Well, I made it 1 year of blogging. I admit, it was tough at times to think of something to blog about, but I did it... with a little assistance for reminders.
Gatlinburg was great, great weather, great chalet, fun at the Aquarium, walking the streets, eating at new places, etc.... just didn't like the traffic.... before we got to Pigeon Forge we were in bumper to bumper traffic... seems we weren't the only ones who wanted to be in Gatlinburg for New Years. 2 hours and 20 miles later we made it to our chalet up on the ridge top... a good thing to because we were near delerious from the drive. We ate at new places, aka not our usual places, The Peddlar steakhouse, Bubba Gump seafood, and the Alamo steakhouse. We ate lunch and breakfast at the cabin. We enjoyed a backporch hot tub and a pool table inside.
We had an awesome view of the mountains and the nearby ski slope. It snowed 2 mornings in a row but the plows were diligent and we made it off the mountain. We had a good time roaming the shops on the strip and I even managed to get Ariel to go "mining" with me. (you know the stores that sell you a bucket of dirt and you sluice the dirt out to expose the rocks and gemstones.) We actually found quite a bit for gems. I sent a ruby off to get cut and polished and we kept the rest uncut for now. I think I'll get them done one at a time as finances allow. The day before we left, it was freezing outside so we went to the Aquarium and spent a few hours there. We got to see all kinds of aquatic life of course but the best part is taking the tunnel under the shark tanks. We got to get up close with sawfish tiger sharks, nurse sharks, stingrays, and giant see turtles with just a couple inches of reinforced glass between us. Awesome.
We returned home sunday to Evansville, Ariel pouting the last hour of driving because our trip was already over. Linzy is practically clinging to us because we were away for 4 days. She is having some trouble once again with the potty. She tells us she needs to go, we take her, then she says she dont have to go, and then less than 10 min later she pees her pants. (sighes) Or she doesn't tell us cause she dont want to stop playing and just stands there and pees.
First day back to work 2010, busy nonstop. I think people should sedate their pets for the holidays, less bites will happen. Ever try to hand auger a hole in frozen soil? P.I.T.A. (pain in the ass) I can't wait for the weekend....
Joe is coming out and we'll go snowboarding at Paoli. Good times.
Anywho, My Neww Years Resolutions:
1. Get back into shape more. - I haven't worked out as much since I left my travelling job and I've had a bit more fattening diet. Gotta get back into a less jiggly shape.
2. Give more. - I feel the need to give more, not just material things, but to give of myself more. In my labors and service where I can.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Little less Stress Please...
Had lots of Stress earlier this month; I wasn't able to pass my exam that I needed to keep my job, my house deal ran into more snags, and christmas was fast approaching. Topping it off, because I wasn't having luck with my exam, I decided to study more and go see Ariel and Linzy less. This also added stress since Linzy was being a weenie all week teething (incisors).
So I unloaded stress by passing my exam yesterday (yay) so I get to keep my job(double yay) and I don't have to worry about studying all the time (triple yay) and get to go back to seeing Ariel and Linzy more (quadrople yay).
As for the house, the mold guys are trying to double the price of the work to be done, but my realestate agent has a signed contract from them for the first price they quoted me. So I'm letting my agent deal with them. We are trying to get another extension on the deal as well, since the mold guys are taking so long.
Ah Christmas time, a time of joy a time of stress...stress from trying to get presents delivered in time, stress from preparations, and stress from trying to find the right gifts. I think next year I will start shopping Nov. 1st....
Other news, Ariel got one of her friends who is a photography major to do our christmas pictures, due to bad timing with my schedule and Linzy getting feverish from teething, we didn't get as many as we would like, so we will be rescheduling for Jan. So, hopefully I will have some pics to send out a little later.
Linzy of course is in full blown terrible twos mode. She has a fit about anything and with her teething, she has been extra grumpy. Getting her down to naps is fast becoming impossible and just forgoing naps is worse. A cranky teething Linzy in her terrible twos is worse than just a Teething Linzy in her terrible twos. On the plus side she is still learning fast and I can distract her from her tantrums with just a few select words. "Ooo, Linzy look at this". I can point to a dust bunny and all the sudden its the most interesting thing in the room. Changing the subject always works to end her tantrum. Problem arises when she wants to play with the dust bunny...
See you soon.
So I unloaded stress by passing my exam yesterday (yay) so I get to keep my job(double yay) and I don't have to worry about studying all the time (triple yay) and get to go back to seeing Ariel and Linzy more (quadrople yay).
As for the house, the mold guys are trying to double the price of the work to be done, but my realestate agent has a signed contract from them for the first price they quoted me. So I'm letting my agent deal with them. We are trying to get another extension on the deal as well, since the mold guys are taking so long.
Ah Christmas time, a time of joy a time of stress...stress from trying to get presents delivered in time, stress from preparations, and stress from trying to find the right gifts. I think next year I will start shopping Nov. 1st....
Other news, Ariel got one of her friends who is a photography major to do our christmas pictures, due to bad timing with my schedule and Linzy getting feverish from teething, we didn't get as many as we would like, so we will be rescheduling for Jan. So, hopefully I will have some pics to send out a little later.
Linzy of course is in full blown terrible twos mode. She has a fit about anything and with her teething, she has been extra grumpy. Getting her down to naps is fast becoming impossible and just forgoing naps is worse. A cranky teething Linzy in her terrible twos is worse than just a Teething Linzy in her terrible twos. On the plus side she is still learning fast and I can distract her from her tantrums with just a few select words. "Ooo, Linzy look at this". I can point to a dust bunny and all the sudden its the most interesting thing in the room. Changing the subject always works to end her tantrum. Problem arises when she wants to play with the dust bunny...
See you soon.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Since we last... well, blogged...
Not too terribly much has happened since my last update. I purposefully waited til today to post becuase I knew I'd be recieving more news today. Where oh where to begin.... I'll start with the house... egad, the house.... its still tied up, the mold remediators just got the ok from the bank to do the work and now we have to wait for their schedule to open up. So ya, my plan to be moved in by January is out the window. I'll be lucky to close by Mid December.
Next up, my job.... egad again. I've been studying to take my RS exam so that I might keep my job, I have to pass the exam before my 1 year aniversary date, and I took it November 12. Today I walk into work to find that I failed... by 5%.... I now study more to try and get at least 14 more questions right the next time I take it on Dec. 3rd. Other than that, I just recieved an increase in my workload. See, there are 2 of us in the henderson office and we also have 1 guy come over once a week from Davies county to help out... rather we used to. Now with cost cutting in the state, we've done away with the extra help and the work has been divided between me and Tim, my coworker.... yay, more work...
Ariel is already in the Christmas mood... rather has been since 3 days after Halloween. She's decorated her parents house and has made comments about getting lights to put up on the house I don't have yet. She bugs me daily about a gift list, but I don't have time or space for presents. No room in the kitchen, no room in the closet, no time for dvds, no time for books... I might be a little spread thin... but I only do 3 things... see Ariel and Linzy, go to work, and go to bed... Anywho, her and Linzy are working on gift lists and I'll send them out when I can. Ariel has been tutoring 1st graders after class a few days a week as part of her degree. Her time ends in the next couple of weeks, but she thinks she will try and go see them even after that.
Linzy is a riot, a 1 baby army. She has been dry for at least a week straight now. Even sleeping with just panties on, she holds it in until we get her to the potty. We were at JCP the other day and she looked at me and said, "I need to go potty". So I picked her up and we ran to the nearest potty. She sings lots of nursery rhymes and at night she rambles to herself while she lays in bed waiting to fall asleep. I think she's practicing her words because she just knows them too well. We've been playing hide and seek lately in their basement, unfortunately, she has only one hiding spot, despite me showing her so very many. She does of course have her meltdowns still; when I don't carry her down the stairs, when I don't pick her up, when I don't let her go outside without proper clothes on, when I don't let her eat from my plate, when I.... seriously, I could keep going. Gotta love the terrible twos.
On a high note, Ariel and I are going to Gatlinburg for New Years. We'll be staying in a cabin on the mountainside close to a ski resort and placed just right, so we can watch the fireworks from the hottub on the porch. Ariel had the idea and we were lucky to find a cabin available that weekend. Hopefully I'll still have a job by then... :P gotta love my dry humor.
Next up, my job.... egad again. I've been studying to take my RS exam so that I might keep my job, I have to pass the exam before my 1 year aniversary date, and I took it November 12. Today I walk into work to find that I failed... by 5%.... I now study more to try and get at least 14 more questions right the next time I take it on Dec. 3rd. Other than that, I just recieved an increase in my workload. See, there are 2 of us in the henderson office and we also have 1 guy come over once a week from Davies county to help out... rather we used to. Now with cost cutting in the state, we've done away with the extra help and the work has been divided between me and Tim, my coworker.... yay, more work...
Ariel is already in the Christmas mood... rather has been since 3 days after Halloween. She's decorated her parents house and has made comments about getting lights to put up on the house I don't have yet. She bugs me daily about a gift list, but I don't have time or space for presents. No room in the kitchen, no room in the closet, no time for dvds, no time for books... I might be a little spread thin... but I only do 3 things... see Ariel and Linzy, go to work, and go to bed... Anywho, her and Linzy are working on gift lists and I'll send them out when I can. Ariel has been tutoring 1st graders after class a few days a week as part of her degree. Her time ends in the next couple of weeks, but she thinks she will try and go see them even after that.
Linzy is a riot, a 1 baby army. She has been dry for at least a week straight now. Even sleeping with just panties on, she holds it in until we get her to the potty. We were at JCP the other day and she looked at me and said, "I need to go potty". So I picked her up and we ran to the nearest potty. She sings lots of nursery rhymes and at night she rambles to herself while she lays in bed waiting to fall asleep. I think she's practicing her words because she just knows them too well. We've been playing hide and seek lately in their basement, unfortunately, she has only one hiding spot, despite me showing her so very many. She does of course have her meltdowns still; when I don't carry her down the stairs, when I don't pick her up, when I don't let her go outside without proper clothes on, when I don't let her eat from my plate, when I.... seriously, I could keep going. Gotta love the terrible twos.
On a high note, Ariel and I are going to Gatlinburg for New Years. We'll be staying in a cabin on the mountainside close to a ski resort and placed just right, so we can watch the fireworks from the hottub on the porch. Ariel had the idea and we were lucky to find a cabin available that weekend. Hopefully I'll still have a job by then... :P gotta love my dry humor.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Other News
So no real news on the house... kinda in limbo until I hear back on the estimates for mold remidiation... The bank assessor for "mold" in a couple locations in the house, so the bank won't finalize the loan til it is fixed and the selling bank won't do anything to repair a foreclosed home. My choices are to pay for it myself or drop the deal....
Linzy is developing a 'tude' even managing to hit one of our friends when she was trying to play with Linzy. Needless to say "Timeout" is becoming more common. On days when Linzy is being real good at telling us when she has to go potty, she gets to wear big girl underwear over her pull-ups. Provides some good encouragement for her. She really enjoys wearing them.
Ariel is studying hard and will have to take the praxis (spelling?) test for her major so she can "officially" enter the education department.
I've switched over to working four days a week...in preparation to working on the house... so... obviously I have a nice extra day to relax now... while I wait...
Linzy is developing a 'tude' even managing to hit one of our friends when she was trying to play with Linzy. Needless to say "Timeout" is becoming more common. On days when Linzy is being real good at telling us when she has to go potty, she gets to wear big girl underwear over her pull-ups. Provides some good encouragement for her. She really enjoys wearing them.
Ariel is studying hard and will have to take the praxis (spelling?) test for her major so she can "officially" enter the education department.
I've switched over to working four days a week...in preparation to working on the house... so... obviously I have a nice extra day to relax now... while I wait...
BBQ Meatloaf... kinda.
At least that's what the recipe called it, though I didn't think it tastes enough like BBQ. The ladies at work all enjoyed it, though I though it came out a little dry. It is a crockpot recipe and though I should have cooked it on low overnight, I instead, cooked it on high from the moment I got to the office until lunch time. Cooking on high halves the amount of time you need to cook foods in the crock pot when it calls for say 8-10 hours on low, you really only need 3-4 on high. (ok so not perfect halves) Anywho.....
BBQ Meatloaf (Via crockpot)
Ingredients:
-2-2.5 lbs ground chuck
-1 can tomato soup (divided)
-1 egg, slightly beaten
-1 c. cruched Ritz crackers
-2 tbs honey
-1 tbs plus 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, divided
-2 tbs dried minced onions
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-1/2 c water
-2 tsp prepared mustard
-2 tbs brown sugar
Prep: Combine ground chuck with half of the tomato soup, egg, crackers, honey, 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, onions, salt, and pepper. Mix well and form into a ball. Place a crinkled length of aluminum foil in the slow cooker so that the ends extend an inch outside the pot. Place the meatloaf in the pot (the foil will make it easier to lift the meatloaf out and keep it out of the drippings).
Combine remaining soup, 1 tbs worcestershire sauce, the water, mustard, and brown sugar. Whisk together and pour over the meat loaf. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Serves 4-6.
BBQ Meatloaf (Via crockpot)
Ingredients:
-2-2.5 lbs ground chuck
-1 can tomato soup (divided)
-1 egg, slightly beaten
-1 c. cruched Ritz crackers
-2 tbs honey
-1 tbs plus 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, divided
-2 tbs dried minced onions
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-1/2 c water
-2 tsp prepared mustard
-2 tbs brown sugar
Prep: Combine ground chuck with half of the tomato soup, egg, crackers, honey, 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, onions, salt, and pepper. Mix well and form into a ball. Place a crinkled length of aluminum foil in the slow cooker so that the ends extend an inch outside the pot. Place the meatloaf in the pot (the foil will make it easier to lift the meatloaf out and keep it out of the drippings).
Combine remaining soup, 1 tbs worcestershire sauce, the water, mustard, and brown sugar. Whisk together and pour over the meat loaf. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Serves 4-6.
Monday, October 12, 2009
FallFest is over, Bring on the Harvest
The Fall Festival ended Saturday and while we were sad to see it go, we didn't waste any time moping around the house. Sunday was a beautiful day, so we went apple and pumpkin picking. We got lost going to one orchard, outdated gps maps, where we found that their season ended 2 weeks earlier. So, we drove to another about half an hour away. Linzy got to get herself a nice big pumpkin and we went out and picked about 3 ten pound bags of red and golden delicious apples. Linzy had a ball running about in the orchard though we had to chase her and keep her from going after the squishy ones on the ground.
It took us and hour to fill our 3 bags and it only cost us 16 dollars. We then stopped at the 'shop' on the way out of the orchard and grabbed a gallon of cider. (yay) After Linzy got up from her nap, we proceeded to peel and core some of the apples and cut them up for homade applesauce. Since we didn't have a food processor, we used a potatoe masher and an electric beater. The applesauce came out a bit thicker i think, though not with as small of particulates in it as the store brand. I did find out though that it tastes much better when its hot than cold applesauce does. We got almost 6 pints from 8lbs of apples.
With the rest of the apples we will be making applebutter and apple pie... maybe some more applesauce. Shannon, Ariel's mom, made apple butter with some store bought apples using mom's recipe and discovered that mom must make a double batch because we only got a couple pints from 3 lbs of apples.
Next weekend is camping at Lake Rudolph, the weekend after that is Baby O's birthday party (Linzy has been praticing singing), and then Halloween weekend, 1st weekend of Nov we have a birthday party in Nashiville TN to go to, and then the holidays approach...I'm going to need a vacation...
It took us and hour to fill our 3 bags and it only cost us 16 dollars. We then stopped at the 'shop' on the way out of the orchard and grabbed a gallon of cider. (yay) After Linzy got up from her nap, we proceeded to peel and core some of the apples and cut them up for homade applesauce. Since we didn't have a food processor, we used a potatoe masher and an electric beater. The applesauce came out a bit thicker i think, though not with as small of particulates in it as the store brand. I did find out though that it tastes much better when its hot than cold applesauce does. We got almost 6 pints from 8lbs of apples.
With the rest of the apples we will be making applebutter and apple pie... maybe some more applesauce. Shannon, Ariel's mom, made apple butter with some store bought apples using mom's recipe and discovered that mom must make a double batch because we only got a couple pints from 3 lbs of apples.
Next weekend is camping at Lake Rudolph, the weekend after that is Baby O's birthday party (Linzy has been praticing singing), and then Halloween weekend, 1st weekend of Nov we have a birthday party in Nashiville TN to go to, and then the holidays approach...I'm going to need a vacation...
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Fun Fun for everyone.
Many many to-dos lately. First, I am in the process of buying a house, no doubt mom filled you in already. I had the 'luxury' of showing mom, dad, glen, des, and a few members of ariel's family the house. (I warned them it kinda stank but they went anyway.) Yesterday, I had the inspection done on it, no real surprises there. I knew most of the things needing done already. It is a foreclosed home and it really needs a lot of TLC... a LOT of TLC. The bank listed it for 47500 and I got it for 35000. It is a 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath ranch stlye brick home with an attatched 1 car garage. The paperwork on the deal is now with the bank, they are in the process of appraisal and title work. Once that comes back, and I get a final approval on the loan, we can close and I can begin renovating. I hope to move in by January.
Linzy's 2nd birthday party was Saturday the 3rd, she really enjoyed her day in the spotlight. Along with some friends and Ariel's family, Mom and dad came and Glen and Des came with Gwen and Gavin. Linzy got a slide for her birthday, which currently is located in the family room at Ariel's parents, and she slid with the other kids quite a bit. She also got some much needed clothes for her wardrobe and a few toys. She's really getting into playing with her uncle's matchbox cars and has begun putting her dolls to bed. Anywho, her party was of course, Mickey mouse club house themed. and Ariel made linzy a small cake with a fondant Minnie on top... linzy loves fondant...I try to keep her away from too much sugar... because well... she kinda goes nuts. She's energetic as it is, but when you add sugar, she's ... kinda bouncing off the walls. Not that we ever were like that as kids. >.>
We did commit a terrible parenting sin that day, that will haunt us for a long time to come... we didn't get any pictures... none at all... zero... zilch... nada... goose eggs... With all that was going on and trying to make sure we saw everyone and that everything was going alright, we forgot all about getting the camera out and taking pictures.
The 88th Annual Fall Festival is this week in Evansville. It is the second largest street festival in the US, short of Mardi Gras. It comprises mostly of food booths, but has rides, games, talent shows, a couple parades, and some exhibits/contests. Ariel goes out there daily and so far I have gotten her to knowingly and willingly try alligator jerky and bison burger. Tonight I will indroduce her to elk meat. Linzy loved the Alligator jerky oddly enough.
This weekend we go apple and pumpkin picking, will take the camera, and my cousin Joe is coming out for the weekend, so it should be a fun time.
Linzy's 2nd birthday party was Saturday the 3rd, she really enjoyed her day in the spotlight. Along with some friends and Ariel's family, Mom and dad came and Glen and Des came with Gwen and Gavin. Linzy got a slide for her birthday, which currently is located in the family room at Ariel's parents, and she slid with the other kids quite a bit. She also got some much needed clothes for her wardrobe and a few toys. She's really getting into playing with her uncle's matchbox cars and has begun putting her dolls to bed. Anywho, her party was of course, Mickey mouse club house themed. and Ariel made linzy a small cake with a fondant Minnie on top... linzy loves fondant...I try to keep her away from too much sugar... because well... she kinda goes nuts. She's energetic as it is, but when you add sugar, she's ... kinda bouncing off the walls. Not that we ever were like that as kids. >.>
We did commit a terrible parenting sin that day, that will haunt us for a long time to come... we didn't get any pictures... none at all... zero... zilch... nada... goose eggs... With all that was going on and trying to make sure we saw everyone and that everything was going alright, we forgot all about getting the camera out and taking pictures.
The 88th Annual Fall Festival is this week in Evansville. It is the second largest street festival in the US, short of Mardi Gras. It comprises mostly of food booths, but has rides, games, talent shows, a couple parades, and some exhibits/contests. Ariel goes out there daily and so far I have gotten her to knowingly and willingly try alligator jerky and bison burger. Tonight I will indroduce her to elk meat. Linzy loved the Alligator jerky oddly enough.
This weekend we go apple and pumpkin picking, will take the camera, and my cousin Joe is coming out for the weekend, so it should be a fun time.
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