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.