Giveaway Blog #4! Boon Animal Bag!

Oh how I love all things Boon!
Here's yet another AWESOME giveaway from Frugal Mom! This time it's for a Boon Animal Bag!
I'd love to win this thing & I don't even have a kid yet! We have tons of stuffed animals here though!
Basically it's a big bag that you shove stuffed animals in & then it makes a bean bag chair for the children to use! Only there aren't any annoying "beans" just fun stuffed animals! It's such a SMART idea, I love it!
Thanks!

Giveaway Blog #3! Pure and Little Bottles

Hey ladies,
Frugal Mommy has another great giveaway going on! This one is for 2 free "GreentoGrow Bottles" from PureandLittle. They are BPA free and safe for baby! I'm all about natural and safe, so you know I'd love these! Carolynn still takes a bottle & I'm sure we'll use bottles occasionaly with our own babies! Anyway, go check it out!

Giveaway Blog #2! Spa Bebe Bath!

Hey Readers,
Over at "Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House" they're giving away this cool contraption called a Spa Baby! It's basically a bucket that you bathe your baby in. It's supposed to feel like the womb: warm, cozy, and tight. I've seen it before, but never actually used one & I'd love the chance to win it! So I'm blogging about it, for 2 free entries. Hop on over to the blog & check it out!
Thanks!

Think Thin Thursday!

Well, I 1/2 way met my goal. I'm just getting this post up, because I've either been sick or busy for the last week. Last Thursday was the last time I played Wii Fit. It had been a full week since I got on there when I hopped on tonight. BUT, I lost 1.2 lbs! I am down to 192 lbs, yay!

Mandy came over tonight & we bee-bopped and boogied to party music while we cleaned house and made dinner. I made sure to keep my legs bouncing or my hips swaying & pumped my arms as much as possible. I gotta tell you, it was a workout! My legs and abs are feeling it...it took us about 2 hours, so Tim gave me credit for 2 hours of exercise in Wii Fit. My Wii Fit age tonight was 29, so that's not too bad.

I managed to drink my water, but I've been sneaking in the caffiene sodas again. Whoopsie. I'll get right on that.

So far my goals have been:

1. Cut out caffiene or strongly limit it.

2. Drink 1 bottle of water a day.

3. Lose weight.

4. Go on Wii Fit every other day (at least).

I think this week I am going to repeat number 4. Since I was sick last week &/or busy, I wasn't able to even ATTEMPT to do it, so I'll try a lot harder this week.

Bridgette's question of the week is:

This weeks task: What is YOUR motivation? Is it a pair of skinny jeans, a sexy black dress, a bathing suit, or simply being there for your kids? Blog about what keeps you motivated or better yet, show us a picture!

My motivation is to feel and look better. I want to be at a healthier weight so I can keep up with my kids and husband. I am hoping that losing weight will help me get & stay pregnant. I am back on Clomid today, so I'm totally excited that I might be able to get pregnant this month!

Don't forget to go on over and check out all the other Think Thin Thursday posts on "The Not-So Blog, Blog".

Wordless Wednesday

I can't wait for the warm weather to get here..I miss the beach! (This is my sister holding my niece, Caro...with my other niece & nephew in the background.)

I'm out

Well, I'm officially out for January.

Last night, around 9, I went to the bathroom and there was blood in the toilet. I checked myself and sure enough I was "spotting." Not even 30 minutes later, I was in full cramp mode & actually bleeding.

This is the most bizarre cycle I've had. I didn't "spot" at all....my period started in the middle of the evening....and it's a wierd consistency. I'll spare you the details, but it's not normal.

Anyway, I'm CD1 and I'm not taking my temperature this month! Wahoo! I am still going to chart my period/spotting, my cervical fluid, and sex. I need those things in order to figure out when I O & the likelyhood of pregnancy come the end of the month.

I've been living on Tylenol & my heating pad today. I had a good day at work and got a LOT done. Then after work I worked some more on my own, before Girl Scouts. We had a good meeting tonight & the girls seemed to have fun.

If you don't have a cookie hook-up or if you'd like to donate to our troop, please let me know! Girl Scout Cookies are here!

It's Bloggy Giveaway time and I'm going to be busy doing that this week...so I apologize in advance if my posts are scarce!

Free Red Box Code!

Here's a Redbox code for you!

57VH9L


If you've been wanting to check out Redbox but were afraid to spend the $1, here's your chance to do it for free!

Don't know what Redbox is? Well, let me tell you about it!

Basically, Redbox is a cheap and easy way to rent DVDs. You can find Redboxes at Farm Fresh, Super Wal-Mart, or your neighborhood grocery store. They look like giant soda machines and function in the same manner. Each Redbox is stocked with the latest movies that are out for rental.

Renting movies from Redbox is as easy as 1, 2, 3, ...4!
1. Walk up to the Red Box.
2. Follow the directions on the screen to select the movies you'd like to rent.
3. Insert your credit card as payment. You're charged $1 automatically and then $1 for each extra day that you keep the movie.
4. Take the movie from the slot and enjoy!

The only tricky part about Redbox is RETURNING the movies. The most important thing is that you HAVE to return them. If you use the promo code & get your movie for free today, but forget to return it tomorrow, you get charged for tomorrow! Make sure you stay on top of that! Also, when you're returning the movies, make sure you follow the directions on the case for inserting the movie. The barcodes have to be visible for the machine to accept the movies.

We have Netflix, but sometimes Redbox is the way to go. We often have 3 "series" discs here at the house from Netflix, which take some time to watch, so we don't want to send them back, just to get a movie. Redbox is the cure. For a buck, we can get a movie to watch.

The best part for me, is we can go to the grocery store, get dinner, wine/beer, and a movie...how easy does that make a date night!?!

If you use the code, let me know how it works out for you & what you think of Redbox in the comments!

Enjoy!

Giveaway Blog #1! Boon Flair High Chair

Hey Readers,

I know, I know, you don't want to hear about a bunch of give aways that you can read about all on your own over at the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. But, oh well! I'm serious about trying to win some awesome goodies, so I'll do what I gotta do!

Lots of the contests in the BGC ask you to blog about their site & their contest, as a way to generate link backs. I reserve that special honor for the contests that I'm really interested in. The great part, is then I have a personal record of the contests I REALLY want to win and I can just go in my old posts to find a link back! And, the whole purpose of the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival is to generate interest in different blogs, meet new people, and explore the blogosphere. What better way to do that, than sharing the love?

So, here goes it. Frugal Mommy is hosting a Bloggy Giveaway for a Flair High Chair from Boon, just like the one pictured above! I'd totally love to win this thing, but I'll let you in on how to get a chance to win too! Just hop on over to Frugal Mommy's blog...read the rules (1. Go to Boon & check out their AWESOME stuff. Then choose your favorite. 2. Comment on Frugal Mommy with your favorite item & the color of the high chair you'd prefer.), follow them, and you're IN! That easy! There's lots of ways to earn extra entries, like this, for example! You can also subscribe & then you'll always be in the know about what's happing with Frugal Mommy! Great stuff!

Thanks so much Frugal Mommy for hosting such an awesome giveaway!

Oh no....It's the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival !

Hey! Do you love FREE stuff?

I do!


I'm going to be busy signing up for as many of these carnival give aways as I can. You should too!


I have won lots of good stuff through the Carnival & I highly recommend it!


Go check it out!

A Survey

I'm sitting around lazily on a Sunday evening and I found this meme over at A Nut in A Nutshell....so I decided it looked like fun so I filled it out.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Stevie Nicks
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Today...long story & too personal to post
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I LOVE my handwriting. I'm actually a bit narcisistic about it.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? No, but I want to!
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I hope so, but I am kind of bossy so I don't know!
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? Nah, I'm not smart enough for that!
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yep
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Nope, I'm scared of heights!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Currently, dry Cinnamon Toast Crunch
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Nope, I just kick them into the closet
12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Double Fudge Brownie
13. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their attitude
14. RED OR PINK? Pink
15. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm a fatso. I hate it. I wish I could just buckle down & get (and then stay) skinny!
16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My Mom and Dad
17. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?? Sure, I love reading surveys!
18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? None and none..I'm in a nightgown!
19. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Nothing
20. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Purple, of course!
21. FAVORITE SMELLS? Banana
22. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My mom
23. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO POSTED THIS NOTE? Yep!
24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Nothing
25. HAIR COLOR? Brown
26. EYE COLOR? Brown
27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope, glasses
28. FAVORITE FOOD? Pizza!
29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings.
30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? The Women
31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? White with purple penguins
32. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer
33. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
34. FAVORITE DESSERT? Icecream or German Chocolate Cake
35. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND --Not applicable
36. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND --Not applicable
37. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The Last Lecture
38. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? My mouse! Ha ha! It's blue with a gel pad. At work it's a night sky.
39. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? Nothing, I was at the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
40. FAVORITE SOUND(S)? Baby talk
41. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles
42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? New York or Florida, I don't know which is further
43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? (I'm seriously cracking up over what Blue Violet put here!) No, I'm artsy fartsy, but that's not special.
44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Norfolk, VA at DePaul Medical Center & I plan on having my babies there too!
45. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? --Not applicable
46. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER? Well, that's a long story & a post all on it's own. The "meeting" that got us together to get married, was at a funeral! If I haven't blogged this story I will later!

OK, you're all tagged! Take the time to complete this survey, it's better than most! Let me know in the comments if you do ok?

The Challenge! Week 3

Mandy, this is one of those posts you might not want to read!

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Well, let's see. I skipped the challenge last week, because it required you to toss your grannie panties & wear sexy underwear. OR better yet, to go out and buy new sexy undies and well our budget just doesn't allow for that. Since I couldn't really participate in that challenge I didn't blog it either. This week's challenge is especially true for me.

First, here's a description from The Diaper Diaries:


If you are new to The Challenge, please start here first.

Last weeks challenge was a good reminder about how much of a factor self image is in our marital sex lives. Let’s just admit that there isn’t a whole lot sexy about the post baby body. A flabby tummy, stretch marks, saggy boobs, the list goes on. And I don’t care how skinny, well endowed, stretch mark free you are, most women have a laundry list of things they don’t like about their naked body.
I once heard a speaker at a marital conference say, “When wives are naked they are thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I am so fat (flat, ugly, flabby, etc).’, while their husbands are thinking, ‘Holy cow my wife is naked and I get to have sex!’”
Seriously ladies we need to cut ourselves some slack and give our hubbies some credit. I will admit I am shocked sometimes that my hubby still finds me sexy, but for some reason he does. I would bet a large amount of cash that your hubby does also (wait, find you attractive, not me…that would be very wrong). Do you know what a blessing that is? Are you taking it for granted?
So this week’s challenge, I will admit may be difficult for many of us. Your first two weeks were pretty easy though so let’s step it up a bit. Ready? Have sex with the lights on. Most women I know typically prefer it to be so dark they can’t even see their hand in front their face, but men are visual creatures. They were created by God to be that way. So let’s put aside our own insecurities and enjoy our husband’s enjoyment of us.
Now this doesn’t have to mean harsh fluorescent spotlights, you can use a dimmer. But the key is, he needs to be able to see you. No hiding under the covers ladies. And be kind to yourself. If you are hating yourself, you are going to have a hard time enjoying yourself. Jennifer Aniston on the cover of GQ is a bunch of airbrushed hooey. That is not a standard I intend to hold myself to and I don’t think your hubby does either. Get your “I am super sexy” mindset on and have fun with this.
Check back next Monday for your weekly challenge. Are you in?


Ok, so for me, this is VERY difficult. Not having the lights on, that's a matter of convenience really. If they're on, they stay on, if they're off they generally stay off. Today, Tim asked me to get up and turn them on, and I did. He wanted to be able to see me & actually told me & complimented me while he was at it. Which is nice, but I still felt fat. I really felt fat when he also told me WHERE & HOW he wanted me. OMG...really fat. I kept saying "Am I squishing you? Can you breath?" It really couldn't have been pretty. In my head, I see a beached whale trying to get back into the water. Um, yea, moving away from that visual.
I have serious issues with my self image. I hate the way I look in all of my clothing & I rarely feel "sexy." That's why I'm participating in Think Thin Thursdays and really trying to lose weight. So far, I've lost 1 lb. and I'm holding steady at 193. Small steps. Hopefully, my Wii Fit will help me with my weight, flexability, and strength and I'll be a little more adventurous in the bedroom!

So, anyway, I'm in, I'll try this week! I really will!

Good luck ladies, go get 'em!

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Well, let's see.

To answer Mel's questions...why would I be guilty about holding little babies. Mostly, because I can't keep myself from being jealous. No matter who the baby belongs to, I find myself wishing I had a baby, and I even sometimes have to fight back tears. I want a baby more than anything else in the world. And Tim's guilty pleasure...oh well, um, yea, he said I can't tell anyone! Oh well...let your imaginations run with that.

Also, the Science Fair. This whole thing just makes me frustrated/tired/and angry, so I'm going to keep it simple. I am the Science Lead Teacher. Which means I have to run 2 PTA meetings a year. I am the only person besides the music teacher who has to plan a PTA meeting. I ran the Science/Math/Technology night back in October. Thursday I ran the Science Fair. It went well. Mostly. I got lots of praise about how nice our projects were. There weren't any major hang ups. I was tired and glad it was over by Friday morning. Now I still have to get the winners ready for city wide. Fun times. This is one position I will not miss when I leave Norfolk.

Dinner is done, so I must go. But, I'll leave you with a quote. As part of Toni's Quotable Sundays.

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
SenecaRoman dramatist, philosopher, & politician (5 BC - 65 AD)
(This is an AWESOME quote that I recently read in "The Last Lecture" which I borrowed from Rob.)

Ten Guilty Pleasures!

Hold it, stop the presses, everyone take notice! This is my 200th blog post! Wahoo! In 6 months! Yay! I love blogging! So I got the idea from THIS blog & I'm going to attempt to write about my 10 guilty pleasures!

10. Manicures

9.& Pedicures

8. Letting Tim do the dishes

7. Spending a day off, doing nothing but watching dvds or playing on the computer

6. Having the things we want, so that we have plenty to entertain ourselves

5. Long, hot baths, with a good book...this is so relaxing and wonderful. I especially like an Aveeno bath!

4. Chocolate and marshmallow snow cones-Mmm mmm good! I think I've mentioned them before..oh yea, in my Aloha Friday #1 Post!

3. Holding sweet babies--Nothing better than cuddling a snuggly babe

2. Banana Popsicles-They remind me of my Mom and are so yummy & cheap!

1. Having my back scratched--this is pretty good. Every night Tim scratches my back for me....and I indulge one of his "guilty pleasures". It's VERY relaxing and is part of our bed time routine.

Another TTC Update

Well, I know you probably get tired of these updates...BUT, here's another.

Today was 15 DPO, official time for Aunt Flo to show & nothing. So, I hacked my chart to pieces and I have now changed my O date. I "disturbed" all of the temperatures I had on days where I was too sick to get out of bed & now it says I am only 9 DPO. Great, that means AF isn't late and all....BUT, there is absolutely NO chance of me being pregnant, if I am 9 DPO, because we didn't "finish" the one time we had sex even REMOTELY close to the O date, I now have. (Which was still like 4 days before it says I Oed.) So, I'm out for this month. Which is depressing and not helping with me being sick as a freaking dog. (OK, so I've said this phrase quite a few times in the last couple days & I just googled it...) I am heading to the Urgent Care Center tomorrow after Saturday School to get some treatment. I now have what I believe is bronchitis and have had 4 (yes FOUR) asthma attacks today.

So, no Trick or Treat baby for me. Oh well. I'll try not to cry TOO much about it. I am taking my promised break from TTC boards & charting though. No more boards, starting today, no more charting as soon as AF shows.

A Funny!

I snagged this from the Busy Mom blog:

God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change;
courage to hold my fiery temper;
and wisdom to avoid people who piss me off.
Living one Prozac at a time;
Controlling my rage one moment at a time;
Accepting the hardship of dealing with ignorant people as my lot in life;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is and not contribute to it by choking someone;
Trusting that He will help me to avoid being arrested for assault and battery according to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy eventually and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next...which may not happen if people don't tread lightly until my next therapy session.
Amen.

I thought it was funny and so true of those of us with short tempers.

I do not take Prozac...but I have been on anti-depressants in the past & I can totally relate.

Aloha Friday! #2

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day to take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So Kailani at An Island Life started Aloha Fridays in order to take it easy with posting too.It's easy to play along. I ask a simple question and you give a simple answer!After you answer my question, post a question on your own blog and leave your link over at An Island Life. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

From "A Nut in a Nutshell"

When you were a baby, did you suck your thumb, have a pacifier, or have a blankie? If so, was it hard to give up?

I don't know! I probably had a pacifier, since that's what my Mom used with my brother. I know I wasn't a thumb sucker & I never had a "security blanket".

From "An Island Life"

What's your favorite thing about winter?

Nothing, I hate winter. I like it when it ENDS.

From "Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House"

What is your favorite thing to cook? Either because you enjoy cooking it, or just because you're good at it and it tastes good.

Spaghetti Sauce. My mom taught me how to make hers. Then my MIL taught me how to make hers. I combined the two to make mine. It's super yummy!

And here's my question of the week:

What's one piece of advice you've recieved that you truly appreciated and could use?

For me, it's to do my best and not worry about what I can't change. My dad is constantly re-inforcing this. I get so upset with what & how other people do things that effect me, but there's nothing I can do to change the outcomes. He helps me see that it's ok to be me, at my best, and that that's all I can hope for in life.

Wii Fit & TTC

Well, folks, it's official! I LOVE Wii Fit! I haven't even had it a week yet & I'm already loving it so much! Even when I'm tired & ragged from work, I want to do my Wii Fit exercises. I skipped the yoga & balance yesterday & today, because I've discovered a great new thing--BOXING! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It is SO fun! I did the original one like 4 times today (3 minute sessions) until I got 3 stars out of four. Then I tried the "advanced" sessions (6 minutes) and got three stars on my first try! I was SO excited! I can REALLY feel the exercise both while I'm doing it & later. I can feel it in my arms, legs, and stomach! Yay! I love exercising! The only craptastic part? I'm doing it at night & then I can't fall asleep. How to get around that? I guess eventually I'll have to get up early enough to do it before work. UGH.

So, on the TTC front. Things are not looking good. I'm 14 DPO, supposedly, but no sign of old Aunt Flo yet. Pregnancy tests last night & tonight were both negative. I'm fully expecting her to make her appearance tonight, during my slumber. But, I do normally spot for a day or so before AF...so it's wierd.

I just looked at my chart. I have spotted for one day (AT LEAST) on every single cycle and most cycles that I was ovulating on I spotted for 2 days...so what is going on! Tomorrow, if I'm not bleeding, I'm going to take another test, as AF is officially supposed to start then. It can't be the exercise, because you can't change your LP. You can change your Pre-O cycle length, but not your LP. So, I don't know what's going on. Pray for me, I'd really like to be pregnant this month since it would make my due date Oct. 2, 2009! A little Halloween baby! If I miss this month, I'll have to dress up as the dumb "bun in the oven" costume because I'd be preggo on Halloween (which is my MOST favorite holiday of the year!)

And still, if I'm not pregnant this cycle, I'm NOT going to chart next month. Not going to do it.

OK, the Oreos are calling my name & I must resist...so I'm off to bed!

Think Thin Thursday!

Yay! I met my goal! Wahoo! I am down to 193 lbs, steady. Wii Fit makes it glaringly obvious how my weight fluctuates, but it's always within 0.3 lbs of 193, so that's awesome! I managed to drink lots of water everyday, though I didn't have an actual bottle Friday-Tuesday. I don't think I had any caffienated soda, unless we were at a restraunt, which I can't recall. I did have a tiny sip today, but, you know I didn't have ANY soda not even caffiene free this weekend! Yay!

Here's Bridgette's charge for the week:
I think the hardest meal for me to plan is breakfast. I need it to be quick and portable (I usually eat breakfast at my desk at work). I get in a rut and eat the same thing day in and day out, and it's getting old. Include in your Think Thin Thursday post a breakfast menu or item that works for you!

Well, I suck at breakfast too. It's more of a "snack time" if I have time, at work. Some of the things I like to eat are Toaster Strudels, bagels with jelly, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal (dry), fruit, hash browns from the neighborhood deli ($2 for a HUGE container of chopped & grilled potatoes, yummy!), McDonald's hashbrowns, or a Blueberry muffin from 7-11. So, there you have it. It's not really healthy, I definitely don't have a meal plan (diets don't work for me!), but it makes me happy & gives me the engery I need to get to my 12:30 lunch time.

My goal for this week is, exercise on Wii Fit at least every other day. No time limit no restrictions, just exercise at least every other day. (and continue the other goals!)

Well, I should be in bed & Tim just asked me to rub his back. It is 3:27 am after all, and it's a pretty huge day at work for me. So, I'm going to go. Have a great week and good luck.

I love Wii Fit!

Hey,
I love Wii Fit! I unlocked a new game today when I was "not" doing my exercises. I just hopped on to enter all the walking I did at the Science Fair and do my body test (Wii Fit age=30) and then I played one game, which unlocked the new game. The new game is a step boxing game...it's kind of like Tae-Bo! I LOVE Tae-Bo! So, I played that for like 25 minutes & I did a bunch of balance games too. All in all, I lost 0.9 lbs during my workout. Amazing. I think I'll do some more after dinner.
Peace

Snow Day!

Monday I awoke feeling NASTY. I didn’t want to get out of bed & so we didn’t. Tim and I both slept in. It was a pretty lazy day. We watched Righteous Kill, which I liked and disliked. It was OK but I think it could have been done better. Then we both putzed around a little and I went back to bed. I managed to get up for short rest breaks every couple hours. I did eventually get the kitchen cleaned, a load of laundry done, and the living room picked up. Around 7:30, I started to feel a TINY bit better, thanks to some Advil Cold and Sinus I had found in the medicine cabinet. I told Tim I wanted to get a shower and head to the grocery store, so we could get more cold medicine.
He wanted his hair cut (do you see how demanding he is?) so I did that and then we got in the shower. I love the way his hair looks when it’s freshly cut. It makes me smile! So, then we went to Wal-Mart. Our “quick trip” to get “just a few things” turned into full blown grocery shopping which took almost an HOUR and cost us a whole lotta bucks! Anyway, we got home around 10 ish & I started some Macaroni & Cheese and Tim carried in & helped put away the haul. You get less and less for your money it seems, each month! Ugh. We were so out of food that we didn’t even have macaroni & cheese! After we ate our measly dinner we hit the sack.
Today, I still feel like dog doodie. I woke up, got ½ way dressed, and then thought to check the school closure webpage. Yay! School’s closed! Snow day! I SO didn’t want to go to work today! I am miserable & sick and just TIRED! I love all the snow we got, too! (If you don’t live in Hampton Roads, it DIDN’T snow!) Anyway, I was too awake to just go back to bed so I helped get Tim off to work (sorry honey!) and then I went to lie on the couch & watch “The Women.” I am SO freaking emotional this month. I bawled my little eyes out. Then when it was ALMOST over, the power went out. Which meant no computers, no TV., no internet. Ugh, and I don’t even have a book to read. I managed to putz around some more, played a little Nintendo DS, made a few trips to the potty, and cleaned up a bit. I even took a little nap. Then the power came back on. Only the internet was broken. This made me sad. I watched some of the Presidential Inauguration, even though I don’t think Obama is the best choice for president, I’ll still respect him and I am still in awe of the procedure and ceremony regarding the office. Our nation’s history is so amazing! Could you imagine, sitting at a desk that Abe Lincoln sat at? OMG. I would DIE! So later, I decided to clean up the house and do my Wii Fit for today. I got the kitchen cleaned up, the dishwasher unloaded and the reloaded, the “hang dry” clothes fluffed & put away, the kitchen swept, the living room cleaned up, all of the baby & kid clothes put away & organized by size, the guest room picked up, and the office picked up. Then I vacuumed the whole dang house. (Oh and I had to clean the beater bar in the vacuum too! Such a yucky job!) Then it was FINALLY time to do my Wii Fit exercises.
I like to start with Yoga. It’s good for stretching & warming up. Then I move on to balance activities. Those are the fun games like skiing and soccer! Then after those I go and do the aerobic activities. Those are the hula hoop and jogging activities. By the time I get to that point it’s time for my 10-15 minute break (required by the game!) so I watched some more of the Inaugural Parade then. After Obama & Michelle walked around I went back to my Wii. I did a couple strength activities & redid some of the fun activities. Then I did my body test. My BMI is still up there but I did lose 0.7 lbs since Sunday. Yay! That’s more than my goal of 0.5 a week! Yay! I earned 42 minutes in the game time. I can really feel the exercises in my belly & in my lower legs. Also, I’m starting to get better scores on the activities that I’ve done more often. Yay! I can’t wait until I’ve had it for a month, so I can really see some progress. I also got my lowest Wii Fit Age today, which was 30! Tim’s lowest is 24! Ugh, I hate men! I don’t think I’ll be able to get mine much lower with my BMI in the obese range, but I’ll keep trying!
After I played Wii Fit, I decided to start dinner or my man. Only, it’s almost done (or probably is) and he’s not home. BOO. I made chicken with Alfredo sauce and a can of whole potatoes in the oven. I will add some rotini to it at the very end.
Since there’s still no internet, Tim’s not home, and I didn’t feel like grading papers, I typed up an email & saved the draft & this blog post, so that when Tim gets home, I can quickly post/send them! I can’t wait to check my e-mail and my Reader and my blog! I HATE being w/o internet for so long!

Well, things didn't go so quickly with getting the internet up. Our router was capoot and so we had to go to Best Buy to get a new one. But, NOW, we are up and running! Yay!

20 Tips for getting in your water

This is cool. I found this webpage, while visiting one of the Think Thin Thursdays posts. I used to go to it when I was on weight watchers but I had forgotten about it. Either way, I'd never seen this list before & I thought I'd share.

20 Tips For Getting Your 8 Glasses of Water Daily (From Debbie's Weight Loss Zone)

Sometimes drinking our eight glasses of water a day can be a real challenge Here are 20 tips to help you accomplish that feat! It is said by many beauty experts that drinking your water is the cheapest, quickest way to look better! That should motivate us!

1. Make a bet with a co-worker to see who can drink more water in the course of a day.
2. Have a big glass of water at every transitional point of the day: when you first get up, just before leaving the house, when you sit down to work, etc.
3. Make it convenient - keep a big, plastic, insulated water bottle full on your desk and reach for it all day.
4. When you have juice (apple, grape, or orange) fill half the glass with water.
5. When you have a junk-food craving, down a glass of water immediately. You feel full quickly and avoid the calories, and it lets time pass till the craving fades.
6. Have one glass every hour on the hour while at work. When the work day is done your water quota is met.
7. Substitute a cup of hot water with a drop of honey for tea or coffee.
8. While at work, get a 20 ounce cup of ice and keep filling it up from the office water cooler. The key is drinking with a straw - you take bigger gulps and drink much more.
9. Freeze little bits of peeled lemons, limes, and oranges and use them in place of ice cubes - it's refreshing and helps get in a serving or two of fruit.
10. After each trip to the restroom, guzzle an eight-ounce glass to replenish your system.
11. Don't allow yourself a diet soda until you've had two to four glasses of water. You will find that you won't want the soda anymore or that just half a can is enough.
12. Let ounces of water double grams of fat: When eating something containing 10 grams of fat, I drink 20 ounces of water.
13. Drink two full glasses at each meal, one before and one after. Also, drink one glass before each snack so you don't eat as much.
14. Carry a small refillable water bottle at all times and drink during downtime; while waiting in a bank line, sitting on the train, etc.
15. Use a beautiful gold-rimmed glass and fill it with cold water from the tap.
16. Drink two glasses of water immediately after waking up.
17. Bring a two-liter bottle of water to work and try to drink it all before you leave work. If you don't finish, drink it in traffic on the way home - it's like a race.
18. Always keep a 24-ounce bottle of water handy while watching TV, doing laundry, making dinner, etc.
19. Add drinking two glasses of water to your daily skincare regimen. Drink, cleanse, moisturize, etc., then drink again.
20. Drink your water out of a big Pyrex measuring cup - it's a good way to keep track of how much water you are drinking.

OK, I bolded the ones that I think will help me. According to DWLZ I need to drink 2 quarts & 3 cups. According to this website I need to drink 19 cups. So...I need to drink between 11 and 19 cups of water a day. So, that's between 88 and 152 ounces. Or 4- 7 bottles of water! Holy wow! That's a crapload of water. So, I am going to be stepping up the water intake. Hopefully I can do really well with it & I'll just watch the pounds melt away.

Dragged

Not drug...

Sunday Update!

This is going to be one of those boring posts where I update you on my going-ons.


Saturday morning, we got up, dressed and out of the house in an hour. I also packed a day's worth of stuff & a bunch of extra clothes for Carolynn and all of the Wii gear. Our first stop was Chrissy's new place to get Carolynn. The house is pretty nice, white carpet, clean, flat screen, wall mounted T.V., and very clean. Chrissy's room is about the length of her twin bed & then at the foot of the bed the crib. It's got a decent amount of floor space for Caro to play. She only has a little laundry basket full of toys though, which is sad. After we left there, we headed to church to drop Tim off for sound. He was 35 minutes late, but not because of me! He thought practice was supposed to start at 9:30 and it was really 9. He was only 5 minutes late & I'm blaming it on him, because I told him to set the alarm for 6:30 and he set it for 7:30!


After dropping Tim off, Caro and I headed to Tom and Peggy's. I dragged (drug? I'm going to look it up after I post this!) Caro & all of her junk in and then got to work on getting her decent.


What do you mean, decent? You might ask...well.... She came to me in overalls that were dirty & too big, no shoes, ankle socks, a long sleeve onesie and a hand crocheted sweater. No hat, no shoes, nothing. It was RIDICULOUS! Fortunately I came prepared. I got her all cleaned up (including a washcloth bath) and dressed to the nines. (Including piggie tails!)


That took about an hour. Then Peggy and I headed out to A.C. Moore to work on spending my $50 gift card! Yay! I love buying stuff! I picked up: a 180 ct. pack of patterned cardstock, 2 packs of clear stamps (one has 13 the other 17) to use for card making, 3 small packs of Halloween clear stamps, 1 pack of snowflake stickers, 5 sheets of loose 12x12 paper, a set of 4 board books that are Preschool Nemo themed for Amanda, and a village piece for my mom! A very good haul, indeed! After A.C. Moore, we headed next door to B.J.s so Peggy could get some groceries.


When we got home, Tim was just getting dropped off from church. He and Peggy went out to get some pizzas and I fed Caro baby macaroni & cheese and then tried to get her to nap. She wasn't having any parts of that though, so I ended up letting her stay up. She snuggled Tim for a while but then she got down and played. At 2:30, we headed to Melanie's house. Carolynn was asleep in the back seat before we'd gone 2 miles! So, we decided to kill some time & let her nap.


First, we went back to Tom and Peggy's to get the things I'd forgotten, my glasses, a bottle, and her snack cup. Then we went to Verizon. My cell phone's "D" key is not working, it sticks and makes it hard to dial. So, they are going to send me a BRAND NEW phone by Wednesday! Sweet, huh! We pay $5 a month for the insurance & this is the first time I've needed it. I'd say it's totally worth it. (For a total of $120 on a $499 phone! Cool!)


After that, we headed to Melanie's. When we got there, I had Tim park in the driveway so we could unload the bajillion bags we had & so I could carry Caro in & put her down for a nap. I went straight upstairs & Tim worked on the bags. Melanie got home & was upset I was in her spot, but I'm sure she got over it! When I came down, I got to work making spaghetti and Tim got to work setting up the Wii. We all took turns trying out the games. It was fun. It was a pretty lazy visit and nothing too exciting happened. We ended up heading home around 9 because we were pooped and that sucked because we didn't get to *really* visit. Oh well, we shall plan another date when I won't have Caro & when Tim and I can come in the evening.


When we got home, Tim was a cranky snagglepus, so I sent him to bed so I could get the bags unpacked & the groceries put away and the house picked up. I started a load of laundry & then went to bed.


This morning, Tim got up and went to church and I slept in. I managed to sleep until around 9:00. Caro woke up SCREAMING at 9:30, so I grabbed a fresh bottle & got her into the tub. She had peed out of her diaper & was SOAKED! I ended up having to get in the tub behind her because she wouldn't stop crying. We took a nice, hot, long, Aveeno bath and that calmed her down. By the end she was laying in the tub drinking her bottle. After her bath, I got some p.j.s on and then got her all lotioned up and dressed. Then we started to take care of the housework. I changed the linens on my bed and took care of the laundry. We also ate some breakfast (grapes and granola bars) I picked up and took care of laundry for about an hour, when little Miss got tired again.


She went down for her nap about 11:40 am...and JUST woke up at 3:25! She's one sick puppy

So, while she was asleep, I got the entire house picked up, did almost all of the laundry (including putting it away), took a shower, cleaned the kitchen, swept, washed some dishes by hand, and ate lunch with Tim. (As well as typing half of this blog post!) She's got a bottle now & is snuggling in my lap!


Chrissy had asked me to take Carolynn to her "dad's" house this evening, because they were supposed to babysit while she goes to AA. Tim had a good thought though, that they may not want to take care of a sick little girl. She super fussy & crabby, running a low grade (motrin controlled) fever and is snotty! I pointed this out to Chrissy & offered to keep her until after meeting, to which Chrissy agreed. So she's still here. And she will be until after Chrissy's meeting tonight. The housework is done (except for vacuuming, which I can do now that Little Miss is awake) and Tim is napping. I'm going to vacuum and then play Wii Fit!


I have tons of pictures from yesterday that I'll post later, because I left my camera at Melanie's! Sorry!


I know, I'll give you a newborn picture of Carolynn Rose so you can see how much she's grown when I post the pictures later!


3 Weeks old, heading to PA for Auntie Stevie & Uncle Tim's first anniversary & to meet Great Grandmom!




A couple weeks old, at the mall. See that kid in Mandy's lap? That's GRAYSON, when he was 8 months old. HUGE!
Same day, just me and Caro. OMG. I have gained a LOT of weight since she was born. That's disgusting. My face shows my weight the most & it makes me sad.

It's HEEEEEREEEE!

Unloading the goodies! Like a kid in the candy store!

Crazy hula-hooping skills! Yea! In the first picture you can see Grayson, he was hula-hooping with me!

Mandy and Grayson doing push ups!

'Member that litlte guy? Spencer Elias who was born in July? Yea, he's a big 'un now! Look at him sitting up all by himself & chowing down on a teething ring. He's about 6 months old right now. He also has CRAZY hair!

I watched the boys after work, ran to the Girl Scount Council to drop off money & pick up wrist bands, then went home. Mandy came to get the boys & ended up hanging out with me. We waited & waited & waited (while I cleaned house) for the Wii Fit to arrive! Finally at 6:20, the UPS truck pulled up! Yay!

Mandy and I unloaded the boxes & got right to playing! I weighed in at 193.5 lbs. according to the scale with an unmentionable BMI. (from now on that's the scale I'm going by!) When Tim got home (around 7:30, silly work-a-holic!) he played for a tiny bit, before we headed out to Fazoli's for dinner.

Mandy & the boys came with & we had a nice little meal.

When we got home, I played Wii Fit, then Tim played while I caught up on blogs, comments, and e-mails! All in all a very busy, tiring day. (I didn't even mention the hour I spent crying in the principal's office today! Another post all on it's own, that story is...)

Night!

Virtual Girls Night Out!

Ann from Ann Again ... and again is hosting a Virtual Girls Night Out!

So, I'm all about the mingling tonight. I'm gonna get out there and meet some other losers fun people!

She's even got a little party game to play called The Name Game and who doesn't love a little merriment between friends?

The Name Game. Use the first letter of your name to answer the questions. Your answers need to be real places, names and things. Nothing made up.

1. What is your name: Stephanie
2. A 4 Letter Word: Sour
3. A Boys Name: Steven
4. A Girls Name: Shannon
5. An Occupation: Salesperson
6. A Color: Sapphire
7. Something you wear: Socks
8. A Beverage: Soda
9. A Food: Spaghetti
10. Something found in the bathroom: S*%t
11. A place: Scranton, PA
12. A Reason for being late: Sex
13. Something you shout: STOP!

I spotted this over at "A Nut in a Nutshell"! I figured why not! Let's keep the party going!

Aloha Friday! #1

Here's a new meme I think I'll enjoy! I'm going to answer SEVERAL people's questions though b/c there are a couple "Aloha Fridays" in my reader!

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday.

"In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.
If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!
Today’s question is: What is your dream job?"

My dream job is to be a stay at home mommy! I don't want to have to work for ever.

Up next the question from "A Nut in a Nutshell"....

So, here's my question this week:Do you have a nickname? Maybe it followed you all the way from childhood or maybe it's something new, but if you have one, share it!

Yea, I have nicknames. Let's see as a child, I was called "Stevie". My family (not my sisters but my aunts, uncles, and cousins), my older adult friends (like my across the street neighbors, and people who've known me since I was little), and Ms. Moose at work all call me Stevie. My husband has never called me Stevie. I call MYSELF Stevie! That's REALLY who I am.

Tim calls me "My Lady" or "Miss Ninnie". There's no story to My Lady, but Miss Ninnie developed when we were first dating, and he would mis-spell my name in his e-mails: Stephaninie or Stephaninnie. So, we shortened it to Ninnie (pronounced Knee-Knee) and it stuck.

Melanie calls me "Willis" or "Stim". I have no idea where Willis is from, other than it's fun, cuz I call her Willis too! "Stim" is the first two lets of my name & the last two of Tim's & it's what she uses on her blog when she's referring to both of us.

And finally, the question from Bridgette at the "Not-So-Blog, Blog".

This week's question: If your blog could have a mascot, what would it be?

I'd have to say, my blog's mascot would be a purple teddy bear, dressed up like a teacher. Tim gave me a Build A Bear once for a birthday & he sits over looking my computer. He could be my bloggy mascot!

Awesome, now it's my turn!

This week's question:

What is your favorite thing to eat "out of season"?

Mine is snow cones. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Chocolate & Marshmallow Fluff sno cones. I eat them year round! It seems like I've been eating them a lot lately because they are a comfort food.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

Drool.

I keep scrolling down to look at the picture of Wentworth in the bed. Mmm.mmm..good!

Think Thin Thursday!

Well, welcome to another edition of Think Thin Thursday, courtesy of "The Not So Blog, Blog".

Yay! Thinking THIN is great! Not that I've actually lost any weight BUT, at least I've got the MENTALITY down! Ha ha!

So, this week I drank my bottle of water on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. So 5/7 is not bad, what do you think, do I get credit for that or not? The biggest hurdle to drinking the water, was having access to it. I left my bottle at home on Wednesday & Sunday we were out and about so much I didn't have time to drink! I also didn't lose any weight. I maintained the exact same weight, which is better than bouncing around.

This week my goal is to maintain the no caffiene diet, drink my water EVERY day, and actually manage to shed some weight, even if it's only 1/2 a pound!

What do I plan on doing to help with this, you might ask? Well, as of tomorrow, I am going to be the PROUD & oh-so-happy owner of Wii Fit! I can't wait to get on there & exercise my belly off!

Wish me luck!

This week's challenge/tast from Bridgette is to link up to a site that helps us with our weight loss. This one is actually difficult for me, because I don't really have a "weight loss" website. I hated Spark people after about the 20th e-mail. I sucked at Weight Watchers. I can't "diet" so I'm not looking for low-fat meal options. The only real place I go to for support is HERE & Ovusoft. My message board girls are encouraging me to lose weight, since it will hopefully help me get pregnant & then maintain it! Even though I sometimes feel like I'm talking to myself here on my little piece of the blog-o-sphere, I really do appreciate all the comments and support I get from my readers!

Now, I'm off to give some love to my fellow Think Thin Ladies!

If you'd like an extra nudge on the weight loss track, feel free to join our group!

Bunco Night!

Let me just take this bloggy moment to say that I Love Bunco!

I honestly, did not feel like going to Bunco tonight. I've been out of the house past 8:00 three nights in a row now, and I so would have rather relaxed tonight. BUT, it's an obligation & it's more fun when the whole group is there, and Melanie begged me, so I went.

I was a bit late but everyone was still eating, so it was all good. Everyone at Bunco is so welcoming and friendly. (With one exeption but she didn't come tonight!) So of course, I started to feel great as soon as I got there.

Bunco is a dice game & there is no skill involved. You just roll dice! I love it! It's mindless and we chatter and carry on the whole time. There is usually an alcoholic punch, beer/wine coolers, and soda mixed in with all of the pot-luck food. Several people were drinking tonight, so that always adds to the festivities.

I had one can of Pepsi & no alcohol (hello, I'm 6 DPO!) but it's the atmosphere that makes it so fun!

Tonight there was LOTS of Twilight talk! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Twilight! There are two teenie-boppers in our group (daughters of the players) and they're both into Twilight but then a couple of the other women have read them too. We had a great time chatting & talking about the books and movies.

Tabitha is pregnant & so of course I had to talk to her about the baby & her pregnancy and my TTC journey & all that jazz. I even got to rub her baby bump for good luck!

It's just a great time of fun and fellowship with other women, that I totally enjoy and deserve once a month.

If you want to check out Bunco & you live in Hampton Roads, comment or e-mail me, we are often needing subs in our group. Also a couple of the girls are in more than 1 group, so there may be openings in their groups too! Here's a webpage that looks like someplace to help you find a group!

Comment Love!

Hey Ladies!

I just want to say thanks to all of those that comment on my blog, I'm totally feeling the love lately!

Thanks for coming by! I love it & I hope that I'm getting to your blogs, too!

Keep 'em coming too, cause they really make me smile!

Wentworth Miller

Wentworth Miller! Did I ever tell you he is a hottie? Google Image him!

Could you imagine coming home every night to this 36 year old mega-hottie?

Wii Fit is coming to live with ME!

Well the highlight of my day yesterday was that I bought Wii Fit online! Yay! I am hoping it gets here Friday so I can play it! I had Girl Scouts last night & that was fun, the girl's worked on their skit.

Today was a pretty boring day at work. I had a Science Lead Teacher meeting in the afternoon. Then on my way home I went to Food Lion to get a few groceries. Then I cooked steaks and mashed potatoes for Tim and I before running out to Texas Roadhouse for appetizers with Melanie. We had a nice little visit, chit chatting, and cutting up.

Since I've been home, I've just been catching up on blogs & hopping around the blog-o-sphere.

Hey guess what, I'm looking into getting a custom layout/blog design. Want to help me find inspiration on the web? Point me to blogs that TOTALLY rock!

Night!

The Year in Review

JANUARY 2008
1. Who did you kiss on new years? Tim
2. Did you have a new year's resolution this year? Nope, not for 2008.
3. Does it snow where you live? Rarely
4. Do you like hot chocolate? Yes, especially when I'm sick or cold.

FEBRUARY 2008
1. Who was your Valentine? Tim of course
2. When you were little did you buy Valentine's for the whole class? yes
3. Do you care if the groundhog sees its shadow or not? nope
4. What did you get for valentines? Tim says nothing...

MARCH 2008
1. Are you Irish? Nope, Italian!
2. Do you wear green every year on St. Patrick's Day? yea, or my students would pinch me!
3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day in 2008? Nothing!
4. Are you happy when winter is pretty much over? Yes...I hate winter!

APRIL 2008
1. Do you like the rain? Nope, it's cold and wet.
2. Did you play an April fool's joke on anyone this year? Nope, I'm not really into it.
3. Do you get tons of candy on Easter? We didn't go overboard this year.
4. Do you "love" the month of April? Only because we sometimes get a break for Easter!

MAY 2008
1. What is your favorite flower? Daisies
2. Finish the phrase "April showers": Bring May Flowers
3. Do you celebrate May 24th: Um..what's May 24th?
4. Is May anything special to you? SOL tests & the school year's almost over! I used to want to have a May baby...but I'll take ANY month's baby now! We also got Rosie May this month!

JUNE 2008
1. What did you do for Fathers Day? Hmm...I suck at this meme due to my super bad memory. Tim says he can't remember either.
2. Did you do anything fun during this month? It was Tim's birthday & we bought the truck & we watched Melanie's kids.
3. Have a favorite baseball team? Um, no.

JULY 2008
1. What did you do on the 4th of July? We had Melanie's kids (7, 5, and 3) and Chrissy's kids (11, 9, and 7) and we went to Mount Trashmore to watch the fireworks! It was CRAZY & fun. Sophia was scared.
2. Did you go to the fireworks? Yep
3. Do you tan in the day? Yep

AUGUST 2008
1. Did you do anything fun to end the summer? Sort of, we had our "staying at home" vacation. We told everyone we were out of town & then we did nothing but eat out and go to movies for a week!
2. What was your favorite memory of summer? Probably buying & christening the truck!
3. Did you have a sunburn? Nope
4. Did you go to the pool a lot? A bit, I went swimming a few times with Melanie's kids & then with Melanie when she got back from the cruise

SEPTEMBER 2008
1. Were you attending school? No attending...but I'm there everyday
2. Do you like fall better than summer? No...fall makes me sad.
3. Anything special about September to you? Yea! My birthday! Only this year my birthday sucked. I crashed my car & it was rainy and gross. We went to P.F. Chang's for lunch & then dealt with the accident stuff. I had to go to the hospital to get checked out. Tim gave me my sapphire & diamond ring & my sapphire earrings.

OCTOBER 2008
1. What was your last Halloween costume? Nothing...we stayed home and passed out candy.
2. What is your favorite candy? Chocolate
3. What is your favorite thing about this month? HALLOWEEN! I LOVE IT!

NOVEMBER 2008
1. Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving? This year we had Thanksgiving with Tim's family.
2. What is your favorite thing about November? I got my first ever big-fat-positive. I was so happy! (for all 24 hours)
3. Do you wish on the wish bone? Nope, not anymore.

DECEMBER 2008
1. Do you celebrate Christmas? Yes!!!
2. What are you thankful for? Family and friends
3. Get anything special last year? A couple games, rollerblades, and a few other things, nothing huge
4. What do you want this year? To get pregnant
5. Where did you begin 2009? In bed, with Tim.

That was fun & a bit difficult. I wish I had my paper planner handy because I didn't use my phone's calendar feature all year! Feel free to copy & post on your blog.

Love Letter

Trisha over at Momdot just won a contest for writing a 100 word (or less) love letter to her husband. She's pretty happy about it & challenged her readers to do the same activity & share it in the comments. Well, I'm going one up from that. I'm going to post my letter to Tim (who doesn't even read my blog) here and I challenge ALL of my readers to write a love letter to their significant other in 100 words or less. (Microsoft Word has a "word count" feature that makes it pretty easy.) The greeting & closing don't count in the word count! Have fun and let your honey know you love him.

Dear Timothy,

With all of my heart and soul, more than anything in the world I love you. You are the best thing in my life and I thank God for you every day. Without you, I am nothing. We’ve been through so much and I’m sure we’ve got plenty ahead, but the good times are so good and the great times are even better, so I know it’s worth it. I can’t wait to be a mother to our children and to watch you be the wonderful father I know you’ll be.

I love you my darling, for always and always.
Your Ninnie



This actually couldn't have come at a better time, we had a little spat before I went out to dinner and although we patched it up right away (like we always do) it still helps to spend a few minutes thinking about what my man means to me.

Now it's your turn! Let me know if you do, so I can check it out!

The Challenge! Week 1

Our bedrooms should be a haven. I find, it’s pretty hard to get in the mood with piles of dirty laundry waiting to be folded staring you down. So, your first assignment is to turn your bedroom into a romantic retreat.


Lose the TV: I once watched an Oprah (though not in my bedroom) where a woman proudly admitted that she watched Oprah while having sex with her husband. That’s about the worst thing you can do with a TV in the bedroom, but frankly I can’t think of many better reasons for it. I love TV as much as the next gal, probably more than the next girl, but it is a passion killer in the bedroom. One study showed that couples who have TVs in the bedroom have sex half as often as those who don’t. So lose the TV and focus on each other while in bed. No excuses on this one ladies, I have heard them all and I ain’t buyin’ it.



OK. So we are SO guilty of this one. Tim and I had sex watching Harry Potter the other night. At least we're still getting it. Hee hee.... I can't focus if a series is on though, so the night we got started in the middle of Star Trek, Tim had to go turn it off! Fortunately, we don't have an actual TV in our bedroom, just the laptop. It's pretty easy to just shut the lid. We've gone through phases where we listen to Adventures in Odyssey or talk radio before bed, but Tim was raised with the whole t.v. watching thing, so it's hard to kick. Probably the most effective way for me to impliment this is to say, no computer "t.v." during my fertile phase. That way we can focus on each other when it really counts. We don't do much when I'm not fertile b/c it hurts.


Tone down pictures of the kids: I can’t think of anything that kills the mood faster than glancing over at pictures of my kids. Don’t get me wrong, I think my kids are the cutest things since sliced bread, but I keep their pictures up in other parts of the house. If you really want pics of the kids in your room, just avoid putting them right next to the bed.



Seeings how we don't have any kids, this one isn't a problem for us!


Get rid of the clutter: Try and keep your room picked up. If I see messes waiting to be cleaned up, I have a hard time focusing on the task at hand. If you really want to be creative, tell the hubby you can’t focus on the task at hand with the room so messy. You will be amazed at how quickly the room stays clean. Of course, I would NEVER encourage manipulation…



This is another one that's not really a problem for us. The laundry that needs folded is in the guest room, the closet door is closed to the laundry, and I clean off our dresser at least once a week. Our room stays pretty tidy. (Except for the floor b/c the dogs all shed!) One thing I did do to help out the bedroom is I bought a natural de-odorizer at the pet store. It's a bag of volcanic rock & it is really reducing the doggy odor!


Get romantic lighting: No one wants to see themselves naked under harsh fluorescent lighting (let’s face it most of us don’t want to see ourselves naked at all). Install dimmer switches or light bulbs that can be set on different light settings. Better yet, get some yummy smelling candles and create an even more romantic mood.



Hmm....we've never really tried candles or anything. There's just enough light coming in through our window that we don't need a light on or anything. We do have a 3 way lamp in our bedroom that we sometimes have on, if we've been reading in bed.


Try some mood music: Get a CD player and put on some music that puts you in the mood. I won’t even give suggestions cause one persons Enya is another persons Van Morrison. Use whatever works for you.



This is another good idea. Perhaps I could put together a playlist at playlist.com for bedtime that includes mood music & relaxing music. This would solve the bedtime t.v. problem, would be relaxing, and would help with setting the mood!


You’re not even required to have sex. Although you will get extra credit if you do So what do you think? Are you in?



I'm definitely in! Do you want to join? There's a button on my sidebar, link up & get to "hopping"!



Now, let me add 2 things that have been nice this week for Tim and I.



We are making a commitment to start reading our Bible's daily. I found this webpage that outlines a way to read the entire Bible in a year. We're going to do it chronologically and then talk about it together.



Second, we have ventured a tiny bit outside of my comfort zone in the bedroom & it really makes Tim happy. When he's happy & into it, that helps me out, so it's been VERY nice!



(Insert big cheesy, toothy, smiley grin here!)

Would You Rather....?

Here's another edition of Would You Rather...? Hosted by Momdot!

I'd rather do the ones in italics & bold!

Would You Rather…

*read the book or see the movie?

*get liposuction or a boob job?

*drive a SUV or a Mini Van?

*Eat a cup of mayonnaise or a cup of horseradish?
BUT EWWW gross to both!

*vote for an honest but stupid politician or a liar with tremendous savvy?

*walk in circles through a revolving door 1000 times or hang upside down in an elevator for three hours?

*clean up after all the animals at the zoo or clean up at a slaughterhouse?

*give up veggies or fruit?

*rewind to the days before you had kids or fast forward to the day you have grandbabies?

*learn from past mistakes or try again in hopes for better results?

Wanna play? Be sure to post your replies on Momdot too! And let me know if you play along in the comments!

Am I a prude?

I put on a skirt for church & when I walked...my knees showed. This bothered me. I kept tugging the skirt down to cover my knees.

I'm 25 years & 4 months old. Does this make me a prude?

I'm stuffed...

Let's see...today's been busy in an un-busy way!

We were supposed to be up at 7:30 am to get ready for church. BUT, we had been up until 2 am watching Harry Potter (among other things) and so that didn't happen. We ended up sleeping until after 10.

We rushed to get ready to go, left the house at 11 (church starts at 11:15), got almost there & realized the surface would be almost over by the time we got there, and turned around.

When we got home we ate some pizza and then got ready to go rollerblading. Um, yea, that's a LOT harder than it looks! My ankles & feet were killing me. We're afraid there may be a fit issue because they are causing my toes to go numb! If anyone knows anything about rollerblades, please let me know. The length is right my toes don't come all the way to the end. They are hurting me on the sides of my feet just by my heels. I skated back and forth in front of our house and a couple neighbors' houses and then I was done. It probably lasted less than 30 minutes!

After that, we got ready to go to the dog park. We took Rosie May and Wazowski with us. It got a LOT colder out there. I was freezing the whole time! Zowski made a friend with another lab and they had a good time playing. They kept running and jumping into each other. Rosie wanted to socialize more than play with the other dogs but she did do her share of running. (Including into the mud..urg!) At one point I was shivering so bad, a lady (a regular that we actually know) came up and gave me a little chihuaha mix elderly dog to snuggle under my sweater! He helped keep me warm until Tim decided he was cold too and it was time to go.

After the dog park, we came home, ate some cereal, and then Tim went back to work on the computer. (My computer is hooked back up again, since I tried to check my e-mail on the one Tim had up in it's place, broke something, got fussed at, fussed back and caused a big ruckus. We kissed and made up about 2 minutes after the frou-frou, but still. I don't like having my computer taken away.) I played Mario Kart Wii. We only had about an hour to kill until it was time to leave again.

Around 4:15, we headed out to Joe's Crab Shack to have dinner with James and Missy. The food there is overpriced and not worth it. We had a coupon for a free apetizer (Entertainment Book!) so we used that for the "Crab Dip." James and Missy shared the "Crab Steampot for Two" it was like $40 and they got 4 clusters of crab. Skinny ones, at that. Um, no. We passed on that. Tim got shrimp alfredo & I got popcorn shrimp. Trevor got a chicken nuggets kids' meal and at french fries. He's a SUPER quiet and well behaved kid. We love him. We had good talk and fellowship. James and Missy were going to come back to the house to play Wii, but then T-Man fell asleep and they had to go home, instead. We made a date for February so they'll be coming over then. I'm pretty amazed that they're coming here because they haven't been over since the fourth of July when T-Man was a baby. (2007)

Tim and I weren't ready to go home yet, so we went to Super Wal-Mart to look for Wii Fit. I REALLY want it and am on a quest to find it. If you see it in a store, TOTALLY call me! We walked around the whole place, like twice. We picked up some LocTite, so Tim could fix my office chair, a couple pairs of black socks for him, some hangers, and a couple books. I got ECLIPSE! and Tim got "John Adams" a biography that inspired the mini-series. I can't wait to read Eclipse. I listened to it on CD the first time I read it so I'm happy to have the actual book. I need to see about getting Twilight back from the Girl Scout mom I lent it to & put a fire under Melanie's butt so she'll read New Moon. (You'll love the series more once you read them chica-boom!)

When we got home, we made a list of all the things we need to spend money on this year. It's incomplete but we've got to start PLANNING our spending...and stop just blowing money. I've been putzing on my computer & Tim's playing Wii.

Time to go get me some nooky!

Night...

5 Things Meme

5 Things in my bag:
Cell Phone
Checkbook
Chapstick
Hair Brush
Wallet

5 Things in my room:
My jewelry box
The dog stuff (food, bed, water)
Alarm Clock
My thermometer
Laptop

5 Things I have always wanted to do:
Be a stay at home mom
Get skinny and smokin' hot!
Live in a nice house
Travel the country
Have lots of money

5 Things I am currently into:
Twilight
Making a baby
Scrapbooking
Roller Blading
Losing Weight

There you have it! Let me know in the comments if you do it, too!

Ah.....What's Up Doc?

Hey! I haven't updated in a day or so about what's going on with ME!

Well....let's see, Thursday morning I woke up feeling icky. By the time I got to school, I was puking. I had already called subfinder. I got to work writing my sub plans & was completely ready when the sub got there. I left work about 9 am and headed home. When I got here, I went straight to sleep.

I slept until about 12ish and then I watched "Dukes of Hazzard." After that, I went back to sleep until Tim got home from work.

I pretty much slept until Tim gave me some Arby's for dinner. Then, I went back to sleep.

I slept until the next morning, when it was time for me to get up for the doctor's appointment.

I had my appointment at 10:15 am. I weighed 194 lbs. So, that's my starting weight.

The doctor confirmed that I had the flu. Fun stuff. After the doctor's, I went to McDonald's, then Wal-Mart. I got some groceries and then went home. At home, I read a magazine and ate a popsicle for a while. Then I putzed on my computer before taking a nap. When Tim got home & woke me up, I was feeling better.

We didn't do much, ate some pizza, and played on the computers. I played some Mario Kart Wii too.

This morning, when I got up, Tim was already up playing around on the computers. He is ripping all of our DVDs to the computer & setting up a network so that we can play any movie we own from any computer in the house. Supposably, this is going to make our lives easier & more fun. (So far it's cost me almost $200.)

I checked my email and blogs. Then Tim went to take a nap. He wasn't feeling 100%. I got to work on cleaning the house & folding laundry. It took the whole morning. I cleaned every room of the house, behind the washer & drier, and tended to the laundry.

Around 1:00 I went and got into the shower. Tim woke up while I was in there & was back on the computers. I got dressed and then he cut my hair (FINALLY!) After that, I played Wii, while he did money. Around 3:30 we left to go to PetSmart & Best Buy. We spent $100 at PetSmart! We got dog shampoo, Bitter Yuck!, a dog toy, and their dog food. Ugh, stuff is so expensive! Then we went to Best Buy to get what Tim needed for his latest toy. After that we got a cheap dinner at I-Hop.

Now, Tim's working on the toys and I'm being bored. We've got church in the morning, so I probably won't stay up TOO late.

Anyway, that's our weekend so far.

Saturday Nine--A New Meme

Well, since Tim has kicked me out of the office, I decided to come do a couple blog posts memes. I am also farting around on Momdot's forum. My membership there was still active so that's cool! Apparantly, I've been missing out on lots of good stuff over there!

Saturday 9: The Phone is For You
1. Your phone rings. Who is the most likely caller?
Mandy--she calls me in the afternoons when I'm on my way home from work. But, we've had to curb these little afternoon chats, b/c niether one of us likes going over on our cell phone bills!

2. How long to you chat on the phone each day?
WAY more than I should admit. Probably a minimum of an hour and a half. I have 900 minutes all to myself & I go over EVERY month. I've tried cutting back but I can't! If I'm driving my fist instinct is to get on the phone. I normally talk to my Mom, Mandy, or Tim in the car.

3. Who do you speak to the most?
My mom. I call her almost every day. If I don't call her, she's calling me.

4. Do you often not answer if a certain person comes up on your caller id?
Yep. I screen the calls from my students & I don't answer numbers I don't know. You better leave a message if your not in my contacts! I only take calls from students when I feel like it!

5. Do you phone friends at work?
Nope. I normally only call Mom or Tim if there is an emergency.

6. Do you make personal calls at work?
Nope. Same as above. Although if I need to call the doctor, I do that during my planning time.

7. Who do you always say “I love you” at the end of the call?
Um, like everyone. Even Melanie. Because I'm wierd. I don't know, I just always end phone calls that way. I even got Tim to start telling his parents that he loves them.

8. Do you use a landline or cell more often?
Definitely my cell. Although I'm TRYING to use the house phone more often.

9. Who in the blogosphere that you haven’t chatted with but would like to?
I'd love to talk on the phone or in a chat room with Trisha from Momdot. She seems totally cool & fun & funky. She reminds me of myself in college. In a lot of ways, Tim supresses that part of me.

A Little Lesson in How Italian's Do Business

Here's another forward from my Dad. I thought it was pretty funny.

Luigi says to his son, "I want you to marry a girl of my choice."

Son says, "I will choose my own bride!!!

"Luigi says, "But the girl is Bill Gates' daughter.."

Son answers, "Well, in that case . . .. ok"

Next Luigi approaches Bill Gates and says, "I have a husband for your daughter..."

Bill Gates answers, "But my daughter is too young to marry!!"

Luigi says, "But this young man is a vice-president of the World Bank."

Bill Gates answers: "Ah, in that case . . .. ok."

Finally Luigi goes to see the president of the World Bank. Luigi says, "I have a young man to be recommended as a vice-president."

The president answers, "But I already have more vice-presidents than I need!"

Luigi says, "But this young man is Bill Gates' son-in-law."

The president answers, "Ah, in that case . . . ok"

And that, my friends, is how Italians do business!

Hee hee...a funny from my dad!

Everyone concentrates on the problems we're having in this country lately: illegal immigration, hurricane recovery, alligators attacking people in Florida.

Not me. I concentrate on solutions for the problems. It's a win-win situation.

+ Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.

+ Send the dirt to New Orleans to raise the level of the levies.

+ Put the Florida alligators in the moat along the Mexican border.

Any other problems you would like for me to solve today ?

Yes!

Think about this one: 1. Cows 2. The Constitution 3. The Ten Commandments

C O W S Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.


T H E C O N S T I T U T I O N They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq . Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, and we're not using it anymore.

T H E 1 0 C O M M A N D M E N T SThe real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this: You cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,' 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery,' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians...It creates a hostile work environment.

PART OF THE PROBLEM Also, Think about this: If you don't want to forward this for fear of offending someone-- YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM!It is Time for America to Speak up! Yep, I passed it on!