Two little monkeys

These two monkeys, aka, Meredith and Natalie spent the evening at our house Sunday evening while Kim and Roscoe went out to dinner alone. A much needed break, I'm sure. Our evening included watching Mickey saves Santa, playing the Dora Memory game and playing dress-up. The girls were good and seemed to have a good time. I even did their hair. As you can see from the pictures, I think I missed my calling as a stylist.

* In my best singing voice* --OH, ya got to have friiiiieeends, la la la la la .....

Last weekend, Dan and I went to the big ole' town of Ozark Illinois. Well, ok, it's not really a town. It's more like a Willie's Station, for those of you who know what that means. Anyway, to give you a better picture, we were 20 miles south of Marion Illinois. Now what would take us to such a rural area of the state? Well, friends of course. Meet the Coopers!!




This is Aaron and Michelle and their adorable kids Kristin and Luke. Michelle and I met at SIU while we were both majoring in Elementary Ed. (we're both retired from teaching now) and have continued to stay in touch and see each other about once or twice a year.

We had a lot of fun visting with them. Dan and I even got to be Kristin's show and tell for Pre-school. She took in pictures of us to tell her class about our visit.

Here's a few more pictures of our visit.






Kristin loved playing with Dan. He'd pick her up and turn her upside down, and she liked the way he could talk like Donald Duck. Luke didn't really like it when I held him. He wasn't feeling good that day, so he was wanting mom to hold him, not me.







Thanks Coopers for a great time!!!!!

product rave!!

I recently bought one of those new Glade candles. I really didn't think I'd like it any more than any other candle I have but, it really smells good. I got the one that smells like fresh laundry. It smells like the Bounce dryer sheets that I use. Mmmmm, I love it! I am anxious to try some of the other scents now.

Walmart really does have everything!

This afternoon I went to Walmart to get groceries. I was browsing through the home decor section, which is near the electronics. As I was looking around, I noticed a song start playing. It was Every Rose Has it's Thorns, by Def Leopard, or Guns -n-Roses??? I don't remember, but it's some 80's band. Anyway, as I listened, I thought to myself, that's not the original version, cause it doesn't sound like the original singer. So I walked around the corner and there in the middle of the isle, was a large man in his 40's singing to the American Idol Kareoke game. Right in the middle of the store, he's belting out the words and singing away. I was cracking up!! I wish I'd had someone with me to share the giggles. It was so hysterical. Then I walked down another isle, but still close enough to hear, and at the end of the song, the "judges" told him he wasn't good enough. It still makes me laugh as I think about it and type this....

And, if that weren't enough, later on I heard an associate come over the intercom and sing happy birthday to another worker. She was singing her heart out, let me tell ya...

You never know what a trip to walmart will bring...

Water in the basement.

City's main line backed up.

Been pumping water out for last 2 hours.

Hoping that the city workers will get here soon.

What a mess.

This spring we'll get a sump pump!

Shout out to Lori!!

Doesn't my mantle look great? Lori, my SIL, came over last week to help me rearrange my decor. I felt stuck in a rut and Lori's great at putting things together. So this is what she and I came up with. THANKS Lori!!

Wrong Number?

What is it with the wrong number phone calls we've been getting? We've lived here for a year and a half and we still get several wrong numbers a week. Last week I think I got 5 in one day! Today I got some poor guy that called twice, he couldn't figure out why he was getting me instead of the military office. I would understand if all the calls we were getting were for a specific place, but we get such radom calls. And most of the time when they repeat the number they've dialed, it's our number.
The funniest call I've gotten was last year a lady called and just started talking to me like she knew me. I thought maybe it was someone from church or something and played along so I wouldn't embarrass myself, but after about 3 minutes when she asked about our lunch date that I realized that this lady had the wrong number!

I'm a little late at posting these, but I've been meaning to put upsome pics of my holiday decor and our new tree. So, even though they're a bit late, here you go:



Dan and I had to do a cheesey pose in front of the tree...






This is just a little of what I did for the holidays. I have more that I could post, but I won't...

"I just had another one of my brilliant ideas"

You take the good you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life. If you hear them from your brother, better clear them with your mother. Better get'em right, call her late at night. You got the future in the palm of your hand and all you gotta do to get you through is understand.....la,la,la,la la ........

Can you tell I've been watching too much of the Facts of Life??? I think I have a problem. BUT I'll be quitting cold turkey in just a few more episodes. I'm almost done with season 3 and they don't have season 4 out yet.

It's beginning to look a lot like....January

Today is such a depressing day. I'm taking down the Christmas tree and putting my holiday decorations away.
Even though I'm ready to get my house back in order, there's just something depressing about putting it all back in storage.

I decorate with a strategic plan though. I use lots of things that can be considered "winter" decorations. That way when I pack up the Christmas stuff, I just rearrange a few things and I still have some stuff that I can enjoy through February.

Resolutions

So, I suppose I should set a few goals for myself in the coming year. Januay is the time of rebirth, so to speak, and a time to start fresh.

First of all, let me say this: I will not committ myself to any diet or exercise program because I know that I will never stick to it.

The only real goal I have for myself is to spend more time with God. I've become very lazy with my Bible reading and right now do not have a daily quiet time. I am home all day and should be able to take 15-20 minutes of my day to give to the Lord, but it's so easy to find other things to do.
When I think back on 2006, I am amazed by how blessed Dan and I are. We celebrated our 1st anniversary this year and I see how God is blessing our marriage and our home. God truly does supply all our needs and even our wants.

So, that's it, my one real resolution for this year: To spend more time reading my Bible and more time with God on a daily basis.

Good thing the God we serve is a loving and forgiving God. Because as hard as I try, I'll probably not be 100% in my goal.

Just thought I'd mention that I am blogging with my new laptop while sitting on the couch watching Season 1 of The Facts of Life. Life is Good.

What a Christmas!

Dan has really outdone himself again this year. He really does a great job of gift giving. I got lots of great presents, including my new 8 inch LCD tv/dvd player for the kitchen. Now I can watch tv and wash dishes at the same time. I won't miss out on some of my favorite shows. I also got THE JOY OF COOKING, some fuzzy socks, a cd, and perfume. And then I opened my last gift. As I opened the box there was a piece of paper on top that read: Sorry Honey, your gift is not in this box. Let's go downstairs to get it.
I couldn't figure out what he had planned....but my surprise gift was a laptop computer. We have been talking for awhile about getting me my own computer but I didn't think he would get one so soon. I am really loving my gift.
Yesterday evening, we went to my parents and celebrated Christmas with my family. It was alot of fun so I thought I'd post some pictures.




Griffin Garrett Natalie



Meredith


I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Modern technology is great...when it works correctly. I am really annoyed right now at the brand new celing fan that we put in the spare bedroom. We replaced the old one back in Sept/Oct. and because it's a room we seldom use, the fan hasn't been used very much either. Here's the problem: the fan we installed did not come with any pull chains to turn the light/fan on or off. Instead it came with a wall mounted remote that has the switches on it. Tonight I was working on a painting project in the spare room and when I left it to dry I wanted to keep the fan on but turn the light out. So, I pushed the light button on the remote and it went off. Something then happened in the next 20 minutes because when I went to turn the light back on, nothing happened. Dan and I both tried and tried but for whatever reason, the remote is not working and there is no other way to turn the light on. *SIGH*

This means, that Dan will have to take down this fan so I can try and return it tomorrow for a better model. ONE WITH PULL CHAINS!!!!!!

Why divorce is sometimes inevitable...

Check out this link to a page I came across. Pretty crazy. I'd call this one white trash in a wedding dress.


http://www.tenthousandframes.netfirms.com/phpbb/nfphpbb/viewtopic.php?t=44

What a week!

This past week I have realized just how thankful I am to NOT be Laura Ingalls. I've always loved that show and they make their life seem like so much fun. I always thought it'd be great to be a part of the Ingalls family. This week I was jolted back into reality when we were without power for 6 days. *Note to self* It was not fun!

Last Thursday evening when the storm hit, we were at home watching the tree branches fall out of our neighbors tree. Then my mom called to let us know they didn't have power, and that made me realize just how bad it was. It hadn't really occurred to me to be concerned about losing power, until I talked to my mother.

We finally lost power late Thursday night sometime around midnight. There wasn't much we could do about it, so we went to bed.

Friday morning, Dan went to work and left me in a cold house with nothing to do. I lasted until about 10am and then I called my neighbor across the street, that still had electricity, and asked if I could come over and spend the day with her and the kids.

When we realized that we weren't getting power restored anytime soon, Dan and I packed up and went to Matt and Diva's to spend the night.

Saturday morning was the realization that if we don't get heat in our house soon our pipes could freeze. We have the old hot water radiators and if that water froze we'd be in BIG trouble. So, we set out on the hunt for firewood. The plan: To build a fire in the fireplace and try and raise the temp. in the house enough so that it could sit overnight and not reach freezing. Well... that didn't work as well as we'd hoped. We got a blazing fire going, but it wasn't heating more than the living room. Luckily Dan's dad had gotten his generator going and he was going to bring it over to our house and let us borrow it for a few hours. Finally by 10pm we'd gotten the temp up to about 59 degrees.

So, back to Matt and Diva's we went to spend the night. After church on Sunday we located a generator at Sear's in Danville and so we headed over there to pick it up. Of course it didn't come with the right plug and we were already home before we realized that and every place that would carry them around here were out of stock.

By now it's about 7:30pm and Dan's dad comes back over to help him hotwire the generator. Finally at about 9pm they get the generator going. Now we have heat! Dan was able to get the right plug Monday morning at Ace Hardware. They'd just gotten a shipment in and he got there early enough to grab one.

The generator was such a blessing because we could run the heat and lights and pretty much everything we needed except the oven and washer/dryer. I was extremely thankful though when we finally got full power restored Wednesday at 4:30.

The men who worked in our backyard were from Florida. I'm sure they aren't used to this cold weather. The channel 3 news was even in our backyard too, but they didn't knock on my door to talk to me. That's just as well, I wouldn't have wanted to anyway.

So, now I can start my holiday baking and start preparing for Christmas. We are hosting Dan's side for the holiday's this year. I have alot to do before then.

Here's what it looked like out our front porch window.

I want to go to NYC so I can take a ride in the Cash Cab. That looks like so much fun.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, check the Discovery Channel for listings.

Oh, the disappointment

Dan's new tv was scheduled to be delivered today and I was actually getting excited about it. Well, UPS just dropped it off, but I had to refuse it because one side of the box was ripped open. I could pull the rip back and stick my hand inside-that's how big it was. So now, he'll have to call the company and get it reshipped, or cancel the order and start over. So now we won't get it till next week. The cable guy came this morning to hook up our dvr high def. box, and we won't really get the full benefit of it till it's hooked up to our new LCD tv.

The words of strangers

Ok, so today I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and get out and do some Christmas shopping. I had several people to buy for so I hit the mall. I wandered into Old Navy to look around and while I was in the women's section I noticed a couple of ladies. They were picking out clothes and I really didn't pay much attention to them until I realized they were looking at me. I thought, do I have something on my butt? does my hair look funny? Finally after what seemed like forever ( actually more like 30-40 seconds) they spoke to me. They wanted to know if they could get my opinion on something. They said they were trying to decide on an outfit to get their niece and and they couldn't decide on the two combinations of clothes they had picked. They said "She's about your age, 23-24". * That's right! They said 23-24 years old! * I said, " You just made my day because I'm 31". They both looked surprised.
I then helped them make a decision and I left Old Navy feeling much better about myself.

Now, if I could just look 20 pounds skinnier..............

God is good, all the time.

All the time, God is good.

Realization

A while back I posted that I had gotten my hair cut. I thought it was noticeably shorter. Dan, who never notices when I get my hair cut, kept telling me how much he liked it. It's been 2 weeks and not ONE person has noticed. Not even my own mother! I had to tell her and even then she didn't think it was different. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I got my haircut because it was looking horrible. So if no one notices that it's shorter, does it still look bad???? *sigh* If I were a man, I could just shave it all off. That would be so much easier.

<> I guess if this is my biggest problem, then I really don't have anything to be upset about.

Just thought I'd brag and tell everyone that Dan sold his Playstation 3 on Ebay today for $2,650. After fees and shipping and taking out the cost for the item, we end up with about $1800. He didn't even have to camp out for 3 days to get it either. He actually got very lucky and was able to have one pre-ordered at Gamestop here in town. He wanted to get one so he could start making skins for it and selling them along with his Xbox skins. He has no reason to keep it, so we made a tidy little profit. What's he going to do with his money. Well, we'll tithe 10%, and then he'll get to buy the 32in Sony LCD tv that he's been wanting for a long time. He's a happy boy!

a new look

Some of you know that I've been growing my hair out for the last year. I get in this cycle where I cut my hair, then decide to let it grow, then get to a certain point where I just can't stand it any more and then I get it all cut off again. Well, I was finally able to let it grow and live with the changes and actually like the way my hair looked. That is, up until a few weeks ago. So Monday at my hair appointment, I got it cut. It's not super short, but kinda in between where it was when I got married and where it was on Monday. I love it! It's not a lot different from how I've worn it before, but it's a nice change. And Dan must like it because he complemented me on it 3-4 times throughout the evening.

Pictures to come later!

Where I've been

I've been MIA for a few weeks on here for a few reasons. 1. I didn't really have much to say, and 2. I've been painting and painting and did I mention painting.

Last Sunday, Dan helped me move everything out of our office so I could finally get around to painting it. It's the last room in the house that still looked exactly like it did when we bought the place. So I started on Sunday with cleaning the walls and woodwork and then I got everything primed. On Monday I was able to paint all the trim and it only took me 5 HOURS!!! Ugh. Then on Tuesday I had to do it all again because 1 coat of paint was just not going to do it. So finally on Wednesday I was able to put paint on the walls and then I had to give it all a 2nd coat on Thursday. I was so glad to get the room done. It was a big job for one person, but I really like the way it turned out. It feels so much better in there. Here are some before and after shots.



I did the walls in two colors. A light blue -gray on top and then one shade darker on the bottom. The chair rail was already there, but it had been painted the same as the walls before and it wasn't really noticeable. We are also planning on getting our radiator cover professionally redone and it'll be white. Right now it's a reddish brown and it's in bad shape. We have shelves on one wall that we decided to live with because they aren't coming down without damaging the plaster walls. So Dan is going to make doors for it and they'll match the other doors that are on other built-ins.

Some of you reading this might wonder why we painted over the woodwork. Well, even though it doesn't look bad in the picture, it really wasn't in the best shape. At some point during the 50's or 60's the homeowners stripped the original woodwork and gave it a "pickled" finish. I personally don't like that finish and some of the woodwork in the house had already been painted, so we update the feel by painting all the woodwork white.

Happy Halloween everyone!!

FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Are you wearing a wig? Your hair isn't that long." ---mom

I tried enhacing the natural curl that's in my hair. I'm not going anywhere today so I thought I'd play around with a new style. It's ok, I don't mind it, but it actually takes me alot longer to do it this way. I have tons of curls when wet, but after it's dried, it kinda looks like a bad perm. I have to use a curling iron to tame some of it.

Anyway, mom stopped by earlier and I had to convince her it was my own hair!! LOL. It was too funny.

Good thing mom doesn't know how to get online and read my blog.... she may not think this is funny!

ROADTRIP

Last week Dan and I got in the car and drove through 9 states in 7 days. Starting in Illinois we went through Kentucky, Tennessee, and arrived in Atlanta, Georgia. We stayed there a few days and then drove to Charleston, SC where we stayed for 3 days. On our way home, we took the scenic route through North Carolina, Virgina, West Virgina, back into Kentucky, Indiana and finally home. Here are a few highlights from our trip.

Swan house, Atlanta, GA

Dan and I at the World of Coke, Atlanta

Chick-fil-a!!! Our goal was to eat here at least once, Long Story... The Avenue Oaks, SC. So beautiful!!!

Dan and I sitting on a 300+ year old Oak tree















A church cemetery in Charleston. We did a walking tour that told about the ghosts that "haunt" the area.

Vickie, this one's for you

Apparently, Kentucky is where you need to go to find a husband.

Don't make The Kitty angry...

What's wrong with this picture?

Here's a picture from the IKEA fall catalog. Can you find something that is wrong with this photo? If you think you know the answer, send me an email. I'll tell you if you're right or not.

39 more years to go...

until Dan and I catch up with my parents. Saturday mom and dad had a party to celebrate 40 years of wedded bliss. Their actual anniversary was Sept. 4th. We (the kids) threw mom and dad an anniversary party and Kimberly was nice enough to host at her house. Mom and dad didn't want a huge party, so we just invited their brothers and sisters and their spouses. I think everyone had a good time.

We also took lots of pictures because my 93 year old grandma was able to come. She lives in an assisted living facility and doesn't really get out much anymore. So we all took pictures with grandma...

Here's one of my favorites. Kraig handed us Elmo as a substitute for the child we don't have yet. It was so funny, as you can tell from my face!

Grandma looks like she doesn't even want to be in the photo.

Here's another one of the whole Ryan family:

My house is cold.

I refuse to turn on the heat.

Got the sweatshirts and winter slippers out today.

Beef stew in the crockpot...mmm

Confession:

I am the most indecisive person when it comes to paint color.

Now that Dan has moved his business out of the spare bedroom, it's time to give it a make-over. I have been working in this room for 4 days, it's been quite the task. First, I had to prime everything, walls, ceiling and trim. Then I painted the ceiling, but I used cheap paint from Wal-Mart and it's not a bright white. So I bought new paint from Lowe's and repainted the ceiling for the 3rd time!
All the trim got 2 coats of white paint. That was actually the easy part. Then I picked out a wall color but... I'm not sure I like it. It's ok, I could live with it. It's just not what I envisioned. This happens to me every time I paint. I usually end up painting a room twice. Dan has accepted this about me and knows that I will probably change my mind. He just says, "Whatever you want, Honey." Isn't he a great husband? I'm glad he's a patient man.

Well, it didn't take me long to figure out how to spend my earnings from the yard sale last weekend. On a trip to Lowe's to buy paint for the spare bedroom, I decided that it'd be nice to put up some kind of crown molding. For some reason this room doesn't have any molding at the top and it looks plain in comparison to the rest of the house. So $65.00 was spent...

I'm also heading out to Menards today to get two square terra cotta planters for the backyard. I've been looking at these all summer thinking how cute they are and how great they would look next to our new flower bed. They've been marked down and I just don't think I can resist any longer. Here goes another $40.00....

I've spent the last 2 days in my sister's garage trying to sell junk to strangers. Ah, the joys of yard sales!

Unlike last year, we didn't have a ton of stuff to put in the yard sale, but enough that it was still a chore. The funny thing is, no one ever forces me to do this. I always volunteer of my own free will. You'd think I'd learn...

It's not that I don't like yard sales exactly, I just hate the part where you have to pack everything up that didn't sell and find something to do with it. As I came home today I was going to make a stop at the Salvation Army to drop off all the unwanted leftovers. I pull up to the door and it says "We are full. No more donations till after 12pm on Monday." Great! Now I am stuck with all this junk in my car for the next 2 days.

My reward? I'm $126.00 richer. Now, what will I spend it on.... any suggestions????

I'd like for you all to meet my "special" friend Becky.





She likes to collect bellybutton lint and used staples. She's a whiz at battleship and she is a tv expert on the 80's show Punky Brewster. She enjoys her job at McDonald's where she's in charge of wiping off tables. If you see her there be sure to say hi.

It finally happened to me...

You've all heard stories from the women in your life about a time when they lost their wedding ring. Well, now I have my own story to tell and hopefully it'll be the only story for the rest of my life.

Last Sunday I picked up my mom and my sister in law because we were all going to a baby shower. My mom and I were sitting in the car at SIL's house waiting for her to come out the door and my mom who recently broke her arm asked if I would help her put lotion on her good arm. (My dad gets grossed out by lotion so he wouldn't do it). So I took off my ring and sat it in my lap and proceeded to lotion up her arm. After I was done with that I wasn't sure if SIL knew we were in her driveway cause we'd been sitting there for awhile. I decided to hop out and go to the door to get her and I forgot the ring was on my lap!

My SIL comes out and we get in the car and we head off to the baby shower and I am completely unaware that my ring is gone.

Once we get to the shower and I walked in the door I realized that I had lost my ring. I then start to panic and of course I am now crying at the realization. I frantically call my brother and I am trying to explain to him through my sobbing that I think my ring may be in his gravel driveway. While I was still on the phone with him, he stepped outside to look and in a few minutes he had found it! I was so relieved. That's what we have insurance for, but still a replacement would never have been the same.

Moral of this story, I won't put lotion on my mom's arm while in the car. :) And I will be more careful where I take off my ring.

Follow-up to April Post

Ok, so back in April I posted that I had about 10 friends or family members that were expecting babies. I thought I'd update the list and add a few more.

Patty (cousin) --boy
Lynette (neighbor) --girl
Karen (HS friend) --girl
Tonya (mta friend) --boy
Michelle (mta friend) --boy
Heather (TCC friend) -- boy

Jennifer (cousin) --still waiting
Katrina ( mta friend) --still waiting, due in a few weeks

Here are some recent add-ons to my list:

Gina
Corrie

It's a baby-palooza around here!

Take a look

Here's a link to the landscaping pictures we've taken. They start with the before and the last ones were taken yesterday.


http://tinyurl.com/q5uma

finally...pictures

The basement looks soooo much better and it feels so clean!

home improvement projects

Dan and I have been working hard this past week to get some projects done around the house. We fianlly got the basement ceilings, walls, foundation ledges and the floor painted. What a world of difference paint makes. It no longer feels like a 1926 basement. There's still more to be done, but the big project of painting is over.


I was able to get some shrubs planted in the new beds that we had put in around the house. I need to get a few more because it seems a bit bare on one corner and I still need to mulch everything. But, it's starting to look so much better. The landscapers finished up the flower beds in the back of the yard and around the gargage. I think we'll wait till next year to put the flowers in. We've spent enough money on the yard for one summer. The landscapers will have to come back and level the yard so we can plant new grass. Having new grass will make such a big difference-I can't wait to see it when it's all done.

I wanted to post pics of our improvements but Blogger is having issues with picture uploads. I'll have to try again later.

Wedding weekend

Last Saturday was my cousin Julie's wedding. I was looking forward to going because I love a reason to get all glammed up. She got married at the church around the corner from us and I had originally thought we'd walk to the wedding, but it was too stinkin' hot. So we drove a block and parked. Oh well. We went to the reception at the former Holiday Inn. It's now called The Decatur conference center... or something to that effect. Everything was really nice. It's the kinda wedding I would have planned for myself if I had had an unlimited budget. *sigh* but I digress.

Here's a shot of Dan and I. My eyes look a little droopey. I think I was gettting ready to blink.

This is my cousin Shay. He played an sang during the coctail hour. He's amazing, he only started playing piano in college. He never had any lessons, one day he just sat down and started playing. Keep your eye out for him. Someday he'll be famous.

I love her dress.

If it's not one thing, it's another...

About an hour ago I was standing on my enclosed front porch watching the rain come pouring through the ceiling. I collected as many buckets as I could find and that helped some, but there was just too much water coming in. We've lived here a year and this is the first time this has happened. Here's why: yesterday we had new gutters installed on the house. They angled the front gutter towards the porch roof and from there it's supposed to run down and collect in another gutter. Well... that wasn't working. I could see from my dining room window that the water was shooting out onto the porch roof, which meant it was shooting up under the shingles, hence the reason it was raining inside my porch! Ah, the joys of home ownership. It seems we've been given an unfair amount of water issues. But, the silver lining in all this, the basement stayed dry!

Happy 4th of July!

This morning our street had its 48th annual 4th of July parade and party. Our street is known for its social gatherings that happen several times throughout the year. On the 4th, the kids decorate their bikes and wagons and at 9:30 am the cannon is fired and the kids race their bikes down the street and back. It's so cute to watch the kids and all their decorations. Some of them really go all out. The parade lasts all of about 3 minutes and there's no candy throwing *sigh*, but it's still in the spirit of the day. After the parade of bikes, we all wandered over to the neighbors that were hosting and we enjoyed fruit and baked goodies and chatted with people we hadn't seen in awhile.
People that previously lived on the street come back to Cobb Avenue for this annual event. One man who returns every year brings his homemade cannon and fires it to signal the beginning of the parade.
Here are a few pictures from today's event's. (sorry they're not in order, had trouble uploading them)

The man with the homemade cannon gets ready to light it!

Everyone is getting ready and waiting for the parade to start.

OK, so this is taking alot longer than we thought

The landscapers are still out back working away. They've just about got the patio part finished. I think our landscaper really underestimated the amount of time it would take to do the job. Hopefully by the end of the day they'll have it done.

Hooray

The landscapers are here! They came and started on our backyard Friday and they are about half way done with the flagstone patio! They think they'll finish it up tomorrow. Then they can start on the beds! It's so exciting. I can't wait to have it done.

Class of '93

I've recently discovered that the soap network plays reruns of Beverly Hills 90210 in the afternoons. I am hooked! I love to watch this show and see how dorky the fashion trends were at that time. As a fellow "classmate" of the graduating class of "93, I am sure I committed some of the very same fashion mistakes...the high wasted jeans, pants and skirts, the vests and men's blazers that the girls wore, and the tights under the skirts and ruffly shirts. It cracks me up. I get a good laugh out of every show.

Blessing

I am constantly amazed at how God continues to bless our lives. HE gives us everything we need and so much more. One of the recent blessings to our lives has been a new group of friends. It's so amazing to watch these relationships grow - I'm excited about what God is going to do through these new friendships.

One year

Sunday, Dan and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It's been a wonderful first year of marriage. In some ways, it seems like we've been married much longer than that... it feels like I've always known him

Dan and I spent a nice day together. We didn't do anything real special, we just hung out together. It was fun and we enjoyed the day.

Oprah...you're not my friend anymore!

I have the greatest husband in the world. He got me tickets to Oprah for our anniversary.

Last Wednesday morning Dan called me from work and told me to cancel all plans for the next few days. The Oprah show had called him and said they had two tickets for Thursday's show and could we be there tomorrow at 7am. So we packed up and headed to Chicago. We got to our hotel around 10:30pm and immediately went to bed because we had to get up at 3:00am. We had been told by friends that we needed to get there before 6am to get a good place in line. So we decided to try and get there at 5am. At 4:45 the next morning, the cab dropped us off at Harpo Studios. There was already 2 people in line. So we waited, and we waited and finally at 7am they started letting people inside. They herded us into a room where we waited for another hour or so. ( At this point I'm having Price is Right flashbacks...)

Finally, they started calling us in to be seated in the studio. Now, we were really excited because we were number 3 and 4 in line and had been told that seating is decided on a first come basis. We thought we'd be sitting right down front. Well, that was just the first dissapointment of the day. Apparently there were 100 or so people who had some kind of connection to the show and they got seated down front. So when we were let in, we had to sit in the back. Not a huge deal because it is a very small studio and every seat is a good seat. But, we wouldn't have wasted our time getting there so early if we'd known that! So now we're sitting in the studio and we're waiting again, but the production staff was very nice and kept us entertained.

Finally they got the signal that Oprah was on her way, everyone went crazy, and now the show was about to start. When I saw her in person, I immediately thought; she's shorter than I pictured, and she's thinner than she looks on tv. I guess it's true that the camera adds 10 pounds. We had no idea what the show was going to be because they won't tell you ahead of time. We were really hoping that since we were there on the last day of taping, there would be a fun give-away show. I was hoping for a new car! Not really, but free stuff anyway. That was dissapointment number 2. No free stuff. The show was on people who had shown a lot of courage.

The taping went by so quickly. When they went to "commercial" they changed the set around, and... here comes dissapointment number 3. During all the "commercials", Oprah never talked to the audience or even acknowledged we were there. And even when the show was over, she walked off the set and that was it. She never said anything. I know she's not always like that because sometimes they do that Oprah after-the-show and she interacts with her audience.

I got there at 4:45am for her, all I wanted was a "Thanks for coming".

All in all, we did have a really good time. We had some really fun people in line with us and they really made the time in line more enjoyable. It was fun to see the studio and see Oprah in person. I would like to go again and see how the experiences compare. I will also say that Dan was a real trooper through the whole experience. Not every husband would go to the trouble of trying to get tickets and then get there so early to stand in line. He was a good sport and I love him for that.

See you in reruns

This week the chains that have been tying me to the television are beginning to break. On one hand I am looking forward to my upcoming freedom, but yet I am not sure how I will get through the next few months. I said my final goodbyes to 7th Heaven on Monday night. I have been ready to say goodbye to this show for awhile now and over the last couple years haven't tuned in regularly. But with this being the final season I made sure to watch. My Tuesday night hangouts with Lorelai and Rory also came to an end this week. Although, I will miss The Gilmore Girls, I know that come September we'll pick right up where we left off. In two weeks, I will no longer be tortured by the mind-games from the cast of LOST. They've got me so confused that I don't know what the heck is going on. But I will be waiting eagerly for season three. And alas... what will I do without American Idol in my life? Only a couple more shows and we'll know if it's going to Taylor, or Elliot or Katherine. Did you hear that? Another chain is about to break. The finale of Survivor is Sunday night.

Is there something in the water?

Ok, I stopped and counted up the number of people I know who are pregnant and right now the number is up to 9. Here's a little list of my friends who are expecting:

Patty (cousin)
Jennifer ( cousin)
Lynetter (neighbor)
Karen (HS friend)
Tonya ( school friend)
Michelle ( school friend)
Katrina ( MTA/ church friend)
Karen L. ( Dan's cousin)
Heather ( TCC friend)

It seems like I am missing someone else. I'll add them when and if I can remember. :) I'm gonna have a lot of baby showers to attend and gifts to buy. Not sure I'll be invited to all these showers, but probably at least 6-7 of them!

I just keep asking myself, "Could I be next?" Who knows. I can't wait forever - I'm going to be 31 in July! "Ahhhh, the pressure!

First Serve

Just thought I would share about my experience with "First Serve" today. But first I'll give you a little background on what that is. Our church ( Glad Tidings) recently did a series on "Living Beyond Myself" and it was basically about getting out and volunteering more. They had a ministry fair during church one Sunday so you could see all the different areas that are available to volunteer. They were encouraging people to sign up for a first serve volunteer. You try it out and see how you like it with no comittment to do it again. Kind of a neat concept. Lots of times you might want to help out but are afraid once you do it then you're stuck there.

Ok, for my first serve I decided to try out the kitchen on Sunday mornings. GT has a "cafe" that serves breakfast on Sunday mornings and dinner on Wednesday night. So this morning I went and helped make food to order. I made omeletts and helped with the breakfast burritos. It was fun and I enjoyed the people that were in there. I think it's something that I'd like to do again. They commented on what a slow morning it was. I guess the kitchen is usually a bit more chaotic. Probably a good thing. If I felt too stressed I may not have wanted to go back!

Window to the Past

Here's a picture of my latest crafty project. I found this really old window frame at an antiques store a few months back. I painted the frame black, printed copies of some of my favorite old family photos, and then Dan helped attach them to the glass with some clear vinyl. I love the way it turned out. It's hanging in our hallway. Eventually Dan's mom is going to get me some copies of old family photos from his side and I'll use them to make a grouping on either side of this one. I have such a facination for family history and my mom's side of the family has some really beautiful old pictures. I am so glad that they are hanging up for us to enjoy every day.

Therapy, is it needed?

I was going through old pictures the other day and found this one of myself at age 2. Now I know why I love french fries so much... my mom dressed me in french fry pants as a child! It's all her fault! :)

Ever had a Grapple?

I noticed something new at the grocery store the other day and it sounded so interesting that I had to buy them. They were grapples (grape+apples). They are apples that have a grape flavor to them. They were packaged 4 to a container and even through the plastic I could smell the grape. Dan and I tried one last night and I have to say I am dissapointed. The grape flavor smelled stronger that it tasted. It was ok, it tasted like an apple with a hint of grape. But I am even more dissapointed in how they got the grape taste in there. I thought maybe it was some kind of cool new hybrid that someone came up with. No, all they do is soak the apples in a grape solution. Oh well...

C is for cookie

I have made a dangerous discovery at Wal-mart. There is a box of cookies that tastes very similar to the shortbread cookies at McDonalds. I love the McDonald Land cookies. Now that I have discovered these cookies.... I am in trouble. They are the Great Value vanilla cookies in the red box. At my Wal-mart they are right next to the vanilla wafers on the bottom shelf. And the best part is they are only .94 a box!!!! Now that is a Great Value. :)

I'm not Martha Stewart

Ok, it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post and I am feeling pressured to write something. I don't really have anything exciting to add, so I'll just put down a few details of what's been happening the last few weeks.

Martha Stewart's perfect chocolate cake isn't so perfect after all. For months now I have been wanting to make this cake, She made it on her show and it looked so good. I figured if it's from Martha Stewart's recipe book then it should be wonderful. Well, I have mixed feelings about this cake. The cake itself was good, although I over baked it a bit even though I took in out 5 minutes sooner than it called for. The ganache that went over it I could have done without. If I make it again I 'll do things a bit differently. I just get carried away with Martha Stewart stuff and always think her recipes are going to be better that what I've done in the past. Sometims, Kristin does know best!

My Grandma Eva has had to go live in an assisted living home. She's only been there a few weeks. And since it is a brand new facility, she is only one of three residents living in the memory loss wing. We, and by that I mean my brothers and sister and all their family went to visit with her tonight. The home is really nice and has a very upscale feel to it. Eva's not particulary happy about being there and would rather go home. But after her little adventure around the town where she lived, the family decided she needed supervision. We have discovered that our grandma has quite a fiesty side. Grandma and one of the other residents don't really get along. I guess they got in an argument last week that lasted 4 hours! They live in the memory loss wing... you'd have thought that they'd both have forgotten about the argument at some point. And grandma tried taking a swing a the lady. I didn't know my grandma had it in her. I hope that they get more residents soon...and hopefully they'll be people that Eva likes! :)

I am totally addicted to American Idol. I get sucked into this show every season. I really like the 17 year old girl, Paris. I think she's really good. For the guys, I think I like the rocker guy Chris. He reminds me of someone, I just don't know who.

Dan and I bought a new refrigerator on Saturday. It's getting delivered on Tuesday and I can't wait. It's so cute. It's stainless steel with the freezer on bottom and the french door refrigerator top. our kitchen is going to look so different... and smaller because our fridge now is dinky and doesn't even fill the whole space.

Well, that's enough ramblings for one night. Good night

My Funny Valentine

As someone who once spent years of being depressed and cynical on Valentine's Day, I can now really enjoy this holiday. I used to hate February 14th. It was just this horrible reminder that once again, I was not dating anyone. I'd watch co-workers receive beautiful bouquets of roses and discuss their dinner plans...and I would feel left out.
Now that I am finally married - I get to have Valentine's Day any day of the year. Yes, it's wonderful to get the extra attention and of course the presents on Feb. 14th , but my husband really does an amazing job of making me feel loved and appreciated every day. So now February 14th is a special day for us, but it's not the important date that I used to think it was when I was single.
Just to let you know just how wonderful my husband is, he had a dozen roses delivered to the house this morning and as part of my gift he wrote me another heartfelt love letter ( he gave me the first one last year on Valentine's Day).

To my single friends reading this, hang in there. Looking back, I'm glad now that I didn't waste Valentine's Day on men who weren't going to be my husband. All my memories of Valentine's Day are going to be about Dan and I. And I like that.

It's greek to me

I don't understand football, and I don't think I will ever care enough about it to even try and understand it. It's just a lot of people getting paid a lot of money to run up and down the field with a ball.