*Hello Spring*

Is this not the cutest little baby girl you've ever seen?! Well, she is in my opinion! She's mine, I can say that! Today was a beautiful day. Spring is definitely in the air. Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer...maybe even 80 degrees. LOVE IT. I'm convinced that your favorite season has all to do with when your birthday is. See, I'm a summer baby and summer is my absolute favorite season. I can not wait for the warm weather. Bring on the 90* plus! Yeah, check back with me about mid way through July and see if I'm still saying that!

Had a little bit of alone time today. Well sort of. Pete took Jake pheasant hunting and they left about 6am and didn't get back until around 4. So it was just me and Meg today. Nice not to have someone to entertain all day long! I got the house all picked up and did a little spring clean up in the yard. Pulled some weeds...that kind of thing. We have one kind of devilish weed. I'm not kidding, it must have these tiny invisible little needles like a cactus. And for reals i think it had some sort of poison in it. One touch and I thought my fingers were on fire. I know, I should have had on the garden gloves. But see it's my mom that has the green thumb and I did not inherit one once of it! I don't really like gardening. The only plant I've ever managed to keep alive is the African Violet that resides on my kitchen counter.

*A few things I need to remember*

1. We're out to lunch last Sunday after church. Applebee's I think. Pete reads off the kids menu to Jake..

Daddy: You can have a chicken sandwich, cheeseburger, chicken fingers, spaghetti, or mac and cheese. What do you want?

Jake: ahhhh.....ummm I want the hands.

Pete and I look at each other like what the heck is he talking about??

Jake: Well...(pointing to his hands) um not these hands daddy.

Both of us: OHHHH Chicken Fingers!

*uhh... duh* Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?

2. last night

Jake says: Mommy I want Taco Bell (he's really into going out to eat right now)

Me: No. Not tonight.

Jake: Oh but mommy! I want picy taco bell! (that's S-picy) He doesn't ever say the letter S if it's followed by a consonant ie: stop=top. snake=take

Me: No, were going home and mommy's making dinner. You can have a burrito at home.

Jake: But mommy, you don't have to cook it!

Does this kid have me pegged or what? He knows I don't really want to cook dinner! LOL!!!

I actually really like cooking...but only when I know it's going to taste really good and if it's my own idea. I mean that I actually felt like making something. Sometimes I really hate making dinner because #1. I'm usually not that hungry at dinner time, and #2 because when I have to make it every night it feels like a chore....and I don't like chores. Never have. I'm an only child...what are chores?! Ha ha ha!(enter sarcasm here) See the trick is, you have to make me think it was my own idea. Like picking the weeds today. That was my own idea...I wanted to do it. But if Pete would have said to me "Could you pick those weeds in the yard today?" ....See that would have been his idea. Then it's a chore, and then I would have found anything else to do but pull the weeds! Is this sounding crazy to anyone?

Ok enough about me. One more thing I want to remember...

Megan...She's really come into her own self lately. She's decided she does not like baby food. She's a big girl...she's got one tooth...why can't she have big people food? I was trying to give her one of those baby food meals...you know the chicken and rice dinner....She got so mad at me! She's sitting there in the high chair screaming with her little hands in fists and her face turning all red. It's actually kind of funny to watch. But she wanted what we were eating. So she's now had Rice-a-Roni, meatloaf and mashed potatoes and spaghetti. It's like she's been waiting for this her whole life. She can not wait for that spoon of good stuff. She even waives her arms and says "ma ma ma ma". Like, more, more, more!

Well, that's about all there is to report. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

*update*

Well, I haven't heard that crazy old man howler for a couple of nights now. I think someone must have complained. It wasn't me. See I'm all talk and no action. I may have talked about calling the city about the dog...but in reality I don't think I would have actually done it! Well, yes I would if it went on and on...but it seemed to only be about a week...with the day of my last post being the worst and now it seems to have stopped. Maybe he was only visiting? I mean what makes a dog just suddenly stop howling?
Other weird things going on in my neighborhood...I guess there have been a few people robbed. One lady said she left her garage door open for 5 minutes, she came back out and her laptop, camera and cell phone were gone from her car. And then someone saw some guys stealing a refrigerator out of one of the model homes. Must be some good money on the black market for a stainless steel fridge? I mean, why would you steal a fridge? Weird thing is, our neighborhood is supposed to be "posh". Picture "Wisteria Lane". Yeah, everybody thinks our neighborhood looks just like Desperate Housewives! And Lord only knows how we ended up here! I mean we are like THE rednecks of the neighborhood! I'm not joking! I'm surprised they let us in with our lifted 4WD truck, our duck boat, and all the other hunting crud Pete has out in the garage! We could open our own sporting goods store. Anyways...back to the weird happenings...So Monday I go out to the garage, put the kids in the car, pull out into the driveway...and..."Hey the gate is open!" The gate to our back yard/dog run was wide open. Both dogs gone. Now, I know what your thinking...maybe me or Pete or maybe even Jake left it open on accident. Uh uh. Nope. I know it was closed when we went to bed because I'd gone out there to check on them right before we went upstairs. Pete fed had them and everything was fine. I honestly think someone opened the gate on purpose. Anyways, so I'm kind of freaking out...Not sure exactly what to do, when all of a sudden here comes Maggie, our chocolate lab, running up the ally way with her tail between her legs. A tiny sigh of relief....But then I noticed...no Nacho. I drove around and around and called him and called him and he never came. I didn't even know I liked this dog that much! So Pete put a sign up at our mail box room and someone actually called! Couldn't believe it! I guess both dogs were together running around the park at 10:30 at night and Nacho ended up following this lady home and she took him in. So there are still decent people out there I guess! Actually, it really doesn't surprise me. Despite the weird happenings, the majority of the people in this neighborhood are awesome. We all moved here, I think, for the same reasons...to raise our families in a place where we feel safe, comfortable, and a place that has a real sense of community.
So, that's about all that's been going on around here. I did apply for a new job...more on that later. I can't wait to get this circle journal going. I got my supplies to start making mine today!

When do you complain?

When is a dog SO ANNOYING that it becomes ok to complain about it? There is this dog in my neighborhood and it HOWLS and whines all night long. It sounds like a very sick old man...neh, it's a dog. I am not a dog hater...if you've been following along, I have 2. But SERIOUSLY, oh my gosh, this big old man howler, is getting on my nerves right now! There he goes again. *going insane right now!* At first I felt sorry for the poor fella...He sounds so miserable and sad and probably cold. His owners must be meanies, not letting him in, or at least letting him in the garage. Heck, maybe he is in the garage, I don't know. I've never actually seen the thing, only heard him. I'm not kidding you guys, he sounds like those howling ghosts on Scooby Doo or something. So when do you call the home owners association or the city or whatever? I'm usually not like that...I'm sensitive to pet owners...because I am one too. But if it's bothering me this much...what about the people who live right next to him? Why don't the owners do something? Why don't I hear them calling out "Charlie" -or whatever his name is-"knock of the racket!"
Maybe I'm just a little overly sensitive right now...I'm super tired and all I can hear is this dog. I'm sleeping downstairs tonight because now Pete has the sickies. Will it ever go away? Will I be able to scathe through unharmed? I sure hope so!
I just got this huge paper cut---no cardboard cut on my finger! Dang it's bleeding and everything! You know what it's from...oh yeah cardboard..already told you that. All I was trying to do was get one of those little Jell-O snacks out of the fridge. The durn thing wouldn't come out of the package. I'm like "jeeze, it's only 10 calories, just let me have it!" as I'm ripping it out. "let go, I say!" Am I so desperate that I must endure injury for 10 measly calories? LOL!!! I guess so.
Well, now that I've had my little snackie, and for the moment the dog isn't howling, I'm going to take up my spot on the couch for the night.
Ok, there goes the dog again.
This is going to be a long night.

Ali, good friends and sick kids...

Yesterday was my class with Ali. First of all let me say, she is seriously awesome. So down to earth, a real person and just plain fun. I walked in and the place was already packed. There were 80 people in the class and when I got there most spots were already taken. My friend Kathleen was already there and saved me a seat. Anyways, I was walking down the isle, and Ali was walking up...she says "hi! nice to see you!" Just like she knew me. She was just so real. My friend Kathleen just got into scrapbooking maybe about a year and a half ago. She doesn't even know who Ali Edwards is. She just came with me for the fun of it. She's the kind of person that is just so incredibly book smart.... I don't mean that rudely, that's just how she is. She always has to have every thing all planned out, she's a perfectionist, she always wants to do things her way. If you know anything about Ali, you know she's all about the creative process, "playing", and just having fun. Well, it was so funny, because she had Kathleen pegged from the first second. She kept teasing her the whole time because she was like, "Well, the squares don't match up perfectly" and "this ink is really messy". It was hilarious. But Kathleen is the kind of person that doesn't really recognize when she's being teased...she doesn't really recognize that it's all in fun. I was just giggling the whole time.The project for the class was "Today You". Our assignment before coming to class was to pick on person, take a picture of them during 9 random days and do some journalling about that day. We completed a minibook in class. We played with Tim Holtz inks, Fontwerks stamps and lots of patterned paper. Really super fun. Here's some of my book. I don't really like the cover,(the ink was really messy) but the rest turned out pretty good:

It was a really fun project and I definitely think I'm going to do it again. Like Ali says it's something you can do over and over because every time you'll get different results. If anyone wants the supply list, let me know, I'll be glad to email it to you.

Now here's where the drama starts....About 3 quarters of the way through the class, Pete calls my cell phone. Jake was really sick and had thrown up about 15 times. I guess it started right after I left to go to class. So I freaked and packed up all my stuff and kind of abandoned Kathleen. She totally understood though. I was disappointed because I really wanted to buy Ali's book and have her sign it. I also wanted to get a picture with her. Pete said not to worry and go ahead and finish the class, but when your kid is that sick, you just go. So I get home and it's bad. You can smell the bad. Poor Jake is sitting with his head in a bucket having the dry heaves because there's nothing left. Megan's crying because she still doesn't feel 100% either. I felt so bad for Pete, but he seriously is the best dad. He was right there helping Jake, cleaning up etc...Shortly after I got home he left and went to get himself something to eat. I think he really needed a (well deserved) break. About 6:30 my phone rings and it's Kathleen. She recapped the end of the class and wanted to check on Jake. She also said, "check your front door, I left you something on your front steps". So I go open the door and sitting right there is Ali's book. "A Designers Eye for scrapbooking with Patterned paper". She bought it for me and even had Ali sign it. Isn't that so sweet? Seriously good friend. Despite the barf, I smiled. Maybe got a little teary too. Do any of you have this book? AWESOME. Really. If nothing else, just perfect scrapbook eye candy.

Alright, well I think this is enough for now. I have some laundry to do. And both kids are napping, better take advantage of it while I can!

Awww...I've been tagged!

I feel so special now! Hee hee!! Chrissy tagged me. So here goes...

1. Find the nearest book. We have tons, I read a lot. Mom sends me paperbacks all the time.

2. Name the book and author: Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson. This is not my typical kind of story...it's science fiction. I prefer murder mysteries.

3. Turn to page 123....

4. Got to the 5th sentence on the page & copy out the next three sentences onto your blog: "Do you need help?" My eyes flicked back to her face. "Max-with your wings-can you actually fly?"

5. Tag 3 more people: Ok I tag Jude and Kari and Jami.

Ok back to regular stuff...I've been home the last two days. Megan has got her first virus. I went to drop her off Thursday morining and as soon as I was turning to go, she threw up everywhere. No not baby spit up...throw up. So home we went. Jake stayed at Grandma's and Meg slept most of the rest of the day. I kept her home yesterday too just to make sure she's ok. No more throw up, now it's the other way. I don't want to go into the details, but I'm sure you get it. Poor little thing. I hate when babies are sick!

But despite the sickies...I totally got my scrap on yesterday. I did 2 layouts and I think they're both pretty awesome. These aren't the best pictures...for some reason my photoshop won't open right now, so I couldn't edit them any. We've got funky morning light coming in and I couldn't get away from the shadows or glare. Anyways here they are: I don't know what it is about having a girl, but it totally brings out the girly girl in me. I am in love with all things pink and flowery lately! Before Megan, Pink was my least favorite color. I just can't get enough of it now! Funny how girls will do that to you. More scrappy news...Today is my class at my LSS with Ali! Can not tell you how flippin excited I am about it! I will be sure to post pictures. Hopefully it won't be too pathetic if I ask to take a picture with her?

Anyways, more later, I'm off to shower!

Say hello to Nacho!

Isn't he the funniest little thing you've ever seen? I never, EVER thought I'd own a little dog. I'm not a little dog person at all. My grandma has a little wiener dog and yeah, she's cute, but I would never want to own one. Anyways, so this is Nacho. He came with that name. I think it's kind of dumb, but it seems to suit him, so I think he'll keep it. Not that he is dumb, but I just can't go changing a dogs name. That's just not nice. I mean what if all of a sudden someone started calling you some other name? (well actually, sometimes that might not be so bad! LOL) But you get the point. I think it's mean to change an animals name when they already know it. Know what I mean? So Nacho isn't really supposed to be a family pet...though I don't see how he can avoid that. Do you notice Megan's little hand on his back? And Jake sitting right there next to him. Yeah, the kids already love him...The dog's staying...I don't think we could get rid of him now! But anyways Pete got him for a specific purpose. He's a Jack Russel Terrier (though, to me he looks like a Chuaua...whatever..small dog) Well anyways Pete got him for the ranch. Apparently, these kinds of dogs are great little hunters. Pete got him to help him find the injured/dead hogs up at the ranch. I guess that's all I can really say about that...but anyways we've welcomed little Nacho into our family. Even though I don't really like little dogs, he's pretty cute.

I wanted to say "Thanks" to you guys who left such loving comments yesterday to my little whine fest of a post. It really means a lot to me and it's nice to know people get it. I don't like being a whiner, and I feel like I've done a lot of it lately. So thanks for "listening" all my little friends!

Funny thing since I've gone back to work...I've started doing all of my shopping late night! I was at Target last night at about 9:30! This is the 2nd or 3rd time I've been in there that late lately. I don't have any time otherwise! We get home, get dinner made, eat, clean up, tag-team the baths, and then it's off to bed without a moment to spare. It's funny to be walking through the store and they come over the loud speaker "Attention Target shoppers, we will be closing the front doors in 10 minutes". Yeah shopping late is great! Last night though, (Friday night) you would have thought there is nothing better to do in Tracy. At 9:30 just about half the town was in Target. Kind of funny. Anyways, after my little Target spree, I jetted...or is it jet?... Anyways I sped over to Safeway to get the stuff for the pasta salad for tomorrow's wedding. Funny thing about being in the supermarket at 10 o'clock on a Friday night was that I was the one who looked out of place actually buying groceries! I was the only one who wasn't standing in the express lane without a bottle of vodka, or a 6 pack of Bud. Too funny. There was also a pack of 16 year old girls...they all travel in packs don't they? Anyways, they were all dressed in their PJ's thinkin they were so cute. Yeah, never liked teenage girls...even when I was one! LOL. That's not true really. I'm just being kind of a snob because I'm jealous they can go to the store in their jammies and I'm too self conscious to ever do that! LOL! Oh and by the way, the kids were both tucked in tight in their beds at home with Pete while I was doing all this jetting around town in the middle of the night. Just so you all don't call CPS on me or anything, I didn't leave them alone! Just thought I'd clarify.

Today was a beautiful day! It's been a real cold winter here, not much rain but really cold. Anyways today it was like 80 degrees! So nice! We played outside today with the neighbors for about 2 hours before going to my nieces' birthday party. It was awesome. Our neighbors are Portuguese, from Brazil and they are the nicest people! They're all about food and beer! LOL They are always saying here have some food! do you want a beer?! We don't drink anymore, and I don't really like beer anyways, but you know somebody likes you if they want to share their beer with you! LOL. The way our neighborhood is set up, all of our garages are in the back of the house and we have an ally way to access them. So the kids play back there all the time, it's kind of like living in a couldesac. The great thing is is that most of the kids on our street are just about the same age and 99% boys! Our Brazilian neighbors have twin boys, Lucas and Ciao (sounds like Kyle) and they are just a few months younger than Jake. Then there are 2 more 3 year old boys on either end of the street. Anyways, we all can't wait for summer so we can let the kids go wild in the ally! Here's some pics from today:

Both Jake and Megan were wiped out after todays activities and they were both in bed by 7 o'clock tonght! LOVE IT! I'm sure miss Meg will be up before the crack of dawn though. Oh well.

Hello everybody...

How are ya? It's a 3 day weekend you know! That's good thing. I've had a real crappy week at work. The glitter has worn off....not that there ever really was any glitter, but you get the point. It's been just over a month since I've been back to work. It was hard at first, yes, to come back. But after a week or two things just sort of seemed to fall into place in a regular routine. Things around the office were a little weird at times, but I was able to just sluff it off and move on. I really think in the back of my mind I thought this was all temporary and I was going to wake up from this dream and everything would be back to normal. i.e.: me back at home being a mommy etc... Well, I guess reality has settled in. For now this is it. I have to work. I have to be here. I have to deal with all these F-ing crazy people every single day. (please excuse the Fing...I'm usually not like that, but I'm kind of in a mood) I have to deal with the micro-management, the technology that doesn't work. I swear these people just sit in there big corner offices just thinking of new ways to screw with us.
I miss my kids. I miss going on walks with them. I miss going to the park. I miss hanging out with the other mommies. I miss messing around on the Internet all day! LOL! I miss Jake's little smart mouth, I miss cleaning up the same things over and over and over again. I miss Megan's cute little smile, and when she giggles at me. I miss nap time! I miss them so much that it brings me to tears just typing this. I have a ton of pictures of them all around my tiny little 3x4 cubicle. I miss them so much that I almost want to take the pictures down so they don't make me sad. That's terrible isn't it?
I hate the way this job makes me be. It really does make me act like a different person. I hate that. It makes me want to say the F word like every five minutes. It makes me cheat. Yes cheat. I have certain responsibilities in my job that I have to do correctly, but there is so much pressure just to get the job done that you cheat just to get it done. You find any way you can to get around the crap and get it done. I'd much rather do my job the right way even if it meant going slower. But it's all about the numbers here. They say it's not, but it SOOO is. If you're too slow, you suck basically. None of this sounds very Christian to me....does it to you? That's what makes me so mad. I have kind of a hot temper sometimes (it's the red hair!) but I don't like being like that. This job makes me get so frustrated and hot tempered all the time.
*sigh* But this is just my reality right now. I just have to face it. There's not a whole lot I can do about it. I just hope at some point I'll be able to be home with them. Hopefully if Pete's ranch really works out we should be comfortable enough for me to stay home. I can not wait for that day.
I'm hoping this 3 day weekend will be good. It will be busy, I know that. We've got a birthday party tomorrow and a wedding on Sunday. I have to make pasta salad for 200 people tomorrow (for the wedding)...what the heck was I thinking? LOL!! On Monday our friends want to get together for lunch or dinner or something like that. So I guess there will be no down time, but at least I'll be with family. And that's alright with me. :)
Ok well my 30 minute lunch period is up, so before I get in trouble again, I better go. Yep, got in trouble yesterday for taking 10 minutes over my scheduled lunch. I LOVE IT HERE. Stupid effers. See what I mean? the F word again. Bad. LOL!!
Have a good weekend...

Just a quick post... I feel like I don't have a ton to say today. We didn't do much this weekend because yesterday it rained all day. Went to church this morning and the rest of the day has just been chores..laundry,floors, dishes...etc. I did take some pictures yesterday, though. Here is a sampling of some cute stuff:Yes, I couldn't resist the bow! She finally has just enough hair for it! She's so frickin cute!

- Question though...I don't have the fancy SLR camera that I guess everyone else has but here's the deal.... So I've read over and over and over: no flash, no flash, NO FLASH. Right?? Well every time (ok not every time) but most times when I'm indoors and I don't use my flash, the picture turns out slightly blurry. Is it just me? See the one of both Jake and Megan? It's out of focus. And the head shot...looks ok here but printed out it's all blurry. What am I doing wrong? If you have any tips please let me know. I feel like dumping this camera but I have seen great results from it too. I just can't seem to be consistent with it. Seriously, tips please =)

And as I promised a while back...a scrapbook layout:

Not the best picture of it but oh well. The title says Your BROTHER Loves You. These pictures were taken in the hospital and the day we brought Megan home. I like how simple it is! :)

I do have more to share, but I'm thinking of trying out for a local design team call. (just on a whim) What ever I submit for that can't have been online anywhere. So I think I'm saving my favorite one for that. If I don't get picked (which I'm pretty sure I won't) I'll put some more up.

Have a good week!

Been a little MIA lately

I have a feeling this is going to be kind of a weird post. I'm trying to do this and work at the same time...may not work out very well! Anyways, I haven't posted in a few days. I've been kind of on a roller coaster of emotions for what seems like forever. This last week some things kind of went down at our church, and I guess I shouldn't really say too much, because I don't want to say anything I shouldn't. I know this is kind of a vague statement, but let me just put it all this way...I now totally understand why so many people have been turned away from church in general and organized religion. There has been some crazy stuff going on that directly affects my family...lots of stuff I totally don't get. But Pete and I have decided that God is allowing it to happen and we're putting it all in His hands. Very stressful non the less!
So anyways, I think that's why I've kind of taken a break from blogging because I was afraid I'd just let it all out and maybe scare all of you away! LOL
I think I've decided not to do the tag thing. I'm so late anyways and now it seems as if maybe it would be a little redundant. It's like if you were the last one to get the LA Gear Flame tennies in the 7th grade, they just weren't cool anymore...you get what I'm saying? Do you remember those shoes? I wanted those sooo bad. Mine were lavender and sea foam green. They were so awesome.
Jake has been saying some of the funniest things lately. He seriously cracks me up every day. I was reminded by reading Chrissy's blog that I really need to get this stuff down somewhere so I can remember it all. So last night we're driving home from Grama's house and Jake says "Momma, you have to get me a horse, ok?" "A horse?" I say. "where are we going to keep a horse?" (we have a teeny tiny yard...I can look directly into my neighbors windows, and they into mine...our houses are all pretty much stacked on one another!) Anyways so Jake says, "on the grass." (like duh, mom) "well, and you have to buy a barn too...next week, ok?" (everything lately is next week, or next month) I say, "we don't have room for a horse and a barn, silly!" He sighs and says, "oooh Momma, But I so toe-ta-ee love horses!" Did he just say he So totally loves horses???!!! What?? Ok either he is listening to me WAYYY too much and I am WAYYY more of a valley girl than I ever knew, or he's listening to his 3 girl cousins way too much. I don't know, but to me that was just hilarious, but I hope he doesn't continue to talk like a girl! hmm.
Another story...This morning I go in his room to wake him up. He sits strait up out of bed and says, "oh, Momma! I had a dream! There was a big fishy-a flying fish-and it jumped out of the tank and I sneaked up on it-and then you called the man!" I was just kind of laughing to myself, not sure exactly what to say. (what man???) Then I noticed he was shaking a little and I said, "what are you shaking for, are you cold?" He says, "no Momma, but I don't want to have that dream again!" Apparently this big flying fish scared the crap out of him! It's such a silly thing, where does this stuff come from?
Megan is cutting her first little tooth. She so cute, you can tell it kind of bothers her. She keeps sticking her tongue out. She's got a tongue like a little lizard! No, really! I swear when she sticks it out it touches the bottom of her chin! It's the funniest thing! She also does this like, biting thing or something. I guess I can't really describe it, but it sure is funny to watch her do it. It looks like maybe she's saying "cha, cha, cha" but no sound is coming out. I don't know, but it's funny.
Well, anyways I guess this is about all I got for now. I could go on and on about all kinds of things. But I keep getting interrupted by my emails and stuff. See I said at the beginning this might be difficult...I started typing this at uhhh...like 8:30 this morning and it's now noon.
I've got some other story's to tell so maybe later, if I have time, I'll post again.
Oooh side note before I forget...I did do some scrapping this weekend. Will post pics later...I'm really happy with how they turned out!

Why, why, why

is paper so addicting?! Oh MY Gosh. For reals scrapbook girls, check this out. It's extremely overwhelming, but there's all kinds of new goodies on there from CHA. So far my favorite stuff is from American Crafts and Basic Grey. I think I could sit here all night and look at all this stuff. I know, I seriously have a problem. I'm addicted to patterned paper.
Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?

How to take a shower

Someone forwarded this email to me today at work. I just had to share. It's so dang funny. I swear someone must have a camera in my bathroom!

Part 1: HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A WOMAN:
>>>
>>> Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according
>>> to lights and darks.
>>>
>>> Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown. If you see husband
>>> along the way, cover up any exposed areas.
>>>
>>> Look at your womanly physique in the mirror, make mental note to do
>>> : more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.
>>>
>>> Get in the shower.
>>>
>>> Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and
>>> pumice stone.
>
>>> Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.
>
>>> Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.
>>>
>>> Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner.
>>>
>>> Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes
>>> until red. Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.
>>>
>>> Rinse conditioner off hair.
>>>
>>> Turn off shower.
>>>
>>> Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower. Spray mold spots with Tilex.
>>>
>>> Get out of shower.
>>>
>>> Dry with towel the size of a small country. Wrap hair in super
>>> absorbent towel.
>>>
>>> Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.
>>>
>>> If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.
>>>
>>> Part 2: HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A MAN:
>>>
>>> Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them
>>> in a pile.
>>>
>>> Walk naked to the bathroom.
>>>
>>> If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her while making the
>>> woo-woo sound.
>>>
>>> Look at your manly physique in the mirror. Admire the size of your
>>> wiener and scratch your butt.
>>>
>>> Get in the shower.
>>>
>>> Wash your face.
>>>
>>> Wash your armpits.
>>>
>>> Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse the snot off.
>>>
>>> Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.
>>>
>>> Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.
>>>
>>> Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.
>>>
>>> Wash your hair. Make a shampoo Mohawk.
>>>
>>> Pee.
>>>
>>> Rinse off and get out of shower.
>>>
>>> Partially dry off - Fail to notice water on floor because curtain
>>> was hanging out of tub the whole time.
>>>
>>> Admire wiener size in mirror again.
>>>
>>> Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.
>>>
>>> Return to bedroom with towel around waist.
>>>
>>> If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the
>>> woo-woo sound again.
>>>
>>> Throw wet towel on her pillow.
>>>
I thought this was hilarious!
Have a good Friday everybody!

I feel like

I don't really have much to say today. Not a whole lot going on around here today. I decided that picture over there of me was kind of scary. So I replaced it with this one. I think for being 7 months pregnant when it was taken, I don't look half bad! LOL. I so wish I had more time. I really want to improve on my photography skills. Has everyone been to Chrissy's blog? Her sister in law is a professional photographer, but dang, seriously Chrissy is doing some great stuff herself. There is some seriously creative people out there. It's funny how, maybe I was oblivious to it before, but there just seems to be such a wonderful community of women, scrapbookers, mommies and artists alike. I'm somewhat of a blog surfer, and an occasional comment leaver. I'm always amazed at the amount of creativity and inspiration is out there...Check out Judes 4th card for her weekly art journal. Really cool. And this awesome mini book Ronda made. All I can say is, wow. I haven't done too much scrapbooking lately...lot of scrapbook shopping...not a lot of creating! I'm really going to have to find the time because I'm missing it!

.................................................................................................................

The Ranch

I had mentioned this in my last post...but then realized I hadn't talked about it in a long time...some of you have no idea what I'm talking about! So here goes (the quick version)...My husband, Pete, is an avid hunter. He's also a licensed hunting guide. He loves hunting so, so much that he's always dreamed of a way he could make money at his (very expensive) hobby. An opportunity arose for him to make some money by...well basically he's got access to about a thousand acres of land and he's worked an agreement with the land owner to be able to bring hunters onto the property to hunt. Like a guiding service. The other part of it is is that he is basically "stocking" the property with livestock, much like certain lakes are stocked with fish for people to fish. So anyways, he's been spending every spare moment up there at the ranch since about mid October trying to get everything ready. They're building bunk houses for the hunters to stay, putting fences up, and trying to build up the livestock. He has literally worked his butt off up there. I'm just glad he's found his passion. It is very stressful sometimes starting a new business, but I have faith this is all going to turn out ok.

So anyways, that's what "The Ranch" is!

One more thing before I sign off for the night...Here are some pictures from this weekend when my mom was down...

I think they're cuties!!

I know it's Monday

but does everyone have to be in a bad mood? It's not my fault you all didn't have your coffee this morning! (well not you all specifically...but you all here in my office) Good grief, people sure know how to ruin a persons perfectly good mood. I don't want to be here either, but jeez do you have to be so rude? It's not my fault that technology sometimes sucks.(ok a lot of times)..but it's not your fault either. So just let it go ok?
Anyways, had a pretty good weekend. Mom came on Saturday and we went to the scrapbook store. Always a good time there! Mom was a little overwhelmed with the huge-ness of the place as most people are on their first trip. I finally signed up for one of Ali's classes coming up in February. I SO can not wait! I'm going by myself. None of my friends are really INTO scrapbooking like I am, and I can't seem to convince anyone to spend the $75 dollars to come with me. Do you think I'll look like a dork there all by myself? Who cares. I'll just get their early and sit right in the front row :)
I also got one of my SB goodies I ordered the other night. Totally impressed by the fast shipping from 2Peas. Still waiting for my box from Addicted to Scrapbooking, but it should be here today. I've now officially spent WAY too much on scrabooking this month!
Pete and Jake went yesterday and bought 8 sheep for the ranch. His first batch of livestock! Totally excited because things really seem to be moving now. The fence has been ordered, the foundations are being poured for 2 bunk houses on Wednesday and on Friday they're going down to get some hogs. All this hard work Pete has been putting in finally seems like it's going somewhere now. Jake was so excited that he got to go with Daddy yesterday. He said to me, "don't be sad Mommy. Don't cry. I will be back and I love you.!" What a cute kid! LOVE HIM!
Ok gonna sign off for now...this post is all choppy, and I've got to pretend I'm doing something productive!
Have a good Monday!

Feeling happy

Finally! I have been in such a funk since probably Thanksgiving. It is so unlike me. I tend to just get over stuff, you know? This time was strange. Every time I thought I was getting over the hump, seemed like something else knocked me down. But enough of that...I am getting back to my old self again. Don't know what it is exactly, but who cares! I feel good, I feel great, I feel loved...I am happy. Going back to work sucked...it still sucks. But because I've gone back, I now have a much greater appreciation for...life. I used to be a total over achiever at work. I strive to be THE best all the time. I always had to know everything. Do it the right way. Do it the fastest. ect...ect...ect...I know now that none of that matters. What does it get me? Nothing but a paycheck that I would get even if I didn't do half of what I did. So my new outlook is: let it roll. Let it all go. Who cares?
At the beginning of the year I came up with a few resolutions...as I said before, I've really never done the whole resolution thing before because I just know myself and know that I wouldn't stick to it. Well after such a trying time in the fall, I just knew that something needed to change. I was ready to get back to me. So one of my resolutions was to lose 30 pounds. Again, at the time I made this resolution I kind of thought..well I don't know if I'll really be able to stick this one out or not. I have no will power...or so I thought. Guys, I am impressing even myself...I know it's only been a few weeks, but seriously, I think I'm doing so good.i have given up soda. For those of you who don't know me...I freakin' love Coca-cola! So this is a big deal for me. I haven't had a Coke in almost 2 weeks now. *yipee* I decided not to go the diet soda route... I hate all diet soda except for maybe diet Dr. Pepper. But I figured if If I can't have the real stuff, then I just won't have any at all. I was kind of inspired by Cathy Z of Simple Scrapbooks Magazine. She talks about the Best Life Diet...The one that Oprah does. I think it promotes more of a way of life rather than a "diet" per say. This is how I have approached my diet situation: See it, believe it, be it. I see myself a size 8, I believe I will be a size 8. In September I'll be lying on the beach in Kauai, and I will BE a size 8. This is all I think about when I'm sitting at my desk at work and all I want to do is go down to the cafeteria to grab a bag of chips to snack on. (I love chips!) It has been the best motivation ever. I'm eating good things, keeping my calories down. I'm exercising (a little) the girls at work and I have been walking at lunch...about 2 miles or so. I don't even know if I've actually lost weight...we don't have a scale at home! But the most important part is that I feel good. I really feel happy and healthy. Another very good motivator!
More happiness...My husband has been wonderful lately. Not that he hasn't been in the past, but again, I think I've learned to appreciate things a little more. He and I have been such a great team during the week. He and I tag-team the laundry, the baths, the feedings, the vacuuming, the dishes, etc...I couldn't do it all without him and I love him so very much for helping me and doing these things because he loves me and he loves our family. He said the sweetest thing the other day....We were out to lunch after church and I caught him eyeing this girl...she's dressed to the nines, has her nails done, wearing high heels, perfectly applied makeup...great body...you know the type. I'm not like that. I'm a jeans and t-shirt girl. I don't go to the hairdresser, I rarely get my nails done...basically I'm not what you would call a "high maintenance" girl at all. Anyways so he's looking at this girl and I say to him, "I know I'm not really the kind of girl you really like, am I?" (yes, feeling a little sorry for myself at at the time...It's hard not to when you've got baby spit-up running down your shirt) My husband is always brutally honest...He says: "you know what? No. You're not like that girl. But, (and here comes the sweet part...) that is all just a fantasy...YOU are the perfect girl for me. YOU are what I need. For now and for always. I love YOU." See, I'm getting all teary just typing it! Sometimes he frustrates the heck out of me, but he always, always brings me back. I love him too.
See, I am happy. I hope all of you are too. :o)

a little splurge

So, the last few months have been rough...real tight in the financial department. I have not spent any money on anything just for fun in like forever. So today I'm looking at my bank account online and what do you know??? That big, world wide, very well known corporation I work for decided to pay me early! *YIPEE* I went back to work about 2 weeks ago, but I figured I wouldn't get a paycheck until the end of the month. Well I don't know what happened, but for some reason they deposited some money in my account today. Can't beat that. So anyways, I've been really wanting this 7 Gypsies scrapbook stuff for like, ever. So, I bought me $40 dollars worth of stamps and patterned paper tonight. For those of you who don't know me...this is freakin' huge. Dudes, I just don't spend $40 dollars on anything unless it's baby food and toys! I know some of you scrappers are like, $40 bucks??-shoot, that's nothin'. Well, like I said I never spend money on stuff for just me. So I'm totally excited. I can't wait for the UPS guy to get here! You know what else is cool? My mom's coming down this weekend and we're going to my local scrapbook store! Youngplay Memories is like the biggest scrapbook store ever. No seriously, click on the link and you'll see pictures of just how big it is. Totally awesome, and only 5 miles from my house! So, I'm sure more, much more, money will be spent this weekend. One sucky thing about this place...they don't carry the 7 gypsies stuff..what is up with that?
Scrapbook goodies are seriously addicting...I don't even know what I'm going to do with this stuff I just bought. I just wanted it and had to have it!

wholey moley

Two posts in one day! *GASP* The computer is actually not being dominated by my husband tonight! How could that be?
Just popped back on here tonight so I could do Ali's Challenge this week. Real simple one this week. She challenged us to make a list of our essential scrapbook materials. So here's mine:
White, black and kraft colored cardstock- Seems like I am constantly reaching for these three colors
12x12 Paper trimmer- I noticed a lot of people said a craft knife (Xacto) and a metal ruler. I don't think I could do that. Knowing me, I'd chop the end of my finger off...or waist a lot of paper. Regular old paper trimmer will do just fine for me! I've had mine for about 10 years now and I just keep replacing the blades. Love it.
Adhesive-some sort of tape runner and a glue stick
Stamping ink-both black and chocolate brown. Both for inking edges of stuff and well, duh, stamping.
Black pen-right now I'm using Pigma Micron's, but I saw a lot of people choosing American Crafts. I'm going to have to check those out.
Mechanical pencil and white eraser-not all erasers are created equal. I like a white artist eraser because it doesn't leave marks.
Making Memories anywhere hole punch- I think it's name speaks for itself.
Flowers-since I have a girl now, I have suddenly become real girly girl. I'm loving anything pink and anything with flowers. Just about every page in Megan's scrapbook has at least one flower on it!
Brads- gotta love brads. They're just simple and easy and always make a page look finished.

I think that's it. If all other scrap stuff ceased to exist...I think I'd be ok with just this stuff.

a few things i've been thinking about...

Well, I'm sneaking around here at work again. I don't really like doing that. I constantly feel like someone is watching me. Scary thing is, they probably are. (Hi there person watching me! :p) Anyways, ok moving on...
I have to sneak around to blog at work now cause I have like no time at home. I get home from work, make dinner, give baths, get kidlettes in bed, then I go sit down at the computer and Pete says, " ahh, I need to get on there." Grrr. Normally I would argue with him, but lately I just don't have the energy!
Ok so here's something I've been thinking about lately...Feel free to leave comments about it. ( but not hate mail!) I'm curious to know if I'm the only one who thinks this is weird. Nicknames...Ok first off let me preface this by saying, I am NOT a nickname hater. I have several nicknames myself, I have nicknames for my kids, heck-technically my mom goes by her nickname. I AM NOT A NICKNAME HATER. However, I have a friend who has a nickname for everyone in her family and always, always calls them by the nickname instead of their real name. (her son's nickname sounds like the name of a German made car...it's just silly) She even calls him by the nickname when he's in trouble. I just think it's crazy. So is there a point when nicknames are just over used?
Ok, have I lost all of you now? Do you all hate me and think I'm a crazy nickname hater? I can see all my little e-friends are clicking off now going ok yeah, she's crazy...won't be coming back to this blog.... I'm really not that terrible. I really, really like this friend I'm talking about. She's a great person, it's just this quirky nickname thing that I just don't get. I think she'd find it funny if she read this. Her son is SOOO cute and has a great real name. (but I refuse to call him by the German car name)
Ok enough of that...
Before I go, I have to tell a funny story about Jake...My mother in law raises Basset Hounds as a hobby. About 2 weeks before Megan was born she had a litter. So now those puppies are all about 5 months old. She only has one left out of the litter and it's pretty big now, almost the size of all the other dogs. Anyways, this weekend she went to visit one of her dog breeder friends and brought home another puppy. But this one is only about 12 weeks old. So it's considerably smaller than the other puppy Grama still has. Anyways, we walk in the house yesterday and the new puppy is in the kitchen and comes running up to Jake. He looks at it and says, "Oh Gamma! You puppy grew down!" Oh, I about fell on the floor laughing! The way the little mind thinks. It was just hilarious. Just had to share that one. I gotta take a picture of that puppy so I can do a scrapbook page about it.
Ok, better be off before I get in trouble!

AEzine challenge-part II-one word

I realized when I posted my last challenge, that many of you guys (non-scrapbookers) might not know what or who AE is...AE is Ali Edwards, a totally awesome scrapbooker, or life artist. More than anything, I think she is completely inspiring. Not only to me, but to many other women. Check out her blog or her work in Creating Keepsakes.

Anyways, on to the challenge... This weeks challenge goes along with last weeks-picking one word to focus on for the year. This week she challenged us to look up our words in the dictionary and make a 3x5 card or something like that we could keep somewhere where we would see it often and hopefully inspire us. When I looked up my word, SIMPLE there were about 18 different definitions! I chose 7 that I thought really focused in on what I wanted to accomplish personally and creatively. It's funny, I was reading someone else's blog who picked the same word as I did last week. She said when she set out for her project she immediately pulled out all kinds of chipboard and patterned paper and embellishments. Then said, wait a minute..isn't my word SIMPLE? I had to laugh, because I did the exact same thing! Anyways here's my entry this week: a SIMPLE 3x5 (well it actually might be more like 3.75x5.5 but who's checking!) I just used cardstock, a piece of scrap patterned paper and a prima flower...cause what project would be complete without a flower!? LOL It's sitting right here by the computer so I know I'll see it every day.

In case you can't read it, here's the definitions I chose:

1. not involved or complicated: a simple design

2. easy to understand, to deal with, use

3. not elaborate or artificial: a simple style

4. free of deceit, sincere, unconditional

5. unpretentious: a simple way of life

6. clear, intelligible, understandable, unmistakable

7. nonessential, unnecessary

Anyways, that's it! Couldn't have been more SIMPLE!

I'm being called away now by crying baby, and a hungry preschooler...gotta go be mommy!

Little Miss Over Achiever...

So as I mentioned before, Megan was sleeping usually until about 7:30, sometimes 8 in the morning before I went back to work. It was wonderful! What mother can say she got up before her 4month old baby did? Yeah, I was real lucky. That's why I was paranoid about going back to work and knowing that I'd now have to get her up by 6 am in order to get her fed and changed before heading out to Grandma's. Well, I noticed on Friday morning, she seemed to already be getting used to getting up a little early. When I peeked in there yesterday at 6 she was lying there quietly, just kind of barley awake. I peeked in over the crib, she saw me, and then immediately got a huge smile on her face and squealed her little happy piglet squeal. I thought, well this isn't so bad, at least she's happy, right?

Well anyway so today is Saturday, and what did this little princess do?...(This is why her new nick-name is "over achiever")....At exactly 5:30am this morning, Megan thought "ok, I'm gonna make my mommy real happy. I'm gonna wake up now and be all ready for her!" Yeah, we heard her through the monitor this morning just as happy as could be at 5:30! Pete rolled over, looked at the clock and said, "she sure does learn quick, doesn't she!" *sigh* Well, I turned over and just hoped she would go back to sleep. No such luck. Promptly at 6am, when mommy didn't come to her happy sounds, Megan thought..."well heck, that didn't work, where's my mommy? Maybe this will work......WHAAAAA!!!" Yep she's a smart one, alright. So of course I got up and fed her a bottle. So long days of sleeping in! I guess I won't see that day again for at least another 9 months! She's such a good girl though, after her bottle we all got back in bed, she snuggled right down next to me and went back to sleep. Such a good girl. :o)

I'm being sneaky...

So, I still don't know what the deal is at home...I can NOT sign in to Google or Blogger to save my life. So I'm supposed to be like working I guess right now...but this is just so much more funner! (I know that's not a real word-don't call the dictionary people, ok?) So anyways, I'm sneakin' on here to try and let you all know how this working thing is going....Hmmm. Well it could be better, but I guess it could be worse. The work is the same, which is good because that would have really sucked if I basically had to learn everything again. That sometimes happens around here. I work for a very well known, world wide corporation. They are always trying to be competitive with all the other very well known, world wide corporations. So needless to say, we've always got new technology, new processes, new people...etc..So the chances of me coming back to an environment where I had to relearn everything was extremely high! Anyways, nuf of that crap. Like I said, the work is the same. But the environment is just weird. No one talks, no one gets up from their desks. People just don't seem to be as friendly as they once were. I don't know, it's just weird. I feel weird here. Like I don't belong or something. I don't know, some may say I only feel this way because I don't want to be here. Well, that's true, I don't. But I know the reality is for now, I HAVE to be here. Anyways I've worked here for 6 years now and developed what I thought were good relationships with some of my business partners. Well I guess since I've been gone, I've now sunk to the bottom of the fishbowl. This makes me mad. It's like I was replaced by "Account Temps". If you don't know what I'm talking about..there's a commercial where a guy keeps calling in sick so the boss calls Account Temps to get someone to fill in and they end up liking the temp better. So I lost all my good accounts and now I have to start all over from the bottom of the to tum poll as if I'm a newbee. Aggravating, but you know what? It's ok. This is just a place where I come to earn money. It's not my life. I refuse to make it that way. I'm not going to let this place take over and kill me. I'm going to stop worrying about it. Done.
The kiddos-Well they seem to be adjusting well. I really am so lucky because even though i have to go to work, at least I get to leave my kids with family. Pete's mom runs a small day-care from her house and she's going to be watching them for us. Jake has lots of friends over there. The first night and second morning, I could tell Jake was really tired. It's a good thing though becasue now I know he's playing and socializing and getting a lot of pent up energy out! He's one that really needs to play a lot and needs to be with other kids. SO that's one positive thing I can take from this. Megan is doing good too. She's just such a good baby! I thought it was going to be hell getting her up at 6am (she was sleeping until at least 7:30 every morning when I was at home!) But you know, she's a trooper! She's fine! She's such a happy little princess! She is ready to go to bed at like 7:30 at night though. That makes me sad cuz I don't even get home till 6! I'm really hoping this will only last another year or so and then maybe I'll get to stay home with these guys. I miss them sooo much!
Creativeness- Well, I'm still trying to focus on my word for this year SIMPLE. I've got it on little sticky notes around my monitor, hoping it will inspire me here at work! This weekend I plan on doing Ali's new challenge with my word and make a tag book or something focusing on it. Jude sent me a link to this blog: http://embers.typepad.com/e/ with a great idea with playing cards. I think I might take that challenge too because it's right in line with one of my NYR's (new years resolutions) to be creative once a week.
Anyways, I may be well on my way to being fired now, since I've been on here for so long! I'm sure people are wondering what I'm doing! Wish I could post some pictures. I just don't feel right blogging with out some to post! Maybe my Blogger issues at home will have been resolved this weekend and I can post some.
Hope everybody has a good weekend!