At Ease

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and Eric & even had a conversation about it the other day while driving. It seems within the last year of living here that we've finally found our "place". We've met new people and started socializing more and I just feel so much happier and at ease with our lives. Sure things are still crazy (debt, family, the list goes on), but the life Eric & I share is starting to come together so to speak. Just had to share that.

Heap Full of Heaven

So I've got lots of Heaven time lately. Two weeks ago my sis and her bf brought the girls up and we went to the local zoo. It's not very big and in fact, still under construction, but fun nonetheless. Here's some of the best shots from it.







This past weekend I also got to watch her for a couple hours while sis and her bf went to a birthday dinner for his sister. I think Heaven let in every fly in a 10 mile radius, but we had a blast.

S'mores Bars

Smores Bars
Originally uploaded by Mrs-T

I made this today especially for my husband who loves s'mores!! Such a great wife I am!!

Ingredients:
8-10 Whole Graham Crackers
1 Pkg Brownie Mix (plus ingredients to make brownies
2 Cups Mini Marshmallows
1 Cup Chocolate Chips (I used milk

Arrange graham crackers in a single later in a greased 13x9 pan. Prepare brownie batter according to package instructions. Spread over graham crackers. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack before cutting.

Neighborly

So a couple months ago a new neighbor moved in. We heard from another neighbor that the lady was pregnant with triplets and on bed rest so we have not met them yet. Well yesterday when I got home I saw three balloons on their mailbox all blue saying "It's a Boy!". Obviously she had the triplets and they were three little boys. They have a little girl as well and she is probably around or likely under 2. So I decided I would cook them a meal and take to them. I talked to my neighbor and on Friday this week she and I are getting together and cooking a meal to take to them Saturday morning. I feel so neighborly and feel even better that it was my idea. I've never done anything like this, but have thought about it in on numerous occasions. Missy has a good chicken/rice/broccoli casserole we are making and then probably some brownies or something as well. Just something easy for them to heat up. God I love my new neighborhood!!!

4 Day Weekend Wrap-up

So I'm sitting her on Sunday afternoon feeling refreshed after my long weekend. A few weeks ago Eric decided to take the week off and I was able to take Thursday and Friday off as well. He ended up only taking Wednesday and Thursday though due to his work schedule. On Thursday we went down and played Golf with my papaw. He was so excited we came down to play with him. Did I mention it was the second time I had officially played golf?? Fortunately we only played 9 holes as my finger was bothering me and the gnats were horrendous. What is with those little jerks this year?? Anyway papaw won and they didn't even keep my score. hee hee After golfing we went to dinner and then headed home. We intended to meet up with the neighbors, but were exhausted. We found out later they came over at 7:30 and knocked on the garage door, but we didn't hear it. And Missy texted me at 11, but I was sound asleep by then. Darn.

On Friday I slept in while Eric went to work. After I got up I took a shower and planned my day of Target and cleaning the house. After I got out of the shower I got a call from Miss asking me if I wanted to go to the pool with them in the afternoon. I could totally skip cleaning the house for a day at the pool. I went to Target and got a couple pairs of shorts and a new shirt off the clearance rack and then came home to head to the pool. Her mom's dog is obsessed with bringing people toys and you have to throw them in the pool so she can jump in and repeat the cycle. Oh and she also intentionally goes up next to someone and shakes all of the water off of her. It was hilarious! After I got home that evening I decided I really needed to clean the house so I did. That night we ended up sitting outside with several of the neighbors. The teenagers and Eric and Drew ended up having a water balloon fight so who knows (but who cares) what the other neighbors throught.

Saturday I went over and visited my youngest sister in the "hospital". She's in there for drugs/probation violation. It was a nice stormy afternoon so we stayed in and watched movies on the tube.

Today has been just as relaxing. I've been watching movies (Jumper is a good one), surfing the web and going through some personal emails on my work account. I also finished up my cleaning from Friday by mopping the kitchen and bathrooms in the house.

I'm so glad I took a couple days off. I feel very refreshed and relaxed. This week is going to be quite busy at work with several trainings and meeting. I'm also going to pick blueberries one day with my stepmom since we didn't get around to doing it last week. Oh and my sister Lindsay is supposed to be stopping by tomorrow evening. Should be a nice week overall.

Family, Friends & Fireworks!

Wow! Our weekend was great. On Friday we slept in. After we got up and showered, I made brownies and homemade macaroni & cheese for our cookout in the evening. Around 4 my cousin's showed up and we headed over to our family's house for the cookout. It was actually a pleasant visit without too much drama. I got to visit with my family, eat some good food, and play with the kids (especially my niece who is freaking adorable).



The guys went to get fireworks after dinner and they put on a lovely display for the family. They get a little out of hand at times...



We headed home around 11:30 or so and sat outside and visited with the neighbors for a while, too. Eric and Drew (neighbor) ended up TP-ing another neighbor's house for fun as they were gone that night. It was funny.

Saturday I got let in on the news of Danialle's news and helped her confirm it by taking her to Wal-Mart for a digital test. Congrats again Danialle & Chadd!!! After they left we vegged around the house. Then got ready and headed over to some other friends of ours. They had a nice cookout and fireworks as well. They put on a show for over an hour!!

Yesterday we just recuperated from the weekend. I ended up sleeping in until 10 am, which was later than I anticipated. I watched a couple movies and then decided to make a cheesecake and cut up some watermelon. YUM!! My stepmom is coming up this week and bringing me some raspberries, so I thought I needed the cheesecake to go with them. She's coming up to go pick blueberries so we will be full of fruit this week for sure!!

Happy 4th of July!!

This evening we are heading over to my family's house for a cookout, fun, laughter and later some fireworks. We have done this the last few years and it is quite fun. I made up a yummy batch of homemade macaroni and cheese and some brownies. Hope everyone has a safe and spectacular 4th!!

P.S.
The person who did my layout is no longer blogging and apparently my "header" is not longer available. I have made my own for the time being because the stupid "image unavailable" was driving my crazy, but if anyone feels the urge to make me a header I'd be delighted...

Patio Garden

So this summer I decided to try my hand at a patio garden. Here's a little tour.
(Click to make pictures bigger!!)

My Herbs: Arugula, Basil, Chives, Oregano, Parsley



Also has wanted a lime tree for a really long time so we got him one last weekend since they were on clearance. I don't expect an abundance of limes though. We are hoping to get a lemon tree maybe this weekend, too if there are any left.



Finally my "vegetable garden" which includes: yellow tomatoes (not as acidic), cherry tomatoes, green peppers (can't wait to make stuffed peppers) and jalapeños.



My neighbor planted roma tomatoes and banana peppers to they plan is to share them if we get that many. Supposedly my mom has a garden as well, but I've yet to see it or receive any "products" of it. hee hee

I'm embarrassed to show this, but early in the season I planted some herbs from seeds... It didn't work out to well... On the left was supposed to be something. In the middle I think I actually mixed oregano and basil. And I have a few lonely pieces of parsley. Very sad, I know.



Finally these are some snapdragons I got from my stepmom.

Back to Blogging

So I've been thinking a lot lately about blogging again, but today I was reading an article, "My Shrink Says...Blog!" in the Newsweek from last week and decided there is no better time to start than right now! This is supposed to be my "creative outlet" and my "medicine".

I have so much to get caught back up on... Let's see...We have been in our house 9 months or so now and absolutely still love it. The neighborhood is fantastic and we love our neighbors. In fact our immediate neighbors we have practically became best friends with! Its not uncommon for us to be sitting in our driveways a couple evenings a week chatting away with various neighbors. We also have a couple dog sitter options. I feel so safe in the neighborhood, too. If you remember way back when... We HATED our neighbors in our old neighborhood. Everyone in that neighborhood was so anti-social. If you were outside others would go in, no one ever waved at you, it just plain sucked. I couldn't ask for any better neighbors than the ones I have now.

I originally started this blog for a couple of reasons. My first post was 9/12/03. We had just began trying to conceive our first child and had only been married since April of the same year. I had no idea I'd be sitting here 5 years later without a single child. Honestly I thought I'd have 2 and be done by now... Boy does life throw you curve balls time and time again. There are times I look back and think "Thank god I wasn't pregnant" especially when my brother passed away. I've come to terms with some things in my life and there are still things I struggle with. All in all I think I am becoming a better person and I'm sure I will continue down that route.

I feel like I've written enough for today. Actually work is calling me and I need to get back to it. The plan is to get back to posting nearly every day. I'll try to post pictures as well. If you are still reading my blog, please let me know with a little comment saying "hi!". Just curious who is still out there checking in on me.

I'm still alive

I have not any motivation to blog about anything. I've had many things to talk about, just not blogging... Here's a little recap

We got moved into our new house, which is absolutely fabulous!! I love it and I love our new neighbors. We painted out kitchen, but other than that we moved right in. Shortly after moving in we had a GWO at our house. We also had Thanksgiving and Christmas at our house. It was a lot of fun.

My sister K had another baby, a girl, at the end of December. I got to be present for her birth. It was fun and she's a cute baby.

My other sister A recently got engaged and also found out she's pregnant again. It's rough for me, but whatever. It's not like I can do anything about it. I am glad she finally got engaged though.

I'm anxious for spring to come. This winter has been rough and I'm ready for the snow to be no more. I'm ready to get my hands out into my new landscape and meet more of the neighbors and just generally being outside. It makes me feel so much better overall.

Let's see... We are still trying to get pregnant obviously with no such luck yet. I just have to keep believing it will happen eventually. That's about the just of my life these days. I'm trying to get healthier, but I struggle with the working out part. I really want to start doing yoga, but it's so hard to find the time/motivation in the evenings. And there is no way I'm getting up in earlier. ha ha ha

I'll try to update more often. Maybe now that I've done this I can get back into the swing of updates. I know a couple of you have emailed me and I really appreciate you thinking about me still. I still read blogs daily even if I don't comment.

1 Week to Move

This week has been so crazy packing things up and getting ready for the move next week... OMG - We move in 7 DAYS!!!

Here's the state of our garage at the current moment...



We ran out of boxes last night, but I've been "whoring" at work and so far have 6 really nice boxes and a couple smaller boxes... Nothing like giving them a guilt trip.

I've been trying to cancel some things and change some things to the new place, however I've hit a couple walls because of freaking "security reasons". AKA some bills are not in my name, so I can't change them... So much for trying to help Eric out. Poor guy is overwhelmed with training on his new job this week...

So that's the status so far.

Box Whore

So in preparation for our upcoming move, I've been collecting as many boxes as possible. I've been sneaking around the corners at work stealing all the boxes, making them order cases and cases of paper b/c those are really the best boxes ever. Eric left this morning to go to Chicago with his co-workers so tonight and tomorrow I'm planning on doing some major packing. I think he's worried. hee hee

We had our inspection last week and only had a couple of things for our sellers to fix. Thank goodness they are working with us on them. I also received an email (through our realtors) from the sellers explaining some of the other "non-major" things. Like how there isn't a screen door on two of the doors b/c their dog went straight through them. And how one of the neighbors would probably re-screen them for a couple of beers. Oh and how its not uncommon on a Saturday night to sit in someones garage or driveway and play poker or watch a game. AWESOME!! This is exactly the type of neighborhood we were looking for. I'm hoping they go all out for Halloween and Christmas too b/c we'll give them a run for their money!! Wait til the kids find out we give out full-size candy bars to the trick-or-treaters!! I just cannot wait!

To pass your time you can check out some pics of our new house here. The red kitchen is my only "issue" with the house. I'm thinking about either sponge painting over it, stenciling some borders or just priming it and re-painting it. Not sure yet what I'll do.

So you thought I was back to blogging...

I had good intentions... A lot has happened in the last month since I blogged last. The biggest things are that my husband finally got a much needed and deserved promotion at his job. The downside is it requires more traveling, but I'm okay with that. It will be an adjustment, but I'm going to find things to keep myself busy.

We also put our house up for sale so we could buy a new bigger house. Well we put our house on the market on a Thursday and then went the following Saturday to check out some houses. No rush or anything, just get a feel for what was out there in our price range, etc. Guess what?! We absolutely fell in LOVE with this one particular house. It was everything we wanted and more. We put a little longer close date on it in hopes of our house selling in the meantime. We close Sept 27. Just under 5 weeks now. So far we've had 1 person check out our house and it's been on the market 2 weeks. We also have an open house in a couple weeks.

Besides that we've just been doing all sorts of things. We went to the "Dave" concert last weekend and had a great time. I've had some shows with my business. Hoping it picks up a little more although I'm not sure exactly where I'll find the time to fit it in my schedule. Also work has picked up like mad. The students are back and I can barely get a lunch in. I don't mind being busy though. This weekend we have absolutely nothing planned. Of course I'm sure we'll be doing some summer cleaning in preparation for the move. Plus we need to clean the house and do some landscaping. All this rain has really messed up my mulch!

That's all I have for now. I might be back to regular blogging so stay tuned.

Hey Y'all

I'm back from Texas. Completely exhausted, but I think I'm getting caught back up on my sleep now. I pretty much survived on 4-5 hours of sleep each night we were there. This is not good for a girl who sleeps 8-10 hours nightly... It was worth it though.

On Tuesday of last week I spent the evening packing. Blah!

On Wednesday I got 4 phone calls from a certain airline (AA) saying my flight was delayed, put on another plane, blah, blah, blah at 2:30 AM!! I screamed at the 4th lady who called and by then I was wide awake. I met my co-worker at 6 a.m. and headed to the airport. We almost missed our plane gabbing away. I looked down at my watch and realized we had 15 minutes to get through security and to our gate. Thank god it was smooth and our gate was just around the corner. After we got to Dallas we caught a shuttle to the convention center and signed up for the manufacturing tour at 3:30. Then we headed back to the hotel, checked in and grabbed lunch. The tour was AWESOME!! Gave me a whole new respect for what really goes into the jewelry and how many hands it goes through before it's the finished product, etc. I was floored! Made the 1 hour bus trip and car sickness more tolerable on the way back. That night we had dinner at Chili's and then headed to bed.

On Thursday I got up at 5 a.m. and we all got ready in shifts. Our group was really good and we were out of the hotel by 7 heading to breakfast. There was a little place in the hotel that we got breakfast at. That morning I ordered this oatmeal that sounded awesome. Weird thing though is that it came out cold. It was supposed to be cold. I ate most of it as it was surprisingly very good. After breakfast we headed to training which lasted all morning. It was very good. The meals sucked, but everyone kept saying you don't go to rally for the food. They were definitely right! The rally itself started after lunch. They do all kinds of recognition, guest speakers, entertainment. Also people from the mission trips they've funded, etc. I heard there were over 7,000 people there. It was jam packed. The excitement in the air was awesome, too.

Friday was more of the same thing. One awesome guest was the marketing or something lady form Stein*mart who spoke about fashion tips & trends. Oh my gosh was she awesome!? I took several pages of notes and plan to use a lot of it at my shows in the future. After it ended Friday we had a group meeting, which was nice. We did some recognition and played a couple games. Not everyone knew each other either so it was nice to visit with them personally.

Saturday was again more of the same. It was patriotic day so everyone was decked out in red, white and blue. They had an awesome show with singing, dancing and fireworks. We left a little early to catch our flight. Had dinner at the airport at Chili's where our waiter hit on me... Calling me sweetie and baby. I was flattered and left him a nice tip. :D Oh and Tony*Dungy was on our flight home. (Colts Coach). I got a picture of him, but not "with" him. We got home about midnight.


Finally... The new jewelry line.... OMG!! Let's say I spent more than I budgeted... I can't wait to get it on and start wearing it!!

P.S.
Pics up soon, I promise!

Crazy Week and it continues...

Since my last post things have been quite crazy around here.... Let's see...

Thursday morning I got a call from my sister that my niece, Heaven, was still sick and her temp had been spiking. She had called her ped and they told her to take her to the hospital, so they were on their way. Sis called from the hospital and they were running a bunch of tests on her to find out what was going on. They ended up getting some whack doctor hell bent on meningitis... You know how they test for it?? Freaking SPINAL TAP! So my 9 week old niece got a freaking SPINAL TAP. She didn't have any symptoms, but this doc says they get ~1 case a month and test 2-3 babies weekly. Since they did that they wanted to keep her overnight, but that hospital was full so they took her by ambulance to a hospital nearby. The second hospital was much better. The doc said he doubted she had meningitis and that it was likely just a viral infection.

I ended up taking off Friday and dropping Eric off at the office and heading to see Heaven. She was doing better thank goodness. The doc came early afternoon and said all her lab results had come back find and he saw no reason to keep her any longer. They would continue to watch them and she already had her shot appointment on Tuesday so they could just do a follow-up then as well. Heaven was adorable by this point. Obviously feeling much better flirting with the young doctor and getting uncle Eric tighter around her little finger. She knows exactly what she's doing at such a young age. ha ha ha

Friday night my dad & Peg came up and we went and picked blueberries. It was nice visiting with them b/c we don't see them very much and it was a lovely evening to be outside.

Saturday I got up early and headed south for one of my best friend's mom's jewelry show. It was warm outside, but the show turned out great!! They had some great food and drinks and a lovely deck as well. Thank goodness it was covered or we'd all be fried!

Sunday Eric & I got up and went to the gym and the grocery store. Then I headed to Target. Let me say that it turned out to be a great day at Target. I found 2 pairs of pants and 1 skirt that fit great and I was forced to buy. It's not very often I find pants that fit me that good. When I got home we had a relaxing evening.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Texas and will be gone until late Saturday night. I'm going down for a jewelry rally so I hope to come home really pumped up and ready to get down to business. I just love going to these things. I love this new thing I'm doing, but sometimes you get stuck in a rut. You know, I've never done sales so it's all still fairly new to me. All in all I think I'm doing pretty darn good.

Oh and I have several pics to post, but won't get around to them until probably Sunday now. I hope you can wait that long. Sorry! I have some of both nieces, plus some other things and hopefully some pics from Texas.

So I'm outta here for now. Be back Sunday.

Happy 4th of July!

Not too much going on with us today. This morning went to the gym and then the grocery store. We are getting ready to head out now to check out a wine & cheese place downtown. Then hit up the movies, Transformers. After that it's blueberry picking (since it was closed yesterday) and then relaxing for the evening. I was thinking about making some things with blueberries, but we'll see what time it is when we get home.

Anyway, just wanted to say Happy 4th!

Did you miss me??

Well... I haven't been lost, just no desire to post anything here. Let's see if I can give you a short recap of my life for the last few months.

I welcomed a new niece on May 2. I got to be present for her birth and found out this weekend that we are her godparents. She already has uncle Eric so wrapped around her little finger... Maybe me, too...

My sister K is having another baby. I believe she is due in December. While it stung when I heard the news it is serious b/c this will be her last child. When she has the baby, all those females parts are going, too.

We're still having our Girls Weekend Out and lovin' them! Here's a picture from our recent visit to Chicago. We are getting together in a couple more weeks at my house.

My new business is going pretty well. This summer has been unfortunately slow, but I think it will pick back up this fall. I'm actually going to Texas next week for a conference and can't wait!! Still working my regular full-time job in the mean time.

Eric & I are still trying, but with no luck. We decided recently to really buckle down this fall and save all we need to for the FET. The plan is to do the transfer early next year. I think we both are more than ready to have babies. It will be our time soon I hope!

Last week we started back to the gym and my short term goal is to lose 10 pounds by August 9, which is when we are supposed to go to California for an incentive trip (assuming Eric wins). So far I've lost 1 pound. I'd like to lose the other 10 pounds by the end of the year, which is absolutely doable! It felt so good to get back to the gym and I really want to get in tip-top shape for getting pregnant, which is my long term goal.

That's all I can think of right now. We got a laptop now so I'm hoping to keep up with this blog again in the evenings in front of the TV. :D

TGIF

I meant to start a meme last Friday, but didn't get around to it. Today's is from the Friday Fiver

1. When is your birthday? March 9

2. How old will you be? 28...gulp

3. Do you prefer to throw a party or attend a party? Depends on the situation I guess. I like to throw small little parties and do all the planning and hosting, but sometimes I'd rather just attend one and not have all the work. hee hee

4. Presents: take'em or leave'em? Take 'em. I like getting and giving presents.

5. Best birthday so far? Probably my first birthday I celebrated with Eric. He planned a surprise birthday party for me with a bunch of my friends. There was dinner, drinking & a limo ride. Absolute B-L-A-S-T!

2007 Goals

I was going to recap 2006, but it just depresses me more, so I'll just give you what I hope to accomplish for 2007.

Health
1. Cook healthy dinners at home - 4 to 5 times weekly
2. Cook 1 new meal monthly
3. Reduce red meat to once/week, increase fish
4. 30 Minutes of Exercise 4 times a week
5. Make better choices when eating out.
6. Make meal plans

Finances
1. Reduce Debt by ALOT! We did pay a lot off in '06, but put it back on (especially with my new business) Goal is to close Discover by the end of the year.
2. Pay off new business expense
3. Save $3,000 for IUI/Injectible Cycle (after 2.)

Intellectual Development
1. Read more
2. Learn how to knit/crochet

Spirtuality
1. Iron Yoga 3 times per week.
2. Read Daily Devotions book daily.

Personal Development
1. Increase positive well being


I really scaled down my goals from last year to ones I think are more attainable. Everything in my list is attainable. as long as I don't get into a depressed funk again.

Happy New Year!!!

God, please make 2007 a much more tolerable year for me.

Ahem...

Where was I? Oh yes, I'm back. I'll start off with a recap of the last 6 or so months that ultimately led to my lack of blogging...

*June was ok except I was depressed and didn't do any gardening or really anything outside, which is what I normally love.

*July was ok as well except we had the first year anniversary of my brother's death. Heather got married, which was nice. I started getting together with my family for card night, which was a lot of fun.

*August brought on a ton of work for me. I was swamped. Met Jimmy Buffett at his concert. Took over another duty at work.

Here's where it spirals downward...

*September I helped my cousin D with a baby shower for my cousin J. It was extremely hard, but went relatively well. Had a colonoscopy, which turned out fine. Found out my sister A is pregnant and due May 18 (read - Jesus Christ every one of my siblings has been pregnant but me!) Work still swamped. Went to Ohio for girls' weekend. Sometime around there I found out my friend S was pregnant with number 2. (numb to baby news at this point).

*October I got sick right off the bat. Work again swamped. Spent the day at the bridge festival, which was ok, but damn cold. Visited Heather and helped Danialle with a photoshoot. The head of our department stepped down, which actually relieved some stress at work. Little Coen was born on Oct 30 sweet as could be.

*November I got a totally new hairstyle, but was depressed about the body that went with it. Got a second job selling jewelry. (If anyone wants any info, let me know b/c it's an awesome opportunity!) Had my training show, which netted me a few shows after the first of the year. Thanksgiving was a lot of traveling and seeing family.

*December I spent lots of money getting ready for my jewelry parties. Had the only two scheduled for December cancel. Christmas parties and get togethers galore! Work crazy! Found out my youngest sister is bad into drugs. Spent rest of the year getting her stuff straightened out and finally taking her to Godville on Saturday, December 30. (Drug rehab about 5 hours away) Did have the ladies and their hubbies and Grace over for a relaxing new year's eve party. Made some awesome champagne punch, too.

Ok. so that doesn't seem as bad as I've felt, but I was just depressed and couldn't wait to see 2006 go. Hopefully 2007 will be much better. I want to get out of this funk. I'll start a new post for my goals for the year.