And get an update on here. I'll start in order:
February 15th: Carrotcake starts walking. He took his first, multiple unassisted steps to the dog. He was so proud of himself!
February 25th: Was my first 5k run of 2012. I was one of just over 15,000 runners! It was crazy how many people were there. It took a good 4 minutes or so for me to even GET to the start line once the start gun went off! So many people lined the streets to cheer the runners on, and there were at least 4 bands along the route. Once I saw the final landmark by the finish line, I ran with a smile on my face because I had pushed myself to keep going, no walking, and I did it! Now, there was no official time on the 5k run, so I don't have the exact numbers. But the finish line clock said 37:58... keep in mind that I wasn't able to move anywhere for a few minutes or so when the clock started. So I estimated I came in under 34 minutes. I knew I reached my goal for that one!
March 14th: I was laid off. My company was in the process of closing, and we were told that Monday. Wednesday was my last day, as they said they couldn't guarantee they could pay people. I am still searching for a job, but am pretty optimistic as these last 2 years boosted my office experience and opened more doors for me. The economy in my area is looking up as well. A lot better than 2 and half years ago when I was unemployed.
March 17th: St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Strut 5k! Official time: 32:06. A full MINUTE better than what I thought I might have hit. There wasn't a clock over the finish line, and they didn't post accurate results right away due to an oops in the timing chip system. So I had to wait a few days. It was still fun though. I'm thoroughly enjoying this running thing :)
March 21st: Carrotcake's 1st birthday. We had a doctor's appointment first thing in the morning (I know, birthday shots?! Boo!). He was 20lbs 4oz, and 30.25". He received 4 shots and a finger prick. All his blood levels are perfect, so he's all around healthy! He was knocked out for over 2 hours for his morning nap, but luckily the shots didn't leave him crabby for the day. We went to lunch where he had some fried pickles and a grilled cheese sandwich. Then the 3 of us went to the zoo and had a blast looking at the animals. Afterward, he got his birthday dinner at McDonald's and had his first ice cream dessert. Carrot cake was knocked. out. when we got home. A great day!
March 24th: 1st birthday mini party. My brother and his 4 kids came over, and the cousins all had fun playing, eating spaghetti and cake. I made Carrotcake's smash cake, it could have turned out better, but oh well. I won't use that recipe again, the cake was too dense. I won't even mention the site I got it. I made my own frosting and carved up his cake in the shape of his Tonka dump truck. It got destroyed (of course!). That was another day where he was just knocked. out. He fell asleep downstairs on the floor.
And fast forward to now. We had a VERY productive weekend. I guess Don and I got infected with the Spring Cleaning bug. Don trimmed down the bushes on our front sidewalk. They were seriously the height of the garage, he trimmed them down to about half. I started going through the garage to clean out some boxes that have been just sitting there. My goal was to be able to get to our camping gear so we can go through that without having a bunch of things fall on us. We put out a bit of "free stuff" on the curb and cleared a lot. It's not completely done yet, but what I have to do is just bring in some music books, and organize the camp gear. Don mowed the lawn and cleaned the car, inside and out. It was a very long 2 days, but in a good way. We enjoyed our productive time as a family, since Carrotcake was out front with us too (until his naptime), and Daisy pup enjoyed the shade of our tree while we worked. I LOVED this weekend!!
Currently in progress:
Reading: the final book in the Earth's Children Series: Land of the Painted Caves. I believe I'm about 40% done. I'll review the series once this book is done.
Prepping: dehydrated foods for camping. It's our effort to reduce the space we use to pack for camping trips. That will be touched on once I get it in order.
Planning: a reorganization of my house. De-cluttering is needed!
Training: 5k on April 7th. As stated above, my March 17th time was 32:06. I'm hoping to be in the 32 minute range for this one. A small portion is on a trail that has some incline and possible mud, if it rains. But I'm looking forward to it! My running has improved so much that a steady pace for 30 minutes doesn't kill me and is quite easy to achieve.
Til next time!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Money saving...
I just recently read a couple of "Money Saver Tips" blogs to see about shaving off some more dollars that we spend.
HOWEVER, I was truly disappointed that none of the tips I read sparked an "Oh wow, that's a great idea!" fire. Why? Because we already do most of what is on there. I'll go through some of what we do that I saw as a "tip".
Cut cable: we've been cable/dish free for a year now. We subscribe to Netflix (streaming only now, since that ridiculous price increase for DVDs). Do we miss it? Not really. Because just about everything is on the internet nowadays. We do have basic cable, but that's free with the digital antenna. I sometimes go days without watching something I like. And often, we'll go an entire day or longer on the weekend without the TV on, and enjoy each other as a family: reading, playing, going out to a park, window shopping, etc. I mean, TV is still a fairly recent invention over the history of modern humans. I don't recall reading anything about our ancestors dying of boredom. There's other things to do, you just have to think on your own!
Bring your lunch: I'd say a good 3 out of 4 weeks at work, I bring my lunch. Paydays, I'll buy something, and then there are days where it was too hectic the night before or morning of to toss something together. This also keeps that thing called "trying to eat healthy" in check. Because I'll admit, while I'm trying to be healthy, I don't make a healthy choice when I purchase lunch. It's just delicious that way.
Switch to "CFL" bulbs: we've been using these light bulbs for at least 5 years now. It was one of the first things Don did to our house when we first moved in: replaced all the bulbs with those energy efficient ones. We moved in just over 3 years ago, and JUST NOW had to replace ONE. I honestly can't say what difference this makes in the electric bill, as we never had a bill for a house full of regular bulbs. But given that I remember changing out light bulbs a bit in the pre-energy efficient bulb days, I'd say we've saved some money not having to buy bulbs every few months. We also shut off a light whenever we leave the room, and use as much daylight as possible before turning on a light in the house.
The All Important Smartphone: I did have a Sprint Crackberry and paid $70/mo for unlimited data, text and 450 minutes. I then switched to Virgin mobile and pay $25/mo for pretty much the same carrier (Virgin works off Spring network). I only get 300 minutes, but I don't talk on the phone that much. I text more than talk, and I get unlimited texts and data. Even still, their unlimited talk/everything plan is $55/mo. $45/mo for 1200 minutes. Yes, their phone selection is limited, but when it comes to saving money, or having the hottest new phone, I'll save the money.
Laundry soap: We have a front load washer, so we save some water money there. But I also make my own laundry soap. 1 cup of borax ($4ish a box, which holds more than a few cups), 1 cup of washing soda (a few bucks as well, multiple cups), and a shredded bar of Fals-Naptha soap ($1.09, I believe). Mix well. It lasts a few months of at least 3 loads of laundry a week (that's an estimate of loads). We were just using this soap for our son's laundry, until Don bought some soap he started itching horribly from, so all loads get the homemade soap. It works just fine in the front load washer. I also make cloth diaper soap with 1 cup each of borax, washing soda and oxyclean. They don't smell like diapers when they're done!
Rechargeable Batteries: Ever since I lived with Don, any purchased battery has been a rechargeable. It's not even thought of as a "money saver" in our house, it's just a fact. We maybe replace SOME of them once a year. It's a nice thing to not have to always be thinking about regular batteries, if we need to buy some.
"All in the pot" dinners: This refers to halfway to the next grocery shopping trip, but I don't see an obvious meal from these food items left in my fridge/pantry dilemma. Don's creative with this one. Instead of going out to buy something on a whim for dinner, he'll look at the leftover rice/potatoes/veggies/etc in a new light and do a combo of things that will go bad in the next couple days, and things that have been sitting in the pantry that needs to be rotated out. It saves money from those between grocery trip shops, AND saves on food waste. We hate tossing food, and always try to keep a good rotation in our fridge and pantry, no matter what dish may come of it.
Those were just a few of some things we do to save money. For the most part, we are pretty good at being conservative, money-wise. We're always looking at ways to cut some cost somewhere, and really do try to think out bigger purchases before making them. I do feel lucky that 99% of the time, our marriage is free of the money issues, because we're on the same page, and don't live beyond our means.
I do owe an update on some things, but that'll be this weekend. Had an exhausting last couple of weekends, that I just didn't get a chance to really reflect on here.
Til next time!
HOWEVER, I was truly disappointed that none of the tips I read sparked an "Oh wow, that's a great idea!" fire. Why? Because we already do most of what is on there. I'll go through some of what we do that I saw as a "tip".
Cut cable: we've been cable/dish free for a year now. We subscribe to Netflix (streaming only now, since that ridiculous price increase for DVDs). Do we miss it? Not really. Because just about everything is on the internet nowadays. We do have basic cable, but that's free with the digital antenna. I sometimes go days without watching something I like. And often, we'll go an entire day or longer on the weekend without the TV on, and enjoy each other as a family: reading, playing, going out to a park, window shopping, etc. I mean, TV is still a fairly recent invention over the history of modern humans. I don't recall reading anything about our ancestors dying of boredom. There's other things to do, you just have to think on your own!
Bring your lunch: I'd say a good 3 out of 4 weeks at work, I bring my lunch. Paydays, I'll buy something, and then there are days where it was too hectic the night before or morning of to toss something together. This also keeps that thing called "trying to eat healthy" in check. Because I'll admit, while I'm trying to be healthy, I don't make a healthy choice when I purchase lunch. It's just delicious that way.
Switch to "CFL" bulbs: we've been using these light bulbs for at least 5 years now. It was one of the first things Don did to our house when we first moved in: replaced all the bulbs with those energy efficient ones. We moved in just over 3 years ago, and JUST NOW had to replace ONE. I honestly can't say what difference this makes in the electric bill, as we never had a bill for a house full of regular bulbs. But given that I remember changing out light bulbs a bit in the pre-energy efficient bulb days, I'd say we've saved some money not having to buy bulbs every few months. We also shut off a light whenever we leave the room, and use as much daylight as possible before turning on a light in the house.
The All Important Smartphone: I did have a Sprint Crackberry and paid $70/mo for unlimited data, text and 450 minutes. I then switched to Virgin mobile and pay $25/mo for pretty much the same carrier (Virgin works off Spring network). I only get 300 minutes, but I don't talk on the phone that much. I text more than talk, and I get unlimited texts and data. Even still, their unlimited talk/everything plan is $55/mo. $45/mo for 1200 minutes. Yes, their phone selection is limited, but when it comes to saving money, or having the hottest new phone, I'll save the money.
Laundry soap: We have a front load washer, so we save some water money there. But I also make my own laundry soap. 1 cup of borax ($4ish a box, which holds more than a few cups), 1 cup of washing soda (a few bucks as well, multiple cups), and a shredded bar of Fals-Naptha soap ($1.09, I believe). Mix well. It lasts a few months of at least 3 loads of laundry a week (that's an estimate of loads). We were just using this soap for our son's laundry, until Don bought some soap he started itching horribly from, so all loads get the homemade soap. It works just fine in the front load washer. I also make cloth diaper soap with 1 cup each of borax, washing soda and oxyclean. They don't smell like diapers when they're done!
Rechargeable Batteries: Ever since I lived with Don, any purchased battery has been a rechargeable. It's not even thought of as a "money saver" in our house, it's just a fact. We maybe replace SOME of them once a year. It's a nice thing to not have to always be thinking about regular batteries, if we need to buy some.
"All in the pot" dinners: This refers to halfway to the next grocery shopping trip, but I don't see an obvious meal from these food items left in my fridge/pantry dilemma. Don's creative with this one. Instead of going out to buy something on a whim for dinner, he'll look at the leftover rice/potatoes/veggies/etc in a new light and do a combo of things that will go bad in the next couple days, and things that have been sitting in the pantry that needs to be rotated out. It saves money from those between grocery trip shops, AND saves on food waste. We hate tossing food, and always try to keep a good rotation in our fridge and pantry, no matter what dish may come of it.
Those were just a few of some things we do to save money. For the most part, we are pretty good at being conservative, money-wise. We're always looking at ways to cut some cost somewhere, and really do try to think out bigger purchases before making them. I do feel lucky that 99% of the time, our marriage is free of the money issues, because we're on the same page, and don't live beyond our means.
I do owe an update on some things, but that'll be this weekend. Had an exhausting last couple of weekends, that I just didn't get a chance to really reflect on here.
Til next time!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Starting the seeds...
So not much gets done during the week. I didn't do all I wanted this weekend, but it was a bit colder than I had expected. We hit the Home Depot so I could get supplies for my herb garden and tomato & bell pepper plants.
I made beef stew which turned out mediocre so that's not even worth sharing what I put in it. It was good, but not as delicious as I made before. Oh well.
While it was a bit chilly today, it was still sunny so I wanted to get those seeds planted. It should start warming up mid week here. I zipped my little Carrotcake up in his winter jacket, put down a blanket and let him enjoy a sunny day on the patio with me.
Here he is with my finished products:
Weeding the backyard is also on our list. Maybe next weekend will be a little nicer. That's Daisy in the background. I tried to get her to sit pretty behind the pots, but she was too busy apparently.
I also want to show off our cactus (er, cacti?):
The one on the right started off just one little cactus, not much bigger than the one on the left. It was purchased on our 1st anniversary trip to San Antonio, specifically from the Alamo. Supposedly, it was a part of the Alamo Gardens. Now, almost 3 years later, it's quite a bit bigger. The little one on the left was a replant of an "arm" that just broke off the main cactus.
Currently in progress:
Reading: still Plains of Passage, by Jean Auel. About 31% done (thank you, Kindle, for that info), didn't get much reading as I hoped this week. But I'd like to be about halfway done this time next week. The book is about 1100 pages.
Prepping: a dinner and lunch menu to make a grocery list from by the weekend, as we do our grocery trips every 2 weeks.
Planning: installing a gate/fence in the wide opening between the living room and kitchen. The plastic bins just aren't doing it to keep a certain Mr. Curious Hands out of the kitchen. If we arrange them in a way so he can't push or pull them, he's starting to try and climb on them.
Training: 5k on Feb 25. Fastest time hit this past week was 35:19. I'm confident I can shave that extra 1:19 before then. But, for the actual 5k, I may be slower, as my running buddy is my co-worker, so I'm not sure where her level is at yet. But if I can just hit 34:00 or faster in my trip to the gym, or around my neighborhood, I'll consider it goal achieved.
Til next time!
I made beef stew which turned out mediocre so that's not even worth sharing what I put in it. It was good, but not as delicious as I made before. Oh well.
While it was a bit chilly today, it was still sunny so I wanted to get those seeds planted. It should start warming up mid week here. I zipped my little Carrotcake up in his winter jacket, put down a blanket and let him enjoy a sunny day on the patio with me.
Here he is with my finished products:
Weeding the backyard is also on our list. Maybe next weekend will be a little nicer. That's Daisy in the background. I tried to get her to sit pretty behind the pots, but she was too busy apparently.
I also want to show off our cactus (er, cacti?):
The one on the right started off just one little cactus, not much bigger than the one on the left. It was purchased on our 1st anniversary trip to San Antonio, specifically from the Alamo. Supposedly, it was a part of the Alamo Gardens. Now, almost 3 years later, it's quite a bit bigger. The little one on the left was a replant of an "arm" that just broke off the main cactus.
Currently in progress:
Reading: still Plains of Passage, by Jean Auel. About 31% done (thank you, Kindle, for that info), didn't get much reading as I hoped this week. But I'd like to be about halfway done this time next week. The book is about 1100 pages.
Prepping: a dinner and lunch menu to make a grocery list from by the weekend, as we do our grocery trips every 2 weeks.
Planning: installing a gate/fence in the wide opening between the living room and kitchen. The plastic bins just aren't doing it to keep a certain Mr. Curious Hands out of the kitchen. If we arrange them in a way so he can't push or pull them, he's starting to try and climb on them.
Training: 5k on Feb 25. Fastest time hit this past week was 35:19. I'm confident I can shave that extra 1:19 before then. But, for the actual 5k, I may be slower, as my running buddy is my co-worker, so I'm not sure where her level is at yet. But if I can just hit 34:00 or faster in my trip to the gym, or around my neighborhood, I'll consider it goal achieved.
Til next time!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Make it happen
It's been well over a year since the last post. I just haven't gotten around to posting, mostly because there's not a whole lot that was going on in our lives.
DO NOT get me wrong. Being pregnant with our first child, giving birth in March 2011 was amazing. Watching our son grow is our world, there isn't a dull moment with our little boy. However, as much as we enjoy seeing the same goofy face he makes for the 100th time, or still get a kick out of him babbling, I know most people outside of our little household would get sick reading the same thing, just a different day of the week. A combination of that, and just couldn't find much time to collect thoughts for a blog.
But, things are different now. If you don't do anything, well, then nothing is new to share in your life. Don and I had a chat last week, and we put together a list. A "House Wish List", things to buy or do for our house to "complete" it for our home. We've been here 3 years, and we've painted 3 rooms. That's about it. We won't be in the market to leave this house for a few more years, maybe even 5 or so. There's a lot we'd like to happen for this house.
We also are going to make more of an effort to get out on weekends, stop being hermits. We renewed our Texas State Parks pass, so we're going to attempt more day trips, and try to go camping at least 1 weekend a month, possibly starting in April. Hopefully we'll get a membership to a museum or 2, and the zoo. Just in general, we want to start going out and about as a family.
I have some personal goals I'd like to accomplish this year, along with the house and getting out goals. I want to aim for at least 1 5k run a month. My first one is February 25th. I'm excited. I also have a certain goal to hit weight-wise. Aside from the health and fitness area, I want to sew at least one thing, and finish my cross-stitch I started while pregnant. One other goal I can think of right now, is read at least 2 books a month. I received a Kindle for Christmas, and it's more attached to me than my phone now! So far, I finished 4 books since Christmas. But to be fair, 3 were Harry Potter, so it was a fairly easy read, and I was already so into the books, I forfeited some sleep to get those read.
So, I'm going to try and make the point of this blog to document checking off things on our lists and anything exciting that comes about from doing so.
Now that's established, here's what's going on now:
Currently in progress-
Reading: Plains of Passage by Jean Auel (#4 in the Earth's Children series)
Prepping: our garden area that hasn't been used for anything more than a food scrap compost garden the last 2 and a half years. I tilled up the area last weekend, and will probably do it 1-2 more times before planting at the end of this month.
Planning: my indoor herb garden. I'll be looking for pots in the next week. I have a good idea of what I want to grow
Training: for the first 5k of 2012. My time today was 35:55. My goal by the actual run (not a race, more a fun run) is to be under 34 minutes. When I did my first one ever July 4th, 2010, my time was 34:52. I'd like to beat that. I've been seriously training since 1/2/12. I didn't focus much on running at the gym before the New Year. And prior to 2 years ago, I HATED running. With a passion. It's now pretty enjoyable for me. Daisy pup enjoys it too when I run her around the neighborhood.
That's it for now. Hopefully we actually get on the ball with our lists, and then I'll have a reason to update.
Til next time!
DO NOT get me wrong. Being pregnant with our first child, giving birth in March 2011 was amazing. Watching our son grow is our world, there isn't a dull moment with our little boy. However, as much as we enjoy seeing the same goofy face he makes for the 100th time, or still get a kick out of him babbling, I know most people outside of our little household would get sick reading the same thing, just a different day of the week. A combination of that, and just couldn't find much time to collect thoughts for a blog.
But, things are different now. If you don't do anything, well, then nothing is new to share in your life. Don and I had a chat last week, and we put together a list. A "House Wish List", things to buy or do for our house to "complete" it for our home. We've been here 3 years, and we've painted 3 rooms. That's about it. We won't be in the market to leave this house for a few more years, maybe even 5 or so. There's a lot we'd like to happen for this house.
We also are going to make more of an effort to get out on weekends, stop being hermits. We renewed our Texas State Parks pass, so we're going to attempt more day trips, and try to go camping at least 1 weekend a month, possibly starting in April. Hopefully we'll get a membership to a museum or 2, and the zoo. Just in general, we want to start going out and about as a family.
I have some personal goals I'd like to accomplish this year, along with the house and getting out goals. I want to aim for at least 1 5k run a month. My first one is February 25th. I'm excited. I also have a certain goal to hit weight-wise. Aside from the health and fitness area, I want to sew at least one thing, and finish my cross-stitch I started while pregnant. One other goal I can think of right now, is read at least 2 books a month. I received a Kindle for Christmas, and it's more attached to me than my phone now! So far, I finished 4 books since Christmas. But to be fair, 3 were Harry Potter, so it was a fairly easy read, and I was already so into the books, I forfeited some sleep to get those read.
So, I'm going to try and make the point of this blog to document checking off things on our lists and anything exciting that comes about from doing so.
Now that's established, here's what's going on now:
Currently in progress-
Reading: Plains of Passage by Jean Auel (#4 in the Earth's Children series)
Prepping: our garden area that hasn't been used for anything more than a food scrap compost garden the last 2 and a half years. I tilled up the area last weekend, and will probably do it 1-2 more times before planting at the end of this month.
Planning: my indoor herb garden. I'll be looking for pots in the next week. I have a good idea of what I want to grow
Training: for the first 5k of 2012. My time today was 35:55. My goal by the actual run (not a race, more a fun run) is to be under 34 minutes. When I did my first one ever July 4th, 2010, my time was 34:52. I'd like to beat that. I've been seriously training since 1/2/12. I didn't focus much on running at the gym before the New Year. And prior to 2 years ago, I HATED running. With a passion. It's now pretty enjoyable for me. Daisy pup enjoys it too when I run her around the neighborhood.
That's it for now. Hopefully we actually get on the ball with our lists, and then I'll have a reason to update.
Til next time!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Update! A lot has happened!
First, since the last post, I started a job. I started March 22, and still there. Not the most challenging job, but it's something.
April 4, Don and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. We did a nice trip celebration a couple weeks later by going to SoCal and Vegas. We had such a great time and saw beautiful scenery. It was a blast. I'm so glad we were able to go.
Then a little bit of life went by, and on July 8, found out I was pregnant! I was pretty sick since about a week and a half after finding out, til now. The morning (all day) sickness subsided a bit in the last week, but at the moment am battling a cough and cold. It's no fun. But I'm 12 weeks 2 days at the moment. We went to the doctor yesterday, and heart the strong and loud heartbeat.
We are so thrilled. It's so exciting. I think I'm still in a bit of a shock. This was planned and wanted, but it's still so shocking to me that it's actually happening.
So, the countdown until March 2011 begins!
April 4, Don and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. We did a nice trip celebration a couple weeks later by going to SoCal and Vegas. We had such a great time and saw beautiful scenery. It was a blast. I'm so glad we were able to go.
Then a little bit of life went by, and on July 8, found out I was pregnant! I was pretty sick since about a week and a half after finding out, til now. The morning (all day) sickness subsided a bit in the last week, but at the moment am battling a cough and cold. It's no fun. But I'm 12 weeks 2 days at the moment. We went to the doctor yesterday, and heart the strong and loud heartbeat.
We are so thrilled. It's so exciting. I think I'm still in a bit of a shock. This was planned and wanted, but it's still so shocking to me that it's actually happening.
So, the countdown until March 2011 begins!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Finally! Something happens in our life!
I haven't updated in a while, well, because there was nothing to update. I was starting to hide away, since I had nothing going on.
Well finally, some new things are going on!
First, (now this is a little overdue) but we have a new family member. February 8, I was home and so was my brother-in-law. He went out to his car, then came back in saying there was a dog running around and tried going up to him. I looked out my window and saw this skinny, skinny dog running confused from house to house. I went outside to get a better look at her, check to see if she had tags since I saw a collar on her. I whistled and she came over to me, laid on her side and was very jittery. She had no tags, so I tried to coax her in my backyard and she ran off. I figured, ok, well I'll try if she comes back.
Let me take a moment to say here, that I often see dogs running loose in my neighborhood. Most of them have collars/tags, but they all seem to "know" what they're doing. Kind of like they belong somewhere in the neighborhood, but are just making their rounds for the day, and seem to be well fed anyways, which is why I don't bother them. But this one was different, she was obviously lost, confused and scared, so I felt compelled to get involved.
I saw her circle back around so I went outside with some dog treats. I was able to take her back into my yard and immediately took a picture of her to post on Lost and Found on Craigslist. I gave her some water and food while I waited for just a bit to see if anyone responded. After she got a chance to drink some fresh water and munch a little bit on food, I took her to my vet to get scanned for a microchip. She did have one, and they looked up her info to try and give her owner a call. The number went straight to voicemail, so they passed on her info to me to try at a different time.
We went back to my house, and I gave her a bath, since she was caked in mud on her belly and legs. I kept trying the owner phone number with no luck. I posted on many sites about this found dog. She settled in and stayed with us for the rest of the week. She took to me immediately, and as much as I tried to resist, I did to her as well.
She seemed to have been scared of the cats at first. Her first look at Rocky was him all puffed up and glaring at her through the back door glass while she was outside. Rocky really was all bent out of shape that this random dog was in the backyard, and he made that known through the window to her. When I brought her in for the bath, she did not want to be near either cat. It made me think she never was around cats before.
Don didn't want to keep her. He just didn't want a dog at this point. We had no luck trying to find her owners, or a new home. But neither of us wanted to drop her at a shelter. Don had given me a deadline to have her somewhere else by that Friday. Well, Friday morning came around and I was bawling my eyes out in the shower thinking about having to drop her at a shelter. I just couldn't do it. Finally, on Valentine's Day, Don agreed to let her stay. I went and bought her a new collar and bowls immediately. A week later, took her back to the vet to get her updated on her shots. She's about 1.5-2 years old. She is spayed, and a lab mix. Through the microchip, we found out her name, which she responds very well to.
As these past few weeks have passed, she's revealed a little more about herself every week. She got used to the cats fast, and now play chases Rocky, and corners Buster to give him lots of kisses. Rocky gets kisses too, but he's too fidgety to get more than one. She's a sweet girl, with great energy and a desire to please me and Don, which results in her listening to us (most of the time, haha). She fetches, catches a frisbee, rolls in the grass and does well as my jogging partner. With almost everyday that passes, I truly believe that I didn't find her, she found me, and Don. She knew what she was doing running around my house ;) She's now a spoiled, well-loved dog who filled a hole I didn't know was in my life.
Here's our newest family member on the day she found us: Daisy
And here she is "officially" ours, sporting her bandanna and enjoying her tennis ball:
Well finally, some new things are going on!
First, (now this is a little overdue) but we have a new family member. February 8, I was home and so was my brother-in-law. He went out to his car, then came back in saying there was a dog running around and tried going up to him. I looked out my window and saw this skinny, skinny dog running confused from house to house. I went outside to get a better look at her, check to see if she had tags since I saw a collar on her. I whistled and she came over to me, laid on her side and was very jittery. She had no tags, so I tried to coax her in my backyard and she ran off. I figured, ok, well I'll try if she comes back.
Let me take a moment to say here, that I often see dogs running loose in my neighborhood. Most of them have collars/tags, but they all seem to "know" what they're doing. Kind of like they belong somewhere in the neighborhood, but are just making their rounds for the day, and seem to be well fed anyways, which is why I don't bother them. But this one was different, she was obviously lost, confused and scared, so I felt compelled to get involved.
I saw her circle back around so I went outside with some dog treats. I was able to take her back into my yard and immediately took a picture of her to post on Lost and Found on Craigslist. I gave her some water and food while I waited for just a bit to see if anyone responded. After she got a chance to drink some fresh water and munch a little bit on food, I took her to my vet to get scanned for a microchip. She did have one, and they looked up her info to try and give her owner a call. The number went straight to voicemail, so they passed on her info to me to try at a different time.
We went back to my house, and I gave her a bath, since she was caked in mud on her belly and legs. I kept trying the owner phone number with no luck. I posted on many sites about this found dog. She settled in and stayed with us for the rest of the week. She took to me immediately, and as much as I tried to resist, I did to her as well.
She seemed to have been scared of the cats at first. Her first look at Rocky was him all puffed up and glaring at her through the back door glass while she was outside. Rocky really was all bent out of shape that this random dog was in the backyard, and he made that known through the window to her. When I brought her in for the bath, she did not want to be near either cat. It made me think she never was around cats before.
Don didn't want to keep her. He just didn't want a dog at this point. We had no luck trying to find her owners, or a new home. But neither of us wanted to drop her at a shelter. Don had given me a deadline to have her somewhere else by that Friday. Well, Friday morning came around and I was bawling my eyes out in the shower thinking about having to drop her at a shelter. I just couldn't do it. Finally, on Valentine's Day, Don agreed to let her stay. I went and bought her a new collar and bowls immediately. A week later, took her back to the vet to get her updated on her shots. She's about 1.5-2 years old. She is spayed, and a lab mix. Through the microchip, we found out her name, which she responds very well to.
As these past few weeks have passed, she's revealed a little more about herself every week. She got used to the cats fast, and now play chases Rocky, and corners Buster to give him lots of kisses. Rocky gets kisses too, but he's too fidgety to get more than one. She's a sweet girl, with great energy and a desire to please me and Don, which results in her listening to us (most of the time, haha). She fetches, catches a frisbee, rolls in the grass and does well as my jogging partner. With almost everyday that passes, I truly believe that I didn't find her, she found me, and Don. She knew what she was doing running around my house ;) She's now a spoiled, well-loved dog who filled a hole I didn't know was in my life.
Here's our newest family member on the day she found us: Daisy
And here she is "officially" ours, sporting her bandanna and enjoying her tennis ball:
Monday, November 9, 2009
Crafty
In the last week, I completed a couple of craft projects to give as gifts. They were started with the anti
cipation of welcoming my new nephew November 6th! Cooper Charles was born, and rounded out my niece/nephew list to 6. A long, long time ago, I had bought a few cross-stitch projects, one with the intention of giving to my first nephew... unfortunately I was young, busy with other stuff and just a procrastinator, so it never got done. Finally, I got a chance to complete the cross-stitch bib for little Cooper!
The project I finished before this bib was a latch hook project for Cooper's new big sister, Olivia. She
loves butterflies, and I thought this would be a good "yay you're a big sister!" gift. It took a while, because while I started it quick, it was set aside and picked at, until a week and a half ago when I finally just got determined and finished it. I bought the frame which was unfinished at Michael's, then painted it, and added the foam sticky letters. I was really pleased when it was all put together.
I definitely enjoyed doing these, and hope to do a lot more of the kind in the future. I have a few unopened cross-stitch projects in my bag, and I haven't decided which one to do yet. I hope to better my skills and be able to do some cross-stitching freehand.
cipation of welcoming my new nephew November 6th! Cooper Charles was born, and rounded out my niece/nephew list to 6. A long, long time ago, I had bought a few cross-stitch projects, one with the intention of giving to my first nephew... unfortunately I was young, busy with other stuff and just a procrastinator, so it never got done. Finally, I got a chance to complete the cross-stitch bib for little Cooper!The project I finished before this bib was a latch hook project for Cooper's new big sister, Olivia. She
loves butterflies, and I thought this would be a good "yay you're a big sister!" gift. It took a while, because while I started it quick, it was set aside and picked at, until a week and a half ago when I finally just got determined and finished it. I bought the frame which was unfinished at Michael's, then painted it, and added the foam sticky letters. I was really pleased when it was all put together.I definitely enjoyed doing these, and hope to do a lot more of the kind in the future. I have a few unopened cross-stitch projects in my bag, and I haven't decided which one to do yet. I hope to better my skills and be able to do some cross-stitching freehand.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Computer room painted and Halloween pics
Happy late Halloween! Buster was a dragon, Rocky was the Karate Cat.
Rocky, you must defeat the dragon within you...
And painted computer room. No flash, blinds open...
With flash. It's called "shale gray"
Curtains for our living room will be coming soon! And hopefully I'll hear back from a job interview this week! :::fingers crossed:::
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Updates, updates
Well, lost my job. It was expected for about a month or so before, so it wasn't a huge punch in the gut. It relieved me of so much stress and irritation. That was on July 9th. Still nothing yet. I'm getting unemployment, so it's not too bad for now.
July 28th I had surgery on my right foot. A bunionectomy, same surgery I had when I was 13 on my left foot. It was pretty painful the first 36 hours. But 2 days after surgery, I was starting to walk/hobble around on a crutch, and 5 days after surgery, I was walking without any crutches. I got my stitches out this past Tuesday, but for about 4 days before that, my foot was itching and burning pretty bad. I thought this was part of the normal healing process. WRONG! I had a bad allergic reaction to the adhesive on the tape, and my incision blistered over. And even after the tape was taken off, it looked like it was still there, but nope, just the blisters that formed under the pieces of tape. I've been putting hydrocortisone on 3 times a day, like the doctor said to. So far, it doesn't look like an infection will start. Let's hope it stays that way. I'd post a pic of my incision, but it's too gross.
And other news, Don's brother moved in with us, hoping to find work down here. It's been about 3 weeks, and he's had some callbacks. Hopefully, one of those will turn into a job. Once he gets a job, he can start saving for his own place. But for now, it's not the worst thing in the world having him here. Him and his dog are kind of neat to have around right now.
That's a brief update for now.
July 28th I had surgery on my right foot. A bunionectomy, same surgery I had when I was 13 on my left foot. It was pretty painful the first 36 hours. But 2 days after surgery, I was starting to walk/hobble around on a crutch, and 5 days after surgery, I was walking without any crutches. I got my stitches out this past Tuesday, but for about 4 days before that, my foot was itching and burning pretty bad. I thought this was part of the normal healing process. WRONG! I had a bad allergic reaction to the adhesive on the tape, and my incision blistered over. And even after the tape was taken off, it looked like it was still there, but nope, just the blisters that formed under the pieces of tape. I've been putting hydrocortisone on 3 times a day, like the doctor said to. So far, it doesn't look like an infection will start. Let's hope it stays that way. I'd post a pic of my incision, but it's too gross.
And other news, Don's brother moved in with us, hoping to find work down here. It's been about 3 weeks, and he's had some callbacks. Hopefully, one of those will turn into a job. Once he gets a job, he can start saving for his own place. But for now, it's not the worst thing in the world having him here. Him and his dog are kind of neat to have around right now.
That's a brief update for now.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Long overdue living room paint pictures
The last weekend in May, we painted the living room. The main color is Desert Caravan, the color in the media niche (with the tv), is Spanish Leather.
Excuse the clutter, this was taken not too long after finishing, so we didn't put things away yet.
The next room on our list to paint is the computer room. That may happen this month. I'll try to be better about posting in a timely fashion. Hopefully our lives will get more exciting from now on.
Excuse the clutter, this was taken not too long after finishing, so we didn't put things away yet.
The next room on our list to paint is the computer room. That may happen this month. I'll try to be better about posting in a timely fashion. Hopefully our lives will get more exciting from now on.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Better late than never-
First Year in Review:
Last month, Don and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. It was the most life changing year yet. I'll give some brief highlights:
April 2008: Got married on the 4th, drove off on our honeymoon the 5th. Went backpacking for a night, camping, horseback riding and drove in 7 (I think) different states. A week later, we were welcomed back to Chicago in a true Windy City fashion- snow. On April 12th. Yep. The rest of the month flew by with me working and Don in school.
May: Went out one last time with my friends at a hometown bar. Then went camping one last time with some other friends just before my birthday. (one last time = as Illinois residents, not visitors) Had my 24th birthday, for which Don made me a cake and we did something else, just not sure what. And packed. Did A LOT of packing.
June: Finished up the camping trip, and came home to pack some more. The 2nd, we picked up our U-haul and started loading up as much as possible. Just before 8 am on June 3rd, we left our Illinois life hoping for something better. We had no jobs lined up, and we were going to live with my parents. But at that point, anything was better than the life we had in Dekalb. Don was unemployed, and I was a manager at McDonald's. There had to be something better out there for us. We arrived at our new life 11 pm, June 4th. A few days later began our frantic job search.
July: Don began his job right after the 4th of July weekend. I began my job July 14. We had lots of fun hitting the beach with family, and hanging out on weekends. July 30th, we signed papers and put down our earnest money check for a house. We also began the preapproval process.
August: Don's 28th birthday! We went out for breakfast, took a nice bike ride, and I got him a Lowe's GC. And Buster turned 11! Got approved for the house, and everything was supposed to start near the end of August.
September: House still not started yet, and we went through some bumps with the home loan process that wasn't communicated with us. We also survived our first hurricane! Of course, it had to be the worst one to hit Houston in 25 (?ish) years. Luckily, we lived on the "good" side, and didn't experience that much. Power was out for 12 hours, no flooding, no damage. Couldn't say that for the other side of the road. It's weird how some things were left untouched, and some were just destroyed.
October: Our house started construction! We took many many pictures along the way. We also went on our first Texas camping trip Halloween weekend. Nice place, but too many thorny burrs. It was a slower month for us.
November: Our first Thanksgiving away from "home". It was still good. That's about it, another slow month.
December: Didn't start off well, we had to take an unexpected drive back to Illinois, under very unfortunate circumstances. We also experienced my company's Christmas party (waaaaaaay too much money spent there). Had our first married Christmas together, away from "home" as well. It was low key, and low pressure. Pretty nice. The very end of the month, however, just before New Year's, my truck transmission went out. Great.
January: Had to deal with my truck transmission being out, luckily, it was totally covered under the extended warranty I had purchased for it. Score! We found an EXCELLENT deal Jan. 1 on furniture, so we purchased our kitchen table and chairs (with bench!) and sofa sleeper with recliner. On the night of the 12th, we loaded up the U-haul once again. On the 13th, we closed. Not without some drama before though. But after 2 hours of closing, we finally got the keys. After we closed, we celebrated with a lunch at Steak N Shake :) and I got my truck back from the shop too! We picked up my truck, and proceeded to unload our U-haul to move into our first home! I'm proud of this, because we worked hard and were able to purchase our first home 7 months after moving to Houston. At the end of this month, I won that 42" plasma tv, too :)
February: On the 5th, we celebrated our 4 year dating anniversary. The rest of the month, was spent just getting settled in.
March: Quarter life crisis? Don and I signed up for a motorcycle class. We completed it, got our motorcycle licenses, then Don and I bought a brand new motorcycle.
April 2009: We spent our anniversary weekend in San Antonio. AWESOME! We went to Sea World, Riverwalk and the Alamo. We had such a great time, we can't wait to go back for a visit again. A week later, I bought my own motorcycle :)
And that was our first year in review. Quite a bit changed for us, and it was all for the good. My birthday is coming up Memorial Day Weekend, where we have plans to go camping. I can't wait! (for the camping, not my birthday, haha)
Last month, Don and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary. It was the most life changing year yet. I'll give some brief highlights:
April 2008: Got married on the 4th, drove off on our honeymoon the 5th. Went backpacking for a night, camping, horseback riding and drove in 7 (I think) different states. A week later, we were welcomed back to Chicago in a true Windy City fashion- snow. On April 12th. Yep. The rest of the month flew by with me working and Don in school.
May: Went out one last time with my friends at a hometown bar. Then went camping one last time with some other friends just before my birthday. (one last time = as Illinois residents, not visitors) Had my 24th birthday, for which Don made me a cake and we did something else, just not sure what. And packed. Did A LOT of packing.
June: Finished up the camping trip, and came home to pack some more. The 2nd, we picked up our U-haul and started loading up as much as possible. Just before 8 am on June 3rd, we left our Illinois life hoping for something better. We had no jobs lined up, and we were going to live with my parents. But at that point, anything was better than the life we had in Dekalb. Don was unemployed, and I was a manager at McDonald's. There had to be something better out there for us. We arrived at our new life 11 pm, June 4th. A few days later began our frantic job search.
July: Don began his job right after the 4th of July weekend. I began my job July 14. We had lots of fun hitting the beach with family, and hanging out on weekends. July 30th, we signed papers and put down our earnest money check for a house. We also began the preapproval process.
August: Don's 28th birthday! We went out for breakfast, took a nice bike ride, and I got him a Lowe's GC. And Buster turned 11! Got approved for the house, and everything was supposed to start near the end of August.
September: House still not started yet, and we went through some bumps with the home loan process that wasn't communicated with us. We also survived our first hurricane! Of course, it had to be the worst one to hit Houston in 25 (?ish) years. Luckily, we lived on the "good" side, and didn't experience that much. Power was out for 12 hours, no flooding, no damage. Couldn't say that for the other side of the road. It's weird how some things were left untouched, and some were just destroyed.
October: Our house started construction! We took many many pictures along the way. We also went on our first Texas camping trip Halloween weekend. Nice place, but too many thorny burrs. It was a slower month for us.
November: Our first Thanksgiving away from "home". It was still good. That's about it, another slow month.
December: Didn't start off well, we had to take an unexpected drive back to Illinois, under very unfortunate circumstances. We also experienced my company's Christmas party (waaaaaaay too much money spent there). Had our first married Christmas together, away from "home" as well. It was low key, and low pressure. Pretty nice. The very end of the month, however, just before New Year's, my truck transmission went out. Great.
January: Had to deal with my truck transmission being out, luckily, it was totally covered under the extended warranty I had purchased for it. Score! We found an EXCELLENT deal Jan. 1 on furniture, so we purchased our kitchen table and chairs (with bench!) and sofa sleeper with recliner. On the night of the 12th, we loaded up the U-haul once again. On the 13th, we closed. Not without some drama before though. But after 2 hours of closing, we finally got the keys. After we closed, we celebrated with a lunch at Steak N Shake :) and I got my truck back from the shop too! We picked up my truck, and proceeded to unload our U-haul to move into our first home! I'm proud of this, because we worked hard and were able to purchase our first home 7 months after moving to Houston. At the end of this month, I won that 42" plasma tv, too :)
February: On the 5th, we celebrated our 4 year dating anniversary. The rest of the month, was spent just getting settled in.
March: Quarter life crisis? Don and I signed up for a motorcycle class. We completed it, got our motorcycle licenses, then Don and I bought a brand new motorcycle.
April 2009: We spent our anniversary weekend in San Antonio. AWESOME! We went to Sea World, Riverwalk and the Alamo. We had such a great time, we can't wait to go back for a visit again. A week later, I bought my own motorcycle :)
And that was our first year in review. Quite a bit changed for us, and it was all for the good. My birthday is coming up Memorial Day Weekend, where we have plans to go camping. I can't wait! (for the camping, not my birthday, haha)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Finally!
Finally, some news! Don's always wanted to get his motorcycle license. My brother needed to get his motorcycle license. So they took a class together. I signed up too! All 3 of us completed the class, and it was so much fun! And I learned sooooo much that made me feel comfortable to ride. Not bad for a beginner with zero experience. I only missed one point on each the written and riding test (alot of people missed multiple points on the riding test). Don scored perfect on both tests.
The class was Saturday and Sunday. We both went to get our official license on Monday. And since Don needs a more reliable vehicle, and they can be ridden pretty much year round down here, we went and bought a motorcycle! Brand new 2009 Suzuki Boulevard S40. It's "red" and white (I think it looks more on the pinkish side)
The class was Saturday and Sunday. We both went to get our official license on Monday. And since Don needs a more reliable vehicle, and they can be ridden pretty much year round down here, we went and bought a motorcycle! Brand new 2009 Suzuki Boulevard S40. It's "red" and white (I think it looks more on the pinkish side)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Little by little...
that's how our house is starting to become our home. We bought some bushes (or shrubs, whatever) to put in our backyard. The sunflowers we planted 2 weeks ago in our little flowerbed have sprouted up, along with the other flowers we planted.
This weekend, we will probably finally plant our garden. We are planning to grow tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes, asparagus, and some herbs. We're still working on the grass for the backyard, however.
And, we may be painting soon. So far, we've only picked out a color for our living room. And it was such a hard decision! But I know it'll be fun for the rest of the house too.
We're just about 1 month away from our 1 year anniversary! Time has flown by.
This weekend, we will probably finally plant our garden. We are planning to grow tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes, asparagus, and some herbs. We're still working on the grass for the backyard, however.
And, we may be painting soon. So far, we've only picked out a color for our living room. And it was such a hard decision! But I know it'll be fun for the rest of the house too.
We're just about 1 month away from our 1 year anniversary! Time has flown by.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Lucky streak...
Don and I will be seeing Kenny Chesney here in Houston on May 3rd! I won tickets on a local radio channel!!! Wooo!
We get set up for internet and cable on Monday. Finally!
Next weekend, we'll be planting our garden! This past weekend we bought an avocado tree and planted that. Hopefully I can get some exciting video up of that.
Now it's time to start dinner. Don's a trooper for putting up with my cooking. It's not bad, but definitely experimental. Let's try this with that... So tonight I'll be cooking chicken breasts on top of long grain wild rice and bacon, diced tomatoes and black olives. We'll see how it goes. It usually ends up good :)
We get set up for internet and cable on Monday. Finally!
Next weekend, we'll be planting our garden! This past weekend we bought an avocado tree and planted that. Hopefully I can get some exciting video up of that.
Now it's time to start dinner. Don's a trooper for putting up with my cooking. It's not bad, but definitely experimental. Let's try this with that... So tonight I'll be cooking chicken breasts on top of long grain wild rice and bacon, diced tomatoes and black olives. We'll see how it goes. It usually ends up good :)
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A brief update...
It's 9 days until we get internet. Right now, we're using my parent's internet. So, I'll give a brief summary of what's happened:
We closed! We got our keys at noon on our closing day, and moved in that afternoon!! We've been busy busy busy getting all the necessities we couldn't forsee until actually moving into our home. So far, so good. I can't wait to start updating everything to how I want it. The house is still a work in progress, but that's just fine with me :)
A great new addition to our living room is our 42" Plasma TV! I won it in a drawing at my gym!! I still can't believe it, and we've had it for over a week!
And here is a video tour of the house. It's just the basics now, but soon it'll become more like our home :)
We closed! We got our keys at noon on our closing day, and moved in that afternoon!! We've been busy busy busy getting all the necessities we couldn't forsee until actually moving into our home. So far, so good. I can't wait to start updating everything to how I want it. The house is still a work in progress, but that's just fine with me :)
A great new addition to our living room is our 42" Plasma TV! I won it in a drawing at my gym!! I still can't believe it, and we've had it for over a week!
And here is a video tour of the house. It's just the basics now, but soon it'll become more like our home :)
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Why stop at just a dash of frustration?
(an older pic, before the sod was laid)
I'd like to think it will be ok. But I'm just so frustrated, I can't see beyond what I'm feeling now.
:::sigh::: Hopefully I can post some good news tomorrow. I'm getting so anxious to be in a house of my own!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Add just a dash of frustration....
There are less than two weeks left until we are supposed to be in our house. It’s getting exciting. We have bought our refrigerator, couch, recliner, and dinette set. Things seem to be shaping up nicely.
It was a little bit aggravating today however, when after buying our living room and dinette set and getting a U-Haul from my brother in law, we found out that we have to go to a completely different location to pick them up. We were told to pick them up preferably within 7 days and they would give us a couple extra, but not much more. That information was not disclosed to us at the time of sale. But, since the store was having a sale on all the items, and if we paid in full today we were also given an additional 40% off, we didn’t immediately ask for a refund. So tomorrow (well really today) or tomorrow (Saturday) I’m going to try to get the U-Haul again and get that stuff picked up.
It was a little bit aggravating today however, when after buying our living room and dinette set and getting a U-Haul from my brother in law, we found out that we have to go to a completely different location to pick them up. We were told to pick them up preferably within 7 days and they would give us a couple extra, but not much more. That information was not disclosed to us at the time of sale. But, since the store was having a sale on all the items, and if we paid in full today we were also given an additional 40% off, we didn’t immediately ask for a refund. So tomorrow (well really today) or tomorrow (Saturday) I’m going to try to get the U-Haul again and get that stuff picked up.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
It's Christmas
And there's no snow here. A little weird, but it's ok. We had a nice Christmas together. As odd as it is not being around all our family, it was relaxing to not have to have a few different places to squeeze in 2 days.
Our first Christmas together wasn't quite what I pictured, but I wouldn't have had it any other way this year. We didn't spend it in our new house, but we spent it in anticipation of our house. We can't wait.
We both had a good Christmas. So did the cats. Buster actually played with store bought toys! And they got a couple items which will make the move to our new house a little easier, and keep the environment familiar.
Tomorrow, we will go hunting through the sales for a refrigerator. We'll also hit up the gym with my new membership (Thanks Don!) . Hopefully, I can utilize my membership and get myself back in a better shape so that I'm happier with myself.
So, the countdown is on! 19 days til our house!!
Our first Christmas together wasn't quite what I pictured, but I wouldn't have had it any other way this year. We didn't spend it in our new house, but we spent it in anticipation of our house. We can't wait.
We both had a good Christmas. So did the cats. Buster actually played with store bought toys! And they got a couple items which will make the move to our new house a little easier, and keep the environment familiar.
Tomorrow, we will go hunting through the sales for a refrigerator. We'll also hit up the gym with my new membership (Thanks Don!) . Hopefully, I can utilize my membership and get myself back in a better shape so that I'm happier with myself.
So, the countdown is on! 19 days til our house!!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Life happens...
We had gotten some bad news. Don's grandmother passed away Dec. 1. We got the news that Monday evening. Within minutes, Don was looking for airfare to fly back to Illinois. Unfortunately, last minute airfare for the weekend is expensive. So, I talked to my boss, Don talked to his, and we both we able to get a couple days off.
Thursday night, we got on the road to drive to 20 hours back to Illinois. We arrived at our friend's apartment at 4 pm, Friday. Spent the night, and headed back to his hometown Saturday morning for the funeral. We stayed there until Sunday late afternoon, and then started the 20-something hour drive back home. We made it back 2 pm Monday. Such a long exhausting weekend, but it was good to see a couple of friends and his family.
And yes! We made it back alright, and we're not filing for divorce. I'm not saying we were happy the whole time. But we have great patience with one another. Spending all weekend with each other, and driving for a total of over 40 hours together, we still spent Monday evening together. I really am not sure how we do it, but we do :)
My brother said at one point after we moved in with my parents here in Texas "If they can make it living there, they'll be together forever". Well, we got 26 days left, I think we'll be fine. We make sure to communicate and understand each other so we can support each other. Part of our vows we said on our wedding day were, "I promise to be not behind you or in front of you, but beside you always." I think that's the base of our marriage, and is probably how we can take extremely long car rides with each other, spend entire days with each other, and not rip each other's heads off.
In other news, we close January 13 on our house!!!!! We are super excited, and can finally start seriously shopping for fridges and couches. I was telling Don last night, "We're buying a house together and shopping for furniture. We're getting serious" :)
Thursday night, we got on the road to drive to 20 hours back to Illinois. We arrived at our friend's apartment at 4 pm, Friday. Spent the night, and headed back to his hometown Saturday morning for the funeral. We stayed there until Sunday late afternoon, and then started the 20-something hour drive back home. We made it back 2 pm Monday. Such a long exhausting weekend, but it was good to see a couple of friends and his family.
And yes! We made it back alright, and we're not filing for divorce. I'm not saying we were happy the whole time. But we have great patience with one another. Spending all weekend with each other, and driving for a total of over 40 hours together, we still spent Monday evening together. I really am not sure how we do it, but we do :)
My brother said at one point after we moved in with my parents here in Texas "If they can make it living there, they'll be together forever". Well, we got 26 days left, I think we'll be fine. We make sure to communicate and understand each other so we can support each other. Part of our vows we said on our wedding day were, "I promise to be not behind you or in front of you, but beside you always." I think that's the base of our marriage, and is probably how we can take extremely long car rides with each other, spend entire days with each other, and not rip each other's heads off.
In other news, we close January 13 on our house!!!!! We are super excited, and can finally start seriously shopping for fridges and couches. I was telling Don last night, "We're buying a house together and shopping for furniture. We're getting serious" :)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Day before Thanksgiving...
and I got my sickness back. Don was sick for like, 2 days. Mine seems to keep on going. Hopefully I won't be too sick for the dinner tomorrow.
And my little pantry shelves! I love what they did. The "standard" is just shelves in the back wall. But we talked to the construction guy about bigger shelves, and we got this! I love it.
Looking into my kitchen from the living room!
House update: We have cabinets, countertops, trim, paint and bricks!
Our bricks outside (Don visited at night)
Half of my kitchen! Countertops and cabinets!
Looking into my kitchen from the living room!
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