Wednesday, December 17, 2008

It's been a while ...

Well, I am a slacker. It's been almost two months since my last post. If my blog were alive, it would be dead by now. I tried to make it up to my blog by giving it a new look for the winter season.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday season -- you know, the two or three of you who may happen to read this. haha!! :)

I will try my best to keep this updated, but damn Facebook seems to have taken over my life!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloweiner!

I should preface this by saying that I don't know who's dog this is, I found it on the Internet.

Hope you all have a great fright night!


Friday, October 17, 2008

What Halloween Costume Should I Bee? :)




Your Halloween Costume Should Be



A Bumble Bee

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Swim Lessons & Camping at Mohican

This past weekend Jackson had his very first swim lessons and we also went camping at Mohican! I had never been camping before and it was so much fun. It was really good, quality family time. We even went canoeing...and saw a drunk guy fall out of his canoe into the river. BJ and I couldn't even look at him as we paddled by because we were laughing so hard. We also ate hot dogs cooked in the fire and made s'mores. Mmmmm! I had to laugh at BJ though because he forgot to pack warm clothes and wrapped himself up in a big blue blanket he had in the back of his car. I can't wait to go back next year and hopefully stay more than just one night. I will put the pictures in two posts, since you can't upload too many at once. :)






Let's go fly a kite



So in the midst of the big wind we had not too long ago, we decided to go to the reservoir to fly Jackson's kite. The three of us haven't laughed that hard in a long time. We had so much fun and we almost lost the kite -- the wind blew it right out of our hands!

Jackson's 4th Birthday







I can't believe my little boy is 4 already! This year we had his birthday party at the bowling alley in town and everyone had a blast, especially Jackson! On his actual birthday, I took the day off of work and BJ and I spent the whole day with our little guy. We went to the game room at Kalahari, to the Exchange to get him a used X-box game, to Toys R Us to use a gift card Jackson had gotten and then finally to Applebee's, which is what he wanted for his birthday dinner. It was a busy, fun day. I should also mention that I bought a Wii that day, too. I told BJ to consider it his early Christmas present!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Words to live by

I subscribe to a newsletter at work that comes from a psychologist and it discusses effective ways to live a better life. I love the things that this newsletter conveys and wanted to share part of the one I received today:
_____________________________________________
1. Personal Effectiveness Tips

A. Keep in mind that, when holding grudges, the only person that really suffers is the person doing it. It’s also an unfair way to deal with people-nobody is perfect, and it is difficult if not impossible to deal with someone who is always bringing up imperfections, mistakes, or other things that happened previously. Deal with things as they happen, and move on.

B. Get fierce about your time management. This means:

i. Scheduling priorities at the beginning of the week. This entails actually
putting them down on your calendar.
ii. Eliminating as many time wasters (internet, TV, conversations with coworkers
that love being paid by the hour, etc) as possible
iii. Building flexibility into your week. Do things when you have the energy to
do them-even if it means working at midnight and napping at 11 am on a
Tuesday.
iv. Blocking out chunks of time to do things that have nothing to do with career
or your profession. This allows you to recharge your battery on a consistent
basis.

C. Practice being more responsive. Return emails and calls more quickly, listen better for longer periods of time, and start offering those around you more reasons to hang out with you. You’ll surprise most people, and stand out in the crowd.

Nobody controls your life but you. Some situations and events are outside our sphere of influence, certainly, but in the end, it is you that controls how you react to things around you. You are directly responsible for the quality of your daily life, and for the quality of your relationships. So, before you begin complaining about your lot in life, stop for a second and figure out what it is that you have done to bring about these consequences. You may not have had a choice in being fired, or divorced, or any other unfortunate event, but you certainly had a choice in how you responded to that event and portrayed it to others.

Work to eliminate excuses. You’ll find out that you actually have much more influence over your life than you previously thought. You’ll also be a much more productive and well-adjusted individual.
________________________________________________________
Everytime I read one of his newsletters I just have this feeling of wanting to make my life better. And I like how he gives it to you straight...I am not a beat-around-the-bush type of person. Be honest with me, don't sugar-coat things for my benefit. That only makes me feel patronized and that you don't think I can handle the truth.

Whoa. I just had "A Few Good Men" moment.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Randomness



1. Do you put the toilet paper on coming over the top or underneath, or does it matter? If someone puts it on wrong do you have to fix it? Nope, I don't care as long as their is TP on the roll.

2. Do you wear shoes in the house? If I am cleaning I do. Otherwise I go barefoot. In the winter I wear socks or slippers to keep my tootsies warm.

3. If something falls out of the dryer when you’re folding clothes or putting it in the laundry basket, do you have to rewash it or do you just continue on like nothing happened? I just shake it out and keep on trucking. The 5 second rule also applies to clothing.

4. Which side of the bed do you sleep on? What about in a hotel? Considering that I usually sleep alone because BJ is at work, I sleep in the middle. But on the weekend when he is there, I sleep on the left. Same with hotels.

5. Do you do everything in the shower in the same order every time? Yup -- wash my face, put shampoo on my hair and rinse it, put conditioner on, wash my body, rinse conditioner. If I have to shave I insert do that after the face-washing.

6. How many times a day do you think you wash your hands? Never. Just kidding -- I don't know that I have ever counted.

7. What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning? Does it ever vary? I always go to the bathroom.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Alphabet Game

This was too cool not to do!

A is for age: 31

B is for burger of choice: The ones my husband makes are pretty darned good!

C is for the car I drive: 1999 Honda Civic

D is for your dog's name: Maddie and Lucy

E is for essential item you use every day: toothbrush and toilet!

F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Design Star, Next Food Network Star, Greatest American Dog

G is for favorite game: Trivial Pursuit

H is for home state: Ohio

I is for instruments you play: used to play the flute and sort of piano and guitar

J is for favorite juice: Orange or CranApple

K is for whose bum you'd like to kick: our wonderful state legislators

L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Peking House

M is for your favorite Muppet: Kermit the Frog

N is for number of piercings: 6 (three in each ear)

O is for overnight hospital stays: 2004 -- childbirth; 1997 -- gallbladder

P is for people you were with today: Jackson and my co-workers

Q is for what you do with your quiet time: sleep -- that's the only time it's quiet in my house

R is for biggest regret: i try not to live with regrets, although i will say ever getting involved with my ex-boyfriend definitely classifies as a regret.

S is for status: Married since 2004

T is for time you woke up today: 6:18 a.m.

U is for what you consider unique about yourself: When I was in 4-H I was in Purple Cirlce magazine :) haha! I was also in an article in American Baby Magazine when Jackson was about 18 months old.

V is for vegetable you love: Green Beans

W is for worst habit: Leaving dishes in the sink

X is for x-rays you've had: teeth, head, knee, chest, wrist, hand, foot

Y is for yummy food you ate today: So far I have only had a whole wheat english muffin with dutch apple pie jam that i bought at a farmer's market

Z is for zodiac: Sagittarius

Monday, June 23, 2008

Photographic Update on Us!

Whew! It's been almost a month since my last post. It seems like that month has just flown by. Below are just some of the things we've done from May 24 up until a couple weeks ago. There's us at Thomas the Train in Cleveland, Jackson riding his bike and playing in the sprinkler with Lucy, Jackson eating watermelon and Jackson pretending he is a cowboy.

We also went to Kalahari, had my sister's college graduation, went bowling and went to the zoo. Hopefully I'll put those pictures up soon, too. The next couple of weeks are going to be hectic. I am flying out next Monday to Minnesota for three days for a work-related training. I'm looking forward to that; hopefully I'll get to see the Mall of America!! :)







Thursday, May 29, 2008

Hoppy Times



I can't believe it's been a month since I've made a post! Where does the time go?! This video is of my silly boy having fun with the bag that my Mother's Day present came in :)

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Meal Plan Monday



It's been a while since I've done this, so here's our menu for the week:

Monday -- frozen pizza, carrot sticks, salad

Tuesday -- crockpot lemon chicken, corn on the cob, salad

Wednesday -- breakfast (scrambled eggs w/veggies, potatoes, oatmeal)

Thursday -- Lasagna, green beans, garlic bread, salad

Friday -- Pot pie, warm applesauce, salad

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Easter

Yes, I'm a little late, but better late than never, right? :)






Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Feeling Funk-y

I've been in a funk the last few days. Yesterday, I should have been in the hospital delivering a beautiful little baby, but instead, I was at work -- my uterus empty and my heart broken. Yes, Tuesday, March 25, 2008 should have been my due date.

I had been dealing with it semi-ok up until Saturday. My family was supposed to come up for Easter, but we ended up postponing it until this coming Saturday. I was hoping that having everyone at the house would prevent me from thinking about it so much, as that was all that was on my mind for the days leading up to Tuesday. I spent most of Saturday morning and afternoon in bed crying until my husband almost dragged me out of bed to get me out of the house. So the rest of Saturday was ok, then Sunday we dyed eggs and had our own little holiday celebration.

Today I'm doing a little better, not much, but a little. I felt bad last night; I was so impatient with Jackson and snapped at him often. He wanted me to play with him but all I wanted to do was sit in the recliner, watch Dr. Phil (coincidentally about women who were tired of being moms) and feel sorry for myself.

Everyone told me that with time I'd get over having a miscarriage or that it would get easier to deal with. I have yet to experience either of those. I think I just get better at hiding how I feel about the situation.

Then I think, 'is it fair of me to be so upset?'. I was only 6 weeks along and a baby never developed -- I was pregnant without a baby. So I didn't lose a baby. I just lost a "growth". Maybe that's what's hard to swallow. How can your body make you feel pregant -- your stomach swells, you have morning sickness and cravings, yet there's no baby? I constantly wonder: would it have been a girl or a boy? What would he/she looked like?

Luckily we start counseling next week so hopefully I can work through these issues. I feel like sometimes all I do is whine about it. So for those of you who read this and who I've whined to, I'm sorry.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Happy Easter


I hope you all have a glorious Easter! My mom and grandparents are coming up on Saturday and we are all going to go to the egg hunt up town. This will be our first time going to the egg hunt as we are usually in my hometown for Easter and take Jackson to the one there.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Chocolate Ass

I weighed myself on Sunday and had lost 4 pounds. I weighed myself this morning and had gained 2 pounds. Gained? Gained! My dear husband, God love him, reminded me it was water weight that I had initally lost.

I've also taken up drinking Slim Fast for breakfast and lunch. Yesterday I only did breakfast as I went out for lunch with friends. Fear not, I had a grilled chicken salad, but mostly just ate the chicken because the salad had raw onions in it. Gross.

So back to the Slim Fast. As I type this I am nourishing my body with the chocolate variety. I'm imagining it is a big glass of chocolate milk or better yet a Mudslide. But it's a difficult task because the consistency is thick and it tastes like ass. It tastes like an ass that is coated in chocolate. And the smell reminds me of a combination of body odor and nursing home. Nice.

Well, here's what I'm having to eat today:
Breakfast -- Slim Fast; 220 calories
Snack -- Organic yogurt; 110 calories
Lunch -- Slim Fast; half peanut butter (no jelly) sandwich; 400 calories
Snack -- Slim Fast Bar; 120 calories
Dinner -- Pasta (pasta buffet at work function -- I will limit myself!)

I'm not sure how this Slim Fast is going to work out for me. Granted, it's chock full o' nutrients. But it's also loaded with calories. My lunch today was 400 calories. 400 calories. Really? For a half pb sandwich and a glass of ass? I could have had a Pepsi and Lean Cuisine meal for that! I may cut out my afternoon snack.

I have noticed a little bit of a difference in the way my pants fit and when I sit down, I don't have quite the bulbous bulget that I once had.

Ok, back to the chocolate ass. Maybe if I added a little vodka to it, it would taste better. Good thing I have a flask in my desk drawer.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

I don't want to be fat. I want to be PHAT.

So, I'm on a diet. Yes, I said the "d" word. I have decided that I am finally going to do something about this extra weight I've been carrying around for years. And, if I ever have another child, I do not want that weight packed on top of this flubber I have now. It all started about a week ago when I had a doctor's appointment and they made me step on the #$%@!&* scale. I could not believe what I saw.

I've begun counting calories. And I'm borderline obsessed with it. I started Monday (all diets start on Monday, right?) and did pretty good until after dinner. It was BJ's birthday and there was cake. So scratch Monday. Then yesterday I was feeling down so I grabbed some chocolate. Scratch Tuesday. But today I have done well. I had 1,310 calories today.

I'm having a hard time finding nutritious, low-calorie foods that will keep me feeling full. Here's what I had today:
Breakfast - English muffin, 1 tbsn peanut butter, yogurt, coffee
Lunch - Lean Cuisine meal
Dinner - 2 cups of Homemade mac & cheese, small piece of French bread, 1/4 cup orange sherbert

I did some online searches for healthy breakfast ideas, but most of them consisted of flaxseed and tofu. I'm sorry but I'm not that desperate to be thinner.

I didn't have any pop today, which helped me cut out 200 extra calories. I didn't plan our meals this week to be inline with my diet, so it will be a little tricky to not overdo it. I'm trying to stick to 1,000 calories a day. I was pretty hungry from about 2 p.m. until dinnertime today. I'm still hungry now, but I'm guzzling water to help me not think about it.

Tomorrow I am meeting two friends for lunch at a local bar. Not sure how I am going to eat low cal, but I may have to skimp on breakast and dinner. I've already decided that for dinner tomorrow night (chicken patties and fries) that I'm not going to eat a bun or mayo.

My goal is to lose 30-40 pounds. Hopefully by the time summer hits (or better yet I get pregnant) I'll have lost some weight.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

That's a lotta snow!

**I wanted to post pictures, but it keeps saying there is a Google Server Error. I tried 3 times and am frustred. Hopefully I can post some soon.**

So, we got a sh*t-load of snow this weekend. And that's putting it mildly. I watched the Weather Channel this morning and they are saying we got anywhere from 15-20". I think it literally snowed for like 33 hours straight.

Saturday we went out in the midst of blizzard-like conditions to try and do some shoveling. Jackson had a blast playing in the snow. We'd run down our walkway, then flop in the big pile of snow at the end. We were supposed to go out to eat for BJ's birthday, which is Monday, but we were snowed in. Today I told BJ I would shovel the snow as a birthday present to him. I took about 3 swipes with the shovel and my neighbor came over with his snow blower and cleaned out my driveway. I think I heard angels singing and he may even been wearing a halo at the time. All I had to do was clean the cars off. We made a quick trip to Wal-mart today and the place was packed! I went there on Friday during my lunch break and the place was a madhouse. We went back after I got off work and it was even busier. In fact, the bread aisle had no bread! Today wasn't much better. They didn't have any meat and the shelves were a little sparse.

Now I am ready for Spring!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Mmmmm....Meal Plan Monday!




I am actually excited about the menu this week. Unfortunately, my husband is not. If anyone wants any recipes, let me know!

Sunday -- Beef enchiladas, Spanish rice, refried beans
Monday -- Italian sausage sandwiches (smothered in cheese and spaghetti sauce), fries
Tuesday -- Fiesta Mac & cheese, garlic bread
Wednesday -- French dip sandwiches, augratin potatoes
Thursday -- Hot 5 Bean Casserole (which is actually like a soup)
Friday -- Homemade sweet & sour chicken and fried rice (so excited to try this!)

For more great menu ideas visit www.orgjunkie.blogspot.com.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Fun in the Snow!

So, I decided to take Jackson out in the snow to play this afternoon -- even took some vacation time from work. It started out great, but then the Toddler Monster paid us a visit. Oh goodness, he screamed and didn't want to wear his gloves. But, we got to play for about a half hour.

Pictures:
Jackson with the snowman we built. Jackson named him Bill.
BJ getting ready to drop a huge snowball on Jackson's head.
The Toddler Monster
Our snowy street





Sunday, February 24, 2008

Sesame Street Live

On Saturday we had the pleasure of going to the Palace Theatre in Cleveland to see Sesame Street Live "Elmo Makes Music." My mom got Jackson the tickets for Valentine's Day. However, we ended up spending about the same amount on souveniers and food. haha! It was a blast and Jackson just loved it! I have to admit, I got a tad choked up seeing how happy he was and to see him singing along with the songs. We had great seats and all three of us had a good time.

There was one part where Bert came out in a white suit and danced ala John Travolta style in Saturday Night Fever. It even had the adults laughing. :)






Friday, February 22, 2008

Breakfast in Bed

If you need a good laugh, watch this video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vTEyvXMs44&e

Hope you enjoy it!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Meal Plan Monday!


I'm actually ahead of the game this time!
For more great meal suggestions, visit www.orgjunkie.blogspot.com!


Sunday - Stromboli, garlic bread

Monday - Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon

Tuesday - Tacos, refried beans, Spanish rice

Wednesday - Grillers, baked beans, steamed broccoli

Thursday - Hot Hawaiin Chicken Salad, some kind of veggie

Friday - Hamburger Helper, some kind of veggie

Saturday - Eating out (going to see Elmo!)

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Thursday, January 17, 2008

My crafty husband



We wanted to get some pads for Lucy and Maddie's cages, but really didn't want to shell out $100, so BJ decided to make two of them. I have to admit, I didn't have high hopes for this. But, thee of little faith was wrong! He borrowed his mom's sewing machine, bought some padding and fleece and whipped out two of them. He even added zippers so we could take the pad out and wash the fleece part.

Who knew he had a little Martha Stewart in him?!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Meal Plan Monday



Monday -- Foil Pack Taco Chicken, potatoes
Tuesday -- Lasagna, garlic bread
Wednesday -- Orange BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, corn, baked fries
Thursday -- Steak, baked potatoes, broccoli-cheese casserole
Friday -- Pizza (from the refrigerator section of the grocery store)

Find out more about Menu Plan Monday at www.orgjunkie.blogspot.com

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Thursday Thanks

I got both of these from Shaunda

I'm so Thankful for FRIENDS! Club Award



Please proudly display it on your blog.
Pass it on to as many people as you like.
I am passing this on to my friend DANI!

You Make Me SMILE: Bring Happiness to the world...


I am passing this one on to DANI as well!!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

Ok, so I can't be completely wordless, you all know that :) While I was off over the holidays, I whacked all my hair off. New Year. New hair. The cut really enhanced the curl I had, so instead of straightening it like my stylist did, I just wear it really curly now.