, needless to say that's what we did and we both got a great workout! Later that evening we grilled steaks, had salad and potatoes, and I made cherry cheesecake : ) Please notice Tyler's beer selection...Point's Nude Beach...

a latte studying at the library

Week four of classes means first exam, first quiz, first diagnostic evaluation, and a lot of studying! This chilly weather had me craving a pumpkin spiced latte from Starubucks, I got my first one of the season last night and headed to the library!

 

Yes those are chocolate chips...best study snack ever!

one-liners

I needed a little study break today, so I decided to look up pick-up lines on the internet (one of my friends has been posting them on Facebook, so I thought I'd check out a few for myself!) Here are some of my faves...enjoy!

Let's make like fabric softener and snuggle.

Life without you would be like a broken pencil...pointless!

Do you have any raisins? No? How about a date?

Are your legs tired? Because you've been running through my mind all day long!

I want to bag you like some groceries. (Slightly dirty...I know...)   

we're just carryin' on an old family tradition...

It has become a tradition so far this school year for my roommates/cousins Cola, Jackie, and I to make supper on Monday nights. So far we've made tacos, spaghetti, and rice bowls. Tonight we made chicken and beef enchiladas, Spanish rice, and Oreo milkshakes! We get our cooking talents from our grandma and mothers and often like to pretend we have our own show on Food Network ; )