Randomness

The Rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you Jayne.

2. Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading).

3. List 6 random things about yourself.

4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.

5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up!

Here are six random things about me:

1.) I love taking baths over showers. My husband thinks that is weird and even a bit gross because he says you sit in dirty water. I can't help it, I must like sitting in dirty water.

2.) I passed out in a restroom at the Beef House just North of here. I was there with a student council seminar my senior year of high school. I was heading to the bathroom when I hiccuped, and it really hurt. I walked into the bathroom with my friend Libby, and I began having tunnel vision. I thought I said my friend's name, but I think it came out as a mumble. Next thing I know, I wake up on the bathroom floor with a horrible headache, and I didn't know where I was. There was another girl leaning over me and she told me not to move because I was bleeding. I busted my head open on a paper towel dispenser. Well, the storry gets kind of funny. You see, the Beef House has awesome rolls! I mean, probably the best rolls I have ever had. Libby and I had just got done stuffing rolls into our coat pockets. An ambulance was called, and they took me out on a stretcher and put me in the ambulance. My coat was brought to me as well, and it smelled of Beef House rolls. The paramedics knew they were in my coat pockets and they just laughed at me.
After a bunch of tests, they found out that I have a heart condition. I have to take medication to control it, but essentially, my heart will be so fast that it can cause me to pass out. Before anyone worries, I am doing good, but it has been a tough 10 years to really come to terms that I have to take heart medication the rest of my life. It's also hard to be the youngest patient at my cardiologist's office when I go.

3.) I have to wear tight socks. I cannot stand loose socks, like when they start to hang off at your toes and you walk around with a "sock tongue." I hate that. The lines have to stay on top of my feet and they have to be tight fitting.

4.) I have an obsession with office supplies. I do not allow myself to go to stores like Office Max or Staples. I can't take it. I have to have new pens, paper, a planner, some kind of supply. Pens are usually my downfall. I even have a hard time in Wal-Mart. I guess scrapbooking has taken the place of that obsession at the moment, because I always seem to purchase a new scrappy embellishment when I am out.

5.) I was law school bound after my undergrad, but I was 6 months pregnant with my oldest son Gabe. I knew after I graduated that I would take time off to raise my family. I am very blessed that Chad's job supports us so that I can stay home with the boys. I still want to go back and either attend law school and enter into adoption law, or get my masters and pursue being a professor of legal studies.

6.) I have a weakness for chips and dip. I don't buy chips because I can literally sit and eat a whole bag in 2 days if they are in the house. It isn't as bad as it used to be since I have done WW and tried to eat better, but I get excited when there are chips and dip out to consume.

I don't think I have anyone to tag. :-) I think everyone that I would tag has already been tagged.

29 on 29

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear meeeeeee, Happy Birthday to me! No seriously, today is my birthday, and I love my birthday! I've grown up always knowing that my birthday was a special day to celebrate me, and I love that, and I want to have my boys know that their birthdays are special days as well.
Normally, I will get together with my mom, and we usually travel to somewhere for some shopping and a good lunch. Well, Graedon had a different plan. I took him to the doctor yesterday because he woke up with a fever and telling me that his ears hurt. So, I took him in, and the doctor made me feel like I didn't know what I was talking about. He looked in his ears, and then looked at me and said, "His ears are fine and to just treat the fever with tylenol." He also said to not let the fever last longer than 5 days. I left there with a sick feeling in my stomach because I knew that he had an ear infection. My boys don't get fevers for no reason. So, all night he ran fever, and was so sad and lifeless. I couldn't get it to break. So, neither one of us got any sleep. So, I got up this morning, and I called my friend that is a nurse practitioner. She said she could see him today, and you know what, he has an ear infection. My poor
Graedon. He was sick, and I knew it, but the pediatrician just blew me off. I want to call and let them know about it, but I am just not sure what to say. Got any ideas?

Anyway, my birthday started off a little rough, but I am a mommy first, but by lunchtime, I was out at the Olive Garden with my mom and the boys. We did a little shopping, and then made it to my birthday dinner at Tokyo Japanese steakhouse. It was delish! It was a great ending to my golden birthday. Thank you to my awesome family that celebrated with me today! I love you all, and I wouldn't want to celebrate any other way. Below are a few pics at the steakhouse. One more year until the big 3-0!

Just have faith.

Hope is the anticipation that the outcome will be good.

Worry is the anticipation that the outcome will be bad.

Faith is the anticipation that whatever the outcome, it will be for our good.

The cold nights are upon us.

It is getting a wee bit chilly around here lately. Gabe was hanging out on the floor, and he looked at me and said, "Mom, I'm cold, get me a blanket." Well, I proceeded to tell him to get his own blanket :-), and then I asked him if he wanted to build a fire with me. He was so excited. He's such a good helper when it is something that he wants to do. So, we built the fire together, and just enjoyed the warmth and glow from it all evening. We had a nice warm evening at home, and I am looking forward to the chilly nights and warm fires later this week.

I'm a Winner!

Thank you Simple Scrapbooks. I had entered into a drawing for a mini-album giveaway they were hosting, and I was picked! My prizes came today! Now, I need to decide what to use them for!

52nd Annual Covered Bridge Festival

Sorry I have been absent from blogging this last week, but I am happy to say that I have been busy. I've been busy getting my shop on at the Covered Bridge Festival. It is an annual festival in it's 52nd year. Parke County, IN hosts some awesome historic Covered Bridges, and the festival centers around these bridges in a few different cities/towns. Some of my faves are the Bridgeton Covered Bridge and the Mansfield Covered Bridge. The pictures below are from one of the 3 Covered Bridges located in Billie Creek Village. My mom and I took Gabe and Graedon there on Monday, and we are looking forward to attending Mansfield on Thursday. I am hoping to get some great shot of the bridge by the creek and maybe some of the mill.

The Covered Bridge Festival is 10 days of awesome food, crafts and vendors ,and too many yard sales along the highways to even count. It is a way to see God's beauty in the changing leaves. You don't know what kind of weather to expect; either cool and sunny, hot and humid, or cold and rainy. It's always unpredictable, but it is worth it. It is the start of the fall season here in Indiana! I look forward to it every year, and every year I go at least 3 or 4 days. Sometimes I can even get Chad to go. I'll let you know if I succeed this year.

The NEW Feeling Scrappy

Feeling Scrappy has just launched a new "challenge" blog. They will be posting all kinds of things to inspire you. There will be challenges, free teaching days, scrapper highlights, cooking tid-bits, a bit of weekend fun for you every week, and there will also be prizes. In fact, they are giving away a Tim Holtz prize package to a lucky person who enters the contest by leaving a comment on the new site. So, head over and check them out!

7 Years Together

Chad and celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary with a night of pizza and bowling with the boys. Let's just say that it was a night of a screaming 2 year old who wanted to bowl before eating, and then a crying 5 year old who wanted quarters to play video games before we left. Chad looked at my during one of the many meltdowns and said, "It was your idea to bring them." Oh well. Chad and I actually went out together to Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse on Saturday when we had a baby sitter, so we did get to celebrated a bit by ourselves.

It doesn't matter how we spent our anniversary, it just matters that we are still making this committment to each other a great one. We have fun with one another, and I think most of all we are best friends. At the end of the day, I want to share my good, bad and the ugly with Chad. I've been blessed with this wonderful man, and I look forward to our many more years!

Our wedding day, October 6, 2001. What an awesome day it was!
Ocotber 6, 2008. Nice bunny ears he's giving me, and you can see a transformer peeking its way in as well. 7 years and 2 little boys later, and we're still smiling. :-) Love you Chad!

Fun mail and decorations

I came home from running some errands today, which included getting the boys pictures taken, and this was in my mailbox. My 10 year high school reunion is this November. I cannot believe it has been 10 years. I hate to admit it, but I can remember high school so much better than college. I guess I was a geeky high schooler, because I loved my high school years, and I miss it quite often. I miss the friendships and seeing everyone on a regular basis. I had a great friends, and I loved the activities that I was involved in. I am really looking forward to the reunion, so yes, I am a geeky high school lover. Please, let me know that I am not alone in my high school fondness. :-)

While I was out today, I found this cute little welcome sign for only $5. I love it. I am in the process of getting all things Halloween out from storage this weekend. Let's just say that I have just as much Halloween decorations as I do Christmas. Halloween may just be my fave holiday, and it doesn't hurt that my birthday is on the 29th of this glorious month. I'll post some pics of my favorite Halloween decorations after I get them all out. Stay tuned...

A work in progress, Happy October!

So, we undertook remodeling our kitchen this weekend, and things aren't quite done. Our new stove arrived just tonight, so I was holding off on taking some after pics for that. Also, the cabinets aren't painted yet, but it is still a work in progress. Thank you to my brother, Jesse, and my mom for helping out all weekend. My brother was a life savior with demolition of the kitchen and all of the plumbing. Chad did all of the electrical and moving of outlets, etc. My mom and I had the main task of laying the new laminate hardwood flooring. It was a long weekend, but I am loving the results so far. So, here are some pics.

This is the kitchen before we started tearing it out.

Here is the old stove, and we took down the hood and a cabinet that was hanging above the stove.
Here is a pic of what was behind the sink base cabinet. We had to build in a whole new wall there. And you will notice the dishwasher in the bottom left of the photo. We moved that as well. Oh, and half of the floor has been pulled up.
Now, here are some after shots. You can see our new microwave hood and stove to match. Also, you can see that we moved the dishwasher. Sorry that the cabinet doors are missing.
The new sink bas cabinet, as well as new sink and faucet. And I love our new countertops. I hate that I haven't had a chance to paint the cabinets because they seem to blend in with the color of the countertops. Also, don't you just love the new floor?!?!
I will post more completed pictures once I get the cabinets painted.
Also, I wante to say Happy October everyone! Can you believe it is already October 1st? October is my favorite month, and I am very excited for it this year. Here are a few things I have to look forward to:

*My 7th wedding anniversary on October 6th!
*The Covered Bridge Festival!!
*Pumpkin patch visits and pumpkin carving with my family.
*Our 2nd annual Halloween Party on the 24th!
*My golden birthday~I will be 29 on the 29th!
*Of course Halloween! Gabe wants to be a vampire and I think Graedon may be Scooby Doo.

What are your fave October plans?