Sunshine and Chocolate

YA Book Giveaway

2012-01-20T09:46:00.001-08:00

Head over to www.mistypro.blogspot.com or click the link here- http://bit.ly/z3rSBV for a chance to read her independently published book, CORNERSTONE. It's a YA book about a girl nicknamed the 'Waste'. She's holding a secret for her mother, a compulsive hoarder who fills line after line with ideas that will 'someday' become a story. (or a million) The story twists unexpectedly - and you can read the first five chapters for free at her blog as well. Read it and tell me what you liked!! Enter and win!!

Juustuoa!!

2012-01-18T12:26:00.001-08:00

This picture looks like a recipe gone horribly wrong, but it's actually perfect!! It's my first attempt at making juustuoa, or Leipäjuustuoa, Finnish for squeaky cheese. Mine is a bit thinner than I'd like, but I'm definitely a newbie at cheese-making so I'm happy with it!
Next I'll try mozzarella, probably will be easier after doing this! I'm going to attempt mass-producing for a family party in a week.. This was a trial run, so I've got a lot of cheesing to do!!

"Words of Wisdom" or "I need a direction"

2012-01-02T22:38:00.001-08:00

The wisdom part: no caffeine before bedtime. Otherwise be prepared to be even more tired tomorrow after being up laaate tossing and turning.

The direction part: This blog needs it. Direction, I mean. Haven't been posting, still trying to figure it out, an account of my life wasn't my original plan when I started this...
So, a direction I will find. :)

Huge Giveaway!

2011-12-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

A Huge giveaway at JadeLouiseDesigns.com -Click here and enter for many chances to win a TON of awesome products!! Total Value: $295.80!!

A Healing Cuisine Seasons Eatings e-cookbook by Elise at http://www.healingcuisinebyelise.com/ . She has awesome recipes- I have pored over her website and she has yummy but healthy recipes, sure to please the most picky palate. (Like my three year old!)

http://www.facebook.com/LikeMotherLikeDaughterJewelry Beautiful Mother/Daughter unique pendant worth $25. I would loooove this! Might have to get one anyway..

From Diaper Designs and More- Value: $45 Diaper Cake
I love these! Gender neutral for any baby shower!

Winter Wonderland Wreath from M&B Designs- Value of $70! 24"!!
Absolutely gorgeous for the holiday season!

Check out the giveaway for all the other products.. you could win ALL of this!!! and then give it to me...

How to cook a pumpkin

2011-11-08T11:00:00.001-08:00

I haven't done this too many times, and I'm still learning, but here is one way to get use out of those jackolantern decorations.

This would be my method cutting it into pieces, rind side up on a cookie sheet and filling the bottom with water, cover with foil. Bake at 375 for hour or do, depending on thickness and size of pieces. Cut off the rind once it cools, throw in blender and voila! Mind need to drain off some water, but it usually rises to the top if it sits for a bit and drains off easily. Pie pumpkins taste better, they're sweeter, but regular jack-o-lanterns work too. No waste!

From "Song for a 5th Child"

2011-11-04T23:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not anywhere close to having a 5th child yet, but this is too precious to pass up....
I love rocking my babies to sleep. Dallas still gets a story, the Lord's Prayer, and Jesus Loves Me sung to him every night while I rock him in my rocking chair. He just turned three and I don't know how much longer it will be until he'll be too big to be on my lap, but he's still my baby and its the one time he is completely still these days. He's such an active little boy (not a toddler!) that I don't have too many quiet moments with him, and the days are flying by so fast its insane.

Em is just starting to like rocking- before she didn't care where she was as long as she had her precious bottle. :) I usually put her to sleep first because otherwise she'll cry when I'm rocking Dal "Ba-ba! Ba-ba!"

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth

empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

hang out the washing and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peek-a-boo).

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo,

but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

My Emie in her bumblebee costume

Dallas: "I'm not tired mom!" ReFUSED to rock with me one night ... someday it'll be more often than not he'll refuse :(

Mamas, go rock your babies and snuggle their hair, they won't stay small forever...

Sunshine and Shade

2011-07-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

sunny and bright; a brand new day. gloomy, all cloudy and grey. clouds that pass quickly by, rainy as darkness is nigh. Dark clouds threaten, lightening flashes, Thunder rolls and then it crashes. Sunshine and shade, fire and ice. Cold hands, warm hearts. pain with a slice. Elation. Confusion. Guilt. Depression.

~I love this!~

2011-05-02T02:18:00.000-07:00

I know it's cut off... click to see all of it :)

Not a blogging blogger... I guess

2011-04-09T23:58:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm not cut out to be a blogger... I haven't updated this sucker for real in forever and ever, I'm sure any last hanger onner readers have packed their bags and left, never to return. :) Kind of hard to blog at all when I haven't had internet at home for over a year? now, blogging anywhere else is almost impossible. One thing I promised myself when we move is that I'm getting another computer and some sort of decent internet to go with, I was a die hard couponer and tip clipper.. and I've fallen by the wayside since then. And facebook! Oh my, facebook! :D I was a die hard fb addict back when and now I feel so out of the loop its not even funny. People are getting pg, engaged, what have you, and I don't even know! If anything sweet happens, people, call me!!! I'm missing out big time.
Well. My baby is 6 (SIX!!!) months old tomorrow! Time flies, I know, but this is just too fast. Emerie Ann is getting hugemongus.. she's almost sitting up and she's eating solids twice a day, and bouncing in her horsie jumper like its her job... too much for this mama to handle. She is absolutely perFECT (of course) never cries unless she's hungry or tired, happy in her carseat for long trips just whacking at her toys dangling.. I just know that my next one would be a terror. I can't wait to dress her in little sundresses this summer.. and shoes!!! I can't wait to buy her shoes! Tiny flip flops, sandals, boots... :)

can't believe she was this small!! 7 lb 15 oz

Dal, on the other hand, is something else. We're trying to get him into a toddler bed so Em can move to the crib, especially since he just climbs out anyway. I picked up from my mom and dads a little metal toddler bed and set it up with a new mattress in his corner of his bedroom, then realized it doesn't have any side rails. So night #1 had a kitchen chair next to the bed- other side pushed against the wall. At 5 am I checked on him and he was underneath it. Told Craig, who went and moved him back into bed. So of course, he wakes up a half hour later and is good to go for the day. Mom on the other hand, not so much. Turns out his bed squeaks like crazy from the mattress and metal rubbing and woke him up whenever he moved. Night #2 squeaking isn't an issue, but the poor guy wiggled so much he fell on the floor, even with the chair there. He's back in his crib until further notice, we're buying a different bed. Maybe this one.

And potty training. We're not even going to speak of potty training. Diapering will now involve duct tape. the end.
....aaaaaaaaaand, a month? (again) still trying to make it in the house before summer here. Painting halfway done, carpeting bought, tile for bathroom bought, just need to find time for C to install it all. Not too sure I like my green bathroom.... but it'll do for now.
309 house was almost sold. Almost. Last Saturday at approximately 9am Em and I leisurely rolled out of bed and I had just finished parking her in her swing and got a butt-naked Dal from his crib when the front doorbell rang. I went to look and a man and woman were walking away from the door. I threw on a fleece jacket and then all of a sudden they opened the garage man door and were in my living room. No knock. The first thing they see: Dal in all his glory. "Hi!" he says. They were here to look at the house. :O Everyone knew, but me. Niiiiice. Me in all my finest as well, hair in a topknot, glasses and pjs... if they would've showed up five minutes earlier we would've all ben still in bed. Aaanyways, they looked around, beds unmade and all, and made an offer that day. Then they changed their mind the next. Fickle people. Either way, we're moving! Starting to pack, slowly but surely, I think we're going to have to have a garage sale or something since we won't have much living space.. and ZERO storage space. Don't even have closets built yet. One thing that's getting tossed for sure- my futon from college. Gar-baj. I wouldn't even know how to clean the musty basement smell out of it anyway, and C absolutely hates it.
That's it for now.. quite a bit!

Hi and BFN

2011-02-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

As you may have noticed, I'm not really on here anymore... no longer working at the shop and don't have a computer at home, so therefore, I'm keeping this address but not posting until we've moved and have a computer.
:D

By the way, drywalling is happening!!!!!!!!! In within a month??

<3

Progress!

2010-06-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting to bring my camera to take pictures of our garage stages, things are finally moving along! Trusses were ordered, delivered, and have been waiting for a while, and I was beginning to give up on ever moving in this summer. Today and yesterday have yielded some progress, Craig's dad, cousin, and my dad have been getting things done! (and our little brothers :) ) Craig finished framing the downstairs walls by himself so we have a stairway, sauna, and bathroom ready for sheeting, and yesterday the guys put up the I-beams and the huge beam that goes from front to back to hold all the weight. Its huge. Today a floor is almost up, and by the time I head down there again this evening I'm hoping to see the trusses in action. :D Craig was laughing at how excited I was getting seeing things done. ...he's all amazed how happy I am about things moving along, like I'm not ever happy otherwise. :P Maybe I have been a teeeeeensy bit stressed about the whole thing, but hey. Our loan is going to be up soon... In... 25 days. Not exactly a walk in the park just thinking about that. And then it's mortgage time. :S
I only feel slightly useless standing around there.. I'm picking up wood scraps and nails (Dal puts the nails he finds down all the floor drains) and I made them sloppy joes for lunch. I can't exactly haul boards around or climb up top, so I figure I'm doing my part the best I can. And just keeping Dal from rolling down the hill into the water is a full time job- I'm seriously considering a leash for this kid. :P It was nice of Craig's mom to take him for a couple hours last night so I could breathe for a minute and ponder serious things. Like the fact that we kinda forgot about how we're going to attach the garage on to the house later on. Oops. At the moment, the only way it'll work is if we take the stairs out later and put in a spiral in the back corner... a spiral might be cool though. :P We'll see. We're going to take a couple year breather after this job is done. Maybe by then we can hire someone. Ha!
Its kinda funny to thing how small our living quarters are going to be soon. I'll be able to sit on the couch and feed the baby at the table while stirring the pot on the stove. Well, maybe not that bad, but it'll be tight. But, it'll be ours!
We're still planning on camping a couple of nights for the 4th this weekend.. I think we need the break from thinking and working, then we can hit 'er hard til the garage is done. I'm sick of thinking.
Still on a happy note.. my shadow on the ground from the front is skinny. 'Cept I think my hips maybe be a tad wider. Why can't I look like my shadow? From the side is hilarious :P I'm feeling huuuuuge! The other night Craig said, "You look... cute!" I'm pretty sure the word he was looking for was "big." :D

May Flowers, Snow, and a Heatwave

2010-05-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

well, i had May flowers... until it snowed and they froze and died. I had a total of 2 tulips in my garden left after the frost we had.. and then Monday it was so hot- mid 80's inside my house. :S Definitely don't think the house insulation is up to snuff, I didn't have a single window open. 'Course the $300 heating bills in the winter gave me that clue already...
Poor Dal has the bug I had last week, and he's also teething his 2yr molars- add the heat to that and I had one miserable little guy. His temp mon night was 102.3R- I didn't think to take it earlier.. probably was higher, poor thing. I had taken my sibs and him to the LL Beach and he was okay in the water for a bit, but it's just so early to be swimming, the water hasn't really warmed up yet. Helped the older kids, but I think with him for a while I'll stick to the backyard blowup pool.
Not much new with our house.. time is ticking... :S We have the 4 downstairs walls, though they're not insulated yet. We're waiting on a a second quote for trusses... the first quote was 10 grand! Eee.. not what we expected.. or had put aside. Hopefully the second place will be a teeny bit more reasonable.
D's awake... g2g :) Short post for the length of time I skipped...

ps. oh, and baby #2 is fine, I'm sure... haven't had an appt in a loooong time but I feel good and its kickin' away! :D I <3 this stage!

Chicken Patties and Pink Lemonade

2010-03-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

Don't those sound good?? They do to me.. it's all I've been eating for the past couple of days. :P When I can manage it. Yes, for those of you who aren't aware.. we're expecting #2! We're excited, and I would be even more excited if I wasn't dragging these past few weeks just to put one foot in front of the other. And so no, I'm not taking a full time position.. just working my little weekend is enough, and I did pick up last weekend, so that helps too. No insurance though.. we'll see how that goes! I've had one OB appt so far and I'm not making another one until I'm almost 5 months. (I'm at 3 now) Couldn't tell you how many weeks, kind of funny as I was soooo into my last pregancy I could tell you exactly what was supposed to be happening every day and counted it day by day. Now, its just enough to make it through the day. I'm exhausted, I'm nauseous, I'm just not myself. And so I have no idea. I just know I'm not 4 months yet. :)
We're having another October baby, so if its a boy I won't have to get a single thing! Not until Dallas starts to wear out his clothes before they're hand-me-downs. If its a girl.. well then, start from scratch! We're not finding out this time either. We did with D, and I was glad we did as it was nice to be prepared.. but I figure I'll get a few girls items on hand just in case.. and we'll be good to go. I also saved a few of the larger girl's outfits from my shower. Already have the take-home outfit picked out.
I have an ultrasound picture, but I have no idea how to get it on here as scanners are beyond me. :P It's a little bean!
Oh, that 'blog for bling' post I did last? I don't get it, as I don't have 20 actual followers. So no proof that anyone cares. Ha. :P Statcounter doesn't count, apparently. I know you read!! :D
I finally picked up extra shifts last weekend, Sat and Sun, and I worked my tail off! Plus then on Sun (mon morning) I had to stay until 11:30 as they were short on people.... after 16 1/2 hours I was tir-ed! As soon as I got off I booked it to Holiday, picked up a mini pizza, an arnold palmer (another new favorite!!), and two beef sticks, and some corn nuts and mowed down!!! Haven't eaten like that since.. well, since before I was pregnant. At least I paid for our new office laptop (on sale at OfficeMax for $399!!) with my weekend $$. Makes me think about picking up more.... :S
I'm being summoned in the shop. Most likely to pump brakes or turn an engine wheely thing or something. I'm SO important, y'know. :) Cheers

Blog for Bling!!

2010-03-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

Hi again... it's been awhile :)

I have another good freebie... I'm Blogging for Bling! Go to ChunkyBling.com and check out their interchangable watches, Swarovski Pearl Rings, chunky jewelry, and bead bracelets... they really have some beautiful items... I really like the Green Sparkle watch, everything is prettier in green! Everything is really affordable and there's something for everyone! (Great gift ideas!) Blog about it like me and you can get a FREE Crystal Bead Ring.. shipping is free! Color of your choice.

If you really like their stuff you can host an online jewelry party.. they'll set up the site and do all the work! Sit back and earn free jewelry!

Definitely a site I'm bookmarking for later!!

Censational!

2010-02-14T23:39:00.000-08:00

CensationalGirl.com is having a giveaway! Comment for chances to win a $50 certificate at The Vintage Pearl, I loove the mother of pearl necklaces!

To work or not to work...

2010-02-14T23:29:00.000-08:00

...that really IS the question. At the moment I hold a 0.225 position at the hospital, which equals 3 shifts every third weekend. Very minimal... the smallest there is, besides float pool. But I keep my seniority. Whoo hoo. I have been here almost 3 years though, and it's crazy how many people are below me. (Waaaay more above me, but still) I think I'm #130. :P Anyways, a full-time position has been posted, (0.9) and I'm very tempted to take it. Well, more than tempted, as I did already fill out the application, I just have yet to hand it in. 3 days per week, 12 hour shifts. Quiiiite a step up. I worked full-time before Dallas on nights and I loved it... but its so hard trying to juggle the shop, and Dallas, and sleep! It's hard enough right now working the little weekend that I have, here's my work-weekend schedule:
Friday: wake up at 8, or earlier if I'm watching my little brother. I usually don't go to the shop on the fridays I work, sometimes I do. Mom usually picks up Clay around 230ish. Sometimes she takes Dally so I can get a couple hours of snoozin in, unless I'm not watching Clay, then I bring him to her after his nap or right before I go to work. Rarely do I get more than a half hour or so of actual sleep. Shift goes from 7pm to 7am.
Sat am: Come home. Sleep, unless Craig needs to leave early for the shop, then I stay up til Dallas wakes up and bring him to my folks' (this is rare, fortunately) and then I sleep til 4ish and get ready for work and do a few things. Work. Come home and pass out.
Sunday: Craig usually takes Dallas to church and then out of the house for a while.. I love that! And I get beauuutiful sleep. Like today, I slept til quarter to 6! (and it was tough dragging my butt outta bed) Rush to work. Come home. Don't sleep. This is the norm, as I don't like packing up D in my sleep-deprived state to drive him to my parent's, except for rare times when mom isn't working or Ali doesn't have school or my dad watches him for a couple hours. (when he's not working) I just pray for naptime to come sooooon! and drink insane amounts of caffeinated beverages.
It seems to work, so far. :P
So full time?? We'll have to figure that out. In the summer I know I'll have plenty of baby-sitters, but from March to June is a bit long to wing it. I have some ideas.. but I need complete cooperation to make a commitment, obviously, and I can't let this affect Craig's business at the shop whatsoever, on the contrary, I'm hoping it will help on our personal income side of the deal. 'cept then the office doesn't have a phone-answerer and bill-payer and coffee-maker 3 days a week. That'll be rough on the boys. Especially the coffee-making part. ha. It's not perfect.. I'll need to do quite a bit of juggling to make it work, but man! would the insurance be nice to have again... our personal insurance premium keeps going up and up.. and they barely cover anything! I haven't been to the optometrist for I don't know.... 3 years? I've stretched my contacts and I'm to the bottom of the barrel. Oh the joys of being ohsovery nearsighted with astigmatism. It equals expensive.
On top of that, I believe I'm getting a sinus infection. My face hurts.

Man I complain a lot! I love my life, I really do!! Especially when I hear my baby boy wake up in the morning and I see him standing on his tippy tiptoes trying to see out the window and barking at the neighbor's dogs. "arf! arf!" he says! Awwwww! <3 I'm gonna miss him if I go back to work!

Happy Valentine's Day. I got a bag of dark chocolate dove candy..... mmmmmm! And a slobbery enthusiastic kiss from my little small Doojie, as we call him.

I am SO a winner...

2010-01-30T22:30:00.000-08:00

I finally won something. Hey, I was hoping for the Ipod or the $100 gift certificate, but hey. Free is free. I stumbled upon the site BargainBabe.com yesterday and she was having a fantastic giveaway cuz of her "blogiversary". I signed up. And WON! Wahoo!!

My fabulous prize? Get Financially Naked!

HA!

Well, maybe it'll help my financial state... I'll let y'all know how it works out. :P

Sign up

2010-01-29T22:52:00.000-08:00

A giveaway on Coupon Saving Family! You could win this Chocolate Cheerio Giveaway!

Chocolate Cheerios Gift Pack includes ~

a box of Chocolate Cheerios
a ceramic cereal bowl
chocolate scented spa kit

Giveaway ends Febuary 2, 2010!

you know me... I love free stuff!

And hey, readers out there.. let me know if you like seeing stuff like this (giveaways, freebies) on here.. I find them every day! ...Let me know if you CARE!

green suede and marble

2010-01-26T10:30:00.000-08:00

We took another jaunt down to GB this weekend... we seem to go there every few months; for my ring inspection, bringing parts down to Polk to get fixed, or just a much-needed getaway. This time was technically a business trip.. but Craig will take any excuse to go to Texas Roadhouse... one trip we went there twice in one day! :P
Being that we were (are) on the lower end of the incoming funds spectrum of things... this was definitely not a shopping spree. So when I found the most perfectest green suede high heeled clogs with a little silver buckle at TJMaxx... I did not cave. I may have debated leaving my much more expensive shoes behind so I didn't leave the store with a bag, or apply for the store credit card (10% off!) to soften the blow.... but I didn't. I just wistfully gazed and glared at the woman with the dirty sneakers who was looking at them too. From dirty shoes to MY clogs? Puh-leeze! Did I mention they were the last pair... and in my size? I called Craig to come and get me.. quick! before I ran out of the store with them under my arm like a linebacker.
And then I talked about them for the next hour... (hoping for a "just go get them already!" from him, but to no avail. We left green suede-less. :( I so love TJM.. I practically hyperventilate in there.. Craig looked at me like I'm crazy when I described the sick-to-my-stomach feeling when I see so many things I WANT! :S I believe the rule is "Do not covet"... I have a slight problem with that... but don't we all? At least, I hope I'm not the only nutso shopping freak out there... :P I'm still remembering the brown leather purse I didn't buy the last time I was there... I'll remember that for years.
...and then we went to the kitchen store. All I wanted was a candy thermometer so I can finally make juustua. "Nation's largest kitchen store" they brag. They didn't have any candy thermometers. Everything but. Some great store. Hmph. ..but they did have this gorgeous piece of white marble that would be perfect for my vision of my kitchen in the island that won't happen for a few years. So no buying that either. But oh, it would look niiiiice.
Therefore, we went home after the business buying lots of stuff for the shop with me spending a grand total of 86 bucks.. mostly on food. And two 9x13 pans that were $1.99 each, what a deal! And a silicone oven mitt that Craig insisted we need for what, 17 bucks that I hate already.
I already broke my new year's resolutions, actually I belive I called them goals. I've had tons of d. coke.. (I think i made it 13 days) and my stress level is through the roof. Apparently they weren't so attainable after all... and January isn't even over yet!
Time to work on W-2's.. fun, fun.

Butterfly kisses

2010-01-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

Dallas now goes to sleep with rocking and "Jesus Loves Me"... 3 or 4 times. Thats about 10 verses. Last night was especially long even though he didn't fight it... he was so cutely snuggled into my neck and every time he blinked it would tickle my cheek. Poor guy was jolted every time I burst out laughing, very loudly. :)

Craig's method of putting him to sleep

Those stupid camcorder cases I accidentally ordered from Amazon just got here yesterday. From the 4th to the 21st.. 17 days, not too speedy- considering this time I actually paid for shipping.. I only order from there when I get free shipping, usually. I do like it though, it fits perfectly and I'm lovin' the red color.. not too bad of a mistake. :)

HOUSE UPDATE: we are still in the cement stages of the foundation.. this past weekend Craig and I braved the above freezing (finally) temperatures to put the rebar pieces in and fill some of the blocks with cement and attach hooks. I'm a very competent cement-mixer and hook-attacher if I do say so myself. It's just like cookie dough.. add more flour (or cement) if the dough is too wet. No brainer. We didn't quite finish because we ran out of hook-screws. So... we need to fill a few more of the holes, fill the rest with insulating foam and then.. make some walls already! This is one drawn-out process! We'd do more this weekend but its off to GB for us... (Texas Roadhouse, anyone??) It's a business trip, but we like to make a short weekend out of it.. how often do we get to go ANYwhere?

...Dallas has 4 molars! That makes 12? teeth? How did I miss that!? That's a LOT of teeth! I'll have to go count. 4 front top, 4 front bottom, one molar for each side, top n bottom.. yep! Wow. Maybe he can have steak at TRH, then. :P

:) Another freebie...

2010-01-15T14:02:00.000-08:00

I love free stuff! Don't know if this one works unless you have facebook... I got my Free Mousepad, just click on the link and refer some buddies who'll want it for sure too.. and voila! Free! Design your own with photos, I did a collage with mine, can't wait to get it! (never mind that I never ever use a mouse, much less a mousepad) Thanks Loretta! :)

(Did I mention I lovvve free stuff?)

Enjoy!

watchin' the bank-cutters go by.. :)

yay for freebies!

2010-01-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

You're gonna wanna dooo this......

http://ivanmog.com/freesamp.html

Free gourmet caramel apple from Ivan Mog! I think you just get a half, but hey! It's gourmet! (oOoOh!)

I don't know how long this offer lasts... get yours now!!!!! I'm waiting for the double dunk.. looks yummy!

whoops :P

2010-01-04T02:05:00.000-08:00

While browsing amazon.com looking for a cute case for my little camcorder.. I found one. Which is good.
I wanted to check the shipping price with tax, so I added it to my cart, along with another one for my buddy here at work, and yay! shipping is the same when you buy two. Good to know, in case we wanna buy them in the future. And then... screen pops up. "Thank you for your purchase!" Whoops! I bought em.. just like that. Black for Sher, red for me.

Oh, well, I like it. And you know how sometimes to find out the 'special price' of some things you need to add it to your cart??? Well, I've been looking around for a computer for my 'rents.. good thing I didn't add that! :P

Lesson learned. Check before I click.

Auld Lang Syne

2010-01-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas flew by, and now it's the new year already! Our Christmas was wonderful, of course, busy as usual. We always go to C's parent's for Christmas Eve after the sunday school program for my siblings, and then to mine on Christmas morning. Of course, I took no pictures. I don't think I even touched my camera at all... and Craig even bought me a camcorder to record on... no holiday filming this year! :( Oh well, we had a ton o' fun, and at least a got a shot of our wonderful tree.. (put up on 12/23 and dismantled on 12/26) Next year if it takes us that long to get one, we just won't have one. Nice, but a lot of work for a couple days when its never spent at home anyway.

Our 'gorgeous' tree in all its glory (minus the tinfoil star)

My favorite ornaments. I love the beads!

And the thing that took me a month to refinish..

here's the new mane I sewed.

The finished product, finally at 3 am was under the tree.

many, many, many sandings and coats. A lot of work,
but a lot of fun!

Yay! he loves it! Not bad for my first time varnishing anything.. :PI was planning on taking pictures of each step as I did it just to show (brag about) how I did it. I'm starting my next project this week, it should only take a few days since its just an endtable top. I love my new hobby!

...and it's 2010 already! How does time fly so fast! It's crazy, but that's life. I remember time just draaaagging by, when going to school.. when Craig was in Chi-town and I saw him every couple of months sometimes.. and now it seems that everything has kind of sped up and life is whippin along at a brisk pace. Its kind of hard to catch my breath sometimes!

We've been busy in 2009, trying to find our little spot to live.. we bid on a couple of things- were days from signing a contract on one house when it fell through and then a few weeks later buying our land and getting that ball rolling. (The only thing that's going by slowly is building our little garage...simply molasses) ..and taking a cue from many others, here's my recap of '09.

It was the best of times: Buying our land, finally having something of our own. The wonderful feeling we get when we stand on it and say, "this will be our home!".. Anna and Jeff's wedding... Dallas walking, running, sprinting.. finally saying "Mama"!!!!... getting the septic put in two weeks after the final day of December 1 (thank you, thank you, thank you!.. finally enjoying snowboarding :P (still not good).. B ladies trip to Wausau, awesome fun!!.. having a wonderful year with my little family!

It was the worst of times: waiting and waiting until we could start on our land... winter came.. Craig working on the block in freezing weather... actually putting the septic in (cold!).. not having any walls yet and its already January :(... dealing with Dallas in public places lately (especially church).. D's double ear infection with 2 ED visits..

Favorite food: Shrimp (since that's what I'm eating now) and Texas Roadhouse!! I can't count how many times we went there this year.. and its 4 hours away! Everything there is good... went there twice in one day back in May :P I think Craig is more stoked off it than I am.

Favorite purchase for Christmas: Virginia Lee Burton stories for Craig.. he's been reading them to Dallas. (Katy and the Big Snow was his favorite book growing up)

Favorite after church pastime: All of us taking a 3 hour nap (church IS hard these days!) and then eating a quick something, maybe head to Houghton or have people over, and back to bed. :)

Our wanna buys for this year: Craig- yet another shotgun from F's.. why are they $400?? Me- a Wii (way more fun to exercise??) Dallas- candy (None of us will get what we want for quite a while)

Will buy this year: a new mattress. We say that every year, but I think 2010 is a good year for it finally... haha! seeing as I wake up every morning with a sore neck recently.. and I have to lay between two springs that are extremely palpable. Ours is way past its expiration date. And yes, Andrea.. lets make it a will buy instead of a wanna buy... Trip to CO!!! before summer so we can check out the sweet boarding conditions! :) We want to make it to AK too.. but we'll see, its a teensy bit more $$ :S :)

Goals for 2010!! (notice I didn't say resolutions) Finish our garage before spring! (I want the 8 grand everyone else is getting!!) Lose the #'s before I have another peanut comes along.. :S haven't really figured that one out yet... Wii? ha, yeah right. I need a chubby friend.. all mine are twiggys. :P .. Somehow become financially stable, I think I need to read that Dave somebody book that I've heard a lot about. I haven't had a diet coke since the new year.. and I'm addicted. I swear I crave it like a smoker craves cigarettes or an alcoholic craves beer. There's something in it I'm addicted to, no other pop gives me the feeling of relief when I take the first sip. Weird. On a bad day I'll have a couple bottles. I've also quit fast food (easy one, don't eat it much anyway, ha!!) I need to become more aggressive with billing for our business, its hard!!! And finally, my goal for last year was to ease my stress level, I did pretty good until the end. :S My mantra for the year is: "Worrying is a weakness, God's strength will take care of me and carry me through" It seems to be helping.. :)

K that's what I've got... attainable goals, nothing concrete.

Lets make 2010 a good one!

Rockin' around the Christmas Tree...

2009-12-22T13:40:00.000-08:00

K, Dallas' horsie has 6? 7? coats so far, and I'm going to apply the hopefully last coat after I find the air hose end. There's only one in the entire shop and either C or E uses it and it gets put wherever for me to find. Kinda like a treasure hunt, and I can never find it. I was hoping to be able to attach the mane and eyes today, and finish it and bring it home. I can't wait to put it under the tree!! It'll fit in with our little country tree with its popcorn and cranberry strings. :)

Our tree, by the way, is finally up. We searched our land, twice. And his dad's land, a quick survey, and then finally went to the shop. And there it was, 20 feet in the woods from the dump truck. 8 feet tall, so we had to trim it some for our little corner. We tried leaving it the way it was, since the ceilings go to a peak in the middle, but our little living room is too small to have a tree in the front corner of it. But its up, (4 days before Christmas) and Dally leaves it alone for the most part.

And I got Craig something else today (and there's a great return policy, a must-have with him). I never know what to buy him... he's the guy who really does have everything, and what he doesn't have.. he doesn't want or won't use it. So its difficult. When I left the store with his gift, I didn't realize til I was most of the way home that there was something extra in the bag. I thought maybe they threw in something random.. but it was a spinning reel. With a $50 price tag. :P I called them right away to let them know where it was, in case they're frantically looking for it... I'll bring it back tomorrow. :P How random, good thing I'm honest! haha

Off to search once again for the air hose tip... I love refinishing.. but I'm ready to move onto my endtable already!

December

2009-12-14T01:23:00.000-08:00

..is already halfway over, and it feels like it should still be July. I can't believe how fast this year has flown by. Having my first child really threw me out of the loop, especially during the first few months of his life. I remember how hard it was to go places, and the sleepless nights, but the holidays? I barely remember what Christmas was like last year, I don't remember the Christmas Eve party at all, and definitely not Christmas Day. This year will be much more relaxed, D is 1 and is all over the place, but he's sleeping like a champ and is a piece of cake to go places. What a difference a year can make, hey?
We don't even have our tree up yet, the past two weekends I've been out of town and this weekend I worked so hopefully we can squeeze a trip to the woods out the beginning of this week. I can't stand having the tree up past Christmas more than a few days, and I like to enjoy it while I can. I made popcorn/cranberry strands for it for the first time this year, and they're draped all over my bookshelf waiting for a tree to adorn. They're cute, kinda fun, but so time-consuming!!
I've been following a few decorating blogs lately, and I'm sooo jealous of these people that have the talent (and time) to decorate their home for the holidays. (and every other season) I don't think that even if I had a beautiful home to decorate that I could get even close, especially since I don't see the point in spending hours decorating for Christmas when I'd be taking it down right after. I need to concentrate on my everyday decor first, I think. So I'll just be envious of everyone that cares enough to do so.
Wait til I post pics of D's Christmas present from me!!!! Its so cute, I'm in the finishing stages of refinishing a wooden rocking horse. It was a medium browny, peeling, varnish and I sanded it down like crazy til it was as smooth as glass and applied the first coat of a varnish. keepin' it natural, cuz that's my favorite. I need to sand and coat and sand and coat, and then sand again and give it the new eyes I bought and the new fluffy dark brown mane and tail I made (easy, but slightly difficult to hold while sewing by hand) and I'm going to be so proud that I did it with my own two hands! And it's going to look so cute sitting by the tree on Christmas morning, too bad he won't appreciate the full effect. :P Plus it was cheaper than buying one, they're over $100 for the same kind in stores, I think my total is around $40 and I'll have extra sandpaper and varnish for other projects. I think I found my new niche, my next project is an old wood and black iron end table that I got at a garage sale. I have a couple of cute ideas for it :) I think I'm going to need my own little woodshop someday... C isn't too pumped that I'm taking up half of one of his car bays at the shop. Plus I'll need my own stuff, I want a jigsaw! Fun Fun!!!!!!! (plus the sawdust made my pants look really cool and washed out all day. haha!) Maybe I'll be the one making (refinishing, really) us a headboard for our bed finally. I love consignment and garage sales!! Now I need a coat rack to work on. Maybe two. Anyone have a cute one I can buy???

Step One

2009-11-09T18:16:00.000-08:00

..is complete. We have a complete cemented floor. I can sleep at night again.the in-floor heat tubing and insulation.. lotta work involved!
Now all that's left is to stick the building on top and we're good to go!! See! Easy-peasy!

..not exactly. This is just step one. Of many. Many. Many. Steps, that is.
Right now the staircase is so high, I can't even see the landing at the top. That's high.

But my li'l guy is cute! I was sitting on the floor playing with him and he came up and gave me a hug. Just like that. That's the first time I've ever gotten one without asking.. "ah-hi??? Please??" and he'd grudgingly give me a 2 second one. I coulda kissed him like crazy, but it would've scared him off. And then 20 minutes later he comes and climbs into my lap and just sits there. I waited for him to want something, but he was just happy to be parked on his mama's lap, swingin his legs. Ooo, he's cute! I'm allowed to brag, hey?? Because he IS! I tell him everyday about a million times.. I better stop before he gets a big head someday. :P

his 'stinky' face. :)

Okay, okay. I'm going to go kick Jillian's butt.. she's been kickin' mine lately....

Just not that into me

2009-11-06T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is the enemy. It looks harmless.. but its really not.

They sneak up on you and before you know it.. they multiply. I swear, I eat one.. and I've eaten three.

So not fair.

Just looking at this picture makes me want to go home and bake some.

Especially when I'm feeling sorry for myself. Which is much too often for my own good. I comfort myself with food. I handle my emotions with food. When I'm happy, I eat. When I'm depressed, I eat even more. Preferably the type from the cacao family tree.

I went the opposite way as a teen...and it turned against me in the opposite direction...
Who ever knew flour, sugar, butter, and chocolate made such a lethal combination??

It's an addiction.... too bad I'm not addicted to exercise.

Man, I've been feeling post-y lately...
I am SO not a writer.

Photo catch-up

2009-11-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

Our second? snowfall.. took Dallas out to play.

Progress!!!

We have a new and improved driveway... and its built up 4 feet. That's a lotta dirt!

Dallas' birthday cake. It's a dump truck... though it's a tiny bit buslike :P

My little lion!!!! So nice and cozy in his costume.

Rock a-bye my baby

2009-11-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

I love rocking my baby to sleep. Especially since he's not such a baby anymore. I miss when he would cuddle with me when he was real small... I could hold him for hours.. and I did. :) He fell asleep tonight with his hands clasped by his little face. Such a little angel in repose... :) Tonight he was in an especially crabby mood, since 5 o'clock he's been following me around and raising his little arms to me. "Up!" he says. Finally I stuck him in the bath and scrubbed his little chubby cheeks clean, and bow-bowed him til he snored. At 7pm. :S Hopefully he sleeps... but trying to keep him up for even those 2 hours felt horrible. ..I forsee another 6:30 am wake-up in my future.. or before.
Catchin' up on my shows.... :P Nighty night!!

Li'l Lion

2009-11-04T13:24:00.000-08:00

Dallas was a lion for Halloween.. Sherrie's Ruebyn was too. :)

too lazy to load mine on to the 'puter.. stole her pic instead.. :P

D really enjoyed the whole trick-or-treating bit.. he went door to door with happiness, thinking he was to be let right in each time. He had no idea what candy even was. (he sure does now!) We went with Sherrie and Ruebs at first.. and then with my fam and Craig later. We had to camcord the event, of course. It was a bit chilly, but he was definitely cozy with a jacket and sweats underneath his outfit (yay me for getting it nice n big!) Next year I'll dress up too.. way more fun!!

Inspiration

2009-10-25T00:38:00.000-07:00

I love reading other people's blogs. I've never been a wonderful writer (struggled HARD in the AP English writing class) but I enjoy reading. I regularly go on blogs of note to see what others have to say in hopes that they might inspire me to become this wonderful writing person.... hasn't happened yet. I try hard not to have my blog turn into a diary, though that's what seems to be the trend sometimes: "I ate, D ate, we all ate.. then we went to sleep.. then we woke up, ate some more... " yada, yada. Write what I want to read. That's my simple goal.. nowhere there yet. :) But then again, a blog is just that, a blog. Whatever happens to be going thru my head at the moment... if it's a play-by-play of how D found his belly button and stuck cheerios down his pants... then so be it. Hey, I just write it, YoU have to read it.. :P
I follow couponing blogs... rarely print the coupons, but they're there if I need them... I follow decorating blogs... great tips!... not that I'll ever use them, just be envious of their capabilities... and friends blogs... great for keeping up with people I don't chat with often. :) ..especially since I'm antisocial and don't get out much. (please read: Busy.)
Hey, here's something I've been thinking about. I thought I was PG for a few weeks... I freaked out a little, double questioned every craving I was having "do I want another cookie because I'm a pig, or am I pregnant???? , wondering if a slight upset stomach was morning sickness, figured out what my DD would be on the "wheel" back in OB, I took a few tests, (all were negative)... and then one day it was crystal clear... I'm not. :P Kinda funny, as Alann had my mom thinking I was for a couple of weeks and then she finally came right out and asked it. Haha! And then reported back, "She's not! I asked!" So, yeah... baby no. 2? Not yet, but someday. :) I was all psyched up for it.. kinda a letdown but I guess it's not time yet. No worries.. D is enough on my hands right now... he's broken the finial off my lamp four times now... all the lower cabinets are tied shut with headbands, and he had 12 puzzle pieces from the puzzle C and I have been working on the other day.. all soaked with slobber and falling apart. Hopefully my artist talent extends to recreating sky for my puzzle... we're half done and were planning on framing it... yeah.
I'm happy. my land is 4 feet higher (built up to match for when we build the house) so pouring for the slab is this week?????? scared to say it... I want it to happen!! Our own place by Christmas?? Best present EVER!! YAY! Forget the fact that we owe the excavating guys Four grand for doing it for us.. I SAID that we were going to be too busy to do it ourselves.. :( Oh well, at least that part is FINALLY done. I'm happy. It looks so cool!!! We're gonna have a little house on a hill! Well, a garage anyway...
Soooo.... I had a birth tonight. Not mine, obviously. Some other lucky mama's. A girl!!! Yay! She is beaUTIFUL! I felt so proud, like it was me that helped cause this little miracle to happen. HA. I haven't had a birth in a while, but I got back in the groove quick. Assess, vitals, meds, weight, measure, bath, hand her over!! I was so happy, I called my darling hubby who puts up with me and told him we need a girl. Cuz girls are cute. Plus also they wear pink things (what book series did I sound like?? Can you guess??) And he said ok. So I'm glad that's settled. :P But really. OB is a bad place for me... gets the mama hormones kickin', motherly instinct goin'... I miss my baby right now!! I didn't even get to see him at all today. I slept too late- I hate it when I wake up at 1 thinking I'm good to go, but then I'm tired at 3 and decide to take another nap.. and then I sleep ti l 530. :( But he was in good hands with grandma all day. He got some mudboots and a hat from grandma's, both of which he didn't like, but I do. :) And then Craig called and said he was chewing on a shoelace. What?? GERMZZ! But its HIS shoe, says dad, so it's okay. Um, no. It's not. Really. Nope. Oh. Okay. Aaanyway...
This is my fourth diet coke in two days. I'm a horrible person. I quit soda cold turkey for about two weeks... I just couldn't take it anymore. So now I'm ODing and I'm going to die from the bad diet chemicals. I swear, the first sip of a diet coke to me must be like the taste of alcohol to an alcoholic who's been dry for two weeks. It's that bad. And I'm even worse with chocolate. I'd even eat baking chocolate if I had to. I need my fix. Too bad I'm not like that with exercise. I w0rk again tonight... I'm NOT bringing $$ for the pop machine tonight. I will refrain. I'm going to retain so much fluid.. I won't fit into my jeans on monday. (With scrubs I can't tell what's going on) For a while I said I was only going to drink root beer instead.. but I only like it in glass bottles. It makes it taste better, otherwise I won't drink it. And there's no caffeine in it. How am I supposed to last through 12 hour night shifts without caffeine?? Impossible. So, I figure if I only binge on diet coke on my weekends to work I'll be okay. I think.

Um, the floor plan at left was the only pic on this computer of mine. It was an old idea for what my garage living quarters upstairs were going to be. Now, the kitchen and bathroom and living room are downstairs.. and there's two bedrooms. Imagine that instead. I figured I needed a picture for this post. Can't get any cute ones of mine of facebook since its blocked.. :( this is all I got for ya. Sorry. Aren't floor plans fun, though?? We have a cheapo homebuilding computer program which we designed our plan on, I had fun choosing the wallpaper, kitchen sink, lights... you name it. Would you believe they have Christmas trees and people you can add even?? Crazy into it. It's like a game. My cousin and I used to monkey on her dad's sweet program all the time when we were younger, we'd have a huuuuge floor plan and divide it in half and we'd each decorate our own house. Way better than playing barbies.

It's getting to be that time... off I go. :)

This is how fall should be..

2009-10-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

Instead.. its pouring and 38 degrees outside.

Hey

2009-10-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

I thought I was going to take the time to do a wonderful post.. but I need to get my butt in gear.. so.. no excuses.
Well, maybe a word or two.. :P
My baby is now walking all over the place!! It's crazy how much goes on in the first year, and he still has two weeks before his birthday! He's getting better at it fast, he's probably been working on it for a few weeks now. At first it was the whole windmill, drunken sailor look.. he's getting to be only slightly tipsy now. It's so funny when he overcorrects so he won't fall, he's leaning forward so he throws himself waayy back, and then tries to correct that and falls on his little tush. Thank goodness for padded diapers. I shouldn't change his diaper so often, more paddin' for the landin'. Kidding ..kinda. :) He also just popped toofer #5.. it took two nights of getting up at 3 am and its out.. I wish they'd all come at once like his others did.. I think there's another on on the way..
And its snowing. Fluffy flakes. Its 36 out, its crazy how cold it got so fast. I like the first few snows, up until after new years is when I really get sick of it. I'm already in the Christmas mode, I was playing some Christmas songs on my 'puter at my mom's today and they all thought I was nuts. I sometimes play them in July (shhh) This will the first Christmas I'll have to have a half-decorated tree, othewise it'll all be busted on the bottom. :P Enough about Christmas.. it's not even Halloween. My baby's 1st birthday is the day before Halloween.. I think I'll make yet another pumpkin cake, since they're so much fun!
Okay, I'm having slight heart palpitations... I deleted every single picture I own off of the computer a couple days ago since I copied them all to a external hard drive.. but they're not showing up on the drive. :S Which means I have thousands of pictures I've taken of Dallas over the past year that I may never get back again. I haven't printed more than 10 probably.. so this is a crisis in the highest level for me. :(

..so much for just a word or two...

My fun week (or two)

2009-09-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Crazy things have been happening lately... I guess I alway say I hate to be bored, but sometimes it's insane!! I don't mind a leeeetle mundaneness (?) once in a while....
So we finally have a bathroom. I've said that before. I am really happy about it, to say the least. I'll really appreciate it in the winter when I don't have to pack up D into the Jeep to drive 30 feet to the in-laws. And this past monday we got a sink. So now I'm using less baby wipes and hand sanitizer. Somewhere in between toilet and sink times... we had an incident.. the toilet was flushed.. (not by me :P ) and it didn't go down..... it came back up... and up.... and up.... and upp...... and yeah. And so apparently the whole pipe had been clogged since it was put together however long before, and so none of it had actually gone into the septic tank..... so just imagine.. never mind, don't. I was wearing flip-flops, so I was saved (mostly) from the agony. I kept nice n dry. We emptied the whole bathroom of stuff, and the office while we were at it, and everything got a nice hose-down. (yay for a cement floor!!) We are VERY happy there is a drain right in the middle of the bathroom floor. And just the night before my parent's toilet broke.. (clean water for them at least) and water came from underneath the toilet and leaked all over.. filling the bathroom with inches of water and leaked into my brother's room (my old room). It wasn't noticed til they heard drip, drip, drip... Kind of a sh**ty week... to say the least... and then tuesday.... i had decided to be a good wife.. :P and make dinner for my poor tired husband hauling dirt for our little home.. and put some burger defrosting in the microwave and some oil warming on the stove to make real onion rings. (first time, people) I don't own an oil cooker, never wanted to get one since they encourage blocked arteries... but I reaaaalllly wanted some nasty crunchy real onion rings. Dallas and I were in the front bedroom, and I walked out into the hallway and saw a huuge amount of smoke all over the ceiling, down to my head. My oil pot was smoking like crazy!! First thought: "dang it! the stove is going to be wrecked" and I quickly ran to it and as I got to it, it burst into flames. I moved a towel off the burner behind and my plastic spoon rest, and pulled it across the stove to the next burner. I started opening the back door (right next to the stove) but the flames were jumping higher and the microwave was melting... scared if I tried I would only spread it and block our escape out the door... so I ran back and got Dally, tucked him under one arm, and ran with him out the door, grabbing the phone, can of formula, and my keys on the way out. (now I know what I'd take with me in a fire) Our kitchen and living room were filling with thick, nasty smoke.
Crazy how people don't come running when you're standing outside your home screaming "HELP!!" at the top of your lungs. Not many. I dialed 911... and was so shaky I accidentally hung up. Dialed again and told them a quick account (D screaming bloody murder, I was scaring the poor little guy) and they said they'd be on their way. I called my mom and then Craig. (lucky he had service, we don't get service at our land). ...and then the neighbors started coming out... the fire trucks came very quick and soon they were carrying out my pot, all black and smoking. It was easily put out, though one fireman needed treatment for smoke inhalation.
At the moment, my microwave is toast, (the burger inside it was actually cooked a little) the ceiling is black above the stove, and my garage still smells for smoke a little. I've cleaned the entire kitchen from the floor up, washed every dish and scrubbed every pot. I attempted wiping the ceiling and walls with numerous products but nothing is taking out the black, we'll have to repaint. I'm going to rug doctor the carpet and our couch and chairs today and am in the middle of wiping down every single book in the book shelf in our living room. But we're okay, just got a scare. Dallas isn't coughing so I'm not worrying about smoke inhalation, and I feel fine. I don't know how I didn't burn myself pulling the pot off of the burner... but we're okay. Very minor damage, considering what could have happened. I was just imagining what the fire could've been like, a repeat of the fire I was at in my relative's motel a few years ago.. that place was toast.
Every time I use the stove to boil water, or scramble Dally's eggs, I'm ultra careful. I now have a fire extinguisher in the jeep, I wish I would have at the time. I can say "I wish I would have, I wish I wouldn't have" but I think this needed to happen. It's been difficult starting a business, raising a new baby, and trying to get started building a home... I know I've been too caught up in the monetary aspect of it all, too stressed out worrying and too busy to take the time to appreciate what I have. This little incident has reminded me of what was important. I didn't grab my purse, I didn't grab the laptop with shop info.... I grabbed my baby. And he's the most important thing in the world. (and a can of formula, but hey, he's gotta eat)

my beautiful baby boy- 10 months old :)

Win a free double stroller!!

2009-09-16T07:03:00.001-07:00

http://www.thriftyandchicmom.com/2009/09/riding-in-style-giveaway/
Click this link to enter for a chance to win a sweet double jogging stroller!!! Pick the color of your choice!

Ash

Labor Day weekend

2009-09-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile.. I can't say it's because I'm too busy, because I always seem to find time to relax a bit..

We haven't gotten too far on our land.. not for lack of trying. There's just so much we have to do to get all the paperwork and stuff set up to make everything legal.. it's just taking forever! We've cleared the spot where we're going to build, we have an approved permit for the sewer and the well guys are coming this month.. and temporary electric will be hooked up in a couple weeks.. but summer is ending fast and there's not much time left! My mom and dad and the kids helped stack wood and move brush for us as a surprise, we had a huge bonfire of brush the night of Anna and Jeff's wedding. (or rather, Craig did, Dallas hugged me nonstop because he missed me all weekend, and I just sat there, tired out and half in the bag) So today Craig hired an excavator to come and dig test holes to see if we'll be able to have a basement in our house (depending on whether we can or not we need to put more fill and build the garage higher or lower) and he's also going to rip out the stumps and smooth the ground.. I'm so ready to see a foundation already!!
~at this time Dallas crawled up and pushed one button and this all disappeared... thank goodness for autosave! ...How does he know just what to do?~
I'm trying to do as much as I can... I went to the courthouse 3 times to try to get the building permit.. but they start asking me things about R values and trusses and things I have absolutely no clue about. I felt dumb by the second time I went back, but by the third time I vow never to go back, Craig could've gone there once and told them everything they needed to know in about 5 seconds. Plus I had to carry Dallas on my hip all the way to the 5th floor (he likes elevators) and plop him down while I shuffled through the stack of papers trying to find some magical answer. Yeah, there's so many more things I should've went to school for, starting with business and construction, apparently. Also, today is Labor Day. Last year we went camping all weekend with T&A, and we said we were going to do it again this year. We did, just not the way we expected...
A&T were going to do dinner and sauna at his sisters, and we kinda wanted to get going, especially since J&A were coming with us and they were all packed and ready to go and waiting. So we decided that we'd meet them in the Harbor somewhere in town. (Craig loves the candy store) We got down there around 630pm i think.. and we figured they'd get down there in about an hour or so. Well, it started getting dark and was 830-9 when we decided they must have gone right by us.. and Craig thought he recognized their tracks on the way. Well, we tried a few different routes and none were accessible to where we wanted to go, and we didn't see their tracks anywhere else, though some random guy thought he saw them headed back to town from a different spot. So after driving around for 2 1/2 hrs we figured we weren't going to find them, and it was pitch black and Dallas was crabby and wanting to sleep. i felt kinda bad for taking off and going somewhere else, but no one was in a good mood anymore and riding for only 15 miles in 2 1/2 hours isn't exactly pleasant. So we ended up camping on the beach of GSB. It was fine, beautiful weather, but I was worried as to where they might be.. did they go back home? I hate not having cell phone service down there. ..anyways, to sum up the weekend, they ended up camping out there, just not where we looked, and we went up the mountain to check our cells for service at the same time, and just missed each other. So we went camping together.. kinda. Maybe next Labor Day we'll end up at the same spot. :)
So, quite the weekend.. we visited my aunt and uncle at the motel.. hadn't been there for quite a while! It's been a long time since we've actually taken the time to enjoy the harbor, we're usually just running through on our way to camp and then hurrying back the next morning.
I can't believe the beautiful weather! The whole weekend was gorgeous.. I really hope the almanac is right about a warm fall and tame winter.. more time to build!
Both of my boys are sleeping at the moment, I suppose I should go do some laundry or something. :P ..I should...

Just the Beginning

2009-07-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

A week ago last friday Craig and I signed our lives away. That is to say, we signed ourselves into a huge loan and are now the proud owners of a good-sized chunk of land. We've been talking about it for a while now, but it seems to have taken forever to get the plan into motion. Well, now the owner has his $$$ and we have a big payment! We have cut down a couple of trees and cleared the brush from our planned building site... but we don't want to get too into it in case the Septic inspector says we can't have the drainfield where we want it. We'd have to move our garage then. I'm trying to post pics of it.. but it won't let me...
maybe next time..

wide awake

2009-07-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

It is now 12:16 pm on monday... and I can't fall asleep after working all night.. haven't slept a wink yet... hmmm, might be the iced mocha i had at 8 after work. So now I'll start getting really tired after I get Dallas back from my mom's.. I have the house to myself now and I realllllly should be taking advantage... grrr.
We should be closing on our land/construction loan this.. that's what they told Craig... but we haven't signed the contracts yet because they sent us another copy of the contract for the first loan for that house... Craig needs to straighten that out today while I'm *ahem* sleeping, so we don't end up getting only a little over half of the money that we'll need. :S
K. I'll try again. 'Night. :P

GoOd NeWs... :P

2009-07-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

So, apparently I don't have only months to live... I had the CT on Tuesday and it showed an infection (?) in my head.. not just a lil ol' sinus infection. So I'm going to be on something a little stronger for two weeks and then I should be good to go. My headache is definitely down to less than just tolerable so the Amoxicillin musta did something... :) So I will live to feel the wrath from bingeing on cookie dough last night... :S Shucks!!
It's a beautiful day.... enjoy it!

Daily dose of Diesel....

2009-07-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

It's monday, and we're all back to work at the shop. We had a fun weekend camping, I'm so glad I insisted we take the weekend off from business and building and just relax!!!
Dallas loves being outside so he was in a wonderful mood all weekend. The only difficulty was getting to sleep at night, as it wasn't as quiet as usual and no crib. We just set up a pile of blankets in between us and he was as snug as a bug! I can't believe how beautiful the weekend was after our week of rain, especially after seeing how grey and cool it is outside today. And of course, no pictures. I was so crabby that I forgot my camera, I don't have a single picture of all the fun we had and Dallas' first camping trip! :(
And being the strange child he is, he just got his first tooth today, top left. That's different. And it was taking so long to pop through that the skin was trying to heal back over. I can tell his next top tooth and the two on the bottom won't be long coming either. He's been a little crabby, but he loves being outside so much that this weekend was a breeze! All the fresh air has made him take wonderful naps, he took a 4hr one after the parade and slept through the fireworks!
We also went to Keystone for the day on Sunday, it was absolutely beautiful! The last time we were out there was Labor Day before I had Dallas, (I remember joking that the ride out there was going to put me in labor on Labor Day) and the road gets easier and easier every year. This year we took the Jeep out there no problem. The water was a bit chilly, but beautiful nonetheless! Planning on going back next weekend... we'll see! Anyone wanna come along?? :)
....and I still have my headache. This is now day 6... I'm on amoxicillin after my dr appt and I now have a head CT scheduled for monday and some lab work to see whats up since nothing is helping. ..its not quite as bad, but still very annoying and painful. Craig said if there's something wrong he better get a huge insurance policy out quick, so he and baby D can move to Hawaii and be bums. It's so nice to have such a supportive husband. :P I don't think it's anything, but I've had that swollen node in my axillae for 8months now... maybe it spread or something. :S We'll see. I'm not going to be worried. Already have too much to think about! I'm just glad it was tolerable while we were camping, only had a bad couple of hours during the whole weekend. It would've been really rough to try to have fun otherwise.
Well, definitely long enough, Dallas is sleeping so let's get some work done. (try) :)

...and Happy Indepence Day!

2009-07-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

..and I forgot. Have a happy 4th of July... we're going camping! (hopefully, if Alanna's mom can get us a campsite in CH) If we can't get one I spose we can just go further north, it'll take a little longer to get there but it's waaay better than a campsite anyway!! So if anyone goes thataway, come find us! ...first time taking Dallas camping, we'll see how it goes!
(and hopefully my headache won't last all weekend, what a drag!)

Headache

2009-07-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

For the past two days I've had the strangest headache. Its in the back of my head and behind my ears. Every now and then my top front teeth hurt. It kinda feels like I'm being hung by my neck. I figured it was my neck out of place so I went to the chiropractor yesterday. (they nicely got me in right away) He said my jaw was out of alignment and tilted to the left? from my neck being so tense and he set it back where it belongs, along with my neck and back. I thought it was better after that, but not really... the headache lasted til about 8pm and then magically disappeared. Then it came back at about 10 this morning, I had a couple pain free hours after I woke up. Weird. I can tolerate it better today just because I'm more used to it, but it hurts!!
hmm. maybe there's something going on in there.. :P

ummm... yeah.

2009-06-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

so, day five was on friday and it was my weekend to work at the hospital. Well, I've had my stupid sinus headache, caffeine withdrawal headache, and just a vague feeling of malaise all week. So I checked my blood sugar at work...about 1030pm. 69. And that was after I had just drank some of my "concoction" not too long before. Therefore, it is not meant for hypoglycemics. :P So I had a sip of OJ (tasted naaasty after not eating real sugar for a while) and then a yogurt. BS then 110. And lo and behold...... my headaches disappeared. Huh. Well. Whoops. Kinda need my brain at the hospital. So I quit. Gradually, as I tried peanut butter that morning and it didn't go so well. A little too soon for hard to digest things. So then my next night at work I tried juicing it for the day (night) with carrot, watermelon, cherry, and orange juices. Not bad, and filling. So now I've progressed to salads, yogurt, fruit. I don't know where I'm going with my healthy diet change, obviously not low-carb with all the fruit but a lot better than what I was eating!!
So now everyone at the hospital thinks I'm weird. (Probably also everyone who reads this) But I didn't do this for a fad quick weight loss thing, I just figure if I could do this, I can do anything, including staying away from chocolate.
...and I'm sick of cold weather!! We've had nothing but 50degree rainy/foggy weather all weekend (would've cared more if I didn't work nights) and its been raining all day mon and tuesday, and supposed to rain all week. It better be nice this weekend, or I can't take baby D camping. :( I hope its not a cold July 4th again, except for last year the 3-4 years before that every year has been cold. Not fun to watch fireworks and camp with.

Day4

2009-06-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

Not bad! Not bad at all! Surprisingly, the lemonade is starting to almost taste... good! Crazy, but I suppose I'm used to the pepper and so its not so bad after all. I feel like I have more energy, and I'm not as tired during the day. Something must be working, and because of all the drinking I'm doing I'm definitely getting all the water I need during the day. I'm still glad this is ending before July 4th so I can enjoy camping!!
I took Dallas into the water for the first time yesterday, in the canal. He loved it! He was a little sketchy when I went deeper and deeper, but then he was splashing like crazy and grinning. My little siblings were surrounding him like crazy and he was enjoying every minute of it. He loves the limelight!
At the moment my most pressing shop duty is trying to keep Dallas off of the office floor. He has a carpeted area but it doesn't have a fence around it -yet- and so I'm spending 90% of my time it seems trying to keep him entertained and fenced in. I tried making a fence with his stroller and chairs, but he worms his way through anyway... so we're waiting on Craig to make us a nice baby fence. (normal ones don't work as there is no post to anchor it on...)
I'm also putting together "friendly reminders", my newest brainstorm to send to overdue customers. It's more professional and respectful, I think, than just sending out a copy of the invoice with the new total. :P Still not fun, and more work.
D and I are going to go for a walk. I try to get out everyday, especially when he's sick of being kept in the same area. (and good for me, and a chance to use the BR at my inlaws. :P) So, off we goooooo!

10 days... :P

2009-06-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

Today is Day One of the Cleanse. I guess I'll have to see how it goes. And by cleanse, I mean Master Cleanse. For those of you who have never heard of it, it consists of a person drinking for 10 days a mixture of water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. (very little cayenne!) And thats it. Nada. Not even a nibble of a lettuce leaf. Kinda extreme, but my parents did it a few months ago and had good results, and mom is doing it again with me this time. Those of you who are cringing.. I guess it's not that bad for you, the maple syrup provides the calories, and the pepper boosts metabolism and cleans out gunk. But, it tastes nasty!! The lemonade taste isn't so bad, but the pepper makes me want to quit! ..we'll see how it goes.. if my dad can do it, I can do it!!

Day #2-- Still hanging on, I figured I'd wake up hungry but strangely I just feel a good empty feeling. I don't ever want to overeat again. I did waaaay less pepper this time, probably less than I should but it's the only way to stand it. Still not feeling hungry, though the salt-water drink I did this morning made me hurl... (put twice the amt of salt, I found out later) I feel pretty good actually, I think it's helping my sinus infection go away, as I'm refusing to go the Dr's. Craig has one too, and he's on drugs for it. I'm craving a nice grilled chicken caesar salad. mmmmm.

Day #3. (catching up-this is today) I put the real amt of pepper, and the actual amt of syrup (been using way too little) and its a little too sweet for my taste, but I'm handling the pepper much better. The "lemonade" is actually tolerable. I might even like it by the end... yeah, right. I wonder if I'll actually ever drink lemonade ever again. I can't believe my mother is doing this with me for the second time, I don't know if I'll do it again. blah. But I'm finishing out the 10 days, simply because I'll be mad at myself if I don't. So there. One more thing, I'm technically a hypoglycemic, and the syrup seems to be keeping my blood sugar levels up nicely.

On another note, Dallas and I went to my parent's lot on Lk. Superior yesterday, being that it was in the 90's and Dallas was crabby.. and we picked up my mom on the way. And then we get down there and it was soooo foggy that we could barely see the water and coooold! So Dallas has not been swimming yet. We kept him wrapped up in his ducky towel and he chewed on big rocks. Fun! :P He doesn't really like to get sandy.. he preferred to sit on a towel than crawl on the sand. Hopefully it means he'll won't like messes and so I won't have to pick up after him. Ha.

And then we went home, planning on going to evening church, but he was so tired that I let him nap, and we went to "help" dad mow our land instead. I took a few pics of our little chunk of heaven.. but I can't post them until the computer is home with the cable internet instead of satellite internet... if I upload/download too much we get FAP'd, and it's slooooow. Slower than dial-up. It stinks, really. Anyways, enjoy this absolutely beautiful day... our summers are so limited its sad.. :( It's almost 4th of July already and I've only been swimming once! Sad, very sad.

Sunshine on my shoulders...

2009-06-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

It's officially summer in my book. My book...Idk... I guess the one about my life, the one that only will get lived, and not written. :) Its humid and sticky at the moment..... and I love it! Dallas is in only a onesie (since I forgot to bring shorts to the shop) and I get to wear my favorite linen skirt. I'm definitely a dress-up sort of girl. I could wear dresses every day. And now that my job doesn't insist on scrubs like at the hospital.. yay! Not that I dress up every day, far from it. My usual "uniform" consisted of jeans, t-shirt and fleece jacket this whole winter.. who wants to wear anything but boots when its cold out! But now I can feel freeee... sandals and skirts galore! But it was verrrry depressing raiding my closet from last summer.... absolutely nothing fits!
New topic, quick! It's too nice out to be :(
Sooooo..... we're getting it!! (pretty sure this time) LAND LAND LAND! And no longer just Five point two five acres... but a whole 30+! Pretty excited here! And yeah, I STILL haven't gotten around to take pictures of it, but the pictures can be even better now!! (Can you say waterfall)
I'm pretttttty excited, as is Craig. It's the same chunk as before... but plus some! The guy decided he wanted to sell more.. and so here we are! (or there we are, whatever works) So now what we're waiting on is the estimate from a store as to what it's going to cost us to build our little garage/apt house/thing. Hopefully not too much! But I told Craig I'll live in it for a few years if I get to have my cute little waterfall in my backyard. :) So now I'm waaaay more excited than before, and thats something!!!!!

Beautiful Wednesday

2009-06-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

So maybe now we'll finally get that summer weather we've been waiting and waiting for. I actually wore a tshirt today, and I absolutely hate being cold. I've been watching my 4yr old brother Clay at the shop and he and Dallas and I went for a walk/bike ride. Clay really enjoyed it, and Dallas aaaalmost fell asleep, except for I was periodically yelling for Clay to get off the road. Not exactly a relaxing walk, but it was beautiful. Dallas and Clay were both smeared with sunscreen, but I forgot myself, and I sense a slight burn at the tip of my nose. :(
I bought a jogger off my friend Sherrie for 10 bucks today, I can't wait to try it out on our walk tomorrow, it'll be so much better riding on the gravel at the edge of the road with its bigger wheels.... and who knows, maybe I'll actually go for a jog! I lasted for exactly one week waking up at 7am to go for a run... I was supposedly training for the Canal Run with Amy in July... but I missed a few days due to random things and then I never hopped back on the wagon. According to my training schedule I'm supposed to be running like 4-5 miles every day... don't think so. So sorry, Ame, maybe next year?? :P
At the moment I'm attempting to design our garage/apt thingie we're supposed to start building really soon.... having lots of difficulty figuring our designing program.. trying to save 350 bucks instead of buying the plan, but for how much work it is... I may as well.
Ooh, ooh! I just got it! Yay!! So now for the materials list and another meeting with the bank, and a call to the Health Dept, etc... and we've got it! :P I can't wait to REALLY get started!

Home Sweet... Land??

2009-05-29T08:41:00.000-07:00

Craig and I have been looking for a house for quite a while now it seems. We've put in an offer on land.. got shot down. Put in an offer on a house.. got accepted but then canned after the process was well underway. Therefore... we're ready to buy something. We found some land online the other night, and the next day at noon we checked it out. Nothing special, it's almost routine, as we've been combing the UP for quite awhile searching for the "perfect spot". Well, we fell in love with it! The location is perfect, 3 miles from our shop. it has some nice woods and little creek running through it in a couple places, and we'll have our choice of 3 school districts. (Each rooting for our own, of course) So, at 4:30 we were in the realtors office signing a purchase agreement, and at 10 the next morning got approved for a loan! Exciting to finally have something for sure! (Unless they back out) I'll post pictures soon.. So it looks like we're going to be building this summer. Wasn't quite in my plans for this year, but we'll see houw it goes. I think we'll build a garage with living space above it for now and then build our house later. So I'm searching house/garage plans! I hope it won't cut too much into shop work... he'll be really busy this summer!

GRRRRRRRRRRRR

2009-05-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

I'm just a liiiiiittle bit upset here... we got a phone call this morning from the people we were buying our house from... they're not selling it to us. Why? Because their daughter is going to buy it instead. I'm a little upset because of all the time we've invested, and we are living in a house that could get sold from under us any day. I was a little unsure about buying the house at first, but then I jumped in with both feet, planning room colors and curtains and deciding what room is whose... thinking about how I can grow my own garden and finally have our own little place. I got really excited about it, we both did. Craig was pumped that we would have a sauna, and that we could walk to the shop. It's the worst feeling to be excited about something and then not get it... I could think about worse things, so I guess I should just feel lucky for what I do have.... and I will, just give me a week.

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Ha. Seems like everyone is doing a mother's day post... I spose I should as well.. This picture of the train cake has nothing to do with Mother's Day, just showing off my mother's and my creativity with my brother's birthday cake!
I spent a relaxing 1st Mother's Day with my husband and baby at home.. after church we took a nap.. from noon to 3! I think we really needed it, we've been staying up way too late during the week, including Dallas, and he STILL doesn't take very good naps at the shop during the week.
After we woke up we cooked up some burgers n fries (our grill is at the shop still..) and brought the frame collage of family pics over to my parents for my mom... but they were gone. So we took off to the B. household, we had put together a scrapbook of all her kids and filled photo albums. She loved it! I can't take too much credit, my sister-in-law Sarah did the most, it was her idea and I don't have much time in the evening after I leave the shop. But I did do a couple pages.
Ha. A goofy pic of my baby!
And then we bought a lot of gardening stuff.. I'm so not a gardening type, but I decided this year I'm going to try. Pumpkins, peas, carrots, chives... kind of a hodge-podge assortment of stuff we like. I have no idea what to do first, I suppose I'll plant them indoors since it's still cool and we'll see what happens! (and I got some marigolds to grow on my window sill, I love them!)
Oooh, ooh! We're buying a house! Don't remember if I said that before, but we are. Its a little three bedroom place only across the highway and a couple houses down from our shop.
So we'll be able to walk to work! It'll be so nice to be in our own space.. one reason why I decided I need a garden, it's something permanent that'll be there year after year. And MiNe! Hey if you have any gardening starter tips for me, share share! I can't put anything in the ground until after June 15, our moving day. Can't wait!

SWEET FREE TOY!

2009-05-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

I found this link online... go to it and fill it out!
http://www.babiesonestep.com/feb_giveaway.html
You get a free stuffed animal and blanket for your baby, it doesn't ask for anything but your name, email, and shipping address. No credit card required! :)
Don't forget to verify your email... check your email right after (it will probably be in the junkmail folder) and it'll be on its way!! I <3 free stuff!
Hey, let me know if you get one!!

Free stuff..

2009-04-26T00:21:00.000-07:00

I love free stuff... there's nothing like getting something in the mail that I didnt' have to pay a penny for! I'm awaiting a free sippy cup, package of diapers, Gillette razor, and now this coffee.
Fun, fun, fun!! Get some coffee yourself!

Catch-up

2009-04-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted since before Easter... still don't have the blogging bug which demands me to write something every day. :)

Our Easter weekend was pleasant, we visited some of Craig's family in MN.. so nice since we hadn't been there since before we were married! It's really hard for Craig to get away from the shop sometimes, so it was really nice for him to get a break. We all went to the zoo on Saturday, I don't think Dallas cared too much... but we can say he went! It was be-U-T-ful!! Compared to the weather we're having right now... I wanna go back!

I attempted to get some pictures of Dallas on Easter... he cooperated for a couple of them but then he discovered the leaves and sticks on the ground.. so much more fun!

I'm so glad it was so warm out, I got to take outdoor pics without a snowsuit on!! ..and back home it was in the 30's.. haha
Dallas and I were walking every day down the road from the shop, trying to make a "new, improved me!!" and then this stupid snow had to come and ruin our fun. I think it's supposed to be nice this weekend.. just in time for me to go to work.. :( Oh, well.. I'm lucky I don't have to leave Dallas to go to work most days, only every 3rd weekend do I have to miss out on family fun! :P

I looooove my little man!! Posing so cutely with his Easter eggs! He's almost 6 months already, time flies!!!! He's just now getting over his first cold.. I was concerned it might be RSV since its been going around like crazy but he didn't get more than a little cough and a runny nose. ...the paranoid nurse in me has me listening to his lungs a few times a day.. they've been clear!! We've been staying home from work (the shop) while he's been under the weather.. he sleeps so much better at home. It was crazy finding out what it's like to be a stay at home mom.. I had so much time on my hands and I actually made poor Craig decent suppers! ;)
Somebody came to look at our house yesterday.. as Craig's parents decided to relist it this spring.. I'm hoping for their sake someone buys it soon. Craig and I put an offer on a little house nearby... haven't heard back from them yet.. probably not a good thing. I'm antsy waiting! I wanna move to our own little home soon!
I'm so excited about the little project my mom and I did last night.. it's my youngest brother Clay's birthday today and we stayed up realllllly late making him a train cake. I can't wait to see his face!! He's soo pumped on Thomas the Tank Engine stuff, so we made him a big engine out of brownie (his favorite) and I borrowed a mini train pan from a friend at work to make little train cars too, they were so fun to decorate! I suppose we got a little carried away.. it was like painting! I love 3D cakes, I'm doing them from now on when I can!

Timeline of pictures..

2009-04-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

...a few of my favorites...

Old family pic

Craig and I on the cliffs

Our wedding Day

My baby shower

Dallas is born!

Dallas and I; 1 month old

Dallas; 4 months

Sorry so many... too many to choose from!!

Hi, my name is Ashley

2009-04-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

...and I am an addict. I'm addicted to food. All food. Good for you food, bad for you food, kinda in between food... I'll inhale it all. I've attempted numerous times to get my butt in gear and lose these baby pounds (enough for many babies) but I just can't seem to stay away from the kitchen. I had no trouble before, maybe if I quit nursing I wouldn't have food on the brain all the time, but I'm not ready to do that yet. A few more months. I've starred many days on the calendar saying "this is the beginning of my healthy lifestyle" and then I screw it up two hours later eating birthday party ice cream. It doesn't help that I sit behind a desk all day, and sometimes I don't get home til later than 5 like I'm supposed to (yesterday it was 8) and the last thing I feel like doing is working out in the basement. When I worked full time at the hospital I had no trouble keeping the pounds at bay... but now they're attacking in full force. Therefore, I'm posting this for all to see and now I HAVE to quit junk. :S I already had a Reese's this morning.. thats it. Todo. Fine. ...wish me luck....

2009-04-07T13:59:00.000-07:00

Shoppin' at Old Navy

Bills, Bills, Bills

2009-04-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

I hate bills. Who doesn't! And now that I'm handling the shop's finances I have more than double the bills to pay with two different accounts to figure out. I forgot to pay the UPPCO bill, due today. So now I'm attempting e-bill to see if it helps to remind me when its due. (Even though I have a calendar at home and at the shop with all the bills and their due dates for every month...) And now that I think about it, my SemCo bill was due yesterday or today. My excuse it that I worked night shift all weekend.. everything kinda goes by the wayside when I work nights.
On another note, Craig's 23rd birthday was yesterday, I had our families and a few of our friends over for a little suprise party. It was kinda cute, he told me yesterday morning that he doesn't need parties and stuff anymore. (But I KNOW he was secretly hoping for a shi-bang) Amazingly I threw it together on approximately 2 1/2 hours of continuously interrupted sleep after being up all night and he was happy. :) He's such a kid at heart, I love him!! :) He was all pumped one time when he had a pile of cash from some jobs and thought it would be cool to have it all in ones to make it seem like a lot... so I got him $200 worth of ones and gave it to him (sizeable stack!) and it was better than buying him gears. (that he wants for his truck so bad but will probably never get)
We're trying to decide whether we should follow the rest of the B. clan and take off to MN for Easter... Craig is so sick of driving places and he can't relax when I drive.. when we got back from Green Bay last week he said he doesn't wanna go anywhere for a loooong time.... so we'll see. I'm supposed to work in the kitchen at church on friday anyway.
It's a beautiful sunny day out there... our "spring" is on its way!! (still 34 degrees)

2009-04-06T15:09:00.001-07:00

..Brag Blog

2009-04-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

Dallas is now 5 months old. Crazy how fast time flies.. he's so big! At his last check-up he was 19lbs, 10oz and 27+in tall. He's no small guy!! Craig agrees with me that our little guy is smart... but I think Craig expects for him to start walking anytime now.. he was trying to get him to stand up at 2 1/2 months old at the edge of the couch.. jumping the gun juuust a little. He's already saving up for his first dirtbike- "As soon as he can walk!" :S ..we'll see...
But he can roll over both ways and pretty much sits up by himself for a long time, though he'll topple over every now and then if he moves too fast. He just discovered his tongue and sticks it out all the time. -as soon as I figure out how to post pictures there'll be a million of them! I'm extremely grateful that he's been sleeping through the night since about 2 1/2 months old.. he's been going to bed earlier too, he goes down at about 9 or 10 and sleeps until about 8. I can't complain!! And he's such a happy, smiley baby.. I couldn't ask for a better natured baby! And of course he's the most adorable thing in the world! :) <3

Cabin Fever

2009-03-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

I don't have it. My husband does. Every spring for the past 4? years he has gone to Florida.. and he doesn't want to miss this one. I'm a little nervous to take our 4 1/2 month old on a vacation.... though it would be nice.. I feel like I'm crazy for not jumping at the chance to go somewhere.. but it's a whole different world with a young child on vacation.
Besides.. my SAD time is over.. I get pretty blue in February, but once the sun starts to come out and the days get longer I'm able to wait until summer. Last year Craig and I drove to Florida in April. I was nauseated with morning sickness and the trip was horribly long. We planned on camping in Destin but all the camp grounds were full.. we ended up renting a condo on the beach for a week. It was wonderful, but spendy.. and there went all our tax return $$! ...maybe that's how it'll be this year... Craig is just waiting to see what we get back I guess. :P (I think he'll be wanting to go whether we get anything or not) One thing is for sure, we'll never drive again when we only have a couple days to get there and back, it's too tiring driving that far for a short vacation.
....We'll see....

Hurry up Spring!!

2009-03-17T15:35:00.000-07:00

I think my favorite thing about the coming of spring is that we will finally have a bathroom at the shop. Never realized how important they are until I'm at the shop all day without one.. and its not easy to bundle up Dallas every time I gotta go... :( ...it's sooo much easier for the boys...

Baby Blues

2009-03-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

I worked in OB last night. First time in probably 7 months. I'm always nervous when I have to go back there... I just don't work there enough. I don't like seeing my name on the board under OB when I come in, but once I'm back there I love it. It's just more nervousness than anything. I'm out of my comfort zone where I'm used to sick people that need slews of meds and we can discuss their diet and BMs. Haha.. Ew. Don't get me wrong, I feel I'm competent, I absolutely adore the babies. They're just so cute and small!! It's just something new. And deliveries are routine, but every one is different. But it's amazing to be handed this brand new little bundle seconds after it's born. Every delivery is awe-spiring and wonderful. So I survived it, and enjoyed it. ...and I'll keep doing it!

~Midnight Oil~

2009-03-14T23:33:00.000-07:00

At work. Again. It's a good night though. But it had to be... I used up all my crabbiness for the day. I woke up this evening after working all night in a foul mood. The kind that appears for no good reason and makes me just wanna pick a fight with anything in my path. (Poor Craig) My hair wouldn't behave. So I ripped out the pins and shoved my head in the sink and was good to go. And since I spent so much time trying to tame my unruly mop I had no time to make myself a lunch for work. So I said "FINE. I'll starve. Serves me right." ...and I was out the door. (I did kiss Dallas goodbye :) ) I was maybe speeding a teensy weensy bit, music up as high as it would go.. it was a good burning mad, just thinking that nobody DARE get sick tonight... and then flashers. I was pulled over by one of the state boys.
Every time I get pulled over I get this awful I'm-gonna-throw-up feeling. He asked me how I was doing. "Well.. just great, of course. Couldn't be better!!" I'd love to say that sometime. But I care about the ticket too much.
ANYways, I didn't get a ticket. So then I had no reason to stay in my fabulously rotten mood and sang along to the radio the rest of the way to work. THE END
So I'm well into my second of three midnight shifts. They're good nights, I'm working with Sherrie!! :)

Hi.

2009-03-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

Well, I named this after a couple of my favoritest things, everyone else has such cute names for theirs... :) I really don't know why I started this. It's like an online diary that everyone reads... kinda scary... I guess I'll try it for a while. This is a lot faster, and no writer's cramp. Maybe carpal tunnel...
I'm at work right now. Should probably be doing something productive, but it's quiet for the moment. I'm at job #2 by the way, Portage. I only work every third weekend, Fri, Sat, Sun, so it's not too bad. I'm not overly tempted to call for the "bump" anymore, I kind of like getting out of the house for a bit... contribute to the family funding. Plus I've only been a nurse for a couple years so I'm no where near ready to quit completely, I'm too scared I'd lose my skills.
Job #1 is working for my husband Craig at our diesel repair shop: Bekkala's Diesel Repair. Don't know that I'm really that useful, I sit all day behind the desk answering the phone and doing the mundane paperwork of filing and paying bills and answering the phone. Less for Craig to do though. ...and it's nice that I can bring Dallas to the shop with me, not everyone can bring their baby to work every day with them!
Now I remember why I quit having a diary... I say too much.