Bluegrass Lady

Emotional Roller Coaster

2011-06-13T01:04:00.026-04:00

I am on such an emotional roller coaster for at least 6 months now and it took me until this weekend to finally figure out why! So last year my husband and I kind of decided that this year we would start to expand our family. So last July I stopped taking Birth Control to give my body some time to get back to a "normal" organic state. Since then I have been on so many ups and downs with lots of side effects from not being on the pill. This plan is now on hold due to circumstances that are slightly explained below. I will try to explain in another post.

First, I had to welcome Acne back into my life again. I've had to go through tons of product to find out what works best to fight my acne now. Second, I didn't think my hair could get oilier but it sure as heck did. Because I have oily hair I have to take a shower every morning. Every day by 9am for about a month, it would look like I never took a shower at 7am. NOT FUN! Finally I had a hair appointment one day, so instead of putting my hair in a pony tail, I clipped it back with a hair clip and made myself not touch my hair the rest of the day. My hair dresser saw my hair and freaked a little but she quickly knew what my problem was. Third, my emotions are all over the place right now! And I mean every where. I'm to the point that I don't think I know how I really feel about some things. I could want my own place one minute and five minutes later never leave this house or my husband.

This emotional roller coaster hasn't been helped by some events that have happened in the last 6 months or so. My parents have both had surgeries, my godmother passed away and my husband is going to lose his job. Some other things have come to light as well. I recently got to spend a little quality time with an old coach and I didn't realize how hard it was on me when she left my freshman year in high school. My cousin is now 4 or 5 months pregnant and I didn't really think it would affect me that she would be preggo first but it has. So its needless to say that I am really trying to work on myself in a way and I am working on trying to enrich my life is as many ways as I can.

I hope you all are doing fine. I really am going to try to update my blog a little more often.

Do I love my blog

2011-05-12T13:47:00.000-04:00

Umm, Hello! Anybody there! Yea I'm doing a great job with my blog. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things soon. I have so much to update you guys on. Like we are halfway through our kitchen remodel, family health issues and sad goodbyes.

Hopefully you're all still there!

I Vow

2011-01-18T15:36:00.000-05:00

I LOVE MY BLOG
I know you are thinking I am crazy right about now saying WHAT???

I know. I know. She has lost her marbles. The girl who hardly posts on her blog, loves it! Sheesh.

Due to my lovely blog I have realized that I am not good with resolutions at all. For example last year at this time I had all of these resolutions for myself and I hardly completed any of them. But in the last few months I have made little changes and I have noticed that that seems to work better for me. I've made more of an effort around the house, kept the checkbook updated, limiting my calorie intake and a few others.

So when I find something I want to change, "I Vow" to let my blog and you all know about it.

This weeks "I Vow" didn't go as planned. I vow to have a good attitude at work all week. NOT happening and if anything its changing to I vow to hate my job everyday.

Technically we had yesterday off but due to the fact that we ship to Walmart and they work 24/7/365, I had to come in and give our warehouses their ship schedule. 1pm rolls around and one of my warehouses asks me to move all of the orders that were supposed to ship that day to ship the next day. What? Why? Oh cause my boss's boss decided they could have the day off too. This leads me to wonder why I went to work yesterday, at least I got a floater out of this. Then today as I am walking to my car, I totally wiped out on my driveway. Now the system at work is ridiculously slow today. Also we had a town hall meeting today with our president where he goes over all the financials and stuff like that. Someone asked about the system being so slow and new computers and I guess the jest of his answer was "let them eat bread" and they will survive. I'm not asking for a New York Strip, I'm asking for a Grilled Chicken Breast!!! My computer is 7 years old and at that is 2 years too old. I literally have to wait an entire minute for it to switch from Outlook to SAP and then another 5 minutes from Outlook/SAP to Excel.

I'm not really sure how to remedy this situation at work. I feel like it is really starting to take a toll on me and my job. But in this economy and our bills, I just need to pull up my britches and deal with it as best I can. So hears to next weeks, "I Vow to have a great attitude at work everyday no matter what!"

Kitchen Remodel

2011-01-14T16:23:00.000-05:00

So we are in the process of upgrading our kitchen. Its not way out of date but there are things that I just can't stand about it and want to change.

Last year we painted the ceiling white, painted the walls Butter cream yellow, repainted all the trim and replaced that curtains. I really wish I had taken pictures through out the project but it took us several days and we seemed to be in a zone. Due to all that painting it really got us jazzed to do some more upgrades.

So here is what we are thinking about doing.
1. Change up the lighting in the kitchen
2. Add molding to the tops of the exposed cabinets
3. Remove the ugly laminate back splash and either replace with tile or just fix & repaint the wall
4. Pull up the ugly laminate flooring and see if the hardwood floors continue to the kitchen and hopefully refinish them.
5. Replace laminate countertop with a new Solid Surface countertop with under mount Stainless Steel Sink.
6. Replace faucet
7. Replace dishwasher*
8. Replace cabinet doors*
* only if budget allows

Last weekend we stopped at Menard's, Lowe's and Home Depot and picked up all the materials they had that we could take home. Hopefully this week we will go out and try to narrow down counter top colors and possibly get quotes so that we know what to budget for. I can't tell you how excited I am about this. Our kitchen is super tiny and anything to update and make it more enjoyable is a plus to me. I will try to keep you all posted and hopefully take pictures as we go. Any idea and or suggestions are welcome as this is our first major remodel/upgrade we have done!

Happy 2011

2011-01-04T23:46:00.001-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I hope everyone had a great New Years Eve. I hope to have lots to discuss with you since I didn't seem to blog much last year, life got in the way.

I do have 1 resolution that I wanted to share with everyone.

I will strive to make myself better everyday in every way!

I felt like I put too much pressure on myself last year and that's why most resolutions didn't get accomplished. So I am taking a day to day approach to things.

Well this thing desperately needs beauty rest, so goodnight y'all.

HAPPY FALL

2010-10-11T21:41:00.000-04:00

Ok so I LOVE Fall. Out of all the months in the year, September, October & November are probably my favorite.
1. Football starts back up
2. Fall weather is the best time of the year!
3. Great Camping weather
4. Fall TV - my Tuesday's are jam packed.
5. I get to see my KY family at the end of the September!
6.

I used to hate August & September but ever since I started getting Allergy Immunology Shots, I couldn't love them more!

We did however start off this September with a bang! This year for my husbands birthday I got him tickets for the Purdue vs. Notre Dame game. He is a big Notre Dame fame and I couldn't think of a better gift at the time. The night before the game we had to watch "Rudy" to get in the mood. We decided that we would walk from the parking lot to the stadium rather than ride the shuttle. My husband was so glad he did too cause the Notre Dame Fire Department was selling T-Shirts and of course we got him one. We were both so amazed and in awe of the awesome day it was. We walked straight to the Basilica to try and catch the team as they walked out of the their pregame mass to the stadium but must have just missed them. We then headed over to where we heard the school band playing. They were so good and did you know that they are all Volunteers. Very few of them are actual music majors and the band consists of Notre Dame, Holy Cross & St Mary's college students. To be able to walk around and see all the traditionally things going on and to be a part of it was just a really neat experience. Not to mention that Notre Dame won!!!

The end of September we go to visit my KY family for the annual Ham Days Festival they have in their town. I had the best time! I got to hang out with my cousins which I don't get to do very often and I got to see a different side to them that was so funny! I can't wait till next year!

The beginning of October we had a wedding in Toledo, OH. My husbands cousin Sara got married to Mark and they are just the sweetest most fun couple! My husband was an usher and his dad took all the pictures. So I got to hang out with his family and they really made me feel welcome. We don't go to Toledo very often to see all of his family because when we do go its to visit Grandma. My husband got a little crazy during the wedding by breaking out the sprinkler, the lawn mower and the bus driver. In fact he showed the brides father who is a bus driver how to do the move. My husband, god bless him, but he has 2 left feet. So if he dances it always the sprinkler and such. Geesh

This past weekend I had my 10 year High School Reunion and I won't lie I really didn't want to go. I've gained a lot of weight since High School and that made me nervous and self conscious. Thankfully I had a new sweater, jeans and shoes to help me feel better about my looks. I also have a classmate whose husband works with mine and so we all went together and that helped too. So I took 2 shots of tequila before we left and I was ready to go!!! :) I am so glad I went, I had a lot of fun getting to see my old friends and hopefully reconnecting with them.

Just think we are less than 3 months away from Christmas!
P.S. I totally meant this to be a Happy September post but we all see how that turned out.

August Already?!

2010-08-10T09:28:00.000-04:00

Is it really the second full week of August! Holy crap this year is just flying by. We haven't done much since my last post. We went camping last weekend for only the 3rd time this year and the 2nd time was only the previous weekend. Since we have a travel trailer, camping only three times as of August doesn't make us too happy. We had a busy summer for sure and we have loved and had fun with everything that kept us from camping. But we have vowed that this won't happen next year. We will just have to say no to some things.

I just started my third week of Boot Camp at the local YMCA and my body is so sore! I am glad I am doing this class. I don't know that I will do the next class, I may skip a session and just work on running and elipticals and then do the class again. I have hit that point were the need and desire to lose weight and be more healthy is slowing running my life. This is great and I think my husband first thought this was great but he is getting tired of salads, fish and chicken. But until this weight is half gone that is what I am sticking to.

This week is hard, my birthday will be on Friday. Yes Friday the 13th!!! I am one of those LUCKY people who get this awesome birthday every few years. I should be excited about my birthday but I am not. Its caused to me to look back and reflect on my previous 28 years. There are so many things I wish I could change. I don't like the fact that I am 60 lbs overweight, I don't like the fact that we still have 2 credit cards with balances on them, I don't like that we still have a truck and camper payment, I hate the fact that we have almost no savings put back for things like emergencies, I don't like the fact that we haven't had a child yet. But I have also remembered that we are working toward these things now rather than later. Since we got married last year its been all about renewal of ourselves and our relationship. Don't get me wrong I am so very grateful for all I have but its hard sometimes when you know you are smart enough to have been able to prevent these things.

I have asked for an Amazon Kindle for my birthday and I gave my husband permission to pre-order their newer, lighter, faster and cheaper version that comes out at the end of August. This means that I have alot of books that I need to read before I get that and can use it. I probably have 10-12 books around the house and camper that I haven't read and need/want to. I'm sure my mom will get me another set of my china that I had registered for. My MIL has an idea of what to get me but she asked to make sure I didn't have any other ideas, which I don't and this seems like the first time I can remember that she came up with one and I am sure will be awesome.

So HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY to me. Hope you all have a great week.

Tim Tebow signs with JOCKEY

2010-07-27T21:16:00.000-04:00

Tim Tebow signs with Jockey!!!!!! I am so hoping to see Tim Tebow model some underwear but if not just seeing the ads will suffice. Anybody else who follows College or SEC Football agree with me?

The official promo

Update on our Summer

2010-07-20T14:57:00.000-04:00

Soooo once again, its been over a month since I last posted! I wanted to keep you up to date on what we have been doing since my last post, so here goes:

Had my mid year review at work and it was lame as usual but I still received great marks.
Finished painting the trim in our kitchen and bought new curtains. This also lead to us thinking we need to upgrade the counter top, back splash, sink, dishwasher and wall color in the kitchen. I would also love to replace the cabinet doors in our kitchen but I think that is a pipe dream right now.
Took a week long vacation to Gatlinburg, TN. We ate out way too much but still had a ball. Not to mention that on a hike we did at the end of the week, we ran into a family from our hometown! Not joking and then to find out they grew up with some of my cousins. Crazy small world!
Went to the family reunion I was dreading and had a blast! Reconnected with family that I didn't know very well or couldn't remember at all. Its been about 12 years since I had been to this reunion.
Went to the Brooks & Dunn "Last Rodeo" concert and it was awesome. Gary Allen opened for him and for some reason the sound was terrible for him. But when Brooks & Dunn got on stage it was awesome and Ronnie Dunn sounded great after being on 3 weeks of voice rest.
My husbands family rents a lake house for 2 weeks every year and why we have never been until this year, I don't know. I basically made the decision that we were going up there, even though my husband wasn't too keen on the idea. But he learned to jet ski and water ski, now he won't stop talking about going next year.
I have gained 5 pounds and I am just tired of being fat. Its time that I buckle down and get this going! Its time for Lean Cuisine and Salads again, along with the getting my P90X back out and going again.

Well I hope that you are all having a great summer too. I am hoping to post next week about the joys of my husbands shift change at work! :)

Catching up & Back to Posting

2010-06-13T23:04:00.000-04:00

So I haven't posted since April 14!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, I am so sorry. Life has been busy here in the Marvin household. Let me give you a few bullet points as to what we have been up to.

My Aunt Nancy passed away in May
Eric works every weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a firefighter
Eric had to do an internship for his EMT class; 40 hrs Ambulance ride time & 24 hrs ER time
Lots of Fire Department applications & testing
Birthday parties & celebrating our 1 year anniversary
Family visits
Weddings
Our first camping trip

Now here are some bullet points of our plans for the rest of the summer through September.

More camping trips starting in July
My family reunion in July
Brooks & Dunn concert
My birthday
Ham Days Festival with my family in KY
Vacation to Gatlinburg
Bridal Shower
Painting all the trim in the house! YIKES
Paint the bedroom & move the furniture around
Paint the dining room & replace curtains

So there you have it! Hopefully I will be able to post a little more frequently. I hope everyone is having a fantastic start to their summer!

Yeah. Did you get that memo?

2010-04-14T16:02:00.001-04:00

I love Office Space and that's mostly because I work in an office full of cubicles! In the spirit of the great movie Office Space, I want to share with you the joys of working in my office.

The Bathrooms
First of all we share a building with a call center and by sharing, I mean bathrooms. Lets face it call centers don't pay much, have crappy hours and benefits and they will hire just about anyone. Now I'm not saying that everyone that works in a call center is redneck, ghetto or just plain dirty because I know a couple of people who work there. My company moved 2 1/2 years ago from downtown to a truck stop. In our old downtown building the women shared a 4 stall bathroom and never had issues. Now us women are sharing a bathroom with about 12 stalls and its like going to a rest stop. Toilet paper all over the floor, smelly, dirty and of course a few messes that people just leave. Its just plain GROSS and that takes a lot for me to say. Not to mention we have a few people who use our restroom that I am not quite sure belong in ours but they sure could pass for the boys restroom! My biggest pet peeve of all in that bathroom, yes there is one bigger than all the above, is people who use their CELLPHONES while on the toilet! Talk about being rude and gross!

Last year our office moved some people around and at first I couldn't be happier but now I am wondering if I am. I used to sit next to the office pervert and the guy creeped me out so much that I finally went to HR and told them they had to move him or I was going to file a lawsuit! But now I sit next to a person who has to constantly talk about their bowl movements, has ~~bad~~ ~~horrible~~ atrocious grammar, and has more drama in her personal life than I care to know about. I cringe daily when she talks to our customers and says the word "warsh" instead of wash, or uses was instead of were or vice verse. Not to mention that she would rather yell over the cubicles than calling or getting up to talk to the person. Did I mention that she wears sweats and t-shirts on a daily basis to work when we have a dress code policy that is business casual. At least my other 2 neighbors are fantastic!

I hate our cubicles as they are full 5'5" walls and I can't see my neighbors like I used to with our 3' walls in the old office. I also sit right next to the employee entrance, which means extra ducts to keep the temperature at the set level while people come in and out. Yea I wear a fleece jacket at work and have a space heater on daily just so I don't freeze to death.

Ahh the joys of working in a office!

Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler...

Menu Monday

2010-04-12T21:12:00.000-04:00

So I think this week I am just going to wing it on dinner but I do have an idea of what I want to fix.

Monday - Bacon wrapped Pork Tenderloin, Lipton Pasta Sides, Rolls
Tuesday - fish, asparagus, brown rice
Wednesday - Sloppy Joes?
Thursday - chips & salsa, a taco, cheese dip (going out with the girls)
Friday - Burgers, roasted vegetables, garlic bread
Saturday - Going out to eat
Sunday - Spaghetti with squash, asparagus, alfredo sauce & garlic bread

Hope you have a wonderful week.

Happy Late Easter

2010-04-08T10:45:00.000-04:00

It was not only a super busy Easter weekend for me but I have fallen off the wagon.

First lets talk about my busy weekend.
I was lucky enough to have Friday off so I made an appointment for The Naked Monkey in Fishers to get my eyebrows and upper lip waxed. I then headed to a friends house in Greenwood to hang out with her and her little son, I have not seen them since August when we went camping. He was so cute and he was walking and starting to talk just a bit. I think he only knows how to say da da right now. He has several teeth now and he is just one of the happiest kids I know. I know your thinking whats the big deal but the last time I saw the little guy he still had to be fed by a feeding tube. He was born very premature and in turn wasn't able to develop swallowing for a long time. I think he was 8 months before they were able to take the tube out for good.
After I left her house, I needed to do some shopping. The husband needed a plain white polo to wear during Ambulance ride time and ER time for his EMT class that he is taking. I also bought a new pair of pants and some new shirts, its probably been 6 months since I have bought myself clothes.
Then I found out that my in-laws were coming into to town and wanted to take my precious Abby a night early for the weekend. Since we just found out that my dog doesn't like to sleep at Grandma & Grandpa's, I figured it was their choice to live with it an extra night.
Saturday started early for us, we headed for Kentucky at 7 am and stopped at Cracker Barrel midway there for breakfast. I was so happy to be there, I feel more at home in Kentucky than I do here in Indiana. Once we arrived at my Aunt T & Uncle F's house its basically just sitting around and catching up with everyone. For dinner we headed to my Uncle H & Aunt M's house for more chatting, catching up, drinking beer and watch Butler win their game to go to the Championship game.
Sunday is filled with more people coming in town and big Easter lunch consisting of the best thing in this world, COUNTRY HAM and some other goodies. Boy do I love that stuff! Thankfully I got to take a little baggy of it home. The only thing that bugs me is that I took my camera and never got it out!

Best thing about Easter is getting to see my wonderful family! They are truly the best and I am better by being around them.
Happy Easter Y'all

Menu Monday on Tuesday and Other News!

2010-03-30T21:04:00.000-04:00

Ok so there is really no Menu this week for us. My husband said he would cook dinner this week, AWESOME! But I just remembered today that he has EMT class 3 nights instead of the regular two, now I know why he offered to cook! That little bugger. HAHA oh well. I am still grateful.

I have 2 depressing points this week.
#1 - My Kentucky Wildcats lost in the Mens NCAA Tournament on Saturday. So I am now in a depressed state until September when College Football starts off. However on a side note the Womens Kentucky Basketball team is still in their NCAA Tournament and they have a good chance of going all the way, except UConn looks to be impossible to beat right now. The Lady Wildcats have gone this far in the tournament in a long time and they have a really great down to earth Coach!

#2 - My friends C & C are going through a rough time right now and I really feel for them. They have 2 wonderful little girls, that I love more than anything. My husband and I have always felt that they were a wonderful example to the two of us for how a marriage should be and could be. They were great at arguing and great at compromising and great at loving each other. My girlfriend C, has been questioning everything about herself lately. You name it she has questioned it, is she a good mom, a good friend, good wife, does she want to be with her husband, is she a good friend. We had a nice long chat this past Sunday and its been hard to not think about our chat. She is depressed and its hurting her, her husband, friendships and soon it will be her kids. I won't push her to go to therapy but I did inform her that she needed to look into it. I am hoping for the best for both of them as a couple and C as a person.

But for some good news this week. On Friday I have an appointment with The Naked Monkey to get my eye brows & upper lip waxed. This is the best place to go in Indianapolis for waxing. Its been about a year since I have been due to an hour drive just for a little wax. But I seem to be allergic to some of the waxes around here in Muncie and most places won't buy special wax. The Naked Monkey has 27 different waxes to work with your skin and they are super quick, nice and reasonably priced. Can you tell I am excited?
P.S. in no way shape or form did The Naked Monkey pay me for this advertisement, not that I won't take one. I just love them that much!

Also on Saturday, my parents, my husband & me are heading to Kentucky to see the best family in the world for Easter. This means that I need to pack a container to take home some leftover COUNTRY HAM. If you don't know what Country Ham is, is ham that is salt cured. Which means that it is salty and that is making my mouth water right now! But seriously I can't wait to see my family, they are the best and I hate leaving them. I miss them so much and wish we could just move closer to Kentucky, than a 4 hour drive.

Alright, enough rambling from me. I hope you all have a wonderful week and Happy Easter!

Menu Monday (Tuesday Edition)

2010-03-23T10:34:00.000-04:00

So here is this weeks menu:

Monday - leftovers
Tuesday - Fish, roasted asparagus & peppers
Wednesday - on our own
Thursday - not sure yet as NCAA basketball will be on.
Friday - on our own
Saturday - depends on when UK plays
Sunday - Grilled Pork Chops and baked potatoes

Sometime later this week I hope to update you all on my 2010 Goals. Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead of you.

Menu Monday Postponed

2010-03-22T20:46:00.000-04:00

I would normally blog today on what our Menu for the week is but I decided to postpone it a day to talk about something that means much more to me. Something historic happened this weekend and unless you live under a rock you know what I am talking about.

Health Care Bill

I am one of those millions of American's who have what is considered a pre-existing illness. I have asthma and I can't afford a day without healthcare. I also have had some family members who have lost their coverage because they were too sick and they cost the health insurance company too much money and were dropped.
There are many things that I know this bill could be and I also know that there are also many cons. I wish more representatives worked together on this and not bicker. Didn't we all learn that compromise can be the greatest asset and tool!
This is a very touchy subject for everyone. I know what its like to not have insurance for a while and it was the scariest 10 months of my life. Doing my best to be as healthy as possible knowing that that wouldn't always protect me. Too much perfume, someone scaring me or a really hard workout can trigger an Asthma attack. Without my insurance I also don't have the medicine to help keep my Asthma in check.

So to keep this short, I am for the Health Care Bill. I hope that I have shed some light on what its like to be an Asthmatic and how this bill could help me and millions of others.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Menu Monday

2010-03-15T15:30:00.000-04:00

Well it’s Menu Monday and on Tuesday it’s my husband’s birthday!

Monday – Spaghetti & Breadsticks

Tuesday – Crockpot Buffalo Chicken & Rice Crispy Treats

Wednesday – leftover or whatever

Thursday – Barbeque Chicken, Asparagus

Friday – leftover or whatever

Saturday or Sunday – Chicken Kabobs with onions, peppers, tomatoes & mushrooms

Hope you all have a wonderful week full of College Hoops! GO UK!

The Little Things

2010-03-10T09:42:00.000-05:00

So I find it awfully funny and interesting that since my husband & I got married I take notice all the little things that he does that make me happy. Our relationship spans 7 ½ years at this point with almost 1 year under our belt as married and 4 years of living together. So after 6 ½ years of dating or being engaged I did notice things but not on a frequent basis as I have after our vows.

A wonderful example would be this morning; he wiped off the sink after he washed his hands. I know its sounds crazy to some but he knows that I hate it when he washes his hands and leaves water all over the bathroom sink! We only have a tiny little bathroom with only 1 sink. I generally lean over the sink with my hips propped against the sink for steadiness while I apply my eye makeup; there is nothing worse than getting mascara or eye liner all over your face or in your eyes. I pride myself on being hair & makeup challenged so I need all the help I can get. Any who, there have been many mornings where I have had to change my shirt because it would be wet from the sink. Another example was this past winter. I came from a family where you shoveled all the snow in the morning after you got up and in the evening after work. Well my husband works 3rd shift and goes to bed immediately after her gets home from work. However knowing how I like the snow shoveled he would always make sure to shovel me a path from the house to the garage, car and his truck.

Yesterday I had posted that I got him an awesome present and the above is part of that reason. I seem to be much more appreciative of what he does for me and it just makes me fall for him even more. To say I’m happy with my marriage would be an understatement. To say I love my husband wouldn’t really express all that I feel for him. I truly do feel blessed to have him and his family in my life.

Love You, Honey!

Frizzy February

2010-03-09T10:59:00.000-05:00

So February started out great but turned out bad. The first week of February was great at work; I started a new project which meant I was learning more about the field I am in right now.

The 2nd week of February ended up bad. My dad had some medical issues and had to stay the night in the Hospital. Everything in the end turned out fine and my parents & I learned about Flomax! But during my fathers stay in the hospital it opened up my eyes on how much my parents depended on me for help. Because of that I have feelings of guilt that my husband & I are seriously considering to move away. I have a little brother who also lives in town but he proved to be worthless. He made the whole situation about himself and not once did he visit my dad or ask how he was doing. Still do this day he won’t speak to me, my parents or his roommate (who is also mad at him for not visiting). Personally my brother is a head case and I feel he knows what he is doing when he causes all this turmoil in the family. Its frustrating how my parents and I always have a good time and help each other out but if he is around its always all about him. To this day I do blame my parents for the way that he is at times but most times its all him and I don’t know how to rectify the situation if my husband & I moved too far away.

So the 3rd week was full of catching up and trying to relax at the same time after having a stressful week. The 4th week started with a dream coming true partially and laughing at my older brother’s fb page. I posted this as my status and a friend in turn thought I was talking about her, so she then trashed me to my husband’s fire department about it. Mind you we have been friends for 10 years and I have helped them out constantly but not once has she helped us. She is now blocked from seeing my wall for a while, because I don’t need her drama. The week did end up well with a birthday party for a couple of sweet girls that I miss dearly. They moved last June to about 2 hrs north of where we live and I hadn’t been able to visit since Thanksgiving.

So now we are in March and I have made the mental note that this is going to be a great month. Not only is my husbands 29th birthday next Tuesday but that means Easter is right around the corner with warmer weather. Not to mention that my husband is going to go crazy when he finds out what his Birthday present is. I’ll let you know next week how it turns out just in case he might stumble upon my blog.

So to my fellow bloggers have a HAPPY MARCH and I will be back with Menu Mondays next week.

Menu Monday

2010-02-01T23:25:00.000-05:00

Ok so last week was a busy one for me. I had a lot of little projects on my desk that needed to be finished and completed before this week started. At the same time I had to start all new projects for this year’s expectation at work. But it was so nice to come home and know what I was going to fix and knowing that my husband could help or fix the dinner too! So here is this week’s menu:

Monday - Pizza
Tuesday - Hamburger Helper & Green Beans
Wednesday - Leftovers/Frozen meal
Thursday - Hamburgers, Fries, Corn or Asparagus
Friday - Leftovers/Frozen meal
Saturday - Fazolis
Sunday - Southwest Cheesy Chicken & Green Bean Casserole

Last week I made 2 new recipes that I would like to share with you:

Pizza Meat Loaf
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 lbs ground beef
1 ½ cups fresh bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 small green pepper chopped
¼ cup water
1 cup Ragu Pasta Sauce
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine all ingredients except ½ cup pasta sauce and ½ mozzarella cheese. In a 13x9 inch baking pan, shape meat mixture into loaf. Top with remaining ½ cup pasta sauce. Bake uncovered 50 minutes. Sprinkle top with ½ cup cheese. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until done. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

My variations – I used 1 cup bread crumbs and 2/3 cup oatmeal and I also added mushrooms.

Oven Barbecued Chicken
1 cup Ketchup
½ cup diced onion
3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
8 chicken pieces (4 boneless skinless breast halves and 4 drumsticks)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine ketchup, onion, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Coat a 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray and arrange chicken pieces in dish. Brush or spoon prepared sauce over chicken. Bake chicken 40-50 minutes and when thermometer reads 170-180 degrees.

My variations – We tried this with 3 drumsticks and 3 chicken tenderloins/strips and didn’t like the drumsticks at all but loved the tenderloins/strips. Next time we will use all chicken tenderloins/strips instead.

Both of these recipes came from “Easy to Bake, Easy to Make” by International Masters Publishers

Hope you all have a fantastic week.

Menu Monday

2010-01-25T15:07:00.000-05:00

Menu Monday

So one of my 2010 goals was to get my recipes in order and start creating a menu for every week. There are many reasons that this would benefit my little family. First of all it would make grocery shopping easier and less expensive. Secondly, my husband lately has shown an interest in cooking more meals. So I am going to try to incorporate at least one meal he can cook or make. Thirdly, I would like to try at least 2 new recipes each month and this is a good way to not only incorporate it but make myself actually try. I have a tendency to pick or print one and then never try it. Lastly, I would really like to create my own Family Cookbook. Blurb.com & Publishers.com is a great resource for creating your books. Blurb has a function just for cookbooks that I would really like to try.

So here is to week #1:

Monday – Smoked turkey sausage and sliced cooked potatoes

Tuesday – Frozen Pizza

Wednesday – leftovers or frozen meal (husband has EMT class, so he won’t be home for dinner)

Thursday – Pizza Meatloaf*

Friday – leftovers or frozen meal, husband at EMT class

Saturday – Weber Grill with both sets of parents

Sunday – Bar-b-q chicken*, mashed potatoes & green beans

* New recipe

Now for more updates on my 2010 Goals:

1. Transferred some small balances to 1 card, which brings our total to 2 cards with balances!

2. I made a schedule for housecleaning and so far my husband & I have kept with it. This doesn’t mean a deep clean each time but at least swiffer around the room and sweep. We are on our 4th week and I think we are both starting to like it.

3. This is my first week to actually put a meal plan together.

4. I have started my husbands anniversary gift, I have 3 ideas. One is just to place an order, then I have one that will require lots of time putting together and then I have a third thanks to JP Ryan that I would like to work on soon.

So I hope you all had a great weekend. I know I did. My Kentucky Wildcats are now #1 in the polls and my Colts won the AFC Championship and are off to the SUPERBOWL!!!!!!! I am so excited and its going to be a great game.

2010 Goals

2010-01-09T11:15:00.000-05:00

So I have lots of goals for 2010 and I plan to keep most of them. I have spent the majority of the week thinking about my goals for this year. Hopefully this weekend the husband and I can sit down and go over these goals together and create more for our family. So here they are:

1. Become more debt free! – Now without giving too much away, we hope to only have 1 car payment, camper & house payment and only 1 credit card bill. This is our biggest goal for this year!

2. Become a better wife – this includes several of this years resolutions and I need to be more supportive.

3. Keep up with housework – my husband has high standards and I want to try to meet those standards.

4. Start & Keep a budget – this is something that my husband & I show do and follow.

5. Start a meal plan – this will make grocery shopping easier and less expensive

6. Finish Wedding scrapbook

7. Be a better friend & meet new friends – I’m not entirely a shy girl but I do keep myself reserved until I know someone better

8. Be a better blogger – I love blogging but want to make it a more often affair, which is what my husband calls it.

9. 1 year Anniversary gift!!!!!!!!!!!!! – This is a big one for me this year. 1st anniversary is supposed to be paper and I really want this to be special. I have an idea but would love more ideas from you guys that I might be able to use.

10. Start a Christmas Fund – this would be great for the end of the year to not have to worry about the money.

11. Take more pictures! – I don’t feel like I take enough pictures to document our life together.

12. Get my recipes/cookbook together – I have a massive amount of recipes pilled away and I probably print a bunch of recipes each month and they are in no order.

13. Lose some weight – this is another big one for me as well. I really need/want to lose at least 30 lbs.

Well that’s my lucky number, 13! I hope to come back and blog each time I achieve these goals.
Happy New Year!!!

I like to ride my bike!

2009-11-18T14:07:00.000-05:00

I just read a very interesting article on The Indy Star about an Indianapolis man who decided to get rid of one of their family vehicles and ride his bike. He not only rides his bike to work, which is 8 miles away but he also takes his daughter to school every morning and runs errands around town. On a slow week he rides about 100 miles on his bike. Not only is this is guy staying physical fit but he is helping the environment!

This guy not only makes me jealous but inspires me all at the same time. I would love to live closer to Indianapolis so that I could do the same. I am not sure that I would be as hard core as he is about it considering my job right now would be about a half hour away from Indy. Indianapolis is slowing working to become a more cyclist friendly city; they still have a long way to go. One of these days we will move closer to Indy!

Random thought - why doesn't blogger have Spell Check on the new version? i hate typing my blog on word to then have to transfer it over.

Holiday's are in full swing at the Marvin Household

2009-11-16T10:36:00.000-05:00

I know that I don't blog as much as some people and I am not a scheduled blogger like some are. I choose to blog when and what I want to blog about. This explains a little of my lack of blogging lately but honestly the biggest reason is that the Holiday season is gearing up in our house.

This past week I planned out the food items that I will be taking to my in-laws and to my Aunt's house for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have Thanksgiving all figured out but I am still tossed up on Christmas. My first dilemma is my MIL is a great cook and always has tons of food ready when we arrive. So what ever I bring is good and everyone has some but its nothing compared to what she has ready! My second dilemma is at my Aunt’s house where there are a total of 21 to 30 people at one time. Most of the food is carried in by the other family members. So when I bring something its not usually noticed or missed if I decide not to. This will be the first year that I will make the first full hearted attempt to make sure to bring something at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Here is my plan for Thanksgiving:
In-Laws – Zesty Sour Cream Ranch Dip with veggies, chips & crackers
Aunt’s – Marbled Bark (I will post this recipe closer to Thanksgiving)

Here is my plan for Christmas:
In-Laws – Spinach Dip with crackers, bread & veggies or Bacon Dip (?)
Aunt’s – I have no idea?

Anyone have suggestions? I will need something easy.

In the last few weeks my husband & I have been shopping around for a new TV for our living room, our old TV will go to the basement/mancave. This is part of semi wedding present to my husband. My husband is a Volunteer Fireman for our local town and state law states that they are to receive a stipend every year. So as we exchanged our wedding presents to each other I told him that we could buy a new TV with some of his check instead of it all going to bills or savings. While in the midst of this whole process I forgot what all this will include. Finding a new TV stand for the TV is proving to be harder than picking out the TV. I’ve decided that I want one with drawers and I also want it to match the rest of the living room furniture, talk about hard to find! Then there is the TV, my husband is stuck on Samsung but I am partially convinced that every other TV looks better than Samsung. I have a feeling he will get his way on the brand. Then last week my husband made the small mistake of taking a tape measure and showing me how big the TV would look compared to our old one! HOLY MACARONI!!! My eyes got so big he realized his mistake right off the bat. I was like no way will that fit our living room without moving furniture around but our living room is really small and it will look hideous when the time comes to sell it. I will give my husband credit; he conceded quiet quickly and didn’t bat an eye about it. I could tell he was really disappointed. But after a few days of thinking about it, I realized that when it came time to sell the house we could switch the old & new TV’s.

This past weekend we also started Christmas shopping and have several people done. This has to be the earliest that we have started.

We have also looked around to figure out how to add more lights or decorations for Christmas. I think one of these days we are going to be the Griswold’s!

So that is what we have been up to.

Berlin Wall

2009-11-09T11:20:00.000-05:00

20 years ago today the Berlin Wall fell down. I was 8 years old at the time and I don't remember much. I do remember that my parents wanted to make sure we watched the news and understood the importance of the event. Also during this time I discovered MTV and I remember more about MTV's coverage than I do the news. I know that I have always felt that this wall was kind of like our segregation in the early 20th century. To this day I have friends from Germany and they will stay say they are either from the west or the east. I remember watching them break that wall down with anything they could find. The energy that was projected just from the TV screen was amazing and seemed so surreal at the time.

I took German in High School mainly because everyone else was taking Spanish and I wanted something different. During my senior year our teacher held a contest and the prize was a piece of the Berlin wall. I won that contest and I still have that piece, even though it’s no bigger than my thumb nail.

Someday I hope to be able to travel there and see some of these sites. Now here are a couple of photos I found.

Segments of the original Berlin Wall are displayed outside the European Parliament in Brussels.

Tourists cross the old line of the Berlin Wall near "Checkpoint Charlie" in central Berlin, on Saturday.

Photos by http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Google Doodles

2009-11-05T14:39:00.001-05:00

I LOVE Google Doodles! It always seems to put a smile on my face when Google has spiffed up their name with something. Its all about Sesame Street this week, which is so cute.

Isn't that just so cool! Sorry I am not a very crafty or creative person, so to me these are great!

They will have someone different on the home page until November 10th, Sesame Street's 40th Anniversary.

Have a great day!

Images by Google

The Rule of 5

2009-11-04T09:41:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Southern Daze for letting anyone in on this!

The Rules:
1. Answer with 5 answers
2. Tag 5 favorite bloggers

1. WHAT WERE YOU DOING 10 YEARS AGO?
~ In November 1999 I was...

- Senior in High School and loving it
- Dating my first boyfriend
- stressing about college
- wishing I had my drivers license but always chickening out
- trying to convince my parents to let me go to Florida with my friends for spring break

2. WHAT ARE 5 THINGS ON YOUR TO DO LIST TODAY?

- Work
- sensible & healthy lunch
- laundry
- clean bedroom
- update checkbook & budget

3. SNACKS YOU ENJOY?

- Dark chocolate cherry granola bars
- bananas
- Oreos
- apples n peanut butter
- kashi bars

4. WHERE ARE 5 PLACES YOU'VE LIVED? (First 2 are the only places I lived; last three are places I wish I could live)

- Muncie, IN
- Yorktown, IN
- (Kentucky, near Louisville or Lexington)
- Nashville, TN
- Indianapolis, IN

5. WHAT ARE 5 THINGS YOU'D DO IF YOU WERE A BILLIONAIRE?

- pay off all of our debt
- buy a Fifth Wheel, new truck and new car
- create a trust fund for my brother to go to college
- set up a fully funded college & wedding fund for kids
- book a trip overseas

I'M TAGGING:
- anyone and everyone who wants to play along!

Divorce & Halloween Party

2009-11-02T15:16:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend we had several activities planned. This didn't mean a full weekend but it was at least busy.

Friday night my husband and I headed to the local Mexican joint for dinner with my friend Jess, her mom Sally and her friend Kira. After that we headed to a bar down the street from where we lived for a Divorce Party! My friend Jess just recently got divorced from her dead beat ex husband and it was time to celebrate. Well that party turned sour real quick for me as my husbands ex walked in, ugh. I can't stand her at all. The three of us all worked at the same company for a while and well her reputation wasn't the best and somehow my husband was the last of that. But I did get to catch up with an old friend from Jarden and an old teammate from Yorktown. All in all is was a fun night and I am so happy that things are better for her.

Saturday I spent most of the day doing laundry, some cleaning around the house and catching up on the DVR. Then it was time to get ready for the local volunteer fire department's Halloween Party. Thankfully they had big jugs of Hand Sanitizer every wear and I made sure I had one right by me. My husband and I always do the front room; we make a pretty good team in there. I mark everyone’s hands with a black light marker and I have a clicker to get a head count as well. My husband passes out the door prize tickets and bags of candy for the kids. The first year I helped with this party, after most people had arrived I had mentioned that maybe we should decorate the room some. Then the room had a sectional, couch, side table with phone, big TV and other items. Not to mention that all the furniture is pretty gross! That next year, he removed all the furniture and had several decorations, black lights in the room and the kids had a lot of fun with it. Each year my husband has added it or changed it some. Well I don't know what happened at that party but I caught something and for the next 24 hrs, I was on the couch or in the bathroom.

I do want to take a moment and discuss a few costumes from Saturday night. I know that when you have a baby you just can't wait to dress them up for Halloween. But does every baby have to be a pumpkin? The first one is always cute but by the end of the night I have seen 20! It’s like this every year. Ok now for the best costume of the night and tad bit creepy. This family of 4 walked in, one boy dressed as MJ and you could tell they actually made it. The second one was dressed up as Kiss and it was so funny. His dad took some wood and added it to a pair of his son's shoes and then covered it with the shiny silver duct tape. Then as I bent down to mark his hand and count him, I noticed CHEST HAIR. I leaned in to get a closer look and it was real! We all started laughing and I asked about it because he wasn't older than 9 or 10. His dad actually trimmed down his chest hair and they glued it on his kids’ chest. A little gross and creepy but it made it the best costume of the night!

Sunday I made Chili and laid on the couch all day watching movies and still feeling like crap. But the Colts won so that made everything a little better. :)

Weekend Plans

2009-10-30T11:27:00.000-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Its Halloween weekend which means I have a few places to go.

Friday

Jess's Divorce Party - should be lots of fun

Saturday

Clean house and laundry
Drop Abby off at Mom & Dads
Work the entrance to the Yorktown/Mt. Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department Community Halloween Party - which means I can't hand out candy at home; in a way this is a good, there will be no candy at my house left over!

Sunday

put Chili in crockpot and lounge around all day.

Hope you all have a great Halloween weekend!

Summer of Home Improvement

2009-10-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

So this summer we had a couple of small projects that we did to upgrade the house.

Project #1 was to either replace or redo the interior doors. From what we know the interior doors in the house are the original with the original door hardware. We weighed the options of just buying brand new doors and hardware. But I was picky about what kind we would buy. See our doors were already Solid wood doors and that needed to be the same! In the end we opted to strip all the doors of all the paint, take off all the hardware, repaint and install new hardware. We knew this would be cheaper by a long shot, what we didn’t think of were all the man hours of elbow grease it would take. I mentioned that we believe the doors are original based on the amount of coats of paint on each door. The bathroom door was the worst, with at least 8! Also the old door hardware you needed a skeleton key to lock and unlock each door. The bathroom door had an old sliding bar lock that you would put on your apartment door. I hated all the comments we received when people stopped by. So now we have push locks on both bedroom doors and the bathroom door. If my husband was being paid to redo all the doors, it would have been cheaper to buy doors. But in the end we are really happy with how they turned out. Except now we can’t quite get the bathroom door from not closing, hmm.

Project #2 was to replace the shelves in our bathroom/hall closet. The shelves were badly put together using 1x4’s and it was just plain bad. Not to mention that the shelves were covered in this nasty 1970’s looking shelf liner. My husband went to Menards bought a couple of nice white shelving boards that he cut up to fit.

My parents asked us why we were doing this when we knew it wouldn’t get us any value back on the house. To us, it was about making this house more of a home. We bought this house because it had been nicely redone in many areas. All we did was paint a few rooms after we moved in and these were a couple of projects that we felt would make the house look better. In all my husband is a real handyman and I love him so much for doing all this work. I feel more at home then I have in the past 3 years.

Old door with old hardware

Redone door with new hardware

Old hardware

New hardware

Old Shelving

Top 3 shelves is old shelf lining, bottom two are new shelves. (please excuse the mess)

Next year we have to obviously redo all the door trims and all the trim in the house to match the new paint on the doors. That should be lots of FUN for me!!! I am also determined to make every room and closet organized. I have already started writing down ideas and items that I think we need. I can't wait.

Weekend Update

2009-10-28T20:56:00.006-04:00

So this past weekend we took our last camping trip in Elkhart, IN. Of course as soon as we arrive in Elkhart County it starts raining! Friday morning it just poured and poured, I thought our camper was going to wash away...haha just kidding. By the afternoon it had cleared up a good bit and we decided to head for the University of Notre Dame to get some pictures around campus. Little did we know that every weekend of a home football game they have an entire weekend of activities. Parking ended up being free which was great. We walked around the football stadium and low and behold they had the ramp going down to the football field open! We got to walk down the ramp to the field, did I mention this is the only ramp, the same ramp that all the other Notre Dame football teams walk down to the field. The hubs was super excited, he is a big Notre Dame fan! Pictures below.

Saturday we were going to head out to Middlebury and Shipshewana to do some shopping. These two towns are full of Amish and Mennonite families with lots of shops and furniture stores. But we had friends who came to visit and I am so happy they did. I walked up to their van with our dog Abby and I heard one of the girls say "I miss you"! I made my famous Chili for them also.

Sunday we just hung out at the campsite and talked. That's the best part of our camping trips, we get loads of time to talk. This is the one thing I will miss the most about camping.

So here are some pictures from this past weekend:

View of the banners in the tunnel.

The Hubs and his "Touchdown"

Me & the Hubs

Abby sitting next to the heater vent!

Abby & the hubs looking outside

Abby & the hubs sitting by the campfire

Hope you all have a great week!

Bad Day

2009-10-28T09:29:00.002-04:00

Today is just one of those days where I wish I just stayed in bed. Feels like nothing good is coming out of me being awake today. Ugh, wish it was 4pm on Friday!!!

Weekend update coming tonight.

Weekend Plans

2009-10-22T10:33:00.004-04:00

So I have started posting Weekend Plans on Friday's cause to me that's when the weekend starts. But this week it starts after I leave work today!!! YEA. We are going on our last camping trip. Yes I know its super cold out but we have a large travel trailer with heat. We are actually staying at a KOA campground in Middlebury, IN. Its close to Elkhart and South Bend. We have a full schedule for the weekend.

Friday

get up early and volunteer in Elkhart - they really have it tough in this town
got to University of Notre Dame for some pictures and sight seeing
stop at Essenhaus for shopping and a snack
have dinner at Chubby Trout

Saturday

lounge around the campground for the day
watch football
make chili for dinner with our friends The Hills

Sunday

make the long trip to Michigan City, IN to Lighthouse Outlet mall
watch football

Monday we will head home. I am really excited to go on this camping trip partly because it will be a long weekend, we get to see some friends, making my famous chili, do some shopping and just getting to relax. I am taking the computer with us so that I can actually get a jump start on some blogs I have been wanting to post. Hope you all have a great weekend!

AWWW C-A-T-S! CATS! CATS! CATS! GO BIG BLUE

Weekend Update

2009-10-20T16:45:00.002-04:00

So this past weekend was great. Being able to just be home after several months of having things planned every weekend. Friday night we went to BW3's and watched some baseball.

Saturday, we just laid around till about 6pm and then we got ready and went to a friends house for the evening. Ran into a girl I kinda knew in Middle School, she hasn't changed any and it reminded me why we didn't get along. :) Oh and my CATS won!!! WAHOO We have not beat Auburn in 66 years. It was truly a great game and I am so proud of them. We should be able to win the next 3 games too.

On Sunday the husband went to play paintball with some of the guys from the fire department. My dad and I went to a Charity/Memorial walk for The Cardinal Greenway/Lynette Freeman. I worked with Lynette a long time ago when my dad and I volunteered at the Muncie Endurathon. Boy do I not miss that for anything!!! 18 hour days in August sun, heat and allergies. I would look like death for the next two weeks just from one day! Not to mention that now I hear they pay the "volunteers" at the Endurathon, wish I had received a paycheck for all those hours! The rest of Sunday my husband and I just kinda lounged around the house.

Weekend Plans

2009-10-15T09:32:00.003-04:00

NOTHING!!!

That's right folks we are actually home this weekend with nothing planned. At least nothing that we have to attend. We actually plan on doing a lot of cleaning. I know that I haven't cleaned the house in a few weeks. I also need to change the direction of the blades on our fans. We also need to take down our window pots and basically do some fall clean up outside before it SNOWS. Yes I said snow and I am sorry. I also have this pile of papers that I need to file away and i have this cake box full of wedding stuff that I need to put in an album. We need to start our Christmas lists, I gave my parents our lists last week per request from my mom.

Well i just found out that tomorrow night we might go to a friends house for fun. Then Sunday the husband is going to play paint ball with a bunch of guys for a friends bachelor party. Its starting to sound like a busy weekend but I will be home for most of it. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Weekend Update Part 2

2009-10-12T14:11:00.002-04:00

October 2-4
So I took a half day on this Friday and man was that a good idea. It was such a crappy day at work that I was glad to be leaving early. I should have known though from the way my day started that that would be how it ended. Our drive to Lexington, KY was so horrible! A 4 hour drive turned into 6 hours. Between all the detours, construction with traffic jams (someone didn't take advantage of the cash for clunkers on a road with no shoulders) and then rush hour in downtown Lexington. We had full intention of getting down there in 4 hours with time to stop by the Kennedy Book Store/Wildcat Den to exchange my shirt and a key chain but never made it Friday. My brother lives in Lexington and was so kind to let me and my husband stay for the weekend. He even bought us Sir Pizza for dinner which was not even close to Pizza King, the only thing that was the same was the crust and the pepperoni.

Saturday proved to start out much better. My cousin Stacy picked up my husband and I around 9 am at my brothers and then my brother and his two youngest followed us to Commonwealth Stadium. We walked a few blocks to the stadium and first met up with my cousin Joseph and his new wife Abby and Trey. They were tailgating in their little spot and Abby made the yummiest Buffalo Dip, I will have to get the recipe. Then we headed for my Uncle Lawrence's (Stacy's dad) tailgating spot that he has had for 50 years!!! Around noon we headed into the stadium and I was a like a kid in a candy store. I just couldn't stop smiling and trying to soak in every little bit of the atmosphere. We didn't win but we had a good showing, much better than the previous week. Uk - 20, Alabama - 38. After the game we decided to head back to my brothers house to try and exchange my shirt and key chain again. They weren't home and then we of course arrived at the bookstore at closing. My husband wanted to play college kid for the day so we headed to find a bar playing some of the other games that day. We ended up at the Tin Roof and it seems that drink of choice there was PBR big cans! So weird but we had a great time and then headed off for Joseph and Abby's house to hang out for a bit. We realized we were old because it was 10 and we were ready for bed and they were just getting ready to go out, they also all had naps!

Sunday we spent most of the day just hanging out with my brother and sister in law. We decided to leave around 2pm just in case if our drive home might be just as bad as getting down there. It wasn't, only took us a little under 4 hrs and boy were we made when we say the little tiny construction that started our first detour!!!

October 9-11
We haven't gone camping in a couple of months because we have just been so busy. So this past weekend was our first chance and we took it. It of course rained all day & night Friday. Saturday and Sunday were beautiful but our site was pretty shady so it was mostly muddy all weekend. I fixed chicken corn chowder but it ended up being soup as I didn't have the blender to make it chowder. Oh well the husband loved it and pretty much ate all of it.

My camera is not letting me upload tonight. I really am trying to post more on a regular basis but my life isn't very regular right now.

Weekend Update Part 1

2009-10-12T12:47:00.008-04:00

So I have 4 weekends that I need to update on, I will try not to make this too long.

September 18-20

Husbands poker party went well and I think the guys are starting to realize that I can cook good food to snack on and that I will have it ready for them during their games. I made little smokies, chili cheese dip, chex mix and spinach dip. The poker party wasn't just the guys from work but also their families. We had maybe 10 kids all under the age of 10 in our basement. I usually stay upstairs, I don't care to play cards. Well the kids were so load and crazy and not to mention made a huge mess of the floor. Note to self: don't have chex mix and nuts near kids! It was easy to clean up but easily reminded me why I wanted to wait longer to start our family.

Saturday I headed up to Warsaw, Indiana and spent most of the afternoon and evening with my friends and her two girls. The girls showed me how they ride their bikes, their new toys and thanked me for their cookies. I brought them their favorite cookies and doughnuts from the local bakery, Concannons! When the girls woke up from their nap we went to visit their dad at the new Menards store and then went to their favorite Mexican joint. I am tough critic since I grew up on Peurto Vallarta here in Muncie. Also Kentucky killed Louisville in their football game!!!

Clockwise from top left: Me, Carrie, Kendall and Chloe.

September 25-27

I know that I didn't post what I was doing this particular weekend but its still a very important weekend for me and my family. Every year for the last full weekend of September we head down to my dad's hometown of Lebanon, Ky for their Ham Days festival. Friday consists of heading down early in the morning, stopping in Seymour for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, arriving and then quick unpack, head down to the local pharmacy for a quick snack and then mom & dad make a big dinner for everyone. My parents started doing this a few years ago as a thank you to his family down there for always letting us stay at the house and feeding us.

Then Saturday they literally close down all of downtown and the festival opens up with usually the Pokey Pig 5k run/walk, arts and crafts open up, 1pm is the parade (usually lasts an hour). There are a few things that you HAVE to do during the festival, get either a cheeseburger or a Ribeye Sandwich at the Cattleman's Association booth, get fresh lemonade from the Lions Club booth and check out the arts and crafts. They always have the best arts and crafts booth. I will have to post about the new additions we bought for the house when it gets closer to Christmas! Kentucky lost to Florida 41-7, better than the previous year and we helped knock out Tim Tebow.

On Sunday, my cousin Erin, me and my husband found a new food booth full of Greek food. My husband got a chicken gyro and I got a chicken quesadilla with Greek salad. The Greek salad was the best I have ever had and I wish I could recreate it. It was a great weekend with my family, I truly wish we lived closer and could do this more often.

Second half of update tomorrow with more pictures. Sorry just didn't have time and was tired.

Weekend Plans

2009-10-02T10:25:00.003-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted this week. Its Month & Quarter End here, which means craziness. I have another busy and fun weekend planned.

Friday

work half day
head to Lexington, KY
Stop at Kennedy Book Store for exchanges
head to my brothers house and then who knows

Saturday

leave my brothers house around 9 am
head to Commonwealth Stadium
UK vs. Alabama starts at 12:21pm
then head back to my brothers

Sunday

relax and celebrate by nephews birthday
head home around 2 or 3

This will be my First official College & UK Football game. I am so overly excited to go. I also bought my husband a UK shirt to wear and he is bringing my UK hat and his UK sweatshirt. He is a Notre Dame fan but he wants to fit in cause UK fans are crazy. Well I hope to post about last weekend and this weekend coming up next week sometime.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

GO BIG BLUE

Weekend Plans

2009-09-18T14:23:00.002-04:00

So this weekend I have A LOT going on in just a few short days. It should be a great weekend weather wise which will be awesome. So here goes:
Friday

cleaning windows
playing hostess for husbands poker party

Saturday

leave for Warsaw at 9 am
arrive at Sportsplex to watch cousin's husband play ball
arrive at 12 at Carries house - watch UK vs. UofL game, this is a B.I.G. game
Carrie's girls get up at 4 from their nap, surprise Amanda's here...Y.E.A
Leave for home between 6-8

Sunday

laundry
budgeting
fall cleaning around the house

I am so excited to see my friend Carrie and her two little girls. I used to babysit them a lot when they lived in Muncie and I can't wait to surprise them. Alright well I hope you all have a great weekend.

Think before you speak

2009-09-15T19:26:00.002-04:00

So its been a little over a week since I last posted. Sorry, we have been really busy and I will have to post about that later this month. But in the mean time I wanted to write about "thinking before we speak". To me this is common sense and common courtesy. There are many, many times where I am sure my friends think that I do not think before I speak and I admit there are times where I know I mess up. I am 28 years old and I am working on that because its in important for my age, job, family and my life. I am a very blunt and straight forward person and this is sometimes confused with not thinking first.

However lately there have been several public people in the US that are not doing the same. Kanya West for example is one person who continuously lets his emotions get the best of him. Last night on Jay Leno he actually seemed sorry for what he did to Taylor Swift but after all that he has done for some many years, it almost feels like its too little too late. Then to hear that this morning he still had not at least called Taylor Swift to apologize, was shocking to me. Maybe this really hit him hard and he just didn't realize it but come on think about how you would want to be treated if you had been her. So Kanya I hope you do take that time off to reflect all your actions since your Mother has died. If you need counseling I agree. You have to change in order for me to buy or listen to your music again.

OK so that's my rant for the day.

End of Summer & UK Football

2009-09-07T22:41:00.004-04:00

So Labor Day marks the end of summer and the sun followed in true form. I looked outside tonight at 8:30pm and it was DARK. This really bummed me out. I love summer and everything with it. I am going to miss the flowers,cooking out, pool parties, camping, games, concerts and just in general a good time outside all the time.

Don't get me wrong, I love fall too. Time for jeans, long sleeve t-shirts, sweatshirt, all my Kentucky gear comes out, football games, Ham Days festival in Lebanon, KY, fall camping, fire department Halloween Party.

What better way to start the weekend, end summer and start fall than a UK victory?! How about a UK blowout, yea that means we won 42-0. This is going to be another great season and all the thanks goes to our awesome Coach Rich Brooks!! GO BIG BLUE

Confused by Google Maps

2009-09-04T15:39:00.010-04:00

So I am really confused by Google Maps lately. I just recently noticed that their map of my Hometown and they have an extra town or area labeled. I have lived in Yorktown my entire life and have never heard of this town or area before. Here is the weirdest part to me, this extra label is over the downtown area of Yorktown?! So weird. Below is a picture of the map provided by Google Maps:

I thought I lived in Yorktown but now I am wondering if its West Muncie!

Food Network & EAD Blog Giveaway

2009-08-25T21:17:00.004-04:00

Can I tell you how much I love the Food Network?!! I can't tell you how many hours I spend watching their channel. I love Duff from Ace of Cakes, he couldn't be more goofy or down to earth than the rest of us. I also think Guy is hilarious and his Diners, Drive In's & Dives is awesome and I hope to visit some of those eateries. I love watching Paula Deen, mostly to hear her accent! I really like a lot of Ina Garten's recipes and have used several. I don't usually watch Robin Miller, cause I am at work. But I caught one of her shows today at lunch and can not wait to try out the recipe this week or next!! I will have to let you know how it turns out.

So I have about 30 blogs on my Reader and each one couldn't be more different than the other. I really like reading blogs and it so much fun to be able to see someone else's life through their eyes. I have also taken many ideas from their lives and tried to incorporate into mine. Sometimes it works and sometimes it hasn't but its nice to give something a try. I don't want to get in a rut but still want to keep my routine.

One Blog I really like to read is Elizabeth Anne Designs. They have several contributors so there is always something new and different to read. This is the one website where I received most of my ideas or sometimes A HA moments. I really look forward to each post on EAD and I should give credit to an old HS classmate, Blue-EyedBride who is also a contributor! Now, did I mention there was a giveaway. Well EAD and Stinkerpants Designs are giving one lucky person a stationary prize. Please go to EAD to get full details on how to win some awesome stationary.

New Blog Name & URL

2009-08-20T14:23:00.003-04:00

So a while back I had blogged about wanting to name my blog something different. Also the hubby was not to happy with my old url that included my name in it. I really wanted a name that first of all I would like and second of all tied in with my love of Kentucky! Well I have finally settled on Bluegrass Lady.

So hopefully this does not interupt your Reader. If it does my new URL is http://bluegrasslady.blogspot.com .

Random Website Tuesday

2009-08-18T13:55:00.005-04:00

(image from http://www.uky.edu/)

So its the 3rd Tuesday of this month which means I need to post my random website. So I didn't really find any websites this month that I felt were worth posting, so I did a history check of all the common sites I visited.

If anyone knows me at all they know that I am a HUGE UK fan! I mean HUGE, weddings and funerals are worked around UK in my family! So it wouldn't be a surprise that the university website is frequented by me. Growing up it was normal to me that things were planned around UK games and events. So in turn I have grown up to do the same in my own household. It has taken some time for the husband to come around but one of these days he will. When it came time to think about college, my heart desired to go to UK but I personally didn't think there was any way I was going to be able to pay for it. In hindsight I wish I had done what my heart said to do. The college I went to became so expensive that by the time I finished there tuition was only a couple thousand less than UK. So needless to say I frequent their website in hopes that someday they will have Adult online classes that I can take and actually graduate from there! That's one of many dreams I still pursue. :)

Fantastic Birthday Week

2009-08-12T10:02:00.005-04:00

So this week has been an absolutely awesome Birthday Week. I normally just celebrate my birthday either on the day or the weekend corresponding to my birthday. But this week has been out of the norm for me and I didn't plan it that way it just has been. Here is how my week has gone so far:

Saturday - got a mountain bike for camping!

Monday - got birthday card & money from Grandma

Tuesday - got birthday card & gift card from MIL, husband got me hiking boots & he will have all the interior doors finished tonight

Wednesday - Abby has gone 4 consecutive weeks without a seizure, Rick Pitino got a black eye(morally), got an awesome birthday card from *E* with $28

Thursday - birthday breakfast with department and camping at Brown County with some friends that we don't see often enough.

I know my birthday isn't till tomorrow but so far this week leading up to my birthday has been great.

I also have to point out how proud I am of my husband. The hiking boots he got me for my birthday is the first gift that I have received where he took a mental note of something I liked a while back and got it for me. He tried to argue with me last night on this, saying he always gets me stuff that I like. He is right, he has never been a bad gift giver. But this is the first time that I didn't tell him before hand what to get me, this idea was all on his own and he remembered. He is the best!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Swimming

2009-07-31T12:54:00.003-04:00

My sport of choice growing up was Swimming! I used to play basketball and softball. I choose swimming over basketball for one reason only, it was a challenge. Basketball seemed to come naturally to me and that's thanks to my mom's side of the family. I loved playing basketball but that was something I could do whenever in my driveway. I enjoyed the daily challenge of trying to get faster and better.

Even though I had 4 coaches in 4 years in high school. Three of those coaches were like friends or second moms to me and my brother. I am still in contact with one of the coaches and I wish I was in contact with another. But there is one coach who tugs at my heart everyday. RL had been a coach for me and my brother since we started when we were really little. Tragically she was killed in a traffic accident on her way home from a meet, my mom and brother were a couple of cars behind her. I had just started my senior year and we were only a couple weeks into the season when this happened; her youngest son was also a senior in my class. Even though her death was the hardest thing I have had to go through, I finished my year swimming my best times in some events just for her! After that, I didn't want to swim anymore. I felt like I had lost something in me and for that sport when she died.

Lately I have been feeling the itch to get back into the pool but I haven't brought myself to it yet. I miss the daily smell of chlorine and never having to use Q-Tips. I miss leaving the pool with hard/wet hair in the middle of winter. I miss the fun I used to have when I got better at my times or realizing I can do long sets of certain strokes. If only I could actually motivate myself. Any encouragement would be appreciated.

RIP RL

Random Website Tuesday

2009-07-21T17:36:00.005-04:00

So I decided a while back that I would do a monthly post on the third Tuesday of each month featuring a random website that I found. I don't have to like them, use them, or they could be a website I hope to use in the future or check everyday. So here is to the month one and I hope to do this monthly so bare with me, I may forget.

Today I found this kids website that sells furniture and accessories for kids room, Rosenberry Rooms. A lot of the stuff on the website seems way over priced to me, but what do I know about buying things for kids. I do like some of the art and decorations that they have. Especially this painting below:

via Rosenberry Rooms

I had to choose this one because my friend D and his son J are really into firefighting. D is a volunteer fireman in our town/township along with my husband and of course J has to be just like his daddy. I am seriously considering getting this picture or something like it for J for Christmas.

Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince

2009-07-16T07:46:00.002-04:00

Oh how I love Harry Potter!!! I just reread book 6 (Half Blood Prince) and feel like I should have reread all the books prior to book 6. I think I will just reread book 7 (Deathly Hollows) though. I have never read a book where I couldn’t leave it till it was finished until my mom had bought my brother Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone. So then of course I had to find the next book and then the next and then I had to wait for the 3rd book to come out, so on and so forth.

My Husband has never witnessed this madness I have when I find a book that I can’t put down until the Twilight series came out and I spent weeks glued to the books. We have only lived together for 3 years and he didn’t realize what I was doing when I wasn’t at his place back in the day!

Well now the movie is out for Half Blood Prince and I can’t wait. My coworker and friend LG and our husbands will be going on the 23rd and I super excited. I just hope that its as good as the book, I really don’t want to be disappointed. Has anyone else seen the movie yet? If so what did you think of it?

Blog Hiatus

2009-07-06T21:02:00.003-04:00

So I have been on a month long Blog Hiatus for many reasons. 1) Wedding season for my dad's side of the family, which was so much fun. 2) Super busy with name changing, joining accounts and getting this house organized. 3) Camping because that's what we do in the summer. 4) just plain lazy lately.

However while we have been camping I have been thinking about what I want to blog about and I think I have come up with some great ideas. I can't wait to start sharing with all of you.

One last note I hate the name of my blog and I have been desperately trying to think of a new one that I can use. Obviously I need a couple of them because they may be taken. Here are a few things that I would like to try to incorporate: my name, my blue eyes, my love for UK!

Until next time my friends, have a good night!

Reception Update

2009-05-19T10:19:00.005-04:00

I spent the Friday before packing bags and items for the reception. Marv & I went to the Social Security office to change my name legally, then went to the party store to get bags for M&M's that my mom had bought for our reception. On Friday night we packaged the M&M's, made our card box and double checked the tickets. Its a good thing we double checked the tickets because then we realized that I was so worried about every ones tickets that I forgot to include Marv & I in the final count!!! WHOOPS So I quickly emailed my contact at the Indianapolis Indians and he emailed us back the next morning with a no problem! Whew!! Thank goodness, it would suck if we couldn't go to our own party. :)

Saturday we got up a little early, I made Marv pancakes in hopes it would get him out of bed a little faster, which it did. We then packed the car and headed for his parents house in Westfield. Once we got there we set up all of Abby's stuff, gave them their tickets and had lunch. Right before we left to check into the hotel, Marv's Grandma showed up and we got out of there before she wanted to take another picture. She loves taking pictures and I am sure she got a bunch of Abby. We soon checked into the hotel and meet with B & M, Marv's friends and we all walked down to Victory Field. I can't explain the feeling that I got when I saw most of my Kentucky Family at the will call window getting their tickets. I was so happy to see them, they are the greatest family anyone could ever ask for.

Setup for the reception was so easy. I only had a card box, two baskets with the packaged M&M's, guestbook & the poster of pictures. Our wedding cake and groom's cake looked great and fun. I had Marsh Supermarket do our cake even though most people go to an actual cake baker. Since we had so few guests and their cakes are always good, I am sure by using them we saved a bundle of money. Also as long as the design you want is fairly simple and can be down with icing, they have no problem doing it.

But in all I think everyone had a awesome time. We received a lot of complements from our families who have kids because the kids were free to play which helped wear them out for the evening. I got annoyed when I heard that some of our friends thought I ignored them throughout the entire night. HELLO, I was the hostess and I have 55 family members to mingle with. Besides this was more a family event for me than an event with everyone.

D Day (aka Name Change day)

2009-05-16T00:45:00.004-04:00

So today was like my own personal D Day. Marv & I went to the Social Security office to officially start the process of changing my name. This was hard for me and I don't know about the rest of you but I felt like a part of me died today. I have worked really hard all my life with this name and now all of a sudden its gone! GONE GONE GONE! I mean I can always get it back but that's not the plan. This was so hard for me even though I know that in the long run with kids and all its easier but its just not MY name. I have cried several times due to changing my name!

I know to many people this seems silly but to me it wasn't. Ever since I could remember I have been very independent and more so since I moved out on my own. I don't generally care about what other people think of me or my actions. I make my own decisions and I don't care if people don't agree. I have no problems with admitting to my mistakes and I am brutally honest due to this. Because of this when people asked me if I was changing my name I told them I didn't know and most people didn't seem surprised. A few did but you could tell those people were more traditional than I.

It was a relatively easy process, we were in and out in 30 minutes. I just had to answer a few questions and I got my receipt with my new name. She never checked my Drivers License or my passport to make sure I was who I was. Marv & I discussed this on our way to the party store. It kind of felt like this was all too easy and we can see how there is so much fraud out there.

I was so thankful that Marv came with me. I didn't even have to push him about going I just told him we needed to go and we went. I don't think I know anyone of my girlfriends husbands went with them. I felt like it was only right since I was taking his name!

Twitter

2009-05-14T20:46:00.003-04:00

So I have a new obsession, Twitter. This is one thing I thought I would never really get into. So one day (who am I kidding everyday) I checked the latest news on UK basketball and football. I read an article about the new coach Calipari was going to be on twitter. Now about a month or two ago a friend of mine started me on twitter but it quickly died for me. But then I hear that coach is on there and I am on it almost every hour. Not only is the UK Men's basketball coach on there but the football, women's basketball coach and the athletic department. I am getting so much more news on the stuff I wanted that I just don't know what to do with it all.

My dad subscribes to the Cats Pause which is a newspaper for UK athletics and this year I wanted to subscribe to it. But once I actually got online to subscribe, I about died when I saw the price. I really need to show dad the twitter. I mean his is home all day just watching Fox News Business Channel and staring at stock stuff all day. Granted its summer so he is working a lot in the garden but when he is not he is watching TV. Well that's my obsession.

Finally Married

2009-05-10T21:01:00.004-04:00

OK so I am a little late with the update but better late than never right. Well Marv & I got back on April 26Th and since then its been a crazy and insane time. The night we got back I got sick with the Nora Virus which is like having food poisoning. This meant that the all day Monday I was in bed instead of doing laundry and calling friends like I had planned when I took the day off of work. Oh well at least I didn't have to take a sick day. So this week we have a lot going on again. Saturday is our reception at Victory Field for an Indianapolis Indians game. This will be fun but I still have a few details to work out.

Our wedding couldn't have been better. Planning it through the cruise line was such a good idea and it was the best thing we ever did. The cruise line has packages for different types of weddings. Marv & I originally wanted to get married the first day of the cruise before the ship left, this way we had the rest of the cruise to have fun and hang out with our family. But by the time I called that was booked up and the only thing left was to get married on the island of St. Thomas. Marv & I had forgotten how beautiful the pictures were from the the wedding coordinators website (http://www.royalwed.com/). Eric & I had decided prior to leaving that we wanted to get a town car to ride in while everyone else were in taxi vans. This ended up being a great idea since we had to go to the court house first to sign our paperwork. When we got to the wedding location, everything was just gorgeous. We couldn't have picked a better way to get married. Our priest was so nice and happened to be originally from Michigan. The wedding photographer was fantastic and so professional. I felt like she should have been shooting celebrity weddings and not ours.

It was funny because after everything was over and we were headed back to the ship. I realized how important this was for both of us. I also realized that I didn't seem to care what everyone else wanted or thought. What was important to me was that Marv was there with me and that he and I have entered this life long pact. I don't really remember anything the priest said or much of what went on. I do remember everything Marv said and did. I think the moment that did it for me was after my dad walked me down and I saw the raw emotion in Marv's eyes. I realized then what this moment meant for the both of us. It also reassured me that this was right and this was real. I have only seen Marv react that way twice, the first was during a rather large fight that I ended walking out on him. When I realized that I had left my cell phone at his place, I had to go back and that's when I first saw something in him that I had never known was there. That fight happened after 4 years of dating, not within the first year like most people would think. The second time I had seen that was when Marv proposed to me and I couldn't have been happier. I won't lie, I had been hoping to see that same look on our wedding day.

So now that we are back, I need to finish planning our casual reception at Victory Field in Indy. I thought things were supposed to slow down after all this but we keep booking up weekends. More posts to come.

Wedding Update

2009-04-30T14:23:00.001-04:00

So I have been really bad about updating my blog!!! REALLY BAD. I promise that this weekend I will update the blog with all the events that are going on with me & marv's lives. :)

Abby

2009-02-15T15:18:00.002-05:00

Well I said that I wanted to post more blogs this month but I didn't want to do it in these terms. Marv & I have had a bad week with our little Abby. I should start from the beginning which was January 14Th when Abby had her first seizure. Little did Marv know that dogs could have seizures and this one was while they were both sleeping. Marv didn't know what to do and he honestly thought that she was dying in her arms. Since the first one, she has had about 8 more. Each one is a bit more severe than the last. But last week was the worst, she had 4 in 24 hours and it was so scary for the both of us. In fact we both broke down because there isn't a lot that we can do to help her. She is now on Pheno or phenobarbital, taking 1 1/2 pills twice a day. Its supposed to help control her seizures making them occur less often, severe and intense. I hope it works as much as I don't like her having to be on meds all the time. Well that's all this time, I just don't have the heart today to write much more.

February Update #1

2009-02-08T22:44:00.002-05:00

I plan to blog more than once this month and I have even put it on my calendar to make sure that I do. So Marv & I had a busy weekend and it was very productive too. On Saturday we went to Kay Jewelers to get our wedding bands. This took forever for Marv to decide on a band, there were too many choices and in the end he choose a plain white gold band. Then we went to Men's Warehouse to get him a new suit, which he looked absolutely perfect in. I prefer a guy in a suit over a tux any day. From there we headed off to the Fashion Mall at Keystone and stopped in Tommy Bahama to get his wedding outfit. It worked out great because he found the exact pair of pants and shirt that he wanted to get in the first place.

So now next week I pick up my dress and shoes, then the next week Marv will need to pick up his suit and ring when they are ready. This month I have to get the invitations done as soon as I can! Once March rolls around I will be so busy. 3 showers that month and canning season will start at work, which means late night for me and Shelly. Shelly will also be going on spring break as well for a week and that means craziness for our desks!

We have had some scares with Abby this past month. On January 14Th, Abby had her first seizure. Marv wasn't aware that dogs could have seizures and he thought she was dying in his arms. We took her to the vet that night and they sent in a sample of her blood for tests. They called back and said everything seemed to be OK. Since then she has had 3 more and it worries both of us very much. In fact last week she had two in one day and one of them was right before bed time while I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Each one is scary and hurts our hearts very much. Abby is my little girl and I don't know what I would do without her. She is my child in almost every sense of the word. OK well I am off to get ready for bed.

2009 Presidential Inauguration - Inspiring

2009-01-21T22:32:00.005-05:00

So I took a half day off yesterday so that I could watch all the coverage of the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. Most people know that I supported and voted for Barack Obama. That was part of the reason for taking the half day. I have discovered that ever since Princess Diana died that I absolutely love watching news coverage when something BIG has happened. Yesterday was one of those days that I knew I would be glued to the TV. I admit that if it had been John McCain up there yesterday, I may not have watched as much as I did yesterday.

I really was INSPIRED by the presidents speech yesterday. It really made me want to go out and volunteer and help. Volunteering is hard to do or find a place to help. But to help with the change that Mr. President needs and America needs is hard for me to figure out. Where do you begin? I felt that his speech really touched on what needs to be down and reminded us of how we got here and what we stand for. I loved how the longer is speech was the louder and more vocal he got. You could really feel how much this position means to him and how passionate he is to change America for the better. I can't wait to order a copy of the ceremonies from yesterday. I want to make sure my kids know that I helped make history and that I got to watch history in the making. My only regret is not being able to be there myself, but couch at home was just as good as a seat. I enjoy listening to his speech over and over again. I am hoping that I can find it to download on to my IPOD. In fact I am listening to it now as I write this blog.

Another small reason for taking a half day was that I didn't want to be at work. Several of the people that I eat lunch with on almost a daily basis are STAUNCH republicans. Its a republican or nothing to them. I remember the day after the election and all I heard was how the world was going to end! I also remember a Friend saying that now she will have to wait to have kids. What Pessimists these people are!!! Why must people be pessimistic? Why not be Optimistic? I am not saying that they have to agree with my point of view, but at least give my point of view a chance or a listen to! I feel like they are all closed minded. Why can't you give someone a chance? What is the harm in giving someone the chance to prove them self. Didn't we give the former president 2 chances and he still didn't fully get it right. I was a full supporter of the president, I didn't support Hillary very much. However I would have voted for her instead of McCain. I still would have given her a chance and I think it would have been interesting to see how Bill's role would evolve. If McCain had won I would have given him a chance as well, but I would not have acted like the world had ended. Something else to note, I didn't rub it in that he won at all. I didn't go around telling people how much better his policies and ideas where better than any other. I am just as humble as the president himself. I remember a comment was made to me that who I voted for was a weird combination. I voted for Dem. Barack Obama and Rep. Mitch Daniels. However the next day when the results were posted I noticed that our county in which we both lived in voted 60% they way I did! I wanted to send him a message back and say looks like you are the odd ball in the county and that he is out of touch. But I didn't I left it alone. I didn't rub it in my parents faces that I had voted with the rest of Indiana. I don't like the snide comments I hear from them about the new president. I didn't grow up like that. How are my parents one way and their children grow up to be the total opposite.

Please don't confuse me with a die hard, old fashioned Democrat. I don't claim one party, however in most instances I do prefer the Democrats. I more of less just like people who promote and act change!!! Like Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, he is republican but he also wants to make Indiana the best Midwestern state there is! Well that's my 2 cents worth...time for me to go to bed. Here is a picture that I just thought was amazing.

2009-01-12T21:27:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to get back on here and give you some updates on the cruise wedding. I had my first dress fitting on January 1st. My dress should be ready by February 13Th for my last fitting and hopefully pickup. Eric received several gift cards over the holidays so he will be able to go out to get his wedding attire and a new suit for the cruise this month or next. Eric & I have been watching the Carnival website closely as they should start putting excursions on there for booking. Sure enough just this week I checked and they have several excursions posted for St. Thomas and St. Maarten, nothing yet for San Juan. As of today, we have 96 days till our cruise and 99 till the wedding!!!

So I just finished our Photo Album/Scrapbook from our last cruise in 2005. Wow it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago. Either way it got me into the crafty/scrapbook type mood and I have decided to make our invitations rather than buying them off the Internet. I am also starting to work on the bridal shower gifts for everyone. The bridal shower in Ohio will be March 28Th. I also need to start working on my baccalaureate party too! Eric & I will go register this month at Target and maybe Bed, Bath & Beyond. Also by the end of next month we will be getting our rings. Well I have to absolutely buckle down this month and get things done.

I am pretty excited as we are going to visit Grandma this weekend and Marv's Uncle Pete, Aunt Lori and their two kids. Lori is throwing my bridal shower in Ohio in March. I am so thankful that she is because she doesn't really care for games at showers and I am the same way. The games may be funny and fun but just not my bag. Most of you know me well enough that I am an outside game kind of girl, not those damn inside games. Back to Grandma, I mentioned that I finished our Photo Album/Scrapbook from our last cruise. Well Grandma is a little nervous about the whole thing. I am sure its more because its not in her normal environment that she is used to. She is worried that she will be bored or that she won't like it. Well our album will hopefully ease her mind. I saved all the Carnival Capers pages (which is the ships newspaper) and have put in a lot of our pictures. Being able to see a lot of the things that go on during a cruise should help a lot. Ok I need to get off here so that I can finish the Announcement List so that we can email our parents for addresses.

Wedding Dress, failed Fort Wayne trip & Christmas

2008-12-15T10:18:00.002-05:00

This past month has been busy as usual. Mom & I went to Davids Bridal to shop for my wedding dress. It took 8 dresses with a horrible bra to find one that I was happy with. The dress was much more than I had planned to spend on but I really really like it. So now I am trying to get to this specialty bra boutique in Fort Wayne and to go bridal shoe shopping as well. On December 6Th my mom and I had set that day as the day we were going to Fort Wayne. The weather only called for flurries and the roads seemed fine. But 3 miles prior to the Marion exit the girl in front me started to fish tail. She slid to the left and then over corrected herself and went to the right straight for the ditch. She hit the ditch and then her car flipped in the air twice and she landed right side up. There was another car involved but lucky for them they just slid backwards into the ditch. Mom & I of course stopped and so did two other people. We got out my blanket and helped cover up the girl to help keep her warm. She just didn't seem like she was with it at all. Mom & I decided to head home and the next day I checked the paper and they said only minor injuries. Mom & I were supposed to go again today but they are calling for freezing rain, so once again not today. So now today Mom & I are going to go to Puerta for lunch and deliver some of her Christmas Cookies.

Just this past weekend with The Boone's & Hill's over for a Christmas Party. Marv & I made Chex mix & Puppy Chow for them to take home. We also got the kids a Christmas movie, large crayons and large coloring books. The seemed pretty excited about it all and I thought they would be cause Marv seemed pretty excited when he saw the big coloring books that I asked him to buy at Meijer. In fact Kendall Hill colored a picture for Marv & I and she helped us put it on the fridge before they left. It so cute and here Marv and I thought we still had several years before we would have pictures on our fridge.

Marv called his grandma last night to thank her for the Christmas Cards and money. He also talked to her about the cruise and she seems a little worried that she will get lost or there won't be anything for her to do. We plan to go visit her next month and I think we will take our cruise book to help her understand what goes on during the cruise. I think this will help ease her mind a great deal.

Well this is it for now, hopefully tomorrow I will be off to Fort Wayne.

Invitations

2008-11-10T22:48:00.005-05:00

So finally tonight Eric and I choose the invitations. The invitation is a fun destination invitation by Invitations by Dawn. Hopefully around Christmas we will order the invitations. Which means that we need to start getting the guest list finalized with addresses and such. Here is a the invitation we choose:

I also noticed that today Carnival charged my card for the Wedding Videography!! Yea, I am so happy we will have a video of our wedding. Well this week Mom and I are going to David's Bridal to try on wedding dresses. I can't put that off forever you know. I still haven't lost the weight that I wanted but at this point, I just need to learn to be happy with where I am at right now. Well hopefully soon we will have more updates.

I voted for Barack Obama!

2008-11-04T22:40:00.003-05:00

Today is one of those days where it just makes me want to blog! This day is so historic in so many ways for my generation and all others. For most people who know me I am an Obama supporter. I am pretty lucky due to my precinct being so small, I just get to walk in and walk out. No waiting at Mt Pleasant Precinct #53. I am also very proud of Eric because this was his 2ND time voting and his 1st Presidential Election. He enjoyed watching all the election coverage with me tonight before he went to work. I am so glad that I have found someone who has is just as interested in the news as I am. Today is also a day that I think of my old friend Kylie Hurst, she is the biggest news junkie I know of. I still call her my friend even though she supports John McCain. I can't wait to tell my kids that I voted in the most historical presidential election since George Washington. This is the first time that Indiana is a BATTLEGROUND state! Its 11 pm and we are going to be one of the few states who are going to decide this election. Little Ole' Indiana, this is so crazy. I think the weirdest thing is growing up and never seeing Presidential commercials until this year. They were constantly on the radio, TV and websites. This is the new age of campaigning with websites, text messaging, donating in great numbers and blogging; none of this existed
There are also so many people out there who just don't understand what the big deal and to me it makes me feel that these people don't understand what being American means and entails. Don't get me wrong I am not talking about just non voters because there are many non-voters out there who do care but just don't believe the system. Maybe this election will change their minds but only for a day because by the next day we will have all forgotten what just really happens.
One other thing, I hate the term "I hope America makes the right choice"! Does anyone see how dumb this statement is?? Or am I the dumb one who doesn't understand what it truly means. Just because I am an Obama supporter I am not going to go out there and say " I hope you made the right choice"! There is no right or wrong choice, the right choice is voting and the wrong choice is not voting!
This has to be the craziest, longest and most emotional election ever! And we just got word that MS NBC is calling the race, Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States!!!
God Speed!!

A few updates

2008-10-13T22:25:00.008-04:00

So its been a LONG summer. We have been so busy this summer with camping, cookouts and working. We are about to take our last camping trip for the year in our new travel trailer that we bought earlier this year. I miss the old pop up but there are a lot more pros to the travel trailer. Biggest Pro has to be the bathroom and the TV that came with. I know a TV! Well its really awesome when the weather is bad because we can watch the radar and we love watching movies outside! Its kind of sad to see that the camper will be put away next week.

We also have a lot to plan this month with the wedding. We need to finalize the guest list for the reception, narrow down the invitation choices to 3, reserve the reception site and pick out our rings. I know what you are thinking, "Didn't they already choose a reception site?" Well we did and soon after, Eric's Grandma told us she was going to come on the cruise for the wedding!! So we have decided to have a more casual, fun and intimate reception at a different location. Don't get me wrong, I love the The Garrison Conference Center! However it costs more than Eric and I wanted to spend. So we have chosen an Indianapolis Indians game on May 16, 2009. After we thought about it for a while, what do you really remember about someones reception. I also know a lot of people who have either been to a ton of weddings or getting ready to and nobody really remembers everything about your reception. In the end we are saving a lot of money with this new reception plan and with the economy the way it is, this is probably best.

So it seems like every two weeks we have some more new people going on the cruise with us. Which is awesome, we started with 11 and we are now up to 21!! Who would have thought? We sure didn't and we are so happy to have so many family members coming. OK well I am off, so I will update more later on as things start to get done.

Wedding Blog

2008-10-08T19:25:00.001-04:00

So Phil Marvin, Eric's dad, has started a wedding blog for everyong and I think that its great. This will be a really easy place for everyone to get on and we can coordinate everything for the trip. I can't wait, we are all going to have so much fun. I will blog later on this week with more details about what has changed with the wedding plans.

Here is the link to the wedding blog Eric's dad has created:
http://mandmweddingcruise.blogspot.com/

Wedding update

2008-06-22T22:19:00.001-04:00

So its been almost a month I think since I last posted, OK maybe almost two. Many things have happened since then. Marv and I have booked and paid for our cruise on April 18Th, 2009 Carnival Liberty. We have also chosen a reception site and put our deposit down. We choose The Garrison Conference Center at Fort Harrison. Just two weeks ago we paid for our ceremony which will be in a luxury Villa on St. Thomas.

Booking and paying for the cruise was very uneventful. Finding the reception site ended up being easier once we exhausted every option. We thought we were going to be stuck with the Cornerstone and the prom going on at the same time. However once I convinced Marv to check out The Garrison and Brown County, it was a no brainer. The Garrison is just awesome, one wall is nothing but glass doors and windows that lead out to a awesome balcony.

However booking the ceremony ended up being an event, not one that I couldn't handle but more than I had planned on. Marv and I had only discussed getting married on the boat the day it left port. So when I called to book and pay for it, they told me the only thing available was to get married on the island of St. Thomas. All of my insides just dropped, i didn't know what to think or do. I was calling from work and Marv was still asleep, so I couldn't just ask him and this was a big decision for us. So I said what the hell, lets go with it. Then I was asked to choose where on the island, an island I have never been to mind you. Once that was all set and done Marv called his parents to give them the news. After the phone call was over, Marv called me at work to let me know that Grandma might be going now!!! This may not seem such a big deal to you but this whole time Grandma has been very persistant that she will not fly after 9/11. So this is awesome, right???

Well not exactly, now that Grandma might go we may not have a reception and just save the money instead. Both of our families are huge and that means a big tab for something that is so simple. Well that is all I got this time, time for bed. Hopefully my next blog will be sooner rather than later.

CRUISE DATES

2008-04-29T17:32:00.001-04:00

GUESS WHAT!!!!! Cruise dates have finally come out and now we can actually pick a date. I am just so excited to pick a date but then at the same time extremely nervous. This wedding and reception is going to cost a ton!! We are going to do this our way and thats what makes things so much better. I want to have fun and I want it to be memorable too. We have decided to get married on a cruise ship and right now we are trying to decide between Carnival and Royal Caribbean. Royal is more expensive at this point but we both like their cruises better and their wedding packages seem nicer. However I still need to call Carnival to get more information. But we could save a ton of money on the trip with them. We are also wanting to have a fun and nice reception. Some how we want to make it tropical and seem like a mini vaca for all our family and friends. I have come up with some ideas but not sure how its going to look to every one else. We are waiting for the contract to come in from The Garrison Conference Center in Indianapolis next to Fort Harrison. Ok well soon there shall be more details!!!

My First Blog

2008-04-23T21:51:00.001-04:00

So I have noticed that several of my friends have started blogs. I have always kept a journal but this seems like more fun and much easier on the hands.

So lately I have been stressing about not having a wedding date picked out. Eric and I really want to get married on a cruise ship. It will be fun, laid back and it will save us some money in the long run. I just want the date set so that I can actually start planning.

I just can't wait to start a whole new chapter in our lives. Its been such a long road but at the same time its has seemed so short. I think we all forget how short life really is and most of us take it for granted way too often. For the most part I feel like Eric and I have taken great advantage of the time we have spent together. I enjoy knowing that we still have a growing relationship and that we constantly work to strive for a better life together. Life is so grand right now! :)