That Time I Started A Movement

So, I think I started a movement.  Now, clearly I'm not talking about some huge significant movement which creates picketing, rioting or, you know, the typical looting that comes; but I may have single handedly brought down a local pizza establishment.

Let me rewind for you. Bear with me, folks, this is going to  a bit long winded, so here's hoping that all 10 8, okay maybe five of you stick with it until the end! It all starts with a T-Ball game...

This t-ball season has been plagued by rain. Seriously, this poor team has hardly had the opportunity to practice, let alone play a full season worth of games. Because of the constant H20, the Sand Gnats (yea, that's really our team name - go fighting fleas!), made up a game yesterday evening. Being that the game ended well after 7:00 p.m., there is no way I was cooking dinner afterwards! We were a hungry bunch, so we headed out to a local pizza buffet, one which will not be named in this post. Hotty McHubster and I ordered dishes off the menu and ordered said buffet for B and A. Now, I should preface this story by stating that this particular establishment very staunchly opposes buffet sharing of any kind. Seriously - signs EVERYWHERE.  I get it - one should only eat the food they pay for!

So here we are, kiddos enjoying their pizza, H.M.H. and I enjoying our calzone and nachos. All around great family night. Seriously, does it get much more Americana than Friday night baseball and pizza?! B asked for another slice of pizza, so I take her back up to the buffet for more food. On the way back to our table, I see the manager of the restaurant talking to H.M.H, and just naturally assume she's clearing away plates and chatting. As I get closer and can pick up the conversation, I hear her ask "My owner wants to know how many of those slices of pizza you're going to pay for!"  Understandably confused, I ask her what's going on. She proceeds to accuse us of eating pizza off the buffet when the restaurant clearly states that no sharing is allowed.

At this point I am utterly confused. As it turns out, while taking B up for more food, A offered Brad a bite of his own pizza. Now, what parent is going to turn down an offer from their three year old to share? I mean, as a parent, isn't sharing a core principle we teach our children? It's not as if Brad was ACTUALLY sharing Aiden's food - it was a SINGLE.BITE. The manager then waves her hand at Brooke's plate of half-eaten pizza.  I explain to her that Brooke eats only the toppings, ergo the pizza being half eaten (let me tell you, it was three small pieces of abandoned pizza, not a mass amount of food we're talking about here!). She doesn't care and holds firm that we are stealing from this restaurant. Mind you, this was at our table in full view of other restaurant patrons! 

Now, I am mad. Not just mad - seething - here we are, accused of being thieves, not only in front of other people, but our three-year-old twins, who have no idea what's going on!  I tell this manager that we are long-time patrons of said establishment, that we frequently order carryout and delivery, as well as dining in, but no longer will they receive any of our business. Manager shrugs her shoulders and says "good." I shuffle the kiddos out the door while Brad asks to speak with the owner of the restaurant in private.  

Here's where the story gets REALLY good, my friends, so kudos to you for having stuck around this long! The owner comes around from the back of the restaurant, looks at Brad and says, "What you got?!"  The manager, meanwhile, is standing next to her, snapping her towel, hopping foot to foot and ads, "Bring it on! I've had one bad-ass week!" Yes, this really.happened.  Brad asks to speak with the owner privately so as to not cause a bigger scene than has already been caused. The owner refuses and continues to accuse our family of stealing from the restaurant.  Clearly, this situation was going no where, so Brad throws up his hands and leaves. 

By now, I have the kids buckled in the car.  The owner follows Brad to the car, cursing and yelling at him, and screams at us, "You know what? You are not ever welcome back here ever again!" Meanwhile, the kids are in the back seat, confused, scared and, let's be honest, still hungry! B looks at me and says sadly, "But, Mommy, I wasn't done with my pizza!" Yea- try explaining that situation to a three year old!  This whole confrontation took place over the course of probably no longer than 5-6 minutes.

Now, you must understand, I am a bit of a social media junkie.  Admittedly, I utilize Facebook probably 10 times a day. I'm a recruiter  - I search candidates to see how they present themselves via social media. Heck, I've even been a guest lecturer at a local college, speaking to students about their social media presence and online image!  So after this whole event took place, you can bet I was going to publicize this! I am a member of a local Facebook page for our area. This page has about 20,000 followers and is set up as a place for area residents to post reviews, ask questions and converse about topics related to events in the area. Five minutes after I posted a synopsis about what had happened earlier in the evening, 25 people had commented. Five hours later, there were 350 comments. As I sit here typing this post, that number is nearing 800. Many of those comments are supporting our decision to publicly post what happened to us and relate their own bad tales from this restaurant. Some, of course, are bashing us and accusing of of theft.  Oh, and then there was the owner who posted and accused H.M.H of raising his fists and coming at her.  Seriously, that was an actual post from her (deleted within a few hours after I threatened to a libel suit). Another local business owner even offered our family a meal on the house to show that not all local business owners treat their customers so poorly.

Doesn't this whole story sound crazy? The whole situation is just that - CRAZY! I cannot believe the situation happened in the first place, let alone the response that has been received because of it.  Residents of our area - lots of them -are now boycotting this restaurant which, I believe, was struggling already. While this was not my intended outcome and I don't want to gloat, it just goes to show you: while the customer is not always right, no business owner should EVER EVER treat patrons the way we were treated, ESPECIALLY in front of our children! So, anyone looking to buy a pizza buffet?!

Aiden came downstairs pretty upset around 12:30 last night. This is a fairly common occurrence - he typically only makes it no later than 2:30 in his bed. As I do every night when he comes downstairs, I got him milk and then poked my head out the front door to lock my car. I always lock it when I get home, but I'm always paranoid about forgetting to do so, especially considering there have been more than a few break-ins over the last several months (including Brad's car).

This time, however, I couldn't find my keys. They weren't on the hook by the front door, nor in my purse. "Whatever," I thought. "I'll just find them in the morning". Regardless, I dashed out side to double check on the locked doors. Lo and behold, not ONLY was the car unlocked - but the keys were actually IN the ignition! WHAT.THE.WHAT?! I have NEVER in 34 years left the keys in the ignition before! Cue freak out when I find, not only are in the keys in the ignition, they are stuck there. At 12:30 at night.

So, I drag a groggy Brad outside to try and solve the problem. He's unable to remove said keys, so says to just lock it manually, we'll get into the car in the morning with the spare set. "Honey," I respond."I, um, well, don't exactly know where the spare keys are."

Regardless, I tell him to go back to bed, this is my problem, not his - I would figure it out. I pace around and around, looking for the second set of keys, calling Roadside Assistance (as it turns out, when the extended warranty on the car expired a few months ago, I FORGOT to add Roadside Assistance to my car - though, ironically, I remembered to add it to Brad's).

So, let's assess the situation, shall we?

1-Keys are STUCK IN THE IGNITION

2- Second set of keys are NOWHERE TO BE FOUND

3 - It is now ONE IN THE MORNING!

It was at this point that I remembered a few months ago, this same thing happened. I had just gotten a new battery and the contacts weren't completely tight and the keys got stuck in the ignition while I was at the bank. Earlier in the day, I had been vacuuming out the car with the kids. Kids + Cars = EVERY BUTTON BEING PUSHED AND EVERY KNOB BEING TURNED. That car was lit up like the 4th of July! Ergo, the battery was dead as it could be. It was also during this AHA moment that I realized that the second set of keys was in the purse I had changed out last week.

So, inside I go, drag Brad back OUT of bed to jump start my car at 1:00 in the morning. Crisis alleviated. By this point, BOTH kids were now in our bed watching tv.

Oh, and by the way, I had to call my mom to help out this morning. Why? The dead car battery when I tried to leave for work.

Another true story from the Hunckler Chronicles

Yesterday evening, I'm sitting on my bed watching Brooke poop in the bathroom. Yes, pooping is a family event in the Hunckler house. Neither kids likes to poop without an audience.

Aiden climbs on the bed and starts pointing at front of my head. "MOM!" he exclaims. "What IS that on your head?!"

"That," I respond with an eye roll, "Is Mommy's grey hair. You gave that to me".

"Here," he says, covering the gray hair with the rest of the hair on my head, effectively creating a bird's nest. "Let's just cover that up".

Excuses? They're Like...Well...You Know...

What can I say? I've failed. Again.  Pretty much like every diet I've ever tried, I haven't stuck with it.  It's odd considered my propensity to read a ton of OTHER blogs that I can't sustain my little ol' blog here.

I'll be honest.  Between working full-time, driving theDynamic Duo to and from daycare, trying to put together a semi-nutritious dinner for the whole family, and trying to keep the house from literally imploding, it's tough!

I've got to wonder how all these other awesome Mom Bloggers make it work! Hell, it's all I can do to stay awake past 8:30 each night (though, with the longer days, it's become a bit easier).  Of course, these are probably the same women that embark (with success, no less) on every.single. Pinterest pin and have the beautiful pictures to prove it!

Maybe I'll just use this blog as my own personal sounding board.  I used to be creative.  I used to know what I was doing.  Now? Now, I have no idea.  No idea what I'm doing raising my kids.  No idea what I'm doing professional.  No idea who I really am. I'm just making it up as I go along.  I'm not bitching, just stating the facts.  With that said, I love my life - every chaotic, messy, disorganized bit of it.

I'm not publicizing that I've put this post up, much like my last post.  This way, when I inevitable fail to post AGAIN, no one can hold me accountable. Except for myself.  Of course, I'm the harshest critic of all.

Snowmageddon 2013 - We Made It To The Other Side!

Snowmageddon 2014 is still upon us,  is finally over! Is it totally cliché to refer to the past week's weather as Snowmageddon?  I'm so unoriginal, I know!

I wish I could say I feel your pain if you were bored out of your minds - but it was really such a pleasant experience for our little family and I was fortunate to have some great extra bonding time with the kiddos! Of course, if we were STILL stuck inside a full week later, I might be singing a different tune!

I like to think I'm prepared all the time.  Sometimes I fake it really well.  As it turns out, I arely have it together (I'd love to know what parent does). In fact, preparation is NOT a word in my typical vocabulary (as much as I try to be prepared on a regular basis, it rarely actually happens!). Not this time, folks!

I knew we I was going to lose my own sanity if I didn't have a game plan for different toddler-friendly activities during the "break).  I spent a full week searching Pinterest relentlessly for  toddler-friendly activities Brooke and Aiden would enjoy, and hey, if they learned a little gross motor skills to boot, double bonus.  I knew we'd be stuck inside for at least a few days, and NO WAY was I going to be caught with two 18 month olds with nothing to do!

In the end, we ended up stuck inside for five days and spent our days doing a lot of really fun activities - the kids, hubster, and I all had a blast!  For one full day, I was actually caught up on laundry.  It was such an unfamiliar sense of completion that lasted exactly 24 hours, as the laundry hampers are once again overflowing!

Anyway, below are some great pictures of our daily activities during Snowmageddon...Snowpocalypse...Polar Vortex!

Making cupcakes.  The real job here was to keep the Dynamic Duo from eating all the batter!

It was WAY too cold to go out and play IN the snow, so we brought the snow in to us. 

Playing with their new "laptops" from Nana and Papa.  Yes, I'm aware of the gender crisis occurring here!

Sensory activity fun! Hey, I can't help it that my son prefers to be naked most of the time!

We had our first voyage into snow ice cream making.  It was freaking awesome!

So yea, maybe we DID turn a box into a "car".

Is This Thing Still On?

Check, check - one two, one two.  Is this thing still on?

I know, I know - I've done it again.  Completely abandoned "the blog" after a few posts.  I don't suppose you can even call this a blog anymore - that would requiring it on even a SEMI routine basis.  So, because of that, I'm not even going to post that I've updated "the blog." 

My New Year's resolutions 2014 included getting my s#!t together...that includes this blog.  So, here is my resolution: I will update the blog at least once a week. Until I can do that on a routine bases, I won't advertise that I'm updating at all - let's see if I can make this commitment to MYSELF stick!

Toddler Problems Tuesday

Welcome to our first "feature" here on At Home in the Burbs....Toddler Problems Tuesday!  Parents, admit it - when you're kids are throwing a fit or getting themselves into trouble, sometimes all you want to do is laugh and take a picture.  I.CAN'T.HELP.IT. At least 5 times a day if you ask my kids, I'm the worst mom in of the year.

 

Each Tuesday I'll add a post with picture from the previous week showcasing just how "miserable" I've made my kids of the last week....or pickles they've gotten themselves into.  Yes, I DID just say pickles they've gotten themselves into.

 

 We forced him to get his hair cut. And sit in a cool rocket chair. And watch cartoons.

 "Oh, man.  I'm stuck in this truck! How'd THAT happen?!"

 

 She had to share her chair with her brother. 

 

 I wouldn't let her drink Mountain Dew.  Most of you have seen this one on Facebook.

 

Daddy wouldn't let him pull the iron off the ironing board and on to his head.

Let's Get Organized!

Picture me dancing around to Olivia Newton-John as I type this: "Let's get organized! Organized! Let's get organized! Let's go get organized."  Here's hoping someone else get's that reference!

 

Life with 1-year old twins is chaotic, to say the very least.  Most days, I'm lucky to make it to the office with my shirt on the right way (though not always smushed-banana or peanut butter free).  By the time we make it home after work and picking up the kids from the sitter, it's nearly 6:00pm and I'm frantically scrambling for something to throw together for dinner.  While we're on that topic, by the way, do any other toddler parents suffer from the we-can't-keep-food-in-the-house plague?  Pre-kids I religiously clipped coupons and categorized them, scoped out the best deals, and made some pretty decent dinners.  Grocery shopping these days includes rushing  through Meijer with Brooke (she's the most patient) while Brad keeps tabs on Aiden.  Needless to say, because of this fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants shopping style, most nights include some form of processed chicken, peanut butter and jelly rollups, or *GASP* frozen pizza.  "Mom of the Year" award I will NOT win!

 

In order to bring some BIT of organization to our lives, I am going to attempt meal planning.  Enter Ziplist! I'll admit it, I found this website on Google, but I'm officially obsessed.  Ziplist contains literally THOUSANDS of recipes - seriously - I was even typing in restaurant recipes to see what would pop up (Outback Steakhouse Alice Springs Chicken, you get in my belly!).  You can save recipes and create your shopping list based on recipe ingredients.  There's even a feature that allows you to create meal plans for each day of the week.

 

Brad and I have committed to sitting down together every few weeks and planning out our menus for the upcoming 2 weeks.  I think it will be a great tool for controlling the chaos, sticking to a budget, and adding some variety to our meals (seriously, one can eat so many chicken nuggets!).

So here's our "checklist" if you will:

1. Decide what sounds good. Browse recipes
2. Plan meals and snacks for each day at least two weeks in advance
3. Create a shopping list based on recipe ingredients
4. Search stores (also on ZipList) to find best deals

 

Check it out for yourself: http://www.ziplist.com - let me know how it works for you! I'd love to know your tips for organizing your life; feel free to share what works for your family!

 

 

Third Time's A Charm

My name is Jaymie and I have commitment issues.  I tried to tell you that in my last post some 9 or so months ago, so if you're back for more, you've got no one to blame but yourself.

 

Ultimately, I think the problem is that I'm scared.  Scared I won't be funny enough.  Scared my life isn't interesting enough.  Scared I'm not creative enough for blogging.  Deep down, I know none of these are true.  Why do  I want to blog?  Ultimately, I'd like a living, breathing, yearbook, of sorts, for our family.  Something we can look back at together and see what was happening in our lives throughout time.  Let's be honest, I'm not artsy enough for scrapbooking - so this could be my outlet.

 

I don't promise to update this everyday.  Heck, I don't even promise to update it once a week.  But I will update it, I can now promise you that.  You don't have to look at it if you don't want to; I will update this for us - for Brad, Jaymie, Brooke and Aiden.  If you're interested, I welcome you into our world - every chaotic bit!

I'm Back With A Vengence!

Alright, my peeps, I'm back. And what I mean by "my peeps" is the nine of you that actually look at this blog; or looked at it waayyyy back in the summer of 2011 when I made the promise to update this blog on a regular basis. HA! Suckers!! So, why did I give it up?

Well, I wouldn't say I really gave it up. I TRIED to tell you I had commitment issues, but nooooo, the nine of you kept reading! I blame it all on these two:

That's right. WE HAD BABIES! I mean, obviously, I didn't just pop them up in the Summer of 2011, thus ceasing all blog operations.  For those of you that follow my obsessive Facebooking (seriously, I have a heroin-like addiction to Facebook. It's deep and it's real!), these two cuties joined our family on July 9, 2012. 

So, why the long hiatus?  Well, getting pregnant wasn't exactly all wham-bam-thank-you-maam for the Huncklers (how's THAT for a visual!). The very Huncky Husband (you like that? ;-) ) knew before we got married that we wanted to start trying for a family as soon as we got married. Being as that we both come from VERY large Catholic families we never thought getting pregnant would be an issue. AU CONTRAIRE MY FRIENDS.  I think I alluded to this in a previous post (alright, like one of 4 previous posts), so I won't go into all the details; but what it all boils down to is that we decided to give a round of Invitro Fertilization a try. Just call us Bill and Giuliana (extra credit if you know who these two are) at the end of Summer 2011 hoping and praying that we might get pregnant with a future little Hunckler. If any of you have actually gone through the IVF process, you realize it's a mighty uncomfortable and mighty stressful process. We were blessed for IVF to work for us the first go around. Not only did it work, but it worked DOUBLE - we found out right around Thanksgiving 2011 that we were expecting TWINS.  HOLY MAMA! I'll go more into the whole process in a future post.

Flash forward nine months to this summer. On July 9, 2012 we welcomed Brooke Jean and Aiden Paul to our little zoo (seriously, two adults, two babies, two dogs and a cat).  We couldn't be more in love with these little blessings (not that they are that little anymore - they are growing like weeds!). They have changed our lives in ways we never imagined.  I for one, never thought that I would not be totally grossed out by another human puking in my hair; nor did I ever think that I would just wipe it out and carry on because after said puker FINALLY fell asleep I was too exhausted to shower.  I never knew I could love my husband more than I already do, but watching him love on his son (who is a little CLONE of his daddy) or tickle his daughter melts my heart into a little puddle of love everytime I see it.

Ok, I'm done with the cutesy stuff.  I know this post was a whirlwind, but give me a little credit - at least it was a post! Here's a truth - I know I will NEVER lack for subject material to post about; so stay tuned folks - it only gets better from here!  And now, cue the gratuitous baby shot. :-)

Here Comes The Bride

We found out some news tonight and whenever I get emotional, instead of outwardly expressing it, my best outlet is to write about it.

One of our favorite couple friends are pregnant (not mentioning names because I'm not sure if they've told everyone yet). First of all, let me say that we are INSANELY excited for them! Brad and I love, love, love these friends and this is a couple that will be extraordinary parents!! We were hoping to get pregnant at the same time in order to have a co-ed, keg baby shower (hehehe....WE wouldn't be drinking the beer, of course!!).

Having said that, when you're struggling with infertility, it's difficult to hear about other couples getting pregnant. And don't get me started on Teen Mom! UGH - it's a trainwreck and I CAN'T.STOP.WATCHING. We'll have a family - we both know it. All in due time, right? It's just hard to remember that when you're in the midst of struggling with infertility/waiting to adopt.

So, hubs and I were feverishly cleaning the house tonight when we received this call. And by feverishly cleaning I mean shoving things in closests and in our bedroom so our out-of-town guests won't see it this weekend. :-) While we were tackling the guest bedroom we came across my wedding gown *sigh*. We keep meaning to have a "trash the dress" photo session, but since funds don't allow for that right now, I haven't tried my wedding gown since our wedding day. Who would - that's crazy right? Welllll......I was obviously feeling a little down, then a little nostalgic...so I tried it on. I mean, come on, EVERY girl gets nostalgic when she's sees her wedding gown, right? hehehe..FORTUNATELY, it still fit...a little better than even on our wedding day. INSTANT DAY BRIGHTENER!! YAY!

Thank goodness I have such a fantastic husband who doesn't mind that his wife is a mild lunatic!

And she fell down the rabbit hole....

I will preface this post by emphatically stating that I cannot BELIEVE what I am about to write, nor can I believe that you, my dedicated nine followers, WILL HAVE TO READ THIS! Sadly, or more pathetically really, it is 100% true: I.FELL.IN.A.SEWER.

Yep, that actually happened. In my own front yard; and if you know me, you're laughing hysterically right now and shaking your head, because you know that doesn't happen to anyone else. Except Jaymie Hunckler.

Let me back up a bit and those of you who don't know my long, clumsy life story, letting you know that "accident prone" doesn't necessarily apply to me. A more apt description of me might be "disastrously efficient" (and yes, I did just make up the word disastrously, and by the way, is it grammatically correct to use quotations and parentheses together? One never would've known I was a journalism major in college). I tend to take clumsiness and twist and mold it into a confusing mass of "What the heck just happened?!" Seriously - walls jump out at me, floors jump up. When I was a kid, I could often be found wandering around the house with a fresh new bruise quite regularly, unaware of the event causing said bruising, baffling my mom and dad. "That bruise just came there!" was my most frequent excuse for a new injury. As I got older, the clumsiness got worse...

Let's do a little timeline, shall we?

Summer 1991: Three weeks before school started, I was on a summer camp field trip. I didn't QUITE manage to jump up high enough to reach the monkey bars (hey, it was on a FITNESS trail - those bad boys were taller than the monkey bars on the playground). What would you do if you were falling - put your hands out to brace yourself, right? That's what I did. In doing so, I managed to snap the bones in not one, but both, my wrists This, however, worked in my favor. I was the most popular girl in the 4th grade for a month with a neon green and hot pink casts. Oh yea - that happened.

(Creepy note: During this fall, I broke the growth plates in said wrists. As a result, my wrists are the same size they were when I was 9. Weird, huh?)

Spring 2001: Warning: don't screw with sorority girls playing powderpuff football. You're likely to lose an eye. Or hair. Competition runs deep in my veins. Simply put: I don't like to lose. So, after a month of practicing (I SO hope this tradition has continued at Ball State), I was ready to kick some sorority butt. Three plays into our first game of the day, I dislocated the ring finger on my right hand. I didn't even notice it had happened until I looked down and saw my ring finger where my pinky finger should be. I puked. Seriously. It happened. Luckily, one of my sorority sisters was a athletic training major and popped that finger right back in place. Ever the glutton for punishment, I had it taped up and went back into the game. Genius, I know. Two plays later, wouldn't you know I ripped every tendon off the ring finger on my right hand! THAT.SERIOUSLY.HAPPENED. To to this day, you can still see the screws holding my finger bones together as a result of the subsequent surgery that occured later that week (I want it noted, that despite having two broken fingers, I played the rest of the day and we finished as tournament runners' up).

The surgeon, a prominent surgeon in Indianapolis laughed so hard he almost cried when he saw my predicament. This is a surgeon that deals with some professional athletes in Indiana every day, and here I am, this 19 year old college girl that broke THE SAME FINGER ON EACH HAND PLAYING POWDERPUFF FOOTBALL. I'm not sure I'll ever live that one down. Definitely not in the surgeon's mind - he remembered me five years later when my little sister went to him for a basketball injury (a more credible inury, as she's actually GOOD at sports).

The list goes on. I once flew off the back of a moving treadmill and broke my big toe. At our first softball game of the season several years back, I took a line drive right to the shin in the first play of the game. Season over. From then on, I was referred to simply as "injured reserve". I can't win.

So, how does all this equate to falling in a sewer? My job affords me the opportunity to work from home every once in awhile, so, it being a slower season in our industry, I took advantage of that perk a few days ago. After several hours working diligently (really, boss!), I thought it might be a nice idea to take the dogs (you'll meet them soon) for a little walk. There we were, minding our own business, walking across the front yard when I took a step onto one of those giant, heavy sewer covers. Who would ever think those things wouldn't be bolted down! Before I had time to even yelp, that bad boy gave way, and DOWN I WENT.

Holy balls, that hurt! Had my right foot not been planted firmly on the ground, I would've ended five feet under ground in a NNNASSTTYYY sewer! As it is, my left leg was down to the thigh! If I had seen this happen to someone else, I probably would've laughed my headoff (does anyone else have that problem - you laugh when someone gets hurt? It's TERRIBLE!), but all I knew that I was waist deep, left leg, in a sewer....BLECH! It took about five seconds to register that had happened before I felt some crazy pain in my left leg. "Great," I thought. "I'm stuck in a sewer with a broken leg. What the heck do I do now???"

Well, I pulled myself out. Leg not broken, but I have a nasty bruise that runs from foot to shin now. Four days later, it still hurts!!!

There's no real moral to this story. I just thought you might get a bit of humor knowing I fell in a sewer.

*Ten bonus points if you can name the title reference*

Home Sweet Home

Casa De Hunckler (at closing)

We're super busy over here at Casa De Hunckler. As we prepare to begin the adoption process, we want to make sure that our house is in tip-top shape for upcoming home studies and welcoming home a future little one.

Brad and I are what you like to call a little bit...hmmm...out our minds, perhaps? Impulsive? Crazy? All of the above? You see, in the summer of 2009, we thought it would be a brilliant idea to plan a wedding, buy a house, and, oh yea, have Brad quit his job to start a 100% commision financial practice. Genius? I think not!

We weren't really even in the market to buy a home. We had a sweet little rental in a great part of Garfield Park in Indianapolis. But, like he always does, Brad went along with my plan to "just take a look" at a reposessed home I found online. Picture two 20-somethings driving up to a vacant house at 10:00 at night, peering in windows with our headlights on and flashlights beaming. Yea, I can't believe the neighbors didn't call the cops either! This was a Thursday night. On Friday afternoon, we officially toured the house and by Monday morning, it was ours!!! We LOVE LOVE LOVE our home! We've been working SO hard since July 2009 to make it our own, despite the pepto bismal pink bathroom (yes, folks, from floor to ceiling pink! YUCK!).

This past weekend, my super (or glutten for punishment...hehehe) in-laws came to help us start building a privacy fence. Hilarity did ensue! Stay tuned to that post!!!

Blogging: Part 2 and a BIG update!!!

Alright, so let's be completely honest here: I totally FAILED this "blog" thing. That's completely amazing to me, because I read no less than 7 blogs on a daily basis!!! So, my super-duper wonderful loving husband has convinced me to give this blog another go-around.

This could be a terrible time to "commit" (notice I use that term very loosely - I think I have blog commitment issues!!) as I'm the great big beautiful state of Texas, Dallas to be exact for a week of work-related training. So, here we go!!!! Again!!!

I want to continue this post with some very BIG news, news which will probably be the core focus of this blog going forward. A lot of our friends, and our whole family, know that Brad and I have struggled with infertility over the past year and a half or so. Yup, we started trying for an itty bitty Hunckler pretty much from the day we said our "I Do's". This has been an uphill battle, as both Brad and I struggle from some moderate fertility related issues. I'll get into those in another post - that's a whole story of it's own! Last week, we came to a major life decision. You see, very few insurance companies, ours included, cover any part of infertility treatment. Infertility treatment in and of itself is very touch and go. After some soul searching and much thought and consideration, we have made this decision: WE ARE GOING TO ADOPT!

I say that with a TON of excitement. We are so excited to start on this new journey! Adoption is a subject we discussed prior to ever knowing we had fertility issues in the first place, so it's actually not a "last resort" or anything. Both of us have close friends and family members have gone through this same process, so we will continue to look to them for guidance through this. Now, we are at the VERY beginning of the adoption process, a process that could take upwards of a year or more. But that's ok - it gives us plenty of time to prepare our homes and our hearts for a new little bundle of joy that will make our family that much more complete!!!

Stay tuned for updates - I PROMISE that there will be more!

The Huncklers

We are the Huncklers. We are Brad, a 30-something finacnail representative with a receding hairline (ok, I'm all but bald) and an affinity for all things ESPN; and Jaymie, a 20-something (but I'll ALLLLWAAYYSSS be younger than Brad!) with time-management issues, a love of wine, and an eye for great sales. We are ordinary Midwestereners with an extraordinary love.

So, why read our blog SImply put, you will find no other married couple that can share stories of their everyday lives much like we can. Our life may not be exciting, by many standards, but it's our cray life and for everyone's entertainment (or perhaps just our own, we will use this blog to document our day-to-day lives as we go through this crazy thing called life!

Here We Go!

By: Jaymie

Holy crap, we are OFFICIALLY bloggers! Alright, I can't promise that we will update this blog everyday! And by we, I DO mean both Brad and I! We are both journalism grads with pretty funny senses of humor (or so we think), so this "blogging" thing shouldn't be all that difficult to keep up with! Nor can I promise that you will ALWAYS be interested in what we have to say. BUT, we can promise that this blog, or whatever it becomes, will give you a foray into our everyday, kooky and often-times crazy life! Welcome! Let the journey begin....