Why? Who?

Last week, while I was out having a nice birthday dinner with my college/sorority friends, I received a call telling me my wallet was stolen. This is when a nightmare began.

Let me start from the beginning - last Wednesday I came to work, just a normal day. That evening I was heading out to run errands and meet my friends for dinner at the Olive Garden. As I got my things together to leave the office, I noticed my purse was light - my purse is never light. I looked in there and my wallet was not in there. I didn't panic at first, I checked everywhere in my office and then out in my car. I was positive I had it with me that morning, but just in case I called H to check the condo. No luck! So, I headed over to the OG, sure that it would turn up. About a half hour into dinner, I received a call from H, all our bank and credit companies were calling us with large charges being made to all my cards. I ran home, unsure of how this happened, and so nervous.

When I got home, I called all the companies, and the person who stole my wallet, charged $5k at Wal-Mart and a few hundred in some other places. It was terrible! How could somebody do this to me I kept thinking! After reviewing everything and closing my accounts, I realized this happened at work - and then the fear set in that somebody found my purse at work, in my office, behind my desk, and took my wallet. What a violation of trust and safety. Devestating....

To date, I have filed a police report, turned in an incident report and contact the hospital security and HR. I also called the Belleville Wal-Mart and they were able to pull up every transaction made under my name on the day my wallet was stolen, and link the security camera and charge slips to them. I am now waiting for the police department to pick it up so I can go and id the thief. I hope it is sooner than later, I would like to be able to sleep at night and enjoy coming to work again.

Things I have learned from this incident:

• Do not keep all your credit and debit cards on you - since I did - I had no access to any money until I made it to the bank on Thursday
• Make sure you have a second form of id (state id card, passport) in a safe place - if I didn't have a passport, I would not have had any way to withdraw cash from my checking account.
• Do not keep your SS card in your wallet - this is a no brainer - but I had to use it a few months ago and just never took it out of my wallet.
• Gift Cards - keep these at home in a safe place
  
• Car Insurance - keep a copy in your car - which I think is common sense and luckily I did, otherwise I would have no proof of insurance
• Do not keep a lot of cash on you
• Keep a reserve of cash at home in a safe place
• Contact the 3 credit bureaus to put a fraud alert on your identity
  

This has been a devestating situation, you feel like your life has been turned upside down and feel lost. I have personally never felt this way, but I have lost trust and faith in people, and feel very scared and helpless - which is not like me at all. I hope we are able to find this person and start to piece everything back together.

Birthday & Valentine's Day Weekend

This past weekend, we had a 5 day valentines day and birthday extravaganza! My birthday happens to fall on the 15th, the day after V-day, which always calls for a long celebration! Here is a run down of the events:

• February 12 - H and I went to see Spring Awakening - this was a very good and very different show. You must leave your modesty at home, it tells the raw truth about life, and is very insightful. Many people did get up and leave the show because it was a little vulgar. You have to prepare yourself otherwise you will be caught off gaurd.
  
• February 13 - Birthday Bowing at the Flamingo Bowl
• February 14 - H and Mike were responsible for planning Valentines Day this year and it was a surprise. That morning the boys went out to run errands, and I had the day to relax and pamper myself, which was wonderful. Erica was traveling back from a conference in Florida, and got back that afternoon. I was instructed to go to Erica's apartment at 4:30 p.m. and wait until we received more instructions. We were then asked to meet at our condo at 6:20 p.m. We were there on time, and then asked to sit on the patio and wait, but they did provide us with wine! Around 6:30 the boys came to the door with a printed off menu and a full dinner waiting for us. It was so sweet and really yummy! They did an outstanding job! They may have this resopnsibility now ever year - just kidding :) After dinner and relaxing for a while - I think we ate too much -we headed out to meet some friends. We went to Soulard for a while, but due to the Taste of Soulard - it was crazy! We decided to head to the Gaust House - which is one of our favorite places! At midnight, they sang happy birthday and graced me with a bottle of wine! Such a wonderful evening!

• February 15 - Birthday day! We had a pretty low key day, which was nice. H and I rarely get this kind of time together. We went out for breakfast with Mike, Erica, Whitney and Aaron, then hung out at home for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. We had a memorial service for a neighbor of ours at 3 p.m., which was a beautiful service. After that, we headed to Dewey's Pizza for dinner (which is one of the best pizzeria's in town) and then to the Moolah to see "He's Just Not That Into You" - which was very good!

• February 16 - We were lucky to have President's day off, we did some birthday shopping and errands. That evening, H, myself, mom, dad, Erica and Mike headed to Tony's for my last birthday dinner!

It was a wonderful birthday and valentine's day week! Here are the rest of the pictures

A Winning Battle

After we returned from our trip, MIL had her bilateral surgery on February 9. This obviously was a stressful time for our family, but we all came together and it went great. The surgery was a great success, she had no complications or problems from surgery, and was up and eating pizza that night! She has kept very good care of herself and has been so positive through this process, it is absolutley amazing. Since she was recovering so well, she was discharged to go home the next morning! She has been healing well, with some discomfort, which is expected. We then received the news that her pathology report came back all clear, so the cancer is gone!

The next step is radiation, which will start in a few weeks! We are half way there, and winning this battle! Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers, we appreciate it more than we could ever say.

Congratulations Mr. Timothy & Mrs. Jacquie Miranda

The first week of February, H and I headed to Boston to celebrate the marriage of our friends Tim and Jacquie. I met Jacquie while I was doing my fellowship at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Boston. This was the first trip to Bean Town since I moved back to the Lou. It was such a wonderful trip, a beautiful wedding, and so great to catch up with old friends.

Those that know me well, know I loved my time in Boston, if most of our family and friends didn't live in the Midwest, we would live out there in a heart beat (well, I would persuade H). I have always loved the East Coast and am so happy I took the year to live out there and have the experiences I did. I met some amazing people, learned so much, and had a fabulous time! It was very scary when I first moved out there because I didn't know a soul, but that changed very quickly. I have made some lifelong friends there, and miss them all the time! It was one of those experiences I hope everybody is able to have in their lifetime.

Here is a rundown of what we did during our short visit:

• Visited with friends
• Trip to Newton-Wellesley
• Shopping at the fabulous Natick mall
• Dinner at Legal Sea Foods - yum!
• Drinks at Union Street - this place was 1 block from my old apartment, and my favorite place ever!
• The wedding and reception - it took place at this beautiful estate in the suburbs of the city. It was a small, and elegant wedding and reception. We had an amazing time!

Below are some pics from the weekend, the rest are here:

H & Lianna at the Reception


The happy couple and the NWH girls!


Myself, Lianna & Monique at Legal Sea Foods


NWH girls at the Hilton


Me in front of my old apartment building


The reception

Here we go again

I have successfully managed to fall behind on my blogging again! It has been hectic in our household and time has been limited! Stay tuned for updates - I'm sure many at once!