My one and only New Year's Resolution

I'm way excited about an idea I found off of CreatingKeepsakes.  It's called Project365.  It's a way to document a year by taking a photo every day.  A kit by Becky Higgins is the focus of their project.  I was thinking about buying the kit, but knew that if it involve printing pictures in 4x6 fashion I would never do it consistently.  It's perfect for those who work with prints but I was thinking I wanted to do it digitally and was thinking it would be cool if a digital designer would make templates.   I was over the moon excited tonight to sign into my LiveMail blog feeds to find Meredith at Moriginals is creating templates for just that purpose.

And.... One of my favorite designers, Pam at Digitreats is doing a year in review "megakit" in 3 color schemes called, smirk, giggle, and shout.  And she does a monthly calendar template which I will use at the start of a new month so my book will all co-ordinate throughout the year.  So cool! 

And if I run out of ideas of what to take pictures of other than my smiling (or not so smiling) kiddos I found a list of 365 ideas to use. So I think this is a resolution I can keep.  I'm even setting daily reminder in my phonebook to remind me to take my pictures. 

Now I just need to get an Eye-Fi card make downloading pictures completely efortless!

My precious!

I'm over the moon excited about my new laptop.  I got it at Staples and the experience was pretty much a disaster.  But they came through finally and I got my new computer.  I got a surprise check Friday from my former employer that I had no idea was coming. 

Trav, the sweet heart that he is said that I could finally get a laptop that I have been wanting for YEARS since I fried my last one.  So off to staples we went and I found they had Dells in purdy colors and a great deal to boot.  I wanted purple but they only stocked the red so being the instant gratification gal that I am I decided to settle for the red.  Fast forward nearly an hour and a half we're at the check out to purchase that and a new monitor for Trav we find out they are completely out of stock.  Grrrrr they should have check for that way before then.  So I decided to get the purple one, oops out of stock on those online.  Plus they were out of stock on the monitor and the one the were going to offer as a subsitition.  So we left with nothing. 

The next day, without the kids in tow I went back to talk to a manager and voiced my frustration about the lack checking stock levels early in the transaction and how much of our time was wasted.  I let them know that we got the monitor elsewhere but I still wanted the computer.  She gave me an extra $100 off because she couldn't find the rebate on it that I didn't know about.  And gave me a $10 coupon.  AND the purple was back in stock.  It was retail $850, by the time I was done, I got it for $585.  I looked everywhere online and couldn't find a better deal for all the specs that I wanted. 

Yesterday I called to check and see when it would arrive at the store and be ready to pick up since they were also going to do all the set up for me at no charge.  Surprise, they told me that the purple one was back out of stock and that somehow my order had fallen through and would I settle for a red one and they would overnight it.  Fine!  I had no fight left in me and was really ticked.  I was really excited when I got a call this morning and that it the purple one came it.  Woo hoo!  I love it, Vista so far isn't as bad as what I was expecting, and there are even a few things I like better than XP.  We'll see how it works when I start installing stuff!

 

It's all smudgy already.  :o( Oh and here's what my desktop looks like.  It was from a digital scrapbooking freebie I got somewhere

Real Life #4

This week is Momentous Occasions. Thanks Jessica for the trip down memory lane. Our wedding day was definately the most Momentous Occasion of all. We were married October 16, 2004. It was a really chilly, windy day but it was perfect! Looking at these pictures makes me remember like it was yesterday. I'd go into more detail but it's past my bedtime. Maybe one of these days I'll have to write about it.

Be sure to stop back by in a few days. I'll try to post about a few other Momentous Occasions such as the births of my babies and Tae Kwon Do World Championships.

It's Real Life #3

So this weeks assignment is "where the magic happens" And if I were a magician I would magically transform our bedroom into a much larger, serene oasis. At this moment it couldn't be farther from that.

Lucky for me today is laundry day and I had already pulled the sheets off the bed. Surprisingly the bare mattress is actually prettier than what is actually normally on my bed. I really want new stuff but like everything else the bedroom decor has pretty much been forgotten about. My usual sheets are a lovely cream, navy and hunter green stripe. Travis' pillow cases match, mine are a dusty blue, they coordinate perfectly I assure you. *grin* The bed is rarely made, okay, never made. For covers we have uber warm, huge, fuzzy fleece blanket adorned with a wolf that I snuggle under in the winter. For warmer weather we have a lovely tattered and torn "quilt" It's one of those cheaply mass-produced horrors that I've had for ohhhh maybe 10 years. It's white with lots of blue, some pink and yellow and a tiny bit of red. That red ties in perfectly with my "beautiful" red walls.

The red walls where the first color paint we threw up when we bought our house. The red was a rebellion against the white rental walls I'd always had. I wanted COLOR and this red was just the ticket. Too bad we actually did "throw" it up because we did a pretty bad job painting. We never painted out the trim and it REALLY needs it. I'm sure the trim was at one time white. Now it's more of a yellowish cream. There's chips and gouges and red brush marks from where we got sloppy thinking we were just going to paint the trim white anyway. So how do we explain the brush strokes on the white of the ceiling? Ummmmm no comment.

So here is the tiny closet used by Travis mentioned in last weeks post. This door is as wide as the closet actually is. And that door is not even as wide as a normal door! The closet is deeper than it is wide.

Don't you just love my dresser! I want a nice antique type dresser someday, in the meantime this somewhat qualifies as a dresser. Travis has a matching one on his side of the bed. On top there's the lamp that I made when I was about 20, teddy bear given to me by Travis, phone book, roll of toilet paper, and a nursing pad!?! I've been done nursing for more than 2 months now! There's also lotion, I most nights put lotion on my feet and hands when I climb into bed. Or for a back rub once in awhile. The massager on the other side was part of Trav's Christmas present. I gave him that and some massage oil to throw him off, his real present was a massage at the spa. The massager is good for the back but if used on the shoulders you feel like your rattling your brains! There's also a binkie for those mornings I bring Jayden into bed with me so that maybe I can get a few extra minutes of sleep. She's almost kicked the binkie habit. Oh and the baby monitor we use to be able to hear Jayden over...
...the fan that we have to have running in order to sleep at night.

We jacked up our bed so that I could use underneath as storage. Primarily stored under there are books that I don't have time to read. Favorite authors: Stephen King, Danielle Steele, VC Andrews.

Oh look here's a bunch of decorating books. I was a big fan of these when I dreamed of owning a home and daydreamed often of how fabulously decorated it would be. Hmmmmm now I own my home and it's been many years since I've opened one of these books!

Somehow I doubt my mini-blind window treatment with the caution tag still attached would be a feature in one of those books!

It's real life #2

Here is "It's Real Life" assignment #2. So here is my real life in all it's glory.

Curb Appeal - I love my house. There's not a bigger yard in about a 8 block radius. No lie, I checked it out on our county treasurer maps. Problem is it completely lacks curb appeal. See that window on the 2nd floor? Yes, it's got plywood covering it. Not because the window is broken but because that is Trevor's room and the risk taker he is we were afraid somehow he'd break it and fall out. The window ledge is low to the floor and it wouldn't even take any climbing for him to be in serious trouble. So the plywood was Trav's solution. Ya know, we hardly ever go out front so I never really thought about what it looked like from the outside. Pretty ghetto I know. Don't mind the rickety stairs, they need to be replaced. Nor the copious amounts of weeds sprouting around the house. They took over the flowers that I planted two summers ago


Junk drawer - Pretty much your average junk drawer. Several kinds of tape, a flash light, pliers, fly traps, (we had nats last summer from some fruit gone bad) pink streamers from Jayden's birthday party I never got around to hanging. Don't forget the burnt out night light bulb, 'cause you never know when something like that might come in handy!


My favorite Jewelry - Well this one is a little staged. I tried to take a self portrait with my necklace while it was around my neck as it was at the moment but my stupid camera was doing a bad job at taking a decent picture. The locket was a Christmas gift from Travis. Don't ask to see the picture in it; because I've been to lazy to figure out how to print such a tiny picture. Oh wait I don't really print pictures at all. And of course my wedding ring. I ~heart~ my wedding set.

From whence I blog - You can see the last weeks post to see my office. Not much has changed, just a little bit of junk has been moved around. Some has been removed, only to be replaced. And quite a lot has been added I'm sure. It's too depressing to take another picture.

My Best Feature - I think it's got to be my eyes. Specifically, my eye color. Please oh please do not click the picture. I didn't primp of course for this one and I had no makeup on. Not that I wear much but ack! I looked at this one close up and it was scary!

Phoenix Business Trip

I got to go on an all expense paid trip to Phoenix AZ for a managers meeting for my work.  We stayed at the Arizona Grand Resort  and it was fantastic!  My only out of pocket expense was meals and incidentals in the airport and 1 drink when we went out before a vendor opened a tab for everyone.  It was a lot of fun getting to know people I had talked to on the phone.  I even had a few drinks with the owner of the company who is really awesome and down to earth. 

 

There was a vendor expo and I got loads of free stuff including a Coach wristlet.  I love that we sell Coach frames.  :o)  There was all the food you could eat and drinks you could drink.  And the food was ~divine~  The resort was beautiful and the weather was even better.

  Saturday we got to choose an outing.  I chose to go horseback riding in the desert.  I'm glad it wasn't too hot, though it was pretty darn warm. 

My horse was a little bit cheeky when we were waiting to get out of the coral and I could hardly rein him in.  I suppose that's what I get for saying I had ridden before.  He was trying to eat the flower buds in the trees along the fence line.  Lovely that it turned out to be something I was allergic to.    When they opened the gates he was the first one out and fell in right behind the lead horse.  He kept riding up on her and nipping her rear.  I had him reigned in the entire time and he just wanted to GO.  I wanted to snap a few scenery shots on the ride and was having a hard time handling him so I didn't get any great shots.  Though I got a few decent ones.  Plus I busted the shutter on my camera.  Darn, suppose now I'll have to get a new one!

Though I hate to fly and the trip there was extremely terrible, I look forward to the next one.  Flying over the mountains was really cool and I'm glad I had a window seat.  I saw some funny round shaped fields.  Anybody know why they do that?  I really missed my family though.  It was the first time I was away overnight.

  

 

  Me with the kiddos in our airport.  Trevor was being a stinker, I think he knew something was up.  I was really sad to be leaving them and worried they'd think I was gone forever.   They were so happy to see me when I came home and I was happy to be home

Up before the sun

Today I was up at 6am. I couldn't go back to sleep. I'm starting to get a little nervous about starting my new job. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm really glad I took these 2 weeks off work part of me is really sad to go back to work, the other part of me is ready. The kiddos have actually been really good for the most part. It started out a little rocky with the normal weekend happenings... both kiddos mostly climbing all over me and freaking out if I left the room; especially Jayden. This week though has been great, I'm able for the most part to get some stuff done. Jayden's sleeping through the night and going down with only a little bit of fight. Nap times on the other hand are a disaster! She'll sleep for maybe 30-40 minutes tops! Sometimes we get 2 short naps out of her, other it's catnaps in our arms and freak-outs if we lay her down. But hey, I'm getting longer stretches of sleep at night so I can't complain too loudly!



As far as what I've accomplished off of my agenda... Not a whole heck of a lot.

~Declutter whole house - kitchen, living room, bathroom, closets, Trevor's room - yes Jayden's room, our bedroom, basement, office - not so much
~ Ebay/Freecycle/donate a ton of stuff - I've freecycled some stuff still more to get rid of. Bunch of stuff to list on freecycle today. Instead of ebay I think we are going to have a yard sale sometime this spring/summer.
~ Balance check book - Man, I hate doing this and I do it like every three months and even with quicken it takes forever b/c I don't keep up with entering my receipts. Maybe tonight?
~ Organize my scrapbook computer files - well, I had them pretty much caught up but then I went on my 4 day freebie binge and I have ummm...errrrr 22 gig worth of stuff to organize. Oops!!!
~ Deep clean house top to bottom - Well I've kinda partially cleaned in most every room but flitted about so no room so far is totally clean. ~sigh~
~ Scrapbook some pages - Well I've got one done. :o) I'll do 2 more then that will qualify as some!
~ Get caught up on blogging - Well if you scroll back through the history I've posted a ton-o-stuff! This post finds me completely up to date!
~ Relax! Relax! Relax! - check, check, and CHECK! Seems I've done nothing but! I suppose this should have been number one... after all isn't that the point of vacation?

Put down the mouse and back away from the freebies

Before I ramble on... don't forget to scroll down in the next week or 2 because I'm going to be posting a bunch-o-stuff. Lot's of things that I've saved as drafts and just need to add pictures. I'm lazy like that don't ya know!

I admit it, I'm a junkie. I'm completely and totally addicted to downloading scrapbooking freebies. Do I use them? Yeah on a limited basis but not nearly as much as I'd like to. I tell myself it's because I don't have time. But if that is really so, how come I spend so damn much time downloading them.

I need to join a support group. It would be called "Collectors Annonymous" I'm sure there's one out there somewhere. It all started when I was little. I collected horses and teddy bears. Then I discovered crafting so I collected yarns and such. It all broke loose when I worked in a fabric store after I started quilting. So then I collected fabric. One fateful day I attended a creative memories party and boy oh boy was I in trouble. It started very innocently with a few small essentials. Very quickly it all spiralled out of control. I would hate to even guess how much money I've spend on scrabooking supplies over the years.

Did I use them? Not as much as I'd have like to. Hmmm I'm seeing a pattern here. I think my passion is not neccessarily the act of scrapbooking. It's the act of collecting and organizing. I'd spend days getting ready for going to a crop. I'd come home with just a couple layouts and spend days reorginizing my space. I'd do a layout or 2 then reorganize again.

I've slowly parted with parts of my old collections. Quilting fabric has been given to my mother in law. I can visit it if I want to. :o) Maybe someday I'll pick up quilting again when I have more time. Teddy bears are going to be passed on to Jayden. Her room is a teddybear theme. Some of my scrapbooking stuff has been passed on to a few friends who scrapbook. Alot of it I'm keeping as it will have purpose in various crafting projects down the road with the kiddos. I'm trying to reduce the clutter in my house. I'm not a pack rat. Actually quite the opposite. My decor is rather sparse and I only get things that I truely have a need for. Unless I suppose it falls under the category of what I'm collecting at the time.

So I decided to take yesterday as a day for me and not lift a finger except for caring for the kiddos. And I actually followed through with it. My only non-essential effort was putting a few dishes in the dishwasher to make a load and turn it on. That's it. Otherwise, my rear was on my computer chair downloading elements. I got caught in the web that is the worldwide web. Just when I'd think I'd exhaust all of my normal haunts for freebies, I'd find a link to another. I didn't go to bed until 1:30! My back hurt and my eyes were glassy.

I told myself today I was going to just finish organizing the stuff I downloaded last night and not download anymore. I had big plans for today and a ton of housework I wanted to get done. I made good on my promise to myself. I didn't download anymore but my collections are uber organized now. I love my digiscrap organization system. Maybe one day I'll share my secret. I can see at a glance what I've got and where it's stored. I'm very thankful for dual layer DVD's and XP that lets you print contact sheets of files! Did you know you can put 35 thumbnail pictures on each 8 1/2 x 11 sheet?

Well for all my digiscrap friends, here are a few links to a few of my favorite haunts for freebies:

A few new ones I found last night:
http://justforthescrapofit.net/gallery/
http://www.godigitalscrapbooking.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=657
http://www.stoneaccentsstudio.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=23 (be sure to sign up for their newsletter)

A few of my old fav's:
http://digitalscrapbookplace.com/place/freebies.shtml
http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/chat/local_links.php?catid=5
http://www.scrapartist.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=538
http://peppermintcreative.com/index.php?main_page=downloads
http://digiscrappin.beyondthedistantstar.com/
http://theshabbyprincess.com/downloads.asp (Her work is my favorite!)
http://www.3scrapateers.com/gallerypp/showgallery.php/cat/559
http://www.thedigichick.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=120
http://www.pagesoftheheart.net/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=566
http://www.designerdigitals.com/ddgallery/showgallery.php?cat=531

My Happy place

Who would have ever in a million years would have thought that doing laundry in my dank basement would in my mind be considered an escape. I have quite a set up down there. The entire main room has clothes lines running the length so I can hang clothes as I go. A couple of wire cubbies allow me to sort each members clothes into their own little cubbies. And a 6 foot banquet table that used to be used for scrapbooking has become my folding table. I just brought down my ironing board since I've got a ton of purdy new clothes that might need ironing.

I relish those 15-30 minute snippets of time where I'm folding laundry in the basement with both the washer and dryer humming to drown out the screaming, kiddo video, or annoying constant "noise" of a parade of infant toys all singing their own tune all at the same time. Ahhh, it's paradise! It reminds me I need to go start another load. ~ hmmm maybe I should stash a book or a magazine somewhere and take some extra time "sorting socks."

I got big plans for my dank little basement. Soon I'd like to put some fresh paint up. Maybe set up a sewing cabinet. In the other room one day I hope to have padding on the floors of some kind so the kiddos can play. Ohhh scratch that, it would defeat the purpose. Maybe instead I'll make a little workout room.

You'd think...

I would have cut of his hand or something with the reaction I got when I gave him a temporary tattoo. He f.r.e.a.k.e.d out!!! I started to panic because I wasn't sure what would take it off. I tried for awhile to redirect him to do something else but all he could think of was that tattoo. So I played it up in a big way saying what a big boy he was and how cool it was.

I was about to jump on the net to quickly research an easy way to remove the tattoo from his hand. Out of desperation I showed him my tattoo and we compared the two side by side. He settled down at that point and thought it was pretty cool.

I have a dragon tattoo on my right shoulder blade. It's a benevolent dragon. I like the symbolism of the dragon in Korean Mythology. It's far from the dragon of fire and destruction of Western Mythology. It's not a true Korean Dragon though. It's winged and not quite so "serpenty." It's a piece that I really liked the artwork on and I got it on my 25th birthday.

I got it when I was in Tae Kwon Do. It symbolizes a few things. First, being that I got it during my Martial Arts days, it's a big part of that. But also when I was a kid my older brothers played Dungeon and Dragons a lot and I enjoyed watching them. I must have been around 7 or 8. One of my brothers has been gone for quite a few years so it's kind of a link to that memory of my brothers and a big part of my childhood.

That was kind of a tangent... but gives you all a little bit of insight into my past. Maybe I should do a little more of that. Hmmmm maybe I'll have to do a post about my "past life" as a Tae Kwon Do co-school owner with my Ex.

Busy!

I've fallen waaaaaay behind in blogging. Life is pretty hectic at the moment. I'm short handed at work and training a new girl, so I'm working a lot of hours. Add to that needy kiddos = 1 mama with no free time.

Since this isn't just a blog but our family journal I plan to go through and back date some posts. So some of the stuff will be old news but I'll be working from the back to the most current hopefully in some sense of order. Good thing I take lots of pictures and save little mini drafts to blog about later. :o)

Oh, and keep your fingers crossed for me! I had an interview last Tuesday! I'm soooo excited and hope I get it. I think the interview went ~really~ well. Without spilling too many beans... here's a bit of the scoop. I'm being recruited for this position. They are opening a store in my town and there was one that opened in January and was VERY successful. It is in my "area of expertise" and I'm being considered for the position of General Manager. I'm under the impression that it would be substantially more $ and some (maybe most?) of the negatives in my current position would be eliminated. Especially the micro management factor and expectation to sell the Cadillac to the customer who can't even afford the Escort. And the beauty of it is that they actually have STAFF in their store. It's hard to give good service to the customer when your a 1 man show half the time. Not to mention if you're busy, impossible to break away for a potty break, or a mommy break in my case.

I went and "shopped" their other store before my interview and I was very pleasanty suprised. It exceeded my every expectation. :o) I could definately picture myself managing that kind of store. Drawback is that it would probably be a bit longer of a work week being that the position is salaried but they're closed on Sundays, so I'd never have to work on a Sunday. The person whom interviewed me said he was very impressed with the intiative I showed in driving to another city to shop them to know what the company was about, plus he was impressed with the internet research I had done into the company. Then 2 days later their recruiting Doctor came in to talk to my Dr. and I knew right away who he was when he said his name. I introduced myself and he said, "Nice to meet you, _____ told me all about you. He seemed very impressed." I'm not going to jinx myself by saying it's in the bag. But, I have a really good feeling about it.

Well, that was way more detail than I intended to go into. So anyway... don't forget to scroll down to see what we've been up to for the last month or so!

Ahhhhhhh...

The peace and quiet in my house at the moment is ohhh so refreshing. Both of the babes are sleeping and Travis is taking a nap as well. The temptation to join them is strong but I'm really loving the quiet. The only sounds in the house at the moment are the static of the baby monitor, the hum of the central air, and my clacking on the keys.

Oh whatever shall I do with this free time. ~Sigh~ I suppose I should do some laundry. Nah, I think I'm going to read a book. I *heart* naptime!

Oh and speaking of naps. Jayden has slept through the night for the last 3 days in a row and fell asleep on her own when I laid her down awake. Last night she slept from midnight to 8:30am. I nursed her and she slept until 11:30!

Don't let the bed bugs bite

So last night I had just climbed into bed and was nursing Jayden and I felt like something was crawling on my leg. I went to move the blanket aside and ~chomp~ the damn thing bit me and hard! I screamed and Jayden jumped about a foot hurting me even more as she chomped because I startled her.

Travis sprang into action and tried to help me find the pesky offender. All I saw was a large black bug scurring all over the mattress Travis kept trying to squish it with the blanket and it kept coming towards me. It moved with lightening speed. I yelled at Travis to turn on the light while I kept trying to squish it. He ran into the bathroom to get a paper towel while I tried to keep the thing coralled with one hand and Jayden in my other arm.

When he finally squashed the creature and we were able to see what it was. OMG it was the biggest ant I'd ever seen in my life and even though half of it's body was squashed it was attacking the paper towel with ferocity with this huge pincher things. I'm not kidding this ant was like mutant huge. Maybe about a half an inch long or more! Travis thought it might be a carpenter ant. I of course wanted to research it to find out exactly what it was so he stuck it paper towel and all in a lidded jar in the bathroom.

All night long my skin crawled and I was terrified there would be more and that the had moved a nest into our house or something. In the morning the damn thing was STILL moving! Travis thought he killed it. So I did my research and found this. It was definately a carpenter ant. I had been working out in the yard trying to take down some weeds that were growing near this huge rotten stump from a tree we had cut down last fall. Travis thinks maybe the ants were living in the stump.

~bleach~ as I type this over 24 hours later my skin crawls and now I'm afraid to go to bed all over again!

Sad sad day

~Sniff sniff~

Today I lost a trusty friend that has been by my side for the last 6 years. Dependable, reliable, and a constant source of important information, she kept me on task and on track. I don't know how I will survive without her.

I saw her demise yet was unable to move quickly enough to prevent the fall. I winced as I heard the crunch of her hitting the concrete parking lot. She had survived many such falls and thought this time would be no different. When I picked her up and put her back all looked to be ok.

The next day I picked her up ready to start my day and tears welled up in my eyes. Her poor screen was cracked in 3 places. The buttons worked but the screen was toast. Now she is nothing more than a glorified paperweight. My Palm pilot was dead. :o(

Now begins the task of finding her replacement. My thoughts lean towards one of those new PDA phones. I think however my demands are unattainable. Good reception is a must, at least a 1.3 megapixel camera, decent amount of battery life, MP3 player would be a bonus. I'd like to be able to synch to outlook. I don't know if it's even possible. All of this needs to come within an affordable price range. Hmmmm it's a lot to ask. But I've got to live until at least November without it as my phone is under contract.

In the meantime I'm stuck with the ardous task of transfering all of my stuff. At least I kept it synched to my desktop!

Not so Quiet Riot

So I'm upstairs at 10:30 gathering laundry and getting the kiddos ready for bed and I hear LOUD music. Mostly base. It is a constant annoyance with our next door neighbors.* I was instantly pissed off and told I Trav if the noise wasn't stopped before 11pm I was calling the cops. I was fuming. This happens about once a week at least and I'd had enough. I've only called the cops once because of another neighbor who left their dog tied outside all day and it barked nonstop.

I went outside to see how loud it was out there. To my suprise the noise was not coming from their house. Nor was it the usual gansta rap they usually subject us too. It seemed it was coming from a house across the alley. Which would have made their stereo like super loud! I was hearing "Bang Your Head." I came back in and told Travis that it wasn't them. He came out and laughed at me when he heard. He said I was listening to a concert for "Name-of-my-town-here Days" and that none other than Quiet Riot was playing. I had forgotten that the event was this weekend. I didn't know that Quiet Riot was performing. LOL, it's kinda funny that I was going to call the cops on Quiet Riot! I'm sure that's NEVER happened before. Ha ha


*Well they're not exactly next door. We are the second house from the corner and our yard goes all the way to the alley. We have probably the biggest yard in a 6 block radius. On the street perpendicular to ours are four really crappy houses that sit up against our side yard. These houses have NO yard and are all rentals. These houses sit on total property that is a little more than half of the size of our yard. First thing we did when we bought the house was put up a six foot privacy fence. I wish it was 8 foot!

I'm so bad

I come home from a "quick" trip to the store. I walk in the door and ask Travis kind of sheepishly, "Honey, what would you think if I told you I was pregnant?" He spun around in his chair with mouth dropped and said, "WHAT?!?!?!" He looked horrified. Poor guy I think I scared him a bit.

My quick trip to the store was for diapers and wipes which we are nearly out of. I came home with: ice cream sandwiches (2 kinds) Star crunch, 4 kinds Granola bars, 3 packages of candy bars, 3 packages of fudge stripe cookies, peaches in heavy syrup when I normally buy only lite, tomato soup for work. This is a grocery trip like those I took when pregnant.

Though it is highly unlikely that I'm pregnant at this rate I'll be gaining weight for another reason.

So I suppose based on Trav's reaction now is not the time to talk about having another!

Not as young as I used to be

Trevor seems to have been attempting to position himself to do sommersaults. So I helped him out a few times. He has yet to do one on his own. So how does one go about teaching a toddler to sommersault? This mama seems to think by demonstrating said activity would be a good start.


Yeah, not such a good idea. I might add that I haven't done a sommersault in ohhhh maybe 10-15 years at least. How hard can it be right? Well as I put my head to the ground and contemplated the easiest way to get my feet to go over my head for a second I thought maybe it wasn't such a good idea. But then I went for it. It kinda hurt and I heard a few snaps and crackles and Trevor thought it was about the funniest thing ever. So what do I do? Thinking it would be a lot easier the second time I went again. Bad mistake! I heard a loud pop in my back and instant pain and now I have a headache too. LOL, can one be crippled by sommersaults? If it hasn't happened before I may be the first. Good thing I got all my laundry done for the weekend. I may be on the couch for a few days.


So did teaching by demonstration work? Ummm that would be no I think. I'm sure my attempt didn't even resemble a sommersault.


I'm off to go lay on a heating pad. Is it heat or ice for a new injury? I forget.

Mission organization

Not that any of you reading probably care about what I'm posting now. This is mainly for my family journal I'm making.

I had a ton of things I planned to do while on maternity leave. In addition to spending time with my babes of course. I'm happy to say I completed most of it. Or at the very least parts of most of it.

~ Office cleaned and organized top to bottom - Check! That was a big project because as I posted earlier it was a MESS.
~ Attic organized - Check! I got everything into rubbermaids, labeled and sorted. Now I can actually find stuff up there. It's not clean but very organized.
~ Jayden's room put together - Almost done. I have a few things there that don't belong. I also need to get her teddy bears put out. Someday I'll have to make her curtains. It was my craft room and it was packed full of stuff. I have done a serious purge of my fabric, crafting and scrapbook stuff. What is remaining is located in various containers of the house. A closet in Jayden's room houses the majority of stuff that will be regularly used as well as old photos and albums. My scrapbook paper and some other scrapbook stuff in the front hall closet. The stairwell to the attic has a bunch of stuff. And 2 totes of fabric in the attic.
~ Kitchen cleaned/organized from top to bottom - Not quite. I need to organize a few cabinets and clean the fridge. But I did scrub the floor on my hands and knees with a scrubby and even got the baseboards and under the cabinets. AND I scrubbed all of our cabinets.
~ Trevors room cleaned/organized - Check! Well... just a few things out of place
~ Front foyer cleaned - Check!
~ All laundry done/put away - Almost done. 2 loads left of stuff that has to soak. All of the non fitting clothes have been stored in their proper totes in the attic by size. I had too big/too small clothes EVERYWHERE and no real system to store them. Now they are super organized. :o)
~ Recipe collection in Mastercook organized - work in progress... I have them about halfway categorized
~ Baby announcements sent - Envelopes are addressed, I just need to make the announcements and actually send them.
~ Decluttering in general -Check! We dumped a vanload of stuff at freecycle event, I took a van FULL of cardboard to recycle, and our garbage cans/recycle container have been FULL everyweek.

I have learned a few things about myself the last 6 weeks. The biggest is that I'm good at putting things away if and only if the have a permanent home to go to. Baskets, storage drawers and boxes, and my label maker are my friends. :o)

50 Questions

Here are 50 questions for the people who are a little more "mature"...

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?Any medical bills, we have a TON!
2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?lol, when you have little kids ANY dinner without the kids is romantic I suppose. Texas Roadhouse.
3. Last time you puked from drinking?Only once ever, during RAGBRAI when I was in high school
4. When is the last time you got drunk and danced on a bar?Never danced on a bar, I have on a table though. Probably 6 years or so ago in Omaha NE
5. Name of your first grade teacher?Mrs. Hill I think?
6. What do you really want to be doing right now?hmmm sipping margaritas on a caribean cruise maybe
7. What did you want to be when you were growing up?Accountant was what I was planning when I was in high school. I didn't like college accounting classes.
8. How many colleges did you attend?1
9. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?Nursing cami... hmmm because I nurse my baby
10. GAS PRICES? Ridiculous! Though it could be alot worse. Some countries are the equivilant of $4/gallon.
11. Where would you move if you could move anywhere?I'd love to have a nice house in the country. In a school district with good schools. (And that would be affordable :o)
12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?Please Travis get up and don't hit the snooze! LOL, I love being on maternity leave. The kids are my only alarm clock.
13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?Why can't I fall asleep, I must have fallen asleep sometime after 4am
14. Favorite style of underwear?Isn't this a little personal?
15. Favorite style of underwear for the opposite sex?dont really care
16. What errand/chore do you despise?Dishes
17. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer?Yes
18. Get up early or sleep in?Sleep as late as the kiddos will allow
19. What is your favorite cartoon character?LOL, lately I've been watching alot of Diego, Dora, Spongebob, and Blues Clues
21. Have you found real love yet?Sure have!
22. When did you first start feeling old?I don't really feel old. Though I hated to turn 30
23. Favorite 80's movie?Maybe Breakfast Club or Pretty in Pink
24. Your favorite lunch meat?Smoked Turkey
25. What do you get everytime you shop at sam's club.Don't have a membership at this time.
26. Beach or lake?both
27. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?no
29. Favorite guilty pleasure?Carmel Mocha Frapachino from starbucks, slathered with whipped cream, chocolate and caramel syrup!
30. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?I don't think there is one. Most people think Moulin Rouge is a crappy movie and I kinda like it.
31. What's your favorite alcoholic drink?Suicide Margarita with salt from Diamond Daves or long islands
32. Cowboys or Indians?neither
33. Cops or Robbers?neither
34. Who from high school would you like to run into?I don't know
35. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?92.3 "todays music" or if Trav changed it 107.9 (hard rock)
36. Movies or Documentaries?movies
37. The Cosby Show or the Simpsons?If I had to choose, simpsons. But really not a big fan of either.
39. Do you like the person who sits directly across from you at work?LOL, definately not. (The person sitting across from me is the customer!) Kidding really, I guess it depends on the customer.
40. If you could get away with it, who would you kill?noooooo. That would be bad Karma. :o)
44. Last book you read for real?Fiction: A Danielle Steele book Non-fiction: One of many Pregnancy/baby books. And what does one mean by reading a book "for real"
45. Do you have a teddy bear?I have a TON of teddy bears, I used to collect them. Now Jayden's room is going to be home to all of them.
46. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?At work
47. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to?Never been there, I'd like to see the ocean.
48. Do you go to church?Not as often as I'd like, I usually work on Sundays
49. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship?Career as a photographer
50. Just how OLD are you?32

Birthday Meme

Inspired by Jo

1. Go to Wikipedia and type in your birth date only -without the year.
April 1st

2. List 3 events that occurred that day:
1. 1572 - in the Eighty Years' War, the Watergeuzen capture Brielle from the Spaniards, gaining the first foothold on land for what would become the Dutch Republic. (Jessica: I thought seeing this was interesting. Was this the source of your daughters name by chance?
2. 1954 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
3. 1979 - Nickelodeon (TV Channel) starts

3. List 2 important birthdays:
1967 - Phil Demmel, American musician (Vio-lence and Machine Head)
1971 - Method Man, American rapper

4. List 1 death:
1984 - Marvin Gaye, American singer (b. 1939)

5. List a holiday or observance:
April 1 is known as April Fool's Day or All Fools' Day in many countries. Former New Year celebration day.