Archive for the ‘Me’ Category

While looking for a Sunday Meme to do.. I ended up coming across Straight Out Of the Camera from Murrieta 365.  It’s actually quite fun because it’s another picture meme where you can show off what pictures you (or in my case this week… the kids) have taken.  The only thing is you can’t do any tweaking or altering, but that’s ok with me as I don’t really know how to do that anyways.  ~wink~

The first photo of Katie & I was taken by Kevin (my six year old) he then took off with my camera and snapped a few more shots before I was able to get it back where I let Katie (my four year old) take a picture of Kevin & I.   I hope you enjoy!

I hate to say it, but I think it’s time to start looking for a new digital camera for us.  I’m so bummed too as I honestly liked feel of our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H3, but last year when we were in Alabama it got introduced to what beach sand is.  I had it sitting on our blanket, but the kids decided to “play” with the blanket as I was looking for shells and needless to say it was half buried in the sand.

Since then it still worked, but sometimes when you would start it you could hear it grind a little which would give me the chills and sometimes it would be a little hard to push the button 1/2 way down to focus.  Other than that it was still taking great pictures and video.   It actually still does except now for one thing.  There is one spot on the lens that looks as if I have a smudge/fingerprint or something there.  I’ve wiped the lens to get rid of it, but it’s still there so I’m assuming it’s on the inside?

 Here is an example… I hope the picture is big enough for you to see it.  See how Katie’s face is just a blur?

I’ve looked at Best Buy already along with browsing through the cameras at like Meijer, Wal-mart.. etc.  But I just don’t see anything I like, let alone love.  I really don’t care for the credit card size cameras, so that takes away most of them.  I don’t think I would want a huge camera like a cannon rebel.  While I would love one to get the great pictures, I would rather have something that I could put in my purse so if we are out and about and I want to snap a picture I have it. 

I know most of you are thinking why not get a phone that has a camera on it.  While I suppose I could, I really don’t know as if I feel like spending the $150 on a new phone when my phone works perfectly.  (I use it just for a phone.. no texting, no internet.. a phone)   Plus I still would have to buy a new camera anyways so it would end up costing me more in the long run.

So now I am back on the hunt for a camera.  It just makes me sick a lot of our vacation shots have the blur in them.  It’s hard enough getting that perfect shot let alone having to do it with the blur not being in a spot that will take away from the picture.   Why oh why did they have to change the cyber-shot to where there isn’t much of a grip on the right side.  (That’s the one reason why we bought that one)  They do have one with a good grip, but the camera is quit a bit bigger, but maybe I still will have to go that route.

So it looks like on Paul’s days off coming up we will be hitting Best Buy once again since I guess the new 2010 cameras are coming in, along with the other camera shops and maybe we will hit the office supplies stores as well since they do sell camera’s too!  (That’s actually where we either bought our first one or the one that Paul takes out hunting with him)   I just hope we can find something we really like!  So wish us luck!

It’s hard to believe that 9 years ago I was getting my hair all done while having butterflies in my stomach. In 2 hrs I would be walking down an aisle with my Dad and would soon be Paul’s wife.

I was not really nervous for marrying Paul as I knew he was the guy.. I was just nervous to have to talk in front of all these people as I hate speaking in public and would I be able to hold everything together since the night before at rehearsal didn’t go as planned.  I was an emotional wreck of course I still think most of it was due to my Dad being sick and wasn’t able to be there.  I’m such a Daddy’s girl it was killing me. He ended up feeling a little better the next day and was able to walk me down the aisle, but sucked on a lot of cough drops to keep him from coughing. (What a trooper)

Our reception was right at the church. I picked that location just because living in Michigan you never know what March weather might contain. We could either have no snow and in the 40′s OR we could have a huge blizzard. In case there was a blizzard I didn’t want for my guest to have to drive somewhere else in that bad weather if they didn’t have to.

The only oops at the reception, which I didn’t know about until later, was one of the cloth napkins by the food ended up starting on fire, but thankfully the caterer’s caught it right away. Wouldn’t that of been something to of had the Church caught on fire. I would of felt AWFUL!

So what’s has changed in the last 9 yrs for us? We bought a house and are now living in Hudsonville, MI. (Which isn’t new for Paul as we only moved 1/2 mile from his parents house) We went from both working to now Paul being the only one working outside the house as I’m a stay at home mom to 2 wonderful, yet busy, kids. I swear this job is the hardest one I’ve ever had. Kevin is in Kindergarten and Katie is in the 3 yr old preschool program so I can have 5 hrs a week to myself! 

Now I sit back and wonder… how different will my life be another  9 years from now?!?   Kevin will be a freshman in high school (Yikes) and Katie will be in junior high (double yikes)!    I think I better start doing what everyone says to do.. sit back and enjoy the time with the kids when they are little like this because they grow up fast!

Anyways…  Here are a couple pictures of our wedding day.  I hope you enjoy!

Paul and I at the reception.

This is our wedding cake and yes.. that is a Buck & Doe as our cake topper. (We both were deer hunters at the time.. since having kids my deer hunting has come to a stop for now)

 Finally.. I thought I would share with you the song we played when we lit our unity candle.

I wish I knew for sure what kind of skin issues I have on my legs.  For the past 9 years I’ve had these sores on my legs.  I’ve gone to a few dermatologists and they have told me that it’s just a bad case of eczema and there were times I was thinking the dermatologists didn’t know what they were talking about because I started doing an eczema treatment by standing in what looked like a tanning booth to have a certain ultraviolet ray hit them as it was suppose to help.   I never really noticed a difference so I quit going.

I have noticed that slowly but surely they seem to finally be looking a little better.. that’s only if I keep caking on Vaseline.  When I do that, it keeps it moisturized the best and then it doesn’t itch as much so I don’t seem to scratch it so they can finally heal.  Plus I think a lot also has to do with last spring we ended up getting rid of a major allergen that was in our house.  (The pellet stove)  I’m allergic to pine and even though we bought HARDWOOD pellets, they did put pine in them as well so I kept breaking out.   I’m so glad we put the 2 & 2 together and ended up getting rid of it as maybe, just maybe in a year or two I will once again be able to wear shorts in public again!

So if you have a bad case of eczema like I do, try using Vaseline and see if that helps.  Hopefully you will notice a difference and if not, at least you wouldn’t be out that much money.

All I can say is our Thanksgiving of 2009 was so not what we expected.  Usually my extended family will meet over at my aunts house for a potluck dinner.  I always bring the snicker salad and this year I also was going to make some meatballs.  Unfortunately due to the illness in our house earlier in the week I had decided we wouldn’t be attending the Thanksgiving dinner just in case we were still contagious even though I didn’t think we were, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

So for our small Thanksgiving meal here at home we decided we would have Venison wraps, snicker salad (hey.. I had the stuff to make it, I might as well right?) Sweet potatoes, corn and apple pie for dessert.  Things were going great… Paul made up the venison wraps while the kids & I organized the living room as we would be putting our Christmas tree up later that night.  Since it was getting closer to lunch time Paul thought he would start grilling the wraps and outside he went.  Then not that long afterwards he came back inside with excruciating pain.  He kept saying something wasn’t right and had a sharp pain on his left side.   At that point he was knealing by the couch, but before long he was on the floor moaning really loud. 

I asked if I should be taking him to the ER (I know he has a low pain tollerance so I wasn’t quite sure how bad it truly was) and he said not yet.  Well, a few minutes later he told me to call someone to come here so they could watch the kids.  I knew my parents would be over at my aunts house (10 minutes away) so I called them to see if my Dad could come over and watch the kids so I could take Paul in. 

My Dad hurried over and Paul and I jumped in our car and off we went.  Thankfully the hospital is only 10-15 minutes away from our house and when we arrived Paul walked to the ER door, but as we were at the window signing in he ended up falling to the floor in pain where the receptionist started hitting the button under her desk to get a nurse out there ASAP.   We (the nurse and I)  got him in a wheel chair and off we went to the ER room and as soon as we got in the room, the ER doctor walked in and told the nurse he would put the IV in if she would go get the pain meds.   

The pain meds weren’t working fast enough for Paul and he was still moaning when they wheeled him away to get a cat scan to verify what they were thinking (as we were) that he was dealing with Kidney stones.   As I sat in the little room I realized one thing I should of done before my Dad came over was put the book I was reading in the car.  It would of been a perfect time to get caught up on my reading.  ~wink~    I lucked out though as there were some  magazines in the hall so I grabbed the AARP and really, it wasn’t as bad as what I thought it was going to be.

Before long Paul was wheeled back and I could tell the pain meds had kicked in as he looked so relaxed as if he could fall asleep.  What a difference 5-10 minutes could make!  Needless to say we sat around waiting for the results and when they came back we found out that yes he did have a 2mm size kidney stone that was about to drop in his bladder.   Since he had to urinate before we could leave (they wanted to make sure he didn’t also have an infection) we were stuck there for awhile yet. 

We finally we able to leave and were given 3 different prescriptions that we needed to get filled.  Of course with it being a holiday we had no clue what would be open so the nurse looked it up on their list and supposedly the Meijer pharmacy by our house was suppose to be open until 6pm, which gave me time to drop off Paul, go inside to Thank my Dad for watching the kids and then head out with 1-2 hours to spare!  So that’s what I did and after I found a nice close parking spot and started walking towards the store I could see that the pharmacy looked quite dark and when I got to the door there was a sign saying they were open, but until 2pm.. not 6pm!  So I went across the street to Wal-greens to find out their pharmacy was also closed, but there was one about 20 minutes away that was open, so off I went.  You could tell they were probably the only pharmacy open in town as they were quite busy and I didn’t end up getting home until 6pm, but after we ate and before Paul decided to hit the hay I did talk him into bringing our Christmas tree up from downstairs and the kids & I spent the night decorating it! 

As you can see, it was quite a crazy day for me (along with the days & week before) so needless to say you will now understand why I might end up talking about how excited I am for this upcoming Saturday when I get to go to Birch Run with a couple friends and will even be spending the night!   Let alone when it gets closer to my Las Vegas & orlando vacations!!   Needless to say I can’t wait for next year as I have a feeling at least the beginning of it will be the year of travel for me!

Where or where does the time go?  Here I thought with the kids both in school and me getting a whole 5 hours a week to myself that I would be able to get some extra stuff done.   HA!  What was I thinking?  I guess I do get some extra stuff done, but not as much as I was hoping for. 

I did get to go grocery shopping by myself today and let me say it was heavenly!  I didn’t have to worry about chasing Katie around the whole store.  If anything it’s well worth the $68 a month for her to be in preschool so I can get that alone done.  ~wink~

Of course I suppose I should be finishing my dishes instead of blogging, but since Katie is actually quiet and I can sit and think I thought now would be the best time to blog because once Paul gets home I’m sure the fighting will start and then I won’t be able to enjoy this quiet time anymore.

So what have we done this week?  Kevin had his Karate Monday night where he ended up having 2 sparring matches!  He lost the first match, but I was still proud of him because every time he has a match he has been improving.  Then the 2nd match was against the same person, but they did it free style where they don’t stop or keep score.   It was actually really nice because the kids were able to just go at it so we could actually see what they have learned since it wasn’t a constant stop and go. 

Tuesday Kevin and Katie had school, but Katie ended up staying home due to she didn’t sleep great the night before due to a cold and since she was still sleeping when it would of been time for us to leave for school I said forget it and she stayed home with Paul while I still headed to school as I was going to be going on a field trip with Kevin to Robinette’s Apple Orchard!  We had a great time there, but it was a little on the cold side.  When the sun was out and there was no wind, it felt great.  But as soon as the wind kicked up and the sun wasn’t out or we were in the shade it was quite cold and the kids were shivering.  By the time I got back from the field trip, I had to go pick up Katie at my parents.  I found out she slept until 10am when Paul called them to see if they could come pick her up and spend a few hours at their house so he could get a little more sleep, plus he had some errands to do.   I went over there and Katie was acting her normal self.   She could of went to school, but I know she needed that sleep.  Especially since she slept in till 10am!  She NEVER does that!

Yesterday Paul had a dentist appointment and then we were suppose to go to the movies to see Night of the Museum II, but he found out that one of his teeth was broken so he had to go back at 2pm to have it fixed.  So the movie ended up going out the window. :(  Oh well.. guess we will just have to rent it when it comes out now.  So I just did the normal.. played with the kids, cleaned, tried a new recipe (you can read about it next Tuesday for Tried and True Tuesday) and then had found out Paul didn’t change the filter on the furnace so I got to change that too.  All I can say is good thing Meijers had their air filters on sale awhile back and we stocked up on them.  That way I didn’t have to take the kids out to go get one.  Of course I suppose I could of just picked one up today.  One more day wouldn’t of hurt right?!?

In 45-50 minutes Kevin will be coming home from school!  Then we can quick work on his homework, make some supper and then he has Karate tonight at 7pm.  I’m hoping we can get some practice in before we go as we haven’t practice yet since class on Monday.  Oops!

Tomorrow Kevin has school (it’s his 3 day week) and I think Katie & I will be heading out shopping for new gym shoes for her.  I had just bought her new ones last spring and of course she didn’t wear them during the summer as she wore her crocs everywhere she went and now they are feeling a little snug on her.  *sigh*   I suppose that’s what happens with little kids… they outgrow their shoes before they can wear them out.  (At least if they are more of a seasonal shoe)

Well, I better sign off as Paul just got home from picking his deer meat and is now out mowing the grass.  It’s amazing how guilty I end up feeling when he’s home and I’m on the computer.  Bummer thing is he has the next 6 weeks off of work!  Hopefully he will be out hunting quite a bit or I just might never get back on here!  ~wink~

I hope you are having a great week and thanks so much for stopping by!

Has it seriously been a week since I updated my blog?  Shame on me!!  Now I have to think about what we did this past week.  Monday the kids and I went to the library to pick out some new books andmovies.  I had a friend recommendthe Left Behind series written by Tim LaHaye so I checked out book number one.  Looking at it I thought do I really want to read this?  I’m not much of a book reader and this book was quick thick.   That afternoon the kids & I were reading our own books and let me say, this book sucked me in on the first page.  I ended up staying up till 3:30am reading!  Needless to say the next morning I was quite tired.  I did end up finishing the book just this afternoon and will be starting on the 2nd book tonight.

Tuesday night my friend’s daughter called (she is Katie’s age) and wondered if we wanted to come over and play.  So the kids & I quick picked up the living room and off we went.  (I knew we would be getting home late and wanted to make sure everything was picked up so they could go straight to bed)  Like usual we had a fun time over there.  Katie & O (that’s what I’ll call her) played in their swimming pool while Kevin had fun playing with their train set and I had fun being able to have adult conversation!   It’s just nice to be able to have fun/relaxing nights like that.

Wednesday, Paul andI ended up taking the kids to the Grand Rapids Public Museum.  That was the first time we took the kids there and we all had a good time.  Of course Daddy takes a little to long looking at stuff (he thinks he needs to read EVERYTHING) so the kids & I went ahead and I just had fun pointing out things and seeing their minds at work.  The fun part of the day was all of us being able to ride their carousal.   Paul didn’t dare get on it thinking he might brake something, but as soon as I got on he knew it would be ok.  It was cute.. Kevin & I took some horses in front of Paul andKatie so I turned around and there was Paul and Katie holding hands the whole time.  Talk about priceless!  I’ll have to download the pictures so I can show you!  The other fun thing was we had stopped in the printing store (they have a street of what it looked like back in the day with stores that are filled with stuff back then) there was a volunteer working and printing book marks.  He was explaining the whole process of what they had to do back then, Paul was asking him questions when all of a sudden he asked the volunteer if he had taught at Hudsonville High School.   He said yes, when Paul said I thought so.. you were my teacher!  What a small world!  They have fun talking about old times and probably could of talked longer had the kids not of wanted to go check out the other “stores”.

Then last night Kevin got to start back up with his Karate.  They had the last 2 weeks off due to the instructors being gone on vacation.  I had to admit it was kind of nice not having to take him twice a week to class, but once we were back in class you should of seen Kevin.  He was so slap happy, smiling and giggling all the time.  When I asked him about it on the way home he said he was just so happy to be back there.  Everyone seemed happy to be back! 

Today I ended up running up to Meijers to get some stuff for tomorrow (we have our annual family reunion up at Big Star Lake) and I ended up finding out that Meijers started putting most of their toys on clearance!  It must be they are starting to make room for all the new toys for Christmas!  So, since there was a whole aisle that was 50% off I decided now would be a good time to get some Christmas shopping done since the kids were home with Paul!  Needless to say I know Kevin will be really excited this year.  Of course I’m not sure if what I bought will be for Christmas or his birthday which is in November.  I was able to find a couple things for Katie, but most of the stuff I saw for her was only 25% off so I thought I would wait a little longer for those things.

So that’s what I’ve been up to this week.  What have you been up to?  Anything fun?

Have you ever gone rock climbing?  I never have and I do believe it would be a rewarding experience, but I’m not quite sure if I could get myself to do it as I can be afraid of heights at times. 

I have no issues going on roller coasters, flying in airplanes and going up ladders to get into a tree stand, but depending on how far up  the tree stand is I can be scared to death.  Maybe it’s because I visualize falling to my death and I think that would be the same for me with rock climbing.  I probably could start heading up, but I’m thinking once I got to a certain point I think my mind would start wandering and I would start worrying about if my safety equipment would be able to continue to hold me.

Another height thing I know there is no way you could get me to do is to jump out of an airplane!  I just don’t think I could get myself to take that step out into the blue sky, someone would have to push me for sure.  I always hear how awesome it is, and I visualize it to be awesome, but that’s once the chute opens.  Until then I bet your heart it running a zillion miles per hour until you pull that rip cord and you feel the chute open.

How are you with heights?  Would you ever dare to go rock climbing or parachuting?   Have you ever done those activities?  If so, please share your experience!

I’m so sorry I’ve been absent lately.  For some reason my life got a little hectic where I haven’t been able to come on to blog. 

A couple days ago my neck/chest area (what would be exposed if I was wearing a V neck shirt) start breaking out again.  It was at first itching like crazy and getting red pimple type things and then by the neck morning it was beat red, warm to touch and sore feeling.  It had happened to me last winter and I ended up going to the dermatologist because it got so bad.  (at that point the sores on my neck were oozing.. not pretty at all)  Back then we were wondering if it had something to do with the pellets we were burning in our pellet stove and since we had bought 3 tons of pellets we decided to use the other brand. (which  was the same time I start going to the dermatologist and started on antibiotics and a special cream)

My skin rash (she said it was eczema) went away and I thought it went away thanks to the antibiotics and creams.  So this year we finished off the brand we used last year and then 4 days ago started using the brand (which I had forgot) that we had been using when I broke out.  Well, a couple days ago was when my neck started acting up again and then yesterday morning was when it was at it’s worse so there was no doubt in our mind it was the pellets we were burning that was doing it to me.

A little history about me.. I have a pine allergy and if a pine needle poke me I will break out in a rash, well we are assuming they must of had pine in the pellets we were burning and I was having an allergic reaction to them. 

We had called the manufacture last year and asked them if there was any chance there was pine in them and explained my reaction at that time and they said no, if so it would be very little.  Well, I can say it must be there was the very little in them since my neck is all red, sore and itchy again.

Yesterday morning we decided enough was enough and we were going to sell our pellet stove.  We would never know when buying pellets if there would be pine in them and honestly for us we think we were breaking even running it (since you have to keep buying more pellets ever year) than if we just used natural gas.  Maybe if we used oil or Propane it would be different.  Yesterday afternoon I put the ad up on Craigslist for the pellet stove, pellets, ash vac, and platform we had the pellet stove on and in less than 24 hours the pellet stove and ash vac are gone already!  We know we won’t have a problem selling the pellets and hopefully we will be able to find someone to buy the vent kit and platform yet.  My guess is next summer/fall when people start buying them they might buy them then.

Since we sold those and now have this “extra” money I asked Paul if I could “borrow” some so I can buy my laptop before we head south.  I promised I would pay him back once I made enough blogging and am so excited to say he said YES!!  So now I’m actually looking (I was always browsing) online at laptops wondering which kind to get… what to look for.. etc.  All I will using it for is of course being on the internet blogging and visiting my favorite sites and checking my emails.  I’m sure I will be downloading my pictures on it too, but that will be it.

Do you have a laptop?  If so, what kind to you have?  Do you like it?  When looking at laptops… what should one look for?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I thought I figured out what Paul and the kids could get me for Christmas. I had received a free Zune (like and Ipod type thing) from Pepsi this fall and I really don’t care for the headphones as the one doesn’t seem to fit in my ear the best. So I thought maybe they could get me a new pair of headphones or better yet one of those docs you can put your Ipod/mp3 type player in that has speakers.

So I got on the treadmill this afternoon and told Paul that was what I was thinking of having them get me as I was just laying my zune down at full blast. He just looked at me and said why not plug in your computer speakers. I looked back at him with a whatever look, but thought I would try since we had an extra pair of speakers. So I go in the other room & pull them out to plug in my Zune and sure enough it worked! So now I can work out to the music I LOVE and that keeps me going without having to be wearing the headphones!

Now it’s back to the drawing board as to what to have them get me….