Somebody turns 2 today

Happy 2nd Birthday Little "I"

Auntie D, Uncle Ike, "Y" and Bella love you very much!!!!

You are growing up so fast!

So this year for part of Little "I"s birthday present we decided to give him tickets to see Sesame Street Live.

He tends to receive so many gifts from the rest of the family that we thought it would be fun to give him something different...and since he LOVES Sesame Street....we thought this was perfect...especially the day before his bday!

So I met my sister and "I" at the Crayola Cafe for dinner....he was fascinated by all the crayons and lights.

Then we headed to the show....it was about an 1 1/2 hours and I think that was just about the right amount as I don't know he would have sat still for much longer. 

The show was great and very entertaining.  The first part of the show he sat on our laps and just watched...I don't know if he was sure what to do...but after intermission he livened up quite a bit and was stomping his feet and clapping his hands and swaying...so cute!

I asked him afterwards if he had a good time...and he said "yes" with a smile.  Perfect ending to the night!

Here he is with his Mommy.  The seats were so close together that it was hard to take pictures of him...so hoping my sister got some good shots too.

Happy Birthday "I"! Can't wait to celebrate with you at your party!!

Hoping you'll take a bite of the cake this year!

Another Hobby???

I had shared this story with my Jersey friends and they got such a kick out of it…thought I would share it with the rest of you…hoping you can get a good laugh too.


So last night…Hubby came home…sat down for dinner and proceeded to tell me that he has been thinking about it for 3 months and that he wants a motorcycle instead of a riding lawn mower. (uh…excuse me..what?!) I almost…and I say…almost blew up….but I took a deep breath and contained myself….he said that he just wants another hobby…and he doesn’t want a riding lawn mower…instead he wants a bike….two of his technicians have bikes and they are planning a trip this summer to the Black Hills in SD….and he said…I have never been……in the back of my mind…I am thinking…uh…..well …neither have I!

SO…I took a deep breath….I just calmly said….well babe….we can think about it…and he said…I have been for 3 months. (sigh…more deep breaths while standing at the kitchen sink wondering what to say next)

My thoughts at this point are going a hundred miles a minute in my head - Uh…..well just blow me over…this is the first I have heard about it!! He has been going on and on since last year about he must have a riding lawn mower because it hurts his back to much to use the push mower and he won’t do it again this summer. We just went to Hobby Lobby this past weekend to fill his need for another hobby…model planes…and now this?

We finished dinner and he proceeded to start looking online at craigslist..and he wanted my help….but I preoccupied myself….trying to gently remind him of all the other projects we should finish first…..since we are great at starting them but horrible with finishing them.

He asked..”So…are you on board?” SIGH….I told him that I was in a state of shock….and I think it is great that he wants to have another hobby…..but I kindly said….and I quote as I was speaking very sweet like “Honey….you just caught me off guard….I am the one in charge of the finances and I am a worry wart about it…you go from one thing to another….we just talked last weekend about painting and redoing the family room and getting new furniture…we have the basement to finish…we are planning a trip….we want to do landscaping this spring….we still have to finish the garage and I would love to get our bedroom finally decorated....I guess you could call it overload at this moment”.

What I really wanted to say…is WHAT! Are you crazy? How many things in our house have we bought because you need a new hobby….and they just sit around…no…no you aren’t getting one….it is a waste of money…I would love to go on weekend trips too…but I can’t get you to move on your stinkin butt on the weekends….so sorry babe…but you can just forget about it! Finish the basement, garage, landscaping and focus on golf and your models instead…you have enough to do.

LOL!

So….once I got him calmed down about the bike…not another word has been mentioned…and I hope it stays that way. He just told me two weeks ago that we need to be tight on our finances because they keep firing people at his company…and now he has changed his mind. LOL! Hoping my gentle reminders do the trick as well as some heavy praying.

Other than that…we had a nice evening…watched the movie Gone in 60 seconds…or something like that…it was actually a really nice night…..oh and I made another batch of cookies…so good! Yes they are on the blog…the Oatmeal Crispies…they are addictive!

This morning….I hurt my baby Bella…I was trimming her nails and started to cut one too short..she yelped and it started bleeding…I have been feeling horrible about it. I went home for lunch and the tip of the nail I had cut partially had torn off…she had bled some more…luckily she was in the basement. She is still so traumatized I have never seen her look like she wanted to cry…poor thing. Hoping she is in better spirits tonight.

I am heading to Sesame Street Live with my nephew and sister tonight…and I am so excited!!! Seriously…I am! I can hardly wait to see what Little “I” is going to do when he sees all the characters! His 2nd birthday is tomorrow and this is part of Uncle Ike and Auntie D’s present to him. Should be lots of fun!

That is my wrap up! Happy Thursday! Hoping you all got a good chuckle out of my night last night.

PS- Thanks for the tips about the bedroom..I have already started gathering up pictures of some I love…will share with you all later.

There is a God

http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s9l5EvHeQs

Love this song...and found this video on YouTube...I know...two posts from me in one day! I keep hearing it on my satellite radio...and just had to share with you all.

Enjoy!

Our Master Bedroom

I was reading The Nester's post ono Monday and was inspire to do take down our window treatments...so yesterday during lunch...they came down...everything but the blinds....

I have only been promising Hubby for about 2 years that I would get it decorated.....still hasn't happened...I just can't decide what I want to do.....UGH!

So I have been gathering pictures and getting ideas....I know for sure that I want to make my own window treatments....so that is settled...now I just have to decide on the colors and the fabric of the room.

Hubby likes warm tones...I like cool tones...what's a girl to do?! See my dilemma! I want it to be a peaceful..restful...inviting place for us both...but he color scheme is throwing me all off! I would totally paint the room a different color...but Hubby does not want to add color to any of the walls in our house....in case we sell one day....oh dear....I need more than just the brown color going on in our life. LOL!

I have also been buying a few decor items every once in awhile....but they are all just hanging out on the floor waiting to be used...I think they are getting lonely! LOL! And the more I stare at them them more I wonder if they are even going to work in the room.

We are nightstandless....if that is such a word....I can't make a decision there either...the bedding we have...I like...but the pillow shams already have a HUGE hole in them...What is up with that!

So just to share....here is where I am with the project....no where..... here is to hoping I finish this project sometime before 2011. :)

Here are some pics of my blank canvas. LOL!

Do you see my dilemma??

On another note - if you are wanting some yummy new recipes to try...be sure to check out my recipe blog on the right! I have labeled the items too...so makes it easier for sorting. 

The Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe is my FAVORITE. It reminds me of the good ole days....I grew up in a small town...with not a lot to do.  Every year the sorority ladies in town would host a craft fair in the school cafeteria and gym. It use to be a  REALLY big thing....the sorority would set up a little cafe inside as well and one of the items they would sell would be the soup.....oh and cinnamon rolls....so GOOD. It is a fond memory I have as a child....Mom would bundle up her three kids and we would head to town to check out the different craft booths and get a bite to eat....I always thought it was such a treat!  For a small town of 800 having something to do on a Saturday was something to look forward to.

I don't think that they do this anymore...which is sad to me....but I know times change....so I will just think about the memories and enjoy some more of the soup today at lunch.

I promise if you try it you won't be disappointed!

Rainy Saturday

The weekend has arrived and I am so thankful that it has! I am sipping on some coffee while I watch some I Love Lucy shows and just relaxing this morning.  It is so dark and dreary outside.  Hubs is at the gym and I have already made it out today for some food shopping...so happy that is done!

I was so looking forward to sleeping in today and of course....I woke up at 5:30! Go figure! :)

I am hoping to do some sewing today...Hubs wants to go to Hobby Lobby today....OH YEAH~! That made me so happy..hehe!  I ran there yesterday to just check things out since I hadn't been to the store since before Christmas. My cousin gave me a giftcard and I was able to use it on a sewing book as well as a Paula Deen special magazine and some new notepaper...branded as Fiddlestix! I was so excited when I saw them...may have to grab some more today! Thanks to the coupon I had printed off online I ended up spending $1.42 after using my giftcard. Thanks Rach for the gift! :)

While in Hobby Lobby, I saw a chair.....that I have fallen in love with....I think it would look great in my craft room......my plan is to take a look at it again today.....wait for the new ad tomorrow...and if I am still wanting it I will get it on Monday during lunch.....don't want to jump into anything.

I am really wanting to decorate our master bedroom....but I just can't seem to make any decisions....but I am tired of looking at the bare walls and having my alarm clock on the floor. I just need to get myself motivated I guess.

I have been catching up on some blogs this morning and I think Rhoda's is my favorite...have you read it? If you are a blogger....I recommed reading it....I think I have been struggling with balancing my life with blogging...as I will admit...I got pretty wrapped up in it this fall and could spend hours at night reading and surfing...I know I have mentioned it before...anyways...it's a must read.

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/balance-blogging-and-blissdom

I don't know if you all saw that the PW was having a giveaway for a weekend at her ranch and it includes sushi! I entered....and was telling Hubby last night....I would LOVE to win....I think the last time I checked there was over 20,000 entries.....phew...that is quite a bit!

Oh well....a girl can dream!

I think I will just finish my coffee....unload the dishwasher....and do some laundry...sounds fun....doesn't it!?

Happy Saturday!

Trying something new

I love to try new recipes...LOVE IT! I have a facination with cookbooks as well. I don't know what it is about them....but I could love over them for hours and hours. One of my newest favorites is the Pioneer Woman's Cookbook. Tonight I am trying her meatloaf recipe..

Parsley, Parmesan Cheese, Bread, Eggs, Hamburger...and oh my ....on top some bacon.....it looks good already and I still have 45 minutes to wait for it to get done.

If you haven't checked out her cokbook, I HIGHLY recommend it. She did all the pictures herself in the cookbook and she talks about life on the ranch as well as gives picture by picture step for instructions...THE BEST!

Plus...I haven't come across a recipe yet that my Hubby doesn't like......maybe he is partial as she lives in Oklahoma...and he always talks about how that is where he was born.....some kind of crazy ties......lol!

Anyways that is what is for dinner tonight....and I just had to share with you all...normally I would put it on my recipe blog....but I have been lacking on the posts lately.....

Perhaps it's because the sun hasn't shined in SO LONG here......and it doesn't look good for the next week either.......

Oh well..the Hubs just pulled in the garage...guess he is home early...gotta run.

The Fog

I sit here thinking about how foggy it has been lately in our area. Last night, Hubby and I went to a movie and we could hardly see anything in front of us as we drove home. I could see how it might be confusing to someone who had never driven down the roads before….you might feel really lost.

Life at times can feel like the same way. Last weekend, was one of those weekends for me, where I just couldn’t see in front of me, couldn’t figure out where God was, if he was working and what he was doing. I was hurt, frustrated, scared, and angry and I let out all of my emotions and cried out to him wondering where he was in all of it. I was so tired of praying for the same thing and feeling like it wasn’t working.

I reached out to some of my friends who I had neglected for almost a year and my siblings and asked for them to pray for us. I knew that I could not go through the fog any longer without some prayerful support.

Today I am SO HAPPY to report that I am SO THANKFUL! Yesterday, God showed me VERY CLEARLY….that he is here…he is with me….and he is working in my life and my Hubby’s. I am not sure that I want to share all the details at this point……but I am so thankful, so blessed and so awestruck. God is good…no…God is INCREDIBLE….he is still performing every day miracles and continues to each and every day.

His work is far from over…..HE HAS A LOT MORE TO DO…and I know it isn’t going to happen overnight……but I am filled with such joy, such peace, such hope and my spirit has been renewed. I will not give up on God and his good and perfect plan.

I was doing a bit of reading on the study of Waiting on God by Beth Moore and I found this…. Take a look at Isaiah 40:31 (ESV):

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Waiting and strength are linked here in a way I hadn’t thought of before until Beth Moore said something like this:

“We will lose our strength when we wait on the event, thing, or person instead of waiting on God.”

Talk about an “aha” moment. When do we feel like we can’t go any further because we have no more strength?

When we’ve prayed over and over again for our spouse to believe in Christ? For a child to be healed? For a job? For a difficult situation to resolve and find a peaceful solution? For a loved one to come back to us?

Add yours to the list. Now ask yourself this. “What am I waiting on?” Did your answer look like one of these:

For my spouse to come to faith.
For my child to be healthy again.
For the right job.
For this situation to be fixed and go away.
For my loved one to come home.

Is your strength lagging? Are you tired and want to give up? Are you asking why God isn’t strengthening you? I know I have.

The key is right in the first line of Isaiah 40:31:
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength.
Like Beth said, when we wait on our spouse to choose God, for our child to be okay, for a job, for peace, for restoration with a loved one, we’re waiting on that specific event, circumstance, or person. We’re waiting on it, and not God. And we lose our strength.
It always seems to come back to where we point our eyes, doesn’t it? Keeping our eyes on God and waiting on Him.

I am renewed today…thankful and focusing and waiting on God.

How about you?

Craft Room Disaster

Today and tomorrow, I am hoping to fix my craft room disaster.  It has gotten WAY out of control! Yes, I can just close the door and forget about it...which is nice.....but I can't seem to find things in the room at the moment....and I am wanting to use my sewing machine too.

So.....I am hoping to start a plan today and get it done by tomorrow.

I don't know if I will share a before picture or not.....it's pretty pathetic...but then again...you will be able to see what all I get accomplished. lol!

We went to the movie "It's Complicated" last night. It was a decent movie....we both thought it would be funnier than it ended up being...but it was nice to get out and go to the movies though.

Have a wonderful Saturday!!

She looks so comfy...

The News

Sitting in bed and watching the news about the earthquake in Haiti.  My heart breaks for all of those people. I can't even imagine what they all must be going through. My prayers go out to them all.

It just reminds me how blessed I am.

I have been taking a few days off from the blog/internet/computer to reprioritze my time at home during the evenings.  I will admit that I use to spend the entire evenings on the computer and began to realize that it was affecting my husband and our time together.

It's not that I plan to stop blogging or communicating completely, I am just going to be doing things at a different time. The computer can be such a distraction for me and so I have removed the laptop from the family room and it is now located upstairs in our bedroom.

So far...so good.  And to be honest...I haven't missed it much....ok...maybe a little....heehee!

I became so addicted....I must be honest...I don't think it was a healthy thing....

So...what am I doing with my new free time? Spending quality time with my Hubby...reading a book....what you might ask? Don't laugh ya all!  I have the entire set of Laura Ingalls Wilder Books....I am reading The Long Winter and am enjoying it so much!  I read them long ago when I was a child and my Grandma B had a set that I now have and have decided to put to use instead of just sitting on a shelf. 

My sister got a set of Little House on the Prairie dvds for Christmas....I am thinking that will be what I collect next as I am close to finishing all my I Love Lucy sets....which by the way...am LOVING the new season I received for Christmas from my parents! Makes me laugh!

This week and last week were VERY stressful at work....we were so BUSY with the EXTREME cold  weather the US was having....our company set all kinds of records last week and with those records comes LOTS of customers....some happy...some not so happy or patient.  Enough about that...if you catch my drift..

Well...I think I have made myself sleepy...time for some sleep.  Nighty night!

Title

So I am in the beginning phase of getting my blog redesigned....part of my Christmas present from my Hubs...is paying someone to redesign my blog for me.  I am thinking I want to come up with a new title...and want your help.  Any ideas?

I am honestly thinking about keeping it simple...such as Life with Auntie D....or just Auntie D.....Notes from Auntie D....

You all have any suggestions?  I would LOVE to hear them!!

I am so excited to get this all started!!

Happy Friday evening!

What I would like to do in 2010

You can call these New Year's resolutions if you would like....but I am calling them the partial list of what I would like to do in 2010. Will I do them all....probably not....but at least I have a list to focus on.

I want to be a better listener. – Quick to listen and SLOW to speak. I guess you could say I have a low attention span. I hear what you are telling me for the first minute…and then after that I start thinking about something else…and….then I can’t remember what you first said to me. Oh goodness..it’s horrible!


To read the entire bible by next January. I have attempted this before and failed miserably. But I know that is okay…so this year I bought myself a new One Year Bible…and I am so far… completing each day successfully. I can’t tell you how awesome it is to just dive into his word and read. I long to become closer to God and lean on him at all times. So along with this I want to be a better Christian….I want to know Jesus more intimately and spend time in just prayer with him. I can make it in life without him.

Be a better wife. This goes along with the listening part. It’s not that I think I am bad wife; however I just tend to lose myself in my own projects and always having to do something. I am putting my marriage at the top of my priority list instead of halfway down. I am going to take a break from spending so much time on the computer at nights instead of just “enjoying” my husband’s company. I want to make our marriage stronger.

Take better care of myself. I have gotten off the beaten path of working out on a regular basis and eating healthy. The holidays got the best of me this year and I feel like I went out of control. I want to feel better about myself and my body and I hope to get back to the gym soon, if our roads ever get decent! But for now I am working out at home and watching my calories. Oh it is hard!

To become more involved at church. I have found a church to call home and absolutely love it. I am so excited about this New Year and what all God has in store for me at church. I truly feel he led me here and am so thankful for the friends I have made and will make.

To be BOLD. I don’t know how many of you read McMama’s blog…but she has inspired me to …BE BOLD…at EVERYTHING…sharing, blogging, facebooking, twittering, emailing, etc. I won’t go into all that I feel about this subject right now…but if you want to read more about what she wrote on this subject…click here. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Sew more and begin/learn embroidering. Enough said about that.
Organize/Prioritize my life. Maybe this just means getting back to the basics. I don’t know…I feel like I just need to take a step back…and look at what is really important in life. Also - I am going to tackle MY room as it has become a complete and utter disaster since October! I can't even walk into it at this moment. Out of control! Also in this category would be.....spending less...and giving more.. more on that later.

Go on a cruise to celebrate our 5 year anniversary.  This may or may not happen depending on a few things going on in our lives right now. It is looking like it wouldn't be until next December....so we have a ways a way to plan it.

Get a blog makeover. This is coming soon.....I am on a waiting list....and can't wait to get started on it! - yes..I have changed the background for now...but I hope to get an ENTIRE new design soon!

Help my hubby finish the basement (aka - hire the inlaws to fly here to get it done). I am so tired of looking at the clutter (christmas stuff I haven't put away) and the mess downstairs...no one sees it...but it will be so nice to get it done! And....the bonus is that there is going to be  spot for me to workout...so goodbye gym membership!

So there you have it….some of what I would like to do in 2010.

The WHITE stuff

There isn't much to talk about besides....well....the WHITE stuff.

Yes...we have been hit again with more of it. It has gotten to the point that Bella can't even hardly get around outside....she is drowning in snow!

I made it to work this morning after trying to get up our hill..oh about 20 times....getting stuck three times and digging myself out three times. What a way to start the morning!

Business is BOOMING at work...so that is a good thing...as long as we can all make it here.

Here are a few pictures looking out my window at work. Didn't want any of you to miss out on all the WHITE!

This is looking up at the skylight in our lobby....see all ths now covering the windows? It looks cool with the sun trying to shine in.

Hope you all are staying warm.

Where have I been?

At home. That is right...I have just been enjoying home....and trying to refocus and reprioritize for 2010.

I promise I will write more later...but for now...I am going to enjoy my evening by the fire.

Here are a few pics from our visit with "Y".

2010