Tuesday, April 30, 2013

More than a phone.


Well, I'm loving it, so far anyway. 

Even though I've only had my iPhone for less than 24 hours I've been hit with the realization that there are a heck of a lot of apps used to tell the world what you're doing. Facebook, twitter and instagram to name just a couple. I'm gonna have to be careful or I will end up spending more time telling the world what I'm doing than I will spend actually doing something in the world. Scary how easy it can be to get sucked in to social media. 

I've noticed recently that I have been using Facebook as a type of online journal if that makes sense. For example, I can go back and read about things that happened in college or the day to day stresses of planning our wedding. It's pretty neat that you can easily track all these little moments in life. I have always been somewhat of a historian in the way that I want to remember the past through words, stories and photos so this is really neat to me (thus this blog). Especially since I have always been jealous of those people that do journal religiously. My mom being one of them. It's amazing to go back through her journals and see all those little details that spark memories that would have otherwise been forgotten. 

As I install some of these new apps I'm hoping to be able to use this piece of technology to continue on the path of documenting life and memories. Time will tell if I'm able to easily live my life for me or for my technology. 

Oh, and click here for our Instagram debut:)



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Monday, April 29, 2013

Marvelous Monday

How do you know the $1 garage sale DVD's are cheap knockoffs? (This isn't a joke, btw) When the combo disk includes The Passion of the Christ and Fifty First Dates. Seriously?? I totally would have bought a couple of the other movies because I thought they were legit until I stumbled across that one. Ha.

   and   = ????


Nothing like getting up at 4:15 am to stumble through peoples garages looking for bargains. Even though I may have not ended up with an awesome movie combo (which I now regret buying) I did have lots of fun since I went with one of my aunts and two of my cousins. We searched through hundreds, okay maybe not hundreds (even though there were hundreds) of sales and my cousins managed to find lots of cute stuff for their kiddos. Since I have no kiddos, now or within at least nine months, I managed to escape without much. I spent the majority of my money on breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that factoid considering my love for food. I did manage to find a box of cool canning jars that I'm pretty stoked about though. The sales were all at Ft. Leavenworth in the military housing which is actually pretty cool to see if you ever get the chance. Apparently they have one huge sale every year and it seems like almost every other house has their garage opened for potential bargain hunters. Pretty neat.

It may be Monday but I'm pretty sure today has the potential to be the highlight of the week because my iPhone has arrived!! I'm seriously so pumped that I finally got it and I can't wait for the end of work so I can go get it activated. If anyone has some awesome app suggestions I would love to hear them!

I ordered a couple cute phone cases off of Amazon today. One pink and one a light minty green. A couple of my favorite colors in case you can't tell by my current blog background. I also ordered some screen protectors and an Otterbox Armor case for my husbands phone. I guess the Armor case can be submerged in water for up to 30 minutes and it's crush proof up to 2000 pounds or something like that. Hopefully, since I dropped a small fortune on the case he will manage to keep his phone alive until it's at least paid off. Has anyone had that case before? Seth's in the construction field and is constantly around heavy machinery and water so I feel like it was probably a good investment.

Oh, and another Happy Monday for me, it's approximately 80 degrees here and I'm in love with it. Yesterday I was able to lay out on my back deck for awhile and get some sun which was fantastic but two days of gorgeousness after this awful winter is blowing my mind right now!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Randoms

There are so many things I want to talk (write) about right now I'm not really sure where to start. I guess I will make a list kinda post with the randomness that is on my mind.

Twitter Drama

Last night at LifeNight (Youth Group) I had to meet with a handful of my girls to discuss the topic of online bullying via twitter and such. A couple of the mom's had brought some of the online drama to our (me and the other LN leader) attention and asked that we discuss with them. It was obviously not a fun conversation to have and everyone kinda just stared at me. I tried to lighten things up by throwing in a line from Mean Girls...You know the one where Tina Fey says, "Raise your hand if you have been personally victimized by Regina George"? Well, I was just met with cold stares and then I felt like they were thinking I was calling them Mean Girls. Face palm. Hoping they can all make up and move on at some point but things are still looking a little rough so we will see.

Gunnar

Gunnar has spent a lot of hours in his big pen this week and I feel really bad. After getting into a fight with a barbed wire fence last week I'm worried to leave him out but he just seems miserable inside the pen. Now don't think he's locked in a little kennel because that's not the case. It's actually a giant outdoor pen that I would guess is probably 20ft x 20ft (i'm not much of a guess-tamater but I think that seems legit) plus he has a huge shed that he can go into if the weather isn't nice. I'm pretty sure all he does is sit inside his shed though. ALL DAY LONG! It's like he is scared to go out in the sunshine or something. Hoping he gets over this soon because he is breaking my heart.

Seth

Warning: Extreme sappiness ahead

I realized yesterday that 11 years ago this month is when Seth and I started dating! April 14th, 2002. Holy smokes I can't believe it has been that long, or short depending on how you look at it, but wow. It was a year and half ago this month that we got married. October 15, 2011 - Best day of my life. I must say that I am blessed beyond belief that this man is in my life. He is the most loyal and best friend I could ever ask for. He would drop everything for any of his family or friends, even strangers at any time. His work ethic is unmatched as far as I'm concerned and his grilling skills are beyond delicious. Every time I see someone write about how wonderful and great their husband is I can't help but think that they don't have any idea how great husbands can really be. I hope I'm wrong and that all women feel the same way I do but I just don't think it's possible. I guess I'll stop here but be warned that I'm still full of all the sappiness.
Leaving the church!

Can't decide if my mouth wide open like this looks obnoxious or not...


Tomorrow's Friday and I. Can't. Wait.

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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The Day I Ordered the iPhone:)

In an effort to start this week off right I did what anyone would do. I bought/ordered an iPhone! In a short 3-5 days I will have that lovely piece of technology in my hands and I can't wait! I have wanted a darn thing for as long as they have existed but my hubs and I are t-mobilers. Multiple times I have tried to talk Seth into switching carriers so I can get my darn phone but he was pretty insistent that was stay with T-Mobile because they have treated us alright and his family and my family all have T-Mobile. So I have been stuck, waiting for that wonderful day when T-Mobile would strike up a deal with Apple and I could get my phone. 

After visiting T-Mobile on Friday to discuss my plan options, I realized that Seth and I could both get new phones and still pay the same we already pay even after paying the $20 a month per phone. Once the phone is paid off we will pay less! So, duh. No reason not to change phones. I went home to tell the Seth the good news and make plans to order our phones the next day. Pretty sure I drove Seth bananas asking when we could go back to order the phones on Saturday and when we finally arrived, their computers were down:( So, we went back Sunday. Still down! Finally, yesterday I went and they were able to order. Hallelujah!

In order to keep the good karma flowing (and because I was hungry) I decided to text my sis-in-law to see if I could take her to dinner. After spending hours upon hours in her house and not being cleared to drive after her surgery she was more than willing to get out of the house. I took her to Panera since she had never been and who doesn't love a good bowl of soup? It was great to catch up with her and see how she's doing with all the craziness going on in her life right now. 

I decided to top the day off by picking up some candy for one of my cousins who is having a rough couple days. I dropped it off at school with an anonymous card to hopefully cheer her up. I think it's the little things that make people smile so hopefully it will make her day a little better. 

Going to lunch with one of my best friends, her mom and sis and my mom soon so this day is looking up as well. Minus the drizzly frozen rain junk that is happening outside right now.

Happy Tuesday folks!



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Monday, April 22, 2013

Monday, Monday

Well, last week wasn't a good one. Besides the Boston Marathon Bombing and the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion that had everyone glued to their tv's, things just seemed to get worse. My mom took here little trip to the emergency room that you can read about here. My dog got caught in some barbed wire and got really cut up so we took a trip to the vet. We ran out of propane on Saturday and had to pay a hefty bill in order to have them fill it on a weekend. Twice we visited T-Mobile to get the i-Phone and their computers were down. I have had a cold that makes me feel like crap and worst of all my sister-in-law found out her brain tumor was cancerous.

At this point, I was ready for Monday to get here in hopes that a new week would turn things around. Prayers and positive energy are appreciated:) Hopefully tomorrow I will have something a little more optimistic to report.

To start the week off right though, I think I will try to focus on the positive. I got to see one of my best friends at her baby shower this weekend. She is home to visit from AZ and I get to see her for lunch again tomorrow. Seth and I got some yard work done and picked out lighting for his shop. We had date-night Saturday at one of our new favorite places, Henry T's, which is based solely on their delish pepperjack nachos. YUM! Crossing my fingers, when I visit T-mobile after work, their computers will be working again and I can finally order our new phones:)

Hope to report back a better week tomorrow!


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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Throwback Thursday: Prom

This past Saturday one of my beautiful cousins was going to her first prom so I went to take some photos for her mom (my aunt).

Anyways, it got me thinking about my first prom, what seems like oh so many years ago. It was 2002 and I was a freshman in high school. At our high school you could only go to prom as a freshman or sophomore if you were asked by an upperclassman. Well, I remember walking down the hallway and one of the Senior boys that I ran track with stopped me and managed to nervously get out the words, "will you go to prom with me?" I don't remember exactly what I said but I'm pretty sure it was something along the lines of, "I'll have to ask my mom?" Haha. Surprised he didn't change his mind right then.

A little background info though...My mom always said I wasn't allowed to "date"until I was 16. I was only 15 when I got asked to prom.

So, I did what I'm sure only I would do, I made a list. I wrote my mom a letter and attached the list of all the reasons why I thought I should be allowed to go to prom. I wish now I had the list, or maybe I don't because it's probably embarrassing. The list worked though! My mom let me go to prom. I'm sure it was the list that persuaded her to let me go. Or, maybe it was that the guy was just a friend and she knew that this guy would never be more than a friend. Either way though I got to go.

Fast forward several weeks to April 14. The day Seth and I started dating (again, and for good, but that's another story). He wanted me to tell the other guy that I couldn't go to prom anymore because we were dating again. I refused to ditch my current prom date because I felt like it would be so mean to do only two weeks before prom. Plus, I'm sure I was afraid my mom would change her mind about letting me go to prom if it was with my boyfriend.

The day of prom finally arrived. I went with my cousin, Jacqueline, to get our hair done and then got home to do our makeup. Sadly, I wasn't in the same dinner group as Jacq or Seth. Well, my prom date arrived at my house so we could take photos. With him, was another couple, his best friend and his date , the girl Seth just broke up with. Talk about AWKWARD. I'm all, "Hi, I'm going to prom with a guy I'm not dating and the guy I wish I was going with just broke up with you to date me. Let's go to dinner!" Okay, I didn't say that but pretty sure it couldn't have made things more awkward.
Gotta love a good cowboy theme:)

We made it through photos and then went to dinner at some swanky place inside a bank. No idea what I ate or what we talked about. All I remember is everyone setting there kind of awkward and quiet the whole time. Did I mention it was awkward?

Luckily we got through dinner and then headed to the dance where I sorta ditched my date to hang out with Seth. Is that bad? I still feel kinda bad about it but I also had a great time where I don't think I would have otherwise. I guess I like to rationalize it by telling myself that my date knew he was going with someone that was dating someone else. Still kinda bad I know.

After prom our high school has an awesome All Night Prom. You play tons of games, jump on giant inflatables, gorge yourself on food and then win some really cool prizes. If my memory serves me correctly, this was the year where there was a cowboy theme.

Basically, it was a fantastic (and awkward) first prom experience. So glad my mom let me go:) Who would have guessed that nine and a half years later I would marry that cute blue eyed boy that didn't get to take me to prom!



Okay, this is from my Senior year but it's all I have on my computer. Maybe I will dig out the hard copies of the Freshman photos some time. 
Almost like a wedding dress. 
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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Prayers

After living in a world that seems to always be filled with violence and unexplainable hateful acts, it's important to remember that there is good in the world. 

That people are inherently, good. 
From people that smile at you on the sidewalk to people that run into an explosion to rescue others. People are good. 

I believe in God and that everything happens for his reasons. It's not our job to try to understand those reasons but to do our best to help others in any way we can. 

As we are, yet again, surrounded by the media coverage of an unexplainable act,
remember to treat others with the love and respect that we all deserve. 

I pray that God will help all of those who were affected by the Boston Marathon tragedy and give them peace in the coming days, weeks, months and years. Help them to know and remember that there is still good in the world. 



Another prayer I found that I thought was fitting... 
Be with me, Lord
O Lord, I am torn up with grief. I know you are there, but I cannot see past my sorrow and tears. Be with me, Lord... guide me through these dark days and bring your light to my life, so that I may see your goodness, even in my mourning.Maureen Pratt










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Monday, April 15, 2013

Middle of the Night Phone Calls

Nothing like being jolted from sleep at 12:17 AM thinking there is no way it can be time to wake up yet to realize it's your phone ringing. Phone calls and the middle of the night have never been a combination I enjoy. Typically, they are bad (except the one to tell me my God Child was born - Yay Zoey!).

Last night my stepdad, Dave, called to tell me that he thought my mom had a seizure or something like that and he couldn't get her to wake up. He called the EMT's and luckily she had come to before they arrived but they still took her to the hospital to do a ct scan. I talked to Dave before they took her to the hospital and he said that she was awake and answering all the questions correctly and he would let me know if I should come to the hospital.

She's really good at squinty eyed photos.
I called Seth, who is working out of town, and woke him, which I feel bad doing because again, middle of the night phone calls are scary. I listened to him tell me everything was okay and it probably happened because she had a long day -- The little old lady who she does elder care for passed away which basically means she is out of a job. Plus they just broke ground on their new house. -- After talking to Seth I felt a little better and eventually fell back asleep praying that everything was okay. I got a text at 4:00 in the morning saying she was fine and back home in bed. Thank you, God!

At work this morning I texted to see how she was doing and what the heck happened. Apparently, she took a sleeping pills to help her go to sleep and then woke up because she thought she was going to be sick. On her walk into the bathroom she thinks she fell back asleep and hit her face on the toilet. Ouch. She said she has a fat lip and her teeth hurt. I told her she was lucky she didn't knock her teeth out. Thank goodness it wasn't more serious though.

I'm sure you're probably thinking why the heck didn't I get out of bed and go to the hospital. Who knows. My mom has had this kind of thing (sort of) happen to her probably about 3-4 other times now and when I talked to Dave he seemed to think she was doing okay. Plus I think I was still stuck in the half asleep world where you don't really understand or know what's going on but people are telling you it's okay so you believe them. Fortunately it was, but I still feel kinda guilty for not getting out of my bed. I love you though Mommy and I'm glad you're okay!


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Friday, April 12, 2013

7 Quick Takes (1)


1. I got some super duper cute Easter decor that was marked 75% off. Oh, and it was from Dillons (Kroger). Only spent about $9 total for two boxes of eggs, a wreath and two platters that I'm seriously in love with. They look more spring than Easter-y so I'm not even packing them away with the other Easter stuff.





Love these platters!

2. I have several books on my "to read" list including several classics - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Great Gatsby. I haven't read the former but I did read Gatsby in school. I'm wanting to re-read it before the movie comes out though. 

3. Random thought of the week - I wonder if someday my generations form of tobacco will be pop (soda for all you people that don't know what that is). You know what I mean? People smoked for years and people got addicted while no one really knew it was bad for you. Now, you have to be over 18 to buy tobacco products and they charge a fortune for them. Will that happen to pop in the future? We already know it's not good for us and that we probably shouldn't drink it but we still do. Is it crazy to think that pop can have such adverse effects on our health that someday it's behind the counter and you have to be 18 to purchase it? Would I still drink it? 

4. I'm really wanting to go see the movie "42" with my husband. It looks amazing plus we LOVE baseball.

5. I sent my husband the following last night..."I bought you two Reeses Eggs at the grocery store tonight. There's one left. I love you!!" My bad. 

6. Today makes 7 days in a row that we were able to put Gunnar in his dog pen without him running away from us. A small but great victory since he can't destroy the neighbors stuff while we are at work.  

7. My parents officially started digging the hole for their new house yesterday! Yay. Oh, and they aren't out there with shovels or anything, I meant the excavator people:) 


Linking up with Camp Patton 



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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Freebie: Recipe Cards



I have a slight obsession with all things adorable and kitchen-y. So, I made some Super Cute (I think anyway) recipe cards for you to use:) 

Just go to this link and/or this link print out on some heavy cardstock. Cut out and voila! Adorable recipe cards for you to use as you please. 



I think the second one is my favorite. 
Which one is your favorite?



Let me know if you like them and feel free to share with a link back here. 


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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

SETH-isms

Seth-isms

Words or phrases my husband uses frequently that make me giggle. 

Carousing 

I doubted this was a real word but turns out it is. It just doesn't mean what he wants it to mean.  Apparently carousing means to drink and become noisy. However, Seth uses it to describe Gunnars activities of running through the woods chasing birds. I think he might have combined the words perusing and cruising and came up with carousing. 

You're full of shit as a Christmas goose

This basically means. You're full of crap or lying.

Polishing a turd.

A charming saying, I know. If you are "polishing a turd" you are basically wasting time and money on something that will still be a piece of crap when you are done. 

Jay-Z, P-Diddy, Kanye confusion

During the Superbowl....
Me: You realize Beyonce is married to Jay-Z
Seth: Oh yeah, Puff Daddy
Me: No, Jay-Z
Seth: Isn't that the same person?

During the Grammy's....
(Frank Ocean is accepting an award. Seth thinks it's Chris Brown.)
Seth: Taylor Swift should go interrupt his speech like he did to her.
Me: That was Kanye.
Seth: Oh.........

Can't never did do shit.

His response to everything when I say "can't".

Crunyons

Salad topping or in other words, croutons. Assuming he has combined the word croutons and Funyons to get crunyons??



I love that he can always make me smile!


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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Surgery Update

Feeling very blessed that Sara's surgery went well and as expected. I got to go to the hospital yesterday and see her right after she got out of surgery and I'm amazed at how great she was doing! Talking and joking around like her normal self which was so good to see. Thankfully, there was no partial paralysis or anything of that nature which can always happen when they operate on the brain (so, I'm told). We are all praying now for a speedy recovery so she can start up the chemo or radiation or whatever is needed to get rid of the rest of the tumor. They weren't able to remove the whole thing with surgery because of the way it was fusing to her brain.

Thanks for the prayers!

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Thursday, April 4, 2013

In Sickness and In Health

I've found it a little hard to think about or actually write blog posts this week because so many things seem trivial compared to what is going on in the lives of those close to me right now. So, in a moment of clarity, I decided that I should write about what is going on in life with those close to me. Duh. 

First up, my sister-in-law Sara found out just last week that she has a brain tumor. Scary stuff. She's not even 30 and is a mother to my 3yr old nephew, Ryder. The tumor was discovered when she had some terrible chest pains and drove herself to the hospital. They did some tests and couldn't find anything but decided to do an MRI (I think??) because she has been having bad headaches and problems with her vision. That's when they discovered the tumor towards the front part of her brain. 

Needless to say, my husbands our family has been a little shaken up this past week. Prayers have been constant as we all pray that the tumor will be safely removed and life will return to "normal". At this point in time, we don't know if it's cancerous or even much more than that it's a tumor and it needs to be removed.  Sara and her mom will be going to meet with the doctors again tomorrow to discuss the surgery that is planned for Monday. 

My husband has been a little researcher every night after work as he looks for information on brain tumors. With all his searching it seems that Sara's symptons are pointing to a more positive prognosis than a negative one which helps to make us all feel a little better. He has been so great at being optimistic which is so important during a time like this. We all hope that he is right when it's all said and done. 

I can't even believe how strong Sara has been this past week. I know I would be an emotional disaster if I was in her shoes but she doesn't let it get her down. She laughs and jokes with everyone like she always has. Instead of worrying about herself she is busy worrying about everyone else and making sure that she doesn't inconvenience anyone. I seriously admire her strength and continue to pray that she keeps that strength. 

Hoping to post some good news soon on this!

Next up is my Grandma Pyle. The Grandma that says, "It Freezes Beautifully" to just about everything and has always been someone I completely look up to. She is who I hope to be when I "grow up"(along with my mom) and who has always been a great moral compass for me. I can't count the times I've asked myself, "What would Grandma think/do?" She has never met a stranger and most people in town refer to her as Grandma Pyle even if they're not related. 

Grandma has always been not only young at heart but way younger physically than most people her age. She is now in her early 80's but up until recently has acted as if she was 50 or younger. Honestly, most people have to keep a slight jog to keep pace with her as she heads down to chase the geese out of her garden. 

Well, since about Thanksgiving time or so she hasn't been feeling very great. She had a couple vertebrae in her back that were cracked causing her lots of back pain. The doctors fixed the vertebrae though and she is still having terrible back pain as well as stomach pains that so far the doctors can't seem to figure out. It's scary and sad to see someone who is usually so full of energy sit around all day and hardly move because of the pain. She has been in so much pain she hasn't been going to daily Mass as she has her whole life and has even missed a lot of Sunday Masses these last couple months. This is how we know it's pretty bad. Grandma doesn't miss Mass. Ever. 

We're all hoping and praying that the doctors figure it out ASAP because we need Grandma to be back to her normal self. I know she wants to feel better soon too. Especially, with gardening season right around the corner. Hopefully she will get in to see a specialist soon and get the problem, whatever it is, fixed. 

If you have any prayers you want to send my family's way I know they would very much appreciate them! 


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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

What I Wore: Easter Outfit:)

Hope everyone had a fantastic Easter. Mine was wonderful and filled with family (and food).

My hubs and I got up early (7:55) and scrambled to get ready.
I have a lot of hair to curl and wanted to make sure I didn't forget all the food we needed to take.

Fortunately, rushing to get ready is something I am a champ at (because it happens way to often) and my husband thinks he is a Nascar driver so we made it to Mass 25 minutes before the 9:30 start time. Plenty of time to get prime seating on a busy Easter Sunday.

I love Mass on Easter Sunday. It's great how so many people are dressed up and celebrating that Jesus died on the cross for us and rose on the third day to save us. It is an amazing feeling to know that you are loved so much.

After Mass we stopped by my parents to put food in the fridge that would be going to Seth's family easter. We then headed over to my Aunt Roberta's for a giant family meal.

By giant I mean over 50 people. The food was excellent and there was tons of it since we all took stuff.
We took a crockpot of green beans, a green bean casserole and an angel food cake that was fluffy like a cloud.

After stuffing our faces and watching the kids hunt eggs we packed up and headed over to Easter at Seth's Grandma's house.

Here we were met with another big family and tons more food. Surprisingly, we remembered to pick up the food from my mom's house so we had a platter of fresh fruit and another angel food cake.

Is there anything more Easter-y than fluffy angel food cake? I think not.

For the Easter Egg hunt at his Grandma's, Seth thought it was the right time to teach kids that...

Life's not fair.  
The day before he had his sister, Sara, spray paint an egg gold. Then he stuck $20 in the egg and hid it for the kids to find. Basically, he was expecting all the kids to complain that Life's not fair when only 1 kid got the $20.

What really happened is that I learned Life's not fair when your husband takes the $20 from your purse to teach a lesson that nobody even cares about because they got candy.

Oh, and Happy Easter. Here's what we wore:)

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