Dreaming...

HOPEFULLY... we will be getting new living room furniture this summer or early fall. Hopefully. So I was browsing online tonight, just looking and hoping, I came across this one. It actually is a sleeper sofa as well, which I hadn't even thought about the fact that one of those might be useful eventually, but it might not be a bad idea. I really like how it has the recliner and the chaise lounge. Just looking for other opinions on it.... tell me what you think!

Stuff

Another update! Yay! Really, this is me procrastinating and not wanting to study for my accounting test tomorrow night. But I don't think it should be too hard. So it's all good. I'll study a little bit maybe when Anthony is done playing XBox, so he can quiz me. :)

I just came in a little while ago from planting some gladiolus bulbs. I'm trying to make my yard be semi-pretty at least! Malisa is coming over on Saturday to bring me some of her stuff to plant, and help me plant them. I'm not exactly a gardner yet, but I'd like to get there, so she is going to help me in the process!

Anways..... so I made my first pot roast today! Woohoo! And it actually turned out to be excellent. I'm really proud of myself for stepping up my game in the dinner making department. I can't even remember what sparked it in me, but I actually plan what I'm going to eat for the week, on Saturday before that week. So we have actual real meals. Last night Shepard's Pie, tonight pot roast, and Thursday meatball subs. (Wednesdays we eat out because of class and church, and Fridays are lazy, eat whatever days). It makes me happy when my husband is happy, and good homecooked meals make him happy. I asked him tonight who was the better cook, me or his mom? He hesitated in answering, so I answered for him, "don't worry, I know it's your mom, she has a few years on me." :) Maybe one day...... ;)

Here is a picture of our newest bookshelf, from Anthony's mom. I moved the tall skinny brown one to my closet, and put this one in its place in the corner. I like it a lot better, and it gives more storage room.




















On May 10th, I believe, my friend Malisa from work is going to be hosting a Creative Memories Framing Party, here at my house. I framed a few Red Sox related pictures for a montage kind of thing for Anthony for Christmas towards the end of last year and the first party she had. Now she is doing one again, and they are a lot of fun, and it is cheaper framing than what you can do at a place like Michael's, so let me know if anyone is intersted in coming!

Well, Anthony's basketball game should be almost over, so I think I'll go get quizzed for a few minutes before American Idol comes on. Go David Archuleta and Jason Castro!!!

Reprimanded

So Amanda called me out about not blogging lately, so this is for her, so she will be happy. :)
We've been staying busy, for sure. Easter weekend we went to VA Beach and stayed with Anthony's parents. We had a really good time going to Kevin's birthday party, Lily's dedication, and just hanging out doing nothing.

Last night my mom had a Pampered Chef party, so I went to that and had a great time. Before the party started, we were just talking about different stuff, and it came up that the consultant has a 5 year old daughter who has autism. She firmly believes that vaccinations (the chicken pox vaccination in particular) is what caused (or pushed her over the edge) her to have autism. She said the night her little girl had the chicken pox vaccine, she woke up screaming because she couldn't move her legs or turn over. She was temporarily paralyzed. She was never the same after that vaccine. Evonne did not get to hear her little girl call her "mommy" until she was 3 and a half years old. They have treated her behaviorally and with diet, not with medication, and she is doing very well now, thank goodness. I have heard a little talk of the possibility of vaccinations leading to autism before, but this was the first time I really heard anyone go into depth with it like she did. It really has made me think a lot, and when I do have a baby, I definitely plan on researching with vaccinations I do and do not think are necessary for my child. Evonne said that like back in the time when I was an infant and toddler, the vaccination schedule for children included 10 vaccinations by 36 months. Today, there are 36 vaccinations they give to children by the time they are 3 years old. Autism is at an all time high, and still on the rise. A coincidence? I don't think so. Anyways, I'll get off my soap box now, but it really made me think, and I would encourage anyone else reading this, who has children or will someday have children, to at least look into and do what you think is best for you child, not just what the doctor tells you.

Last weekend, we finally got the trash outside and inside the shed all cleaned up, and Anthony build a workbench. Today I painted the doors. I am so glad we are pretty much done with this project. We got to actually put our lawn mower and other stuff into the shed today! Here is a
picture. The doors need another coat of paint still, but we're getting there.

Me Playing Along

What I was doing 10 years ago: 10 years ago I was 14 years old! It was 1998 so I was in 8th grade. The big fish in the middle school pond. :) Just doing the middle school thing, I guess that was still in my "rebellious" years, although I was pretty moderately "rebellious" compared to a lot of kids.

5 things on my To Do list today: 1 - start researching for my accounting ethics paper (I'm writing about Adelphia Communications). 2 - get stamps. 3 - pay bills. 4 - watch American Idol. 5 - spend time with my wonderful hubby! I have a pretty easy life, and I love it!

Snacks that I enjoy: it might take less time to list snacks I don't enjoy, haha. I like chips and any kind of dip, cheese, chex mix, cookies, pretty much anything

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: tithe to the church of course, pay off our house, pay off my mom's and house, pay off Anthony's school loans and my Jeep loan, go on an amzing vacation, buy Anthony a sweet truck, maybe pay off Vicky's and Matt's school loans so they all could have life a little easier, help both our families out any way they needed it... the possibilities are endless!

5 places I've lived: 2 houses in Stuarts Draft, trailer in Stuarts Draft, dorms in Lynchburg, apartment and house in Waynesboro

5 jobs I've had: cleaning at the church, daycare worker at Ridgeview, nursery at Calvary Baptist in Lynchburg, teaching 7th grade math at Shelburne, Staunton Foods

Trek Pictures

This is my Bible quiz team! Melanie, Miranda, Michaela, and Derrick. They were the only team to get ALL of the paddle quiz questions right. Actually there was one other team who had also gotten all of the questions right until this one question where every answer was guessed by at least one team. We were the only team holding up "B" so everyone is like, oh no.... And she says the answer and it is B! And then as soon as that question was done, she called time for that round! So that was amazing!
















Me and the team! These are some crazy, fun kids. :)
















The team getting their 3rd place ribbons. I am amazingly proud of all 4 of them. Each and every one of them gave it their all and I could not have asked for a better team!

















This is the games team with the final scoreboard. The green Tabernacle team had 86, so it was pretty close with that team, but we won!
















Miranda and Brittany holding the ribbon for breaking the record for the girls' balloon relay. Don't ask... only Awana people would understand. :) Brittany also beat the record for the girl's marathan race which is 7 laps. She was really nervous about it so I was so proud of her! I love these girls!

Trek

So we went to Danville with the Trek kids today for Awana Bible Quizzing and games. I'm not going to post everything now, because I'm exhausted after about 6 total hours on a bus with those kids today, but I just wanted to give a quick overview.

My kids got 3rd place in Bible Quzzing, and they were the only team to get all of the paddle quiz (multiple choice) questions correct! Two of the other teams (the ones that beat us) pretty much rocked it up on the speed (buzzer) questions. I am SO extremely proud of them. All 4 of them put 110% into their studying. I know that God will reward and bless them for their hardwork. Thanks Derek, Miranda, Melanie, and Michaela! You guys are the best. :)

Also, the games team won 1st place! Broken records and longest tug-of-war ever are a few things I will elaborate on when I do my real post, hopefully tomorrow.

Very fun, but long day. I am off to bed now. :)

Domesticated

Today was sooo beautiful! When I got home, I begged Anthony to go for a walk, but he wouldn't go. :( But I decided to get myself outside anyways, and I planted some (dying) daffodils that my friend Malisa from work gave me. So they won't be pretty this year, but once they are all the way dead I will trim them down and hopefully we'll have some pretty daffodils around our front porch next year!

I also made cube steak for the first time today. It was pretty yummy if I do say so myself. It was almost ruined when Anthony forgot to turn the crockpot on before he left! But luckily he was able to come home during his lunch and turn it on so everything turned out okay.

Of course I am glad tomorrow is Friday, but I am so bummed that we won't get to sleep in on Saturday! We are headed to Danville on the bus with the kids to go to the Awana Bible Quizzing and games. We have to be at the church at 7:30. Ugh. That means we have to get up even earlier than normal. Anthony tried to convince me into us driving to Danville ourselves. While I treasure my Saturday mornings sleeping in, it's not as much as I treasure the money it would cost us in gas to get to Danville!

Well, I am going to go settle down in front of the tv for Survivor and Lost! This is my favorite tv night for sure. There is nothing in the world like cuddling up with my hubby with a good cup of coffee and 2 of our favorite shows! :)