Busy, Busy Weeks Ahead

So this week & next are going to be very busy weeks here.  This week was Savannah's appointment down by Chicago, IL with the Shriner's.  Just her annual, but lots of stuff that is going to be happening in the future.  We will have to bring her back down next summer so that they can do a 3D scan of her head so that they can see how she is developing.  After that we will need to have her get started on braces, which of course will be cheap and fun!  NOT!  I know that it is for the good, but man, I am not looking forward to that.   After she has her braces on then in the near future to that we can look forward to at least 1 more surgery.
Also this two weeks I am helping my sister Sandi prep for a upcoming craft fair & stamp camp.  I am really excited for these things.  Who wouldn't be?  This means that most of our spare time will be tied up into making paper/stamp crafts.  Yesterday, I made almost 50 gift tags!  They are very cute if I do say so myself.
I may even post a few pics of them later.
We are also going through a lot of medical issues with my husbands family.  Father in law has been recuperating from hernia surgery for the past 3 months in a nursing home.  It seems like every time they say that he is improving, something else comes up.  Two days ago he was given a tentative release date of 11/5, but now he has had a setback, so who knows.  Oldest brother in law is also experiencing medical issues.  Can't really go into that though.  Then found out yesterday that my sister in law has to go in for surgery also as they found to large tumors in her uterus.  It just seems like it is raining bad news, but I will put it all in God's hands & know that whatever happens is his will.
On to more exciting news...my sister just got a job by me!  I am so excited to have her start.  We are treated very well where I work, great wage, benefits, & appreciation.  Not to say that there are not some negatives, but hey, it's work, not vacation, right!

Well, have to get ready for some shopping, so thanks for stopping by.  Please feel free to leave a comment!

Liz

Long time no Blog

So officially it has been 11 months since my last blog.  So sorry about that.  I could blame it on a busy busy life, but I am not going to do that.  Although, I do have to say that a lot has happened in that time.
I am now a parent to a teenager!  Yeesh, where does the time go?  It is hard to believe but she is in her last year of middle school too!
We have also added to our family.  We have gotten another dog, although he is still in his puppy year.  He is now 7 months old.  His name is Duke and he is a Border Collie/Lab mix, although if you ask me he looks like a hound dog.

Duke keeping me company.

Duke and Nelly taking a nap after playing hard!

He is growing bigger by the day, but he is such a mellow man.  He and Nelly like to play, so that is great also.  The only time it of course is not is when I am trying to sleep at 5 am.  We currently co-kennel them at night, but during the day, they each have their own space.  That is one thing that I worried about when we got Duke was that they wouldn't like each other, but no worries there.  They are great pals.

New washer and Dryer

New vanit 

What else has been going on in the past year?  Well, we had our first (and hopefully only) home claim.  We had one of our toilets overflow for 6 hours while we were gone one day.  Thank the Lord that it was clean water because I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if it was gray water.  The bathroom was a total loss.  We even needed to tear out the hall floor.  We have a continuous flooring from the hall to the kitchen/livingroom area, so guess what also needed to be replace?  You guessed it!  The flooring!  We ended up needing to redo the whole bathroom.  Bright side to it though was that we got a new washer/dryer set.  I let Chad pick it though since he predominately does the laundry.  My only specification was that there be a steam/wrinkle release option on the dryer.

Hall with flooring torn out

Bathroom after flooring was torn out

 Most of the damage was in the bathroom, but boy, you should have seen all the water in the basement!  We had so many industrial fans it was ridiculous! I want to say there were probably 7-8 going for a few days.  We were so happy to with how our insurance company handled it.  Very prompt it getting someone out here to handle it for us.  You hear these horror stories & never really know what to expect until it happens.  Not that I didn't have faith in the company, because if that was the case we wouldn't have been with them for over 12 years.

Anyway, other than that not much exciting happening in my life.  Just average day to day things like most of you probably experience too!  I think that I will get going, but I am going to try to make it a point to blog more often in the future.  Hope to see you soon!  Drop me a line if you would like, comments are appreciated!

   

Happy Thanksgiving Eve's Eve!

Well it is 2 days before Thanksgiving and I am getting so excited!   We are hosting again this year and will have about 30 people here if not more.  I say the more the merrier!  This is what the holiday's are for, having family around and counting your blessings.  I have many blessings in my life.  Of course my loving family - especially my husband, whom I thank God for.  He is such a handy guy and can fix most anything!  There are also my 2 great kids and loads of family.
I also have a great job that I am thankful for.  I know that there are people out there who have been looking for employment for a long time, so having a job in the first place is a great thing.  Not only that but it has great pay, great benefits and the company appreciates it's employees.

The things we do...

Well tonight is my mother's husband's daughter's wedding, to which I am going to. Actually I am going to the reception, which is about 1 hour away. I figure it can be an olive branch between the 2 families. Far be it for me to be the one who makes my mom feel that she isn't any longer part of our family since she divorced my dad. But I digress! So, I am touching up my hair color (Aqua Rush by Splat) and deciding what I am going to wear. I don't have many dressy dressy clothes, but I do have a lot of business, business casual clothes. So I have to decide if I want to wear something I wear to work, what I wore to my mom's wedding, or a combo of both. Decisions, decisions.
Anyway...Polka days started on Thursday here in my town. Pulaski Polka Days...maybe you have heard of it? Well, it is the big to do here in my little town. I was up on Friday to take a walk and they were playing Polka at 5:45am. Gaak! At least I had some music to listen to, lol! So it runs from Thursday to Sunday usually towards the end on July. I have never been to it in the 15 years I have lived here. I have always lived pretty close, so if I want to listen I can just step outside.

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Hope this day is a safe, fun-filled, celebratory day for everyone. We are having Chad's family over today & then later tonight probably going to my sister's house. I have tomorrow off too, so no worries about having to go to bed at a reasonable time.

So I have been struggling with this weightloss. I gained back 1.3 lbs, but then again we did go camping & wasn't really watching what I was eating, plus, camping isn't really known for its good for you food. I guess I will just have to pick up on the walking to combat what I ate. I know that I can do this!

4 Down Many More To Go

So I have lost 4 lbs so far and only in 3 weeks! I think that is a good pace. I am doing little things like drinking more water, taking walks and subbing healthier options for meals. I am sure that if it were financially feasible I could make alot more changes in the diet department, but as it isn't I will take what steps I can.

I have found a new program to listen to on my walks. It is called Zombies! Run!. It intersperses your music with a story that you take part in. You are being chased by zombies while trying to bring supplies to a small town. I really recommend this, Savannah sure likes it.
I have gotten hooked on Pinterest. Anyone else try this site? Many, many, many different things to look at & pin to your board. There are so many things that I want to try, but boy I will have to make the time if I want to get it all done.

Summer school is underway for the kids. So far they are liking it. They have a total of 6 weeks, but it is broken up, so not as to have 6 straight weeks then nothing. Savannah started off with a babysitting class and boy are we glad that she is almost old enough to watch her brother. One less thing to have to worry about. No more daycare fees, hallelujah!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

So it is the start of a new summer and here I am again!  I sure need to start blogging more.  What is new in my life since the last time I posted?  Well we now have a new addition to the family.  Her name is Nelly and she is a Blue Heeler/Siberian Husky mix.

This is Nelly.

She is now 4 months old and we have had her for the last 2 months.  She is so smart, but there are some things that she is still working on, but I know that she will master everything that we put in front of her. 

I also am no longer a manager at McDonald's.  I like to think that I have upgraded in that area.  I now work for an insurance company as a customer service rep.  The pay is much much better, the hours are more consistent, I only have to work every 3rd Saturday instead of getting only 1 weekend off a month, and the benefits a super.  The only downside of it is that I have further to drive.  But I guess that there has to be some type of give right?!

The kids are going to be starting the next grade, Savannah is starting 7th and Connor is in 4th.  Where does the time go I ask you?  My husband Chad says "The older you get the faster it goes!"   I don't want to hear this because this means I am getting older!  Savannah just finished her babysitting class, so when she is 12 we may let her start to babysit, although this is hard because it is difficult to think of her as old enough for this.  One good thing about them getting older is that pretty soon we won't need to use daycare anymore!  I like everyone there, but definitely do not like to pay for it.

I have started my diet again.  I am trying to think of it as a change in lifestyle, but it is hard to get exercise in.  I have been taking more walks, watching what I eat and trying to get in my daily water.  Making little changes is starting to pay off.  I have lost 3 lbs in the last 2 weeks.  Hopefully now that it is summer I will get more active with all of the great weather.  Only time will tell.  

Well, here is to a great start of the summer.  Wish you all well!