Random stuff bout Me, Chad, Shelby or anything else I feel like talking about

Monday, December 28, 2009

Truth be known, I am getting old

No matter how hard I tell myself that I am eternally 29, the rest of me just doesn't seem to listen!! My body aches, I prefer sitting at home on the couch in the evenings to going out with friends and whoopin' it up. Oh I don't mind getting together with friends but I really hope it only involves nothing more than sitting on THEIR couch!!

With the year end fastly approaching us I start to think of our New Years Eve plans. We had talked about getting together with friends but then we all agreed that just sitting at our respective homes works fine for all of us! Part of me is going "Can I even stay up until midnight?" Maybe I will just celebrate New Years in Australia or something like that. Aren't they 12 hrs ahead of us? So I can celebrate at noon and go to bed early that night! I am such a party animal!

Anyway, if I do not post another post before then, I wish everyone a safe & happy New Years!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Almost Christmas!

I am just sitting here working (not at work mind you, sitting on my couch in my jammies) and since it is so quiet with everyone taking these days off that I thought I would update my blog!

Why is it that it seems to take SO long for December to get here, but once it does the days between December 1 and December 25 just seem to fly by??? Granted the last week for me as seemed to last twice as long (probably because I am SO ready for time off of work).

There were a few hairy minutes where I feared Shelby would figure out the whole Santa thing. But then I guess I should not have been wrapping the stocking stuffers right in front of her!! I don't think she saw but she is such a smart girl that I can see her making some comment about Santa using the same wrapping paper as us...blah, blah, blah. You know what...she probably has never believed in Santa but just goes along with for us!

We went to Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah a few weekends ago to see "Santa" and his reindeer. I was all excited about Santa and Shelby just goes "That is not the real Santa. The real Santa is at the North Pole" Well damn!!

With her attitude the past few days I have been very tempted to take back some of her gifts! I mean she is really pushing it!! I hate to think of what her teenage years will be like!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday season!!

Merry Christmas!!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Happy Holidays


So I know some of this will be a repeat for you since you will be (or have) received our Xmas card in the mail. But I also want to "send" this to those of you that I do not have an address for or was not able to send a card to.

But here is our Christmas letter for the year!

So some wise man once told me – okay, I really don’t know if he was wise or not, or if it was even a man, but anyway, someone once told me in these Christmas letters to just start at the beginning of the year and go through each month and mention the high points. So really…this letter should be quite short!

Okay, so January I turned 29….again! You know this means if I have stopped at 29 then no one else has aged either! Isn’t that nice of me??!! You are welcome!!

This year we also added a new addition to our family – a puppy that we named Harley! You were really hoping we had added a new kid to our family huh? Believe me, Harley makes it feel like we have two kids (“Mom, Harley is looking at me! Now she is breathing on me. MOM!!!”). She is a Border Collie/Airedale mix and even though it has taken some getting used to we just love her! And she really is a good little puppy.

About a week after we got Harley I went to Vegas for the weekend to see my dear friend Nikki. She moved to Arizona about 3 ½ years ago and I miss her terribly though we talk almost every day via email or IM (instant messaging). But we needed a Girls Weekend so we met in Vegas. She invited her SIL Jane (who is the mother of Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys) She is very nice and the three of us had a wonderful time!

In April we went down to Long Beach (WA of course) for spring break. You have to love Long Beach with Marsh’s museum and all the fun little shops! We also checked out a few lighthouses as well as made a trip to Portland for a swap meet and stopped at a few touristy spots in Astoria.

In May I broke my little toe! I would love to provide you with this heroic story of how I ran in to a burning house to save some small children, but in all honesty I was walking (yes you heard me…walking not running!) in to our bedroom and smacked it against one of the posts on the footboard. I have never broken a single bone in my 33…I mean 29 yrs of life and then I go and break my little toe! Luckily it was during the spring/summer so I could wear flip flops all summer!

In July Shelby & I went with my friend Jen & her girls to Ocean Shores for the weekend. Shelby says it was “The Best Trip EVER!” Hmm, I would have thought that, that honor would have been reserved for our trip to Disneyland two years ago, but okay…….

In August Chad & I took separate trips. He wanted to go to Bonneville/Salt Flats again (we went on our way to Disneyland). So he went with a friend of his and Shelby & I did a couple day trips. We camped up at Lake Riley with my friend Michelle, her fiancĂ© and his daughter. Then we went to Seattle to “Ride the Ducks.” That was fun!! Just reminds me of all the history and fun facts about Seattle! We also went to Point Defiance Zoo where we rode a camel (I sat on the hump…it was not comfortable) and Shelby got to feed some birdies. Then we ended the week by Chad getting home and us jumping in the car to head down to Long Beach with my mom, her friend Linda, my bro and his kids.

Back to school in September! Shelby started the 1st grade this year. So far she is doing AWESOME in school and she LOVES to read (just like her mommy!). Also, my BFF Nikki came to visit for a week. She went with us to the Miley Cyrus concert which happened to fall on Chad & my anniversary. And yes…Chad went with us! What a way to celebrate our 9th anniversary!

Other than that we have just been up to the usual – scrapbooking, working in the yard, working on the hot rods. Chad has been doing additional research on building a shop. So far the land is still untouched. He will be taking donations soon so if you have any extra change……

Happy Holidays everyone!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Monday, November 23, 2009

I am Thankful

I did not come up with this on my own. A friend posted it on Facebook and I just wanted to repost it.

I AM THANKFUL


I AM THANKFUL FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOTDOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING THE DISHES
BECAUSE THAT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME
AND NOT ON THE STREETS.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE TAXES
THAT I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT I AM EMPLOYED.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE MESS
TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE CLOTHES
THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

I AM THANKFUL FOR MY SHADOW
THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE.

I AM THANKFUL FOR A LAWN
THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING,
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE A HOME.

I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND THAT I HAVE BEEN
BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION.

I AM THANKFUL FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM WARM.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE LADY
BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
THAT SINGS OFF KEY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT I CAN HEAR.

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE PILE
OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

I AM THANKFUL FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

AND...

I AM THANKFUL FOR THE ALARM
THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS
THAT I AM ALIVE.


Thursday, November 5, 2009

Happy Birthday Shelby


My baby girl turns 7 tomorrow!! Where does the time go?? Every day I am just amazed at what a beautiful, smart person she has become. Though there are days I just want to strangle her because she is so stubborn (gets that from daddy I am sure!!)

You know, I don't think anyone can fully understand how your life changes with a child, until you have one of your own. People will tell you how you will do anything for your child and you kind of go "Yeah, yeah" but that feeling is SO strong with your own kids. Even when I am mad at Shelby, my heart just breaks to see her upset. And that saying "This hurts me more than it hurts you?" So true!!! Kids do not understand what emotions we deal with on a daily basis all because of them!

Chad and I will joke around about a life without Shelby and how nice it would be but seriously, I don't know what I would do without her. On days that I get to myself I look forward to when she gets picked up but miss her terribly the whole time she is gone!

Happy Birthday Baby!!



Saturday, October 24, 2009

Long time, no post

Sorry there have been no posts recently. Not really too much to blog about. Life has been pretty dull around here.

Shelby is doing GREAT in school! She is getting so good at her reading. She will be starting Girl Scouts on Wednesday and seems excited about that. On Tuesday I will start volunteering in her class every other week. I am excited about this! I helped out in her class last year and just loved it!

Today is a lazy day. I had a killer headache last night that has left me just feeling lethargic. Then we were up at 5 am this morning as Shelby had potty issues. She is prone to bladder infections and I think another one may be developing. I hope not but in any case getting up at 5 am was not fun!

See, pretty boring around here!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Just call me lazy....

Really? Nothing since Sept 19th? Either I am lazy or so boring that I have nothing new to write about. Okay, I am both!! Though I did update my blog background today! I love Photoshop Elements!

So let's see what I can come up with to tell you. Not much really. Today has been a lazy day (see I said I was lazy!) We helped Shelby pick up her room and then I had ever intention of picking up my craft room and to start figuring out what I will take with me on my scrapbook retreat this next weekend. But then I curled up on Shelby's bed and Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

Yesterday I had a card workshop in honor of National Card making Day. I always hate planning these things because then I get SO discouraged when no one shows up but I was pleasantly surprised yesterday because I had 7 people here and everyone seemed to have a great time! Yay!!

Shelby started gymnastics last Monday. What was exciting was that she was still excited after the first class even if she found stuff to be difficult. She had a very positive attitude and was like "I just have to keep practicing" Touches my heart when she says things like this. It was like when we went to her back to school BBQ and she put a ticket in for one of the raffles. When she didn't win she said "Oh well. There is always next year" I was so proud! Considering last year when she didn't win she threw a fit!

Also, she seems to be just excelling in 1st grade! She got a perfect score on her spelling test on Friday and we were watching a movie last night and she read what was up on the screen!! I am one proud mommy!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

G.N.O. - Girls Night Out

Well Girls night plus one guy! Wednesday night Chad, Shelby, my friend Nikki and I went to the Miley Cyrus concert at the Tacoma Dome. It was fun!! And yes, Chad actually wanted to go! In fact he claims the Hannah Montana movie and the new Miley CD are HIS! So hands off! ;-)

Metro Station (in which Miley's older half brother is in) opened and I only knew one song and didn't really care for the rest. Shelby did not like them at all. The music was too loud for her and she was just unhappy. But once Miley came out she was singing and dancing and the earplugs came out!

Chad wanted to get her a t-shirt. He said "You can't go to your first concert without getting a t-shirt" but Shelby did not want one. Go figure.

All in all it was a good night!









Monday, September 14, 2009

She's Like the Wind...



Sad news today as I found out Patrick Swayze died. Granted it wasn't much of a shocker since he has been battling cancer for 2 years now but when I heard the news I was still surprised.

My all time favorite movie of his has to be Dirty Dancing. To this day I can still watch this movie and never grow tired of it! I remember the first time I saw it. It was at my friend Laurie's house and I was probably around 10 or 11. Well the next day I am at home and I am telling my mom about this good movie and I tell her "But mom, I must warn you, there are some love scenes in there" I still chuckle at this memory to this day!



It is a ritual that someone brings Dirty Dancing to watch at our scrapbook retreats. I think we know all the songs and could probably recite the movie word for word if we wanted to!!

Rest in Peace Patrick Swayze.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Gotta go back...back...back to school....again!

So my baby started 1st grade yesterday! 1) I can't believe summer vacation is already over and 2) I can't believe my baby is a big 1st grader now!! Where does the time go? A friend posted a comment on her Facebook page and I loved "The days go slow, but the years go fast" Ain't that the truth.

Anyway, even though her friends are all in different classes she is excited about the new year. She seems so excited about how much more grown up 1st grade is than kindergarten. This year she has a desk instead of a table, and they have drawers for their stuff instead of just community supplies.

Anyway, here are some pic's She DID NOT want to smile for me yesterday so I forced her to pose again for me tonight!







Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Vacation: Day 4, 5, 6 and 7

Okay, so I slacked off a bit after day 3. What can I say...day 4 was back to school shopping (not much to say there and no pic's) and then Day 5, 6 and 7 were down in Long Beach. I would have posted sooner but I came down with a doozy of a cold Sunday and even now just want to go crawl in to bed but felt I should blog first.

So yes, day 4 was back to school shopping. We went to the Double V (or what some of you may know as Value Village) We spent $65 and got TONS of stuff! I am going to go there more often! Whoever thought it would be cool to shop at VV?

Day 5 we were in the car heading to Long Beach. Chad had gotten home late Thursday night from Bonneville so he could head down with us. My brother had his kids through Saturday afternoon so Shelby got to spend some more time with her cousins before they went back to their moms. So day 6 we spend on the beach with the kids and then Chad, Shelby & I roamed around Long Beach. Day 7 was our trip home. Nothing exciting there!

So here are some pic's.





Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Vacation: Day 3



This one is going to be short because I am EXHAUSTED!! I think I have had too many days with my daughter and now she is just getting on my nerves.

Today we went to Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. I have never been to this zoo and I don't know how often I will go again but I did like it over Woodland Park Zoo. However Woodland Park Zoo may get my patronage more just because it is closer!

First off, Shelby & I had to stop off at the gift shop to get hats because the darn sun decided to come out (it was cloudy when I left the house!) So we got matching hats! Hers looked cute on her, I just looked like an idiot! Oh well...not like I was trying to impress anyone.

Our next stop was going to ride on the Camels! What a weird experience!! I was very uncomfortable as I was riding on the hump!


Let's see, after that it was kettle korn, feeding the birdies (budgies or budgerigars which are brightly colored Australian birds),
catching a wide array of animals at the Wild Wonders Outdoor Theater, and then of course back to the gift shop to get ourselves some souvenirs. I got myself a cute little camel and Shelby got a cute little monkey.

After that it was off to Sonic since I have been wanting to check this out since it went in and since we were in the general area I thought it would be a good idea. It was YUMMY! Wish there was one closer then Puyallup :(



Okay, off to bed! I am beat!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Vacation: Day 2


Today Shelby and I went to Ride the Ducks in Seattle. I have lived in Seattle my whole life and have NEVER done this! What fun! Our "captain" was hilarious and it is just amazing to find out (or in my case remember!) all the history there is behind Seattle. It really is an amazing city and I am glad to live near it.

So as we were leaving the house today I remembered I forgot my camera at home! Being the scrapbooker I am you would think I would have it on me at all times and so far TWICE during my vacation I have left it at home. Luckily there is a camera on my blackberry but 1) it doesn't take the best pictures and 2) the device doesn't hold that many photos. So anyway, we were leaving today and we were at the end of Odell when I remembered. I could have gone back home but...it was just too long of a drive! (all 2 miles of it!) So I asked Shelby if we needed it. She says "No, I have a good memory. I will just take pictures with my mind" Ain't she a cutie??!!


Tomorrow we are off to Point Defiance Zoo to ride a camel!! Fun! Fun!!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Vacation: Day 1



Okay, so really I guess my vacation would have started Saturday? But this is the first day I am back AND I guess it is the first work day of my vacation.

So Chad has gone to the Bonneville Salt Flats for Speed Week (or whatever it is called). We went two years ago on our way to Disneyland. It was fun, but Shelby & I didn't really feel up for going again this year. So Chad went and I took the week off just to spend time w/Shelby. Nothing huge planned - just a few day trips here and there.

This weekend we went camping with my friend Michelle, her fiance and his daughter. The girls got a long great (and stayed out of our hair!) We went boating, the girls played in the pool, we went on walks through the woods and just vegged!

Last night though we had a near death experience! It was quite scary! Michelle has two dogs and they were rough housing. Well the one dogs collar got wrapped around the other dogs jaw which in turn was choking him. Michelle's fiance had to cut the collar and once they had it off the dog was lifeless! But Michelle heard a heartbeat so she gave her pup CPR! And a bit later the doggie came trotting back to camp - totally fine! We think he lost a few braincells when his airway was blocked off and was not getting oxygen to his brain! But seriously, we are just thankful the pup is okay!





Monday, August 3, 2009

Smile, though your heart is breaking


Today Chad & Shelby came in from outside and informed me that my cat T.J., that I have had for 12 years, had passed away. They found her over by the neighbors yard. It looks like she probably just died from old age.

She has always been the sweetest cat. Loving but a little snot too (kind of like her owner!) I got her soon after I lost another kitty. She was black & white like my previous cat who's name was Tuxedo. So we named her Tuxedo Junction or T.J. and it fit. She was very much the tomkitty! She could be all prissy when she wanted to be but also very rough and tumble the next minute.

When I first got her she was black and white with this gray tail. It was like someone had taken a tail from another cat and plopped it on her! She finally outgrew that and her tail eventually matched the rest of her!

I remember when Chad first moved in with me, she wasn't too happy! She would meow and meow throughout the night! She sure did not like sharing my time with someone else!

She was a great cat and we will miss her dearly.

Rest in Peace T.J. Enjoy the endless supply of catnip and toy micey's up in Heaven.

We love you.

Monday, July 20, 2009

I'm Walking on Sunshine


Or in this case, I am holding the sunshine!! I saw this trick in a scrapbook magazine and finally had a chance to try it out. See, I am not really holding the sun! I just put my hand up in a way that makes it look like I am! Hee, hee!!

So this past weekend I went to Ocean Shores with my friend and her girls. It was a log of fun, though the weekend was not long enough. I wish the ocean was a bit closer. It is about 4 hrs away but then there is always traffic.

So tonight Chad came to me as I was in the garden and goes "Do you want a bite?" Not usually an odd question but usually this would be said in the house at the table, or at a restaurant. So see, it seemed kind of odd to hear it in the garden. But he had a snap pea. A snap pea that had grown in our garden! How cool is that??!! Now if everything else would just grow! And if something would grow off of that big plant. Then we can determine if it is a plant we planted or if it is an out of control weed! But maybe weeds are good! We will see!