Concert Tonight!

I'm so excited! Tonight we are going to see Hinder in concert. I think Black Stone Cherry is opening for them. Work can not go by fast enough for me today!!!

I wouldn't say that Hinder is my favorite band or even plays my favorite song but I still love them. It's gonna be a lot of fun to hang out with all our friends and have a few drinks. I plan on having at least 1 Purple Hooter. If you haven't had one then you must! It tastes like a grape jolly rancher. I'm a very cheap drunk so one will be plenty for me. Maybe a Long Island too to sip on :).

It's 9:30am and I'll already planning my drinks for the evening!

I hope the line to get in isn't too bad. The tickets sold out in 2 days! It's also a club not an actual concert so it's standing room only. Definately going to be crowded. Hopefully my hunny rides with his sister and can meet me there early. (We live N of town and I work on the South side so I won't have time to go all the way home and then get back).

Well I'm off to work and to hopefully make the day go by super fast!

Hopefully Fixed

I have comments again ... WOO HOO! I also got my cute layout back up. I'm praying that nothing elses messes up now!

I tried something new for dinner last night. It didn't get 5 stars or anything but it was 'OK' said my husband. I'm glad that he has been honest with me about what he likes and what he doesn't because I would hate to be feeding the man stuff he doesn't even like and trashes.

Basically you take pork chops and sprinkle with pepper, salt, & lemon pepper. Then brown in a little olive oil. Add red onions and a jalapeno (chopped of course) and finish cooking until both sides are browned and it's cooked through. Then here's where I changed it up. You're supposed to add to this verde sauce, chicken broth, vinegar, and something other things I think I'm leaving out here. Well I wasn't so sure we would like that sauce so I pulled the chops out and then added that stuff to the onions & peppers. The pork chops were pretty good but we didn't really care for the sauce. Maybe it was the vinegar.

If anyone wants the actual recipe I can post it tomorrow since I don't have it with me today. Tonight we are having Taco Soup and corn bread.. Yumm. I haven't made this before either so we'll see how that goes.

Last night Adam was watching Good Eats and AB was making cupcakes. Adam said "Man I would love some cupcakes right now." So I decided to make some. What made me decide that I could make pork chops, a sauce, mashed potatos, black eyed peas, AND CUPCAKES I have no idea. One thing that helped was that I only had 12 cupcake tins so I made 12 cupcakes and then 1 small round cake. It all turned out well but I was running around like crazy trying not to burn those cupcakes and keep up with everything!

**Yes I had 2 of those cupcakes!! No more though for me!!**

*Edited to add the following pictures:

Beautiful East Texas Sunrise from my front door.

The cross Stitch I'm working on. I've decided to keep up with it through pictures to see my progress. Not bad for only one week.

I found this this weekend. I started this cross stitch about 9 years ago and forgot all about it when I moved out. It's supposed to have a mountain background, the rest of her dress, and two cougars. It's gonna be beautiful.

No Sleeping In For Me

Last night was a great night. Adam called while I was on my way home from work (I have a 45 minute commute) to see what he could do to help me start dinner so I gave him instructions on boiling the potatos for our Chicken Pot Pie. When I got home he actually stayed in the kitchen and helped me put everything together and helped suggest a few new seasonings to add etc. I had dinner in the oven literally 10 minutes after I walked in the door. He normally sits on the couch and watches Family Guy while I run around the house making dinner, starting laundry, feeding animals, etc. I'm not saying that he's lazy or doesn't do his share but when I get home that's usually what he's doing.

I don't mind doing the work because he does work 10 to 12 hrs each day of hard labor and I sit at a computer all day. Growing up the women did housework and the men took care of outside and mechanical stuff which is pretty much how we operate around my house. But it's so sweet when he does help me out and does it without me asking him to. It takes some of the rushing around off of me and we get to spend more time together.

I must say our Chicken Pot Pie was the best I've ever made thanks to his suggestions of seasonings. I think I have finally perfected this recipe. It's the first ever that is truly my own and not from a cook book.

So I didn't get to sleep in this morning. I got up when Adam left at 4:30 because I was worried about him getting to work with everything being iced over. He called when he got there to let me know that he made it ok. I could have gone back to sleep but my DVR was calling to me so I watched the last of the Bachelor.

I did get a bunch done this morning though, other than watching the Bachelor (which was great). I emptied the dishwasher, put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, got 2 loads of laundry done (included folding & hanging), and I did my Mary Kay inventory. I need to place an order in the next couple of days so I needed to know what I have in stock. Also I needed a count for my ending 2008 inventory & beginning 2009 inventory.

I'm trying a new recipe today. I can't remember where I got it from though. It's peppered pork chops in Verde Sauce. We'll see how it goes.

Useless Info

Not much to write about today. Yesterday wasn't so great. "Thanks PMS" I was in a bad mood pretty much all afternoon and evening. After dinner I helped myself to a huge bowl of chocolate & vanilla ice cream. Complete with chocolate sauce and sprinkles of course.

Today has been better though. Since it's going to freeze over tonight and tomorrow morning we have decided to come in late tomorrow. This is awesome! Middle of the week and I can sleep in! Even though I probably won't. I'll probably still be up at 5am doing something I'm sure.

I was bored when I got here this morning so I was looking up the Myers-Briggs Personality Types. I did this when I was in a class in college and I loved it.

I am an ISFJ. Read the description HERE. I think this fits me perfectly!

Some other useless info to ponder:
Holidays for Jan 27th
~Holocaust Memorial Day
~National Speak Up & Succeed Day
~Thomas Crapper Day (In honor of the guy who invented the flush toilet. THANKS!)
~Viet Nam Peace Day

Weekend Was Too Short

The weekend went by way to fast. I feel bad for Adam who is back to work this week. (I am too of course but at least my hours are set). He had to work 15 hours on Saturday! He pretty much came home and crashed. We went in to town Sunday and did pretty much nothing but he didn't want to just sit around the house or even work on the bathroom. To me going to town makes the weekend go by faster because nothing was accomplished but to him it makes it better so that's what we did.

I did get some things accomplished Satuday while he was at work. I'm still following the FlyLady system and working on doing things 15 minutes at a time. I got up around 6:30, showered, got my make-up on, and dressed. I went through the house and spent about 15 - 30 minutes in the living room, kitchen, & bathroom each. Then I went through my fridge and pantry and made my grocery list for the week. Went to the grocery store then came home and put everything away.

I ate some lunch and then decided to spend about 15 minutes in my back bedroom. This room has been a catch all for everything. There is stuff from our old storage shed, stuff from our old house, my Mary Kay inventory, rubber made tubs of books, all my purses, etc etc. If I don't have a place for it then it goes in this room.

So my main goal was to get a plastic tub (the long flat kind with wheels) that was at the bottom of everything out. This contains a lot of things I need: Tissue paper, gift bags, blank cards, stationary, etc. I pulled everything off of it and then pulled that tub in to my living room. Then I grabbed two small boxes and went through them. I put a few things in a box for give away and a bunch in a trash can. I put what was left in a good sturdy new box and labeled it. The empty ones were really old and falling apart so they went to the burn pile. That pretty much took up my 15 minutes so I pushed everything else over to the side that I had moved and I really can't believe what difference just that little bit made! You can definately see a dent!

I went and sat in my living room floor and went through the plastic tub. I found stuff in there that I haven't seen in YEARS! About 50% went to trash because it was old birthday cards and stuff that was really just taking up space. The rest was actually usefull stuff! I got my tub organized and put under my bed so that it's accessible. I did end up spending another 15 minutes in the back room putting up some MK products that i had in a box and putting all my samples in one box for organizing later.

I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished. It definately makes me not feel so overwhelmed by the magnitude of this job. I know I can do it a little at a time!

~*~
I know this post is long enough but here is some random useless information that I found this morning:

Today's Holidays: Jan 26th
~Chinese New Year
~Lotus 1-2-3 Day
~National Peanut Brittle Day
~Toad Hollow Day of Encouragement
~Better Business Communication Day
~Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (my favorite!)

Busy Thursday

It's been a busy crazy day here at the office. I actually wrote a Life Policy and I'm pretty sure it will go through this time! For writting that policy we got to enter a contest with our district office and pick a number between 1 & 100. I picked 22 and won $5... WOO HOO Go Me! The GPS system would have been great but hey $5 is $5.

I made an awesome dinner last night! Mr. Food on our local tv station showed a recipe for Chicken Kiev and it looked SO easy. You take chicken breasts and flatten them out. Put a slice of butter in the middle of each and sprinkle with seasonings. (I used parsley & lemon pepper). Then roll it up tight and tuck in the sides as you go. Dust with flour, dip in a beaten egg, then dip in bread crumbs (I used plain with salt & lemon pepper). Then put them on a baking sheet and bake covered for 45 minutes at 350 degress. Then uncover and bake another 15 minutes or until no pink. IT WAS AWESOME! I also made fried corn & boiled new potatos. Yummmmm

This morning I acutally folded all the laundry and did dishes before coming to work. I'm so proud of myself today! Well gotta get back to work. My desk is looking better & better.

Well last night was a pretty good night. Adam went to bed early since he had another Early day at work. I really miss cuddling with him :(.... Anyways after I got dinner started I finished sorting my threads for my cross stitch. Adam had cut my fabric for me so I'm not ready to begin possibly tonight. I'm so excited. I love starting new project. Only the Lord knows how long it's gonna take me to finish though! This may be a 3 year journey. I didn't realize how big it was gonna be until I saw the cut fabric. The finished piece will be 13 7/8w x17h in. This is by far the biggest I've ever attempted. Today at the office I need to make copies of the pattern and piece it together because it's 9 pages. I've also never done a multi page pattern so hopefully my boss can help me put it together this afternoon.

Speaking of my boss .... She is out of the office until after lunch ..... Although this would be a bad thing on Monday or Friday because we are usually busy but with today being Wednesday we are usually slow. I have the office heater cranked up to like 77 and my heater in my office on high! Toasty warm. She usually limits the office heater to like 70 so I'm taking advantage of her being gone. I'll be so glad when it warms up! Although 24 degrees is cold for me in Texas, I really shouldn't complain because some people are at like -24.

The Biggest Loser last night was pretty good. I'm sad that the game has shifted to the strategy playing although I do understand. I was so ready to see Joelle gone! I think she was upset because she wanted to go home. She was happy until they said she wasn't going home. I'm even sadder that it's gonna be one other young boys going home next week. Why did they give that away? For some reason this seasons seems more scripted or planned than past seasons. I hope it doesn't stay like that. Also the stupid mid sentence commercials are stupid. Like Carla eating yogurt our of her own fridge and saying "Wow this is so filling" and Joelle is all happy and smiling. 10 minutes later they are fighting!

Well yesterday after work I ran to Hobby Lobby to get my supplies to start my cross stitch. I'm so glad that I found a 40% off coupon online yesterday because I got a new holder for the fabric which was originally $19. I ended up getting it for $9 something which was GREAT. Tonight I'm gonna cut my fabric and finish sorting my strands and hopefully get a little bit started. I limited myself to just the cross stitch section at the store even though it's all the way in the back and I had to walk past everything to get ther. Hobby Lobby is my favorite store EVER. They have EVERYTHING. I could spend hours browsing around in there.

After my trip there I went by KFC for dinner because I didn't plan my meals and wasted $20. It was good but very overpriced. I got home and Adam had to go in at 3am so he was off to bed as soon as I walked in the door pretty much.

I got Salsa made for tonight. He says it's better the next day. It's only my 2nd time making it so I hope that it's good. I personally do not like Salsa so I'm not sure the desired taste yet. I'll get it though.

I actually got to watch all of the Bachelor last night. Usually I watch bits and pieces all week because Adam usually doesn't go in early on Tuesdays. I now remember why I don't watch this show. All the drama makes me sick. Well not to the point that Shannon was at last night. I'm hooked this season though. I REALLY like Melissa, Stephanie, & Nikki. After this season I'm swearing off the bachelor though. It does nothing for my brain!

Oh I found the pictures of the cross stitch that I had done a couple of years ago:

It's not very close up but you get the idea. I was really proud of this because it was my first big one. I have a few others laying around that aren't finished but are very small. I'll take pictures of the owl that I made for Adam once I get it finished.

Perfection

This weekend was fantastic! Nothing really exciting happened but it was just a laid back all around great weekend. It wasn't even dimmed by the fact that I felt like CRAP yesterday.

Saturday Adam got up before I did and went and got donuts. I haven't told him that I'm dieting so he didn't realize I couldn't have them so of course I hate 1/2 of a long john & a strawberry sprinkled donut. He was in such a great mood all day. We ran around town for a while doing errands and he didn't even get all moody when we had to pick up some groceries. (He loathes grocery shopping). We got home and watched a movie then went to bed about 11ish. Sunday I woke up sneezing and had a runny nose. I immediately took some Tylenol Allergy which really helped and got started on housework. I managed to get the kitchen cleaned completely, the living room dusted, and all the laundry (3 or 4 loads) folded that I had left in baskets in my bedroom. I started feeling pretty bad so decided to take a bath. I figured that he would be grumpy about that since he was doing some chores that I had given him (washing out the mats from Lexi's pen) but he just say "Ok hunny, no rush". So that's exactly what I didn't do. I love long baths! Relaxing in hot water just revives me for some reason.

After my bath I got dressed, put a little make-up on, and dried my hair. By no means was a ready to walk the runway but I feel better and put together when I have my hair somewhat fixed a little bit of make-up on. I then went and baked cookies for him that he had requested. I started dinner around 1:30 (we had Jambalaya) so that it was out of the way. Also I got some beef browned that I had defrosted Friday but didn't use. (I don't like to let it sit after it's been defrosted).

After this I layed on the couch and watched the rest of private practice and part of A Cinderella Story. It felt SO good to be lazy and not have Adam upset that I wasn't as busy as him. Usually if I sit on the couch then so does he so it was nice to have it to myself.

Later on we went and got our Sunday Ice Cream which I'm so glad has become a tradition. I love that we have our own thing.

**Edit**

I have decided to start a new cross stitch. I have made them for other people and even sold one but each time I was heartbroken to let them go. I mean I spent 2 years on the one that I sold doing it in my spare time. It had been with me through good days and bad days. I'll find a picture of it and post it. It was the most elaborate one I've ever done.

So anyways I've always said I'm gonna do one for myself that I really love. This is what I'm thinking about: (unless I find something I like at Hobby Lobby tonight better)

God Is Watching Out For Us

Wow! This morning I heard about the plane crashing in the Hudson river yesterday. I can't believe that nobody was seriously injured or killed. It happened just at the perfect moment when no boats where in the water! I know that God watches our for us and everything happens for a reason every moment. That pilot is definately a hero! Amazing!

Still feeling kinda down today. I'm not sure if I'm just blue or if I'm getting sick. I was so irritable last night and kept snapping at Lexi for bugging me. SHE'S A PUPPY! IT'S WHAT SHE DOES! I felt really bad. I feel like I have really bad PMS except that I don't. I don't know what it is but it needs to hit the road!

Adam has CPR training at work tomorrow. I'm sure he isn't looking forward to that! I have my first Mary Kay meeting of the year tomorrow evening so I'm really excited to get back in the swing of things with my Mary Kay career. Not much else planned for the weekend. We will be working in the bathroom that we are remodling I'm sure. I really hope that gets finished this weekend. I'm sick of only having one bathroom...especially the nights Adam goes to bed at 6 and I'm still up!

Need to pay bills soon and go grocery shopping today. I haven't made my meal plans for next week because I was such a slacker last night so I'll have to go back again next week.

If anybody is reading this please take a few moments to check out this website: Zack Fore
He had a really really bad car accident on 12/27/08 and is in need of financial help as well as all the prayers he can get. Please say a prayer for him & his family.

Things I'm Thankful for Today:

• All of my family is healthy and not injured in any way
• That God was watching out for all the people on the Hudson River yesterday
• That Zack is doing a lot better and continues to surprise his doctors every day
• My wonderful husband for always sending me a text message saying I Love You just when I need it.

~*~EDIT~*~
Just found out that Adam is off tomorrow! I'm excited that we actually get to spend 2 whole days together without work!

Thank you so much Shannon for your magic touch and helping me get my layout working! Also for being my first comment ever!

Man I felt so bad yesterday. I really though I was coming down with a cold or worse. I'm so glad that chose that night to have dinner pre-cooked. I got home, made cornbread and we ate while watching tv. After that I cleaned up the kitchen and we were in bed by 7:30! I was so ready for bed which usually I'm not. I went right to sleep and slept until about 5:15. Well except I did wake up to tell Adam goodbye around 4:30. I feel so much better today. I guess the runny nose was just allergies.

I joined the Biggest Loser Contest over at the Forth Frog Blog:

I sent in my before picture this morning and can't wait to find out what our first challenge is!
I love competition and when I'm dieting against someone I do better.

In 2007 I joined thebiggestloser.com site and lost a little over 20 lbs. My main motivation was the challenges from other members and being accountable. I haven't gained back my weight but haven't lost any more since then either. I have about 70 more to lose to get down to my ultimate goal!

Things that I'm thankful for today:

• My sweet husband for taking the time to put butter on my cornbread that I was taking for lunch today even though he was running late. I forgot to do it myself and he noticed this morning!
• Water. Because it helps me lose weight even though I don't care to drink it. (2 bottles so far today)
• For not being sick, even though I just sneezed as I was typing that. I'm sure it was dust.
• That it wasn't 20 degrees or lesser this morning as they had predicted. (But it will be tomorrow because the cold front is moving in now)
• For Club Pogo! I love bingo!

Last night's Biggest Loser was great! I can't believe I got teary again last night! Usually that only happens week 1. When Dan was trudging up that hill and his team mates came down and PUSHED him up that mountain it was great. I really love this cast. They are so in to helping each other. There hasn't been one moment of alliances and such yet. But I guess it was about the same in week 2 last season.

I was so wishing that Joelle was gonna go home last night though! How can you come on that show and then not put in like 200% effort. Did she not watch the show and see what they go through? I mean running on a treadmill for 30 seconds is NOTHING compared to what's coming up I'm sure. When it came down to Jerry & Dan I just thought what if she stood up and said "No I don't want to be here so I'm gonna go home" I wonder what would have happend? Man when they showed Jerry after the show he looked awesome. I started getting teary because I new that his life is completely different now!

I want that! I want that life changing weight loss. Sure I know I'm not as big as the contestants this season but I could stand to loose 50 or 70 lbs. I didn't get up and walk this morning like I should have. I honestly just couldn't get myself out of bed I was so exhausted. I'm not sure why though. I was asleep by at least 10 so that would have given me about 7hrs of sleep. I'm still tired now. My nose has been running & I've been sneezing so maybe I'm coming down with something. I took my Tylenol Allergy which usually helps so we'll see.

I did get my Chili made last night as planned so the only thing I have to do for dinner tonight is make cornbread. Adam usually does that before I get home so maybe I won't even have to do that!

I'm hoping today is a good day and that I feel better soon. I have alot to accomplish at the office!

BTW not that anybody actually reads this but if somebody does stumble across my world and you know about this HTML stuff I need some help trying to update my template. I found one that I love at Pyzam but each time a try to apply it on here I get an error message......frustrating!

New Idea:
These are some of the things that I L.O.V.E. today:

• My Sirius Satelite Radio and that there is always something great to listen to
• My cell phone that keeps me in touch with my husband while we are both at work
• My adorable puppy Lexi who always keeps me on my toes
• The colors Pink & Black. They were made for each other
• My tropical passionfruit body lotion that makes me feel better
• Tim McGraw for singing (and who ever wrote it) the song My Best Friend becuase it reminds me of my husband.

****Edit****
Just had to share my healthy lunch: Chicken Breast with a little brown gravy, boiled new potatos with skins (not butter or salt), & Green Beans! This is also what I had for dinner last night.

Walk Away The Pounds

Yesterday went by so fast! It feels like it's wednesday but unfortunately it's only Tuesday :(.
I got home from work yesterday and got dinner made and was just lazy. I did get the dishes unloaded but honestly there wasn't anything else that needed tidying up. Weird huh? Usually I'm running around making sure things are cleaned up or put back where they go when I get home. This cleaning as I go business is awesome! When I go to bed my kitchen & living room are picked up. When I go to work my kitchen & living room are picked up! Now if I could just get Adam to put his dishes in the dishwasher! It will never happen! At least he puts 99% of his laundry in the basket... which is in another room so that's a pretty huge thing. I DO NOT hunt for laundry. If it's not in the basket it doesn't get washed. I think he's gotten the hint on days that he forgot to put something in there and then it wasn't clean when he needed it. I don't mind cleaning but hunting for clothes and emptying pockets are not my thing.

I'm getting off my intended subject though....
Last night I "tried" to move my tread mill out of the back bedroom and into our room but it wouldn't fit through the door so Adam had to do it for me. Well more like I asked him to help me and he just did it... Oh well. It got done quicker. So I got up at 5:15 this morning and walked very briskly for 17 minutes while watching the Bachelor. 17 minutes doesn't sound like a lot but it really is for me. I went .7 miles. My goal for tomorrow is to make it to a mile! I'm so glad I finally got this moved! Tonight if Adam isn't going to bed early I need to move some things around so that it's not right in the middle of my room though!

Work has been busy but good today. Nothing significant to write about though. We'll see how the rest of the day goes.

READY FOR THE BIGGEST LOSER TONIGHT!!!

Dinner for tonight is gonna be Chicken Breast with Brown Gravy, Boiled New Potatos, and some other veggie. While that's in the oven I'm gonna start on whatever I'm having tomorrow. Probably chili. Chili's always better the next day so that's what I think I'll do :-D

Another Monday Post

I received my daily quote from my Mary Kay director today and wanted to post it here:

"Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional." -- Roger Crawford


Also just have a gripe: I just saw a picture on people's website of Madonna coming out of a restaurant and of course it told who she was and where she was. At the end it said: "Also there, Kayne West (not pictured)". Isn't that obvious? I mean I understand if there was like 3 people in the photo and it was only talking about one that you could understand adding (not pictured) but why when it's just one person. Maybe I'm just crazy!

Weekend Recap

Well the weekend was pretty good I guess. Went by too fast. Friday I got my grocery shopping done. I ended up getting a couple of *non-grocery* items and went about $30 over budget. $18 was for a flash drive and I can't think of what the other $12 was for right now. Other than that my food budget was pretty much on target at my $60.

Adam did end up working Saturday until 11. I was so exhausted Saturday. I think the week of staying up too late caught up with me. I slept until 8:30 then got up and made cookies. I got the house resonably straightened up so it wasn't a total pigsty when he got home. After he got home we ate some lunch and then took a 3hr nap...haha. We got up at 3 and decided to get ready and go in to town. I have been craving IHOP for weeks now so I was so excited he agreed that it sounded good. I can't believe what I had!!! I had Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatos, & pancakes. The waitress looked at me like I was a total loon but IT WAS ON THE MENU. I mean I can understand that it was a pretty odd request but it's not like I just made it up! Anyways I ate the pancakes and took the steak home for later... Not bad for $7.99! After that we went to Target so that I could return something my boss had given me for christmas. That gave me $30 to spend there. We got a few things and I got a really cute cookie jar!

Sunday was pretty busy. I have a couple of "projects" in my house that I hope to one day accomplish. My first one was to get my built in desk in the living room cleared. I have had a desk top computer there that we never use now that we have a laptop. That desktop and all the junk around it has just been collecting dust. So while Adam was working in the bathroom that we are remodeling I started on the desk. It looks GREAT now! We went to Lowes later and I found a cute set of 3 lamps for $14! I put one of the small ones on the desk and then I'm gonna put the big one in our living room in place of a table/lamp thing we have now. In cleaning off the desk I had to do something with the 20 or so cookbooks that I never use have. I chose 3 and put them in my kitchen and the rest went to my bookshelf.
After we got back from Lowes and had our Sunday Ice Cream I got busy with dinner. We had a great dinner last night and actually sat at our dining table. We had Fried Pork Chops, Mashed Potatos, Black Eyed Peas, Rolls, & Gravy... yumm. Can't wait to eat leftovers for lunch today!

Here is my meal plan for the rest of the week:
Cheesy Pasta & Veggies (monday)
Jambalaya & Rice
Taco Pie
Chicken with brown gravy & rice (or boiled potatos)
Chili & Cornbread

No specific days because I never know what Adam's work schedule will be and what we will feel like that day :).

So now it's monday and the day has been pretty good so far. I got 3 loads of laundry folded from the weekend, dishes washed (in the dishwasher of course), sink cleaned out, dishes put up from the drainer, and all my critters fed. I just hope the rest of the day at work goes good too!

TGIF

I'm SOOO glad that it's Friday. This week has flown by but yet it has seemed to drag at times. I'm so tired from not going to be until 10 or 11 two or three nights. I would love to go to be earlier but after Adam gets to bed I still have to make dinner and clean up the house. Sounds like a good reason huh? Well I would be in bed by 8:30 if that's all I did. I have been watching TV! I get so addicted to these shows and I really shouldn't. That's why God enabled man to create the DVR. Instead I have to watch them while they record! I really should make better use of this time and not stay up so late.

I've been doing a lot of blog searching yesterday and today and have found some very interesting ones. I wish that I could write the way that they do. My life is boring compared to theres. They actually have something to write about. When did my life get so routine. Get up, go to work, come home, cook, laundry, bed.! (Well and watch Grey's Anatomy & The Biggest Loser too). Nothing exciting ever happens during the week. I need to get out more. Now it is true that most of the other bloggers I have come across have children. That does make a huge difference I suppose. It will be a while before I decide to take the plunge into parenthood!

Last night I almost got online to blog some but decided to be lazy instead. For some reason my brain works better at night... weird. I can lay in bed and think of the most intelligent things to write. When I was in highschool I wanted to be an author. I tried several times but it turned out stupid. I thought my life was so bad once and wrote a story about a tragic teenager who's mother made her do so much and so she ran away and created her own wonderful life. I think I had watched the movie "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken" too many times .... haha.

On another topic:
I'm still doing good with keeping track of our finances. This week I'm gonna start using cash to pay for my groceries and give my MIL cash for the utilities of our house. That should help me in not having to wait for checks to be cashed and not overspending on groceries. We'll see.

I'm hoping that Adam will be off work tomorrow. He's so tired from working so much overtime this week and I miss him so much. I think that's why I'm feeling blue today. Last night I got in bed at my 10:00 time after Grey's Anatomy & Private Practice. I thought I was actually going to fall asleep when all of a sudden I started feeling weird. I haven't felt this way in a long time. It's like I'm stuck between sleep & awake. Things around me seem huge but then all of sudden they are small and my body feels bigger. It's really hard to explain. I finally woke up and almost started having a panic attack. Luckily Adam woke up and realized something was wrong so it helped having him talk to me. It was a very scary feeling. I ended up going to sleep a little bit later and slept until 6:30 this morning which didn't leave much time to get ready or do the dishes but I got it all done somehow.

Well only a few more hours until the weekend officially starts. I gotta go call people that need to pay their insurance by closing. After work it's off to the bank then to the grocery store. *Yawn* hope I can last that long!

Another Day ... Another Dollar!

Car Registration ~ CHECK!
Car Inspection ~ BIG FAT NO!

Well I went to go get my car inspected this morning and the rejected me because of my tires. Great! So I have 15 days to get 3 new tires and go back and get my inspection. I'm glad that I have those 15 days though so that I can shop prices. So far the cheapest I have found is online at tirerack.com for $97 each. That still comes out cheaper with $42 in shipping. Otherwise I would have to pay $125 each at the place next door to my office. Rip off.

Adam is firmly back into his 12 hour days which sucks. He worked 12 hrs Tuesday, 10 hrs Wednesday, 12 hrs today and then has to work 12s Friday & Saturday! I hate that he has to work so much but I guess God knows we need the money. Especially with the tire situation.

It's been a pretty good day around the office. I wrote a Life Insurance policy today, which is a big deal. Too bad it was declined :(. We have had so much business this week. I have written 4 homes and 2 auto policies. That's more than we wrote in Nov & Dec combined. It's only the 8th!

Not really sure what my plans are tonight other than making dinner (which is Chicken sour cream enchiladas). I really need to do something productive. I know Grey's Anatomy is coming on but I have that set to DVR so I can watch it anytime. I'm gonna try to make some progress in my control journal and also maybe get some cleaning done. I really need to clean off my desk at home and put away my desktop so that I can put my laptop there. It would look SO much better. We'll see how much of a bum I am when I get home.

Sad

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty good day. I was feeling pretty crummy about 3pm but managed to get some work done around the office. Got home and Adam had started dinner so that really helped out. I got the kitchen cleaned up and cleaned my sink because it was looking gross. I'm trying to get back in the habit of having a shiny clean (and empty) sink before bed. We actually got in bed about 7:30 and I fell right to sleep because I was so tired from staying up until 10 Monday night. Around 9:30 Adam woke me up and then I couldn't go back to sleep until about Midnight. It was miserable! I had planned on getting up with him at 4am this morning but didn't manage to drag out of bed until 5:20. That is a lot better thought than my normal sleeping in day of 6:45! I got up and got my chicken cooked for dinner tonight. Emptied the dishwasher and cleaned up the dirty dishes. I actually had time to get ready leisurly this morning and fix my hair nice. At work now. I need to go get my registration & inspection today before I get a ticket! I'm so glad that I set that money aside back in Nov & Dec. It so great to not have to worry how I'm going to get the money. Now on the other hand things have started going wrong on our vehicles. I need 3 tires for my car and Adam needs a power steering pump & headlights! Argh. Not sure where that money is yet but I know that God will provide it as he always had.

I have been a lot of reflecting these past couple of days over the past year. When we started out 2008 in our own house for the first time I was terrified. We were responsible for all these extra bills for the house and I didn't know how we were going to do it! I worried and worried about it but there hasn't been one month that a bill didn't get paid on time. Not only where they paid but they were paid early or on time! God is great. I'm so thankful that we both have jobs and have both been healthy. I sorta feel like something is coming though so I hope to get my Emergency Fund of $1000 set up soon as David Ramsey suggests. I'm tired of relying on credit cards and I'm tired of being in debt. Well I'm gonna get busy while it is slow. Have a bazillion things to do but I'm not gonna get overwhelmed! That only leads to more frustrations.

On a sad note:
I read another blog regularly at www.becauseisaidso.com and today Dawn had posted that a little boy had died of cancer. I had kinda been following the story when she would update about him. Today she put up a poem that his mom had posted to her blog and it really moved me:

The Parable Of The Twins

Once upon a time, twin boys were conceived in the same womb. Weeks passed and the twins developed. As their awareness grew, they laughed for joy, “isn’t it great that we were conceived? Isn’t it great to be alive?”Together the twins explored their world. When they found their mother’s cord that gave them life, they sang for joy, “how great is our Mother’s love, that she shares her own life with us!”As weeks stretched into months, the twins noticed how much each was changing. “what does it mean?” asked the one. “It means that our stay in this world is drawing to an end, said the other. “But I don’t want to go”, said the other, “but maybe there is life after birth.” But how can there be?” responded the other one. “We will shed our life cord, and how is life possible without it? Besides, we have seen evidence that others were here before us and none of them have returned to tell us that there is life after birth. No, this is the end.”And so the one fell into deep despair, saying, “If conception ends in birth, what is the purpose of life in the womb? It is meaningless! Maybe there is no mother after all?” “But there has to be,” protested the other. “How else did we get here? How do we remain alive?”How you ever seen our mother?” said one. “Maybe she lives only in our minds. Maybe we made her up because the idea made us feel good?”And so the last days in the womb were filled with deep questioning and fear. Finally, the moment of birth arrived. When the twins had passed from their world, they opened their eyes and cried for joy. For what they saw exceeded their fondest dreams.

Author Unknown

New Starts

So I've decided to create a new blog. I never kept up with my old one and it's got a bunch of crap on there anyways. I love starting over and new beginnings. January 1st is really on of my favorite days because you get to start fresh and make the year what you want it to be. I know that the majority of Americans fall off the Resolution band wagon (as do I) but I'm hoping that I can make positive changes in my life. I'm not really out to lose 50 lbs or to have a perfect house but I would LOVE to simplify my life.
I've been following FlyLady and it's really helped out a lot. I made a list of all the meals I know how to cook. Each week I pull that out and pick 6 or 7 meals for the week. This has made things so much simpler! No more trying to think of what I'm going to make or running to the store every day. Also I've been doing a load of laundry every evening and then folding it every morning. (which reminds me there are clothes in my washer at home!)

I'm also following the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. So far I'm not doing so great. BUT, I'm determined to take it slow and really learn how to do budgeting so that I don't fail. Normally I jump in with everything and it lasts about 10 seconds before I'm bored with it. I didn't follow the budget too good in Dec because of the holidays but I plan on working my budget this month and seeing how it goes.

I am trying to become healthier. I want to look better in my slacks for my cousins wedding. I also can't wait to put on a sexy outfit I bought LAST YEAR for our anniversary but didn't wear. My main focus is going to be on my legs and working them out. Adam loves legs and bootys so I want him to love mine. Right now there is a little too much to love!

I hope I can stick with this blogging. It really makes me feel better when I do write things out but I get so down or caught up in the moment and forget about the things I want.

Here are some of my goals:
Establish routines at work for daily, monthly, quarterly, & yearly.
Get my desk organized not just stacked.
Add more FlyLady routines to home.
Look & Feel better in 6 weeks for my cousin's wedding.
Look & Feel HOT by our anniversary in 9 weeks.
Get up at 5am and work out and take time to fix my hair and look great each day.