Spring is in the air....

We have had tons of rain here lately, and there is plenty more to come this week. This morning was a beautiful start to my day though. It is sunny and the sky is a pretty blue. The birds are definitely out, as my empty bird feeder reveals. Spring is truly my favorite time of year. This morning I especially felt that happy spring feeling when I saw something special in the sky...

I could have watched it all day. Sadly, I had to scoot on to work. John surprised me on my 19Th birthday with a Hot Air Balloon ride. It was a cold Sunday, December 5Th, morning and it was a great surprise. The landing was tricky but the ride was truly amazing. You could hear the cows and dogs. We even had people who took pictures of us from the ground. It was really a treat to experience.

(note: i am gonna post a pic here...later.)

Visit from the MIL....

MIL=Mother In Law. We are having so much fun. Ginette arrived in VA on Friday. We kicked off the fun weekend with a game of Catch Phrase! We played until 1 AM. Rachel, Ginette and I played against John and Jeff. On Saturday Ginette, Rachel and I went shopping for window treatments for my house. Ginette is very talented when it come to explaining God's word and making curtains! On Sunday we went to church and then out to lunch at Ruby's to use some coupons we saved up. After finding more curtain fabrics and rods, we headed to our cluster group meeting for the Fireproof study we are doing with our church. I truly enjoy getting to learn from Ginette. She commands a room like no other with her knowledge and spirit. (I'm not just saying all this because she is going to read this, but because I love her and want her to know we appreciate her so much.) I look forward to learning more from her, as always, and playing more Catch Phrase this week!

Here we are making eggs at the fire hall after the Fireproof cluster meeting. We put Ginette to work!

Stay tuned for more on the curtains! Yes they are on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days! Check out my list to see what all I have been up to.

Catching up on the blog!

I need to catch up on everything that has been going on. A few weeks ago we had a pretty big snow. We got about 10 inches at our house. It melted with in a day or two. These pictures were taken the day before we got the 10 inches.

John and I went 4-wheeling in the snow.

Last Saturday morning I volunteered with the SPCA at an adopt-a-thon. This is the dog that I helped transport. He was a strong dog. He was definitely not leash trained either. It was fun to help.


Last Saturday night John and Jeff played in an all day softball tournament. I got to play with my camera and snap some shots in the dark. It took a while to figure out the settings. Here are some shots I took.

There were two little girls there playing. The one in the light blue asked if I would take their picture. I told them to strike a pose! The little girl on the right is so adorable. 2 seconds after I said strike a pose that is what she did. A little over the shoulder glance. So natural and cute!

Play's on second......
Our friend Chance was there playing with another team. He ran out on the field and took this picture for me. That's my John at bat!
I obviously wasn't trying to focus on the fence. That is John way out there.

I snapped a fun shot of Chelsea hanging out in the entertainment center.


I'll be back with more fun news and updates later in the week!

#5 Get Braces!!!

I did it. I don't have any pictures to show, as it isn't the most attractive thing to see. I am sure that there will eventually be pictures, but I'm not exactly stepping up for that photo shoot yet. It has been a very trying experience. I have braces on top and a bite plain on bottom. My upper cuspids are (were) stuck behind my lower cuspids when I bite down. The bite plain will allow my upper and lower teeth to separate for a few weeks while the upper cuspids move forward. I got them put on 1 week ago today. I can tell a TREMENDOUS difference in the position of my upper teeth. I had the tiniest of gaps between my two front teeth, and that is gone. The cuspids are moving too! It is amazing how it works.

The challenges are, that the bite plain has to be in most of the time. For the first 3 days, I only took it out to brush. I ate soup and mashed potatoes and green beans for most of my meals. It is impossible to chew with it in. I have gradually gotten to the point where I can take it out to talk on the phone at work, eat meals, and even leave it out for comfort reasons, for a little while. Wish me luck with this. My upper cuspids could crossover as soon as 2 weeks from now!!!

I have a lot more to post about later today! Happy Monday!

How egg-citing!!!

As of last night the fire department and the volunteers have managed to make over 6,000 eggs. Here are a few more pictures of us at the fire hall. I was taking pictures everyday but I have been a slacker lately about getting the camera out and doing it.... We have been distracted by watching the Bachelor or American Idol.

John-chocolate dipping station...

A very sweet young lady, Kayla. She is the Chief's step daughter and has helped a lot!
Terri- Fun chick to be around. Her, Rachel and I can talk like we've been friends for years.

I love making new friends in the community.

Random excitement around the house...

I got a new bird feeder. (I took this picture from inside so that I wouldn't disturb the birds. The door fogged up quickly.)

We had some visitors this past weekend... Rachel's sister and her husband, Susanna and Patrick came to visit Rachel and Jeff. I went to volunteer for the SPCA Saturday morning. Since we weren't making eggs, I joined Rachel and Susanna for some shopping and girl time. Then we went home and ate dinner with the guys and watched a chick flick- Nights in Roadanthe. It was a great movie. Sad ending, but it was still good. I love Nickolas Sparks, the author, and will have to go back and read the book now.

Rachel, Susanna and I went to the gym together Sunday. I don't usually go unless I am going to a class, but I enjoyed running on the treadmill. I watched Jurassic Park 3 while I ran 2 miles. It took me 32 minutes and 31 seconds. I don't know how bad that is, but I was glad I just went. I have been a slacker about working out too!

Here we are all piled in the living room watching the movie.

Patrick, John, Jeff, Me, Susanna, Rachel.

(Please ignore the paint swatches, we still haven't had time to paint)

Earlier in the night Wumples was getting a little overwhelmed by all the people so she joined me on the couch and ended hiding her head in my lap. She never does this as she doesn't really even like to be held. She is such a ham.

Here is a picture of a the crates piled in the back seat of my car on the way to the event. Funny I can remember their names. From Left: Timothy, Honey & Ruby, and Rufus & ... Okay I forgot one. There were about 12-15 puppies there in all. There was a VVMA conference in town and the puppies were part of their training. I got to learn a lot about training puppies and their general behavior. It was so much fun!

Family time!

I have been busy with all sorts of fun stuff, including being visited in VA by my sister. She came with her little girl and her boyfriend and his son. Jaden hasn't really had the opportunity to be around me very much. It took her a few minutes to even let me get near her. After being at my house for about 20 minutes I decided to do what any little girl should want to help do... Cook.....

It worked.

Jaden & me- trying to open the green beans

Always have time to pose....
My sister, Shelly, Jaden and me
Quick-no one is looking.....

She's been caught. Jaden loves green beans!!!
What we have here is shake and bake technique for green bean casserole. Jaden was shaking the cans really hard to make sure there were no stragglers...


After dinner we decided to go to the fire house so that Jaden could see the trucks and such. She didn't enjoy what-so-ever.... we had to beg her to get on the truck. The only reason she got on was because my sister stood up there with her.

She was dwarfed by the massive size of the trucks. It was funny!

Hello!!!

I have been so busy the past couple weeks that I have totally neglected my blog. I hope everyone is doing well. I will hopefully get to add a couple posts tonight, to catch everyone up. Happy Wednesday to everyone!