Josh and Kelly

Secret Shopper

2010-12-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

Happy December 4th!

Since my post on Facebook about being a secret shopper- I received many messages and comments about how to become one. I thought I would share some of my resources. All I ask in return is if they ask for a reference- be kind enough to write my name down :)

Here are a few of the companies I am currently signed up with (some of these companies do not have "shops" in my area/state)

Kern Scheduling
Bare International
IntelliShop
Service Sleuth
Shoppers' View
Beyond Hello
Spies in Disguise

Normally you sign up for a shop, perform the shop, then report what you find. Every shop is different. Some are quick and easy- others take a lot of time and documentations. Payment is paid through paypal unless otherwise stated.

Enjoy!

He's HEEEEERRRREEEEE!

2010-09-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Just in case you've been living in a dark hole- Baby August has arrived!
I was induced at 8am on August 17th. When I got to the hospital I was already contracting. Go figure. They started an IV of Pitocin and throughout the morning the contractions became a little stronger. I had one major contraction before I asked for my epidural. Wow- lets just talk about that contraction... it hurt and then got a little worse and then it got even worse. I busted out in tears and squeezed the crap out of Josh's hand. Good thing that was probably the worst part of my whole labor and delivery. The epidural was pretty much painless. It was a tiny pinch- that's all. Then everything went numb! My legs felt like they weighed 100 lbs each. I laughed every time they had to move me. From about 11:30am-4pm I went from one laying position to another. Finally I was between 9 and 10 cm and it was time to push. Push Push Push for over an hour and a half. I had to hold off for a few minutes until the Doc on call got there. She showed up and a couple more pushes and BAM! Josh and I became parents.
August is seriously the most easy going baby. He sleeps anywhere from 3 to 5 hrs- cries for a minute when he gets up... that's to let up know he's up and hungry. He eats anywhere from 3 to 5 oz. and then falls back asleep. I think he's up for about 2 hrs a day! His time awake is getting a little bit longer everyday.
Welp, that's the scoop on Baby A.

Blessed,
Kelly

I want to be a patient- not have patience!

2010-08-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

As of 9:40am on August 4th- there is no Baby August to be found! Hopefully that will change soon :)
There is some humor in all of this waiting; here are a few questions/statements Josh asks/makes (almost on a daily basis):
"Did you have the kid yet?"
"Are you in labor?"
"If your water breaks, I imagine that it's not going to be clear like water... that could ruin your blanket"
"If you go into labor tonight- I'll take you to the hospital"

With some of those comments- you just had to be there. I wanted to write them down so I wouldn't forget!

Later this afternoon I'll be getting a prenatal massage. Chris and Amanda gave Josh and I massage gift certificates for Christmas. My time is NOW! I'm hoping that this will help move August along.
My parents are finally here! We're all just hanging out waiting for the little one to arrive.

My next post should include pictures of the newest Maichele!

Blessings,
Kelly

August's New Room

2010-07-26T19:39:00.001-07:00

Alright Friends, here's baby's completed room!
Let me know what you think :)
Oh! and where the car seat is- we'll have a glider there.

2010-07-21T18:52:00.000-07:00

Under normal circumstances I would be ecstatic with the news that my Dr. gave me, but I can't say that I am.
On Tuesday, the Dr. checked and I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. I said "So Doc, a baby this week?" and he said "umm nooo, not this week, not next week, probably the following- most likely the first week in August". I didn't realize that August was this ready to come out. So why am I not so ecstatic? First of all- Josh is gone until late Saturday night. I don't want August to come without his dad here! Second of all- I've gotten attached to the phrase "August in August"... he can't come in July! Third of all- my mom and dad aren't here yet. They won't be able to come out until the end of July. Are you smelling what I'm stepping in? The first week in August is approximately 3 weeks early. Doc said I was measuring big (I could have told him that) so he's not concerned with August coming out so early.
Now onto things that aren't stressful: I had an awesome baby shower on Sunday. Got lots of cute outfits and instead of everyone getting me a card- they brought August a book! He now has a shelf full of books in his room. Then on Monday, friends from work threw me a baby shower. So much fun. It was great getting to know some of my coworkers better.

Here's a picture from my shower on Sunday with Josh's family. 35 weeks.

Look at these cute baby cupcakes that were made for my shower:

Blessings,
Kelly

Finally- I finished a project!

2010-07-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

Not sure where I got this idea- but here is a wall-hanging for August's room.

Supplies:
Black custom frame gone wrong from Michael's- purchased for $8.00 (frame is 20"x 36")
Staple gun and staples $8.00
Fabric from JoAnn's $2.50
Clothes pins and rope- less than $2.00

First the frame needed to be painted to match other items in baby's room
From black to tan:

Now it's time to staple the fabric to the back of the frame:

Now it's time for the rope: I took 1 piece of rope about 39" and went width wise, behind the frame, around the front, and behind the other side. Staple. Did it again, a little lower on the frame. Added clothes pins. The clothes pins will hold pictures or cards... anything lightweight.

Finished product:

You'll see this hung when I post pictures of baby's finished room :)

Baby Bump Progress

2010-06-13T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,

Once again, I've been slacking. I apologize. Let's chat.

On 4.9 we had our first ultrasound. We found out that we are having a precious baby boy. From the measurements they took he measured at 20 weeks 6 days and I was 20 weeks 5 days. He is right on schedule!
There's a foot!

There's my boy!

In case you haven't seen on Facebook or Twitter- we are naming him August Scott.

At the end of April, Josh and I took a mini-vacation to New York/New Jersey to visit my brother Justin and his girlfriend Laura. We went to see Cirque Du Soleil- Ovo.
So here's a picture at 23 weeks in NJ.

Here comes May....
The beginning of the month was quiet. Because Josh was working in Missouri, my Dad flew in from Pittsburgh to drive me back home for Sarah and Joe's Wedding. Sarah and I have been friends since high school. She was the first (first of two) people to tell me I was a good driver. haha. I am thrilled that she met and married the wonderful and witty Joe Liu.
The wedding was just perfect! Congrats guys- heart you both!
My parents made it to the reception-
Here's 28 weeks:
That same weekend my Aunts and Mom and Sister-in-law threw me an AMAZING baby shower. I unfortunately don't have any of those pictures to post. My mom is slacking in posting them on Facebook. I'll get her butt moving and post them in my next update.

June has been a slow month for me but a busy one for Josh. He's had a few events at the casino Up North. Last week he was in Vegas for InfoComm which is his industry's huge annual convention... or just a bunch (thousands) of audio/video nerds coming together to look at and discuss new products. This week he is in Anderson, IN (at Anderson University) for CIY's first week of Summer Conference. This always brings back great memories (I hope) because this is how Josh and I met. I was working for AU and he was working for CIY... and 4 summers ago we met. The rest is history!
Josh and I got to spend the weekend with his parents and sister and her ALMOST husband in Traverse City. The next time we're in Trav will be October for Amanda's wedding... and we'll have a baby with us!
Here's a baby bump picture at 30 weeks with August's Grandma and Aunt Amanda

UGH! I can see the weight gain in my face! BOOOOO. I'm still hoping he's just going to be a little 7 pounder... but then again, I hope he's a 25 pounder. haha.

Hopefully on my next update I will have pictures of August's room makeover. That is a work in progress.

Blessings,
Kelly

A growing family

2010-03-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends!
I apologize for the long delay. So much has happened this year and I don't know where to begin!
Josh and I are having a BABY! We couldn't be more excited. Baby is healthy and growing a little everyday. I am 19 weeks today and baby is due August 22nd. We find out who is in there on April 9th. Everyone is saying girl- very few (Josh, Josh's dad, and my dad) say boy. I personally have NO idea.
We have lots of ideas for the nursery. After the 9th, we'll know if we're going the blue route or the pink route. We can also register for all kinds of baby stuff! Yeah! Things are so exciting.
Last night I felt baby kick for the first time. I didn't have the butterfly feeling... I got kicked.
Baby loves buttered bagels, chips and dip, and anything else that might cross my mind.

Josh has been crazy busy with work. April and May should be pretty calm- June and July will be hectic and then August will be here!

Pugs are good. Just busy being pugs.

Time for some chips and dip.

Twenty-ten

2010-01-04T16:33:00.000-08:00

Sorry for my lack of blogging. SHAME SHAME SHAME.

I'll start with most recent and then go back:

New Years: Con and Don along with my Aunt Carol and Uncle John came in from Pittsburgh for a visit. Josh was running an event at the casino Up North and that's where we all spend New Years. Good times. Donated some money to the Indians. Not of my choosing of course.

Christmas: This year we were with Josh's family. After the gifts were exchanged and opened, Deb, Scott, Josh and I headed up to Traverse City. We had a great relaxing time there. It was cold and snowy but the fire was hot. And when I say "fire" I mean the fire in the fireplace :)

Christmas Eve: This year- the Christmas Eve party was at the Webster's house. Umm it was a Christmas party, picture lots of people standing around eating... talking about stuff. It's a fun tradition.

December Prior To Christmas Eve: Decorated the house- put up all of my Wizard of Oz ornaments for display. Hung out with the pugs.

Josh and I are looking forward to the Juice Ball on Friday night in Grand Rapids.
Josh's company is providing all of the room lighting. I'm just attending... and lots of our friends will be there along with hundreds of people I don't know.

Thanks for letting me share!

Peace, Love, and Pugs,

K & J
J & M

Giving to the Indians

2009-11-16T17:23:00.001-08:00

Hi Friends,

The pink chair is a hit! (See previous post)

Boo was thrilled when I gave her this chair last week. Hope she gets more studying done in it than I did!

Now- about the Indians. I donated a lot to them this weekend. I won't talk about the dollars and cents- but let's just say- I lost some money at Odawa Casino. Perhaps over New Years I'll win some of that back.

I'm in the process of making party invitations. I'll show you how they were made in my next post.

Peace, Love and Pugs,

Kel and Josh

It's been a long week!

2009-11-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

Let me start off by saying that I am one of the WORST storytellers you will ever meet. I also can't tell a joke to save my life. I normally start laughing before the joke, and during the joke, and sometimes can't finish the joke because I'm still laughing. Having said that- let's begin.

Josh left last Friday morning for work in Nashville. He installed an audio system in a building where demos take place for video walls. (Yeah- now you're understanding the whole "I can't tell stories".) Maybe I can get Josh to do a guest blog and explain more about the video walls. Anyway- you know what a video wall is... they're the GIANT video- walls that Coldplay and U2 and Taylor Swift have on their tours. You can see these walls at large sporting events too. Get the picture? (I could make that last question into a joke but I'll spare you.) SO yes- Josh was busy being busy and installing this system at this place and then the guy that runs the place said to Josh "hey- let's have a party!". Josh, being the cool guy that he is, said "okay". This party turned into something BIG. There were tons of record label managers there. Bon Jovi stopped by. Josh said he saw Martina McBride. It was an "industry" pre-CMA party. So YEA for Josh running sound for the bands that played and YEA for his company and the exposure that they received.

He'll be back home tomorrow! oh wait- and turn around and leave on Friday morning. This time I won't complain- I'm going with him. We're heading Up North to a casino. He has some corporate gig there. I'll just hang out with my friend slot-machine; we get along really well.

While Josh was gone- I cleaned... a lot. I cleaned out our storage room. There were way too many boxes back there with who-knows what in them. Those are all gone now. I also had, back in storage, a pink chair. It was a chair I had in college- you know- the big fluffy kind that I was suppose to study in...
I wanted to give this chair away- but who would want a big fluffy pink chair? I emailed my friend Anita and asked if her 6-year-old daughter would like the chair. Here's an excerpt from her email back to me:

Ok, you're not going to believe this but I was actually on the Target site last week looking at that very chair!!! Right now Boo has a cute play kitchen in her room that she got when she turned 2 and we had told her that we should probably give it to the church nursery since she never uses it and the only way she would agree was if I promised to get her a "reading" chair to put there. During the summer Connor bought himself a chair for his room and so last week I told Boo to go and read in Connor's chair to see if it was comfy enough for her~she LOVED it. I was looking at Target's website to see if I could get a pink chair but no pink! so YES!!!!! we would love that chair. Isn't it funny how the Lord works these things out for us?!? And coming from you will make it an even bigger bonus for Boo :)

Isn't that cool? Boo and I are pretty close. We share the same birthday- only 17 years apart. We also love pugs and stuffed animals. We're both the youngest and only girls in our families. She has 3 older brothers...and I have 2. We're twins for sure. Here's a picture of us on our birthday last January.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Keep your eyes and hearts open to unique perfect moments God gives us to give to other.

Blessings,

Kelly and Josh

Busy Busy Busy

2009-11-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hello there!

Let's just discuss how busy October was- October was busy. Between all of Josh's travels we squeezed in a wonderful vacation to Disney World. We did whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. We bought the park hopper- so would end up doing about 2 parks a day. If you have kids- plan on spending a whole day at each park. Josh and I are kid-less and we walk fast. October is the perfect month to go. We never waited longer than 40 minutes for a ride. Sometimes the longest part of the ride was walking and walking and walking thru the lines to get up to the ride. We had such a great time. Josh was in heaven with Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. NOM NOM NOM. I swear he tried something in every "country". Epcot has some of the best restaurants. We ate in France and Japan. Yum.
My favorite rides were Toy Story and Fast Track. We only got to ride Toy Story twice- but that's okay. Our arms were sore by the end of the 2nd time. Oh and Fast Track was great. We road that about 5 or 6 times. Rides that I did not enjoy: Mt Everest at Animal Kingdom (scary), and that Aerosmith Ride. Oh wow don't get me started. Okay I'm started. Look at this picture:
I asked Josh about 100 times- "Does this ride go up-side-down?" he said "ummm no i don't think so"... ummm yes- in the picture- that's a car that is UP SIDE DOWN on a track. After standing in line and hearing on the announcement "this ride goes up side down blah blah blah" I gave Josh my "I'm not a happy person" face:
Glad that's over.

I told Josh that I thought I was cheating on him... with him. It made sense at the time. We spent so much time together- normally I'm not happy when he wants to go out with his buddies on the weekends after traveling- now I'm like "please go". Haha. I love him- but we spent like 9 straight days together! That's a lot.

Oh fun! We saw Cirque Du Soleil

I know that picture is small- but I'll be posting some on Facebook- and then you'll be able to see our smiling faces.

After our wonderful trip we came home and chilled out. That Saturday we went over to the Jousma's and took family pictures for them. They made us a delicious dinner!

Let's just discuss music for a minute. I'm not a band/music type of person. I like who I like and I don't feel like I have to promote that or even defend it. Alright so I like a little U2 with a side of Avril. I have 1 all-time favorite band: Mae. Yes- I named my dog after them. (Actually her given name is Mayling ((stupid)) and so we call her Mae). But anyway- I listened to them all throughout college and so every song carries it's own memory. Where am I going with this? I'm not sure- but Mae came to Grand Rapids on Saturday. Josh and I went and it was amazing. It was in a hole in the wall, scary place on S. Division Ave. There were only like 40 or 50 ppl there. Practically a personal concert and I couldn't stop smiling :) Josh was twitching because of the poor venue, mold smell, and lack of high production. He said "I wish they were bigger- so they could play at a better place. I love the band- hate the venue." I agree. I slept with a smile on my face that night.

Oh! I forgot to mention that we went to the Grand Rapids Griffins Hockey game on Friday Night- that was a blast! Can't pass up $1 beer, $1 hotdog night! Here's a picture from the game.

Blessings,
Kelly and Josh

2009-10-06T17:57:00.000-07:00

Fall is in full swing here in Michigan. The rain, the falling leaves, the rain, the cold mornings, oh and the rain.
Josh and I are traveling this weekend to Traverse City. Traverse is one of my favorite places to take pictures. Here's one I took at 2 Lads Winery. I later framed it for the owners.

A lot of people ask me what I do while Josh is away on business. I reply most often with "nothing, absolutely nothing". This past week was different. I was busy. I was busy making wine glass candle holders....
Pretty sweet eh? I've had a few request for them for Christmas gifts. I sell them by the glass- or I can put them into a gift basket....

In case you haven't heard our wonderful news- Josh and I are heading to Disney World next week. We're leaving on the 17th! I checked the weather there today and it was in the 80's. I'm totally okay with that.

Blessings,

Kelly

Oh Sweet September

2009-09-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

Can someone help me find September? Oh right- I believe it was lost in 3 weekends of weddings... and busyness.

Here's what's been going on at the Maichele House.
Josh and I now refer to the "little ones" aka "the pugs" as @maepug and @jadepug. If you are familiar with Twitter- then you get the joke. (If not, it's okay, get on board and go to www.twitter.com and sign up. Then follow me- I'm @kellymaichele.) Mae and Jade don't actually have twitter accounts for themselves (not yet I should say), but we like tweet about them using @maepug and @jadepug.

Josh's business is BOOMING. I would love to place a link HERE and have you click and read all about what he does, but the company is so new that they don't have a website. Yes, this very new (2 month old) company is growing 10-fold. Josh and his crew are currently in Nashville installing a system for the owner of Grand Rapid's Intersection. The owner is opening up a new club in Nashville this week and Josh is there to install the system and oversee opening night.
The best part about this trip is that there is a CRICUT store right near his hotel! Amazing. If you don't know what cricut is.. go here www.cricut.com. Every scrapbookers' necessary tool.

As promised a few posts ago- here are pictures!
Here is J and I at Theresa and Tyler's wedding. That dress, my friends, was a steal. $79 down to $50 some... down to $11.

Meet @maepug and @jadepug. Mae's the black one... Jade is "apricot". Not to be confused with fawn or silver pugs. @Jadepug is in a league of her own.

These are some of the most energetic dogs you will ever meet. @Jadepug is a high jumper. She's got muscles. @Maepug is the snuggler that won't snuggle. She just wants to be close- but don't hold her or she'll wiggle her way out of your arms. Josh and I got Jade soon after we were married. It's her 3rd birthday today. I knew deep down inside that Jade wanted a friend. I searched for well over a year online for a friend. In January of this year- Mae came into our lives. She was my birthday gift to myself. She's our Marley. @Maepug is sooooo bad sometimes- but she's just too cute to give up.

I guess it's time to update on my life. I'm praying about where God wants this life of mine to go.
I want a job that I love. A job where I can use my skillz. Yes- skillz with a "z". I'm creative and organized and full of ideas. Gosh- tons and tons of ideas of how things should look or work. I like systems and procedures and things that are routine. I love things that are colorful and express emotion. I want a job where I'm valued. I want a job where people pay me for my ideas on how things should look or work. Am I asking too much? I also have tons of ideas about books. If only I was an amazing author- I could have tons of books- shelves full of books.

Hope you've had a wonderful last day of September!

Blessings,

Kelly

South Haven

2009-08-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

Where did the weekend go?

Josh came home around 4 am Sunday morning from the Mark Farner concert in Flint, MI. He said things went well and made lots of contacts. Hopefully some business for AudioSpace will come of it all. By noon, we were out the door to spend some time with the Jousma's. We spent most of the day on the beach near the pier. Our beach chairs were in the water and it was a great way to cool off in the hot sun. Around 4ish we came back to the cottage and had dinner with Allison's parents. It's hard to eat hot food (chicken, corn on the cob, potatoes) when it's so warm out. Besides the heat, it was great to get away for the day. We were home by 8 and spent the night getting caught up on our DVR and enjoyed time with the puggies.

Definitely looking forward to next weekend in Pittsburgh with Con and Don!

I'll post pictures soon!

Blessed,

K & J

A Gust of Fresh Air

2009-08-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

Hello there Summer, thanks for finally coming to Michigan!
It has definitely warmed up around here; the beach is calling.

Josh is currently in Flint, MI for the Mark Farner concert/festival. His company, AudioSpace, is providing all of the production for the show. Here's Mark's website www.markfarner.com. This will be the first of many large venue shows for Josh's company!

Next weekend, Josh and Kel will be heading to Pittsburgh for the Fichtl/Wagner wedding. Kelly is looking forward to see many old friends from her high school youth group. Mom Knarr has planned a brunch on that Sunday morning with the McKelvey's.

DisneyWorld is booked for the middle of October. Maicheles meet the Mouses (Mickey and Minnie!)

Blessed,

J & K

July = Joy

2009-07-31T06:51:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Josh have been blessed beyond words this July! God has been the root of all joy :)

One of Kelly's old friends that she grew up with in Pittsburgh had a baby at the beginning of July- Eva came into this world on July 3. Congrats Amanda and Aaron! Next came baby Amelia! She was born on July 20, to my dear friend and college roommate Katie and her husband James. Next was Baby McKelvey. Dan and Jessie welcomed Greyson into this world on the 27th. Kelly and Josh will hopefully meeting Greyson when they visit Pittsburgh at the end of August. Lastly, Baby Jousma said hello to this new parents on July 30. Josh and Kelly visited with Doug and Allison and baby Brody last night at the hospital. Such a little bundles of joy!

This weekend Josh is DJ-ing a wedding in Traverse City. Talk about a jam-packed weekend; Josh will set up the DJ system tonight, mix tomorrow night, then Kelly and Josh will drive back early Sunday morning to get Josh on a plane to IL. He'll be running audio at CIY's Move event until Thursday.
August will hopefully slow down. September is full of weddings. October brings a much needed vacation- DisneyWorld is calling!

Enjoy your last day in July!

Thankful,
Kelly and Josh

Catching up with the Maicheles

2009-07-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

As you probably already know, our lives our crazy! Josh is busy and Kelly is busy keeping up with Josh. We love living in Holland, Michigan- 15 minutes west: Lake Michigan, 15 minutes east: Grand Rapids.

Josh is a man with many hats. Audio Engineer, Senior Designer, Business Owner, oh and amazing husband, dog owner and genius.
Josh is currently in Southern Illinois wearing the hat of Audio Engineer for Christ In Youth's Move Conference. He will be there from the 17th until the 25th for week 1, then will go back for week 3, August 2nd thru the 8th. Josh is DJ'ing a friend's wedding on August 1st in Traverse City, MI. This is the 2nd of 5 weddings that Josh is DJ'ing this summer.

Kelly has been extremely busy at work over the past few weeks. Holland was flooded in the middle of June and since Kelly works for a cleaning/water restoration company, things got crazy. Glad to say, life is back to normal again.

Over the 4th of July, we joined our friends Tollen and Marci Ebbens, and Tyler Funk at Fisherman's Island State Park in Charlevoix, MI. (Pronounced Char-la-voy). One afternoon, we all got in our kayaks and set forth to find a great spot to stop and each the lunches we had packed. We stopped about a mile or so out just on the other side of the island. The day couldn't have been more beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky, crystal clear water, and the perfect tempature. Let's just say- it looked like the beach on the Corona commerical. Just perfect. We ate and spend close to 3 hours hanging out on what seemed to be our own private beach. It was a great 4th of July!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
We love you :)
Blessings,

Josh and Kelly