5QF 5/28/10

Time for 5 questions with Mama M. Let's get to it! Hope you all have a great weekend!

1. Is there something you've always wanted to try but just can't muster up the courage to actually do yet?

 

I've always had a desire for a tattoo, but have never done it. Maybe someday....

 

2. If you had $100 handed to you in cash without your significant other knowing about it, what would you spend it on?

Probably not one thing in particular, but I know $100 sure goes fast at Walmart! There are always plenty of things I want to buy there.

3. What was your favorite piece of playground equipment as a child?

 

I always enjoyed the swings and slide. I was not a fan of the merry go round at all. I would get way too dizzy.

 

4. Do you prefer a sweet or hearty breakfast?

 

I like a nice hearty breakfast to start my day. I used to not eat breakfast at all, but now I don't like going without it. I try and start my day on the right foot at least.

 

5. Are you a Neat Freak or a Messy Bessy?

 

Honestly? I'm probably a combination of both. I can be really anal about how things are one day and the next day, it will look like a tornado came through my house and I could care less and I just go to bed with it all messy. Since getting new carpet I've really tried to keep my house straightened up all the time. But there are some days when it just gets so messed up and I just don't have the energy to deal with it.

Weekly Blogging Business

It's Friday!! Here we come 3 day weekend. Hope it's great for all of you! We are heading out of town for the weekend. Stay safe and don't forget to remember what this weekend is all about.

If you are new to my blog, please look around and if you like what you see, I'd love it if you'd follow me. I love writing about my life and my family and I enjoy reading about other peoples families as well. I do not follow blogs that are just for reviews and giveaways. I'm more into reading about the struggles and joys of parenthood and every day life.

Busy, Productive Day

Hello Friends!

I've been going non-stop since 8am this morning, and if you know me, that's kind of early! I normally don't roll out until about 9am.

I did my fake baking bright and early this morning, have to get that good base tan going before I hit the beach next week!! WOOHOO!! YEAH BABY! SO EXCITED ABOUT VACATION!

Ross made pancakes for breakfast, so yummy, he is an awesome breakfast maker. Oh, I also stopped at the store on my way home from tanning, glad to get that chore over with for a few more days. I did have a little bit of down time after breakfast. Ross and I watched the season finale of CSI: NY. It was a good one!

The girls and I went outside and I got some natural sun for my tan while Alexis drove around in her jeep and Isabel playing in the pack-n-play. I got all hot and sweaty, but I got some good color. After that, I headed inside and started cooking lunch. We had tacos and they were yummy, it had been awhile since I'd fixed them.

Every day this week after lunch, we've worked on a preschool lesson with Alexis and some alphabet flash cards. After that we sent Ross off to work. I was busy around the house and with the girls for the next few hours.

One of the girls that will be babysitting when I go back to work came over around 5 so we could do a little trial run just to make sure everything will jive just fine when I go back. I left and headed to the car wash and cleaned the filthy car, inside and out. We are traveling for the weekend and I hate traveling in a dirty car.

I had to run by my sister's and drop something off and then I headed back home. The girls had both slept for while I was gone, so it went well. No major screaming fits from either one of them. Yay!

I did sit down to do a little Facebooking and some blogging to crank this post out for today. Now, it's bath time, story time and then bed time! See you all tomorrow!

American Idol Comes To An End

I  read this article about American Idol. Interesting stuff. The show was different without Paula, but I thought it was okay. It's going to be weird without Simon, but like Paula said on tonight's show, it will go on....

I do agree with some of the things it said about song choices and theme nights. And I like it when they have guest judges. I liked a few of the mentors, but a few of them I could have done without. Maybe it will be better next year.

I just finished watching the finale. Soooooooooooooo happy that this guy won!

I really liked the performance with all the past idols, but where was this guy?

 I was not at all impressed with Christina Aguilera's costume, or Janet Jackson's either. I thought they both looked rather trashy.

It was really nice to see Paula Abdul again!

Would have loved to have seen this guy!

He is still my all time favorite contestant!

Really am so happy that Lee won!

Drumroll Please....

......the winner is:

And that happens to be:

She will be receiving this gift card:

Thank you all for entering my first giveaway and thanks for reading my first 300 posts! My 1 year blogiversary is coming up soon, I might try and do another giveaway then.

Mrs. Haid, I'll be contacting you to get your info to get your gift card to you!

Wordless Wednesday

I got Alexis a little Preschool workbook for her 3rd birthday and we started doing some of the lessons in it. In the first picture she is showing Daddy what she had done and in the second one, Ross was doing a few lessons with her after lunch. She is so eager to learn!

This was on our front porch today:

Reader Poll - Our Battle Has Begun

What do you have your thermostat set on in the summer time?

This has been a battle between Ross and me for the last few years. Last year, I won because I was pregnant. This year, I'm afraid we'll be going at it all summer long. He'll be turning it up and then I'll go and turn it back down when I get hot.

It's already started and we've only had the AC on for 3 days. We've only actually been home for 1 day out of those 3 so far.

A few years ago, it was time to turn the AC on and he thought that we should be able to set it at 78°. I laughed in his face and told him he was crazy. He said, "Well you like it when it's 78° in the winter time with the wood furnace going." Big difference.

My ideal temperature is about 74° maybe 75° if I'm just sitting around doing nothing. If I've just gotten out of the shower and I'm blow drying my hair and doing makeup, I've been known to crank it down to 70° just so I don't get hot and sweaty after I've just gotten clean. If I'm doing housework, 72° is good.

This year, our battle is doubling because we have a separate thermostat for upstairs. He wanted it on 76° last night when we went to bed. He quickly realized that wasn't going to work and put it down on 75° before we went to sleep. I turned it down to 74° this morning.

I had a few errands to run in Cuba this morning. When I got back Isabel was upstairs taking a nap. When she woke up and I went to get her, he had turned it back up to 76° and her poor little head was wet from sweating, so back down to 75° it went. The main floor got put on 73° and I think that is where it will stay hopefully.

Our poor thermostats are going to feel like yo-yo's between me and Ross this summer. Up...down...up....down...down...up...down...up....down. As long as it doesn't lead to a major disagreement/argument I'm okay with the yo-yoing!

Post It's Baby!

A Swingin' Good Time!

Plans Are Made

We had an incredibly busy weekend!

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and fixed biscuits and gravy for breakfast and Ross' parents joined us. They hung around long enough for me to give Ross a haircut. Then it was hurry up and get around and head over to Ross' grandparents house for lunch. Then it was hurry home and pack to go to my parents house.

We got to St. Louis around 5ish I guess. Mom was at a meeting in Columbia and Dad had just got home from work. He and Ross got to work on the deck and then my sister and the kids got there too. We ordered some pizza and all had supper. Mom got home and shortly after that Scott got off work from the firehouse and got there too.

Jaimee and I got to sneak away for about an hour and a half for a little retail therapy at Old Navy and Walmart. It feels like it's been forever since we went shopping together and it was so nice.

We all had a big sleepover at Mom and Dad's so we could have our vacation planning meeting on Sunday. We were actually all in bed and asleep before midnight! Jaimee and Scott took the back bedroom. Hannah and Jack got an air mattress in the office floor. Isabel was in the crib and Alexis on the pull out love seat in the playroom. And Ross and I had an air mattress in the living room floor!

Sunday, Scott had to go to work and Dad and Ross got started working on the deck right away. Tim, Sarah and the kids came around 11:30 as well as Sera Kate. We got started with our planning session and lined out all the details of meals and sleeping arrangements and so forth and so on for vacation. We had lunch after and then finally headed home around 5. We were pooped last night by the time we got home!

In 12 more days, this is where I'll be laying my head to sleep:

And this is where we'll be gathering to prepare some delicious meals together:

And this is where we'll be eating them:

And when we don't want to be at the beach, we can always swim here:

And when we are completely water logged, we can hang out here:

My Husband Inspires Me/300

I have a confession, most of you probably already know this about me....

I'm FAT! Yep, just plain chubby I am!

If you want to get clinical about it, I fit into the obese category with the BMI (Body Mass Index) that I have. Ross and I both are OBESE. That's such an ugly word, but it really puts it into perspective when you look at it like that.

This was us when we got married June 4th, 2005.

This was us July 28th, 2009. Now granted, I was 7½ months pregnant in this picture and it's not a full body view, but you can see how much chubbier we are by our faces. And I've only lost 20 of my 40 baby pounds gained, so my face doesn't look that different today.

 I've made halfhearted attempts at losing weight and so has Ross, but we haven't been very successful yet. I was losing a few pounds when I was counting points on WW, but then I just wasn't losing after the first couple, so I gave that up.

I have a real struggle with getting into a good exercise routine. Sometimes I feel like I'm just too lazy and then I remember that I still have a baby that gets up in the middle of the night and I couldn't tell you the last time I had 8 solid hours of sleep with no interruption. I used to think that I functioned just fine and had adapted to lack of sleep when Alexis was still a baby. Then she started sleeping all night, 8-10 hour stretches without waking at all and I couldn't believe how amazing I felt and how much energy I had! I'm hoping that Isabel is going to start sleeping for longer than 5-6 hours now that she's eating solid foods well. Another part of the problem is that I don't go to bed as soon as Isabel does, so I've only been asleep for about 2 hours when she's ready to get up and eat.

I also have some self control issues too. It's an all day, constant struggle being at home and exposed to food all day long. If I get a craving for a snack of some kind, instead of resisting and saying no, I just go get it. I love being a stay at home mom, but I think I'll be able to control my eating and get my portions under control once I get back to work (June 15th).

Ice Cream is my other major weakness, I could eat it everyday if I let myself. It's so yummy! I have to really cut back on how much I eat of it and how often and that should really help me out too.

I've kind of gotten off track with all the back story, lets get into what I was really wanting to say. Ross has adopted a new eating style and he's doing really well with it. I'm feeling inspired by him to get myself under control as well. 

He starts out with a good breakfast, eats a good size healthy lunch and then has a smoothie for supper. He usually has some carrot sticks and a grapefruit for his 2 breaks at work in the evening. He has done really good this whole week with it and I hope he really sees some results so that he stays encouraged. I have cut back on my evening snacks, I used to eat the majority of my food late in the evening instead of eating throughout the day and I know that is bad.

I'm disgusted with myself every time I look in the mirror, but haven't had the will power to change it. I'm hoping that with Ross getting himself together it's really going to motivate me. I used to use him as an excuse for why I couldn't lose weight, because he has just as many weaknesses as I do, if not more. But, he's pulling it together, so I can't use that excuse anymore!

My First Giveaway!

Now, let's get on with some fun stuff. This is my 300th post, so I've decided to have my first giveaway!!

Now, don't get yourselves all worked up or anything, it's not going to be that exciting. But, I've had it laying around for months now, so I've decided one of you will use it before I do.

It's a $25 gift card to your choice of four different restaurants: On The Border, Chilli's, Macaroni Grill or Maggiano's.

Here are the rules:

1. Make sure you are a follower
2. Leave me any old comment on this post
3. Leave me your contact information in your comment

I will leave comments open until Wednesday evening. I'll post the winner Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Good luck to all of you!

5QF 5/21/10

Happy Friday ya'll! So glad the weekend is here. The weeks in the grass mowing season really drag on for me. Ross is usually gone 2-3 mornings a week mowing, comes home, cleans up and head off to his regular job. I don't get to see him as much. But, unless he hasn't been able to mow during the week, we always have our weekends!

Make sure you check out Mama M. this week for her answers and to get all the details if you'd like to play along with us!

1. Do you have an iPhone and, if so, how do you get apps and what are your favorites?

I do not have an iPhone, check out this post and you can get all the latest scoop on my recent cell phone story.

2. What is your fondest memory of K-3rd grade?

I don't remember if it was 1st or 2nd grade, but one of the boys in my class was considered "special ed" so he wasn't in our classroom much, but I remember him always being outside on recess. I didn't really see anything "wrong" with him, I thought he was one of the funnest kids I'd ever met. He was always trying to make everyone smile and laugh and he was really good at doing it too. His name was Dustin and I can still picture his face and how big he used to grin at us while we were all playing outside.

3. What makes you cringe at the thought of touching?

I'm not real fond of touching raw meat, especially chicken *gag*. Ever since I was pregnant with Alexis I've had an aversion to raw meats. When I was pregnant Ross had to get the meat cooking because the smell of raw, red meat was more than I could handle.

4. If you could have any celebrity show up on your doorstep who would it be and why?

I'm not really a star struck kind of person, so give me a minute here......................................................................................hmmmmmmmmmmm, I guess it would be George Strait, Alan Jackson, Keith Urban, sorry Country boys, I love you all, but I'm going to say Chris Daughtry is going to show up on my door step one day to give me my very own personal concert! I've been in love with him since the first audition he had on American Idol!

5. What would you say is your best physical feature?

I've always liked my eyes, they are blue and I like to think they are pretty. I'm not really fond of any of my other features right now because I'm packing some extra pounds that don't make anything look good. Once I lose some weight and get myself back in shape, I'm hoping my cute bubble butt comes back! Right now it looks like a lard butt, lol!

She Was Pinned

Yesterday I got to watch my sister's pinning ceremony as she graduated from nursing school. We are all so proud of her!

It's been a tough 2 years for her, but she has pressed on and graduated with honors and already has a job too!

It took a lot of dedication, hard work and sacrifice on her part. She missed a lot of family events because she had to stay home and study. She missed a lot of sleep because she had to get up so early to be at the hospital for clinicals. She logged many, many hours in on homework. She sacrificed a lot to get where she is today and I just want her to know how proud I am of what she has accomplished.

I was so glad that I got to be there, because she also received an award for being the Outstanding Nursing Student in her program!!! So cool! YAY for my big sis!

Now that she's all done with school, I can have my shopping buddy back!

Cell Phones

Cell phones are a wonderful thing, aren't they? I'm so glad I have one, but I could do without all the drama from the cell phone companies.

My previous phone was a big 'ole piece of junk-a-roo! It was a Samsung Slim and it was a flip style phone. When I got it I was replacing my Motorola Razor. It had seen better days, the hinge was just about to break. I was wanting to get another Razor, but they wanted $200.00 for it and I wasn't about to spend that on a phone. So, I told the guy I wanted something that was simple. I wanted to make calls, text and take a few pictures.

Enter the Slim, it was fine for awhile, but not long. I had specifically asked the guy if there was a particular phone that got better reception and he said, "Nah, they're all the same." Hog wash, he didn't have a clue what he was talking about. I could be sitting at a table in the break room at work with 3 of my friends and we all have AT&T and they would all have better signal than me. But, I wasn't about to pay full price for a different phone, so I just had to wait until it was time to renew my contract.

I think it was less than a year after getting the phone that I started having trouble with it. It just stopped getting signal and kept dropping calls like crazy. I went to the phone store to see what they could do for me and since I wasn't anywhere near the date I could upgrade, they replaced it for me. 18 months is the fastest they will let you upgrade after you've signed a 2 year contract.

May 1st is the date I've been waiting for, that was the soonest I could upgrade. Back in March I started trying to figure out which phone I was going to get. My friend Amy had the Motorola Karma and I really liked the looks of it and Motorola is one of, if not the top one for getting the best signal. So, I decided that was the one I wanted. Well, it kept getting closer and closer to May and I wasn't seeing the Karma in that many places anymore. I didn't care that I was getting a phone that had been out for awhile, I'm not that concerned with having the latest or greatest technology when it comes to cell phones.

I was debating about getting the type of phone that would allow me to access Facebook easily and I knew I wanted to upgrade to a full key board for texting. The Karma seemed to fit my needs and they had it in stock at Cuba Walmart and it was free with your 2 year upgrade. Free is a price I like! I had also been considering the Motorola Backflip too, but it wasn't free, and the budget is tight these days. I just desperately wanted to get a new phone.

May 1st was Alexis' birthday party, so on Sunday May 2nd, I went over to Cuba to get my phone. I liked it! It was quite an upgrade from my other one and I was thrilled that I only had to add $10 to my monthly plan to have unlimited data on it. I was a texting fool there for a bit! I liked the full key board, but sometimes I think I could still text faster on my old phone, and the keys on my new one are really tiny, but I'm adapting.

Ross has been eligible to upgrade for over a year now, but he hasn't because he's really particular about what he wants and he hasn't been able to decide. He finally did decide and last weekend he got the the iPhone. It's so cool! I would have so much fun with it, but I don't have the money to spend on a phone like that. Ross used his mowing money to get it, he says he works hard for it, so he doesn't feel bad for spending some money to get a good phone that he'll be happy with. I'm already happy with it because he's texting me more now and I'm more likely to get him to answer when I call!

So, here I am with my little bitty keys on my phone just pecking away and he's got the totally awesome iPhone. I guess he's feeling bad that I went with the Karma because it was the free phone when he spent what he did on his. He tells me that he'll be okay if I want to take mine back and get something else. Well, I jumped at that because Sam's has the Motorola Backflip for $25 and that's totally do-able. I'm only 2 weeks into my new phone, so I know it won't be a problem to take it back. The sales guy made sure I knew that if I got buyers remorse I could return it within the first 30 days no questions asked.

On Sunday, 2 weeks after I got it, I go to return it. I had powered it off and gotten the sim card and my memory card out of it on the way over there. I go to the counter and start the process and the dippy nice lady takes it apart and says, "I can't take this phone, it's had water damage." "Whoa, hold the phone, what? It has water damage?! No way, that's not possible! The first time I even took the battery cover off was today, and it's never even had a drop of water on the outside, much less inside to show water damage on the battery."  So, I asked her what the heck I was supposed to do because I knew that I hadn't gotten the phone wet and I don't want this phone, I've decided on a different one instead. She said, I don't know, but I can't take. I was so MAD, I just about burst into tears right then and there. I had my heart set on getting the Backflip and I had no clue what I was going to do now.

When I get out to the car and start venting to Ross, his response was, "Well, you shouldn't have been so impatient and gotten the first available phone and maybe we wouldn't have this problem." Oh shut-up Ross, why do you always have to be right?

I regained my composure and got on the phone to customer service and explained my problem. Blake was nice enough to understand and believe me when I said I didn't damage the phone. I do have insurance on it, so this is what they are going to do for me. After my 30 days is up, I'll call back and place a claim on it to get it replaced. The $50 deductible is going to be waived. He put a note in my account that I'm allowed to return it after my 30 days so that I can then get the phone I want. Why on earth I have to go through all this is beyond me. If they will let me send in for a new one to take back to the store, why won't the store just take this one back? Oh well, in the end it looks like I'll get the phone I want, it will just take longer.

Now, I'm just hoping that the claim process will be speedy and I can get the Backflip before we go on vacation!

Lots Of Post It Thoughts