May 20

Once again, it's been too long. I don't know what my problem is. I guess I like being lazy too much. :) Let's see if I can at least recap this past weekend.

On Friday evening Ashley had a Pampered Chef party at which I bought the Mix 'N Chop which is supposed to be very helpful at chopping ground beef. I didn't really need it, but it was fairly cheap and I wanted to buy something to support Ashley. :) (Note: She doesn't read my blog, haha).

Friday night, we just slept over at Mom's because we had to be there bright and early Saturday morning for our yardsale! I ended up making $40, which is not a lot, but I was okay with it. I mainly wanted to get rid of that stuff and hoped to make a few bucks in doing so. I always have a really fun time with Mom and Ashley when we do yardsales anyways. After we left there, we dropped off the stuff that didn't sell and the Goodwill. Once we got home, Anthony did some yardwork, and I took a nap! :) A loong one. Probably close to 4 hours. Once I finally managed to get out of bed, we went to Chili's for dinner and did our weekly Walmart shopping. Then we came home and watched "P.S. I Love You." It was very sad but really good. I basically cried the entire length of the movie!

Sunday, we went to church and then went to Mom's for the afternoon. After lunch I took another nice long nap. It is so nice to be able to take naps and not have to worry about homework! Ashley (and her new bf, Kevin, who I like very much by the way) were there because Ashley finished up her job at Wintergreen on Saturday. I'll get back to that in a minute. Then Sunday night we had church and I went to a friend's (Holli Mancini) bridal shower. It was probably the most beautiful and delicious shower I've been too! :) Then Sunday night Desperate Housewives finale.... gasp.... Gabby had children??.... Susan is not married to Mike anymore?? I can't wait till next season starts!

So Monday Ashley started her new job at Cedarcrest Animal Hospital (not sure if I have the name exactly right). She loves animals, so I hope she really likes this new job. I think she should do some schooling so she could be a vet tech or something like that. She would be so good at it!

So now I am sitting here watching American Idol. I think I want Archuleta to win, but I really like both of them. It's definitely a good final two no matter what.

I can't wait till Friday cause we will be headed to Williamsburg for the weekend!!! We won't get there till late Friday evening so we won't do anything but hang out at the hotel. Then Saturday we are going to do Colonial Williamsburg. We don't have any real plans, we'll just walk around and do whatever sounds good. Then Sunday we are going to go to the outlets and maybe whatever else we feel like before we head home. This is to celebrate our 2nd anniversary which is one week from today, the 27th. We are both really looking forward to it. It is always nice to just get away from home for a couple of days so you can totally relax. Also, Anthony will be done with SOL's so he'll have that off his shoulders.

Well, I guess that's about all the updates I have. Gotta go grab my cold coffee... which leads me to one more thought I had today. Isn't it funny the way friends influence our lives? I had ramen for dinner tonight (good wife dinner, huh?) and I make it the way Amanda used to make it for me when we were roommates. That's the only way I like it. Same thing with my cold coffee. She used to make it for me, and that's the only way I'll have it, and I drink it at least once a week. It is so wonderful to have a friend who has changed your life for the better, and left a lasting imprint. Her little girl Lily will be 6 months old tomorrow. I can hardly believe it's been 6 months already! Happy half birthday Lily! You have such a great mommy! :)

Weekend

This past weekend we were in Lynchburg. We went Friday night and ended up not coming home until Sunday morning. We were having such a good time, we didn't want to leave! Lily has gotten so big and she is such a little cutie. We went to Peaks View Park for a picnic with all the college girlfriends/families. It was fun and nice to be able to catch up. We don't get to do that nearly enough. Then after we got home Sunday morning, we went to Mom's for the day on Sunday. Her birthday was Friday, so Anthony & I had lunch ready when she got home from church. We like to make lunch for her every now and then, since she does it for us every week. I actually got to take a nap on Sunday since I am done with accounting now! It was so nice. And Zoe actually cuddled up to me on the couch for a while during her "rest". It's not too often she clings to me, so I definitely enjoyed that time.

I have been putting a little work into gardening this spring, and here are a couple pictures of the fruits of my labor. :)
















These are shasta daises that we handed out as wedding favors. I love them and think they are the best wedding favor ever! A lot of times you get silly little trinkets that you end up throwing away, but this is something that you can actually use, and they come back every year!
















These pictures are from Sunday when Zoe wanted to paint my toenails and fingernails! It is so fun having a niece! I actually am still wearing the paint on my nails... good job Zoe, haha!




































And here's one where I was barely able to get her sitting still long enough to get a decent picture. She is such a fun little girl. She had her dress off because she had been playing in the water outside and "washing" her Barbie Jeep and my real Jeep. :)

















Also, some other exciting news, Anthony's mom got a job with Operation Blessing. She will be the Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Procurement and Corporate Relations. She has taken classes to be able to do this, so she has worked hard and we are very proud of her! She starts on Monday.

Well, unfortunately being done with accounting class does not mean I am done with laundry, so I need to go fold.

Finally

Well.... now that I have time to blog, I'm not sure what to blog about. I'll see what I can come up with to make those of you who actually care happy. :)

Last night was my last night of accounting. I got an 85 on the test, so I am pretty sure I have an A in the class which is great. I have to have an A or a B to be reimbursed by work, so I have some money coming my way as soon as grades are officially posted. I enjoyed taking accounting and I learned a lot, but I am looking forward to a break, and not having tests and homework hanging over my head.

Tomorrow we are going to Lynchburg and staying the night for a cookout on Saturday with all the college friends! I am so excited. The last time we were all together (the girls at least) was Amanda's baby shower back in like September or so. I hope it stays nice so we can be outside at the park. And we plan on getting Tokyo before we leave on Saturday. It's always a good day when there is Tokyo and yummy yummy white sauce involved. :)

We are also bringing our loveseat to Jeremy and Brynn on Saturday so we will have some extra space in our living room for about a month so maybe we can figure out how to arrange our new furniture when we get it. I'd like to put the TV in the corner, but the unit might take up too much space there. But we'll just have to play around with it and see what works.

Well, only half an hour till Survivor and I think my laundry is done in the washing machine, so I better go check up on that. I know I've had a lot of things cross my mind to blog about since last week, but I can't remember any of them now! So that's all for now. Hopefully I'll be better with it now since class is over. But don't count on it. I might just remain a "boring blogger".

.....

I know I haven't blogged in a while. I have many things floating around in my head I want to blog about but I have an important test on Wednesday and after that I am done with accounting so I should have a little more time on my hands. More to come then....

P.S.: We bought new furniture... woohoo! I will put up pictures once we get it in June probably. Off to watch Survivor.

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.