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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Love and Healing

As I have mentioned before this past year was full of tough days, and days that were only completed because of God’s strength.  When you go through these times it affects people around you, and while it is easy to hide it from most people you can’t hide it from the one person you are living with. 

Jerry went through these days, weeks and months with me, and there are days I am sure we both thought we wouldn’t survive.  If we weren’t Christians and didn’t make a commitment for life we honestly probably wouldn’t have survived.  I own so much of this heart ache and pain, but since neither of us are perfect we both made mistakes.

Why am I telling you this?  It’s because for so long growing up in the church all you see is what people want you to see.  There is never real talk about the days you have to fight for your marriage and to hold on to your best friend.  I have said this before, but I want this blog to be a real honest look at my/our life and that includes both the awesome fun times and the struggles that come along.  Marriage is GREAT, but it is also hard work that requires time and energy.

Jerry and I have been rebuilding our marriage and working hard at being friends and appreciating each other.  Recently we went to the Real Marriage Tour that featured Mark Driscoll, and it was awesome!

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Through this two day conference we both walked away with things that we need to work on, and the biggest is knowing that we are on the same team.  At the end of the day that is what is most important.  We have had good conversations, and I am really looking forward to this next chapter in our life.  I do know that I am married to the right man, and that I would really rather walk through this life with him than any one else!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Randomness

We are going spelunking or something…

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Jerry got his new GoPro, and is so excited to use it this weekend when we go on our off roading adventure.  I was testing it out the head band, and I got him to agree to let me wear it in Mammoth this year!  Yes!

And….you really need to get the app below:photo2

Once you have this app set up all you need to do is bump your phone to another iPhone user with this app and it transfers your contact info, pictures and more.  The picture above Jerry “Bumped” to me, and it was easier than messaging or emailing a picture.  So, do yourself a favor and get this app!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Caution construction ahead

In other news, Jerry has agreed to let me learn how to use an electric saw aka a mitar saw.
This is me right after he agreed:
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I know you are wondering about the evil glint in my eye, but in reality it is an excited “OMG, think of all the things I can make when we finally own the saw!” look.  You are probably as shocked as I am that Jerry agreed to show me how to use a mitar saw, but if this current career ever tanks I need something to fall back on.  So, it was decided wood working would be the way to go.
Also, no good carpenter is without a tool belt and fancy shmancy gloves.  Jerry is pinching his pennies to buy me that tool belt, but he rewarded my good behavior at Home Depot with those pretty teal gloves.  That’s right people I stayed at home depot this past Sunday for 2.5 hours and didn’t complain the entire time we were there.
The real reason we were there was to price out four projects we hope to complete in the next year or seven: 
1.Redo our shower because currently it is leaking like Niagara Falls.  So, we need to take the entire shower and tub out to replace the valve.  Then we get a new shower / tub and all new faucets.  Yay!
2. We want to expand our closet so we can both fit our clothes in it instead of just my stuff.  So, that means moving two walls, and redoing the way it is set-up inside of it.
3. We are going to build a TV stand from unfinished kitchen cabinets.  The reason for this is because Jerry wants it a specific way and we are having a hard time finding it and finding it for cheap.  I am most excited for this project!
4. We are going to build a new wine rack / pantry / cabinet in our family room and get rid of the pantry we currently have.  It’s bulky, blocks the window and is falling apart.
Yay for new projects, but boo it is going to take so long to complete them!  I am sure there will be plenty of hilarious and ridiculous stories for us to share along the way, so buckle up kids because it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

More wine you say?

This past Sunday Jerry told me that I needed to start drinking more wine, and I said Challenge Accepted!
Okay, okay, let’s back up…I found this bottle below at Target and my heart went a flutter because of all the beautiful things I can do with it.
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Can’t tell which beautiful bottle I am talking about?  Oh, I am sorry here is a better picture.
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I am going to frost the bottles with some nifty frost spray paint, and then we are either going to fill them up with Christmas lights or use them as vases.  The paint part will start soon, but then we (and by we I mean Jerry) need to figure a way to cut a hole so that Christmas lights can fit inside the bottle.  AND we need to figure this out without cracking all the bottles or I could just drink more wine.  Done and Done!
So if you know how to cut glass well, please let us know because we are at a loss.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The post in which I am suppose to get sappy…re: Valentine’s Day

Or not.  I don’t do sappy really, and since this Valentine’s day was spread across three days it’s hard to get to that point of sap.  Plus if things were headed in the sappy direction Jerry would make some joke about farts, sex or something else inappropriate because that’s what you do in marriage.  Or ours at least.

So here is the ridiculously quick run down.

1. Monday I was in a bad mood (credit goes to PMS and work) and Jerry decided it would be best to bust out the VDay gift early.  I got a card, (awww) chocolates, (did you know those lame people snuck two coconut chocolates in the box!  that is everyone’s least favorite piece.) and he is getting me the Nike+ FuelBand.

2. Like mature adults we decided that we would spend VDay pouring into the precious lives of teenagers.  Because we are just that awesome!  BUT Jerry got us Nothing Bundt Cakes (don’t be so impressed he has been craving them and was looking at a friends car in the parking lot that happened to also contain the store.  Coincidence? I think not!)!!  So we devoured those when we got home.

3. On Wednesday we went out to dinner to celebrate and went to the Barrel Room.  The food was pretty good, the wine was great and the dessert was awesome!  Seriously bananas + pastry dough + cinnamon sugar = the best thing ever! 

So there you have it, our VDay celebration at it’s best.  What did you do?  The ol’ flowers and candy routine, dinner or something awesome? 

P.S. Next year a hot air balloon ride around VDay is an absolute must.  They are always floating on my way home, but they were in full force on VDay and as usual it look like one of the best experiences ever.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Thing 2’s artwork

Last Friday Thing 2 stole my iPad and started drawing these lovely pictures.  Yes, you are correct he made them as obnoxious as possible.  Enjoy.

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Apparently I am the new white Whoopi Goldberg.  Although this is better than how it started.  Before I looked like the picture below, but I guess he got confused for a second?

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Monday, February 13, 2012

The day I almost stole from Target

I played hooky from work on Friday, and by play hooky I mean requested the day off so I could do mindless things or lose my mind.  Same thing either way you look at it.

I went and had a hour and a half massage, and it’s true what they say about deep tissue massages; they don’t feel good until a couple of days later.  Then I had to cut Thing 1 and Thing 2’s hair.  No big deal, except we are never quite sure if Thing 1 will look good when I am done. (FYI, he did this time) 

Then the fam and I ran errands, all of us minus my mother because she had some where to go.  If you want to be entertained you should run errands with us because there is never a dull moment.  Especially when Thing 2 will do anything to ride shotgun.  I am convinced that man makes the rules up as we go.  The new rule is blitz, an effort to steal shotgun from the person who called shotgun.  (The way a person steals is by calling blitz and beating the previous person to the car.) Thing 2 attempted to use this against my father but he forgot my dad is faster than him, but the footrace was hysterical. 

Are you still reading?  You are? Crap, here is the story you have been waiting for.  Our next stop was Target, which if it were a man and I weren’t married I’d probably marry it.  We walk by the card section and I realized I never picked up a card for Jerry for Valentine’s day, which is tomorrow in case you didn’t know.  As usual I got distracted and lost and distracted again.  It’s so easy in this store! 

I found my family 4 hours later and we were joking around making our way to the check out.  Still laughing and joking and walked out the store.  Once out of the store I realized that I still had the card in my hand and never paid for it.  To which I exclaimed “I never paid for this!”  So, I ran back inside and paid for that little card, lest I become a thief and break one of the ten commandments.

Best part of the whole thing…I stole right in front of the Target Security guard.  That’s right peeps, I am so sly the man didn’t even notice.  Or he was checking out my butt.  I say win-win for everyone!      

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

When I grow up I want to be….a housewife?

I figured out what I want do for the majority of my life, or more accurately I stopped denying it.  I think that was what last Monday’s post was all about.  I have been given a heart to stay home and take care of my family; make sure dinner is cooked, the dishes are done and everyone has clean socks. 

I think I have been afraid to admit this because as a woman people think you are crazy if this is your life’s dream.  They remind you about all the hard work women in the past have put in to get us here, and then say that we have so far to go against the glass ceiling.  But, that isn’t my passion and I don’t share the same drive to fight that fight for the next 40 years.  Instead, I want to fight to make my husband happy at the end of the day and make sure my kids have a parent at every sporting, dance or art event they are in.

Some of you might think that I am asking for a life of being a servant to Jerry, and in a way you are right but in reality you are very wrong.  You see my husband is the kindest most servant oriented person I know.  He always jumps in and helps, and a life with him would never be a life of indentured servitude (Check out not one but two SAT words!).  Instead it would be me taking care of him, so at the end of a crazy day where people yell at him he is excited to go home.

Does this mean life will be perfect? Ha!  Have you met my dog Rusty?  Or have you ever heard my sassy mouth?  Life won’t be perfect, but if we are both doing something we love it’s one less thing to add stress to our lives. And that, that is what is most important.

Anywho, the whole reason this all was written was because last night Jerry said I had achieved housewife of the year status…aaand the world stopped turning for a moment.  This is why he stated that unbelievable statement:

I am the worst grocery shopper.  Seriously it’s the last thing I want to do at night or on my day off.  It takes a long time, I have to be around weird people and I often freeze in the stores.  Anyyyways, Monday night I remembered that we again didn’t have anything for lunch the next day and I knew Jerry wasn’t going to want to eat a PBJ a third workday in a row.

So I rushed home from bible study at 9pm and decided I was going to make us both dinner.  I decided to make chicken and pasta, but the only problem is that they chicken was frozen.  That means running hot water over it for 5 min, and waiting for the water to boiled.  FYI, the saying a watched pot never boils…totally true and I was watching two pots.

While I was waiting for the water to boil, and then my partially frozen chicken to cook I did the dishes!  Who says you can’t multi-task?  Did I mention I got this all done in 45 min. Hey-oo!

Then yesterday after work I made blueberry muffins for breakfast today and then dinner in a hour; all before Jerry got home.  So, take that Good Housekeeping I AM the house wife of the year!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Let's play tag, shall we?

This past weekend I went to winter camp with the high school group at our church, and it was a good time with a small amount of sleep.

The real story, though, happened before I even left for camp.  I rushed home because I still needed to pack and I knew I was only going to have about 45 min to get everything done.  Miracles of miracles I was ahead of schedule and got the car packed up before the other leaders I was riding up with arrived at my house.

I was reading and waiting to hit the road when all of a sudden I noticed Rusty was really quite and no where to be found.  If you can't hear that dog or he isn't standing right next to you, he is in trouble.  I rushed down stairs and see him on the couch munching on something.  He looks at me, immediately stops and looks at as if to say "Don't mind me I am doing nothing, oh crap I haven't fooled her!"  Then he runs off.

If you have never been in my house, our downstairs level is a giant circle with the stairs in the middle.  So I proceeded to chase the dog around the circle, stop go the other way almost catch him and then chase him again.  This goes on for a few minutes and Izzy decides she needs to jump in the action and actually helps me corral him.

At this point life moves in slow motion.  I finally grab him and as I am trying to wrestle a sock of out his mouth my glasses fall down onto the floor and I crush them with my itty bitty size 6 foot.  It is much to late to worry about those so I wrestle the sock completely out of his mouth only to find it has been pepper with holes.

I pick up my glasses and they are completely flat (so flat they could have been used a double monocle (dinocle?)), but the lenses are still good!  So I try to "fix" them so I can at least wear them when I don't have my contacts in.  I got them almost back to normal...the right side still flops around and when I wear them they are crooked.  Ah well they still work, I guess that means I need to go get a new pair.  Aww sucks!

P.S.  This is exactly one of the reasons I need to get lasik!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

A little story for you


Once upon a time, this puppy

Became this ridiculously large dog
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That learned how to propel himself over our 8ft backyard fence.  The end.
Seriously if this dog isn’t training for future children I don’t know what is!  He stood up on his hind legs, put his front paws on the top and pulled himself up and over the fence chasing after an imagined rat.  Jerry watched this whole thing happened ran in and screamed “The dog went over the fence!”  So now we have to guard said fence with our lives so he doesn’t attempt this again. 

One day he’ll probably learn to jump and bounce off my shoulders onto the roof.  I’ll keep you posted.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

iiiittt's done!!!

My sign is complete and is already hanging up in all it's glory!  You can find parts 1 here and 2 here.

We had to touch of some of the letters after car brakes were put on the sign, but all is well that ends well.  So after the touch ups Jerry drilled holes into the top, and then we used wire wrapped in pretty brown something or other.  I would tell you exactly what it is but we threw away the packaging before I took a picture and I can't find it on the Michael's website.




Then Jerry hung it outside on a nail that was already present.  See this sign was meant to be!



Isn't she a beauty!  Now you literally know what the inside of my house is going to look like before you walk in.  I have teal every where and the walls are practically painted the same color inside and out.  Yay!  One craft complete 17 more to go.