The one about HBD Season

The birthday season is coming to a close and we have been super busy Rasmussens! 

This year has been a whirlwind of events. So many good things have happened and so many meh things. :)

I've experienced great time with our amazing family and friends (that are closer than any family I have ever known).  So on to the important topic at hand Happy Birthdays!!!! 

We kicked it off with a bang-my own birthday, then our niece was born March 6th followed by our precious Ems 10th, niece Emelie's 6th, niece Catalina's 3rd and finally our oldest Jason's 16th (4/18). (Insert deep breath here)!

Cakes/cupcakes??? Of course. Here's a sample of the cakes I made for Em and Catalina. 

-Emma's Frozen Cake

-Catalina's Minnie Mouse Cake and Cupcakes

It has been a good spring so far. 

But...I'm looking forward to wrapping up the spring birthdays and moving into anniversary and then summer (baby time)?! ❤️

-Until we meet again...

The one about the busy week....

It has been a busy...busy...busy last week!

We have been Valentines, running to school activities, spending time with family, working and trying to find some free time in between just to breathe. The strange thing is this is not even our "Busy Birthday" season yet!!!

Valentines Day was amazing as usual! 

(Yes those are bundt cakes) 😃

Then last weekend we volunteered at our churches Angel Auction. We were the "runners" meaning we were responsible from going from room to room to close the auctions and then has to sort and run the winnings to the designated winner's spot in the church. It was five ours of go go go but was so much fun. The decor was so lovely and the theme was "The Roaring 20s!" It was so cute. 

Rolf and I decided next year we're going as guests so we can take part in all of the fun!

On Sunday Em and I went with her Tio John and cousin Emelie to the Kids Explore. The girls had a great time! Here's a super cute picture of them from the day!

Then we had Jason's Pop Concert at Skutt to wrap up the night. Is it weird that I think of Vivacé whenever I hear Maroon 5?! It's hilarious that I can actually remember their choreography and that's the first thing that comes to mind. Oh and they placed in the Show Choir Semifinals! Such a great group of talented kids. 

I also did some cooking....

Shrimp for Cajun Shrimp fettuccini - So good!

Chiles Rellenos Casserole

White Chicken Chilli w/ Crusty Bread

And discovered this...

I've also been preparing for my new role at work. Excited for new opportunities to grow and learn. Working with my group of leaders to transition from me and into a new group overseeing the leadership team that handles our new teammates. Working to drive engagement, effectiveness and eNPS is sometime I am so excited to do. I love what I do and mostly all of the people I work with are simply amazing! Truly counting my blessings in life. 

Now back to your regularly scheduled program. 😃

Promotion, Snow grilling, Vickies and Grown Sexy

This past weekend we spent some time with family. On Friday I received amazing news and I was promoted at work!!!

Jumping up and down like I'm a 15 year old girl that just won tickets to Bruno Mars. - Yes that excited!

You know that feeling when you work hard and are honest and dedicated and it all pays off?! That's what I feel like right now. 

So after that amazing news Saturday my sister and niece Catalina came over. We lounged and in the evening -much snow grilling carne asada happened! Here's a shot of the delicious meat!!!

I caught the hubs with his brothers John and Jorge. -It was freezing but so delicious. 

The end of the night we wound down with some wine, good laughs and stories.

Then Sunday was Victoria Secrets special after hours sale. I was invited to attend with my friend Jenn and we had a blast. Great sales, music and raffles! 

The only issue I had was the weekend flew by oh so fast. 

....this weekend is Valentines Day. I secretly love this holiday!!! And yes there's always that one person that is bitter about it and says "I don't need a holiday to remind my loved ones I love them" or the even better statement around how overly commercialized it is. But as Lina would say "I don't care! I love it!!!" I like the idea that there's a day for love because let's face it our lives are busy and we forget. It's a nice reminder to give love, show love and make love. 

Now if only we can get a reservation. I'm thinking something Grown Sexy! Lol

Happy Birthday Baby It's Cold Outside

Last weekend was a blast. Rolf planned my whole birthday weekend - He did a "love bird" theme and organized such an amazing weekend I will never forget. 

Here are a few pics. 

Spoilers: We went to dinner, Corky Canvas, The Holland Center for "Behind the Mask" and Gloss Day Spa. 

Birthday Breakfast - I LOVE CRISPY BACON!!! 😃

Dinner @ The Green Gateau - such a quaint little romantic restaurant 

We tried Lavosh!!

The Corky Canvas (Wine 🍷and Art 🎨) - they even gave me a CROWN!👑 

My delicious custom pink champagne cake!

Then massages and chocolate oil full body treatment. Fun fact when we picked up Em she said the car smelled delicious like tootsie rolls. 

The next day the snow officially arrived and it is so cold. I made some yummy veg rotini with sausage, ground beef and fresh Parmesan with some garlic cheese bread to warm us up!

Then the kiddies had the day off of school "snow day" and Em made very cute "snow sculptures."

She was so happy to show me after work. Such a doll!

...birthday weekend...dance like there's no one watching

Let's try this again....

Learned a good lesson - be careful not to close your blog window because you lose your writing. 

It's my birthday weekend. Yes that means I'm getting older but really that doesn't bother me. I enjoy growing up and gathering wisdom. I look forward to all of the lessons life still has in store for me. I told my sister the they night that I'm aging like a fine wine. 

Thursday night I came home from work. It was a busy chaotic week. It was meeting after meeting and so much change and I was exhausted. I think we often forget that we can slow down in all of the chaotic moments and just meditate. I forgot that and was exhausted. But when I got home I was met with such an amazing display of love. 

Rolf made me a candlelit bubble bath with wine, music, cupcake and my kindle. I am an obsessive reader. I enjoy YA series and have an expansive imagination. I am easily lost in a good series and he knows this. Seeing these things made my heart swell. Not because of the "stuff" but because he cares enough to listen to me and try to help me relax, this being the only way he knew how. I think we often forget, in those moments, that we need to stop and really just let it all in and feel the overwhelming warmth of love. 

Friday I worked half day and decided to surprise Rolf by getting my haircut. Why is that a big deal? I used to go to this girl at Regis Salon. Well she moved away and I no longer had a stylist. - no big deal right?!

Wrong- growing up my mom used to keep my hair cut very short. It made sad because I wanted long hair but she didn't like it long so she chopped it off regularly. So I do not trust people to cut my hair. Rewind to the past- in September I asked for hair stylist recommendations and received many. But one problem-me! I didn't know what to do or who to trust. So Friday I scheduled the appointment with one of my recommendations and caved. Drum roll please...

Rolf loved it. So much he wanted to try this amazing new salon too. Scissori - they are great. I used Bob and Rolf used Dori. Highly recommended. They are personable and honest. Which puts them high in my book. 

So here we are on Saturday. We cut Rolf's hair and picked up my secret cake. I guess  not supposed to see it until tomorrow. :) I am just so happy just to have quality time with my honey no matter what we are doing. But tonight we are off to Lincoln for dinner at Green Gateau and fun at the Corky Canvas. There's something symbolic about the fact that we're going to paint a picture tonight. The picture that starts out a blank canvas and become a beautiful blend of light and dark colors. The picture that we will display in the home we built and will forever remember this day. 

It reminds me of how we built our life and continue to build our life together. I'm blessed beyond words and so tonight we dance like there's no one watching. ❤️

Making plans...have you heard the one about the lotus birth?

The week is halfway through and boy has it been busy. We have so much going on!

Plans are underway for this weekends

Birthday festivities. I'm looking forward to 5 days of quality time with the hubs. We will be dining out and going to Corky Canvas (super excited) ... Plus whatever else my honey has up his sleeves. 

Today we also continued plans for the future by meeting with a potential OB. She was very informative and had great knowledge for all of our questions. 

During the appointment I found myself wondering if many couples actually spend time interviewing the OB...It's important to us that we have our plan and that our OB supports the plan. We do not want someone that does not have the time to spend with us or our best interests in mind. So we were pleasantly surprised to have our time with her for our interview. 

Let me just say I thought I had too many questions but no I had enough...and I was blessed to have a husband with just as many. :) *peas in a pod

After the meeting I am comfortable enough to say that I am pretty sure she's the one. It's great to have that decision made. Now onward. 

I will say from a facilities standpoint, Methodist Women Center really is a beautiful hospital and so that's a huge plus. The decor is calming and modern, the rooms are private and it's so quiet.Patients  get a dedicated nurse and doctor without all of the additional doctors/nurses chaos. 

We are all for a peaceful entry into this world so that definitely earned some brownie points in our book. 

When we had our son it was at St Joseph (a teaching hospital) which means it was heavily obtrusive. There were probably 10 doctors and residents/interns in there at any given time in rotation. It was chaos that I would not want to relive. Then with Em we delivered at Alegent which was a little more private but still a few additional doctors sprinkled around the room. So we are ecstatic about the privacy from a medical staff standpoint.  

Now - classes - I'm so interested in learning more and continuing on this awesome journey. So much has changed and so many studies on different health benefits and processes (Delayed cord cutting, first nursing immediately after, skin on skin contact...in addition to some other interesting things that were not for us i.e. lotus birth - if you do not know what that is look it up). :)

Exciting things to come from the Rasmussens. Happy Wednesday. 

Babies, Food and Fun

Whew what a busy weekend! But we wind down and next weekend is my birthday! Crazy how fast time flies by, we are almost a complete month into the new year. Looking forward to a long weekend and tons of quality time with my love. 

Back to this weekend. We spent lots of time with family. 

Friday night was quality time with our sisters Amanda and Alicia, brother George, Mike and our beautiful little nieces or as I like to call them our squishies Catalina (Lili), Lenyx, Jayden and our awesome nephews Kane and Gavin. 

Quick photo op of me, Annie and Lenyx

Then Saturday the fun continued. Annie, George and Lili had a slumber party at our place.  While they stayed over I reconfirmed my continued belief that my husband is absolutely one of a kind - amazing. He's so wonderful with little ones and it just melts my heart every time I see him being such a gentle man. I captured this picture of him and the girls and it just solidifies in my heart that we are meant to continue to expand our family. I am so blessed to have him. 

Enough of the heavy...I did some delicious cooking this weekend as well. 

Shrimp, Andouille Sausage and Chicken Étouffée - one of Rolf's faves. The dish has shrimp, andouille sausage, chicken, green pepper, celery, onion, garlic in a roux with some additional chicken broth to make it stew-like. Served over rice, it's rico!

Today I also spent the afternoon having a girls day with my squish Em. We went shopping and got super cute pedicures. 

All in all a great weekend of laughs, fun and memories!