Auntie Francie:

Our engagement photos!

2010-07-13T17:41:00.002-05:00

Our engagement photos are now online for you to view! Check 'em out!

Jason's 1st Airplane Flight Ever!

2010-06-29T16:52:00.014-05:00

Ever since Jason's birthday, I was trying to think of something special to do for him. On Mother's Day, on my way to Natalie's house, because I thought she was going to have her baby, I saw a small plane fly over me and remembered that Jason has never flown in a plane before!

I got on the phone and called my friend Joe, who's a pilot, but she said she didn't have a license to fly with other people. Then I remembered that my friend, Betsy's brother-in-law has a plane and likes to fly around, so I called her and she was able to talk to her sister, Lillian, and BIL, Jeff.

The plans were set for Sunday the 27th of June.

I was so excited and I hyped up my excitement whereas Jason was a little nervous! His mind was racing with what to expect! He's the type of guy that likes to hold his Christmas presents in his hands, shake them, and then guess what each present is. And he's usually right too! I told him, in this case, he can't just shake a box to figure out what his surprise was, and I really think it was driving him crazy! But there was just no way to give in!

The day started just fine, but then the clouds rolled in, and we've been having a ton of thunderstorms lately anyways, so another one wasn't too much of a surprise, but for the fact that we almost had to reschedule!

After we got back from looking at tuxes and registering for the wedding, the storm was gone, but it was so windy! We still were waiting to see if the wind would die down enough so we could fly.

Thankfully, it did!

We got in my car and I started driving. I told him that I really wanted to blindfold him, but he was having none of that! We headed to the tiny local airport in town and it didn't take long for him to figure out what we were going to do...

Jeff and Lillian met us at the airport and we followed them to one of the hangers, where their plane was inside. We were both so excited! I've been in planes before, even a small plane, but this was different! I know small planes can be really bumpy and I was hoping and praying that it wouldn't be a bad first experience for Jason.

The hanger had about six small planes inside. The one we flew was white and blue. A 1966 beauty! Jeff was telling us all about the plane and what everything did. Lillian and I sat in the back and Jason and Jeff sat in the front (it just held four people). But the windows were large and we could see so much! It really felt open!

The take off was the smoothest take off ever! The sky was clear and the sun was close to setting, but not quite. It was spectacular! We flew over Lake Michigan, we could see the Chicago skyline, we flew over the spot on the beach where he proposed to me, we flew over our house, Lori's house, and Rachael's house and basically just all over the county!

It was just amazing!

Yes, Jason actually got to fly the plane for about five minutes! JEALOUS!!!

This is a picture of Jason and my house and the lovely "pond" we have in our backyard!
Here's where you can see the skyline of Chicago!

What a beautiful sunset to end such a perfect day!

Why isn't he here yet?

2010-05-05T06:33:00.002-05:00

Natalie's baby has not come into the world as of right now, 7:34 a.m. Wednesday, May 5, 2010. Oh, I just can not wait for this baby to come! I'm glued to my phone! She's due tomorrow, but still! I wanna see him! And I'm so impatient! And I just pray I get the call that she's going into labor, while I'm working out, so I can stop!

Yesterday, around 6:15 a.m. or so would have been a great time to get that call, seeing as our powerflex instructor is a "squat-a-holic"! If there's a way to do squats, she'll do it along with every other thought of way to do them...

Oh, and yesterday afternoon after 3:30 would've been good, because I just got back from lunch, and I was so tired! It would've been an instant energy boost, and I could leave work!

So... will the dear, sweet, little nephew, in Natalie's belly, PLEASE COME OUT!

We all want to see you, already!

Happy Birthdays! Jack and Ben!

2010-04-28T19:46:00.002-05:00

Jack and Ben's birthday's were celebrated about three times this last week! Each time was really fun, too!
We started the celebration at their grandparents house for dinner on Saturday.
Ben, Grandma Bonnie, Grandpa Dick, and Jack.This is their birthday celebration with their friends on Sunday. Which was followed by two hours of laser tag with a ton of kids. We had a ton of fun, too! At one point, I ran into a corner and got a (still) very painful bruise on my shoulder; at the same time, someone 'got' me with their laser, and Rachael thought I was play acting that I actually got shot! Ha-ha! But, no, it still hurts!Jason and I took the boys out on Tuesday night to pick out their birthday presents and take them out to ice cream. They had a pretty fun time too! We got off pretty easy, somehow, Ben was totally content with a $7.99 play gun and Jack got a whole lot of stuff for only about $20! What a deal! We were trying to get them to get more stuff, but they were completely happy with what they chose and didn't want anything else! We then headed to Dairy Queen and had ourselves a pretty great time!
Da Boyz...

My Grandma Annie

2010-04-20T20:49:00.002-05:00

Rachael, Lori, Bella, and I were lucky enough to fly down to Oklahoma to visit our Grandma in a nursing home. There's a lot I'd like to write about, but for now, I will just add a few photos, and write later.

This was right before Rachael and I left Grandma Annie, "all alone" as she put it. Makes us so sad! (She's great at guilt trips though! Gotta love her!)

Grandma just loved Bella!
Grandma has some of the cutest facial expressions!
This is right after we woke her up from her nap and surprised her that we had come all the way there to visit her for the weekend! She was so happy! (And thought she was dreaming too!)
Me and Grandma in the courtyard in the middle of the nursing home. We had such a great weekend!

Custom-Home-Made Living Room Curtains!

2010-03-14T20:35:00.003-05:00

There was much need for some living room curtains. After Rachael and I searched for over an hour for fabric at Jo-ann's and not finding anything, Natalie was able to go with me to Fields to find the perfect fabric. It wasn't something I would've chosen, but after discussing what would go great with what I have and whatever I may choose as future furniture, we found the fabric!
Natalie and I worked on getting the fabric cut this morning, then she had to leave to go home, so I worked on getting them pinned, sewed, and complete... and no, I've never made curtains before! Jason and I headed to Kohl's to get a curtain rod, but they only have them online and no in stores, so we headed to Jo-ann's and found one that was on sale! Yay! He started hanging them, while I finished the curtains and ironed them.Rocco's found another hiding place!
And here's a close-up of the yellow-ish fabric with cream and dark brown accents. Perfect!

Vegas!

2010-03-08T13:55:00.005-05:00

Vegas Day 1:
We flew into Vegas in the early afternoon on Sunday.
I was lucky enough to sit in the middle of this couple, Bob and Lois, celebrating their 14th wedding anniversary. He likes the window seat, she likes the aisle. So I sat in the middle! Luckily, they were in the front row of the entire plan and I was one of the last few to enter the airplane. They were very entertaining! Oh! And "technically" they've only been married for three years because they married on February 29th! They could definitetly understand the coolness of me and Jason getting married on 10.10.10!
We had to take two taxis to the hotel, which wasn't too far from the MGM. Not much to see on the way either.
This is me and my friend Karlee.
After arriving, there were about six of us girls that flew together, we all decided to eat together in one of the many restaurants in the hotel, then Karlee and I ventured out after dark to see what Vegas was all about.
We didn't get that far. I ended up going to bed shortly after 8:15 p.m. Vegas time (11:15 my time!)

Vegas Day 2: But I made up for it, by getting up at 4 a.m. Vegas time and walking around the strip!
Yes, they're slanted!
Ready for our first day at the "show"!
When the work day ended, the night life began and we explored! This is Cassandra and me.
There were a lot of bridges over the road so we didn't have to jay-walk. A good thing.

Vegas Day 3:
I wanted to check out all the wedding chapels, but hadn't seen one yet! Then, on the way to work on the last day, I realized that we had been walking by the MGM Forever Grand Chapel the whole time! I wasn't able to go in, but it still looked pretty cool.
Here some of us are, ready for our day of work.
After work, I was able to check out the lions in the lobby of our hotel. They were so cute! There were three of them, and they looked just like my cat Rocco, only bigger!
I had Natalie in mind, when I saw this Cafe, and had to go in! Lucky me, they had a CHOPPER CHAPEL inside!
After checking out the chopper chapel, we went to eat at PF Changs then wondered around, checking out the hotels, the fountains, my favorite, the Belagio, we went up the Paris tower, rode the roller coaster and just had a blast!Nat? You think your little baby would want to wear this?
And check out this meat locker from the New York, New York!
And of course, the wedding dress... so beautiful!

Katya's birthday party!

2010-02-27T17:05:00.003-05:00

Katya's birthday party was held at a gymnastics place and it was a ton of fun! I even found myself doing round-off's! It was a ton of fun! Happy Birthday Katya!

Getting a new house!

2010-02-09T07:49:00.002-05:00

Jason and I finally found out yesterday, that we will be closing on our house tomorrow! Finally! This has been such a long road, and so ridiculously long!
I'm so excited though!
I can't wait to actually have a place that's permanent!
And it will be MINE!

I don't know how many places I've lived, but I'm sick of moving... I've probably moved at least as many times as the years I am old! I'll have to count it out and figure it out, but it's been too many times! Ha-ha!

Anyone want to help me move my stuff this week?

Que Pasa?

2010-01-25T14:32:00.001-05:00

I've currently lost 63.2 pounds now! Yay!
Oh, and I'm also trying to read a lot this year... I've completed 7 books thus far. Reading another one, and listening to one in the car, and listening to one in my bathroom, while I get ready for work in the morning. I'm loving it!

I'm not done yet... but here's a few pics

2010-01-14T07:44:00.003-05:00

This picture was taken last Easter. Just a few days before I joined Weight Watchers and started working out. (I'm the one on the right. The FAR right. LOL)
This picture was taken yesterday... 61.4 pounds later.
I still have more to go... but my sister Natalie just sent me the first picture and I was amazed at the difference!

A New Christmas Tradition

2009-12-29T21:06:00.014-05:00

Rachael had an idea this year. To make cookies and take them to the local nursing home and sing carols to all the residents. Somewhat in hopes that this would be a "pay-it-forward" to those who may not have anyone to visit them on Christmas day in the nursing home this year. Hoping that someone like us would go to the nursing home our Grandma Annie is in, just because, even if they don't know anyone there too!
There was a huge group of us that went to the local nursing home on Christmas Day: Mom, Bob, Rachael and Derrick and their four kids, Madeline, Natalie, and Jason and I. Mom brought her accordion to play and we started going room to room and singing songs like "Silent Night" and "Away in a Manger".

We met this lady at the beginning and she liked us so much, she followed us along for almost the entire time! She seemed to like the cookies and tried to hide them in her lap under a newspaper!
This lady was so happy to see us! When we went in her room, we asked her if we could sing a Christmas carol to her and she told me that she would love to hear us sing and that because the weather was so bad, no one was able to come and visit her, we were her only visitors all day!

The kids were such good sports! I think they really liked being there for the residents!

I'm sure they loved our cookies and singing, but they were really interested in mom's accordion! They just loved it!

All the kids were such little sweethearts!

This lady followed us around for a little while too and kept telling us adults that the kids keep thinking that she's one of them! So cute!

We thought we were all done and started heading to the door when this lady and her roommate called out to us. They must have had their door shut when we were walking by and we missed them! But they said they had been waiting for us to come to their room! They were so happy!

There were many who were awake and welcomed our singing, and there were those that were laying in their beds, not sleeping, but looked as if they were a little out of it, but once we started singing, and saw them mouth all the words to the songs, we knew they appreciated us being there. A couple of the ladies started crying once they heard us singing, which brought tears to my eyes too!

The more comfortable we got being there, the more hugs we started giving to the residents. Even the kids got into the hugging mood!

One lady was playing on her laptop and when we came in her room, she said "no cookies for me!" but she said we could still sing to her... as she continued to play on her laptop. After we sang, I asked her if she'd like a hug and she said, "honey, I can ALWAYS use a hug!"

We had so much fun! Jason and I would like to make this a tradition!

He just can't keep secrets!

2009-12-23T08:56:00.002-05:00

Jason is the most horrible secret keeper ever! If he has a secret, he'll just tell me! I don't have to beg or ask or anything! He'll just volunteer it!
Sometimes it's great, for example, when we were just dating, I was getting a little anxious because we had been dating for so long, and he hadn't proposed yet, and being the girl that I am, it was frustrating to not know if he was in that track of mind... until, of course, he told me the secret: that he'd bought the ring! Ha-ha! Oh, but I was glad he did, of course! I like surprises and all, but I also like to be on the "in" too!
Anyways, I think I pretty much know what I'm getting for Christmas this year! It just cracks me up! He can take one day off, go Christmas shopping, and find EVERYTHING on his list! Who does that? I've been shopping since at least Black Friday and finally finished this last Sunday, and if I have time, I might even pick up one more thing!

Oh, but of course, he likes to be surprised! Yup. He doesn't want to give me a list of things he wants for Christmas, because he'd rather choose to be surprised at what he'd getting, and then play the game of "what's in the box" by shaking and feeling it on Christmas Eve when we open our presents. (And then he'll guess right almost every time of what actually is in the box!)
Either way, last night, after he got all the stuff he got for me, he was telling me some of the stuff, and asking me, "what color did you want, again?" AH!
Oh, well.
What can you do?
Nothing!
I told him that he better not complain about anything he gets for Christmas, because he did not give me a list of what he wanted.
(Luckily for me, he's a lot better at doing that, than keeping secrets!)

Candy story - Notre Dame Style

2009-12-10T13:58:00.003-05:00

Next week, at work, there is a competition. The week will be full of fun holiday games and one of the competitions, is to write a story, must be holiday themed, and use candy as words in the story. You then have to put it up on a poster, with the candy. Must use at least 10 different kinds and not more than 20. I've bolded all the candies I'm using, so you know which ones they are.

Here's what I'm going to be submitting:

Twas the Day of the National Championship Game

Twas the day of the National Championship Game, when all through Pasadena,
Everyone was headed to the stadium, even the famous Joe Montana.
The leprechaun and the band were all set to go,
And the golden helmets were ready to glow.

The Buckeyes, those runts, were as smug as warheads,
While the vision of a Buckeyes loss danced in Irish heads.
Irish footballs were thrown on the field with care,
In hopes that a big “W” soon would be there.

When out on the field there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my seat to see what was the matter.
Up in the air the football flew like a flash,
Tate tore down the field and ran a mad dash.

The goal line was in his sight, and the ball,
landed safely in his arms, ‘cause he’s the best in college football.
When, what to my horrifying eyes should appear,
But a red hot Ohio State football player without fear.

With a chunky jelly belly, so plump and slow,
I knew in a moment there would be a big blow.
But out of nowhere our offense they came,
Weis whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Run Allen! Run, Hughes! Run, Aldridge and Olsen!
Go get them, Rudolph, Floyd, Riddick and Clausen!
Go help Golden Tate! Go block those Slo Pokes, you Smarties!
Go help your teammate now, and laters I’ll host your parties!

And then, in an instant, I suddenly heard “boo’s”!
It made me nervous, until I realized they were “Hughes”!
Tate must have given the ball to Robert, our halfback,
And Tressell, the Ohio State Head Coach, had an anxiety attack!

And then, in a krackel, I saw thirty-three,
You know, the guy getting his bachelor’s degree.
He was running and dodging and turning around,
Down to the goal line he went with a bound.

He was wearing a white uniform, his helmet all gold,
But Look! A man in red had him in a wrestling hold!
Hughes dove towards the goal line, when he broke free,
That’s just one more touchdown in this skoring spree!

We saw the ref, hands raised in the air,
A TOUCHDOWN! (Of course, Ohio said, “unfair”!)
If only “touchdown Jesus” could have seen,
ND win this good and plenty of us doing the pushup routine!

Wake up the echoes! Shake down the thunder!
Forty-five to zero! Ohio’s going under!
We yell “shut-out”, ‘cause they didn’t score,
We have finally won this rivalry war!

We sprang from our seats, chanting, “WE-ARE-N-D!”
We’re numero u-no! (Number one)! You see?
Then up in the sky, Santa showed up to proclaim,
“Merry Christmas, Fighting Irish!” and “Rah, Rah for Notre Dame!"

(As you know this is all a big dream,
If it were real you know I would scream.
Santa Claus look-a-like Charlie chuckles anyway,
It’s rare to get fired AND have a big payday!)

Tony's Second Birthday!

2009-12-09T14:16:00.002-05:00

We celebrated Tony's birthday last Sunday, but it really was this last Monday the 7th, not sure how Lori talked Todd into doing that, since he's so against celebrating birthdays on a day other than the actual birthday!
Oh, well. We had fun!
Jack gave Tony his favorite Barney for his birthday. I'm pretty sure Tony was happy about that!Tony was so infatuated with the balloons! He kept playing with it! So did Bella!Here you see Tony looking forward to the cake!
Here Tony is with his car cake, ready to blow out the candles!
And here he is with his Elmo cake! He got to blow out a ton of candles that day!

Just a few pics from Thanksgiving, more to come when I have more time!

2009-12-02T14:21:00.002-05:00

Baby Bella, dressed on my mom's baby dress she used to have as a baby.
Tony playing peek-a-boo!
Me and baby Bella. So cute!

The twelve days of Thanksgiving - Boot Camp Style

2009-11-22T20:23:00.003-05:00

Last Friday morning my Boot Camp instructor announced that we were going to go through the twelve days of Thanksgiving that morning.

1 - minute of jump rope
2 - laps around the track
3 - push ups
4 - stand up/lay downs (basically, hold a dumbbell over your head while standing and then lay all the way down and then get back up; that's one.)
5 - squat/jumps (squat down and then jump up with your hands in the air)
6 - triceps push ups on each side (lay on your side with the hand of your top arm on the ground, your other arm wrapped around you, like a hug, and then push up the top part of your body)
7 - leg lifts on each side (lay on your side and lift both legs up in the air)
8 - ab crunches (lay on your back with a dumb bell in your hands and then sit up with the dumb bell up in the air as one)
9 - side skates (jump sideways and touch the ground, then sideways jump to the other side and touch the ground)
10 - plateau on the ground then lift each foot/leg up
11 - jumping jacks
12 - squat thrusts (stand up, put your hands down on the ground by your feet then jump your feet back so your in a push up position, then jump your feet back up to your hands and then stand up and that's one)

So here's how it works. You start with one. Then you add two. Then you start over with one, two, and add three. Each time you start over at the beginning and then add another one.

And yes, I'm still very sore!

Dress and Diet Adventures

2009-11-13T13:29:00.002-05:00

I've already posted on my other blog about shopping for wedding dresses this week with my mom, but I wanted to make sure you all knew to go there and check it out!
I wish we had more time to look at dresses, because it was just so fun, but I did try on a lot of them and since I'm waiting to get one until I'm a little smaller, it would seem smart to do another wedding dress party in a couple of months or so.
I'm up to 52.8 pounds lost now, and I'm feeling great! But I've got more to go.
I've also been getting up at 5 a.m. to do the YMCA workouts in the morning before I go to work, so I get them out of the way. It's pretty addicting, once you start and are in the habit of going, especially when you see the results! Friday mornings is where they have Boot Camp at the Y and it's so hard core, and I'm ALWAYS sore after that class, but I know it works so good, that it's hard NOT to go to it!
Either way, I am very thankful that I've got the motivation to lose weight and continue to have that motivation! And I'm also glad I waited to try on dresses until now, because as sad as it is, I just don't think I would have fit into any of the dresses I tried on this week, but maybe one!

Keep checking my other blog for other wedding dress updates though!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:59:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween to all! Just wanted to share a few pictures of the family... in no particular order (since I can't move the pictures around after I've just added them... Oh, well).

I noticed these cute leaves hanging from a really sad empty tree, in the shape of a heart and thought it was too cute not to take a picture of.
Tony: still SO BIG!
Tony: playing "Peek-a-boo!"
Me, Ben, and Jason: A.K.A. Mama Bear, Baby Bear, and Papa Bear!
The kids: Katya (Cat-Woman), Jack (Spider man), Kristen (Barbie), and Ben (Urlacher).

Jack, showing off their cute pumpkin.
Baby Bella: the cutest pink baby bunny rabbit ever!
Bella and Auntie Francie... isn't her smile just adorable???
Ben was going to be choo-bah-kah (a word I can't spell) but didn't like it, so I snapped a few pictures before talking him into being a Bear with me and Jason!
Me and Barbie, and yes, I still have that Barbie song stuck in my head!

Number 20!

2009-10-07T08:26:00.005-05:00

My little sister, Natalie, is now known as "Prego". That is her new nickname for the next 7 months or so. This means that once she has "baby nay-nay" I will have 20 (TWENTY!) nieces and nephews!
This also officially means that I am the last of the family to get married, AND the last in the family to have kids! I guess the best is always last! Ha! Ha!

I am so happy for you, Natalie and Adam! I can't wait to see that baby! Oh, and don't feel shy about naming your baby after your favorite sister (don't worry, I won't tell the others)! And don't forget you're still my matron of honor, too, so don't forget about all the cool ideas you have for my wedding! And Nat, please continue to tell me how hungry you always are and all the food you are eating... as it is really fun to hear about, now that I'm on a diet! lol

Yay! I'm going to be an auntie! AGAIN!

More cute pictures of Tony and Bella!!!

2009-10-03T16:36:00.007-05:00

It wasn't easy, but since they both decided to wake up from their naps at the same time, and early too, I figured I make them pay me back with some cute pictures! I had to redress Bella, because somehow, and I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow, her cream dress she was wearing earlier, got milk AND mashed bananas on it... I'm sure it will come out, but I saw this dress in her room, and thought it was too cute not to be on her!
I originally had them situated so that Tony had his arm around Bella, but it just didn't seem to work well, so Bella latched onto his arm, which turned out to be much cuter!

I even think they both had fun letting me take so many pictures of them!

They were acting so sweet, so I thought it might be cute, if I got Tony to kiss his baby sister! I'm not sure what my sister is teaching her children, but my idea of "kiss" is not quite Tony's idea of what it is! But it sure makes for an awesome picture, doesn't it??? And the look on Bella's face is absolutely priceless!

There was something about Tony's look when he woke up from his name... I just had to take his picture! And his hair was so adorable! I didn't want to touch it! It was the perfect "bed-head" hair-do!

He's so handsome!

By the way, I took all these pictures on Lori's camera, and that's why I have to blog about them immediately, before she puts them on her blog and/or facebook first! Ha-ha! And I also uploaded them on my walgreens site so I can have them printed too!

And does anyone question that I love being an Auntie?

Well, I didn't win... but I did!

2009-09-28T10:12:00.002-05:00

Today was the final weigh-in for the Slimdown Challenge at work. It's been going on since May and I've been working hard! This last week I've been working out at the Y mornings and after work and have been really strict about not eating dinners, or just not eat a lot of dinner.
I wanted to win the money, which wasn't even $200 but still, I wanted to win the money because I was going to donate it to Rachael's "Simple Wishes" charity for the kids that live in orphanages in Russia. Unfortunately, I didn't win. The money that is.
But I did win, in the end, because I lost weight! I weighed in as the third place winner with 15.25%!!! The two men that beat me were at 19%!
It was a pretty good competition too! A lot of "talk" throughout the entire summer. And it was fun too because we all kinda kept each other in check throughout all the events our department had!
Either way, I had a lot of fun losing weight and this Slimdown Challenge was fun and went along with my weight watchers plan too!
Anyone else losing weight out there? Tell me what you're doing!

One-on-one with Bella

2009-09-24T08:21:00.002-05:00

Bella and I had a lot of fun last night. Just chillin' out...I love this sideways look, I think she was trying to see what Brewster (the dog) was doing.

She was trying to take off her socks, and they were on pretty good, so she really had to tug!
Here she's already utilizing her eyebrow look! So cute!

Bell's and Ton(e)-Ton(e)

2009-09-18T16:09:00.002-05:00

I've been spending a lot of mine time over at Lori's house lately. Whether or not she invites me and Jason over for dinner, I still end up at her house, almost every other day of the week, if not more. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but I do know this much (and in no particular order:
1. She's a good cook.
2. When I cook, it's more fun for me to cook at her house than mine because her kitchen is bigger (and she has a dishwasher!).
3. She also has a grill and making baked potatoes and then putting them on the grill after rolling them in olive oil and coarse salt, they are AWESOME!
4. They literally have fresh-from-the-garden veggies readily available!
5. They have the back porch almost done and a fire pit, just perfect for s'mores!
6. And... I love, love, love her kids!

Bella, is just a cute little baby! I call her "Bells" most of the time. And she loves it when I sing to her! In fact, if someone can give me some cute baby songs to sing, that would be most helpful, seeing as I can only get two stuck in my head, "With Bella in the family... happy, happy, home!" and "The Itsy-bitsy-spider" which she just loves! Most of the time, if she's crying, and I start singing, she stops! And sometimes it helps her go to sleep too! I love it! And I've also been able to join Lori and Bella and Tony for Sabbath School and I take Bella to her little class and she really likes it! She likes the songs and the toys. But it's a real work out! I have to pick her up to take her to the felt board and then go back to my seat and put her into her little baby seat, and then 2 minutes later, they want us to go up to pet the stuffed animals, and then back to our seats and back and forth, and back and forth! If it weren't for the cute looks on her face, I just don't know if it'd be worth it! But you can really tell she loves it! Oh, and they also sing songs the whole time and one song they sing and come around and put a little crown on their head and let them see themselves in the mirror, and she loves that part!
And tell me, how can anyone resist those cute little cheeks???!!!???

And Tony, who I affectionately call "Tone-Tone" is so adorable. He calls me either Francie, or Auntie, when he sees me and it's all jumbled up, but I know who he's talking about and I love it!
The other day I pulled up and Lori had Tony in his favorite red wagon and he didn't want to go inside, which is the case ALL THE TIME so I told her I'd hang out with him, so she could go inside and make dinner. I pulled him all through the eggplant field and he has the cutest little laugh that makes me laugh!By the way, don't look at his shirt, because I know it wasn't super clean, but I didn't want to change him and then get another shirt dirty, since we were out playing in the yard! But isn't he just so adorable? And he's in that stage right now, that he says whatever you want him to say. It's so cute! Oh, and the other day, Lori put on an episode of Barney (yes, I know, but if you saw the way he reacted to it, you would want him to watch it too!) His eyes lit up and he just sat there in a trance watching the opening song of Barney! And it's actually quite educational too!

That's all for now! I just wanted to write down what's been going on!

Okay, so Notre Dame lost last week...

2009-09-18T16:05:00.002-05:00

A co-worker of mine, Jimmy, and I made a bet on the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game last weekend. If Notre Dame won, he'd have to wear a ND Jersey for an entire day at work. If they lost, then I'd have to get him his favorite long-john donuts.
But I wasn't going down that easy!
Luckily, for me, the local bakery hooked me up with green "ND"s on all the donuts! BOO-YAH!

Some of what I got at Fields!

2009-09-10T12:46:00.002-05:00

Natalie has been asking about what fabric I got at Fields Fabrics this last Monday, so I decided to take a picture of them and blog about it! I only got 1/2 yards of each of these and I also got a few remnants and one of the cute pink wools that Rachael got!
I love the brown, orange and deep red in this print!
Nat, I think you made something out of this before, but I just love that color blue with the brown!
I think this one will look cute with grey or black accents or a bright flower maybe???
The pink above and the one below go together and will be a really cute purse! One on the outside and one on the inside. I think Nat's MIL Julie made a purse with the blue tone of the print below, and it turned out super cute!

I like this print (below). It reminds me of those candy corn that comes out in the fall and Grandpa Chuck, because no matter what the season was, he always had that candy in his candy dish!And here's a wool/polyester fabric, I think will look cute as a Hobo bag of some kind. Can't wait to get sewing!
So... when is our next sew-marathon? Rachael and Natalie???

The local county fair (July)

2009-09-04T12:43:00.003-05:00

I joined Rachael and the kids this year at the county fair and had such a fun time! It was pretty easy this year, because all the kids are tall enough to ride most of what they want to, except for Ben, but he still had a great time riding what he could! I got to hang out with Ben most of the day, so I got a lot of pictures of him!
Another thing that was nice, was that I didn't have to ride any rides! And I still had fun!

Ben and Katya
Rachael and Ben
Kristen and Jack

The kids really seemed to like this fun house!Katya's showing all her arm strength as the circle goes around.
Ben and Jack's cousin Bethany (Bethany's brother Adam also joined us!)

My cousin, Andrew called me while I was there and told me he was over by the horses, so we took a break from all the rides and went over there to check out the horses.Uncle DeMonte was there, too!

Here we are with "Tuppins".

Really cute pumpkin ideas on my other blog!

2009-09-04T08:21:00.003-05:00

I just posted some really cute pictures of pumpkins for my wedding! Check it out, here! I also just did another post about guest books, here!

***this is for all those that aren't quite used to checking out my other blog! (Thanks, Nat!)***

Tony and hide and seek

2009-09-03T14:04:00.002-05:00

I was in the car with Lori the other day and Tony was so cute in the back seat, I just had to take a couple of pictures! Trying to hide behind his hat! A lot cuter than me trying to hide behind the seat, I'm sure!

The hood life- why I love fall!

2009-08-27T12:08:00.003-05:00

I got a whiff of fall this morning as I left my house and headed to work! Yes! 60 degrees-ish, clean, and fresh air and I can wear hoodies now! I love hoodies so much! I hardly ever put the hood over my head, but I love the middle pocket that I can snuggle my fists in, when it's a little chilly and I love the colorful array of hoodies in my closet, too! They are so comfortable!

Just thought I'd let you know!

Me and the Maytag Repairman!

2009-08-25T08:19:00.002-05:00

As promised, here are the two pictures I got with the Maytag Repairman! I was so stoked! Poor guy...
This was the first night in Orlando at the beach party... he was covered in blue and the only one wearing long sleeves, so when I saw him from across the large eating area, I just knew who he was!
Oh, and yes, I got a picture with him the next day at the convention too! I was so stoked!

It was kind of funny, because every time someone would stand next to him for a picture, someone would yell out, "hey, [insert name], stand up!" Clay is pretty super tall! I think about 6 and a half feet tall! He was really nice though! And I have bragging rights at work now! Yay!

Decoration Ideas - post

2009-08-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

Another post on my other blog! Here!

New post on "jasonandfrancie.blogspot.com"!

2009-08-18T13:00:00.001-05:00

Check out this super short post here on my new blog!

Updates to come later with pictures, but for now...

2009-08-17T22:55:00.002-05:00

I'm super tired from today's exhausting craze of events! Because my camera's battery is flashing in red, I'll have to post pictures later, but here's a rundown of events:
I got up to work out at 6 a.m. and it was absolutely beautiful to see the barely lit sky with palm trees blowing in the easy breeze (not a hurricane breeze, knock, knock) and the small slit of the moon shining just above the north star (I think it was the north star, but not sure). Then I was able to go get breakfast consisting of grits, fruit, and a yogurt. Total cost to my work? $19 something! Yes, even I wonder why they let me have a credit card! Ha! We worked from 9 a.m. to just after 6 p.m. today at the convention and it was pretty wild! Besides having the coldest temperature in the place, it wasn't too bad! They served an awesome spread for lunch, consisting of salad, soups, bread, fried chicken, some other kind of meat, and macaroni, oh, and tables and tables of dessert! I somehow had the strength to eat a plateful of salad and barely half a role. And yes, weight watchers is non-existent here.
We ended up going to dinner at one of the fancy restaurants here in the hotel, which I'll have to tell you about later, with pictures, but it was awesome! Definitely a first for me! They really catered to my vegetarian needs, and I swear the chef must have been a vegetarian, because for someone to make the food for me, the way he did, and not know what it's like, would be incredible! I haven't had something like this before IN MY LIFE! IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!
After dinner, we all went for a nice little humid walk outside and someone had the idea to see how many of us could fit in one of those photo booths. Apparently, only five and maybe to fingers for bunny ears. Unfortunately, the only pictures we got, were the ones I took of those five trying to squish themselves inside this little box, because after the "pictures" were taken and everyone piled out of the hut, we realized that the nice little heart shaped picture inside the Disney characters on the print out, was just fuzz! Yes! That's right! A Disney character framed heart with fuzz in the middle! We were all laughing so hard, I had tears rolling down my face!
Alright, I need to go to bed so I can work out again in the a.m.
Goodnight for now!

Oh, and I got another picture with Clay - the Maytag repair man! Boo-yah!

Vacation Time! Oops, I mean "Work Time!"

2009-08-17T06:38:00.004-05:00

It was a long day, yesterday. We left for the Chicago airport around 9 and made it into Orlando about 4 p.m. Since we didn't have anything planned until the 7 p.m. Beach Party I decided to talk a walk around.This is the shot from the cab. I thought everyone in the cab-bus would make fun of me for taking the picture, but as soon as I took the picture, they were all like "oh! Nice!" ha-ha... I know they wish they thought of it!When I reserved my room, I requested the highest floor I could and a king size bed. As you can see I got the bed and if you look below, you can see I got a pretty high room too! Sweet!This is part of the view from my room, facing the Swan hotel. It's a pretty sweet view too!

I decided to take a walk on the "Boardwalk" and they had these cute Surreys with fringe on top! If I weren't by myself, I would've wanted to go biking in one of these!

They have a boat that goes around to the boardwalk, Epcot, Disney and a bunch of other places and it's free, so I decided to try it out. They have a cute little Lighthouse:

I can't tell you how many times I had "Under the boardwalk" stuck in my head! (...down by the sea...)!

There you can see another boat, like the one I was on and behind is the hotel I'm staying in!
It was really hot and humid, so I stopped to get an ice cream! And yes, I'm sticking to my diet as much as possible, but I just had to have one! So, I go in the store and I asked the guy if the sherbet or the light soft serve was lower in fat and he advised me to try the low-fat Oreo cookie soft serve, and then I was trying to figure out if I should have the cone or a cup, and he said the cup would be better, and I asked "better than a cone?" And he replied, quite matter-of-fact by-the-way "well... you aren't going to eat the cup, now... are you?" It was so funny! Because it was pretty logical!

Just a cute shot of the benches.

Oh! And a teaser: Since I have to get ready to work now, I'll have to post a couple of pictures from last night's beach party because I got a picture with the MAYTAG MAN! WA-HOO! Oh, and yes, I did act like a crazed fan! Oh, well!

A new look

2009-08-12T08:21:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, I got my hair cut. This is before:

And this is after:This is how she did my hair, but I don't know how to do it like this... so this is how I did my hair this morning:I'll have to play around with it, I guess.

The t-shirt bag

2009-08-05T10:51:00.002-05:00

My cousin Emily flew to Ponepae* last Sunday, so I made her a t-shirt bag from a t-shirt I stole from Jason (he actually gave it to me) and she loves this team, so I knew she'd love it too!
If I weren't in a hurry, I would've turned this picture the right way for you all. Either way, there's an extra side pocket here on the back of the bag.
*not sure how to spell it; I'll look it up later.

My birthday celebration

2009-07-27T10:14:00.006-05:00

On Friday, my sisters threw me a pretty awesome little birthday celebration! They made haystacks (aka: taco salad) and ice cream along with a plethora of ice cream toppings!
I only had a little bit of the ice cream but I still had enough to put a little candle inside and blow it out, with the help of my favorite little boys!I scored big this year on presents! My sister, Natalie, made the cutest purse!

I scored big this year on presents! My sister, Natalie, made the cutest little purse! And she also bought me the most awesome-est hummus from one of our favorite restaurants by her house and on top of all that... she brought it to my work for me! And when I got out of my meeting, I came back to my desk that had been decorated by my friends, including a huge bouquet of beautiful flowers and a cake and then this purse by Natalie! How awesome is that! And then Rachael gave me a really good smelling candle and a choice of what present I wanted. I chose to go with her, Kristen, and Lori to a Taylor Swift/Kelly Pickler concert this October in Chicago! I can't wait!

Thanks everyone for making my 29th birthday celebration awesome!

Vacation? Or work?

2009-07-21T12:58:00.001-05:00

In August, my employer is flying me to Orlando for a convention and I get to stay here!
I'm so excited! And I even got my own Business Credit Card! Besides working, we're going to a huge beach party and dinner at nice restaurants every night!
I'm really excited about it!
One of my co-workers told me that I'm really lucky, because I got chosen to go this year. They asked everyone that was interested in going to tell their manager, which I did, and then they pooled our names together and chose eight of us to go, and I was one of them!
I'm sure I'll keep you all posted!

Oh! And I almost forgot to mention that I'll be there for almost an entire week! Boo-yah!

I have a new blog!

2009-07-20T08:12:00.002-05:00

I now have a new blog, JasonandFrancie.blogspot.com for updates on Wedding plans and other fun stuff. I just started it yesterday, so there's only one post on it thus far, but check it out!
I figured it'd be nice for family and friends to keep track of the fun and excited parts of wedding planning!
I have the link on the top left of this blog.

(Oh, and it wasn't until after I made the blog, that it was pointed out to me that the wedding is all about the bride (me!) and that I should have put MY name first! Oh, well!

$900???? I don't think so!

2009-07-17T10:13:00.000-05:00

I just looked at some brochures I have from the Wedding show I went to in January, and one of them said they'll sell chair covers for $4.50 each! And for 200 people at the reception, that equals $900! I DON'T THINK SO!

Who cares if I even have them on my chairs??? Really???

A new blog???

2009-07-16T08:25:00.001-05:00

I'm thinking of starting a new blog... just so I can put all my wedding stuff on there and have it on the engagement announcements for people to keep up to date on what's going on... Anyone have any thoughts on this?

And if so... What should I name it?
"Francie and Jason"?
"Jason and Francie"?
"JandF"?

Any other suggestions???

Last week I lost more than 10% of my weight!!!

2009-07-13T17:06:00.002-05:00

I don't know how it happened, because my whole family and extended family was here and we ate a lot of food, but somehow, when I went to my WW meeting, I was in tears when I found out that I had lost over 10% of my weight since starting WW! I'm so excited!!!

It's definitely been motivating to lose more weight, when I'm still losing it! I actually had stopped counting my points, but have been pretty careful on my portions and I've actually been quite active, even though I haven't been to my 5:45 a.m. step class at the Y in a week and a half!
Don't worry, I'm going back!

I do, however, want to share this blog that I've found recently! I was looking for a recipe for red potato salad and came across this blog that is so amazing! Not only the pictures and the good writing style that this person has, but I'm telling you, that her recipes are amazing! AMAZING! I took the red potato salad recipe from her blog and made that for the family, and they loved it. I also made the blueberry cream pie from her blog and they loved that too (and they're both delicious and light!)

This afternoon, I decided to try this recipe for eggplant Parmesan and it turned out so good! You can find that recipe here: Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

I also have her blog saved on the right side of my blog, if you want to keep tabs on what's new!

Either way, I'm loving my new not-quite-skinny-but-on-the-way-to-be-close-to-skinny bod!!!

Wedding plans already!

2009-07-11T13:29:00.002-05:00

Jason and I have been talking about the wedding date of 10.10.10 since Valentine's Day, but since we've gotten engaged, he told me that I could do whatever I want! So, lately, I've been looking at different options and maybe even getting married earlier so I wouldn't have to wait so long!
So far, it isn't looking like a good idea. I really want my cousin Emily to play her violin at my wedding and she is going to some Island somewhere as a student missionary or a year and won't be back until next May 31st!
I've also got my friend Betsy looking into wedding chapels for me already. The one I really like, that my brother-in-law's sister Michelle got married in is too expensive! $300 for the deposit and $700 for the church! Um... I don't think that's in the budget!
Anyways, as soon as I get a chance, I'm going to find me a 3-ring binder and some clear plastic covers and start filling it up with ideas!
Oh, I'm just so happy and excited! I can't wait to marry Jason and I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without him!

He asked me to marry him and I said, "yes!"

2009-07-10T09:18:00.012-05:00

July 7, 2009 ~
We had about half the family at the beach. Jason was running a bit late, so when he got there, I'd been there for a little while, so I asked him if he wanted to go for a walk towards the pier. He said yes, but told me he wanted to change into his swim trunks. My sister, Shannon, asked if she could go with us and before I could answer, Jason said that it wouldn't be too romantic with a third wheel. Then we all laughed. Jason changed then we headed towards the pier, which didn't look at far as it really was. It was so beautiful that day. It was a bit clouded over and windy, but still pretty hot.
Jason was really funny. He had told me he was going to ask me to marry him before the Fourth of July, but that was because we were planning on leaving for Oklahoma City, before my Great Aunt Kate passed away, so I knew it could be a while longer. On our walk, he was asking me stuff like "So... when do you think I should ask you to marry me?" and "So... how do you want me to ask you?" He didn't want to ask me too close to the funeral arrangements. I told him Friday the 10th would be good, or Sunday. Just throwing out ideas, you know. Oh, and I also told him he could sing me a song, play me a song on his guitar, or write me a song and sing that to me too. Either of those methods would work for me! LOL
As we walked towards the pier, we realized it was quite a long walk. We were about to turn around when we saw this tree that had fallen down and had the most unique roots. We walked over to take a closer look at it and noticed that some of the roots were connected to each other and all intertwined. Jason said, "Well, this looks like a good spot to remember!" And I was like, "Yeah, it does... well... I guess so... well... I don't know... for what?" And as I turned towards him, he had the box out of his pocket and was lowering himself down on one knee in the sand!!!
I was so happy and excited! And I couldn't stop smiling all day long!
He started out with "Franciska Helena LeeAnn..." and told me how much he loved me and that he wanted me to be the mother of his children. And that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. And a whole bunch of other sweet things!
By that time, I was kneeling down in front of him in the sand, too!
After a short pause, he finally said, "Francie? Will you marry me?"
I said, "yes!"
And the ring fit perfectly!
I was so happy that I couldn't stop jumping up and down in the sand and twirling around! We held hands the whole way back! (For all of you that don't know Jason very well... he does NOT hold hands in public, so this was a very, VERY, big deal!).
We were so happy to tell the family when we got back to where they were sitting at the beach, but as we got closer, we noticed that everyone had left! Upon closer inspection, we realized that Rachael, Kristen, and Shannon were still in the parking lot waiting for Natalie to bring Katya back for her gymnastics lesson, so we went up to the parking lot. I tried to hold my swimsuit cover with my left hand so that no one could see the ring yet. Once Kristen came out of the bathroom, I said, "Hey! Look what I found!"
My family was pretty lucky because I got to tell almost all of them in person since they were all here! We had all already planned to meet at Lori's house for dinner so it worked out perfectly!

I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!

2009-07-09T08:10:00.003-05:00

It's been super busy this week and I haven't had time to post about it all, and right now we're heading to a water park with the entire family, but I'll share all the juicy details later! But me and Jason are engaged!!! And he asked me on July 7, and we have 15 months and one day until we get married! (That makes it October 10, 2010, i.e. 10.10.10!!!) Yay!!!

Tony's first graduation - kind of

2009-07-02T13:11:00.003-05:00

(Here is Tony checking out his new book given to him for his farewell gift.)

Last weekend, Lori invited me to go to Tony's Sabbath School Class with her and the kids. It just so happened that it was Tony's last class there and that since he is over 18 months old now, he is moving to a new class.
It was a little funny, because he participated in every and all the activities for the kids, like a professional! At one point, they set out a table and have all the kids get a rag (a clean one) and "wash" the table. I remember one of the first times he had to do that, and he would not hold the rag, and would DEFINITELY not wash the table either! Whereas, this last weekend, he grabbed the rag, and went right up to the table and started "scrubbing"! So cute!
Bella was dressed for the special occasion, thanks to Auntie Nay-Nay for the super cute outfit and hat!
Don't you just LOVE those little legs!

My Aunt Kate

2009-06-30T13:27:00.001-05:00

Here's a picture of me with my Uncle DeMont and Aunt Kate from last summer. My Aunt Kate just passed away last night.
She was like a grandma to us, since our Grandma lives so far away from us. She had been in the hospital for about a week and then decided she'd like to be at home in her own bed to die.
I remember some funny things about her. She loved food. I remember my mom telling me that when I was a little baby, Aunt Kate would just keep feeding me and feeding me, so I know she passed on her love of food to me! She also could eat an onion like a tomato! I remember them visiting us in California one year and drove all the way home, across the country with a bunch of elephant sized garlic in the car! She sure loved the sweets too! My sister, Lori made a whole pan of cinnamon rolls for her and said she'd just leave a few of them, but Aunt Kate said, "leave the whole thing!" and told Lori that "Daddy [Uncle DeMont] likes them too!!!" She was a hoot! We've also got a lot of incredible family recipes from her, including my two favorites, "Aunt Kate's Brownies" and "Chocolate Mint Brownies" and yes, she has given me both recipes!
A few other things I remember about her, that cracks me up, is the fact that when she'd travel, she'd pack so much stuff (like my mom does, too!) that she'd have to sit in her seat and have some of the stuff packed around her! And if something still didn't fit, then she'd say "Then I'll hold it on my lap!" She also would save every Ziploc baggy ever used and wash and reuse and then rewash and then re-reuse it! I'm not really sure how many times, but it sure makes me feel a little guilty when I throw them away at home! Oh! And, she would never EVER drink water from the bathroom! I think to her, it was more like drinking out of the toilet and that was just not going to happen! Even now, I feel that bathroom sink water tastes different and sometimes, I just can't drink it either! Weird, right? But that was Aunt Kate!
I think one of the saddest things, is seeing Uncle DeMont. They were so in love. Always holding hands and they ALWAYS kissed after every prayer.
There's a lot of family here now, all the cousins are here (Aunt Kate and Uncle DeMont's kids and their kids) and my siblings from New York and my Mom and step-dad Bob are coming here on Friday. I'm pretty sure we're not going to Oklahoma this next week now, because of the funeral this weekend, which makes me sad that we won't be able to see our Grandma, but my sister, Lori is on the phone right now with Grandma, and let me tell you, if anyone can get Grandma Annie out of the state of Oklahoma for the second time in her life (I can only think of one time she left the state), then Lori is that person!
Keep our family in your prayers!

More quality time/pictures with Tony

2009-06-27T18:38:00.005-05:00

21#

2009-06-26T17:22:00.000-05:00

It's official! I've lost 21 pounds in the last 8 weeks! Wah-hoo!!!

959 Calories

2009-06-22T12:41:00.003-05:00

This is how much I worked off this morning in my step aerobics class at the Y! There's a lady there that had a monitor on and that's what it registered. It was so hot in there too, because apparently the A/C isn't working 100% and they have a new one on order, but until then, we're using fans, that I can't feel! I will definitely be looking for a fan to work out in front of tomorrow morning, or tonight after work when Rachael will be coming with me! I'm pretty excited about that too, because I've had to make a few friends at the Y to work out with, but now Rachael said she wants to do the power flex class on Monday and Wednesday nights with me, so I'll be able to workout twice a week with her! Oh, and since it doesn't start until 7 tonight, I'll probably go to the abs class before it, and just go right after work.
Now for all of you who don't know/realize, that abs class, is torture! I did it last week on Monday and my abs hurt all the way until Friday! It's a work out!!!
To date, I've lost over 15 pounds and still working hard! It's pretty nice too, because I can wear more of my clothes now, so it has multiplied my wardrobe!

Habitat for Humanity 2009

2009-06-17T16:04:00.004-05:00

I signed up to help with Habitat for Humanity again this summer. It was pretty neat to do the the first house and help with the rafters. This time I got to help put the siding on a house, which kind of reminds me of putting up wallpaper, because we had to keep measuring and using the level, then a few times we had to tear it down, and redo it because it wasn't level, but, it was still a pretty fun experience!
This is my friend/co-worker Jill who signed up with me.And I learned that the seams need to be at different areas on the siding, or else it will look funny, and also, the overlap for the seams need to face the back of the house so when you look at the sides, you can't see them from the front of the house, and from the porch out to the side of the house, you shouldn't see it there either.
The lines also have to be level from each of the corners.

This is Rachel, the woman who will be living in this house. I don't have all the criteria for Habitat for Humanity, but I do know that the person that is going to live in it, has to help build it too! This specific house was one they wanted only women to work on, as well (besides the supervisors).
Here I am, drenched! Just before lunch it started pouring down rain and I was soaking wet and then it got kinda cold as well, so me and Jill stayed for only 5 hours and then left. But we had a lot of fun and I'm really glad I was able to help out this summer!
I had signed up for the week build in Atlanta this August, but just found out yesterday, that I wasn't chosen, but it's okay. I now have a weeks vacation to figure out what to do with this year, now!

the kids

2009-06-17T12:50:00.001-05:00

The other day I took the kids to the pier and got some cute pictures. They are so silly!

Dairy Queen = picture time!

2009-06-05T08:19:00.002-05:00

I got the kids to pose for some pictures, after buying them all ice cream at Dairy Queen... A pretty sweet deal, if I do say so myself!

Another purse I made! (And sold!!!)

2009-06-04T16:13:00.000-05:00

This is the first purse that I've actually sold! Pretty cool, huh?

Baby Bella and updates

2009-06-01T12:49:00.002-05:00

Baby Bella (finally let's me hold her without pitching a fit! Yay!!!)

I lost my camera cord that plugs into the computer, so I haven't been able to post any pictures for some time now... Lucky for me, I found it yesterday in my car! Yay!

I have been working out and I joined Weight Watchers a month ago and have already lost 5% of my starting weight! Another "Yay" for me! I'm counting points and it's been nice since my sisters are very supportive and whenever I go over to their houses, they are more aware of what I can and can't eat. It's been pretty exciting, losing this weight.

Also, Jason and I have been house-hunting. We actually found one that we liked and Jason put an offer on it last Wednesday, just to find out that it went into foreclosure the following Thursday and was auctioned off before we even knew about it! We're both really bummed about it, however, things happen for a reason, so there must've been a pretty good reason that God didn't want us to get that one.

We're still looking.

Tuesday morning update

2009-05-26T10:12:00.002-05:00

I just called Grandma Annie and a church member answered and I was able to find out that the doctor wanted to see her before she left for rehab. and that the church members are there, and rotating shifts to visit with her. I told her that we all appreciated them being there, since we are not able to be there for her, and she said they'd be there for her as long as she needed them there. And that they're all praying for her too.
She also gave the phone to grandma to talk to me (but put the phone up to her left ear, not the right), so grandma Annie kept telling me that she couldn't hear me, but that she loved me and asked to call a little later.
(Then I told the church member that she hears out of her right ear, not the left.)

Going home

2009-05-24T07:07:00.003-05:00

We are planning on heading home this evening to try and drive through the night and get home sometime tomorrow... Natalie is still at the hospital and will head back to the hotel for me and Kristen when Mom arrives to the hospital, so Grandma Annie has someone with her at all times. The nurses said there is no one there that can sit with Grandma Annie 24/7 and we are all really worried about her being in that room all by herself. I think it might be nice, sometimes, to have a room by yourself, however, no one would be there to know if she has tried, again, to pull the catheter out, or try to get out of bed and fall, until it happens (they have a bed alarm).
Thank you all for your prayers and support, keep praying for God's will for Grandma Annie and a safe trip home or us.

I just don't know

2009-05-23T23:27:00.002-05:00

It's still scary. Seeing Grandma Annie laying in bed and hardly opening her eyes up. Natalie has said this before, but she looks just like one of those older folks in the nursing homes, that are laying in a bed, at an angle, sleeping with their mouths open, and you just think that they aren't "there". But being here with Grandma Annie, we know that's not true! Because she IS there and she KNOWS we're here with her. It's just so sad.

Natalie decided to stay with her tonight in the new hospital room, so she's not alone and doesn't get scared. I really worry about her. Because when we left her room tonight, she just seemed out of it, again.

There was a moment there that we thought Don wouldn't sign the DNR just before we left, and we were pretty upset and emotional about that. We don't want to see her suffer anymore than she already is... but just before we left, he had signed it (and also just after mom asked to see the POA papers!).

Just keep praying for God's Will...

Good news!

2009-05-23T18:35:00.002-05:00

As most of my family has posted already, Grandma Annie has been moved to the Ortho-Neuro area of the hospital and out of the ICU. This is really good!
It seems as though we've all been on the same roller coaster with her health. At one point she's fine and talking and the other, she's having mini-seizures and we were told she might not make it. Mom, Natalie, Kristen and I have all had many sad moments since we've been here. This morning Grandma was so sweet. She was telling me that she loved us and that she was really glad we are here with her... then she added that we don't even know how much she loves us, "you don't know just how much" she said. Which was so sweet... and brought a fresh set of tears to my eyes.

We are all thankful that the nurses have been so sweet to her. I know that when Aunt Kate was in the hospital, she kept complaining about her nurses. Grandma Annie has sure been blessed with the care here.

This afternoon we were able to leave and have lunch at my cousin Francie's house and visit with them for a little while, then we drove around town and looked at houses from our past. Natalie and I were too young to really want to see anything but our old house, Grandma's old house, and Grandpa Chuck's old house. For all of you that know Oklahoma City... it was a little sad to see that really tall building with the huge pig on top of it today... because apparently, the building was sold to another company, and is not a bank anymore, so they took the pig off of it. It just seemed like such an icon! But it's gone now.

When we came back to the hospital, they moved Grandma Annie to her new room. Natalie was so sweet to freshen up her mouth and brush her tongue or her. I don't think that Grandma realizes how sweet that was of Natalie to do for her, but Natalie has given me strict instructions that if she is in the hospital like this, then to make sure her teeth are brushed and her mouth fresh smelling!

Oh, and Grandma can now have flowers in her room!!!

Please pray!

2009-05-19T08:21:00.002-05:00

My Grandma Annie got in an accident yesterday. A truck blind-sided the car on her side and she was rushed to the ER. Right now she's in ICU. She's bleeding in the brain. Today she has surgery at 1:30 p.m. our time, so please pray for her!

Planting dandelions

2009-05-13T12:54:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I went over to Lori's house for our ritual Americ*n Id*l show and dinner. While she was preparing dinner, I tried to get Tony's mind off of wanting to be held by his mom, by taking him outside to the backyard. Kristen was over there too, so she came outside with us and we had a lot of fun! I took the pictures, and the kids played. Apparently, Kristen had taught Tony how to make wishes or as Todd pointed out after he saw the video, how to plant dandelions!
Oh, well, it's just too cute!

Kristen and Tony

2009-05-13T10:13:00.000-05:00

What's been going on!

2009-05-04T12:56:00.005-05:00

I haven't written much about what's been going on... but here's a little catch up.

1. I was in a play, Ragtime! the musical, and it went really well! Rachael and the kids, Lori and Todd, and Natalie and Jason were all able to make it, which made it pretty cool. Unfortunately, they did not allow any pictures, due to the rights of the play, so I don't pictures of it, but it was pretty fun and exciting! But, I am glad it's over, too! We had to practice about three hours every night for a week before the actual play and that was pretty tiresome!

2. I was in a singing competition and placed 5th place, which won me $200! Yay! I sung Carrie Underwood's "So Small" and then tied with someone, so I sang "Born to Fly" as my second song. It was pretty fun!

3. And here are a few pics of my latest creations! (sorry about the side-ways one, but I'm in a hurry!)!

This was a t-shirt of mine, that got too old to wear, so I made it into a bag (inspired by Rachael's idea).

And this is a pattern that Natalie made up and taught me!
So cute!!!

Happy Birthday, Ben!

2009-04-30T16:04:00.005-05:00

Last night Jason and I took Ben to the store to pick out a present for his birthday and then go out to eat. It didn't take him too long to pick out what he wanted! Then we headed to Clementines, which is Jason's favorite restaurant and now one of Ben's!
Me and Ben
Ben wanted to drink Root Beer and had was so excited to drink it out of the bottle!
Yes... yet, another birthday candle to blow out! But this was a pretty amazing dessert! Ice cream and two chocolate chip cookies that were warmed and then hot fudge on top! Yummy!
I asked Ben if he knew what they did at our other favorite restaurant (*el rodeo*) to people on their birthday's and he said he didn't know... so, I showed him!
We had so much fun! I asked him if he wanted to live with us, and he said, yes, just as long as he was home by 8!

Jack and Ben's B-days

2009-04-29T08:04:00.003-05:00

We've been real busy around here with birthdays! Jack's birthday was last week and we had a really great dinner and cake at Rachael's house.

Then last Sunday we all went to ChuckECheeses... where a kid can be a kid! Which was pretty fun with all the kids we had there. Rachael asked me to go with her and I said yes, then I asked Jason if he wanted to go too, and he said yes! So, me and Jay had three boys in our car. BTW: boys are so easy!

Jack

Ben (I don't know why my camera likes to make everyone's eyes look red!)
Jack and his friends.

After much playing and eating of pizza, we finally gathered them all together for cake!

The kids had fun in front of the blue screen, and they could watch themselves on TV with whatever was in the background.

Ben had a little fun with my sun glasses on the way home. Oh, and at one point on the way home, I had my IPOD on that A-ha song "Take on me" and one of the boys in the back wanted me to play it again and turn it up... which then led to us listening to that song at least four times on the way home, complete with air guitar and the air piano! They had a blast! (Yeah, and they were 4, 5, and 8 years old, begging me to replay that song, over and over! LOL) I'm pretty sure Jason was on the brink of going crazy!
Last night we celebrated Ben's bday at the grandparents house. Thankfully no cake! LOL

He was pretty excited about his birthday... of course, we're celebrating tonight, again, because Jason felt he was jipped on his bday and Jason didn't get to go last night, so me and Jay are taking Ben out to eat and to pick out a present tonight. Ben was really excited when I told him last night and asked if we could go to a nice restaurant. I said, "Sure, we can!" And he said, "Like Pizza Hut?!?!?!" "Um... well... if you really want to we can!" Then I told him about Jason's favorite restaurant and Ben said we should go there! Thank goodness!

Yes... I do more than make purses... but here are a few pics of my latest purses!

2009-04-22T10:14:00.002-05:00

The purple and pink one is more my niece Katya, so she can have a purse while in Russia... I haven't finished it though... but it's a work in progress and so cute!

I made another purse!

2009-04-13T12:52:00.002-05:00

I went to Natalie's house this weekend. We had a lot of fun and were really busy, but were able to make a purse for ourselves! I love my purse! I don't have a picture of hers, so she'll have to blog about hers, but here are some pictures!

Thanks Mom!

2009-04-03T16:57:00.002-05:00

My mom has not only spoiled my sisters, their husbands, and their kids... she's also been spoiling ME!
Last night my mom helped me finish my second purse and it's just so cute! I love it so much! And look at the ribbon around it! Isn't that just adorable???
She also went to the store and helped me find this fabric that was $12.99 a yard! Luckily, it was on sale and we didn't even need a yard!
I also was spoiled by my mom being here this week because we were planning a huge surprise food day for Josh at work and I asked if she'd make some cinnamon rolls for me! She didn't just say yes, but asked me when I needed them so that she could bring them in hot! And sure enough, she brought them in at 11 a.m. this morning still hot from the oven and made the entire building smell delicious!
Here's Josh. He was so surprised and happy about those cinnamon rolls! Everyone was impressed! "Like mother, like daughter" they said!

Thanks, Mom! I love you! And I'll miss you!

Just a few [random] pics

2009-04-02T17:31:00.007-05:00

I took these three kids to church with me the other weekend and they were just too cute not to take a picture!

Katya, Jack, and Ben

Baby Bella

Derrick's birthday celebration!

Auntie Rachael and Bella

Adorable Tony playing in Sabbath School

Bella sleeping in her little "cubbie hole" (a wrap that Lori wears) and don't worry, she's not squished in there!

I've also been...

2009-04-01T12:40:00.002-05:00

...busy with my job! Yes, I got a promotion of sorts. Where I work, everyone has to start out as a contract worker and then may or may not get hired in as a "real" employee. There have been lay-off's due to the economy and a hiring freeze, but I was a lucky one that was able to get hired in and this last Monday was my first day as a "real employee!" I used to think of myself as "Pinocchio" because I felt I wasn't "real", but now I am! Yay!
It's a lot better, too! I get vacation, better benefits, and more $!

They made an announcement to my team yesterday, so now I'm able to talk about it, and just this morning I found out about what I like to call "the hazing initiation". LOL It's not as bad as it sounds, but man, it's frustrating! When you switch from contract to "real" you have to switch all your access to every single program you have access to, over to your new information! So, this morning I got to work and was locked out of my computer! I have to use my computer to work, so I got on the phone with someone in India to help me figure it all out. He helped me enough to get into my computer, but I don't have everything switched over and he told me he'd call me back, and that was about four hours ago now... who knows? It might even be midnight over there, for all I know!

Hopefully, I can get this all figured out by the end of the week!

Oh, and I can't wait to get off work today, because I'm going to head over to JoAnn's and get some more fabric and take it over to Lori's house and work on purse #2! Yay!

Oh, and I've also been working on getting a new* car too! My '95 Saturn just isn't cutting it anymore and while it is my first car, and I will miss it, I've really got to move on! And I'm going to get a really good deal on another one too! Thanks to Natalie and her smart marrying skills, I'm going to by a car from her FIL! Oh, and thanks to Lori, who did my taxes for me, I will have enough money to pay for the car in full and not have to make any payments! And I checked with my car insurance company and they said it will only be about $10-$20 more a month than what I'm paying right now anyway!

So, yes, I've been really busy and haven't blogged much at all, or been in the mood to, but a lot has been going on, so I have a really good excuse!

*New = new to me!

So, this is what I've been busy with lately...

2009-03-31T19:06:00.002-05:00

My mom's in town, staying with Lori and Todd and helping out with baby Bella and Tony.

Sleeping Bella

Mama and baby
Grandma and baby Bella
I also took advantage of having my mom in town and decided to make a purse!

Here's the inside of the purse. It's so cute! I took it to work and everyone wants it! So, I've got to make sure I go and get more fabric and make another one (even though I won't be giving it away, but if they all think it's cute, then I must make another one for myself!)

24 hours old

2009-03-25T12:41:00.000-05:00

I stopped over to the hospital this morning on my way to work and got to hold Isabella as she turned 24 hours old... so cute!

Isabella pictures!

2009-03-24T18:11:00.004-05:00

I was finally able to take a few more pictures this afternoon when I got off work and she's so cute!

Isabella

2009-03-24T16:11:00.004-05:00

As you all probably know, Isabella was born this morning and she's so cute! As an observer, ONLY, it appears as though the second child is a lot easier at the birthing process than the other! Lori was a champ this morning! No screaming and from my point of view there was a LOT LESS pain this time around! Thank goodness!
I was so honored to be a guest this time around and be able to take the awesome pictures! I think the only downfall is that I took all the good ones on her camera and only a few on mine so I could at least show people at work!
I'll have to steal some that I took off of hers so I get credit (for the pictures that is... haha)!

Isabella - 8 pounds - 20.25 inches
(check out her cute chubby cheeks and wrinkles legs!)

Baby on the way!

2009-03-24T06:03:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I slept so soundly, but I missed the 4:13 a.m. call this morning and finally woke for the 5:15 a.m. call from Rachael and she told me to get to the hospital. Lori had just had her epidural. Well, to me, that meant that she was going to push and that I might miss it! So, I'm running around in my apartment trying to throw on some clothes and hurrying up, then a got in my car and raced the whole one mile to the hospital. I had to go through the ER because the front of the hospital is closed until a little later. So, I go in the ER and I'm like "I need to get up to OB" and the nurses in triage just looked at me like I was crazy, then told me to talk to the security guard. I looked for a security guard and couldn't find him and all this time I thought Lori was actively pushing. So, I finally had to name drop. "Look, I'm sure you all know my sister Lori, because she works here, but she's having her baby, and I'm the photographer, and I need to get up there now!" So, one of the ladies decided to get me up there, so I went through the ER and she showed me which elevators to go up. She left me there, and I waited for the elevators, then she came back around the corner and told me that I had to go up a different set of elevators. I started running down the hallway to the other set of elevators, finally made it, went up to the room and here I am, out of breath, hair sticking to my forehead, and exhausted, and she wasn't even pushing yet! Oh, and yes, it's been about 2 hours and still nothing! But I'm super excited!!! I can't wait for Baby Bella to come! (And hopefully it's fairly soon, so I can still be on time for work at 9:30, but I did call my Manage and left a message for her letting her know that I was in the hospital, waiting for my sister to have her baby.) Will keep you all posted! Check other blogs too, just in case!!!

Tony in action

2009-03-18T18:42:00.005-05:00

The other day, I taught Tony how to say Baa (i.e. what sheep say) and haven't been able to get it on video, but this is a cute attempt! I love his smile!

Just Tony and me

2009-03-18T12:58:00.001-05:00

Isn't he just so cute!??? I didn't think I'd actually get him to look at the camera while I held it to take a picture of us together, but he did and he's so cute!

To Kim: What you missed on Friday

2009-03-01T15:25:00.005-05:00

My dear friend and fellow cube mate (across from me) took the day off on Friday. It was very quiet, sad, and lonely that day because she was not around... ha-ha, just kidding! We had a blast at work! Here are a few pictures for you, Kim, so you know all the important things that you missed on that day.
I won this totally awesome KitchenAid set because I did so good on my NICE program! And you weren't there to show it to...There were some really yummy onion rings in the cafeteria, and you weren't there to share them with... so I ate them all.
This is the sad view from my desk to yours, of your empty desk...My plant that looks like it's dying, is probably still dying, but just thought you'd like to see how it looked on Friday, just in case...Friday is probably that last time we'll see our gnome... So, I figured you might want to see a picture of it and all its glory: the valentine's my nieces and nephews gave me, the lei from Jeff's Hawaii trip and the beads from our Mardi gras fun.
Oh, and Cassie made your delicious truffles and brought some to work. You weren't there, so I had to eat them.
And you'll be so proud of Chris because she dressed herself on Friday! (broken arm and all!)

Well, there's a short video of Deb, that I'll have to add later, but we missed you and I'll see if I can post something for Monday as well. Can't wait to see you on Tuesday! Have a great vacation!

P.H.A.T. FAT TUESDAY and other fun stuff

2009-02-24T21:16:00.005-05:00

Today we had a food day at work and it was great! The "desserts only" idea was a success! There was candy, donuts, brownies, cookies, truffles, cheesecake, and other sugar filled things! We didn't bother with soda because we wanted to make sure there were just desserts, but let me tell you, after a little while, I could have really used a tall glass of milk!
Luckily, it was nice outside and although fairly cold, the sun was out and shining and my friend, Kim and I went outside on our lunch break for a much needed walk in the fresh air.
Last night I was in the mood for baking and made this White Chocolate and Red Raspberry Cheesecake:

I think the fresh raspberries inside the cheesecake made it not as firm as I like my cheesecakes but everyone really loved it and I had to act fast in order to save a piece for Jason.
I also made Cherry Chocolate Fudge that was pretty awesome too!
My friend Kim brought Oreo Truffles which were fantastic and a very delicious grape salad with a cool whip/cream cheese sauce topped with walnuts. Don't worry, I got the recipe! I'll just have to post it later because it's on my work email and I'm at home.

Lately, I've been really on this coupon kick. Thanks to Jason's dad, Ron. So, while most of you already know this, I still have to post about it because I'm just still so excited about it! Just yesterday, I was at the local grocery store and noticed that the vegemeat (vegetarian mean) known as "MorningSt*r F*rms" was on sale! Usually from $4.79 to about $5.19, it was on sale 2 for $7.00! I was so excited and then I strolled down the aisle and noticed an area of brochures for this brand and picked it up and found that in each brochure, there were 5 coupons for $2.00 off EACH! You know what that means? Only $1.50 for each box or bag of this vegemeat! Let me tell you, that is a fantastic deal! Oh! And I went back today and got more and noticed more coupons for Kashi frozen food and there was a vegetarian meal that is usually about $4.19, then on sale for $2.99 then their brochure had a $2.00 off coupon! Yup! Only 99 cents! What a deal! I haven't tried it yet, but I got all four of the vegetarian kind that they had and I'm going to take them to work and have them for lunch! What a deal!
Well, I guess that's it. I grabbed a whole pile of coupons, so if you want me to, I may be able to spare some since they don't expire until September 1st of this year. (Can you tell that I'm super excited about this???)

Bowtie pasta and lemon cookies

2009-02-22T21:14:00.004-05:00

Jason reminded me tonight to make sure I post about the special meal he made for me on Valentine's Day. His specialty: bowtie pasta with an Alfredo sauce including sauteed mushrooms, broccoli and pea pods and bread sticks. This meal is perfect for the both of us, because it's vegetarian!
This coming Tuesday happens to be Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras; therefore, I'm hosting a "desserts only" P.H.A.T. FAT TUESDAY food day! I made lemon cookies tonight for it, and plan on making a White Chocolate and Red Raspberry Cheesecake tomorrow night.
These cookies were very easy and simple too!

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

1 box (Betty Crocker Super Moist) lemon cake mix (or whatever kind of cake mix you want to try)
2 eggs
1/2 cup of vegetable oil

Mix it all together real good. Then place in the refrigerator to chill for about an hour. Take it out and roll into balls, then roll in sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 8-12 minutes (can vary, I have a gas range and it took the full 12 minutes). Place on a cooling rack then you can ice them with either cake icing or melted white chocolate (pictured above) which reduces the chances of the cookies sticking to each other. A friend of mine uses almond bark sometimes as the icing on her chocolate-cake cookies.

Valentine's Strawberry Pie

2009-02-14T19:24:00.003-05:00

Since Jason is making me dinner tonight, I decided to make dessert!

Fresh Strawberry Pie and

Red Raspberry Chocolate Bars!

Yum-Yum!!!

Evidence

2009-02-13T22:28:00.004-05:00

Through all the weekly activities I found time to make heart shaped brownies in my new silicone heart shaped bakeware! I also made some yummy heart shaped chocolate chip cookies with a Hershey kiss inside to take to work today! They were a big hit!
Oh, and below, you can see the hole where the sump pump is located (the water was up to the top ring) and then I zoom into the jar with the dead spider in it, then the big pot I used in the beginning to get the water out, then a final shot of the trash can I had to haul full of water up the stairs... Just for those who need a visual!

Aw... a vacation in California must be real nice right about now!

2009-02-13T00:20:00.006-05:00

While my sister Lori, Todd, and Tony are in California on vacation right now, I am babysitting their house and their dog, Brewster (who snores by the way). I love her house. The decorations, the colors, the furniture, and the cable is very nice and I also enjoy getting up earlier every morning to take a 30 minute shower in their huge almost 6x6 shower!
Before they left, Lori told me that if it snows, then I could take Todd's truck to work, just in case I couldn't get out of the driveway in my car. Luckily (I guess) it hasn't snowed since they left *knock, knock*. But, it did reach a record high of about 62 degrees! Oh, and it was so nice, until all the snow became a ton of water, which led to a ton of mud, then it started to rain all day on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, I was really worried that I'd get stuck in the mud in her drive way or the driveway of Babe (Todd's uncle who watches Brewster during the day) so, I decided it wouldn't hurt if I took Todd's truck for the day, just in case, because I did NOT want to get stuck in the driveway and have to be late to work!
So, I headed to Babe's to drop off the dog and on my way out of his muddy driveway, I got stuck! I GOT STUCK IN A HUGE WORK TRUCK! Are you kidding me? How is this happening? Ha-ha. I was all dressed up in my nice work clothes too and it was actively raining and I really didn't want to deal with this, so I continued to try going back and forth, put it into drive, then reverse, drive, reverse, drive, reverse and of course, the truck wouldn't budge. Now, there was a switch that said "2H" "4H" and "4L" but I didn't know what that meant, and I didn't want to start messing with his truck and then brake something!
Finally, I got out of the truck into a few inches of mud and in the rain to access the situation. Yup, I was stuck. I thought about taking a picture for the post I knew I'd write, but figured I better focus on getting out and getting to work! The next door neighbor was on his way over (didn't speak English) and the lady across the street was on her way with this big board, telling me that they always get stuck. The guy came over and held up four fingers and asked me "Quatro"? I was thinking, um... yes, there are four wheels and yes, they are all in the mud... oh, wait, he's trying to ask if there's four wheel drive! "oh, I don't know!" I finally said to him. He hopped up in the truck and threw it into one of those H or L things and after spinning the back wheels and flinging mud about ten feet high and 15 to 20 feet back, he finally got the truck out of the mud! Yay! I was so thankful! What nice neighbors, huh?
I was so thankful! And of course I had to tell someone, right? So, I got on the phone and called my sister Shannon and started telling her the whole story, when all of a sudden, I looked in my rear view mirror, and guess what I saw? TRASH! Yes, trash appeared out of nowhere and was flying all over the place! (Apparently, it was the trash that was supposed to be taken to the dump and was forgotten.) So, since I was on the highway, I felt just terrible, and slowed way down to a crawl (I don't think there was much trash that actually flew out of the back, but I probably will do a little volunteering for trash pickup this summer!) What a morning, huh?
I sure had a great time telling all my co-workers about my morning adventure! And I'm actually glad I decided to take his truck that morning or else... well... let's just not think about that, okay?

This story's not quite over... yet.

I had to work until 7 p.m. that night and it was pouring down rain with high speed winds by the time I got off work. The temperature dropped about 15 degrees within minutes, too! I headed "home" to Lori's house and called Jason to come over so we could watch American Idol and eat Jimmie Johns. We were just about ready to eat and watch TV just before 8 p.m. when the lights flickered on and off and on and off and on and off, then just stayed off. Oh, great! Anyone got any guess as to what that means? Yeah... when the power goes out, the sump pump in the basement doesn't work, and if the sump pump in the basement doesn't work, the basement floods. I'm sure you all remember at least one of those posts that Lori wrote, right?
Well, I called Lori and Todd and they told me where the flashlight was, then I told Jason to go watch AI at home and that I'd be at his house in just a few minutes. Or so I thought! I then talked to Todd's sister, Lisa and she said she called the company and they told her the power would come back on around midnight, but Lori was worried that it would be too late. I went downstairs to check the sump pump and it was about 3/4 full already! So, she asked that I stay there and monitor it every 15 minutes. Then I checked it about 10 minutes later and the water level was going up almost about an inch or so every 10 minutes! So, we weren't sure if Lisa and her husband would be able to get the generator working in order to bring it over, so I started manually taking the water out of the hole. I started with the quart jars stored in the basement, then figured that would take forever, so I then started using the canning pot (you know the kind of pot that fits about 8 canning jars inside?). There's a sink in the basement, so I started filling the pot, taking it out of that room, up a stair, down a stair, and into the finished basement part to the end by the wall, where there's a sink and pouring it in there, (oh, and of course I had to also hold the flashlight so I could see where I was going! I started holding it in the same hand that was carrying the pot, then tried it under my chin, then finally held it like a clutch, under my arm pit). After about 3 or 4 of those pots, the water in the sink started to NOT go down the drain! I called Lori and she said I'd have to take the water up the stairs and pour it outside. There are only about 7 or so stairs until the landing where there's a door to the outside, but those stairs are a little tall, and after a few trips up, I figured, I needed something bigger than that pot!
I found a big white trash can and took that downstairs and started filling that up. Meanwhile, the hole is still filling up, not making a dent whatsoever, with all the water I'm taking out of it. Oh, and by the way, there was also a spider in there, and so I had to shine the light on the spider and then put my hand in the hole with a jar and take it out and pour that out! After about two of those, I got smart and just captured the swimming spider inside a jar with water and put it to the side, so I could really get some work done! Once I got the trash can full of water, I needed to take it up the stairs and pour it outside. Not easy! It was probably 100 pounds of water that I had to be really careful with so it didn't spill out and on everything! Then there aren't handles, so I had the tips of my fingers holding the 100 pound trash can filled with water and trying to haul it up the stairs (and still trying to hold that flashlight in between my arm and body!)! I felt like I was on the "biggest loser"! I had to take a deep breath, count to three then lift high enough to reach the top of the next step. Then do it all over again for the next one! Around the third or fourth step, I got so hot, sweaty, tired, and sore that I thought I wouldn't be able to do it! Thankfully, I was able to sike myself into it and made it to the top, just before Lisa and Ronnie showed up with the generator to hook it all up with! Oh, the luck...
After about an hour of trying to get the water out of that 4 feet deep hole, with only three inches to the top, the generator was hooked up and all was safe! I headed over to Jason's for the last hour of the show and then came back to the house. I tried to fall asleep on the couch until the power came on, but it wasn't too easy with the engine rumble of the generator, the high pitch beeping of the baby monitor (beeps when the power goes out as a safety feature) and the snoring dog in my arms! Finally, about a quarter 'til midnight the power came on!
With Todd's help over the phone, I got the generator turned off, the window shut, the sump pump plugged in, then I had to call back for Lori to tell me how to stop that annoying high pitched beeping of the baby monitor so I could go to bed! (oh, yeah, and I was paranoid all night that the baby monitor would start beeping again, which would mean the power went out, again, which would mean I would have to complete a rerun of the above events!)
Luckily, the power didn't go out again, the basement didn't flood, I got my work out in for the day, I didn't miss too much of American Idol, I got the cable and the Internet working again, and it hasn't rained in over 24-hours! Again, *knock, knock!*
I sure hope to be drama free for the next two and half more days!
(Hmmm... I wonder if I'd rather redo that day or take on four kids for a week again?)
Hope you're having fun, Lori and Todd! I miss you (and so does Brewster and your house!)!!!

And by the way, if I hadn't taken out all the water that I did, it would have flooded at least one section of the basement by the time we got the generator plugged in and then I would really have had a mess on my hands! I think it was a pretty good thing that I was staying here and not at my house, huh?
Oh, and now that it's all in the past, this DOES make a pretty good story to tell for years to come, doesn't it? LOL

Customer Service

2009-02-09T21:16:00.004-05:00

I've gotten some pretty bad customer service lately. Just last week, Jason and I went out to this fairly new restaurant "Nacho Papas" to try it out. We were not impressed. First of all, the waitress was very nice. She was very helpful and courteous. She also appeared to be on something with her inability to stay still.
Anyway, the chips and hot salsa (temperature, not spice) were okay. We also ordered cheese dip that tasted terrible! It had pieces of tomato and onion but didn't really have flavor. We noticed they make their own flour tortillas, so we ordered a few to try, expecting hot and soft tortillas with a little crisp on the outside. We got three flat tortillas with a doughy rawness to them.
Finally, we got our ordered meals. I got the black bean and rice burrito and Jason got a steak burrito. They looked so good covered with cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa, and sour cream. I took a bite of mine and discovered the rice and the beans were not cooked all the way. You know that feeling when a grain of rice crunches in between your teeth and you know you should probably let it cook for just a little bit longer? Yeah, that was what it was like! I told our waitress and she felt really bad about it and took off the cost for Jason's iced tea and the fresh raw flour tortillas. She said she'd go talk to the staff and let them know. While she was gone, Jason started eating his steak burrito and noticed that the steak wasn't cut or sliced or in strips (or however they usually are in burritos) but they were in chunks! CHUNKS! Yes, imagine them in chunks the size of the small or medium size eggs at the grocery store. When the lady came back to check on us, Jason asked her about the Chunky Steak Burrito and she told him that it was the only way to make the steak when ordered medium (because apparently, they can't cook it medium, then slice it before putting it in the burrito!?!?!?!?!?). Oh, and then she told me that they have to make the rice and black beans el den ta before they put them in the burrito or else they will be all mushy. She then summed it up with, "In other words, it's supposed to be like that." (i.e. crunchy!) I then had to clarify her summary by saying, "you mean, they make it el den ta so it won't be mushy by the time it's actually served to the customer, but it should actually be cooked by the time it's served, right?" "Right" she said. Mmm-hmmm.
We won't be going there again.

A day at the beach: Lake Michigan

2009-01-31T17:32:00.009-05:00

It was a beautiful day today. Very cold. Very windy. I didn't have plans for this afternoon and decided to take a stroll on the beach. (A very different kind of day than this day!)
As you can tell, the lake is frozen. I didn't go as far as that little kid, but it was pretty crazy! I've never seen anything like it in my life! And let me just tell you, every step I took scared me like crazy! Especially when your foot fell through a pocket of snow that was on top of the ice. Felt like I was going to fall through! Or when walking directly on the ice and hearing ccccrrrrraaccckkkk under your foot, now THAT is scary!
Don't worry, there were actually a ton of people out there today! I came across two separate families not from around here.
There were many ice-boulders out there on the lake.
Doesn't it just look incredible?
The little kids were having so much fun on the snow/ice/lake! I was scared that one of them would fall through into the lake, so I had to go back to solid ground and walk over to the pier. I couldn't keep watching them! Too scary!
Looks like frozen waves are pretty fun for sledding!
Here you can see a small cleft in the iced wave.
And this is a frozen wave!
You may not be able to tell, but this is probably about 8 to 10 feet tall!

I'm lucky to have gotten a this picture. It was so windy there on the lake, I had the hardest time holding the camera up, while keeping it all steady!
I just couldn't resist this picture! The water had froze on the railings and this was a frozen hole, perfect for peaking through! Definitely my favorite shot of the day!*

I had a lot of fun at the beach today... although, as I got in my car, frozen body, chapped face, and ready to go home and take a hot bath, I turned around in the parking lot and wouldn't you know it, I GOT STUCK! Yup... I noticed all the tire tracks and didn't think anything of it, until of course I couldn't go straight anymore. Then, I couldn't reverse either! I put it in neutral, then got out and tried to push. I continued this "pushing" with my car for about five minutes with no result. I would push, my car would move about an inch, then roll back towards me, where it was before, then I'd push again, and it would do the same thing. It was like pushing someone on the swings, (on a much smaller scale) it would just keep rolling back into place. It was so annoying! It didn't take much more time until a nice old man came over and started shoveling the snow from under my car, behind my front tires. Then another old man came over to watch. Then he started taking pictures! Then a few other young guys came over to watch the "show"! It got quite comical, you know. Then, to make it even better I told the guy to make sure he stand far back enough to get the whole effect, with the car, the snow up to my doors, and me, the blond that got stuck! Ah... a real life blond joke!

*I really wish I had a camera like either of my three sisters today! Umm... my birthday is in about 6 months guys! Hint. Hint.

Handicap Parking for non-handicapped people?

2009-01-29T23:51:00.006-05:00

What do you think about when you think of the word handicap? When it comes to handicap parking, for some reason, when I see a car parked in handicap parking or someone pull into one, I want to make sure that they really are handicapped! I want to either see a tag hanging from their rear view mirror or a simple little symbol on their license plate. It might just be an obsession, who knows.
My friend from Texas was telling me this story of someone she works with: "I usually have to walk all the way across the empty parking lot to my car at the end of the day, but a friend of mine conveniently walks two parking spaces away to his car parked in a handicapped parking spot right next to the door! Mmmm... I wonder. Do you think that he left for a brief moment and parked there, right before leaving work to save time or hurry back to work? *rolls eyes* Or, maybe, do you think that he is handicapped? No... Well, do you think he just thinks that he can park there because he wants to and it doesn't matter if he parks in that spot, because there really is only one person that is truly handicapped in the entire building and there are 3 handicapped parking spots?" Either way, my friend was about to give that guy the benefit of the doubt, until she noticed his car was parked in that same spot for two weeks straight. As if it had "EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH HANDICAPPED PARKING SPOT FOR NON-HANDICAPPED PERSONS" sign in front of the spot?
Again, I'm not sure why this bothers me (or my friend) so extremely bad as it does, but it does!
Please. Please tell me that there are others out there that thinks this is wrong!

RAGTIME!

2009-01-25T16:40:00.002-05:00

The first rehearsal went really well! The director gave an overview of the play and then we went over the many, many parts of the opening song. We were split into three groups: The New Rochelle Choir, The Harlem Choir, and the Immigrant Choir.
While my throat is a little raw from singing so much and more than I usually just sing, I am really excited about this play! I'm singing the alto/harmony part and I love it! Obviously there has to be a melody to a song but sometimes it's really the harmony part that makes a song a song, and with almost 60 of us singing from two to sometimes five different parts, the song is just powerful!
I'm one of the lucky ones that gets a book with all the lines and the music in it, because I have a small (very, very small) part of acting in the play. I'm also excited about being part of the New Rochelle Choir because they sing a total of 11 songs throughout the entire play! Not just the beginning and the end, but throughout the entire play and that is pretty cool.

This is the part in the play I have:

(Father returns from the North Pole. He stands in the front hall, bearded, rough-hewn, laden with exotic gifts. Brigit {that's me!}, enters with a dust mop.)

FATHER: "I'm home! Mother! Grandfather!

(Brigit screams at the sight of him.)

BRIGIT: Who the hell are you?

FATHER: Who in God's name are you?

BRIGIT: I'm Brigit! All right, that's enough, the back door for you, you brazen peddler.

FATHER: This is my home. I live here.

THE LITTLE BOY: Father! Father!

BRIGIT: Oh Holy Mother, it's the master!

(She runs out embarrassed.)
---

That's my part! That's it! Kinda funny, huh? I sure hope I can have all that memorized! Ha-ha! But you know, as minute of a part as that is, I'm sure glad I have a speaking part, because I may just want to do another play sometime! I'm very thankful that I have a speaking part because there were a lot of others who were great at acting during the auditions and they didn't get any speaking parts!

Musical Time!

2009-01-25T11:14:00.002-05:00

Today is the first day of rehearsals for the musical "Ragtime". I auditioned with a friend who didn't make it, so unfortunately, I'll be there with 60 people, all of whom I do not know, so I'm either going to take a book to read* when I'm not needed, or I'll be real busy making friends fast!
I am playing a small role as "Maid Bridgit" as well as one of the singers in the "New Rochelle Chorus". I'm very excited to see what I'll be singing and wearing! I'm not an actor, but apparently I'm good enough!
If I can, I'll come back with pictures to show you guys of our first rehearsal!

Wish me luck!

*I'm currently reading "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, recommended by my sister Rachael. The first book to read this year. I've just been reading a few chapters every night. While it's a good book, it's not one like "Twilight" that sucked me in and didn't allow me to do anything else but read its pages! But it is a pretty good book!

And the water just runs through...

2009-01-23T11:06:00.004-05:00

I have a gallon at work that I fill with water every morning. My goal is to drink the entire gallon each day! I fill it up, then pour some into a water bottle and then mark the gallon of water for each water bottle so I can keep track of how many water bottles I have to drink and how many I have already drank for the day.

Well, yesterday was the day I got the closest to actually drinking the entire gallon! I started off good, by drinking 1.5 bottles of water (from the gallon) in the first hour and a half! Then came the potty breaks...

I had to potty all day long! And when I mean all day long, I literally mean, ALL DAY L-O-N-G! I didn't actually count how many times for the entire day, but I did count up to 9 times before I got off work last night (and I only worked 8 hours) so, I'm thinking that I went at least one time per hour that I was awake for the day (and I was only awake for 15 hours yesterday!)*

I try and not drink anything after I leave work at 6 p.m. so I'm not up all night long, but I just get so thirsty later in the day!

I don't think I'll actually drink a gallon of water every day, but it's pretty neat to have this as a goal and have water right at my desk and available if I get thirsty! Also, it's really cut down on my soda and coffee intake and I don't get head aches anymore due to caffeine with drawls!

You know when you water your plant too much and it starts leaking from the bottom the excess water that it doesn't need? Well, do you think there's any relation between that and drinking too much water? Just a thought...

*BTW: Sorry if this "potty" talk is a little TMI for people, but I thought it was really funny, and interesting enough to blog about! Thanks!

The Cat-In-The-Hat-Birdhouse!

2009-01-22T13:56:00.002-05:00

This morning I noticed this birdhouse in the courtyard located in the middle of my work building. Isn't that just incredible!?!

The view out my window this morning...

2009-01-20T09:20:00.000-05:00

single. females. cats.

2009-01-19T20:47:00.005-05:00

I am a single female. Yes, I am dating Jason, but I'm not married, I live alone, and I have two cats. Unfortunately, I've also been noticing other single females that live with cats. I love cats and I don't have anything against them, but it does scare me a bit when I work around 30 and 40 year old single women that have pictures of their nieces and nephews (not kids) and they have a cat or two at home to welcome them home every night after work...

Mmmm...
So... while I'm on the topic, here are a couple pictures of my baby, Rocco last night, sleeping on my bed. Isn't he just precious???

Southern Style Cheese Grits

2009-01-18T21:05:00.002-05:00

Jason took me to Cracker Barrel for breakfast/lunch today (I had breakfast/he had lunch). Okay, so we all know that Cracker Barrel is the place for home-made style southern food such as soft-melt-in-your-mouth biscuits and apple butter. But can someone please tell me why they serve instant grits? You know, the kind that tastes like it just isn't quite cooked all the way, because they probably ripped open the individual packet, put it in a bowl with water, popped it in the mic., stirred, and then set it before me with a slice of cheese on top! Okay, so I asked for a slice of cheese so I can have them the way I like 'em. But it just blows my mind that they would serve instant grits when they pride themselves for the home-made southern style cooking!
Alright, well, I'll step off this box, now. Just thought I'd share...

Cold Weather and Good Food!

2009-01-16T22:09:00.002-05:00

We've had some really cold and snowy weather this week. While at work, I took a picture of the courtyard in the middle of our building to show how high the snow is getting. Looks like about a food and a half or more on top of that table, huh? This morning when I parked my car at work, I noticed the sun was shining through the clouds and it looked absolutely phenomenal! Even though it was only about 7 or so degrees (and feeling like 7 or so degrees below zero) I wanted to take a picture of it! So, I reached into my purse for my camera that I carry around with me everywhere and all the time and of course, I didn't have it! I was so ticked! The one day I didn't carry my camera and I had an awesome shot! Throughout the entire day, I kept wanting to take more pictures of random things I noticed or wanted to show someone a picture of something I have on my camera and then I remembered, yet again, that I left it at home! SO ANNOYING!!!

Thanks to Rachael, I was able to make these spaghetti cupcakes for our food day on Wednesday! Everyone thought they were just so cute and cool! BUT for the fact that apparently some guys didn't want one because they thought that I had actually put REAL meatballs on top of cupcakes! Hello! Really? REALLY? Ha-ha!

A co-worker sympathized with me and told me that she had made a kitty litter cake! Even made it inside a kitty litter pan (brand new and clean) and used a litter scoop (also brand new and clean!) to serve with! It looked pretty gross! She's planning on making one within the next few months, so I'll make sure I take a picture, if I can!

Either way, the food day was a success! I was in charge and chose to have "haystacks", a yummy plate of layered chips, beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, olives, salsa, sour cream, etc. and that everyone else called "taco salad" and "nachos"! NO! THEY ARE HAYSTACKS! BECAUSE WHEN YOU'RE FINALLY DONE LAYERING EVERYTHING ON YOUR PLATE, IT LOOKS LIKE A HUGE HAYSTACK! Okay, so maybe it is an SDA thing, but at least I work with two of those and they were able to help explain it to everyone!

You know, I'm actually pretty lucky to still like haystacks anyways, because when I was touring with the choir in boarding school, the nice people that let us stay in their house on Friday night would make us haystacks for dinner! And then after church, the church members would make us hungry high school-ers a huge lunch of yummy delicious haystacks! Then we'd travel to another area in Washington, perform our concert in the afternoon and then the nice church members of that church would serve us a nice hot meal! And yes, they served us HAYSTACKS! It was a running joke anytime we toured around because we all knew we'd be having at least one or two meals be haystacks! But you know... I just love them!

Weekend Events

2009-01-12T22:29:00.002-05:00

While my great aunt has been in the hospital, many family members have come from Tennessee, Georgia, and California to visit her. We've had a great time visiting with each other. Aunt Kate loved having all the family here!
I hadn't realized just how much I missed my cousin Nick and I'm glad we were able to hang out with each other! Actually, We all had such a great time going out to eat, playing games, and watching our other cousin Andrew play indoor soccer, which I'm sure we embarrassed him with all our hootin' and hollering for him!
We also gathered together for breakfast on Sunday to celebrate Dewayne's 43rd birthday before he had to leave to go home to California. Denise, Rick and Nick left tonight for Tennessee and Georgia. So sad to see them all go and can't wait to see them all again!

It's belated, but still super cute!

2009-01-09T17:20:00.002-05:00

I just found this clip on my camera of Tony's birthday and it was so cute! So I wanted to make sure I post this before it gets too late!

My first Slide-show!

2009-01-08T20:31:00.004-05:00

Tony, Lori, and I headed to the hospital tonight to visit with Aunt Kate and family. Aunt Kate is doing so much better! She's smiling! And I'm sure she's anxious to get home soon! Tony was the life of the party! Thanks to Lori, I got some good pictures to share with you all (she took the ones at the hospital and I took the ones at her house). Isn't Tony just a little cutie? (The super short video below the slide show is of Tony. At one point, while drinking his bottle of milk, he pushed it away, looked at me and did the little tongue-in-between-the-lips-and-blow-thing at me and it was so cute! That's why you can hear me say "do it!" because I wanted him to do it again, when I was videoing him, but of course I'm not that lucky! He was sure cute though!)

Happy Birthday, Kristen!

2009-01-06T10:55:00.001-05:00

Today is Kristen's birthday!* What a cute little girl/pre-teen she is! Here are just a few pictures I have from the last couple of months...

November - Rachael's birthday

September - Lake MichiganNovember - opening presents the weekend after Thanksgiving

January 5th - the last day of her 11th year

I love you, Kristen!

*well, I wrote this on the 5th, but waited until 12: 10 a.m. on the 6th to post it so I could say it was "today" but blogger wouldn't change the date for me! Thanks to Elle J, I got it fixed now!

A January Sunset

2009-01-05T22:15:00.003-05:00

The view on my way home from work tonight: