I can't believe that Saturday will be the start of a new year. Normally I am one of those who make all sorts of resolutions and lists and then they get stuck away in a drawer to never be accomplished. This year I have decided to forgo the list. Because looking back in the past 6 months I have done so many things I would have never thought I could accomplish. And while the number on the scale isn't what I wanted back this time last year I am becoming happier with my body and what I see when I look in the mirror. I have always disregarded all compliments on being pretty, cute, sweet etc. But I have realized that I need to take them and accept them no matter how I feel about me.
So this year my plan is to continue working on becoming healthier inside and out and working on teaching my children good food habits. The difference between good for you foods and junk foods and why you shouldn't eat a lot of junk foods. All things that I wish my mom would have instilled in me at a young age.
The one big thing I really want to work on is my running routine and I really want to sign up and run some races this year. I am not going to pick a certain distance or time to beat just go out and do something that no one thinks is possible.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Something crazy
We heat our house with a pellet stove which is super efficient and great heat. Its a cute little stove that sits in our living room and has a pretty glass door so you can see the fire. It's way less maintenance and hassle than a regular wood stove. However I am not a fan of having fire in my house of any sort, so my husband is the one who deals with the stove filling it up with pellets and cleaning it a few times a week. Well sometime this month he has to go out of town for school for a whole week (defiantly not looking forward to that week) so he has been trying to get me to learn how to work the stove better and how to clean it. Last night I decided I would shut it down and clean it and he decided to work late no big deal right....
I got the stove cleaned with the help of Nathan who had to be right in the middle of everything and he also learned how to turn the shop vac on. I put it all back together and called my husband to make sure it was all ok and then turned it on. I was busy doing this and that as the kids were in bed by that time, well I walk back thru the living room and notice there was smoke building up in the fire box and not going anywhere. I quickly turn the stove back off and then the little pellets catch on fire. I get a little worried as I have never seen the stove do this and even though I am a fire fighter I got worried it may do something crazy. Make another call to my hubby who is like oh its ok don't worry about it. Hmm don't worry about it while its building with smoke that is now coming out of the vent and the door!!!! He said he would look at it when he got home, not a good enough answer for me.
I decide to send a text to Brenda to see if Don is busy and ask that he call me. I knew he didn't know anything about pellet stoves but he is the fire chief and could reassure me that it wouldn't blow up or do anything strange as long as I left the vent closed and the door closed. He assured me it would be ok it would just have to smolder and burn its self out. (oh and I didn't bother to tell my husband I made a phone call to reassure what he told me in the first place) Finally about an hour after I turned the stove off it quit smoking and our house cleared out then my wonderful hubby got home. He fully thought I had put something together wrong and broke the stove. To my surprise it was all together right and when he re started it it worked. We did figure out that the blower sucker thing that sucks the smoke up the vent pipe hadn't came on.
Well I have decided that the week he is gone I will just use our propane furnace and not have this issue. I was nervous about to throw my dinner of one choc chip cookie up. I don't think I would have been as worried if I hadn't had two kids at home asleep or maybe I would have been who knows. Hubby laughed at me because I was worried about it but yet I am a fire fighter. Well I can tell you that when its something not going right in your own home you get a bit worried!.
Here is a picture of the stove, its from Christmas last year. Great source of heat but its still fire!
I got the stove cleaned with the help of Nathan who had to be right in the middle of everything and he also learned how to turn the shop vac on. I put it all back together and called my husband to make sure it was all ok and then turned it on. I was busy doing this and that as the kids were in bed by that time, well I walk back thru the living room and notice there was smoke building up in the fire box and not going anywhere. I quickly turn the stove back off and then the little pellets catch on fire. I get a little worried as I have never seen the stove do this and even though I am a fire fighter I got worried it may do something crazy. Make another call to my hubby who is like oh its ok don't worry about it. Hmm don't worry about it while its building with smoke that is now coming out of the vent and the door!!!! He said he would look at it when he got home, not a good enough answer for me.
I decide to send a text to Brenda to see if Don is busy and ask that he call me. I knew he didn't know anything about pellet stoves but he is the fire chief and could reassure me that it wouldn't blow up or do anything strange as long as I left the vent closed and the door closed. He assured me it would be ok it would just have to smolder and burn its self out. (oh and I didn't bother to tell my husband I made a phone call to reassure what he told me in the first place) Finally about an hour after I turned the stove off it quit smoking and our house cleared out then my wonderful hubby got home. He fully thought I had put something together wrong and broke the stove. To my surprise it was all together right and when he re started it it worked. We did figure out that the blower sucker thing that sucks the smoke up the vent pipe hadn't came on.
Well I have decided that the week he is gone I will just use our propane furnace and not have this issue. I was nervous about to throw my dinner of one choc chip cookie up. I don't think I would have been as worried if I hadn't had two kids at home asleep or maybe I would have been who knows. Hubby laughed at me because I was worried about it but yet I am a fire fighter. Well I can tell you that when its something not going right in your own home you get a bit worried!.
Needless to say I didn't sleep well last night as I kept checking to be sure the stove was working, I will be very glad when our new house is done since we are putting in a ground source heat pump there will be no flames to contend with and no worries for me!.
Here is a picture of the stove, its from Christmas last year. Great source of heat but its still fire! Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas 2010
Christmas is always a busy day for us as we try to go and see as much family as we can in one day. This year was no different however it didn't seem as rushed and stressed as years past. Both boys slept in until 7:30 then Blake was up first and we told him he had to wait for Nathan to wake up. So he promptly went in their room and woke Nathan up. Blake got lots of goodies from Santa he had only asked for a Nintendo DS and a camera and Santa brought both plus a game for his DS. Nathan got a few toys and some clothes, he was more interested in what Blake was getting.
Then after we opened the gifts I had placed under the tree Kenny asked for Blake's help with moving the treadmill and Blake gets all excited as there are two more gifts under it which turned out to be mine. Then he told Blake to look under the couch and Blake found two more gifts which were for him. So we sat down to open those and I received a pink gun and Blake got a Red Rider BB Gun. Blake was so excited that he had his very own real gun that shoots real bullets. I was quite shocked at my gift as well. I had told my husband for the last several years that I would learn to shoot if he could find me a pink gun, half thinking that he would never find one. I was in total shock as I knew he hadn't had "time" to go shopping and when I questioned how he went to Cabela's he explained how he pulled it off and yea I was in total shock. The last few years he hadn't got me anything for Christmas but when he does shop he does great!.
Here is my pink gun, I took with with me everywhere we went (this photo is from my grandparents house) as I knew no one would believe I had finally got a pink gun.
My mom asked one of the funniest questions after I showed it to her, she wanted to know if it took pink bullets??? I was like nope just regular ones.
Blake was asking all day if I thought that Santa told some of his grandparents that he was getting a DS because he really wanted a monster truck game for it. I knew he was getting one later in the day but I had to keep telling him he would just have to wait and see.
We had a nice family gathering at my grandparents house and a very yummy dinner. My grandma bought me a new pink pea coat from Target that I love and she also bought me a pink and purple leather bound bible. On the inside she wrote the date and who it was to and from. She did the same for my mom when she was young and a few years ago my mom gave me hers. But I like having my own and knowing it was a gift from my grandma makes it more special. My Uncle got us a Waffle maker that is also a griddle and a grill which I can't wait to try out. The boys got some books and toys and Nathan had more fun watching everyone and playing with the piles of paper than actually opening gifts. Kenny's gift from my uncle was pretty thoughtful and creative here is a picture.
Sorry I didn't realize I had placed the gift card upside down when I took the picture.
After we left my grandparents house we went down the road to Don and Brenda's I really wish I would have thought to take my camera in and get pictures of them opening gifts. Brenda really liked the gifts I bought her one of which was a wooden sign that read A Home is a place where friends become family. She gave me a beautiful necklace and earring set and my Skittles and a collage picture frame which I love. Kenny got a new season of CSI which was a surprise to him. Blake got his Monster Truck DS game which he was in love with and Nathan got a fire truck. We had a nice visit with them while the kids played, Nathan loves their house and will walk all over the place there chasing the dogs and cat.
Then we went to our last stop at my in-laws house where we would have dinner and do more gifts. Of course both boys were wore out and tired but they managed to stay awake to eat dinner and open gifts. Blake got some new stuff for his room there and some toys. Nathan got his own phone that makes all sorts of noise and some new trucks. I had got my mother in law a new travel mug for her coffee with pictures of the boys on it and we got my brother in law a otter case for his iphone, oh and Kenny got his dad a mirror thing?? Something to use while working on cars....
We had a really great day although it was very long for us and the boys it was well worth it. I really hope that next year we are in our new house and able to host Christmas for our family and not have to get up and rush around to get here and there.
Then after we opened the gifts I had placed under the tree Kenny asked for Blake's help with moving the treadmill and Blake gets all excited as there are two more gifts under it which turned out to be mine. Then he told Blake to look under the couch and Blake found two more gifts which were for him. So we sat down to open those and I received a pink gun and Blake got a Red Rider BB Gun. Blake was so excited that he had his very own real gun that shoots real bullets. I was quite shocked at my gift as well. I had told my husband for the last several years that I would learn to shoot if he could find me a pink gun, half thinking that he would never find one. I was in total shock as I knew he hadn't had "time" to go shopping and when I questioned how he went to Cabela's he explained how he pulled it off and yea I was in total shock. The last few years he hadn't got me anything for Christmas but when he does shop he does great!.
My mom asked one of the funniest questions after I showed it to her, she wanted to know if it took pink bullets??? I was like nope just regular ones.
Blake was asking all day if I thought that Santa told some of his grandparents that he was getting a DS because he really wanted a monster truck game for it. I knew he was getting one later in the day but I had to keep telling him he would just have to wait and see.
We had a nice family gathering at my grandparents house and a very yummy dinner. My grandma bought me a new pink pea coat from Target that I love and she also bought me a pink and purple leather bound bible. On the inside she wrote the date and who it was to and from. She did the same for my mom when she was young and a few years ago my mom gave me hers. But I like having my own and knowing it was a gift from my grandma makes it more special. My Uncle got us a Waffle maker that is also a griddle and a grill which I can't wait to try out. The boys got some books and toys and Nathan had more fun watching everyone and playing with the piles of paper than actually opening gifts. Kenny's gift from my uncle was pretty thoughtful and creative here is a picture.
After we left my grandparents house we went down the road to Don and Brenda's I really wish I would have thought to take my camera in and get pictures of them opening gifts. Brenda really liked the gifts I bought her one of which was a wooden sign that read A Home is a place where friends become family. She gave me a beautiful necklace and earring set and my Skittles and a collage picture frame which I love. Kenny got a new season of CSI which was a surprise to him. Blake got his Monster Truck DS game which he was in love with and Nathan got a fire truck. We had a nice visit with them while the kids played, Nathan loves their house and will walk all over the place there chasing the dogs and cat.
Then we went to our last stop at my in-laws house where we would have dinner and do more gifts. Of course both boys were wore out and tired but they managed to stay awake to eat dinner and open gifts. Blake got some new stuff for his room there and some toys. Nathan got his own phone that makes all sorts of noise and some new trucks. I had got my mother in law a new travel mug for her coffee with pictures of the boys on it and we got my brother in law a otter case for his iphone, oh and Kenny got his dad a mirror thing?? Something to use while working on cars....
We had a really great day although it was very long for us and the boys it was well worth it. I really hope that next year we are in our new house and able to host Christmas for our family and not have to get up and rush around to get here and there.
Skittles
I received an awesome gift from someone who apparently loves me a whole lot, as they went thru a lot of trouble making one of my Christmas gifts.
Skittles are one of my favorite candies, however I rarely eat them. Why well because I eat them in a strange fashion. I have to have enough room to spread them out and someone around to eat the green and yellow ones. Then I will sort them out by color and pair them up and I don't eat two of the same color has to be two different colors. Weird yes I know and I am not sure why I eat them that way other than maybe being bored in school and it was something to pass the time that stuck with me. My husband didn't even know about my weird Skittle thing (because he doesn't eat Skittles so I rarely eat them around him) and partly because I was embarrassed about how weird it seems on how I eat them.
Anyway back to the gift, Saturday afternoon we went to Don and Brenda's to exchange gifts with them. We sat down and Brenda handed each of the boys one of those plastic candy canes filled with m&m's and then she handed me one and it was filled with skittles. Then I noticed that they were all sectioned out and the yellow and green were gone. I looked at her and she was smiling ear to ear she said I bought myself runts in that package and ate those. I then bought you skittles and sorted them all out took out the green and yellow and made sure there were even numbers of the colors and put them in the container for you, so you could easily eat them. I think I could have cried! I received lots of awesome gifts which I will mention in a later post but the Skittles were by far the greatest.
Back in October at one of the auctions I helped with I noticed that we had candy bars for sale and there were Skittles in there. I made a comment they looked good. When Don asked me why I didn't get a bag of them I said because I eat them weird and don't have enough room to spread them all out or anyone to eat green and yellow. Well right after Halloween the kids and I were at their house and Brenda had a big bowl of Halloween candy left and Blake was digging thru trying to find candy corn. Well I saw a small pack of Skittles and Don told me to go ahead and eat them as they wanted to watch me eat Skittles. They both laughed about the way I eat them. I eat m&m's by the handful but something with Skittles I like the way two different colors taste together and don't like the taste of green or yellow.
Here is a picture of my candy cane full of my favorite colors....
Skittles are one of my favorite candies, however I rarely eat them. Why well because I eat them in a strange fashion. I have to have enough room to spread them out and someone around to eat the green and yellow ones. Then I will sort them out by color and pair them up and I don't eat two of the same color has to be two different colors. Weird yes I know and I am not sure why I eat them that way other than maybe being bored in school and it was something to pass the time that stuck with me. My husband didn't even know about my weird Skittle thing (because he doesn't eat Skittles so I rarely eat them around him) and partly because I was embarrassed about how weird it seems on how I eat them.
Anyway back to the gift, Saturday afternoon we went to Don and Brenda's to exchange gifts with them. We sat down and Brenda handed each of the boys one of those plastic candy canes filled with m&m's and then she handed me one and it was filled with skittles. Then I noticed that they were all sectioned out and the yellow and green were gone. I looked at her and she was smiling ear to ear she said I bought myself runts in that package and ate those. I then bought you skittles and sorted them all out took out the green and yellow and made sure there were even numbers of the colors and put them in the container for you, so you could easily eat them. I think I could have cried! I received lots of awesome gifts which I will mention in a later post but the Skittles were by far the greatest.
Back in October at one of the auctions I helped with I noticed that we had candy bars for sale and there were Skittles in there. I made a comment they looked good. When Don asked me why I didn't get a bag of them I said because I eat them weird and don't have enough room to spread them all out or anyone to eat green and yellow. Well right after Halloween the kids and I were at their house and Brenda had a big bowl of Halloween candy left and Blake was digging thru trying to find candy corn. Well I saw a small pack of Skittles and Don told me to go ahead and eat them as they wanted to watch me eat Skittles. They both laughed about the way I eat them. I eat m&m's by the handful but something with Skittles I like the way two different colors taste together and don't like the taste of green or yellow.
Here is a picture of my candy cane full of my favorite colors....
Friday, December 24, 2010
It's Christmas Time!
It's Christmas Eve and it will be a white Christmas. I would have rather had the white stuff when I could be home and not having to be getting out in it to drive to work. Blake was exctited when he saw the snow and stood at the window watching me clear my car off. I am sure that he is begging his daddy to let him go out and play in the snow.
I have all my Christmas shopping done and wrapped and haven't felt the stress and anxiety that I do most years in the days leading up to Christmas. I am actually excited to watch the kids open gifts in the morning and then excited to see my family open all the gifts that I picked for them.
Our day isn't jam packed busy like it normally is on Christmas Day, we do have one extra stop to make tomorrow that we haven't made in the past. I am very excited to get to spend time with that part of my family and I know the kids will be excited as well.
Hope that I can snap some great pictures of my family on Christmas day and maybe even have a couple pictures of me to post on Monday.
I have all my Christmas shopping done and wrapped and haven't felt the stress and anxiety that I do most years in the days leading up to Christmas. I am actually excited to watch the kids open gifts in the morning and then excited to see my family open all the gifts that I picked for them.
Our day isn't jam packed busy like it normally is on Christmas Day, we do have one extra stop to make tomorrow that we haven't made in the past. I am very excited to get to spend time with that part of my family and I know the kids will be excited as well.
Hope that I can snap some great pictures of my family on Christmas day and maybe even have a couple pictures of me to post on Monday.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Family Pictures
We had family pictures taken by a friend the weekend after Thanskgiving. It was cold out and the kids weren't real cooperative but we managed to get some decent pictures. I used one for our Christmas card and several will be used for Christma gifts.
I think Dimesha was a bit happier about having her picture with Blake than he was. Although he did sit there and get his picture taken.
Where did the year go???
I can't believe its only a few days til Christmas as this year has flown by. I still have a list of things to get done before Friday night but figure there is no sense in stressing over them as I know they will get done. Right now there is a big pile of boxes that need wrapped on my desk here at work and I also know that once I get started it will only take me 30 minutes or so to get them all done.
Blake is counting down the days til Christmas but he is not like most kids he doesn't seem to be worried about how many gifts he will get or what toys he wants. He just wants Santa to come and of course there are hundreds of questions about how, what, why and where with Santa. Most of which I try to answer some are a little more tricky. Then there is the questions about Jesus and why its his Birthday and why we celebrate his birthday when he isn't here for us to see oh and the questions on and how it all started.
Don't think Nathan knows Christmas is coming or what it is, he likes to look at Christmas trees and had done great on leaving them alone. Except for Brenda's tree that has glass balls that hang down and intrigue him. He would go over to the tree and yell ball and smack the balls thankfully he never got one off or broke any but he sure thought it was fun. And I know she never thought of him thinking of those balls as toys when she hung them down on the bottom.
Looking back at pictures from last Christmas and thru the year its amazing at how much both boys have grown and changed. And while they look a lot alike they both have their own things that make them different. Some say Nathan looks a lot like me while Blake is a total image of his daddy and others disagree and think its the other way around. I can't wait to get pictures of this Christmas and see how excited Nathan is to learn to open gifts and tear boxes apart.
Blake is counting down the days til Christmas but he is not like most kids he doesn't seem to be worried about how many gifts he will get or what toys he wants. He just wants Santa to come and of course there are hundreds of questions about how, what, why and where with Santa. Most of which I try to answer some are a little more tricky. Then there is the questions about Jesus and why its his Birthday and why we celebrate his birthday when he isn't here for us to see oh and the questions on and how it all started.
Don't think Nathan knows Christmas is coming or what it is, he likes to look at Christmas trees and had done great on leaving them alone. Except for Brenda's tree that has glass balls that hang down and intrigue him. He would go over to the tree and yell ball and smack the balls thankfully he never got one off or broke any but he sure thought it was fun. And I know she never thought of him thinking of those balls as toys when she hung them down on the bottom.
Looking back at pictures from last Christmas and thru the year its amazing at how much both boys have grown and changed. And while they look a lot alike they both have their own things that make them different. Some say Nathan looks a lot like me while Blake is a total image of his daddy and others disagree and think its the other way around. I can't wait to get pictures of this Christmas and see how excited Nathan is to learn to open gifts and tear boxes apart.
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